“Hmph.”

  Planting another in the floor, she drew forth a replacement from a scabbard at her hip. The shrill grind of the blade as it sprung forth echoed chillingly through the room.

  “...Haven’t you taken this far enough?” Squad Leader—to give her the only name she knew—spoke with a steely voice, but behind her ice-cold intonation sparks of frustration were beginning to fly.

  “Hmmmm?” Chifuyu tauntingly feigned confusion. “Don’t you have a wedding to bomb or something? What are you doing at a high school on some middle-of-nowhere island?”

  “.........”

  “You’re after those drone cores... And something else too, aren’t you. Well, you picked the wrong day. Byakushiki is somewhere safe now.” A whisper of a smile flitted over her face.

  Squad Leader gritted her teeth and blurted out, “So you’ve figured it out. Then... Why?”

  “Hmph. ‘Why give battle anyway, when there’s no way a human could stand up to an IS?’ you mean?” Chifuyu’s blades whooshed through the air and into a striking stance. “Because I’m no ordinary human.”

  In an instant, the katana curved inward. But this time, Squad Leader caught them in her right fist.

  “You’re wasting your time!”

  “That’s for me to decide.”

  Letting her swords go, Chifuyu snaked her arms around her foe’s body. Moving fluidly, she lifted Squad Leader up in a grapple, tensing a wire in her hand.

  “Guh!” A choke of surprise escaped Squad Leader’s mouth as the garrote tightened around her neck.

  “I thought you’d be smarter than to rely on your IS’ life support like that.”

  The wire burned through the energy field, and Chifuyu was already shifting her balance for a spinning kick.

  “......?!”

  Chifuyu didn’t even break a sweat as she slammed the IS, and the pilot inside, into the wall.

  Squad Leader was beginning to panic. She’s inhuman. But—

  But what?

  It still isn’t enough to even scratch my IS.

  That’s why she couldn’t understand.

  Why is she trying to—

  Chifuyu, not wanting to give her opponent time to think, unleashed another hail of blades.

  “What’s wrong, Yankee? Show me what you’ve got.”

  “You’ve got a big mouth, Jap.”

  Again, sparks flew.

  ◇

  “All right, time to get some data out of Byakushiki. Open it up and stand on the scanner for me.”

  “Okay.”

  I nodded at Hikaruno and followed her instructions. A ring of light washed over my IS as the scanning began.

  “We’ll start with hardware data. Open up the fourth cable port for me?”

  “Got it.”

  I’d learned at least this much helping out like with Kanzashi. As instructed, I opened the port.

  “Okay, okay! Here goes!”

  She plugged the cable in with a snap. Zzzap!

  “......!!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It felt almost like a shock.”

  “Huh? That’s funny. Hold on, I’ll check it out.”

  “Okay...”

  As I wondered what was going on, I suddenly heard Kanzashi’s voice inside my head, “Ichika...”

  “Huh?”

  “Mm?” Hikaruno and I looked at each other, both confused.

  “Did a private channel just open up?”

  “Nope, couldn’t have. You’re in safe mode.”

  “That’s weird.” It had felt just like a private channel... At least, I thought so.

  “Anyway, let’s tune your thrusters output. Bring them all up to five percent for me?”

  “Okay.”

  Putting other thoughts aside, I focused on the data collection.

  ◇

  “......!”

  Chifuyu’s last katana bent with a dull cry.

  “This is over.” Squad Leader’s movements were swift and precise. She drove a quick left jab into Chifuyu’s gut, and an explosion rang out as Chifuyu was blown backward. “That was...”

  Unsure of what she had just felt, Squad Leader looked down at her hand, seeing the last few smoking wisps of cordite. Dammit. She realized, now. Chifuyu had gained distance, been protected by active armor, and now, she herself was enveloped in a forest of katana.

  With that, Chifuyu spoke a single word, “Shatter.”

  The blades exploded at the sound of her voice. The forces of the explosions cracked the floor, crumbled the walls, fractured the ceiling. Chifuyu, chased by flames, raced down the hallway.

  “You’re not getting away!”

  Chifuyu’s elusiveness had finally broken through Squad Leader’s discipline, and her irritation flared up. Firing up her thrusters, she roared down the hall in pursuit. Aiming at Chifuyu’s back, she unleashed a fierce blow—but Chifuyu, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, nimbly backflipped over it.

  “Hmph.”

  Planting her foot firmly in Squad Leader’s face, Chifuyu used the momentum to turn a corner. She tumbled through a door, then spun to body-check it closed and tumble for cover. Echolocation shows it as a dead end. Now I’ve got her! Squad Leader, her thrusters at full power, chased.

  “Bah!” She kicked the door open, but the moment she entered the room, spotlights snapped on.

  “Your turn, Maya.”

  “Roger that!”

  Chifuyu pulled the stealth cloaking away. Under it was a Rafale Revive equipped with four gigantic Gatling guns.

  T-The Quad Phalanx?! No longer a mobile weapon, between its weight and the anti-recoil stabilizers, but a turret of incomparable firepower. By the time her stomach turned, it was too late.

  BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!! A hail of cannonfire rained down upon her. Gunsmoke welled up like a devilish jack-in-the-box. Behind Maya’s IS, Chifuyu nonchalantly watched while sipping a mug of coffee.

  “Yeah... You make the best coffee, Ms. Yamada.”

  “Oh, that? It’s just instant.”

  “.........”

  A minute later, Squad Leader, bruised and bloodied, was tied up by Maya and Chifuyu. The last few drops of her coffee had a salty, metallic tang.

  ◇

  “Well, that’s that.”

  Tatenashi, having finished tying up the men of the special ops squad with Kevlar rope, let out a sigh. They’re obviously American. No one else would be here after the drones so quickly.

  The problem was, how did they knock out the school’s systems? If they stayed down too long, she’d have to break each classroom’s shutters open herself for circulation. And vandalism like that? From the student council president, even? Ah well, no sense crying over spilled milk.

  “Let’s go.”

  Tatenashi switched her IS into standby mode to save energy and took a step forward. As she did, a shot from a silenced gun tore through her belly.

  “Huh?” She coughed up a bit of blood, and, still bewildered, tumbled forward.

  “You finally let your guard down.”

  Dammit! I was too careless! The tied-up men slouched their ropes off. They must have cut themselves loose with hidden plasma cutters. Now, their arms and legs were unbound.

  “What do we do with her?”

  “She’s the Russian pilot. Japanese by birth, but it looks like she’ll give anyone a turn if it lets her get her hands on an IS.”

  “And...?”

  “Stop her bleeding and give her a shot of morphine to keep her quiet. We’re taking her and her IS back with us.”

  “Roger.”

  The men set to work as ordered, their first step gagging her to keep her from biting through her tongue.

  “Mmph!”

  “Keep it quiet, or you’re gonna bleed out.”

  Her stomach ached as if it was being torn apart, but soon, the shot of morphine to her neck pulled her consciousness away.

  “I... chi... ka...”

  Without thinking, she called out his name before losing consciousness.

  Chapter III: World Purge

  “Ichika...?”

  A classroom, in the light of sunset. The faraway sounds of the baseball team. I was alone here with Ichika.

  “What’s up, Rin?”

  Something tugged at my thoughts.

  “Umm...”

  There was something I was forgetting, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.

  “C’mon, how often do we get to be alone together?”

  “Y-Yeah...”

  A classroom, in the light of sunset. Me in my sailor uniform, Ichika in his collared jacket. I get so nervous when we’re together like this... Even though we’re going out. Going out? Yeah. With who? My dear, dear Ichika! That’s it. That’s what I was forgetting. I laughed to play it off, and sat down on my desk.

  Badum, badum. Jeez... My heart feels like it’s gonna jump out of my chest...

  “Rin.”

  “W-What?” My voice wavered. Ugh, I sounded so lame.

  “Can I sit down next to you?”

  “Y-Yeah...” I nodded twice. Ichika, smiling, sat down next to me.

  The room was silent. But inside, my emotions were anything but. Omigawd, what do I do... We’re rubbing up against each other... I could feel the warmth of Ichika’s body. I let myself sway back and forth, straining to hear the sound of his heart beating.

  “Rin.”

  “W-What?”

  He whispered in my ear. The sensation of his breath on my earlobes made my heart pound even harder, “Can I come over to your house today?”

  “Ah...?”

  I thought back to three days before.

  “My parents are going out of town in a couple days. I’m gonna have to cook for myself, this suuuuucks.”

  “Huh.”

  It was just idle chatter to pass the time, but thinking back on it... I... I was asking him over, wasn’t I... I must have been. So obviously even Ichika could figure it out. I shouted inside my heart. My face was red all the way up to my ears, and I couldn’t look straight at him.

  “So, can I?”

  “Yeah...” I nodded, swallowing nervously.

  [WORLD PURGE COMPLETE.]

  Somewhere in the back of my head, I thought I heard those words. But I had more important things on my mind. How am I going to sneak off and change my panties first? That was all I could think of.

  ◇

  In the laboratory, Ichika had finished the first scanning pass and was sitting in a chair with Byakushiki still open.

  “We’re almost finished. Here, have a coffee.”

  “Oh, thanks.” He accepted the cup from Hikaruno, and took a sip. It was dark, bitter, like growing up.

  Ichika.

  “Ah...”

  He had definitely heard that. He was sure of it, and he threw his coffee to the side while climbing into Byakushiki.

  “Hey, wait, Orimura?!”

  “Sorry! I’ve got to get back to the Academy, right away!”

  “Aww, but how could I ever let you go?”

  “I’m gonna blow the wall!”

  “Whoa!”

  Ichika deployed his particle cannon and, true to his words, fired, knocking out the wall of the lab.

  “See you!”

  Firing Ignition Boost, he flew through the hole. In just a moment, he had shrunk to a dot on the horizon.

  “Jeez, he’s a real hothead,” Hikaruno whispered to herself, coughing from the cloud of dust. “I guess he really is still just a kid.”

  She shook her head while sighing, but an impish smile rose to her face.

  “It’s okay, Orimura Ichika. I’ve got all the data I need.” She smirked while looking out at the open sky. “With this, I can start planning the next-generation mass-produced IS...”

  ◇

  Firing Ignition Boost on cooldown, it didn’t even take me 30 minutes to make it back to the Academy. I can hear it. Someone’s calling out to me! Someone needed me. And I needed to be by their side. Because I’m Orimura Ichika.

  “......?!” A blip came up on Byakushiki’s sensors. “That’s—”

  Men in black tactical gear were carrying Tatenashi through the covered passage between buildings on campus.

  “Let her...”

  I focused my thoughts intently. Ignition Boost.

  “LET HER GO!”

  As I slammed into them, I swept the men’s legs out from under them while grabbing a hold of Tatenashi. As I did, I fired my particle cannon into the ground to raise a cloud of dust for cover.

  “Graaaah!” A single sweeping kick slammed all six into a wall.

  “Tatenashi! Tatenashi?!” I screamed out her name. My sensors still showed signs of life, but she didn’t open her eyes. “Tatenashi!”

  As I shouted her name one more time, her eyelids opened.

  “Mmm... I-Ichika?” She must have been drugged. Her eyes were clouded, like I was carrying Sleeping Beauty.

  “Are you okay? Let me get you to the hospital!”

  “Mmm... Underground... Go here... Ms. Orimura... Is waiting...”

  “Got it!” I raced through the halls toward the waypoint she sent at full speed. “Tatenashi, you’re bleeding! Were you shot?!”

  “I’m fine...”

  She smiled, trying to laugh it off, but there was none of her usual calmness on her face. Shit! What the hell is going on here?! I blew through armored shutters with my particle cannon, taking the shortest possible path to Chifuyu.

  “Here?!” I tapped out an access code on a panel to open a door, and saw inside Chifuyu and Ms. Yamada standing over a bound woman I didn’t recognize. “Whaaa? What’s going—”

  “I’ll explain later! Orimura, you need to go help Shinonono and the others!”

  “Eh?!”

  “Here’s the waypoint. Hurry!”

  “O-Okay!”

  Leaving Tatenashi to Ms. Yamada, I raced off as quickly as I’d arrived. What’s going on?! Arriving at the designated room, I released my IS and stepped inside. In the bright white room, Houki and the others slept while Kanzashi paced nervously.

  “Ah... Ichika?”

  “Kanzashi? What’s going on?”

  “Umm...”

  She normally had such a hard time putting things into words, it must have been near-impossible for her now. Just as I realized it, a text arrived.

  [Orimura — IS Academy has been neutralized by an unknown force. Shinonono and the others entered cyberspace to wrestle back control, but due to the attacks, I was unable to maintain contact with them. At this rate, they’re unlikely to regain consciousness. You need to dive into the IS core network yourself as well, and save them. We’re counting on you. —Sarashiki Kanzashi]

  All right. Understood. I mean, I didn’t understand a word of it, but! Understood!

  “So, how do I dive into cyberspace?”

  Silently, Kanzashi raised a stun gun. What was she...

  “Hey, wait, Kanza—”

  Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

  “—shiiiiiiiiii?!” An incredible jolt coursed through me. It hurt. It burned. My body went numb, and my consciousness faded.

  “What are you doing?!”

  I tried to pull myself upright. Wait... When had I laid down? Why was I in the middle of a field?!

  “Hurry into the forest. The others are inside the doors you’ll find there,” Kanzashi’s voice echoed in my head.

  “Got it!” I nodded firmly and rushed off.

  ◇

  “Whoa, it’s really coming down.” Ichika and I ran, holding our backpacks over our heads to keep the driving rain off. “Let’s rest at the bus stop!”

  “Got it!”

  We walked to school, so we wouldn’t be waiting for a bus, but it was still a roof to wait out the downpour under.

  “That came out of nowhere.”

  “Tell me about it. Ugh, I’m dripping wet now.”

  As I ran my fingers moodily through my hair, trying to sluice the rainwater out, I felt something fluffy land on my head.

  “Here, use my towel.”

  “Oh, thanks. What about you, though?”

  “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” As he spoke, he began to gently dry my head off. I loved how tender he could be sometimes. “Hey, Rin.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I think I’ll dry your body off, too.”

  The words weren’t even out of his mouth before his hands slid down, tracing over my curves.

  “Knock it off!”

  Pow! A fist put an end to that.

  “Owww, that hurt.”

  “You’re such a pervert sometimes.”

  “Ahahaha...”

  Lately, Ichika had taken every chance he could to get his hands on me. I knew what he was after. And I wished he’d be more romantic for our first time.

  “Jeez...”

  But... I could think of worse things, too. When he touches me, I feel like I’m walking on air... My heart soars. It feels so good. I wish he’d never stop. That’s how I feel... So maybe... Maybe today’s the day? I asked myself.

  Ka-thump. My heart pounded. That was my answer.

  “Hey, look, the sun’s come back out.”

  “Huh, it has.”

  “So why don’t we head back to my place?”

  “Sure. Hey, can I take a shower when we get there?” he asked, and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest. “My hair’s all wet.”

  “Oh, of course!” I awkwardly laughed, barely able to handle the pounding of my pulse.

  “Anyway, let’s go.”

  His hand drifted toward mine, casually. I played indecisive for a moment, before taking it and nodding.

  “Yeah...”

  We walked along the warming pavement, taking in the scent of the rain. We were almost at my house, the Chinese restaurant Lingyin. My parents’ doting was so embarrassing. Today we were closed, so we didn’t have the awning rolled out. We stopped for a moment in the living room after going through the restaurant and into the house part.

  “Ah... Umm...” Our hands were still together. My free hand opened and closed in nervousness. “So, now what? Did you want to shower first?”

  “I guess.” Ichika nodded. Imagining him showering, my face began to turn red. That’ll give me a chance to change my panties! My heart throbbed.

  “Rin.”

  “W-What?!”

  “Why don’t we shower together?”

 

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