C-Rank Ranked Match — Shiina And Tsubasa

— Beep. Beep. An incoming call chimes.

It’s Shiina.

I bring up the system screen and answer; a window floats up off the back of my hand with Shiina’s face on it. A video call, apparently.

“Shiki, what is your situation?”

“Y-yes. Somehow, we—”

“Yoo-hoo! Shiina!”

Tsubasa throws an arm around my shoulders.

“Wah! Ts-Tsubasa?!”

“…Tsubasa.”

Shiina’s eyes go sharp. Judging by that reaction, the two of them seem to know each other.

“Yaaay! Shiina, you watching~? Shiina’s precious little protégée Shiki is riiight now~, here with Tsubasa! Yaaay!! Poking her cheeks all squishy-squishy!”

“Mya-mya?!”

“Why are you there? You cannot possibly have any business on the Gold Planet.”

“Two of my members told me the sniper on your team was one to watch out for, Shiina, so I came to take a look~”

Umm…?

“Your members…?”

“They are Kurenai and Ren, of Crimson Wings.”

“Eh?! Which means—!”

I look at Tsubasa. She nods, smiling.

“The leader of Crimson Wings, and the guardian deity of a former top team. That is her — Tsubasa. In real life she is active as the idol Shinkai Tsubasa, top-tier in both popularity and skill.”

The Guardner of the former number-one A-Rank team… which means she’s the strongest Guardner there is?!

“—Ah?!”

Oh, I get it. Crimson Wings takes its name straight from its members. Kurenai, Ren, Tsubasa: string the three names together, and you get Crimson Wings¹.

“Getting praised by Shiina feels kind of gross~”

“U-um, so… what’s your relationship with Shiina…?”

“Eh?! Shiina hasn’t told you a thing?!”

Tsubasa shrugs, looking exasperated.

“Shiina really does get lazy about telling people things. You oughta fix that about yourself, y’know.”

“I only say what is necessary.”

“Haah, good grief. Okay, so, Shiki — Shiina and Tsubasa used to be teammates, y’know.”

“Eh…? Which means Shiina, too—?!”

“Yep. A member of the former number-one A-Rank team, Yggdrasil.”

No wonder she’s so strong.

Still, for a pair of former teammates, they sure don’t look like they get along. I’m a loner, and reading the mood has never been my strong suit, but even someone like me can see the wall standing between these two.

“Wh-why, um… that…”

“I take it you wish to ask why we disbanded the team?”

“Um… yes.”

“Weeell, that would be Shiina’s fault.”

A prickle of tension shoots through the air.

“I will admit that part of the blame lies with me as well — but are you saying you bear no responsibility whatsoever?”

“Yep! Every last bit of it is thanks to Shiina’s selfishness.”

I’m curious about the history between these two… but I don’t know if it’s okay to pry any further.

“It all began when Yggdrasil’s leader got hold of the Infinity Arts.”

As if she’d sensed what was on my mind, Shiina begins her story.

“Infinity Arts?”

“Yes. It is, in a word… the strongest armament there is.”