WORLD: EARTH
BRANCHED WORLD: HONKAI IMPACT 3RD
LOCATION: SOUKAI CITY. FAR EAST
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"Haha... I wasn't making fun of you."
Despite saying that, Bronya looked slightly offended, though it was a stoic pout she had on her face.
Regardless,
Mei shook her head. In any case, her expression now calmed slightly as she tilted her head back slightly.
How to deal with Rita.
Like Ei had reasoned earlier, even if they turned her down outright, she'd still trail them.
And it wasn't as if Mei could simply deal with her in the straightforward sense. Rita had already decided to stick to them like glue.
So, fine. Let her.
"Say, are you sure that thing is ready to be used?"
"Hnn. [Another Fafnir] is ready. I finished the final adjustments to it yesterday."
Rita's ears perked at the words. Though she was supposed to be leaving them, Mei said she was familiar with the terrain.
She too could guess. Mei wanted her to purposefully eavesdrop, and now she could understand why.
As much as she wanted to ask what that was, she decided to hold back.
'[Another Fafnir], huh?'
What was that? A honkai beast gene, a weapon? Some divine key? Or a lost relic of the past they have yet to discover?
Rita's mind ticked through possibilities, eliminating none.
Either way, one thing was clear. It wasn't just Bronya's personal project. This smelled like something backed by Anti-Entropy as a whole.
'We are going to let you eavesdrop so you can be curious. Either way, there's nothing you can do to replicate its performance.'
True, Schicksal might have the technology to reproduce the frame of the [Another Series], however reproducing its performance is another thing.
In theory, they could substitute Honkai energy for its Force Core.
But the Force Core was the heart of every Dragon Machine, and that was where imitation failed.
Especially when-
Those frames were crafted from the remains of legendary, mythical dragons themselves. Most were recovered from ruins.
And the machines? They weren't just inspired by the dragons.
They were related.
"It was complicated. Especially with the piece Onii-sama sent. However, we were able to understand its composition in the end."
Bronya spoke with her usual calm, but the faint edge of pride in her tone didn't escape Mei's notice.
"Then," Mei said with a faint smile, "I look forward to seeing [Another Fafnir] in action. I suppose I should also inform him. He'd be pleased to know."
Onii-sama. Him.
Who exactly was he? Surely not Welt-Mei or Bronya would have said so outright. Which meant...
Someone else. Another scientist, maybe? But if that were the case, Bronya wasn't in the mood to elaborate.
Which, of course, only made Rita wonder more.
And then-
"Raiden-sama. Zaychik-sama. May I recommend a few places in St. Freya?"
Rita asked smoothly.
"Ah... Rita-san, you're still here!"
Mei's tone carried just enough surprise to sound genuine, and just enough to jab at her.
Still here?
For the briefest flicker of a second, Rita's expression faltered. Mei's choice of words had thrown her off balance.
Was it a deliberate attempt to prod her?
The files Schicksal had on Raiden Mei painted a different picture entirely. Reserved and polite.
That was what it was.
Maybe becoming one with the Herrscher had changed her. Rita didn't know. And in the end, it didn't matter.
The smile returned, practiced and serene. "Of course. As a maid, it is my duty to escort our esteemed guests. It would be unbecoming of me to neglect such hospitality."
She folded her hands neatly in front of her, posture flawless, tone perfectly formal.
«Tsk. Cunning, that one...»
She's not an S-rank for nothing, «Ei» mused. At least, an S-rank in being a nosy, never backing down person.
«For now, continue like that»
Under «Ei»'s guidance, a psychological battle between the two sides began.
Rita was trying to peer without drawing much attention.
Meanwhile, both Bronya and Mei continued controlling the conversation.
Eventually, they paused in front of one of the open courtyards, a broad expanse of green bordered by white stone archways.
"Haah... haah."
Sweat ran in fine rivulets down Mei's temple, tracing along her jaw before falling to the paving stones.
She bent slightly, one hand on her knee, the other brushing the moisture from her cheek.
A light, fresh scent rose from her skin in the heat of exertion.
"I must say..." she breathed, straightening a little, "...she was a tough opponent."
Beside her, Bronya looked as if she'd just strolled across the courtyard, not a bead of sweat in sight.
Her expression was the same cool neutral as ever.
In the end, Rita had left them in preparation for the upcoming Valkyrie exams.
"Ugh. Perhaps, we outright reject.... next time."
«Hmph. Weakling»
"Ei, it's not a matter of being a weakling or not."
Mei began talking to herself.
Bronya, of course, knew that it wasn't just that, but that she was speaking with her other personality.
"Anyway," Mei said, pushing a strand of damp hair back behind her ear, "let's take it easy before things start-"
"Oh! I knew it was you they were talking about! MEEEEEIIIIIII-SAAAANNNN!"
The shout was bright, loud, and charged with the kind of relentless cheer that could only belong to one person.
Mei barely had time to turn before a white blur streaked toward her from across the courtyard.
"Eh? Kiana-san?"
The white streak skidded to a stop right in front of the purple-haired woman.
"It's good to see you again, Mei-san," Kiana said, beaming as if the sun itself had landed on her face.
"And you too, Kiana-san," Mei replied with a faint smile.
At this moment, the fated trio meet, which was true. Mei could see the line, that thread or string connecting to Kiana too.
What's more...
The large number of threads that extended from her to practically everywhere.
According to Laurel,
Protagonist...
That was the word he used to describe people with connections like that.
A person whose existence tugged at the world itself, pulling others into their orbit.
But now that Mei herself had become a singularity, that thread connecting her to the wider weave had been severed.
She no longer played in that grand script.
It seemed like it still affected Bronya, though.
'It wouldn't be bad, if a rivalry could form between them-'
Just as she thought those words.
"Get your dirty salted tuna eyes away from Mei-nee-sama, she belongs to Laurel-onii-sama."
Appearing in between Mei and Kiana, pushing her back, she said those words with cold stoicism.
Tuna...
Again. What was with people and using that term tuna? And if she wasn't wrong, a salted tuna was... a lazy person, wasn't it?
"Hah! Who let the child in!?"
"Who are you calling a child?"
"Of course, aren't you a child!?"
"You-"
Bronya returned with a frown as they stared at each other, not backing down, glaring at each other as though they might start squabbling.
"Now, now, both of you. That's enough of that."
Mei said that, slipping in between them, separating them as they glared at each other.
"You can settle this in the exams."
Though Mei's words were meant to calm them, they had the opposite effect, like tossing oil onto an open flame.
"Mphm. There's no way I can lose."
Kiana said, chin up, a confident grin stretching across her face.
Bronya's fingers curled into a tight fist at her side. She couldn't lose either. Not with the machine she'd poured everything into.
"Mhm. I agree."
Bronya replied coolly.
Their eyes met for a sharp moment, neither blinking, before they both looked away at the same time.
Then, as if nothing had happened, Kiana suddenly lit up. "Ah, that reminds me! I need to prepare. I'll see you later, Mei-san!"
She waved brightly, completely ignoring Bronya, before turning and jogging off.
"Hehehe... she's an energetic girl, isn't she?" Mei said, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"..."
Bronya's fist tightened until her knuckles whitened, her silence practically shouting: We'll see how long you keep ignoring me.
"Come, let's go."
The time for the examination was fast approaching; hence, they too moved quickly.
KIANA:
For a while now, she had felt... incomplete. Like there was something missing-not just her absent father, though that hurt, too. No, this was different.
It felt like half of her was gone.
She searched Nagazora for clues-first for her father, and then for whatever it was her instincts told her she'd lost. But nothing turned up.
Until one day, clearing out Honkai beasts at the edge of the city, she ran into a squad of Valkyries from St. Freya.
That was the day she met Theresa Apocalypse.
Her aunt, apparently.
Kiana still didn't fully understand how that worked, and thinking about Theresa inevitably brought to mind another person... that annoying girl with the perfect drills for hair.
"Grrrrrr..."
She growled under her breath as she zipped up the combat suit in the changing room. The pure white fabric hugged her frame, accented with sleek orange motifs.
Her hands paused at her collar as she whispered the name like a quiet vow.
"Mei-san..."
Yes, everything then changed. That one fateful day when an exchange program took place.
Mei attended, flanked by several Anti-Entropy members.
Apparently, it was the Sovereign that initiated contact. Even until now, she didn't know why, but she couldn't care less.
But that was not the focus.
'When I saw Mei... everything changed.'
Kiana remembered it perfectly, how her world seemed to flare to light at the sight of the purple-haired girl.
And yet, no matter how many times she tried to approach, to connect... Mei always felt just out of reach.
'First, pass the Valkyrie exams. Then, become S-rank. Then find Stinky Dad. And then... elope with Mei!'
Her smile turned almost predatory as she tied her hair into neat braids, drowning in a fresh wave of delusions.
Except...
"First, I have to take care of that stinky brat."
That obnoxious-looking drill-hair child. Hmph! Knocking out a child like her will be as easy as taking candy from a baby.
Or so she thought.
Wrong, very wrong.
"H-how... what is that?"
Not only Kiana, but Rita, Theresa, Himeko, and every other person around the St. Freya stadium for the examination.
The stadium itself was an open amphitheater where rows of Valkyries lined the stone terraces, murmuring among themselves.
Yet, at this moment, all eyes were locked onto the small girl that donned the frame of a dragon.
Sleek white, with several blue streaks crawling across it, and shimmering blue particles of light that pulsed out of its body.
Suspended in the air, her once-drilled hair now spilled loose and long, the gray strands flowing like a river down her back.
What's more, she wore a black suit with white at the sides, down the side of her arm. It was called: Flexible Suit.
And there it was, in its full glory.
"[Synthetic Dragon Machine: Another Fafnir]."
How did it come to this?