Infinite Stratos - Volume 4, page 7
It was a black killer object with a blunt glow. Laura grabbed the pistol that could kill at will and pointed it at the boss' forehead.
"Too slow. Die."
"Huh? Laura, hold—"
*CLANK!* What hit the boss' head wasn't a bullet, but the butt of the pistol. The man fell onto the floor lifelessly like a puppet with its strings cut, lying motionlessly.
"All targets secured."
"...Haa, I was scared there for a while..."
"Because if you said that, amateurs would hesitate and wouldn't squeeze the trigger. That's the correct way to deal with this."
"No, well, even so."
--Laura won't really shoot it.
Charlotte didn't say it out.
The shop went quiet for quite a while. Stunned by this fast roller-coaster-like situation, the 'Civilians', the customers and workers started trembling as they looked up.
"Is-Is it over...?"
"We're save..."
"How, how did we..."
Though everyone knew that they were safe, they couldn't understand the situation and could only blink frantically and stare blankly at Laura and Charlotte.
And the shopkeeper, who hadn't fully recovered, was thinking of something completely unrelated—that was, a report to the main office 'A pretty silver-haired maid and handsome blond male (female) butler took down bank robbers'. Would the company believe her...?
"We- WE'RE SAVED!"
"THANK GOODNESS! THAN-THANK YOU, MAID-SAN, BUTLER-SAN, THANK YOU!!"
Everyone in the shop probably felt some surreal sense now and a commotion spread throughout the shop.
Seeing this situation, the police squads determined the current situation and rushed up.
"Fuu, the Japanese police are rather outstanding too."
"Argh, Laura! We're representative candidates and personal IS pilots. Got to avoid being the focus of attention!"
"You're right. Got to say sorry to everyone else then."
As expected, even with the police squads carrying out traffic control, the media reporters went through the forbidden boundary and rushed in.
--But things went for the worst.
"I'LL BLOW EVERYTHING UP INSTEAD OF GOING TO JAIL!"
The boss whom everyone thought was unconscious lost his mind as he stood up, flipping open the jacket flaps on both side.
Plastic explosives could be seen on the inside of his jacket, and it seemed like it could blow up a 40 meter place. Of course, the ignition trigger was in his hands.
"Wa--..."
"Still so old-fashioned until the end~..."
Someone accidentally said this, but there's even more fear in the shop now. However—
"Really, you don't know when to give up."
Laura suddenly lifted her right foot as if she was trying to lift her skirt, and the white fabric that was barely seen under the skirt attracted the male gaze. At that moment, she used this time to stamp the foot down.
The heel hit the table, which then tumbled, and the pistol on the table flew out. Charlotte rolled out from behind and grabbed that pistol. And then—
*DA DA DA DA DA!!*
"Checkmate!"
She quickly fired five X2 bullets, and they landed accurately on the ignition setup, the explosion fuse and the wires.
"Wanna continue?"
"Your arm will be next."
The sounds of two pistols being knocked together made the guy lose his forced viciousness as he trembled and apologized.
"So-Sorry, SORRY! I, I WON'T DO IT AGAIN! I PROMISE! PLEASE SPARE ME..."
Without listening to the declaration of surrender, Laura and Charlotte left the scene calmly like a black whirlwind.
◆
"It's evening now."
2 hours after the incident happened, both of them finished what they wanted to buy and left the shopping mall in front of the station. It's only now that they realized that the sky's orange.
"Have you gotten all that you want?"
"Yup. Speaking of which, Laura. You wanted to buy your own stuff, but you ended up saying 'I'll leave it to you then' or 'Anything that suits you'. You can't do that as a girl."
"Don't rattle on trivial things. You'll age really fast."
"I-I'M NOT OLD!"
In fact, Charlotte even thought of something, so Laura's words made her jump.
What she thought about—was Ichika.
(Speaking of which, he's really like an old man at times...)
In other words, she may have more or less gotten influenced by him unknowingly.
Thinking about this, she can't just say that Laura's 'Easily Influenced'.
"Ah yes. Let's go to the park opposite."
"The park?"
"Mn. The Castle Park. It was formerly a fortress."
"Oh, that's interesting. I heard that Japanese fortresses were hard to break through. Even though they're just remains of a fortress, there's value in seeing this."
Laura still viewed this from a military perspective, but Charlotte couldn't say anything with regards to that. Everyone had their own feelings, people had to observe, understand and not force things on each other.
"Speaking of which, we really bought a lot of stuff. The shopkeeper secretly gave us money and we ended up buying a lot more than what we expected. That was a great help."
"Uu, money? Speaking of which, my account should have about 20 million Euros—"
"Huh? You have that much money?"
"Ahh, well, I was affiliated to the military when I was born anyway. And ever since I became an IS representative candidate, I got more money."
(I got a similar funding but I never had so much money...)
"But I don't know how to get the money because I never withdrew money before."
"Ah—hm, I see...it's a good thing that you saved up a lot. I'll teach you how to use the money then."
"Mn, I'll leave it to you then. But that's because I didn't need money up till now. The army's supplies were enough for me, and it's the same when doing undercover. I won't take anything other than from the briefing people, or else I'll reveal myself too easily."
"Let's not mention that then. Anyway, after we go to the park, let's see if there's a crepes stall around."
"Hm? Crepes stalls? Why?"
"Well, during rest time in the shop, someone in the shop told me a charm 'You'll be really fortunate if you can eat a mixed berry crepes from the crepes stall in this park'."
"'Charm'...is it some Japanese occult?"
"Umm, it's good luck."
"Oh, a good omen."
I see. Laura nodded her head, but Charlotte gave a slightly troubled look.
(Uu—it's not wrong to say that, but wouldn't it be more feminine to call it a charm?)
Even so, Laura still followed along, so Charlotte immediately began looking for the shop.
But there was no need to look for it, as the shop was right in front of them.
The shop stood there, and a lot of high school girls were gathered around it, probably because club activities ended or they just went out.
"Let's hurry up and go there then!"
Charlotte grabbed Laura's hand with both hands and walked towards the mobile crepes shop that was modified from a van.
"Sorry, please give me two mixed berry crepes."
On hearing Charlotte's words, the 25-year-old male shopkeeper with a moustache politely lowered his head and said,
"Ahh—I'm sorry. We're sold out on mixed berry flavor today."
"Ah, I see. That's a pity....do you want another flavor, Laura?"
"Hm? I want strawberry and grape then."
Laura raised both fingers to indicate that she wanted two and even got ready to pay.
"No need for that, Laura. I'll pay here. You came here with me anyway."
"Is that so? Don't mind it. I'm just trying out how to spend my salary. What's my score?"
The tone was not like a teenage girl, but Charlotte could only give up after hearing Laura say this so earnestly.
"100 points."
"Fufufu, I knew it."
Laura said that happily and received the crepes from the boss.
"Which one do you want?"
"Mn~ strawberry then."
Both of them sit side by side on a bench that's somewhat far away from the shop.
"Mu, mn, this is really nice!"
"Yeah. This is the first time I'm eating crepes, and I find it nice too."
Charlotte was a little depressed that she didn't get to buy the legendary mixed berry flavor, but the softness and flavor of the crepe made her voice sound even happier.
"Delicious~ we'll come back again. I'll get everyone along!"
"If that's the case, I want to get Ichika along."
"Tha-That's cheating! Really!"
But after seeing that Laura could be honest with her own feelings, Charlotte felt somewhat envious.
(I-If-If I could come along with Ichika as well, I would be really happy too...)
Charlotte couldn't help but remember the dream sequence last week—of course, it wasn't something that could be said easily—and couldn't help but blush.
It wasn't directed at anyone, but recalling these ambiguous feelings made Charlotte eat the crepes really quickly.
(Uu~ it's a dream, a dream! That's not really, a~uu~...forget it, forget it, forget it!)
"Charlotte."
"Mn? What is it, Laura—"
Without warning, Laura licked Charlotte's lips lightly.
"WHA-WHAT WERE YOU DODODODODODOODO...!?"
"You have sauce on your face."
"So-SoSo-SoSoSoSoSowhat, huhhuhhuhHUUUH?"
"My hands are full."
Saying that Laura, raised the crepes in her left hand and the bags in the right hand for Charlotte to see.
"The-Then you could have told me—"
"But it looked like it was about to fall off."
Actually, there wasn't really any significance. Laura tilted her head, not knowing what Charlotte was being all panicky about.
Right now, she looked like a cat who'd do anything it wants as she easily went past the barriers the human heart would have...or that's the impression Charlotte had.
"Ah."
Laura licked her shoulder again like a cat combing its own fur.
"~!"
This sudden action caused Charlotte's heart to pound like crazy.
This wasn't a question of whether she liked someone of the same gender. If there was such a pretty girl of the same age being this intimate with her, anyone's heart would pound wildly once or twice.
(Uuu~ Laura just didn't realize her own actions and appearance. That's why she lacked such awareness..)
Though she was thinking about this and grumbling, Charlotte was a pretty girl as well, but humans just couldn't understand themselves.
"Don't be so angry. I'll share some of my crepes with you."
"I-Itadakimasu."
Trying to hide her own embarrassment, Charlotte widened her mouth and took a bite out of Laura's crepes.
"Ah, speaking of which, that crepes shop never sold mixed berry flavor."
"Huh?"
"The menu never had it. Besides, the kitchen didn't have a sauce of a similar color."
"Is-Is it true? You saw it really clearly."
"Of course. What'll happen if it's a disguise for a terrorist? If someone ignites a grenade at that distance, our lives will be in danger even if we deploy our ISes quickly."
"...So you were observing like that."
Was she mindful of the rumor too? Laura's really a girl! ...but that didn't seem to be the case as Charlotte lowered her shoulders dejectedly.
"But we can still eat a mixed berry flavor."
"?"
"What flavor's this crepe?"
"What flavor, grape...ah!"
Seeing the smile on Laura's face, Charlotte suddenly had a brainflash.
"Ahh! Strawberry and blueberry!"
"Correct answer!"
Laura took another bite off her crepes.
"—Umm, Laura! Blueberry and grapes are different!"
"But it's like grapes, right? And if I said 'I want the blueberry flavor' you'll find out, Charlotte."
On hearing that...Charlotte remembered. When Laura ordered strawberry and grape, the boss even smiled in an interesting manner.
"I see...'The mixed berry flavor that would be sold out immediately', so that's how the charm goes."
Realizing this, Charlotte nodded her head, and felt embarrassed for thinking that Laura 'lacks awareness as a girl'.
She thought that she knew everything, but she didn't know anything at all. Realizing this, Charlotte blushed again, but the reason was different from before.
(I-I see. So that's how it is...it-it's true that I'll be really happy if I eat a mixed flavor crepe with my boyfriend...)
Charlotte started remembering the things Laura did till here, and the role became that of Ichika's. She then replayed it again, and it wouldn't stop playing for the next few days.
"Speaking of which, summer's about to end."
"Yeah."
Both of them had a common understanding even without saying it out. This year, in summer—no, not just summer. This year would be a very important phase for them. Not just in their youth, but also in their lives. That was what they were thinking now.
Both of them will never ever forget...
The first time they met their first love at the age of 15—
◆
"Wha-What, is this...?"
"Mn~♪ , kawaii[4B 3]. It really suits you, Laura!"
"Don-Don't hug me! Uu, I can't move like this..."
"Fuufu-, no~ way. Cats are to stay on the knees obediently."
"You-You're a cat too..."
Laura and Charlotte were having a conversation that would make anyone chuckle.
After dinner, the two of them had nothing to do, and after rolling on the bed awhile, Charlotte suggested that they should hurry up and wear the pajamas they bought, and so it ended up like this.
"Are these...really pajamas?"
"Yup, that's right. It's nice to sleep in, right?"
"How-How would I know without sleeping?"
It wasn't unreasonable for Laura to not be suspicious. Though they were really in pajamas, it was a rare type at that.
The bag-shaped clothing covered their bodies, revealing just a face. Also, there were a pair of cat ears on their heads, and there were paw pads on their hands and feet.
--In other words, these were kitty pajamas.
"It-It's better to sleep naked. That's a lot easier."
"No~ and it suits you. It's a waste if you take it off!"
Right now, both of them were dressed like that. Laura was in the black kitty pajamas, and Charlotte in the white. And ever since they changed into pajamas, Charlotte had been hugging Laura from behind, letting Laura sit on her own knees. It seemed that she really liked this get-up.
"Now Laura, since it's a rare chance, how about a little nya~n~?"
"I-I refuse! Why must I do that?"
"Huh—because it's cute~. Cuteness takes precedence~"
Charlotte smiled with what sounded like laughter, and to Laura, that was a powerful enemy she had never met before.
Anyway, she continued to be coerced with things like 'It's cute so it doesn't matter', 'Why can we not wear this', 'Too bad I have to reject your request', and with these unreasonable, illogical, baseless things that were 180 degrees different from usual, Laura found herself being hugged by Charlotte on the knees the moment she recovered.
"Hurry up, hurry up and try it~ nya~n~♪"
"Ny-Nya~n~"
Though she was shy, Laura the black cat with the eyepatch raised her hand out like that, causing Charlotte to be really happy. Maybe this could rival the data of a certain space battleship main cannon.[4B 4]
"Laura's so cute~. Let's have a photo! Okay? Okay!"
"You-You want to keep a record? I refuse!"
"Don't say that~"
*KOK KOK!*
"Come in~"
Charlotte responded with an intimate tone only the girls dorm would have, and the radiant smile caused Laura to blush.
"Hai! Oh, you're dressed quite differently. Black and white cats."
The one who entered the room was Ichika.
(EEHHHHHHHHH!!? DID-DID HE SUDDENLY ENTER THIS ROOM? WHY DID IT END UP LIKE THAT? SPEAKING OF WHICH, WHY TODAY!? AHHH, I'M STILL DRESSED IN CAT PAJAMAS! NO-NO, I-I BOUGHT THIS BECAUSE I FELT THAT IT WAS CUTE. I-I WOULD WEAR SOMETHING MORE MATURE NORMALLY, RIGHT!? NO, THAT'S NOT IT!!)
Charlotte's mind was spinning rapidly. Even though she intended to try and explain, what she ended up saying were ambiguous sounds like 'ah, huh, uu...'.
"It seemed that you called me today. Sorry that I couldn't pick up the phone that time, but it was an urgent case related to IS, so I couldn't call the outside world. I still couldn't contact you after I returned back in the evening, so I just came along to look."
"I-I case. Mn, you're really attentive as a bride. That's worth praising."
Using the opportunity while Charlotte was panicking, Laura got away from her arms, folded her arms in front of her chest and stood up as she said that, but without the usual intimidating presence.
Besides, Laura was dressed in black cat pajamas with cat ears and cat paws. More than intimidating, it made her twice as cute.
"It-It seems that I turned my phone to silent and left it in the bag. Ah-Ahaha."
Having regained some sense somewhat, Charlotte took out her phone and said that.
But she was also dressed in white cat pajamas with cat ears and cat paws. As the scene in front of him was really unbelievable, even Ichika was worrying about where he should focus on.
"Fuu."
(WAAHHH!! I GOT LAUGHED AT~!! WAHHH!! HE MUST BE THINKING THAT I'M REALLY CHILDISH...UUUUUU~)
"Erm, how should I put it. You two look interesting, and very cute."
Perhaps seeing that both of them were giggling, Ichika looked happy as he said that.
""Cu-Cute...""
Laura and Charlotte muttered in unison.
And then they blushed. They continued to remember and replay what Ichika said as they silently sat on the bed.
"Oh yeah, I just went out today, so I got gifts for you."
Saying that, Ichika pulled out a cookie bag with a large @Cruise symbol on it.
""!?""
Both of them remembered how they looked when they were working and started dripping cold sweat.
