The Witches and the Complex (part 2)

(Adapted from the chapter Nipa and Hasse (Part 2), from the manga series Witches of Aurora by Kyougoku Shin.)

"Why...?"

Her mind was a jumble of thoughts and emotions when Nipa looked at Hasse, who was lying unconscious on the ground.

To Nipa, Hasse was just like an "ideal version" of her. They bore a very close resemblance to each other, but except looks, they were exactly opposite. Hasse was gentle and capable, while she, Nipa, was accident-prone and always on the receiving end of help.

It pained Nipa to see such an "other self" achieving victory after victory alongside Eila and Laura, leaving her alone behind. As a result, Nipa once swore that she must catch up with them, letting them see her in a new light.

But now…

"Why did you protect me?" Nipa shouted at Hasse's injured form on the snowy land. The breast and hem of Hasse's clothes were tattered. Her right arm, torso and thighs were covered in blood. There were several tears on her white tights.

"Shut up, Nipa, you're in the way of the treatment," said Aurora, who was patching Hasse up. By order of Commander Luukkanen, she stayed on stand-by in preparation of Striker Unit recovery and rescue operations. Unexpectedly, the one to be rescued turned out to be Hasse and not Nipa.

"Second Lieutenant Hanna's down?"

"It can't be! That way what do we do now?"

Seeing Hasse being shot down, the rookie witches panicked. Noticing that, Laura was trying to figure out some method to calm their fear and improve their morale.

Eila poured her magical power into her legs and descended to the ground.

"Aurora, how's Hasse?"

"I just finished first-aid, but it is the best we can do here. If we don't get her to the hospital right now..." Aurora didn't finish her sentence, but Eila immediately knew what she was getting at. For the sake of treatment, Aurora unbuttoned Hasse's top, which enabled Eila to see Hasse's upper body, which was wrapped in bandage, so were her neck and right arm. It seemed that some of Hasse's ribs were broken, and probably her internal organs were hurt, too.

Eila bit her lips tight. Nipa, next to her, kept a long face, falling into silence.

Suddenly, everyone heard a weak voice from their own radio communicator.

"...Everyone...please listen..." The owner of the voice was Hasse, to everyone's surprise. No one had realized she had come to until this point. Fighting the pain, Hasse struggled to sit up. Aurora immediately stopped her, "Don't push yourself, Hasse! Your wounds will open!"

"...Sorry...everyone...I messed up..." Hasse had to force her voice up to speak, her face covered in sweat. Despite that, she managed to convey what she wanted to say to everyone on the battlefield, "Let me take...a little nap..."

Everyone quieted down. All the witches who were slaying in the sky stopped to listen to Hasse's weak but unwavering voice.

"We still...have a lot of...enemies to take care of...Because...I won't...be...there...with you..., you... might...feel worried...but...it's al-...right...We will de-...finitely win..."

Hasse needed more and more pauses, likely to fall unconscious at any second. Even she herself felt her energy was going to run out.

"...be-...cause...we...have...Nipa...with us..."

Suddenly named, Nipa flared her eyes slightly.

"Lapra...I'll leave...command to you..." Hasse entrusted Laura with the significant task of giving the commands.

"Got it. Get some rest." Laura, in midair, closed her eyes and replied gently over the radio.

Hasse continued, "Nipa," after calling Nipa's name, Hasse stretched out a shaky hand and pointed at a Striker Unit which was resting upright nearby on the snowy ground, "My BF-109 still works. Please use it in my stead...and protect everyone." Hasse's hand and voice grew shakier and shakier. Finally, after spending her one last piece of energy finishing the last sentence, "I'm...counting...on you…," she passed out.

I'm counting on you. Seemingly, these words were not only for Nipa but also for the Striker Unit. Maybe Hasse, before losing consciousness, placed her hopes in both her comrade and her metallic partner with which she had gone through countless life-and-death battles.

Aurora wrapped Hasse's body with a blanket, carried the wounded witch in her arms and cooed, "Hasse, that's enough. Don't push yourself. I'll get you back to base."

Nipa, who had been sitting idly on the snowy ground, started to grouse, "Why did you protect me? I don't get it. Weren't you making fun of me, looking down on me...?"

Nipa's voice caught Eila's and Aurora's attention. Both Juutilainen sisters looked in her direction. Aurora was still holding Hasse in her arms. Eila still had her weapon on her back and her Strikers on her legs.

"And now you're counting on me? You're so much better than me and yet why…? Even if you say I'm here, I don't know what to do!"

As if pouring all her strength into her voice, Nipa yelled at the top of her lungs, "IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO HERE?!"

Nipa felt a strong grip on her collar before she was pulled off the ground with her legs swinging in the air. It was Eila.

"Listen up! Get this in your head, Nipa!" Eila stared at Nipa with palpable anger, "Hasse risked her life to protect you because we are comrades! Because she believed you could get us through this! And this is how you act in such a crucial moment…! Hasse looks down on you? The one who is doing that is you, Nipa! You're able to do so much more! Things that you can do!" Eila's body was trembling, her grasp on Nipa's collar tightening. Her voice, filled with anger, lingered in the air of Suomus.

Nipa tasted Eila's words. The things I can do? Only I can do?

"If so," Nipa yanked Eila's hand off, freeing her collar from the grasp. "Why don't you just tell me, Illu? Why don't you just tell me what exactly are the things I can do, the things only I can do? This is exactly what has been bothering me recently! You can never know where I'm coming from because you can always do anything very well. You don't know what I have been going through at all!"

Sure you don't. You are such a capable person, just like Hasse. You seldom encounter frustrations like I do. You are called "Lucky Juutilainen." How in the world can you ever know where I am coming from?

"You—" Eila's eyes flared. "You don't know at all. You don't know Hasse's feelings up till now—"

"Alright. Stop," Aurora, who had shown up out of nowhere, punched Eila and Nipa on the head simultaneously with both hands.

Eila and Nipa rubbed their heads, groaning in pain. Nipa squatted down. Eila just doubled over as she couldn't squat with her Strikers on.

"Ouch…what the hell, Aurora…" Eila let out a complaint after her pain subsided to the point that she could speak.

Aurora sighed, "Now's not the time for petty fights, Illu. Go back to the battle, everyone's waiting for you there." She turned to Nipa, who was still squatting on the ground with her hands on her head, and added, "And Nipa, calm down."

Eila straightened up and took a deep breath, adjusting her mood. She activated her Strikers, started to taxi on the snowy ground, and transferred her gun from her back to her hands.

"I'll be waiting for you up there, Nipa," she said tersely as she passed the mentioned witch, before getting airborne without turning back, leaving behind a white contrail.

It was just a simple, barely audible utterance — almost in a whisper — but full of determination and calmness.

Thoughtful, Nipa gazed at Eila's flying form in the sky, which was becoming smaller and smaller as she ascended. The short-haired witch inadvertently let out a sigh, blowing a puff of white smoke into the air.

"Well then," Aurora's voice pulled Nipa back to reality. "I was supposed to take you back to base. Want to come back with Hasse?"

The older Juutilainen's words made Nipa pout again. However, the next thing she did surprised Nipa.

Aurora handed her a black notebook with several labels on. "Luukkanen wanted me to show you this. There are the battle records of everyone in the 24th Squadron. Hasse has been keeping them up to date. Please, after reading its contents, think about what you can really do."

Meanwhile in the air, every witch was having a hard time. Even the top ace of Suomus, Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen, was no exception. Although this "Always Unscathed Scorer" still had yet to get any wound on her skin or any tear on her clothes, she was covered in sweat and panting heavily. Her usual laid-back manner was completely gone.

Not to mention the newbie witches, all of them were as exhausted and sweaty as Eila. The sounds of panting, explosion and gunfire echoed in the battlefield endlessly.

The struggles of everyone didn't go unnoticed by the substitute commander, Laura Nissinen. She was also about to reach her limits, both physically and mentally. The overwhelming number of the enemy and the shock of Hasse's being shot down greatly affected their morale, making this battle a long, hard one. Her hands, which had been keeping a shield, had started to tremble. There were already a couple of wounds on her body. Her forehead was bleeding. On her sky blue uniform were a great many bloodstains. She was pressing her left upper arm with her right hand, in an attempt to ease the pain from a bleeding wound there.

What were they going to do? What were they going to do? How were they supposed to pull this off?

An enemy fire struck. Reflexively, Laura put up a shield. Much to her shock, the shield just barely warded it off. It was a sign of magic deprivation. Luckily, only the edge of the shield got penetrated. She, in the middle of the shield, was still fine.

Eila, who was fighting nearby, noticed Laura's condition. However, when she was about to go to Laura's aid, two beams appeared right in front of her, blocking her way.

"Shit! Out of my way!" cursed Eila as she pointed her gun at the source of the beams — two medium-type Neuroi, ready to finish them off as soon as possible.

As Eila was paying all her attention to those two unwanted guests, another beam mercilessly gave Laura's fragile shield a powerful hit!

"Lapra—!"

Mouth moving of its own accord, Eila cried out her comrade's name, as if that could help neutralize the beam or reinforce Laura's shield.

Time froze. Eila prepared herself for the sight of her comrade being hit by a beam; Laura prepared herself for the pain from being kissed by blazing heat, or even — the last moment in her life.

However, one second passed, and then two seconds. Nothing happened. Laura opened her eyes and found herself still floating out there safe and sound. She examined her body and found no new scar. Before she could fathom what had just happened, a familiar figure came into view. Light blonde short hair, a pair of ferret ears and a ferret tail floating in the wind; an MG-42 on the back; a pair of BF-109 Strikers on the legs buzzing stably.

"Nipa!"

It was none other than Nikka Edvardine Katajanen, who had come back to the battlefield after taking Hasse's Strikers.

Nipa, who had saved Laura's life, was putting up a firm shield with her both arms stretching out forwards.

"You alright, Lapra?"

"Ah, yeah…," Laura, newly recovered from shock, finally regained the ability to speak. "Wait, that Striker Unit is…"

"Nipa, you went and stole my kill!" Here came another voice. This playful, cheery tone unmistakably belonged to Eila, whose finger was still on the trigger of her MG-42 as she flew toward her.

"Illu…," Nipa took a deep breath, all seriousness on her face. "Sorry for what I did."

Eila blinked.

"I'll never get disoriented again. I'll do what I'm supposed to do," said Nipa with all seriousness on her face and determination in her voice.

"So," Nipa turned to face Eila, "Please, let's fight together once more, Illu!"

"…Pft," Eila, however, chuckled.

Speechless, Nipa switched back to her usual self, the "Unlucky Katajainen" who was always the butt of jokes. "W-What are you laughing for, Illu?!" Nipa said as she raised an arm in Eila's direction and made a fist.

"Oops, sorry. I didn't know what to say after seeing you acting so serious. Hahaha." Eila stretched one arm towards Nipa and made a fist, too.

"Alright! Let's do this, Nipa!"

"Okay! That's go, Illu!"

Under the sunshine, the two girls did a fist bump.