Chapter 7: Happy Birthday Kiana
Today is a very special day for Kiana and Sirin. The day that only happens once a year and that is of course their birthday. So naturally Sakuya was quite surprised that she found herself again in another realistic dream like 3 years prior when she was just 13 years old.
The girl wonders if there's a specific date to trigger this type of visions or vestiges of a past version of herself. This time her dream self is only slightly older than her current age which is 16.
Unlike before she's taller here and less skinny because of that her slim and curvy figure shows even more of her beauty. She still has her long hair that is tied in a half ponytail on the back of her head. Her overall body proportions and aesthetic choice are quite similar towards her real self.
Of course everyone else has grown up as well with Leon growing to be as tall as Siegfried now. The once innocent looking kids have all now grown up to become beautiful and handsome teenagers.
"Ugh where am I getting transported now?" As the scenery starts to build itself. Sakuya noticed that she is in fact on a beach and on an island somewhere.
She's in an astral form like usual. Sakuya found her dream self, standing with another girl sitting beside her.
A girl that she never met before just like Mei. The girl has long pink hair with the end of her hair being tied up to a ribbon. Her blue eyes with a pink ish pupil stared at the sea.
Though Sakuya could feel a sense of worry as the pink haired girl looked a little troubled by something as the two watched the sunset together.
"…Elysia."
"Hmm~~?" The pink haired girl hums in a playful manner.
"I know you're worried about that Elysia, no need to hide them from me." PE Sakuya decided to sit down with the girl.
"Guess nothing fazes through you huh?" Elysia chuckles as she flashes a sad smile. Something that Sakuya feels doesn't happen often. The pink haired girl beside her squeezed her hand that was sitting beside her.
She was really worried about something. Though Elysia couldn't find the right place to vent them out as she were and rightfully so, one of the only pillars of hope that this era had. A hope that everything can be fine again. A hope of a normal life.
"Today's supposed to be Kiana's birthday isn't it? And yet we couldn't celebrate it like we normally would."
"Yeah." PE Sakuya closes her eyes. They were running away from whatever organization they were serving prior. In order to give their friend a bit of peace in her final moment before Judgement day came.
Their superiors think they could just prevent it by killing the main problem preemptively but unfortunately a new vessel would just be chosen instead and Kiana's sacrifice would be all but meaningless.
"We're both on the same boat now. Oh I should at least try putting on some make up for her birthday." The girl beside her merely chuckles. At least the Elysia she knew is still there despite their circumstances.
"Really a makeup now?"
"Oh what's wrong with that? I gotta keep up my cute appearance all the time, no?" Elysia giggles playfully, yeah she never changes. Just as PE Sakuya would've hoped for.
"Shinki. You should try putting on some. You're a cute girl. We should dress you up nicely for the occasion!"
"We-well. I don't know." The girl looks bashful after she was given a simple compliment as her cheeks flushed red. Though what stands out is her name, Shinki.
"Shinki? I have a different name here?" Sakuya was thoroughly surprised to hear a different name than what she had expected. Perhaps it's common that even her past versions have different names. But Kiana seems to have the same name every time.
Sakuya shakes her head. She couldn't figure out why she had a very different name here. Or maybe this is her actual name that she had forgotten due to her amnesia.
"Hehe. Come on. '' Elysia pokes the cheek of the flustered Shinki. Naturally it just made the girl more flustered. Shinki thought about it and what's the worst that could happen if she just gave in to her friend's suggestion.
"Alright, fine. But I'm just doing this for Kiana alright? No-nothing else." Shinki sighs as the two stand up from their spot. "How long are you going to squeeze my hand for Elysia?"
"Can't a girl like me squeeze them? It feels nice and reassuring."
"Fine." Though not once were the girl's face looked bothered by the fact that Judgement day is imminent.
The two shared their last moment peacefully together staring off at the beautiful orange sunset on the beach of this island. With their hands held together and smiles carved on their faces.
"Right we forgot to say happy birthday to the birthday girl didn't we?"
"Ah… We did. Let's hurry back then! Hopefully Kiana didn't wait too long." With that Elysia ran off first. Shinki still stayed in that spot for a while before she eventually followed wherever her friend ran off to.
"Houraiji Shinki! Hurry up~ Don't make a girl wait for you~" Elysia's voice can be heard from afar as Shinki chuckles. "Elysia Caladenia you truly never changes." Shinki muttered as the world suddenly turned dark again as Sakuya could feel her time there was up.
-Gasp-
"God dammit, why does it have to do that everytime." Sakuya groaned. Being forcefully woken up after a dream or a nightmare isn't exactly the nicest feeling in the world.
Slowly the girl gets up from her bed. She brushed her messy bed hair first before going out of her room to get a glass of water. This time her house is still peacefully quiet.
Of course no one would really wake up at 3 am in the middle of holiday even if it is on the day of your birth. Well, except for Leon, as when Sakuya went into his room to check on him the boy was wide awake with stuff laying all over his room.
From books and electronic or mechanical parts. She doesn't quite understand how the boy managed to pick up mechanical engineering so quickly, perhaps it is because of his genes as an Ubermensch that he could soak up new information much faster than the average person.
"Do you need coffee?" Sakuya asked while peeking into his room to see whatever it is that he's making. If she had to guess it's probably some sort of gun judging by the physical appearance of the prototype he's holding.
"That would be much appreciated. Umm did I accidentally wake you up again?" Leon asked. He's already getting ready to apologize if he did.
"No. That's completely unrelated. Alright I'll leave you to whatever personal project you're doing then. Feel free to ask me if you need any help." Sakuya slowly closes the door to his room.
"Help? Maybe she could get me some materials." Leon muttered as he inspected his note book. As to how he learned all of this skill, Natalia provided him with some Schicksal engineering books from the archives that she could access or books that the infamous engineer made. She currently works in St Freya and Her name is Veronica Vill. Supposedly that engineer also had a younger brother though that information isn't confirmed yet.
She is infamous for her 24/7 work schedule when she's invested in a project and her works are truly extraordinary. She excels in making the weapons for the far east branch, which included some Valkyrie/Knights battle suits as well though she mainly made their weapon instead of their armor.
"Wish I could meet this Veronica person in person. I wonder if she would be willing to give me some advice." Leon sighs, he seems to be quite stuck with his current progress.
It didn't take long for Sakuya to get him the coffee he needed. She put the cup down on a nearby table before she headed back to her room with her own cup of coffee. First thing first, Sakuya needed to get some answers.
The best way to find the information she needed is to search it through google. It helped her find out more about Raiden Mei. She is the only heiress of the famous ME corp and apparently many news outlets do a lot of coverage on the girl's life. Must've been rather hard for the poor heiress who didn't seem so fond of the whole idea of her private life being covered by the news.
Elysia on the other hand is a bit harder to find though she does manage to find the Schariac's social media account in which she's surprisingly active.
She had a lot of photos posted. It makes her wonder how Elysia still manages to hide her job as a Valkyrie to the public. "I guess her photos can be pretty cute." Sakuya commented as she scrolled through her social media page.
Lastly and most importantly, She needed information if Houraiji Shinki does actually exist or not. Obviously googling the name doesn't give her any results though she did find Houraiji Kyuushou's github page instead. Who knew the real life counterpart of her will of stigmata can make a decent program?
Turns out she had also made some games though none seem to look that good. Maybe she's still an aspiring indie game developer for now. It surprised her when she found out she's the same as Kiana's age this year. Guess the internet holds much more information if you thoroughly search for it.
"Hmm Schicksal should have information about Houraiji Shinki right?" Sakuya remembered that Natalia did tell them that Schicksal should have a record of every human that lived or ever lived in this modern era. The only problem is that she couldn't access them even if she uses Natalia's laptop.
The girl sighs and it seems like she has to ask the blond scientist for help on this one as she's the only one she knows who can hack into Schicksal's database. Though she wondered if she could do it too if she used the authority of corruption.
Sakuya never really had a chance to use it before. Though if she gets caught it'll only bring her more trouble, this is Schicksal we're talking about. It's better for her to not push her luck on trying to access that using a power she didn't have much experience with.
"Every Human incarnation of Elysia is always active on those social media you humans create." It's about time her Honkai beast EGO said anything. Sakuya was always curious on why she always called Elysia that.
"She just likes to post. It's not like she is an attention seeker. Though I don't quite understand how a Valkyrie could do this without any repercussions."
"You humans have a weird sense of entertainment."
"Aren't your forms of entertainment weird too and a bit too sadistic?"
"But those are fun. You can always tell the real me your stories unlike me, She couldn't see through your eyes."
Sakuya rolled her eyes. The EGO wouldn't really tell her where her real body is actually located even if she asked. "Maybe later. Now why do you keep calling Elysia Schariac. Elysia's incarnate you never say that to me or Kiana or Sirin who's also a Herrscher."
"Hmm you could say I knew her personally when she's actually alive. Elysia and I are the same. Yet she somehow decided to protect this weak species out of her own free will. Kiana is usually the Herrscher of Finality but not every incarnations of her survived till their fated time comes."
"I see. Then the Elysia we see now is a reincarnation of a dead celestial Honkai beast?"
"More or less. How she did it I have no clue. At first Araya didn't bother trying to manage her reincarnation and let her perish forever but somehow she managed to keep reincarnating into this world all by herself. Haa she even still manages to keep her EGO intact. She would be speaking with her incarnation like I do with you."
"I see. What was she like?" Sakuya asked. Now the girl is actually curious.
"Always talks about herself and how she's a cute girl, things like that. Can be rather annoying as well to me or to other humans. Though she has her own charm I suppose. Both her Honkai and Human incarnation seem to have that charm as well."
"Honkai?" Sakuya tilts her head. Did she hear that right? A Honkai beast reincarnating and becoming another Honkai beast?
"Yes. She has her human form when she's reincarnated as a Honkai but her true nature is a Honkai beast like me although she's nowhere close to being as powerful as her original self. Such a shame really. I was really hoping to finish our fight."
"It's a bit weird to hear you being so sentimental Jyahnar."
"Hmph can't I be?" Sakuya chuckles hearing the EGO grumbles at her comment.
Though it didn't answer her questions about who Houraiji Shinki really is. Sakuya was still more than satisfied with this answer. All that is left is to meet the people in question.
To see it for herself if they were truly similar to the versions she saw in her visions and stigmata. Maybe Houraiji Kyuushou would know about Houraiji Shinki as well considering they have the same family name.
"Hmm guess my next target is to find where Kyuushou is. Hopefully Natalia can help with that." Sakuya took a final sip of her coffee.
While it's common to ask for a material as a gift on your birthday. Kiana on the other hand asked for a rather uncommon request for her gift.
"Are you sure about this Kiana? You could've asked for something else." Natalia asked as the scientist viewed the two combatants from the observation area.
"Yep~ Besides Saku-Nee agreed to it! You said I could ask for anything!"
"I know but. A spar seriously?" The blond scientist sighs onto the intercom.
"What's wrong with it?" Kiana raised her eyebrow innocently. The Kaslana doesn't see anything wrong with her request and so does her opponent.
"No need to make a fuss about it. If Kiana asked for it, who am I to deny this request?" Sakuya grinned. She casually holds her scythe over her shoulder. The two combatants took a stand on their respective corners.
A spar with no Honkai abilities or enhancements allowed, although bringing in weapons is still fine. Sakuya holds her scythe on her back while Kiana points her lance towards her opponent.
"Seems like you girls are ready. Alright use the regular rules and have fun. Now let the match-." Siegfried raises his arm before he brings it down onto the buzzer in front of him signalling the official start of their fight. "Begin!"
As the match starts Kiana immediately lunges into her opponent as she thrusts her lance forward. Due to their weapon difference Sakuya had to play a bit more defensively.
"Slow." The older Kaslana easily sidesteps from Kiana's first attack. The girl twisted and twirled her body as if she was dancing with her weapon. She brought down her scythe with an incredible speed and control as Kiana barely dodged the attack with the blade of the scythe slightly grazing her right shoulder.
"Ugh." Though her older sister didn't stop her counter attack as she follow up her attack with a kick using the scythe to propel her body forward while her other leg lands on the ground to give her enough footing so that Kiana wouldn't be able to easily throw her if she does decide to catch her kick.
In which Kiana decided to block instead and swing her lance horizontally. Sakuya jumps to dodge the attack leaving her scythe behind as the lance hits the scythe sending it flying to the side of the arena.
The two combatants smiled at each other. While Kiana's raw physical strength is truly out of the ordinary she couldn't match her sister's flexibility and agility. Sakuya's agile movement made it hard for Kiana to land a solid hit but at the same time it's hard for Sakuya to do any significant damage to her opponent without her weapon.
While they do have the same teacher. Both prodigies have developed their own style of combat after years of training and honing their own skills.
As the battle continues on, Sakuya eventually manages to get her weapon back.
The two weapons frequently clashed at one and the other, creating a wonderful spectacle of sparks each time they connected.
Natalia was at awe as she saw the two spar. She rarely saw them spar against each other as she's usually busy with her work at her work place. Usually she would see the results of their score from the survival training that they would do each holiday.
This is all nothing but good data for the blond scientist. Though Natalia couldn't help but to feel something was off with how Sakuya was moving. It was as if the girl was dancing with her scythe during this battle against Kiana.
While Kiana's stance is obvious as she was following her mother's footwork with some adjustments she made for herself. Sakuya's case is different.
"Where exactly did she learn to move like that?" Natalia couldn't help but wonder since, even Sirin's movements match Siegfried's to a certain extent.
Sakuya neither followed Siegfried's nor Cecilia's technique. Rather the girl took some bits of both while improving her own unique style that she had always been using ever since the girl took the scythe as her weapon.
Yet Natalia could see many similarities of Sakuya's scythe footwork and a footwork of a certain famous Valkyrie of Schicksal. "But how can the two of them fight using a similar technique when they don't know each other nor have Sakuya ever seen her fight." Natalia ponders.
"Rita Rossweisse I wonder where you learn your technique from." Since the Valkyrie's identity documents didn't say anything about where Rita had learned her technique. Whether it be from a teacher or self taught, there's no way of knowing the truth unless someone asks the question directly to the Valkyrie herself.
Though, if the adopted Kaslana uses a different weapon like a sword. Her movements would be all but similar to her sisters as they all use the same Kaslana sword technique in which they had mastered over the span of 6 years of their Valkyrie training with their father.
The bell then suddenly rang as they reached the 10 minute mark. Natalia almost jumped from her seat as she was too deep in her thoughts.
"Aww 10 minutes is too short!" Kiana pouts. The two fighters have stopped their sparring with no definite winner between them.
"We can continue it another time. Besides, you'll have your birthday party soon." Sakuya rests her scythe on her shoulder again as she wipes some sweat off her temple. The two don't look all that tired despite all of that.
"Ugh fine~~." Kiana put her weapon away, Sulking as she headed back upstairs.
Sakuya chuckles, She too understands the feeling of being interrupted midway. It would be better if either one of them loses or wins as that "Ending" is much more satisfying to experience.
Once they're back up from the basement onto the living room. The original Kaslana immediately changes her demeanor when she spotted Leon carrying over a cake that Natalia baked.
"Hey, no eating them yet." Sakuya put her hand on Kiana's shoulder, snapping her out of her trance-like state.
"I know I know. Then hurry up with it already."
"Geez, always the gluttonous one."
"Sirin would agree with me. Besides, Natalia makes delicious meals! It's fun learning how to cook from her."
"If you didn't blow up the kitchen first."
"I-i." Kiana blushes. Perhaps it is this family's curse that none of them can really cook a decent meal but at least it is now edible unlike before where everything is either a pile of charred food or a mush of different ingredients that doesn't fit well together or both.
"Sa-Saku Nee also put too much salt most of the time!"
"But it wouldn't be as delicious if I didn't put in that much." Sakuya frowned.
"That's the problem! Hmph you'll get sick if you put that much salt in a dish, Saku Nee." Kiana crosses her arms. Sakuya let out a reluctant sigh, Well Kiana is right in some way though Sakuya can't believe she's being scolded by someone who'd gobble up any dessert or sweets she encounters. Isn't that much sugar also unhealthy?
"Fine~. I'll tone it down."
"Hehe~ Alright good now I think about it Saku Nee have you been sick before? I don't remember seeing you getting the flu or a cold."
"Hmm well." Sakuya rubs her chin while she nods her head up. "I guess I had a cold before but it was when I'm still in an orphanage and well when I was with the world serpent."
"O-Oh." Kiana frowned, now she felt guilty for bringing that uncomfortable memory up. "So-Sorry for bringing that up."
"It doesn't bother me that much. It's alright." Sakuya put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Come on, don't be sad on your birthday because of that. Let's play some games with Sirin until the party starts."
"Okay." Kiana nods, changing her frown into a smile. Her big sister is a strong person, it'll only cause problems if Kiana thought too deeply into that matter. 'Saku Nee is right. Let's just have fun for today! Then maybe tomorrow we can continue with our spar.' Kiana thought to herself.
Sakuya pulls her hand away from her sister's shoulder as she begins to ascend up the stairs to where their rooms are. Kiana followed her sister up the stairs to her room that she shared with her twin/clone.
As the sun begins to set. The atmosphere of the house began to change accordingly. It is a simple yet thoughtful birthday party.
No decorations needed, only a cake, some presents, and a handful of people that are important in the twin's lives.
"Happy birthday Kiana, Sirin." Everyone cheered. Kiana cheered along with the crowd smiling the brightest and most genuine smile the girl could muster. While her twin on the other hand looked more flustered and embarrassed.
To differentiate between the two, even though Sakuya and Siegfried could still tell which one is which even if the two decide to wear the same outfits. The twins usually wore a different hair style.
Kiana has her long white hair tied into 2 "drill like" braids while Sirin didn't tie her hair at all and decided to let them loose.
While this isn't technically Sirin's birthday, The girl doesn't mind the gesture as she feels like she found a place where she truly belonged. That is being part of this family despite being a mere clone of her supposed sister.
"…Ge-Geez this is still embarrassing." Sirin crossed her arms and looked away from the crowd, trying to hide away her flustered face.
"Come on, let's blow out the candles!" The twin braided girl excitedly tugs her sister's arm.
"Do I need to?" Sirin grumbles, The straight haired twin prefers if Kiana is the only one who blows out the candle afterall it is her birthday.
"Well duh~ It's our birthday."
"It was dad and natalia that decided that. You know what nevermind." Sirin sighs reluctantly. The two Kaslana inhaled a big gust of air before releasing it all and blowing out all of the lit candles on the cake in one go.
"Alright now you two don't forget to cut the cake okay?" Natalia hands them the plastic knife.
"I won't forget it this time Natalia. Besides, this cake isn't a birthday cake is it? Why's it 2 layers?" Kiana asks as she plucks out the candles first while her twin cuts the top layer to several equal pieces before serving them on a plate.
"I'm just experimenting and someone did ask for a bigger cake." Natalia said which prompted Kiana to immediately look at her sister suspiciously.
No way Natalia just suddenly changed how she made her cake. For the past few years she always makes a 1 layered cake for the kid's birthday even for Siegfried's birthday it's not different in any way be it in size or how she made them, it's usually the taste that's different.
"What?" Sirin raised her eyebrow. Kiana thought she'd be more selfish since normally Sirin is a self centered person.
"Nothing I never thought you'd ask for that."
"1 Cake for our birthday isn't enough so I asked Natalia for a bigger one." Sirin replied deadpanned as she munched on her cake piece. At least with this everyone can eat more cake so it's a win-win regardless.
"Aww my sister is so thoughtful~." The Kaslana embraced her sister in a tight hug. She rubs her cheek onto Sirin's soft cheek.
"Ack. Kiana! Let me go!" Sirin of course struggled to free herself from her sister's deadly bear hug. Though her struggles were in vain as no matter how much she squirms around within her sister's grasp Sirin is ultimately locked in Kiana's embrace.
Even though Sirin is a Herrscher and is technically a clone of Kiana. It is still surprising to see that the original Kaslana is somehow still physically stronger than her Herrscher sister despite all of Sirin's supposed advantages.
"Oi, Let go already, this is embarrassing!" The Herrscher whines as a red hue is painted all over the girl's face.
"Hehe~~. " Kiana grinned and eventually let her sister go. She always loved seeing Sirin's embarrassed face whenever she publicly showered her with love and affection.
"Ugh you never know what personal space is." The girl grumbles as she continue to eat her cake. Even though Sirin said that she actually didn't mind the affection that Kiana give her, it's just that she doesn't like it she did it when there is other people around.
"Enough of that you two. Kiana, don't tease your sister too much." Siegfried scolded the twin braided girl.
"Aww okay."
"Alright, here is a gift from Leon. You probably could guess what it is." Siegfried gave the two a small pair of boxes in which they instantly opened revealing its content.
"Oh! Isn't this the same bracelet that he made and gave to Saku-nee?" Kiana picks up a bracelet made from leftover marbles that is tied together quite beautifully.
"Hehe now I could match Saku-nee!" Kiana excitedly puts it on while Sirin stays silent though she still puts them on.
"Th-Thanks." Sirin blushes slightly. Unlike Kiana, Sirin didn't have that many friends so she had never thought about receiving something like this.
She also pestered Leon a lot so there's that too, it never occurred to her that Leon perhaps view her with a similar level of interest. No, the girl shook her own head mentally. She was without a doubt getting too ahead of herself.
"No problem." Leon smiles happily that the two accepted his friendship bracelet.
"You're always crafting something huh Leon. What is it that you're making now?" Sirin asked. She's curious about their resident engineer, as Leon is always seen doing his project whenever he has a spark of an idea or has free time to spare.
"Guess you could say it's a gun."
"Huh? How did you get those parts?"
"Sakuya sometimes finds parts when you guys are training and I asked her to collect them. There's also AE's trash or mom's workplace trash." Leon shrugs his shoulders. "They're still in good condition after you clean them a bit so I use it and mom already gives me permission." The boy smiled confidently.
Sirin blinked, the girl never thought about that and is it even legal to make your own weapon? She'd rather steal one from Schicksal. But if it's Leon then maybe his creation can be decent enough to meet the standard.
"I-I see." Sirin doesn't say it but from her eyes it's clear that she wanted to test out the gun for herself. The Kaslana sisters shared a similar level of interest about weapons after all even if the weapons they favored differs from person to person.
"I'm making one for everyone, don't worry about it Sirin. Though I could use some help in testing them mind if you help me?"
"If it doesn't waste too much of my time. But what do I need to do?"
"Grip testing there's also ammunition testing and lastly live testing. I'll call you later when I do need help with that." Leon straightened one of his fingers each time he made a point.
"Fine." Even if there was more Sirin was still willing to do it. After all having a gun personally made for her has a different feel to it. That is if it really is made for her and not for Leon himself. But the girl hadn't thought about that possibility
Onto the next and last set of gifts this time is from their own father Siegfried as he hands them the gifts himself. Kiana got herself the next volume of her favorite novel and Sirin got herself the new Kallen Fantasy game cartridge.
"Oh! I've been waiting for this thanks dad!" Kiana jumps excitedly and kisses her dad on his cheek. As much as Sirin was a gamer, Kiana was more of a bookworm although both still refuses to read much of their school study material.
Well a novel is more interesting to read than your average school's academic materials if you really want to compared them together. It's still a good thing that Kiana is still willing to read something.
"Thanks Dad." Sirin on the other hand gave her father a light hug before she ran off to her room. Presumably to play the newest installment of the Kallen Fantasy series.
"Sheesh that kid." Siegfried chuckles seeing his daughter run off like that. She liked the gift he gave her, that's what ultimately mattered to him.
"Then Saku Nee-!" Kiana was about to ask her sister for a spar again before Natalia interrupted the Kaslana.
"Ah Sorry Kiana but I need to talk privately with your sister for a bit."
"Ehh?" Sakuya chuckles seeing her sister's reaction. Even though Kiana did grow up sometimes her inner childhood still manages to seep through.
"Kiana, I did promise we'll do that tomorrow, didn't i?"
"Fine." Kiana pouts, extremely dissatisfied with the answer she got. She walks away with her new novel at hand.
"So what is it Natalia?" Sakuya decided to get to the point. Maybe Natalia found something about one of the things she asked her to investigate.
"Which one do you want to know first? Elysia, Shinki or Kyuushou?"
"Elysia." Sakuya answered.
"Elysia Schariac, 18 years old this year. She's an S rank Valkyrie in Schicksal alongside Rita rossweisse. Pretty influential inside of Schicksal and she's the leader of her team named Novae Origin." Natalia said though the scientist was rather confused at Sakuya's reaction.
Instead of accepting it like she usually would. This time she looks like she's questioning the validity of that information. 'Isn't there supposed to be someone else?' Sakuya thought.
"Umm Is that it? Didn't you say there's 3 S rank? Where's Bianka Ataegina or the one that's usually called Durandal?"
"Pardon? Who's Bianka Ataegina? There's no record of a Valkyrie named like that." Natalia looks confused at the mention of the name. She's sure that she didn't miss any details about Schicksal's S rank Valkyries at least even if the last one is still a mystery.
"O-Oh Nevermind then carry on with Kyuushou."
The scientist is now concerned. Although she decided not to ask about that small detail for now despite her growing curiosity. "Houraiji Kyuushou, 15 years old this year. She's from a small island in the southern part of far east. Currently in middle school but she got a scholarship from Raiden Ryoma himself to attend Nagazora's best academy, Senba Academy."
"Huh?" Sakuya raised her eyebrow. There's no way it's possible for someone to be accepted this early to a highschool unless they're extremely smart or talented. "In the 5th semester? We just took our final exams too. How's that possible?"
"If I'm being honest I don't know the details as well. It's suspiciously confidential." Even if she's good at programming. A 15 year old like her shouldn't be able to make a game that good to suddenly be accepted into Senba and get it from Raiden Ryoma out of all people who's notorious for being very picky on giving out scholarships.
"Unless…Hmm that's unlikely but more plausible." Sakuya muttered "Then I should go to Nagazora to attend Senba academy too."
"I could help but all of you should at least study hard to get good grades to give yourself a higher chance. No slacking off got it?"
"Urk… Fine." Sakuya rolled her eyes. At the end of the day she still has to study hard.
"Hehe good you should never forget your grades although they might be useless now. Who knows some information about chemistry or physics might save your life."
"Thanks." Sakuya sighs, she'd rather not think about that. "Anyway, what about Shinki?"
"Ah." Instantly the scientist's face curled up into a frown. Whatever information she got it isn't all rainbow and sunshine though Sakuya never expected what Natalia said afterwards.
"She's dead." Natalia replied as she tried to calm herself to not make the mood much worse.
"What?"
"Houraiji Shinki and her family are dead because of a Honkai beast attack in a small town near the border of the state of Belarus."
"Sh-She is?" Sakuya held her head as her breathing became unstable. Something about that doesn't feel right to her. So why does her heart have to ache so much? Why does she feel like she's missing something important?
"Sa-Sakuya. I'm sorry I guess she was your friend huh. Are you crying?" Natalia asked as she held the girl's shoulders.
"Crying?" Sakuya raised her hand all the way to her cheek. It is wet like how Natalia described them. Sakuya couldn't understand why she's suddenly crying like that.
Though her uncomfortable headache eventually stopped on its own. Perhaps she isn't meant to hear that information yet. Whoever Houraiji Shinki is, she must've been an important person to Sakuya and maybe it is the key for her to know what truly happens before her amnesia.
"Sorry that you have to see that Natalia." Sakuya wipes away her tears.
"Now I guess I have to prepare for Nagazora. Hmm I have to teach everyone how to speak far easterner huh." Sakuya mumbled, it's really fascinating yet unnerving at the same time to see how fast the girl could calm herself down.
"I-It is for the best. Ahem I'll help with that, you four focus on your studies. Ask Leon if you need any help okay?"
Sakuya nods. "Okay. I guess I'll be extra busy next semester." The adopted Kaslana let out a frustrated sigh. Things are about to get even more interesting in the next chapter of her life it seems.
Sorry for the late update. Rn I'm still having my exams so i was writing this in the spare time i had between my studies thankfully i had already done most of it before this week's exam.
Will i stop writing for awhile? Not really but there wouldn't be any new chapters soon until the end of the month/year since i would have less free time. It's just my prediction but i could be wrong.
Also the fact that this is uploaded on Kiana's birthday is purely coincidental lmao, But happy birthday for our girl Kiana Kaslana.
Anyway thanks for reading this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it!