Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

My name was Chris Yukine.

Starting today, to realize the dream in my heart, I would become a high school girl and work hard to become an idol.

"Wait, that's not right!"

On the morning after Raye and Fine reached a consensus, Chris suddenly realized something seemed wrong while she was halfway through brushing her teeth in the bathroom.

"Why am I suddenly going to become an idol?"

After skipping over the process and directly examining the result, Chris realized that becoming an idol was absolutely, incredibly strange.

"Gargle, gargle, ptoo."

After spitting out the mouthwash, Chris began reviewing what had happened yesterday in her mind...

...Then she realized that she had seemed completely dazed yesterday and had not remembered exactly how they had talked things through.

"Ugh, I have no idea what's going on. No, I can't just sit here and wait."

After spitting out the mouthwash, Chris began plotting how to temporarily stop that plan, which did not sound reliable in the first place.

It was not that she thought their proposal was unreasonable. She simply felt that she should at least be given one last chance to try.

What if, after yesterday's events, her String Gain output had returned to its previous level? Then she would not have to do things she was bad at.

"I have to try. I absolutely can't just accept becoming some idol for no reason."

After setting her goal and ensuring she would not be inexplicably talked into confusion again like yesterday, Chris pulled open the small bathroom door and prepared to put her plan into action.

Very soon, she arrived at the dining area and saw Fine and Raye talking about something.

"Hey, wait! Let me try activating Durandal one more time. As long as I can maintain stable output, I won't have to do those weird things... Eek—"

Without hesitation, Chris immediately began fighting for the freedom to choose her future work. She rushed somewhat anxiously toward the two people talking, and then... for the third time, her neck made intimate contact with a scorching blade.

"So, my next task is to capture the entity known as Fusion Case No. 1? Understood. I'll make a plan, and it should take two to three weeks at most."

Standing in the living room, Raye held a blade to the neck of this person who never learned her lesson while speaking to Fine.

"Mm, I trust your abilities, Raye. Then I'll await good news. And then..."

Fine nodded from her swivel chair, then turned her gaze toward the white-haired girl in red, whose body had stiffened slightly, and sighed helplessly.

"Chris, do you like having someone hold a blade to your neck that much?"

Fine asked.

"That makes three times already. Next time, it won't be such a gentle warning."

At the same time, Raye put away her Sky Striker and issued her warning.

"Sorry, I was just a little anxious..."

Still shaken, Chris touched her smooth neck and tried to explain.

"Also, I've already considered what you said, Chris. If you can successfully activate Durandal, then there will be no need for you to do what we discussed earlier. Any other questions?"

However, before Chris could finish, Raye, uninterested in hearing her explanation, interrupted her apology.

"Ah, um, no."

Faced with this situation, Chris's earlier surge of momentum vanished completely during her conversation with Raye, without even getting the chance to weaken a second time.

"Good. In that case, Chris, prepare yourself later and try activating Durandal. As for now, go eat breakfast first."

Raye continued. To be honest, she hoped Chris could complete the activation just like that. After all, nobody liked doing unnecessary work.

"Okay, yes..."

Hearing that, Chris walked over to the table where the plates had already been set.

"Wait, why do I have to listen to you?"

Halfway through eating, Chris suddenly realized that she could not just fall into the other girl's rhythm. If she gave up thinking during this, it would be no different from yesterday.

"Hm? So you aren't planning to eat breakfast? Fine, then let's begin today's work directly."

Raye glanced at the words on the screen, paused briefly, and then said this to Chris.

"Ah, of course I'm eating. I just won't do whatever you say..."

As she spoke, Chris picked up her knife and fork as if sulking, eating while staring at the expressionless Raye.

Raye was somewhat puzzled. She believed all the suggestions she had made were reasonable, and she did not understand why those words would provoke such a reaction from Chris.

But soon, Raye stopped thinking about such a trivial matter. Chris was not causing trouble through her actions anyway, so she could have this ordinary verbal victory if she wanted it.

"Raye, here are the staff and armor I promised you yesterday."

While Chris ate in peace, Fine handed Raye the two Relics she had promised earlier, and Raye casually accepted the two Complete Relics.

"By the way, don't you have any thoughts about Complete Relics like these? They're extremely powerful Complete Relics."

Fine asked casually.

"There's no need. I believe my Sky Striker will not lose to any kind of Complete Relic. Rather than increasing the number of Relics I can't fully control, I'm more interested in the technology behind Relics and developing my own Sky Striker."

After briefly confirming the condition of the Relics, Raye spoke and then opened the Warblade Mecha's portal, casually tossing the two Relics inside.

"Besides, if I had that idea, I wouldn't have given those complete Relics to you."

"That's true."

"Oh, speaking of which, Raye, since I've already handed my Relics over to you, could you lend me the Sky Striker in your hand for research? It's our last time working together, after all."

Looking at the black-and-red blade Raye never let leave her hand, Fine made this request.

Ever since their first meeting, she had been very curious about Raye's special Relic. A Relic that was not only as intact as if it had just left the factory, but also had no record whatsoever in history, stirred a strong desire for research within her.

But whenever she had made similar requests to Raye in the past, the response had always been...

"If you want to die, just say so, Fine. If you want to study it, the only way is to experience it with your body!"

Yes, exactly that: a stern refusal carrying genuine killing intent.

"Fine, fine, I understand."

Feeling the other girl's steadfast will, as unwavering as always, Fine could only abandon this spur-of-the-moment idea.

Preparation and Questions

After handing all the work over to Raye and becoming free of burdens herself, Fine drove the sedan in her courtyard away from the mansion.

Raye, meanwhile, began preparing for all sorts of busy work. Although Fine had not set any time limit for her, she was still quite busy in order to make the later operation more secure.

"The simple three-dimensional detection system has been set up. There shouldn't be any major problems with the coordination between the alarm system and detection system. After that, I only need to place some static trigger traps, and it should more or less ensure that we won't discover infiltrators only after they get within a certain distance."

In Durandal's activation room, Chris was once again attempting to activate Durandal, while Raye used the interval to summarize the results of her work over the past two weeks and formulate the next plan.

"Without affecting concealment, this level of work should be the limit. Investing any more might instead have the opposite effect."

"And then there's capturing Fusion Case No. 1... For now, I'll conduct several infiltration reconnaissance attempts and see whether I can gather useful intelligence. What plan I use afterward will depend on the specific content of that intelligence."

Raye thought this. Conducting an investigation before acting was necessary. She did not believe she possessed the power to ignore an intelligence gap, and only targeted preparations could make victory more certain.

"Huff, huff, Raye, how was the String Gain I produced? Cough, cough."

While Raye was focused on thinking, time passed, and Chris finished today's attempt to activate Durandal before asking her for the result.

Noticing Chris's words, Raye turned her gaze toward the instrument monitoring the Relic's awakening progress.

"Unfortunately, although it increased by around twenty percent compared to yesterday, it still has not reached your previously recorded average output, Chris."

Looking at the data on the screen, Raye mercilessly delivered this unfavorable result to Chris.

"How could that be?" Chris said. "I obviously worked so hard. Why is it still not enough?" 99

Chris was somewhat unwilling to accept it, but there was nothing she could do. Whenever she immersed her thoughts in singing, the worries she had deliberately tried to forget would surface in her heart. Under those circumstances, she truly could not focus all her energy on activating the Relic.

"Some things cannot be overcome through effort alone, Chris," Raye said. "Especially psychological issues. Even if your heart fully understands that something is abnormal, overcoming that abnormality will still be difficult." 59

"That's why I proposed that plan. Compared with emotions that are difficult to control, an overall atmosphere that can be bought with material things is relatively more stable and reliable."

As she spoke, Raye turned off the tablet she had been using for planning.

"Also... I think I should remind you that after lunch, you should take a shower first, then adjust your condition before working."

Raye glanced at Chris's state and said this.

Perhaps because she had pushed herself too hard, combined with the heat released during the Relic's awakening, Chris was soaked in sweat. Water stains were clearly visible on her red dress.

"Hah, what do you think I'm pushing myself this hard for? If I weren't always worried about what happened to you, I wouldn't have ended up so... so?"

Hearing Raye's words, Chris unconsciously complained. But as she spoke, she suddenly realized something. The reason things had become like this was not because of her own earlier hesitation?

In that case, if she directly asked the person in front of her what had happened after she and her parents left that place, then perhaps she would not have to make things so complicated.

"Am I an idiot? Only realizing something like this now... Wait, no. It's because I got talked into confusion by them yesterday, and Raye's blade scared me so badly that I completely forgot to ask."

After figuring that out, Chris stopped muttering to herself and turned her gaze toward the blonde girl outside the glass curtain wall before quickly walking out.

"Hm? What is it? Is there something wrong, or are you too tired to take a shower?"

Seeing Chris stop talking midway, then go through several changes of expression before walking out so seriously, Raye asked in confusion.

"That doesn't matter. What I want to know now is exactly what you experienced during the time I was gone, Raye."

Chris asked with a determined gaze.

"...Hm. I thought you didn't care."

Raye had not expected Chris to ask that question now. She fell silent briefly before saying this.

"It's because you and Fine were talking in such an incomprehensible way that I forgot for a moment. So what exactly happened?"

Chris complained as she asked.

"Nothing happened. I simply grew up normally. Like a hero in a storybook, I obtained a holy sword, fought and leveled up all the way, and eventually became as strong as I am now."

In response to Chris's question, Raye merely spoke lightly, describing the reason she had become what she was now.

"Don't joke around. It definitely wasn't that easy, right? I went looking for you afterward, but when I arrived at the orphanage where you lived, all I saw were ruins. At the time, I thought you had died!"

Naturally, Chris was not satisfied with Raye's explanation, which treated her like an idiot.

Because of her parents' work, she had once lived in an orphanage, where she had met Raye. But after her parents' work ended and they left, she and Raye never saw each other again.

When she later found the time to visit, however, she saw that the place where she had once lived had been destroyed into shattered ruins by some kind of force.

Later, she learned from the authorities that a massive gas explosion had occurred there one day. Everyone who lived there had died in the blast, with no survivors. She had been heartbroken over it for a long time.

"Hm, so you went back to see it, Chris? Then tell me, how did you find my masterpiece?"

After hearing Chris say that, Raye paused slightly, then smiled and said this to her.

"Ah, right, I went back to see it... Ah, your masterpiece? What do you mean?"

For a moment, Chris did not react to Raye's words.

"I mean that place, which carried my immature past, was destroyed by my own hand. It was one of my most satisfying masterpieces."

The blonde girl very seriously explained what she meant to Chris. Naturally, a confused expression appeared on the white-haired girl's face.

Truth and Lies

"Wait, wasn't that place destroyed by bad people? Didn't you get caught up in it, then go through something terribly sad, which was why you became like this?"

Hearing Raye's explanation, Chris reflexively asked this, unable to understand what she meant.

Because of some of her own experiences, combined with how unfamiliar Raye had become and her own instincts, Chris had believed Raye became like this because she had experienced something sorrowful and painful.

"I never said that. That was merely your imagination. I was the one who destroyed that place, and I have never regretted it."

Watching Chris's reaction, Raye continued to speak her version of the truth.

"You're lying, right? You have to be lying, right? What about them, then? Those people who always trusted you? If you survived, then what about them?"

Chris asked in disbelief.

Since it was an orphanage, naturally Raye had not been the only one there. Many orphans victimized by war had also been taken in there, and in Chris's memories, the girl before her had gotten along quite well with those people.

"I can only say that I never regarded them as friends, and their bodies have all become the power that activates this Sky Striker."

In response to Chris's question, Raye merely held the black-and-red blade before Chris and said this.

"Ah?"