Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear - Chapter 19

"Speaking of which, Chris, you're so well-developed. What do you usually eat?"

Like now, Chris's excessive development in a certain area had drawn Yumi Itaba's slightly envious attention. They had also been chatting for quite a while, so this question had suddenly emerged.

"This..."

How did you even manage to ask such an embarrassing question?!

When asked this question, Chris thought this to herself and was momentarily at a loss for words.

That was only natural. Having never lived a normal life for very long, she could not possibly know how to handle this sort of topic between people her age.

Fortunately, she was not fighting alone. She had a reliable companion.

Raye, how should I answer this?

Through telepathy, Chris had now genuinely come to appreciate the benefits of this skill.

Whenever she did not know how to answer a question, she could use this method to shift the burden of thinking over to Raye.

Not only did this allow her to give a fairly reasonable answer smoothly, but she could also say things she normally would never voice by using the excuse, I didn't think that way; someone else told me to say it.

If you don't want to continue, say, "Sorry, that question is a little embarrassing." If you do, say something like, "I don't really eat anything special. Though, if I had to name something, I do occasionally eat papayas."

By the way, papayas aren't particularly effective. If you want something that actually works, try massages or surgery.

Just as before, after a brief silence, Raye's suggestion soon came through in her mind.

Got it.

"Hmm, I don't really eat anything special. If I had to name something, I occasionally eat papayas and things like that."

After receiving the suggestion, Chris quickly answered with confidence.

"Is that so? Then I guess I'll have to work harder too."

Hearing Chris's answer, Yumi Itaba looked down at her own chest and said this.

And so, just like that, Chris successfully got through another difficult question.

"Haha, right. Speaking of which..."

As one topic ended, another naturally began. As long as there were new topics to discuss, and as long as the bell signaling the end had not rung, this vortex would continue forever.

Raye...

But with Raye's help, Chris believed she could endure this battle to the very end.

"Phew."

Meanwhile, still huddled inside the cramped restroom stall, Raye listened to the thoughts coming from Chris's mind and sighed helplessly.

But there was nothing she could do. She was the one who had brought Chris here, so how could she refuse to help when Chris ran into trouble?

Where do these high school girls get all this energy? Don't they have homework? They must have far too little homework.

To be honest, Raye had considered the many kinds of trouble she might encounter.

Perhaps the Second Division would update its detection system and detect her invisibility technology. Perhaps a flaw in her disguise would draw the Second Division's attention. Or perhaps they would develop an anti-spatial-teleportation technology.

But the one thing she had never expected was to end up in trouble because Chris had been surrounded by a group of energetic high school girls and she had to spare her precious energy to answer Chris's questions.

Of the more than one hundred points, only the last nine remain. I'm almost done visualizing this area. Once the work is complete, I won't have to deal with this strange kind of trouble anymore.

Raye shook her head and refocused on her work.

Under her control, three Drone Units capable of deploying Warblade Mechas tirelessly moved through the blind spots around the campus. In places like sewer ceilings and stairwells, they installed monitoring units and recorded spatial coordinates.

Raye, Raye...

During her work, another mental communication rang out. It seemed Chris had run into yet another bizarre problem.

All right, wait a moment. What is it this time? I'll sort it out for you.

As she spoke, Raye adjusted the parameters while opening a search engine on a split screen.

Based on her accumulated experience, the topics these people discussed were either anime and entertainment or school and daily life, with current affairs thrown in at most. In any case, they were all things that could be solved with a search engine.

"Actually..."

With Raye's help, Chris soon handled another question.

"I see. So that's how it is? Chris, you know so much! You're like an encyclopedia."

Hearing Chris's answer, Sousei Ando nodded.

"Speaking of which, Chris, what do you think of the nickname 'Know-It-All'... Wuwu, what are you doing?"

As she spoke, an interesting idea occurred to Sousei Ando. But soon, the people beside her stopped that interesting idea in its tracks.

"Chris, don't mind her. She just likes giving people nicknames."

Yumi covered Sousei's mouth with one hand and explained to Chris.

"Sousei, no matter how you look at it, giving a nickname to someone you've only just met is strange."

The one who covered Sousei's mouth this time was Saori Terashima, who generally did not participate much in the conversation.

"Mmph-mmph—I got it."

In the end, under the two girls' suppression, Sousei gave up on giving Chris a nickname.

"B-but I just wanted to get closer to Chris. What did I do wrong?"

Although Sousei had been temporarily subdued, she clearly had not completely abandoned the idea.

"Let's forget it for now. At the very least, wait until Chris enrolls before doing something like that."

Saori Terashima said this.

"Yeah. Besides, Chris hasn't even decided whether she wants to enroll yet. Though I really do hope she'll enroll."

Yumi Itaba pointed at Chris and said the same.

"Mm, ah, that's true."

When the topic suddenly involved her, Chris responded instinctively.

At this point, Chris had handed all external thinking over to Raye, abandoned her sense of shame, and evolved into a pure conversational intermediary.

"Oh, right. Speaking of which, Chris, do you have a social media account? Why don't we add each other?"

Without even pausing to mourn the end of the previous topic, Yumi Itaba immediately started a new one.

We probably won't contact each other much afterward anyway. There's no harm in exchanging accounts.

With that thought in mind, Chris was not particularly resistant. Besides, the other girl was being so enthusiastic that Chris found it difficult to refuse.

"O-okay."

Chris took out her phone and exchanged contact information with the others.

Ding-ding-ding—

Just then, the warning bell rang, indicating that class would begin soon.

"Ah, class is about to start."

Seeing that class was about to begin, Yumi did not intend to keep chatting with this girl who might become a future classmate. She decided to say goodbye and return to her seat with her friends.

"Then, Chris, if you ever get the chance, feel free to contact us. Chris?"

However, as she was saying goodbye, Yumi noticed that Chris seemed to be staring intently at her phone, her expression as if she had seen something incomprehensible.

"Um, Yumi, may I ask where this photo in your profile picture was taken?"

Before Yumi could ask anything else, Chris picked up her phone and enlarged the picture used as Yumi's profile image. She then asked Yumi urgently.

The picture showed the back of a girl with platinum-blond hair reaching her waist. She held a crimson blade in her hand and walked toward somewhere beneath dim lighting.

P.S. I'm a little stuck.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Strange Worship

"This photo... Chris, could it be?"

Hearing Chris's question, Yumi looked at the photo on Chris's phone in confusion, then showed an astonished expression.

"Ah, yes, I was just a little... No, I mean, I wasn't particularly curious."

Seeing Yumi's reaction, Chris finally realized that her words had perhaps been too direct. She should have slowly investigated the origin of the photo instead of asking outright.

However, before Chris could think of a way to explain what she had just said, Yumi seized her hand excitedly, as if she had found a kindred spirit.

"So you were also saved by the 'Golden Flash Who Appeared in the Dark of Night and Shattered the Darkness with a Crimson Blade'?!"

Yumi's eyes sparkled as she spoke to Chris in the tone of someone who had found a kindred spirit.

"Ah, what?"

Chris had still been racking her brains for a solution, but at that moment, the little twin-tailed girl's words left her deeply confused.

"What's wrong? Aren't you surprised because you were saved by the 'Golden Flash Who Appeared in the Dark of Night and Shattered the Darkness with a Crimson Blade'?"

Yumi asked the bewildered Chris.

"Er... I suppose so."

Although she had no idea what was happening, Chris somehow felt that she had inexplicably managed to explain away what had just happened.

"Wait, Yumi. Chris is acting like this because the name you came up with is way too strange. I told you before not to make names so long and bizarre."

After watching for a while, Sousei Ando interrupted with a complaint.

"That's not it at all! The name is obviously incredibly cool. You should know that I watched anime for three whole days, then spent another four days refining and organizing it before finally coming up with this awesome name."

Hearing Sousei Ando's complaint, Yumi turned around and retorted angrily.

"Leaving aside the fact that watching anime was entirely your own idea, Yumi, if you spent four days refining it, why is the final name still so long?"

In response to Yumi's retort, Saori Terashima added her own complaint with a kind yet helpless smile.

"But someone thought it was great..."

Yumi still seemed determined to defend her opinion.

"Um, wait. So, do you know anything about the person in that photo?"

Seeing the conversation veering off in a strange direction again, Chris hurriedly asked.

Although asking this carried the possibility of exposing her identity, Chris felt that finding out why a photo of Raye had appeared on a student's phone from Lydian Music Academy was more important right now.

"Mm... I don't know."

Hearing Chris's question, Yumi, who had come down from her excitement, answered with a somewhat dejected expression.

"Ah, you don't know?"

Chris tilted her head, unable to understand.

"Because apart from this photo, the 'Golden Flash' has revealed absolutely no information. Even this photo could never have been taken without an accident. Wuh..."

Yumi spoke in a somewhat teary voice.

"..."

Seeing her like this, Chris did not know what to say.

She had assumed that the little girl's excited reaction meant she might know something about Raye. But after all that talk, she actually knew nothing at all.

"If that's the case..."

Although she still had some questions, Chris had already decided to end the conversation. If they continued, she could not guarantee that she would not reveal something.

"But that doesn't matter!"

Just as Chris was about to end the conversation, Yumi, who had been dejected moments before, suddenly said this. Her eyes began to shine as she rallied once more.

"Even if I know almost nothing about the 'Golden Flash' by myself, I'm not fighting alone."

With flames burning in her eyes, Yumi Itaba grasped Chris's hand and said this.

"As long as we gather the strength of everyone who has been saved by that 'Golden Flash,' we'll definitely be able to meet her someday. So, Chris..."

Yumi spoke with a strange fervor.

Th-this girl.

At that moment, Chris seemed to see the phantoms of many girls standing behind the little twin-tailed girl. But when she blinked, there seemed to be nothing there.