Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

Although Chris might not be able to help much, she was drawn in by Raye's words and asked her a question.

"Indeed, it's a very serious problem. If it isn't handled properly, all our work today might end up being for nothing."

Raye rubbed her forehead and spoke in a troubled tone.

"What!? What went wrong? What happened?"

Hearing Raye's words, Chris asked her excitedly.

After all, she had spent no small amount of energy preparing for today's work. If it all came to nothing, then—Ugh...

"I discovered the problem while checking today's surveillance footage of Lydian Music Academy. Luckily, we found it now, so there's still plenty of time to resolve it."

Raye's expression returned to calm as she spoke.

"So what exactly happened?"

Chris leaned closer and asked curiously.

She really wanted to know what kind of accident had made Raye wear such an expression.

"To put it simply... Well, Fusion Case One seems unable to finish her coursework reports, which means she may not be able to appear at the designated location according to the original plan."

Raye explained the newly discovered problem to Chris as calmly as possible.

P.S. Good afternoon.

Chapter Eighty-Two: Discussion and Preparation

On the screen, a flaxen-haired girl looked sorrowfully at the mountain of study reports spread out before her—reports she had spent half the day working on without making even a dent.

[What am I supposed to do, Miku? I can't write anymore. How is this even possible?]

The girl lay sprawled across the desk, her eyes drowsy and bleary. She spoke to the intelligent black-haired girl before her with an expression of despair.

[Think of something else, Hibiki. If all else fails, you'll have to put that thing you call training on hold for now.]

The intelligent girl wore an exasperated expression as she made the suggestion to her exhausted companion.

[How could you say that? Aaaah! I have to train every day and write study reports at the same time. I must be cursed! Waaah, forget it! Let me go to sleep!]

The intelligent girl's suggestion seemed to become the final straw for the already exhausted girl. She cried out loudly while looking toward the bed nearby.

[Hibiki, running away won't solve anything. You still have to find a way to finish the reports. I'll help you think of something, so hold on a little longer, Hibiki.]

Seeing this, the intelligent girl sighed softly and reminded the girl across from her.

[Boohoo... Miku, I'll do my best. My hands hurt so much.]

In the end, the girl nearly crushed beneath the weight of the reports pulled her gaze away from the bed.

[You can do it, Hibiki. I'll help you once I finish mine.]

The intelligent girl encouraged her while continuing to write her own report, hoping to finish soon so she could help her friend.

[Thank you, Miku.]

Activating her skill of forcing herself to endure, the girl continued her arduous battle with the reports until she finally collapsed unconscious onto the desk, at which point the intelligent girl carried her back to bed.

"That's more or less what happened. After watching that part of the footage, I checked Lydian Music Academy's teaching schedule. By comparing it with the amount of work spread across her desk, I reached the conclusion that if Hibiki Tachibana continues completing her reports at this pace, she absolutely won't finish before Friday's meteor shower."

Raye explained to Chris, frowning slightly.

She couldn't understand how anyone could so confidently promise to do something they might not be able to accomplish. What did this girl think a promise was?

"Ah, seriously. That girl is a complete idiot. Why does her idiocy have to make all my work today go to waste?"

Chris had also realized how serious the situation was and slapped a hand against her forehead in complaint.

After all, she had spent the entire day doing construction work with Raye precisely so they could successfully capture Hibiki Tachibana.

How could she accept all that effort vanishing because some idiot broke her promise?

"Complaining won't help, Chris. What we need to do now is find a way for Hibiki Tachibana to finish her reports while carrying out the operation, minimizing the possibility of unexpected variables."

Although Raye was equally displeased, the only useful thing they could do now was calmly consider a solution.

"Wait. Won't the Second Division help her with this? If the Second Division lends a hand, something as trivial as a report shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Chris suddenly thought of something. If the Second Division stepped in, they should easily be able to excuse Hibiki Tachibana from her coursework and let her make the operation date.

"No. If it were really that simple, Hibiki Tachibana wouldn't be so troubled now. The fact that she is clearly suffering means this work cannot be resolved through her connections in the Second Division, for reasons I don't know."

Raye slowly shook her head and rejected Chris's guess.

"You're kidding. But if that idiot really doesn't finish, what are those people going to do? They've already made so many preparations. Surely they'll proceed according to the original plan."

Chris spoke with some difficulty, unable to accept it.

"Not necessarily. Based on the information I currently have, their preparations are still mainly focused on moving personnel and weapons. The specific operation plan has not yet been finalized. If Hibiki Tachibana truly fails to finish her reports, they may adopt another unknown but similar plan and deploy resources with far greater security measures than they have now."

No matter how difficult it was for Chris to accept, Raye still calmly refuted her idea.

"Then what are we supposed to do? We can't possibly write that idiot's study reports for her."

After Raye rejected her ideas one after another, Chris spoke in a self-abandoning tone.

"..."

Raye silently looked at Chris without immediately replying.

"!!?"

Feeling Raye's emotionless gaze, Chris somehow understood what she was thinking.

"Hey, wait. Raye, you're not seriously planning to write that idiot's study reports for her, are you!?"

Chris immediately voiced her guess about Raye's plan.

"You're right, Chris."

Raye confirmed Chris's guess. That was indeed what she had in mind.

"But isn't that a little too strange?"

Chris still hadn't caught up with Raye's train of thought. They were trying to capture Hibiki Tachibana, yet now they were supposed to help her instead. The reasoning made sense, but it also felt indescribably absurd.

"There's no need to be surprised. This is indeed the solution with the lowest risk and cost for the current problem. Once we resolve the root cause—Hibiki Tachibana's difficulty with her coursework reports—the remaining issues won't need to be considered."

Raye explained seriously.

"Ah, I get it, I get it. Basically, we have to tutor her through her coursework reports, right?"

After hearing Raye's explanation, Chris stopped dwelling on it. The method was strange, but since Raye intended to proceed, she naturally had her reasons. Chris decided it would be better to focus on her own work.

"But how are you planning to do that, Raye? Are you going to have me enroll in the school and tutor that girl, like last time?"

Chris asked.

"That is indeed a good method. We could continue our previous interaction, have you enroll, approach Hibiki Tachibana when the opportunity arose, and then help her finish her coursework. No one would suspect anything."

Raye considered it for a moment before speaking.

"So we really have to do that?"

Chris's expression turned unpleasant as she began considering how to face the idiot who had made her work overtime without punching her the moment she saw her.

"No. Although your plan sounds quite good—pretending to be her classmate, befriending her, and then helping her complete her coursework is highly feasible—it merely sounds feasible."

Raye rubbed the bridge of her nose, expressing her rejection of the idea.

"Ah, why?"

Chris grew puzzled at Raye's explanation.

"There are many reasons. Would the Second Division cautiously reject your enrollment? Afterward, how would you approach Hibiki Tachibana under the Second Division's surveillance? Once you approached her, how would you become her friend? The process would be lengthy and risky, and it would require us to venture deep into danger. Considering all that, we should abandon it."

Raye explained why she rejected the plan.

A plan was like a chain: the longer the process, the easier it was for everything to collapse because of a single weak link. To keep a long-term plan from falling apart, more resources had to be devoted to supporting it. But Raye didn't have that many resources right now.

"But if that won't work, what else can we do?"

After Raye rejected her idea, Chris had no better suggestions.

"I have an idea. I'll try my approach first. If it works, that's best. If it doesn't, we can use your idea as a backup plan."

Raye thought for a moment before answering.

"Really? You have another way?"

Chris asked doubtfully. She couldn't understand how else they could reasonably help Hibiki Tachibana besides the method she had proposed.

"Phew... It's nothing particularly clever. In fact, with time running short, I can't mobilize many resources for a more thorough operation."

"What I can do now is set a crude trap based on Fusion Case One's personality and see whether her caution will keep her from falling into it."

Raye lowered her head and sighed as if troubled, explaining the nature of her plan to Chris.

"What exactly are you planning to do? Is there anything I can help with?"

Seeing Raye's troubled expression, Chris couldn't help asking worriedly.

"As for the specifics... you don't need to know, Chris. As for how you can help, I'll tell you tomorrow. It's very late, and you should be exhausted after today. Go to sleep first. Don't wait for me. I plan to stay up all night."

Facing Chris's concern and request, Raye paused, then stood and pulled Chris toward the door.

"Wait, Raye! I'm not that sleepy yet?!"

Chris wanted to stay a little longer, but before she could react, Raye had already pulled her out by the arm.

"Maintaining good sleep is the only way to keep your body in good condition. I'm already used to this, so I'm fine. You aren't, Chris. Now go back and sleep."

As she spoke, Raye activated the restraint suit she had placed on Chris, preventing her from resisting. She dragged Chris straight to her nearby room.

"Mm..."

Chris still wanted to resist, but at that moment, she somehow realized what was happening and her thoughts drifted away.

"Get a good night's sleep. I'm going back to work... Phew, next I'll write today's diary, then deal with the new problem that came up today..."

Unable to resist successfully, Chris was carried by Raye and placed on the bed. Bound tightly by the restraint suit, she could only hear Raye's voice fading into the distance as she muttered to herself.

As time passed, the fatigue from a full day's work overwhelmed Chris's nerves. Soon, she fell completely asleep like a baby.

P.S. Good afternoon.

Chapter Eighty-Three: Beware of Telephone Scams

On an early morning when the sun had yet to rise, Hibiki Tachibana opened her eyes, just as she did every day.

But if she could, she didn't want to open her eyes now, because then she wouldn't have to face the unbearably cruel reality before her.

[What am I supposed to do? Should I give up?]

After waking, Hibiki Tachibana stared blankly ahead and thought in despair.

Even after a night's rest, she could still feel the profound exhaustion weighing on both her mind and body.

After a week of grueling combat training and two days of heavy schoolwork, Hibiki Tachibana could barely cope if she faced either one alone. But when the two combined, the superimposed pressure became greater than the sum of its parts, and she was completely unable to handle it.

[No, I have to push a little harder. This level of effort is still far below what Miss Tsubasa has endured. I have to shoulder the portion of effort that belongs to Miss Tsubasa too.]

Hibiki Tachibana sat up in bed and thought this.

Although she felt as if she were about to collapse, she had already resolved to shoulder her responsibility and still refused to give up.

Without a doubt, Hibiki Tachibana's willpower had reached an unprecedented level. To some extent, she could overcome pressures that ordinary people would find unbearable.

[But even if I think that, what am I supposed to do?]

However, even after feeding herself a bowl of inspirational soup, Hibiki Tachibana still couldn't escape her troubles when faced with the heavy reality before her.

After all, many things in this world did not change according to a person's will.

Even though Hibiki Tachibana worked with the resolve to burn away everything she had, what couldn't be done simply couldn't be done.

Even if someone killed her, she absolutely could not complete the mountain of study reports that seemed like a terrifying flood of beasts to her while also keeping up with her training.

"Hibiki, are you awake?"

As Hibiki Tachibana agonized and sighed, Kohinata Miku, who slept in the same bed, also awoke from her hazy sleep because of her best friend's movements.

"Ah, Miku. Sorry, did I wake you?"

When she saw that Miku had woken up, Hibiki Tachibana temporarily set aside her worries, rallied her spirits, and smiled at Miku beside her.

"No, not at all. But Hibiki, are you going training again today?"