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A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands [F/SN / Infinite Stratos / ???]

[X] A PT Raid, this time on something more than a supply base. You and Houki don't know what it is, but it's important.

Today was the day; the day you landed a permanent blow against Phantom Task. You were within a briefing room with Laura and the rest of the platoon leaders of the 501st. Houki is in front of everyone, with a projector showing a map of Europe with multiple locations highlighted. Taking out a pointer, she begins the briefing.

"Today, ladies and gentlemen; we land the first permanent blow against Phantom Task. Recently, I have managed to obtain the allegiance of an...inside operative within the organization; their intel providing me with the location of a high-priority facility of theirs, it's purpose unknown to the agent. They have also informed me as to how PT has managed to keep these bases hidden: the moment their locations are compromised; the bases and all operatives at them are terminated, all records of its existence erased from their databanks. What happens to any vital resources is unknown, though it's presumed they are preserved and move to another base."

"The only reason this base hasn't been eliminated is because our double agent; Codename M, and myself had to go through several countermeasures in order to obtain this opening. However, time is still limited; we must strike today or the opportunity to finally hurt Phantom Task will be lost."

"That being said; this is the plan: Major Orimura and Schwarze Hase will attack the compound, meanwhile the other two platoons; will divide up into squads and attack the following bases here and here," Houki says, pointing out the lesser bases outlined on the map, "This will divide what forces Phantom Task will have available to them, and ensure that the primary objective is eliminated. All squads will have the secondary objective to attempt to obtain the leader of the base they are raiding for interrogation; though if it proves too time consuming or will get in the way of the overall plan, extermination is an acceptable alternative."

"Once a squad has finished their raid, they are to meet at the designated rendezvous point nearest to their location; shown here in blue," Houki then points out the three points, "You will then head over to the primary base and aid Schwarze Hase in their own efforts. The locations of your targets will be on your IS. Any questions?"

"What will our loadout be, ma'am?" Clarissa, Laura's second in command asks. Houki presses a button on a remote, showing a slide of a new IS frame.

"This is the mass production unit; designated Hagel. Based off the 8th Generation Schwarzer Regen, it's equipped with an AIC and railgun along with the ZERO System interface that can link up to a commander unit's Druid System for further tactical efficiency. You'll all be equipped with standard IS equipment best suited to your proficiencies," Houki informs them, telling them them what they're going to be riding into battle with.

"Now, any other questions?" Nobody replies back, so Houki nods and tells them, "You have your orders, move out!"

"Yes ma'am!" With that, the lieutenants all head out to carry out their objectives. You follow shortly afterwards, meeting up with Laura's platoon to strike at the main objective. As you reach them, you put on the Black Knight and see the coordinates of the base. Looking at the rest of the platoon, you see them all equipped with their ISes, Laura at the lead. You look at her and she looks back, nodding in confirmation for moving out.

You take the lead; just as you're about to take off, Houki contacts you via radio, "Ichika...be careful."

You simply grin roguishly, "Oh course; we'll be back in a flash. Phantom Task won't know what hit em..." With that, you take off; the rest of the platoon following your lead. It was time to hit Phantom Task where it hurt.


The mission started like all your other missions did; albeit with more men on your side and with more enemies to deal with. You had Laura break through the perimiter with her hadron cannon and railguns with the rest of the platoon targeting turrets with their railguns. Once they were destroyed, you then hand to deal with the standard PT greeting: IS pilots flying early generation ISes; Uchiganes and Raphaels galore. Compared to your more state of the art equipment, they fell like lambs to the slaughter.

Once the last of them fell, you and your platoon then delved into the base itself; discovering that it was massive on the inside: the ground floor expanded large enough to actually continue flying your ISes. And there was more underneath; as you found the entrance to the next floor, the floor that held what Phantom Task was working on here...

What you found disgusted you; row after row of people in tubes, many of them horribly mutated and mutilated by some sort of experimentation. None of the ones you saw were alive. You didn't know if this was inhuman experimentation, cruel torture, or a mix of both. It took everything you had to not break out in endless fury, to not be consumed in rage and destroy everything in your sight. You had though your resolve was unyielding when you learned about their human trafficking. Oh, how you were wrong...

Schwarze Hase was faring no better, themselves just as disgusted by what they were seeing. Although many of them were hardened soldiers, there was only so much that a person can handle, can be taught to ignore. This...this was far beyond that threshold.

You still had a mission to accomplish, though; so you rallied the platoon and continued on. Walking past each and every dead person, your resolve, your determination, your hatred of Phantom Task was only reinforced with every move you made. Even through all you had faced in your lifetime, nothing had ever reached the vileness or disgusting malevolence that they had.

Eventually, the hallway stopped; and before you stood a massive colossus of metal, shaped like a mockery of a T-Rex. Flanking it were rows upon of rows of towering robots, each double the size of a full grown man if not taller; all reaching up to the colossus's knees. Behind the colossus, you can see that the halls of tubes continued; but contained inside were not people, at least not any longer: pitch black monstrosities, with talons and fangs were what laid within them.

"Mein Gott...what is all of this?" You hear Laura ask you, standing to your right; eyes filled with horror and disgusted awe.

You turn to her and tell her, "I don't know, and I don't care: whatever it is, it's going to be crushed by me. By us. Ladies!" You call out to the entire platoon, "Prepare your weapons; we're torching this place to the ground."

As if hearing you, the colossus seems to flash and glow; coming to live to immediately rush towards you all. Everyone manages to get out of the way just in the nick of time; with you blasting a hole through the roof so everyone can get airborne.

However, the monstrosity doesn't give up so easily; jumping through the hole you carved through, it lands upon the surface and lets our a mind-numbing roar. From its maw comes a laser of some sort that you all scramble to dodge. Then; like demons from the abyss, the rest of Phantom Task's creations: the metal hulks and warped abominations, all come forth to annihilate you all. The mechanical killing machines all using thrusters on their backs and feet to fly, while the biological weapons of war ride upon them like mockeries of knights upon their noble steeds.

As you begin fighting off the metal hulks that begin to rush you, you try to raid Houki; only to get static. Damn, it looks like you have to hold your ground until reinforcements arrive.

Taking note of your surroundings; you see the colossus dealing with several soldiers and Laura is facing off against multiple abominations. Both seem to be in a deadlock; though if you save one, you might be able to come to the aid of the other. Or...you might be too late.

Which will you rescue?
[X] Laura, she's surrounded and can't hold out forever; with the training they have, the soldiers can keep the colossus distracted long enough for you two to kill it
[X] The soldiers; Laura is a competent fighter, the best in the company. She can last long enough for you to kill the colossus before backing her up
 
I take it that someone is PT is also a reincarnation?
[X] The soldiers; Laura is a competent fighter, the best in the company. She can last long enough for you to kill the colossus before backing her up
 
[X] The soldiers; Laura is a competent fighter, the best in the company. She can last long enough for you to kill the colossus before backing her up
 
[X] Laura, she's surrounded and can't hold out forever; with the training they have, the soldiers can keep the colossus distracted long enough for you two to kill it.

Time is short; you make your decision immediately, hesitating for even a second would doom both Laura and her comrades. Rushing to Laura's aid, you call forth the power of your Noble Phantasm; Knight of Honor, your prana flooding the IS and all of its weapons. Now was not the time to hold back, these monsters were far more dangerous then mortal men. As the Black Knight became empowered by Knight of Honor, glowing a vicious black and red far more vibrant and alive than its regular coloring, you immediately enter the fray and tear one of the hulks and abominations riding it into shreds. It was as if you had teleported there; your IS moving far faster than it ever had before; even with Ignition Shift.

As your blades tear through the abomination, you see your shields shimmer as if they were hit as you also feel a tingling feeling around your body: apparently the monsters have a self defense mechanism of some sort. Thankfully, it's not enough to stop you blades from cleaving them in two. The rest of the monstrosities that had surrounded Laura were now alerted to your arrival; not dividing their attention between the two of you.

As two hulks and the creatures riding them try to flank you; you simply raise your arms and use the surgers to blast them. The enourmous robots block the attack with their arms; which destroys their limbs, but still allow them to engage in close combat. Which was what you were expecting; by removing their arms, you rendered the hulks unable to fight back: repeatedly slashing into them with your pseudo-Noble Phantasm swords. As the blades cut into the monsters, however; you see that their innards and blood start to fizzle on your weapons, like their bodily fluids were eating away at the metal.

Immediately, you turn towards you back on instinct and activate your defensive shields on your arms; just in time to block a rocked-powered fist from a hulk, followed up by an attack by the greater horror riding on it. Grabbing the outstretched talon, you activate the surger and cause the abomination to explode in a shower of gore; once more seeing your shields shimmer and feeling pain in the arm you used to kill it. Not letting it distract you, you follow up with a surger punch to the hulk's face; causing the head and upper torso of the mechanical beast to melt away, the worthless scrap of metal falling to the earth below.

Fighting against the swarm of enemies as a hurricane of blades; you cut through them, ignoring the growing pain wracking your body and the acid spraying all over your IS. When you finish off the last of them, you see Laura about to be ambushed by two more hulks as she was fending off two more in front of her with spears.

You immediately spring to action, calling out to her as you ambush the two horrors behind her, "Laura!"

As you ram your swords through their heads and rip them off their bodies, Laura impales both hulks and lets loose a salvo of railgun fire to finish them off. As you turn to check if she's ok, she lunges forward; her spear missing your head by a centimeter...and cutting right through another hulk and monster.

As the latest enemy falls from the sky, you ask Laura, "Are you alright?"

"Fine, sir; IS is still operational with over 75% energy remaining," Laura reports. Hearing that, you nod; then look towards the colossus.

The rest of the platoon is divided between harrying the colossus and fending off the mass of abominations flooding the skies; using evasive maneuvers and their superior agility to their advantage. Seeing them unable to do any damage to the robotic parody of a dinosaur; you turn to Laura and tell her, "You think you can take down the colossus while I deal with the rest?"

"With pleasure..." She replies, shifting her railguns into the hadron cannon and letting it fire right at the colossus's head. The moment the particle beam hits the construct's head, the whole head begins cracking and explodes, sending the giant machine toppling to the ground like a demolished skyscraper. Meanwhile, you began your waltz of death among the vile swarms in the skies; cleaving them asunder and shredding them into bits. You began to corral them away from the rest of the platoon to give them breathing room; allowing them to fire from afar with their railguns and other ranged weapons to thin the hordes.

Then, Laura turned the hadron cannon on the rest of the horde, and they fell like ants to a magnifying glass in the sun. Compared to the havoc it wreaked on the far superior colossus, it was practically overkill to turn the cannon against the smaller hulks; though nobody felt pity for the souless abominations.

Relieved that the fight was over, you turn to the platoon; ready to give the order to torch the place: only for the earth to shake and shudder. With horror, you witness the ground tear itself apart; as three more colossi erupt from below like newborn chicks, bringing with them their own hordes of horrors and golems. It was as if the floodgates of Hell itself had broken down; letting loose damnation upon the living world.

Reinforcements would be arriving, but it'll be too late at that point; the odds of the platoon surviving slim to none. There may be a chance for them to survive though; you might be able to hold off the enemy long enough for the rest of the platoon to escape and contact Houki and the rest of the 501st. It'd require you to shift all power to the radiant wave surgers and overload them for a massive AoE burst; keeping the enemy from reaching Schwarze Hase. You'd only be able to do this with them gone; otherwise they'd all be caught in the blast too.

However...that would pratically drain what shielding your IS had dry; even enhanced by Knight of Honor, the machine still had limits. You weren't sure if you'd be able to endure fighting off an entire army and come out alive...

But, if you did; it'd be to save the lives of all the soldiers under you command.

So...
[X] Send off the platoon, perform your last stand
[X] Inform Schwarze Hase about the plan
[X] Try to hold your ground together; hope reinforcements arrive in time
[X] Write-in
 
[X] Send off the platoon, perform your last stand

You turn to Schwarze Hase and give your final orders to them, "Go; all of you. Fall back and establish contact with Houki and the rest of the 501st. Once the company has gathered together, launch a unified assault; let Houki come up with the strategy. I'll buy you all enough time to gather reinforcements."

"But sir, there's no way you can-" Before the soldier can finish, you thrust out your arms and utilize the keystone of Houki's fifth generation design: mode shift. Immediately the parameters of your IS changes; sacrificing any semblance of defense save for the metal armor of the IS itself, in exchange for raising your offensive capabilities by a hundredfold. You let loose a dual surger wave; bolstered by Knight of Honor and Mode Shift, it creates a dome of impassible destruction that the horde can't pass.

As the first several rows of the enemy crash and burn against the barrier you made, you turn to the platoon and yell out, "That's an order, soldier. Now, GO!"

The hesitate for a brief moment, but in the end they follow through with your orders; reluctantly flying off to prepare for a proper counterattack. Meanwhile, the golems and horrors fell back; letting the colossi take the stage to break free. The three saurian constructs rush at the barrier and crash into it; unable to break through yet able to shrug off the damage the barrier was causing them. As expected, the colossi were made of far superior materials than the lesser hulks.

Once the mechanical beasts realize that their efforts aren't working; they open their maws and begin to change a laser beam of some sort, all aiming at the same spot. It seems like they're going to try to bore a hole through your barrier to let the rest of the horde through. If that works, then you'll be overwhelmed and have to fight off thousands of monsters and three titanic constructs that would give a dragon a good run for its money.

Not that you hadn't expected any of this in the first place; you knew that this would be a last stand of sorts. One knight against an army of the damned?

You smirk; those were the kind of odds you were born to go against. Even if you were to die today, you were sure as hell going to take this damn army with you. It was your duty as a knight to purge this evil from the world, to fight against the darkness to protect mankind. Even if it took your life, if it will protect the innocent and prevent the evil of Phantom Task from ravaging everything; you would gladly give it wholeheartedly.

Not that you were going to let them kill you; you promised Houki you'd come back alive, and come hell or high water you'll do the best you can to fulfill that promise.

As the laser continues to clash against your surge wave and your IS's energy supply starts dropping like water down a sieve; another laser breaks through the barrier, cutting down the three colossi and creating a valley through the horde. Turning in shock, you see Laura; disengaging her hadron cannon.

"Lieutenant, I ordered you to retreat. Why are you disobeying a direct order?" You demanded, not wanting to deal with insubordination of all things at a time like this.

"With all due respect sir, that wasn't an order I could follow," She flies up right next to you, "If you're going to pull this heroic 'last stand' crap to save our asses; then at the very least you're not going down alone."

Looking her in the eye, you can tell she wasn't going to back down; no matter what you did. You simply sigh, and say, "Alright, fine. Two IS pilot against thousands of killer robots and mutated abominations..."

"Doesn't seem fair; maybe we should tie our arms behind our backs," Laura snipes back. Huh, you didn't expect her to have a sense of humor. Then again; people act differently when facing death right in the eye.

"You seem oddly chipper," you reply back, preparing to call forth your swords as the barrier starts to shimmer.

"Blame Clarissa; I think all those team bonding exercises of yours let her rub off on me," She replies back; calling forth two spears: made similar to your own blades.

As the barrier is barely visible, the horde charges and you pull out your swords; the two of you charging into the fray. As you charge, you see that Laura adopts your own plan and utilizes Mode Shift to change her IS into one more suited for fast CQC, abandoning the railguns and cannon due to their energy consumption. The swarm quickly surrounds you, forcing you to defend yourself from all corners. With each blow you spray acid on your weapons or feel the pain of the wounds you've dealt, but the two of you fight on.

As you continue as a hurricane of blades, Laura is like a monkey; dancing around attacks and using the Absolute Defense to create platforms for dive blows with extra force. While you were a shredder tearing apart everything in your path, she was a scalple surgically eliminating enemy after enemy. The pain was nothing to either of you, such worthless thing not even a distraction in the face of your full focus and determination to eliminate each and every single one of them.

However, even if your spirit was willing; your weapons were less so. Both ISes had already burned through an inordinate amount of energy, forcing the two of you to land to preserve what little energy you had, with the hulks following shortly after. Now on the ground; the horrors could now approach you on their own terms, their strides outspeeding the hulks with ease. Even though you don't stop cutting them down, your swords eventually break; the acid finally doing its work and weakening both swords beyond repair.

Unarmed, you resort to using the claws of your IS; knowing that soon those will follow suit. You needed something more, something greater than the worldly weapons forged by man. Something capable of cleaving this evil with ease, able to cut through these monsters without restraint. You needed a sword that would properly embody your ideals and the path your walked; your determination and will given form.

You needed the blade bestowed upon you by the woman who raised you; the blade of the Perfect Knight: Arondight.

And heeding your desire; your will to both protect your comrades, your friends and family; the burning ambition to uphold yourself to the standards of your past life, to regain the honor of being a knight once more, it came. A once pristine blade stained black with sin; the unfading light of the lake was just as powerful and unbreakable as it was in life.

Holding its hilt in your hands, it feels like a lost limb has been reattached to your body; Arondight just felt so right in your hands, your skill, grace, and familiarity with the sword transcending any false mastery Knight of Honor can bestow upon you. With your real blade in hand, you begin to cut through the horde with ease; deflecting acid with swipes of your blade, dodging claw and fist with enhanced grace, and cutting through them all without restraint. The only real obstacle now was the recoil from the greater horrors, and you've already learned to tune that out.

Still, even with the power of Arondight flowing through you; you were still human and had limits. You could only ignore the pain so long, until even your greatest efforts weren't enough to force it down. Limbs started to grow heavy and leaden, slowing by the smallest fraction; but still slowing nonetheless. Senses dull by both time and pain, you only notice a sneak attack from behind until it's too late to retaliate. You prepare to try to move in order to make the wound as superficial as possible-

Only to see a crimson spear erupt from the monster's skull, followed by a yellow spear in its heart. The now deceased horror is kicked into the crowd as Laura jumps in beside you, covering your back. Looking back, you give a slight nod which she returns in kind; now neither of you will be ambushed, both of you watching the other's back. Literallly.

Now the battle begins anew; both of you creating a storm of cutting steal and flying corpses, your new weapons cutting through the horde far easier than your old ones. You and Laura begin your second wind, cutting through the Phantom Task army with renewed frenzy.

However, even this cannot last forever; as even your renewed vigor begins to dim by human limits combined with endless pain with each wound inflicted against the enemy. Both of you breathless, back to back and surrounded by the larger black monstrosities, you both prepare to make the last seconds of your lives count by taking out as many as you can with your dying breath...

Only to be interrupted with a rain of railgun fire cutting a swath through the remnants of the horde: the reinforcements have arrived. As the rest of the 501st begin cutting through the enemy, several of the soldiers fly in towards you; picking you and Laura up and evacuating you out of the fray. Now out of the fray, the adrenaline begins to fade from your system and the pain you ignored for so long causes you to black out.


You wake up in the infirmary; Houki sitting at your bedside and Laura sleeping in the bed next to yours. You ask Houki, "How long was I out?"

"Two days; your nervous system took a beating you know. You could've suffered permanent nerve damage; been crippled for life..." She tells you, her voice wavering as she tells you the worst.

You can only sheepishly grin and tell her, "But I'm not right? That's all that matters."

Houki doesn't take your answer well; looking furious and ranting at you,"Dammit Ichika, you could've died! Why the hell did you pull such a bone-headed, asinine, retarded plan that'd guarantee-"

You cut her off, "Because I had to. Because if I didn't, everyone else would've died along with countless innocents. Because I'm strong enough to face the impossible odds," You give a small grin, "That's what knights do, after all."

Houki falters, pausing for several seconds before embracing you in a fierce hug, "Just...just never pull something like that again; alright? I...I can't-"

You return the hug and soothingly rub her back, "I can't promise that; you know. But...I'll always do my best to come home alive."

Houki, head in your shoulder, simply shakes it and says, "Dammit; fine. But I swear if you die I'll find a way to bring you back and make you wish I hadn't."

"If I do, then I'll have deserved it," You joke back. Then, you consider what happened at the battle, "What happened after Laura and I were evac'd. Actually, how is Laura? If I was that bad off..."

"I'm fine sir," You turn to the other bed, seeing Laura now awake, "I was about as bad off as you, and recovered about as well."

Seeing your second in command now awake, you ask her what you wanted to in battle, "Why? What made you decide to defy orders and risk your life?"

Looking you in the eye, Laura says nothing; but you can see it. A spark of something in those eyes, something that wasn't there all the other times you looked in them. She had the answer to that question you've asked her time and time again: 'Have you found it yet?'

'Yes, sir.' And you know what it was; you. Houki. The 501st. The kind of loyalty forged through battle and through facing death; fighting for people not because you were ordered to, but because they earned it: earned your loyalty and devotion, your blade against your enemies. Such a motivation was a familiar one to you; being the same motivation you had to your past lord.

Houki then interrupts and answers your other question, "The aftermath was painless; 501st killed off the rest of those...things. I shipped over a radiant wave surger tuned to a frequency to dissolve the blood of those things along with the oil, both are toxic as all hell and contamination isn't something anyone wants to deal with right now. I have the salvaged remains of the colossi and several hulks to study, along with the info I gleaned from the remains of the base's databanks."

You nod, glad that the raid went smoothly after you were gone, "And the bodies?"

"I burned them, the facilities here aren't equipped for an autopsy; especially one involving a biohazard. Plus...those people...they deserved that much at least," Houki tells you, looking away at the end.

Right, those monsters were people once; the though of innocent men, women, and children being turned into those nightmares sends a chill down your spine, and only strengthens your resolve. Still a bit out of it, you begin to doze off again; seeing Houki still at your bedside as you enter dreamland once more....

Time passes; it's:
[X] Time for the assistant to arrive!
[X] An unlikely visit!
[X] A call you didn't expect!
 
[X] Time for the assistant to arrive!
[X] An unlikely visit! (Cause the poor people on QQ deserve to have a bone throw to them)
You stood beside Houki, garbed in the Black Knight, waiting in the lot for her new assistant to arrive. You both decided that it'd be better to ease her into the truth of your identity, along with the rest of her duties. From what Houki told you of the girl; Kanzashi was rather timid and closed in, overshadowed by her seemingly perfect sister. While there's likely more to this than a simple middle finger to Tatenashi and is part of Houki's overall game plan, you can tell that a small part of her motivation is just empathizing with the poor girl to a certain extent: She's a little sister too after all, and while it looks like her and Tabane are equals, there are days when she says otherwise...

"You know, my sister's gonna win this whole 'war' thing between us; right?" Houki tells you, relaxing on her bed with sake in hand.

"What?!" You reply back, shocked, "Where the hell is this coming from? I mean, you're just as smart as she is; both of you know it. So why-"

"She's more inspired," She replies, interrupting you, "I'm more focused; she's distracted by the trees, I don't see the really rare and unique ones as I pass through the forest. For ever handful of ideas and sources of inspiration I have, she gets four times as many. The keep her busy as she tries to make them all come true; many of them failing to meet her expectations, but some of them shining through. While so many flop and flounder, it's still only a matter of time until she comes up with something so crazy, out there, yet absolutely brilliant, that it makes the world gape in awe. I just focus on the two or three ideas I got and run them into the ground reaching perfection. Nice as it is, it's not as...flashy as her's will be."

"And that's why I'll lose; the moment she looks more impressive, is the moment the world flocks to her over me. I'll be playing catch-up while she blazes ahead," She finishes, taking a gulp of her drink.

"So, you're just giving up then?" You ask, a hint of disappointment and worry in the tone of your voice.

While you can't see her face from the angle you're sitting, you know she's smirking, "Of course not; all it means is that I have to change the rules, make it so I have the advantage. It's all a part of the plan. I just...needed to say that aloud, is all."

"Ah," you grunt; not quite understanding, yet knowing that this was simply something she needed to do. You look around and then ask her, "I'm bored, you wanna crank up the Playstation you have set up in your lab?"

"Sure," she replies, leaping from the bed with sake in hand, "I was wondering when your scheduled ass-kicking was due..."

You're shaken from your trip down memory lane as you hear the sound of a jeep nearing by. Looking into the distance, you see said jeep coming into view now. Once it stops in front of the two of you, you see General Aderman exit the jeep with a blue-haired girl wearing glasses and hairpins following hesitantly behind her. Houki was spot on about the whole 'shy shut it' thing. When the general reaches you, she salutes, "Doctor, Major."

Houki simply nods, "General; you can head back to your duties, we can handle it from here." With that, General Aderman salutes and heads off to more important duties.

With the general gone, Houki then turns towards Kanzashi, "Now then, I assume you brought what I asked?"

"Y-yes Dr. Shinonono," She stutters out, handing Houki a folder with several papers in it. Houki looks over the papers and gives an approving nod, smiling at Kanzashi.

"Good, then follow me;" she tells her, as you all head into the base, "There's some things to be fixed here and there, but that's mostly because you stayed below budget better than I expected. You can splurge a little; just as long as you don't go in the red, you're good. And sometimes even then they'll like it if the design's good enough."

Kanzashi smiles at the compliment, "Thank you ma'am, but I wanted to make sure I followed the instructions of your tests and exercises to the letter; just because they're theoritcal work doesn't mean I shouldn't treat it like the real thing. It's an honor to be chosen as your assistant, and I don't want to give the wrong impression or let you down."

"Theoretical work? What gave you that idea?" Houki asks, genuinely curious.

Kanzashi actually stumbles at the question, "But...all the designs you gave me; asking me to make template and frame blueprints using the ones you gave as a basis. All those assignments, that was all...for..." Kanzashi stops talking; actually gaping with eyes wide open. Curious, you look at what's causing this, only seeing the 501st running their drills as usual, in their ISes.

"...[size=8pt]You used my design[/SIZE]. Y-you actually used my design..." Kanzashi tells Houki, still in a daze. Wait, the Hagel was design by her?

Houki simply scoffs at her shock, "Of course I did; it was a mass production frame that managed to maintain enough of the core abilities of Schwarzer Regen while still remaining cost efficient. You even managed to get the Zero Systems to link up with the command units' Druid System properly without me giving you any clues as to how. It needed a little extra flair to it, some tinkering here and there because of how under budget you were, but overall the German military is pleased with the results. You did good."

Kanzashi then points to the folder in Houki's hand, "And...and those are for...?"

"China," Houki tells her, "They want their mass production frame to be ready the same time the Shenlong is; while newer research will make a fair amount of it obsolete when the time comes, it's still a solid enough foundation to go on. That's probably what I'm going to have you do as my assistant: work on mass production frame designs, continue lesser research projects, handle meeting while I'm busy; basically take care of the little stuff so I can work on the big stuff. So far you're passing with flying colors."

Houki twirls around, all of you reaching her lab at this point, asking her new assistant; "Any questions?"

"Why me?" Kanzashi asks timidly; the million dollar question that's probably been racing through her mind the moment she was informed of the deal. Houki simply rest a hand on her him, gives her a soft smile, and looks at her gently in the eye.

"Because you're a diamond in the rough; all it needs is someone to polish and chisel it to a shine and it'll shine as brilliant as all the other diamonds out there," she tells the self-conscious girl, "Because you have potential and I hate to see it go to waste. And most importantly of all...because I can, and I wanted to; so I did."

Kanzashi looks like she's about to cry, but she holds it back, simply telling Houki from the bottom of her heart; "...Thank you."

"Ah...don't be like that; it's way to early for this sorta sappy stuff, ne?" She grabs Kanzashi by the shoulder and pulls her assistant to her side, "Besides, you haven't even introduced yourself to you favorite hero~...."

Just like that Kanzashi stops, take a good look at you, then starts....squee-ing? "Eeeeeeeeeeee!"

Yup, she had her hands all clenched up and wiggling back and forth, making that high pitched sound with stars in her eyes, "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod! You're the Black Knight!" She then immediately scrambles through the purse at her side, then pulls out a...manga? A manga about you?

The hell? She holds it and a pen up to you, "Can I have your autograph? You're my most favorite superhero ever! I've watched all the episodes of the anime, own all of the manga volumes up to the latest, have all the action figures and build-it-yourself models, and I'm the president of the Black Knight Fanclub in Japan!" After belting all of that out in a single breath, she realizes that she'd more or less made herself out to be a typical fangirl and embarassed herself; shrinking back from her fervent outburst to try and save some dignity.

You simply shake your head a laugh a little. You look towards Houki, asking if she was meant to be in the know. Knowing what you were asking, she gave a slight nod; and you deactivate the Black Knight and take the manga in your hand, "I'd love to Kanzashi; but since we're now co-workers, I'd prefer it if you'd call me by name: Ichika Orimura."

Kanzashi's mouth drops open wide enough to catch cats in it. Speechless for several mintues while you sign the manga with a simple 'To my favorite and most loyal fan, -The Black Knight'; she eventually manages to say something, "You're a boy."

Giving her a sly grin; you look down, then back up and tell her, "Last I checked I was; oh, here's your manga."

"Thanks," She mumbles back, looking at the signature and putting it back in her purse, "...I think we go to the same school, do we?"

"Sendai?" You ask, to which she nods; "Yup, Houki used to go there too. Well, until the whole IS thing; we go way back. Been best friends for over half our lives now."

"...The Black Knight is a boy who goes to my school; going off after hours in his secret identity to save the day. He just signed my manga. He fights evil on a daily basis like in manga and anime. And he's really cute to boot." Kanzashi says, still dazed and out of it.

Somewhat worried, you ask; "Um...are you oka-?" Before you finish, she rushes over to you and hugs you; "Wait, wha-?!"

"Shhh!" She scolds you, "Let me just...soak it in; even if this is all a dream, at least let it be the best one in my life."

Several minutes pass in awkward silence before she lets go, turning to Houki; "Okay, you can let me wake up now. Dream time's over, I should be getting ready for that meeting with the real Dr. Shinonono and Black Knight now."

Houki simply smirks, "My dear, you never went to sleep."

"Oh. Ok," To which Kanzashi simply passes out, you catching her just before her head hits the ground.


An hour passes until Kanzashi wakes up, "Ooohh...I had the strang...est...dream..." She starts to stumble when she realizes she's not asleep, and that everything that happened wasn't a dream.

"You ok? You passed out, probably from too much excitement." You tell her as she slowly gets up.

Looking at you, as if making sure you're really real, Kanzashi says, "So you're...and she's...and-it was all real?"

"Yup!" Houki chimes in, jumping into the conversation, "Meet Ichika Orimura! The only male IS pilot in the world and hero extraordinaire! The noble knight who saves those in need and fights off the evil Phantom Task! Best fighter who ever lived; but still blows ass at video game!" She finishes off that last bit with a raspberry at you.

"Hey! I am not that bad; you're just too good." You retort back. Sure it wasn't really that important, but Houki manages to find the most annoying times to bring it up and rub it in.

"Humph! I applause you for recognizing true talent and genius when you see it," She haughtily replies back, "But the truth is the truth; you simply suck."

"But before you retort," She says, cutting you off before you can even start, "How about we let a neutral party decide?" She asks, looking at her new assistant.

"Um...me?" Kanzashi asks, confused about what's going on. Houki simply smiles and leans back on the chair she's sitting in.

"Yup; I don't have anything better to do for today, Ichika's still recovering from some injuries he got in the last PT raid, and you just got here: why not relax and have fun. Then you can see 'Mr. Perfect Hero' become 'Mr. Butterfingers' when the controller's in his hand."

You don't give into the taunt, but agree with the sentiment; a simply day to lean back and relax sounded good right about now. Just a day with you, your friend, and the newcomer; who's nice enough and will probably be a friend at the end of the day.

Thinking it over, Kanzashi nods and tell Houki, "Alright, what are we playing?"

Houki grins maliciously, directing her gaze at you; "Mondo Grosso Showdown 2: Unique Collector's Edition; a little something-something the game company gave me when I told them they can use the Black Knight as a secret character. It has triple the regular roster because I hacked in and programmed in new ISes into the roster as they came out. It's also the game Ichika's the worst at; which is hilarious!"

You scowl slightly, "The controls feel nothing like the real thing; plus I still think you hacked it so that you win all the time."

Houki only grins, "Eight out of ten Mondo Grosso participants disagree with you, and the though of me actually needing to hack something this easy to win is just silly. If it makes you feel any better; we'll play on the online server and get a fourth to make it an official FFA game. That way you'll know I won't cheat and the world'll see how much you suck at fake IS piloting."

That, was a challenge; and you do not back away from those, "Deal, pass a controller and start up the system."


...You were getting your ass beat seven ways to Sunday. Fucking video games. Still, despite getting ganked for the billionth time today; you have to admit that this was a wonderfully planned icebreaker Houki pulled out. As you all continued playing, you both got to know about Houki's new assistant. Kanzashi was basically a pretty big otaku who was almost willing to worship the Black Knight as if you were some kind of god.

Blushing, she said; "You...you were what I always dreamed about as a little girl; the knight in shining armor diving in to save the day. The hero that arrives just in the knick of time and makes everything right again. You're a superhero, a real one."

"I'm not that good, or that perfect; I have flaws like everyone else. I just learned to...push through them when it's necessary," You tell her, just as Houki no-scopes you again. And wins; again.

"Ha-ha! Once again I stand victorious, and you lay beaten at my feet. You may now grovel at the Queen of Games's feet, peon!" She imperiously, yet jokingly tells you.

You just roll your eyes, "Yeah, yeah; you win I lose. Same as always, except this time someone almost beat your score." You look across at Kanzashi, who's score is just barely lagging behind Houki's.

Houki also rolls her eyes, "Bah, I just focused fired on you too much; you're that easy a target. Honestly, one of these days I need to get you into online matches so I can use you as bait. Your natural suckiness will bring the fresh meat like lambs to the slaughter..."

"You'll never do it," you reply back, "My death count will end up making you lose more points than you gain."

Houki sighs, "Yeah...still though; one day I'll live the dream..." You scoff at the 'dream' she's talking about. Before your typical friendly banter can continue though, Houki gets a call on her wristband. She takes a second to look at it; face neutral throughout the entire time, before she finishes and turns to both you and Kanzashi.

"My sister's coming to visit; which is fine and something I'm very happy about, but..." She looks you the two of you pointedly, "I have some plans in the works, which means we've gotta get several things straight until she's gone."

"Kana," She addresses Kanzashi with a new nickname, "You're going to stay in the lab; nee-san won't come in because I'll tell her not to. I wanna keep the assistant thing a kind of secret from her. Not to mention...I don't think you're quite ready to meet her, she's quite...eccentric."

"Yes ma'am," Kanzashi replies, heading over to look over some papers here and there. Probably thinking that if she's going to be in the lab, might as well get some work done.

"Ichika," Houki talks to you next, "Remember your alibi?"

You nod; it was travelling on a school sponsored trip, "Good, just tell her that and that'll take care of that. I'm informing the 501st and rest of the staff on base to not call you Major or sir until nee-san leaves."

Seeing Houki have all of this planned out, you can't help but ask her, "Is this all part of 'changing the rules of the game'?"

Houki simply smirks, "Of course it is; I can't reveal my hand too soon otherwise it won't work. Now c'mon, let's see what nee-san has in store for us today..."

Sure enough, what you saw was indeed baffling: A life-size replica of Metal Gear RAY. Looking at the water dripping down from it and the fact that the cockpit opened up for Tabane to jump down from; it's fully functional too.

What.

"Houki-chan!~" Tabane calls out, eagarly rushing towards her sister; Houki eagerly doing the same.

"Nee-chan!~" The meet together and hug each other, reminding you just how close they are to each other. After the hugs, Houki looks up; "So...you finished it?"

"Yup yup!" Tabane nods childishly, her looks not helped with the bunny ears, "Your genius older sister managed to put together the toy model in two day flat! And you?"

Houki simply giggles, saying, "Two days for me too," as she pulls out a remote and pushes a button, calling forth...

Metal Gear REX.

What.

Seeing your reaction, both sisters quickly clarify what's gong on; "Oh don't worry Ichika," Houki tells you, "It's not like they're actually dangerous or anything. They're just perfect, fully functional replicas of their video game versions."

"Um-hm; it's like our version of legos or gundam models, only fully functional and way more awesome," Tabane finishes.

"Besides, it's not like they're actually threatening or anything," Houki says to ease your lingering confusion, "REX's railgun is about as effective as a Hagel's; quarter that of Schwarzer Regen. And RAY looks like a special care child compared to Russia's Mysterious Lady. These hunks of junk were outclassed by the time Fifth Generation ISes came around; current ones will tear them apart in minutes, the Black Knight in ten seconds flat."

"Yup; even though they're really cool looking, they're just really expensive collector's items now," Tabane says, once again finishing Houki's point for her.

Now calmer and less shocked, you ask; "Then...what's the point?"

At this, both sisters grin; "Re-enacting Metal Gear scenes: Live action, Shinonono-style."

You resist the urge to facepalm, not wanting to admit that as silly as it was; it was also totally awesome and basass.

What do?
[X] Try to talk them into...um...er...maybe not doing that?
[X] Ask what your part is: (Choose a character)
[X] Fuck it; whatever, super geniuses can do what super geniuses do. At least it's something you can watch and eat popcorn to
[X] Write-in

Author's note: A more 'lighthearted' scene, with the start of Kanzashi. In canon she was looking for a 'knight in shining armor/dashing brave hero' to sorts be something for her to lean on and get courage/comfort to move past her sister's shadow from. Canon was quick to say that that's not how life work; quest was eager to put a big honking sign over you head saying 'Here's a dashing her and knight in shining armor!'.

Hence, she's a total fangirl of the Black Knight. Oh, and is starting to see something to herself besides 'the not as good sister'. Metal Gears are there because they're there, and Tabane hasn't done anything zany in...forever. So yeah.
 
[X] Fuck it; whatever, super geniuses can do what super geniuses do. At least it's something you can watch and eat popcorn to.

You know what? Fuck it. You're still recovering from fighting off a horde of warped abominations formed from the tainted flesh and twisted souls of warped innocents. There are still some times when you feel aches from your abused nerves, overloaded from the demons self-defense mechanism which returned all the pain you brought. And most importantly of all: The Black Knight, while appearing intact and functional; was still waiting for Houki's upgrades and was more ornamental right now than anything else, relying of Knight of Honor to function at the same level it did before the raid.

So you're going to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Even a knight needs to rest every once in a while; you can remember the few moments when you and your comrades of the Round Table would also return from a quest or a battle, to relax and enjoy one of Kay's amusing antics or a prank from that old bastard Merlin.

So you head to your quarters, grab a lawn chair and some chips, head back out and sit back to watch the fireworks. You come back just in time too; both Shinonono sisters have entered their respective Metal Gears and have revved them up for battle.

Immediately, the metal giants clash; very much akin to how they did in the video game: RAY starting off with it's gatling guns and using its superior maneuverability while REX tanks the blows with its better armor and counters with homing missiles to shoot down its rival. Unlike the game however, there's no debris for either Gear to hide behind or use as cover; something that tilts the battle more in REX's favor.

Finally, RAY makes it move; hopping to the left and dashing towards REX in a charge. However, REX managed to dodge the charge; barely getting hit by the attack, and countering with two kicks and opening its 'beak' to pick RAY up and slam it to the ground. From there, it was just like in the game; REX hopped on RAY, stomping on it and attacking with its laser. Unlike the game however, the spikes on REX's feet engaged to pin down RAY's right wing and neck, then focused the laser on the right wing joint while pulling on it at the same time.

Immediately after that, RAY's back opened with a salvo of missile fire; sending REX toppling backwards, damaged from the attack. From there, RAY charged up its water cutter and let loose on the downed REX, cutting off both its radome and railgun. Before it could reach the legs though, REX fired its own gatling gun and missiles at the water cutter; heavily damaging it and giving REX the chance to recover. With the radome gone, REX's cockpit opened so that Houki could see the battlefield and not fight blind.

RAY than began to fire the missiles held in its knees, only for REX to charge in, shooting down the missiles then launching a double kick at RAY's knees to break the missile pods held there with its stakes. Then, it lunged at the other wing with it's beak and held it in place for the laser to once again do its work and cut the limb off. RAY then flung REX off with its legs, sending it crashing forward and almost flinging Houki out of the cockpit. However, doing so did a number on RAY's legs; it's probably not going to be hopping around like it did at the start anytime soon.

REX than hopped back up and turned around in a ready stance, then charged at RAY; with RAY reciprocating. As they both crashed into each other, REX managed to grab RAY by its neck and use its stakes to lock itself in place, while RAY tried to pull back and free itself. Now locked in a stalemate, you can hear a faint sound come from REX's cockpit; "Autopilot: Engaged."

Then, you saw Houki do something batshit insane: she climbed out of the cockpit and onto the top of REX. Then, from RAY's cockpit; Tabane proceeded to do the exact same thing.

What came next was something you half expected at this point: on the backs of both Metal Gears, both sisters began to fight hand to hand; like in the last battles of the first and last Metal Gear Solid. Grappling with one another, they danced back and forth on the backs of the metal behemoths; being pushed onto one, then onto the other.

Finally, RAY managed to kick RAY off; separating the two Metal Gears and stranding Tabane onto REX with Houki, the elder sister almost falling off. Pulling herself back onto the top of REX, the two sisters continue their CQC fight while the auto-pilots of their Metal Gears duked it out.

And so the second half of the battle began; both sisters fighting with their fists, balancing on behemoths of metal and doing their best to not fall off while their creations fight one another. As their fight raged on, the rest of the base began to come and watch the spectacle; wondering just what it the hell was going on. One thing you notice is Laura watching the battle, sitting on a weapons crate while also polishing a rose red spear. A spear very familiar to you.

Curious, you head over to where she's sitting and sit next to her. When you arrive, she looks at you; her gaze curious, as if wondering something about you. Figuring out what's she's probably thinking of, you grab a sword from the crate and channel your prana through it and let Knight of Honor do its work. Then, you use the most basic form of For Someone's Glory; creating a black mist that shrouded your arm and sword. Once you do, you slam the blade into the wall; still holding onto it and looking at Laura expectantly.

Meeting your gaze, Laura pulls out a trench knife and cuts at the sword; her knife breaking against the improvised Noble Phantasm. Then, she brings her spear against it; its blade dispelling the prana and effects of Knight of Honor and cutting through the now mundane blade like a hot knife through butter. She looks back at you, waiting for your response.

Eyes locked, you make your move; holding out your arm and hand. Seeing the gesture, she reaches out and clasps your hand with her own. You look each other in the eye and nod; no words needed to be spoken. Warriors; no, knights of your caliber can determine the character of a fellow knight with but a glimpse. That, combined with the memories of the past you both had, was enough to know you had a fellow brother in arms.

Just then, the two of you hear an explosion and loud crashing sound; returning your attention to the battle before you: both REX and RAY had dealt their final blows, toppling over one another and sending both of their makers crashing to the ground. Shortly after they crash and just before you can rush over to see if they were alright, both sisters pick themselves up; battered but still alive, and raring to end this showdown.

Looking at the both of them, you were starting to think it was getting a little too similar to the game; with both sisters seemingly not entirely there: as if it wasn't Houki fighting Tabane, but some other person fighting another. As they fought against one another with their tired bodies, it looked less like the fun sport it was in the start and more like the fight depicted between Ocelot and Snake in the last game: a final showdown between brothers and mortal enemies.

As the brawl raged for minutes on end, it soon came to a final punch; thrown by both sisters at the same time. It was going to be close; both sisters were on their last legs and their fists hand the same amount of force behind them. Whoever made the first mistake, or lacked the drive to keep going, would lose.

Just as their blows would land, you and Laura see it; Tabane's fist moving just the slightest bit away from her sister. To the untrained eye, or even the eye of anyone not a veteran, it wouldn't be noticeable. But to you two; former Heroic Spirits who are the pinnacle of human skill, it was as clear as day. You look at Laura at the corner of your eye; she looks back and nods.

And the two sisters' fists slam into each other's jaws; with only one falling to the ground.

Tabane hesitated, Houki did not.

And that was what decided the battle; the elder sister passing out from that final blow, with the younger dropping to her knees and following soon after. You and Laura rush over and pick up both sisters, taking them to the infirmary to make sure they weren't too badly hurt and so they could recover.


Two hours later, both Tabane and Houki woke up; a little battered and bruised but with no permanent damage. After Tabane completely brushed off General Aderman and said several thing that would've been better not said, Houki assured the poor general that she'd take care of the wreckage and that there was nothing to worry about. She also apologized about Tabane's behavior and make her sister apologize to, in Tabane's own words, the 'worthless bit-player'.

...To be honest, you're not sure if moving from 'ignoring outright' to 'considering to be the dirt on your boot' to be an improvement in Tabane's social interaction skills or not.

It was then that Tabane spoke up, "Oh, I almost forgot!" She began searching through her pockets until she found a necklace box. She hands it to Houki telling her, "I got it attached just like you asked!"

As Houki opens the box, you see what's inside: a necklace with a green gem attached to it; actually, it's more like half of a gem, with the broken edge on the left side with hints of red on it. The jewel itself seems to be emitting a faint glow from within, and you can't help but feel that it has some power held within.

Houki holds the necklace up by the chain, seemingly entranced by the gem on the end, "It's...perfect, nee-chan. Thank you."

"Nothing less for my little sister; though I was surprised when you sent that crystal over to me to get it fitted onto a necklace," Tabane says, enlightening you about the strange gem, "Then again, the person who made the necklace; Mr. What'shisface, he's apparently the best jeweler in the world or something? I didn't pay much attention about that stuff, only that you wanted it to be a necklace."

Then she smiles and pulls out her own necklace, hidden under her dress, "Plus, we match!"

Tabane's right; on the necklace she pulled out was a gem that looked like the other half of Houki's: Red with greenish hints on it's broken end, its broken edge the opposite of her sister's. You are certain that if connect together, both crystals would be a perfect fit. Like Houki's own necklace, the red gem also glows with an inner light and a hint of power.

Houki simply smiles back at her sister and replies, "Yeah...we do."

And so both sisters spent the rest of the day catching up and simply relaxing with one another, enjoying each other's company; wearing their new necklaces with stones of power and history dangling on delicate gold and silver chains.


Months have passed; training progressing, raids on Phantom Task continuing, and IS technology progressing. The 8th Generation of IS development has arrived; Houki's advancements through reverse engineering the metals and other strange mechanisms of the colossi being countered by Tabane's 'Energy Wing' system; a new flight mechanism that allowed one to do away with the large shoulder protrusions of older ISes and replace them with literal wings of pure energy, improving an IS's max speed and overall agility, as well as giving it some additional offensive power. However, the reverse-engineered tech from Phantom Task improved the endurance and overall defenses of an IS, so once again the scales were even.

This time, however; the advancements made were within both sister's ability to copy and reverse engineer, but revealed a boundary that needed to be overcome for future IS developments: power. Even with the advanced IS core and its battery; the raw energy output for all of these upgrades was starting to fall short of what the core can actually do. It seems clear that for IS tech to evolve; power needs to be enhanced.

In other news, the 501st has reached your expectations; capable of fighting at a skill you feel is on par with your sister's, at least when she was participating in the Mondo Grosso. You think, given an IS of equal calibur, that any soldier of the company would give Chifuyu a run for her money, and maybe even win.

Laura, however; was your equal, a knight of lesser strength and speed who made up for it with brilliant tactics. Finally, there was someone who you could spar with your full power; holding nothing back. Well, nothing back to a point; you didn't want to kill each other, or permanently maim one another. Which, considering the raw power Arondight gives you, and the ability of Laura's yellow Noble Phantasm, was a very possible reality. As such, you banned the use of both in these friendly matches.

Kanzashi; now under Houki's tutelage and watchful eye, was flourishing under the instruction and attention of one of the most brilliant minds in the world. As she passed each lesson and test Houki threw her way, she soon gained more duties and tasks assigned to her; becoming Houki's majordomo rather than a meager assistant. In Houki's own words, "I now have someone who can deal with all the boring political stuff, so I can do the fun stuff!"

Despite this, Kanzashi only seemed happy with her job; likely because she was somebody important and special, no longer the mere sister living in another's shadow. The IS frames she developed were accredited to her by Houki herself, gaining the attention of nations worldwide. While her specific identity was kept a secret; the reveal that Houki Shinonono had an assistant/apprentice that was rising to the challenge brought on by the genius herself was praise enough. The once timid girl was much less so; while still quiet, it was a silence brought on not by hesitation and self-doubt, but of simply being a girl of few words.

And now, your time in Germany was coming to a close; today being your last day here. As such, you...

[X] Hold a final bout with the 501st, see how far they've come compared to that first day
[X] Houki actually wants a spar with you; anything goes, no ISes. It seems she's wanted to do this for a while...
[X] Have to sit in on the Sarashiki group's meeting with Houki, their new terms ready
 
[X] Houki actually wants a spar with you; anything goes, no ISes. It seems she's wanted to do this for a while...

Also... Ack! The Meekstone and the Mightstone! Run Away!
 
X] Houki actually wants a spar with you; anything goes, no ISes. It seems she's wanted to do this for a while...

It was nearing the end of the year, and your time with the 501st; together you raised them to great heights and fought together on the field of battle, fending off Phantom Task and even doing some permanent damage to the organization. You had already told your men that you were proud of them, and of their progress; having had one final bout with them to see how far they've come. Many were shocked when they won at the end; showing that they've truly matched and exceeded your expectations. The boast you made when you first met has come true; each and every one of them would be able to match the Brunhild in the field of battle in terms of skill.

Now, you were currently walking into the lab; Houki and Laura already inside, as Houki ran test after test on the lieutenant; having been informed about her past life that was similar to yours. The current test was seeing the full capabilities of the love spot, using Kanzashi as a test subject. So far, it seems that so long as the victim sees Laura; they are under her charm until the spot is covered by her eyepatch. Specifically her eyepatch, simply using a normal one or her hands doesn't seem to work.

"Hmm...it must be because of how it can suppress the hyper sensor implants in your eye, the mechanics must be similar enough to work on the love spot. A scientific equivalent to a more traditional magical solution. Note to self; research effects of magic on the quantum level..." Houki muses, writing down notes and further speculation on a notepad.

"So, can you remove it?" Laura asks hopefully. Considering her past and how it was the very same spot that prevented her previous lords from trusting her, it's understandable that she wants it gone.

"Possibly; I'll need to do more research. For now, the eyepatch will have to suffice," Houki then looks up and sees you've just arrived, "Good, you're here; now I can finally do what I've wanted to for a long time..."

"Fight me." You're actually stunned speechless by her request. What? Fight her? Is she mad?!

"Oh don't be like that," Houki scolds you, seeing the look on your face, "We sparred all the time as kids; I just wanna see how good both you and I are personally. C'mon, it's not like anyone's going to be really hurt or anything. How about it?"

You really weren't sure, but..."Alright, if you insist."

Houki simply grins, tossing you a bokken, "Great, lets head on out to the training field so I can kick your ass."

You raise an eyebrow at that statement, "You beat me? C'mon Houki, I know your smarter than this," You shake your head, "It's just going to end up like every other match we had as kids."

"I wouldn't be so sure of it." Houki tells you, saying nothing more until you arrive outside where you normally train the 501st; a section of the place walled off to make an arena of sorts. Probably something Houki just made on the spot for the both of you.

The two of you enter the makeshift arena and square off, bokkens in hand and in a ready stance. Houki calls out, "Anything goes, except no ISes. I wanna see how good you are as a whole, not just in kendo."

Again you shake your head; "Your funeral..." With that, the battle began; the two of you circling each other, waiting for the chance to strike. Seeing who would be the one to make the first move, and how to counter said attack when it came.

It was Houki who broke the silence, charging ahead and slashing at you with a diagonal slash. You move your bokken to block; using what you believed to be just enough strength to hold her off, she was only a regular human in terms of strength and skill after all. Which made it all the more shocking when your block was deflected by her attack, leaving you open for a second blow that you just barely manage to counter to recover your guard.

What? How? Houki was no Heroic Spirit, not being of legend like you and Laura were. So how? How did she match your strength? Magic? Science? You didn't know, and you didn't have the time to think about it as you were locked in combat against Houki; her strength almost matching yours through whatever means she came up with.

Almost being the key word: as her strength, her speed, and her skill; while potent and definitely on par with many professionals of today, if not surpassing them, was still no match for your own. The trick or invention she used to match your inhuman parameters was still lacking to the real deal, something made all the more clear as you were slowly driving her back, forcing her on the defensive and not giving her the chance to retaliate. It was clear that, while good in her own right, you were better.

Then, as she blocked another strike from you; skidding across the ground by the force of it and seperating the two of you, she was brought to a knee. It seems that you still outclassed her by a considerable margin, enough to bring her down with a single blow. Seeing that Houki had little much to offer in terms of skill and prowess in the blade, you rushed forward to end it.

Only to barely dodge as dirt and dust was flung towards your eyes, forcing your off hand to shield them and making you stop for the briefest of moments. But that moment was long enough, as you managed to see Houki pull several capsules out of her sleeves and throw them to the ground, all of them erupting into smoke.

A smokescreen; now neither one of you could see the other. Devious, but you were trained to fight against such disadvantages. Letting your other senses and experience guide you, you duck as a horizontal slash just misses your head. You were about to use this as an opening to strike, but you immediately stopped and rolled back; dodging a forward slash that stuck where you just were. Then, you dodged to the left, as another attack came from behind you and to the right.

Three attacks from completely different angles? There's no way for any single person to pull off three simultaneous attacks from different angles all at once. Which means this was another trick; probably two soldiers or drones enlisted by Houki to even the odds. On one hand, this seemed like cheating and going against the whole concept of the spar. On the other...she did say anything goes.

So now it became a three-on-one fight, and you still had the edge. The other two attackers were nowhere near on par with Houki, so that eliminated it being a soldier and meant it was a android of some sort. Deflecting attack after attack and even using their numbers to your advantage; you managed to land blows on your opponents, by having it do it to themselves. Every attack was redirected to where you figured one of the other enemies was; allowing you to flow effortlessly from attack to attack, guiding it like the winds guide the ocean tides.

However, as the fight raged on; you actually felt your muscles tire and your lungs began to ache. Poison, or a chemical of some sort in the smoke; something meant to dull your senses and weaken you to put the two of you on even ground. Devious, which meant you had to end it before any more of it got into your system.
Just as you figured this out, a two pronged assault from both sides came; giving you the perfect opportunity to even the numbers and end this quickly. You dodge the left blow and redirect the right so that instead of hitting you, they instead pierce each other. You then use this an an opening to dash away and try to escape the already fading smokescreen.

You finally made it out, away from the chemicals and able to see the battlefield once more. As the remains of the smokescreen fade away, you see two broken robots on the ground; both pierced by the other's blade. Behind them was Houki, wearing a gasmask to filter out the tranquilizers and other toxins in the air; leaving her fresh as a daisy compared to your intoxicated state. Even so, you still had the edge in skill and physical prowess.

You begin to rush in to begin another assault, as Houki raises her had; holding up three fingers. As you get closer, she begins a countdown: three...two....one...

The moment she hits zero, you're sent flying from an explosion and crash into the ground; only to be sent flying by another explosion. Again and again this repeats until you crash into a wall. So...the entire battlefield was rigged from the start, another trap to offset your skill and tip the scales to Houki's side.

As you begin to remove yourself from the wall, you see Houki coming at you in an intricate pattern of movement; likely the way to maneuver around the mines. You can easily memorize the pattern and move within it yourself, but you have a nagging feeling that not everything is what it seems....

What will you do?

[X] Jump into the fray, using the pattern to land in a safe spot
[X] Wait, something's not right
[X] Try to hop onto the top of the wall, staying away from the ground
[X] Write-in
 
[X] Wait, something's not right
 
[X] Use Knight of Honor to gain control of the mines. If she's going to cheat, we can too.
 
[X] Wait, something's not right...

Good, you had him on the ropes now; trapped on the wall and watching your 'pattern': all according to plan. Of course the pattern was useless, the mines were programmed to only detonate with Ichika under them, and no one else. The pattern is something to lull him into a false sense of security, another method to put the two of you on even ground. Just like the smokescreen and temporary backup earlier.

And yet...something didn't feel right; you know that you could win, will win if you handle things right and use your trump cards at the right time. So why didn't you feel...content? Happy at your inevitable victory? In fact, once you started pulling out the drones and mines, the whole thing became less...fun. All you wanted was a spar with your best friend, like the first time you met in those early years, only with you winning for once.

Thinking it over, the answer comes to you with clarity; was this really a win? It was one thing for your plans to win against your sister, but this was a spar; something meant to test skill against one another. While the smokescreen and chemicals inside it made it so Ichika wouldn't massively outclass you, the rest was...missing the point. You focused on the winning part so much that you missed the whole point of the spar to begin with.

Again, that's what it boils down to: focus. Your greatest strength and most crippling weakness; your focus and determination to achieve the goals you seek, causing you to use whatever methods available to you to reach them. A nagging feeling tells you that this has happened before; you crossing the line and going to far,leading you to a terrible fate.

You had enough of terrible demises in your nightmares; you'd rather avoid such things in your actual life.

You pull out the remote for the mines; initially meant to be used to detonate the entire arena if it was necessary, and flip the second button on it. The one below the detonation switch; the master control, which kept all the mines active. Once pressed, all the mines in the ground flash and switch off, becoming nothing more than useless piles of scrap. You toss the remote and crush it beneath your feet.

No more tricks, no more cheap shots; if you were going to do this, go back to those earlier days on innocence and levity, you were going to do it right.

Plus, pulling cheap shots on Ichika felt like kicking a puppy; a lovable, adorable puppy with ideals of honor and capable of tearing people apart like rice paper. Chances are that he wouldn't pull out his Noble Phantasms unless you outright told him to; such things not being meant for a simple spar between friends, or for fighting allies in general. Unlike your sister, who you know will stoop to the sorts of levels you do if given the chance.

You're pretty sure that neither one of you was particularly nice, or good for that matter. Not that it bothered you or weighed that heavily on your mind, but you're drawing the line at 'fucking with your friends...well, fucking with them too much'. You were not giving up being able to mock Cpt. Butterfingers and holding your never-ending win streak in Mondo Grosso Showdown against his face. And really, it was only when it got past the smokescreen that you really started to take things too far.

So you waited for Ichika to get off the wall, walk around a bit and see that everything's safe, then see him get into a ready stance as you charge to get your ass kicked in ten seconds flat. But hey, at least there's no guilt on your back and you're enjoying things again.


Ok...so you were a little off on the 'ten seconds flat' thing; it took a little longer than that, though that's mostly because of him being drugged by the smokescreen so that you were on equal ground. Well, equal ground with you using experimental nanotech to temporarily make you as strong as Laura. Too bad it didn't last forever and that the machines would dissolve in about...two minutes by your estimate.

Still, all that meant was that instead of ten seconds it was twenty seconds. Twenty seconds of fending off the greatest swordsman in the world before crashing to the ground with the tip of a bokken in front of your face. Then, Ichika simply smiles and give you a hand, picking you back up.

He asks you, "Why? You could've won."

You shrug, "Eh, didn't feel right; what with you being all Mr. Knight in Shining Armor all about 'chivalry and honor'. I think I should've drawn the line at rigging the whole stadium beforehand. I wanna win, but I wanna win on my terms."

"Your terms? And a rigged stadium isn't 'your terms'?" He asks wiry.

"Not if I don't feel like I've won," you tell him, "Besides, I put you through enough crap as is with dragging you here to Germany and still beating you constantly in video games. Which brings me to my next point..."

You twirl around and lean into his face, "Where do you wanna go, Mr. Black Knight. China, Russia, the Philippines; the Amazon Rainforests to the Sahara Desert; or even somewhere crazy like the Bermuda Triangle. You pick the place, I'll set the trip. Whaddya say, up for another vacation?"


"Whaddya say, up for another vacation?" Well...that came out of nowhere; you didn't really expect Houki to spring that on you. You didn't even mind going to Germany, you were helping a friend out, and it's not like Houki wasn't busy more often than not. If anything, it was oddly more relaxing for her to be devoted to this year long project than to be hopping from country to country and negotiating deal after deal.

As for the spar, well; it did kinda start to nag at your sense of chivalry a bit, but you were willing to cut Houki some slack. If you can beat an entire company of soldiers with ease, expecting to go up against a single person was rather foolish; the moment it became that the match ended in seconds. Really, knowing Houki and her desire to win; you should've expected 'anything goes' to be more liberal than usually intended.

It was still nice of her to change her mind and go back to an honorable match, though. You doubt that she would've done that under most circumstances; only 'holding back' for the sake of those closer to her. Except Tabane, who'd simply stoop to that level to match her.

Still...anywhere, eh? Well, on one hand you got e-mail from Rin saying that she had to move back to China; but on the other you haven't seen Hikari for awhile and can probably spring her out again if you wanted. Or...well, Bermuda Triangle, the place where adventurers travel and never return? Such a thing hearkens back to the quests of old, and of you times as a Knight of the Round Table.

You decide to:
[X] Go to China, see how Rin's doing
[X] Go to Japan, and bust Hikari out
[X] Go into the Bermuda Triangle, and seek out its mysteries
[X] Or choose a different location (Write-in)
 
[X] Go to Japan, and bust Hikari out

We are a Knight of the Round Table, after all. Rescuing damsels in distress is what we do. ;)
 
[X] Go to Japan, and bust Hikari out

"I think it's about time we bust an old friend out and hang out like the good ol' day; if you catch my drift," you hint at Houki not so subtly, giving her a slight smirk as you do.

To which she simply grins and says, "Well, well, well; looks like the knight in shining armor is looking for a princess to rescue. Alright, to Japan it is; I'm up for reenacting our dramatic rescue from eight years ago. It'll be nice to meet up with Hikari again after so long."

"Right, so the game plan?" You ask Houki, wanting to hear how the two of you intend to break into the stronghold of an ancient clan of magicians...again. With years of improvement and development of both of your skills, chances are that you'll make that first break in look simply pathetic in comparison.

"Well..." Houki holds her hand to her chin and starts pondering, "I was thinking less the stealthy route and handling things a little more...directly if you catch my drift. Maybe let them see what the greatest Knight of the Round Table and smartest genius of this generation can come up with and dish out. Sorta get them to loosen up a bit and lighten up on Hikari."

"So you basically want to put the fear of you into their hearts and souls," you bluntly state, dryly cutting to the chase, "Alright; sounds like a plan."

With a basic plan in mind, you start packing up and preparing to head out. As you do, a stray thought enters your mind, "Wait; what about Kanzashi? What are you going to do with her?"

Houki finishes packing and closes her luggage, "Depends on whether or not I'm needed by any assoicates while on break; if I am, she'll be taking care of things. If not, then she'll probably come with us. Or she could head back to her family for the year, her choice."

Both of you finish your packing and head over to the lab, checking in on Kanzashi and seeing that she's all ready to go too. Houki heads over to the fridge and packs away the remaining alcohol and asks her, "Give me an update on things, Kana. Anything pressing that needs to be taken care of?"

"No ma'am; everything is proceeding ahead of schedule. All dealings have been finalized and the appropriate frames, MP frame designs, and cores have been shipped to their respective buyers; until developments for the ninth generation are ready, things are clear on your schedule." Kanzashi tells Houki, giving the report in a chipper tone while helping with packing what's left in the lab her boss wanted to take with her.

Houki smiles and tells her, "Good. Means I can take my vacation in peace. You wanna tag along? If not, I can send you back to your family for the year until it's over."

"I think I'd prefer to join you," Kanzashi replies, "Thank you for allowing me to come."

Houki just waves her off, "Ah it's no problem; you've done more than enough to earn it. What with actually managing to get me a year of free time and all. Now c'mon, we have one last person to pick up..."


The plane ride was uneventful, though much less quiet as Houki started talking with Kanzashi about what anime she watched, eventually dragging you into the whole discussion. Though you weren't as huge a fan as Kanzashi was, you still did watch some television so you weren't completely lost. Regardless, it was overall a nicer flight then the first one.

When you arrived it was the dead of night; so you all spent the night at your house and prepared to raid Hikari's house. You and Houki decided to leave Kanzashi out of the raid, solely because she didn't know Hikari and would be in danger if you did bring her along. The rest of the night was spent arming yourself with everything you'd need, and going over the game plan.

Basically, once you passed the front gate and entered the complex proper; you would split up and go through room after room until you found Hikari. If you needed backup, you'd use your wristband to contact the other and call them in. Once you got Hikari, you'd use the wristbands to arrange a dropoff point and teleport out of there. If there were complications, you'd hide and iron out a new plan. Simple enough, and given your capabilities it was going to be a chinch.

Soon, morning came; and you the two of you warped to Hikari's clan compound, right at the entrance. Before you were two guards, you immediately saw you and perpared to detain you, "Stop right where you are! Hands up and don't make any sudden movements! Identify yourselves immediately!"

Houki raises her hand and...waves it? "We are not the intruders you are looking for..." Oh come on, did she really think that would actually-

"You are not the intruders we are looking for," Holy shit, it actually worked. The two guards seemingly dead on their feet, eyes glassy and droning out exactly what Houki said.

Another wave on the hands and Houki gives another suggestion, "You saw nothing amiss and will let us through without delay; telling no one about what happened here."

"We saw nothing amiss," they droned, opening the gate, "Nobody will know what happened here."

You both enter the gate without delay, Houki snickering; "Man, I didn't think that would actually work. I owe Kana 200 yen now."

You simply shake your head at hearing that, "Wonderful, our first obstacle passed solely though luck; this bodes oh so well for us."

"Oh shut it, you," Houki retorts, "I might not be an expert on the whole hocus-pocus stuff, but necessity and desperation are the mother and father of invention!"

"...You totally just ripped off every manga, anime, and movie reference of supernatural powers you could; didn't you?" You just give Houki a deadpan look as you say this, making her blush indignantly from your accusation.

"What-I...well I...uh...it was all Kana's idea?" Houki sheepisly tells you, causing you to shake your head. However, as the two of you head to the actual compound housing your friend, you see Houki tossing out several metallic cubes and spheres. You questioningly look at her for an explanation.

"Distraction," she tells you, "Think like last time; only a thousand times better." Last time was robotic animals that exploded into paint, you're not quite sure that you really want to know what these are now.

Soon, you enter the compound seeing a multitude of rooms before you and a fork in the path; without hesitation Houki heads right, so you head left and walk past several rooms until you find one that you think Hikari may be in.

Inside, you find a man; garbed in a hakama and shitage, like a samurai of old. Kneeling on the ground, you can see power emanating from his being and illuminating the room in a radiant glow, in imitation of the sun itself. He opens his eyes and looks upon you, "I see that my senses were correct as always; intruders have breached our domain. I know not what you seek nor why you seek it, nor do I care. You are a trespasser on sacred ground; the only judgement is death."

The man springs up and pulls out a katana, flowing through an intimidating kata and showing off his skills, "I am Sanzo, grandmaster of the Hinamizawa sword style passed on by Susanoo himself; the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu! I have held this position for forty decades; undefeated, not even touched by my enemies! Come child, and fall before my blade!"

...The man strikes you as a complete poser; you can definitely take him on from what you've seen of his kata.

[X] End it quick; you can outrun racecars and crush said cars with your bare hands. The fool doesn't stand a chance
[X] A match is what he wants? Then a match is what he will get; your knightly pride and honor demands it.
[X] Write-in
 
[X] A match is what he wants? Then a match is what he will get; your knightly pride and honor demands it.
 
"Then before me you are as nothing. One who has never tasted defeat is no swordsman to be feared."
[X]Then we have a match.
Even we have lost from time to time. Granted, those times have been from outright supernatural beings for the most part, but even so. . . Be sure to lecture him on proper swordsmanship and correct all his mistakes as he makes them.
 
[X] A match is what he wants? Then a match is what he will get; your knightly pride and honor demands it.

"Very well then. Sanzo Hinamizawa; I, the Perfect Knight reborn, Ichika Orimura, accept your challenge!" You immediately draw out one of the many weapons on your person; a katana to match Sanzo's. Seeing you ready to fight, Sanzo answers you by leaping into the air and slashing downward as he falls. You block the blow with enough force to send the man back, which only makes him grin, followed by him dashing in and unleashing a flurry of blows.

While their speed and ferocity was impressive, you countered each and every blow with ease; Sanzo himself dodging your counterattacks with a growing manic grin. He then attempts a rising upperslash with his katana, backing it up by using his free arm on the back of the blade. You lean and roll back to dodge; dashing in to attack the moment your feet land. As you begin to perform a diagonal slash against him, Sanzo sidesteps and moves forward; twisting in a circle to slash at your back and decapitate you.

However, you dodge the attack with ease; back-flipping over the blade and using Sanzo's own technique against him: slashing at his side as you fall. Slightly smirking, you announce to your opponent, "First blood is mine."

"Yes, yes! At last; a worthy opponent!" Gleefully Sanzo rips off his shitage; revealing his bare chest and a second katana concealed within the cloth, "Will you be the one to make me draw my real blade? Come, let us see if you have what it takes to make it so!"

"I was going to say the same to you. Now then, prepare yourself!" With that, the two of you clash blades with renewed fury; Sanzo blazing with an even greater light than before, his attacks faster and stronger, his body not tiring as easily. But compared to a legend; it was still not enough, the physical edge was still yours. And with his techniques revealed to you, countering them utilizing your own ungodly skill was a cinch. The battle itself now became one of attrition, and you were winning.

After minutes of unending combat, your katana finally cuts through his and lands another blow on his chest. Sanzo staggers back, but is still grinning maniacally; laughing with glee, "Yes...now, we start the real battle..."

He grabs his other katana, its sheath made of ornate gold and ebony wood; the blade itself was masterfully crafted, a masterpiece that surpassed the likes of many of the blades you've seen in both lifetimes. Sanzo looks lovingly upon the sword, "This is the greatest sword forged by Masamune himself, blessed by the gods themsleves; no other blade forged on Japanese soil can match it's might. I have only ever drawn it twice in my lifetime; once to slay a rampaging dragon, and again to fend off a Kyuubi no Kitsune. Be honored, for you are the first mortal to face it's majesty."

He then looks at your katana then asks, "Your blade, it's longer than a regular katana. Why is that?"

"Hm?" You actually take a moment to look at your sword, having not paid attention to any details of the blade itself; your body and mind innately using the blade with grace, "Ah, this katana is a family heirloom of a friend; meant to be used in their family style. I would've though she'd take it with her, but I guess she though I'd need it more. Or use it better, either or."

"I see; it is truly a fortunate sign that such an esteemed blade will be graced with Masamune's presence in its final moments. I would be loathed to have my sword cut down a common katana. Now, prepare yourself; for now I show you the real strength of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu!" As Sanzo says this, he enters a battōjutsu stance; ready to utilize those techniques that require the blade to be drawn from the sheath.

You too prepare yourself, activating Knight of Honor so that Houki's family blade, Akeyoi, won't shatter against the legendary blade of your opponent. You didn't want to have to explain to her why a family heirloom was broken in your hands. You hold the enhanced blade in a ready stance, preparing for Sanzo's attack; "Bring it on, Sanzo!"

"Haaa!" Sanzo draws his katana from the sheath into a slash; using the sheath to guide the blade while putting more force and speed into the swing. You manage to deflect the katana, only to see the sheath coming towards you; deflecting that just in time as well. Sanzo then returns the sheath to his side, as you try to cut off the arm holding it. He just manages to dodge and block the attack before he lost that arm for good.

Then, the grandmaster jumps back and strikes and the ground, causing the floor to erupt in shrapnel and debris flying at you; forcing you to cut it all away in an instant and allowing him to get space between the two of you. He then dashes and cries out, "Behold, the ultimate technique of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu! Kuzuryūsen!"

He unleashes his attach; nine strikes, all simultaneous with inhuman speed and targeting all your vitals. You grip your sword tighter and swing, absolutely focused on countering this attack. No move can be wasted, each one must be performed in absolute perfection; to be the slightest bit off will mean your death.

You block the center strike, doing so in such a manner that brings your katana upwards to block the top blow, which in turn forces your blade clockwise to deflect the next attack. You flawlessly and perfectly block all nine attacks, using the power of said attacks to flow seamlessly from counter to counter, finishing in a strike at Sanzo's chest that he just barely dodges to avoid it being lethal.

All of this occurred in the span of a second, any slower and you would be dead; too slow to have blocked all nine strikes. You dash at Sanzo, ready to end it; only for him to sheathe his blade with the same speed of his earlier attack, creating a sonicboom that almost deafens you. It's only your skill and experience that allows you to not be affected by the full attack, dashing and covering your ears at the last second; stopping your charge for just an instant.

But an instant is all he needs, as he dashes towards you; once again in a battōjutsu stance. He swings the saya forward, sending his blade flying at you for a longer ranged attack. You block the attack, along with the follow-up with his saya. He grabs the deflected blade and once again sheathes it with great speed, making you shields your ears once more.
He then holds his stance and calls out to you, "To block the Kuzuryūsen is indeed impressive, but the truth is that it is not the ultimate technique of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Now, I will show you the real culmination of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki."

He dashes forward, taking not one step as regular battōjutsu requires but two; bringing him further into your guard, right to the front of your blade and just behind his own. He swings his katana forward, the power and speed of the slash enhanced by that extra step, but you still block it.

However, the swing was so fast and powerful, that it cut the air itself and created a vacuum; sucking you in even closer while the block attack itself led perfectly into the circling slash you witnessed earlier in the fight. Only this time, it would be far more powerful; bolstered by the first step of the attack.

But you were prepared for this, and countered; stabbing your blade just as Sanzo swung his.

This would be it, the final blow to end it. After this, one of you would be dead; the clash will allow for nothing less.

For this instant, all that was heard was the sound of steel cutting through the air...and blades cutting through flesh.


It was over, the loser gushing out blood and the victor standing triumphant. The loser simply looks at his wound and utters, "Ah...I see."

Then, Sanzo looks to the sky; away from the katana stabbed into his heart, "You used the vacuum to increase the momentum and force of a reverse stab, realizing the second step of Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki. However, such a maneuver would normally be suicidal; leaving you defenseless to my Ryūkansen. Any other swordsman would've been cut down before their blade reached my heart, if they tried what you did."

"But...you already knew that, didn't you? I saw it in your eyes, the eyes of a seasoned warrior; no doubt or hesitation within. You performed the move, knowing what would come next; even if it meant your death."

The dying man chuckles, "I guess...that extra length...really was useful..."

You don't look back, absolutely focused on defeating the man behind you; his katana a hair away from severing your neck. He was right; it was only the extra length of Akeyoi that allowed you to pull this maneuver off in the first place. You pull your blade free from his body and swing around to land another slash across his chest, sending him flying to the ground. The man clearly used magic, so expecting him to be able to heal was simply pragmatism.

"Hehehe, wonderful..." Sanzo calls out, dying on the floor, "Yes, to be cautious of me using magic; a true warrior's response. Fortunately for you, I cannot use any spells; only being able to use my chi to enhance my body. That was why I chose the path of the blade, so that I may still yet serve the clan."

He then coughs out blood, then holds up his blade, "Take it; it is tradition for the winner to take Masamune from the loser, the sword's very magic recognizing them as it's new master."

You walk towards him, taking the katana and saya from him. You say to him, "It was an honor fighting you, and a greater one to be the wielder of such a blade. Now, I must ask you; where can I find Hikari?"

This makes Sanzo laugh, making him cough from the exertion before answering you, "Looking for the heiress? As you have defeated me, it is only right to tell you. She is currently meeting with the elders, who are...displeased with her and her development as clan heiress. Rumor has it that they're either going to exile her, or execute her."

He reaches into hakama and pulls out an amulet, handing it to you, "This will lead you to where the elders hold such conferences; I have a poor sense of direction, so they gave me this so I wouldn't waste their time. Now go...go forth noble knight...and...tri...u--uhhh."

Sanzo dies, his body unable to continue on. You reach for his eyes and close them, then whisper a prayer, "May you find peace and glory in the after life, Sanzo. You were one of the few to actually be a challenge to me in this era."

Looking at the amulet, you exit the dojo and see it lighting up on the left side of the jewel. Seeing this, you not; left it is then. You dash through the hallway, ignoring all other rooms and following the guidence of the magic tool in you. You finally start to get close to the meeting hall, if the bright glow of the gem is any indication; but find your way blocked by several dozen clansmen.

The leader of them calls out to you, "Halt! I know not how you managed to get this far; navigating past the spells meant to block trespassers like you, but you shall go no further! We will stop you here!"

Looks like the amulet was more than just a guide by the sounds of it; thanks Sanzo. You pull out Masamune and Akeyoi, the squad paling at the sight of the former. As you get into a ready stance to cut them down, you can hear them mutter in fear among themselves.

"That's Masamune, but...that's Sanzo's-!"

"Impossible, there's no way that he could've lost! He's the grandmaster-!"

"He...he beat Sanzo?! Oh, by the gods we're going to die!"

"Shut up; all of you!" The leader yells out, trying to reign in his subordinates, "We have a duty to the clan, and we will not falter now! Besides, it's clearly a fake; there's no way for Sanzo to lose, he's untouchable."

You hold out Masamune, calling out to the leader, "Tell me; does the blade look fake to you? Does it feel like a pale imitation of the original? I beat Sanzo, facing his Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and his Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki. I beat him, and now I'm going to beat you!"

You dash forward, dancing around their blows and cutting them down with ease. Compared to Sanzo, it was like children facing a giant; the whole squad falling in a single second. With them all defeated, you look ahead and see the entrance to what you assume must be where Hikari is.

Your mind set, you dash forward; ready to break in and save Hikari, cutting down anyone who stands in your path...
[X] Break it, kick ass, and take names
[X] See how Houki's doing
[X] Hikari facing judgement
 
[X] See how Houki's doing
 
[X] Hikari facing judgement

You are kneeling on the floor, head hanging low and awaiting your judgement. You suppose that it was always going to come to this; the moment they took away you very freedom to make you into their perfect heir, to make you yet another clan head in their image of what one is meant to be, was the moment that you began to resent your position. The moment you began to resent your family. The only restraint that kept them from pushing as far as they did was your parents, and they died to illness four years ago; the day you were pulled from the outside world, from your friends.

A part of you still believes that the elders had planned that; they never approved of you leaving the compound or doing anything not associated with the clan.

With no more restraints, the elders flung you into training and grooming you into the clan head that they wanted; days of neverending training and research, pushing your body and mind to their limits and beyond. You honestly can't recall the last time you've hand more than an hour of sleep, the last time you've actually gotten some fucking rest. It was literally meet their expectations, or die trying.

You blame them for the fact that your once vibrant ebony locks are now graying, looking more appropriate on someone three times your age. Honestly, you were on the verge of a nervous breakdown from the stress and the fact that you're practically going through your mid-life crisis at age fourteen isn't a good sign.

The elders gather, one by one taking their position on the dias; looking down upon you and ready to deliver their verdict. Eventually, all but one of them are all there; seated and looking at you with disdain for your 'crimes'. Several seconds pass in silence before the last of them arrives; once she does the head elder addresses her, "Why are you late, Hitomi?"

The elder bows her head, "Forgive me, there was an intruder trespassing on our sacred grounds. As I was nearby, I decided to deal with the wretch...personally..." With that, she takes her place at the dias.

Now that all the elders have been gathered, the head elder begins the trial, "Honored elders; we are gathered here today to deliver judgement upon Hikari Hinamizawa, heir of the clan. She has gone against the precepts of our clan, delivered by the very gods themselves. Such rebellion cannot go unpunished, much less by the heiress."

"Her crimes are threefold," Wait, threefold? You can only think of-, "The first is breaking the vow of secrecy; telling outsiders of the truth of the clan, the truth of magic. Even having the gall to teach outsiders of our craft. The second; defying the judgement of the gods, and perverting the sacred rituals given to us by them to harness the essence of the land. You have gone against all their warnings; taking the power of the land as your own and using it over that which the gods have given you, reversing the natural order of magic."

"As for the third..." The elder pulls out a small box, and you go pale; hoping to the gods that the box wasn't what you though it was, "Compared to the other two crimes it is petty in comparison, but serves to only solidify the truth of your heresy."

He opens the box and all hope goes away, as the elder pulls out a doujin from you 'special box', "Indulging in such...base and perverse desires; the contents of such making several of us sick in how disgusting it was. It is clear that the outside world has only tainted your mind, instilling such perversion and corruption into you. It is to my eternal shame that we had discovered it too late." Yeah, too late to do this sooner; can we get to the point?

"Now, we must deliver our verdict," Oh boy, here it comes, "The question is whether or not you will be exiled, or executed; the council debated much on which was the most merciful punishment. In the end, we-"

Just then, the doors shatter and two bodies of your fellow clansmen are sent flying into the room. Both of them heavily injured, but still alive; one of them murmuring, "Demon...he's some kind of demon..."

Walking through the broken entrance, was someone you haven't seen for years. You couldn't believe your eyes, whispering out in disbelief; "I-Ichika?"

Your first friend, who you met so long ago and haven't seen in years, turns to you. With a rakish grin he says, "Hey Hikari; we're here to bust you outta here. Especially after what I heard they were going to do to you. I'm not letting them kill you, not while I'm still breathing."

You couldn't believe it; it was something you had only considered in your dreams, a flight of fancy that you knew could never happen. Yet, here he was; swords in hand and barging in like a noble samurai saving the pure maiden from harm. There Ichika stood, striking an imposing figure with one katana over his shoulder and holding the other pointing right at the elder council. With a determined face he tells them, "If any of you are going to stop us; go ahead and try. I'll cut you down like all the others."

"Impudent brat!" The head elder screams, standing up in indignation and anger, "Abandon your arrogance and know you place!" He furiously flings his hand forward, sending forth a dragon of pure fire right at your face. You couldn't scream, the sheer power of the dragon and the speed it was flying at you leaving you unable to speak; much less time time to even do so.

However, Ichika was just as fast; leaping in front of you and actually cutting the dragon in two, the flames dissipating as they were separated. Everyone was shocked at what he'd done, yourself included. How it the world did he manage to cut a fire dragon in two? Any sword would've melted trying to touch the spell, much less actually cutting it in half. And how did it dissipate? Then, you notice the katana he used to cut the spell; a flawless blade of perfection, one that has no equal in this world. Even though this is the first time you've seen this sword, you know that it is the greatest katana ever forged, it simply exudes its perfection.

The elders notice the blade to, and start to murmur among themselves, "That blade...it can't be..."

"The only way for him to have obtained it is...but he's only a child!"

"Impossible, it must be a fake; an imitation meant to instill fear-"

"I see," the head elder proclaims, silencing all the others; "That blade is no imitation, my senses can detect the magic within. It seems that this child has indeed bested Sanzo; an impressive feat, especially for one of his age. You must be very skillful and powerful, boy."

After the compliment though, his eyes harden and the rest of the elders rise in tandem, "However, Sanzo was merely the greatest of us in terms of physical skill and might; hardly an example of what to expect from us! Even if you have beaten him, to challenge all of us; at the same time no less, is suicide! Maybe you might be able to defeat one of us, maybe. But united, you will fall like the lone tree against the tsunami."

"I hope you have all your affairs in order, for today is your last day in the realm of the living..." With this final proclamation the elders start to take position, arranging themselves so that their skills and abilities are utilized in the most effective and efficient manner. The head elder taking the lead by virtue of being the strongest, being flanked by two elders on each side; the ones closer being proficient in defensive magic with the outer ones being more offense oriented. Finally, in the back was elder Hitomi; the most skilled healer and user of enhancement magic, capable of empowering the other elders and restoring them when they tire.

Once they are in position, all hell breaks loose. But not in the way you expected...

It was elder Hitomi of all people to make the first move; pulling guns of all things from her sleeves and shooting down two of the elders flanking the head, then flinging the guns at the other two to knock them out. She then rushes the head elder, pulling a knife on him and holding it to his throat. The head elder is just as shocked as you are, "What the hell are you doing Hitomi! Have you lost your mind?!"

Elder Hitomi simply smirks and whispers just loud enough for the entire room to hear, "Shatter."

The traitor elder's visage cracks, then shatters as if it were glass; revealing that it was all an illusion all along. And in the former elder's place was...Houki. You begin gaping, eyes wide open in shock at what just happened. How in the fuck did Houki pull this off?! This was the innermost sanctum of the clan, she was surrounded by the most skilled practitioners of magic in all of Japan. She should've been found out the moment she walked in, but somehow she managed to pull off the impossible.

The head elder was just as shocked as you, "I-impossible! This is the innermost sanctum of the Hinamizawa clan, we are are the most skilled magicians alive! How can your illusion pass through all our safeguards and senses?!"

"What can I say, I'm full of surprises," Houki says in a nonchalant tone. She then throws the head elder forward, Ichika catching him and holding him at bladepoint; "Now let's talk, old man."

"I will not bow to the whims of children. If you think you can hold me hostage, then prepare to be disappointed. So long as one elder is alive, the rest are expendable. We are the guiding hand of the clan, we well not fall so easily," The elder mocks Houki. However, this only makes her smirk and pull out a remote.

With remote in hand, she pushes the button and immediately all the elders begin squirming in agony. She then explains what's happening, "What you're experiencing are nanomachines inside your body directly attacking your nervous system; causing you immense pain. The moment I entered the room they invaded your bodies and multiplied, infesting you like a plague of old. Better yet, the real Hitomi is also infected; only her nanomachines are programmed to continue to multiply and leave her body to infect more people. Specifically, your clansmen. The only ones uninfected are myself, Ichika, and Hikari."

The elder, shocked by this revelation; tries to cast a spell without incantations or gestures, but nothing happens. Houki simply raises an eyebrow, "Trying to use magic? Don't bother; magic is utilized by will, and the nanomachines can reprogram your unconscious mind to rebel against the very notion of spellcasting. That, comibined with the nanomachines amplifying the strength of your subconscious in your mind means that there's too much mental conflict for you to use magic. Even if you could, the machines are rigged to a dead man's switch on my body; if I die, your clan goes with me."

"I hold the fate of your clan in my hands and there's nothing you can do about it. Now, let's try this again: let's discuss things, old man."

You didn't think it was possible; throughout your entire life, the elders seemed...invincible, like a force of nature unto themselves. Any other member of the clan would agree. Yet, here you are, watching them be defeated by two of your friends. The head elder bows his head in defeat, asking with a dead voice, "What do you want?"

It was Ichika who answered him, "Hikari freed of all charges, allowed to live her life the way she wants to. She is meant to be the head of the clan, your leader; it's about time you treat her as such."

The old man sighs, "We may be able to drop the punishment and absolve her of all crimes, but the clan won't obey her fully. They are divided over her sins coming to light; to unify the clan once more and become leader, she must fulfill a task to redeem herself."

He digs through his robes, making Ichika tense in case the man tried to may any threatening moves. The elder pulls our a scroll and tosses it to you, "Fulfill the task written within and you will be redeemed in the eyes of the clan. Take as long as you need and feel free to use any and all resources the clan can offer. We had...considered this as punishment, but deemed your crimes to vile to be worth the opportunity. Now, we have no choice."

"Go, and do not return until you have obtained what we have asked for." With that, you stand up; the scroll in hand. You debate for a bit about whether or not you actually want to do this; you could just take the scroll and leave, never coming back. Take your exile and abandon the clan forever.

But...you sigh; you couldn't to that. You may hate the elders, but you cannot bring yourself to hate the rest of your clansmen. You look Houki and Ichika in the eye, and they nod; seeing that you were going to fulfill this task. Houki similes and says, "Alright; let's go! First stop, wherever you guys keep all the good magic so we can raid it like bandits! Old timer did say take whatever we need!~"

The head elder sighs in exasperation and Ichika simply shakes his head, pushing the elder so that he can lead you to prepare for your journey. As you walk, trailing behind Houki and walking besides Ichika, you begin to relax; unintentionally saying the first thing that comes to your now unstressed mind.

"Damn, Houki has one fiiiine ass! Mmm; I'd definitely tap that..."

This acutally causes Ichika to stumble and the head elder to shake his head in shame, muttering in disgust, "Should've never agreed to her mother's request; the outside world has corrupted and tainted her..."

If you weren't so mentally drained from facing death then watching a miracle happen right in front of you; you'd probably have a bit more dignity and shame. But right now you can't be bothered to care. Besides, it's not like she heard you; and it was the truth. That was one fine ass.


You were back home, with Hikari in tow and Houki grinning triumphantly; carring a USB drive with all the data on everything the Hinamizawa clan had. Now that you had come back and gotten Hikari all settled in, you ask Hikari...

[X] "What happened; why were they trying to kill you?"
[X] "What is the task they're telling you to do?"
[X] "What's with your hair?"
[X] Write-in
 
[X] "What happened; why were they trying to kill you?"

Too ero for Spacebattles!~
 
[X] "What's with your hair?"

You help Hikari get comfortable, setting up her stuff in you sister's empty room and getting her seated on the couch with a glass of water. Once seated and comfortable, she thanks your for the water and guzzles it down. Houki pops into her room for a bit, coming out and saying, "Kana's out getting takeout; she'll be back in an hour or so. Mind tossing me your new toy so I can get a look at it?"

You nonchalantly toss over Masamune to Houki, who catches it with ease and gracefully unsheathes it and examines the craftsmanship of the blade, heading back to her room to tinker with it further. Hikari, however, nearly spat out the water in her mouth when you tossed it over to Houki and she caught it. Seeing that Houki was ok however, she relaxes and says, "I guess that was the loophole the elders were talking about when my lessons covered Masamune; it is a blade that accepts to be used by its wielder, its master. However, a samurai is but the blade of the shogun; all that is his comes from his lord. Therefore, it is only fitting that Masamune yields to the will of its master's wielder."

She then looks directly at you and lightheartedly says, "Isn't that right; Mr. Black Knight? It wasn't hard for me to figure out, it only made sense that the only person Houki would trust with being the person standing by her side was you. Plus, being the hero suits you; you always did strike a very noble figure, if a bit aimless."

You smile and tell her, "All I needed was a cause to fight for; once I found one it all just clicked together. But how did you manage to keep track with the outside world? I thought your clan was closed in and ignored the outside world."

Hikari shurgs, "Internet app on the wristband; it gets really good reception. I use it to keep track of current events and other things like that."

That actually surprises you, "Wait, the wristbands have apps? They have internet reception? Nevermind, enough of that kinda stuff; how are you? I mean, ignoring the other stuff for now; I'm talking about how you, personally are doing. Like...what's with your hair?"

The moment the words come out of your mouth, everything stops and you swear you heard a loud crack; like something snapped. Hikari's eye twitches and the tension becomes thick enough that even Masamune would have trouble cutting through it. She looks at you, her eyes harboring something, and says, "What do you mean, 'what's with my hair'? Is there something wrong with it?"

Uh oh, you've apparently hit a sore spot. Trying to cover up your slip up you tell her, "No, no; I think it suits you very well."

"What do you mean it suits me?!" Oh crap, that was not the right thing to say; Hikari looks on the verge of tears, her eyes watering and lip quivering.

Again you try to avoid saying something wrong, "I mean that it makes you look very dignified and refined; very wise too. Of the three of us, you were the best as the voice of reason; keeping Houki in line and typically acting as the straight man. It also really brings out your eyes." Ok, you weren't sure about that last bit, but anything that doesn't make Hikari break down into tears is only good at this point.

Thankfully, this seems to work as Hikari begins to calm down and regain her composure. It was then Houki left her room and called out to Hikari, "Hey, you want me to draw you a bath? A nice warm soak sounds like just the thing you need considering the day you've had."

Hikari gets up and thanks Houki, "Yes, a nice warm bath sounds lovely right about now; if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

You chime in, telling Hikari, "Not at all; my home is yours. Feel free to make yourself feel comfortable."

Getting your go ahead, Hikari leaves the room and takes a soothing bath that Houki prepares for her. Once she's inside the restroom, Houki enters and gives you a look; "Really? You really had to bring up the hair?"

You quickly defend yourself with a rebuttal, "I was trying to talk about something simple and completely unrelated to the whole trial and her other problems. Talking shop isn't exactly the sort of relaxing and calming thing to do, you know."

Houki backs off a bit, "I know, I know; but bringing up the hair wasn't a good idea. It might not look that bad, but it's still gray hair; gray hair that'd be more appropriate on a fifty year old than someone in the middle of their teenage years. I don't think Hikari would like being reminded that she's kinda going through a mid-life crisis before hitting twenty."

You nod in understanding, "Ah, I didn't think of it like that; I'll be sure to avoid bringing it up. Still, it does suit her; it really doesn't make her look old at all."

"Yeah, have to agree with you there; but we should still avoid the sore spot for now. By the way, here;" Houki tosses you back Masamune, "I've more or less finished what I've wanted to do with it, check it out."

Unsheathing the katana, you see that the blade is no longer the color of regular steel; instead a blood red with black tendrils on it, an inversion of what weapons under Knight of Honor look like. On the handle was a trigger of some sort, easily accessible by your thumb. Houki explains what she's done to the sword, "I turned it into a HF blade, it should be as strong as your IS blades if not stronger. Also, if you lightly press the trigger you'll create an energy blade extension like your IS blades and rev up the monomolecular revolving edge. Press the button harder though..."

You do so, and immediately Masamune seemingly become pure energy and expands to double its length, "...And it become the Yukihira Mk. II. Consider it the testbed for the new IS power generation system. It shouldn't be running out of power...ever, really. Even with nonstop usage; the projected amount of time before it needs a recharge is almost a century. It'll be rechared when it's sheathed or by your prana if you're desperate. I don't think I need to explain the yukihira to you; if you wanna switch it back, press the trigger again to switch it back."

You revert Masamune back to normal and sheath it, then smile at Houki, "Thanks, awesome work as always. Is there anything you can't make better?"

Houki chuckles and says, "Lots of things probably; I'm only good with technology, science, and maybe magic and kendo. It's not like I'm a god or anything," Then, Houki looks towards the bathroom, "I'm gonna check and see what Hikari wants for dinner, make sure Kana gets it for her."

"Alright," With that said, Houki gets up and heads towards the bathroom, knocking on the door. Several minutes pass without any answer. Houki knocks on the door harder, but still no answer.

She tries one more time and calls out to Hikari, "Hikari? It's me, Houki; we're getting takeout for dinner and were wondering what you wanted," Still no answer, "...I'm gonna open the door, alright?" Houki unlocks and opens the door and heads in, closing the door behind you.

Again, several minutes pass until Houki comes out; with a sleeping Hikari in her arms, all dried up and dressed in sleepwear. You get up and open the door to your sister's room and help her put Hikari into the bed and tuck her in. The two of you then quietly exit, hitting the lights and closing the door behind you, letting your friend get some much needed rest.


It a new day, and after a well made breakfast cooked by yourself; it was time to figure out what to do from here. Hikari was still sleeping, though the scroll with her 'assignment' was in the living room, having been in her clothes when she took a bath. Both you and Houki have considered opening it and seeing the contents for yourself, but think it'd be better if Hikari was awake to read it with you.

However, Houki was able to glean a little information on what the task might be, "So...from the info I got from Hikari's clan; chances are that it's gonna involve this ancient something-or-other that they lost in WWII. Apparently, being a part of the Axis gave the clan the opportunity to meet up with some Italian magic families and they collaborated on something together, only to lose it during the war. I got a name or two, but a lot of the info wasn't on paper and is likely kept in the old timers' heads."

However, she perks up and says, "But...I think I got a lead; the only problem is that I'm 90% certain that they're involved with Phantom Task. That means contacting my agent within their ranks. Still, it's the best lead I have on such short notice; everything else is so vague and ambiguous that it'll take weeks for anything conclusive to come up."

"So what's the problem? Just contact...Agent M, was it? Yeah, Agent M and get them to give you the info," All things considered, it didn't sound that hard to do; just call up the agent and get the info. Then follow the clues, get the ancient relic or whatever it is, and head back home; fighting any evils that block your way. Just like the good ol' days.

Houki sighs and tells you, "It's not that simple; she's trying to get closer to the inner working of Phantom Task without becoming...whatever the higher ups are. I already know what her price is gonna be, and...I'm still not sure I can trust her. Not completely, not when it comes to this."

Now you're worried, "What? What is it that this agent wants from you?" Your eyes harden, "Is she blackmailing and threathening you?"

"No, no; nothing like that. She..." Houki sighs, "She wants to meet you; face to face. No hiding your identity, no tricks; just spending a day with you."

You raise an eyebrow at her remark, "And you're worried about this because...?"

"Because several years ago Phantom Task kidnapped you for their own purposes and this could all be a ruse by them," Houki flat out tells you, "I don't wanna risk that, risk you being caught in such an obvious trap."

On one hand, you can see where Houki's comming from; Phantom Task is dangerous and shouldn't be underestimated. On the other...you need a lead, and this is the bests shot you've got; you can take care of yourself if things go FUBAR, you're sure of it.

You tell Houki...
[X] "Make the call, we need a lead. I can handle whatever they throw at me if it's a trap"
[X] "Alright, I guess we can wait for another lead to pop up..."
[X] "Let's wait for Hikari to wake up and give her input"
[X] Write-in
 
[X] "Make the call, we need a lead. I can handle whatever they throw at me if it's a trap"

"Make the call," You tell her, "The faster we get this done, the sooner Hikari can put all of this behind her and actually live a life instead of a the pitiful mockery of one she currently is."

Then you smile at Houki, "Besides, I can take anything they can throw at me. Even if I can't; I know you'll be able to pull some plan to save the day, like calling in the 501st."

Houki just sighs and gives you a nervous smile, "Alright; I do it, but only because you're so certain that things won't go wrong. I just...after the whole Phantom Task raid, with those monsters..."

Ah, you understand her hesitation now. You put a hand on her shoulder and pull her into a comforting hug, "Hey, I came out alive from that, right? I told you, I'm not gonna lay down and let them win. I promised you that I'd do everything in my power to make it out of anything alive, and a knight always upholds his promises."

Houki just silently accepts the hug, before answering, "...Right, I'll get a hold of her now," She pulls out a cell phone and begins dialing a number, "...Hello? Yeah, it's me....Yes, I'm arranging what you asked...Yes, he agreed....Alright; but I need something from you..."

It was here Houki frowned a little, "...No, it's nothing big; just info on some people....Here, I'll send you the names now," She then pulls out a PDA and types on it for a bit, then goes back to the phone, "Can you do it? ...Good, glad to know...Yes, the sooner the better...Alright...Thanks, bye."

She hangs up then looks at you, "She's got the information; apparently the lead isn't anyone too important so it was easy for her to get information on him. The only real difficulty is that since he's apparently involved in magic and has been off the face of the earth for years by the looks of it, anyone other than someone in Phantom Task getting this information would get the organization under high alert. I'll call up someone to drive you to the meeting spot she's arranged."

"Alright, anything I need to keep in mind when I meet her?" You ask, wanting to make sure you don't aggravate Houki's agent.

Houki immediately replies, "Don't say anything about her face. If you absolutely have to, use generic words like 'pretty' and 'nice'. Especially avoid direct comparisons with other people; other than that, just try to act natural. Oh, and it's not the Black Knight she's interested in meeting, but 'Ichika Orimura'. As far as I can tell from my surveillance on her and Phantom Task in general your identity is still a secret to them, so don't worry about that."

"Got it, thanks." Now ready and mentally prepared for this meeting, you wait for your ride to arrive and take you to where 'Agent M' is waiting to meet you.


You're dropped off at a park, and walk towards the nearest bench. On that bench you see a girl your age, looking around for somebody that they're waiting for. This was probably 'Agent M'. You can only see the back of her from where you're currently standing, but you notice that her hair is the same color as your sister's; with a similar cut as well.

You walk over to her and greet her, "Hey, am I late? If I am, sorry I kept your waiting."

Immediately she turns around, and it takes all of your self-control to not show the shock you're feeling at seeing this girl; her face was a literal copy of your sister's were she your age. You begin to recall what photos you've seen of Chifuyu at that age, and compare them to the girl before you; no matter how hard you try, you can't find any differences, nothing to differentiate the two of them except for their age. You then remember Houki's advice: 'Don't say anything about her face'.

Keeping that in mind, you hold back your questions about her appearance as she answers you, "No, actually; I was just early," She then sheepishly rubs the back of her neck, "I guess I just got a little excited to meet you was all. Oh; I should introduce myself, my name is Madoka Orimura."

Orimura. That's...your surname; is she related to you? That would explain the resemblance to your sister, but only raises more questions in turn; where has she been? Why wasn't she living with you and nee-san? Why haven't you even heard of her until now?

Still, you maintain your composure and introduce yourself as well, "And I'm Ichika Orimura, though I guess you already know that."

You then ask, "So, what's the plan for today? I'm game for whatever you had in mind." That was the truth, regardless of the circumstances; you were here to spend the day with Madoka, so that was what you were going to do.

Makoda simply smiles and grabs your hand, "First stop, the arcade!"

And with that she starts running, dragging you with you to the local arcade. Once inside, the two of you began simply playing around and having fun with all the games available. When the first game she dragged you towards was Mondo Grosso Showdown, you couldn't help but grimace; making her laugh at seeing your expression. After several rounds of getting your ass kicked, she realized that you just plain sucked at video games; showing no mercy in game after game she dragged you to next. The only one you did beat her in was DDR; mostly because that was more based on footwork and fast movements, something that came as naturally as breathing to you.

Still, even then; you couldn't help but feel relaxed, mostly because Madoka was giggling and smiling the entire time. It was as if this was a rare moment for her, one of the few times she could relax; arguably even the first considering she was a part of Phantom Task. It was a brief moment of brevity that was much deserved and appreciated by the both of you.

Several hours pass, and Madoka decides that now would be a good time for lunch. She picks out a nice cafe that has an interesting gimmick; it held a sort of 'quiz competition' between all the customers, the table that won would get their current meal and the rest of their meals for the month for free. The two of you got a table, placed your orders, and began participating at Madoka's behest.

You might not be a genius like Houki or all that scholarly inclined, but that didn't mean you were stupid. You had a good memory and got above average grades at school, typically intuitively understanding the material after a read though or two. Nothing prodigal, but still above average.

Madoka, on the other hand, was like a machine; getting facts so obscure and above a normal person's understanding that you couldn't help but be impressed. No matter the question, she had the answer; be it a calculus equation or ancient Egyptian history, she seemingly had all the answers. Frankly, it was almost frightening; you were sure that she had to be a prodigy of some kind, one of those few gifted people who just breezed through anything they set their minds to with ease. While not on par with you or Houki in terms of your specializations, it was still near-superhuman with how intelligent she was.

Finally, after Madoka practically won the competition singlehandedly; yourself hardly able to keep up or pitch in, your meals and prize arrive. The two of you thank the waiter and begin eating.

Eventually, Madoka speaks up; "Yes, we are related. We're twins, she took you with her when she left."

Well, that answered that question; but raised another question, "You mean nee-san? But why weren't you with us, and left where?"

"She didn't take me because I was the spare," Madoka replies bitterly, "And she left our genetic donors; taking you with her. She didn't want you growing up under them like she did. Like I did."

Before you could ask, she continues speaking, "I...wanted to meet with you, to see what you were like; maybe figure out why she chose you over me. I guess it was because as far as she could tell, you were her brother while I was her backup; she couldn't take us both without attracting their attention, and she didn't want to deal with another her when she had you."

She then laughs a soulless, bitter laugh, "I fucking hate Chifuyu; everything I did, everything, was always compared to her and found lacking. No matter how smart I was, she was smarter. No matter how strong I was, she was stronger. No matter how good I was at anything, she was fucking better in every aspect. And they fucking knew it and never let me forget; 'Oh, she learned that a month earlier', 'That's nice, Chifuyu managed that at this age', 'Chifuyu did it better, but I suppose that's good enough'."

Her fist slams on the table, eyes brimming with tears of rage, "Every time I look at a goddamn mirror, it takes every ounce of self control to not break it the moment I see it. It takes every drop of willpower I have to not take a fucking knife to my face and rip it off, so I'm not constantly reminded that there's someone else out there with the exact same one, who's better than me at everything! Who's more deserving of having that face than I'll ever be."

Her breathing becomes labored as her temper grows, but she manages to contain yourself. You wait several minutes to let her simmer down, before you ask the question that all this ranting has brought to the forefront of your mind, "...So, do you hate me too?"

Madoka sighs tiredly, and answers, "Before I met you...I don't know. Yes, no, maybe? That was why I wanted to meet you face to face; to see if you were like her. But, you're not; you're more...normal. I mean, aside from being damn good at fighting; you're not smarter, not immediately good at everything you touch, not a goddamn prodigy at everything that's thrown your way. You're not a constant reminder that I'm...not good enough, not like she is. So no, I don't hate you. I can't hate you, not really."

You give her some more time to cool down while you mull over everything she's said; it's definitely shed some light onto both you and your sister's past, but you're still missing the entire picture. Why did nee-san run away, taking you with her? What made her decide to do it? It was clearly your parents' fault, but why? And how?

Once Madoka has composed herself, you prepare to ask her some of these questions but she raises her hand, "I already know what you're going to ask; trust me, you don't wanna know them. It's obvious that Chifuyu told you nothing, would still probably tell you nothing. The best place to get answers would be from the old man himself."

She pulls out a pen and writes on a napkin, handing it to you when she's finished. On it was an address and a name; Isamu Orimura. She elaborates on it, "That's gramps's place; he's not related by blood, but he's the closest thing we have to a real parent for all three of us. It's why we have his surname; Chifuyu took it when she ran away, and I did too when I got away from them. Dr. Shinonono's probably tried to dig up some info on him considering her work with the Germans and their pet super-soldier; but the old man likes his privacy, probably faked his own death. That with the whole 'not related by blood' thing probably made her think it was a dead end."

"And for the other thing," Madoka pulls out an envelope, "This has everything the good doctor wanted, should be more than enough for whatever she and the Black Knight are going to do to that poor sap. Also, can you ask her to do me a favor?"

You tell your twin, "I'll ask, what do you need?"

She tells you, "It may sound depressing but...something like a cyanide capsule, but more discreet. It's not like I'm planning suicide or anything, but...I've seen the higher up back on base; looked into their soulless, empty eyes. Just about everyone and their mother agrees that they'd rather die than become...that. I've been able to get up the chain of command while staying away from whatever they do by pushing my relation to you and how it's an asset, but that'll only go so far. I just...I just want an out in case something goes wrong and the doctor can't evac me outta there."

You look grim at what she says, but tell her, "I'll let Houki know, but she won't let that happen. You're family, and family helps each other out; especially when they need it most."

Hearing that, Madoka gives you a small smile, "Yeah...family. Alright, thanks."

She then looks at the nearest clock, then turns to you; "I think it's about time we head back to our respectives homes. It was...nice, spending some time with you."

"Yeah, same here," before she walks away, you give her a hug; surprising her, "It was nice meeting my twin sister for the first time."

It takes several seconds before she returns the hug, "Yeah...nice meeting you too, aniki."

You look at Madoka in confusion before she elaborates with a smirk, "Well, you are the older one; by about two minutes. Do you not want me to give my older brother the respect he deserves?"

You just chuckle and say, "Aniki, eh? I guess I can get used to it."

With that, you both give each other your final good byes and head back to your respective homes; or in Madoka's case, her respective base. You've uncovered quite a bit about your past, answering some questions and raising new ones; but in the end you got another family member out of it, so it wasn't all that bad.


It was mid-late afternoon, and you and Houki were going over the information Madoka had on the one lead you had; apparently this woman was a member of the Italian magic clan who allied with the Hinamizawas until she was exiled for crimes against her fellow clansmen. For revenge, she stole what both clans were working on and dropped off the face of the Earth. Eventually, Phantom Task found her and gave her an offer she couldn't refuse; power in exchange for keeping the supernatural world off of their backs, specifically southern Europe. You had several hotspots where she regularly hangs out; most notably a casino in Egypt. Apparently little miss magician was a bit of a gambling addict.

With your new information in had; all you had to do now was wait for Hikari to wake up and you can all begin to plan for your next move. That was actually a surprise, that Hikari was still asleep despite almost an entire day passing since she passed out. Then again, considering the stress she's been through, it's probably for the best she get as must rest as she can.

Now though, you decide to...
[X] Bring up Isamu to Houki, along with the address you have
[X] Tell her about Madoka
[X] Skip to Hikari waking up
[X] Write-in
 
[X] Bring up Isamu to Houki, along with the address you have.
- - [X] Tell her about Madoka as to how you know and what she wants.
 
....

What the?

Why is the SB version of this thread locked?
 
I would check but taking way too long to load. It is getting worse and worse, before long it will be the whole day like that... :(
 
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