C-Rank Ranked Match — And So She Returned To Being A Loner

We won it all… Here, on this vast field, the only one left standing is me.

The sky blazes gold, and the words ∞VICTORY∞ float up into the heavens. A storm of flower petals whirls through the air.

“Haaaaaaaah!!”

I crumple to my knees.

It’s been so long… this feeling — no, this feeling of gunning down a powerful foe…!

My hands are still shaking. Drool trickles from the corner of my mouth before I can stop it, and my face goes so slack it feels like it might melt clean off. A current races through me from head to toe, a pleasure that feels like it might just do me in.

“Feeeels sooo goooood~~~!!!”

It’s a sensation I could never have tasted in my old game, at least. GFO had its share of brutal bosses and unreasonable dungeons too, but every one of them pales beside how hard this was.

Tsubasa, you were such fine prey (target)…!

“Ah…”

Before I know it, the scenery has changed, and I’m inside a capsule bed: the Operator Room, most likely. I push it open and stand up.

“Everyone, we somehow managed to w—”

Something soft wraps around my whole body. Shiina, Niko, and ChaCha have thrown their arms around me.

“Wawawawa?! Wh-wh-what’s g-g-going o-o-on?!”

“You did wonderfully, Shiki. This is the very first time we have won a match that Crimson Wings entered!”

“That moved me to tears, Shikki! That last battle! No, no — a masterpiece of a match, the likes of which we haven’t seen in years!!”

“When did you even come up with that plan?! You didn’t say a word to me! I honestly thought my heart was gonna leap right out of my chest! Well, whatever, none of that matters! We beat Crimson Wings — the ones everyone said were basically A-Rank! This is seriously incredible!!”

I see. In a team battle, when you lose, the frustration multiplies by the number of members; with four of us, you end up shouldering four people’s worth of it. But the joy when you win… that becomes fourfold too….

I’m really, truly glad we won…

Just as I’m about to hug them back, the chime goes ding-dong, and at the sound everyone pulls away from me.

“Hm? What’s that sound?”

“That’s the bell that lets you know you’ve got a visitor~. Wonder who it could be.”

“I will get it.”

Shiina opens the door. And then…

“Yo, Marshmallow Smile. Total loss for us this time.”

Standing beyond the door is Kurenai, with Tsubasa and Ren behind her. Tsubasa looks kind of… sulky.

“I have been itching to meet you! The Leather-Jacket Sniper!”

“Uwah!”

Ren comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder. I’d guessed as much from watching her on the screen, but she really is a tiny little thing.

“Where did you hone your sniping technique?! Do you have a master of some sort?! What make of scope is it you use?!”

“Uh-uhh, umm…”

“First things first — let us trade friend codes!”

I trade friend codes just as she says.

“Should I hear of a good rifle, I shall pass the word to you. We snipers ought to stand together, ought we not!”

“Y-yes. I’d appreciate that…”

Ren grins from ear to ear. A born communicator, this one… the exact opposite of me….

Meanwhile, Kurenai is talking with Niko.

“That hidden trick of yours really got me. This one’s my loss.”

“The only place I came out ahead of you was right at the end. On basic combat skill, the loss is mine. It hammered home just how low my own ability is.”

“We’ll still be rivals from here on out, but how about we duel now and then to sharpen each other up?”

“You’re on! There’s a ton I can learn from you. For real.”

The two of them trade friend codes as well. And then…

“…”

“…”

Shiina and Tsubasa hold each other’s gaze and say nothing. After thirty seconds of silence, Tsubasa is the first to speak.

“It’s not like I lost to you, Shiina.”

“That is right. In team battles I have the losing record, and in the end we never did manage our one-on-one either.”

“…Couldn’t you gloat a little, at least?”

“I shared the victory with my teammates. That is enough.”

“A middle-schooler going all enlightened on me. So damn cheeky.”

“You still seem to dislike me as much as ever.”

Th-things are getting hostile.

Sh-should I tell them…? The thing I noticed*. I should say it, right? If I do, maybe they’ll warm up to each other a little.*

I’ve noticed a certain feeling in Tsubasa. No, I’m not sure about it… but I’ve got a hunch, and I think it’s worth a shot. Okay, you can do this, me!

“U-um, excuse me!”

Both Shiina and Tsubasa turn to look at me with blank, puzzled faces.

“T-Tsubasa, I don’t think you actually dislike Shiina!”

“Wh—hold on, Shiki. What are you sayi—”

“I-I heard about it! That on your current team, you don’t fixate on the idol thing anymore!”

On the Gold Planet, Tsubasa really had said it: ‘Right now, I’m not aiming to turn the team into an idol act.’

“B-but back when you were on the same team as Shiina, you wanted to make the team into an idol group… which means, um, the reason you’re angry at Shiina isn’t that she didn’t recommend you as leader — it’s that she wouldn’t do the idol thing together with you… is what I think.”

I’m not just saying this off the top of my head. I have grounds.

“Whoaa there, Shikki, maybe let’s put that topic on hold for no—”

“T-to analyze Tsubasa’s personality, I looked through all sorts of articles about her. In an interview from just about four months ago, when a reporter asked her, ‘If you could form a unit with anyone, who would you pick?’ Tsubasa answered, ‘They’re not a celebrity, but there’s an impertinent middle-schooler I’d love to team up with.’”

Tsubasa and Shiina both let out a “Huh?!” in perfect unison. I press on regardless.

“I’m sure that has to be about Shiina. It’s not that Tsubasa hates Shiina — if anything, she likes her so much she wants to be idols together with her, she just can’t be honest about it, so she ends up taking it out on her instead… deep down, she absolutely adores her. Once you look at it that way, a whole lot of the things Tsubasa says and does start to add up. So — the two of you should be able to get along so much better!!”

Nailed it! I got to say everything I wanted to!

Tsubasa likes Shiina. Shiina, for her part, gives Tsubasa proper credit and shows no sign of any ill will. If we can just clear up the misunderstanding, the two of them should get along fine. This is… quite the fine play on my part, isn’t it?!

“—Huh?”

Something’s wrong. The air has frozen solid. Both Tsubasa and Shiina are bright red in the face. Tsubasa especially looks horribly flustered.

Ren gives my shoulder a light pat.

“You, my dear, are one of those. You can read a person’s heart well enough, it seems… but oh — the mood of a room, that you cannot read at all!”

“Don’t just come right out and say it. You’ll wound her.”

“She’s just plain insensitive, that’s all.”

“But even a Shikki like that, ChaCha will love all the same!”

Huh? Huh?! What is this atmosphere? Did I… go and do something…?

“Th—there’s no way that’s true!!!”

Tsubasa’s furious shout comes flying at me.

“A-are you an idiot, Shiki?! I always just answer interviews off the cuff, riding the vibe of the moment, and there’s no way Tsubasa l—likes Shiina!! An unfriendly, flat-chested girl with no communication skills like her?!!”

The color drains out of Shiina’s face, red giving way to white.

“‘Unfriendly’ and ‘no communication skills’ I shall accept. But sneering at a person’s physical attributes, that I cannot forgive. And besides — there is no guarantee my real-world body is flat-chested either.”

“I can tell from your voice! You’ve got a total flat-chest voice!!”

“And just what sort of voice is that supposed to be?!”

“So what, are you saying you’re busty in real life?”

“That… would be a touch on the larger side, I should think.”

“If it’s only ‘a touch,’ that’s nothing to write home about. Just so you know — Tsubasa is stacked in real life too! If anything, I’m even bigger for real, y’know!”

Tsubasa gives her chest a bouncy little shake. Shiina narrows her eyes at it with a sour look.

Wh-whaaat?! This is completely different from how I imagined it playing out!!

“And what is the significance of a chest’s size? Not everyone in this world prefers a large chest. There are more than a few who prefer a chest like m-mine…”

“There are way more who like ’em bigger, though? Hey, Shiki — you like them bigger too, right?”

Y-you’re turning this on me right now?!

I have no idea what the right answer is. The least I can do is answer honestly, from the heart.

“W-well… if I had to say… I guess I do prefer them… bigger…”

“Shiki…”

“See?! It just goes to show, busty is superior!!”

“What an outrageous line of reasoning. As I thought — you and I will never understand each other…”

Huh? Huhh?! The sparks flying between them are only getting worse?!

Wh-why did it come to this… All I wanted was for the two of them to get along.

“If you have no further business, kindly get lost. You are an eyesore.”

“I’m going even without being told. Come on, you two, let’s move!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“That leader of ours is not an honest one, is she.”

Once the three Crimson Wings members take their leave, the room falls quiet, in complete contrast to a moment ago.

“…Let us save the match review for another day and call it here for today. I am worn out.”

Shiina looks utterly drained. I… may have done something pretty bad….

“True. I dropped out early, so I’m fine, but you stuck it out to the very end, Shiki, so you must be seriously exhausted, huh?”

“Yes… I’m a little tired.”

“Get plenty of rest today, okay? Shikki!”

“Y-yes. Well then, everyone — thank you so much for everything up until now!”

I bow deeply, and when I lift my head, all three of them have question marks hovering over their heads.

“Um, this Ranked Match I fought through together with all of you — I’ll never forget it. Even after I leave the team, I intend to keep bettering myself, drawing on this experience.”

“”“Huh?”““

I bow deeply once again.

“H-hold on, hold on, hold on, wait a second! Huh, what — you’re quitting?!”

“Yes. I got my payback against Crimson Wings, and I fulfilled the contract I made with Shiina back in the last Ranked Match, so.”

When I lost last time, I asked her: ‘Fight alongside me just one more time.’ That one time is over now.

“True. I never did say I would team up with you more than once…”

Shiina wears a look of understanding.

“Um, well… the Ranked Match — it really was so much fun. It’s been ages since anything got to me this much. I was so happy you invited me… and, um, I… I think I want to do Ranked Matches again.”

A shade of confusion crosses all three of their faces again.

“Then why leave?”

“Th-that’s… umm… After spending all this time as a team with Shiina, Niko, and ChaCha, the result is… how do I put it, I… the three of you and, um…”

I scratch my cheek, take a deep breath, open my eyes wide, and declare it.

“I’ve started wanting to shoot down Marshmallow Smile too. I want to fight all of you.”

Three seconds of silence. And then…

“Oh yeah? Well, in that case, I get it.”

Niko flicks me on the forehead.

“Truth be told, I’d started wanting to fight you too.”

“Losing you is a great loss to us, Shiki. But being given the chance to fight you is, likewise, a great gain.”

“You really do have that battle-junkie streak in you, huh, Shikki~. Maybe that’s what ties into your strength.”

Niko’s four-blade style. Shiina’s Railgun, her Six Petals. I want to try my hand at breaking down every last one of them. And on top of that, the two of them have that outstanding supporter, ChaCha. Formidable foes, no question about it. If I can bring these people down, I’m certain I’ll get to feel a rush like today’s all over again.

“So does that mean you’re gonna build a team from scratch, Shikki?”

“Y-yes. Someday… that’s the idea.”

Building a team, huh. Putting together my own fighting force exactly how I please does sound like fun. But it takes a considerable amount of communication skill.

Could I really pull it off? …No. I’ll do it. I know it perfectly well myself: there’s no use running from what I’m bad at forever. If I’d kept running from the things I’m bad at, I’d never have reached a day like today. I’ll build it. My strongest team… with my own two hands.

W-well. I can’t manage it this very instant, so… slowly, at my own pace… ‘someday,’ okay….

“For now, for the time being…”

I say it with a smile.

“I think I’ll go back to solo.”

The curtain falls on the C-Rank Ranked Match arc.