“Yesterday sure was fun.” “Right?” “What, what? Something fun?” That was Carol, me and Miyuki, having the most generic conversation possible. Real-life NPCs hanging out before css started.

  Not that I disliked it or anything. Talking with my friends like this is something I’ve never done much before… well… meeting Miyuki. Everything changed after she transferred in.

  Her predictions have been pretty helpful. Prophetic dreams… I wanted to thank her for telling me about the pool, but Carol’s been smothering me since yesterday. After she learned I started dating Hecate, now she’s worried about letting me talk to anyone on my own. It’s pretty cute.

  “Hey, Iroha.” Suddenly, I heard a voice that sent a chill down my spine. “Looks like you’re back for real, huh?” It was Ayumu… The uncontested top beauty in css before Miyuki showed. Someone who, even all I’ve been through, I am not good at dealing with. My stomach immediately started churning.

  She barged into our conversation with confidence and spoke while resting one hand on her hip. She looked at me with her purple eyes. Her brown hair settled in front of her shoulders.

  “Uhmm… What do you mean?” She technically didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not illegal for her to talk to me. We just have a bit of a history… Because of her and her groupies, I feel like everything I do in this css is always under great scrutiny. They had a hunch about my past crush on Ayumu, and I feel I narrowly avoided getting picked on because of that.

  “Isn’t it obvious? You skipped so many days in a row that the whole css was starting to wonder if you had finally become a shut-in.” She was speaking loud enough for her groupies to hear and start snickering.

  “I got kinda busy with something else… It doesn’t really matter anymore…”

  “That’s fine. I kinda respect how you don’t care about failing tests. Or are you that confident that you’ll ace everything without attending a single css?”

  “I’m not expecting to ace anything, but I think I can at least pass.”

  “Anyway, are you sure you aren’t getting too full of yourself? You can’t hog all the new girls, you know? You’ll ruin the vibe of the css if the transfer students don’t get along with everyone.”

  This is the reason I wanted to avoid getting put in the spotlight. Ayumu always comes up with a reason to pester me whenever that happens… “I’m not hogging anyone. Everyone’s free to talk to them, and they can talk to whoever they want.”

  “You don’t need to expin it. I don’t really care, personally. I’m just letting you know what the rest of the css is thinking. Thought I’d give you some advice.” Ayumu shrugged her shoulders. “Oh well, ter!” With a curt wave, she turned and left.

  She’s just the messenger… huh? Yeah right… If there is anyone compining about me getting along too well with Miyuki, Carol, and Katja, it’s because of her. She and her groupies are probably the ones who spread that idea.

  *Sigh…* At least I think I’ve grown a little. I think I handled her way better than the st time she came up to me… I think I didn’t look too bad in front of Carol…

  “What’s her problem?” Carol expressed some annoyance while resting her chin on her hand.

  “Carol, Iroha, I have some news for you.” Katja suddenly joined the conversation. “Oh… Good morning, Miyuki.” What an awkward entrance… You can do better than that, Katja…

  “Hi there. I just remember I had something to do before css starts. Do you have news for me too?” A normal person would have been upset after being treated like an afterthought, but Miyuki understood. She sensed it was something reted to the House and tried to excuse herself right away.

  “Sorry, but it’s just to these two that I have something to tell.”

  “That’s alright.” Miyuki stood up and offered Katja her chair. “Here. I have to leave right away or I won’t be back in time. Later, Iroha. And you too.”

  “Thank you, Miyuki. Good luck with your endeavor.” Katja smiled, being thankful for more than just her chair. Then Miyuki left. I was actually hoping I could speak with her alone, but oh well… I’ll try again ter.

  “You said you had news for us?” I looked at Carol, who looked just as confused as me. “Is it something reted to the cruise?” I asked.

  “That’s true. What did Shinji say about the mirror?” Carol asked, looking a bit bored.

  “It wasn’t about that, but I guess I can tell you how things turned out first. In regards to our mission, the PSF sent their forces in today to confirm that the ship is safe. After they confirm that there are no more monsters on board, the ship will resume operating as normal.”

  “They can’t just take our word for it, huh?” From what I’ve gathered, they’re pretty strict about doing things right. They probably can’t afford to make any mistakes. I shrugged my shoulders. Sucks to be them. “What about the mirror?”

  “Nothing so far.” Katja shook her head. “Shinji didn’t notice anything wrong with it either. He said he had never heard of such a thing happening before. He’s pnning on taking the mirror to a researcher he knows. It’s out of our hands, so we should forget about it for now. If they find something important, he’ll tell us ter.”

  Carol sat up straight now that we were getting to the point. “So? What was the news you had for us?”

  Katja leaned forward, and the three of us huddled closer. “After your performance during our st mission, I think it’s time to get you two an upgrade. You can probably handle it now that you’re stronger.”

  “Upgrade? You mean Matching Weapons?” Carol got a lot more energetic all of a sudden. I’ve heard that name before, haven’t I? What kind of weapon are they?

  “That’s right. I sent a message to Professor R, and she said she’s avaible today. I was thinking of scheduling a meeting for ter today. What do you say?”

  “Yes! We’re in, right, Iroha? Finally… A chance for redemption. I can finally catch up!”

  “Sure… I don’t have anything going on…” She was getting so excited, but I just wasn’t really following. “What are Matching Weapons by the way? Is it like the sword you use, Katja? Those retractable and transforming weapons you all have?” Except for Carol, I guess… I think she told me she couldn’t use one before, but she never expined what they are.

  “Right… I guess no one told you yet. Matching Weapons are more than just retractable toys. They’re highly advanced weapons that assimite with the user’s consciousness to grant them extra strength. They’re the reason me, Narumi and Hecate can pull off seemingly inhuman feats.”

  “Ehhh…?” Oh no… I’ve been keeping my powers a secret by matching their level… If they can only do that because of their weapons, yet I did it without, then I’m completely busted! How come they never said anything? Has Katja not noticed, or…?

  “The downside of such powerful weapons is that they put an immense strain on the body. Especially in the beginning, when you first match with your weapon.”

  “Match?”

  “It’s like I said, Matching Weapons assimite with the user’s consciousness. Before you can properly use them, you must first enter a meditative state that will create the connection with your weapon. Successfully establishing that connection is not easy, and it’s the hardest part of using a Matching Weapon. That process puts a lot of strain on the body. That’s why we first need to measure if your body can withstand it.”

  “I see…” Then the reason Carol doesn’t have one of those weapons yet must be because her numbers were not high enough… Are mine gonna be fine?

  “Don’t worry, Iroha. You don’t need to understand everything right away. I’ll expin it to you as we go.” Katja patted my shoulder. “Since you’re both free, let’s go to the House right after school’s over.”

  …

  I now had pns for the afternoon, but I still had something to take care of. During lunch, I managed to find an opportunity to be alone with Miyuki. “What you said about the pool really came in handy. It was vague, but it helped.”

  “That’s nice, Iroha. What did I say exactly? To pay attention while in the pool?” Miyuki y against the wall with her hands behind her back. We were in a hallway that barely anyone ever used. It only led to one of the emergency exits, so it was a nice pce to talk.

  “You said something nice would happen if I managed to get a lot of people in a pool. At first, I was a bit skeptical, but you were right.” We pyed around in our swimsuits, and it was awesome. There was also something else.

  “I wasn’t sure it’d help, but I’m gd it did. Is there anything else you wanna know, Iroha? I had some new dreams, but nothing stood out to me.” Miyuki tilted her head with a satisfied smile.

  “Uhmm… I’m not sure… Everything’s fine for now. I think I’m gonna get a new weapon soon, but that’s all. A Matching Weapon, or something like that.” What happened to my caution? Is it alright for me to be leaking state secrets like that? I guess this is why they use beautiful women to get information out of people… Miyuki’s good at this!

  “*Gasp!* A Matching Weapon?” Miyuki was thrown for a loop.

  “What’s wrong?” Before I could reach out to her, she broke into a panic.

  “Iroha, listen to me. Whatever you do, you can’t match with your weapon! You can’t!”

  “Huh? Wh- what? Why?” Miyuki took a breath and continued. Looks like she’s calmed down, but this is a first. Did she see something that bad?

  “You just can’t… Didn’t anybody tell you those weapons are dangerous? I saw it… You’re gonna get a reading wrong, and it will go terribly when you try to match with your weapon. Don’t do it, okay?”

  “Really?” It seems like she knows the basics of how the process works… I have no reason to distrust her… Haven’t all her predictions come true so far? “I mean… I don’t think I can back down at this point. I already told the others I’d try to get a Matching Weapon.” Either way, I at least wanna know what the big deal is…

  “No way…” Miyuki closed her mouth, and we stood there in silence. “Can’t you throw the matching process somehow? At the very least, try to stop it right away if you notice something wrong. Worst-case scenario, you might die from this, Iroha.” She grabbed my shoulders while pleading with me.

  “Alright. I’ll be extremely careful.” This was a shocking turn of events. But if the worst-case scenario is me dying, that means there’s hope. I can’t be taking risks for no reason, but I need to keep getting stronger. To protect my precious girls. If there’s a chance for me to get my hands on a stronger weapon, I gotta take it.

  “Sorry, Iroha… I guess that was weird of me. Getting all worked up all of a sudden.” Miyuki adjusted her hair, and her face looked composed once more. “Can you go back on your own? I wanna stop by the bathroom first.”

  “Alright… Take your time.” Whatever she needs to feel better again. “Thanks for your help once again. I’ll definitely keep it in mind.” I smiled to put her at ease. She smiled back, then turned around. Looks like there’s more to these Matching Weapons than I thought. How am I going to handle this?

  Bam100