Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

"Yeah, that's right. Speaking of which, Mr. Kazanari, do you know about this? Could it be that Raye-chan really is a member of this place? Where is she now? It might be a little late, but I still want to thank her for warning me about my physical condition."

Hibiki Tachibana confirmed Commander Kazanari's question and made her own request at the same time.

However, faced with Hibiki Tachibana's question, Commander Kazanari wore a deeply troubled expression, unsure how to answer.

"I'm sorry, Tachibana, but I can't agree to that request. Raye... that girl isn't our comrade. On the contrary, she's the enemy that all of us in the Second Division have been trying to defeat."

In the end, Commander Kazanari gave Hibiki Tachibana this explanation.

"Ah... Mr. Kazanari, why do you say Raye-chan is our enemy? What bad thing did she do?"

Hibiki Tachibana failed to understand for a moment.

"Well, as for what Little Raye did, you've actually already heard about it, Little Hibiki."

Ryouko Sakurai explained from the side.

"Heard about it? Why?"

Hibiki Tachibana, who had never been especially quick on the uptake, fell into confusion.

"Because Raye is the 'that girl' we've been discussing all this time."

In the end, Genjuro Kazanari rescued the confused Hibiki Tachibana by telling her the truth.

"Oh, so Miss Raye is 'that girl'... Huh?"

Only then did the flaxen-haired girl realize just how serious a mistake she had made.

"Does that mean Miss Raye is the person who stole something important from here and made Miss Tsubasa look like that?"

After learning the truth, Hibiki Tachibana said in surprise. During her previous encounters, she had thought Raye was a rather gentle person... Well, she didn't know why, but she had always had that vague impression.

"Yes, that's right."

Commander Kazanari said.

"Ugh, I feel like everything's gotten a little confusing."

Hibiki Tachibana had only wanted to thank Raye, but she had unexpectedly learned that Raye seemed to have a relationship utterly at odds with the Tsubasa she admired. For a moment, she didn't know what to do.

"All right, Tachibana. If you can't make sense of it, then hurry up and get a physical examination first, and then go home and rest. It's already getting late."

Seeing Hibiki Tachibana's troubled expression, Commander Kazanari said this. It wouldn't truly solve her worries, but it was better than watching her fret here.

"Ah, is it already this late? Oh no, Miku will definitely worry if I go back at this hour!"

After Commander Kazanari reminded her, Hibiki Tachibana realized that it was almost the next day.

"Don't worry, Little Hibiki. I'll examine you as quickly as possible, so take your clothes off first."

"O-okay."

With that exchange, Ryouko Sakurai and Hibiki Tachibana left the room to conduct the physical examination.

"All right, then we'll have to get to work too."

Seeing this, Commander Kazanari prepared to begin his own work. The theft of a Relic was serious enough to keep the entire Second Division and their superiors in negotiations for several days.

Somewhere in the suburbs, near a private villa that could not be called luxurious but was still beyond the means of ordinary people, Raye sat atop a silver briefcase and silently tapped away at a tablet computer.

"First, the losses this time... There were more than expected. Four ordinary Grappling Anchors, eighty ordinary Drone Units, ten Level-One Drone Units, and one teleportation gem."

After some time, Raye sighed and spoke.

She was making her routine post-battle summary. It was a habit she had developed long ago: after completing an operation, she would find as many flaws as possible and make up for them in future operations.

"Next is the level of objective completion. Hmm... I'd say it was the third tier."

Raye thought this to herself.

For reference, in her estimation, the first tier meant completing the objective without attracting anyone's attention; the second meant fighting but overcoming the obstacles; the third, which was her current situation, meant failing to overcome the obstacles but still accomplishing the objective; the fourth meant failing to accomplish the objective but escaping successfully; and the fifth was the worst outcome—being captured or killed herself.

"But it wasn't too bad. At least I confirmed two pieces of information: that the old concealment system already has detection capabilities, and that Genjuro Kazanari is extremely powerful. I also successfully completed the objective I had arranged beforehand. Hmm, I did pretty well."

Raye muttered to herself. In her view, as long as things had not reached the fifth tier, there was nothing to fear.

"But speaking of information... The biggest problem with this operation was that I exposed the abnormal hearing in both ears and the abnormal vision in my left eye."

Raye felt troubled whenever she thought of that.

Because she had been unfamiliar with this world when she first crossed over, along with a few unexpected incidents, she had lost the sight in her left eye and the hearing in both ears one after another.

As a result, she relied almost entirely on the small Airspace System installed in her Sky Striker Mecha during her daily activities and battles. It displayed all kinds of surrounding information on a screen before her right eye. She had exposed this fact during the previous battle.

"Now that they have this information, they might prepare countermeasures targeting it... Hmm, in that case, I'll have to set aside some time to think of suitable countermeasures myself."

Although the exposure of this information was troublesome, Raye did not dwell on it for long. After modifying the logs for her future operations on the tablet, she stopped wasting energy on self-reproach.

"All right, that's enough for this mission's summary. Next, I need to find the person who needs this thing and collect my payment."

There might still have been something she had overlooked, but Raye did not intend to continue. If she thought about it any longer, she might miss the time she had agreed to meet someone.

"Sky Striker activation—Engage. Armed Request. Sky Striker Mecha—Eagle-Type Thruster. We've been working together for a long time, but I still don't want to face that person without any weapons."

She stood up, picked up the silver briefcase she had been using as a cushion with one hand, and raised the black-and-red blade beside her with the other. Her clothes changed, and a pair of flight wings attached themselves to her back.

"I wonder what kind of Heresy Technology I'll get this time. That person really has a lot of Heresy Technology. Where does she get it all from...? Forget it. None of my business."

As she spoke, Raye activated the flight wings on her back and shot toward the white villa ahead like a rocket.

P.S. After spending half the day watching the drama unfold, I never imagined anyone in my life would be so out of touch as to turn Eldlich into a Sky Striker Mecha.

The Deal and the Attack

By then, the sky had become as clear as a sapphire. Raye arrived at the villa's entrance, pushed open the door, and walked inside.

"Is this her base in Japan?"

Raye thought as she strolled into a spacious hall, casually adjusting the auxiliary observation device before her right eye.

The moment she entered, she saw a woman lounging in a chair. She had yellowish-white hair, a voluptuous figure, black stockings, and black gloves—and was wearing nothing else.

"I'm here. The goods are in here too, Fine."

Raye paid no attention to the woman's extremely unconventional outfit. She simply spoke while tossing the silver briefcase onto the table.

"Whew... As expected, you're the one who gives me the least trouble, Raye."

The woman known as Fine rose openly from her chair, then skillfully opened the silver briefcase and began inspecting its contents.

"So, where's my payment?"

Ignoring the woman's exposed body, Raye expressionlessly held out her hand toward Fine.

"Don't rush me, Raye. I prepared a reward that will satisfy you long ago. Here."

After confirming the contents of the briefcase, Fine casually picked up a USB drive that had been placed nearby. With a slight flick of her slender hand, the drive traced a graceful arc through the air and landed in Raye's hand.

"Inside are the Heresy Technology research materials I obtained after studying the Divine Beast Mirror, as well as the locations of three Bavarian Illuminati bases. How does that sound? Are you satisfied with this payment?"

After Raye accepted the USB drive, Fine said this. Raye did not reply. She simply plugged the drive into her tablet and began skimming the information.

"The deal is complete. In that case, if there's nothing else, I'll return to the United States."

After confirming that the information appeared sound at a glance, Raye turned and prepared to leave.

"Wait, Raye."

Just as Raye was about to activate the Eagle-Type Thruster, Fine called out to stop her.

"Is there something else, Fine? You know my time is valuable."

Raye stopped the thruster and asked.

"Of course I know your time is valuable, Little Raye. So, would you be interested in accepting a long-term contract? As for the payment, I'll make sure it satisfies you."

"A long-term contract? Why?"

"Heh heh, nothing special. My plan has recently reached a critical stage, so..."

Fine suddenly stood up, her unusually large body approaching Raye.

"...I'd like you to stay by my side for a while, Raye."

The woman moved closer to Raye's petite body and reached out as if to touch her face. However...

A black-and-red blade flashed without warning, leaving a frightening slash across the ground between Raye and Fine.

"Please don't approach me so casually, Fine, unless you intend to fight me."

Raye held the Sky Striker in one hand and spoke in a cold voice.

"Oh my, I really don't understand why you're so cold toward me, Raye. I don't remember ever doing anything unforgivable to you."

Fine reluctantly withdrew her hand and spoke with a hint of complaint, her expression seeming somewhat displeased.

"I've told you many times before."

Seeing that Fine was no longer trying to approach her, Raye hung the Sky Striker back at her waist.

"I don't like strangers getting that close to me."

Raye emphasized this with an unfriendly expression.

"Oh? But aren't we partners? It wouldn't be excessive for partners to be a little more intimate, would it?"

Fine folded her arms, her impressive chest appearing even fuller under the pressure.

"Fine, were you possessed or did you start hallucinating? Why are you saying such meaningless things? Haven't we always had nothing more than a simple exchange of benefits?"

Raye quickly and firmly rejected Fine's attempt to claim a closer relationship, while also questioning Fine's mental state.

"Heh heh heh, nothing serious. I was only joking. But you're as boring as ever, Raye."

Fine chuckled lightly and brushed off the little incident as though it were nothing.

"Please stop wasting my time, Fine."

Raye's face showed a trace of impatience at Fine's inexplicable behavior. She could not understand why Fine always had to do so many strange things.

"All right, all right. Let's talk business. I want you to stay here for about six months. In exchange, I'll give you everything in my possession that might interest you. This will be our final transaction."

Fine stopped making unnecessary gestures and slowly stated her request.

"Everything? Then your ultimate goal really has entered a critical stage."

Seeing the terms Fine had offered, Raye understood that Fine's ultimate goal—something Raye had vaguely sensed but did not know the details of—was probably close to succeeding.

"Exactly. That's why I want you to devote these six months to assisting my plan."

Fine said this.

"...I understand. So what exactly do you need me to do? Retrieve something, or threaten someone?"

Raye accepted Fine's request without much thought, then began asking what exactly she would need to do after being hired.

"As for the details... For now, you only need to guard this place and serve as my bodyguard, keeping other people away. If I need anything else later, I'll notify you. How does that sound?"

After Raye agreed, Fine revealed a satisfied smile and assigned her guard duty.

"Understood. I'll protect this base for you, provided that my own life remains safe."

Raye answered while staring at the screen before her.

"Since the deal is complete, I'll go outside afterward to set up defensive mechanisms. Also, Fine, let me ask you something. Is the individual behind me with the high energy reading one of your subordinates or an outside intruder?"

Raye explained her plans, then asked Fine this question.

"What?"

Fine was slightly confused by what Raye meant. At that moment, she saw two long pink tendrils suddenly lunge out from behind Raye, launching an attack at her.

"Do you see this, Fine? This is my power! I don't need anyone else's help. I can defeat everyone you want to defeat all by myself!!"

With that cry, the pink whips struck Raye's position at lightning speed, raising billowing clouds of smoke.

[Image: Music to my ears]

[Image: Laughing so hard I'm out of breath]

P.S. This Cloudian really became famous throughout the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! community.

Chris Yukine

[My name is Chris Yukine.]