“I’m not gonna lose, either!” Charlotte stretched her back, as far as it could go. “Phew!”

  As she exhaled and came back upright, her breasts bounced.

  “And there’s Charlotte’s team, trying for the sex appeal points!”

  “Ehh?! No—”

  “She knows every trick in the book, and she’s trying them all! French National Cadet, Charlotte Dunois!”

  “No, really, I wasn’t!” Embarrassed, her eyes flitted over to Ichika as she covered her chest. Suspicion, jealousy, and accusations followed in return. As he shook his head in an attempt to clear his name, Charlotte spun around in disappointment. But the cruelest reality waited in the next heat.

  “On your marks, ready... Go!”

  As the echo of the starting pistol rang out, Houki and Cecilia sprang out to an early lead. Panicking, Charlotte tried to catch up, but only managed to tangle her legs together and tumble to a stop.

  “No way...” As she watched Cecilia cross the finish line, tears welled up in Charlotte’s eyes. “Oww...”

  Her knees were scratched up. Her spirits were sinking deeper and deeper, until Ichika walked up to her.

  “Are you okay, Charl? You’re not hurt, are you?”

  “Eh? No, just...”

  “Your knees look like they’re hurt. Let me carry you to the first aid tent.”

  “No, wait, I can...” She couldn’t hide how upset she was, but her legs really did hurt. So shyly, she climbed up onto Ichika’s back.

  “Here goes!”

  “I’m... I’m not too heavy, am I?”

  “Of course not. It’s like carrying cotton candy.”

  “Really?” Charl giggled.

  Houki and Cecilia glared in unconcealed envy as Charlotte found an unexpected advantage.

  “Why, and after I came first!”

  “You’ll pay for this, Charlotte.”

  Oblivious to the daggers shooting from their eyes, Charlotte held close to Ichika’s back. His shoulders are so broad... The functional beauty of his muscles, his robust bones. The parts of Charlotte that were “girl” couldn’t help but notice the parts of Ichika which were anything but.

  Meanwhile, Ichika’s heart throbbed at the feel of her breasts on his back, the softness of her thighs, and more than anything her sweet smell. This... This is bad. Why it was, he had no words for. But the entirely normal reaction of a healthy teenage boy to a girl was becoming an emergency.

  “Let’s hurry up, Charl.”

  “Eh? Oh, okay.”

  “Hold on tight!”

  Ichika took off, racing toward the first aid tent. Passing her off to the school nurse, he left with a quick “See ya!”

  “Ah Ichika, wait—” Charlotte had just wanted to say thanks, but her hand extended into empty air before being slowly drawn back. Ehehe. Maybe that was still some good luck! Running her hands over the parts of her thighs Ichika had touched, Charlotte was buoyed with pleasure.

  “Mm.”

  “Hmm.”

  Laura and Kanzashi watched thoughtfully from their starting places as Ichika carried Charlotte off.

  “Go!”

  The report of the pistol was matched with a line of girls racing forth. All but Laura and Kanzashi, who immediately tripped on purpose.

  “Medic! Meeeeedic!”

  “Owwie...” Ichika, who’d been watching, approached—a paper fan borrowed from Kaoruko in his hand. With quick baps, he swung at them.

  “What are you doing?!”

  “That hurts.”

  Avoiding their accusing stares, he helped Laura and Kanzashi to their feet, then said, “If you do silly things like that, you may really get hurt.”

  “Mm...”

  “Sorry...”

  Seeing their contrition, he brushed the dirt off them and sighed, “C’mon, get running. I guess it’s almost over, but still.”

  Laura and Kanzashi felt the blood rush to their heads at his unexpected touch.

  “Yeah!”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  And thus, the 50-meter dash ended. Ling’s team held the lead.

  ◇

  “Next up is the IS Academy special—the Ball Pop!” Kaoruko roared into the mic.

  “Ball... pop?”

  Ichika was sure he’d misheard “ball toss” or something, but Tatenashi, having recovered from her mental overload, was there to explain, “It’s a school tradition! Each team tries to snipe the most floating balls out of the air with their IS! The smaller ones are worth bonus points.”

  “Sounds like it’ll be a mess.”

  “But that’s what makes it fun!” Tatenashi snapped open a fan reading ‘entertainment.’

  “All right, cadets, get ready for action! But remember, no IS suits today! You’re going to please the crowd by doing it in your bloomers!”

  A crowd of exactly one.

  “Ohoho, you mean me?” The school janitor grinned, ruddy-cheeked.

  “No, no! Not you, you creep!” Kaoruko answered the open palm latched onto her butt with a high kick. Nimbly, the janitor—if he really was—dodged, and made his way away.

  “All right, deploy the drone launcher!”

  A pillar of light shimmered into existence in the middle of the field and formed into a machine. Ichika was reminded of how amazing IS Academy was by the use of the latest technology for Field Day.

  “Is everyone ready?! Student Council President Sarashiki Tatenashi will announce the next match!”

  With a quick high-five, Kaoruko swapped places with Tatenashi, who immediately spoke up, then immediately took up her camera and left to mingle with the cadets.

  “Focus! Readiness! My heart is as serene as still water!” Shinonono Houki, IS Akatsubaki.

  “Prepare to be entranced. I, Cecilia Alcott, will play you a rondo with my Blue Tears!” Cecilia Alcott, IS Blue Tears.

  “Nothing says I have to shoot them, so get ready to see what I can do!” Huang Lingyin, IS Shenlong.

  “I’ve got the mobility to keep up! Let’s go, Revive!” Charlotte Dunois, IS Rafale Revive Custom II.

  “Know your powerlessness.” Laura Bodewig, IS Schwarzer Regen.

  “...I’ll do what I must. Okay, Uchigane Nishiki?” Sarashiki Kanzashi, IS Uchigane Nishiki.

  With the six first year cadets gathered together, the crowd was on the edge of their seats.

  “Go for it, Houkicchi!”

  “You’ve got this, Cecilia!”

  “Rin! That’s the stuff, Rin!”

  “Do your best, Dunois!”

  “Win this, Laura!”

  “Wow. You gonna be alright, Kans? Yeah, I know you will! Hip-hip-hooray!”

  As cheers for each rang out, they formed a loose circle around the launcher. With practiced movements, they flitted up into the air.

  “All right! IS Ball Pop, ready, go!”

  A fountain of balls in all sizes sprayed forth from the launcher. Charlotte was the first to grasp their path.

  “Rain of Saturday!” Calling submachine guns into both of her hands, she shattered target after target with guns akimbo. A hail of plusses beat down on her indicator on the scoreboard.

  “Not bad! But can you beat this?” From beside Charlotte’s position at range, the Akatsubaki soared skyward. “Haaaaaah!”

  Houki spiraled into the air, Karaware in one hand and Amazuki in the other.

  “Oh my, Houki. You certainly wouldn’t be taking my targets, would you?”

  Bwrrrm! Blue flashes pierced the sky around her, bolts of BT lasers from the Blue Tears’s bits.

  “The golden ball, and its points, are mine!” Just as Cecilia lined up her shot, her target split in half.

  “Hehe! That’s what I was after!” Ling’s Souten Gagetsu cleaved it in twain as she fired downward with her impact cannon. “Hahaha. Got ’em—”

  Before Ling’s shots found their target, they fizzled into the air. Looking closely, the targets had stopped falling as well.

  “That must be... Laura!”

  The Schwarzer Regen’s active inertial canceler had formed a protective wall, halting their descent.

  “Hmph— There!” Her high-caliber railgun spat fire. An instant later, the balls stopped by her AIC were destroyed. Her carefully-aimed fusillade brought her to the top of the scoreboard.

  “Was this supposed to be a competition? C’mon, Ichika! Tell her how good she did!”

  “Huh?! Er, uh... Not bad, Laura!” In contrast to Tatenashi’s enthusiasm, it was all Ichika could do to squeeze out a safe compliment. It was still enough to turn Laura’s cheeks red.

  “Of course! For me, this is as simple as...” Laura’s bashful tapping of her index fingers together was met with steely glares from the others, one of whom had spotted her chance.

  “Multi-target lock-on, complete...” Locking onto the hail of falling of bars, she fired all her missiles. As many as Uchigane Nishiki could fire.

  “Sarashiki Kanzashi is racking up the points! I’m proud of my little sister. Do your best, Kanzashi!”

  “Do you normally take sides like this?”

  “Ahahaha, I figured a little bit would be fine.”

  Kanzashi watched the interplay at the announcer stand, a blush growing on her face as she wished her sister would stop. The match continued to heat up, and as the scores began to even out, Houki paused in thought for a moment.

  I wonder if there’s some way to just win this outright. Some way to blow the competition away. Some way to sweep Ichika off his feet. I know! If she could get up on the launcher and jam Ugachi in... That would work. The problem’s the timing. And making sure no one realizes what I’m doing. Houki looked up at the sky, and at the battle unfolding above her.

  “Hey, wait, Cecilia!”

  “That one’s mine, Laura!”

  “Whoa— Cecilia! Don’t just get in my way!”

  “You’re the one in the way, Charlotte.”

  “Hmph! Ling, those points are mine!”

  The five of them are too busy fighting each other. Now’s my chance! Houki’s eyes gleamed as she landed momentarily to charge her Ugachi high-output energy cannon. Dropping to a crouch, her shoulder units slid open, and energy began to focus. This is the perfect timing! I can do it! As a confident grin rose to Houki’s face, the squabbles above her grew more intense.

  “There!”

  Ling spun out of the way of Cecilia’s shot, before slamming into Charlotte.

  “Hey! That was dangerous!”

  “Whoaaaaa!” Charlotte, losing her balance, sprayed machine gun fire.

  “Ah...” The barrage connected with a missile from Kanzashi, which detonated before it found its mark.

  “Huh? Wai—” The explosion blew Laura forward, and tensing, she squeezed the trigger of her revolver cannon— Which was pointed down at Houki.

  “W-What?!” Houki flinched out of the way, avoiding a direct hit, but sending Ugachi’s aim swinging wildly.

  And it ended up pointed at...

  “Hey, wait, waaait! That thing’s expensive!” Tatenashi’s complaints were for naught as the blast of energy destroyed the launcher with a deafening boom.

  “Wait, no, sorry, I wasn’t trying to—” All eyes were on Houki. And none of the stares were especially forgiving. “Hmph! What a piece of garbage!”

  The field fell silent as Tatenashi opened her mouth and said, “Team Houki, minus two hundred points.”

  Houki shrieked in dismay.

  ◇

  “All right, next up is the basic training obstacle course!” Tatenashi nearly screamed into the mic. It was a credit to its own quality that it carried her voice without feedback or clipping.

  “I have to ask, why basic training? Won’t that be too easy?”

  “Like in the military.”

  “Okay...”

  “So you don’t realize what’s coming up?”

  “Not really.”

  Tatenashi sighed at Ichika’s confusion, and adjusted her grip on the microphone.

  “Let me explain! The first step on the obstacle course is assembly of an assault rifle!”

  Tatenashi’s finger swung around to a table covered with gun parts.

  “Next, they’ll climb a three-meter ladder while carrying the rifle, and cross a five-meter girder while keeping their balance! Of course, there’ll be a net below for safety,” she winked. “After that, there’s a slide down a pole, and once they’re back on solid ground, they’ll advance in a crawl! All without taking either hand off their rifle!”

  Ichika, thinking it’d be rude to cut in, just nodded in agreement.

  “And last, but not least! The shooting gallery! Each contestant has only one bullet! If they miss, they’ve got to run all the way back!”

  Only at IS Academy would the crowd find this exciting. But Ichika couldn’t help but feel out of place, and he commented, “Sometimes I still can’t believe what they get up to here.”

  “Well, get used to it.” Tatenashi snapped open a fan reading ‘open mind.’

  “Hey, Orimu! Look at me!” Miss Casual, on Kanzashi’s team, waved up at him. As Ichika returned her gesture, the entire field for the first heat waved back.

  “Well, aren’t you popular.”

  “I’ve told you before, it’s just because I’m a novelty.”

  “...Perhaps.” Ichika couldn’t make out Tatenashi’s whispered reply, but his questioning look was interrupted by the starting pistol.

  Bang! The girls were off.

  “Wow, Miss Casual’s so slow.”

  “Just watch.” Finally, arriving at the table after all the others, she began to assemble the parts. By the time she started, the other girls were already halfway through. But just as Ichika began to fret, she held up a completed rifle.

  “Ta-dah!” It was perfect. Not a part out of place. Proudly brandishing it in both hands, Miss Casual took two or three strides’ lead while the other girls looked up in surprise.

  “No way. I can’t believe she—”

  “She’s very good with her hands.”

  “That’s more than just good.”

  “She and her sister are the best in the crew program. It’s almost scary to watch.”

  That stirred something loose in Ichika’s memory. Utsuho the dismantler. Honne the assembler. The Nohotoke sisters were famous, in their own way.

  “She still has her weak points, though.”

  “Huh?”

  Tatenashi pointed to where Miss Casual was lining up her shot. The bang unique to exploding gunpowder roared out, and a bullet flew forth. But, good though her stance was, that bullet kept flying far out of sight.

  “Huh, that’s not right.” Miss Casual tilted her head in confusion, then ran back for another bullet. But her next shot, and its next, and the next after, each missed, and by the time she scored a hit she was in last place.

  “I see... Zero points for marksmanship.” It was almost pitiful. But as he looked down, hoping to shoot her a look of consolation, their eyes met.

  “Hey, Orimu! Did you see me?” She hopped from foot to foot, her pendulous breasts bouncing side-to-side in time. Ichika, who was looking directly at them, tried to avert his eyes while blushing.

  Sqwunch!

  “Oww!” His side was suddenly pinched. By Tatenashi, of course.

  “Get back to announcing, boy!”

  “Okay, okay...” Taking the mic, Ichika roared as loudly as he could. “Do. Your. Beeeeesssssssttttt!”

  As one, and at once, the girls’ eyes gleamed with resolve. They couldn’t agree on much, but if Ichika was watching them, there was one thing they could agree on. That slim glimmer of hope, amplified in the ways only a teenage girl’s fantasies could, united them.

  The excitement held up through the race, and in the end, Laura’s team, which had practiced extensively, took the victory.

  “And now it’s my turn to shine!” Cecilia, who had been saving her energy, produced an impressive lace parasol. It was time for the cavalry battle. The rules were no different from one at a normal school, but it was rare for the contestants to be girls.

  “Cecilia Alcott sallies forth!” Cecilia, striking a gallant air, climbed onto the shoulders of a group of three teammates. As she rose, the voluptuous curves of her bottom became even more obvious. The contrast of navy blue bloomers pinching into alabaster skin was dazzling.

  “Ahem.” Feeling Tatenashi’s eyes upon him, Ichika cleared his throat to distract her.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Ichika.”

  “...How?”

  “I can tell by how you’re looking at her.” Tatenashi wrapped her arms around herself, as if to ward off his prying eyes. The pose irritated Ichika.

  “I-I was not!” he protested.

  Even though he was frustrated with Tatenashi, he turned back to commentary. I just need to not worry about it as much. Be natural, be natural... He repeated it to himself like a mantra as the team introductions began.

  “All eyes are sure to be on Laura as an active-duty officer, but— Oh, and there’s our first penalty! Ms. Orimura is confiscating a combat knife from her.”

  “A knife? For this?!”

  “And a Chinese scimitar from Ling.”

  “Jeez, Rin!”

  “And Houki! Is that a katana?”

  “Have they all gone crazy?”

  “A chakram has been confiscated from Charlotte.”

  “Even you, Charl?!”

  “Kanzashi, though, doesn’t appear to have anything. I knew my little sister was a good girl!”

  “She’s blushing now.”

  “How about you, Cecilia? Why don’t you show us that sniper rifle you have hidden?” Her nervous hiccup was audible across the field. With that out of the way, though, the main event of Field Day was about to begin.

  “All right... Cavalry battle, ready, fight!”

  At the sound of the whistle, dozens of girls sprung forth. The swiftest among them were Laura’s team.

  “Right wing, fan out! Left, follow me!” Laura stood atop her teammates with her arms crossed, shouting orders which were followed with a surprising precision for schoolgirls. “Center, charge!”

  “I won’t let you do that, Laura!” Charlotte’s own forces blocked Laura’s path forward.

  “Hmph. So you want to be eliminated early?”

  “You can try, but it won’t be easy!” Charlotte ducked past the hands grasping for her headband, and went on the attack. But against Laura, who was combat-hardened, her own efforts fell short.

 

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