Chapter 16: You are my sisters!

Nearly a year had passed since the civil war.

I was now seven years old.

Since that day, I hadn’t seen the vice president of the student council, Tachibana Saria, even once. She had probably been killed.

Not just her. Several moderates who had survived, only to be captured, were executed like examples on display.

Most people submitted to Beatrice without resistance. Those who didn’t were crushed.

The rage in my head nearly drove me insane.

The blood dripping from my fists, the cracking of my teeth—none of it accomplished anything.

Even so, I had to hide my true self.

The rations were meager. At seven years old, I received just enough to stay alive, never enough to feel full. That was probably deliberate, meant to cultivate negative emotions.

Food shortages were a problem in themselves. Meals were supposed to be a source of happiness.

For now, my goal was to ease everyone’s suffering, even a little.

The chance to kill Beatrice wouldn’t come easily. Until then, I couldn’t just sit and stew in silence.

To do that, I needed to leave Arius’s autonomous zone—or at least earn enough status to be entrusted with food collection.

Recognition as a fighter, a proper position—that would come when full-scale training began. Beatrice herself might attend those inspections.

There, I would have to show either hatred for Trinity… or resignation toward life itself.

All that mattered was convincing Beatrice I was a “useful pawn.”

Better that than acting rashly now and drawing suspicion.

So, with that in mind, I thought about what I could do right now.

Arius’s biggest problem was simple.

There was no “reliable figure.” And only hatred was being sown.

Those two things.

Take the Arius Squad, for example.

Saori had been like an older sister figure. Because of that, she suffered. Misaki saw her suffering.

Misaki tried to ease Saori’s burden by ending her own life, but failed—and that failure only made things worse. A vicious cycle.

Their grief was twisted into hatred toward Trinity, until eventually they were exploited and discarded as pawns.

So, just being reliable wasn’t enough.

What was needed was someone lighthearted, someone who never seemed to feel pain, yet could still save others.

That kind of “me.”

Without Beatrice ever finding out.

“…First things first, I need to act.”

With that, I opened the door to my room.

Well, “room.” It was really just a ruined building I’d claimed.

At least I’d finished rigging a hiding place for that notebook. Not just the notebook—other “things” were stashed there as well.

“…All right. That should do it.”

In the past year, I’d learned how to remove the transmitter attached to the shackle on my leg by myself.

Risky, yes. But if I were caught, I could always claim it had broken when a bomb misfired, or something along those lines.

Going out wasn’t forbidden. But if they discovered where I’d been going, that would raise suspicion.

At last, I could move with a bit of freedom.

“Heave—ho.”

I reattached the shackle without the transmitter and set off for my destination.

A short walk brought me to a battered hut.

It was big enough for four children to live in—barely.

I raised a hand to knock on the especially worn-down door—but…

“Ah—!”

I misjudged my strength and punched straight through it.

With a crack, my fingers sank into the wood.

“…Ahem. S-sorry about thaaat!!”

No response.

Damn, did I scare them off?

“…I’m coming in, okay?”

I started to open the door myself when—

“Who are you.”

“…!”

A gun pressed against my back.

The voice was younger than I remembered, yet unmistakably familiar from my previous life.

…This really was the world of Blue Archive.

Whether the Sensei would show up, I still didn’t know.

“I asked who you are.”

This was bad. First impressions didn’t get much worse than this.

No—think! I had to lock in the character of “me” right now.

“…I’m a wanted fugitive.”

“Doesn’t that make it worse…?”

“Hahaha… nice comeback!”

Good. That was fine. What mattered was leaving the impression that, whatever happened, I was someone they could handle.

“Just kidding. My name’s Kirihana Suou. I came here because I need to talk to you.”

“I see. Raise your hands and slowly step back. Until I know who you are, I can’t let you in.”

So cautious.

But that was exactly the earnest sense of duty—the instinct to protect everyone—that led to what happened in the main story.

“…You don’t have to worry so much. I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I can’t trust you. I’ll say it again. Raise your hands and step back slowly.”

“Aw, come on now… Don’t be like that. I even brought a gift! A bomb, maybe?!”

“—!!”

I tossed a hand grenade—without pulling the pin—over my shoulder at the girl, Joumae Saori.

She flinched for an instant. I seized the moment, spun around, kicked her gun skyward, and sent it crashing onto the roof of the hut.

“Okay, first things first—confiscating the dangerous stuff. And once again, nice to meet you, Saori. My name’s Kirihana Suo—ow!?”

“Big sis, are you okay!?”

“Idiot! Stay back!”

“This isn’t the time for that… Who is this person? Dangerous, right?”

“D-dangerous!?”

Being called something that harshly jolted me sober, but I somehow managed to stay on my feet.

Ah, so it was a club to the back of the head.

“N-no, you’ve got it wrong!! Misaki! I’m not dangerous!”

“…How do you know my name?”

“Not just you. Mine too. Who the hell are you?”

“Oh, that’s easy.”

“W-whaaa!? What on earth is going on…!?”

“…”

…Atsuko was already communicating with hand signals?

No—this wasn’t the time to be analyzing things.

Honestly, this was total chaos…!! I had to settle the situation somehow!!

“S-stop!! I’m not your enemy!! Look—super safe!!”

I raised my hands high to show I was harmless, but their guard didn’t drop at all.

“Careful. She countered even when I had a gun pointed at her back.”

“E-ehhh!? Doesn’t that make her really strong…!?”

“…”

“Yeah. We should think about fighting back while preparing to escape.”

“Wow, no faith in me at all, huh…!?”

No—calm down.

I can’t stumble here.

But as far as first impressions went, this wasn’t the worst.

Even in a standoff like this, I was grinning and acting carefree. Thick-skinned.

That was exactly the role I needed to shape “myself” into.

“L-let’s all calm down, okay? Humans are creatures that can talk things out.”

“There’s no guarantee you’re even human!”

“That’s cruel!? …Fine, I’ll start with a self-introduction. You can keep the gun pointed at me, just hear me out.”

“Not enough. Misaki, get the rope. Tie her hands and feet to the pillar.”

“E-ehhh…!? Brutal…!”

And so, I let myself be tied to a pillar, gun still aimed at me, as the conversation finally began.

“A-all right then… let’s start over. My name’s Kirihana Suou. I’m seven years old… yeah.”

…With Cyan and Anna, I’d tried to lean on their strength.

Never again. I wouldn’t make that mistake twice.

This time, I’d manage on my own.

Which meant I didn’t need to tell these four anything about my past life.

“I see… Then what are you? What’s your purpose in coming here?”

“…My purpose, huh.”

…A dependable figure.

I’d thought about it endlessly. Worried over it endlessly.

And still, I kept coming back to the same answer.

It was fine. This would work.

“My purpose is…”

Yes, this was the right answer.

“………To become everyone’s big sister. Actually, I already am.”

“……”

A heavy silence fell.

Saori said nothing, just slowly raised her gun…

“Wait, wait, wait!? Don’t shoot!! I’m not joking, I’m not lying!!”

“…Hey, sis.”

Oh—Misaki!? Was she going to stop her…!?

“We shouldn’t provoke her. If we leave her tied up for two days, her stamina will drop. Then we can reinforce the restraints.”

“That’s monstrous!? No way, you can’t do that!!”

“Why am I the one getting scolded here…?”

…Well, it couldn’t be helped.

I needed to show a bit of strength anyway.

That had been the plan from the start.

Like I’ve said many times—what these kids needed was a “reliable figure.” That meant someone who was at least a little strong.

“Hrrghhh!!”

I poured mystic power into my limbs and tore the ropes apart in one violent pull.

“Wha—she—!?”

“E-eehh!?”

“She ripped the ropes…!?”

“……!?”

With a tearing snap-snap, the ropes gave way, and I stood up, turning once more to face the four of them.

“R-run, all three of you! I’ll buy time—get away from this monster…!!”

“I told you, I’m not a monster! And Saori, you shouldn’t call people that!”

“Then what the hell are you!?”

“I’m your big sister!”

“Wrong!!!”

The rejection came without a second’s hesitation.

Well, that was fine. I wasn’t in a rush with this.

Little by little. Step by step. I just had to earn their trust.

And this wasn’t just about the Arius Squad.

It was about the students of Arius as a whole… no, not just my peers—every single child.

“I’ll absolutely make you all my little sisters…!!”

“…Damn it, is this the end…!?”

“It’s okay, sis. We’re in this together… I’ll stay by your side.”

“I—I’d rather run away, though…!”

“…”

“If Atsuko-chan’s staying… then I will too…!!”

That was enough. For now, this was enough.

It was fine.

I was still fine.

“Anyway!! Please just listen to what I have to say!!”

Yes. That was all I needed—to be the dependable “me.” And I could build that.

So long as Beatrice never found out.

Bit by bit, I would—no, I swore I would—save them all.