It was just before 4pm when Marika, along with the other club members, brought their practice to an end. It was not only Marika, the other club members were also emotionally unsatisfied. But, so that they wouldn’t lose everything from destroying their physical condition, the Club President of the men’s division Chigusa made everyone stop.
Alisa rode the Cabinet back home with Marika and stopped by Marika’s house afterwards. She only stopped by, she has no plans to stay the night.
Without even changing out of her uniform, Marika connected the video camera Alisa used to film to the player by cable.
Peacefully sitting on cushions spread on the floor with Alisa, she used voice commands to command the HAR — Home Automation Robot to play the recording.
Marika watched the video in silence for some time and suddenly shouted “Right there!”.
“It was feeling so nice right around here. But I feel there’s something I’m missing.”
It was around 2pm in the video. Chika gave her the reprimand after lunch, soon after they restarted practice at 1pm, so it was around the time her limbs started becoming unable to move from the fatigue of continuously hitting a dummy for about an hour.
“And after this?”
The video continued playing even while Alisa asked questions.
“I felt something was wrong. It wasn’t completely off the mark either, but, how should I put it, the gap isn’t closing?”
“Hmm... It’s not your body’s movements, right?”
“Yeah, it’s not. My punching form is a little better than before.”
“Hmm... It’s still halfway, but do you want to try switching to Kirlian mode?”
The video camera Alisa was using is equipped with the feature to simultaneously record video that was passed through a Kirlian filter that makes Psions visible. The normal mode which doesn’t display the Psions and the Kirlian mode which makes Psion light visible are put on top of each other and recorded into one video and if the player is compatible with it the mode can be selected for playback.
Of course, the player in Marika’s room can play the Kirlian mode.
“Yeah. Let’s switch the mode and try watching from a little before where it is right now.”
Marika ordered the HAR to rewind, — this word is a remnant from a hundred years ago from when video equipment used tape — switch the mode, and then playback.
Marika looked intently at the screen and Alisa stared at it with a similarly serious look.
Once about a minute passed after the scene they were discussing passed, Alisa let out a low volume “Ah...”.
“Stop!”, Marika ordered to pause the playback. The screen changed to the paused state.
“Did you realize something!?”
Marika hounded Alisa as ferociously as a lion with a rabbit in front of it.
“Realize... I wouldn’t say that. But somehow...”
“Somehow!?”
Marika put her hands on Alisa’s shoulders and got closer and closer to Alisa, who complained relatively seriously that “You’re scaring me, Mina”.
“Uh, sorry... So?”
Marika’s menacing attitude, or rather, her forcefulness was alleviated, though their relative positions remained the same.
As she was being stared at from way too close, Alisa unconsciously leaned back.
Incidentally, their positions right now are Marika crouching with her hands on both of Alisa’s shoulders and Alisa with both hands placed on the ground behind her.
Due to Alisa leaning back in that position, the force pushing Marika’s hands back was momentarily lost.
“Wawah!?” “Kyah!”
As a result, Marika’s crouching posture collapsed and she leaned on top of Alisa. Alisa, unable to keep Marika’s momentum at bay, was knocked to the floor as well.
“...”
“...”
The two that were now embracing each other, were at a loss for words for a short while due to the unexpected development.
“...Mina, you’re heavy.”
“What the!”
Alisa complained with a voice that didn’t sound like she was in pain at all, and Marika showed her anger with a joking tone.
Still in that position, they both abruptly burst into laughter.
They finished laughing, got up, got back to their original positions and returned their eyes to the recorded video that was paused.
“—Asha. Anything is fine, so tell me what you realized.”
Marika asked for her answer, her eyes serious.
“Okay...”
Alisa hesitantly opened her mouth.
“...I feel that, compared to the other times, the color of the Psions is paler.”
“You mean there’s fewer Psions?”
“No. I mean it lacks color, or maybe I should say it has a feeling of transparency.”
Alisa said, not seeming confident.
Unable to understand, Marika also tilted her head.
“Doesn’t a pale color on Psion light indicate the density is low?”
“Yeah... that’s right, but I feel this part of the video is different.”
“Different?”
“How should I put it... What would be the best way to say this...”
Alisa restlessly moved her pupils, searching for an answer that isn’t written anywhere.
“Umm... The quality of the Psions changed? It feels like... the quality improved?”
In the end, she got the answer out. — And of course, it was unconfident, in form of a question.
“Hmm...”
This time it was Marika who pondered with a frown.
“...No can do. I can’t feel it at all.”
Then she raised her voice, which sounded discouraged, with the feel of ‘I give up’.
“Hey, Mina. This is just what I think, but...”
“Yeah, what is it?”
Alisa hesitated on her next words and Marika urged her to continue with a smile.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you forgot about this technique for now and turn your efforts into something else? You still have a long way to go with Saijou-senpai’s ‘Bodily Forging’, right?”
Marika faltered, saying “Ugh...” to what Alisa pointed out.
“I think the worst you could do is try your hand at several things and leave them all unfinished.”
“Uuugh.”
Marika brooded over it with an anguished expression.
Alisa watched over her in silence.
Before long, Marika stopped groaning and raised her face.
“...I understand. I’ll focus on Saijou-senpai’s magic first.”
“Okay. I believe that will be better.”
Marika stopped the video playback and unplugged the cord connecting the video camera to the player.
However, from Marika’s eyes as she looked at the camera, it appeared to Alisa that she still had lingering attachment to it.
◇ ◇ ◇
After dinner, Alisa visited the Former Tenth Research Institute’s training facility.
It must be getting close to an hour already.
She sent a shield flying at a target. Alisa was practicing ‘Offensive Phalanx’, which she is poor at.
The target used in training has a mechanism that converts the impact received into weight and displays it. Seeing that the numerical value cleared the reference value for this exercise, Alisa smiled broadly.
Suddenly, the sound of clapping came from her back. Alisa, flustered, turned around.
“Katsuto-san...”
“I apologize for surprising you. You were focusing on your training so I refrained from calling out to you.”
Before Alisa became aware of it, her half-brother, the Head of the Juumonji Family Katsuto, was standing in the observation zone behind her.
Katsu didn’t particularly sneak up on her. It was as he said, Alisa didn’t notice him because she was focusing on her training.
“Are you finished with work?”
Katsuto has been going out for work often lately. At the time Alisa entered the training facility, he shouldn’t have been home yet.
“Work is done for the day. I haven’t been able to watch your training recently, I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay... You’ve been so busy with Ten Master Clans work, after all...”
Alisa had heard from her stepmother Keiko that Katsuto has been swamped with work as of late, regarding circumstances that the Ten Master Clans has to deal with.
But, even while facing each other like this, he isn’t showing any of that fatigue. No matter what the time is when she sees him, he has a dignified and composed attitude that doesn’t make his relatives anxious. This is the kind of thing about Katsuto that Alisa honestly thought was amazing.
“Umm, how long have you been watching?”
It’s not as if she was doing anything to be particularly guilty about, nor did she believe she had shown a sloppy appearance, but being seen without realizing it, sure enough, was a little embarrassing.
After Alisa’s question, Katsuto looked at the watch on his wrist instead of the multifunction panel on the wall.
“Since about 15... no, 20 minutes ago.”
Alisa voicelessly murmured ‘Eh!?’. Not realizing that she was being watched for such a long time, and by someone who exudes as much presence as her half-brother does too... that shocked her. She is aware that she’s insensitive to looks from other people, but even so, she was astonished at herself about her own limits.
“That Offensive-type was well done. If you increase the rate of fire a little more, you could be counted among the magicians of the Juumonji Family for your military strength power.”
“Thank you very much.”
While she expressed her gratitude with a smile, Alisa’s real feelings were complicated. No, it is perhaps accurate to state that she was not happy. Alisa does not want to be become a fighter of any sort.
“You seem to have overcome your mental barrier towards the Offensive-type, did you have a change of heart?”
Psychological factors are the main cause for Alisa’s inability to successfully activate ‘Offensive Phalanx’. — She had been hearing this for a long time. And it’s something Alisa herself has noticed many times before.
Even before getting to hurting others or getting hurt herself, Alisa isn’t good with the concept of fights itself. That has softened a little, but even now that hasn’t changed.
“...I saw my friend working hard, so I thought I should too. I can’t stay in the same place forever.”
“I see.”
Katsuto immediately inferred that that ‘friend’ was referring to Marika. He had no intention of hiding that from Alisa either.
But Katsuto did not say Marika’s name.
“Friends who can encourage each other to work hard are difficult to find. Continue to treasure them.”
He merely informed her of that, as a general belief.
“I will.”
This time, Alisa’s smile wasn’t at odds with her inner thoughts.
Feeling that Katsuto had given his guarantee that her friendship with Marika was hard to come by and that Marika was an important friend, even by general standards, Alisa was happy.
◇ ◇ ◇
On the 25th, a Tuesday, rain had been falling since it was morning. It seems the effects of the typhoon have finally reached Tokyo.
Marika was practicing in the seminar room along with the other club members.
Alisa, who couldn’t observe Marika’s practice due to the number of people and how big the seminar room is, was tackling her general subject homework in a study room in the library.
“Juumonji-san.”
It was about 30 minutes after she went into the study room. Alisa was working on her chemistry exercises when she heard a familiar voice and raised her head.
“Karatachibana-kun, it’s been a while.”
The one who called out to Alisa was Mamoru. A male student who she became acquainted to through Hiyori in May and, one way or another, has had many opportunities to talk with since then.
“A while... has it? The Nine Schools Competition was only two weeks ago?”
“Fufu, now that you mention it, that’s right.”
Alisa brought one hand to her mouth and gave a refined smile.
“...”
Mamoru turned speechless because of that smile. This isn’t the first time he’s seen Alisa smile in front of his eyes. Rather, given the number of times this interaction has occurred in these last two months, it could be said it is ‘not unusual’.
Therefore, the shock Mamoru received cannot be explained with logic. His eyes were stolen and his heart was taken away by this ‘special moment in an ordinary day’.
“Do you want to sit?”
Alisa tilted her head to Mamoru, who was standing completely still, and thought to offer him a seat before anything else.
“Ah, yeah. Thank you.”
Mamoru sat next to Alisa, his face looking like he woke up from a daydream. He had already forgotten what state he was in and what he was thinking about a moment ago.
“Juumonji-san, are you doing your homework?”
“Yeah. I just finished solving the chemistry exercises.”
“Uh? Exercises were included in the homework?”
At that answer, Mamoru showed the usual anxiety.
Alisa smiled as she said “No, no” and waved her hand.
“There was something I didn’t understand while doing the homework, so I looked at it again to see if I could understand it.”
“I see.”
Mamoru let out a small sigh of relief. He had felt anxious due to the idea he might have forgotten the homework.
“Come to think of it, didn’t you go back to your parent’s house, Karatachibana-kun?”
“Yeah, I did. I didn’t understand something in the Magic Science homework so I came to look into it. Though it’s my parents’ house, it is only about two hours from my place.”
“Ah, do you mean that problem?”
It rang a bell with Alisa, who then said the title of the problem she also had struggled with.
“Right, that one. So you’ve already solved it.”
“Yeah. It took me some time, though.”
“Heeh. Please tell me what I should use as reference.”
“Yeah, sure. So...”
While having fun talking with Mamoru about the summer vacation assignments, at the same time, Alisa was worrying about ‘That reminds me, I wonder if Mina is making progress on her homework...’.
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