“Wait, no, sorry, I wasn’t trying to—”

  “You— You creep!” I swear, every single time! “I won’t forgive you for this, Ichika!”

  ...Huh?

  “Wait, if you’re... Ichika? Then, who’s that?”

  “Eh? Uh, umm...”

  That awkward hesitation... This was Ichika! It was Ichika, I knew it!

  “Take off that mask!”

  “Whoa, stop it! Stop it, Houki!”

  He called me by name! I knew it was him!

  “Ichika! You little... Why do you always do this kind of—”

  “Houki, I’m Ichika!” the fake Ichika cried out.

  “Be quiet— Disappear!” As Houki’s clarion call echoed, the fake Ichika disappeared, and the scenery faded from the false dojo back to the forest.

  “Uhh, Houki... Are you okay?” Ichika, in a butler’s uniform, stared at me in surprise.

  “Okay? Okay?! You just grabbed my chest!” Before I even realized it, I was in a rage. “It’s time for your punishment!”

  Opening my IS, I summoned forth my Karaware blade.

  “Wait, wait, wait, wait! That’s even worse than coming at me with a sword— WHOA!”

  “You’re not getting away from this!”

  I chased after the fleeing Ichika. For some reason, I was enjoying it. Even more than I enjoyed that maudlin dream...

  ◇

  “So everything I saw in there was just an illusion created by this ‘World Purge’ thing? And all they were trying to do with it was buy time? Ugh, now I’m really ticked off.”

  It was only back in the real world, listening to Kanzashi’s explanation, that Houki realized what had happened.

  “What I don’t understand is why Houki managed to break free from it so easily.” Cecilia, Ling, Charlotte, and Laura looked around nervously. “Especially compared to everyone else, who just—mmph!”

  Four hands covered Kanzashi’s mouth.

  “Why, whyever would you think that?”

  “Mhm! We were just about to snap out of it on our own too!”

  “Yeah! She’s right!”

  “Certainly!”

  Houki side-eyed the four for a moment, before turning her gaze to Ichika, who still hadn’t awakened. I hope he’s safe, but... I’m worried...

  ◇

  “All right, I finally made it.”

  Walking out from under the cover of the trees, I found myself on a glimmering white beach, with the sapphire sea stretching out to the horizon. Is this the system core? I had a weird feeling almost like déjà vu, like I’d been here before but like it was my first time too.

  “Wait, is that...”

  A lone girl stood amidst the flat expanse of the dunes. Her hair was long and silver. Huh? Do I recognize her from somewhere? But she doesn’t look familiar... As I approached her, her silver hair began to ring a bell.

  “Laura? Is that you?”

  As I called out to the girl, she turned around. Her eyes were closed, but she replied, “I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Chloe. Chloe Chronicle. I’ll be leaving now.”

  Even as she spoke, she sank into her shadow and began to disappear.

  “H-Hey. Wait up!” My call was in vain as she faded away. “What do I do now?”

  I still wasn’t able to get in contact with Kanzashi. With no other choice, I walked along the beach, and soon found another woman at the water’s edge. “Ah...”

  The black-haired beauty was my—

  ◇

  “Man, he’s still out cold?” Ling sighed as she looked down at Ichika’s limp form in the bed. “Perhaps he fell for the same sort of trap as we did?”

  Kanzashi disagreed, quietly but firmly, “I don’t think that’s possible now. The system’s already been cleared.”

  “So why isn’t he waking up?” Charlotte asked curiously, only to be met by Laura’s intent gaze.

  “Maybe if we kiss him,” she said with a deadly serious tone.

  “Wait, whaaaaaaat?!” Everyone but Laura raised their voice in surprise. If you listened closely, you could even hear Kanzashi shout a little.

  “Kiss him?! What are you talking about!”

  “Hmph. Didn’t you ever learn about that? The way to wake up a sleeping princess has always been to kiss them. At least, that’s what my second-in-command said.”

  “Sounds like she needs a demotion...”

  While Ling rolled her eyes, Cecilia spoke up energetically, “Ah, but wait! We’d be fools to let the opportunity pass!”

  “Seriously? What’s gotten into you, Ceci—”

  “And who better but myself? I, Cecilia Alcott, of proud noble blood, have a duty to wake the sleeping Prince Ichika!” Cecilia sniffed haughtily.

  “Ehh?! Wait, no fair! I’m a cadet too!” Charlotte raised her hand, not wanting to miss her chance.

  “A-Ahem! I mean, it’s just kind of like CPR, isn’t it?” Houki softly raised her own as her gaze played over Ichika.

  “Well I can do it too, okay?!” Ling’s hand shot into the air.

  “Come on! It was my idea! Don’t try to steal it!” Laura’s voice rose as she argued, and in the confusion, Kanzashi made her own move first.

  “.........”

  “Hold it!” Houki grabbed her right arm, and Laura her left.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to sneak in?”

  “I-I just... That wasn’t what I was trying to do, but the longer we sit here and watch him, the longer it seems like it’s going to take. So I was thinking about taking a more active approach and breaking the deadlock, not to force my way in, but because I feel like it’s only the right thing to do. And someone has to take responsibility, so—”

  “Gah! That’s too long! Too long and too complicated! It’s got more twists in it than Cecilia’s hairstyle!” Ling cried out.

  “Indeed, indeed...! Wait, Ling, what was that about my hair?”

  As the argument continued, Charlotte, left off to the side, suddenly had a revelation, “Wait, is this my chance?”

  “Like hell it is!” Ling, trying to cut her off, launched into a dropkick. Charlotte weaved to the side, evading, just as the door behind her slid open.

  “What are you brats going on about— Oh?” Ling’s foot connected with Chifuyu’s belly. Of course, she was completely unscratched. “I always knew you’d try this someday, Huang.”

  “I, uh... Ahhhhhhh...” Ling trembled as the others could only muster wan smiles as goodbyes. As for what followed...

  [This video has been altered to protect the identity of the persons on camera.]

  “At that moment, I was sure I’d never see Ling’s smiling face again.”

  “I expected to see her beaten to a pulp.”

  “So this was her fate...”

  “Death is the only reward for turning against mein Lehrerin. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t pity her.”

  “She was a trustworthy friend... A kind mother... A talented teacher... Uh, what else goes on a tombstone?”

  —R.I.P. Huang Lingyin.

  Chapter IV: Tea Party in the Secret Garden

  “Whoa!” I jerked stock-straight, dripping with sweat, from a nightmare where Rin died. “I just dreamed about Rin dying...”

  Eh? Where am I?

  “The nurse’s office... No. The school hospital.”

  A wing of IS Academy equipped with all the medical technology you’d find in a research hospital. It feels like I’ve been ending up here a lot lately. Even the bed seemed to be the same one I was in after the attack on the school.

  “You’re awake now?”

  Huh? Someone was in the bed next to mine. I pulled the curtain back, only to reveal a bra-less Tatenashi changing her top. Her breasts, just as beautifully curved as always, jiggled.

  “Whoooah! Sorry, sorry!”

  Panicking, I yanked the curtain shut, but it was too late. Mysterious Lady’s lance came thrusting through a moment later.

  “I-chi-ka. You know you shouldn’t be doing that kind of thing,” she giggled.

  “Really, I’m sorry! I’ll do anything! Just forgive me!”

  The lance stopped its slow thrust, and she replied, “An-y-thing?”

  Ugh. I was going to regret saying that.

  “Well, anything possible...” I nervously doubled down. It wasn’t like I had much choice. The tip of the lance was barely a centimeter from my neck.

  “Well, then—” she said with a nervous swallow. Huh...? “Do... Do something dirty with me, too...”

  .........

  ............

  ...............

  “Eh...?”

  “I heard all about it from Kanzashi! I know exactly what you got up to in cyberspace without even asking me! Without approval from the student council! Without permission from the student council president!”

  “Wait, that was just, umm, that was just a trap the attacker—”

  “Oh, you’re making excuses now? Really? You think excuses will work?”

  I wondered why she was so mad about it. There must have been some kind of miscommunication...

  “Tatenashi, can you just calm down for a second?”

  If she didn’t, I was probably going to get skewered.

  “You think I can be calm about this?!” The lance pushed in further, its tip breaking the skin on my neck.

  “Whoa! Just put this thing away!”

  “Ah, sorry...”

  Her voice suddenly calmed, as the lance dissolved into light. And for a moment after, we sat in silence. I leaned toward the hole in the curtain left by the lance to take a peek, but at the same time, Tatenashi did too.

  “......!!”

  We each pulled back suddenly. What a mess.

  “Er, Ichika...”

  “Y-Yes?”

  “Can I come over there?”

  “Okay?” I replied. What was she planning?

  “But turn around first!”

  “O-Okay!” I turned my back to her bed. As I did, I heard the curtain open and her footsteps on the floor.

  “Um, Tatenashi?”

  “W-What?”

  “Why are you in my bed?”

  “Because I’m injured.”

  That was true. But it wasn’t what I meant, so I repeated, “I mean, why are you in my bed?!”

  “It’s okay if we don’t face each other, right?”

  “Eh? Er, yeah, I guess. Okay.”

  Whoops, I probably shouldn’t have said ‘okay.’

  “...All right.” What was she up to? “Ah. Thanks.”

  “Huh?”

  “For saving me...”

  “Well, I mean, I couldn’t not do it.”

  “Still... It made me happy.”

  “Understood.”

  Surprised by how forceful her voice suddenly was, I stiffened my back.

  “.........”

  “.........”

  We lay there quietly. I couldn’t tell how long it lasted, but her warmth on my back was making my heart race.

  “Um, Ichika. Remember how I told you that ‘Tatenashi’ was the name given to the head of the Sarashiki family?”

  “Huh? Oh, yeah, I remember,” I replied. Where did that come from all of a sudden?

  “I... I’ll tell you my real name,” she whispered softly in my ear. As my heart pounded at the heat of her breath, she whispered, quietly but firmly. “Sarashiki Katana.”

  With that, she beat a quick retreat to her own bed. Her real name, huh. I didn’t understand why she chose to tell me that, but I was happy that I knew a little bit more about her.

  ◇

  At a seashore café next to a park somewhere near IS Academy, a girl sat alone at a table. Her name was Chloe Chronicle. The pilot of the IS Kurokagi. A woman who had sworn loyalty to Tabane.

  Mission complete. I’ve got to get away from here. Her untouched latte had long since cooled, and just as she stood to leave it behind...

  “Mind if I sit with you?”

  With a sudden twinge, the girl, usually so calm, felt her heart leap from her chest. Even with her eyes closed, she recognized it from recordings.

  “Orimura... Chifuyu...”

  “Have a seat. Let me get you a coffee. Is black okay?”

  “.........”

  She couldn’t get away. She could feel it instinctively, and had no choice but to sit down as she stewed in dread. With trembling hands, she took the coffee mug.

  “All right, I’ll start this from the bottom line. Tell Tabane to keep her nose where it belongs.”

  I’m going to have to kill her. Just as the thought rose to Chloe’s mind, Chifuyu spoke, “C’mon. Don’t even think about it. You know you’d have no chance. Not even with your IS.”

  “......!” Chloe’s eyes snapped open, revealing one with a striking dark white and golden iris.

  “An endoskeletal IS, huh. Tabane’s that far ahead of the rest of the world?” Chifuyu sighed and set down her own mug, and suddenly, the world went white around her. “I see. So in cyberspace you can hack into people’s minds, and in reality you can manipulate the air around them to create illusions. Pretty impressive.”

  As she muttered, Chifuyu swatted away Chloe’s dagger with one hand while picking up a spoon from the table and scooping away at the whiteness surrounding her with the other.

  “Want your eyes to be next?”

  Chloe recognized her defeat. Without protest, she dropped her illusion.

  “Very well, then.” Chifuyu drank the rest of her coffee in one gulp and stood up. “Actually, did you want to meet your sister?”

  “That... That isn’t my sister... I’m the incomplete version... She’s the perfected Laura Bodewig...” Pausing, she added, “I’m Chloe. Chloe Chronicle.”

  The name Tabane had given to her. Satisfied, Chifuyu rose with an ‘I see’ and left. Chloe waited for a while, sipping the still-warm coffee.

  “It’s bitter...”

  She, too, stood and left the café. Not realizing she was being tailed.

  ◇

  “And... Ahh, perfect.”

  In a hotel suite, Squall finished her preparations with a spray of perfume. She looked as stunning as ever in a dress worth thousands of dollars. A necklace studded with diamonds glimmered around her collar, as more decorated her earrings, rings, and bracelet.

  Beside her, M silently sat, idly fidgeting with her locket while staring off into space.

  “What’s wrong, M? Unhappy about getting dragged to another business lunch?”

  “...I have no reason to go with you.”

  “But you do! I need a bodyguard, don’t I?”

  “Don’t make me laugh.”

  M—Orimura Madoka—knew enough about the capabilities of Squall’s IS that she couldn’t take it as anything but irony.

  “Shall we get going?”

  “Hmph.”

  “C’mon, smile a little more. It’s not every day that you get the chance to meet the Shinonono Tabane.”

  Madoka followed Squall, not so much resigned to the request as resigned to following orders.

  ◇

  “Mmm. This meat is delicious! Oh, and more wine please!”

  The woman energetically munching and chugging her way through a meal was none other than the once-in-a-generation genius IS inventor, Shinonono Tabane. How she had managed to convince Tabane, the world’s most wanted woman, to meet for lunch at this underground restaurant was Squall’s secret.

  “Are you enjoying your meal, Dr. Tabane?”

  “Hm? Oh, I’m enjoying all of it. Except for the drugged soup, that’s not really my thing.”

  Squall’s expression didn’t flinch for a moment, even with her plan foiled. If anything, she was more surprised that Tabane had finished the bowl with no ill effects than that she’d detected it. I suppose it was to be expected. This is Shinonono Tabane. Perching her elbows on the table, Squall kept up her grin.

  “Anyway, Dr. Tabane. Have you considered my proposal?”

  “Proposal? Which one?”

  “Of building a new IS for Phantom Task. With core included, of course.”

  “Ahahaha. No way. That’d be way too much work,” Tabane blithely replied, having as much as admitted that she could still produce new IS cores.

  “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

  “Not really. Oh, can I have some cake? And a hamburger, and some curry, and maybe a bowl of noodle salad.” Tabane gnawed at a spare rib as she mischievously ran down the menu with added orders.

  “Ahh. So there’s nothing at all I can do to convince you?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “How about this?” Squall snapped her fingers. Like something out of a movie, Autumn stepped forward, a knife held to a bound Chloe’s neck. “What if we rounded off your meal with a nice fresh steak?”

  “Let...”

  “Mm?”

  “Let her go.” A grin floated to Tabane’s face, as in one sweeping motion she flung all the knives and forks on the table at Squall’s face.

  “......?!”

  Leaping off Squall’s instinctive defensive crouch, she rebounded from the ceiling with a kick and flew toward Autumn. As Autumn brandished the knife, Tabane twisted her wrist and shoved, plunging it into Autumn’s right lung.

  “Wh—”

  With three quick palm strikes to her left shoulder, breast, and gut, Autumn was pushed back, away from Chloe. A final kick sent her tumbling back into the wine cellar with a crash of breaking bottles.

  “Kuu, you okay? No ouchies?”

  “Y-Yes...” Chloe tore the ropes binding her apart bare-handedly while smiling at Tabane.

  “Y’know, everyone keeps calling me a genius, but there’s more to me than just my brains,” Tabane giggled as she wrapped her arms around Chloe from behind. “My body, and every cell in it, is superior too.”

  Squall had miscalculated badly. She’d thought that, even if a hostage didn’t do the trick, in a worst-case scenario, she could get what she wanted with her IS Golden Dawn. But then—this. If Tabane fought seriously, even an IS may not be enough. No, just starting up her IS may well have left her vulnerable for too long.

  “You’d better be on Chichan’s level if you want to take me on bare-handed.”

 

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