d not found a good excuse to broach the subject and returned with it. Reflexively, she had dodged his question with an "it's nothing," but the truth was that afterwards, she had decided to pass it to him when they parted.

(..It wasn't necessary to dodge the question. It's just courtesy chocolate, after all.)

There was absolute no deep meaning to the chocolate. In fact 'courtesy chocolate' was defined by the world as not having a deep meaning.

—Even so, for her it was a very important resolution. She repeatedly whispered to herself from deep within her heart a number of times that since she had taken the trouble to make it, somehow her stiff face had a smile on it.

Even though they had tried to kill each other once, they had also fought side by side, once.

(Besides, he's keeping quiet about who I am.)

Since it was only a courtesy, it was not improper. There was no reason to fear creating an improper impression.

She mustered her willpower and took the bundle out of her bag. (It's such a waste..)

She hadn't passed it to him.

Suddenly, she had seen Tatsuya embrace Miyuki's shoulder and her hand wouldn't move.

(Why at that time did I..)

She received an extra level of shock from the fact that her hand wouldn't move from the shock of watching Tatsuya embrace Miyuki's shoulder.

(What on earth happened to me!)

That the chocolate had gone to waste was unfortunate. (However, that was inconsequential.)

(More importantly, that was just as if I..) This was a real problem for Lina.

(Isn't it like I received a shock due to my liking Tatsuya.) (That's not a joke.)

Lina screamed that in her mind. She was deeply disturbed by her own reasoning.

(I refuse to accept this! I absolutely refuse to accept that I might feel that way about a guy who is so sis-con that he's illicitly in love with that nasty sister of his!)

(..I can accept that I'm aware of him.)

Though she was not aware of who she was talking to, Lina proclaimed that in her heart.

(I am aware of Tatsuya. And not in a normal way, but in an intense way.)

That thought seem to snarl. Still, she herself didn't understand who it was snarling at, however.

(But, that's! That's because of the humiliation he gave me! Until she wiped out the stain of her defeat, she would not be able to get Tatsuya out of her mind!)

A normal girl might have quipped to herself that if that was so, perhaps she shouldn't have prepared chocolate, perhaps she should have prepared a white glove.

Nonetheless, at this time Lina did not have that much presence of mind.

When she opened the door in her unstable mood, she became aware of an abnormality.

Her state of mind quickly cooled.

Silvia had returned home, so Lina now lived alone. Despite that, she felt the presence of a person. Cold tension ran down her spine.

It was too negligent of her to not be aware of it until she opened the door, so she rebuked herself. While she mentally prepared herself that way, she cautiously slipped inside.

It was far too late for forethought, she thought, but she softly closed the door without making a noise.

She worried about what to do with her shoes for an instant. It was not really a significant consideration, but she did consider how much she was going to have to clean up later.

Once again, she rebuked herself to clear her mind of foolish, idle thoughts; she softly placed her bag on the floor and remained in a crouch in order to rush in.

"—It seems your declaration of perception abilities not being one of your fortés was a modest opinion."

And when the disgusted voice of the superior officer fell on her from above, she terminated her advance.

"If you had need of me, I would have come to you myself."

The way Lina finished up preparing the tea (and teacakes) could definitely not tactfully be called smooth as she timidly conversed with Colonel Virginia Barons, who was seated at the side of the simple dining room table.

Nonetheless, the colonel did not make an immediate reply to Lina's proposal.

"Possibly you might already know this, but the majority of my military service record is comprised of covert behind the scenes operations. And the major part of that career was in the management of personal relations."

Of course, Lina knew the personal history of a famous person like Colonel Barons. The colonel had graduated from a prestigious business school with superior grades and that record indicated a shrewdness no one would be ashamed to have, and the number of times her work had been on the front lines in her career was not few; she had given a meritorious war service that no one could complain about.

"Now that I have informed you of my experience, Lt. Cmdr. Sirius."

"Yes."

Lina made her spine straight as a pin and answered in a stiff voice. She had instinctively realized halfway through that these were not words to listen to with a smiling face.

"Regarding the current operation, I am concerned that you might possibly be a little too emotionally involved with your target."

Lina did not reply to Barons' probe. She had intended to prepare herself for it, but when it came that was completely useless.

"I would never.."

"Really. If I am over thinking it, then it doesn't have to go any further, but..."

While saying that, Barons turned her eyes to Lina's bag on the chair. Lina's shoulders stiffened.

If she saw what was in that bag, no matter how much she lied, it wouldn't do any good. She was nearly convinced that her suspicions were true, and that would probably tip the scales. No matter how much she protested that it was a 'misunderstanding', it would probably be impossible to get anyone to believe her..

"I, too, intend to understand your special situation."

Never the less, Barons did not command her to "show her what was in the bag."

"You are the only one who has been assigned to the post of commander of the STARS corps while still in your teens."

The simple condemnation was accompanied by a slightly different gaze.

"The potential for magic to usher in a new age for the common people through the use of modern magic techniques allowing magicians to make new discoveries adding to the body of energy theory is high, but quite a few people say you are too young. If my opinion had been asked, I would have probably proclaimed that you were too young for the position of corps commander as well."

Barons' voice sounded different than the others who had chanted about the unusualness of Lina's position.

"You are now sixteen. I understand how it might be hard to control your emotions while being around at your fellow sixteen year olds."

Understanding how her superior's earnest tone and mood were supposed to work on her, Lina inclined her ears with a meek look.

However, seeing the slightly sincere look on Lina's face for some reason made Barons sulk a bit.

"..From your point of view, I might be an obaa-san, but I am still in my twenties."

"Don't be absurd! I would never think anything like that!"

Lina franticly and vigorous sprang to give a defense against the unwarranted accusation.

Nonetheless, at the same time, Lina felt strangely and surprisingly relieved. The colonel, that impeccable female officer who was seemingly completely without chinks in her armor, was displaying an unthinkable 'cute' aspect which had the effect of purifying Lina of her tension.

"..Well, fine. Forget my outburst just now."

The look that said it was a slip of the tongue on Barons' face that Lina saw was probably the central part of the performance that was deliberately made to look completely genuine.

"..Certainly, I hold emotions toward Tatsuya Shiba that are undesirable in a soldier of the USNA."

Since this indeed made it possible for Lina to be more open.

"However, it is absolutely not feelings of love or anything similar to that. The feelings are the type of competitive feelings that a rival invokes."

"Rival, hm."

"Yes, I believe the colonel is aware of the written report that I was once defeated by Tatsuya Shiba."

"I see, this is the first time you have lost a magic battle since you assumed the title of 'Sirius'."

"Yes."

The truth was that she had experienced countless mock battles with Major Canopus since making it into the commanding officer level, but every one of them had multiple safety conditions and it was not necessary to correct the colonel's declaration.

"Understood. If that's so, than this is a simple conversation."

The colonel's tone subtly changed; the previous mood was mixed with notes of freezing cold.

That was the only thing that informed Lina that the moratorium was over.

"Lt. Cmdr. Sirius, at the present time, the tracking and disposal of the deserters is temporarily shelved and you are commanded to return to your initial assignment."

Lina had readjusted her posture before she noticed.

"For now, securing the 'conversion of mass to energy' cast sequence user takes precedence. If securing the user is impossible, then it is necessary to render the cast ineffectual."

To render the cast ineffectual is an euphemism for ensuring that there was no one who could use the sequence. Namely, to assassinate the user.

"For now, we will assume Tatsuya Shiba is the target. The first wave of our attack will be launched tomorrow evening using Stardust. You will equip yourself with Brioneic and intervene when you judge the time is right."

"—Yes Ma'am."

With a blank expression, Lina stood up and directed a salute to Barons.

? ? ?

Erika was part of the group of First High School Students who had long commutes to school. It had been recommended that she get a room close to school when she got accepted by the school. However, she was obstinate about commuting from her own home.

It wasn't that she could not tolerate being away from her family. It was the reverse.

When her father arranged the condo (he did not say he was "renting it for

Erika," he said he was "buying it to give to Erika"), she became stubborn about "commuting from home."

It was somewhat inconvenient, but that wasn't important. —Not compared to her father's and eldest brother's irritation over her not doing what they told her to do.

The road from the station to her home was pretty dark on the way back, and Erika walked rather than using a commuter. It was not something that was recommended for a pretty girl like her to do, but her family had absolutely no worries. Because perverts and the small time hoodlums called purse snatchers did not have people among them who possessed the skills to be able to harm Erika.

This was not a mere clan conceit, but the subjective truth. Today, Erika once again survived traveling to the entrance to her home without anything happening.

Her room was not in the main house. Her 'home' was an outbuilding beside the dojo.

No one aside from her lived in the outbuilding; the minute she entered her room, Erika flung her bag away and collapsed on her bed, still in her uniform. She wasn't usually this sloppy. She was just exhausted from the annual holiday tradition, her emotions running wild after all of the inquiring gazes she had received throughout the day.

She was aware of her own good looks (objectively she rated herself a little modestly), so she knew nothing could be done about the attention she received from boys around her age (and some girls) on a day like today, but..

(If they like me, they should know I'm not the type for courtesy chocolate.)

"From the start, they can only see my outer appearance" was the conclusion she made, which left her feeling even more exhausted.

She didn't hate the way she looked. It was better to be beautiful than ugly.

But she thought the disadvantages equaled the advantages.

Erika believed it was better to have her level of prettiness than face the numerous hardships of being an overly beautiful girl like Miyuki.

But she hated being judged by appearance alone.

And of course she abhorred being fussed over for her looks.

An over-reliance on goodwill that comes from being good looking was only the foundation for the ill fortune of liking only the part of yourself that others like.

Erika was sure of that.

Her eyes spontaneously went to a spot above the dresser. Which was adorned by a small photograph in a frame.

It was not a digital photo, but a photographic print of a woman with hair a little brighter chestnut than Erika’s own and whose features greatly resembled Erika. The resemblance was such that after ten years that you would think Erika would look identical.

It was a picture of Erika's mother, who had passed on when Erika was fourteen years old.

The woman who gave birth to Erika was also the woman who created the reason she lived all alone in this outbuilding.

Anna Rosen Katori.

That was the name of Erika's mother.

As the name suggested, she was half German. And her family name was not Chiba.

For her father, the head of the Chiba family and one of the Hundred Families, Erika's mother had been his 'lover' if you used the current euphemism; if you used an blunt, old style word, she had been his 'concubine'.

Erika had not been allowed to use the family name of 'Chiba' until after her mother had died; moreover, it was not until just before she entered high school — actually, she didn't receive the name of 'Chiba Erika' until she took the high school entrance exam — did her relatives permit it. (As a result, Tatsuya had not known of the existence of 'Chiba Erika')

Erika had been born before his legal wife had died from an illness. While his wife was prostrated on her sickbed, 'that kind of thing' happened. Erika did not think either of her parents had any excuse for what they did. It seemed cold, but on that point, she divided the guilt placed on her mother.

Therefore, as it is said, she absolutely did not accept that only her mother should be treated as the wrongdoer. After all, half the responsibility was her father's.

There had been a time when she had lived her days not knowing the reason for the contemptuous eyes, her small body hiding even shorter breath.

There had also been a period when she just wildly swung her sword around in order for her mother and herself to be acknowledged. —That had been when she became the Chiba Dojo's Idol. Among the young dojo trainees in their teens and twenties, skilled students had gathered and formed 'Erika's personal guard corps' because they could see that Erika had lost her enthusiasm for swordplay after she lost her mother, and stuck their noses into a lot of her personal affairs.

Looking back at the past, she believed that now was the richest, most enjoyable time in her life up to this point.

Girlfriends who meekly accepted that 'they were no match for her' and boyfriends who could not see her core no matter how much they looked at her.

Classmates that warmed her heart, Friends she could squabble with and tease, A childhood friend she could also tease.

A group of friends who acknowledged her 'power' and the chance to brandish that power.

Now, waving a sword was fun.

The time spent couching a sword was by no means wasted.

If she was with them, she felt like she could climb to the paramount. Therefore — she didn't want to be bothered by trivial love games.

She idly gazed at the ceiling while she mused about these things; unexpectedly, the door chime rang. Not the signal to answer, but the signal of the door being opened. Since she hadn't turned the key, the person had probably entered freely.

There was no way she was going to peek in the room to see who it was — she didn't intend act like she was nervous.

She checked the time.

It was too early to sit down for dinner.

Her two elder brothers (naturally, neither shared a mother with her) and her elder sister (of course, she didn't share a mother with her either) to be blunt hated sitting with her; on Erika’s side, time slipped away. Since it was evident that whenever they met, not only her elder sister but she too felt uncomfortable, there was no need to persevere in obstinacy.

Just as she was about to rouse her body to see who it could be, there was a knock on her door.

By the way the footsteps sounded coming toward her, the even breathing, and the controlled presence, who it could be was narrowed down to her two brothers. Since her eldest brother was devoting all his time to a certain case and was supposed to be returning home late every night—

"Tsugu-aniue? Please come in."

As she said that, she migrated from above the bed to in front of the desk. "Sorry for interrupting your rest, Erika."

Erika sat in front of the desk with the chair rotated toward the door, with her spine straight and both hands place on her knees, but her next eldest brother, Naotsugu, took in the condition of the bed in a fleeting glance and voiced an apology.

Well, this level of observation power from an elder brother given the title of the 'Chiba Kirin' wasn't surprising.

Actually, Erika didn't even twitch an eyelid.

"No, I was just resting my body a little. Well then, you needed something?"

Seeing him with that female during summer vacation had unfortunately sent her into a frenzy, but other than times like that, being by the side of this brother was for Erika the place her heart felt most at ease.

She would only raise her voice to this brother when he was entangled with that female.

"Hmm.. I'm puzzled about whether I should tell you or not, but.. after all, I think I will tell you. Erika, I believe you have a male classmate named Shiba Tatsuya?"

"Yes, what about him?"

It didn't show in her face, but at this moment, Erika was pretty disturbed. Her next eldest brother suddenly asking about Tatsuya was completely unexpected.

"He is under surveillance by the National Defense Force."

"..Uh?"

"It's not surprising that you have difficulty believing it without any warning, but it's the truth."

Certainly, she had trouble believing this surprising information, but she probably found it hard to believe for a different reason than Naotsugu thought.

Erika knew that Tatsuya is what is known as a civilian member of the National Defense Force.

At that time, an officer had taken him away and told them that the fact Tatsuya is attached to the National Defense Force is a highly classified national secret.

So it was likely that the lower ranks of military personnel would not be aware of his status.

But still, Erika felt it was so ridiculous that she didn't even want to laugh, that a member of the National Defense Force would be used to conduct surveillance on Tatsuya, who was a member of the same organization, albeit an atypical one.

Naturally, dumbfounded as it made her, that had no connection to the duties given and so,

"I have also received an informal order."

It seemed that using a member of the same organization was not pure stupidity.

"Does the mission really need you, Tsugu-aniue, with your formal status as a student at the military college? What on earth could you.."

"Watching him and, if necessary, protect him."

"Watch and.. protect?"

"Ah. Apparently Shiba-kun has got himself involved in some kind of trouble that the military has an interest in."

Erika thought that rather than being involved, he was the matter the military had been concerned with for some time now, but she thought she'd better not say anything for Tatsuya's sake and for Naotsugu's sake as well, so she was silent.

"Erika, I think it's better if you stay away from Tatsuya for a while."

"Do you mean even inside the school? He and I are in the same class." She wasn't going to automatically listen and obey no matter how much she respected her next eldest brother, but — make no mistake, if her eldest brother had said that she'd be laughing her head off — for now she was going to try to investigate this extremely fishy matter.

"No, I believe that he won't be attacked at school."

From those words, she understood the true motive of the party that gave Naotsugu the order — rather than being a target, Tatsuya was acting as bait.

In short, the main attackers were a different lot than Lina; even if Lina was a part of it, the possibility of a different group was high.. Erika decided.

"In that case Aniue, there's no need for concern. Since Shiba-kun and I are friends that go to and from the station together, we aren't close enough to make plans for after school or go to each others' homes."

"That's true. Really you should avoid commuting to school with him.. since it wouldn't be good if you stir up uneasiness."

"Anyway, be careful, Erika."

"Thank you, Aniue."

—As she had been told to when she was with Tatsuya, she'd be careful, Erika added on in her heart.

? ? ?

Immediately after they got home, Miyuki took the paper bag full of chocolates from her brother's hand and stowed it in the refrigerator.

Up until last year, even when he received no more than one or two, he had been concerned about his younger sister's response; however, this year, to Tatsuya's great relief, Miyuki's resentment had been cooler than he thought it would be.

"Onii-sama, I will soon start preparing dinner, so will you please stay in your room for the time being?"

Miyuki abruptly turned to Tatsuya, who had followed her into the kitchen in order to see how she was, and, with an unnaturally wide smile, thrust that barb.

If he translated it, she meant "don't come out and look until I call you."

Remembering with a touch of unease at how bizarrely things had played out last year, Tatsuya meekly shut himself up in his room.

And in about one hour, "I've come.."

Without thinking, Tatsuya murmured that aloud.

The dining room was filled with a sweet fragrance, the genuine article completely different from Mayumi's fake concoction; there could be no mistake, this was the smell of chocolate.

With a smile — this time it was a natural smile — Miyuki invited him to take a seat.

Her appearance stunned Tatsuya into silence. "How may I help you, sir?"

Her smile transforming into a wickedly mischievous one, Miyuki tilted her head slightly as she asked him.

Clearly, the face of someone who was aware of what she was doing. "..I don't know where you could have gotten that costume."

"Costume? These are simple clothes used by waitresses."

Now that she mentioned it, the clothes certainly might be suitable for use by the hospitality industry.

However, not only did Time and Occasion have to be considered, but Place, and he did not think it suitable here.

If this was not a dining room in a private home, but rather a restaurant that served clientele with certain inclinations, then it could be said to fit the Time, Place and Occasion.

Miyuki’s waitress uniform had puffy sleeves, a high laced jumper skirt, and an apron full of ruffles. In short, it was Julie Andrews style.

Even though he could understand how the concept suited the food, hadn't she gone a little too far..

"Umm, could it be I don't look good in these clothes..?"

"No, it looks good on you. Very cute."

When his sister asked him that question in an unsure tone of voice, no matter what Tatsuya thought, he wasn't going to say anything that would hurt her and cause him to look for something to hit his head against.

"Thank you!"

In contrast to what was going on in the depths of Tatsuya's heart, Miyuki spirit had revived and she brought out her dishes one by one. Leaving Tatsuya with no reason not to go to the dining room table.

On to the all important menu for today.

The main meat course was a beef filet in chocolate sauce.

It was accompanied by cookies full of nuts and a chocolate fondue. The dessert was fruits with a brandy-infused white chocolate fondue. Without exaggeration, it was overloaded with chocolate.

"Onii-sama, please enjoy this feast. I, Miyuki, have prepared this Valentine Chocolate especially for Onii-sama."

Certainly, this was not something that could be done if you didn't live together.

This presentation of cooked chocolate as something other than a sweet. All things considered, it would certainly go into Tatsuya's mouth today. Everything here was the result of Miyuki stretching her resourcefulness.

Around the time he finished the dessert, Miyuki's face was tinged with a lot of red. While he was eating the white chocolate fondue, he had been worried that Miyuki didn't cook out enough of the brandy's alcohol, and apparently it wasn't just a figment of his imagination.

Because Miyuki hadn't eaten as much as he did, she had absorbed a higher quantity of alcohol than him, but..

"Miyuki, are you okay?"

"Yes? What is it?"

As Miyuki answered with a puzzled look on her face, she got up to clear the table.

The pronunciation of her answer was slightly off.

Miyuki piled all the plates on top of each other in order to take them away in one go.

Tatsuya felt this was dangerous.

The normal Miyuki would have taken two to three trips to carry this many dishes.

She was probably not thinking about the difficulty and had unmistakably made the choice out of an unconscious desire to get it done quickly.

Tatsuya swiftly and silently went around the table. "Eek!?"

As feared, he had to embrace his sister's body to keep her from falling when she tripped over her own feet.

There was no crash of dishes hitting the floor.

While one arm supported Miyuki, the hand on the other arm was catching the rest of the plates.

Smoothly, he twisted his body and returned the dishes to the table.

Afterwards, he once again supported his sister's body with both hands and straightened.

"Th..thank you, Onii-sama."

"Miyuki, rest on the sofa for awhile." Miyuki did not protest that she was alright.

The only result of protesting would be causing unnecessary trouble for Tatsuya and that would be awful.

He piled the dishes in the sink and left the rest for the HAR to take care of for her. Even though she knew it wasn't a lot of work, she felt guilty for letting her brother handle the clean up alone and tried to rid herself of at least some guilt.

However, she could not avoid becoming depressed.

Despite the nice atmosphere she had created, at the very end she had clumsily stamped it out.. was the lie she told to herself.

She could not help feeling that something beyond human understanding might be disgusted with her.

No, from the start it should be called disgust. It should be called an obstacle. It should be called a curse.

"..Why must I be Onii-sama's younger sister?"

With a large sigh, the words unintentionally sprang from her mouth. A piece of her real wishes had gushed forth.

A shard that reflected her heart.

A phrase that had been repeating over and over in her heart since yesterday.

Panicked, Miyuki turned around.

The statement she made just now must never be heard by her elder brother. A thought that must never be uttered.

She was not unhappy to be his younger sister. These were Miyuki's true feelings, not a falsehood.

After all, the reason Miyuki could be with Tatsuya was because she was his sister.

Indeed, it was because she was his sister that her brother was constantly concerned about her.

However — without a doubt — there was also a self that desired a different relationship within Miyuki's heart.

For now, there weren't too many pieces.

Never the less, someday, that self might overwhelm the self that thought it was good to be his little sister.

Miyuki feared that day.

She feared her brother finding out about the part of her that wished for that.

When she had looked behind her, Tatsuya was still in front of the sink.

Even with the five sharp senses he possessed, the distance was too far for him to catch a soft whisper.

Miyuki was relieved.

In a corner of her heart, there was regret that he had not heard her. She averted her eyes from that part of her.