After Battle Regroup

Hikari did not respond right away, staying in her balled-up pose. There was a moment of silence between the two as Mamoru debated whether he should try to speak up again or let it be. Eventually, the ghost girl finally spoke up.

I’m sorry you had to see that.

“What. What was that?”

My past, but you already must have figured that much. It was an amalgamation of the events that led me to be trapped in this sword. I ended up betraying… everyone.

The silence returned as Hikari’s voice fell off. Mamoru wasn’t sure what to say,

I’ve had several people use the sword with me inside over the years but never linked so thoroughly with any of them. Hikari spoke up again. I didn’t realize you would see all that.

Mamoru still wasn’t sure what to say. Should he try to bring determination back to the ghost princess, saying once they beat Suba she would be free and she could see the rest of her family in the afterlife? But he didn’t know she would be freed. He hadn’t thought much about it, but what would defeating them mean for her? Would she still be stuck in the sword? Or would she get to go be with her family?

You don’t know if I would be allowed into the same place with them even. Hikari added.

Sometimes here ability to be in his thoughts was frustrating. He might as well just speak then.

“Look, I….” he paused, what was he trying to get at.

Rest assured, I will still help you save your sister.

“No. No. That’s not what I was trying to get at. I mean, thank you I do appreciate it, but that’s not what I was meaning.” He paused. There was little Mamoru could say, he was realizing. He lacked tact, he lacked wisdom, and he lacked experience. But he still wanted to convey that he didn’t feel any lesser about the princess after seeing the vision than before, and that he still counted her a…. friend? With how her soul was mashed right next to his, he wasn’t sure if that constituted as a friendship in the traditional sense, but they were surely closer than something like an acquaintance or coworker. He wasn’t sure.

Thanks. Hikari said softly. Her tone suggested she was uplifted ever so slightly by the sentiment in his mind.

Having her read his mind wasn’t always the worst thing either. Mamoru smiled. Hikari’s ghostly form unfolded, and she looked like she took a deep breath with her eyes closed. She seemed calm, perhaps not at peace yet, but calm enough to return a small smile of her own.

Mirai’s voice came from one of the monitors.

“It seems you are doing alright now, Mamoru?”

The high school boy jumped. The sapphire haired idol was right there. Cute as ever, and having heard who knew how much.

“How, how long were you there?”

“Since you woke up, I didn’t want to interrupt you talking to yourself.”

Oh no, she thinks you’re crazy. Hikari commented. Her tone wasn’t quite back to where it usually was, it was almost like she was trying to force it.

Mamoru’s head fell. His favorite idol thought he talked to himself like a madman. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists. It didn’t have to be so, he could fix this.

“Mirai, I wasn’t talking to myself or anything, you see my sword has the soul of an old princess trapped in it, and I was talking to her!”

“I understand,” she replied in a tone that did not indicate understanding, but sympathy. His head hung again. “I have sensed an unusual aura from that sword, so I suspected as much.”

Mamoru looked back at the virtual girl.

“You did?”

“Fu fu, I know a bit about souls being trapped places. What is this princess’s name?”

Mamoru looked at the ghost girl who looked back at him in equal shock.

I guess go ahead and tell her now.

Mamoru started giving a recap of everything from how he picked up the sword and got to know Hikari. He didn’t get far before a new voice came from down the hallway.

“Mamoru!” Yamiko shouted. She charged in and wrapped herself around him all while sobbing bitterly. “I like; thought you were really going to die this time!”

Don’t hug him too tightly, witch!

Despite her words, Hikari didn’t come across as hostile. She sounded relieved to have things back to some sense of normal.

Mirai cleared her throat.

“It is good you are all here, after that attack on your school we have been wondering about what to do next. Fortunately, no one else was caught in the crossfire. You both have been marked as having ditched halfway through the day, but I’d say that’s a decent trade for no one else getting injured. We have also confirmed through our tunnels in Subarashii’s system that the choice of words your opponent gave on her last report back have marked you as deceased. Due to the nature of a company, that will hold a least a week, or even a couple months, before anyone realizes anything is wrong and they hold all the proper meetings to decide what to do about it.”

“So, we are in the clear?”

“Possibly,” Mirai began her habit of walking across different screens as she talked, “so long as you don’t do anything rash, we have the advantage, but Suba is still a tricky organization. We have discussed a little while you were resting and Yamiko mentioned you have a school trip coming up. I think it will be best to take the trip, and slip away on the last day. You will be several prefectures away, so even if Subarashii finds out you are alive, they won’t know where to look.”

Mamoru jumped up, shocking Yamiko and ignoring some pain from where he had been healed and shouted,

“You want us to run away?”

Mirai stopped her pacing and took a deep breath.

“You have been injured two times, and for some reason they have marked you as a threat. Don’t you think you should get away?”

Mamoru gritted his teeth. Yamiko gently touched his arm.

“I, like, agree. We aren’t ready to do all this fighting.”

“Rest assured, I don’t intend to have you two hiding the whole time. I will be having Yuto join as a substitute teacher, and once you slip away he will be giving you proper combat training.”

Mamoru felt his shoulders loosen from that. He still didn’t like it, but he would accept it for now.