Helloooo, everyone! It's me, Guy! And I bring to you another chapter of my Honkai Impact fic. It is a little sad that the game/manga doesn't get much attention like FGO or Azur Lane, but here I am on my quest to change that. Hopefully. And since I can't draw to save my life or do anything else really, fanfiction it is! But don't be mistaken, I love to write this, and I love the game and its story, as it probably shows. Anyway, off we go to the story.

The Silver Snowdrop of the Urals

"Aha! Stop right there, Bratnya!" Kiana shouted with a triumphant grin crossing her face.

The grey-haired girl at the doorway halted, still floating above the floor, and turned slightly. To most, she had the same neutral face but to the girls, Bronya was either annoyed or bored, and since Kiana was here it might be a mix of both.

"What is it?" She questioned the white-haired girl, without much interest.

"I just found your part in this! You'll not escape, Bronya!" She said, pointing a finger at the floating loli, who crossed her arms and slowly shook her head.

"The Bronya has better things to do rather than sit and invade Captain's privacy"

"Like what?"

"Grinding Homu Fantasy VII, there will be an important event soon. Now, the Bronya excuses herself-"

"Bronya-chan, why don't you take a sit?" Mei looked at the grey-haired girl with a smile, but it wasn't as warm as usual, and her polite tone had a silver line of 'not asking'. So Bronya did the only reasonable thing and returned to her seat next to Mei.

"Fufufufu~ I wonder what kind of embarrassing things Captain wrote about you, Bratnya~"

"Unlike Kiana Idiotka, the Bronya is not one to be in embarrassing situations very often"

"Well, somethings are bound to happen at least one time, right?" Mei said in a sweet tone that somehow betrayed her words. If she had to go through this, Mei wouldn't go alone.

Bronya remained silent for a moment as Kiana held Captain's Journal to her. Still sporting her expressionless face, Bronya picked it and her eyes gravitated towards her name in bigger letters.

"Ahem. The Bronya shall read..."

Bronya Zaychik. That's the name of the grey-haired girl who floats around St. Freya and Hyperion. She is the third component of the valkyrie squad I'm in charge of. Needless to say, the way we met was less than ideal, to put it lightly, but she seems to be a nice girl. When Principal Theresa made the presentations, she greeted me and everything, different from a certain Kaslana. She was as polite as Mei, or maybe even more. To be honest it was brutally polite as if she was doing it solely because it was a "rule". I… I got quite the team to oversee, didn't I, Journal?

"Wow, that does sound like Bratnya," Kiana said in amusement.

"Umu, the Bronya agrees. Also, it is confirmed that Kiana is stupid enough to appear in my entry"

"What was that?!"

"Let's keep reading, shall we?" Mei said, trying to calm the two girls.

Well, I'm sold. Having Bronya on the team is the best thing that could have happened to me as a captain. Despite her age, she is extremely good at evaluating the situation and making assertive decisions. Sometimes she barely reads the mission briefing and carries it on better than I could even imagine. The Bronya, as she calls herself, is also really good with computers, and I'm not joking, Journal. She legit hacked St. Freya's servers to look at Mei's and Kiana's grades, in less than thirty seconds. Sure, it isn't exactly the state-of-the-art security system we have here, but this is a school under Schicksal with hundreds of Valkyries in training, there's a lot of info that shouldn't be looked upon by anyone. As cool as it is, Principal gave her a long lecture and a ban from anything digital.

"Hahahahaha! That's right, Aunt Teri totally grounded you like a child!" Kiana laughed loudly, hugging her belly and falling back on the bed, while Bronya observed her unamused.

"The Bronya can't see what is so funny about it"

"Well, when she puts it like that, it sounds like you got your game privileges removed," Mei said, hiding a light laugh behind her hand. Bronya then looked at Mei and the tiniest of the pouts formed in her lips.

"That access revoking cost Bronya precious crystals that she couldn't afford later on. A rare event gacha was lost" She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Umm, Journal? I think I want to take back what I said. Having Bronya on the team is a disaster! And not because she is constantly fighting Kiana over Mei's attention- Well, not ONLY because of that. She is simply too efficient! I have nothing to do here at Hyperion!

In just one night she optimized the routines of the ship and the other day she gave the mission briefing herself (Not gonna lie, though, she delivered it like a pro). I feel that I'm not relevant to the performance of squad…

And I'll tell you that, she can be quite rude despite being so damn polite. When she's with Mei, Bronya is tamer, but once she gets out of Mei's Warmth radius, she will go as cool as a blistering winter in the northern regions. Speaking of which, I learned these days that she came from Russia. Huh, the more you know, a russian loli meeting two high school girls during the Nagazora Incident.

. . . . .

Okay, that's… Listen, Journal, I think I was a little unfair with Bronya. I didn't have any idea, I… I'm an idiot.

Since she doesn't leave much work left for me as the captain, I tried to help her study or something. Bronya is quite a genius, but I was a little worried because she would spend hours in her room playing games. I'm all in for games too, but that amount of playtime had to be impacting her scores or something. I asked her about it and offered to help, but Bronya declined with a no. Short and simple. That kind of made me a little angry and we got into a little argument, then I let it slip. ~sigh~ I wanna punch myself so hard right now, Journal…

I ended saying "didn't your parents give you any manners?". Smart move, you idiot. If you saw her face at that moment, Journal. It was completely neutral. Not a single reaction from someone that lost her mom and dad. As you might have guessed, things instantly went sour between Bronya and I. For starts, I got out of her room with a cannon pointed at my face, and the next missions were less than enjoyable. That didn't affect her performance at all, but the teamwork was prejudiced as she refused to do anything I said. So Major Himeko inquired me on the matter and I had to explain everything.

Turns our Bronya lost her parents during the 3rd Honkai Eruption, and she got recruited and trained by an army in Siberia. A child, trained as a soldier. She eventually got caught by a person called Cocolia, who had an orphanage for children. Still, by this time Bronya was already known as the Silver Wolf of the Urals, a deadly sniper, and assassin. I… I understand why the Principal didn't tell me the whole story from the beginning. What she has been through…

Later on, she got involved in Anty-Entropy's X-10 Experiment, which cost Bronya her legs and her ability to feel a wide range of emotions. That's why she's usually so cold, and still I...

The girls were familiar with this story, and they all agreed unconsciously to not touch the subject if possible. However, what shocked them the most was the few blurred marks on that page. Here and there, the letters blurred, as if water had been poured on it. It was clear to them what was Captain's emotional state at the moment. Pushing the skeletons back into the closet, Bronya kept reading.

I… I don't know what do, Journal. I don't know if I can fix this. How do you apologize for something like that? If at least I could talk to her, somehow… a way that she would have no other option but to listen to me. It isn't enough, but I have to at least say I'm deeply sorry. Ah, I know! Games! If I make a bet with her and win, I can get her to talk to me. Bronya takes games really seriously, and I doubt she would go back in her words. I think she plays Homu Fantasy. Yes, that'll do, I haven't played in a while but I was unbeatable back at school.

. . . . .

I was so wrong, Journal. So, so wrong. The world is a big place… There are tons of awesome players out there… and I had to go against Alloy_bron, THE best player in the global ranking! Of course Bronya is Alloy_bron, why didn't I think of this sooner? Man, how many misjudgments I have made with Bronya...?

Anyway, there's no time to waste sulking here. I have to recover my skills and practice even more if I want to defeat her. As expected, she didn't refuse the challenge, and she even said she would follow my instructions during the missions if I won. What ensued after can only be described as a unilateral annihilation, though.

Yosh, bring it on, Alloy_bron!

"Oh, the Bronya remembers it. Captain and the Bronya had many duels one after another" The grey-haired girl pointed out.

"You and Captain played a lot. One time he even spent an all-nighter training in preparation" Mei said, with a feeling of fondness to the memory of Captain sleeping on the floor that morning.

"How did that went, anyway?" Kiana asked curiously.

"487 consecutive wins for the Bronya, 280 Flawless scores"

Both Kiana and Mei laughed nervously at the sheer numbers. Truly, Captain didn't stand a chance.

Journal, I was doomed to fail from the very beginning. There's no way I'll manage to get on that loli's level! At least I finally got used to her pace and landed a few hits, but once she gets serious, it's game over. She even won a match without looking! She was busy reading some manga.

But I can't give up! I have to make things right between us, I have to…

"Ne, Mei, I don't remember Captain and Bronya being like this, and you?"

"I felt something was off, but I wasn't certain..." They looked concerned at the girl in the middle.

"The Bronya concluded that it was the best for everyone to keep this away. The missions could be compromised, and it was a problem between Baka Captain and the Bronya" She said simply.

"But… that night, Captain suffered his 473rd loss. The Bronya was ready to push him out but then Captain..." She trailed off, falling silent.

"What? What did Captain do?!" Kiana inquired the short girl, then exchanged a worried look with Mei, and both focused on the Journal at Bronya's hands.

I did it. I can't believe I did it. I… I gave Bronya a hug, journal!

It was on impulse. I lost again, and I felt really frustrated about it, not only because I couldn't apologize, but also due to that many losses accumulated on my side. Before she could use drag me out with Project Bunny, I hugged her. She didn't move, and looking back it could be because she couldn't feel it, so she simply stood still. I felt the tears coming but I held them back, and then the words came out. I told her I was deeply sorry for what I said, that I didn't know about her past, and just how much of an amazing girl she was. She was so talented, a real genius among us, and as a Captain, I couldn't feel more proud. My mouth might have been running on my anxiety because soon the speech transitioned to "I'll do anything to see you happy, Bronya-san". Hence why now I have to pass the next months on instant ramen, as I have a list of games to buy.

She couldn't express her emotions clearly, but her body language was decipherable after spending some time with the floating loli. What Kiana and Mei were seeing right now was Bronya's equivalent of mild embarrassment. They smiled and returned to the book.

I may be talking too soon, but I think I made it, Journal. Bronya has been more friendly lately, not only with me but with everyone else. Even Kiana! Sure, they still bicker a lot, but now it is more like two friends fighting and less a true "I'll end you". Despite that, Bronya is still quite unexpressive, but I guess that can't be helped. I wonder if she really wants to express how she feels, though. We were talking about her days at the orphanage- oh yeah, we have been talking more lately, mainly when we're playing some games, or should I say while she mobs the floor with me?- and from what she told me, Bronya never was the communicative person. If at least I could get a simple smile from that cold russian loli… that's it, Journal, I'm set on a quest now.

"Oho? And how did that turn out to you, Bratnya? Hah?~ Hah?~" Kiana nudged the gray-haired girl, laughing lightly at the not visible but very real embarrassed state Bronya was right now.

"The Bronya does not recall of such attempts being made," She said, avoiding looking anywhere but the pages of the book.

"We're talking about Captain here, Bronya-chan. He might have tried and failed" Mei added, doing her best to not smile so widely at her friend's unusual shyness.

"Now that Mei mentions it, subject Captain has been acting, as you would say, funny," She said, digging her memories for instances where Captain would act like a fool for apparent no reason. Well, more than usual, anyway.

"Like what?" Questioned the white-haired girl by her side.

"Subject Captain will make a joke or two while we're playing, but that's not very funny or clever. Also, subject Captain gave the Bronya some rare collectibles he got from an arcade"

"Hmm, anything else remarkable, Bronya-chan? It sounds like Captain's normal self to me" In fact, Captain would act friendly like this to all of them. Perhaps he honestly just wanted to see them happy.

"There was… umm..." Kiana and Mei looked with surprise a bit of shock at her. Bronya never hesitated. If she had something to say, she would deliver it straight and simple. The fact that she was considering whether or not to share this info made the two girls more curious about it. What kind of situation could possibly make Bronya think twice before speaking?

However, Bronya closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"Well then, the Bronya shall resume the reading-"

"Wait just a minute! You can't leave us hanging like this!" Kiana held the small girl by her shoulders shaking her lightly.

"Kiana Idiotka should know better than to pry into other's personal space"

"It's a bit late for that, though..." Mei sweatdropped, feeling a sting of guilt withing her. She wanted to know more about it, nevertheless.

Sighing heavily, Bronya looked slightly down hiding her face a little. was it a girl with her emotional centers intact, you would see a faint blush crossing her cheeks.

"The Bronya might have mentioned one time to subject Captain that she wanted a life-size Homu King plushie. And she might have asked subject Captain to get her one. And… subject Captain might have appeared in a Homu King costume because he failed to find one and bought a normal size Homu plushie" As she spoke, Bronya shrunk more and more into her place. Meanwhile, the other two listened closely.

"And? How did you react?" Kiana pried in further.

"Umm… subject Captain looked really silly, and he made a terrible impersonation fo Homu King so… the Bronya… had no other option besides laughing… just a little" She admitted quietly, returning to read the journal right after.

Well, the Homu costume didn't play out as intended. I got into a ridiculous situation for pretty much no reason. Why have the trouble of sneaking that clumsy yellow head into Hyperion, right? Never mind the steaming hot costume. I now hold these guys in mascot costumes in the highest of regards because it is like wearing a sauna. Except for the part where you can actually feel good.

But I gotta say, perhaps it wasn't a total failure. The Bronya didn't waste time and criticized my voice acting, which I think was my fault. She also called me silly for actually trying to find a life-size Homu King, as she would already have such an item if it existed. She didn't refuse the Homu plushie I got, though, and put it gently along with the other seven in her Homu "family". It might be the heat getting to my head but I'm sure I saw a tiny smile there. She thanked me and then Project Bunny gave a little "help" to get outside.

And then I had to explain to Himeko why I was in a big yellow Homu costume. Oh well.

In the end, Journal, I think it's beyond my abilities to make Bronya show any emotions at all. I even tried tickling her but once I got in the range I had a particle cannon to the face, no that's a no go. Puns don't resonate with the young genius, or I'm simply terrible at it. Maybe both? My last resource is appealing to my charms… and you might want to know how well this is going.

She invited me to grind into a few of her games and even volunteered to teach me a few tricks. That's the best I can do, I guess. I feel like her heart belongs somewhere else. You know what I'm saying, Journal? Well, being her friend is good for me. As long as I am responsible for this team, I want to give these girls the best stay here at Hyperion. Bronya seems to need it a lot, as she already went through so much at such a young age. Heh, you would probably call me dumb or delusional for thinking like this but… I want to protect her, Journal.

I really want to protect Bronya. She is a Valkyrie, and even before that, she was a deadly sniper in a post-war Siberia. I'm sure she can take care of herself alright. Heck, I might need her to protect me. Still… I don't know, I feel the need to do something. Oh yeah, I got into the botanic book again, and I found some interesting things.

The Snowdrop flower is the first spring flower that blooms after the winter frosts, often lurking through the snow cover. It is very resistant and easy to grow. It can symbolize rebirth and hope, as it appears when winter is ending and spring is arriving. Just like Bronya, this little flower doesn't let the cold stop her from growing. It can mean innocence too, for being white. And sympathy, as you can show someone you love how much you care about them and won't leave them when they need the most.

I think it all fits her pretty well, and you? Oh yeah, I'm alone. It was good to talk to you anyway, Journal. Now I have to go, I have to practice much more if I want a chance of beating that loli at Backstreet Fighters.

Bronya let the journal gently rest in her lap as she looked at the ceiling. Her bored eyes slowly moved to the right, glancing at the Kaslana idiot. Just like she expected, Kiana was barely holding her laughs. Meanwhile, Mei did a better job offering a sympathetic smile, although she also looked like she wanted to laugh. They weren't being mean, it was simply because Bronya hardly found herself in a situation where she would feel embarrassed. Yet, here they are. And Bronya would be blushing if she could. At last, Kiana couldn't hold any longer, laughing openly ay her grey-haired friend's foreign state.

"Hahahaha, what did you say again? Oh, the Bronya does not embarrass herself" She said in a slightly mocking tone.

"Huh, maybe Captain actually did it and made Bronya a little less emotionless" Mei commented, patting the small girl in the head.

"Ahem. The Bronya would like if the events of today stayed undisclosed"

"Hai hai, we won't tell anyone you have a soft spot for Captain," Kiana said, ruffling the top of Bronya's head.

"It is hard to argue that we all have a soft spot for Captain, though..."

"Y-you don't have to put it like that, Mei" Now it was Kiana's time again to be blushing.

"All I'm saying is that I appreciate his consideration and care for us... he surely does more than a captain would need to do" Mei finished her line shyly.

"Agreed. Subject Captain surely stands out from your typical leading figure"

"Thinking about that, Aunt Teri and Aunt Himeko doesn't look like leaders of anything either, right?" Kiana questioned them.

"You want to say that again in my face, dear?"

The girls flinched upon hearing a familiar voice in a not so happy tone. They quickly turned their head to find none other than Himeko, arms crossed and leaning on the doorway with a not so pleased face. Next to her and entering the bedroom, a grey-haired girl with red glasses, followed by a short girl in a nun outfit, only lacking the habit. She had white hair and blue eyes much like Kiana.

"There you are, Kiana. I was looking for you, we have exercises to go through"

"C-Class President?!" Kiana said. That would be the grey-haired girl, Fu Hua. The mention of exercises, probably Math, made her feel tired already.

"What are you three doing here in Captain's room? And speaking of him, where is he?" The little nun asked the three girls, looking around for Captain.

"We were looking for him too, Principal, but he, umm… he's not here" That part was easy to explain, but Mei wanted to avoid saying what they were doing if possible.

"Kiana, I think we might need to talk again about using the A-word..." Himeko got into the bedroom too, already aiming for the Kaslana girl.

"O-oh, Prezi, good thing you came, I totally forgot about those Math problems. Let's go do them already, then!" Kiana was taking her opportunity to live but she froze once a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Wait, don't try to get away like this, young girl," Himeko said, turning to the other two girls sitting at Captain's bed. "And Theresa is right what were you three doing here all this time? We have been looking for you for a while"

Mei looked aside, trying to think of a good way to put in words why were they here. The Bronya, however, had a better solution.

"We were reading Captain's personal Journal that we stumbled upon" Both Mei and Kiana winced at the brutal honesty.

"Captain's Journal? I didn't think of him as someone to have these kinds of things..." Fu Hua thought out loud.

"Eh, Captain's personal diary? Is it full of secrets?~" Himeko asked them with a sly smile in her lips.

"Himeko-sensei, we should not go into someone's private archives. Even more an adult like you" The class president said, fixing her glasses.

"Ara, Theresa is reading already" The redhead pointed nonchalantly at the short nun sitting on the bed, Journal in hands and dangling her feet like a kid.

"P-principal! Please set the example"

The white-haired girl hummed happily as her eyes scanned the pages.

"Oh, so Captain wrote his thoughts on you girls" She concluded quickly.

"Yeah, Captain wrote down a lot of things since he met us, Aunt Teri," Kiana told them, already forgetting she was "in trouble".

"Regardless of what Captain might have written there, we should not look if he didn't show us until now" Fu Hua, always the top student and role model.

"I told them the same before..." Mei said, smiling awkwardly as she also ended giving up and going through it all.

"Oh, there's an entry for you too, Fu Hua" Theresa said, looking at the girl with glasses, who got caught by surprise and even yelped.

"Eh?! Captain wrote about m-me too?" She asked a little incredulous, pointing at herself.

"Yeah, it's right here" Theresa turned the book and showed to Fu Hua, who looked away at first but slowly turned back to look at it closely, with a hesitant face.

"Ho, this just got interesting" Himeko said, taking a seat next to Theresa.

"Well then, I'm off to do my homework since I got a lot and-"

"And where do you think you're going, young lady?" Kiana tried again to make a run for it but Himeko kept an eye on her, "gently" inviting the white-haired girl to sit with them.

"These are Captain's personal thoughts. It would be rude of me to look-" Fu Hua said, hiding her eyes behind the reflex of her glasses.

"Come on, the girls already saw some of it, and we're here anyway. Are you sure you don't wanna see?~" Theresa teased her, waving the book back and forth. Fu Hua cleared her throat and fixed her glasses once again.

"Since it has come to it..."

End of Chapter

And there you have it. Now Theresa Himeko and Fu Hua got into the mess too. Poor Captain, the girls went through his secrets. Can't have stuff in Hyperion. Anyway, I hope you readers enjoyed this chapter. It definitely is much different from what I'm used to doing, being pure fluff and sweetness. I do plan to add all valkyries, to the best of my abilities. I wonder how would it work with Sakura and Kallen since, well, they are kind of... not living. Anyway, I'm sure I'll think of something when the time comes. Probably. Possibly. Also, I wanted to know what do you think of the length of these chapters. They are shorter and therefore, easier to write, proofread and post. It could make my updates more frequent. Anyway, leave a review if you feel like it. Thanks for your time and for reading, and stay safe. See ya~