Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

Taking a deep breath, Miku hardened her resolve and said this to Raye.

"..."

After he said that in the Miku, Raye's slightly stiff expression seemed to undergo a subtle change, down to the pixel level.

But then, this change vanished like an illusion in the face of the Miku, and if I hadn't been so focused on the Miku, I might have missed it.

"What do you want? Can you tell me?"

Before she could Miku grasp what this change meant, Raye uttered new words.

His expression remained as still as ever, his words were calm and casual, as if it were just a casual question, but there was a barely perceptible hint of expectation in his eyes.

What I want is...

After Raye asked the question, Miku subconsciously felt the urge to express her own expectations.

However, the words that were already on the tip of his tongue stopped abruptly when he saw Raye's expression in the Miku, as if they were stuck in his throat.

"... No, that's not right."

Swallowing back what she wanted to say, Miku shook her head, as if speaking to herself.

"Raye, I won't tell you what I want you to become, I won't make that kind of demand of you."

Then, the intelligent young woman spoke with composure, concealing her true feelings.

"..."

The expectation in Raye's eyes vanished, replaced by a fleeting sense of disappointment.

"What kind of person you want to become is up to Raye Raye."

"I understand. There are many things I don't know Raye. I don't know what you've been through in the past, I don't know what you're thinking Raye, and I don't know how to help Raye."

"But even so, I will help you in my own way until I Raye you don't need help anymore."

"So, whatever you want to ask, Raye, this is my answer."

Miku took Raye's hand and smiled as she spoke these words.

Then, whether it was a misperception or not, it seemed Miku after she said those words, the gloomy feeling that had been shrouding Raye faded slightly.

"Kohinata..."

"Well then, Raye, let's get up and have breakfast together. A good meal makes you feel better; that's what my friend taught me."

The Miku offered Raye no time for silence or reflection.

After saying that, he grabbed the hand of the girl he had previously taken and guided Raye to do what she planned to do, just as he had said.

Subsequently, things proceeded very smoothly.

The perfectly warm water flowed over the girl's soft cheeks, the slapping and rubbing sensation briefly burying all the troublesome memories under the stimulation of the senses.

Soft fingers and a stiff wooden comb passed through each other's hair in turn, initially bringing a slight pulling sensation, followed by an indescribable smoothness.

The crispy texture created by baking water and wheat flour with other ingredients reaches the tip of the tongue, while the perfectly timed soft and bouncy egg flavor satisfies the empty stomach after a night's rest.

After taking a somewhat forceful approach and doing the series of things with the girl, he Miku pulled her back to his room.

"Raye, let's play Yugi together."

He took out several Yugi boxes that had been piled up at home and said Miku a smile.

"Huh, what Yugi?"

Raye asked, looking somewhat dazed.

At this moment, under the continuous initiative from the Miku, Raye's thinking seemed to fall behind, and she temporarily went offline.

"Well, it depends on what you like, Raye. Since I often have friends over to play, I have a lot of board games here, like this one, this one, and that one."

Miku spoke enthusiastically, introducing Raye to the several board games she had stored there.

"Or, if there's any board game you'd like to play, Raye, I can go out and buy it with you. I'd also like to know more interesting Yugi."

With a smile on her face, Miku asked.

"Ah, I... So, Kohinata, you want to play these Yugi with me, but don't you have to go to school today Kohinata?"

After a pause of more than ten seconds, Raye seemed to have caught up with the Miku's train of thought, as if the process had only just reached this point, and raised her own question.

"Don't worry, today is a day off. Of course, even if it weren't a day off, I would still take the day off to do what I want to do for Raye."

In the Miku, she gently answered Raye's questions and continued to convey her will to her.

"Is that so...?"

Seemingly moved by the will of the Miku, Raye spoke, her body unconsciously taking a slight step back.

So, let's play together!

And in the Miku, y/*ue-already one zero weep> put feed together feed witch? In an instant, he took a step forward, grabbed Raye's hand, and said seriously.

"... Okay, I understand, but, um, just so you know, playing board games with me might not be a great experience."

The consequence of failing to capture the opponent with a well-woven net is that, in this situation where the initiative has been lost, one gradually falls into the opponent's rhythm and is unable to extricate oneself.

"How could that be? Playing Yugi is a lot of fun! Let me explain the rules of this Yugi to you, Raye. This Yugi can be played by two people."

Ignoring Raye's seemingly dismissive words, Miku took out a paper Yugi box and began explaining the rules of the board game to Raye.

P. S. Goodnight.

Chapter 119 Fall

Time always flies Yugi. A few hours passed in the blink of an eye, and before we knew it, it was time for this side of the planet to be directly opposite the star.

However, this only describes Raye's feelings. For Kohinata Miku, this short period of time felt like an extremely agonizing prison sentence.

"Alright, this is my final hand. This time it's my victory."

With the last few cards placed into the deck, Raye simply declared her victory.

"Haha, I lost."

Across from her, Kohinata Miku tried to force a smile, but ultimately failed.

At this moment, she had lost her previous smile and enthusiasm, replaced by a numb sense of helplessness and a feeling of relief as if she had been released from prison.

"Kohinata, there's no need to keep going now. I've already said it before, playing this kind of Yugi with me won't be a good experience."

Rei casually rearranged the playing cards scattered on the bed into a stack, Raye handed the stacked cards to the expressionless Kohinata Miku, saying this.

"Ah, I understand now. I can no longer understand what you meant by what you said before Raye."

With trembling hands, Kohinata Miku took the Raye of cards that Rei had prepared.

"I can't continue like this. If I keep going, my body definitely won't be able to take it."

Kohinata Miku murmured the words to stop, at which point she even felt her vision blurring.

She had no idea what she had gone through that morning.

A simple Yugi that only requires a deck of cards; a complex Yugi that requires half a bed.

Yugi that is purely based on luck for both sides; a complex Yugi that requires calculation of many factors.

Of all the Yugi like these, the Yugi she and Raye played for an entire morning, she never managed to snatch the crown of victory from Raye's hands.

"Call

Letting out a long sigh of relief, Kohinata Miku leaned against the wall of the room, feeling a slight relief from her physical fatigue.

"Raye... how did you do that? In my mind, these Yugi are supposed to make both parties feel happy and bring smiles to their faces."

"But why do I feel like I'm losing my smile? Are these really the Yugi Yugi used to play with Hibiki?"

Overwhelmed with excitement, and leaning wearily against the wall, Kohinata Miku Raye a hint of urgency.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure about the specifics, but I've always been really good at these kinds of two-player competitive Yugi, though I don't know when it started."

"For me, unless there is an insurmountable imbalance of power from the very beginning, I will not lose Yugi that involves competition."

Raye spoke slowly, glancing at the black and red blade she had placed beside the bed, an expression on her face suggesting she was recalling something.

"Is that so? It seems I made the wrong choice. If I hadn't insisted on playing this type of Yugi, I wouldn't have suffered this morning."

Listening to Raye's explanation, and seeing the look in her eyes that seemed to have died for a moment, Kohinata Miku understood where she had gone wrong.

"Torture...?"

Seeing the way Kohinata Miku's expression had turned sour because of her, Raye looked slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I have thought about whether to add a little water, but it's probably a habit. I always unconsciously try to be careful and haven't been able to do it."

With a slightly apologetic tone, Raye said this to Kohinata Miku.

"Raye... you'd better not say anything."

Kohinata Miku said with a hint of helplessness. Although she understood that Raye didn't mean it, Raye's words still made her feel a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, okay, then we shouldn't need to continue this kind of thing this afternoon, right?"

Seeing this, Raye stopped discussing the topic and instead asked this question.

After all, having lost countless times in a row, Kohinata Miku's energy was quite depleted, and in her opinion, not continuing was the best solution.

"Well... Raye, just wondering, are you happy?"

However, Kohinata Miku did not answer immediately, but instead asked Raye the same question.

"Happiness... I'm sorry, I don't have that feeling. It's a luxury for me, so Kohinata, your plans may fall through."

Upon hearing Kohinata Miku's question, Raye's expression shifted slightly, but she did not admit it aloud.

"Oh, really? So it didn't work out..."

Kohinata Miku stared at Raye for a while.

Is there something on my face?

Noticing the other person's gaze, Raye asked without realizing it.

"No, no... And, Raye, let's continue after lunch. I'm not going to lose again."

As if she had been thinking about something, Kohinata Miku gave a reply that seemed completely illogical to Raye.

"Ah?"

Raye looked slightly puzzled.

"No one says you can't continue playing Yugi if you keep losing, right?"

Kohinata Miku spoke, a slight smile appeared on her lips.

[After all, just before, Raye, you didn't seem unhappy at all.]

Recalling Raye's behavior in the Yugi, Kohinata Miku felt a slight surge of joy.

The powerful aura he exudes when drawing cards and rolling dice, the subtle gestures of using his fingers to aid his calculations, and the joy in his eyes even when his expression remains unchanged after a victory.

For Kohinata Miku, winning the Yugi was never what she cared about; what she needed was the pleasing change that Raye brought about.

"This... I really don't understand, Kohinata, do you have some kind of masochistic or prison fetish?"27

On the other side, looking at Kohinata Miku's smile, Raye shivered as if something had occurred to her, and her gaze towards her became strange.

"Of course not, I certainly don't like constantly losing in Yugi. I play Yugi with the intention of winning."

Kohinata Miku shook her head, denying it.

"Then why do you continue, Kohinata? I don't believe you have the ability to defeat me."

Raye bluntly pointed out the facts that puzzled her.

"While it is true... well, it's because I'm planning to go play this together next."

Clutching her heart, which felt inexplicably pierced, Kohinata Miku pointed to a corner of the room where Yugi with two controllers was placed.

"What do you mean, Kohinata? Do you think video Yugi can beat me?"

Raye asked.

"No, I don't think I can beat you, Raye. The reason we're using the Yugi is... Raye, let's play a two-player cooperative Yugi next."

Kohinata Miku answered with a smile, then pulled out a box of Yugi cartridges from somewhere.