The roof of Radio Kaikan was rough from acid rain and stained black with exhaust fumes.
The weather was cloudy.
The clouds were thick with moisture, however it did not look quite like it was about to rain.
Glittering vertical and horizontal neon signboards surround the area.
The environment was dirty, stuffy, and brutal… However, there are not many places in Akihabara where you can move around without other people nearby.
Who came up here was…
Kirin, who looked like a cute doll.
Raika, who had her hair up in a ponytail like her usual.
And Akari, who came up as a witness to the Amica Exam and was looking quite worried.
“Okay– There is no time limit, martial arts and jujitsu are allowed. Throwing and striking are allowed. Use of tools other than guns and knives are allowed as well. You win when the other persons back either touches the ground or they surrender.”
The rules of the Amica Exam were being reviewed, rules which the girls had decided upon while they were walking up the stairs.
“If I win, do not come near me again.”
Raika spoke in a husky voice as her right fist hit her left palm.
“I expected that you and me would fight one day.”
As Kirin spoke, she thrust her left palm forward, spread her legs slightly, and slightly lowered her centre of gravity.
The stance was surprising to see…
“– Chinese kung-fu?”
Kirin nodded at Raika’s assessment.
“I learned it from my former Amica. I was only taught defence, though.”
Despite being only an intern in the CVR department, it seemed that Kirin had some self-defence training.
However, despite her training, no matter how one looks at it, there was a clear difference in strength between the two.
… Their physique.
In martial arts, even a weight difference of just a few kilos can have a huge impact on victory or defeat.
The power of a strike, the momentum of a push, defence that cannot be broken, weight can be a deciding factor in all of those.
Similarly, height and limb length can be an advantage or disadvantage as well.
The smaller and shorter person literally cannot reach the other person or close the distance to them. Simply put, they cannot attack the other person. Conversely, the bigger person can attack the other from a safe point.
According to Akari’s eye measurement, Raika is about 165cm and 60kg. Kirin is about 135cm and 35kg. There are three weight classes in judo and nine in boxing… and in each this would be like a battle between an adult and a child.
To further prove that mental image, Kirin was holding Jonathan, a stuffed giraffe, under her arm.
Seeing that Kirin was planning to fight while holding it, Raika’s eyes became even sharper.
While Raika thought that perhaps Kirin had some kind of strategy involving the stuffed giraffe, she couldn’t help but feel that Kirin was looking down on her.
“… it is fine according to the rules, we can use anything but knives and guns!”
Raika rushed in, and with a spring like twist of her lower body…
Ba~tsu! And releases a mid-level spinning kick with her right leg.
Bishi! But Kirin intercepted it with a raised left knee.
And then — Hira. (TL Note: Flutter sound effect.)
Due to her raising her leg and the wind pressure from Raika’s kick,
(…Tch!)
Kirin’s short skirt jumped up causing Raika to flinch. Doki! Raika’s heart beat loudly enough for the other girls to hear it.
Kirin under her skirt was as cute as she was above her skirt… And right now, Raika could clearly see up her skirt.
Seeing that Raika couldn’t control her inner turmoil, Kirin retreated a little and chuckled.
And then, with a glance that revealed that she could see everything going on with Raika,
“I came here prepared for this.”
She grabbed her fluttering frilled skirt and showed Raika what they were covering.
Her thighs were soft and pure white like fresh rice cakes. Surprisingly, she had decorated them with a frilled garter belt.
Raika could only wonder, (why are her clothes, even those underneath other clothes, so cute and seductive?).
Kirin lightly shook her small body to further show off the frills,
“You like what you see? Don’t you.”
Kirin continued to tease Raika, and was easily able to see through Raika’s true feelings, pushing her to the edge.
She spoke in an inviting voice, sweet if not sweeter than sugared cream puffs.
Even Akari, who was just a referee, “Hiyaa–” could only cover her face with her hands and blush.
It was a technique that only the small but sexy Kirin could do… But a girls lower half could even be used like that in a fight. Akari, who was only tiny, could never pull it off.
From their current angle, the inside of Kirin’s lifted skirt, her panties, seemed to be invisible to Raika.
The scene before Raika was nothing short of exquisite, everything from the angle to Raika’s thighs, her clothes, and the timing of it all, and despite feeling guilty Raika’s gaze was instinctively fixed on Kirin’s lower half.
It is embarrassing…
Even someone like Raika, who not once had lost her composure in a fight due to anger or frustration, turned bright red and got upset at this obscene scene.
“L… Lik, like…”
Suddenly, her true words came out.
“… You’re full of gaps!” (TL Note: This is a joke that doesn’t work in English. “Like” in Japanese is “suki”, the Kanji for “gap”, 隙, starts with “suki”. With how Japanese works, Raika’s first sentence is “suki” in various forms and her second starts with “suki”.)
She tried to deceive herself with ad-libs, failed, but luckily managed to grab onto something to cover up her inner turmoil..
It was Kirin’s right arm.
Raika turned her blushing face away from Kirin, gira! She then turned to her right in front of Kirin, pulling her slender, almost muscle free, arm with her.
– An Ippon shoulder throw.
Raika wanted to end this right here, using an often-decisive move in martial arts with a similar ruleset to this Amica Exam. A move that results in the victims back hitting the ground.
However, Akari, who was watching this, raised her eyebrows.
The weight shift was done improperly.
Raika, who was in too much of a hurry and flustered, simply pulled Kirin forcefully instead of directing her. As a a result, Kirin was instead simply just lifted up by Raika with force instead of being pinned to the ground and was now sitting piggyback on Raika.
The usual expertise in Raika’s technique was nowhere to be seen, and Kirin was given plenty of time and gap. Taking advantage of this, Kirin,
“Come one! Jonathan number 3!”
Paa, she threw the stuffed animal she was holding under her arms to in front of her.
The stuffed toy, goton! While making a heavy, hard sound, it landed upright on four legs on the floor.
(– Something is inside! Is it a blunt weapon!?)
Raika’s gaze, which discerned that something is amiss from the sound, naturally landed on the stuffed toy.
Taking advantage of that gap, Kirin made a full spin in the air using the arm that had grabbed her as a fulcrum.
It was an acrobatic move, as if she did a forward roll on Raika’s shoulder.
“….!”
Surprised at Kirins ability to move in a such a way that seemed impossible without breaking her own arm, Raika let go of her soft arm. She was afraid of breaking it by accident.
Kururuin.
Kirin, who was aware of the naivety and kindness of Raika, flipped her fluttering remodelled uniform.
Then, as if it was natural, ton.
She landed with one foot on Jonathan’s head, which she had used as a stepping stone.
Kirin was quite tall now, as the giraffes height…
“Kirin is now as tall as you, onee-sama.”
… Is about 30cm.
The giraffe was the perfect height for closing the height difference between the two.
Kirin then gracefully turned around to look at Raika, still standing on Raika. She was almost at eye level now with Raika.
Kirin’s face, which was 5cm away from Raika’s own, had a sinfully adorable and innocent smile.
Raika,
“…!”
The smile stole her eyes… And maybe even her heart.
On the cheek of the Raika who was completely frozen…
… Chiyuuu…♥
There was a sweet sensation, a sensation that felt dream like.
Kirin had closed the distance of 5cm between their faces to nothing… she kissed Raika on her cheek.
It was the middle of a battle. Kirin kissed someone who had just kicked them and tried to slam her into the ground.
Akari was so surprised while watching that her twin tails actually started standing up.
Raika was frozen still, it was as if she had forgotten about the fight itself from the shock.
This is the third time now that Kirin had caught Raika by surprise from a gap she had made.
The first thing that Kirin did now was hug her closely, and bring Raika close to her body.
And then very very gently, but with a clear intention, she pushed Raika down. With her right foot, she gently swept Raika’s left leg out from the inside.
The slow, but gentle footwork, causes Raika to tilt falling backward.
Raika looked disoriented, as if she was in an out of body experience, as if she was immersed in the afterglow of being kissed by an angel.
“–eh?”
At that sight, Akari let out a small voice of surprise.
Raika was fully aware of why Akari was surprised.
Jujitsu is a martial arts in which the movements are ingrained in the body through repeated and endless practice. It is just like riding a bicycle, the rider is not conscious of what their legs are doing, it is muscle memory. Just because someone trained in Jujitsu is a little dazed or confused does not mean that they forget how to use the techniques.
However, Raika’s movements right now lack any skill.
It is not that she couldn’t do anything, rather she of her own free will chose to do nothing.
As a result–
Patan.
Raika had fallen.
“… Huh!?”
Lying on her back, Raika began to panic as she came back to her senses, but… It was already too late.
She was lying down on her back on the rooftop floor.
“Eh… Um, -Over…!”
The rule was, whoever had their back hit the ground first loses.
Despite this clear victor though, Akari could only be shocked at the Amica Exam itself and its unexpected victor.
“…..! …..?”
Raika couldn’t believe that she lost to her junior in something as important to her as an Amica Exam. Kirin, who was now straddling Raika’s belly as Raika was on her back,
“Raika-oneesama!”
Began to hug Raika tightly as she rubbed her face on Raika’s chest, hearts seemingly appearing around her.
After the Amica Exam, Akari and the others left Radio Kaikan and went to a nearby family style restaurant.
They were seated in a 4 person booth and, naturally… Kirin was sitting next to Raika.
(Sh-, she actually did it…)
Raika still couldn’t accept the results of the Amica Exam, but…
However, Kirin’s bright lovely smile, as she was hugging Raika’s arm and repeating “Amica, we are Amica’s now～♥” brought her back to reality and reminded her of the result of the Exam.
Kirin was able to do it herself.
She now has an Amica.
Kirin was at the climax of her happiness, and had not even began to eat the parfait that was brought to her and currently sat untouched on the table.
Akari watched this with a somewhat relieved expression.
“I am still surprised, this is the first time I have ever seen Raika lose in hand-to-hand combat…”
In response to Akari, who was drinking a tropical iced tea,
“…”
Raika averted her gaze and said nothing, she just drank her iced coffee.
Akari,
“But. The way you were defeated, isn’t it kind of strange…?”
Akari continued to spoke, which caused Rika to twitch.
At that unexpected movement Kirin looked up at her, puzzled.
Thinking on it, it was indeed strange. It was a valid point.
“… So you did notice it, Akari…”
Raika whispered, blushing and becoming sullen.
“Ehehehe. Well, we are friends after all.”
“Wh-, what do you mean?”
The truth to Raika’s defeat had been uncovered by Akari…
Kirin, who had not thought about her victory at all due to her excitement, had a confused look on her face. On top of that, she couldn’t stand not knowing that there was something about Raika that she didn’t know.
Akari, who had spent many lessons in the Assault Department hand-to-hand training classes watching Raika–
“In the last moments of the Amica Exam, Kirin-chan, did you notice anything off about Raika’s footwork? Raika’s signature move is an ippon-shoulder throw, using her opponents attack against them with a counter, using footwork as its basis. However, Raika did use that counter and shoulder throw on you. Deliberately.”
Akari explained to Kirin.
She did not have to much though before Raika started to turn even redder.
She was embarrassed to have this truth be revealed to Kirin.
Very, very embarrassed.
“Does that mean that Raika lost on purpose…? I thought I wont using my strength only… I wanted to win with my strength only.. why…?”
After listening to Akari’s explanation, Kirin suddenly lost the smile that was on her face this whole time… and starting acting despondent.
– Yes.
During the final moments before Raika’s defeat, she could have easily countered Kirin if she had wanted to.
She had fumbled her footwork and stumbled, resulting in her being thrown onto her back. She had blundered her shoulder throw once before that because of Kirin’s charm, but the second time she should have been fine.
But Raika didn’t.
And in doing so she of her own volition surrendered her victory. Meaning Kirin won.
It may not have been obvious to Kirin or others, particularly with what she had said before about the Amica Exam…. But her inner desire manifested itself and the Amica Exam outcome was a result of that inner desire.
However, not knowing why Raika did this… Kirin began to cry.
(“Go on, tell us why”)
The eye contact that Akari sent to Raika had a clear intention, but… Raika was puzzled.
Why should she have to tell them? It was a hassle, never mind embarrassing to confess why she lost on purpose.
However, if Raika was not honest here, she knew that it would lead to some misunderstandings.
So, Raika braced herself,
“I… I thought that it would be fine! In that moment…”
Despite deciding to be honest with herself, Raika turned away from Kirin.
“So, I was wondering if you would be my Amica… That is why I let you win. I’m sorry.”
While saying that, Raika gave Kirin a sideways glance–
More specifically, she said it while looking Kirin in the eyes.
Raika’s heart was pounding. She had not expected herself to be this embarrassed and her heart to be beating so loudly just from telling a cute girl her true feelings.
Raika has always been known for being brave and resolute, but she was finding it hard to find any courage to help her confess her true feelings. At this rate, Raika was certain that she would be more comfortable and safe if she was in an active shootout right now.
– The word abashed would be appropriate here.
However, Raika couldn’t help but look at Kirin’s gloomy face, which usually was as energetic and bright as a small sun.
Raika couldn’t help but blame herself here for being the reason that the sun had burned out. It was her fault.
Because of that Raika wanted to make her smile as soon as possible, but she did not know what to do… Raika blushed as she stroked her head, who was listening to her confession in amazement.
Here, Akari offered her a rescue vessel–
“It was Kirin-chans efforts that made Raika feel this way. She is a very hardworking and cute intern after all.”
“Mamiya-sama…!”
At those words, Kirin’s eyes began to sparkle.
Akari was not only astute in picking up on Kirin’s feelings, feelings that the clumsy Raika was not able to pick up on, but also able to pick up on the things that Raika herself could not communicate well.
“Kirin-chan, please take care of Raika.”
“Yes, I will!”
Raika, hearing this conversation going on that felt more like a parent blessing their child’s marriage instead of becoming an Amica,
“Ba! Baka! Don’t say any unnecessary things!”
Raika raised her voice at Akari, looking a little annoyed.
She had said that mainly to keep her Amica next to her in check, but… Kirin,
“Now then, onee-sama, for our sealing vow as War Sisters! A oath kiss!” (TL Note: Just a reminder, Amica/War Sisters is the same thing, War Sisters being only for two girls.)
Kirin was no longer frightened to ask something like this now.
Shima Kirin from CVR might be tiny, cute, and look vulnerable and innocent, but… She was tough at heart.
She is the complete opposite of Raika, who looks strong and masculine but secretly has a girlish and weak side to her.
Raika let out a small scream while trying to push Kirin away from her, that was pushing her face up against her while breathing hard.
And Raika spoke the same line to her that she said the other day.
“Ahh-! You pervert! Stop!”
“Yes sir!”
Kirin’s response as well was the exact same as before.
And so, on this particular spring day, a day like any other–
Hino Raika and Shima Kirin became War Sister’s.
The location: a corner of Akihabara, where the neon signs of the seven different colours twinkle throughout the day.
Silvered Tongue 