The battle continues as the afternoon sun is obscured by billowing, dark smoke. I can see one of the Nova shudder and erupt into fme as it explodes, but there are still three more. As I deflect another ribbon-bde, I hear a scream, and whirl, watching Pandora Bradley go flying, smming to the ground and leaving a bloody smear as she rolls haphazardly, her hammer spinning away and dissipating. She’s not moving.

  “Dora!”

  Maintaining my freezing, I carefully move toward her as a couple of second-years sprint over with a stretcher, two more with Volt Weapons ready. Looks like we’ve got a medical team set up to extract those too injured to fight. As they haul ass past me, I can see Dora’s still breathing. Thank goodness…

  Returning my focus to the fighting, I dart back in front of the Limiters, blocking two more ribbons as one of the Nova draws neared. Ticy’s trying to break through the armour to expose the core, but she’s having trouble. Chihaya’s shing out with her Gungnir in elegant sweeps and lunges, and I pause, momentarily entranced, before shaking my head. No time to gawk at her now…

  The second Type-S Nova goes up in smoke shortly after, but the remaining two redouble their efforts, more and more Pandora getting taken out of the fight, one after another. I grit my teeth. I’m a first-year… even if I joined the battle, what good would I achieve? Even with my Double Accel, I’ve been barely able to defend Morrison, Abel, and the other Limiters in my group. If I left to attack a Nova, what would become of them without me? I… I can’t abandon them to their own devices-

  Cnk-cnk-cnk-cnk-cnk-cnk-cnk-cnk-CRASH!

  The rattling of chains fills the air and a pair of pointed metal weights rake along the incoming ribbon, one I’d been too distracted to catch in time. A girl with wine-red hair in drill-tipped twintails waves at me.

  “Hey, first-year! You tired yet?!”

  I hear Arthur’s voice whooping, “Ganessa!”

  I recognize her! She’s Arthur’s Pandora, the Angel of Binding, Ganessa Rond!

  I shake my head. “No, I can keep going. Thanks for the help, senpai.”

  She giggles slightly. “Don’t overdo it, I’ve been watching you. Over two hours of maintaining a Freezing Field AND using your Volt Weapon? I’m honestly amazed you haven’t passed out.”

  I blink, and then wobble as a wave of fatigue floods through me. “Has… has it really been that long? I thought…” Chihaya, sensing my connection wavering through the Ereinbar Set, Accels over, catching me before I colpse totally.

  “Ah, crap, I didn’t think you’d push yourself so hard! Dummy!” she scolds, concern writ clear on her face. I feel her arms around me. She’s breathing hard from fighting, her hair’s all over the pce, and she smells like fmes and ozone on top of her own sweat and whatever perfume she’d worn this morning.

  “S-sorry… Chihaya-senpai….”

  “No, it’s my fault! I should’ve paid more attention!”

  Ganessa whirls her chains, the sawbdes morphing into weights and smming a ribbon-bde back as she unches two more chains, all four in py as she shouts, “Back-up over here!”

  Satellizer fshes past, a radiant glow surrounding her, just like it did the day I arrived. What was it called… Pandora Mode?

  Ganessa bursts into light herself, and I spot Creo Brand perched on the armoured ‘chest’ of one of the two Nova, pummelling it like a jackhammer, each blow emitting crackles and sparks of thunder as she beats the pting until it sunders, her fingers digging into the split and peeling the shell open as she roars.

  Arnett’s scythe arcs a bloody crescent through the air, slicing the core of the Nova in two, vaulting away using the long haft of her Volt Weapon as a pole. I straighten as she nds a few metres away, grinning like a demon.

  “Hey, Akariiiiii! Having fun?!”

  She crows with glee at the prospect of going all out against another enemy. I swallow. Arnett-senpai is scary! I wouldn’t have stood a chance if she’d come at me like this during our duel!

  The st Nova increases the ferocity of its attacks, and several Academy transports descend, engines howling, several groups of third-year Pandora and Limiters leaping out to provide support and reinforcement. Three girls in medical coats rush over to Dr, Elise, getting to work on administering medical treatment to the girls and boys who got hurt during the fighting.

  With a little help from Chihaya, I straighten up and hurry over to one of the transports as the teachers shout orders. Arguing is not going to benefit anyone, and, as much as I want to check on Dora, I’d only get in the way. The best thing for me to do is follow instructions and embark on the evacuation transports…

  The next week is a whirl of debriefing, sessions with the academy’s counsellors, medical check-ups, and several visits to the hospital wing to visit Dora. She’s in good spirits, considering her injuries included four broken ribs, a dislocated arm, two crushed fingers on her left hand, a skull-fracture, a third of her skin being torn-up and losing almost a litre of blood.

  “Seriously, I can’t believe I even hit the stupid thing! Sure, getting absolutely pasted across the dirt was embarrassing, but I’m like the only first-year who got involved other than you!”

  She smiles up at me, her eyes shining. I smile back, relieved that she’s going to be okay. According to Dr. Elise, the Western girl’s remarkably resilient and her positivity makes her a joy to work on. I help her drink from a gss of water, sitting next to her hospital bed and filling her in on what she’s been missing while cooped up in here.

  “… and Rinslet even won a sparring match! I mean, it might have been more blind luck, but she still managed to beat her opponent! Plus, Miyabi’s in the Brig for what she did during the camp, so there’s that. She’s probably gonna come after me when she gets out, but I’m training hard to keep her locked down with new skills. If she tries anything, I want to be prepared.”

  Dora giggles, wincing a little, as she lies back against her pillows. “I think you’re going to embarrass her again!”

  I wink. “You know it!”

  After we stop snickering about the prospect of shutting down a bully and her BS, Dora fixes me with an intense gaze. “So, have you made a move on your Pandora?”

  I splutter, falling off my stool and yelping as I bruise my tailbone.

  “Wh-wh-wh-what!? I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  Dora raises an eyebrow. “Akari, you aren’t fooling me. I’ve SEEN the way you look at her. You’ve got a massive crush on Chihaya! And, if I can see it, then I’m probably not the only one!”

  I can feel myself starting to turn pink, my face heating up as I fidget with a strand of long, dark hair. Dora’s smile widens. “Just go for it! I think you’d make a great couple, and, while I can’t say for sure if she’ll reciprocate, you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t try!”

  I open my mouth to protest, but Dora’s earnest assessment gives me pause. She’s right; I DO like Chihaya like that. I want to spend all my free time with her, and I find myself watching her more than I do my teachers. And, if Dora’s right… I’m not exactly subtle about my feelings. Maaan, this is so embarrassing! I wasn’t expecting to be noticed!

  While I right my stool and sit down again, Dora slowly, painfully reaches out and takes one of my hands, her bandaged fingers stiff and unmoving as she wraps the remaining ones around my wrist.

  “Akari, just… do it. Ask her out, invite her to go shopping or for dinner. Make your move. You don’t wanna look back years from now and regret the past, do you? I guarantee that if you let your chance slip away, you’ll be kicking yourself for the rest of your life. Plus, if you DO get together, we can gossip about how cute she is!”

  I start to smile again. Dora’s got a very… unique way of approaching problems. She charges at them head-on, not like the careful way I tend to navigate the minefield of social expectations and appearances. Maybe… maybe I should try things her way. It’s not like I have anything to lose, right?

  That night, while I prepare dinner, I let my mind wander, hands moving autonomously as I peel and dice potatoes and carrots for the soup, unsure of how I should best approach this titanic moment-

  “Ouch!”

  Chihaya’s head whips up from where she’s sitting on the couch reading manga, eyes wide, before casting the book aside and almost unching herself off the couch to my side as I run my hand under the tap.

  “What happened, Akari?! Did you hurt yourself?!”

  I show her. “Just a small cut. I got a little distracted while making dinner, that’s all…”

  She’s so close; I can smell her shampoo and feel her fingers gently brushing the back of my hand as she examines my self-inflicted minor injury.

  “Ah, that doesn’t look too bad. Keep washing the blood off, I’ll grab the first-aid kit and sort out a pster for you. Need me to finish up?”

  I shake my head, a faint flush colouring my cheeks. “N-no, I’m alright. Thank you for the offer, though.”

  Chihaya briefly pauses in her rummaging, digging a blue waterproof esticated bandage out of the kit.

  “Akari… you’ve been spacing out a lot more than usual today. Is… is something bothering you?”

  Confronted with such an open-ended question, I find myself struck dumb. What do I say? Do I lie and fabricate something about schoolwork? Do I brush it off as me just being scatter-brained? Or… do I take the opening and admit the truth?

  As the silence stretches on for a minute, then two, I feel my tongue’s stillness loosen. Opening my mouth, I speak.

  “Chihaya-senpai… I… I like you…. A lot. More than a lot, even…. Would… would you like to go out with me?”

  Chihaya’s stunned face looks right back at me as I clench my hands into fists. Her brow furrows.

  “What do you mean? I thought we were already dating and just taking it slow!”

  I blink. “Hweh?”

  “What, you think I invited you to go clothes-shopping for fun? I hate that stuff!” Chihaya ughs. “I always rush it to get it done as quickly as possible, but YOU were having so much fun, I started enjoying myself too! And seeing you protecting the Limiters, and the way you crushed Miyabi… I couldn’t help but fall for you more and more! I thought we were moving at your pace when it came to couple-stuff, since you were dealing with your new look, and the training camp wasn’t exactly the best pce to steal some time together alone…”

  I squeak as Chihaya takes my hand, pats it dry on a piece of gauze, and swiftly fastens the pster over my cut finger. Then… she kisses it softly, looking up and smiling the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen in my life.

  I feel my chest flooding with warmth, as my senpai slowly stands, her hands holding mine. Then… our lips meet.

  First, our breath mingles as she looks at me, a couple of inches taller. I can smell the milk coffee on her breath, sweet and curiously intoxicating.

  Then, her hands leave mine to gently csp my waist.

  Her chest presses against mine, her heartbeat pulsing through my body as I swallow.

  With gcial slowness and yet as fast as light, she leans in, the space between us as wide and infinite as the sea, and thinner than spider’s thread.

  Contact. Soft, warm, and achingly tender. I feel a roaring, crackling energy fizzing away beneath my skin, and give myself to it….