Dual Souls, The Other Half is Bronya

"Be careful, junior~"

A lively figure rushed toward Ikki—Usamaru Renren launched a fierce kick.

"Clang—!"

Countless sword lights flickered, leaving afterimages in midair as White Night appeared behind Usamaru Renren.

He slightly bent down, wrapping his left hand in Magic Power as a sheath, slowly returning his blade to it. Then, the lingering sword light suddenly exploded, spreading throughout the space!

One by one, Puppet Strings snapped. Usamaru Renren lost control and fell naturally with gravity.

In midair, a deep-blue machine materialized out of nowhere. Heavy Rabbit's broad mechanical arm caught Usamaru Renren. "Bronya isn't too late, is she?"

"Boom—!"

Accompanied by golden Thunderlight, Toudo Touka also arrived... though a little late.

"Alright, Ikki. It's fine now."

Seeing this, White Night abandoned his intention to intervene. With Toudo Touka here, that was enough.

So White Night walked toward Ikki, hoisted him by the arm, and carried him over to Stella. "Leave this to Toudo Touka. You should rest now."

"A Puppeteer—every move requires a medium. Through threads of Magic Power..."

Toudo Touka spoke slowly, Narukami at her waist, terrifying thunder brewing within. She stepped forward, her blade slowly leaving its sheath. "Raikiri—!"

In an instant, Toudo Touka had flashed behind the puppet army. Heavenly thunder answered from above, crashing down from the sky. Only a single golden thunderbolt remained between heaven and earth.

24. Prelude

"Clang—clang—!"

The golden greatsword wreathed in fire clashed with the deep-blue light blade. Bronya, holding the Silver Falcon, blocked Stella's immense force. "You're putting in extra effort today, Stella."

"Because of what happened before?"

"Ah, yeah. (Clang—!)"

As she spoke, Stella swung the Dragon Sinner Sword, colliding with the light blade once more. Her slender hand exerted force, clearly unsettled. "I don't want to... (Clang—!)"

"Be a burden! I want to get stronger, much stronger! Strong enough to stand by Ikki's side, not be protected by him."

"Hah!"

With a sharp cry, Stella swung her greatsword fiercely. Blazing fire surged skyward, faintly seeming to shift?

"A will to grow stronger?"

But it wasn't enough. Bronya still held her blade with one arm, steadily receiving Stella's slash. The blades crossed, sparks flying.

"Bronya can feel it."

Bronya's silver-pink eyes met hers. Then, with one arm, she forcefully knocked the greatsword aside.

Her agile figure retreated in a few bounds, silver-white spiral hair flowing. "In fact, Bronya does have a way to help Stella."

Hearing this, Stella showed excitement—but then came:

"But Stella's Magic Power control is too poor. The current Stella isn't qualified to touch that power."

With that, Bronya put away the Blue Flame Silver Falcon, her tone flat but merciless. "Go find Shizuku. At least with her help, Stella can make some progress."

On the other side:

"Ikki, (Clang—!) you're working so hard today—did what happened before get to you?"

To this, Ikki remained silent, memories surfacing in his mind. If White Night hadn't arrived in time, then the consequences... Yes, he didn't want to experience that helplessness again!

"White Night, you're definitely hiding more power, right? Can you show me? How far am I from a true strong one?"

"... You guessed it, huh~"

After a brief silence, White Night's sword stance grew much sharper, though still within Ikki's defensive range. "True, I came to Broken Blade Academy with my own purpose."

"But if you want me to teach you, that's too much to hope for. (Clang—!) In swordsmanship alone, I'm not that far ahead. It's more in other areas."

"Clang—!"

The two figures crossed paths. Sword Qi ran rampant, the ground covered in dense sword scars.

"Magic Power, physique... those can't be copied. For you, you'll probably have to expand from One Blade Arrogance and sublimate from there."

After training ended, White Night, Ikki, and the others regrouped and headed toward the dorms. They bickered as usual, their shadows stretching long in the sunset.

With pent-up frustration, Stella unconsciously went too hard in the selection matches. Even after switching to Fantasy Form, she still intimidated many.

In the matches that followed, many students forfeited, which only irritated Stella further.

"I don't know why, but I feel my power has increased a lot, while my control has weakened instead."

Walking with Ikki on the academy path, Stella couldn't help complaining about her recent feelings. "I've been trying so hard, but I still can't keep up."

"Because Stella really is strong."

"Probably... it's because of someone~"

Stella's cheeks flushed slightly as she gazed tenderly at Ikki. "Hey, Ikki, do you still remember that promise? To definitely become the representative for the Seven Star Sword Martial Festival..."

"And then clash again in the finals."

Ikki remembered, of course, and naturally picked up the second half of the sentence. "To fulfill that promise, we can't lose a single match in the upcoming selection rounds!"

"Yeah, the two of us together."

Stella lifted her head to meet Ikki's gaze, and then... swept up in the moment, they naturally drew closer, the gap between their shadows swallowed by the dusk...

"Should be about time by now, right?"

In the student dormitory, Bronya wore a loose T-shirt, dressed very casually, with most of her left shoulder exposed.

She sat cross-legged on the floor, her fair hands frantically mashing the game controller, suppressing White Night's character. "Don't you need to give Ikki a heads-up about that matter?"

Hmm... White Night stayed silent, his focus locked on the screen. Then...

[K.O.]

Unsurprisingly, he lost to Bronya again. He set down the controller in defeat and leaned back onto the floor. "That matter, huh..."

"True, One-Hit Rakshasa versus Raikiri is indeed a crucial turning point for Ikki."

White Night used his core strength to sit upright. "Then at the very least, he should understand Toudo Touka—understand what she carries on her shoulders."

"If he doesn't have that concept in his heart, it'll be hard for him to truly elevate. Bronya, do you remember..."

"Bronya has already looked into it."

A student handbook was handed to White Night, displaying an orphanage under the Kidenbara Zaibatsu. "Bronya isn't as hands-off as White Night."

"It's probably the day after tomorrow. The student council will go visit the children." Bronya added from the side.

"Aiya, that's what you're here for~" White Night showed no embarrassment about it at all.

—Yin and Yang, two sides of one coin. White Night took on the dangerous tasks; he was the one to charge into death! So in daily matters, it was naturally Bronya who handled things.

Ordinary days held nothing worth noting. The day after tomorrow Bronya mentioned arrived quickly.

"Ikki, got time today? You haven't properly thanked them for last time yet, have you?"

White Night caught up to Ikki from behind, casually patting his shoulder like a close friend. "How about dropping by the student council? They shouldn't be busy today."

"Bronya agrees."

Right after, Bronya walked over slowly. "Though it would be better if White Night's behavior were a bit more composed."

"Wouldn't that be exhausting~ Just go with the flow for now. I'll care when I feel like it."

White Night let go of Ikki's shoulder, spread his arms wide facing Bronya, and took a few steps backward before turning and heading off toward the student council room.

"... Let's follow." Ikki and the others exchanged glances and fell into step.

"Oh, if it isn't our junior?"

At the student council door, Usamaru Renren was the most energetic, waving an arm in greeting.

"Yeah, Usamaru. But what are you all..."

Ikki raised a hand in reply, then looked at the group, noticing they had already locked the door and seemed ready to head out.

"This?" Miyuki Sawarabi, as vice president, might be lacking in combat ability, but when it came to external communication...

He greeted Ikki. "It's a routine gathering, Kurogane. Want to come along?"

25. Ikki, Your Deed Is Exposed

"Long time no see, Touka-nee."

"Touka-nee, are you doing well? I missed you so much."

"Touka-nee..."

At the orphanage, a crowd of children gathered around, surrounding Toudo Touka at the center and greeting her warmly.

"Mhm, everyone's full of energy~"

Toudo Touka bent her knees slightly, leaned down, and opened her arms to the children, pulling them one by one into an embrace. A faint maternal glow radiated from her.

"Touka and I both grew up in an orphanage like this one, in xxx."

Beside her, Miyuki Sawarabi explained to the group. "So whenever she has free time, she comes here to visit the kids. As for why we invited you all this time..."

"Ah, I've seen that big sister on TV!"

Just then, one of the children recognized Stella, drawing the kids' attention. In no time, Stella was surrounded by children:

"She's a foreign princess!"

"Big sister, big sister, come play with us!"

"..."

The children chattered away, full of energy. Miyuki Sawarabi smiled too. "See? I knew the kids would be thrilled."

"Count Bronya in." Bronya also bent down, using her strong natural charm to join in.

???

Seeing Bronya blend in so naturally, White Night's expression shifted slightly... Good grief, what skills have you picked up while I wasn't looking?

Shaking his head, White Night turned his gaze to Miyuki Sawarabi. "How about you join in too, Sawarabi-senpai?" (After all, with your height, there'd be nothing out of place.)

"I'll pass. There are so many kids at the orphanage, I need to lend a hand and help prepare their lunch."

Miyuki Sawarabi waved a hand, declining White Night's suggestion. With that, White Night dropped it—there was a limit to how far a joke could go.

At the orphanage, even the towering Sui Cheng Lei joined in, playing somewhat childish games with the children.

Meanwhile, on the other side, White Night, Touka, and the others had started handling the ingredients... A rhythmic thump-thump-thump of chopping sounded as an ordinary kitchen knife in White Night's hands nearly blurred into afterimages.

"Whoa, White Night, you're really skilled at this." Miyuki Sawarabi stood on a wooden crate, slowly cutting vegetables.

White Night didn't look up, focused on his work. "Can't be helped. There's someone at home who needs looking after, so I gradually got used to it."

For a long time now, White Night had been the one preparing all three meals at home, along with snacks. And when the hospital got busy, he'd even make an extra late-night meal for Yakushi Kiriko.

"Toudou-san, those glasses of yours..."

"Ah, my eyesight isn't great, so I need glasses to help. But it doesn't affect my combat ability at all—don't underestimate me just because of this~" A faint glint of electricity seemed to flash in Touka's eyes.

"So back then..."

"Senrigan—that's my Blade-Cutting Skill. Kurogane-kun should be able to sense it, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

White Night had explained this before, so he could understand. "It uses electrical signals to see through what people are thinking. That's why Shizuku was completely read back then."