Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei does not belong to me
Chapter 20: Give it All
First High School had gotten off to a curious start to the Nine Schools Competition, to say the least: first Mayumi had an emphatic victory in Speed Women's shooting. Third High School took its male counterpart.
Henzo had a mediocre performance in Battle board and crowd Ball. On the other hand, the Tokyo school did not consider Kirihara an Ace this last competition; despite this, they would soon change their minds, it was not for less, Kirihara would not allow himself to lose when Sayaka looked at him. He had something to prove.
With one outing performance after another he would make it to the finals, where he clashed with Yukito Oda, the Third High School Student Council President and one of Gendo 's biggest sycophants . He was also the King of Crowd Ball - Winner two years in a row, crushing the competition. And this year their competition could hardly be called that, as Henzo learned in the quarterfinals.
The match was very exhausting for both of them. By the end, they were both drenched in sweat, their lungs choking, gasping hoarsely as they struggled to breathe, their legs trembling like jelly and they could barely straighten their backs. The match was decided by emotional motivation: to win for that special person.
This is for you, Niyukiooto- sama. With a mental scream, Yukito took over the last round. And both would fall to the floor.
Kirihara was defeated in front of Sayaka.
Practically First High School and First High School alternated all the first and second places.
In the third official division course, Katsuto and Kanon won the men's and women's Ice Pillar Break. Even with this, the score was 310 to 330, with an advantage for the crimson students.
They had a considerable number of competitions won, but it was their consistency in the finals that had them as leaders in the table.
It was unusual for First High School. Despite strong competition from the rival school, the prestigious chief engineer, the cathedral master, made good on his reputation, only most of the winners were from the engineers he supervised.
Now began the rookie division and the work of the triplets and Godo!
As an understudy at Mirage Bat, the rules were explained to Marishka. Verona would be his engineer. He also had his first practice less than five days away. Miyuki and Honoka offered to help her, even though the latter had Battle 's competition. Board in the afternoon.
This morning, he changed into a T-shirt and shorts to go to a dirt court marked as a practice area, near the operations tent. Her hair and breasts bounced as she tried to catch a ball, with what we could call a magical girl stick, thirty meters above the ground.
After a while, the girls came down.
"Well done, Mihaelov-san ." Miyuki said .
Really, not so good. So far his results had been normal. Her performance was reasonable considering her position as a competitor, and her modified genetics. But winning first place, even placing on the podium was out of serious discussion.
"He did good." Honoka said . "Are you nervous? It must be difficult to enter at the last second, Marishka-san ."
"I'm fine. I just hope a tragedy doesn't happen."
"What?"
"No, nothing."
The girls went to the hotel showers, took off their clothes to wash off the sweat. Miyuki was the first to finish.
Honoka turned off the faucet and put a towel over her hair. Meanwhile, behind, Marishka looked at her with great attention.
"Come Honoka , I'll help you dry your back."
"T-Thank you."
"No problem." Marishka began drying her with a towel. "And by the way, what about you? Are you nervous about the competition?"
"Eh no."
"Sounds like it to me. Is there someone you want to impress?"
"I haven't… Well, yes."
"Who?"
"A boy from school."
"Oh, I understand." Marishka smiled.
After they got dressed, the girls went out into the hall.
".Honoka."
In the distance they could see Tatsuya and Toni.
"Well, we agreed to watch the competition with Miyuki , Toni - kun , Tatsuya-kun and their friends. Are you coming with us?"
"Yeah. Aleera and Verona will be doing engineering work all morning and being alone isn't fun."
[~~~]
The stands were like a big stadium. It could be seen from a distance. Outside the sands, there was a tumult of people: men, women and children, who went with their parents, happy as if they were in Disneyland . Of course, the students were also in the area.
Airi put some coins in a candy machine. At this time, most transitions were done with a card, but coins were still valid for small tasks like this.
A double paddle was heard falling. He opened a kind of door to grab it, removed the wrapper, exposing the blue lollipop as he turned in the direction of his companions. One of her classmates, with purple hair, was looking at the treat.
"Shiori, do you want?"
"No, thanks." He looked away.
"I know the blueberry ones are your favorite, so I bought double for a reason."
Airi broke the lollipop in two and gave a piece.
Shiori , deep in her soul, smiled. It was nice to have someone to share her treats.
Shiori Kanou, one of the competitors this day, was wearing a red jacket, a black nightgown, just like her boots, and had short purple hair, which barely reached her shoulders. She had a body similar to Airi's, but with an eternally expressionless face, although she seemed warmer when she was with her friend.
Behind Airi, another girl opened the sole door of the vending machine.
"Since I'm little, I'll get sick if I eat both, Pa ."
Either because she liked him or because his attitude made her feel old, she called him the same way an old Japanese woman calls her husband.
"Then throw one half in the trash, Tsukushiin - san." Gendo said
"You are very ungrateful."
Touko Tsukushiin , a girl with hair as blue as a blackberry palette, her locks, disheveled everywhere, curved like the waves of the sea, with a meter 1.56 she was much shorter than Airi or Shiori. Even so, he would bring a part of the palette closer to the star engineer of Third High School.
Airi and Shiori continued to eat while looking at their companions.
"Oh, useless piece of shit!"
Shiori furrowed her brows.
"Aleera, we're in public."
" Haha . He's not afraid to express his frustration." Godo said.
"This shit ate my money, Verona."
"Leave it, my darling." Erika hugged Aleera's arm. "This thing is useless."
"Every day you are more childish."
About four or five meters away, two girls and a boy dressed in the First High School representative uniform stood , along with a third girl wearing summer clothes.
"Is the boy who is with those girls Gendo-kun 's brother ?" Touko had heard something about it from Masaki .
And speaking of the devil, Godo turned to them.
" Hey Genbot ! " I yell, "What's up!?"
Godo approached the other group with the sisters following him.
"Good morning, Godo-san." Airi said .
"How are you, Niyukyooto-san ." Gendo said . "How has Borushi been ?"
"Ah, you know, paperwork takes the soul out of clerks, not much more to say."
" Genky ?"
"He's still the dwarf. Don't ask about Brain and Benji because I don't even know. Uh, I forgot to introduce myself." He addressed the two other girls. "I'm Gendo 's older twin brother . She's Verona and the foul-mouthed one is Aleera."
"You are not my twin, nor are you older." I both digest. "We're Siamese twins. And I'm older than you, even if you deny it."
" Gendo ," Godo smiled. "Brilliant, but predictable."
"A better word would be boring." Gendo said .
Now that Verona could clearly see them standing in front of each other, she felt it.
On this day, like all the brothers, they were physically identical. Simply, they were like the same person, but from different universes, the colors inverted: in Gendo his uniform was the red and black of Third High School , instead of the neat white and cyan; in his hair instead of the amber dye, he had his natural black hair, combed and neat to the sides, unlike his brother's messy.
So much self-control that a smile would never escape her. So safe while mechanical and predictable. Godo considered him the opposite of Toni for perfection, even more so than the Messenger.
"I think you would get along very well with Verona. She is also interested in engineering and magical research." Godo said. " Genbot , do you remember your thesis about maximizing mass oscillations, accelerating protons and converting thermal energy and then into energy at the same time you use fortification magic on the collateral so it has a bouncing surface?"
"I think I'll take a look at that, in the school files." Alera said. "Wouldn't it be easier if you took the masses off the atoms and the collaterals the pulling force off the nucleus?"
"It would be less optimized."
"Not if you convert thermal force to kinetic force first and then vice versa." Verona said. Shiori bit into her lollipop, she and Touko fell silent like students who are going to fail the class. It was complicated shit, even Airi loses the thread at this level. "But I'm already saying things that I'm not clear on."
"Hey, Genius Boy." Aleera said. "Why don't you stop fooling around and set out to create a perpetual energy machine at once?"
Gendo scratched his head. "That's an interesting proposition."
Airi gave a sharp smile. "Oh, it really is. They sure come from an illustrious family."
Aleera smiled back at him, but without edges that looked like they were sharp.
"No, really, no. We're as ordinary as your chicken legs."
"Well, after all, your way of speaking doesn't sound like royalty, or even nobility." Airi 's lollipop was beginning to melt in her hand.
Aleera smiled as if she really enjoyed that comment.
"Hey, it's already late. Shizuku and the others must be waiting for us. By the way, brother, we will also be the engineers of the competitors in this contest. Good luck, I hope you make it past the pre-qualifiers for us to beat you."
And the three of them left.
Airi turned to Gendo . "I didn't know Godo was interested in programming and magical research."
"Neither do I."
"I know he's your brother, but we should stay away from students from the other schools."
"That's what I'm trying to do. However, 'coincidences' are not on my side."
[~~~]
Today was the preliminaries of Speed Shootingy . Aleera and Verona would be in charge of Eimi Akechi and Kusumi Takigawa . While Godo and Shizuku had already put in the finishing touches at the last minute.
In the dressing room the girls practiced.
Eimi took out her rifle-shaped CAD with a swing from her hip.
"Careful, ManFifle ," Godo smirked, "I know that thing can't escape a bullet, but it still makes me nervous. I think I've seen half of the westerns."
Shizuku got into position and activated her magic. He did all but the last step before canceling his magic.
Speed 's regulation clothing. Shootingy - A cyan-colored jacket, skintight shorts, and some green glasses.
"Very well. Anyone detail?" Godo said.
"Nope."
"Nothing?... Anything, no matter how small, tell me."
"They are perfect that terrifies me."
"So it's alright?"
Shizuku turned with the shadow of a smile.
"Yes."
Entrusting him with the adjustment of your CAD is much more than configuring a system. The CAD is a part of the wizard and therefore the wizard is part of the adjustment. It's like revealing your darkest secrets, trusting your intimacy and mating with someone else. Hence, many girls have a reluctance for male engineers.
Shizuku and Godo, on the other hand, did not have that problem. After all, the two of them would work for victory, even if only Shizuku was in the senario.
Godo's index finger tapped on a part of Shizuku 's CAD .
"These things are of German origin, just like Toni."
"Let's hope he doesn't let us down." Verona said.
"How curious… You bet on Gaby, right?"
The only answer to Godo's question was Verona rolling her eyes.
[~~~]
Shizuku 's turn in Speed Shootingy . In preliminaries, the competitors would only compete against whites. With three competitors for each school, minus the worst two from last year, who would only send two competitors each. Twenty five in all.
The eight to achieve a better record would advance to the quarterfinals.
Godo was not an engineer by nature, but with some hard work and imagination he developed a magic to harness Shizuku 's talent .
The expressionless little girl was standing on the stage, wearing green glasses, a cyan sweater, and white pants. He had his CAD in the form of a rifle in his hands. When a large digital screen said "begin".
The dishes were destroyed from one side to the other, at the same time that they entered an area affected by the oscillations.
…
Someone in the audience looked at something that was almost impossible to see: Godo's silhouette half hidden by the corner of the tunnel where the competitors came and went.
Even the class clown is an engineer.
Spectators were seated in the stands; even the security guards: Kazama, Pedro and the Messenger, the idiot boy who still had his future up in the air.
…
Gendo and Airi watched the performance intently from a television.
"I did not expect that." Gendo said.
"Did you expect less?" Airi said . "But in the direct competition phase, Shiori will have the upper hand."
"I meant the CAD."
…
Rang the bell. On the screen it looked "Perfect" In green words.
Shizuku lowered her CAD and took off her glasses.
He went down the hall, with his engineer, Godo, and a slightly awkward silence as they walked away.
"You did it perfect…just like the sign said." The silence continued. Godo punched him on the shoulder. "You showed off, Dog."
Shizuku rubbed her shoulder.
"Um, it's a figure of speech." Godo said.
"Have you thought about being hired?"
"You don't need to hire me to keep an eye on your CAD from time to time."
[~~~]
" Airi, I will not betray your expectations."
Shiori stood on the stage. When the green light came on, the plates were thrown. Shiori pointed her CAD. Then, a magical sequence appeared before the dishes exploded.
"Second. Clear. Third. Rerouted."
"Do you see the same thing?" Alera said.
"Yes. At first I thought it was a fluke, but he does it at will." Verona said. "Move the broken pieces of the plates to break the others."
"That strategy is too complicated. He must be a freak if he has the computing power to make that strategy work."
"Your accuracy has improved a lot." Airi smiled from the stands. "After all, you are my favorite."
The fearful little girl with sad eyes had grown a lot since I met her three years ago, at the final of the collegiate fencing tournament.
I lurched into your white protective jacket, taking the victory.
After losing, you were lying there with your head down and a sad puppy look on your face.
"You have talent." Said. I extended my hand to him. Shiori raised her head to see me. "Do you want to see what I see?"
From the stands, Airi kept looking at Shiori , who was pointing at the plates and throwing.
"She honed her innate ability of spatial perception and computational power at the Kanazawa Magical Institute. As a result, she can decipher what she sees and apply it to her magic. She has spatial vision. She can predict everything. The trajectory in particles that look like elements random. It's something that can't be imitated. Shiori 's explosive magic , makes flat use of her computational power that is superior to that of computers. It's a beautiful mathematical melody. Arithmetic chain!"
The bell rang announcing the end.
On the giant screen it said, perfect score: 100/100.
[~~~]
After the final round of preliminaries, the engineers and competitors gathered in the operations tent.
"Big win, girls." Mayumi said . "It was very impressive!"
"Thank you" Shizuku , Eimi and Takigawa said .
"It was a great day." Godo said standing next to Aleera and Verona. In addition to being the only boy, he was also the only one with his hands on his head and his back against the back of his chair.
"You're welcome to work adjusting your CAD for free." Aleera muttered bitterly.
"What do you have with money? Do you always do things for interest?" Godo took out a small chocolate from his pocket. "Here, and it's more than I get, in material terms."
"Candy. How old do you think I am? Five?" Anyway, Aleera took the chocolate.
"Well, cut it out, you two." Mayumi placed her open palms at chest height. "We appreciate your work as an engineer, it was essential to get you a result."
"I have to admit that it was impressive how they dominated the competition." Mari leaned her head on her hand. She was sitting on a bench; Her head was still bandaged and her other arm was in a cast, but she already seemed to be more recovered.
"Are you sure you shouldn't be resting?" Verona said.
"Oh, are you going to treat me like a cripple too, Kozlov -san."
"So those are real bandages?" Godo said. "I thought she was cosplaying as a cripple."
" Mayumi ." Verona said. "It flatters us, but it was the competitors who won."
"But yes, I already know I'm the best in the world." Godo said
"I didn't expect Godo to do a competent job." Aleera jerked her thumb at him, while simicly speaking, as if he weren't there.
"Oh, that hurts."
"It is not for less." Verona said. "It's hard to believe that he invented a new magic in such a short amount of time."
Really, it was not paramenos. She had even given herself a luxury that Verona couldn't: every new magic that debuts in the competition is indexed in the magic university's library, along with the creator's data. This institution has an investigation protocol at the level of the CIA, the KGB or a gossip page, disguised as news.
"He's spent a lot of time messing around with oscillation magic." Verona said. "You must have a very clever brain"
"When did you find it!?" Alera said.
Godo turned to the front. "What would he have wanted to say?"
"By the way." Suzune came over with a data center in the form of a clipboard. "The wizarding university wants to index magic to their library. You'll have to fill out a form."
"That's the downside of creating new magic: a lot of paperwork..." Godo said. "But genius runs in the family anyway."
I exhale happily before turning to see the leaderboard: Shizuku is first, the sisters' competitors are below, and Gendo 's is in fourth place .
"I'm winning you, Brother." He bluffed to himself as if Gendo could hear him.
[~~~]
Shizuku changed into her normal uniform and went out into the area between arenas. There, her "new bodyguards" were already waiting for her.
"Good morning, Miss." Said Ricardo Guzmán, a dark-haired man, around 1.85, with a mustache. And, behind him, his assistant.
"Likewise, Guzman-san, Dos Santos-san." Shizuku replied ,
They treated her like a prisoner or a ren : They insisted on accompanying her wherever she went, they would have followed her to the operations store if it hadn't been for the fact that she told them that this area was only for students. Since they started accompanying her in March, she had distanced herself a bit from her friends due to them going out to make her friends uncomfortable. Honoka , her best friend, said that they have a dark aura.
They always accompanied her when she left her room, saying in "her parents entrusted us with her security". What security did he need when the entire competition of the nine schools takes place practically on the land of a military base? It's like saying you need bodyguards in a fortress.
She preferred her former bodyguards, Masaru Shun and the others, but one night they just disappeared. When he asked his father, he said that they left and, when he insisted, he simply changed the subject.
Shizuku went to the competition area full of people, it was difficult to walk with so many people, going and seeing everywhere. In addition, there were candy and drink machines, which are cunningly expensive, and some screens that showed the pre-competition, including some balloon and T-shirt machines.
"Hello guys!" Godo said, straining his voice so that they could hear him among all the people. "You must be Shizuku - chan's guardians. Nice to meet you." I turn to her. " Shizuku , do you want to see the other competitions with me and the others?"
"Yes, I want!"
Ricardo interrupted them. "You can't do that. She's coming with us."
"We have to run. It's almost started." He took Shizuku 's hand and they practically ran away. "Good bye guys!"
" We persecute you we pull neles ." Said Ricardo's assistant.
(We chase them or shoot them.)
" We SW we would a club of confusion we fôssemos behind them. Isso é melhor , still we have microphones and a GPS em seu phone . how much less that one putinha rica suspeitar de nós , melhor ."
(We'd only make a fucking fuss if we went after them. That's better, we still have bugs and a GPS on her phone. The less that little rich bitch suspects us, the better.
[~~~]
The stands were filled with spectators. The cameras were preparing to give international coverage.
A beautiful reporter with black hair and long legs was ready to go on air.
"I am reporting live, from the Nine Schools Competition. Don't worry. This afternoon, Battle will begin. Women's board in the rookie division." He said as the spectators entered the stands, among them, the Messenger and Pedro.
…
In a hallway, Marishka watched as a girl from Third High School fondled Honoka 's butt .
The blonde murmured. "Oh, the only one giving lesbian gropes when she should be focused on the competition is Aleera…and maybe me."
Touko said goodbye and ran off happily, like a child. It wasn't hard to imagine because of his height.
"Making new friends?" Marishka said
"I think."
"Short model, not much to talk about in the bumper and front, but I like her smile and her face is cute, don't you think?"
"No offense, Marishka-san , but sometimes you talk like a boy."
"Come on, Honoka ." He said, "Let's see if the Third High School model passes the preliminaries."
"Hey?"
…
Touko slid down the pipeline, overtaking her competitors who fell into the water. When he reached the finish line, he was practically flying, with a smile. "Hey, that's fun."
Marishka and Honoka had seen it all from a big screen.
" Touko Tsukushiin , his family is the inheritor of ancient shinto magic , his roots come from Shirakawa , the great shinto master ; or something like that, Verona told me. I didn't understand very well."
" Tsukushiin qualifies with an overwhelming first place." The loudspeakers announced.
Honoka said, her eyes widening and her lips trembling. "That magic is… amazing!"
"You are superior to her." Marishka put her hand on his shoulder. "Her and whoever else you must take for granted when the race begins. Remember how hard you worked to win." He turned around and walked away. "Well, I'm going to the stands." I turn around, showing his smiling face. "Besides, Tatsuya-kun will be watching you."
…
All the competitors of the round lined up at the finish line. Honoka rolled on her board as she preselected a magic sequence.
The violet wetsuit she was wearing clung to her body very quickly, which, added to her very mature physique for a high school student, was a feast for the eyes, as Marishka would say .
In the stands, a handful of boys donned glasses: Tatsuya , Miyuki , Leo, Shizuku , Mikihiko , and Godo but Marishka wasn't among them.
The Messenger was sitting with Pedro and Kazama at the top of the stands, overlooking the entire competition and the other spectators, when he felt someone walking towards him.
"Hello Gaby." Marshka said . "What are you doing?"
"Watching the competition with the parces." Pedro nodded and Kazama with his hand "And you? What are you doing here?"
"I just came to strut around. You see the girl from First High School , the one with the pigtails; I'm her engineer. She'll win."
In the sky, a screen on a zeppelin showed Honoka propped up on her knee while donning dark goggles.
On the track, there was a sign with five lights. The red light came on followed by the yellow ones and, before the green one came on, the water began to tremble and a blinding light appeared, it was so intense that it reached the top of the stands.
"You don't need to invent a magic, or develop a new CAD to have a good ace up your sleeve." Marishka put on a pair of sunglasses.
The Messenger put his hand in front of his face. "Is that your super strategy a ray of light?"
"So simple that no one thought of it
Honoka came out, tearing around the track and around the corners, with a wide lead over everyone else. It felt so good, so liberating. I can't stop smiling as I walk by with no competition in sight. I arrive first.
Afterwards, the girl with the pigtails went to the entrance of the dressing rooms to meet her engineer and the others. She ran to Marishka , giving her a big hug.
"Win, Marishka-san ! Win!"
The blonde returned the enthusiasm.
"You win! You win!"
They held hands, and the two girls began to jump around in circles, like euphoric children.
"She does know how to thank her engineer." Godo said before turning to Shizuku 's side . "It's not that I want you to hug me. Uh, well, I do." The two turned their eyes somewhat embarrassed.
Then, Honoka stopped, looked at Marishka and screwed up her face.
"Thank you very much!" He hugged her, burying his face between her breasts. "Whether it's in classes, demos, or tournaments like this, I hardly ever win anything."
Shizuku , her cheeks still a little red, put her hand to her mouth as she whispered.
"He's talking about his days in elementary school."
Honoka raised her tear-stained face. She looked so cute and helpless.
"It's thanks to you, I made it past the preliminaries!"
In the stands, Kazama grabbed his chin.
"It's a somewhat anti-sports strategy."
"What matters is winning." Pedro took another piece of candy from the envelope he had in his hand.
"I win because of the ray of light." Said the Messenger. "They just saw the flash and jumped off their boards. This competition is a joke."
"At least this time no one crashed into the barrier."
"Don't you think you're being too harsh?" Kazama said . "You have tried to drive without seeing."
The Messenger would remove his cap and ruffled his hair.
"My boss used to say, you know how to do something when you can do it with your eyes closed."
…
On the other side, Touko was on top, one arm resting on the railing and the other on her cheek.
"But what an interesting trick.", he smiled. "Can't wait for the final race!"
As he climbed the stairs, the announcer announced tomorrow's competitions, just like the zeppelin that flew over the place.
[~~~]
"How did they do it, Niyukiooto- sama." Said Yukito , a boy with dark brown hair and spikes, like a servant who begs for answers from his pastor.
" Kitayama , the first competitor, had a lot of skill." Gendo said . "But the others weren't impressive at all. It was a good engineering job,"
The strategic advisers of Third High School met again to evaluate the performance in Speed Shooting and shredding strategies. Gendo was sitting at the head. Although the place belonged to Yukito by seniority, he had given it to Gendo .
"Besides, we still have the draw advantage." Airi said . "There's no way that First High School only has prodigies on their team."
"Is right." Masaki said . "They didn't lose on Talent. There must be another factor at play."
"It must be the engineers," Kichijouji closed his eyes.
"The CAD that the winners used." Gendo craned his neck in his direction. "You noticed. It was a generic model, but it had an auxiliary system."
"There is nothing like it on the market anywhere." Masaki said , confidently. He was not a CAD expert. However, he knew about weapons.
"Indeed," Gendo pressed a small remote, and the image of a rifle appeared on the screen across the room, "Does this look familiar? It's the Dusseldorf 95, a CAD designed in Germany."
Tracking down the provenance of the CAD was a mental exercise, taking less than two minutes. He saw the Dusseldorf 95 with his eyes when he worked on his trip to Germany, and the rest was just a matter of confirming it.
"They already have that kind of technology!" Yukito exclaimed .
"The last time I heard about something, it was just a prototype; it couldn't even be used. It was just a concept."
"But today we saw it finished and able to pass multiple sequences as a generic model." Gendo said , with a stoic tone.
"Taurus Silver himself would be blushing." Masaki said . "It is not like this?"
Gendo narrowed his eyes. Sounds like you took it seriously, Godo.
[~~~]
In the morning of the next day, Shiori entered the operation shop; already dressed in her competitive clothes.
In the background, there were a couple of guys. The chief engineer and his assistant were analyzing a recorded match.
When Gendo tried to look at her, his eyes were slow to focus on her. Not to mention the dark marks under his eyes.
"Did you have a bad night , Niyukiooto-san ."
"Yes, Kanou- san"
"Did you go out with someone?"
"Nope." Kishijouji turned his gaze from the television. "I only adjust your CAD until dawn."
" Maximize cast time as much as possible." Gendo handed him his CAD. "I also made some changes to the system; you won't notice it when you activate a magic, but now it should be faster."
Based on the tournament keys and skills, a match between Shiori and Shizuku was most likely. Following this thread. Gendo and Kishijouji explained to him the strategy to nullify his high-end CAD.
Kitayama 's CAD has too many sequences to attempt to block." Kishijouji said .
"However, your computational power makes you faster, one step ahead." Gendo said . "If you manage to take the lead, you should stay in it."
"Any questions."
"Nope."
"Fine. If you go off strategy victory is yours." Kishijouji said . "We did a thousand simulations. You win in all of them."
Shiori smiled, eager to win.
[~~~]
On the bridge between the dressing rooms and the field. Shiori met Shizuku , along with their respective engineers, when she was returning from her quarterfinal match and the latter was going to play hers.
The two competitors gave the most deadpan presentation in the world.
"It's my pleasure, Kitayama from First High School ." Shiori said , holding up her rifle-shaped CAD. "I'm Kano Shori from Third High School."
"Nice to meet you."
"Hello." Gendo said .
Shizuku turned to Godo after seeing a boy identical to her engineer, but dressed in a crimson uniform.
"I will explain you later." smiled. "I have a nice arm, don't I, Genbot ."
"Save it for the semifinals, if you make it that far."
"We will be there." Shizuku gave a competitive smile.
[~~~]
Third High School 's locker room , four students watched Shizuku 's duel in the quarterfinals on a screen: Airi , Shiori , Kichijouji , and Yukito
"Do you understand the strategy, Shiori ." Airi said
"Yes, Kitayama divided the field into areas. The plates trigger swing magic when entering one of them."
"How should you face her?" Airi said .
"Using my specialty. His magic has more jamming power, but mine has more casting speed and accuracy."
Airi nodded before leaving.
"Nervous? Kanou ." Yukito said . " Niyukiooto- sama adjusted your CAD, but a lot is expected of you as well."
"I'm fine. Airi gave me everything I needed to win, Oda- senpai ." Shiori left
"What is it that you have to go after her, like a sycophant?"
Kichijouji muttered . "He can't figure out that it's the same with him and Gendo ."
[~~~]
"Where are Erika and Mizuki ?" Leo said.
" Mizuki stayed at the hotel again, she said she was still with the naoucias for all the psion waves , even though she has her glasses… Erika never tells us; she just didn't come." Tatsuya replied to a Leo who had just arrived with the group of friends at the front row.
"Erika must be with my sister, making out between CAD adjustments." Marshka replied ,
Leo sat down. " Hey , Mikihiko this time you won't be nauseated by the psion waves ."
"I hope not. And why are you so late?"
"I fell asleep. The brown guys ran away from work and I had to stay up all night doing it by myself."
"Dark-haired? Hey, haven't you noticed something strange?"
"Huh? What do you mean."
"I think the dark boy, the school delinquent, works security."
"What?
"Gabriel!?" Toni leaned forward in her seat. That mention gave him a horrible feeling.
"Oh, you sure are confusing them." Marishka said , with a smile. "The same thing happened to me. They're all the same."
The conversation was interrupted by the announcement of the next match: On the announcement screen, Kitayama vs. Kanou , above where the points would be announced when the match started.
…
Both girls were standing on the stage when the bell rang. The machines threw white and red plates. The two raised their rifles to the sky and magical sequences appeared.
As in a high-speed photo, a handful of plates stood still in the sky.
…
First High School locker room , the other female competitors and engineers watched the match.
Shizuku 's Winning Pattern !" Eimi said .
"No. It's not that, that's…" Verona shook her head.
"The chain continues even if it deviated from the trajectory."
…
" This nullifies Kitayama 's magic " Pendo Shiori .
" Shizuku is fabulous. But kanou is winning ! " the loudspeakers announced .
The score was 31-32. Shizuku was adding points quickly, but her competition was still ahead.
" Kitayama Shizuku … A renowned mother; a wealthy father… Developing his magic power with that support… We are totally opposite… A bankrupt house and parents who always fought. That moment, when I wanted to leave everything. That hand led me into the light." Shiori remembered Airi , her blonde, beautiful and proud savior angel as she aimed to fire. "When I took her hand, I made the decision… To never return. I will only seek victory together with Airi ."
…
"Oh, I think she's lost." Alera said.
"I remind you that Godo is his engineer and he is smarter than we think."
…
Shizuku activated a different sequence on her CAD.
"Failed." Shiori said .
"The victory is mine." Shizuku smiled.
He had come back to the scoreboard: now, 85 to 86
…
In the room that connected the arena with the contestants' dressing rooms, Gendo stood while putting a hand to his ear.
He and Godo could hear it, but the sonic vibration was too weak to even be perceived by another human.
"Can not be." Gendo murmured . In the sky, Shizuku kept shooting and destroying plates while Shiori missed. "Somehow, its vibrations destroy targets and then bounce back, affecting the other plates. This new factor renders Kanou -san's ability useless ."
…
Shiori missed another target.
"I can't leave here." He started gasping for air, "Me! No, I can't go back to that place!" He had the feeling that the world began to spin as he remembered the bad memories.
"I don't want to go back! I'm with Airi !" I miss three other targets.
92 to 96
"Nope!"
"Victory Goes to Third High School !"
Shizuku 's hair shook as she took off her green glasses. His face had a slight smile.
From the other side of the coin. Shiori dropped to her knees, her mouth and eyes wide open. I was shocked.
[~~~]
"First High School is earning more points than we expected. Our Speed winner prospect Shooting not only lost, but couldn't even win third place to score points." Yukito said .
I was not happy. After all, the best engineer in the school was assigned his CAD, he even gave it priority, spending extra time fine-tuning it after losing in the quarterfinals. And Shiori couldn't even show up for the strategic advisors meeting that day.
Airi looks at the empty seat.
"Shiori . Third place would have been easy for you too… Why did you make so many mistakes in a row?"
[~~~]
Knock Knock *
"Shiori , I know you're there." Airi said . "Open the door."
On the other side the light was dim. Sitting on her bed, Shiori was still wearing her Speed uniform. Shooting , but he had his red, Third High School representative jacket on top.
"That's my weakness. My weakness brought me to defeat. I couldn't afford to lose to Airi ." Shiori raised her voice enough that it could be heard on the other side of the door. "I can not do it!"
"Don't talk like that. We're in this together." Airi clenched her jaw. "But that talent of yours. How can you believe otherwise?"
End of part 20/?