Author's Preface:
Author-san: [Super late upload cause I got sidetracked in grinding HSR/FGO and reading webnovels.]
********
"Huh? I'm going with them?"
Himari was flabbergasted, blinking in confusion as she pointed at herself.
Her Chief simply tapped her on the shoulder and nodded.
"Sorry, Himari, but we don't have much time."
After the meeting ended, all units scheduled for deployment were given time to prepare before their departure to Tokyo. Just as Kyouka was about to leave the premise, Yakumo approached her and requested a temporary personnel exchange for the duration of the operation in Tokyo.
With Ren herself suggesting that they bring more firepower to the table, Yakumo could not possibly bring her Vice Chief, Kaiko, who was more of a support specialist than a frontline fighter.
Healing capabilities like those of the Fifth Unit's Vice Chief were undoubtedly crucial. However, her ability was not particularly useful during real-time combat, and with the number of medics, utility personnel, and responders already accompanying the JSDF, they would need more women who could hold their own in battle.
That was why Kyouka accepted the request for the swap after a brief conversation with Yakumo. She had complete faith in her second-in-command and no doubt that her Vice Chief would be a tremendous help.
Thinking it over carefully, Himari still doubted whether she had heard correctly or if she was simply hallucinating what had actually been said. She merely flicked her forehead and resigned herself to what had to be done instead of throwing a tantrum.
"Seriously, I apologize for this abrupt swap," Kyouka said in a guilty tone, closing one eye as she pressed her palms together.
"No, no, no, I really don't mind! I'm actually quite happy that Chief Ezo even thought of choosing me!" Himari stuttered, waving her hands as she vigorously shook her head.
Cooling down from her confusion, she immediately got into action, putting on her uniform and gathering the other necessities she would be bringing with her.
Shushu, Nei, and Yuko were worried about her. After reassuring her friends, they looked at one another and decided to trust her, just as Kyouka trusted her to handle herself.
Compared to their usual duty of exterminating Shuuki in Mato, she would still be killing Shuuki in Tokyo. On the other hand, the humans serving under the Thunder Gods would be an entirely new problem to deal with.
She was a soldier. She had been trained to kill.
It was just that she wasn't used to fighting her own kind, unlike some of the others.
"It's gonna be a pain," Himari commented while standing outside with Kyouka and her other teammates. "But I can't be a burden to them."
The space before them twisted, and from the distorted opening emerged Tenka and Yachiho.
"Heya, my little sister! Nice to be with you!" Yachiho grinned as she saluted before wrapping an arm around Himari.
Himari merely deadpanned before swatting her older sister away.
After being defeated by her younger sister in their fight, Yachiho had done a complete one-eighty in the way she treated her and had become surprisingly casual. It was still surreal and honestly quite strange after years of rough treatment, though hers had been more trash talk than outright physical abuse.
Knowing that Yachiho had only acted that way because it was her own twisted version of tough love didn't mean Himari liked it. Still, learning that her sister had done all of those things during their childhood to protect her from the other members of the family did make her... happy? She couldn't even put her feelings into words.
Setting those thoughts aside, Himari noticed that Yachiho had brought quite an arsenal with her.
Unlike Tenka and Himari, Yachiho carried multiple firearms. They included a revolver, a pistol, a Benelli M4 in her left hand, and an FN SCAR 17 slung across her back.
Himari looked over her sister's frame before shifting her gaze to the guns she was carrying.
'Those are some hefty weapons for someone her size... but I bet the recoil won't even make her flinch.'
Hearing that they were going to be fighting humans, Yachiho's excitement got the better of her. She wanted to use those Devotees of the Thunder Gods as target practice since Shuuki weren't cutting it anymore, and her Nest was practically begging for its owner to put the rotting weapons stored within it to use and make heads explode like watermelons.
"Then, we won't take any more of your time," Tenka said with a wink at Kyouka, who returned the gesture with a high five.
Looking at Himari one last time, Kyouka smiled.
"Take care out there," she said.
"I will, Chief!" Himari replied enthusiastically, bumping fists with Kyouka.
Holding onto Tenka's shoulder, the three of them disappeared, leaving Kyouka and the rest of her unit standing alone.
********
Arriving at the headquarters of the Tenth Unit, they found multiple Mato Defense Force soldiers already gathered there.
Seeing them arrive, Sahara approached them and greeted her Chief with the proper formalities before excusing herself.
"Ara, I'm quite surprised to see you here, Himari~~"
Like a ghost, the presence behind her sent a shiver down Himari's spine. She instinctively grabbed the culprit's arm before it could reach her.
"Mhm, not bad. At least you're still sharp," the woman chuckled, patting Himari on the head.
Fubuki withdrew her hand from her youngest daughter's head and stared at the hand Himari had just released, idly flexing her fingers for a moment before looking her daughter in the eyes.
"...Hello... Mother," Himari barely managed to say, lowering her gaze and turning her head away.
Acting like a meek cat in front of her, Himari lowered her head while Fubuki crossed her arms.
"I heard you defeated Yachiho," she remarked.
"...Well, I barely managed to do it after a lot of careful planning," Himari replied.
"Nevertheless, you still bested your sister, and that alone is commendable," Fubuki said with a smile as she gently took Himari by the chin, slowly lifting her face until their eyes met.
Her anxiousness was clear as day, her eyes serving as windows to her soul and revealing just how uncomfortable she was in the presence of her own mother.
'I can't even move,' Himari thought to herself.
She hated her family
She hated her surname.
That being said, Fubuki had always terrified her, and it was far harder for her to maintain a tough facade around her than it ever was when facing Yachiho. There was something about her mother that made it almost impossible to defy her, something that surpassed even the fear she felt toward the head of the family.
Fubuki leaned close to Himari's ear.
"The Banquet is nearing," Fubuki whispered before pulling away.
Leaving her with one last pat on the head, Fubuki walked away toward where the Ninth Unit was gathered.
Lost in thought, Himari bit her lip, already knowing what her mother had been implying.
'I won't ever go home and attend that stupid banquet.'
Resolving herself, she walked over to where Tenka and Yakumo were talking, rejoining the soldiers of the Fifth Unit, including the ever-silent and stoic Saki, who simply nodded in greeting.
"What did she say?" Yachiho asked, curious about what Fubuki had whispered.
"None of your business," Himari sighed.
"Come on, don't be like that," Yachiho replied with a smirk.
Before long, the two were bickering again, with Yachiho relentlessly teasing her younger sister while Himari took the bait every single time. Tenka could only smile wryly at the familiar sight, while Yakumo quietly licked her lips.
'Sister threesome... it does have a nice ring to it,' Yakumo thought, nodding to herself with pride as she gently caressed Saki's cheek. In response, Saki grabbed her Chief by the shoulder, silently stopping her from harassing her once again.
********
Positioned in orderly ranks, with the exception of the Chiefs, all soldiers maintained Parade Rest, their hands clasped behind their backs while Mira, Fubuki, Yakumo, and Tenka stood at the front.
"Why is this reject with us?"
One of the Ninth Unit's members, Homare Azuma, let out a mocking snicker as she glanced toward Himari, who immediately glared back at her.
"Well, calling me a reject is like saying Chief Ezo is a failure too. I didn't think you were brave enough to declare that so shamelessly," Himari dismissed with a snicker of her own.
If looks could kill, Homare's would have murdered a man on the spot with the hostility she was directing at her. Refusing to let herself be looked down upon, Himari maintained the unwavering stare-down.
"Getting cocky just because you beat Yachiho through a sheer fluke. I bet she just went easy on you."
"For a woman from a branch family, you sure do talk big."
"I'll make you eat my fist, you ugly-ass pig," Homare snapped, finally reaching her limit.
"Sorry if I hurt your fragile snowflake heart," Himari shrugged with a smirk, oddly finding herself wanting to tease her even more.
Just a single spark would have been enough to erupt into a full-blown fistfight. Before it could reach that point, Yachiho stepped between them, breaking the tense atmosphere that everyone around them could already feel.
"Homare, that's enough," she said with a dead-serious expression before turning her attention to Himari. She lightly tapped her on the back, silently telling her to ignore the comment.
"Tch. You really spoil her."
Homare clicked her tongue and looked away as well.
Standing at the front beside the other Chiefs, Fubuki fixed them with a stern stare.
The moment their eyes met their mother's, both Himari and Yachiho involuntarily gulped.
Even Homare, who was not one of Fubuki's daughters and merely belonged to a branch family, immediately straightened her posture.
An angry Fubuki was something no one wanted to deal with.
The emergency at hand took priority, and any family disputes could wait until later. The same went for the news that Himari had defeated her older sister in their duel.
Tenka then clapped her hands, gaining everyone's attention at once as the Mato Defense Force flag fluttered from the raised flagpole.
"I'll repeat this as many times as necessary," Tenka declared, raising her voice so that everyone in the area could hear. The stern expression on her face was a stark contrast to her usual carefree demeanor. "This is not a vacation. This isn't one of our routine Shuuki extermination. What we're facing is a full-scale declaration of war from the Thunder Gods and their followers."
A heavy silence settled over the gathered soldiers as her words sank in.
"You heard the lady," Mira added, crossing her arms. "Don't let your guard down for even a second."
Her expression hardened before continuing.
"We're going in at full force and kicking their asses. Show them no mercy. They certainly didn't show any to the people they slaughtered. Am I clear?!"
""Ma'am, yes, ma'am!""
"I couldn't hear you!"
""MA'AM, YES, MA'AM!""
The unified response engulfed the area.
Gathering together, Tenka conducted one final roll call. After confirming that everyone was present, she gave them another warning to remain cautious and reminded them of the plan. Once deployed, they would split into separate groups exactly as Ren had briefed them earlier.
...
...
...
A burst of static crackled through Fubuki's earpiece.
Forgetting her momentary surprise at seeing her estranged daughter for the first time after a long time of no contact. The anticipation she had kept hidden ever since seeing her face earlier during the meeting was beginning to seep through the cracks.
Her hands twitched slightly.
After years of silence, a woman from her past had suddenly resurfaced on the enemy's side, the very same woman who had abandoned the Defense Force without a word and vanished without a trace.
A faint smirk tugged at Fubuki's lips.
With her gaze fixed upon Mato's bleak sky, she steadied her breathing.
The space around her began to distort.
Tenka's spatial manipulation activated, warping the area as the transfer commenced. Fubuki's body gradually faded from sight, her form dissolving as she was transported toward their destination.
"Don't disappoint me, Mako."
She muttered with a quiet chuckle.
********
Still seated inside the ruined convenience store, Hideo watched as a single feather drifted down from the sky. He bent over and picked it up from the floor, rolling it between his fingers.
Leaning against the cracked wall behind him, he glanced toward the source of the feather.
"Look who finally decided to come back."
Perched atop a fallen shelf sat Isadora. She wasn't wearing her mask, though she still maintained her black-haired disguise. A playful smile rested on her lips as she swung one leg over the other.
"Missed me?" she asked.
"No."
"Bummer. A beautiful partner like me is completely wasted on a guy like you."
"Okay, enough with that. Where were you while I was busy?"
He cut off her teasing before it could spiral any further.
Reading the room, Isadora let out a small huff. She crossed her legs and straightened her posture, the playful atmosphere fading from her expression.
"My hunch was right. A Thunder God is hiding here in Tokyo," she sighed, pulling out a broken mask. She gave it a small shake before showing it to Hideo, then tossed it over so he could get a better look. "It's only a short story, so lend me your ears for a moment."
********
Afterword:
Serious-Senpai: [This seriousness! This is what I am asking for!! No Alice to bully me! And no shitty earth goddess to lock me up whenever I am on a sugar overdose from Isis!]
Author-san: [The past few days have been quite peaceful here in our room. I just meditated and became one with my inner peace.]
Serious-Senpai: [Inner peace? Didn't you just flame and curse the hell out of Hima-Ten on Twitter after seeing chapter 96?]
Author-san: [What is that? Can I eat that Hima-Ten you are talking about?]
Serious-Senpai: [Author-san, surely you are not just ignoring reality.]
Author-san: [I don't know a mid as fuck manga title like that, Hima-Ten? I will probably never read it just by hearing the name, it sounds shit already. It sounds like it tries so hard subverting expectations that it shoots itself in the head. Just like that non-existent The Devil is a Part-Timer novel or that non-existent live action Death Note. MUAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHSHA]
Author-san: [Shit man, I just might spend my time creating an alternate timeline of that non-existent mid Hima-Ten manga.]
Author-san: [Hear me out, let's make the winning heroine get pregnant, have a newborn and get into an accident after getting discharged, leaving her in a coma. THEN BOOM!!!! The supposed title girl takes advantage of that to steal the man and fucks him to entice him with delicious sex. After that hookup, she raises the kid with the MC while the "Winning Heroine" is in a practically dead but alive state!!! THE END!!! HAPPY ENDING!!!!]
Serious-Senpai: [This is bad! He is already a lost cause!]
Author-san: [Let's go, Senpai!]
Serious-Senpai: [SOMEONE HELP ME!!]