Infinite Stratos, Volume 6, page 10
“I see...”
“It seems like the Academy’s keeping tabs on the situation, though, so I guess we can relax for now.”
“I sure hope so.”
I thought of the attacker today. Even though her face was covered by her visor, I could tell just how much she loathed me. Just the thought of it bothered me a bit.
“C’mon, don’t frown like that.”
“Eh? Was I?”
“Yeah. If you worry too much, you’ll never find happiness. Smile a bit.”
“Y-Yeah.” Charl reached up and pushed her own lips into a grin. Seeing that incredible smile lifted my own heart. “Oh, right. Laura said to tell you to go into the garden later.”
“Hmm? I guess I will now.”
“Sure. See you in a little bit, Ichika.”
Leaving Charl, I walked through the living room and outside.
“You’re late!”
“Ugh, sorry.”
“Well, um, I mean... It was my choice to wait for you anyway. I take that back.”
“Huh.”
It wasn’t like Laura to take things back after she said them. Though I rather liked her directness and inflexibility.
“I-I-Ichika!”
“Hmm? Whoa!”
Suddenly, she thrust a knife straight at my throat. I leapt backwards, only later noticing that she’d pulled the thrust before it would have hit. I thought she was going to kill me!
“You can have this knife!”
“...Eh?”
“For your birthday present! I’ve used it in combat. It’s sharp, and it’s durable. Take it!”
“Sure!”
I took the knife from Laura’s hand, and she gave me its sheath as well. The blade was over 20 centimeters long, and it was the kind of military-issue gear that wouldn’t have looked out of place ominously menacing on a black metal album cover. It was definitely a tool for killing.
“Ah...”
“W-What?!”
“This has a really nice grip.”
“I see. The sheath’s good too. See?”
“Thanks.”
The sheath had a loop for hanging from my belt. With it at my side, I could swing it into action with the slightest motion.
“You should understand what it means when a warrior gives you her weapon...”
“Huh? What?”
“N-Nothing! Anyway, we’re done here! I’m leaving!”
“Hey, wait.”
“W-What?!”
“Thank you, Laura.”
“......!!”
I don’t know whether it was from surprise or bashfulness, but either way, Laura’s face turned red all the way up to her ears as she turned away with a “Hmph!” What’s up with her today?
“There you are, Ichika.”
“Oh, Houki. What’s up? Have enough to eat?”
“It’s your birthday, not mine. Or do you just think that I eat all the time?”
“I didn’t mean it like...”
“Relax, I was joking.” Houki chuckled to herself as I stood there confused. Seems like she’s in a good mood today.
“Here’s your birthday present.” Houki handed me a bag as she spoke. Inside was a large bundle wrapped in paper.
“What is it, Houki?”
“Open it.” I took the bag and opened up the paper wrapping. And... “Ooh? A kimono!”
“I found some good fabric at home, so I had it sewn.”
“Wow! I’ll have to try it on later! Thanks, Houki.”
“Mm. There’s a belt in there too, right?”
“Oh, yeah. It looks expensive.”
“Don’t worry about the price. Besides... It matches mine...”
“Yes?”
“You weren’t supposed to hear that!” Houki was suddenly very flustered. What was with her?
“I should wear it at the dorms sometime.”
“Mm. You have to show it to me when you do. Okay?!”
“Sure, sure. Still, a kimono. I was just thinking how I wanted one of those, too.”
It had a nice, sophisticated pattern. I could wear it around my room. It was always relaxing wearing a yukata when I went to hot springs.
“This kind of blows the present I got you out of the water, doesn’t it.”
“No, it’s fine. I really liked mine, too.” As she spoke, Houki poked at the ribbon holding her ponytail. It was the pale white one I’d gotten her on her birthday, July 7th.
“.........”
“You’ve kept on wearing it since then, haven’t you. I’m happy.”
“I-I mean, it’s not like I wear it every day!”
“I know, I know. But a couple times a week, right?”
“You... You pay a lot of attention to that.”
“I mean, it’s you.”
“Really... Because it’s me?”
Houki must have been happy about being noticed, as her cheeks turned red while she fidgeted her fingers. I knew how she normally was, so when she suddenly got all shy like this it made my heart pound.
“I-Ichika. Maybe later, we could...”
“Hey, there’s Dan and Utsuho. I wonder what they’re up to? I can’t quite hear them from here.”
“Ichika. It’s not right to eavesdrop.”
“C’mon, just a little.” I took Houki’s arm and pulled her closer to their corner of the living room.
“So we meet again,” Utsuho giggled awkwardly.
“Yeah, I guess...”
“.........”
“.........”
“Umm...”
Both tried to break the ice at once. Noticing the other start to talk, they each looked away.
“You go first.”
“No, you first.”
“.........”
“.........”
The silence continued. Both of them were blushing bright red.
“What are they doing?”
“Beats me. Probably trading contact info?”
“Yeah, like email addresses or something.”
“That’s enough. Let’s leave before they notice us.”
“Yeah.” As we made our way away, I noticed I was still gripping Houki’s hand. “Ah, sorry.”
“No, it... I don’t mind...”
“I see. Anyway, let’s get back to the party.”
“Yeah!”
Houki and I walked back over to the sofa. Rin was already there, with a board game set up for everyone. And just like that, the evening hours slipped away.
Epilogue: Reflection in Water
“Great. They’re not sold out yet.”
I was at the closest vending machine to my house. We’d run out of drinks, so I was there picking up ten or so cans. Charl was the first, though not the last, to argue that it was my party so I shouldn’t have to go, but honestly, since I’d done nothing so far I wanted to.
Let’s see. Tatenashi was coffee, Houki was green tea, Rin was oolong and Charl was orange juice, Laura wanted a sports drink, Cecilia black tea, and... I filled my arms with cans. That should do it. Time to head back.
Just as I turned to set off, I noticed a shadow standing back from the light of the machine. Huh? The machine was pretty far away from my place. Meaning, it couldn’t have been someone I knew.
As I took my second step, the shadow stepped into the light. It was a girl. A girl with a face I recognized. No, one I knew like the back of my hand.
“Chifuyu...?”
It was a girl of 15 or 16. But her face was the spitting image of Chifuyu at that age.
“No,” the girl opened her mouth. Her faint smile was like none I’d ever seen from Chifuyu. “I am you, Orimura Ichika.”
“What?!”
“Looks like I caused you a lot of trouble earlier.”
“Huh?! Wait, are you Silent Zephyrus’s—”
“Yes.” She stepped toward me.
“And your name is—”
“Orimura Madoka.”
Orimura... Madoka? It was a name I’d never heard. But her last name was the same as mine. And she looked exactly like Chifuyu.
“So I can be myself... I will take your life.”
A handgun gleamed dully in her fist.
Bang! The sound of a gunshot echoed out into the night sky.
Afterword: About Outlines
Hi, it’s Yumizuru again. People ask me to go behind the scenes a lot on Twitter, so I want to get into that and go into what it’s like to be in the industry.
The first thing you need when writing something you want to see published is an outline. Everyone has their own way to approach it, but for me, it’s a short pitch, around a hundred words. If you can’t hook someone on the concept while you’re pitching it, you’ll never get published. Your first reader is your editor, and you want them to love it.
Next up is crafting the characters. Flesh them out. It’s when you run out of places to go with this that the initial drama appears. And that drama is what will drive the narrative.
Let’s see, how about an example...
The devils and the angels are at war, and our young hero, a demon, is on the front line. There, he falls in love with a girl. But on her back are the white wings of an angel. An angel girl and a devil boy in love.
They resolve to elope, to the ends of the world if need be, but to get away from their pursuers, the boy makes a pact with an elder demon, while the girl takes up the forbidden sacred sword. Each is consumed by the power they rely upon. But they’ve sworn to stay with each other forever.
Can they make it away from the war? What awaits them after their escape? A love story between angel and devil, woven from hope and despair.
...See, that kind of thing. If you know you could make a book out of this, you’ve got the makings of a pro. Pick up your pen and get to work.
Now, as for how you write the romance, there are so many paths you can take. Is the angel older or younger? Expressive or quiet? It’s like a kaleidoscope of possibilities that you can spin into limitless stories.
But if you put in too much, you’ll never finish, so you need to have an ending in mind from the very beginning. That’s a requirement. Once you’ve determined your ending, it’s very easy to create a story from the path to it.
For me, the thing that gives me my drive at the beginning is thinking “I’d like to see this ending!” But it doesn’t exist yet. I need to create it. And to do that, I need these characters, in this world, doing this. And there I go, I have a book.
I guess that isn’t really ‘behind the scenes,’ but... See you next time!
— Izuru Yumizuru
Table of Contents
Cover
Color Illustrations
Chapter I: The Silent
Chapter II: Maidens, Sound Your Victory March
Chapter III: Cannonball Fast
Chapter IV: Heartbreaker
Epilogue: Reflection in Water
Afterword
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
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Copyright
Infinite Stratos: Volume 6
by Izuru Yumizuru
Translated by Mike Langwiser
Edited by Meiru
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 Izuru Yumizuru
Illustrations by CHOCO
Cover illustration by CHOCO
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2013 by OVERLAP, Inc.
This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo
English translation © 2019 J-Novel Club LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
J-Novel Club LLC
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: February 2019
Izuru Yumizuru, Infinite Stratos, Volume 6
