MERRY CHRISTMAS, I'm back with a new chapter!
This is a bit late, and I'd planned to upload the chapter on Christmas day, but I ended up getting wasted with my friends and left it hanging, not to mention the hangover I got after that...
Cough, but I still got it done.
DCDGojira, thanks dude.
Tigracho, dude, 'Oh yeah, he also got NTR'... Its just so sad and hilarious at the same time, that I can't... But still, I'm determined to not let Tsubasa be like him.
So yeah... Here's the newest chapter.
XXX
Earlier, Hibiki, Maria and Tsubasa were walking through the vault. Chris, Shirabe and Kirika were all outside at the main entrance, with pods ready to launch at moments notice for if they needed to escape.
Genjuro had Shin and Bemular stay back in case either side needed emergency back up, and with Elfnein calibrating the teleportation system to both of them, it would simply take the blink of an eye.
For some reason, the silver being had been amused by the system, but Carol had waved it off, plus Bemular himself had mentioned that it simply reminded him of something from his past. No one questioned it any further.
So now, the trio were in one of the smaller vaults, various visible cracks running along the walls. Maria commented, "You'd think they'd fix up an underwater vault full of relics."
Tsubasa looked at the walls, "I hear Elfnein and Carol will be reinforcing it after this mission."
The pinkette glance at her partner, "I see..."
Hibiki looked at the shelves that held numerous relics, "Still, to think they have so many relics here... And they're not put to use..."
Tsubasa ran her fingers along a broken sword, the name 'Kusanagi no Tsurugi' written on a small tag beneath it, "Most of them are broken, and I'd rather they weren't put to use."
Maria looked at a broken staff, the name 'Jin Gu Bang' written beneath it, "Agreed, the more relics running around, the higher the risk of people abusing it."
Hibiki glanced at a set of broken wheels, the name 'Feng Huo Lun' written beneath them, "I guess... But still, there would be more hands to help people."
Tsubasa smiled dryly, "That's one way of putting it."
The pinkette chuckled, "But unfortunately, not everyone thinks that way, Hibiki... After all, I started off hurting people with the Symphogear system."
The cream haired girl glanced at her friend, "But you're here, helping people, that's what counts."
Maria smiled, "I guess so."
Soon, the three reached a small shelf, and Tsubasa pulled it open, "According to the data Aoi-san gave us, the case should be here."
They looked down, and sure enough, in a small glass container was a number of silver ores with yellowish parts. The bluenette picked it up and stored it in a small box, "There, that should send it back to Carol."
As soon as the box locked itself up, a red magic circle appeared on it, before vanishing into thin air. Soon after, Elfnein's voice came through their comms, "We've got them. Now get out, Onii-chan and the others are dealing with the alchemists."
Hibiki nodded, "Got it. We'll head for the pods now."
"Yeah? Well, they're here now."
Chris' voice sounded through the comms, to everyone's slight surprise. Tsubasa spoke, "How many of them are there?"
Shirabe's voice came through, "Two of them are here, Odysseus and Black King."
Elfnein's voice came through, "I'm getting a signal here. The other three are headed for you."
As soon as those words left her mouth, the wall exploded, revealing Red, Adad and Valky, the red glow on the reptile's arm fading away.
Adad scoffed, "Huh, so no Ultraman here... Guess we drew the short end of the stick."
Valky chuckled, "Yeah? Well, I guess the same's for Prelati and Cagliostro."
Red scoffed, "It changes nothing."
The striped man chuckled, "Yeah, we'll just destroy them in their place."
Tsubasa frowned, "You seem confident."
Adad smirked, "Yeah? We don't need no lapis to kick your ass."
Maria took out her pendant, "Would you like find out?"
Hibiki took her own pendant out, and she shared a nod with the other two.
"Balwisyall Nescell Gungnir Tron..."
"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri Tron..."
"Seilen Coffin Airgetlám Tron..."
(Play Gekka Bijin)
Tsubasa dashed forward, swinging her sword at Valky. The woman simply parried with her own sword, before swiftlt drawing her gun and unloaded a clip.
But the bluenette was quick to react, twisting her body to dodge the shots, before kicking her opponent away. Tsubasa let out a breath, "I see..."
She removed one hand from her sword, before quickly drawing a second blade. Valky smirked, "Dual wielding eh?"
The woman dashed forward, shooting a few times at Tsubasa. The bluenette simply batted them aside with her sword, before they clashed blades again.
Valky smirked, "I was really looking forward to seeing that really hot Ultraman... But I guess I'll have to settle with killing you."
Tsubasa let a smirk form on her face, "You'll have to get through a few of his sisters first."
Valky blinked when the bluenette twisted her sword, pushing her own away. Then before the woman realized, the glint of metal was in her face, and Valky barely bent her back down just in time to dodge the slash.
Not missing a moment, the woman kicked Tsubasa away, letting herself drop to the ground before rolling to her feet. Valky put on a strained smile, praise her body's flexibility, or she would have lost her head.
Tsubasa brandished her sword, before silently taking another stance. Valky stared at her, her eyes betraying her killing intent, "You're so gonna pay for that. I was hoping on saving this for Taro first, but I guess you'll have to do for a test run."
The woman drew her gun, and fired a dozen bullets at the girl. Yet to Tsubasa's surprise, none of them hit her, and instead, struck the ground around her. Then, before she could react, a barrier formed around her.
The girl blinked, "A barrier?"
Valky smirked, "Yeap."
Tsubasa frowned, "If you think a barrier will hold me down, then you underestimate me."
The woman didn't respond, and instead, the bullets in the ground popped, releasing a blue mist in the barrier. The bluenette shivered as she realized the mist had freezing properties, and she quickly noticed the frost forming on her armor and sword.
Valky smirked, "I had Prelati make this, this will freeze even lava, and the barrier itself is resistant to Spacium energy... But that doesn't matter for you, I guess."
The bluenette stared at her opponent, not showing any signs of fear despite literally freezing up, "I see... Then I suppose it'll have to come to this."
Tsubasa reached up to her pendant, "Ignite Module... Bakken."
She squeezed it firmly.
"Dainsleif."
Then all hell broke loose.
In a burst of darkness, the barrier was blown apart, revealing Tsubasa in her dark Symphogear. Valky scowled as the bluenette stared back coldly.
But before the woman could get a word out, the bluenette sudden appeared before her, and Valky could only let out a silent scream as Tsubasa landed a devastating kick to her gut.
As the woman was sent sprawling to the ground, Tsubasa brandished her sword, before charging again.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Maria was trading blows with Adad. The young man grunted as she parried a swing from Adad's new staff, before she summoned a dozen copies of her dagger in an attempt to skewer him.
The striped man backed away, but he frowned as Maria swung her dagger, which was now in its whip form. Adad yelped as he jumped into the air, using his staff to bat the whip-sword away, "What the fuck?! Get that shit away from me! Me no maso!"
The pinkette grunted as she retracted her whip after failing to get a solid strike, but that also gave Adad the chance to dash in with his staff. Maria quickly brought up dagger and blocked the overhead swing.
Adad smirked, as his arms bulked up, pushing down on Maria. The young woman grunted as her footing slipped, and the striped man took the chance to fully finish his transformation, further pushing the girl down.
Maria grunted as she fell to one knee, struggling to push back the striped man, and her free hand reached for her pendant, "Ignite Module... BAKKEN!"
"Dainsleif."
With a burst of dark energy, Adad was sent sprawling to the ground, and when he regained his footing, Maria was clad in her black Symphogear. The striped man grunted as he popped his neck, "I see... The Ignite Module..."
Power coursed through his veins as he threw his staff away, "Just because we don't have the lapis, doesn't mean we can't beat you down!"
Adad dashed forward, throwing a punch at the girl, but to his surprise, Maria met it head on with a punch of her own. The young woman's dagger lashed out, extending into its whip form as she thrust it forward.
That forced the striped man to back away to avoid being skewered by the blade. But that also gave him the chance to stomp on the blade, pulling Maria forward, allowing him to land a vicious back hand to her face, sending her sprawling to the ground.
The young woman grunted as she got up, and she quickly summoned a dozen copies of her dagger, all floating in the air. They all charged forward, and as Adad prepared to bat them aside, to his surprise they started firing beams at him.
Elegant Lumiere.
The beams struck him straight in the chest, sending him crashing into a wall nearby. Adad growled as he got to his feet and charged again.
(Linebreak)
With Hibiki, the girl was trading punches with Red. Hibiki slammed her elbow into Red's chest, sending him stumbling back.
The reptile grunted as he shook off the soreness, "Impressive."
The girl clenched her fists firmly and dashed forward, landing a devastating punch on Red, sending him back again. Red grunted, glaring at her, "My turn."
Hibiki quickly raised her arms up to block a hook aimed at her head, before moving her arms down to block a hard uppercut. The girl grunted as she summoned a spear and sent it at Red, forcing him to back away as it stabbed into the ground.
Red grunted as he stabilized his footing, and he smirked as his arms started to glow red, "Not bad not bad, let's take it up a notch."
In the blink of an eye, Red was now glowing a bloody red, his skin almost charred and dark as heat radiated from within.
Hibiki narrowed her eyes at that, and she quickly reached for her pendant, "Ignite Module... BAKKEN!"
"Dainsleif."
In an instant, Hibiki was clad in the Ignited Symphogear of her Gungnir. The girl let out a breath as she reeled in the curse of the demonic blade within her, and dashed forward.
Hibiki grunted as she threw a powerful punch at Red, who simply blocked it with his arms, creating a shockwave that reached the ends of the hall. Not missing a beat, Hibiki stomped on the ground, as numerous spears shot up from the ground.
Red grunted as the first few spears cut into his skin, but not enough to do much damage. The reptile quickly let out a burst of energy that destroyed the spears and pushed Hibiki back a few meters.
The girl grunted as she coated her fist in darkness, and punched, sending a black energy spear at the reptile. Red frowned and leapt to a side, letting the spear destroy a wall.
Hibiki instantly closed the distance between them yet again, and to Red's surprise, a staggering punch met his face, sending him stumbling backwards. If he were any less of a man, or reptile, Red had no doubt he'd be down for the count.
As the reptile tried to regain his footing, Hibiki landed a devastating kick to his sides, not giving him the small brief moment that he needed. That was followed by another hook, then a back hand, then another kick followed by a number of spears.
It was truly a shock to the reptile. For as far as he had seen the Symphogears fight, they would always fall short against St. Germain and her fellow alchemists. This was an eye opener for him.
Red grunted as he forced his feet into the ground, bracing himself as he blocked yet another kick from Hibiki. But this time, Red didn't budge an inch, and Hibiki blinked in surprise.
The reptile grunted, "It would seem the Ultraman suits aren't the only ones we should be wary of..."
The girl blinked, before her eyes widened as Red unleashed a wave of burning energy from his body, sending Hibiki crashing into the ground.
The reptile gathered energy in his right arm, and Hibiki quickly took notice of it. The girl stood up and enlarged her gauntlet, summoning four extra spears around it.
The two charged, and their fists met. The clash created a huge explosion that sent both skidding across the hall yet again.
Reptile and human glared at each other, and they charged yet again.
(Linebreak)
(Play Gizagiza Gurari Full Throttle)
With the other three, Chris was having the time of her life. All the girl had to do was spray and pray with her pair of gatling guns.
The reason was simple.
Shirabe and Kirika were wrecking Odysseus and Black King. Hard.
It had started simple, as Odysseus sent out an army of Alca Noises. The trio had taken to follow Carol's advice, and had both Shirabe and Kirika sing in sync.
For whatever reason they chose to rely on one person singing at a time for most battles, Chris didn't know, and she certainly hoped they'd done this earlier.
Odysseus growled as he jumped back to dodge a slash from Kirika, before Black King breathed out a wave of fire to stop a wave of buzzsaws from Shirabe. The Nacklean unleashed a wave of lightning from his eyes, but it was easily stopped by the blonde with an energy slash reminiscent of Seven's own.
Slash: Eye Slugger.
Shirabe quickly followed up with her own attack, as her Yo-yos turned into a pair of Ultra Slash rings, circling around Odysseus and Black King, before the girl sent a horizontal guillotine at the pair.
That blew the two away, literally, as they crashed into a wall.
Both Symphogears didn't let up, as Kirika dashed forward, spinning into a spinning top.
Tinkerbe Tornado.
Black King breathed out a blast of flames, but it did little to hurt or stop the blonde. Odysseus grunted as he spotted Shirabe swinging her Yo-yos at the reptile, and quickly unleashed a blast of energy from his arms to strike it down.
Only for the Yo-yos to enlarge and merge into a giant buzzsaw that threatened to mow them to bits. The Nacklean cursed and kicked his partner down, before leaping aside just in time to dodge the saw.
Shirabe and Kirika both stood together, glaring at the opposing pair as both Nacklean and reptile got to their feet.
Odysseus growled, "Fucking bitches! Black King, we're going all out!"
The reptile growled in agreement, but before they could channel their energy out, the two girls moved.
Shirabe stood behind Kirika, who held her scythe forward. The twin tailed girl then brought her Yo-yos out, growing to match the scythe's blade, before attaching to it.
The shaft of the scythe grew longer such that the two girls could hold on to it firmly, before the Yo-yos on the side sprouted razor sharp blades, forming what looked like a giant mower.
The two girls glared at the pair, and they gave a roar as their boosters came to life, pushing them towards the Nacklean and reptile.
Forbidden Combined Beta Style: ZABABA Sun and Moon.
Black King growled, pulling Odysseus back, earning a confused yelp. The Nacklean yelled, "Dude! What the fuck!"
The reptile took a deep breath, as energy welled from inside him, and he let out a mighty roar, shooting out a powerful blast of energy from his jaws.
The two attacks fought for dominance, but that clash only lasted for a brief second.
" IGNITE MODULE! BAKKEN/DESU!"
In a flash of darkness, both girls were clad in the Ignited versions of their Symphogears, and the sudden burst of power easily devoured Black King's attack.
Then, the girls struck the two members of the Bavarian Illuminati, and everything exploded.
Shirabe and Kirika landed on the ground, taking in deep breaths as they watched the smoke and dust slowly clear up. The blonde asked, "Did we get them?"
Shirabe narrowed her eyes, "No..."
The smoke cleared up, revealing St. Germain holding a barrier before them, with Cagliostro carrying Prelati in a bridal carry. The white haired woman narrowed her eyes at the pair, as Chris landed beside them, having cleared out the army of Alca Noises.
St. Germain glanced back at her fellow Illuminati members, noting that had she been a minute later, they would have been hurt even more, and possibly killed. The alchemist brought out a vial, and silently crushed it, the five of them vanishing in a flash of red.
Chris let out a breath, "Okay, that went pretty well."
The three of them dispelled their Symphogears, and Shirabe smiled, "Yes."
Kirika jumped with a fist pump, "We beat them up-desu!"
Genjuro's voice reached their ears, "Good job, now return to base."
The three quickly obliged and went to meet up with the other three.
(Linebreak)
A while later, St. Germain stood in her private lab, staring at the reports.
"They took you by surprise, huh?"
The woman narrowed her eyes, and turned to see Adam leaning on the door frame, an amused smirk on his annoying face, "Lodgemaster."
She noted the weird absence of Tiki, before she asked, "What do you want?"
The Lodgemaster smirked, "Is it so strange for me to check on my underlings after they lost a fight?"
St. Germain frowned, but chose to say nothing as Adam continued, "Well, I won't say I didn't expect this to happen at some point. You got, what was the phrase the youngsters these days love to use... Counter-picked! Yes, you got counter-picked by the enemy team."
The woman turned back to her desk, "Yes, and we paid the price for it. It won't happen next time."
Adam laughed, "The preparations are going well, I presume?"
St. Germain nodded, "They are... But I'm still lacking quite a bit of life energy for it to work."
The man smirked, "I see, well, why not sacrifice one of your two lackeys then?"
The woman's eyes widened, "Wha-!"
Adam chuckled as St. Germain turned to face him, "A completed and perfect body will definitely give you all the life energy you need. No?"
St. Germain clenched her fists, "Just how inhumane will you be..."
The Lodgemaster laughed as he turned away, "Take it however you will, but it is a choice you will need to make."
He glanced back, "Considering how far in we are, we can't exactly go back now, can we?"
With that said, the man left, leaving St. Germain to ponder on his words. As Adam walked, he spared a glance to a side, where the child form of Red stood. The Lodgemaster chuckled to himself, before walking off.
For the disguised beast was glaring at him, his eyes glowing a bright red.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Carol and Elfnein nodded as they studied the Fool's Stone. The younger alchemist commented, "Hmm, this will definitely give us a way to neutralise the lapis' effects on the Dainsleif."
Carol nodded, "Now we simply need to figure out how to install it."
"But before you work on their Symphogears, there's something I want to work on."
The pair turned to see Genjuro, a smirk on his face. Carol sighed, "The Unison... Its too ineffective for them to use at this point."
Elfnein blinked, "I'm sorry?"
The older alchemist scratched her head, "Right now, amongst the six of them, only Shirabe and Kirika can do it at any moment... The others need three members, and its always fixed."
Carol turned on her terminal and brought up their data files, "Hibiki can only do it with Chris and Tsubasa, and Maria can only do it with Kirika and Shirabe. There will always only be two groups of them." 'Not to mention, Tsubasa can't ever sync up with Maria, not any more.'
Genjuro nodded, "Not just for fighting the Bavarian Illuminati, even in general fights it's not efficient enough."
Carol scoffed, "Well, that didn't stop them from finishing me off the first time... But I see your point."
Elfnein blinked, "But how will we solve that?"
The redhead smirked, "Simple, I'll train them myself, and possibly get Shinjiro to help out."
Carol sighed, "This will turn out well."
Which brought them to the simulation room.
Hibiki blinked when she saw Genjuro standing in the middle of the room, "Shishou, why did you call us here?"
The redhead smirked, "Simple, training."
Chris blinked, "Wait what? But we already got the Fool's Stone, why would we need training?"
Genjuro tilted his head, his arms folded, "If this were a movie, do you think finding some dumb stone would lead you straight to a happy ending? I think not!"
Hibiki hung her head, "Some dumb stone, huh?"
Maria nodded, "I see... That makes sense..."
Genjuro smirked, "Glad to see someone here agrees... Alright, come on in!"
The six girls blinked as they heard the door open, only to see Shinjiro walking in. Shirabe blinked, "Shinjiro-san?"
The young man went to stand beside Genjuro, and the redhead smirked, "To start off, the six of you will fight him."
In the blink of an eye, Shinjiro was clad in the Tiga armor. Maria blinked, "Wait, what?!"
Tiga's eyes gleamed, "Come at me with all you've got, cuz I won't hold back!"
Genjuro smirked, "Now, put your armors on! If you can't even take your friend down, you have no chance at beating the enemy!"
The six girls shared a look, and Maria spoke, "Let's do it."
Tsubasa nodded slowly, something mirrored by both Hibiki and Chris, while Kirika and Shirabe nodded after looking at each other. Then, in a flash, all six were clad in their Symphogears.
Tiga flexed his shoulders, before dashing forward. Chris immediately brought out her crossbows and unloaded a volley of arrows.
The Ultraman simply took to the skies and shot out a few bullets, countering them easily.
Tsubasa leapt up, swinging her sword at him, but Tiga simply turned into his Sky Type and blurred away, before kicking the bluenette to the ground.
Hibiki took a deep breath, her father's words sounding in her head, and charged, swinging a punch at Tiga's exposed back. But to her surprise, the Ultraman was suddenly in his Power Type and caught the punch.
Shirabe and Kirika tried to flank him, and Tiga responded by throwing Hibiki at the blonde, before swiftly changing into his Sky Type and kicked the twin tailed girl into a simulated building.
Maria roared as she swung her dagger at the Ultraman, but Tiga was quick in turning back into his Multi Type, and blocked the slash, before kicking her away.
The pinkette grunted and quickly fired her own version of the Spacium Ray, much to Shinjiro's surprise, but the Ultraman didn't let that deter him, as he fired his own Spacium Ray.
The two beams clashed, before Maria found her beam quickly losing, but before the girl could avoid it, Tiga's beam reached her, sending her to the ground.
As the Ultraman single handedly took down the six Symphogears, Genjuro sighed, "I guess this was to be expected..."
He yelled, "Alright I've seen enough!"
Tiga blinked, "Already?"
Genjuro nodded, "Gather around!"
The six girls got up from the ground and quickly gathered around Genjuro. The redhead stared at them, "Just from that exchange, I can tell that you will never win against him."
The six girls blinked, and Tsubasa frowned, "That's..."
Genjuro cut her off, "Even with numbers, all of you just charged him head on. Power-wise, if you're not using the Ignite Module, you will never match him."
Tiga scratched the back of his helmet, "That's just a bit harsh, no?"
The redhead shook his head, "No, its the truth. Shirabe and Kirika tried to sync up, but they weren't able to do it before you took them apart by tossing Hibiki-kun at one of them."
Genjuro folded his arms, "What you all need to do, is to match your paces! Do not charge in all at once!"
The six girls all nodded, before the redhead smirked, "Now, take a 3 minute break, you'll be up against me and Tiga together next."
Tsubasa, Chris and Hibiki's faces paled, while the other three were blissfully unaware of what was going to come.
(Linebreak)
After a while, all six girls were on the ground, their bodies sore and tired, while Shinjiro took off his armor. Genjuro tightened up his tie, "Hmm, not bad for a first try, but still far from what we need."
Shinjiro smiled awkwardly, "Umm, I didn't know you could fight so well, commander..."
Genjuro smirked, "Right back at you, or so I would say. When we get the chance, I'll take you on in a fight."
The young man shook his head, "I think I'll pass."
The redhead chuckled, "Well, get some rest, all of you. We'll continue tomorrow."
The girls only groaned in response, and Shinjiro immediately felt bad, "Come on, I'll help you all."
After a short while, the six girls were all in the showers. Chris grumbled, "The least they could do was go easy on us..."
Tsubasa chuckled, "I guess... But my uncle isn't someone who'd do that."
Kirika pouted, "Shinjiro-san took us out like nothing though... That was mean-desu."
Maria chuckled, "Well, he means well, I suppose."
Hibiki let out a breath, "But Shishou said the training was to get us to be able to sync up with anyone in our group, huh?"
Chris sighed as she washed her hair, "Well, not wrong, but it's not that simple, right? We've all been able to do it in groups of three."
Tsubasa nodded, "But we'll have to make it work. If we can sync up and unite our songs, then we can get stronger."
Shirabe simply nodded, but chose to say nothing.
"Now that's the spirit."
The six turned to see Carol in her adult form stepping into the showers. Hibiki blinked, "Carol?"
The blonde smirked, "I saw your fight against Shinjiro and the old man, very impressive."
Chris scoffed, "Save it, I want to see you take them on a fight, then talk."
Carol chuckled, "Oh I can, and I'll definitely lose. But I'm not the ones who need to be able to sync up with each other in a fight, that's also another reason why we had you all fight Shinjiro first."
The six girls blinked, and the blonde spoke, "It's not a secret all of you like him, and only Maria managed to make a move. But the fact that you all managed to fight him is good, and you're all not hopeless."
Chris spluttered, and Hibiki and Tsubasa fell silent, while Shirabe and Kirika found the showers more interesting. Maria, on the other hand, frowned, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't put it that way."
Carol chuckled, "No need to get territorial, you're all good friends, am I right?"
The pinkette frowned, "That doesn't-"
The blonde alchemist's smirk dropped, "Are you really going to go there? If you are, then I really misjudged you."
Maria froze, and she glanced around at her friends, no, calling them her friends did their relationships no justice. They were sisters, at this point.
Carol sighed, "The fact is this, Maria. All of you like the same person, and you're the one who got together with him. Try all you will, but it doesn't change the fact that this has driven a wedge between all of you."
Tsubasa frowned, "I won't let that affect my duty."
The alchemist shook her head, "Wrong answer, and even if you don't want to, it will. What you all need now is to be able to use the Unison function of the Symphogear system efficiently."
Shirabe opened her mouth, "Kiri-chan and I can use it..."
Carol nodded, "And I believe the commander has told you, the enemy knows that now. They will definitely separate you two, and the upgrades we can make using the Fool's Stone are all defensive, it won't do much other than stop the lapis' properties from affecting you."
Hibiki asked, "Then what can we do?"
The blonde smirked, "You'll train, of course. The whole point of the training sessions is to get all of you to be able to sync up with any other member of your team."
Carol's smirk fell, "But before that, you six need to clear up whatever is bugging you, and I mean your issue pertaining our resident Ultraman."
Chris frowned, "What do you mean clear up?"
The blonde folded her arms, "Simple, either Maria breaks up with him, or you all date him for an amount of time and get him to choose at the end."
Maria blinked, "WHAT?! Why should I-!"
Carol leveled her a stern gaze, and the pinkette shut up. The young woman understood what that gaze meant.
Did she value her friendship with the other five, who were essentially her sisters? Or was she so petty to break all of it over one guy?
Kirika blinked, "W-what are you saying, Carol-chan?"
Shirabe nodded, looking at Maria, "That's not fair for Maria."
Tsubasa stared at the shower, not trusting herself to speak. Chris frowned, "Yeah, besides, it's not like I like him that much, we'll get over it."
Carol scoffed, "I don't care how much you like him. The fact that it's affecting you is enough for me. Besides, its a good deal, and it's not like its illegal."
Maria took a breath. Her mind racing as she considered the idea. If she were to be honest, it wasn't as bad as it sounded. The young woman would never share Shinjiro with anyone, but at the same time, she still felt that it wasn't fair, especially for Tsubasa.
And what the blonde alchemist said had not been wrong. Even with Shirabe and Kirika, while the two had tried to act as if nothing had changed, the pinkette could still feel as if there was something in between them.
If this could change that...
She spoke, "I don't mind..."
The other five snapped their heads at her, and Carol smirked, "Oh?"
Maria resisted the urge to clench her fists, "If its the five of you, then I don't mind."
Hibiki blinked, "But-"
The pinkette cut her off, "But its only for a year at most! Okay? By the end of the year, he'll have to choose one of us."
Maria turned off her shower, and she looked at Tsubasa, "I don't want any of you to complain that you didn't get a chance."
If that sparked anything, the bluenette didn't show it. Years of practice against her father and grandfather had done wonders to build her poker face.
Hibiki and Chris, on the other hand, both spluttered, while Kirika and Shirabe stared at each other, unsure what to do.
Carol sighed as she finished washing herself, "I expect you to all come to a consensus by tomorrow. We have the time, no, I'd say we don't have the time."
With that, the blonde turned off her shower and turned to grab her clothes and a towel, "Well, worst case scenario, we could always kill him, and it'll be problem solved."
That caught their attention, and the blonde glanced back at them, an amused smirk on her face as she left the room, "Just kidding."
As Carol left, she couldn't help but smirk in amusement, 'Okay, I did say I'd help him. Now the ball's in their court.'
After a short moment, Maria sighed, "So?"
The pinkette looked at her partner on stage, "Tsubasa."
The bluenette closed her eyes. She still wasn't sure, but yet her father's words rang in her head. Carol also made a point, it was true that there had been a wedge between her and Maria ever since the pinkette had started dating Shinjiro.
Tsubasa also knew, that her father's words were all true. Regardless of what she'd told herself, seeing Shinjiro and Maria together did hurt. The bluenette nodded, "Fine... If you're okay with it, we can try..."
Hibiki blinked, "E-eh?! Tsubasa-san! You're going with it?!"
Shirabe and Kirika blinked, both of them feeling their faces getting red. Chris gaped, "Huh?!"
Maria nodded, "I don't like it, but if it helps us get in sync..."
The cream haired girl blushed, "Umm, then I'll try too?"
Chris blinked again, "Senpai and the idiot too..."
She scratched her neck roughly, "Oh what the fuck! I guess I can give it a go too..."
Maria looked at Shirabe and Kirika, "If you two don't want to-"
Kirika cut her off, holding onto Shirabe's hand, "Our feelings for Shinjiro-san aren't as strong as yours-desu... But..."
Shirabe nodded, "We want to try too..."
Chris scoffed, "So in the end, all of us are in this whole cluster fuck..."
The pinkette frowned, "You can back off if you don't like it."
Chris spluttered, but chose to said nothing and instead look away. Hibiki chuckled awkwardly, "Ermm, its just to see if it can help get us into Unison, right?"
Shirabe nodded, "But, ermm, how will we tell him?"
Tsubasa blinked, "I didn't think of that..."
Maria sighed, "Just leave that to me..."
The pinkette had to be insane for doing this, even if she'd convinced herself to do it.
Xxx
DONE. So that's the chapter.
And ahem, we're going for the harem route, I guess...
So yeah, the next chapter will pick up from that, and we'll see where it takes us.
Read and review please.
Until next time.