Erina had been quiet ever since she got back from the Earth Ring. The Yellow Tailsuit had protected her against the worst of the destabilising power plant's energies, but Twoearle had needed to take the suit in for some repairs, leaving the Twintail Warriors two members down for a while. All of the members of the team sat at a table for six in cafe Adolescenza. Normally whenever so many loud and colourful personalities were together things would be quite lively, but all the other tailsuit warriors joined Erina in her reticence, most of them being quite exhausted. The person making the most noise at the moment was Miharu Mitsuka, who was moving about in the kitchen out back, throwing together a breakfast for the victorious warriors.
Sora hadn't had time to sleep since the battle, so was currently still a girl, and she was also the least exhausted of the warriors, which was why she spoke up when no one else would. "So… do we want to do the debriefing now, or do you guys just want to eat and go home?"
"Later." Twoearle grunted, hunched over a napkin that she was scribbling on with a pen. "When I have some idea of what I'm going to do about those stupid rings."
"Can't they just stay where they are?" Sora asked. "Aren't they disabled?"
"They're more or less stationary, but our orbit isn't the exact same every year, so there's a risk Earth and Catyu will crash into them sometime in the next few years." Twoearle replied. "But maybe the ring will just drift towards the sun because it doesn't have an orbit? I don't know, just let me figure this out."
"Alright." Sora hesitated, before asking. "And when can we expect the Blue and Yellow Tailsuits back up and running?"
"Oh, I completely forgot about that." Twoearle groaned and threw her pen down. "I don't know? Can I get back to you on that? Oh, and I still need to build a bigger spaceship! There's so much work to dooooo." She whined.
A twinge of sympathy pricked at Sora, and she sighed glumly. "Alright, moving on." Looking across the table, she caught a pained look on Aika's face. She seemed to be grimacing and clutching her side. "Are you okay?"
"I might have broken a rib when I was fighting that Ultiroid." Aika's face was screwed up as she probed the bottom left of her chest.
"Oh, that's not good." Twoearle suddenly sat up, looking at her with concern. "Does it hurt when you breath?"
"A bit." Aika admitted. "It was fine when I was running around, but it's gotten worse since I've sat down.
"Ahhhh, I'm not a doctor." Twoearle stood up and made her away around the table, crouching down to examine the injury, and moving Aika's hands away. "Let me see."
"Should we call a doctor?" Isabella stood up, sounding worried.
"Can we call one?" Aika grimaced. "How are we going to explain this?"
"Just call it a karate injury." Sora answered. How could Aika be worried about that at a time like this?
"That makes sense I guess. If you call Grandpa he can cover for me. His number is on my phone."
"Where's your phone?" Sora asked.
"In my bedroom."
"I'll go get it!" Isabella volunteered, and ran out the door.
Soon Isabella returned, and Aika called her grandfather who arrived in his car within minutes. Kenta stayed just long enough to confirm his granddaughter was injured and shoot a withering glare at Sora, before the two of them left to go to the hospital together.
"Is she going to be okay?" Iasbella asked, concern painted over her features.
"She was tough enough to run around for half an hour with that broken rib, so she should be okay." Twoearle pointed out, though there was a hint of disbelief in her voice. "The barbarian will be fine, I'm sure."
"I think that's just enough for today." Sora sank back into her chair. "After breakfast we should all just go home I guess."
"Is it okay if I come back to check on senpai?" Isabella looked at Sora.
"Um, we still need to have one warrior on each side, don't we?" Erina murmured.
Sora shrugged. "I can babysit your side of the portal if you want to visit her for a bit."
Isabella hesitated, before saying, "Th-thank you."
"It's fine. It's not the first time she's been injured, she's always been…"
"A monster?" Twoearle offered.
"No she's not!" Isabella objected, and looked to Sora to back her up.
"..." Sora thought there might be a more polite way to phrase it, but Aika was always strong and violent. The only reason Souji had learned karate as a child was that he was sick of her beating him up. Not to mention she was incredibly short tempered, and it wasn't always exactly clear what would set her off, even to her childhood friend. Geeze, even her grandfather tried to warn me she was dangerous… "Aika is my best friend."
"Yeah, and she's a monster who happens to be your best friend." Twoearle rolled her eyes. "If I was anyone else she would have literally killed me a dozen times over."
"Yeah, and I'm sure you deserved it!" Isabella grumbled and folded her arms.
Surprisingly, Twoearle actually looked guilty at that and broke eye contact.
"...You could be doing less to provoke her." Sora pointed out.
Twoearle didn't answer, just sitting back down at the table.
"And, it's probably not a good idea to go calling your friend a monster, right?" Sora continued, taking a seat at the table.
"You only don't see it because you-" Twoearle hesitated, before continuing. "Because you love her."
"What?!" Isabella burst out, looking at Sora with disbelief. "You're in love with Senpai?!"
"No, no! I'm not!" Sora waved her arms to cut the younger girl off. "I mean, I do, but just as a friend! Aika's like a sister to me."
All at once four people groaned simultaneously in pain and annoyance. Erina, Twoearle, and Isabella all looked frustrated and disbelieving, and when Sora glanced over her shoulder, she noticed her mother giving her the same look from behind the counter.
"What?" She asked in confusion. "What did I say?"
"'She's like a sister to me.'" Isabella shook her head. "Every single time a character says that in fiction I just want to punch the writer."
"I know, right?" Twoearle banged her fist against the table. "See what I've been dealing with?"
"It's the worst." Erina agreed.
"I can't believe my own son would say something so horrible. Or, daughter. Whatever." Miharu shook her head in disappointment. "Where did I go wrong raising you?"
That was definitely not the reaction Sora had been expecting. "I don't get it, what?"
"Look." Twoearle began. "When was the last time you saw an anime or a romantic comedy, or even just any piece of media in general when someone uttered those words and to have one of those characters not be in love with the other?"
"But that's just fiction!"
"I wanna punch her." Isabella grunted, glaring at Sora.
Sora frowned back at her. "Well, don't."
"I shouldn't be telling you this." Twoearle gave up, shaking her head. "It's self defeating."
Now Sora was even more confused. "How?"
Twoearle sat up and stared at her in disbelief. "What do you mean 'how'?!"
Sora wondered what was even going on? "I'm sorry? I just don't know?"
"HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY NOT KNOW?!" Twoearle exploded. "Have I been too subtle? What did you think I was trying to do when I snuck into your bedroom at night?!"
Sora cringed at her loud voice. "Okay, okay. I know you were trying to seduce me, just calm down."
"And why would I do that, huh?" Twoearle demanded. "For what reason would I try to sleep with you?"
The room fell silent as Sora sat there quietly, afraid to say it. She swallowed, before finally admitting, "Because you're in love."
No look of satisfaction crossed Twoearle's face, she just slumped back in her chair, and nodded, eyes growing wet. "I always wanted to know if you were dense or just a jerk." She sniffled, and grabbed a napkin to dab at her tears. "But now I realise it doesn't really matter, because they both hurt like hell, you know."
Not a word was said for the next five minutes. Sora looked up to see Twoearle and Erina both pointedly ignoring everyone else, while Isabella sat there wide eyed, looking like she'd walked in on something she shouldn't have.
It was too much. Sora stood up, and turned to Isabella. "Y-you wanted to visit Aika, right?"
She nodded once, slowly.
"H-how about I keep an eye on that Catyu side of the portal, for now, and you, uh, you go do that?"
"Sure, I guess." Isabella answered, uncertainty in her voice.
"Great." Sora called out to her mother. "Mum, can you bring my food down to the secret base?"
Miharu looked disappointed with her, but nodded.
Sora fled the room without another word.
The trip to the hospital had played out exactly like Aika expected. They spent hours in a waiting room until eventually a doctor saw them, examined her briefly, then sent her to get an Xray taken. That took another few hours, but the radiation revealed that Aika's rib was merely cracked, not broken, and would recover on its own even without treatment. The doctor assigned her six weeks of light exercise and some mild painkillers, before showing her the door.
"That was a waste of time." Aika grunted as her grandfather drove them home. She was leaning against the car door with her face pressed up against the window, watching the sun set over the mountains through the glass. "I may as well have just toughed it out."
"Just be glad you didn't have to go in for surgery." Kenta replied.
Intellectually she knew that she was lucky to escape without serious injury, but internally she couldn't help but wish she'd just spent the day at home, relaxing with the other warriors.
"Speaking of which." Kenta continued. "This is the second time in a week that you've been a casualty of this war."
It was pretty obvious to Aika where this conversation was going. "Grandpa, I'm not quitting."
"I would never ask you to do that." She saw his reflection frown in the window. "There are many others who love twintails now. Perhaps they would serve you better than your current team."
"This is about Souji again, isn't it?"
"This is twice now he's failed you."
"Look, it's as much my fault as it is anyone else's."
"So it is his fault, at least partly."
"That's not what I said."
"But that is still the meaning of what you have said." Kenta's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. "He's not strong enough for you."
"And who is?" Aika challenged right back, turning in her seat to face her grandfather. "Huh? He's literally the strongest warrior in Earth's history, and I'm a close second."
Kenta breathed out through his nose, long and slow. "That's not what I meant."
"But it's absolutely true." A sigh of frustration escaped Aika. "Grandpa, you've literally had since I was born to tell me what you think about him. What changed?"
"I learned that he liked to run about cross dressing as a little girl, that's what happened." The man answered matter of factly, and she could tell he was keeping his voice as neutral as he could. "And then he dragged you off to join him in your swimwear."
Aika rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like the alternative wasn't the end of the world."
"...Do you like dressing up like that? More importantly, does he?"
"Oh, come on." Aika groaned. "Yes, he might, but I always knew who he was. I always knew what he was, and I spend all my pocket money on hair products because I'm that way too."
The man grimaced at that.
"Besides, I'm glad we share interests." Aika went to cross her arms, but hesitated when her ribs twinged. "And whatever goes on between me and him isn't really your business anyway. You're not my father."
"...That is true." Kenta conceded after a long pause. "But I can't help but notice you're ashamed enough to hide all this from your father."
Rather than answer that, Aika simply shut her mouth. She realised nothing she could say would change his mind, and nothing he could say would change hers. They were both stubborn beyond all reason. He did raise at least one good point though…
The rest of the drive home was silent, except for the car engine and the sounds of other vehicles on the road. At that moment Aika was too angry to feel sad, though she knew later she'd regret the way the conversation went.
After just a minute their car pulled into the Tsube family's driveway, and Aika carefully stood up so as not to jostle her ribs unnecessarily.
"Senpai, are you okay?" Isabella called from the front yard of Adolescenza.
Apparently she was still here. "I'm fine." Aika called back to her. "Just a cracked rib, it'll heal on its own."
"Oh, I was so worried." She slumped into the fence.
"Where's Souji?" Aika asked, looking past her.
An expression of disappointment, or maybe irritation flickered over Isabella's face, so quickly Aika almost didn't see it. The younger teen's tail was twitching back and forth while pointed at the ground while she answered. "Oh, uh, Catyu. He and Twoearle had an argument."
What could that have been about? "What over?" Aika asked.
"Uh…" Isabella hesitated, before answering. "Maybe you should hear it from one of them…?" She perked up, smiling. "But um, Senpai." She shyly curled a finger through her hair. "D-do you have time? C-can I talk to you about something?"
On the one hand she did want to help Isabella with whatever it was, but it didn't seem like the issue was particularly dire. From the way she was acting, it might even just be an excuse to hang out with her 'senpai'.
Glancing over her shoulder, Aika saw her grandfather reverse out the driveway without ever stepping into the house and frowned. That was very rude of him. "Sorry, but I have to talk to my family right now." Aika looked back to see Isabella's forlorn expression. "I promise I'll make time later, though. Maybe not tonight, but I'm sure we'll have time tomorrow."
"Sure." Isabella looked forlorn for a second, and then concerned. "Is everything okay, though?"
"Uh… Just have to correct a mistake, I guess." Aika breathed out. "I'll see you later."
"A-alright? Bye."
Aika felt Isabella's eyes on her back as she crossed the yard, but she put it out of mind. Whatever she needed, and whatever the argument between Souji and Twoearle was about would have to be dealt with later. Right now, she needed to have a long overdue conversation with her family.
When she walked through the front door of her house, she found her mother and father sitting on the couch in front of the television, and her elder sister studying for university on the dining room table. Grandpa must have stepped out back.
"Everyone." They all looked to her at once. Her throat was dry and she swallowed as a nervous butterfly found the entrance to her stomach. "Uh… There's no good way to say this, so I'm just going to speak plainly… I'm Tailblue."
