“Oh, if it’s about dinner, we’re already too late.” Tatenashi slumped back down. All the tension which had just been swelling in her chest faded at the sight of Ichika’s innocent grin. Well, no sense crying over spilt milk. She nodded, coming to see it as a chance to at least show her maturity.

  “Let’s head home, then.”

  “Wait, Tatenashi! I know a good place around here. Let’s go there.”

  “Eh?!” Her heart leapt again at the unexpected invitation. Where’s he going to take me? At this time of night, it would have to be a bar, or even... Her head filled with images too hot for an all-ages book, Tatenashi grasped Ichika’s hand. “Yeah, let’s go!”

  “O-Okay!”

  “So this is the place?”

  “Yes!” It was a ramen cart parked under a rail overpass.

  Disappointed, Tatenashi let out a deep, deep sigh, “Ichika, are you like this with everyone?”

  “Huh? No, this is my secret, I’ve only ever told the guys about it.”

  “That wasn’t what I meant, I meant...” Tatenashi stewed, not quite finding the right words. Suddenly, she broke into laughter. “Ahahah. You’re the first boy who’s ever taken me out for ramen from a cart, that’s for sure.”

  Tatenashi—Katana—was, after all, the eldest of the Sarashiki girls. She’d been invited out by men before, but it had always been to stultifyingly dreary gourmet restaurants.

  “Looks like there are open seats, let’s duck in.”

  “Open seats?” It was deserted. Tatenashi was beginning to have second thoughts about this.

  “Hey!” As they ducked under the noren, a toned middle-aged man with a stubbly beard yelped under his breath, recognizing his customer, and excitedly tossed the newspaper he’d been reading aside.

  “Well if it ain’t Number One,” He sighed, as if he’d been hoping for a bigger group. It seemed like the chef—if you could call him that, this being a one-man cart—knew Ichika.

  “C’mon, Burai, quit calling me that.”

  “Haah? What’s wrong with Number One? Sounds pretty cool to me.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” They must have been fairly close, as Ichika had dropped all formality. “C’mon, Tatenashi, sit down.”

  She glanced around nervously, with no idea about how to deal with the wooden bench.

  “Am I supposed to step over it?”

  “Nah, just walk around from the side. Yeah, like that.”

  “Hey-hey, Number One! Looks like you finally got yourself a chick!”

  Tatenashi was flustered for a moment at being referred to as a “chick,” but soon, the realization that the man recognized her and Ichika as a couple brought a blush to her face.

  “Nah, man. She’s the student council president at IS Academy.” She was a bit frustrated at the matter-of-fact introduction, but as the more mature one of the two tried to hold it in.

  “You sure? Seems like she’s got different ideas.”

  “Wha? No, no, it’s nothing like that!” Her knowing grin, though, said something entirely different.

  “Ya know. Maybe it’s about time you got outta Chi’s hair.” Burai stroked his stubble, smirking. “And then maybe I’d have a shot.”

  “Ahahah. No way.” There wasn’t even a hint of laughter in Ichika’s eyes.

  “Y-Yeah, I guess. Anyway, two bowls for Number One!” Slightly rattled, Burai turned back and began to boil some noodles. Ichika took a cup from the shelf and placed it in front of Tatenashi.

  “What’s this for?”

  “Huh? Water, what else?”

  Tatenashi was surprised by the water being self-service, but fascinated at experiencing so many new things. She stared around like a kid at an amusement park.

  “Ichika, you said you’ve never been here with a girl, but surely you’ve brought Rin at some point?”

  “No, umm...” Ichika hemmed and hawed around the awkwardness of boys and girls in middle school. The reason seemed to be that they each needed space, but the particulars were something only they could know.

  “I see. Well, I guess that’s fine.” Grasping on this newly-exposed weak point, her confidence began to return. Meanwhile, Ichika was having a harder and harder time opening up in front of Burai.

  “So, Number One, d’you talk that way at school too?”

  “No wayyyy! It’s just, y’know, she’s here, so...”

  “Mm-hmmmmmm.” Grinning, Burai drained the noodles and ladled broth into a pair of bowls, then, with all the showmanship of a professional, piled the remaining toppings on in a flash. “Here ya go!”

  As he set the bowls down in front of them with a weighty thunk, Ichika broke out into a grin.

  “Looks great.”

  “C’mon, Number One! Get it right!”

  Ichika clapped his hands together, playing along with the act. “It doesn’t look great—”

  “It is great!”

  They leaned in for a quick high-five. As Tatenashi watched the interplay between the men, she felt like, just in this moment, she could just be Katana. He’s trying so hard to act big, but he’s still a little boy.

  As she contemplated her picture of Ichika, she again gazed into her bowl. The crystal-clear golden broth, the hand-cut noodles, the giant slabs of pork belly chashu that girls avoided while boys ordered extra of. A mountain of leeks cut on the diagonal, and a mouthwateringly-runny soft-boiled egg. But what whetted her appetite most of all was the aroma. The rich scent of the pork, the sharp notes of the soy sauce in the broth. The pungent notes of the garlic. Complex yet forceful, intense yet delicate. It reminded her of herself.

  “Dig in!”

  “Here’s your chopsticks, Tatenashi.”

  “Katana.”

  “...All right, Katana.”

  “Hmph... Good enough.” She wasn’t a huge fan of his hesitance, but she was supposed to be the more mature one here, so there was no point in needling him about it. Nodding, she picked up her chopsticks.

  “Better eat before it gets cold!” At Burai’s prodding, she began to daintily pick at her noodles. But something about how she was eating didn’t seem to please him. “C’mon, hon, ramen ain’t something you eat to look good doing it! Put yer back into it!”

  At Burai’s insistence, she slurped as hard as she could.

  “Wow, this is great! It’s even better than before!” As he watched the twinkle in Katana’s eyes, Burai rubbed his face as if to emphasize that he’d just pointed out the obvious.

  “All right, I should get going on mine too!”

  Slurp. Sluuuuurp. Slurp. The sounds echoed in the tiny nook. Burai smiled in satisfaction as the two focused on their meals.

  “This is delicious! Ichika, could you refill my water?” Katana’s inhibitions were completely broken down. Finishing her pork, she drained the last of the broth from her bowl.

  By coincidence, Ichika had finished at the same time, and their calls of ‘That was great!’ echoed in unison.

  “Cleaned your plate, huh, hon? Ichika, you gonna let a catch like this get away?”

  “I told you—” Katana grinned triumphantly as Ichika nervously chuckled. “I told you, it isn’t like that...”

  “Oh? Not even just for tonight?”

  “C’mon, Number One, pick up the pace!”

  Outnumbered, Ichika waved the white flag.

  “Fine, whatever! She’s my girlfriend!”

  Burai and Katana leaned close, grinning to each other.

  “Did you remember to record that?”

  “You know I did,” they whispered to each other, outside of Ichika’s hearing.

  “Anyway, Burai, that was good stuff! Here’s a thou’ for the two of us!” Ichika rose as if to flee, Burai and Katana laughing merrily at his discomfiture.

  “Thanks! See ya later, Number One!”

  “Well, if I’m your girlfriend, we have to walk home arm-in-arm, right?”

  “...Jeez, haven’t I had enough for one day?”

  ◇

  “Wait, you mean you really wanted to?”

  “I sure do! That was a bit of a workout, I deserve to treat myself.” Really, it was more than just a bit of one, but not talking about just how hard she’d struggled was part of Tatenashi’s strength. With a tender grin, she snapped open a fan reading “invincible.”

  “Jeez, you don’t have to pretend like that was no big deal.” Suddenly, Ichika snapped her up in a princess carry.

  Tatenashi’s mouth flapped open and shut like a goldfish’s, “Wh-Wh-Wh-What?!”

  “I heard from Kanzashi about you taking on Squall all alone. You must be exhausted.”

  “I-I’m fine!”

  “I know, I know. Get some rest, Katana.”

  Entranced by the sweet nothings flowing from Ichika’s lips, Tatenashi relaxed into his arms. And exhausted to her very limits, she rested her head on his chest to sleep.

  “Just this once, Ichika.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  He realized that she really had been pretending it was fine as he heard her breathing steady. Holding Tatenashi gently to avoid waking her up, Ichika walked back to IS Academy.

  So much happened today... He’d never expected to run into Iris, but the encounter had taught him a lot about the proper use of Ignition Boost. So you can use that rapid-fire... I’ve gotta learn how! Filled with a newfound determination, Ichika passed through the gate of IS Academy.

  “YOU’RE LATE!” Dread weighed upon him at the sudden shouts.

  “What were you doing out this late— Wait, what?!”

  “Ichika, you creep! What did you do to Tatenashi?!”

  “Why, Ichika! What’s the meaning of this?”

  “E-Explain yourself, Ichika!”

  “Mission accepted... Moving to eliminate target.”

  He trembled at the combined assault of Houki, Ling, Cecilia, Charlotte, and Laura.

  “W-Wait! I can explain!” he blurted out. As all five approached, a fan struck them each on the forehead.

  “Ah?!”

  “Eep!”

  “I—”

  “Oh...”

  “Ugh.”

  Tatenashi had awakened sometime during this, and smiled as she opened the fan dangling from her fingertips.

  “There, there. That’s more like it~♪”

  A voice spoke from within the fan, [She’s my girlfriend!]

  The writing on the fan read “it’s official.”

  “So, now that we’ve made that clear... See you tomorrow, Ichika.” Hopping out of Ichika’s arms, Tatenashi quickly made her way back to her dorm.

  “I... chi... ka...!”

  All that was left was the bloodshed. Ah, fate! How cruel, how cruel.

  Epilogue: Like a Lover, Like a Virgin! To Call as if In Love, to Answer as if In Love

  “Phew. Jeez...” Squall lay on the cold floor of a Phantom Task safe house, sparks occasionally flying from the stump of her left arm. She wanted it repaired immediately, but the downside of being a cyborg was how hard it was to recover from injuries.

  “I want to go find a new arm, but... Look at me.” She chuckled bitterly, looking down at her tattered dress. “Looks like using Squall’s name as cover backfired. What do you think, Autumn?”

  Autumn quietly stepped out of the darkness. How long had she been waiting?

  “Tell me what you think.” She pointed her damaged limbs in Autumn’s direction. “You must be disappointed in me.”

  Silently, Autumn strode to Squall’s side, and tenderly stroked her wounds.

  “I already knew.”

  “Oh? I’m impressed.” Squall let out a surprised, girlish giggle, with more than a little bit of self-deprecation mixed in.

  “Don’t push yourself so hard. You may be made of steel, but you can still feel pain.” Squall’s eyes widened. “I’ll make her pay for this. You just get some rest.” Autumn’s words were filled with concern for her lover. Squall wanted nothing more in that moment to be babied, but she pushed Autumn away.

  “...It’s a bit out of our way, but let’s go get parts. We can pick up our new weapons, too.”

  “Yes. Let’s.” Nodding, Autumn sat down next to Squall.

  Squall was silent.

  Autumn was silent.

  “Hey.” The long, long silence was broken by Squall. “Kiss me.”

  “Yeah.”

  The two nestled together in a long, romantic kiss.

  ◇

  “Ufufu.” Tatenashi lay sprawled across her bed, playing the recording for what must have been the hundredth time.

  [She’s my girlfriend!] It was Ichika’s voice. Ichika’s voice, saying everything she’d ever wanted to hear.

  She giggled, and as the recording played again, she looked even more satisfied with herself. Soon enough, she was rolling back and forth on her bed with a blush, going “Ohh, this is too much!” Like a kid thinking about their first crush.

  “Whoops, I played it again.” The cycle repeated over and over, late into the night. “Mm! I just thought of something!” Her mind whirling as if it were racing through the stars, she snapped upright and picked up her phone.

  “Ms. Orimura? It’s me, Sarashiki Tatenashi. I’ve come up with a solution to that problem we have...”

  Tatenashi grinned just imagining the look which would be on Ichika’s face.

  ◇

  “And so... Oh, hey, Ichika.”

  “H-Hey, Ichika.”

  The next Monday morning, Ling and Kanzashi were in class 1-A homeroom.

  “Ms. Yamada. Explain.”

  “Yes. The Principal has decided to move all of the first-years with personal IS into the same class as a result of the events of Field Day.”

  “Now of course, this means class-versus-class tournaments are canceled, but don’t worry. We’ve got some special training lined up for you to compensate.” Chifuyu had expected a room full of gloomy reactions—but the cadets were more worried about how Ling had ended up next to Ichika.

  “Ling, how on Earth were you able to choose your own seat?”

  “Permission to sit next to my bride!”

  “Who taught you to be so clingy?”

  “Teacher! I’d like to change seats!”

  As the uproar spread, Chifuyu let out a deep sigh and began cracking heads.

  “Well, well. Looks like this is going to be our strongest class ever. And the one that causes the most problems.”

  ◇

  “It’s done!” Tabane had transformed the penthouse suite Squall had booked into a laboratory, and wrapped an arm around Madoka as she crowed. Catching Madoka’s reflexive knife thrust between two fingers, she snapped the blade in half.

  “You’re so adorable, Madoka!”

  “Stop it... Anyway, is my IS done?”

  Tabane had begun treating the gloomy Madoka like she was another Chifuyu.

  “Of course it is! Behold! Darkness to blot out the light! I call it...” She swept the curtain covering the IS to the side. “Kurokishi! Your own IS!”

  “So... This is mine?” Its jet-black armor glimmered menacingly. “With this... With this, I can finally surpass my sister!”

  “Hold on, hold on. There’s no point in rushing things. Everything needs to happen in the proper order!” Tabane leaned in close and looked Madoka in the eye.

  “Then, my first target is—”

  “Orimura Ichika, of course!”

  Afterword: “All right, now that that’s done with.”

  Hey, it’s Yumizuru. Volume 9 is finally done. I didn’t even realize I was writing a battle until it was halfway over. Guess you really do need some fighting to spice things up. Next volume, we get to see Madoka’s new IS. I hadn’t really been planning on it, but now that I went with giving Squall and Autumn upgrades, looks like CHOCO’s gonna have a busy month. Heheheh.

  By the way, thanks for bringing me to Taiwan and Thailand last year. Thanks to all my overseas fans! Thanks so much!

  Anyway, now that I’m done writing, let’s talk about games! Monster Hunter Frontier G is getting an IS event! I’m in Monster Hunter now! Capcom’s Monster Hunter! I feel like I’ve finally made it. I’ve been playing MonHun all the way through to endgame since the very first one, so no way am I gonna miss this. I’m so hyped for it I bought the Fate DLC just to celebrate. All right! I’ve always been a Capcom fan, so really, guys, I’m not gonna be complaining if you decide the time is right for IS Basara. And speaking of games, I came up with the subtitle and basic outline for the one from MAGES. It was fun to be back in the games business! I’m thrilled that it seemed to sell pretty well.

  Thanks to all the staff on the anime, too! Season 2 turned out great. This time, I was also the lead writer, so I ended up having to push up work on volume 10 a bit. Meaning, it wasn’t like I was chomping at the bit to take over that job. I kind of had my own personal scheduling hell having to go over each episode’s script too. Ahahah.

  In volume 10, the Phantom Task plot is going to heat up. I wish they had more members. That’s kind of why the three we’ve seen were revealed to just be the Monochrome Avatar cell. But each cell operates independently, so don’t expect them teaming up or anything. Anyway, though, that’s something to leave for next volume.

  Anyway. Oh, right. I want to escape overseas. I should move my money to a Swiss account (kidding). I’d like to go back to Taiwan and Thailand. See America and Europe too. You know where I’d love to go? Germany. I want to eat some authentic guten morgen. Anyway, see you!

  — Izuru Yumizuru,

  February xth

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Color Illustrations

  Chapter N: Knockin’ on You & You

  Chapter I: Hamster Cluster! Love Rival Warning

  Chapter II: Fighting Now

  Chapter III: Bubble Daydream

  Chapter IV: It’ Fantastic! A Maiden’s Secrets are Top Secret

  Epilogue: Like a Lover, Like a Virgin! To Call as if In Love, to Answer as if In Love

  Afterword

  About J-Novel Club

  Copyright

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