Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

User talk:Ruby Halo

2015-05-14T16:51:28Z

Contradiction:

==Anohana==

You're welcome to make small edits (edits that don't change content) to my contributions. If you are unclear of what a particular sentence means, you will have to makes notes under brackets like < ! - - msg here - - > without spaces. Keep in mind that I translate with British spelling (and word choice). You can also add your name to the editor list if you want. - Pudding321

==Need an Editor==
Hi Ruby Halo, I'm in need of an editor for my current project and future ones. I translate at NanoDesu - http://nanodesutranslations.wordpress.com/ . Would you be interested? My current project is: http://fuyuugakuenthetranslation.wordpress.com/

[[User:Stellarroze|Stellarroze]] 08:38, 20 June 2014 (CDT)

Sorry about the long wait. Yesterday was really busy for me. We currently have enough editors for AnniAlice, but if we ever need more I'll be sure to tell you about it. As for helping me with my other projects, see here: http://nanodesutranslations.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/recruiting-editor/ [[User:Stellarroze|Stellarroze]] 07:53, 22 June 2014 (CDT)

Hey, If you're looking for projects to edit then [[Black Bullet]] is currently in need of a good editor. Please PM me in the forums or mailto:shr3ddy66@icloud.com if you're interested. - [[User:Shr3ddy66|<span style="color: rgba(6, 66, 66, 0.66);">Shr3ddy66</span>]] [[User talk:Shr3ddy66|<sup style="color: rgba(66, 66, 6, 0.66);">talk</sup>]] 06:24, 5 July 2014 (CDT)

==Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance==
As zzhk mentioned, I currently have some edits to the entire Blade Dance series that I haven't finished and uploaded yet. If you think you'll make less than 5 edits per chapter on average, then I'll just add your edits to the version on my computer after you make them on the wiki. If you think you'll make more edits than that, then I can upload my unfinished edits for the parts you're reading (and then I'll just edit the page again when I finish my own edits). --[[User:Cthaeh|Cthaeh]] ([[User talk:Cthaeh|talk]]) 22:46, 12 May 2015 (CDT)

If you're reading and notice mistakes, then you should fix them. I certainly missed things when I edited, and my editing was mainly focused on formatting and terminology consistency. The only reason how many edits matters is so I can decide what's easier for me (uploading partial edits or merging). So you don't have to hold off on my behalf. --[[User:Cthaeh|Cthaeh]] ([[User talk:Cthaeh|talk]]) 19:39, 13 May 2015 (CDT)

==Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu.==

Sure, go ahead! Could you use the google doc and red/yellow/blue colour scheme in the guidelines ([http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Format_Guidelines#Editors Format_Guidelines#Editors]) to rewrite things and mark awkward or bad sentences? I've never tried it, and it might be too much trouble, but I'd like to see if it works. [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]] ([[User talk:Contradiction|talk]])

User talk:Contradiction

2015-05-14T16:50:25Z

Contradiction:

User talk:Contradiction

2015-05-13T15:48:42Z

Contradiction:

==Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu==
Hi, I'm interested in being an editor for ore twintail ni narimasu, is it alright for me to make some minor edits? [[User:Ruby Halo|Ruby Halo]] ([[User talk:Ruby Halo|talk]])

Sure, go ahead! But could you use the google doc and red/yellow/blue colour scheme in the guidelines ([http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Format_Guidelines#Editors Format_Guidelines#Editors]) to rewrite things and mark awkward or bad sentences? I've never tried it, and it might be too much trouble, but I'd like to see if it works. [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]] ([[User talk:Contradiction#top|talk]])

User talk:Contradiction

2015-05-13T15:48:11Z

Contradiction:

==Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu==
Hi, I'm interested in being an editor for ore twintail ni narimasu, is it alright for me to make some minor edits? [[User:Ruby Halo|Ruby Halo]] ([[User talk:Ruby Halo|talk]])

Sure, go ahead! But could you use the google doc and red/yellow/blue colour scheme in the guidelines ([[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Format_Guidelines#Editors Format_Guidelines#Editors]]) to rewrite things and mark awkward or bad sentences? I've never tried it, and it might be too much trouble, but I'd like to see if it works. [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]] ([[User talk:Contradiction#top|talk]])

User talk:Contradiction

2015-05-13T15:41:20Z

Contradiction:

==Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu==
Hi, I'm interested in being an editor for ore twintail ni narimasu, is it alright for me to make some minor edits? [[User:Ruby Halo|Ruby Halo]] ([[User talk:Ruby Halo|talk]])

Sure, go ahead! Instead of the normal method of making changes directly, could you use the google doc and red/yellow/blue colour scheme in the guidelines ([http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Format_Guidelines#Editors Format_Guidelines#Editors]) to rewrite things and mark awkward or bad sentences? I've never tried it, and it might be too much trouble, but I'd like to see if it works. [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]] ([[User talk:Contradiction#top|talk]])

User talk:Contradiction

2015-05-13T15:41:02Z

Contradiction:

==Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu==
Hi, I'm interested in being an editor for ore twintail ni narimasu, is it alright for me to make some minor edits? [[User:Ruby Halo|Ruby Halo]] ([[User talk:Ruby Halo|talk]])

Sure, go ahead! Instead of the normal method of making changes directly, could you use the google doc and red/yellow/blue colour scheme in the guidelines ([[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Format_Guidelines#Editors Format_Guidelines#Editors]]) to rewrite things and mark awkward or bad sentences? I've never tried it, and it might be too much trouble, but I'd like to see if it works. [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]] ([[User talk:Contradiction#top|talk]])

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Translator's Notes

2015-04-20T13:25:46Z

Contradiction:

==Translator's Notes==

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]===

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">I wonder whether this prologue isn't a reference to the 2007 book <abbr title='"Why did bloomers go away?: Questioning sexual harassment and the culture of wounds to the heart."'>''Burumā wa '''naze''' kieta no ka? — Sekuhara to kokoro no kizu no bunka o tō''</abbr> by Satoshi Nakajima (the psychiatrist, not the baseball player).</p>

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Nakajima talks about how important bloomers were to him both as a high school student and as an adult, and says that when they suddenly declined and vanished around 1995 "it is no exaggeration to say that one of the joys of life had been torn away from me."</p>

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1]]===

====The way Twoearle talks====

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Twoearle spends almost the entire novel talking in polite (desu/masu) form, even in moments of extreme pain, which makes her sound like she is kind of screwing around. Or it makes her sound like a foreigner, since non-native speakers learning Japanese generally concentrate on the polite form and stick to it even at inappropriate moments. Either way, it's pretty artificial.</p>

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Part of the way I tried to represent this artificial feeling in English was by not using contractions, so she says "it is" instead of "it's" and so on. When she does use a contraction, it is either because I forgot, or because Twoearle herself occasionally forgets it when she's excited.</p>

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Chapter_2|Chapter 2]]===

====equally excited====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">There's a kanji pun here that I didn't try to imitate: When Twoearle had finished 嬉々 kiki "gleefully" pointing to things she was bowled over by a punch from a 鬼気 kiki "dreadful" woman.</div>

====a psychotic girl====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">She uses 2chan internet slang here: メンヘラ, someone who posts to the Mental Health forum on 2chan/someone with a mental illness. There's probably an English internet equivalent but it's not coming to mind right now.</div>

====lime juice!!====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">She says "Kabosu!!" It is a type of citrus fruit.</div>

====...in the ruby====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Ruby (ルビ) is little text written alongside a word. The proper use is to indicate the pronunciation, and in books for younger readers every kanji has ruby on it. In this book ruby is used only for moderately difficult kanji, leaving an entire column of text to be filled up with Twoearle's questionable English names for things.

I have translated them either as Japanese + English (<ruby>空想装甲<rt>テイルギア</rt></ruby> -> Daydream Armor Tailgear) or just as the English (<ruby>認識攪乱装置<rt>イマジンチャッフ</rt></ruby> -> Imagine Chaff), (<ruby>空虚の思考時間<rt>シークタイム＝ゼロ</rt></ruby> -> Seek Time=Zero).

By the way, the real name is Seektime Zero. The ＝ in the ruby's シークタイム＝ゼロ is just an interpunct, I think, the same as ・. In fact, now that the song is coming out you can see that when it's written horizontally it's シークタイム・ゼロ. But I couldn't resist.</div>

====...only got worse as she grew up====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">I had a hard time with this sentence. It used to be "...your mother grew up with an aggravated case of chuunibyou," but that doesn't make it clear that she made it to adulthood still suffering from it. The original line is　母さんはね、中二病をこじらせたまま大人になった人間なの。 "Your mother, ne, is a person who became an adult with a still-aggravated case of chuunibyou."

(While I'm talking about this: from the causative, it seems like she's saying she <I>gave</i> herself a bad case of chuunibyou, but in my examples when you "こじらせる" aggravate a disease it doesn't seem to be on purpose. For example, in 研究社新和英大辞典 5th edition, かぜをこじらせて１週間入院した is "My cold got worse/developed complications and I spent a week in hospital," not "I made my cold worse...")</div>

====Meteo or Ultimate====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">She also gives the kanji.<br />
命天男 -> fate heaven man. Mei-ten-o and heavy-handed abbreviation makes it me-te-o.<br />
有帝滅人 -> they who destroy a monarch. Aru-tei-metsu-to -> あるてぃめっと -> Ultimate.</div>

====South Magistrate====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">The text says Tōyama Kagemoto, a well-known historical figure who served as the South Magistrate at one point among other things: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dyama_Kagemoto Tōyama Kagemoto]. My translation is a lie for the sake of comprehension. If you know the “stolen smell” case, that was a different South Magistrate, Ōoka Tadasuke.</div>

====Niōmon====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Souji just says 金剛力士 kongourikishi "the guardian gods", since a Japanese reader would know what they are. Again, this is a lie for comprehension. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nio]</div>

====downroar====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">I couldn't translate this pun nicely. I think this is what's going on here, except that the word Twoearle uses 小騒ぎ kosawagi is an actual word in Japanese. (And Souji says 『大』騒ぎ ''oo''sawagi uproar.)</div>

====Zaisho====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%A7%E4%BD%8D_%28%E6%80%A7%E8%A1%8C%E7%82%BA%29 The picture] basically explains it, but Twoearle is replacing the “Yo” in “Yoisho” (a slang word to encourage someone that became popular in the Showa era) with “Za” so it becomes the name of a sexual position (座位 = sitting position).</div>

====Cedar woodware!!====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magewappa Magewappa]!!</div>

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]===

====Then I will use slander!====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Another pun: the word for "libel" is 中傷 chuushou middle+wound, so Twoearle says she will 大傷 daishou large+wound.</div>

====It's bald. It's just bald.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Souji says “fruitless,” but I think he likes using this word because the kanji for it is “without hair.”</div>

====2 am.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">The third part of the Hour of the Ox, “when even the grass and trees are sleeping and the eaves of the houses curl down three inches.” Considered an appropriate time for demons to appear. Aka 2 am.</div>

====From it, she took out a carpet roller.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">This is a little thing shaped like a small paint roller with a sheet of rolled-up tape, sticky on one side, that picks up random trash on the ground. The same idea as a lint roller, but for the floor. A surprisingly good substitute for a vacuum cleaner.</div>

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Chapter_4|Chapter 4]]===

====...eight troops and seventy-three of the Ultiroids, in a little more than twenty days.====

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Many of the lines from here on appear verbatim in the fourth episode of the anime. This line is exactly the same except that the numbers are different, and in the anime Ultiroids are counted as humanoid objects like dolls (体 tai), whereas in the novel they are counted as people (名 mei).</p>

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">I didn't try to make the translations match up, though! So if you feel like you heard a similar line in the anime, it's probably just the same line translated differently. But there are a few actual changes in the dialogue too.</p>

====They See Your Eroge====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">The name of the test (エロゲミラ・レイター eroge mira reitaa) looks like it starts from “eroge mirare” (your eroge being seen) or “eroge mirareta” (your eroge was seen) and messes it up a little bit to make it sound like an -ator or -etor word in English.</div>

====By the way, what's a soujitype?====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Souji seems to mistake 総二系 "soujikei" for a foreign word. This is a little bit less dumb in Japanese.</div>

====...a word I can't ignore hit my earlobe just now...====

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh man. Okay, the word Twoearle uses for “little girl” is “youjo.” It does mean “little girl,” but using it in this context has an implication that she is, uh... Drag Guildy has been using it too where he says “young girl,” but all the guildies are lolicons anyway, so I didn’t mention it.</p>

====...in perfect reply.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">I swear the author made this word （絶酬 zesshuu) up. This is my guess at the meaning.</div>

====That is the fate of those who live on the hearts of men!====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">I stole “...of men” from Commie.</div>

====...my poor hopeful chest.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Literally “my chest of the day after tomorrow,” but this is an idiom meaning “my chest which is heading for completely wrong goals” ― like instead of studying hard in middle school, her chest spent the time playing basketball with the goal of getting into the major leagues, and when it turned out not to have such a great talent for basketball after all, it felt like it had wasted three years. For example.</div>

====...the hairstyle of heaven.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Stolen from [P]. There’s a pun (hairstyle = kamigata = godstyle) that I can’t translate well. I mean, I could write something like “prayerstyle,” but come on, these are Drag Guildy’s dying words. I’d consider stealing Commie’s “The Holy Twinity,” though (at least I think that’s what they were going for)</div>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Translator's Notes

2015-04-20T13:25:13Z

Contradiction:

==Translator's Notes==

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]===

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">I wonder whether this prologue isn't a reference to the 2007 book <abbr title='"Why did bloomers go away?: Questioning sexual harassment and the culture of wounds to the heart."'>''Burumā wa '''naze''' kieta no ka? — Sekuhara to kokoro no kizu no bunka o tō''</abbr> by Satoshi Nakajima (the psychiatrist, not the baseball player).</p>

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Nakajima talks about how important bloomers were to him both as a high school student and as an adult, and says that when they suddenly declined and vanished around 1995 "it is no exaggeration to say that one of the joys of life had been torn away from me."</p>

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1]]===

====The way Twoearle talks====

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Twoearle spends almost the entire novel talking in polite (desu/masu) form, even in moments of extreme pain, which makes her sound like she is kind of screwing around. Or it makes her sound like a foreigner, since non-native speakers learning Japanese generally concentrate on the polite form and stick to it even at inappropriate moments. Either way, it's pretty artificial.</p>

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Part of the way I tried to represent this artificial feeling in English was by not using contractions, so she says "it is" instead of "it's" and so on. When she does use a contraction, it is either because I forgot, or because Twoearle herself occasionally forgets it when she's excited.</p>

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Chapter_2|Chapter 2]]===

====equally excited====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">There's a kanji pun here that I didn't try to imitate: When Twoearle had finished 嬉々 kiki "gleefully" pointing to things she was bowled over by a punch from a 鬼気 kiki "dreadful" woman.</div>

====a psychotic girl====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">She uses 2chan internet slang here: メンヘラ, someone who posts to the Mental Health forum on 2chan/someone with a mental illness. There's probably an English internet equivalent but it's not coming to mind right now.</div>

====lime juice!!====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">She says "Kabosu!!" It is a type of citrus fruit.</div>

====...in the ruby====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Ruby (ルビ) is little text written alongside a word. The proper use is to indicate the pronunciation, and in books for younger readers every kanji has ruby on it. In this book ruby is used only for moderately difficult kanji, leaving an entire column of text to be filled up with Twoearle's questionable English names for things.

I have translated them either as Japanese + English (<ruby>空想装甲<rt>テイルギア</rt></ruby> -> Daydream Armor Tailgear) or just as the English (<ruby>認識攪乱装置<rt>イマジンチャッフ</rt></ruby> -> Imagine Chaff), (<ruby>空虚の思考時間<rt>シークタイム＝ゼロ</rt></ruby> -> Seek Time=Zero).

By the way, the real name is Seektime Zero. The ＝ in the ruby's シークタイム＝ゼロ is just an interpunct, I think, the same as ・. In fact, now that the song is coming out you can see that when it's written horizontally it's シークタイム・ゼロ. But I couldn't resist.</div>

====...only got worse as she grew up====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">I had a hard time with this sentence. It used to be "...your mother grew up with an aggravated case of chuunibyou," but that doesn't make it clear that she made it to adulthood still suffering from it. The original line is　母さんはね、中二病をこじらせたまま大人になった人間なの。 "Your mother, ne, is a person who became an adult with a still-aggravated case of chuunibyou." (While I'm talking about this: from the causative, it seems like she's saying she <I>gave</i> herself a bad case of chuunibyou, but in my examples when you "こじらせる" aggravate a disease it doesn't seem to be on purpose. For example, in 研究社新和英大辞典 5th edition, かぜをこじらせて１週間入院した is "My cold got worse/developed complications and I spent a week in hospital," not "I made my cold worse...")</div>

====Meteo or Ultimate====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">She also gives the kanji.<br />
命天男 -> fate heaven man. Mei-ten-o and heavy-handed abbreviation makes it me-te-o.<br />
有帝滅人 -> they who destroy a monarch. Aru-tei-metsu-to -> あるてぃめっと -> Ultimate.</div>

====South Magistrate====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">The text says Tōyama Kagemoto, a well-known historical figure who served as the South Magistrate at one point among other things: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dyama_Kagemoto Tōyama Kagemoto]. My translation is a lie for the sake of comprehension. If you know the “stolen smell” case, that was a different South Magistrate, Ōoka Tadasuke.</div>

====Niōmon====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Souji just says 金剛力士 kongourikishi "the guardian gods", since a Japanese reader would know what they are. Again, this is a lie for comprehension. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nio]</div>

====downroar====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">I couldn't translate this pun nicely. I think this is what's going on here, except that the word Twoearle uses 小騒ぎ kosawagi is an actual word in Japanese. (And Souji says 『大』騒ぎ ''oo''sawagi uproar.)</div>

====Zaisho====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%A7%E4%BD%8D_%28%E6%80%A7%E8%A1%8C%E7%82%BA%29 The picture] basically explains it, but Twoearle is replacing the “Yo” in “Yoisho” (a slang word to encourage someone that became popular in the Showa era) with “Za” so it becomes the name of a sexual position (座位 = sitting position).</div>

====Cedar woodware!!====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magewappa Magewappa]!!</div>

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]===

====Then I will use slander!====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Another pun: the word for "libel" is 中傷 chuushou middle+wound, so Twoearle says she will 大傷 daishou large+wound.</div>

====It's bald. It's just bald.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Souji says “fruitless,” but I think he likes using this word because the kanji for it is “without hair.”</div>

====2 am.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">The third part of the Hour of the Ox, “when even the grass and trees are sleeping and the eaves of the houses curl down three inches.” Considered an appropriate time for demons to appear. Aka 2 am.</div>

====From it, she took out a carpet roller.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">This is a little thing shaped like a small paint roller with a sheet of rolled-up tape, sticky on one side, that picks up random trash on the ground. The same idea as a lint roller, but for the floor. A surprisingly good substitute for a vacuum cleaner.</div>

===[[Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu:Volume_1_Chapter_4|Chapter 4]]===

====...eight troops and seventy-three of the Ultiroids, in a little more than twenty days.====

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Many of the lines from here on appear verbatim in the fourth episode of the anime. This line is exactly the same except that the numbers are different, and in the anime Ultiroids are counted as humanoid objects like dolls (体 tai), whereas in the novel they are counted as people (名 mei).</p>

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">I didn't try to make the translations match up, though! So if you feel like you heard a similar line in the anime, it's probably just the same line translated differently. But there are a few actual changes in the dialogue too.</p>

====They See Your Eroge====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">The name of the test (エロゲミラ・レイター eroge mira reitaa) looks like it starts from “eroge mirare” (your eroge being seen) or “eroge mirareta” (your eroge was seen) and messes it up a little bit to make it sound like an -ator or -etor word in English.</div>

====By the way, what's a soujitype?====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Souji seems to mistake 総二系 "soujikei" for a foreign word. This is a little bit less dumb in Japanese.</div>

====...a word I can't ignore hit my earlobe just now...====

<p style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh man. Okay, the word Twoearle uses for “little girl” is “youjo.” It does mean “little girl,” but using it in this context has an implication that she is, uh... Drag Guildy has been using it too where he says “young girl,” but all the guildies are lolicons anyway, so I didn’t mention it.</p>

====...in perfect reply.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">I swear the author made this word （絶酬 zesshuu) up. This is my guess at the meaning.</div>

====That is the fate of those who live on the hearts of men!====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">I stole “...of men” from Commie.</div>

====...my poor hopeful chest.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Literally “my chest of the day after tomorrow,” but this is an idiom meaning “my chest which is heading for completely wrong goals” ― like instead of studying hard in middle school, her chest spent the time playing basketball with the goal of getting into the major leagues, and when it turned out not to have such a great talent for basketball after all, it felt like it had wasted three years. For example.</div>

====...the hairstyle of heaven.====

<div style="margin-left: 2em;">Stolen from [P]. There’s a pun (hairstyle = kamigata = godstyle) that I can’t translate well. I mean, I could write something like “prayerstyle,” but come on, these are Drag Guildy’s dying words. I’d consider stealing Commie’s “The Holy Twinity,” though (at least I think that’s what they were going for)</div>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2015-04-20T13:04:58Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 2: The lady molester from another dimension ==

The light was already fading. We made it back home from the scene of the fight without questions, thanks to recognition jamming. Now the real problem began.

“Once we’re inside the house... ssh. Mom’s home.”

Normally I’d come through the cafe door without any hesitation, but today that’s not a good idea. We went around to the back. I turned the key in the lock with unnecessary care.

“Thanks for having me ove~... ooguuh.”

Acting all of a sudden like a grade school boy coming over to play at her friend’s house, Twoearle took a punch in the solar plexus from Aika. She seems fluent in Japanese, but I guess a word like “ssh” isn’t part of her vocabulary.

“Oh, Sou-chan~?”

Mom’s voice came from the kitchen.

There shouldn’t be anything suspicious about coming in the back door, but the guilt over bringing along an unknown girl made me tense up.

“Uh, yeah, I’m home!!”

“I’m here, it’s me, Aika! Thanks for having me over!”

Aika helped me out by deliberately saying her name, and maybe thanks to that, mom called back oka~y! in her usual tone of voice.

She exchanged glances with me and went into the kitchen. I went up the stairs to my room, taking care to keep my mom from noticing Twoearle.

As soon as we walked through the door she started to say “nervous nervous, nervous nervous,” which bothered me, but before long Aika came up with black tea, and the three of us took chairs and sat around my table.

Sure enough, Twoearle was looking restlessly around.

“...You’re pretty lively considering I pounded you into the dirt earlier, aren’t you.”

“Haha, ridiculous. A woman who is bothered by a little thing like that would hardly be suitable. After this I expect Souji-sama to pound something even more amazing int―”

She started to say something, but trailed off in the middle of her sentence, maybe because Aika had moved into another knifehand strike pose. I looked down once more at the bracelet on my right hand and then at the girl sitting opposite me.

“You can explain this, right. The power you gave me, and the identity of those deviants.”

“...I, I am sorry. This is the first time I have ever been in a boy’s room... ehehe.”

“Wait. The first thing you’re going to explain to me is why I turn into a girl!!”

“What should I do... My heart’s beating fast, he’s going to hear it...”

“You know, what you're saying isn't matching up at all?”

Aika put in an amazed comeback. The gears of conversation weren’t turning an inch. And I think I was hearing things that shouldn’t have been said out loud in the first place.

“...U~m.”

Twoearle turned to look carefully at Aika next to her, and made a quiet noise.

“Aika-san. You are tired, are you not. Please go back to your house and rest.”

She had a smile like an angel but a closing time, get lost aura was floating around her.

“Nope. I would like to hear it too.”

Aika answered flatly, a vein standing out on her forehead.

...What is this atmosphere. I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly feeling a chill.

“Aika, I will send you a letter after we are done, so please go home and take a nice rest tonight. Incidentally, it seems that in this country they have the phrase ‘read the atmosphere, stupid.’ I was quite interested to learn that.”

“Shut up and start talking!!”

“Eaaaaaaah, that’s a contradictiooon”

Aika had grabbed her collar and was shaking it with her neck snapping back and forth like a baby whose muscles weren’t developed yet. It looked like a dangerous situation. I hastily jumped in to stop them.

“Calm down, Aika. I’m sure this is just Twoearle’s way of showing her consideration.”

“Ha ha... Souji-sama, you understand me perfectly, do you not? I’m no match for you...”

Even though we were in my room, Twoearle’s hair sparkled and fluttered in an unseen wind.

It’s like a widescreen event CG, it looks like it’s shining like the climactic scene of a game. What kind of game is this.

“Hey, Souji, is there a nice weapon in your room? Like a hammer or axe, something like that.”

“No, of course there isn’t, and you’re a girl, so you should choose a weapon that doesn’t depend so much on your muscles!!”

A giant weapon that relies on arm strength to promise a fatal wound. That’s not a nice weapon, those would put her on ice.

Twoearle cleared her throat and, “I apologize. I think I have gotten ahead of myself.”

She didn’t reply to Aika’s suspicious “how?” but continued.

“Allow me to explain, from beginning to end. First, the Tailgear.”

“Right, that’s the first thing. Why I become a girl.”

Twoearle took a scrap of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it into a huge liquid crystal terminal. The creases had vanished. I’m getting excited at all these little bits of overtechnology.

In the middle of the screen was a complete chart of the Tailgear. Lines were drawn to each piece of the armor, and descriptions filled up the rest of the space.

<div style="width: 65%; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.8rem; border: solid black 1px; padding: 6px; margin-left: 4%;">'''Overview of the parts of the Tailgear'''

Manufacturer: Twoearle (B90 W57 H86 Equipment user has the right to confirm with
                        the naked eye and/or body)

【'''ＴＡＩＬＧＥＡＲ'''】 An anti-Elemerian strength-amplification weapon created by user Elemera resonation with a Twintail Element as the core. Not limited to ground combat, it can operate equally well in deep sea or the vacuum of space. A mere 0.01 seconds pass between the beginning of the transformation and the completion of the weapon, and even during that time enemy attacks are held at bay by an unfolding shield, the Photon Cocoon.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＣＩＲＣＬＥ'''】 A piece that covers the neck. Deploys Imagine Chaff, the recognition jamming force. It also strengthens vision and hearing to the degree that the equipment user can see and even hear events taking place 20 kilometers away.

【'''ＦＯＲＣＥ　ＲＩＶＯＮ'''】 A hair ornament-model device. Creates a weapon in response to the rising Elemera of the equipment user.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＶＥＩＬ'''】 An extremely flexible metal which covers the whole body, it is the raw material of the Tailgear. It can boast hardness over 80 times that of diamond but is as light on the body and easy to move in as a set of clothes. The Photon Veil disassembles and absorbs the user’s clothing, so transformation and cancellation occur smoothly.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＦＩＮＧＥＲ'''】 A piece that covers the hand from the wrist to the fingertips. It strengthens the force of the equipment user’s grip several hundred times, and the punching power becomes over 100 tons.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＬＥＧ'''】 A piece from the lower leg down to the ankle. It strengthens the equipment user’s walking power several hundred times, and the kicking power over 150 tons.

【'''ＴＡＩＬＢＲＡＣＥ'''】 After the transformation, it regulates the Tailgear’s power output. Also, it is connected to the base’s main computer and transmits the operating condition with a negligible time lag of 0.001 seconds.

【'''ＥＬＥＭＥＬＥＴＩＯＮ'''】 Elemera Orb Conversion Device connected to the left armpiece. Special equipment that draws out the power of an Elemera Orb. The power of the Orb is reified, and charges every part of the Tailgear.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＢＯＯＳＴ'''】 Opening from the hip, an amplifier apparatus that focuses and releases Elemera. Supplies power to movement and incarnated weapons. When all energy is released, it protects against counter-currents so that the equipment user will not be wounded by backlash from the power they have raised to its limit.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＳＨＯＲＴＳ'''】

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＡＢＳＯＲＢＥＲ'''】 A defensive membrane of spiritual energy that surrounds the Tailgear. It can take a force corresponding to a 90-ton physical impact and distribute and mitigate it before it reaches the Tailgear. Also, when fighting in space, it plays the role of a radiation shield.</div>

“That was loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!!”

Twoearle had finished her excited explanation and was bowled over by an iron punch from an equally excited Aika.

“Every little bit of it is so stupid, but... here! A one-hundred-ton punch would blow over a building!”

“Uuuh... For those numbers I was trying to give it a chuu-ni feeling, so I just wrote whatever I thought looked good... You can do it if you try to, though, I think.”

Twoearle got up, rubbing her cheek. She’s reckless and tough, this girl.

She already has the technology of instantaneous teleportation, so even if the suit did have a destructive force of 100 tons or so, it wouldn’t really be surprising...

“What’s this Force Rivon supposed to be? It’s just a ribbon piece, why is there a V in there, it pisses me off!!”

“What do you mean? Boys of a certain age love the letter V! It makes their fighting spirit roar! I guess after all this is an area that a psychotic girl who doesn’t know anything about boys wouldn’t be able to understand, isn’t it!”

“I... W, wh, wh, hey, so are you saying you have so much experience with guys!?”

“That’s very rude. I am not necessarily a virgin, do not put me together with a bitch like you.”

Aika heaved Twoearle up onto her back and delivered a blow to her spine, with an amazing technique that even I hadn’t seen before.

For the time being let’s say this is just a very radical version of girls’ talk.

I’m surprised myself at how serene I am. It could be this wild dance of special moves designed to destroy the human body, radical in another sense... well, in the original sense.

That aside, Twoearle was right.

How do I put it... there are a lot of things here that appeal to a man’s instincts. When I look at it my mouth opens a little.

“But now that I look at it again, it’s actually awesome.”

With everything amplified several hundred times or several thousand times it wouldn’t be impossible to break through the atmosphere sometime when you were running.

“Twoearle, the Excellion Shorts part is blank, but they have some kind of function, right? This... here, right on the swimsuit... part...”

“Er, to put it simply, when the fight goes on for a long time and you want to go to the bathroom, this can break it down to the molecular level and scatter it into the atmosphere for you, but... it seemed like it would spoil the chuu-ni a little, so I wasn’t sure if I should mention it.”

I didn’t hear it - the true function of this piece of cloth with the glittering title of Excellion.

I will also leave this space blank in my heart hereafter.

“Ah... wait, wait! So you explained the layout of the Tailgear, but what about my body! Explain the part about becoming a girl first!!”

“What, you want me to teach you about a girl’s body? Hoho, that’s right, I resigned myself to this. When I agreed to come home with a man who worked himself up in a fight, I knew in my heart that this would probably”

“Tell us already, I’m not going to hold back for much longer!!”

“My elbow can bend farther noooow!!”

Wrestling fairly well with her words too, Aika was ruthlessly trying to break... no, she was crushing the girl’s slender arm.

...So up until now you’ve been holding back?

Looking at this brutal joint technique I don’t think Aika needed a weapon.

“You become a little girl when you put on the Tailgear because ―― that’s what I like! Is there something wrong with that!?”

“You’re suddenly serious!?”

Twoearle rose bravely to her full height as if she weren’t afraid of anyone.

Of course, I was also lost for words.

“Also, if you look like a little girl, it invites carelessness from the enemy, and you draw their attention. It is the best style to use against those guys.”

“We have little white lies in our part of the world too, Twoearle.”

But you know, if she’d choked down the first thing she said and just used the second explanation, I would have been able to barely accept it. For some reason her personal tastes were seriously interfering with what she wanted to say and exposing her.

“I understand. I can’t agree with this, but there is a good reason, so I guess I can’t help it.”

“Of course, right? Little girls are so cute, right!!”

No, not just interfering, I’m almost certain her tastes were her main reason, but... I’m scared to ask.

“Now. I want to ask about that monster too, but first, Twoearle, could you tell me about yourself?”

“Yes, I’ve been waaiting for you!! Please take a good look in all the corners!!”

She was about to strip her white coat off with a splendid gesture and probably a little jacket play when Aika’s body blow landed.

“Tempura donnnn”

With a mysterious moan, Twoearle collapsed on the floor. These guys are already perfectly in sync...?

“I... I am not a human of this world.... I came here from another world.”

That makes sense. I thought that we couldn’t communicate, our gears weren’t meeting up, but she wasn’t just a foreigner, she was from another world.

The cultural wall between worlds is incredibly thick, huh.

“Please do not misunderstand me, though. I said another world, but to be exact it is like a parallel dimension. It is not so different from here. The name of the country is different, but in this world, I would be Japanese.”

““Really!?””

A rare harmony with Aika. Now I can’t imagine what she means by “not so different.”

“So let’s talk about what that monster wanted first... the energy of the mind called Elemera.”

I’ve broken the explanation Twoearle gave down into my own words.

Not planets, not universes, but an uncountable number of “worlds” lie parallel to each other. Although no one can see it, they are as close together as if they were on either side of a door. As if they were the points on a backgammon board.

Originally, just like our universe, these worlds didn’t have the slightest idea that there were others, and still less were they able to travel between dimensions. It was impossible for a human race that had only barely managed to make it to the moon.

But there are extremely rare worlds with levels of scientific achievement that are literally in another dimension. The energy of the heart, Elemera, was born on a world like that.

The energy requirements of the technology they were developing became a problem, and they eventually arrived at a way to make use of the power in the human heart. That became like their electricity, their fossil fuel, their mineral wealth.

They made the vague and doubtful thing called ‘heart’ solid and concrete, and it gave birth to infinite possibility.

The core of the Tailgear, the target of those monsters, Elemera - element energy. It mediates every thought and desire a person has, and exists without limit.

Not just taste, but professions, features of the body, fields of expertise... a person doesn’t necessarily just have one element, and some have many.

“The enemy today was shouting, ‘find the twintails,’ or, ‘catch little girls with dolls,’ were they not? That is what they meant by it.”

I remembered the monsters’ mad little party vividly.

“That is what is called a Twintail Element. The fact that they have twintails. And their love for them and attachment to them. Those ingredients condense into mental energy. Elemera is the foundation everyone has in their heart, the source of their vitality. If it is lost... for example, if a person lost their Twintail Element, that person would never in their life be able to wear twintails again!”

“In their whole life!?”

“Yes. Even if they tried to tie them, they would not be able to. The blank left by a lost element will rule the body for eternity.”

A chill ran up my spine.

So if I had screwed up back there, those girls wouldn’t have been able to wear twintails again in their life, even if they had wanted to.

“S, something that crazy is possible...” Aika was touching her own hair protectively.

“Can you get that much power just because someone likes twintails!?”

“The force of the mind is vast, stronger than any fuel or chemical energy. Even when you are exercising, there is a remarkable difference in effectiveness depending on whether you are bored or you concentrate, right? That is also your mental energy turning into driving force.”

“That’s true. ‘The greatest way to train is to polish your mind’... grandpa said that to me a lot too.”

“Yeah.”

I know that in the fight today I was also remembering her grandfather’s words. I’m worried that his leading successor pays absolutely no attention to his wisdom, though.

“Aika, do you by any chance have an interest in martial arts?”

“Yeah, my grandpa ran a martial arts school.”

“That makes sense... I may need to start carrying a gun to protect myself, I suppose.”

“Go ahead. In that case I can kill you without hesitation.”

“......”

Twoearle froze at the straight-faced reply. I’ve been spending my days with a girl who says, “At last I can get serious,” when someone pulls a gun on her. My eyes are getting red.

“Tha - that aside. Unaided, a person’s ability to concentrate is more or less their limit, no matter how much practice or training they have... but this energy, Elemera, goes beyond that. The conversion is much more efficient when you materialize it and do not just burn it internally, and you obtain a source of refined energy far beyond existing methods of generating power. That is what makes it possible for the Tailgear to be the strongest weapon.”

Twoearle dropped her gaze to my right arm.

“I believe you recovered a stone after the battle.”

I remembered the stone that I had picked up without thinking. A light green stone with a mysterious glow. Maybe because I had it in mind, the stone popped out of the bracelet and rolled into the palm of my hand.

Although it was clearly not organic, I felt a quickening in it as though alive.

“That is a crystallized element, called an Elemera Orb.”

“Elemera Orb, huh?... But why something like twintails? I understand the part about a strong mental power, but, you know, in that case... it should be love for your family, or friendship. Aren’t there lots of things like that?”

“You could say that those have a splendid strength, but look at it more carefully. The love for family that intelligent beings possess is to some extent instinct. It is the bedrock of the mind, not the motivation for life but life itself. And in your life, what do you throw yourself into, what do you long for? What are you charmed by, what do you charm others with? That is where you will find the spiritual power of the individual, will you not?”

“Throwing your life into twintails...”

Aika gave me an amazed, sidelong glance.

“What, something bad about that!? Actually it was really powerful, wasn’t it!!”

“Yes. The Twintail Element has the highest order of power even among the Elemera. And that is also what allowed me to make use of its power to create a battle suit. The name ‘Tailgear’ does not only come from the ‘tail’ in ‘twintail,’ but from the ‘tale’ of fantasy!”

“...Are you serious, twintails are the strongest...!?”

“There is no reason why a strong element must have an impressive title. Elements which make you go ‘huh?’ and tilt your head for a second are often more powerful, enough to shock you.”

My life is not some kind of mistake.

This might be an exaggeration, but I think maybe my whole life has led to this day.

“The Tailgear is a weapon built with a Twintail Element at its core. Therefore, its use is of course limited to those with a strong Twintail Element. A boy who has never himself worn twintails would ordinarily not be expected to have that much power. But in this world, the possessor of the strongest Twintail Element is... Souji-sama, it is you――”

“So I was the chosen one!!”

“Yes, you are the chosen one! ...Um~ by the way, the explanation has gotten a little boring, so would you mind switching off the lights?”

Twoearle ran her fingers along the floor as if she were playing scales on a piano and lifted her hand to touch my thigh. Aika threw a very bulky monthly shonen magazine that had been lying on the floor of my room and intercepted it.

“Ooow!”

Those thousand-odd pages weren’t just for show. Twoearle puffed on her finger.

“You said those monsters were looking for Elemera. Did they come from another world too?”

“Yes. Those guys are ―”

<center>◇</center>

A monster that looked like a bug brought its fist down bang! on the table.

“You say Lizard Guildy was defeated!? By a human!!”

“Nonsense, how is that possible!!”

“Mere negligence cannot explain that! What is this!!”

A grand hall, all dull grey. Creatures of richly individual shape were gathered at a round table like executives holding a meeting in a conference room. This was the secret base of the Ultima Guil.

Neither air nor sea nor the solid earth knowing, a crystal of science and the occult. A base and a mother ship. And also the colony where the monsters lived.

It wasn’t hidden somewhere. It wasn’t even visible to the human eye. A temple... or a better word would be a sanctuary. Now, of course, it was anchored in Souji’s world.

As the commanding officer of the raid squadron, Lizard Guildy had departed in high spirits. But he hadn’t been out for a day before he was defeated together with several dozen of the Ultiroids. The report sent a huge shock through his fellows.

“Hmmmn, what is this! Our preliminary investigations of this world showed the level of civilization was low and the element level higher than anything we’ve seen before, an ideal environment! That was what we decided, wasn’t it!!”

Angry roars rose from all corners of the room, all calm lost.

The Elemerians.

The brilliant flourishing of Elemera had been cut short in one stroke by an unknown form of life. They were outside of the evolutionary chain of all other living things, crystals of mental energy with an ego and a body. As it were, the life of Elemera itself, so they had been given that name.

Humans are organic matter, and so we take in other plants and animals to survive. With bodies of mental energy, Elemerians have to live by ― of course, absorbing that same mental energy.

Like blood donation, it had become an iron rule that Elemera must never be extracted in a quantity large enough to hurt someone. But the Elemerians sucked it all out in an instant. They built up advanced knowledge unnoticed and finally learned how to form a conspiracy, and they gathered together into a grand organization and pulled the fangs out of humanity.

That organization was the Ultima Guil, the evil army that had already crossed through many worlds and was now in the world where Souji lived.

“Si-ilence!!”

A monster in the shape of a dragon broke through the mayhem with a roar. The hall suddenly went quiet as if it had been hit by cold water.

“Commander! Dra - Drag Guildy!”

Their commander gave off a fierce fighting aura even seated in his chair. His status was clearly well above that of the other figures in the hall.

“We who trained Lizard Guildy know well his strength. What this tells us is that there is a hidden soldier with enough power to defeat him.”

“A soldier...”

“Watch. It died in an instant, but one of our Ultiroids broadcast this recorded image to us.”

On a large monitor at the front of the room, a picture of the transformed Souji appeared.

Oooohh..., a simultaneous cry of wonder.

“Lizard Guildy was defeated by her... hmmmm, if it was those twintails then I can understand it.”

“What beauty... what love... this must be the Guardian of this world!”

“One cannot call this anything other than a coincidence, the work of the gods. All we knew about the level of civilization in advance was the surface layer, so even if there are one or two warriors that transcend this world’s logic and limits, it is not so mysterious. We have faced warriors who oppose us many times before, have we not.”

“...But up until now the strong enemies we have been fighting have all fallen into our ... aoooooh, what is this!?”

The muscular soldiers stood up out of their chairs with a tremendous noise. Broken into six parts, the monitor was showing the young warrior from all directions. A moment when her twintails were in lively motion had been captured, just like a blog review of a figurine.

Oh my.

Hmm.

Oh, this is.

They were supposed to be mourning Lizard Guildy but had become judges in a twintails show.

“More than anything, this young child... I sense in her fate both dread and destiny. These are not just twintails, this is not just a young girl. I feel a profound mystery here, don’t you?”

Drag Guildy folded his arms and curled his upper lip back. His eyes were missing nothing as he watched the screen, with a gleam of wit in them that didn’t match his bold and grim appearance.

“Well, what shall it be? Will we tuck our tail between our legs and leave for another world?”

With a faint smile, he cast his eyes over the company. The answer was obvious, and so the only response was a fearless grin from them all.

“What are you saying, sir? With twintails like that before us, to run to some trash world?”

“Heh... It looks like I’ve found the place I’m going to die.”

“Then nothing has changed. We will take those twintails and the Elemera of this world together!!”

Eaaaaaaaaahh...!!

Each and every one of them was a soldier so gallant and resolute that it was almost stifling.

“This is a happy accident, isn’t it? An formidable enemy comes out of nowhere and blocks our path - when that happens, a military man’s blood starts roaring even harder!”

Drag Guildy let out a ringing laugh with a look rising on his face that mixed joy and madness.

This is the Ultima Guil.

Callous monsters who cross between dimensions and have made humanity their enemy ―― we have the general idea of them for now.

<center>◇</center>

“Your world was destroyed, Twoearle!?”

I was amazed at what she casually said after she was done talking about the monsters.

“All of the people of my world had their Elemera stolen away by the Ultima Guil. Looking at the world from far away, you might not notice a single difference... but it was a lonely world of people who were somehow inanimate, with no ambition. There can be no invasion so quiet and cruel.”

In other words, what they destroyed was the heart of the world ― what they conquered was people’s spirit, or more like...

“In our world, the technology of Elemera had not yet been established, so they were an evil beyond human knowledge. There was no way to fight them. On top of that, you remember, you two thought at first that the girls were not hurt. It is hard to understand the real depth of an injury to Elemera. We dragged our feet when we should have opposed them with all our strength.”

“...Twoearle...”

Aika who had been optimistic back then hung her head in agreement.

A world where no one can meddle with the things they love, the things they pour their heart into. When I imagine it, I shiver.

“Definitely. They wouldn’t launch a serious global-scale counteroffensive against a monster that said stupid stuff like that, either, right.”

“Because I saw injury early, I conducted research on their technology before they started to seriously gather Elemera. Thanks to that, not all of my Elemera was stolen from me, but...”

You didn’t have enough to protect the world?

“Twoearle, you’re a researcher? To analyse a technology your world didn’t yet have, that’s amazing. You must be ridiculously smart. And you look like you’re about as old as we are.”

“My age is a secret!”

Twoearle put a finger to her lip and winked. Maybe sick of her girlish attitude, Aika bent her eyebrows up in a 八 shape like a punk in a leather jacket.

“If once stolen, the absorbed Elemera will never return. So it is a revenge that will bear no fruit, but... I would like to use my power to stop them from invading, at least.”

“All right! It’s a huge blessing for us that our interests coincide, but I’ll do it, to strike at the enemies of your world, and to keep our own world safe. Thank you for letting me use this power.”

“Yes! Please use it any way you want! This body!!”

Aika lashed out like a whip to grab Twoearle, who had a triumphant smile on her face as if she didn’t feel like it was enough to just let me use the Tailgear, and floored her with a back suplex.

I can see their underpants perfectly from where I’m sitting but, why is it, why is it that even when they do this I’m not feeling anything erotic about these two.

“Come to think of it, Twoearle, isn’t there anyone else who can use the Tailgear?”

“I cannot mass-produce them, but... there is just one more. And I have found someone who is qualified to use it already.”

“Really!? In that case, we...”

“But... it is not a person with a just spirit like you, Souji-sama. I don’t know if person is even the right word for them. An inhuman barbarian, heartless, a wild beast stained through to their soul with violence. If I gave such a mighty power to that demon, even supposing they could use it, I think they might become a greater threat to Earth than the Ultima Guil are.”

Twoearle poured out her heart with a bitter expression.

“Is that so? There are villains like that among people who like twintails, that’s kind of sad...”

“Hmm. Even though they have Elemera, they’re a demon with no heart. That’s odd.”

“Yes. I could not have believed it myself until I saw it with my own eyes. Actually, I still can’t believe it.”

In any case, we can’t expect reinforcements. It looks like I have to fight by myself for now or it’ll be hopeless.

“Naturally, I want to stop Souji from fighting in a war, but if he’s the only one that can fight, I guess there’s nothing I can do... But your safety is your first priority, all right?”

“Yeah, I know!”

“You don’t know! Listen, if you’re the greatest thing to them, you’re going to become their number one target! What if you lose, what do you think they’re going to do to you!?”

“Aika, you’re so gloomy... Elemerians do not have any particular interest in the human bo... lime juice!!”

Another back suplex. Before long the floor’s going to wear out.

“Your face is bright red, is it not! You are imagining something like tentacles!!”

“Sh, shut up shut up!! If they like that kind of thing, or if they have an element like that...”

Aika, waving her hands like an angry kid, abruptly stopped with a serious look.

“...Hey. You said that all the world’s Elemera was stolen, right? Then how did the Tailgear...”

“Oh my, it’s already this late!”

Twoearle looked somewhat unnaturally at the clock hanging on the wall behind her and clapped her hands. Aika had started to say something, but was interrupted by her badly delivered line and made another 八 with her eyebrows.

“I think that it would be a good idea to go home and rest before long, Aika. Are you not tired?”

“No, I’m just fine. Why are you trying to get me to go home by myself?”

“I thought you might be tired...”

Endless.

Twoearle felt around in the pockets of her white coat, and stood up suddenly with a smirk.

“Souji-sama, I am going to go make some more tea.”

“No, I can’t let you do that, you’re a guest - hey.”

I tried to get up but she stopped me, put the cups on the tray, and left the room hastily.

“...Hey, wait a second, Twoearle! My mom’s in the kitche...!!”

“I have made some more.”

“So fast!?”

I was about to hurry out of the room and follow her, but the door opened again after only seconds. Did she use the teleportation pen again? For some reason she had just one cup and was holding it carefully.

There was steam rising from it, certainly, but... did she really make more.

No, it’s not steam, there are bubbles rising from the unnaturally boiling water, or a piece of wrapping paper had fallen out of the pocket she was using, or it looked like she had just finished emptying the contents, or is that what’s going on or isn’t it, which one is it, it’s this mood where a chill is running up my spine again.

“Well, please go ahead, Aika.”

“Uh, okay...?”

You’ve been shouting all this time, your throat is probably dry.

Aika accepted it obediently and was about to raise the cup to her lips...

“...”

Her hand trembled and she stopped short as if she had felt the presence of a ghost. I couldn’t help but be drawn to the source of the gaze either. When I looked tactfully out of the corner of my eye at Twoearle, she was sta-ring at Aika with her eyes wide open like an owl.

“Now, drink,” her look said.

“...Twoearle, try a little bit of this.”

Aika handed back the cup.

“No, I have already had enough.”

“Just a sip is fine, though.”

“No, no.”

“Please, drink.”

“Absolutely not.”

“...You put something in this, didn’t you, you fucker!!”

Aika brandished the cup and threw the tea in Twoearle’s face.

“Nyuonmuuuu!!”

“Aaah ―― what are you doing, Aika!! That’s terrible!!”

When I see the way Twoearle is holding her mouth firmly closed, I feel absolutely sure she did put a sleeping pill or something in there. Why is she trying this hard to get Aika to go away!?

“Sou-ji, you can’t put any confidence in this woman! She absolutely has some kind of plot!!”

Uh, you know, I’m not going to believe everything Twoearle says all of a sudden either, but usually, when I try to think carefully about it, I get interrupted by screaming. What am I supposed to do!

“Calling it a plot is too harsh, I think.”

“So - Souji... Why are you putting this much trust in her! Is it because she has breasts!?”

Aika demanded an answer with tears in her eyes. Was she worrying about it that much? Maybe it would have been better to hold back the joke about her chest in that fight...

I pulled a hand towel out of the storage under my bed.

“Use this towel, Twoearle. I’m going to bring some ice from downstairs.”

“That is all right, it was not really that hot.”

“It looked pretty hot!?”

I started to wipe Twoearle’s face carefully with the towel.

“...M~m... m~ fu...”

She’s bringing her face unnaturally close to me. Watching us, Aika started to groan quietly, and her body was shaking. Feelings of guilt were naturally welling up within her, I guess?

“I don’t think you’ll have a burn... Aika, even if she came from another world, she’s just a normal human being. If you do the kind of tsukkomi you usually do on me, she’ll get hurt.”

I should have said that back when we met. How many punches has she taken already?

“Oh, that’s right.”

Twoearle, lying back in my arms as I was wiping her face, smiled as if she had realized something and suddenly began to wriggle again.

“It is hot... it is hot inside my clothes too. Please wipe me there...”

She took off her white coat. The plump breasts under her thin untrustworthy underwear shook as if they were about to burst.

“Eeeh...!? No, that is, uh, definitely... I’ll ask Aika.”

“If Aika did it, she might pour more boiling water in, I am worried.”

“I’m not gonna!!”

“That is a lie! You were trying to see if you could twist off my breasts earlier!!”

“They stayed on in the end, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

I think I can turn a blind eye to this conversation. I feel unspeakable fear responding in me, a long way beyond any of the scenes of destruction that I saw today.

“Let me have that!!”

As I broke out in a cold sweat, Aika took the chance and grabbed the towel from me.

“Nuryaaa!!”

Aika threw all her strength into scrubbing Twoearle’s chest with the towel to the point that it was more like rubdown therapy.

“The heat of friction is cutting down my breaaaaasts!!”

“You should get cut down to the bone, people like you!!”

It’s a little late to be saying this, but that first impression of Twoearle has certainly been smashed to atoms.

“Let, let’s talk about exactly how to operate the Tailgear later... I will leave the details for tomorrow or later, so let us stop here, all right...”

Twoearle made this suggestion while rubbing her chest. (By the way, without learning anything she said “Souji-sama, could you rub my chest” and took an open-palm blow from Aika on her chin.)

“Yeah, okay.”

To be honest, there are still many things I haven’t heard enough about, but I decided to agree with her since Aika has been in a really bad mood this whole time. I’ve asked the main things, and this should be enough for today. And I think this conversation is going to cut down Twoearle’s life if it goes on too long.

“Um... sorry. Throwing the tea on you. I went too far there.”

Aika seemed to be unwilling, but she apologized.

“It is all right. After all, I am stronger than a normal human. Incidentally, I think the other threats to my life may also have gone a bit too far.”

“Sorry, all right!!”

Stronger. I hadn’t expected to hear that word, and doubt rose into my mind at it. What was it that gave Twoearle that strength? She said that her goal was revenge, but I can’t feel even a hint of tragedy in her.

No, it wasn’t the kind of “invasion” that left everything a scorched earth, but even when she was talking about her old world, even when she was explaining her enemy the Elemerians, there didn’t seem to be even a bit of anger or sadness or resentment in her.

If that’s because she was putting a happy face on it, I think she really is strong.

“Umm~.”

“Whoa!”

Twoearle rubbed her hands together in front of my thighs, and gave me a look pregnant with meaning that was mixed with long, feverish breaths.

“So, then, Souji-sama. I also want to be able to back you up in a fight, so, from now on, I would like us to do everything together as much as possible. For efficiency’s sake, even eating and sleeping... um, the essential one of those is sleeping...”

She closed her mouth there. A look as sharp as a bed of nails had been fired from behind me.

“Eating and sleeping... wait, you mean here?”

“Yes, so would you allow me to borrow a room? As long as I can sleep it will be enough.”

“Huh!?”

“If you are going to say ‘we don’t have any rooms to lend to someone like you,’ then even a toilet will be fine, so... Hhh, haah...”

That would be even more inconvenient. But Twoearle is breathing louder for some reason.

“No, there’s not really anyone here but me and my mom, and we have extra rooms, so it’s fine, but... can’t you stay at Aika’s house? You’re both girls, and there’s something better about that.”

Aika’s parents are overseas for a job right now, so she’s living together with her older sister. As long as her sister is okay with it, I think that would be better, but...

“It is better with a boy and a girl... er, what I mean is, there are a number of considerations.”

“Even Aika doesn’t normally throw tea on people. Do you?”

“Of course I don’t! How savage do you think I am!!”

She wants to say I’m being ridiculous, but looking back at the amount of violence in not even an entire afternoon, she doesn’t make so unpersuasive an objection.

“But I am going to support you, Souji-sama, so it is more efficient if you let me live here. The assassins of the Ultima Guil are going to be coming again and again after this, you know!”

“U~mm, but...”

That was something that I didn't have an instant reply to. First of all, how should I explain this to mom?

“My mom is really like a kid in some ways. So, you know, if this incident leaks out, I’m worried she’ll stick her nose in.”

She lives her life jumping into the next exciting thing - for example, her half-hearted management of the cafe. If I let her know that I’m going to take care of a girl, she won’t worry about it or scold me, she is the master of taking nothing seriously. I’m scared to talk to her about this. I can see too clearly what would happen.

“Another urgent matter is the establishment of a base.”

“A base―”

Aika was taken aback at the jump in vocabulary. Come to think of it, there was something about that in the chart for the Tailgear.

“Due to the tremendous scale of the enemy, the system that supports Souji-sama must be flawless. Mission support, monitoring of the combat, maintenance of all kinds... it will also act as a research laboratory, so the base has to have a suitable size.”

“I see.”

I agreed with her. The value of support had been more than proven in the first battle today.

“And so, I would like you to allow me to dig a space underneath your house. The ground under this house is also more suitable.”

“Space under my house!? I’m not sure it will be okay if there’s an earthquake or something.”

“...Wait, the ground? But I live right next door...”

Aika’s also extremely worried. We’re such close neighbours that we’re practically connected, after all.

“Please do not worry. I will finish it tonight.”

Twoearle said something so ridiculous that people throughout the world working in the construction industry are going to do an old-fashioned spit take and blow out their tea.

“That makes it even harder to feel safe. What’s that lightning-speed work! Our houses aren’t just all going to sink into the ground, right?”

Twoearle shook her head gently and smiled sweetly.

“Aika, if you were living by yourself, I would not be unwilling even to demolish you and your house together with explosives, but I cannot cause trouble for your family.”

“Why don’t you get buried, hey, why don’t you get buried!”

Aika is shoving Twoearle’s head into the floor with an angry look on her face, on the verge of caving in the floorboards. She’s so beautiful that you feel ashamed just to look at her, but it looks like Aika’s gotten totally used to that. She doesn’t hold back when she scolds her.

“Twoearle. I’ll persuade my mom one way or another, so... could you help me think of a good reason why we’re going to live together? I absolutely don’t want anything about the Tailgear and the stuff about the Ultima Guil to come out.”

“Leave that to me. I can think of any number of lies like that. I am Seek Time=Zero Twoearle, I need no thinking time whatsoever.”

She hit her chest proudly with a thump. Another sketchy name in the ruby.

“Don’t act proud! And don’t shake your breasts!!”

Aika shot an “I still haven’t wiped it enough?” glare at that chest as if it had killed her father.

“How about this? I am your classmate, studying abroad from a foreign country.”

“I see, a homestay line or something?”

“No, I was lost in an unfamiliar city, and you tricked and kidnapped me and locked me up. See, I’m desperately trying to run away, so it makes perfect sense for me to dig a hole!”

“Does that make sense!!”

Twoearle took a punch to the liver.

“...I’ll persuade her on my own, okay?”

“Yeah. That’s a better idea. Go do it before she gets back up.”

I’m sorry. I can’t watch this.

She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life, and she’s rolling on the floor in agony in a way I’ve never seen outside of a fighting manga. It could easily overturn my whole view of life to look directly at this spectacle.

I went out into the hallway and breathed a big sigh of resignation.

This is the first time I’ve ever told my mom a lie this huge. It’s a kind of tension I’ve never tasted before.

The homestay line is the safest one, I think.

I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to explain it all afterward, but I am not good at lying. Ad-libbing doesn’t work either, as I’ve had rubbed in my face twice today.

“I’ll hide the parts I need to, and I’ll explain the truth as much as I can afterward. That’s all I can do...”

My mom was leaning on the with her arms folded when I came down the stairs.

“―― I hope you didn’t mind me listening in!”

“Don't listen to――!!”

“Oh my.”

I pulled my mom into the living room.

“Do you not care about your own son’s privacy?!!”

“You brought a girl other than Aika-chan along with you. I was sure there would be some interesting developments!!”

I rubbed my forehead and groaned. The whole thing was already revealed back when we walked in. I shouldn’t have worried about eyewitnesses at the scene, I should have been on maximum alert after I came home.

“...How much did you hear?! What did you hear?!!”

“I heard a girl screaming over and over. Muhuhu, things were pretty rough.”

Ah, she heard almost the whole thing. That’s already almost the whole thing. By the way, all the violence without exception was the young girl from next door.

“You said you were the ones who settled the incident that was on the news?”

“Why do you believe that!? Don’t you even have a little doubt!?”

We believe it because we saw it with our own eyes and then fought in it, but somehow she believes the whole thing just from eavesdropping on us.

My mother looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

“So at last, this day has come...”

I stepped back in shock at the serious expression on my mother’s face.

This calmness, the speed of adaptation... there was only one conclusion I could come to.

“...It can’t be, mom, you’ve already known for a long time... I was going to be chosen as the wearer of the Tailgear...!!”

“Umm, I don't know anything about it, but...”

Complete denial with the same serious face.

“Why were you acting like you knew!? Or actually, you didn’t hear anything we talked about!!”

“Monsters called Elemerians in the Ultima Guil attacked this world to obtain Elemera, the mental energy of humans, and you fight them using a suit called the Tailgear, Sou-chan?”

“Or you understand all of it, or which one!?”

That’s impressive understanding considering she was eavesdropping.

“...This was my dream, you know.”

My mother raised her face to heaven with lips tinged with drool and an expression of ecstasy on her face.

“Souji, your mother's chuunibyou only got worse as she grew up. I passed my days dreaming of becoming a heroine who protected the world, and finally, without ever getting my wish, I became a mother of one. But, listen, I passed that dream down through the umbilical cord and I entrusted it to you.”

“What are you doing to your kid before he’s even born!!”

With a little effort this could probably have become a moving, unforgettable conversation between parent and child, but my mom was talking about the errors of her youth.

“And your late father, he was also ――― a terminal chuunibyou patient.”

“What did you need that pause for?! ...So Dad had a bad case of chuunibyou too...”

My eyes feel itchy, and not because I’m about to cry.

“We fell in love in an instant, and threw our chuuni back and forth at each other to our hearts’ content, wishing together. Dad also wanted very, very much to be a hero. He’d make stories where he became a hero in great detail, and he let me hear about them! At the end, he’d even tell me how he felt when he powered up and things like that.”

“Stop― I think I’m about to run into the front hall and smash his portrait!!”

I pressed my hands against my skull as if I were under assault by ultrasonic waves. Just listening to these memories feels like it’s blocking the blood vessels in my brain.

“But your mother's greatest dream was to meet a young man from the enemy organization and fall in love. And on the other hand, your father was dreaming of the exact opposite situation, so we fought with each other on countless occasions! Actually, several times we decided to break up.”

English is not my strong point at all, but right now I think I could fluently say “ＯＨＭＹＧＯＤ!”

Someone who tries to put on a bracelet that transforms you into a young girl when they ask to share a table seems normal.

My parents, on countless occasions, fought and broke up for reasons as irrational as any in the world - it’s too heavy for the heart of a boy in adolescence. It’s very difficult to take.

“It was the winter of our third year in university. Your heartbroken mother said, “Let’s try a setting where a boy and girl who are always at each others’ throats are drawn to each other,” as a concession, but your father insisted that it had to be forbidden love with the female commander of the enemy forces (wearing body armor like a swimsuit) and refused to compromise. Even our relationship can only go so far... that’s about the time I started to resign myself to that. ...Sou-chan. I realized that you were in my belly around...”

Ectoplasm is coming out of my mouth. I can’t push it back in, my hands have no strength.

Dating each other with messed up fantasies, and then a shotgun marriage. This kind of parents. What do I do, what am I supposed to do with these frustrated feelings.

Something even heavier than the peace of the planet Earth is settling onto my shoulders.

“After that we got along with each other so well that it seemed unbelievable... heh heh, we often said that our child was the tie between us.”

That might have been true in my mother’s relationship, but when I hear that right now I feel pain like a spike being driven through my head!

“There’s one more important thing I have to say. This is a good time, I think.”

“Huh?”

“You know, Souji... you’re the oldest child, so did you ever wonder why your name has the character ‘two’ in it?”

A deep sadness dwelled in my mother’s eyes.

Certainly I’ve wondered, but in the end I never asked about it.

Why is she talking about that now?

“...Ah... Did I have some older brother or sister that you expected to come before me!?”

Mom shook her head.

“It came from the shared feelings of your father and I. ‘Ah, the real grade two of middle school was the most fun time,’ we said. It was the nostalgia we felt for those happy days gone by that made us put the letter ‘two’ in grade two in your name!...”

[Unavoidable TL note: The literal meaning of chuunibyou is "grade-two-of-middle-school syndrome," or eighth grade syndrome. Miharu and her husband loved the way they felt that year so much that they put the "two" in grade two into Souji's name.]

“Couldn’t you have taken that secret to the grave!? I’m going to be a delinquent! If they had to hear interesting secrets of their birth one after another like this, any normal adolescent human would be a delinquent already the next day!”

“I wanted to make it something more impressive, really. Like Meteo or Ultimate. But this was another compromise between the two of us - we finally chose a kanji that we both liked.”

“Sorry, Souji is good.”

I sunk to my knees at last. I nearly wore the name of a self-conscious enemy organization...

Hey, is it possible that my, the part of me that people think is a bit of a pain, really is a hereditary thing passed down through the umbilical cord?

The sound of a floorboard creaking made me hold my breath.

“Um~, is it all right?”

“Wai... Twoearle, you can’t come yet!”

Twoearle was peeking into the living room, half hiding behind the door. She is already very lively even though she took a straight punch to the liver some minutes ago.

“Hehe, you let me listen in on your conversation, Twoearle-chan!”

“Actually, I have also been taking the opportunity to listen in.”

I’m out of reactions.

That funny story about my birth, on a level that could win a prize if you submitted it to a variety program - I guess she heard that too. I could die of agony from the memory.

“Honored mother... I have already spoken about this with Souji-sama, but I would like to live here, if you would be so kind.”

“Sure, I’ve got no reason to say no!”

“Also, I would like to build a research laboratory underground if possible, and use it as a starting point for backup.”

“Get it done right away. A hundred kilometers deep if you like. I always wanted a secret base. Let me see it once in a while, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Heeeeeyy―!?”

The conversation is advancing bewilderingly fast. She’s even been allowed to break the limits on excavation depth in the private property regulations, it’s nuts.

“Also, honored mother, could I manage to have you say ‘Oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!’?”

“...Twoearle-chan, that’s good. You are really good! For someone like you to come to us from an alternate universe makes me really happy! Please think of this place as your own home! ...But, oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!”

The hell are you playing it back perfectly like a voice recorder! That’s a woman who devoted her whole youth to chuunibyou for you. Apparently mom can also use Seek Time=Zero.

I’m being washed in some kind of aura coming off the two of them, mom and Twoearle, and it looks to me like they’re being pulled together by something like magnetic force. ...Sympathy?

Twoearle must have a severe case of chuunibyou also, I guess. She puts Vs into words, too.

This is scary, now what am I going to do, I’m asking you a favor, so, just once, let me cry without worrying about what other people might think.

“And so I don’t have any problem with Twoearle staying at our house. Think of this as your own home, including Sou-chan’s room, and use it without reservation.”

“Thank you very much, Mother (in law). It will mainly be Souji-sama’s room that I think of as my house.”

What’s this? They’re making fun of me, I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on.

If I make comebacks one by one it’ll be me who loses.

I bowed my head. I had reached a degree of enlightenment.

“...Hehe, instead, would you mind making Sou-chan into a proper man sometime?”

“Oh, no, Mother (in law), please don’t be so reserved. Why do you not say ‘tonight?’”

“Twoearle-chan...!!”

“Mother (in law)...!!”

The two hugged each other for dear life.

Aika came down the stairs at a run, raising dust. “Wai... Aunt Miharu, come over here, please!”

“My my, mother is very popular.”

“And also, you, don’t think “in law” when you say mother!”

“How did you know!?”

Aika went right past Twoearle without even remembering to punch her. ...Maybe I should cry now while I can... silently, with tears streaming down my face.

<center>◇</center>

Aika took Souji’s mom ・Miharu into a neighbouring room and closed the door. She really didn’t want to be heard, opening the door a crack to check Souji and then shutting it again right away.

“Aunt Miharu! Think about this carefully! If you make him live together with a woman like that, Souji’s virtue will be in danger!”

“I couldn’t ask for more, could I? Suddenly a beautiful girl comes to live with the hero, and things turn in an erotic direction. It’s just like that day, that hour, the dream I painted in my mind back then! Even if she pushes Souji down, it won’t bother me at all.”

“And you still call yourself his mother!!”

It looks like she also painted a detailed love comedy in her youth of chuuni fantasy, but... I wonder why a woman had a dream with a development like that?

“But, it’s normal for a parent to want her son to find a girlfriend?”

Miharu gave her a probing look.

“......That...... that might be true, but......”

A bashful Aika poking her fingers together.

“Or else, you, Aika-chan...?”

Aika hastily waved her hand. “It’s not like I... I’m just worried about Souji as his childhood friend...”

“Ye~s, if that girl hadn’t appeared, I wanted to look at you a little more carefully.”

“Wh, what are you saying?”

“Twoearle-chan has a good look in her eyes. They’re the eyes of a woman who wants to eat a virgin, an aroused woman with no principles!”

“Even as a joke, is that something you say about your guest!?”

It made even Aika feel pity; she tried to defend her.

“A guest... no! Twoearle-chan is already a fine member of our family.”

The door opened with a soft sound. Twoearle came in, her eyes wet with tears.

“Mother (in law)...”

She gripped both of Miharu’s hands tightly, and something passed between their eyes.

“Huh? Why is there an emotional atmosphere!?”

“I am sorry, mother, but I am not a woman without principles. I have one principle: Souji-sama.”

“You should deny the rest of it too!!”

“That is right. It’s romance for a woman to lose all her principles when it comes to a single man!”

Has a day come when in just a few minutes the air is filled with such unromantic words? Why has a girl her age gotten to the point where her eyes brim with happy tears when mom calls her a virgin eater? Just like Souji, Aika seems to have been assaulted by a violent headache.

Although she was holding her forehead with her head lowered, Aika’s lips were pressed hard together. Miharu still thinks she’s just worried about Souji, and no, she still didn’t trust her.

(The way she’s acting, some of it is joking, but...)

Twoearle was holding hands with Miharu and turning around in circles as Aika stared with distrustful eyes.

(There are a lot of crucial things she’s holding out of focus. Like in a world where Elemera had been hunted to exhaustion, how did she get the Twintail Element for the core of the Tailgear?)

The Tailgear, armor that lets you fight without covering your face. Aika felt that its manufacturer had hidden her own face behind a heavy mask.

(I know there’s something important she’s hiding...)

<center>◇</center>

Aika had stressed it to the point of stubbornness as she was about to head home.

“Souji, from today on, sleep with your door locked.”

“Why?”

“Who cares! If you don’t, I’ll weld it shut from outside!!”

That’s ridiculous, it’s a wooden door, I was thinking, but I understood it as Aika’s way of saying that I should be more careful about crime prevention. Without objecting any further, I nodded obediently, and I went obediently to bed that night. But.

Mohyan.

Memepoppo, puryon.

Kyopo-. Kyopo-.

Ryoromuminminminmohe-.

“............”

I can’t sleep.

I hardly feel awake, but my eyes have opened on their own.

It’s fine, leave it to me, Twoearle had said.

I’m not worried about something like digging a hole in the basement of the house. Even taking present-day Japan as an example, construction techniques have reached the point where they look like magic to an ordinary person, as you can see from the subways stretching through the earth under Tokyo like the mesh of a net.

Twoearle has come from a world where scientific techniques are far more advanced, so even though she’s doing rush construction, I don’t think there’s much reason to worry about a cave-in. I understand that, and I’m lying in bed like this, but...

No matter how I put them into text, it seems like you’ll doubt my sense of sound - what in the world are these weird construction noises?

“Ah! ...Dangerous, dangerous, I was almost about to break through to the planetary core...”

I shouldn’t be able to hear her distant voice, but it was as clear as if it were directly assaulting my brain.

Let’s sleep.

I have to sleep.

I have to leave these odd sounds and words on the other side of a dream.

Before much time had passed, suddenly the sounds stopped. She said she’d get it done in one night so I thought she’d have to work hard tonight, but it looks like she’s finished. Or the planetary core - no, let’s not think about it.

My exposure to the vortex of weird sound made even the ticking of the second hand of the wall clock sounded louder than usual when it stopped.

“Whew...”

I should be terribly tired, but for some reason I’m wide awake and can’t sleep. I raised my upper body out of bed and opened the curtains of the window.

The sky was full of stars.

As I watched them rising into the night sky I had a poetic thought, out of character.

That girl is just like a fragment that has fallen from one of those stars.

Zip.

A human face with bloodshot eyes fell into sight, facing the other way up. Its wide eyes met mine straight on as it passed the window.

“Gwaa――――――!!”

“Aahwaa――――――!!”

I fell off the bed in surprise but the girl on the other side of the window didn’t have it that easy.

“Hawawa, Souji-sama...”

“What are you doing, Twoearle!!”

Getting back on my bed, I hurried to pull up Twoearle, who got her hand on the windowframe in the nick of time. Well, first, my nomination of “fragment of a star” will probably lose the election without much debate.

...She had been doing some Sunday carpentry on the planetary engineering level, but despite that she had a nice smell. Something like peaches.

“I, I am inexcusably sorry, it looks as though I fell asleep while I was working and... while I was half asleep I walked up to the roof at some point, and the instant I realized where I was, my foot carelessly slipped and I fell.”

Seek Time=Zero. Certainly the thinking time is extremely close to zero, but isn’t the roughness of the contents a fatal flaw?

“Er... If that’s really true, there is room for careful thought about our mutual position.”

“No, no, no, you can use any position you want and I will be fine! Strength, direction, time doesn’t matter, whatever, however, wherever you come from, by all means!!”

I feel like a misunderstanding has crept in somewhere, but if she tells me I can take whatever position I want, I want her to let me put a little distance between us, so that’s how we’ll do it.

“Hey, Sou-ji, what are you doing! There was a huge noise, but......!!”

The sound of a window being shoved open.

Wearing light blue pajamas, Aika bent forward out of her window, her face changing color.

The house next door... my room and Aika’s are right across, and the gap between them is so small that you can put one foot on each window, but tonight that convenience has backfired.

“...Ah?”

Twoearle was sitting on the bed just the way I had pulled her up. We were facing each other.

“What are you doing in theeere!!”

With a violent four-footed leap, Aika entered my room with a dynamic ☆ sorry for butting in and with the same force sent Twoearle flying.

“Eh...... me... why me, in a love comedy it is the guy who gets punch... higaah!!”

Under Aika’s rush Twoearle floated into the air hit by hit.

Together with the dull sounds of impact.

The brilliant kicks and punches continued without a break.

And on top of that, the illusion of faint blue afterimages on the arc of motion.

This is the first time I’ve seen a human being do that outside of a fighting game.

“What are these about, these breasts! They piss me off! They piss me off!!”

“Do not worry. I myself used to be very small once. But I reached an ordinary size after two or three years. By the way, if you do not stop sooner or later I will di...”

“What do you mean average!? There’s nothing average about them -mune!!”

Ah, it's pathetically moving the way she’s turned her overflowing anger into a verbal tic.

“Even if I am from another world, human gh...”

They’re so close to me, but they’re far away.

“...Heeey.”

Even calling to them didn’t stop them, so I gave up on all of it and pulled the futon over my head.

<center>◇</center>

Yougetsu Academy suspended its first hour of classes, and the whole school was gathered in the gymnasium. Of course, about the incident yesterday.

A solemn atmosphere ruled by silence.

The fact that I couldn’t see any odd students out who were yawning and wishing for the assembly to end soon seemed odd in itself.

Only one thing broke the quiet: the steps of the student council president, Shindou Erina, walking up to the podium.

Standing at it, she swept her gaze across the room to cover every student. Just like peasants waiting for a verdict from the South Magistrate of Edo, they kept silent, waiting for her to speak.

Several of her maids stood like special police in the shadows behind her, maybe reflecting on their failure yesterday. They weren’t worrying about the way things looked any more.

“Everyone. As you are aware, the town faced a heretofore unprecedented danger yesterday, when it was assaulted by a group of mysterious monsters.”

Certainly, it’s beyond unprecedented. The monsters with their clear intention to collect twintails are in some sense even more of a shock than an invasion from outer space.

“In fact, I happened to be at the site, and was one of the targets.”

“Wh...!!”

“What’s that!”

The students suddenly started to murmur. They were trying to keep quiet for the sake of the president, but even so, when their anger rose up and overflowed, they couldn’t hold it back.

Her twintails were swaying with the motions of her body and hands, so I felt the tension rise too.

“Unforgivable!!”

“Even if it kills me, I’m going to try and beat them!”

“Hey, quick, someone strap dynamite to my body! Shut up, do it right now!”

Male and female students were shouting without a pause, as angry as if it had happened to them personally, or rather angrier. The flame of anger ran through the students’ bodies like a fuse, trying to turn the children of two thousand parents into insurgents.

If getting carried away like this is your school spirit, then just laugh and accept something small like my slip of the tongue yesterday!

“Your righteous anger makes me very happy. It is a wonderful thing for your hearts to ache for a stranger. And on top of that, for someone like me who is so inexperienced as a leader.”

She was short, so she was using a riser to reply. And yet still she was standing on tiptoes. I thought of a young girl stretching out as far as possible to write her answer on the blackboard.

That courage was another source of intoxication for her very well-trained dogs... rather, students.

“However, their aim was not me alone. Even in this room, there are several people who were targeted, I believe? And if we look outside of school there are even more girls who almost fell into the evil hands of the invaders.”

Another burst of murmuring, but this time she intercepted it with a sharp “But!”

“As you can see, I stand here unharmed. There is still very little information on television, but I believe many of you have learned about it from the net or other places. At that place there appeared like the wind... a gallant fighter for justice, who was kind enough to save us!”

Her voice became a little sweeter in the middle. She sounded just like a princess, her heart burning for the one she loved.

......A fighter for justice?

I felt an uncomfortable suspicion, and cold sweat ran down my spine.

“――That girl, that day, she stole my heart!!”

A loud and enthusiastic cheer rose up in response.

‘I’ve been waiting for those words, President!!”

“I’m so glad... Although I’ve been saying ‘a tiny girl with so much pride, so sexy,’ honestly I feel hesitant. But if that’s what the president says, I don’t feel sad at all any more!!”

“This is bad... I do feel sad, but it's still sexy!!”

“The tiny little president has a tiny little ally of justice... is this the kindness of God? I feel like I understand something about the world!”

It was a cauldron of excitement. I was reminded of the scene you often see at the end of an action movie, when they find out that the operation was successful and a whole room of FBI agents wave their hands in the air and cheer.

One after another they say things that make me worry about the future of Japan, or the world.

Eh? Could it be that I got the president to fall in love with me?

But the one she likes is me as TailRed... as a little girl... eh?

“Students, behold!”

When the president raised her right hand, without a moment’s delay one of the maids set up a projector screen. A large image of a girl appeared on it.

““““Ooooo―hh!!””””

“Aaah!!”

The exact opposite of the cheers around me. Sure enough, what they had put up on the screen was me after transformation. It’s a perfect angle. Pictures like this have already leaked out here and there on the net, it seems like.

“Eee...”

It’s frustrating, but... those are spectacular twintails...!! I can’t keep myself from looking!!

Lined up with the president, it’s a splendid view that is already rocking my heart.

A fierce power created by the harmony of two bodies in one, like being under the gaze of the two temple guardians that stand at the Niōmon.

It's probably because it resonates with the two beautiful tails of hair that are the foundation of the twintail.

“The Shindou family has decided to do everything in its power to support her! I ask everyone here, somehow, together with us, to aid the savior of the new era!”

The cheering became even louder.

A passionate gaze at the president, and TailRed’s twintails.

Everyone is looking at... my twintails――――

“Huh!?”

I felt my heart beating strangely fast in my chest for a reason it would not be a good idea to think about, and made a fist with my right hand and punched myself in the cheek.

The Shindou family had decided to support me, including even the president’s mother, the director of Yougetsu Academy. Lots of the students adore the president, so the student body should agree almost without exception.

The whole school is behind me ― but as someone who’s burdened with the job of turning into a little girl this isn’t something like high school baseball, where I can be openly proud of the fact that every student is cheering me on.

Even though school has just started, I can’t remember anything that’s happening in class.

I’m overhearing bits of gossip from all over, and probably all of it is about me, TailRed.

The day went by, and my stomach continued to hurt.

<center>◇</center>

At lunch, Aika came over to my seat carrying a bundle with a bento box in it.

“Hey, Souji, listen, after school...”

“Ah, sorry. I’m going home as soon as school ends, I promised to listen to the explanation of the Tailgear. And I need to let her show me the base, too.”

I answered her quietly to keep from being heard.

“The rest from yesterday?”

“I’m just going to hear how to use it, so you don’t have to come today.”

“...Just you and her?”

“There’s no one else, is there?”

It’s possible Mom will insist on joining in from the start this time.

“―M, me too!!”

Aika banged the table with the water bottle she was holding.

“I want... to hear it too, so let me come.”

“...Okay.”

With that much force in her voice, that was all I could say.

It was the first day of normal class. It was too early for people to be having lunch with new friends they had made, so almost everyone in both the bento faction and the cafeteria faction was eating with the people they knew from middle school.

Aika has quite a few friends from back in middle school, but I don’t even have one. I appreciate the fact that she’s coming to see me at lunch like this.

Yeah, that’s right.

We’re always together like this. If Aika wants to, I’ll let her hang out with me to the end.

“Ohh~, I haven’t seen this picture before!!”

When I looked over at the happy group of guys that were gathered by the window, their eyes were rooted to a tablet that one of them was holding.

“I’ve decided! From now on, I am TailRed-tan’s oniichan!!”

The lethal noise pierced my eardrum.

“Pffff―”

Without thinking I spit out the Fruits au Lait I was drinking.

“Wait a minute, Souji, don’t get it on my face! Ugh, it’s sticky...”

“So, sorry... I couldn’t help it...”

It did bother me that the girls nearby were grinning for some reason as they listened to us, but the guys were a bigger problem. You could easily see even from here a bright red young girl... TailRed was on the screen, and on top of that, it looked like it was switching in a slideshow.

“It’s all over the net now, isn’t it...!!”

I took my head in my hands.

“When we go home today, why don’t I get my hands on Twoearle and make her delete all the files that have gotten out? With her scientific ability, she should be able to do it.”

“Listen, think of something that doesn’t involve violence once in a while!”

As we whispered to each other, the guys were heating up even more.

“Really cute! Really cute! Really cute!”

I shuddered with chills. Ah, I was happy with the sight of all those people cheering for me, but when you look at them one by one this is what it feels like. It was the right decision not to give in to that strange feeling earlier.

“I was more into large breasts, but, you know... I’ve woken up.”

Woken up to what?

“Uhehe, she’s cute carrying that sword... I want her to cut me too.”

I will hit you as many thousand times with the flame blade as you want.

“Ah, man, I can’t take it anymore!!”

The owner of the tablet, no longer able to bear it, pursed his lips and leaned close to the screen.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

I suddenly grabbed Aika’s water bottle, and, although I didn’t even remember my classmate’s name, I took aim at his head and threw it. It hit barely in time, three centimeters before the kiss.

“Aaow! ...What the hell, Mitsuka!!”

“You should be ashamed of yourself, with such a little girl!!”

“Ah, if it’s shame, I’ve already accepted it! And here I stand!!”

What kind of state of mind have you reached at this young age!

I tore at my scalp.

And yet this guy properly remembers what my name is! Ngh...

“...Hm-hu~m. Come to think of it, you like twintails so much that on the first day, you wanted to make a Twintail Club! You just want to keep TailRed-tan yourself!”

“Noooooooo!!”

I wanted to recover from my mistake on the first day and somehow live a quiet student life, but somehow, now that I’m in the high school section, everyone seems to get sucked into the flow far more easily than I expected.

“I’m tired...”

The peace and quiet after school came with a pile of worries. My exhaustion was reaching its peak around the time I left, together with Aika as I had promised.

People in higher grades were crowded together on the walkway from the entrance to the school gate, enthusiastically welcoming the new students. But, whether the dark clouds gathering on my back were so thick that they could be seen or not, no one tried to talk to me.

I had a sudden thought as I was walking.

“You know, I wrote something like Twintail Club and left it undecided... what club should I join?“

“You’re not going to be fighting every day. When it comes to things like club life, just choose what you want like normal.”

Now that you say it, maybe you’re right.

“But I need to be prepared. Even today we don’t know if they’re going to show up again!”

“No way. After yesterday...”

I turned the corner with a bitter smile, and

≪To all humans who live on this Earth! We are the chosen soldiers of God from another dimension, the Ultima Guil!≫

“...”

“...”

We dropped our bags at the same time.

An enormous screen was floating in the sky.

≪Ladies and gentlemen, we do not intend to harm you! All we want is the light within your hearts! Resistance is useless! And if you don’t resist, we guarantee your lives!≫

A monster that looked like a dragon sat in a show-off throne. With his legs crossed, he was making a speech.

Well, anyway it’s a sight that would piss you off.

≪But it seems there are those of you who would bear arms against us. Resistance is useless! And if despite that, you dare resist, we will take up any challenge you give! Attack as you like!≫

“Is this a world broadcast!?”

The sound could be heard even from the houses in the residential area, on top of the razor-thin computer window that was floating in the sky.

With an unlikely thought I turned on my cellphone’s 1seg. Sure enough the same image was being shown on every channel I switched to.

What is this, are they coming in on the whole broadcast spectrum!? So extreme...

“Those guys, are they really going to invade the whole Earth?!!”

A relaxed speech that said, resist as much as you want to.

If they have really foreseen all the military and scientific power humanity possesses when they say that, then what kind of power does their organization boast?

Twoearle had said that they had overthrown many “worlds.” The meaning of her words became even deeper, and it made my legs sink under me.

Their invasion isn’t destructive.

A quiet conquest that steals the light from hearts, and the brilliance of life.

Yesterday’s fight was only really a skirmish. From now on, an overwhelming invasion would start, and the opponent would be the whole world.

Once that happens I’m not sure what just one person can do.

≪Hahaha, I am Turtle Guildy! As our leader Drag Guildy says, resistance is useless! I will be taking the light of the stars that shine in youth’s glittering sky... the Element of Bloomers!≫

The dragon had been replaced by a turtle-like monster, who was leaning back proudly.

But an Ultiroid approached apologetically from behind him and whispered into his ear.

≪...What!!? You say they hardly exist in this world any more! You have been fools, humans, you have been digging your own graves!!≫

The monster screamed, and humanity was speechless.

I can understand a hairstyle, but even your feelings about a half-extinct type of clothing can give you tremendous power? There are profound depths in this that I don’t want to know about. Seriously, what in the world is Elemera.

Once, once is enough, I want to take a look at the faces of the people who loved bloomers enough to give birth to a thing like that.

≪Souji-sama, did you see that just now!?≫

Shortly thereafter a message came in from Twoearle. The high school the next town over - apparently still in bloomers - was being raided. Let’s do it, then.

There are probably people who love bloomers so much that they can’t get enough, the way I am for twintails, aren’t there? Even if they have already started to go extinct on their own, I can’t let them be stolen by the invaders.

“...Ta, tail on.”

The activation words... the ones we’d decided on yesterday in a break in the conversation. I was still embarrassed about them, but...

Let’s go.

To crush this terribly small-scale “world invasion.”

<center>◇</center>

“Welcome home~, Souji-samaan~”

When I opened the door of my room, my optic nerve was hit with enough peach-colored light to give me vertigo. Twoearle had remodeled my bed to give it a canopy, and she greeted me wearing a negligee and wriggling a little.

“Hey, pervert.”

“...Uh, what, Aika!? Why are you here? Souji-sama said he would be alone! This is not what he promised!!”

“What kind of eternal promise do you think he maaaaade!!”

With a kick, Aika broke a support of the canopy and flattened Twoearle under it.

Getting remodeled, getting broken... my bed’s tragedies continue.

“...Uu, it’s awful! It is too much! And you didn’t come home quickly when the fight was over, so I’ve been lying like this for over an hour!”

“What’s too much is your breasts!!”

Aika promised to listen to the explanation. If you were waiting, then you should have been waiting for both of us honestly at the cafe.

But I’m exhausted from the fight. I don’t have the energy to think of comebacks or worry about the two of you. The turtle monster who kept saying “bloomers” was killed instantly, but I was surrounded by the students at the school where the fight happened and it was a lot of trouble to escape. That’s most of the fatigue.

“I give up, I had people take so many pictures of me with their phones and things...”

“That the day would come when someone in a man’s body would be scared of the words ‘secret photographs on the net’...”

“U, uu... Twoearle, is there anything I can do at this point? Their declaration of war went out across all of Japan!”

I poured out my anxieties to Twoearle, who had crawled out from under the canopy.

It’s terrifying not to feel any interest when a girl this beautiful is wearing a thin negligee.

“It was broadcast to almost the whole world at the same time, apparently. Every country is in a downroar at this point.”

“...Well, certainly I don’t know if it would cause an ‘up’roar, but...”

“Weren’t they speaking Japanese, though?”

“It was merely converted into Japanese when we heard it. They are creatures of mental force, and the language they speak does not travel through the ears, it comes directly into the head.”

I turned on the TV in my room. Just as she said, all over the world various speculations were in the air. It wasn’t a high alert situation yet, but it seemed like the events that had happened in Japan had been accepted in every country, and countermeasures were being put together.

NASA was bearing the brunt of it, so it looked like they had mistaken them for aliens.

“Ah, it’s getting to be a serious thing...”

I sank to the floor and buried my head in the bed.

“There is no need to worry. They only caused so much damage yesterday because we were not adequately prepared. From now on, if they appear, we can detect them right away.”

I remembered what I saw yesterday. Twoearle continued in an even more cheerful voice as if she had noticed that anxiety.

“Basically, defeat them right away when they appear. If we are thorough with that stance, it will not be such a problem. If we hold damage to the minimum possible level, public interest should fade and there should not be an uproar.”

“But with a loud proclamation of war like that, even the police and the army are going to come in, aren’t they?”

“As I said yesterday... even if the army does appear, they cannot get through to the Elemerians. They are materializations of spirit. You have to have the Tailgear, which can convert that same spiritual energy into power.”

“...Can I do this... an enemy who is attacking the whole world.”

I had a painful feeling that I’d gotten myself into this without much thought. My feelings of wanting to protect haven’t changed, but can I really keep fighting when it’s just me on my own?

All it would take is for several of them to appear at different places and I’d be out. And that’s something that they could put into practice at any time.

“That is what the secret underground base is for. Why not go and see it after this! We can already use the space leap equipment, so now it will only take a second even to get to the other side of the earth!”

That overtechnology too. If we weren’t in this situation I think my eyes would be glittering with happiness, though. Maybe because Twoearle was worried about my sinking feelings ―

“[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%A7%E4%BD%8D_%28%E6%80%A7%E8%A1%8C%E7%82%BA%29 Zai]sho-tto”

With a shout of encouragement as terrifying as any, she came and straddled my legs facing me.

“Two, Twoearle!?”

“Please get back up, Souji-sama, in various ways.”

With her hands behind her back and a suspicious smile, she touched my thighs. Her fingers crept upward, trying to keep me in suspense ―

“What are you doing!!”

“Cedar woodware!!”

Aika’s fist hit her and blew her away, making a strange noise. She stuck into the wall head-first.

“...Ph... hahah”

Watching their argument, I couldn’t help but laugh.

It’s no use if all I do is worry. I have to trust Twoearle, and trust my Elemera. I’ll just fight as long as I can. This fight of mine is just beginning, after all, so ―

“So, Souji... sama... that’s an ending flag ...”

I thought I could hear the brave words of a girl trying to hold back an ending herself.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2015-04-19T18:45:29Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 2: The lady molester from another dimension ==

The light was already fading. We made it back home from the scene of the fight without questions, thanks to recognition jamming. Now the real problem began.

“Once we’re inside the house... ssh. Mom’s home.”

Normally I’d come through the cafe door without any hesitation, but today that’s not a good idea. We went around to the back. I turned the key in the lock with unnecessary care.

“Thanks for having me ove~... ooguuh.”

Acting all of a sudden like a grade school boy coming over to play at her friend’s house, Twoearle took a punch in the solar plexus from Aika. She seems fluent in Japanese, but I guess a word like “ssh” isn’t part of her vocabulary.

“Oh, Sou-chan~?”

Mom’s voice came from the kitchen.

There shouldn’t be anything suspicious about coming in the back door, but the guilt over bringing along an unknown girl made me tense up.

“Uh, yeah, I’m home!!”

“I’m here, it’s me, Aika! Thanks for having me over!”

Aika helped me out by deliberately saying her name, and maybe thanks to that, mom called back oka~y! in her usual tone of voice.

She exchanged glances with me and went into the kitchen. I went up the stairs to my room, taking care to keep my mom from noticing Twoearle.

As soon as we walked through the door she started to say “nervous nervous, nervous nervous,” which bothered me, but before long Aika came up with black tea, and the three of us took chairs and sat around my table.

Sure enough, Twoearle was looking restlessly around.

“...You’re pretty lively considering I pounded you into the dirt earlier, aren’t you.”

“Haha, ridiculous. A woman who is bothered by a little thing like that would hardly be suitable. After this I expect Souji-sama to pound something even more amazing int―”

She started to say something, but trailed off in the middle of her sentence, maybe because Aika had moved into another knifehand strike pose. I looked down once more at the bracelet on my right hand and then at the girl sitting opposite me.

“You can explain this, right. The power you gave me, and the identity of those deviants.”

“...I, I am sorry. This is the first time I have ever been in a boy’s room... ehehe.”

“Wait. The first thing you’re going to explain to me is why I turn into a girl!!”

“What should I do... My heart’s beating fast, he’s going to hear it...”

“You know, what you're saying isn't matching up at all?”

Aika put in an amazed comeback. The gears of conversation weren’t turning an inch. And I think I was hearing things that shouldn’t have been said out loud in the first place.

“...U~m.”

Twoearle turned to look carefully at Aika next to her, and made a quiet noise.

“Aika-san. You are tired, are you not. Please go back to your house and rest.”

She had a smile like an angel but a closing time, get lost aura was floating around her.

“Nope. I would like to hear it too.”

Aika answered flatly, a vein standing out on her forehead.

...What is this atmosphere. I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly feeling a chill.

“Aika, I will send you a letter after we are done, so please go home and take a nice rest tonight. Incidentally, it seems that in this country they have the phrase ‘read the atmosphere, stupid.’ I was quite interested to learn that.”

“Shut up and start talking!!”

“Eaaaaaaah, that’s a contradictiooon”

Aika had grabbed her collar and was shaking it with her neck snapping back and forth like a baby whose muscles weren’t developed yet. It looked like a dangerous situation. I hastily jumped in to stop them.

“Calm down, Aika. I’m sure this is just Twoearle’s way of showing her consideration.”

“Ha ha... Souji-sama, you understand me perfectly, do you not? I’m no match for you...”

Even though we were in my room, Twoearle’s hair sparkled and fluttered in an unseen wind.

It’s like a widescreen event CG, it looks like it’s shining like the climactic scene of a game. What kind of game is this.

“Hey, Souji, is there a nice weapon in your room? Like a hammer or axe, something like that.”

“No, of course there isn’t, and you’re a girl, so you should choose a weapon that doesn’t depend so much on your muscles!!”

A giant weapon that relies on arm strength to promise a fatal wound. That’s not a nice weapon, those would put her on ice.

Twoearle cleared her throat and, “I apologize. I think I have gotten ahead of myself.”

She didn’t reply to Aika’s suspicious “how?” but continued.

“Allow me to explain, from beginning to end. First, the Tailgear.”

“Right, that’s the first thing. Why I become a girl.”

Twoearle took a scrap of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it into a huge liquid crystal terminal. The creases had vanished. I’m getting excited at all these little bits of overtechnology.

In the middle of the screen was a complete chart of the Tailgear. Lines were drawn to each piece of the armor, and descriptions filled up the rest of the space.

<div style="width: 65%; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.8rem; border: solid black 1px; padding: 6px; margin-left: 4%;">'''Overview of the parts of the Tailgear'''

Manufacturer: Twoearle (B90 W57 H86 Equipment user has the right to confirm with
                        the naked eye and/or body)

【'''ＴＡＩＬＧＥＡＲ'''】 An anti-Elemerian strength-amplification weapon created by user Elemera resonation with a Twintail Element as the core. Not limited to ground combat, it can operate equally well in deep sea or the vacuum of space. A mere 0.01 seconds pass between the beginning of the transformation and the completion of the weapon, and even during that time enemy attacks are held at bay by an unfolding shield, the Photon Cocoon.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＣＩＲＣＬＥ'''】 A piece that covers the neck. Deploys Imagine Chaff, the recognition jamming force. It also strengthens vision and hearing to the degree that the equipment user can see and even hear events taking place 20 kilometers away.

【'''ＦＯＲＣＥ　ＲＩＶＯＮ'''】 A hair ornament-model device. Creates a weapon in response to the rising Elemera of the equipment user.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＶＥＩＬ'''】 An extremely flexible metal which covers the whole body, it is the raw material of the Tailgear. It can boast hardness over 80 times that of diamond but is as light on the body and easy to move in as a set of clothes. The Photon Veil disassembles and absorbs the user’s clothing, so transformation and cancellation occur smoothly.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＦＩＮＧＥＲ'''】 A piece that covers the hand from the wrist to the fingertips. It strengthens the force of the equipment user’s grip several hundred times, and the punching power becomes over 100 tons.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＬＥＧ'''】 A piece from the lower leg down to the ankle. It strengthens the equipment user’s walking power several hundred times, and the kicking power over 150 tons.

【'''ＴＡＩＬＢＲＡＣＥ'''】 After the transformation, it regulates the Tailgear’s power output. Also, it is connected to the base’s main computer and transmits the operating condition with a negligible time lag of 0.001 seconds.

【'''ＥＬＥＭＥＬＥＴＩＯＮ'''】 Elemera Orb Conversion Device connected to the left armpiece. Special equipment that draws out the power of an Elemera Orb. The power of the Orb is reified, and charges every part of the Tailgear.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＢＯＯＳＴ'''】 Opening from the hip, an amplifier apparatus that focuses and releases Elemera. Supplies power to movement and incarnated weapons. When all energy is released, it protects against counter-currents so that the equipment user will not be wounded by backlash from the power they have raised to its limit.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＳＨＯＲＴＳ'''】

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＡＢＳＯＲＢＥＲ'''】 A defensive membrane of spiritual energy that surrounds the Tailgear. It can take a force corresponding to a 90-ton physical impact and distribute and mitigate it before it reaches the Tailgear. Also, when fighting in space, it plays the role of a radiation shield.</div>

“That was loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!!”

Twoearle had finished her excited explanation and was bowled over by an iron punch from an equally excited Aika.

“Every little bit of it is so stupid, but... here! A one-hundred-ton punch would blow over a building!”

“Uuuh... For those numbers I was trying to give it a chuu-ni feeling, so I just wrote whatever I thought looked good... You can do it if you try to, though, I think.”

Twoearle got up, rubbing her cheek. She’s reckless and tough, this girl.

She already has the technology of instantaneous teleportation, so even if the suit did have a destructive force of 100 tons or so, it wouldn’t really be surprising...

“What’s this Force Rivon supposed to be? It’s just a ribbon piece, why is there a V in there, it pisses me off!!”

“What do you mean? Boys of a certain age love the letter V! It makes their fighting spirit roar! I guess after all this is an area that a psychotic girl who doesn’t know anything about boys wouldn’t be able to understand, isn’t it!”

“I... W, wh, wh, hey, so are you saying you have so much experience with guys!?”

“That’s very rude. I am not necessarily a virgin, do not put me together with a bitch like you.”

Aika heaved Twoearle up onto her back and delivered a blow to her spine, with an amazing technique that even I hadn’t seen before.

For the time being let’s say this is just a very radical version of girls’ talk.

I’m surprised myself at how serene I am. It could be this wild dance of special moves designed to destroy the human body, radical in another sense... well, in the original sense.

That aside, Twoearle was right.

How do I put it... there are a lot of things here that appeal to a man’s instincts. When I look at it my mouth opens a little.

“But now that I look at it again, it’s actually awesome.”

With everything amplified several hundred times or several thousand times it wouldn’t be impossible to break through the atmosphere sometime when you were running.

“Twoearle, the Excellion Shorts part is blank, but they have some kind of function, right? This... here, right on the swimsuit... part...”

“Er, to put it simply, when the fight goes on for a long time and you want to go to the bathroom, this can break it down to the molecular level and scatter it into the atmosphere for you, but... it seemed like it would spoil the chuu-ni a little, so I wasn’t sure if I should mention it.”

I didn’t hear it - the true function of this piece of cloth with the glittering title of Excellion.

I will also leave this space blank in my heart hereafter.

“Ah... wait, wait! So you explained the layout of the Tailgear, but what about my body! Explain the part about becoming a girl first!!”

“What, you want me to teach you about a girl’s body? Hoho, that’s right, I resigned myself to this. When I agreed to come home with a man who worked himself up in a fight, I knew in my heart that this would probably”

“Tell us already, I’m not going to hold back for much longer!!”

“My elbow can bend farther noooow!!”

Wrestling fairly well with her words too, Aika was ruthlessly trying to break... no, she was crushing the girl’s slender arm.

...So up until now you’ve been holding back?

Looking at this brutal joint technique I don’t think Aika needed a weapon.

“You become a little girl when you put on the Tailgear because ―― that’s what I like! Is there something wrong with that!?”

“You’re suddenly serious!?”

Twoearle rose bravely to her full height as if she weren’t afraid of anyone.

Of course, I was also lost for words.

“Also, if you look like a little girl, it invites carelessness from the enemy, and you draw their attention. It is the best style to use against those guys.”

“We have little white lies in our part of the world too, Twoearle.”

But you know, if she’d choked down the first thing she said and just used the second explanation, I would have been able to barely accept it. For some reason her personal tastes were seriously interfering with what she wanted to say and exposing her.

“I understand. I can’t agree with this, but there is a good reason, so I guess I can’t help it.”

“Of course, right? Little girls are so cute, right!!”

No, not just interfering, I’m almost certain her tastes were her main reason, but... I’m scared to ask.

“Now. I want to ask about that monster too, but first, Twoearle, could you tell me about yourself?”

“Yes, I’ve been waaiting for you!! Please take a good look in all the corners!!”

She was about to strip her white coat off with a splendid gesture and probably a little jacket play when Aika’s body blow landed.

“Tempura donnnn”

With a mysterious moan, Twoearle collapsed on the floor. These guys are already perfectly in sync...?

“I... I am not a human of this world.... I came here from another world.”

That makes sense. I thought that we couldn’t communicate, our gears weren’t meeting up, but she wasn’t just a foreigner, she was from another world.

The cultural wall between worlds is incredibly thick, huh.

“Please do not misunderstand me, though. I said another world, but to be exact it is like a parallel dimension. It is not so different from here. The name of the country is different, but in this world, I would be Japanese.”

““Really!?””

A rare harmony with Aika. Now I can’t imagine what she means by “not so different.”

“So let’s talk about what that monster wanted first... the energy of the mind called Elemera.”

I’ve broken the explanation Twoearle gave down into my own words.

Not planets, not universes, but an uncountable number of “worlds” lie parallel to each other. Although no one can see it, they are as close together as if they were on either side of a door. As if they were the points on a backgammon board.

Originally, just like our universe, these worlds didn’t have the slightest idea that there were others, and still less were they able to travel between dimensions. It was impossible for a human race that had only barely managed to make it to the moon.

But there are extremely rare worlds with levels of scientific achievement that are literally in another dimension. The energy of the heart, Elemera, was born on a world like that.

The energy requirements of the technology they were developing became a problem, and they eventually arrived at a way to make use of the power in the human heart. That became like their electricity, their fossil fuel, their mineral wealth.

They made the vague and doubtful thing called ‘heart’ solid and concrete, and it gave birth to infinite possibility.

The core of the Tailgear, the target of those monsters, Elemera - element energy. It mediates every thought and desire a person has, and exists without limit.

Not just taste, but professions, features of the body, fields of expertise... a person doesn’t necessarily just have one element, and some have many.

“The enemy today was shouting, ‘find the twintails,’ or, ‘catch little girls with dolls,’ were they not? That is what they meant by it.”

I remembered the monsters’ mad little party vividly.

“That is what is called a Twintail Element. The fact that they have twintails. And their love for them and attachment to them. Those ingredients condense into mental energy. Elemera is the foundation everyone has in their heart, the source of their vitality. If it is lost... for example, if a person lost their Twintail Element, that person would never in their life be able to wear twintails again!”

“In their whole life!?”

“Yes. Even if they tried to tie them, they would not be able to. The blank left by a lost element will rule the body for eternity.”

A chill ran up my spine.

So if I had screwed up back there, those girls wouldn’t have been able to wear twintails again in their life, even if they had wanted to.

“S, something that crazy is possible...” Aika was touching her own hair protectively.

“Can you get that much power just because someone likes twintails!?”

“The force of the mind is vast, stronger than any fuel or chemical energy. Even when you are exercising, there is a remarkable difference in effectiveness depending on whether you are bored or you concentrate, right? That is also your mental energy turning into driving force.”

“That’s true. ‘The greatest way to train is to polish your mind’... grandpa said that to me a lot too.”

“Yeah.”

I know that in the fight today I was also remembering her grandfather’s words. I’m worried that his leading successor pays absolutely no attention to his wisdom, though.

“Aika, do you by any chance have an interest in martial arts?”

“Yeah, my grandpa ran a martial arts school.”

“That makes sense... I may need to start carrying a gun to protect myself, I suppose.”

“Go ahead. In that case I can kill you without hesitation.”

“......”

Twoearle froze at the straight-faced reply. I’ve been spending my days with a girl who says, “At last I can get serious,” when someone pulls a gun on her. My eyes are getting red.

“Tha - that aside. Unaided, a person’s ability to concentrate is more or less their limit, no matter how much practice or training they have... but this energy, Elemera, goes beyond that. The conversion is much more efficient when you materialize it and do not just burn it internally, and you obtain a source of refined energy far beyond existing methods of generating power. That is what makes it possible for the Tailgear to be the strongest weapon.”

Twoearle dropped her gaze to my right arm.

“I believe you recovered a stone after the battle.”

I remembered the stone that I had picked up without thinking. A light green stone with a mysterious glow. Maybe because I had it in mind, the stone popped out of the bracelet and rolled into the palm of my hand.

Although it was clearly not organic, I felt a quickening in it as though alive.

“That is a crystallized element, called an Elemera Orb.”

“Elemera Orb, huh?... But why something like twintails? I understand the part about a strong mental power, but, you know, in that case... it should be love for your family, or friendship. Aren’t there lots of things like that?”

“You could say that those have a splendid strength, but look at it more carefully. The love for family that intelligent beings possess is to some extent instinct. It is the bedrock of the mind, not the motivation for life but life itself. And in your life, what do you throw yourself into, what do you long for? What are you charmed by, what do you charm others with? That is where you will find the spiritual power of the individual, will you not?”

“Throwing your life into twintails...”

Aika gave me an amazed, sidelong glance.

“What, something bad about that!? Actually it was really powerful, wasn’t it!!”

“Yes. The Twintail Element has the highest order of power even among the Elemera. And that is also what allowed me to make use of its power to create a battle suit. The name ‘Tailgear’ does not only come from the ‘tail’ in ‘twintail,’ but from the ‘tale’ of fantasy!”

“...Are you serious, twintails are the strongest...!?”

“There is no reason why a strong element must have an impressive title. Elements which make you go ‘huh?’ and tilt your head for a second are often more powerful, enough to shock you.”

My life is not some kind of mistake.

This might be an exaggeration, but I think maybe my whole life has led to this day.

“The Tailgear is a weapon built with a Twintail Element at its core. Therefore, its use is of course limited to those with a strong Twintail Element. A boy who has never himself worn twintails would ordinarily not be expected to have that much power. But in this world, the possessor of the strongest Twintail Element is... Souji-sama, it is you――”

“So I was the chosen one!!”

“Yes, you are the chosen one! ...Um~ by the way, the explanation has gotten a little boring, so would you mind switching off the lights?”

Twoearle ran her fingers along the floor as if she were playing scales on a piano and lifted her hand to touch my thigh. Aika threw a very bulky monthly shonen magazine that had been lying on the floor of my room and intercepted it.

“Ooow!”

Those thousand-odd pages weren’t just for show. Twoearle puffed on her finger.

“You said those monsters were looking for Elemera. Did they come from another world too?”

“Yes. Those guys are ―”

<center>◇</center>

A monster that looked like a bug brought its fist down bang! on the table.

“You say Lizard Guildy was defeated!? By a human!!”

“Nonsense, how is that possible!!”

“Mere negligence cannot explain that! What is this!!”

A grand hall, all dull grey. Creatures of richly individual shape were gathered at a round table like executives holding a meeting in a conference room. This was the secret base of the Ultima Guil.

Neither air nor sea nor the solid earth knowing, a crystal of science and the occult. A base and a mother ship. And also the colony where the monsters lived.

It wasn’t hidden somewhere. It wasn’t even visible to the human eye. A temple... or a better word would be a sanctuary. Now, of course, it was anchored in Souji’s world.

As the commanding officer of the raid squadron, Lizard Guildy had departed in high spirits. But he hadn’t been out for a day before he was defeated together with several dozen of the Ultiroids. The report sent a huge shock through his fellows.

“Hmmmn, what is this! Our preliminary investigations of this world showed the level of civilization was low and the element level higher than anything we’ve seen before, an ideal environment! That was what we decided, wasn’t it!!”

Angry roars rose from all corners of the room, all calm lost.

The Elemerians.

The brilliant flourishing of Elemera had been cut short in one stroke by an unknown form of life. They were outside of the evolutionary chain of all other living things, crystals of mental energy with an ego and a body. As it were, the life of Elemera itself, so they had been given that name.

Humans are organic matter, and so we take in other plants and animals to survive. With bodies of mental energy, Elemerians have to live by ― of course, absorbing that same mental energy.

Like blood donation, it had become an iron rule that Elemera must never be extracted in a quantity large enough to hurt someone. But the Elemerians sucked it all out in an instant. They built up advanced knowledge unnoticed and finally learned how to form a conspiracy, and they gathered together into a grand organization and pulled the fangs out of humanity.

That organization was the Ultima Guil, the evil army that had already crossed through many worlds and was now in the world where Souji lived.

“Si-ilence!!”

A monster in the shape of a dragon broke through the mayhem with a roar. The hall suddenly went quiet as if it had been hit by cold water.

“Commander! Dra - Drag Guildy!”

Their commander gave off a fierce fighting aura even seated in his chair. His status was clearly well above that of the other figures in the hall.

“We who trained Lizard Guildy know well his strength. What this tells us is that there is a hidden soldier with enough power to defeat him.”

“A soldier...”

“Watch. It died in an instant, but one of our Ultiroids broadcast this recorded image to us.”

On a large monitor at the front of the room, a picture of the transformed Souji appeared.

Oooohh..., a simultaneous cry of wonder.

“Lizard Guildy was defeated by her... hmmmm, if it was those twintails then I can understand it.”

“What beauty... what love... this must be the Guardian of this world!”

“One cannot call this anything other than a coincidence, the work of the gods. All we knew about the level of civilization in advance was the surface layer, so even if there are one or two warriors that transcend this world’s logic and limits, it is not so mysterious. We have faced warriors who oppose us many times before, have we not.”

“...But up until now the strong enemies we have been fighting have all fallen into our ... aoooooh, what is this!?”

The muscular soldiers stood up out of their chairs with a tremendous noise. Broken into six parts, the monitor was showing the young warrior from all directions. A moment when her twintails were in lively motion had been captured, just like a blog review of a figurine.

Oh my.

Hmm.

Oh, this is.

They were supposed to be mourning Lizard Guildy but had become judges in a twintails show.

“More than anything, this young child... I sense in her fate both dread and destiny. These are not just twintails, this is not just a young girl. I feel a profound mystery here, don’t you?”

Drag Guildy folded his arms and curled his upper lip back. His eyes were missing nothing as he watched the screen, with a gleam of wit in them that didn’t match his bold and grim appearance.

“Well, what shall it be? Will we tuck our tail between our legs and leave for another world?”

With a faint smile, he cast his eyes over the company. The answer was obvious, and so the only response was a fearless grin from them all.

“What are you saying, sir? With twintails like that before us, to run to some trash world?”

“Heh... It looks like I’ve found the place I’m going to die.”

“Then nothing has changed. We will take those twintails and the Elemera of this world together!!”

Eaaaaaaaaahh...!!

Each and every one of them was a soldier so gallant and resolute that it was almost stifling.

“This is a happy accident, isn’t it? An formidable enemy comes out of nowhere and blocks our path - when that happens, a military man’s blood starts roaring even harder!”

Drag Guildy let out a ringing laugh with a look rising on his face that mixed joy and madness.

This is the Ultima Guil.

Callous monsters who cross between dimensions and have made humanity their enemy ―― we have the general idea of them for now.

<center>◇</center>

“Your world was destroyed, Twoearle!?”

I was amazed at what she casually said after she was done talking about the monsters.

“All of the people of my world had their Elemera stolen away by the Ultima Guil. Looking at the world from far away, you might not notice a single difference... but it was a lonely world of people who were somehow inanimate, with no ambition. There can be no invasion so quiet and cruel.”

In other words, what they destroyed was the heart of the world ― what they conquered was people’s spirit, or more like...

“In our world, the technology of Elemera had not yet been established, so they were an evil beyond human knowledge. There was no way to fight them. On top of that, you remember, you two thought at first that the girls were not hurt. It is hard to understand the real depth of an injury to Elemera. We dragged our feet when we should have opposed them with all our strength.”

“...Twoearle...”

Aika who had been optimistic back then hung her head in agreement.

A world where no one can meddle with the things they love, the things they pour their heart into. When I imagine it, I shiver.

“Definitely. They wouldn’t launch a serious global-scale counteroffensive against a monster that said stupid stuff like that, either, right.”

“Because I saw injury early, I conducted research on their technology before they started to seriously gather Elemera. Thanks to that, not all of my Elemera was stolen from me, but...”

You didn’t have enough to protect the world?

“Twoearle, you’re a researcher? To analyse a technology your world didn’t yet have, that’s amazing. You must be ridiculously smart. And you look like you’re about as old as we are.”

“My age is a secret!”

Twoearle put a finger to her lip and winked. Maybe sick of her girlish attitude, Aika bent her eyebrows up in a 八 shape like a punk in a leather jacket.

“If once stolen, the absorbed Elemera will never return. So it is a revenge that will bear no fruit, but... I would like to use my power to stop them from invading, at least.”

“All right! It’s a huge blessing for us that our interests coincide, but I’ll do it, to strike at the enemies of your world, and to keep our own world safe. Thank you for letting me use this power.”

“Yes! Please use it any way you want! This body!!”

Aika lashed out like a whip to grab Twoearle, who had a triumphant smile on her face as if she didn’t feel like it was enough to just let me use the Tailgear, and floored her with a back suplex.

I can see their underpants perfectly from where I’m sitting but, why is it, why is it that even when they do this I’m not feeling anything erotic about these two.

“Come to think of it, Twoearle, isn’t there anyone else who can use the Tailgear?”

“I cannot mass-produce them, but... there is just one more. And I have found someone who is qualified to use it already.”

“Really!? In that case, we...”

“But... it is not a person with a just spirit like you, Souji-sama. I don’t know if person is even the right word for them. An inhuman barbarian, heartless, a wild beast stained through to their soul with violence. If I gave such a mighty power to that demon, even supposing they could use it, I think they might become a greater threat to Earth than the Ultima Guil are.”

Twoearle poured out her heart with a bitter expression.

“Is that so? There are villains like that among people who like twintails, that’s kind of sad...”

“Hmm. Even though they have Elemera, they’re a demon with no heart. That’s odd.”

“Yes. I could not have believed it myself until I saw it with my own eyes. Actually, I still can’t believe it.”

In any case, we can’t expect reinforcements. It looks like I have to fight by myself for now or it’ll be hopeless.

“Naturally, I want to stop Souji from fighting in a war, but if he’s the only one that can fight, I guess there’s nothing I can do... But your safety is your first priority, all right?”

“Yeah, I know!”

“You don’t know! Listen, if you’re the greatest thing to them, you’re going to become their number one target! What if you lose, what do you think they’re going to do to you!?”

“Aika, you’re so gloomy... Elemerians do not have any particular interest in the human bo... lime juice!!”

Another back suplex. Before long the floor’s going to wear out.

“Your face is bright red, is it not! You are imagining something like tentacles!!”

“Sh, shut up shut up!! If they like that kind of thing, or if they have an element like that...”

Aika, waving her hands like an angry kid, abruptly stopped with a serious look.

“...Hey. You said that all the world’s Elemera was stolen, right? Then how did the Tailgear...”

“Oh my, it’s already this late!”

Twoearle looked somewhat unnaturally at the clock hanging on the wall behind her and clapped her hands. Aika had started to say something, but was interrupted by her badly delivered line and made another 八 with her eyebrows.

“I think that it would be a good idea to go home and rest before long, Aika. Are you not tired?”

“No, I’m just fine. Why are you trying to get me to go home by myself?”

“I thought you might be tired...”

Endless.

Twoearle felt around in the pockets of her white coat, and stood up suddenly with a smirk.

“Souji-sama, I am going to go make some more tea.”

“No, I can’t let you do that, you’re a guest - hey.”

I tried to get up but she stopped me, put the cups on the tray, and left the room hastily.

“...Hey, wait a second, Twoearle! My mom’s in the kitche...!!”

“I have made some more.”

“So fast!?”

I was about to hurry out of the room and follow her, but the door opened again after only seconds. Did she use the teleportation pen again? For some reason she had just one cup and was holding it carefully.

There was steam rising from it, certainly, but... did she really make more.

No, it’s not steam, there are bubbles rising from the unnaturally boiling water, or a piece of wrapping paper had fallen out of the pocket she was using, or it looked like she had just finished emptying the contents, or is that what’s going on or isn’t it, which one is it, it’s this mood where a chill is running up my spine again.

“Well, please go ahead, Aika.”

“Uh, okay...?”

You’ve been shouting all this time, your throat is probably dry.

Aika accepted it obediently and was about to raise the cup to her lips...

“...”

Her hand trembled and she stopped short as if she had felt the presence of a ghost. I couldn’t help but be drawn to the source of the gaze either. When I looked tactfully out of the corner of my eye at Twoearle, she was sta-ring at Aika with her eyes wide open like an owl.

“Now, drink,” her look said.

“...Twoearle, try a little bit of this.”

Aika handed back the cup.

“No, I have already had enough.”

“Just a sip is fine, though.”

“No, no.”

“Please, drink.”

“Absolutely not.”

“...You put something in this, didn’t you, you fucker!!”

Aika brandished the cup and threw the tea in Twoearle’s face.

“Nyuonmuuuu!!”

“Aaah ―― what are you doing, Aika!! That’s terrible!!”

When I see the way Twoearle is holding her mouth firmly closed, I feel absolutely sure she did put a sleeping pill or something in there. Why is she trying this hard to get Aika to go away!?

“Sou-ji, you can’t put any confidence in this woman! She absolutely has some kind of plot!!”

Uh, you know, I’m not going to believe everything Twoearle says all of a sudden either, but usually, when I try to think carefully about it, I get interrupted by screaming. What am I supposed to do!

“Calling it a plot is too harsh, I think.”

“So - Souji... Why are you putting this much trust in her! Is it because she has breasts!?”

Aika demanded an answer with tears in her eyes. Was she worrying about it that much? Maybe it would have been better to hold back the joke about her chest in that fight...

I pulled a hand towel out of the storage under my bed.

“Use this towel, Twoearle. I’m going to bring some ice from downstairs.”

“That is all right, it was not really that hot.”

“It looked pretty hot!?”

I started to wipe Twoearle’s face carefully with the towel.

“...M~m... m~ fu...”

She’s bringing her face unnaturally close to me. Watching us, Aika started to groan quietly, and her body was shaking. Feelings of guilt were naturally welling up within her, I guess?

“I don’t think you’ll have a burn... Aika, even if she came from another world, she’s just a normal human being. If you do the kind of tsukkomi you usually do on me, she’ll get hurt.”

I should have said that back when we met. How many punches has she taken already?

“Oh, that’s right.”

Twoearle, lying back in my arms as I was wiping her face, smiled as if she had realized something and suddenly began to wriggle again.

“It is hot... it is hot inside my clothes too. Please wipe me there...”

She took off her white coat. The plump breasts under her thin untrustworthy underwear shook as if they were about to burst.

“Eeeh...!? No, that is, uh, definitely... I’ll ask Aika.”

“If Aika did it, she might pour more boiling water in, I am worried.”

“I’m not gonna!!”

“That is a lie! You were trying to see if you could twist off my breasts earlier!!”

“They stayed on in the end, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

I think I can turn a blind eye to this conversation. I feel unspeakable fear responding in me, a long way beyond any of the scenes of destruction that I saw today.

“Let me have that!!”

As I broke out in a cold sweat, Aika took the chance and grabbed the towel from me.

“Nuryaaa!!”

Aika threw all her strength into scrubbing Twoearle’s chest with the towel to the point that it was more like rubdown therapy.

“The heat of friction is cutting down my breaaaaasts!!”

“You should get cut down to the bone, people like you!!”

It’s a little late to be saying this, but that first impression of Twoearle has certainly been smashed to atoms.

“Let, let’s talk about exactly how to operate the Tailgear later... I will leave the details for tomorrow or later, so let us stop here, all right...”

Twoearle made this suggestion while rubbing her chest. (By the way, without learning anything she said “Souji-sama, could you rub my chest” and took an open-palm blow from Aika on her chin.)

“Yeah, okay.”

To be honest, there are still many things I haven’t heard enough about, but I decided to agree with her since Aika has been in a really bad mood this whole time. I’ve asked the main things, and this should be enough for today. And I think this conversation is going to cut down Twoearle’s life if it goes on too long.

“Um... sorry. Throwing the tea on you. I went too far there.”

Aika seemed to be unwilling, but she apologized.

“It is all right. After all, I am stronger than a normal human. Incidentally, I think the other threats to my life may also have gone a bit too far.”

“Sorry, all right!!”

Stronger. I hadn’t expected to hear that word, and doubt rose into my mind at it. What was it that gave Twoearle that strength? She said that her goal was revenge, but I can’t feel even a hint of tragedy in her.

No, it wasn’t the kind of “invasion” that left everything a scorched earth, but even when she was talking about her old world, even when she was explaining her enemy the Elemerians, there didn’t seem to be even a bit of anger or sadness or resentment in her.

If that’s because she was putting a happy face on it, I think she really is strong.

“Umm~.”

“Whoa!”

Twoearle rubbed her hands together in front of my thighs, and gave me a look pregnant with meaning that was mixed with long, feverish breaths.

“So, then, Souji-sama. I also want to be able to back you up in a fight, so, from now on, I would like us to do everything together as much as possible. For efficiency’s sake, even eating and sleeping... um, the essential one of those is sleeping...”

She closed her mouth there. A look as sharp as a bed of nails had been fired from behind me.

“Eating and sleeping... wait, you mean here?”

“Yes, so would you allow me to borrow a room? As long as I can sleep it will be enough.”

“Huh!?”

“If you are going to say ‘we don’t have any rooms to lend to someone like you,’ then even a toilet will be fine, so... Hhh, haah...”

That would be even more inconvenient. But Twoearle is breathing louder for some reason.

“No, there’s not really anyone here but me and my mom, and we have extra rooms, so it’s fine, but... can’t you stay at Aika’s house? You’re both girls, and there’s something better about that.”

Aika’s parents are overseas for a job right now, so she’s living together with her older sister. As long as her sister is okay with it, I think that would be better, but...

“It is better with a boy and a girl... er, what I mean is, there are a number of considerations.”

“Even Aika doesn’t normally throw tea on people. Do you?”

“Of course I don’t! How savage do you think I am!!”

She wants to say I’m being ridiculous, but looking back at the amount of violence in not even an entire afternoon, she doesn’t make so unpersuasive an objection.

“But I am going to support you, Souji-sama, so it is more efficient if you let me live here. The assassins of the Ultima Guil are going to be coming again and again after this, you know!”

“U~mm, but...”

That was something that I didn't have an instant reply to. First of all, how should I explain this to mom?

“My mom is really like a kid in some ways. So, you know, if this incident leaks out, I’m worried she’ll stick her nose in.”

She lives her life jumping into the next exciting thing - for example, her half-hearted management of the cafe. If I let her know that I’m going to take care of a girl, she won’t worry about it or scold me, she is the master of taking nothing seriously. I’m scared to talk to her about this. I can see too clearly what would happen.

“Another urgent matter is the establishment of a base.”

“A base―”

Aika was taken aback at the jump in vocabulary. Come to think of it, there was something about that in the chart for the Tailgear.

“Due to the tremendous scale of the enemy, the system that supports Souji-sama must be flawless. Mission support, monitoring of the combat, maintenance of all kinds... it will also act as a research laboratory, so the base has to have a suitable size.”

“I see.”

I agreed with her. The value of support had been more than proven in the first battle today.

“And so, I would like you to allow me to dig a space underneath your house. The ground under this house is also more suitable.”

“Space under my house!? I’m not sure it will be okay if there’s an earthquake or something.”

“...Wait, the ground? But I live right next door...”

Aika’s also extremely worried. We’re such close neighbours that we’re practically connected, after all.

“Please do not worry. I will finish it tonight.”

Twoearle said something so ridiculous that people throughout the world working in the construction industry are going to do an old-fashioned spit take and blow out their tea.

“That makes it even harder to feel safe. What’s that lightning-speed work! Our houses aren’t just all going to sink into the ground, right?”

Twoearle shook her head gently and smiled sweetly.

“Aika, if you were living by yourself, I would not be unwilling even to demolish you and your house together with explosives, but I cannot cause trouble for your family.”

“Why don’t you get buried, hey, why don’t you get buried!”

Aika is shoving Twoearle’s head into the floor with an angry look on her face, on the verge of caving in the floorboards. She’s so beautiful that you feel ashamed just to look at her, but it looks like Aika’s gotten totally used to that. She doesn’t hold back when she scolds her.

“Twoearle. I’ll persuade my mom one way or another, so... could you help me think of a good reason why we’re going to live together? I absolutely don’t want anything about the Tailgear and the stuff about the Ultima Guil to come out.”

“Leave that to me. I can think of any number of lies like that. I am Seek Time=Zero Twoearle, I need no thinking time whatsoever.”

She hit her chest proudly with a thump. Another sketchy name in the ruby.

“Don’t act proud! And don’t shake your breasts!!”

Aika shot an “I still haven’t wiped it enough?” glare at that chest as if it had killed her father.

“How about this? I am your classmate, studying abroad from a foreign country.”

“I see, a homestay line or something?”

“No, I was lost in an unfamiliar city, and you tricked and kidnapped me and locked me up. See, I’m desperately trying to run away, so it makes perfect sense for me to dig a hole!”

“Does that make sense!!”

Twoearle took a punch to the liver.

“...I’ll persuade her on my own, okay?”

“Yeah. That’s a better idea. Go do it before she gets back up.”

I’m sorry. I can’t watch this.

She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life, and she’s rolling on the floor in agony in a way I’ve never seen outside of a fighting manga. It could easily overturn my whole view of life to look directly at this spectacle.

I went out into the hallway and breathed a big sigh of resignation.

This is the first time I’ve ever told my mom a lie this huge. It’s a kind of tension I’ve never tasted before.

The homestay line is the safest one, I think.

I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to explain it all afterward, but I am not good at lying. Ad-libbing doesn’t work either, as I’ve had rubbed in my face twice today.

“I’ll hide the parts I need to, and I’ll explain the truth as much as I can afterward. That’s all I can do...”

My mom was leaning on the with her arms folded when I came down the stairs.

“―― I hope you didn’t mind me listening in!”

“Don't listen to――!!”

“Oh my.”

I pulled my mom into the living room.

“Do you not care about your own son’s privacy?!!”

“You brought a girl other than Aika-chan along with you. I was sure there would be some interesting developments!!”

I rubbed my forehead and groaned. The whole thing was already revealed back when we walked in. I shouldn’t have worried about eyewitnesses at the scene, I should have been on maximum alert after I came home.

“...How much did you hear?! What did you hear?!!”

“I heard a girl screaming over and over. Muhuhu, things were pretty rough.”

Ah, she heard almost the whole thing. That’s already almost the whole thing. By the way, all the violence without exception was the young girl from next door.

“You said you were the ones who settled the incident that was on the news?”

“Why do you believe that!? Don’t you even have a little doubt!?”

We believe it because we saw it with our own eyes and then fought in it, but somehow she believes the whole thing just from eavesdropping on us.

My mother looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

“So at last, this day has come...”

I stepped back in shock at the serious expression on my mother’s face.

This calmness, the speed of adaptation... there was only one conclusion I could come to.

“...It can’t be, mom, you’ve already known for a long time... I was going to be chosen as the wearer of the Tailgear...!!”

“Umm, I don't know anything about it, but...”

Complete denial with the same serious face.

“Why were you acting like you knew!? Or actually, you didn’t hear anything we talked about!!”

“Monsters called Elemerians in the Ultima Guil attacked this world to obtain Elemera, the mental energy of humans, and you fight them using a suit called the Tailgear, Sou-chan?”

“Or you understand all of it, or which one!?”

That’s impressive understanding considering she was eavesdropping.

“...This was my dream, you know.”

My mother raised her face to heaven with lips tinged with drool and an expression of ecstasy on her face.

“Souji, your mother grew up with an aggravated case of chuunibyou. I went through my days dreaming of becoming a heroine who protected the world, and finally, without ever getting my wish, I became a mother of one. But, listen, I passed that dream down through the umbilical cord and I entrusted it to you.”

“What are you doing to your kid before he’s even born!!”

With a little effort this could probably have become a moving, unforgettable conversation between parent and child, but my mom was talking about the errors of her youth.

“And your late father, he was also ――― a terminal chuunibyou patient.”

“What did you need that pause for?! ...So Dad had a bad case of chuunibyou too...”

My eyes feel itchy, and not because I’m about to cry.

“We fell in love in an instant, and threw our chuuni back and forth at each other to our hearts’ content, wishing together. Dad also wanted very, very much to be a hero. He’d make stories where he became a hero in great detail, and he let me hear about them! At the end, he’d even tell me how he felt when he powered up and things like that.”

“Stop― I think I’m about to run into the front hall and smash his portrait!!”

I pressed my hands against my skull as if I were under assault by ultrasonic waves. Just listening to these memories feels like it’s blocking the blood vessels in my brain.

“But your mother's greatest dream was to meet a young man from the enemy organization and fall in love. And on the other hand, your father was dreaming of the exact opposite situation, so we fought with each other on countless occasions! Actually, several times we decided to break up.”

English is not my strong point at all, but right now I think I could fluently say “ＯＨＭＹＧＯＤ!”

Someone who tries to put on a bracelet that transforms you into a young girl when they ask to share a table seems normal.

My parents, on countless occasions, fought and broke up for reasons as irrational as any in the world - it’s too heavy for the heart of a boy in adolescence. It’s very difficult to take.

“It was the winter of our third year in university. Your heartbroken mother said, “Let’s try a setting where a boy and girl who are always at each others’ throats are drawn to each other,” as a concession, but your father insisted that it had to be forbidden love with the female commander of the enemy forces (wearing body armor like a swimsuit) and refused to compromise. Even our relationship can only go so far... that’s about the time I started to resign myself to that. ...Sou-chan. I realized that you were in my belly around...”

Ectoplasm is coming out of my mouth. I can’t push it back in, my hands have no strength.

Dating each other with messed up fantasies, and then a shotgun marriage. This kind of parents. What do I do, what am I supposed to do with these frustrated feelings.

Something even heavier than the peace of the planet Earth is settling onto my shoulders.

“After that we got along with each other so well that it seemed unbelievable... heh heh, we often said that our child was the tie between us.”

That might have been true in my mother’s relationship, but when I hear that right now I feel pain like a spike being driven through my head!

“There’s one more important thing I have to say. This is a good time, I think.”

“Huh?”

“You know, Souji... you’re the oldest child, so did you ever wonder why your name has the character ‘two’ in it?”

A deep sadness dwelled in my mother’s eyes.

Certainly I’ve wondered, but in the end I never asked about it.

Why is she talking about that now?

“...Ah... Did I have some older brother or sister that you expected to come before me!?”

Mom shook her head.

“It came from the shared feelings of your father and I. ‘Ah, the real grade two of middle school was the most fun time,’ we said. It was the nostalgia we felt for those happy days gone by that made us put the letter ‘two’ in grade two in your name!...”

[Unavoidable TL note: The literal meaning of chuunibyou is "grade-two-of-middle-school syndrome," or eighth grade syndrome. Miharu and her husband loved the way they felt that year so much that they put the "two" in grade two into Souji's name.]

“Couldn’t you have taken that secret to the grave!? I’m going to be a delinquent! If they had to hear interesting secrets of their birth one after another like this, any normal adolescent human would be a delinquent already the next day!”

“I wanted to make it something more impressive, really. Like Meteo or Ultimate. But this was another compromise between the two of us - we finally chose a kanji that we both liked.”

“Sorry, Souji is good.”

I sunk to my knees at last. I nearly wore the name of a self-conscious enemy organization...

Hey, is it possible that my, the part of me that people think is a bit of a pain, really is a hereditary thing passed down through the umbilical cord?

The sound of a floorboard creaking made me hold my breath.

“Um~, is it all right?”

“Wai... Twoearle, you can’t come yet!”

Twoearle was peeking into the living room, half hiding behind the door. She is already very lively even though she took a straight punch to the liver some minutes ago.

“Hehe, you let me listen in on your conversation, Twoearle-chan!”

“Actually, I have also been taking the opportunity to listen in.”

I’m out of reactions.

That funny story about my birth, on a level that could win a prize if you submitted it to a variety program - I guess she heard that too. I could die of agony from the memory.

“Honored mother... I have already spoken about this with Souji-sama, but I would like to live here, if you would be so kind.”

“Sure, I’ve got no reason to say no!”

“Also, I would like to build a research laboratory underground if possible, and use it as a starting point for backup.”

“Get it done right away. A hundred kilometers deep if you like. I always wanted a secret base. Let me see it once in a while, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Heeeeeyy―!?”

The conversation is advancing bewilderingly fast. She’s even been allowed to break the limits on excavation depth in the private property regulations, it’s nuts.

“Also, honored mother, could I manage to have you say ‘Oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!’?”

“...Twoearle-chan, that’s good. You are really good! For someone like you to come to us from an alternate universe makes me really happy! Please think of this place as your own home! ...But, oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!”

The hell are you playing it back perfectly like a voice recorder! That’s a woman who devoted her whole youth to chuunibyou for you. Apparently mom can also use Seek Time=Zero.

I’m being washed in some kind of aura coming off the two of them, mom and Twoearle, and it looks to me like they’re being pulled together by something like magnetic force. ...Sympathy?

Twoearle must have a severe case of chuunibyou also, I guess. She puts Vs into words, too.

This is scary, now what am I going to do, I’m asking you a favor, so, just once, let me cry without worrying about what other people might think.

“And so I don’t have any problem with Twoearle staying at our house. Think of this as your own home, including Sou-chan’s room, and use it without reservation.”

“Thank you very much, Mother (in law). It will mainly be Souji-sama’s room that I think of as my house.”

What’s this? They’re making fun of me, I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on.

If I make comebacks one by one it’ll be me who loses.

I bowed my head. I had reached a degree of enlightenment.

“...Hehe, instead, would you mind making Sou-chan into a proper man sometime?”

“Oh, no, Mother (in law), please don’t be so reserved. Why do you not say ‘tonight?’”

“Twoearle-chan...!!”

“Mother (in law)...!!”

The two hugged each other for dear life.

Aika came down the stairs at a run, raising dust. “Wai... Aunt Miharu, come over here, please!”

“My my, mother is very popular.”

“And also, you, don’t think “in law” when you say mother!”

“How did you know!?”

Aika went right past Twoearle without even remembering to punch her. ...Maybe I should cry now while I can... silently, with tears streaming down my face.

<center>◇</center>

Aika took Souji’s mom ・Miharu into a neighbouring room and closed the door. She really didn’t want to be heard, opening the door a crack to check Souji and then shutting it again right away.

“Aunt Miharu! Think about this carefully! If you make him live together with a woman like that, Souji’s virtue will be in danger!”

“I couldn’t ask for more, could I? Suddenly a beautiful girl comes to live with the hero, and things turn in an erotic direction. It’s just like that day, that hour, the dream I painted in my mind back then! Even if she pushes Souji down, it won’t bother me at all.”

“And you still call yourself his mother!!”

It looks like she also painted a detailed love comedy in her youth of chuuni fantasy, but... I wonder why a woman had a dream with a development like that?

“But, it’s normal for a parent to want her son to find a girlfriend?”

Miharu gave her a probing look.

“......That...... that might be true, but......”

A bashful Aika poking her fingers together.

“Or else, you, Aika-chan...?”

Aika hastily waved her hand. “It’s not like I... I’m just worried about Souji as his childhood friend...”

“Ye~s, if that girl hadn’t appeared, I wanted to look at you a little more carefully.”

“Wh, what are you saying?”

“Twoearle-chan has a good look in her eyes. They’re the eyes of a woman who wants to eat a virgin, an aroused woman with no principles!”

“Even as a joke, is that something you say about your guest!?”

It made even Aika feel pity; she tried to defend her.

“A guest... no! Twoearle-chan is already a fine member of our family.”

The door opened with a soft sound. Twoearle came in, her eyes wet with tears.

“Mother (in law)...”

She gripped both of Miharu’s hands tightly, and something passed between their eyes.

“Huh? Why is there an emotional atmosphere!?”

“I am sorry, mother, but I am not a woman without principles. I have one principle: Souji-sama.”

“You should deny the rest of it too!!”

“That is right. It’s romance for a woman to lose all her principles when it comes to a single man!”

Has a day come when in just a few minutes the air is filled with such unromantic words? Why has a girl her age gotten to the point where her eyes brim with happy tears when mom calls her a virgin eater? Just like Souji, Aika seems to have been assaulted by a violent headache.

Although she was holding her forehead with her head lowered, Aika’s lips were pressed hard together. Miharu still thinks she’s just worried about Souji, and no, she still didn’t trust her.

(The way she’s acting, some of it is joking, but...)

Twoearle was holding hands with Miharu and turning around in circles as Aika stared with distrustful eyes.

(There are a lot of crucial things she’s holding out of focus. Like in a world where Elemera had been hunted to exhaustion, how did she get the Twintail Element for the core of the Tailgear?)

The Tailgear, armor that lets you fight without covering your face. Aika felt that its manufacturer had hidden her own face behind a heavy mask.

(I know there’s something important she’s hiding...)

<center>◇</center>

Aika had stressed it to the point of stubbornness as she was about to head home.

“Souji, from today on, sleep with your door locked.”

“Why?”

“Who cares! If you don’t, I’ll weld it shut from outside!!”

That’s ridiculous, it’s a wooden door, I was thinking, but I understood it as Aika’s way of saying that I should be more careful about crime prevention. Without objecting any further, I nodded obediently, and I went obediently to bed that night. But.

Mohyan.

Memepoppo, puryon.

Kyopo-. Kyopo-.

Ryoromuminminminmohe-.

“............”

I can’t sleep.

I hardly feel awake, but my eyes have opened on their own.

It’s fine, leave it to me, Twoearle had said.

I’m not worried about something like digging a hole in the basement of the house. Even taking present-day Japan as an example, construction techniques have reached the point where they look like magic to an ordinary person, as you can see from the subways stretching through the earth under Tokyo like the mesh of a net.

Twoearle has come from a world where scientific techniques are far more advanced, so even though she’s doing rush construction, I don’t think there’s much reason to worry about a cave-in. I understand that, and I’m lying in bed like this, but...

No matter how I put them into text, it seems like you’ll doubt my sense of sound - what in the world are these weird construction noises?

“Ah! ...Dangerous, dangerous, I was almost about to break through to the planetary core...”

I shouldn’t be able to hear her distant voice, but it was as clear as if it were directly assaulting my brain.

Let’s sleep.

I have to sleep.

I have to leave these odd sounds and words on the other side of a dream.

Before much time had passed, suddenly the sounds stopped. She said she’d get it done in one night so I thought she’d have to work hard tonight, but it looks like she’s finished. Or the planetary core - no, let’s not think about it.

My exposure to the vortex of weird sound made even the ticking of the second hand of the wall clock sounded louder than usual when it stopped.

“Whew...”

I should be terribly tired, but for some reason I’m wide awake and can’t sleep. I raised my upper body out of bed and opened the curtains of the window.

The sky was full of stars.

As I watched them rising into the night sky I had a poetic thought, out of character.

That girl is just like a fragment that has fallen from one of those stars.

Zip.

A human face with bloodshot eyes fell into sight, facing the other way up. Its wide eyes met mine straight on as it passed the window.

“Gwaa――――――!!”

“Aahwaa――――――!!”

I fell off the bed in surprise but the girl on the other side of the window didn’t have it that easy.

“Hawawa, Souji-sama...”

“What are you doing, Twoearle!!”

Getting back on my bed, I hurried to pull up Twoearle, who got her hand on the windowframe in the nick of time. Well, first, my nomination of “fragment of a star” will probably lose the election without much debate.

...She had been doing some Sunday carpentry on the planetary engineering level, but despite that she had a nice smell. Something like peaches.

“I, I am inexcusably sorry, it looks as though I fell asleep while I was working and... while I was half asleep I walked up to the roof at some point, and the instant I realized where I was, my foot carelessly slipped and I fell.”

Seek Time=Zero. Certainly the thinking time is extremely close to zero, but isn’t the roughness of the contents a fatal flaw?

“Er... If that’s really true, there is room for careful thought about our mutual position.”

“No, no, no, you can use any position you want and I will be fine! Strength, direction, time doesn’t matter, whatever, however, wherever you come from, by all means!!”

I feel like a misunderstanding has crept in somewhere, but if she tells me I can take whatever position I want, I want her to let me put a little distance between us, so that’s how we’ll do it.

“Hey, Sou-ji, what are you doing! There was a huge noise, but......!!”

The sound of a window being shoved open.

Wearing light blue pajamas, Aika bent forward out of her window, her face changing color.

The house next door... my room and Aika’s are right across, and the gap between them is so small that you can put one foot on each window, but tonight that convenience has backfired.

“...Ah?”

Twoearle was sitting on the bed just the way I had pulled her up. We were facing each other.

“What are you doing in theeere!!”

With a violent four-footed leap, Aika entered my room with a dynamic ☆ sorry for butting in and with the same force sent Twoearle flying.

“Eh...... me... why me, in a love comedy it is the guy who gets punch... higaah!!”

Under Aika’s rush Twoearle floated into the air hit by hit.

Together with the dull sounds of impact.

The brilliant kicks and punches continued without a break.

And on top of that, the illusion of faint blue afterimages on the arc of motion.

This is the first time I’ve seen a human being do that outside of a fighting game.

“What are these about, these breasts! They piss me off! They piss me off!!”

“Do not worry. I myself used to be very small once. But I reached an ordinary size after two or three years. By the way, if you do not stop sooner or later I will di...”

“What do you mean average!? There’s nothing average about them -mune!!”

Ah, it's pathetically moving the way she’s turned her overflowing anger into a verbal tic.

“Even if I am from another world, human gh...”

They’re so close to me, but they’re far away.

“...Heeey.”

Even calling to them didn’t stop them, so I gave up on all of it and pulled the futon over my head.

<center>◇</center>

Yougetsu Academy suspended its first hour of classes, and the whole school was gathered in the gymnasium. Of course, about the incident yesterday.

A solemn atmosphere ruled by silence.

The fact that I couldn’t see any odd students out who were yawning and wishing for the assembly to end soon seemed odd in itself.

Only one thing broke the quiet: the steps of the student council president, Shindou Erina, walking up to the podium.

Standing at it, she swept her gaze across the room to cover every student. Just like peasants waiting for a verdict from the South Magistrate of Edo, they kept silent, waiting for her to speak.

Several of her maids stood like special police in the shadows behind her, maybe reflecting on their failure yesterday. They weren’t worrying about the way things looked any more.

“Everyone. As you are aware, the town faced a heretofore unprecedented danger yesterday, when it was assaulted by a group of mysterious monsters.”

Certainly, it’s beyond unprecedented. The monsters with their clear intention to collect twintails are in some sense even more of a shock than an invasion from outer space.

“In fact, I happened to be at the site, and was one of the targets.”

“Wh...!!”

“What’s that!”

The students suddenly started to murmur. They were trying to keep quiet for the sake of the president, but even so, when their anger rose up and overflowed, they couldn’t hold it back.

Her twintails were swaying with the motions of her body and hands, so I felt the tension rise too.

“Unforgivable!!”

“Even if it kills me, I’m going to try and beat them!”

“Hey, quick, someone strap dynamite to my body! Shut up, do it right now!”

Male and female students were shouting without a pause, as angry as if it had happened to them personally, or rather angrier. The flame of anger ran through the students’ bodies like a fuse, trying to turn the children of two thousand parents into insurgents.

If getting carried away like this is your school spirit, then just laugh and accept something small like my slip of the tongue yesterday!

“Your righteous anger makes me very happy. It is a wonderful thing for your hearts to ache for a stranger. And on top of that, for someone like me who is so inexperienced as a leader.”

She was short, so she was using a riser to reply. And yet still she was standing on tiptoes. I thought of a young girl stretching out as far as possible to write her answer on the blackboard.

That courage was another source of intoxication for her very well-trained dogs... rather, students.

“However, their aim was not me alone. Even in this room, there are several people who were targeted, I believe? And if we look outside of school there are even more girls who almost fell into the evil hands of the invaders.”

Another burst of murmuring, but this time she intercepted it with a sharp “But!”

“As you can see, I stand here unharmed. There is still very little information on television, but I believe many of you have learned about it from the net or other places. At that place there appeared like the wind... a gallant fighter for justice, who was kind enough to save us!”

Her voice became a little sweeter in the middle. She sounded just like a princess, her heart burning for the one she loved.

......A fighter for justice?

I felt an uncomfortable suspicion, and cold sweat ran down my spine.

“――That girl, that day, she stole my heart!!”

A loud and enthusiastic cheer rose up in response.

‘I’ve been waiting for those words, President!!”

“I’m so glad... Although I’ve been saying ‘a tiny girl with so much pride, so sexy,’ honestly I feel hesitant. But if that’s what the president says, I don’t feel sad at all any more!!”

“This is bad... I do feel sad, but it's still sexy!!”

“The tiny little president has a tiny little ally of justice... is this the kindness of God? I feel like I understand something about the world!”

It was a cauldron of excitement. I was reminded of the scene you often see at the end of an action movie, when they find out that the operation was successful and a whole room of FBI agents wave their hands in the air and cheer.

One after another they say things that make me worry about the future of Japan, or the world.

Eh? Could it be that I got the president to fall in love with me?

But the one she likes is me as TailRed... as a little girl... eh?

“Students, behold!”

When the president raised her right hand, without a moment’s delay one of the maids set up a projector screen. A large image of a girl appeared on it.

““““Ooooo―hh!!””””

“Aaah!!”

The exact opposite of the cheers around me. Sure enough, what they had put up on the screen was me after transformation. It’s a perfect angle. Pictures like this have already leaked out here and there on the net, it seems like.

“Eee...”

It’s frustrating, but... those are spectacular twintails...!! I can’t keep myself from looking!!

Lined up with the president, it’s a splendid view that is already rocking my heart.

A fierce power created by the harmony of two bodies in one, like being under the gaze of the two temple guardians that stand at the Niōmon.

It's probably because it resonates with the two beautiful tails of hair that are the foundation of the twintail.

“The Shindou family has decided to do everything in its power to support her! I ask everyone here, somehow, together with us, to aid the savior of the new era!”

The cheering became even louder.

A passionate gaze at the president, and TailRed’s twintails.

Everyone is looking at... my twintails――――

“Huh!?”

I felt my heart beating strangely fast in my chest for a reason it would not be a good idea to think about, and made a fist with my right hand and punched myself in the cheek.

The Shindou family had decided to support me, including even the president’s mother, the director of Yougetsu Academy. Lots of the students adore the president, so the student body should agree almost without exception.

The whole school is behind me ― but as someone who’s burdened with the job of turning into a little girl this isn’t something like high school baseball, where I can be openly proud of the fact that every student is cheering me on.

Even though school has just started, I can’t remember anything that’s happening in class.

I’m overhearing bits of gossip from all over, and probably all of it is about me, TailRed.

The day went by, and my stomach continued to hurt.

<center>◇</center>

At lunch, Aika came over to my seat carrying a bundle with a bento box in it.

“Hey, Souji, listen, after school...”

“Ah, sorry. I’m going home as soon as school ends, I promised to listen to the explanation of the Tailgear. And I need to let her show me the base, too.”

I answered her quietly to keep from being heard.

“The rest from yesterday?”

“I’m just going to hear how to use it, so you don’t have to come today.”

“...Just you and her?”

“There’s no one else, is there?”

It’s possible Mom will insist on joining in from the start this time.

“―M, me too!!”

Aika banged the table with the water bottle she was holding.

“I want... to hear it too, so let me come.”

“...Okay.”

With that much force in her voice, that was all I could say.

It was the first day of normal class. It was too early for people to be having lunch with new friends they had made, so almost everyone in both the bento faction and the cafeteria faction was eating with the people they knew from middle school.

Aika has quite a few friends from back in middle school, but I don’t even have one. I appreciate the fact that she’s coming to see me at lunch like this.

Yeah, that’s right.

We’re always together like this. If Aika wants to, I’ll let her hang out with me to the end.

“Ohh~, I haven’t seen this picture before!!”

When I looked over at the happy group of guys that were gathered by the window, their eyes were rooted to a tablet that one of them was holding.

“I’ve decided! From now on, I am TailRed-tan’s oniichan!!”

The lethal noise pierced my eardrum.

“Pffff―”

Without thinking I spit out the Fruits au Lait I was drinking.

“Wait a minute, Souji, don’t get it on my face! Ugh, it’s sticky...”

“So, sorry... I couldn’t help it...”

It did bother me that the girls nearby were grinning for some reason as they listened to us, but the guys were a bigger problem. You could easily see even from here a bright red young girl... TailRed was on the screen, and on top of that, it looked like it was switching in a slideshow.

“It’s all over the net now, isn’t it...!!”

I took my head in my hands.

“When we go home today, why don’t I get my hands on Twoearle and make her delete all the files that have gotten out? With her scientific ability, she should be able to do it.”

“Listen, think of something that doesn’t involve violence once in a while!”

As we whispered to each other, the guys were heating up even more.

“Really cute! Really cute! Really cute!”

I shuddered with chills. Ah, I was happy with the sight of all those people cheering for me, but when you look at them one by one this is what it feels like. It was the right decision not to give in to that strange feeling earlier.

“I was more into large breasts, but, you know... I’ve woken up.”

Woken up to what?

“Uhehe, she’s cute carrying that sword... I want her to cut me too.”

I will hit you as many thousand times with the flame blade as you want.

“Ah, man, I can’t take it anymore!!”

The owner of the tablet, no longer able to bear it, pursed his lips and leaned close to the screen.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

I suddenly grabbed Aika’s water bottle, and, although I didn’t even remember my classmate’s name, I took aim at his head and threw it. It hit barely in time, three centimeters before the kiss.

“Aaow! ...What the hell, Mitsuka!!”

“You should be ashamed of yourself, with such a little girl!!”

“Ah, if it’s shame, I’ve already accepted it! And here I stand!!”

What kind of state of mind have you reached at this young age!

I tore at my scalp.

And yet this guy properly remembers what my name is! Ngh...

“...Hm-hu~m. Come to think of it, you like twintails so much that on the first day, you wanted to make a Twintail Club! You just want to keep TailRed-tan yourself!”

“Noooooooo!!”

I wanted to recover from my mistake on the first day and somehow live a quiet student life, but somehow, now that I’m in the high school section, everyone seems to get sucked into the flow far more easily than I expected.

“I’m tired...”

The peace and quiet after school came with a pile of worries. My exhaustion was reaching its peak around the time I left, together with Aika as I had promised.

People in higher grades were crowded together on the walkway from the entrance to the school gate, enthusiastically welcoming the new students. But, whether the dark clouds gathering on my back were so thick that they could be seen or not, no one tried to talk to me.

I had a sudden thought as I was walking.

“You know, I wrote something like Twintail Club and left it undecided... what club should I join?“

“You’re not going to be fighting every day. When it comes to things like club life, just choose what you want like normal.”

Now that you say it, maybe you’re right.

“But I need to be prepared. Even today we don’t know if they’re going to show up again!”

“No way. After yesterday...”

I turned the corner with a bitter smile, and

≪To all humans who live on this Earth! We are the chosen soldiers of God from another dimension, the Ultima Guil!≫

“...”

“...”

We dropped our bags at the same time.

An enormous screen was floating in the sky.

≪Ladies and gentlemen, we do not intend to harm you! All we want is the light within your hearts! Resistance is useless! And if you don’t resist, we guarantee your lives!≫

A monster that looked like a dragon sat in a show-off throne. With his legs crossed, he was making a speech.

Well, anyway it’s a sight that would piss you off.

≪But it seems there are those of you who would bear arms against us. Resistance is useless! And if despite that, you dare resist, we will take up any challenge you give! Attack as you like!≫

“Is this a world broadcast!?”

The sound could be heard even from the houses in the residential area, on top of the razor-thin computer window that was floating in the sky.

With an unlikely thought I turned on my cellphone’s 1seg. Sure enough the same image was being shown on every channel I switched to.

What is this, are they coming in on the whole broadcast spectrum!? So extreme...

“Those guys, are they really going to invade the whole Earth?!!”

A relaxed speech that said, resist as much as you want to.

If they have really foreseen all the military and scientific power humanity possesses when they say that, then what kind of power does their organization boast?

Twoearle had said that they had overthrown many “worlds.” The meaning of her words became even deeper, and it made my legs sink under me.

Their invasion isn’t destructive.

A quiet conquest that steals the light from hearts, and the brilliance of life.

Yesterday’s fight was only really a skirmish. From now on, an overwhelming invasion would start, and the opponent would be the whole world.

Once that happens I’m not sure what just one person can do.

≪Hahaha, I am Turtle Guildy! As our leader Drag Guildy says, resistance is useless! I will be taking the light of the stars that shine in youth’s glittering sky... the Element of Bloomers!≫

The dragon had been replaced by a turtle-like monster, who was leaning back proudly.

But an Ultiroid approached apologetically from behind him and whispered into his ear.

≪...What!!? You say they hardly exist in this world any more! You have been fools, humans, you have been digging your own graves!!≫

The monster screamed, and humanity was speechless.

I can understand a hairstyle, but even your feelings about a half-extinct type of clothing can give you tremendous power? There are profound depths in this that I don’t want to know about. Seriously, what in the world is Elemera.

Once, once is enough, I want to take a look at the faces of the people who loved bloomers enough to give birth to a thing like that.

≪Souji-sama, did you see that just now!?≫

Shortly thereafter a message came in from Twoearle. The high school the next town over - apparently still in bloomers - was being raided. Let’s do it, then.

There are probably people who love bloomers so much that they can’t get enough, the way I am for twintails, aren’t there? Even if they have already started to go extinct on their own, I can’t let them be stolen by the invaders.

“...Ta, tail on.”

The activation words... the ones we’d decided on yesterday in a break in the conversation. I was still embarrassed about them, but...

Let’s go.

To crush this terribly small-scale “world invasion.”

<center>◇</center>

“Welcome home~, Souji-samaan~”

When I opened the door of my room, my optic nerve was hit with enough peach-colored light to give me vertigo. Twoearle had remodeled my bed to give it a canopy, and she greeted me wearing a negligee and wriggling a little.

“Hey, pervert.”

“...Uh, what, Aika!? Why are you here? Souji-sama said he would be alone! This is not what he promised!!”

“What kind of eternal promise do you think he maaaaade!!”

With a kick, Aika broke a support of the canopy and flattened Twoearle under it.

Getting remodeled, getting broken... my bed’s tragedies continue.

“...Uu, it’s awful! It is too much! And you didn’t come home quickly when the fight was over, so I’ve been lying like this for over an hour!”

“What’s too much is your breasts!!”

Aika promised to listen to the explanation. If you were waiting, then you should have been waiting for both of us honestly at the cafe.

But I’m exhausted from the fight. I don’t have the energy to think of comebacks or worry about the two of you. The turtle monster who kept saying “bloomers” was killed instantly, but I was surrounded by the students at the school where the fight happened and it was a lot of trouble to escape. That’s most of the fatigue.

“I give up, I had people take so many pictures of me with their phones and things...”

“That the day would come when someone in a man’s body would be scared of the words ‘secret photographs on the net’...”

“U, uu... Twoearle, is there anything I can do at this point? Their declaration of war went out across all of Japan!”

I poured out my anxieties to Twoearle, who had crawled out from under the canopy.

It’s terrifying not to feel any interest when a girl this beautiful is wearing a thin negligee.

“It was broadcast to almost the whole world at the same time, apparently. Every country is in a downroar at this point.”

“...Well, certainly I don’t know if it would cause an ‘up’roar, but...”

“Weren’t they speaking Japanese, though?”

“It was merely converted into Japanese when we heard it. They are creatures of mental force, and the language they speak does not travel through the ears, it comes directly into the head.”

I turned on the TV in my room. Just as she said, all over the world various speculations were in the air. It wasn’t a high alert situation yet, but it seemed like the events that had happened in Japan had been accepted in every country, and countermeasures were being put together.

NASA was bearing the brunt of it, so it looked like they had mistaken them for aliens.

“Ah, it’s getting to be a serious thing...”

I sank to the floor and buried my head in the bed.

“There is no need to worry. They only caused so much damage yesterday because we were not adequately prepared. From now on, if they appear, we can detect them right away.”

I remembered what I saw yesterday. Twoearle continued in an even more cheerful voice as if she had noticed that anxiety.

“Basically, defeat them right away when they appear. If we are thorough with that stance, it will not be such a problem. If we hold damage to the minimum possible level, public interest should fade and there should not be an uproar.”

“But with a loud proclamation of war like that, even the police and the army are going to come in, aren’t they?”

“As I said yesterday... even if the army does appear, they cannot get through to the Elemerians. They are materializations of spirit. You have to have the Tailgear, which can convert that same spiritual energy into power.”

“...Can I do this... an enemy who is attacking the whole world.”

I had a painful feeling that I’d gotten myself into this without much thought. My feelings of wanting to protect haven’t changed, but can I really keep fighting when it’s just me on my own?

All it would take is for several of them to appear at different places and I’d be out. And that’s something that they could put into practice at any time.

“That is what the secret underground base is for. Why not go and see it after this! We can already use the space leap equipment, so now it will only take a second even to get to the other side of the earth!”

That overtechnology too. If we weren’t in this situation I think my eyes would be glittering with happiness, though. Maybe because Twoearle was worried about my sinking feelings ―

“[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%A7%E4%BD%8D_%28%E6%80%A7%E8%A1%8C%E7%82%BA%29 Zai]sho-tto”

With a shout of encouragement as terrifying as any, she came and straddled my legs facing me.

“Two, Twoearle!?”

“Please get back up, Souji-sama, in various ways.”

With her hands behind her back and a suspicious smile, she touched my thighs. Her fingers crept upward, trying to keep me in suspense ―

“What are you doing!!”

“Cedar woodware!!”

Aika’s fist hit her and blew her away, making a strange noise. She stuck into the wall head-first.

“...Ph... hahah”

Watching their argument, I couldn’t help but laugh.

It’s no use if all I do is worry. I have to trust Twoearle, and trust my Elemera. I’ll just fight as long as I can. This fight of mine is just beginning, after all, so ―

“So, Souji... sama... that’s an ending flag ...”

I thought I could hear the brave words of a girl trying to hold back an ending herself.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2015-04-19T18:31:00Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 2: The lady molester from another dimension ==

The light was already fading. We made it back home from the scene of the fight without questions, thanks to recognition jamming. Now the real problem began.

“Once we’re inside the house... ssh. Mom’s home.”

Normally I’d come through the cafe door without any hesitation, but today that’s not a good idea. We went around to the back. I turned the key in the lock with unnecessary care.

“Thanks for having me ove~... ooguuh.”

Acting all of a sudden like a grade school boy coming over to play at her friend’s house, Twoearle took a punch in the solar plexus from Aika. She seems fluent in Japanese, but I guess a word like “ssh” isn’t part of her vocabulary.

“Oh, Sou-chan~?”

Mom’s voice came from the kitchen.

There shouldn’t be anything suspicious about coming in the back door, but the guilt over bringing along an unknown girl made me tense up.

“Uh, yeah, I’m home!!”

“I’m here, it’s me, Aika! Thanks for having me over!”

Aika helped me out by deliberately saying her name, and maybe thanks to that, mom called back oka~y! in her usual tone of voice.

She exchanged glances with me and went into the kitchen. I went up the stairs to my room, taking care to keep my mom from noticing Twoearle.

As soon as we walked through the door she started to say “nervous nervous, nervous nervous,” which bothered me, but before long Aika came up with black tea, and the three of us took chairs and sat around my table.

Sure enough, Twoearle was looking restlessly around.

“...You’re pretty lively considering I pounded you into the dirt earlier, aren’t you.”

“Haha, ridiculous. A woman who is bothered by a little thing like that would hardly be suitable. After this I expect Souji-sama to pound something even more amazing int―”

She started to say something, but trailed off in the middle of her sentence, maybe because Aika had moved into another knifehand strike pose. I looked down once more at the bracelet on my right hand and then at the girl sitting opposite me.

“You can explain this, right. The power you gave me, and the identity of those deviants.”

“...I, I am sorry. This is the first time I have ever been in a boy’s room... ehehe.”

“Wait. The first thing you’re going to explain to me is why I turn into a girl!!”

“What should I do... My heart’s beating fast, he’s going to hear it...”

“You know, what you're saying isn't matching up at all?”

Aika put in an amazed comeback. The gears of conversation weren’t turning an inch. And I think I was hearing things that shouldn’t have been said out loud in the first place.

“...U~m.”

Twoearle turned to look carefully at Aika next to her, and made a quiet noise.

“Aika-san. You are tired, are you not. Please go back to your house and rest.”

She had a smile like an angel but a closing time, get lost aura was floating around her.

“Nope. I would like to hear it too.”

Aika answered flatly, a vein standing out on her forehead.

...What is this atmosphere. I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly feeling a chill.

“Aika, I will send you a letter after we are done, so please go home and take a nice rest tonight. Incidentally, it seems that in this country they have the phrase ‘read the atmosphere, stupid.’ I was quite interested to learn that.”

“Shut up and start talking!!”

“Eaaaaaaah, that’s a contradictiooon”

Aika had grabbed her collar and was shaking it with her neck snapping back and forth like a baby whose muscles weren’t developed yet. It looked like a dangerous situation. I hastily jumped in to stop them.

“Calm down, Aika. I’m sure this is just Twoearle’s way of showing her consideration.”

“Ha ha... Souji-sama, you understand me perfectly, do you not? I’m no match for you...”

Even though we were in my room, Twoearle’s hair sparkled and fluttered in an unseen wind.

It’s like a widescreen event CG, it looks like it’s shining like the climactic scene of a game. What kind of game is this.

“Hey, Souji, is there a nice weapon in your room? Like a hammer or axe, something like that.”

“No, of course there isn’t, and you’re a girl, so you should choose a weapon that doesn’t depend so much on your muscles!!”

A giant weapon that relies on arm strength to promise a fatal wound. That’s not a nice weapon, those would put her on ice.

Twoearle cleared her throat and, “I apologize. I think I have gotten ahead of myself.”

She didn’t reply to Aika’s suspicious “how?” but continued.

“Allow me to explain, from beginning to end. First, the Tailgear.”

“Right, that’s the first thing. Why I become a girl.”

Twoearle took a scrap of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it into a huge liquid crystal terminal. The creases had vanished. I’m getting excited at all these little bits of overtechnology.

In the middle of the screen was a complete chart of the Tailgear. Lines were drawn to each piece of the armor, and descriptions filled up the rest of the space.

<div style="width: 65%; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.8rem; border: solid black 1px; padding: 6px; margin-left: 4%;">'''Overview of the parts of the Tailgear'''

Manufacturer: Twoearle (B90 W57 H86 Equipment user has the right to confirm with
                        the naked eye and/or body)

【'''ＴＡＩＬＧＥＡＲ'''】 An anti-Elemerian strength-amplification weapon created by user Elemera resonation with a Twintail Element as the core. Not limited to ground combat, it can operate equally well in deep sea or the vacuum of space. A mere 0.01 seconds pass between the beginning of the transformation and the completion of the weapon, and even during that time enemy attacks are held at bay by an unfolding shield, the Photon Cocoon.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＣＩＲＣＬＥ'''】 A piece that covers the neck. Deploys Imagine Chaff, the recognition jamming force. It also strengthens vision and hearing to the degree that the equipment user can see and even hear events taking place 20 kilometers away.

【'''ＦＯＲＣＥ　ＲＩＶＯＮ'''】 A hair ornament-model device. Creates a weapon in response to the rising Elemera of the equipment user.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＶＥＩＬ'''】 An extremely flexible metal which covers the whole body, it is the raw material of the Tailgear. It can boast hardness over 80 times that of diamond but is as light on the body and easy to move in as a set of clothes. The Photon Veil disassembles and absorbs the user’s clothing, so transformation and cancellation occur smoothly.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＦＩＮＧＥＲ'''】 A piece that covers the hand from the wrist to the fingertips. It strengthens the force of the equipment user’s grip several hundred times, and the punching power becomes over 100 tons.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＬＥＧ'''】 A piece from the lower leg down to the ankle. It strengthens the equipment user’s walking power several hundred times, and the kicking power over 150 tons.

【'''ＴＡＩＬＢＲＡＣＥ'''】 After the transformation, it regulates the Tailgear’s power output. Also, it is connected to the base’s main computer and transmits the operating condition with a negligible time lag of 0.001 seconds.

【'''ＥＬＥＭＥＬＥＴＩＯＮ'''】 Elemera Orb Conversion Device connected to the left armpiece. Special equipment that draws out the power of an Elemera Orb. The power of the Orb is reified, and charges every part of the Tailgear.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＢＯＯＳＴ'''】 Opening from the hip, an amplifier apparatus that focuses and releases Elemera. Supplies power to movement and incarnated weapons. When all energy is released, it protects against counter-currents so that the equipment user will not be wounded by backlash from the power they have raised to its limit.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＳＨＯＲＴＳ'''】

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＡＢＳＯＲＢＥＲ'''】 A defensive membrane of spiritual energy that surrounds the Tailgear. It can take a force corresponding to a 90-ton physical impact and distribute and mitigate it before it reaches the Tailgear. Also, when fighting in space, it plays the role of a radiation shield.</div>

“That was loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!!”

Twoearle had finished her excited explanation and was bowled over by an iron punch from an equally excited Aika.

“Every little bit of it is so stupid, but... here! A one-hundred-ton punch would blow over a building!”

“Uuuh... For those numbers I was trying to give it a chuu-ni feeling, so I just wrote whatever I thought looked good... You can do it if you try to, though, I think.”

Twoearle got up, rubbing her cheek. She’s reckless and tough, this girl.

She already has the technology of instantaneous teleportation, so even if the suit did have a destructive force of 100 tons or so, it wouldn’t really be surprising...

“What’s this Force Rivon supposed to be? It’s just a ribbon piece, why is there a V in there, it pisses me off!!”

“What do you mean? Boys of a certain age love the letter V! It makes their fighting spirit roar! I guess after all this is an area that a psychotic girl who doesn’t know anything about boys wouldn’t be able to understand, isn’t it!”

“I... W, wh, wh, hey, so are you saying you have so much experience with guys!?”

“That’s very rude. I am not necessarily a virgin, do not put me together with a bitch like you.”

Aika heaved Twoearle up onto her back and delivered a blow to her spine, with an amazing technique that even I hadn’t seen before.

For the time being let’s say this is just a very radical version of girls’ talk.

I’m surprised myself at how serene I am. It could be this wild dance of special moves designed to destroy the human body, radical in another sense... well, in the original sense.

That aside, Twoearle was right.

How do I put it... there are a lot of things here that appeal to a man’s instincts. When I look at it my mouth opens a little.

“But now that I look at it again, it’s actually awesome.”

With everything amplified several hundred times or several thousand times it wouldn’t be impossible to break through the atmosphere sometime when you were running.

“Twoearle, the Excellion Shorts part is blank, but they have some kind of function, right? This... here, right on the swimsuit... part...”

“Er, to put it simply, when the fight goes on for a long time and you want to go to the bathroom, this can break it down to the molecular level and scatter it into the atmosphere for you, but... it seemed like it would spoil the chuu-ni a little, so I wasn’t sure if I should mention it.”

I didn’t hear it - the true function of this piece of cloth with the glittering title of Excellion.

I will also leave this space blank in my heart hereafter.

“Ah... wait, wait! So you explained the layout of the Tailgear, but what about my body! Explain the part about becoming a girl first!!”

“What, you want me to teach you about a girl’s body? Hoho, that’s right, I resigned myself to this. When I agreed to come home with a man who worked himself up in a fight, I knew in my heart that this would probably”

“Tell us already, I’m not going to hold back for much longer!!”

“My elbow can bend farther noooow!!”

Wrestling fairly well with her words too, Aika was ruthlessly trying to break... no, she was crushing the girl’s slender arm.

...So up until now you’ve been holding back?

Looking at this brutal joint technique I don’t think Aika needed a weapon.

“You become a little girl when you put on the Tailgear because ―― that’s what I like! Is there something wrong with that!?”

“You’re suddenly serious!?”

Twoearle rose bravely to her full height as if she weren’t afraid of anyone.

Of course, I was also lost for words.

“Also, if you look like a little girl, it invites carelessness from the enemy, and you draw their attention. It is the best style to use against those guys.”

“We have little white lies in our part of the world too, Twoearle.”

But you know, if she’d choked down the first thing she said and just used the second explanation, I would have been able to barely accept it. For some reason her personal tastes were seriously interfering with what she wanted to say and exposing her.

“I understand. I can’t agree with this, but there is a good reason, so I guess I can’t help it.”

“Of course, right? Little girls are so cute, right!!”

No, not just interfering, I’m almost certain her tastes were her main reason, but... I’m scared to ask.

“Now. I want to ask about that monster too, but first, Twoearle, could you tell me about yourself?”

“Yes, I’ve been waaiting for you!! Please take a good look in all the corners!!”

She was about to strip her white coat off with a splendid gesture and probably a little jacket play when Aika’s body blow landed.

“Tempura donnnn”

With a mysterious moan, Twoearle collapsed on the floor. These guys are already perfectly in sync...?

“I... I am not a human of this world.... I came here from another world.”

That makes sense. I thought that we couldn’t communicate, our gears weren’t meeting up, but she wasn’t just a foreigner, she was from another world.

The cultural wall between worlds is incredibly thick, huh.

“Please do not misunderstand me, though. I said another world, but to be exact it is like a parallel dimension. It is not so different from here. The name of the country is different, but in this world, I would be Japanese.”

““Really!?””

A rare harmony with Aika. Now I can’t imagine what she means by “not so different.”

“So let’s talk about what that monster wanted first... the energy of the mind called Elemera.”

I’ve broken the explanation Twoearle gave down into my own words.

Not planets, not universes, but an uncountable number of “worlds” lie parallel to each other. Although no one can see it, they are as close together as if they were on either side of a door. As if they were the points on a backgammon board.

Originally, just like our universe, these worlds didn’t have the slightest idea that there were others, and still less were they able to travel between dimensions. It was impossible for a human race that had only barely managed to make it to the moon.

But there are extremely rare worlds with levels of scientific achievement that are literally in another dimension. The energy of the heart, Elemera, was born on a world like that.

The energy requirements of the technology they were developing became a problem, and they eventually arrived at a way to make use of the power in the human heart. That became like their electricity, their fossil fuel, their mineral wealth.

They made the vague and doubtful thing called ‘heart’ solid and concrete, and it gave birth to infinite possibility.

The core of the Tailgear, the target of those monsters, Elemera - element energy. It mediates every thought and desire a person has, and exists without limit.

Not just taste, but professions, features of the body, fields of expertise... a person doesn’t necessarily just have one element, and some have many.

“The enemy today was shouting, ‘find the twintails,’ or, ‘catch little girls with dolls,’ were they not? That is what they meant by it.”

I remembered the monsters’ mad little party vividly.

“That is what is called a Twintail Element. The fact that they have twintails. And their love for them and attachment to them. Those ingredients condense into mental energy. Elemera is the foundation everyone has in their heart, the source of their vitality. If it is lost... for example, if a person lost their Twintail Element, that person would never in their life be able to wear twintails again!”

“In their whole life!?”

“Yes. Even if they tried to tie them, they would not be able to. The blank left by a lost element will rule the body for eternity.”

A chill ran up my spine.

So if I had screwed up back there, those girls wouldn’t have been able to wear twintails again in their life, even if they had wanted to.

“S, something that crazy is possible...” Aika was touching her own hair protectively.

“Can you get that much power just because someone likes twintails!?”

“The force of the mind is vast, stronger than any fuel or chemical energy. Even when you are exercising, there is a remarkable difference in effectiveness depending on whether you are bored or you concentrate, right? That is also your mental energy turning into driving force.”

“That’s true. ‘The greatest way to train is to polish your mind’... grandpa said that to me a lot too.”

“Yeah.”

I know that in the fight today I was also remembering her grandfather’s words. I’m worried that his leading successor pays absolutely no attention to his wisdom, though.

“Aika, do you by any chance have an interest in martial arts?”

“Yeah, my grandpa ran a martial arts school.”

“That makes sense... I may need to start carrying a gun to protect myself, I suppose.”

“Go ahead. In that case I can kill you without hesitation.”

“......”

Twoearle froze at the straight-faced reply. I’ve been spending my days with a girl who says, “At last I can get serious,” when someone pulls a gun on her. My eyes are getting red.

“Tha - that aside. Unaided, a person’s ability to concentrate is more or less their limit, no matter how much practice or training they have... but this energy, Elemera, goes beyond that. The conversion is much more efficient when you materialize it and do not just burn it internally, and you obtain a source of refined energy far beyond existing methods of generating power. That is what makes it possible for the Tailgear to be the strongest weapon.”

Twoearle dropped her gaze to my right arm.

“I believe you recovered a stone after the battle.”

I remembered the stone that I had picked up without thinking. A light green stone with a mysterious glow. Maybe because I had it in mind, the stone popped out of the bracelet and rolled into the palm of my hand.

Although it was clearly not organic, I felt a quickening in it as though alive.

“That is a crystallized element, called an Elemera Orb.”

“Elemera Orb, huh?... But why something like twintails? I understand the part about a strong mental power, but, you know, in that case... it should be love for your family, or friendship. Aren’t there lots of things like that?”

“You could say that those have a splendid strength, but look at it more carefully. The love for family that intelligent beings possess is to some extent instinct. It is the bedrock of the mind, not the motivation for life but life itself. And in your life, what do you throw yourself into, what do you long for? What are you charmed by, what do you charm others with? That is where you will find the spiritual power of the individual, will you not?”

“Throwing your life into twintails...”

Aika gave me an amazed, sidelong glance.

“What, something bad about that!? Actually it was really powerful, wasn’t it!!”

“Yes. The Twintail Element has the highest order of power even among the Elemera. And that is also what allowed me to make use of its power to create a battle suit. The name ‘Tailgear’ does not only come from the ‘tail’ in ‘twintail,’ but from the ‘tale’ of fantasy!”

“...Are you serious, twintails are the strongest...!?”

“There is no reason why a strong element must have an impressive title. Elements which make you go ‘huh?’ and tilt your head for a second are often more powerful, enough to shock you.”

My life is not some kind of mistake.

This might be an exaggeration, but I think maybe my whole life has led to this day.

“The Tailgear is a weapon built with a Twintail Element at its core. Therefore, its use is of course limited to those with a strong Twintail Element. A boy who has never himself worn twintails would ordinarily not be expected to have that much power. But in this world, the possessor of the strongest Twintail Element is... Souji-sama, it is you――”

“So I was the chosen one!!”

“Yes, you are the chosen one! ...Um~ by the way, the explanation has gotten a little boring, so would you mind switching off the lights?”

Twoearle ran her fingers along the floor as if she were playing scales on a piano and lifted her hand to touch my thigh. Aika threw a very bulky monthly shonen magazine that had been lying on the floor of my room and intercepted it.

“Ooow!”

Those thousand-odd pages weren’t just for show. Twoearle puffed on her finger.

“You said those monsters were looking for Elemera. Did they come from another world too?”

“Yes. Those guys are ―”

<center>◇</center>

A monster that looked like a bug brought its fist down bang! on the table.

“You say Lizard Guildy was defeated!? By a human!!”

“Nonsense, how is that possible!!”

“Mere negligence cannot explain that! What is this!!”

A grand hall, all dull grey. Creatures of richly individual shape were gathered at a round table like executives holding a meeting in a conference room. This was the secret base of the Ultima Guil.

Neither air nor sea nor the solid earth knowing, a crystal of science and the occult. A base and a mother ship. And also the colony where the monsters lived.

It wasn’t hidden somewhere. It wasn’t even visible to the human eye. A temple... or a better word would be a sanctuary. Now, of course, it was anchored in Souji’s world.

As the commanding officer of the raid squadron, Lizard Guildy had departed in high spirits. But he hadn’t been out for a day before he was defeated together with several dozen of the Ultiroids. The report sent a huge shock through his fellows.

“Hmmmn, what is this! Our preliminary investigations of this world showed the level of civilization was low and the element level higher than anything we’ve seen before, an ideal environment! That was what we decided, wasn’t it!!”

Angry roars rose from all corners of the room, all calm lost.

The Elemerians.

The brilliant flourishing of Elemera had been cut short in one stroke by an unknown form of life. They were outside of the evolutionary chain of all other living things, crystals of mental energy with an ego and a body. As it were, the life of Elemera itself, so they had been given that name.

Humans are organic matter, and so we take in other plants and animals to survive. With bodies of mental energy, Elemerians have to live by ― of course, absorbing that same mental energy.

Like blood donation, it had become an iron rule that Elemera must never be extracted in a quantity large enough to hurt someone. But the Elemerians sucked it all out in an instant. They built up advanced knowledge unnoticed and finally learned how to form a conspiracy, and they gathered together into a grand organization and pulled the fangs out of humanity.

That organization was the Ultima Guil, the evil army that had already crossed through many worlds and was now in the world where Souji lived.

“Si-ilence!!”

A monster in the shape of a dragon broke through the mayhem with a roar. The hall suddenly went quiet as if it had been hit by cold water.

“Commander! Dra - Drag Guildy!”

Their commander gave off a fierce fighting aura even seated in his chair. His status was clearly well above that of the other figures in the hall.

“We who trained Lizard Guildy know well his strength. What this tells us is that there is a hidden soldier with enough power to defeat him.”

“A soldier...”

“Watch. It died in an instant, but one of our Ultiroids broadcast this recorded image to us.”

On a large monitor at the front of the room, a picture of the transformed Souji appeared.

Oooohh..., a simultaneous cry of wonder.

“Lizard Guildy was defeated by her... hmmmm, if it was those twintails then I can understand it.”

“What beauty... what love... this must be the Guardian of this world!”

“One cannot call this anything other than a coincidence, the work of the gods. All we knew about the level of civilization in advance was the surface layer, so even if there are one or two warriors that transcend this world’s logic and limits, it is not so mysterious. We have faced warriors who oppose us many times before, have we not.”

“...But up until now the strong enemies we have been fighting have all fallen into our ... aoooooh, what is this!?”

The muscular soldiers stood up out of their chairs with a tremendous noise. Broken into six parts, the monitor was showing the young warrior from all directions. A moment when her twintails were in lively motion had been captured, just like a blog review of a figurine.

Oh my.

Hmm.

Oh, this is.

They were supposed to be mourning Lizard Guildy but had become judges in a twintails show.

“More than anything, this young child... I sense in her fate both dread and destiny. These are not just twintails, this is not just a young girl. I feel a profound mystery here, don’t you?”

Drag Guildy folded his arms and curled his upper lip back. His eyes were missing nothing as he watched the screen, with a gleam of wit in them that didn’t match his bold and grim appearance.

“Well, what shall it be? Will we tuck our tail between our legs and leave for another world?”

With a faint smile, he cast his eyes over the company. The answer was obvious, and so the only response was a fearless grin from them all.

“What are you saying, sir? With twintails like that before us, to run to some trash world?”

“Heh... It looks like I’ve found the place I’m going to die.”

“Then nothing has changed. We will take those twintails and the Elemera of this world together!!”

Eaaaaaaaaahh...!!

Each and every one of them was a soldier so gallant and resolute that it was almost stifling.

“This is a happy accident, isn’t it? An formidable enemy comes out of nowhere and blocks our path - when that happens, a military man’s blood starts roaring even harder!”

Drag Guildy let out a ringing laugh with a look rising on his face that mixed joy and madness.

This is the Ultima Guil.

Callous monsters who cross between dimensions and have made humanity their enemy ―― we have the general idea of them for now.

<center>◇</center>

“Your world was destroyed, Twoearle!?”

I was amazed at what she casually said after she was done talking about the monsters.

“All of the people of my world had their Elemera stolen away by the Ultima Guil. Looking at the world from far away, you might not notice a single difference... but it was a lonely world of people who were somehow inanimate, with no ambition. There can be no invasion so quiet and cruel.”

In other words, what they destroyed was the heart of the world ― what they conquered was people’s spirit, or more like...

“In our world, the technology of Elemera had not yet been established, so they were an evil beyond human knowledge. There was no way to fight them. On top of that, you remember, you two thought at first that the girls were not hurt. It is hard to understand the real depth of an injury to Elemera. We dragged our feet when we should have opposed them with all our strength.”

“...Twoearle...”

Aika who had been optimistic back then hung her head in agreement.

A world where no one can meddle with the things they love, the things they pour their heart into. When I imagine it, I shiver.

“Definitely. They wouldn’t launch a serious global-scale counteroffensive against a monster that said stupid stuff like that, either, right.”

“Because I saw injury early, I conducted research on their technology before they started to seriously gather Elemera. Thanks to that, not all of my Elemera was stolen from me, but...”

You didn’t have enough to protect the world?

“Twoearle, you’re a researcher? To analyse a technology your world didn’t yet have, that’s amazing. You must be ridiculously smart. And you look like you’re about as old as we are.”

“My age is a secret!”

Twoearle put a finger to her lip and winked. Maybe sick of her girlish attitude, Aika bent her eyebrows up in a 八 shape like a punk in a leather jacket.

“If once stolen, the absorbed Elemera will never return. So it is a revenge that will bear no fruit, but... I would like to use my power to stop them from invading, at least.”

“All right! It’s a huge blessing for us that our interests coincide, but I’ll do it, to strike at the enemies of your world, and to keep our own world safe. Thank you for letting me use this power.”

“Yes! Please use it any way you want! This body!!”

Aika lashed out like a whip to grab Twoearle, who had a triumphant smile on her face as if she didn’t feel like it was enough to just let me use the Tailgear, and floored her with a back suplex.

I can see their underpants perfectly from where I’m sitting but, why is it, why is it that even when they do this I’m not feeling anything erotic about these two.

“Come to think of it, Twoearle, isn’t there anyone else who can use the Tailgear?”

“I cannot mass-produce them, but... there is just one more. And I have found someone who is qualified to use it already.”

“Really!? In that case, we...”

“But... it is not a person with a just spirit like you, Souji-sama. I don’t know if person is even the right word for them. An inhuman barbarian, heartless, a wild beast stained through to their soul with violence. If I gave such a mighty power to that demon, even supposing they could use it, I think they might become a greater threat to Earth than the Ultima Guil are.”

Twoearle poured out her heart with a bitter expression.

“Is that so? There are villains like that among people who like twintails, that’s kind of sad...”

“Hmm. Even though they have Elemera, they’re a demon with no heart. That’s odd.”

“Yes. I could not have believed it myself until I saw it with my own eyes. Actually, I still can’t believe it.”

In any case, we can’t expect reinforcements. It looks like I have to fight by myself for now or it’ll be hopeless.

“Naturally, I want to stop Souji from fighting in a war, but if he’s the only one that can fight, I guess there’s nothing I can do... But your safety is your first priority, all right?”

“Yeah, I know!”

“You don’t know! Listen, if you’re the greatest thing to them, you’re going to become their number one target! What if you lose, what do you think they’re going to do to you!?”

“Aika, you’re so gloomy... Elemerians do not have any particular interest in the human bo... lime juice!!”

Another back suplex. Before long the floor’s going to wear out.

“Your face is bright red, is it not! You are imagining something like tentacles!!”

“Sh, shut up shut up!! If they like that kind of thing, or if they have an element like that...”

Aika, waving her hands like an angry kid, abruptly stopped with a serious look.

“...Hey. You said that all the world’s Elemera was stolen, right? Then how did the Tailgear...”

“Oh my, it’s already this late!”

Twoearle looked somewhat unnaturally at the clock hanging on the wall behind her and clapped her hands. Aika had started to say something, but was interrupted by her badly delivered line and made another 八 with her eyebrows.

“I think that it would be a good idea to go home and rest before long, Aika. Are you not tired?”

“No, I’m just fine. Why are you trying to get me to go home by myself?”

“I thought you might be tired...”

Endless.

Twoearle felt around in the pockets of her white coat, and stood up suddenly with a smirk.

“Souji-sama, I am going to go make some more tea.”

“No, I can’t let you do that, you’re a guest - hey.”

I tried to get up but she stopped me, put the cups on the tray, and left the room hastily.

“...Hey, wait a second, Twoearle! My mom’s in the kitche...!!”

“I have made some more.”

“So fast!?”

I was about to hurry out of the room and follow her, but the door opened again after only seconds. Did she use the teleportation pen again? For some reason she had just one cup and was holding it carefully.

There was steam rising from it, certainly, but... did she really make more.

No, it’s not steam, there are bubbles rising from the unnaturally boiling water, or a piece of wrapping paper had fallen out of the pocket she was using, or it looked like she had just finished emptying the contents, or is that what’s going on or isn’t it, which one is it, it’s this mood where a chill is running up my spine again.

“Well, please go ahead, Aika.”

“Uh, okay...?”

You’ve been shouting all this time, your throat is probably dry.

Aika accepted it obediently and was about to raise the cup to her lips...

“...”

Her hand trembled and she stopped short as if she had felt the presence of a ghost. I couldn’t help but be drawn to the source of the gaze either. When I looked tactfully out of the corner of my eye at Twoearle, she was sta-ring at Aika with her eyes wide open like an owl.

“Now, drink,” her look said.

“...Twoearle, try a little bit of this.”

Aika handed back the cup.

“No, I have already had enough.”

“Just a sip is fine, though.”

“No, no.”

“Please, drink.”

“Absolutely not.”

“...You put something in this, didn’t you, you fucker!!”

Aika brandished the cup and threw the tea in Twoearle’s face.

“Nyuonmuuuu!!”

“Aaah ―― what are you doing, Aika!! That’s terrible!!”

When I see the way Twoearle is holding her mouth firmly closed, I feel absolutely sure she did put a sleeping pill or something in there. Why is she trying this hard to get Aika to go away!?

“Sou-ji, you can’t put any confidence in this woman! She absolutely has some kind of plot!!”

Uh, you know, I’m not going to believe everything Twoearle says all of a sudden either, but usually, when I try to think carefully about it, I get interrupted by screaming. What am I supposed to do!

“Calling it a plot is too harsh, I think.”

“So - Souji... Why are you putting this much trust in her! Is it because she has breasts!?”

Aika demanded an answer with tears in her eyes. Was she worrying about it that much? Maybe it would have been better to hold back the joke about her chest in that fight...

I pulled a hand towel out of the storage under my bed.

“Use this towel, Twoearle. I’m going to bring some ice from downstairs.”

“That is all right, it was not really that hot.”

“It looked pretty hot!?”

I started to wipe Twoearle’s face carefully with the towel.

“...M~m... m~ fu...”

She’s bringing her face unnaturally close to me. Watching us, Aika started to groan quietly, and her body was shaking. Feelings of guilt were naturally welling up within her, I guess?

“I don’t think you’ll have a burn... Aika, even if she came from another world, she’s just a normal human being. If you do the kind of tsukkomi you usually do on me, she’ll get hurt.”

I should have said that back when we met. How many punches has she taken already?

“Oh, that’s right.”

Twoearle, lying back in my arms as I was wiping her face, smiled as if she had realized something and suddenly began to wriggle again.

“It is hot... it is hot inside my clothes too. Please wipe me there...”

She took off her white coat. The plump breasts under her thin untrustworthy underwear shook as if they were about to burst.

“Eeeh...!? No, that is, uh, definitely... I’ll ask Aika.”

“If Aika did it, she might pour more boiling water in, I am worried.”

“I’m not gonna!!”

“That is a lie! You were trying to see if you could twist off my breasts earlier!!”

“They stayed on in the end, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

I think I can turn a blind eye to this conversation. I feel unspeakable fear responding in me, a long way beyond any of the scenes of destruction that I saw today.

“Let me have that!!”

As I broke out in a cold sweat, Aika took the chance and grabbed the towel from me.

“Nuryaaa!!”

Aika threw all her strength into scrubbing Twoearle’s chest with the towel to the point that it was more like rubdown therapy.

“The heat of friction is cutting down my breaaaaasts!!”

“You should get cut down to the bone, people like you!!”

It’s a little late to be saying this, but that first impression of Twoearle has certainly been smashed to atoms.

“Let, let’s talk about exactly how to operate the Tailgear later... I will leave the details for tomorrow or later, so let us stop here, all right...”

Twoearle made this suggestion while rubbing her chest. (By the way, without learning anything she said “Souji-sama, could you rub my chest” and took an open-palm blow from Aika on her chin.)

“Yeah, okay.”

To be honest, there are still many things I haven’t heard enough about, but I decided to agree with her since Aika has been in a really bad mood this whole time. I’ve asked the main things, and this should be enough for today. And I think this conversation is going to cut down Twoearle’s life if it goes on too long.

“Um... sorry. Throwing the tea on you. I went too far there.”

Aika seemed to be unwilling, but she apologized.

“It is all right. After all, I am stronger than a normal human. Incidentally, I think the other threats to my life may also have gone a bit too far.”

“Sorry, all right!!”

Stronger. I hadn’t expected to hear that word, and doubt rose into my mind at it. What was it that gave Twoearle that strength? She said that her goal was revenge, but I can’t feel even a hint of tragedy in her.

No, it wasn’t the kind of “invasion” that left everything a scorched earth, but even when she was talking about her old world, even when she was explaining her enemy the Elemerians, there didn’t seem to be even a bit of anger or sadness or resentment in her.

If that’s because she was putting a happy face on it, I think she really is strong.

“Umm~.”

“Whoa!”

Twoearle rubbed her hands together in front of my thighs, and gave me a look pregnant with meaning that was mixed with long, feverish breaths.

“So, then, Souji-sama. I also want to be able to back you up in a fight, so, from now on, I would like us to do everything together as much as possible. For efficiency’s sake, even eating and sleeping... um, the essential one of those is sleeping...”

She closed her mouth there. A look as sharp as a bed of nails had been fired from behind me.

“Eating and sleeping... wait, you mean here?”

“Yes, so would you allow me to borrow a room? As long as I can sleep it will be enough.”

“Huh!?”

“If you are going to say ‘we don’t have any rooms to lend to someone like you,’ then even a toilet will be fine, so... Hhh, haah...”

That would be even more inconvenient. But Twoearle is breathing louder for some reason.

“No, there’s not really anyone here but me and my mom, and we have extra rooms, so it’s fine, but... can’t you stay at Aika’s house? You’re both girls, and there’s something better about that.”

Aika’s parents are overseas for a job right now, so she’s living together with her older sister. As long as her sister is okay with it, I think that would be better, but...

“It is better with a boy and a girl... er, what I mean is, there are a number of considerations.”

“Even Aika doesn’t normally throw tea on people. Do you?”

“Of course I don’t! How savage do you think I am!!”

She wants to say I’m being ridiculous, but looking back at the amount of violence in not even an entire afternoon, she doesn’t make so unpersuasive an objection.

“But I am going to support you, Souji-sama, so it is more efficient if you let me live here. The assassins of the Ultima Guil are going to be coming again and again after this, you know!”

“U~mm, but...”

That was something that I didn't have an instant reply to. First of all, how should I explain this to mom?

“My mom is really like a kid in some ways. So, you know, if this incident leaks out, I’m worried she’ll stick her nose in.”

She lives her life jumping into the next exciting thing - for example, her half-hearted management of the cafe. If I let her know that I’m going to take care of a girl, she won’t worry about it or scold me, she is the master of taking nothing seriously. I’m scared to talk to her about this. I can see too clearly what would happen.

“Another urgent matter is the establishment of a base.”

“A base―”

Aika was taken aback at the jump in vocabulary. Come to think of it, there was something about that in the chart for the Tailgear.

“Due to the tremendous scale of the enemy, the system that supports Souji-sama must be flawless. Mission support, monitoring of the combat, maintenance of all kinds... it will also act as a research laboratory, so the base has to have a suitable size.”

“I see.”

I agreed with her. The value of support had been more than proven in the first battle today.

“And so, I would like you to allow me to dig a space underneath your house. The ground under this house is also more suitable.”

“Space under my house!? I’m not sure it will be okay if there’s an earthquake or something.”

“...Wait, the ground? But I live right next door...”

Aika’s also extremely worried. We’re such close neighbours that we’re practically connected, after all.

“Please do not worry. I will finish it tonight.”

Twoearle said something so ridiculous that people throughout the world working in the construction industry are going to do an old-fashioned spit take and blow out their tea.

“That makes it even harder to feel safe. What’s that lightning-speed work! Our houses aren’t just all going to sink into the ground, right?”

Twoearle shook her head gently and smiled sweetly.

“Aika, if you were living by yourself, I would not be unwilling even to demolish you and your house together with explosives, but I cannot cause trouble for your family.”

“Why don’t you get buried, hey, why don’t you get buried!”

Aika is shoving Twoearle’s head into the floor with an angry look on her face, on the verge of caving in the floorboards. She’s so beautiful that you feel ashamed just to look at her, but it looks like Aika’s gotten totally used to that. She doesn’t hold back when she scolds her.

“Twoearle. I’ll persuade my mom one way or another, so... could you help me think of a good reason why we’re going to live together? I absolutely don’t want anything about the Tailgear and the stuff about the Ultima Guil to come out.”

“Leave that to me. I can think of any number of lies like that. I am Seek Time=Zero Twoearle, I need no thinking time whatsoever.”

She hit her chest proudly with a thump. Another sketchy name in the ruby.

“Don’t act proud! And don’t shake your breasts!!”

Aika shot an “I still haven’t wiped it enough?” glare at that chest as if it had killed her father.

“How about this? I am your classmate, studying abroad from a foreign country.”

“I see, a homestay line or something?”

“No, I was lost in an unfamiliar city, and you tricked and kidnapped me and locked me up. See, I’m desperately trying to run away, so it makes perfect sense for me to dig a hole!”

“Does that make sense!!”

Twoearle took a punch to the liver.

“...I’ll persuade her on my own, okay?”

“Yeah. That’s a better idea. Go do it before she gets back up.”

I’m sorry. I can’t watch this.

She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life, and she’s rolling on the floor in agony in a way I’ve never seen outside of a fighting manga. It could easily overturn my whole view of life to look directly at this spectacle.

I went out into the hallway and breathed a big sigh of resignation.

This is the first time I’ve ever told my mom a lie this huge. It’s a kind of tension I’ve never tasted before.

The homestay line is the safest one, I think.

I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to explain it all afterward, but I am not good at lying. Ad-libbing doesn’t work either, as I’ve had rubbed in my face twice today.

“I’ll hide the parts I need to, and I’ll explain the truth as much as I can afterward. That’s all I can do...”

My mom was leaning on the with her arms folded when I came down the stairs.

“―― I hope you didn’t mind me listening in!”

“Don't listen to――!!”

“Oh my.”

I pulled my mom into the living room.

“Do you not care about your own son’s privacy?!!”

“You brought a girl other than Aika-chan along with you. I was sure there would be some interesting developments!!”

I rubbed my forehead and groaned. The whole thing was already revealed back when we walked in. I shouldn’t have worried about eyewitnesses at the scene, I should have been on maximum alert after I came home.

“...How much did you hear?! What did you hear?!!”

“I heard a girl screaming over and over. Muhuhu, things were pretty rough.”

Ah, she heard almost the whole thing. That’s already almost the whole thing. By the way, all the violence without exception was the young girl from next door.

“You said you were the ones who settled the incident that was on the news?”

“Why do you believe that!? Don’t you even have a little doubt!?”

We believe it because we saw it with our own eyes and then fought in it, but somehow she believes the whole thing just from eavesdropping on us.

My mother looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

“So at last, this day has come...”

I stepped back in shock at the serious expression on my mother’s face.

This calmness, the speed of adaptation... there was only one conclusion I could come to.

“...It can’t be, mom, you’ve already known for a long time... I was going to be chosen as the wearer of the Tailgear...!!”

“Umm, I don't know anything about it, but...”

Complete denial with the same serious face.

“Why were you acting like you knew!? Or actually, you didn’t hear anything we talked about!!”

“Monsters called Elemerians in the Ultima Guil attacked this world to obtain Elemera, the mental energy of humans, and you fight them using a suit called the Tailgear, Sou-chan?”

“Or you understand all of it, or which one!?”

That’s impressive understanding considering she was eavesdropping.

“...This was my dream, you know.”

My mother raised her face to heaven with lips tinged with drool and an expression of ecstasy on her face.

“Souji, your mother grew up with an aggravated case of chuunibyou. I passed my days dreaming of becoming a heroine who protected the world, and finally, without ever getting my wish, I became a mother of one. But, listen, I passed that dream down through the umbilical cord and I entrusted it to you.”

“What are you doing to your kid before he’s even born!!”

With a little effort this could probably have become a moving, unforgettable conversation between parent and child, but my mom was talking about the errors of her youth.

“And your late father, he was also ――― a terminal chuunibyou patient.”

“Is that something you pause before saying? ...Dad had a bad case of chuunibyou too......”

My eyes feel itchy, and not because I’m about to cry.

“We fell in love in an instant, and threw our chuuni back and forth at each other to our hearts’ content, wishing together. Dad also wanted very, very much to be a hero. He’d make stories where he became a hero in great detail, and he let me hear about them! At the end, he’d even tell me how he felt when he powered up and things like that.”

“Stop― I think I’m about to run into the front hall and smash his portrait!!”

I pressed my hands against my skull as if I were under assault by ultrasonic waves. Just listening to these memories feels like it’s blocking the blood vessels in my brain.

“But the situation your mother hoped for the most was to get close to a young man from the enemy organization and fall in love with each other. On the other hand, your father also dreamt of exactly the opposite situation, so we fought with each other on countless occasions! To be honest, several times we decided to break up because of that.”

English is not my strong point at all, but right now I think I could fluently say “ＯＨＭＹＧＯＤ!”

Someone who tries to put on a bracelet that transforms you into a young girl when they ask to share a table seems normal.

My parents, on countless occasions, fought and broke up for reasons as irrational as any in the world - it’s too heavy for the heart of a boy in adolescence. It’s very difficult to take.

“It was the winter of our third year in university. Your heartbroken mother said, “Let’s try a setting where a boy and girl who are always at each others’ throats are drawn to each other,” as a concession, but your father insisted that it had to be forbidden love with the female commander of the enemy forces (wearing body armor like a swimsuit) and refused to compromise. Even our relationship can only go so far... that’s about the time I started to resign myself to that. ...Sou-chan. I realized that you were in my belly around...”

Ectoplasm is coming out of my mouth. I can’t push it back in, my hands have no strength.

Dating each other with messed up fantasies, and then a shotgun marriage. This kind of parents. What do I do, what am I supposed to do with these frustrated feelings.

Something even heavier than the peace of the planet Earth is settling onto my shoulders.

“After that we got along with each other so well that it seemed unbelievable... heh heh, we often said that our child was the tie between us.”

That might have been true in my mother’s relationship, but when I hear that right now I feel pain like a spike being driven through my head!

“There’s one more important thing I have to say. This is a good time, I think.”

“Huh?”

“You know, Souji... you’re the oldest child, so did you ever wonder why your name has the character ‘two’ in it?”

A deep sadness dwelled in my mother’s eyes.

Certainly I’ve wondered, but in the end I never asked about it.

Why is she talking about that now?

“...Ah... Did I have some older brother or sister that you expected to come before me!?”

Mom shook her head.

“It came from the shared feelings of your father and I. ‘Ah, the real grade two of middle school was the most fun time,’ we said. It was the nostalgia we felt for those happy days gone by that made us put the letter ‘two’ in grade two in your name!...”

[Unavoidable TL note: The literal meaning of chuunibyou is "grade-two-of-middle-school syndrome," or eighth grade syndrome. Miharu and her husband loved the way they felt that year so much that they put the "two" in grade two into Souji's name.]

“Couldn’t you have taken that secret to the grave!? I’m going to be a delinquent! If they had to hear interesting secrets of their birth one after another like this, any normal adolescent human would be a delinquent already the next day!”

“I wanted to make it something more impressive, really. Like Meteo or Ultimate. But this was another compromise between the two of us - we finally chose a kanji that we both liked.”

“Sorry, Souji is good.”

I sunk to my knees at last. I nearly wore the name of a self-conscious enemy organization...

Hey, is it possible that my, the part of me that people think is a bit of a pain, really is a hereditary thing passed down through the umbilical cord?

The sound of a floorboard creaking made me hold my breath.

“Um~, is it all right?”

“Wai... Twoearle, you can’t come yet!”

Twoearle was peeking into the living room, half hiding behind the door. She is already very lively even though she took a straight punch to the liver some minutes ago.

“Hehe, you let me listen in on your conversation, Twoearle-chan!”

“Actually, I have also been taking the opportunity to listen in.”

I’m out of reactions.

That funny story about my birth, on a level that could win a prize if you submitted it to a variety program - I guess she heard that too. I could die of agony from the memory.

“Honored mother... I have already spoken about this with Souji-sama, but I would like to live here, if you would be so kind.”

“Sure, I’ve got no reason to say no!”

“Also, I would like to build a research laboratory underground if possible, and use it as a starting point for backup.”

“Get it done right away. A hundred kilometers deep if you like. I always wanted a secret base. Let me see it once in a while, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Heeeeeyy―!?”

The conversation is advancing bewilderingly fast. She’s even been allowed to break the limits on excavation depth in the private property regulations, it’s nuts.

“Also, honored mother, could I manage to have you say ‘Oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!’?”

“...Twoearle-chan, that’s good. You are really good! For someone like you to come to us from an alternate universe makes me really happy! Please think of this place as your own home! ...But, oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!”

The hell are you playing it back perfectly like a voice recorder! That’s a woman who devoted her whole youth to chuunibyou for you. Apparently mom can also use Seek Time=Zero.

I’m being washed in some kind of aura coming off the two of them, mom and Twoearle, and it looks to me like they’re being pulled together by something like magnetic force. ...Sympathy?

Twoearle must have a severe case of chuunibyou also, I guess. She puts Vs into words, too.

This is scary, now what am I going to do, I’m asking you a favor, so, just once, let me cry without worrying about what other people might think.

“And so I don’t have any problem with Twoearle staying at our house. Think of this as your own home, including Sou-chan’s room, and use it without reservation.”

“Thank you very much, Mother (in law). It will mainly be Souji-sama’s room that I think of as my house.”

What’s this? They’re making fun of me, I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on.

If I make comebacks one by one it’ll be me who loses.

I bowed my head. I had reached a degree of enlightenment.

“...Hehe, instead, would you mind making Sou-chan into a proper man sometime?”

“Oh, no, Mother (in law), please don’t be so reserved. Why do you not say ‘tonight?’”

“Twoearle-chan...!!”

“Mother (in law)...!!”

The two hugged each other for dear life.

Aika came down the stairs at a run, raising dust. “Wai... Aunt Miharu, come over here, please!”

“My my, mother is very popular.”

“And also, you, don’t think “in law” when you say mother!”

“How did you know!?”

Aika went right past Twoearle without even remembering to punch her. ...Maybe I should cry now while I can... silently, with tears streaming down my face.

<center>◇</center>

Aika took Souji’s mom ・Miharu into a neighbouring room and closed the door. She really didn’t want to be heard, opening the door a crack to check Souji and then shutting it again right away.

“Aunt Miharu! Think about this carefully! If you make him live together with a woman like that, Souji’s virtue will be in danger!”

“I couldn’t ask for more, could I? Suddenly a beautiful girl comes to live with the hero, and things turn in an erotic direction. It’s just like that day, that hour, the dream I painted in my mind back then! Even if she pushes Souji down, it won’t bother me at all.”

“And you still call yourself his mother!!”

It looks like she also painted a detailed love comedy in her youth of chuuni fantasy, but... I wonder why a woman had a dream with a development like that?

“But, it’s normal for a parent to want her son to find a girlfriend?”

Miharu gave her a probing look.

“......That...... that might be true, but......”

A bashful Aika poking her fingers together.

“Or else, you, Aika-chan...?”

Aika hastily waved her hand. “It’s not like I... I’m just worried about Souji as his childhood friend...”

“Ye~s, if that girl hadn’t appeared, I wanted to look at you a little more carefully.”

“Wh, what are you saying?”

“Twoearle-chan has a good look in her eyes. They’re the eyes of a woman who wants to eat a virgin, an aroused woman with no principles!”

“Even as a joke, is that something you say about your guest!?”

It made even Aika feel pity; she tried to defend her.

“A guest... no! Twoearle-chan is already a fine member of our family.”

The door opened with a soft sound. Twoearle came in, her eyes wet with tears.

“Mother (in law)...”

She gripped both of Miharu’s hands tightly, and something passed between their eyes.

“Huh? Why is there an emotional atmosphere!?”

“I am sorry, mother, but I am not a woman without principles. I have one principle: Souji-sama.”

“You should deny the rest of it too!!”

“That is right. It’s romance for a woman to lose all her principles when it comes to a single man!”

Has a day come when in just a few minutes the air is filled with such unromantic words? Why has a girl her age gotten to the point where her eyes brim with happy tears when mom calls her a virgin eater? Just like Souji, Aika seems to have been assaulted by a violent headache.

Although she was holding her forehead with her head lowered, Aika’s lips were pressed hard together. Miharu still thinks she’s just worried about Souji, and no, she still didn’t trust her.

(The way she’s acting, some of it is joking, but...)

Twoearle was holding hands with Miharu and turning around in circles as Aika stared with distrustful eyes.

(There are a lot of crucial things she’s holding out of focus. Like in a world where Elemera had been hunted to exhaustion, how did she get the Twintail Element for the core of the Tailgear?)

The Tailgear, armor that lets you fight without covering your face. Aika felt that its manufacturer had hidden her own face behind a heavy mask.

(I know there’s something important she’s hiding...)

<center>◇</center>

Aika had stressed it to the point of stubbornness as she was about to head home.

“Souji, from today on, sleep with your door locked.”

“Why?”

“Who cares! If you don’t, I’ll weld it shut from outside!!”

That’s ridiculous, it’s a wooden door, I was thinking, but I understood it as Aika’s way of saying that I should be more careful about crime prevention. Without objecting any further, I nodded obediently, and I went obediently to bed that night. But.

Mohyan.

Memepoppo, puryon.

Kyopo-. Kyopo-.

Ryoromuminminminmohe-.

“............”

I can’t sleep.

I hardly feel awake, but my eyes have opened on their own.

It’s fine, leave it to me, Twoearle had said.

I’m not worried about something like digging a hole in the basement of the house. Even taking present-day Japan as an example, construction techniques have reached the point where they look like magic to an ordinary person, as you can see from the subways stretching through the earth under Tokyo like the mesh of a net.

Twoearle has come from a world where scientific techniques are far more advanced, so even though she’s doing rush construction, I don’t think there’s much reason to worry about a cave-in. I understand that, and I’m lying in bed like this, but...

No matter how I put them into text, it seems like you’ll doubt my sense of sound - what in the world are these weird construction noises?

“Ah! ...Dangerous, dangerous, I was almost about to break through to the planetary core...”

I shouldn’t be able to hear her distant voice, but it was as clear as if it were directly assaulting my brain.

Let’s sleep.

I have to sleep.

I have to leave these odd sounds and words on the other side of a dream.

Before much time had passed, suddenly the sounds stopped. She said she’d get it done in one night so I thought she’d have to work hard tonight, but it looks like she’s finished. Or the planetary core - no, let’s not think about it.

My exposure to the vortex of weird sound made even the ticking of the second hand of the wall clock sounded louder than usual when it stopped.

“Whew...”

I should be terribly tired, but for some reason I’m wide awake and can’t sleep. I raised my upper body out of bed and opened the curtains of the window.

The sky was full of stars.

As I watched them rising into the night sky I had a poetic thought, out of character.

That girl is just like a fragment that has fallen from one of those stars.

Zip.

A human face with bloodshot eyes fell into sight, facing the other way up. Its wide eyes met mine straight on as it passed the window.

“Gwaa――――――!!”

“Aahwaa――――――!!”

I fell off the bed in surprise but the girl on the other side of the window didn’t have it that easy.

“Hawawa, Souji-sama...”

“What are you doing, Twoearle!!”

Getting back on my bed, I hurried to pull up Twoearle, who got her hand on the windowframe in the nick of time. Well, first, my nomination of “fragment of a star” will probably lose the election without much debate.

...She had been doing some Sunday carpentry on the planetary engineering level, but despite that she had a nice smell. Something like peaches.

“I, I am inexcusably sorry, it looks as though I fell asleep while I was working and... while I was half asleep I walked up to the roof at some point, and the instant I realized where I was, my foot carelessly slipped and I fell.”

Seek Time=Zero. Certainly the thinking time is extremely close to zero, but isn’t the roughness of the contents a fatal flaw?

“Er... If that’s really true, there is room for careful thought about our mutual position.”

“No, no, no, you can use any position you want and I will be fine! Strength, direction, time doesn’t matter, whatever, however, wherever you come from, by all means!!”

I feel like a misunderstanding has crept in somewhere, but if she tells me I can take whatever position I want, I want her to let me put a little distance between us, so that’s how we’ll do it.

“Hey, Sou-ji, what are you doing! There was a huge noise, but......!!”

The sound of a window being shoved open.

Wearing light blue pajamas, Aika bent forward out of her window, her face changing color.

The house next door... my room and Aika’s are right across, and the gap between them is so small that you can put one foot on each window, but tonight that convenience has backfired.

“...Ah?”

Twoearle was sitting on the bed just the way I had pulled her up. We were facing each other.

“What are you doing in theeere!!”

With a violent four-footed leap, Aika entered my room with a dynamic ☆ sorry for butting in and with the same force sent Twoearle flying.

“Eh...... me... why me, in a love comedy it is the guy who gets punch... higaah!!”

Under Aika’s rush Twoearle floated into the air hit by hit.

Together with the dull sounds of impact.

The brilliant kicks and punches continued without a break.

And on top of that, the illusion of faint blue afterimages on the arc of motion.

This is the first time I’ve seen a human being do that outside of a fighting game.

“What are these about, these breasts! They piss me off! They piss me off!!”

“Do not worry. I myself used to be very small once. But I reached an ordinary size after two or three years. By the way, if you do not stop sooner or later I will di...”

“What do you mean average!? There’s nothing average about them -mune!!”

Ah, it's pathetically moving the way she’s turned her overflowing anger into a verbal tic.

“Even if I am from another world, human gh...”

They’re so close to me, but they’re far away.

“...Heeey.”

Even calling to them didn’t stop them, so I gave up on all of it and pulled the futon over my head.

<center>◇</center>

Yougetsu Academy suspended its first hour of classes, and the whole school was gathered in the gymnasium. Of course, about the incident yesterday.

A solemn atmosphere ruled by silence.

The fact that I couldn’t see any odd students out who were yawning and wishing for the assembly to end soon seemed odd in itself.

Only one thing broke the quiet: the steps of the student council president, Shindou Erina, walking up to the podium.

Standing at it, she swept her gaze across the room to cover every student. Just like peasants waiting for a verdict from the South Magistrate of Edo, they kept silent, waiting for her to speak.

Several of her maids stood like special police in the shadows behind her, maybe reflecting on their failure yesterday. They weren’t worrying about the way things looked any more.

“Everyone. As you are aware, the town faced a heretofore unprecedented danger yesterday, when it was assaulted by a group of mysterious monsters.”

Certainly, it’s beyond unprecedented. The monsters with their clear intention to collect twintails are in some sense even more of a shock than an invasion from outer space.

“In fact, I happened to be at the site, and was one of the targets.”

“Wh...!!”

“What’s that!”

The students suddenly started to murmur. They were trying to keep quiet for the sake of the president, but even so, when their anger rose up and overflowed, they couldn’t hold it back.

Her twintails were swaying with the motions of her body and hands, so I felt the tension rise too.

“Unforgivable!!”

“Even if it kills me, I’m going to try and beat them!”

“Hey, quick, someone strap dynamite to my body! Shut up, do it right now!”

Male and female students were shouting without a pause, as angry as if it had happened to them personally, or rather angrier. The flame of anger ran through the students’ bodies like a fuse, trying to turn the children of two thousand parents into insurgents.

If getting carried away like this is your school spirit, then just laugh and accept something small like my slip of the tongue yesterday!

“Your righteous anger makes me very happy. It is a wonderful thing for your hearts to ache for a stranger. And on top of that, for someone like me who is so inexperienced as a leader.”

She was short, so she was using a riser to reply. And yet still she was standing on tiptoes. I thought of a young girl stretching out as far as possible to write her answer on the blackboard.

That courage was another source of intoxication for her very well-trained dogs... rather, students.

“However, their aim was not me alone. Even in this room, there are several people who were targeted, I believe? And if we look outside of school there are even more girls who almost fell into the evil hands of the invaders.”

Another burst of murmuring, but this time she intercepted it with a sharp “But!”

“As you can see, I stand here unharmed. There is still very little information on television, but I believe many of you have learned about it from the net or other places. At that place there appeared like the wind... a gallant fighter for justice, who was kind enough to save us!”

Her voice became a little sweeter in the middle. She sounded just like a princess, her heart burning for the one she loved.

......A fighter for justice?

I felt an uncomfortable suspicion, and cold sweat ran down my spine.

“――That girl, that day, she stole my heart!!”

A loud and enthusiastic cheer rose up in response.

‘I’ve been waiting for those words, President!!”

“I’m so glad... Although I’ve been saying ‘a tiny girl with so much pride, so sexy,’ honestly I feel hesitant. But if that’s what the president says, I don’t feel sad at all any more!!”

“This is bad... I do feel sad, but it's still sexy!!”

“The tiny little president has a tiny little ally of justice... is this the kindness of God? I feel like I understand something about the world!”

It was a cauldron of excitement. I was reminded of the scene you often see at the end of an action movie, when they find out that the operation was successful and a whole room of FBI agents wave their hands in the air and cheer.

One after another they say things that make me worry about the future of Japan, or the world.

Eh? Could it be that I got the president to fall in love with me?

But the one she likes is me as TailRed... as a little girl... eh?

“Students, behold!”

When the president raised her right hand, without a moment’s delay one of the maids set up a projector screen. A large image of a girl appeared on it.

““““Ooooo―hh!!””””

“Aaah!!”

The exact opposite of the cheers around me. Sure enough, what they had put up on the screen was me after transformation. It’s a perfect angle. Pictures like this have already leaked out here and there on the net, it seems like.

“Eee...”

It’s frustrating, but... those are spectacular twintails...!! I can’t keep myself from looking!!

Lined up with the president, it’s a splendid view that is already rocking my heart.

A fierce power created by the harmony of two bodies in one, like being under the gaze of the two temple guardians that stand at the Niōmon.

It's probably because it resonates with the two beautiful tails of hair that are the foundation of the twintail.

“The Shindou family has decided to do everything in its power to support her! I ask everyone here, somehow, together with us, to aid the savior of the new era!”

The cheering became even louder.

A passionate gaze at the president, and TailRed’s twintails.

Everyone is looking at... my twintails――――

“Huh!?”

I felt my heart beating strangely fast in my chest for a reason it would not be a good idea to think about, and made a fist with my right hand and punched myself in the cheek.

The Shindou family had decided to support me, including even the president’s mother, the director of Yougetsu Academy. Lots of the students adore the president, so the student body should agree almost without exception.

The whole school is behind me ― but as someone who’s burdened with the job of turning into a little girl this isn’t something like high school baseball, where I can be openly proud of the fact that every student is cheering me on.

Even though school has just started, I can’t remember anything that’s happening in class.

I’m overhearing bits of gossip from all over, and probably all of it is about me, TailRed.

The day went by, and my stomach continued to hurt.

<center>◇</center>

At lunch, Aika came over to my seat carrying a bundle with a bento box in it.

“Hey, Souji, listen, after school...”

“Ah, sorry. I’m going home as soon as school ends, I promised to listen to the explanation of the Tailgear. And I need to let her show me the base, too.”

I answered her quietly to keep from being heard.

“The rest from yesterday?”

“I’m just going to hear how to use it, so you don’t have to come today.”

“...Just you and her?”

“There’s no one else, is there?”

It’s possible Mom will insist on joining in from the start this time.

“―M, me too!!”

Aika banged the table with the water bottle she was holding.

“I want... to hear it too, so let me come.”

“...Okay.”

With that much force in her voice, that was all I could say.

It was the first day of normal class. It was too early for people to be having lunch with new friends they had made, so almost everyone in both the bento faction and the cafeteria faction was eating with the people they knew from middle school.

Aika has quite a few friends from back in middle school, but I don’t even have one. I appreciate the fact that she’s coming to see me at lunch like this.

Yeah, that’s right.

We’re always together like this. If Aika wants to, I’ll let her hang out with me to the end.

“Ohh~, I haven’t seen this picture before!!”

When I looked over at the happy group of guys that were gathered by the window, their eyes were rooted to a tablet that one of them was holding.

“I’ve decided! From now on, I am TailRed-tan’s oniichan!!”

The lethal noise pierced my eardrum.

“Pffff―”

Without thinking I spit out the Fruits au Lait I was drinking.

“Wait a minute, Souji, don’t get it on my face! Ugh, it’s sticky...”

“So, sorry... I couldn’t help it...”

It did bother me that the girls nearby were grinning for some reason as they listened to us, but the guys were a bigger problem. You could easily see even from here a bright red young girl... TailRed was on the screen, and on top of that, it looked like it was switching in a slideshow.

“It’s all over the net now, isn’t it...!!”

I took my head in my hands.

“When we go home today, why don’t I get my hands on Twoearle and make her delete all the files that have gotten out? With her scientific ability, she should be able to do it.”

“Listen, think of something that doesn’t involve violence once in a while!”

As we whispered to each other, the guys were heating up even more.

“Really cute! Really cute! Really cute!”

I shuddered with chills. Ah, I was happy with the sight of all those people cheering for me, but when you look at them one by one this is what it feels like. It was the right decision not to give in to that strange feeling earlier.

“I was more into large breasts, but, you know... I’ve woken up.”

Woken up to what?

“Uhehe, she’s cute carrying that sword... I want her to cut me too.”

I will hit you as many thousand times with the flame blade as you want.

“Ah, man, I can’t take it anymore!!”

The owner of the tablet, no longer able to bear it, pursed his lips and leaned close to the screen.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

I suddenly grabbed Aika’s water bottle, and, although I didn’t even remember my classmate’s name, I took aim at his head and threw it. It hit barely in time, three centimeters before the kiss.

“Aaow! ...What the hell, Mitsuka!!”

“You should be ashamed of yourself, with such a little girl!!”

“Ah, if it’s shame, I’ve already accepted it! And here I stand!!”

What kind of state of mind have you reached at this young age!

I tore at my scalp.

And yet this guy properly remembers what my name is! Ngh...

“...Hm-hu~m. Come to think of it, you like twintails so much that on the first day, you wanted to make a Twintail Club! You just want to keep TailRed-tan yourself!”

“Noooooooo!!”

I wanted to recover from my mistake on the first day and somehow live a quiet student life, but somehow, now that I’m in the high school section, everyone seems to get sucked into the flow far more easily than I expected.

“I’m tired...”

The peace and quiet after school came with a pile of worries. My exhaustion was reaching its peak around the time I left, together with Aika as I had promised.

People in higher grades were crowded together on the walkway from the entrance to the school gate, enthusiastically welcoming the new students. But, whether the dark clouds gathering on my back were so thick that they could be seen or not, no one tried to talk to me.

I had a sudden thought as I was walking.

“You know, I wrote something like Twintail Club and left it undecided... what club should I join?“

“You’re not going to be fighting every day. When it comes to things like club life, just choose what you want like normal.”

Now that you say it, maybe you’re right.

“But I need to be prepared. Even today we don’t know if they’re going to show up again!”

“No way. After yesterday...”

I turned the corner with a bitter smile, and

≪To all humans who live on this Earth! We are the chosen soldiers of God from another dimension, the Ultima Guil!≫

“...”

“...”

We dropped our bags at the same time.

An enormous screen was floating in the sky.

≪Ladies and gentlemen, we do not intend to harm you! All we want is the light within your hearts! Resistance is useless! And if you don’t resist, we guarantee your lives!≫

A monster that looked like a dragon sat in a show-off throne. With his legs crossed, he was making a speech.

Well, anyway it’s a sight that would piss you off.

≪But it seems there are those of you who would bear arms against us. Resistance is useless! And if despite that, you dare resist, we will take up any challenge you give! Attack as you like!≫

“Is this a world broadcast!?”

The sound could be heard even from the houses in the residential area, on top of the razor-thin computer window that was floating in the sky.

With an unlikely thought I turned on my cellphone’s 1seg. Sure enough the same image was being shown on every channel I switched to.

What is this, are they coming in on the whole broadcast spectrum!? So extreme...

“Those guys, are they really going to invade the whole Earth?!!”

A relaxed speech that said, resist as much as you want to.

If they have really foreseen all the military and scientific power humanity possesses when they say that, then what kind of power does their organization boast?

Twoearle had said that they had overthrown many “worlds.” The meaning of her words became even deeper, and it made my legs sink under me.

Their invasion isn’t destructive.

A quiet conquest that steals the light from hearts, and the brilliance of life.

Yesterday’s fight was only really a skirmish. From now on, an overwhelming invasion would start, and the opponent would be the whole world.

Once that happens I’m not sure what just one person can do.

≪Hahaha, I am Turtle Guildy! As our leader Drag Guildy says, resistance is useless! I will be taking the light of the stars that shine in youth’s glittering sky... the Element of Bloomers!≫

The dragon had been replaced by a turtle-like monster, who was leaning back proudly.

But an Ultiroid approached apologetically from behind him and whispered into his ear.

≪...What!!? You say they hardly exist in this world any more! You have been fools, humans, you have been digging your own graves!!≫

The monster screamed, and humanity was speechless.

I can understand a hairstyle, but even your feelings about a half-extinct type of clothing can give you tremendous power? There are profound depths in this that I don’t want to know about. Seriously, what in the world is Elemera.

Once, once is enough, I want to take a look at the faces of the people who loved bloomers enough to give birth to a thing like that.

≪Souji-sama, did you see that just now!?≫

Shortly thereafter a message came in from Twoearle. The high school the next town over - apparently still in bloomers - was being raided. Let’s do it, then.

There are probably people who love bloomers so much that they can’t get enough, the way I am for twintails, aren’t there? Even if they have already started to go extinct on their own, I can’t let them be stolen by the invaders.

“...Ta, tail on.”

The activation words... the ones we’d decided on yesterday in a break in the conversation. I was still embarrassed about them, but...

Let’s go.

To crush this terribly small-scale “world invasion.”

<center>◇</center>

“Welcome home~, Souji-samaan~”

When I opened the door of my room, my optic nerve was hit with enough peach-colored light to give me vertigo. Twoearle had remodeled my bed to give it a canopy, and she greeted me wearing a negligee and wriggling a little.

“Hey, pervert.”

“...Uh, what, Aika!? Why are you here? Souji-sama said he would be alone! This is not what he promised!!”

“What kind of eternal promise do you think he maaaaade!!”

With a kick, Aika broke a support of the canopy and flattened Twoearle under it.

Getting remodeled, getting broken... my bed’s tragedies continue.

“...Uu, it’s awful! It is too much! And you didn’t come home quickly when the fight was over, so I’ve been lying like this for over an hour!”

“What’s too much is your breasts!!”

Aika promised to listen to the explanation. If you were waiting, then you should have been waiting for both of us honestly at the cafe.

But I’m exhausted from the fight. I don’t have the energy to think of comebacks or worry about the two of you. The turtle monster who kept saying “bloomers” was killed instantly, but I was surrounded by the students at the school where the fight happened and it was a lot of trouble to escape. That’s most of the fatigue.

“I give up, I had people take so many pictures of me with their phones and things...”

“That the day would come when someone in a man’s body would be scared of the words ‘secret photographs on the net’...”

“U, uu... Twoearle, is there anything I can do at this point? Their declaration of war went out across all of Japan!”

I poured out my anxieties to Twoearle, who had crawled out from under the canopy.

It’s terrifying not to feel any interest when a girl this beautiful is wearing a thin negligee.

“It was broadcast to almost the whole world at the same time, apparently. Every country is in a downroar at this point.”

“...Well, certainly I don’t know if it would cause an ‘up’roar, but...”

“Weren’t they speaking Japanese, though?”

“It was merely converted into Japanese when we heard it. They are creatures of mental force, and the language they speak does not travel through the ears, it comes directly into the head.”

I turned on the TV in my room. Just as she said, all over the world various speculations were in the air. It wasn’t a high alert situation yet, but it seemed like the events that had happened in Japan had been accepted in every country, and countermeasures were being put together.

NASA was bearing the brunt of it, so it looked like they had mistaken them for aliens.

“Ah, it’s getting to be a serious thing...”

I sank to the floor and buried my head in the bed.

“There is no need to worry. They only caused so much damage yesterday because we were not adequately prepared. From now on, if they appear, we can detect them right away.”

I remembered what I saw yesterday. Twoearle continued in an even more cheerful voice as if she had noticed that anxiety.

“Basically, defeat them right away when they appear. If we are thorough with that stance, it will not be such a problem. If we hold damage to the minimum possible level, public interest should fade and there should not be an uproar.”

“But with a loud proclamation of war like that, even the police and the army are going to come in, aren’t they?”

“As I said yesterday... even if the army does appear, they cannot get through to the Elemerians. They are materializations of spirit. You have to have the Tailgear, which can convert that same spiritual energy into power.”

“...Can I do this... an enemy who is attacking the whole world.”

I had a painful feeling that I’d gotten myself into this without much thought. My feelings of wanting to protect haven’t changed, but can I really keep fighting when it’s just me on my own?

All it would take is for several of them to appear at different places and I’d be out. And that’s something that they could put into practice at any time.

“That is what the secret underground base is for. Why not go and see it after this! We can already use the space leap equipment, so now it will only take a second even to get to the other side of the earth!”

That overtechnology too. If we weren’t in this situation I think my eyes would be glittering with happiness, though. Maybe because Twoearle was worried about my sinking feelings ―

“[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%A7%E4%BD%8D_%28%E6%80%A7%E8%A1%8C%E7%82%BA%29 Zai]sho-tto”

With a shout of encouragement as terrifying as any, she came and straddled my legs facing me.

“Two, Twoearle!?”

“Please get back up, Souji-sama, in various ways.”

With her hands behind her back and a suspicious smile, she touched my thighs. Her fingers crept upward, trying to keep me in suspense ―

“What are you doing!!”

“Cedar woodware!!”

Aika’s fist hit her and blew her away, making a strange noise. She stuck into the wall head-first.

“...Ph... hahah”

Watching their argument, I couldn’t help but laugh.

It’s no use if all I do is worry. I have to trust Twoearle, and trust my Elemera. I’ll just fight as long as I can. This fight of mine is just beginning, after all, so ―

“So, Souji... sama... that’s an ending flag ...”

I thought I could hear the brave words of a girl trying to hold back an ending herself.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2015-04-19T18:30:32Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 2: The lady molester from another dimension ==

The light was already fading. We made it back home from the scene of the fight without questions, thanks to recognition jamming. Now the real problem began.

“Once we’re inside the house... ssh. Mom’s home.”

Normally I’d come through the cafe door without any hesitation, but today that’s not a good idea. We went around to the back. I turned the key in the lock with unnecessary care.

“Thanks for having me ove~... ooguuh.”

Acting all of a sudden like a grade school boy coming over to play at her friend’s house, Twoearle took a punch in the solar plexus from Aika. She seems fluent in Japanese, but I guess a word like “ssh” isn’t part of her vocabulary.

“Oh, Sou-chan~?”

Mom’s voice came from the kitchen.

There shouldn’t be anything suspicious about coming in the back door, but the guilt over bringing along an unknown girl made me tense up.

“Uh, yeah, I’m home!!”

“I’m here, it’s me, Aika! Thanks for having me over!”

Aika helped me out by deliberately saying her name, and maybe thanks to that, mom called back oka~y! in her usual tone of voice.

She exchanged glances with me and went into the kitchen. I went up the stairs to my room, taking care to keep my mom from noticing Twoearle.

As soon as we walked through the door she started to say “nervous nervous, nervous nervous,” which bothered me, but before long Aika came up with black tea, and the three of us took chairs and sat around my table.

Sure enough, Twoearle was looking restlessly around.

“...You’re pretty lively considering I pounded you into the dirt earlier, aren’t you.”

“Haha, ridiculous. A woman who is bothered by a little thing like that would hardly be suitable. After this I expect Souji-sama to pound something even more amazing int―”

She started to say something, but trailed off in the middle of her sentence, maybe because Aika had moved into another knifehand strike pose. I looked down once more at the bracelet on my right hand and then at the girl sitting opposite me.

“You can explain this, right. The power you gave me, and the identity of those deviants.”

“...I, I am sorry. This is the first time I have ever been in a boy’s room... ehehe.”

“Wait. The first thing you’re going to explain to me is why I turn into a girl!!”

“What should I do... My heart’s beating fast, he’s going to hear it...”

“You know, what you're saying isn't matching up at all?”

Aika put in an amazed comeback. The gears of conversation weren’t turning an inch. And I think I was hearing things that shouldn’t have been said out loud in the first place.

“...U~m.”

Twoearle turned to look carefully at Aika next to her, and made a quiet noise.

“Aika-san. You are tired, are you not. Please go back to your house and rest.”

She had a smile like an angel but a closing time, get lost aura was floating around her.

“Nope. I would like to hear it too.”

Aika answered flatly, a vein standing out on her forehead.

...What is this atmosphere. I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly feeling a chill.

“Aika, I will send you a letter after we are done, so please go home and take a nice rest tonight. Incidentally, it seems that in this country they have the phrase ‘read the atmosphere, stupid.’ I was quite interested to learn that.”

“Shut up and start talking!!”

“Eaaaaaaah, that’s a contradictiooon”

Aika had grabbed her collar and was shaking it with her neck snapping back and forth like a baby whose muscles weren’t developed yet. It looked like a dangerous situation. I hastily jumped in to stop them.

“Calm down, Aika. I’m sure this is just Twoearle’s way of showing her consideration.”

“Ha ha... Souji-sama, you understand me perfectly, do you not? I’m no match for you...”

Even though we were in my room, Twoearle’s hair sparkled and fluttered in an unseen wind.

It’s like a widescreen event CG, it looks like it’s shining like the climactic scene of a game. What kind of game is this.

“Hey, Souji, is there a nice weapon in your room? Like a hammer or axe, something like that.”

“No, of course there isn’t, and you’re a girl, so you should choose a weapon that doesn’t depend so much on your muscles!!”

A giant weapon that relies on arm strength to promise a fatal wound. That’s not a nice weapon, those would put her on ice.

Twoearle cleared her throat and, “I apologize. I think I have gotten ahead of myself.”

She didn’t reply to Aika’s suspicious “how?” but continued.

“Allow me to explain, from beginning to end. First, the Tailgear.”

“Right, that’s the first thing. Why I become a girl.”

Twoearle took a scrap of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it into a huge liquid crystal terminal. The creases had vanished. I’m getting excited at all these little bits of overtechnology.

In the middle of the screen was a complete chart of the Tailgear. Lines were drawn to each piece of the armor, and descriptions filled up the rest of the space.

<div style="width: 65%; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.8rem; border: solid black 1px; padding: 6px; margin-left: 4%;">'''Overview of the parts of the Tailgear'''

Manufacturer: Twoearle (B90 W57 H86 Equipment user has the right to confirm with
                        the naked eye and/or body)

【'''ＴＡＩＬＧＥＡＲ'''】 An anti-Elemerian strength-amplification weapon created by user Elemera resonation with a Twintail Element as the core. Not limited to ground combat, it can operate equally well in deep sea or the vacuum of space. A mere 0.01 seconds pass between the beginning of the transformation and the completion of the weapon, and even during that time enemy attacks are held at bay by an unfolding shield, the Photon Cocoon.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＣＩＲＣＬＥ'''】 A piece that covers the neck. Deploys Imagine Chaff, the recognition jamming force. It also strengthens vision and hearing to the degree that the equipment user can see and even hear events taking place 20 kilometers away.

【'''ＦＯＲＣＥ　ＲＩＶＯＮ'''】 A hair ornament-model device. Creates a weapon in response to the rising Elemera of the equipment user.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＶＥＩＬ'''】 An extremely flexible metal which covers the whole body, it is the raw material of the Tailgear. It can boast hardness over 80 times that of diamond but is as light on the body and easy to move in as a set of clothes. The Photon Veil disassembles and absorbs the user’s clothing, so transformation and cancellation occur smoothly.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＦＩＮＧＥＲ'''】 A piece that covers the hand from the wrist to the fingertips. It strengthens the force of the equipment user’s grip several hundred times, and the punching power becomes over 100 tons.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＬＥＧ'''】 A piece from the lower leg down to the ankle. It strengthens the equipment user’s walking power several hundred times, and the kicking power over 150 tons.

【'''ＴＡＩＬＢＲＡＣＥ'''】 After the transformation, it regulates the Tailgear’s power output. Also, it is connected to the base’s main computer and transmits the operating condition with a negligible time lag of 0.001 seconds.

【'''ＥＬＥＭＥＬＥＴＩＯＮ'''】 Elemera Orb Conversion Device connected to the left armpiece. Special equipment that draws out the power of an Elemera Orb. The power of the Orb is reified, and charges every part of the Tailgear.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＢＯＯＳＴ'''】 Opening from the hip, an amplifier apparatus that focuses and releases Elemera. Supplies power to movement and incarnated weapons. When all energy is released, it protects against counter-currents so that the equipment user will not be wounded by backlash from the power they have raised to its limit.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＳＨＯＲＴＳ'''】

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＡＢＳＯＲＢＥＲ'''】 A defensive membrane of spiritual energy that surrounds the Tailgear. It can take a force corresponding to a 90-ton physical impact and distribute and mitigate it before it reaches the Tailgear. Also, when fighting in space, it plays the role of a radiation shield.</div>

“That was loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!!”

Twoearle had finished her excited explanation and was bowled over by an iron punch from an equally excited Aika.

“Every little bit of it is so stupid, but... here! A one-hundred-ton punch would blow over a building!”

“Uuuh... For those numbers I was trying to give it a chuu-ni feeling, so I just wrote whatever I thought looked good... You can do it if you try to, though, I think.”

Twoearle got up, rubbing her cheek. She’s reckless and tough, this girl.

She already has the technology of instantaneous teleportation, so even if the suit did have a destructive force of 100 tons or so, it wouldn’t really be surprising...

“What’s this Force Rivon supposed to be? It’s just a ribbon piece, why is there a V in there, it pisses me off!!”

“What do you mean? Boys of a certain age love the letter V! It makes their fighting spirit roar! I guess after all this is an area that a psychotic girl who doesn’t know anything about boys wouldn’t be able to understand, isn’t it!”

“I... W, wh, wh, hey, so are you saying you have so much experience with guys!?”

“That’s very rude. I am not necessarily a virgin, do not put me together with a bitch like you.”

Aika heaved Twoearle up onto her back and delivered a blow to her spine, with an amazing technique that even I hadn’t seen before.

For the time being let’s say this is just a very radical version of girls’ talk.

I’m surprised myself at how serene I am. It could be this wild dance of special moves designed to destroy the human body, radical in another sense... well, in the original sense.

That aside, Twoearle was right.

How do I put it... there are a lot of things here that appeal to a man’s instincts. When I look at it my mouth opens a little.

“But now that I look at it again, it’s actually awesome.”

With everything amplified several hundred times or several thousand times it wouldn’t be impossible to break through the atmosphere sometime when you were running.

“Twoearle, the Excellion Shorts part is blank, but they have some kind of function, right? This... here, right on the swimsuit... part...”

“Er, to put it simply, when the fight goes on for a long time and you want to go to the bathroom, this can break it down to the molecular level and scatter it into the atmosphere for you, but... it seemed like it would spoil the chuu-ni a little, so I wasn’t sure if I should mention it.”

I didn’t hear it - the true function of this piece of cloth with the glittering title of Excellion.

I will also leave this space blank in my heart hereafter.

“Ah... wait, wait! So you explained the layout of the Tailgear, but what about my body! Explain the part about becoming a girl first!!”

“What, you want me to teach you about a girl’s body? Hoho, that’s right, I resigned myself to this. When I agreed to come home with a man who worked himself up in a fight, I knew in my heart that this would probably”

“Tell us already, I’m not going to hold back for much longer!!”

“My elbow can bend farther noooow!!”

Wrestling fairly well with her words too, Aika was ruthlessly trying to break... no, she was crushing the girl’s slender arm.

...So up until now you’ve been holding back?

Looking at this brutal joint technique I don’t think Aika needed a weapon.

“You become a little girl when you put on the Tailgear because ―― that’s what I like! Is there something wrong with that!?”

“You’re suddenly serious!?”

Twoearle rose bravely to her full height as if she weren’t afraid of anyone.

Of course, I was also lost for words.

“Also, if you look like a little girl, it invites carelessness from the enemy, and you draw their attention. It is the best style to use against those guys.”

“We have little white lies in our part of the world too, Twoearle.”

But you know, if she’d choked down the first thing she said and just used the second explanation, I would have been able to barely accept it. For some reason her personal tastes were seriously interfering with what she wanted to say and exposing her.

“I understand. I can’t agree with this, but there is a good reason, so I guess I can’t help it.”

“Of course, right? Little girls are so cute, right!!”

No, not just interfering, I’m almost certain her tastes were her main reason, but... I’m scared to ask.

“Now. I want to ask about that monster too, but first, Twoearle, could you tell me about yourself?”

“Yes, I’ve been waaiting for you!! Please take a good look in all the corners!!”

She was about to strip her white coat off with a splendid gesture and probably a little jacket play when Aika’s body blow landed.

“Tempura donnnn”

With a mysterious moan, Twoearle collapsed on the floor. These guys are already perfectly in sync...?

“I... I am not a human of this world.... I came here from another world.”

That makes sense. I thought that we couldn’t communicate, our gears weren’t meeting up, but she wasn’t just a foreigner, she was from another world.

The cultural wall between worlds is incredibly thick, huh.

“Please do not misunderstand me, though. I said another world, but to be exact it is like a parallel dimension. It is not so different from here. The name of the country is different, but in this world, I would be Japanese.”

““Really!?””

A rare harmony with Aika. Now I can’t imagine what she means by “not so different.”

“So let’s talk about what that monster wanted first... the energy of the mind called Elemera.”

I’ve broken the explanation Twoearle gave down into my own words.

Not planets, not universes, but an uncountable number of “worlds” lie parallel to each other. Although no one can see it, they are as close together as if they were on either side of a door. As if they were the points on a backgammon board.

Originally, just like our universe, these worlds didn’t have the slightest idea that there were others, and still less were they able to travel between dimensions. It was impossible for a human race that had only barely managed to make it to the moon.

But there are extremely rare worlds with levels of scientific achievement that are literally in another dimension. The energy of the heart, Elemera, was born on a world like that.

The energy requirements of the technology they were developing became a problem, and they eventually arrived at a way to make use of the power in the human heart. That became like their electricity, their fossil fuel, their mineral wealth.

They made the vague and doubtful thing called ‘heart’ solid and concrete, and it gave birth to infinite possibility.

The core of the Tailgear, the target of those monsters, Elemera - element energy. It mediates every thought and desire a person has, and exists without limit.

Not just taste, but professions, features of the body, fields of expertise... a person doesn’t necessarily just have one element, and some have many.

“The enemy today was shouting, ‘find the twintails,’ or, ‘catch little girls with dolls,’ were they not? That is what they meant by it.”

I remembered the monsters’ mad little party vividly.

“That is what is called a Twintail Element. The fact that they have twintails. And their love for them and attachment to them. Those ingredients condense into mental energy. Elemera is the foundation everyone has in their heart, the source of their vitality. If it is lost... for example, if a person lost their Twintail Element, that person would never in their life be able to wear twintails again!”

“In their whole life!?”

“Yes. Even if they tried to tie them, they would not be able to. The blank left by a lost element will rule the body for eternity.”

A chill ran up my spine.

So if I had screwed up back there, those girls wouldn’t have been able to wear twintails again in their life, even if they had wanted to.

“S, something that crazy is possible...” Aika was touching her own hair protectively.

“Can you get that much power just because someone likes twintails!?”

“The force of the mind is vast, stronger than any fuel or chemical energy. Even when you are exercising, there is a remarkable difference in effectiveness depending on whether you are bored or you concentrate, right? That is also your mental energy turning into driving force.”

“That’s true. ‘The greatest way to train is to polish your mind’... grandpa said that to me a lot too.”

“Yeah.”

I know that in the fight today I was also remembering her grandfather’s words. I’m worried that his leading successor pays absolutely no attention to his wisdom, though.

“Aika, do you by any chance have an interest in martial arts?”

“Yeah, my grandpa ran a martial arts school.”

“That makes sense... I may need to start carrying a gun to protect myself, I suppose.”

“Go ahead. In that case I can kill you without hesitation.”

“......”

Twoearle froze at the straight-faced reply. I’ve been spending my days with a girl who says, “At last I can get serious,” when someone pulls a gun on her. My eyes are getting red.

“Tha - that aside. Unaided, a person’s ability to concentrate is more or less their limit, no matter how much practice or training they have... but this energy, Elemera, goes beyond that. The conversion is much more efficient when you materialize it and do not just burn it internally, and you obtain a source of refined energy far beyond existing methods of generating power. That is what makes it possible for the Tailgear to be the strongest weapon.”

Twoearle dropped her gaze to my right arm.

“I believe you recovered a stone after the battle.”

I remembered the stone that I had picked up without thinking. A light green stone with a mysterious glow. Maybe because I had it in mind, the stone popped out of the bracelet and rolled into the palm of my hand.

Although it was clearly not organic, I felt a quickening in it as though alive.

“That is a crystallized element, called an Elemera Orb.”

“Elemera Orb, huh?... But why something like twintails? I understand the part about a strong mental power, but, you know, in that case... it should be love for your family, or friendship. Aren’t there lots of things like that?”

“You could say that those have a splendid strength, but look at it more carefully. The love for family that intelligent beings possess is to some extent instinct. It is the bedrock of the mind, not the motivation for life but life itself. And in your life, what do you throw yourself into, what do you long for? What are you charmed by, what do you charm others with? That is where you will find the spiritual power of the individual, will you not?”

“Throwing your life into twintails...”

Aika gave me an amazed, sidelong glance.

“What, something bad about that!? Actually it was really powerful, wasn’t it!!”

“Yes. The Twintail Element has the highest order of power even among the Elemera. And that is also what allowed me to make use of its power to create a battle suit. The name ‘Tailgear’ does not only come from the ‘tail’ in ‘twintail,’ but from the ‘tale’ of fantasy!”

“...Are you serious, twintails are the strongest...!?”

“There is no reason why a strong element must have an impressive title. Elements which make you go ‘huh?’ and tilt your head for a second are often more powerful, enough to shock you.”

My life is not some kind of mistake.

This might be an exaggeration, but I think maybe my whole life has led to this day.

“The Tailgear is a weapon built with a Twintail Element at its core. Therefore, its use is of course limited to those with a strong Twintail Element. A boy who has never himself worn twintails would ordinarily not be expected to have that much power. But in this world, the possessor of the strongest Twintail Element is... Souji-sama, it is you――”

“So I was the chosen one!!”

“Yes, you are the chosen one! ...Um~ by the way, the explanation has gotten a little boring, so would you mind switching off the lights?”

Twoearle ran her fingers along the floor as if she were playing scales on a piano and lifted her hand to touch my thigh. Aika threw a very bulky monthly shonen magazine that had been lying on the floor of my room and intercepted it.

“Ooow!”

Those thousand-odd pages weren’t just for show. Twoearle puffed on her finger.

“You said those monsters were looking for Elemera. Did they come from another world too?”

“Yes. Those guys are ―”

<center>◇</center>

A monster that looked like a bug brought its fist down bang! on the table.

“You say Lizard Guildy was defeated!? By a human!!”

“Nonsense, how is that possible!!”

“Mere negligence cannot explain that! What is this!!”

A grand hall, all dull grey. Creatures of richly individual shape were gathered at a round table like executives holding a meeting in a conference room. This was the secret base of the Ultima Guil.

Neither air nor sea nor the solid earth knowing, a crystal of science and the occult. A base and a mother ship. And also the colony where the monsters lived.

It wasn’t hidden somewhere. It wasn’t even visible to the human eye. A temple... or a better word would be a sanctuary. Now, of course, it was anchored in Souji’s world.

As the commanding officer of the raid squadron, Lizard Guildy had departed in high spirits. But he hadn’t been out for a day before he was defeated together with several dozen of the Ultiroids. The report sent a huge shock through his fellows.

“Hmmmn, what is this! Our preliminary investigations of this world showed the level of civilization was low and the element level higher than anything we’ve seen before, an ideal environment! That was what we decided, wasn’t it!!”

Angry roars rose from all corners of the room, all calm lost.

The Elemerians.

The brilliant flourishing of Elemera had been cut short in one stroke by an unknown form of life. They were outside of the evolutionary chain of all other living things, crystals of mental energy with an ego and a body. As it were, the life of Elemera itself, so they had been given that name.

Humans are organic matter, and so we take in other plants and animals to survive. With bodies of mental energy, Elemerians have to live by ― of course, absorbing that same mental energy.

Like blood donation, it had become an iron rule that Elemera must never be extracted in a quantity large enough to hurt someone. But the Elemerians sucked it all out in an instant. They built up advanced knowledge unnoticed and finally learned how to form a conspiracy, and they gathered together into a grand organization and pulled the fangs out of humanity.

That organization was the Ultima Guil, the evil army that had already crossed through many worlds and was now in the world where Souji lived.

“Si-ilence!!”

A monster in the shape of a dragon broke through the mayhem with a roar. The hall suddenly went quiet as if it had been hit by cold water.

“Commander! Dra - Drag Guildy!”

Their commander gave off a fierce fighting aura even seated in his chair. His status was clearly well above that of the other figures in the hall.

“We who trained Lizard Guildy know well his strength. What this tells us is that there is a hidden soldier with enough power to defeat him.”

“A soldier...”

“Watch. It died in an instant, but one of our Ultiroids broadcast this recorded image to us.”

On a large monitor at the front of the room, a picture of the transformed Souji appeared.

Oooohh..., a simultaneous cry of wonder.

“Lizard Guildy was defeated by her... hmmmm, if it was those twintails then I can understand it.”

“What beauty... what love... this must be the Guardian of this world!”

“One cannot call this anything other than a coincidence, the work of the gods. All we knew about the level of civilization in advance was the surface layer, so even if there are one or two warriors that transcend this world’s logic and limits, it is not so mysterious. We have faced warriors who oppose us many times before, have we not.”

“...But up until now the strong enemies we have been fighting have all fallen into our ... aoooooh, what is this!?”

The muscular soldiers stood up out of their chairs with a tremendous noise. Broken into six parts, the monitor was showing the young warrior from all directions. A moment when her twintails were in lively motion had been captured, just like a blog review of a figurine.

Oh my.

Hmm.

Oh, this is.

They were supposed to be mourning Lizard Guildy but had become judges in a twintails show.

“More than anything, this young child... I sense in her fate both dread and destiny. These are not just twintails, this is not just a young girl. I feel a profound mystery here, don’t you?”

Drag Guildy folded his arms and curled his upper lip back. His eyes were missing nothing as he watched the screen, with a gleam of wit in them that didn’t match his bold and grim appearance.

“Well, what shall it be? Will we tuck our tail between our legs and leave for another world?”

With a faint smile, he cast his eyes over the company. The answer was obvious, and so the only response was a fearless grin from them all.

“What are you saying, sir? With twintails like that before us, to run to some trash world?”

“Heh... It looks like I’ve found the place I’m going to die.”

“Then nothing has changed. We will take those twintails and the Elemera of this world together!!”

Eaaaaaaaaahh...!!

Each and every one of them was a soldier so gallant and resolute that it was almost stifling.

“This is a happy accident, isn’t it? An formidable enemy comes out of nowhere and blocks our path - when that happens, a military man’s blood starts roaring even harder!”

Drag Guildy let out a ringing laugh with a look rising on his face that mixed joy and madness.

This is the Ultima Guil.

Callous monsters who cross between dimensions and have made humanity their enemy ―― we have the general idea of them for now.

<center>◇</center>

“Your world was destroyed, Twoearle!?”

I was amazed at what she casually said after she was done talking about the monsters.

“All of the people of my world had their Elemera stolen away by the Ultima Guil. Looking at the world from far away, you might not notice a single difference... but it was a lonely world of people who were somehow inanimate, with no ambition. There can be no invasion so quiet and cruel.”

In other words, what they destroyed was the heart of the world ― what they conquered was people’s spirit, or more like...

“In our world, the technology of Elemera had not yet been established, so they were an evil beyond human knowledge. There was no way to fight them. On top of that, you remember, you two thought at first that the girls were not hurt. It is hard to understand the real depth of an injury to Elemera. We dragged our feet when we should have opposed them with all our strength.”

“...Twoearle...”

Aika who had been optimistic back then hung her head in agreement.

A world where no one can meddle with the things they love, the things they pour their heart into. When I imagine it, I shiver.

“Definitely. They wouldn’t launch a serious global-scale counteroffensive against a monster that said stupid stuff like that, either, right.”

“Because I saw injury early, I conducted research on their technology before they started to seriously gather Elemera. Thanks to that, not all of my Elemera was stolen from me, but...”

You didn’t have enough to protect the world?

“Twoearle, you’re a researcher? To analyse a technology your world didn’t yet have, that’s amazing. You must be ridiculously smart. And you look like you’re about as old as we are.”

“My age is a secret!”

Twoearle put a finger to her lip and winked. Maybe sick of her girlish attitude, Aika bent her eyebrows up in a 八 shape like a punk in a leather jacket.

“If once stolen, the absorbed Elemera will never return. So it is a revenge that will bear no fruit, but... I would like to use my power to stop them from invading, at least.”

“All right! It’s a huge blessing for us that our interests coincide, but I’ll do it, to strike at the enemies of your world, and to keep our own world safe. Thank you for letting me use this power.”

“Yes! Please use it any way you want! This body!!”

Aika lashed out like a whip to grab Twoearle, who had a triumphant smile on her face as if she didn’t feel like it was enough to just let me use the Tailgear, and floored her with a back suplex.

I can see their underpants perfectly from where I’m sitting but, why is it, why is it that even when they do this I’m not feeling anything erotic about these two.

“Come to think of it, Twoearle, isn’t there anyone else who can use the Tailgear?”

“I cannot mass-produce them, but... there is just one more. And I have found someone who is qualified to use it already.”

“Really!? In that case, we...”

“But... it is not a person with a just spirit like you, Souji-sama. I don’t know if person is even the right word for them. An inhuman barbarian, heartless, a wild beast stained through to their soul with violence. If I gave such a mighty power to that demon, even supposing they could use it, I think they might become a greater threat to Earth than the Ultima Guil are.”

Twoearle poured out her heart with a bitter expression.

“Is that so? There are villains like that among people who like twintails, that’s kind of sad...”

“Hmm. Even though they have Elemera, they’re a demon with no heart. That’s odd.”

“Yes. I could not have believed it myself until I saw it with my own eyes. Actually, I still can’t believe it.”

In any case, we can’t expect reinforcements. It looks like I have to fight by myself for now or it’ll be hopeless.

“Naturally, I want to stop Souji from fighting in a war, but if he’s the only one that can fight, I guess there’s nothing I can do... But your safety is your first priority, all right?”

“Yeah, I know!”

“You don’t know! Listen, if you’re the greatest thing to them, you’re going to become their number one target! What if you lose, what do you think they’re going to do to you!?”

“Aika, you’re so gloomy... Elemerians do not have any particular interest in the human bo... lime juice!!”

Another back suplex. Before long the floor’s going to wear out.

“Your face is bright red, is it not! You are imagining something like tentacles!!”

“Sh, shut up shut up!! If they like that kind of thing, or if they have an element like that...”

Aika, waving her hands like an angry kid, abruptly stopped with a serious look.

“...Hey. You said that all the world’s Elemera was stolen, right? Then how did the Tailgear...”

“Oh my, it’s already this late!”

Twoearle looked somewhat unnaturally at the clock hanging on the wall behind her and clapped her hands. Aika had started to say something, but was interrupted by her badly delivered line and made another 八 with her eyebrows.

“I think that it would be a good idea to go home and rest before long, Aika. Are you not tired?”

“No, I’m just fine. Why are you trying to get me to go home by myself?”

“I thought you might be tired...”

Endless.

Twoearle felt around in the pockets of her white coat, and stood up suddenly with a smirk.

“Souji-sama, I am going to go make some more tea.”

“No, I can’t let you do that, you’re a guest - hey.”

I tried to get up but she stopped me, put the cups on the tray, and left the room hastily.

“...Hey, wait a second, Twoearle! My mom’s in the kitche...!!”

“I have made some more.”

“So fast!?”

I was about to hurry out of the room and follow her, but the door opened again after only seconds. Did she use the teleportation pen again? For some reason she had just one cup and was holding it carefully.

There was steam rising from it, certainly, but... did she really make more.

No, it’s not steam, there are bubbles rising from the unnaturally boiling water, or a piece of wrapping paper had fallen out of the pocket she was using, or it looked like she had just finished emptying the contents, or is that what’s going on or isn’t it, which one is it, it’s this mood where a chill is running up my spine again.

“Well, please go ahead, Aika.”

“Uh, okay...?”

You’ve been shouting all this time, your throat is probably dry.

Aika accepted it obediently and was about to raise the cup to her lips...

“...”

Her hand trembled and she stopped short as if she had felt the presence of a ghost. I couldn’t help but be drawn to the source of the gaze either. When I looked tactfully out of the corner of my eye at Twoearle, she was sta-ring at Aika with her eyes wide open like an owl.

“Now, drink,” her look said.

“...Twoearle, try a little bit of this.”

Aika handed back the cup.

“No, I have already had enough.”

“Just a sip is fine, though.”

“No, no.”

“Please, drink.”

“Absolutely not.”

“...You put something in this, didn’t you, you fucker!!”

Aika brandished the cup and threw the tea in Twoearle’s face.

“Nyuonmuuuu!!”

“Aaah ―― what are you doing, Aika!! That’s terrible!!”

When I see the way Twoearle is holding her mouth firmly closed, I feel absolutely sure she did put a sleeping pill or something in there. Why is she trying this hard to get Aika to go away!?

“Sou-ji, you can’t put any confidence in this woman! She absolutely has some kind of plot!!”

Uh, you know, I’m not going to believe everything Twoearle says all of a sudden either, but usually, when I try to think carefully about it, I get interrupted by screaming. What am I supposed to do!

“Calling it a plot is too harsh, I think.”

“So - Souji... Why are you putting this much trust in her! Is it because she has breasts!?”

Aika demanded an answer with tears in her eyes. Was she worrying about it that much? Maybe it would have been better to hold back the joke about her chest in that fight...

I pulled a hand towel out of the storage under my bed.

“Use this towel, Twoearle. I’m going to bring some ice from downstairs.”

“That is all right, it was not really that hot.”

“It looked pretty hot!?”

I started to wipe Twoearle’s face carefully with the towel.

“...M~m... m~ fu...”

She’s bringing her face unnaturally close to me. Watching us, Aika started to groan quietly, and her body was shaking. Feelings of guilt were naturally welling up within her, I guess?

“I don’t think you’ll have a burn... Aika, even if she came from another world, she’s just a normal human being. If you do the kind of tsukkomi you usually do on me, she’ll get hurt.”

I should have said that back when we met. How many punches has she taken already?

“Oh, that’s right.”

Twoearle, lying back in my arms as I was wiping her face, smiled as if she had realized something and suddenly began to wriggle again.

“It is hot... it is hot inside my clothes too. Please wipe me there...”

She took off her white coat. The plump breasts under her thin untrustworthy underwear shook as if they were about to burst.

“Eeeh...!? No, that is, uh, definitely... I’ll ask Aika.”

“If Aika did it, she might pour more boiling water in, I am worried.”

“I’m not gonna!!”

“That is a lie! You were trying to see if you could twist off my breasts earlier!!”

“They stayed on in the end, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

I think I can turn a blind eye to this conversation. I feel unspeakable fear responding in me, a long way beyond any of the scenes of destruction that I saw today.

“Let me have that!!”

As I broke out in a cold sweat, Aika took the chance and grabbed the towel from me.

“Nuryaaa!!”

Aika threw all her strength into scrubbing Twoearle’s chest with the towel to the point that it was more like rubdown therapy.

“The heat of friction is cutting down my breaaaaasts!!”

“You should get cut down to the bone, people like you!!”

It’s a little late to be saying this, but that first impression of Twoearle has certainly been smashed to atoms.

“Let, let’s talk about exactly how to operate the Tailgear later... I will leave the details for tomorrow or later, so let us stop here, all right...”

Twoearle made this suggestion while rubbing her chest. (By the way, without learning anything she said “Souji-sama, could you rub my chest” and took an open-palm blow from Aika on her chin.)

“Yeah, okay.”

To be honest, there are still many things I haven’t heard enough about, but I decided to agree with her since Aika has been in a really bad mood this whole time. I’ve asked the main things, and this should be enough for today. And I think this conversation is going to cut down Twoearle’s life if it goes on too long.

“Um... sorry. Throwing the tea on you. I went too far there.”

Aika seemed to be unwilling, but she apologized.

“It is all right. After all, I am stronger than a normal human. Incidentally, I think the other threats to my life may also have gone a bit too far.”

“Sorry, all right!!”

Stronger. I hadn’t expected to hear that word, and doubt rose into my mind at it. What was it that gave Twoearle that strength? She said that her goal was revenge, but I can’t feel even a hint of tragedy in her.

No, it wasn’t the kind of “invasion” that left everything a scorched earth, but even when she was talking about her old world, even when she was explaining her enemy the Elemerians, there didn’t seem to be even a bit of anger or sadness or resentment in her.

If that’s because she was putting a happy face on it, I think she really is strong.

“Umm~.”

“Whoa!”

Twoearle rubbed her hands together in front of my thighs, and gave me a look pregnant with meaning that was mixed with long, feverish breaths.

“So, then, Souji-sama. I also want to be able to back you up in a fight, so, from now on, I would like us to do everything together as much as possible. For efficiency’s sake, even eating and sleeping... um, the essential one of those is sleeping...”

She closed her mouth there. A look as sharp as a bed of nails had been fired from behind me.

“Eating and sleeping... wait, you mean here?”

“Yes, so would you allow me to borrow a room? As long as I can sleep it will be enough.”

“Huh!?”

“If you are going to say ‘we don’t have any rooms to lend to someone like you,’ then even a toilet will be fine, so... Hhh, haah...”

That would be even more inconvenient. But Twoearle is breathing louder for some reason.

“No, there’s not really anyone here but me and my mom, and we have extra rooms, so it’s fine, but... can’t you stay at Aika’s house? You’re both girls, and there’s something better about that.”

Aika’s parents are overseas for a job right now, so she’s living together with her older sister. As long as her sister is okay with it, I think that would be better, but...

“It is better with a boy and a girl... er, what I mean is, there are a number of considerations.”

“Even Aika doesn’t normally throw tea on people. Do you?”

“Of course I don’t! How savage do you think I am!!”

She wants to say I’m being ridiculous, but looking back at the amount of violence in not even an entire afternoon, she doesn’t make so unpersuasive an objection.

“But I am going to support you, Souji-sama, so it is more efficient if you let me live here. The assassins of the Ultima Guil are going to be coming again and again after this, you know!”

“U~mm, but...”

That was something that I didn't have an instant reply to. First of all, how should I explain this to mom?

“My mom is really like a kid in some ways. So, you know, if this incident leaks out, I’m worried she’ll stick her nose in.”

She lives her life jumping into the next exciting thing - for example, her half-hearted management of the cafe. If I let her know that I’m going to take care of a girl, she won’t worry about it or scold me, she is the master of taking nothing seriously. I’m scared to talk to her about this. I can see too clearly what would happen.

“Another urgent matter is the establishment of a base.”

“A base―”

Aika was taken aback at the jump in vocabulary. Come to think of it, there was something about that in the chart for the Tailgear.

“Due to the tremendous scale of the enemy, the system that supports Souji-sama must be flawless. Mission support, monitoring of the combat, maintenance of all kinds... it will also act as a research laboratory, so the base has to have a suitable size.”

“I see.”

I agreed with her. The value of support had been more than proven in the first battle today.

“And so, I would like you to allow me to dig a space underneath your house. The ground under this house is also more suitable.”

“Space under my house!? I’m not sure it will be okay if there’s an earthquake or something.”

“...Wait, the ground? But I live right next door...”

Aika’s also extremely worried. We’re such close neighbours that we’re practically connected, after all.

“Please do not worry. I will finish it tonight.”

Twoearle said something so ridiculous that people throughout the world working in the construction industry are going to do an old-fashioned spit take and blow out their tea.

“That makes it even harder to feel safe. What’s that lightning-speed work! Our houses aren’t just all going to sink into the ground, right?”

Twoearle shook her head gently and smiled sweetly.

“Aika, if you were living by yourself, I would not be unwilling even to demolish you and your house together with explosives, but I cannot cause trouble for your family.”

“Why don’t you get buried, hey, why don’t you get buried!”

Aika is shoving Twoearle’s head into the floor with an angry look on her face, on the verge of caving in the floorboards. She’s so beautiful that you feel ashamed just to look at her, but it looks like Aika’s gotten totally used to that. She doesn’t hold back when she scolds her.

“Twoearle. I’ll persuade my mom one way or another, so... could you help me think of a good reason why we’re going to live together? I absolutely don’t want anything about the Tailgear and the stuff about the Ultima Guil to come out.”

“Leave that to me. I can think of any number of lies like that. I am Seek Time=Zero Twoearle, I need no thinking time whatsoever.”

She hit her chest proudly with a thump. Another sketchy name in the ruby.

“Don’t act proud! And don’t shake your breasts!!”

Aika shot an “I still haven’t wiped it enough?” glare at that chest as if it had killed her father.

“How about this? I am your classmate, studying abroad from a foreign country.”

“I see, a homestay line or something?”

“No, I was lost in an unfamiliar city, and you tricked and kidnapped me and locked me up. See, I’m desperately trying to run away, so it makes perfect sense for me to dig a hole!”

“Does that make sense!!”

Twoearle took a punch to the liver.

“...I’ll persuade her on my own, okay?”

“Yeah. That’s a better idea. Go do it before she gets back up.”

I’m sorry. I can’t watch this.

She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life, and she’s rolling on the floor in agony in a way I’ve never seen outside of a fighting manga. It could easily overturn my whole view of life to look directly at this spectacle.

I went out into the hallway and breathed a big sigh of resignation.

This is the first time I’ve ever told my mom a lie this huge. It’s a kind of tension I’ve never tasted before.

The homestay line is the safest one, I think.

I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to explain it all afterward, but I am not good at lying. Ad-libbing doesn’t work either, as I’ve had rubbed in my face twice today.

“I’ll hide the parts I need to, and I’ll explain the truth as much as I can afterward. That’s all I can do...”

My mom was leaning on the with her arms folded when I came down the stairs.

“―― I hope you didn’t mind me listening in!”

“Don't listen to――!!”

“Oh my.”

I pulled my mom into the living room.

“Do you not care about your own son’s privacy?!!”

“You brought a girl other than Aika-chan along with you. I was sure there would be some interesting developments!!”

I rubbed my forehead and groaned. The whole thing was already revealed back when we walked in. I shouldn’t have worried about eyewitnesses at the scene, I should have been on maximum alert after I came home.

“...How much did you hear?! What did you hear?!!”

“I heard a girl screaming over and over. Muhuhu, things were pretty rough.”

Ah, she heard almost the whole thing. That’s already almost the whole thing. By the way, all the violence without exception was the young girl from next door.

“You said you were the ones who settled the incident that was on the news?”

“Why do you believe that!? Don’t you even have a little doubt!?”

We believe it because we saw it with our own eyes and then fought in it, but somehow she believes the whole thing just from eavesdropping on us.

My mother looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

“So at last, this day has come...”

I stepped back in shock at the serious expression on my mother’s face.

This calmness, the speed of adaptation... there was only one conclusion I could come to.

“...It can’t be, mom, you’ve already known for a long time... I was going to be chosen as the wearer of the Tailgear...!!”

“Umm, I don't know anything about it, but...”

Complete denial with the same serious face.

“Why were you acting like you knew!? Or actually, you didn’t hear anything we talked about!!”

“Monsters called Elemerians in the Ultima Guil attacked this world to obtain Elemera, the mental energy of humans, and you fight them using a suit called the Tailgear, Sou-chan?”

“Or you understand all of it, or which one!?”

That’s impressive understanding considering she was eavesdropping.

“...This was my dream, you know.”

My mother raised her face to heaven with lips tinged with drool and an expression of ecstasy on her face.

“Souji, your mother grew up with an aggravated case of chuunibyou. I passed my days dreaming of becoming a heroine who protected the world, and finally, without ever getting my wish, I became a mother of one. But, listen, I passed that dream down through the umbilical cord and I entrusted it to you.”

“What are you doing to your kid before he’s even born!!”

With a little effort this could probably have become a moving, unforgettable conversation between parent and child, but my mom was talking about the errors of her youth.

“And your late father, he was also ――― a terminal chuunibyou patient.”

“Is that something you pause before saying? ...Dad had a bad case of chuunibyou too......”

My eyes feel itchy, and not because I’m about to cry.

“We fell in love in an instant, and threw our chuuni back and forth at each other to our hearts’ content, wishing together. Dad also wanted very, very much to be a hero. He’d make stories where he became a hero in great detail, and he let me hear about them! At the end, he’d even tell me how he felt when he powered up and things like that.”

“Stop― I think I’m about to run into the front hall and smash his portrait!!”

I pressed my hands against my skull as if under assault by ultrasonic waves. Just listening to these memories feels like it’s blocking the blood vessels in my brain.

“But the situation your mother hoped for the most was to get close to a young man from the enemy organization and fall in love with each other. On the other hand, your father also dreamt of exactly the opposite situation, so we fought with each other on countless occasions! To be honest, several times we decided to break up because of that.”

English is not my strong point at all, but right now I think I could fluently say “ＯＨＭＹＧＯＤ!”

Someone who tries to put on a bracelet that transforms you into a young girl when they ask to share a table seems normal.

My parents, on countless occasions, fought and broke up for reasons as irrational as any in the world - it’s too heavy for the heart of a boy in adolescence. It’s very difficult to take.

“It was the winter of our third year in university. Your heartbroken mother said, “Let’s try a setting where a boy and girl who are always at each others’ throats are drawn to each other,” as a concession, but your father insisted that it had to be forbidden love with the female commander of the enemy forces (wearing body armor like a swimsuit) and refused to compromise. Even our relationship can only go so far... that’s about the time I started to resign myself to that. ...Sou-chan. I realized that you were in my belly around...”

Ectoplasm is coming out of my mouth. I can’t push it back in, my hands have no strength.

Dating each other with messed up fantasies, and then a shotgun marriage. This kind of parents. What do I do, what am I supposed to do with these frustrated feelings.

Something even heavier than the peace of the planet Earth is settling onto my shoulders.

“After that we got along with each other so well that it seemed unbelievable... heh heh, we often said that our child was the tie between us.”

That might have been true in my mother’s relationship, but when I hear that right now I feel pain like a spike being driven through my head!

“There’s one more important thing I have to say. This is a good time, I think.”

“Huh?”

“You know, Souji... you’re the oldest child, so did you ever wonder why your name has the character ‘two’ in it?”

A deep sadness dwelled in my mother’s eyes.

Certainly I’ve wondered, but in the end I never asked about it.

Why is she talking about that now?

“...Ah... Did I have some older brother or sister that you expected to come before me!?”

Mom shook her head.

“It came from the shared feelings of your father and I. ‘Ah, the real grade two of middle school was the most fun time,’ we said. It was the nostalgia we felt for those happy days gone by that made us put the letter ‘two’ in grade two in your name!...”

[Unavoidable TL note: The literal meaning of chuunibyou is "grade-two-of-middle-school syndrome," or eighth grade syndrome. Miharu and her husband loved the way they felt that year so much that they put the "two" in grade two into Souji's name.]

“Couldn’t you have taken that secret to the grave!? I’m going to be a delinquent! If they had to hear interesting secrets of their birth one after another like this, any normal adolescent human would be a delinquent already the next day!”

“I wanted to make it something more impressive, really. Like Meteo or Ultimate. But this was another compromise between the two of us - we finally chose a kanji that we both liked.”

“Sorry, Souji is good.”

I sunk to my knees at last. I nearly wore the name of a self-conscious enemy organization...

Hey, is it possible that my, the part of me that people think is a bit of a pain, really is a hereditary thing passed down through the umbilical cord?

The sound of a floorboard creaking made me hold my breath.

“Um~, is it all right?”

“Wai... Twoearle, you can’t come yet!”

Twoearle was peeking into the living room, half hiding behind the door. She is already very lively even though she took a straight punch to the liver some minutes ago.

“Hehe, you let me listen in on your conversation, Twoearle-chan!”

“Actually, I have also been taking the opportunity to listen in.”

I’m out of reactions.

That funny story about my birth, on a level that could win a prize if you submitted it to a variety program - I guess she heard that too. I could die of agony from the memory.

“Honored mother... I have already spoken about this with Souji-sama, but I would like to live here, if you would be so kind.”

“Sure, I’ve got no reason to say no!”

“Also, I would like to build a research laboratory underground if possible, and use it as a starting point for backup.”

“Get it done right away. A hundred kilometers deep if you like. I always wanted a secret base. Let me see it once in a while, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Heeeeeyy―!?”

The conversation is advancing bewilderingly fast. She’s even been allowed to break the limits on excavation depth in the private property regulations, it’s nuts.

“Also, honored mother, could I manage to have you say ‘Oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!’?”

“...Twoearle-chan, that’s good. You are really good! For someone like you to come to us from an alternate universe makes me really happy! Please think of this place as your own home! ...But, oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!”

The hell are you playing it back perfectly like a voice recorder! That’s a woman who devoted her whole youth to chuunibyou for you. Apparently mom can also use Seek Time=Zero.

I’m being washed in some kind of aura coming off the two of them, mom and Twoearle, and it looks to me like they’re being pulled together by something like magnetic force. ...Sympathy?

Twoearle must have a severe case of chuunibyou also, I guess. She puts Vs into words, too.

This is scary, now what am I going to do, I’m asking you a favor, so, just once, let me cry without worrying about what other people might think.

“And so I don’t have any problem with Twoearle staying at our house. Think of this as your own home, including Sou-chan’s room, and use it without reservation.”

“Thank you very much, Mother (in law). It will mainly be Souji-sama’s room that I think of as my house.”

What’s this? They’re making fun of me, I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on.

If I make comebacks one by one it’ll be me who loses.

I bowed my head. I had reached a degree of enlightenment.

“...Hehe, instead, would you mind making Sou-chan into a proper man sometime?”

“Oh, no, Mother (in law), please don’t be so reserved. Why do you not say ‘tonight?’”

“Twoearle-chan...!!”

“Mother (in law)...!!”

The two hugged each other for dear life.

Aika came down the stairs at a run, raising dust. “Wai... Aunt Miharu, come over here, please!”

“My my, mother is very popular.”

“And also, you, don’t think “in law” when you say mother!”

“How did you know!?”

Aika went right past Twoearle without even remembering to punch her. ...Maybe I should cry now while I can... silently, with tears streaming down my face.

<center>◇</center>

Aika took Souji’s mom ・Miharu into a neighbouring room and closed the door. She really didn’t want to be heard, opening the door a crack to check Souji and then shutting it again right away.

“Aunt Miharu! Think about this carefully! If you make him live together with a woman like that, Souji’s virtue will be in danger!”

“I couldn’t ask for more, could I? Suddenly a beautiful girl comes to live with the hero, and things turn in an erotic direction. It’s just like that day, that hour, the dream I painted in my mind back then! Even if she pushes Souji down, it won’t bother me at all.”

“And you still call yourself his mother!!”

It looks like she also painted a detailed love comedy in her youth of chuuni fantasy, but... I wonder why a woman had a dream with a development like that?

“But, it’s normal for a parent to want her son to find a girlfriend?”

Miharu gave her a probing look.

“......That...... that might be true, but......”

A bashful Aika poking her fingers together.

“Or else, you, Aika-chan...?”

Aika hastily waved her hand. “It’s not like I... I’m just worried about Souji as his childhood friend...”

“Ye~s, if that girl hadn’t appeared, I wanted to look at you a little more carefully.”

“Wh, what are you saying?”

“Twoearle-chan has a good look in her eyes. They’re the eyes of a woman who wants to eat a virgin, an aroused woman with no principles!”

“Even as a joke, is that something you say about your guest!?”

It made even Aika feel pity; she tried to defend her.

“A guest... no! Twoearle-chan is already a fine member of our family.”

The door opened with a soft sound. Twoearle came in, her eyes wet with tears.

“Mother (in law)...”

She gripped both of Miharu’s hands tightly, and something passed between their eyes.

“Huh? Why is there an emotional atmosphere!?”

“I am sorry, mother, but I am not a woman without principles. I have one principle: Souji-sama.”

“You should deny the rest of it too!!”

“That is right. It’s romance for a woman to lose all her principles when it comes to a single man!”

Has a day come when in just a few minutes the air is filled with such unromantic words? Why has a girl her age gotten to the point where her eyes brim with happy tears when mom calls her a virgin eater? Just like Souji, Aika seems to have been assaulted by a violent headache.

Although she was holding her forehead with her head lowered, Aika’s lips were pressed hard together. Miharu still thinks she’s just worried about Souji, and no, she still didn’t trust her.

(The way she’s acting, some of it is joking, but...)

Twoearle was holding hands with Miharu and turning around in circles as Aika stared with distrustful eyes.

(There are a lot of crucial things she’s holding out of focus. Like in a world where Elemera had been hunted to exhaustion, how did she get the Twintail Element for the core of the Tailgear?)

The Tailgear, armor that lets you fight without covering your face. Aika felt that its manufacturer had hidden her own face behind a heavy mask.

(I know there’s something important she’s hiding...)

<center>◇</center>

Aika had stressed it to the point of stubbornness as she was about to head home.

“Souji, from today on, sleep with your door locked.”

“Why?”

“Who cares! If you don’t, I’ll weld it shut from outside!!”

That’s ridiculous, it’s a wooden door, I was thinking, but I understood it as Aika’s way of saying that I should be more careful about crime prevention. Without objecting any further, I nodded obediently, and I went obediently to bed that night. But.

Mohyan.

Memepoppo, puryon.

Kyopo-. Kyopo-.

Ryoromuminminminmohe-.

“............”

I can’t sleep.

I hardly feel awake, but my eyes have opened on their own.

It’s fine, leave it to me, Twoearle had said.

I’m not worried about something like digging a hole in the basement of the house. Even taking present-day Japan as an example, construction techniques have reached the point where they look like magic to an ordinary person, as you can see from the subways stretching through the earth under Tokyo like the mesh of a net.

Twoearle has come from a world where scientific techniques are far more advanced, so even though she’s doing rush construction, I don’t think there’s much reason to worry about a cave-in. I understand that, and I’m lying in bed like this, but...

No matter how I put them into text, it seems like you’ll doubt my sense of sound - what in the world are these weird construction noises?

“Ah! ...Dangerous, dangerous, I was almost about to break through to the planetary core...”

I shouldn’t be able to hear her distant voice, but it was as clear as if it were directly assaulting my brain.

Let’s sleep.

I have to sleep.

I have to leave these odd sounds and words on the other side of a dream.

Before much time had passed, suddenly the sounds stopped. She said she’d get it done in one night so I thought she’d have to work hard tonight, but it looks like she’s finished. Or the planetary core - no, let’s not think about it.

My exposure to the vortex of weird sound made even the ticking of the second hand of the wall clock sounded louder than usual when it stopped.

“Whew...”

I should be terribly tired, but for some reason I’m wide awake and can’t sleep. I raised my upper body out of bed and opened the curtains of the window.

The sky was full of stars.

As I watched them rising into the night sky I had a poetic thought, out of character.

That girl is just like a fragment that has fallen from one of those stars.

Zip.

A human face with bloodshot eyes fell into sight, facing the other way up. Its wide eyes met mine straight on as it passed the window.

“Gwaa――――――!!”

“Aahwaa――――――!!”

I fell off the bed in surprise but the girl on the other side of the window didn’t have it that easy.

“Hawawa, Souji-sama...”

“What are you doing, Twoearle!!”

Getting back on my bed, I hurried to pull up Twoearle, who got her hand on the windowframe in the nick of time. Well, first, my nomination of “fragment of a star” will probably lose the election without much debate.

...She had been doing some Sunday carpentry on the planetary engineering level, but despite that she had a nice smell. Something like peaches.

“I, I am inexcusably sorry, it looks as though I fell asleep while I was working and... while I was half asleep I walked up to the roof at some point, and the instant I realized where I was, my foot carelessly slipped and I fell.”

Seek Time=Zero. Certainly the thinking time is extremely close to zero, but isn’t the roughness of the contents a fatal flaw?

“Er... If that’s really true, there is room for careful thought about our mutual position.”

“No, no, no, you can use any position you want and I will be fine! Strength, direction, time doesn’t matter, whatever, however, wherever you come from, by all means!!”

I feel like a misunderstanding has crept in somewhere, but if she tells me I can take whatever position I want, I want her to let me put a little distance between us, so that’s how we’ll do it.

“Hey, Sou-ji, what are you doing! There was a huge noise, but......!!”

The sound of a window being shoved open.

Wearing light blue pajamas, Aika bent forward out of her window, her face changing color.

The house next door... my room and Aika’s are right across, and the gap between them is so small that you can put one foot on each window, but tonight that convenience has backfired.

“...Ah?”

Twoearle was sitting on the bed just the way I had pulled her up. We were facing each other.

“What are you doing in theeere!!”

With a violent four-footed leap, Aika entered my room with a dynamic ☆ sorry for butting in and with the same force sent Twoearle flying.

“Eh...... me... why me, in a love comedy it is the guy who gets punch... higaah!!”

Under Aika’s rush Twoearle floated into the air hit by hit.

Together with the dull sounds of impact.

The brilliant kicks and punches continued without a break.

And on top of that, the illusion of faint blue afterimages on the arc of motion.

This is the first time I’ve seen a human being do that outside of a fighting game.

“What are these about, these breasts! They piss me off! They piss me off!!”

“Do not worry. I myself used to be very small once. But I reached an ordinary size after two or three years. By the way, if you do not stop sooner or later I will di...”

“What do you mean average!? There’s nothing average about them -mune!!”

Ah, it's pathetically moving the way she’s turned her overflowing anger into a verbal tic.

“Even if I am from another world, human gh...”

They’re so close to me, but they’re far away.

“...Heeey.”

Even calling to them didn’t stop them, so I gave up on all of it and pulled the futon over my head.

<center>◇</center>

Yougetsu Academy suspended its first hour of classes, and the whole school was gathered in the gymnasium. Of course, about the incident yesterday.

A solemn atmosphere ruled by silence.

The fact that I couldn’t see any odd students out who were yawning and wishing for the assembly to end soon seemed odd in itself.

Only one thing broke the quiet: the steps of the student council president, Shindou Erina, walking up to the podium.

Standing at it, she swept her gaze across the room to cover every student. Just like peasants waiting for a verdict from the South Magistrate of Edo, they kept silent, waiting for her to speak.

Several of her maids stood like special police in the shadows behind her, maybe reflecting on their failure yesterday. They weren’t worrying about the way things looked any more.

“Everyone. As you are aware, the town faced a heretofore unprecedented danger yesterday, when it was assaulted by a group of mysterious monsters.”

Certainly, it’s beyond unprecedented. The monsters with their clear intention to collect twintails are in some sense even more of a shock than an invasion from outer space.

“In fact, I happened to be at the site, and was one of the targets.”

“Wh...!!”

“What’s that!”

The students suddenly started to murmur. They were trying to keep quiet for the sake of the president, but even so, when their anger rose up and overflowed, they couldn’t hold it back.

Her twintails were swaying with the motions of her body and hands, so I felt the tension rise too.

“Unforgivable!!”

“Even if it kills me, I’m going to try and beat them!”

“Hey, quick, someone strap dynamite to my body! Shut up, do it right now!”

Male and female students were shouting without a pause, as angry as if it had happened to them personally, or rather angrier. The flame of anger ran through the students’ bodies like a fuse, trying to turn the children of two thousand parents into insurgents.

If getting carried away like this is your school spirit, then just laugh and accept something small like my slip of the tongue yesterday!

“Your righteous anger makes me very happy. It is a wonderful thing for your hearts to ache for a stranger. And on top of that, for someone like me who is so inexperienced as a leader.”

She was short, so she was using a riser to reply. And yet still she was standing on tiptoes. I thought of a young girl stretching out as far as possible to write her answer on the blackboard.

That courage was another source of intoxication for her very well-trained dogs... rather, students.

“However, their aim was not me alone. Even in this room, there are several people who were targeted, I believe? And if we look outside of school there are even more girls who almost fell into the evil hands of the invaders.”

Another burst of murmuring, but this time she intercepted it with a sharp “But!”

“As you can see, I stand here unharmed. There is still very little information on television, but I believe many of you have learned about it from the net or other places. At that place there appeared like the wind... a gallant fighter for justice, who was kind enough to save us!”

Her voice became a little sweeter in the middle. She sounded just like a princess, her heart burning for the one she loved.

......A fighter for justice?

I felt an uncomfortable suspicion, and cold sweat ran down my spine.

“――That girl, that day, she stole my heart!!”

A loud and enthusiastic cheer rose up in response.

‘I’ve been waiting for those words, President!!”

“I’m so glad... Although I’ve been saying ‘a tiny girl with so much pride, so sexy,’ honestly I feel hesitant. But if that’s what the president says, I don’t feel sad at all any more!!”

“This is bad... I do feel sad, but it's still sexy!!”

“The tiny little president has a tiny little ally of justice... is this the kindness of God? I feel like I understand something about the world!”

It was a cauldron of excitement. I was reminded of the scene you often see at the end of an action movie, when they find out that the operation was successful and a whole room of FBI agents wave their hands in the air and cheer.

One after another they say things that make me worry about the future of Japan, or the world.

Eh? Could it be that I got the president to fall in love with me?

But the one she likes is me as TailRed... as a little girl... eh?

“Students, behold!”

When the president raised her right hand, without a moment’s delay one of the maids set up a projector screen. A large image of a girl appeared on it.

““““Ooooo―hh!!””””

“Aaah!!”

The exact opposite of the cheers around me. Sure enough, what they had put up on the screen was me after transformation. It’s a perfect angle. Pictures like this have already leaked out here and there on the net, it seems like.

“Eee...”

It’s frustrating, but... those are spectacular twintails...!! I can’t keep myself from looking!!

Lined up with the president, it’s a splendid view that is already rocking my heart.

A fierce power created by the harmony of two bodies in one, like being under the gaze of the two temple guardians that stand at the Niōmon.

It's probably because it resonates with the two beautiful tails of hair that are the foundation of the twintail.

“The Shindou family has decided to do everything in its power to support her! I ask everyone here, somehow, together with us, to aid the savior of the new era!”

The cheering became even louder.

A passionate gaze at the president, and TailRed’s twintails.

Everyone is looking at... my twintails――――

“Huh!?”

I felt my heart beating strangely fast in my chest for a reason it would not be a good idea to think about, and made a fist with my right hand and punched myself in the cheek.

The Shindou family had decided to support me, including even the president’s mother, the director of Yougetsu Academy. Lots of the students adore the president, so the student body should agree almost without exception.

The whole school is behind me ― but as someone who’s burdened with the job of turning into a little girl this isn’t something like high school baseball, where I can be openly proud of the fact that every student is cheering me on.

Even though school has just started, I can’t remember anything that’s happening in class.

I’m overhearing bits of gossip from all over, and probably all of it is about me, TailRed.

The day went by, and my stomach continued to hurt.

<center>◇</center>

At lunch, Aika came over to my seat carrying a bundle with a bento box in it.

“Hey, Souji, listen, after school...”

“Ah, sorry. I’m going home as soon as school ends, I promised to listen to the explanation of the Tailgear. And I need to let her show me the base, too.”

I answered her quietly to keep from being heard.

“The rest from yesterday?”

“I’m just going to hear how to use it, so you don’t have to come today.”

“...Just you and her?”

“There’s no one else, is there?”

It’s possible Mom will insist on joining in from the start this time.

“―M, me too!!”

Aika banged the table with the water bottle she was holding.

“I want... to hear it too, so let me come.”

“...Okay.”

With that much force in her voice, that was all I could say.

It was the first day of normal class. It was too early for people to be having lunch with new friends they had made, so almost everyone in both the bento faction and the cafeteria faction was eating with the people they knew from middle school.

Aika has quite a few friends from back in middle school, but I don’t even have one. I appreciate the fact that she’s coming to see me at lunch like this.

Yeah, that’s right.

We’re always together like this. If Aika wants to, I’ll let her hang out with me to the end.

“Ohh~, I haven’t seen this picture before!!”

When I looked over at the happy group of guys that were gathered by the window, their eyes were rooted to a tablet that one of them was holding.

“I’ve decided! From now on, I am TailRed-tan’s oniichan!!”

The lethal noise pierced my eardrum.

“Pffff―”

Without thinking I spit out the Fruits au Lait I was drinking.

“Wait a minute, Souji, don’t get it on my face! Ugh, it’s sticky...”

“So, sorry... I couldn’t help it...”

It did bother me that the girls nearby were grinning for some reason as they listened to us, but the guys were a bigger problem. You could easily see even from here a bright red young girl... TailRed was on the screen, and on top of that, it looked like it was switching in a slideshow.

“It’s all over the net now, isn’t it...!!”

I took my head in my hands.

“When we go home today, why don’t I get my hands on Twoearle and make her delete all the files that have gotten out? With her scientific ability, she should be able to do it.”

“Listen, think of something that doesn’t involve violence once in a while!”

As we whispered to each other, the guys were heating up even more.

“Really cute! Really cute! Really cute!”

I shuddered with chills. Ah, I was happy with the sight of all those people cheering for me, but when you look at them one by one this is what it feels like. It was the right decision not to give in to that strange feeling earlier.

“I was more into large breasts, but, you know... I’ve woken up.”

Woken up to what?

“Uhehe, she’s cute carrying that sword... I want her to cut me too.”

I will hit you as many thousand times with the flame blade as you want.

“Ah, man, I can’t take it anymore!!”

The owner of the tablet, no longer able to bear it, pursed his lips and leaned close to the screen.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

I suddenly grabbed Aika’s water bottle, and, although I didn’t even remember my classmate’s name, I took aim at his head and threw it. It hit barely in time, three centimeters before the kiss.

“Aaow! ...What the hell, Mitsuka!!”

“You should be ashamed of yourself, with such a little girl!!”

“Ah, if it’s shame, I’ve already accepted it! And here I stand!!”

What kind of state of mind have you reached at this young age!

I tore at my scalp.

And yet this guy properly remembers what my name is! Ngh...

“...Hm-hu~m. Come to think of it, you like twintails so much that on the first day, you wanted to make a Twintail Club! You just want to keep TailRed-tan yourself!”

“Noooooooo!!”

I wanted to recover from my mistake on the first day and somehow live a quiet student life, but somehow, now that I’m in the high school section, everyone seems to get sucked into the flow far more easily than I expected.

“I’m tired...”

The peace and quiet after school came with a pile of worries. My exhaustion was reaching its peak around the time I left, together with Aika as I had promised.

People in higher grades were crowded together on the walkway from the entrance to the school gate, enthusiastically welcoming the new students. But, whether the dark clouds gathering on my back were so thick that they could be seen or not, no one tried to talk to me.

I had a sudden thought as I was walking.

“You know, I wrote something like Twintail Club and left it undecided... what club should I join?“

“You’re not going to be fighting every day. When it comes to things like club life, just choose what you want like normal.”

Now that you say it, maybe you’re right.

“But I need to be prepared. Even today we don’t know if they’re going to show up again!”

“No way. After yesterday...”

I turned the corner with a bitter smile, and

≪To all humans who live on this Earth! We are the chosen soldiers of God from another dimension, the Ultima Guil!≫

“...”

“...”

We dropped our bags at the same time.

An enormous screen was floating in the sky.

≪Ladies and gentlemen, we do not intend to harm you! All we want is the light within your hearts! Resistance is useless! And if you don’t resist, we guarantee your lives!≫

A monster that looked like a dragon sat in a show-off throne. With his legs crossed, he was making a speech.

Well, anyway it’s a sight that would piss you off.

≪But it seems there are those of you who would bear arms against us. Resistance is useless! And if despite that, you dare resist, we will take up any challenge you give! Attack as you like!≫

“Is this a world broadcast!?”

The sound could be heard even from the houses in the residential area, on top of the razor-thin computer window that was floating in the sky.

With an unlikely thought I turned on my cellphone’s 1seg. Sure enough the same image was being shown on every channel I switched to.

What is this, are they coming in on the whole broadcast spectrum!? So extreme...

“Those guys, are they really going to invade the whole Earth?!!”

A relaxed speech that said, resist as much as you want to.

If they have really foreseen all the military and scientific power humanity possesses when they say that, then what kind of power does their organization boast?

Twoearle had said that they had overthrown many “worlds.” The meaning of her words became even deeper, and it made my legs sink under me.

Their invasion isn’t destructive.

A quiet conquest that steals the light from hearts, and the brilliance of life.

Yesterday’s fight was only really a skirmish. From now on, an overwhelming invasion would start, and the opponent would be the whole world.

Once that happens I’m not sure what just one person can do.

≪Hahaha, I am Turtle Guildy! As our leader Drag Guildy says, resistance is useless! I will be taking the light of the stars that shine in youth’s glittering sky... the Element of Bloomers!≫

The dragon had been replaced by a turtle-like monster, who was leaning back proudly.

But an Ultiroid approached apologetically from behind him and whispered into his ear.

≪...What!!? You say they hardly exist in this world any more! You have been fools, humans, you have been digging your own graves!!≫

The monster screamed, and humanity was speechless.

I can understand a hairstyle, but even your feelings about a half-extinct type of clothing can give you tremendous power? There are profound depths in this that I don’t want to know about. Seriously, what in the world is Elemera.

Once, once is enough, I want to take a look at the faces of the people who loved bloomers enough to give birth to a thing like that.

≪Souji-sama, did you see that just now!?≫

Shortly thereafter a message came in from Twoearle. The high school the next town over - apparently still in bloomers - was being raided. Let’s do it, then.

There are probably people who love bloomers so much that they can’t get enough, the way I am for twintails, aren’t there? Even if they have already started to go extinct on their own, I can’t let them be stolen by the invaders.

“...Ta, tail on.”

The activation words... the ones we’d decided on yesterday in a break in the conversation. I was still embarrassed about them, but...

Let’s go.

To crush this terribly small-scale “world invasion.”

<center>◇</center>

“Welcome home~, Souji-samaan~”

When I opened the door of my room, my optic nerve was hit with enough peach-colored light to give me vertigo. Twoearle had remodeled my bed to give it a canopy, and she greeted me wearing a negligee and wriggling a little.

“Hey, pervert.”

“...Uh, what, Aika!? Why are you here? Souji-sama said he would be alone! This is not what he promised!!”

“What kind of eternal promise do you think he maaaaade!!”

With a kick, Aika broke a support of the canopy and flattened Twoearle under it.

Getting remodeled, getting broken... my bed’s tragedies continue.

“...Uu, it’s awful! It is too much! And you didn’t come home quickly when the fight was over, so I’ve been lying like this for over an hour!”

“What’s too much is your breasts!!”

Aika promised to listen to the explanation. If you were waiting, then you should have been waiting for both of us honestly at the cafe.

But I’m exhausted from the fight. I don’t have the energy to think of comebacks or worry about the two of you. The turtle monster who kept saying “bloomers” was killed instantly, but I was surrounded by the students at the school where the fight happened and it was a lot of trouble to escape. That’s most of the fatigue.

“I give up, I had people take so many pictures of me with their phones and things...”

“That the day would come when someone in a man’s body would be scared of the words ‘secret photographs on the net’...”

“U, uu... Twoearle, is there anything I can do at this point? Their declaration of war went out across all of Japan!”

I poured out my anxieties to Twoearle, who had crawled out from under the canopy.

It’s terrifying not to feel any interest when a girl this beautiful is wearing a thin negligee.

“It was broadcast to almost the whole world at the same time, apparently. Every country is in a downroar at this point.”

“...Well, certainly I don’t know if it would cause an ‘up’roar, but...”

“Weren’t they speaking Japanese, though?”

“It was merely converted into Japanese when we heard it. They are creatures of mental force, and the language they speak does not travel through the ears, it comes directly into the head.”

I turned on the TV in my room. Just as she said, all over the world various speculations were in the air. It wasn’t a high alert situation yet, but it seemed like the events that had happened in Japan had been accepted in every country, and countermeasures were being put together.

NASA was bearing the brunt of it, so it looked like they had mistaken them for aliens.

“Ah, it’s getting to be a serious thing...”

I sank to the floor and buried my head in the bed.

“There is no need to worry. They only caused so much damage yesterday because we were not adequately prepared. From now on, if they appear, we can detect them right away.”

I remembered what I saw yesterday. Twoearle continued in an even more cheerful voice as if she had noticed that anxiety.

“Basically, defeat them right away when they appear. If we are thorough with that stance, it will not be such a problem. If we hold damage to the minimum possible level, public interest should fade and there should not be an uproar.”

“But with a loud proclamation of war like that, even the police and the army are going to come in, aren’t they?”

“As I said yesterday... even if the army does appear, they cannot get through to the Elemerians. They are materializations of spirit. You have to have the Tailgear, which can convert that same spiritual energy into power.”

“...Can I do this... an enemy who is attacking the whole world.”

I had a painful feeling that I’d gotten myself into this without much thought. My feelings of wanting to protect haven’t changed, but can I really keep fighting when it’s just me on my own?

All it would take is for several of them to appear at different places and I’d be out. And that’s something that they could put into practice at any time.

“That is what the secret underground base is for. Why not go and see it after this! We can already use the space leap equipment, so now it will only take a second even to get to the other side of the earth!”

That overtechnology too. If we weren’t in this situation I think my eyes would be glittering with happiness, though. Maybe because Twoearle was worried about my sinking feelings ―

“[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%A7%E4%BD%8D_%28%E6%80%A7%E8%A1%8C%E7%82%BA%29 Zai]sho-tto”

With a shout of encouragement as terrifying as any, she came and straddled my legs facing me.

“Two, Twoearle!?”

“Please get back up, Souji-sama, in various ways.”

With her hands behind her back and a suspicious smile, she touched my thighs. Her fingers crept upward, trying to keep me in suspense ―

“What are you doing!!”

“Cedar woodware!!”

Aika’s fist hit her and blew her away, making a strange noise. She stuck into the wall head-first.

“...Ph... hahah”

Watching their argument, I couldn’t help but laugh.

It’s no use if all I do is worry. I have to trust Twoearle, and trust my Elemera. I’ll just fight as long as I can. This fight of mine is just beginning, after all, so ―

“So, Souji... sama... that’s an ending flag ...”

I thought I could hear the brave words of a girl trying to hold back an ending herself.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2015-04-19T17:53:44Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 2: The lady molester from another dimension ==

The light was already fading. We made it back home from the scene of the fight without questions, thanks to recognition jamming. Now the real problem began.

“Once we’re inside the house... ssh. Mom’s home.”

Normally I’d come through the cafe door without any hesitation, but today that’s not a good idea. We went around to the back. I turned the key in the lock with unnecessary care.

“Thanks for having me ove~... ooguuh.”

Acting all of a sudden like a grade school boy coming over to play at her friend’s house, Twoearle took a punch in the solar plexus from Aika. She seems fluent in Japanese, but I guess a word like “ssh” isn’t part of her vocabulary.

“Oh, Sou-chan~?”

Mom’s voice came from the kitchen.

There shouldn’t be anything suspicious about coming in the back door, but the guilt over bringing along an unknown girl made me tense up.

“Uh, yeah, I’m home!!”

“I’m here, it’s me, Aika! Thanks for having me over!”

Aika helped me out by deliberately saying her name, and maybe thanks to that, mom called back oka~y! in her usual tone of voice.

She exchanged glances with me and went into the kitchen. I went up the stairs to my room, taking care to keep my mom from noticing Twoearle.

As soon as we walked through the door she started to say “nervous nervous, nervous nervous,” which bothered me, but before long Aika came up with black tea, and the three of us took chairs and sat around my table.

Sure enough, Twoearle was looking restlessly around.

“...You’re pretty lively considering I pounded you into the dirt earlier, aren’t you.”

“Haha, ridiculous. A woman who is bothered by a little thing like that would hardly be suitable. After this I expect Souji-sama to pound something even more amazing int―”

She started to say something, but trailed off in the middle of her sentence, maybe because Aika had moved into another knifehand strike pose. I looked down once more at the bracelet on my right hand and then at the girl sitting opposite me.

“You can explain this, right. The power you gave me, and the identity of those deviants.”

“...I, I am sorry. This is the first time I have ever been in a boy’s room... ehehe.”

“Wait. The first thing you’re going to explain to me is why I turn into a girl!!”

“What should I do... My heart’s beating fast, he’s going to hear it...”

“You know, what you're saying isn't matching up at all?”

Aika put in an amazed comeback. The gears of conversation weren’t turning an inch. And I think I was hearing things that shouldn’t have been said out loud in the first place.

“...U~m.”

Twoearle turned to look carefully at Aika next to her, and made a quiet noise.

“Aika-san. You are tired, are you not. Please go back to your house and rest.”

She had a smile like an angel but a closing time, get lost aura was floating around her.

“Nope. I would like to hear it too.”

Aika answered flatly, a vein standing out on her forehead.

...What is this atmosphere. I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly feeling a chill.

“Aika, I will send you a letter after we are done, so please go home and take a nice rest tonight. Incidentally, it seems that in this country they have the phrase ‘read the atmosphere, stupid.’ I was quite interested to learn that.”

“Shut up and start talking!!”

“Eaaaaaaah, that’s a contradictiooon”

Aika had grabbed her collar and was shaking it with her neck snapping back and forth like a baby whose muscles weren’t developed yet. It looked like a dangerous situation. I hastily jumped in to stop them.

“Calm down, Aika. I’m sure this is just Twoearle’s way of showing her consideration.”

“Ha ha... Souji-sama, you understand me perfectly, do you not? I’m no match for you...”

Even though we were in my room, Twoearle’s hair sparkled and fluttered in an unseen wind.

It’s like a widescreen event CG, it looks like it’s shining like the climactic scene of a game. What kind of game is this.

“Hey, Souji, is there a nice weapon in your room? Like a hammer or axe, something like that.”

“No, of course there isn’t, and you’re a girl, so you should choose a weapon that doesn’t depend so much on your muscles!!”

A giant weapon that relies on arm strength to promise a fatal wound. That’s not a nice weapon, those would put her on ice.

Twoearle cleared her throat and, “I apologize. I think I have gotten ahead of myself.”

She didn’t reply to Aika’s suspicious “how?” but continued.

“Allow me to explain, from beginning to end. First, the Tailgear.”

“Right, that’s the first thing. Why I become a girl.”

Twoearle took a scrap of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it into a huge liquid crystal terminal. The creases had vanished. I’m getting excited at all these little bits of overtechnology.

In the middle of the screen was a complete chart of the Tailgear. Lines were drawn to each piece of the armor, and descriptions filled up the rest of the space.

<div style="width: 65%; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.8rem; border: solid black 1px; padding: 6px; margin-left: 4%;">'''Overview of the parts of the Tailgear'''

Manufacturer: Twoearle (B90 W57 H86 Equipment user has the right to confirm with
                        the naked eye and/or body)

【'''ＴＡＩＬＧＥＡＲ'''】 An anti-Elemerian strength-amplification weapon created by user Elemera resonation with a Twintail Element as the core. Not limited to ground combat, it can operate equally well in deep sea or the vacuum of space. A mere 0.01 seconds pass between the beginning of the transformation and the completion of the weapon, and even during that time enemy attacks are held at bay by an unfolding shield, the Photon Cocoon.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＣＩＲＣＬＥ'''】 A piece that covers the neck. Deploys Imagine Chaff, the recognition jamming force. It also strengthens vision and hearing to the degree that the equipment user can see and even hear events taking place 20 kilometers away.

【'''ＦＯＲＣＥ　ＲＩＶＯＮ'''】 A hair ornament-model device. Creates a weapon in response to the rising Elemera of the equipment user.

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＶＥＩＬ'''】 An extremely flexible metal which covers the whole body, it is the raw material of the Tailgear. It can boast hardness over 80 times that of diamond but is as light on the body and easy to move in as a set of clothes. The Photon Veil disassembles and absorbs the user’s clothing, so transformation and cancellation occur smoothly.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＦＩＮＧＥＲ'''】 A piece that covers the hand from the wrist to the fingertips. It strengthens the force of the equipment user’s grip several hundred times, and the punching power becomes over 100 tons.

【'''ＳＰＩＲＩＴＩＣＡ　ＬＥＧ'''】 A piece from the lower leg down to the ankle. It strengthens the equipment user’s walking power several hundred times, and the kicking power over 150 tons.

【'''ＴＡＩＬＢＲＡＣＥ'''】 After the transformation, it regulates the Tailgear’s power output. Also, it is connected to the base’s main computer and transmits the operating condition with a negligible time lag of 0.001 seconds.

【'''ＥＬＥＭＥＬＥＴＩＯＮ'''】 Elemera Orb Conversion Device connected to the left armpiece. Special equipment that draws out the power of an Elemera Orb. The power of the Orb is reified, and charges every part of the Tailgear.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＢＯＯＳＴ'''】 Opening from the hip, an amplifier apparatus that focuses and releases Elemera. Supplies power to movement and incarnated weapons. When all energy is released, it protects against counter-currents so that the equipment user will not be wounded by backlash from the power they have raised to its limit.

【'''ＥＸＣＥＬＬＩＯＮ　ＳＨＯＲＴＳ'''】

【'''ＰＨＯＴＯＮ　ＡＢＳＯＲＢＥＲ'''】 A defensive membrane of spiritual energy that surrounds the Tailgear. It can take a force corresponding to a 90-ton physical impact and distribute and mitigate it before it reaches the Tailgear. Also, when fighting in space, it plays the role of a radiation shield.</div>

“That was loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!!”

Twoearle had finished her excited explanation and was bowled over by an iron punch from an equally excited Aika.

“Every little bit of it is so stupid, but... here! A one-hundred-ton punch would blow over a building!”

“Uuuh... For those numbers I was trying to give it a chuu-ni feeling, so I just wrote whatever I thought looked good... You can do it if you try to, though, I think.”

Twoearle got up, rubbing her cheek. She’s reckless and tough, this girl.

She already has the technology of instantaneous teleportation, so even if the suit did have a destructive force of 100 tons or so, it wouldn’t really be surprising...

“What’s this Force Rivon supposed to be? It’s just a ribbon piece, why is there a V in there, it pisses me off!!”

“What do you mean? Boys of a certain age love the letter V! It makes their fighting spirit roar! I guess after all this is an area that a psychotic girl who doesn’t know anything about boys wouldn’t be able to understand, isn’t it!”

“I... W, wh, wh, hey, so are you saying you have so much experience with guys!?”

“That’s very rude. I am not necessarily a virgin, do not put me together with a bitch like you.”

Aika heaved Twoearle up onto her back and delivered a blow to her spine, with an amazing technique that even I hadn’t seen before.

For the time being let’s say this is just a very radical version of girls’ talk.

I’m surprised myself at how serene I am. It could be this wild dance of special moves designed to destroy the human body, radical in another sense... well, in the original sense.

That aside, Twoearle was right.

How do I put it... there are a lot of things here that appeal to a man’s instincts. When I look at it my mouth opens a little.

“But now that I look at it again, it’s actually awesome.”

With everything amplified several hundred times or several thousand times it wouldn’t be impossible to break through the atmosphere sometime when you were running.

“Twoearle, the Excellion Shorts part is blank, but they have some kind of function, right? This... here, right on the swimsuit... part...”

“Er, to put it simply, when the fight goes on for a long time and you want to go to the bathroom, this can break it down to the molecular level and scatter it into the atmosphere for you, but... it seemed like it would spoil the chuu-ni a little, so I wasn’t sure if I should mention it.”

I didn’t hear it - the true function of this piece of cloth with the glittering title of Excellion.

I will also leave this space blank in my heart hereafter.

“Ah... wait, wait! So you explained the layout of the Tailgear, but what about my body! Explain the part about becoming a girl first!!”

“What, you want me to teach you about a girl’s body? Hoho, that’s right, I resigned myself to this. When I agreed to come home with a man who worked himself up in a fight, I knew in my heart that this would probably”

“Tell us already, I’m not going to hold back for much longer!!”

“My elbow can bend farther noooow!!”

Wrestling fairly well with her words too, Aika was ruthlessly trying to break... no, she was crushing the girl’s slender arm.

...So up until now you’ve been holding back?

Looking at this brutal joint technique I don’t think Aika needed a weapon.

“You become a little girl when you put on the Tailgear because ―― that’s what I like! Is there something wrong with that!?”

“You’re suddenly serious!?”

Twoearle rose bravely to her full height as if she weren’t afraid of anyone.

Of course, I was also lost for words.

“Also, if you look like a little girl, it invites carelessness from the enemy, and you draw their attention. It is the best style to use against those guys.”

“We have little white lies in our part of the world too, Twoearle.”

But you know, if she’d choked down the first thing she said and just used the second explanation, I would have been able to barely accept it. For some reason her personal tastes were seriously interfering with what she wanted to say and exposing her.

“I understand. I can’t agree with this, but there is a good reason, so I guess I can’t help it.”

“Of course, right? Little girls are so cute, right!!”

No, not just interfering, I’m almost certain her tastes were her main reason, but... I’m scared to ask.

“Now. I want to ask about that monster too, but first, Twoearle, could you tell me about yourself?”

“Yes, I’ve been waaiting for you!! Please take a good look in all the corners!!”

She was about to strip her white coat off with a splendid gesture and probably a little jacket play when Aika’s body blow landed.

“Tempura donnnn”

With a mysterious moan, Twoearle collapsed on the floor. These guys are already perfectly in sync...?

“I... I am not a human of this world.... I came here from another world.”

That makes sense. I thought that we couldn’t communicate, our gears weren’t meeting up, but she wasn’t just a foreigner, she was from another world.

The cultural wall between worlds is incredibly thick, huh.

“Please do not misunderstand me, though. I said another world, but to be exact it is like a parallel dimension. It is not so different from here. The name of the country is different, but in this world, I would be Japanese.”

““Really!?””

A rare harmony with Aika. Now I can’t imagine what she means by “not so different.”

“So let’s talk about what that monster wanted first... the energy of the mind called Elemera.”

I’ve broken the explanation Twoearle gave down into my own words.

Not planets, not universes, but an uncountable number of “worlds” lie parallel to each other. Although no one can see it, they are as close together as if they were on either side of a door. As if they were the points on a backgammon board.

Originally, just like our universe, these worlds didn’t have the slightest idea that there were others, and still less were they able to travel between dimensions. It was impossible for a human race that had only barely managed to make it to the moon.

But there are extremely rare worlds with levels of scientific achievement that are literally in another dimension. The energy of the heart, Elemera, was born on a world like that.

The energy requirements of the technology they were developing became a problem, and they eventually arrived at a way to make use of the power in the human heart. That became like their electricity, their fossil fuel, their mineral wealth.

They made the vague and doubtful thing called ‘heart’ solid and concrete, and it gave birth to infinite possibility.

The core of the Tailgear, the target of those monsters, Elemera - element energy. It mediates every thought and desire a person has, and exists without limit.

Not just taste, but professions, features of the body, fields of expertise... a person doesn’t necessarily just have one element, and some have many.

“The enemy today was shouting, ‘find the twintails,’ or, ‘catch little girls with dolls,’ were they not? That is what they meant by it.”

I remembered the monsters’ mad little party vividly.

“That is what is called a Twintail Element. The fact that they have twintails. And their love for them and attachment to them. Those ingredients condense into mental energy. Elemera is the foundation everyone has in their heart, the source of their vitality. If it is lost... for example, if a person lost their Twintail Element, that person would never in their life be able to wear twintails again!”

“In their whole life!?”

“Yes. Even if they tried to tie them, they would not be able to. The blank left by a lost element will rule the body for eternity.”

A chill ran up my spine.

So if I had screwed up back there, those girls wouldn’t have been able to wear twintails again in their life, even if they had wanted to.

“S, something that crazy is possible...” Aika was touching her own hair protectively.

“Can you get that much power just because someone likes twintails!?”

“The force of the mind is vast, stronger than any fuel or chemical energy. Even when you are exercising, there is a remarkable difference in effectiveness depending on whether you are bored or you concentrate, right? That is also your mental energy turning into driving force.”

“That’s true. ‘The greatest way to train is to polish your mind’... grandpa said that to me a lot too.”

“Yeah.”

I know that in the fight today I was also remembering her grandfather’s words. I’m worried that his leading successor pays absolutely no attention to his wisdom, though.

“Aika, do you by any chance have an interest in martial arts?”

“Yeah, my grandpa ran a martial arts school.”

“That makes sense... I may need to start carrying a gun to protect myself, I suppose.”

“Go ahead. In that case I can kill you without hesitation.”

“......”

Twoearle froze at the straight-faced reply. I’ve been spending my days with a girl who says, “At last I can get serious,” when someone pulls a gun on her. My eyes are getting red.

“Tha - that aside. Unaided, a person’s ability to concentrate is more or less their limit, no matter how much practice or training they have... but this energy, Elemera, goes beyond that. The conversion is much more efficient when you materialize it and do not just burn it internally, and you obtain a source of refined energy far beyond existing methods of generating power. That is what makes it possible for the Tailgear to be the strongest weapon.”

Twoearle dropped her gaze to my right arm.

“I believe you recovered a stone after the battle.”

I remembered the stone that I had picked up without thinking. A light green stone with a mysterious glow. Maybe because I had it in mind, the stone popped out of the bracelet and rolled into the palm of my hand.

Although it was clearly not organic, I felt a quickening in it as though alive.

“That is a crystallized element, called an Elemera Orb.”

“Elemera Orb, huh?... But why something like twintails? I understand the part about a strong mental power, but, you know, in that case... it should be love for your family, or friendship. Aren’t there lots of things like that?”

“You could say that those have a splendid strength, but look at it more carefully. The love for family that intelligent beings possess is to some extent instinct. It is the bedrock of the mind, not the motivation for life but life itself. And in your life, what do you throw yourself into, what do you long for? What are you charmed by, what do you charm others with? That is where you will find the spiritual power of the individual, will you not?”

“Throwing your life into twintails...”

Aika gave me an amazed, sidelong glance.

“What, something bad about that!? Actually it was really powerful, wasn’t it!!”

“Yes. The Twintail Element has the highest order of power even among the Elemera. And that is also what allowed me to make use of its power to create a battle suit. The name ‘Tailgear’ does not only come from the ‘tail’ in ‘twintail,’ but from the ‘tale’ of fantasy!”

“...Are you serious, twintails are the strongest...!?”

“There is no reason why a strong element must have an impressive title. Elements which make you go ‘huh?’ and tilt your head for a second are often more powerful, enough to shock you.”

My life is not some kind of mistake.

This might be an exaggeration, but I think maybe my whole life has led to this day.

“The Tailgear is a weapon built with a Twintail Element at its core. Therefore, its use is of course limited to those with a strong Twintail Element. A boy who has never himself worn twintails would ordinarily not be expected to have that much power. But in this world, the possessor of the strongest Twintail Element is... Souji-sama, it is you――”

“So I was the chosen one!!”

“Yes, you are the chosen one! ...Um~ by the way, the explanation has gotten a little boring, so would you mind switching off the lights?”

Twoearle ran her fingers along the floor as if she were playing scales on a piano and lifted her hand to touch my thigh. Aika threw a very bulky monthly shonen magazine that had been lying on the floor of my room and intercepted it.

“Ooow!”

Those thousand-odd pages weren’t just for show. Twoearle puffed on her finger.

“You said those monsters were looking for Elemera. Did they come from another world too?”

“Yes. Those guys are ―”

<center>◇</center>

A monster that looked like a bug brought its fist down bang! on the table.

“You say Lizard Guildy was defeated!? By a human!!”

“Nonsense, how is that possible!!”

“Mere negligence cannot explain that! What is this!!”

A grand hall, all dull grey. Creatures of richly individual shape were gathered at a round table like executives holding a meeting in a conference room. This was the secret base of the Ultima Guil.

Neither air nor sea nor the solid earth knowing, a crystal of science and the occult. A base and a mother ship. And also the colony where the monsters lived.

It wasn’t hidden somewhere. It wasn’t even visible to the human eye. A temple... or a better word would be a sanctuary. Now, of course, it was anchored in Souji’s world.

As the commanding officer of the raid squadron, Lizard Guildy had departed in high spirits. But he hadn’t been out for a day before he was defeated together with several dozen of the Ultiroids. The report sent a huge shock through his fellows.

“Hmmmn, what is this! Our preliminary investigations of this world showed the level of civilization was low and the element level higher than anything we’ve seen before, an ideal environment! That was what we decided, wasn’t it!!”

Angry roars rose from all corners of the room, all calm lost.

The Elemerians.

The brilliant flourishing of Elemera had been cut short in one stroke by an unknown form of life. They were outside of the evolutionary chain of all other living things, crystals of mental energy with an ego and a body. As it were, the life of Elemera itself, so they had been given that name.

Humans are organic matter, and so we take in other plants and animals to survive. With bodies of mental energy, Elemerians have to live by ― of course, absorbing that same mental energy.

Like blood donation, it had become an iron rule that Elemera must never be extracted in a quantity large enough to hurt someone. But the Elemerians sucked it all out in an instant. They built up advanced knowledge unnoticed and finally learned how to form a conspiracy, and they gathered together into a grand organization and pulled the fangs out of humanity.

That organization was the Ultima Guil, the evil army that had already crossed through many worlds and was now in the world where Souji lived.

“Si-ilence!!”

A monster in the shape of a dragon broke through the mayhem with a roar. The hall suddenly went quiet as if it had been hit by cold water.

“Commander! Dra - Drag Guildy!”

Their commander gave off a fierce fighting aura even seated in his chair. His status was clearly well above that of the other figures in the hall.

“We who trained Lizard Guildy know well his strength. What this tells us is that there is a hidden soldier with enough power to defeat him.”

“A soldier...”

“Watch. It died in an instant, but one of our Ultiroids broadcast this recorded image to us.”

On a large monitor at the front of the room, a picture of the transformed Souji appeared.

Oooohh..., a simultaneous cry of wonder.

“Lizard Guildy was defeated by her... hmmmm, if it was those twintails then I can understand it.”

“What beauty... what love... this must be the Guardian of this world!”

“One cannot call this anything other than a coincidence, the work of the gods. All we knew about the level of civilization in advance was the surface layer, so even if there are one or two warriors that transcend this world’s logic and limits, it is not so mysterious. We have faced warriors who oppose us many times before, have we not.”

“...But up until now the strong enemies we have been fighting have all fallen into our ... aoooooh, what is this!?”

The muscular soldiers stood up out of their chairs with a tremendous noise. Broken into six parts, the monitor was showing the young warrior from all directions. A moment when her twintails were in lively motion had been captured, just like a blog review of a figurine.

Oh my.

Hmm.

Oh, this is.

They were supposed to be mourning Lizard Guildy but had become judges in a twintails show.

“More than anything, this young child... I sense in her fate both dread and destiny. These are not just twintails, this is not just a young girl. I feel a profound mystery here, don’t you?”

Drag Guildy folded his arms and curled his upper lip back. His eyes were missing nothing as he watched the screen, with a gleam of wit in them that didn’t match his bold and grim appearance.

“Well, what shall it be? Will we tuck our tail between our legs and leave for another world?”

With a faint smile, he cast his eyes over the company. The answer was obvious, and so the only response was a fearless grin from them all.

“What are you saying, sir? With twintails like that before us, to run to some trash world?”

“Heh... It looks like I’ve found the place I’m going to die.”

“Then nothing has changed. We will take those twintails and the Elemera of this world together!!”

Eaaaaaaaaahh...!!

Each and every one of them was a soldier so gallant and resolute that it was almost stifling.

“This is a happy accident, isn’t it? An formidable enemy comes out of nowhere and blocks our path - when that happens, a military man’s blood starts roaring even harder!”

Drag Guildy let out a ringing laugh with a look rising on his face that mixed joy and madness.

This is the Ultima Guil.

Callous monsters who cross between dimensions and have made humanity their enemy ―― we have the general idea of them for now.

<center>◇</center>

“Your world was destroyed, Twoearle!?”

I was amazed at what she casually said after she was done talking about the monsters.

“All of the people of my world had their Elemera stolen away by the Ultima Guil. Looking at the world from far away, you might not notice a single difference... but it was a lonely world of people who were somehow inanimate, with no ambition. There can be no invasion so quiet and cruel.”

In other words, what they destroyed was the heart of the world ― what they conquered was people’s spirit, or more like...

“In our world, the technology of Elemera had not yet been established, so they were an evil beyond human knowledge. There was no way to fight them. On top of that, you remember, you two thought at first that the girls were not hurt. It is hard to understand the real depth of an injury to Elemera. We dragged our feet when we should have opposed them with all our strength.”

“...Twoearle...”

Aika who had been optimistic back then hung her head in agreement.

A world where no one can meddle with the things they love, the things they pour their heart into. When I imagine it, I shiver.

“Definitely. They wouldn’t launch a serious global-scale counteroffensive against a monster that said stupid stuff like that, either, right.”

“Because I saw injury early, I conducted research on their technology before they started to seriously gather Elemera. Thanks to that, not all of my Elemera was stolen from me, but...”

You didn’t have enough to protect the world?

“Twoearle, you’re a researcher? To analyse a technology your world didn’t yet have, that’s amazing. You must be ridiculously smart. And you look like you’re about as old as we are.”

“My age is a secret!”

Twoearle put a finger to her lip and winked. Maybe sick of her girlish attitude, Aika bent her eyebrows up in a 八 shape like a punk in a leather jacket.

“If once stolen, the absorbed Elemera will never return. So it is a revenge that will bear no fruit, but... I would like to use my power to stop them from invading, at least.”

“All right! It’s a huge blessing for us that our interests coincide, but I’ll do it, to strike at the enemies of your world, and to keep our own world safe. Thank you for letting me use this power.”

“Yes! Please use it any way you want! This body!!”

Aika lashed out like a whip to grab Twoearle, who had a triumphant smile on her face as if she didn’t feel like it was enough to just let me use the Tailgear, and floored her with a back suplex.

I can see their underpants perfectly from where I’m sitting but, why is it, why is it that even when they do this I’m not feeling anything erotic about these two.

“Come to think of it, Twoearle, isn’t there anyone else who can use the Tailgear?”

“I cannot mass-produce them, but... there is just one more. And I have found someone who is qualified to use it already.”

“Really!? In that case, we...”

“But... it is not a person with a just spirit like you, Souji-sama. I don’t know if person is even the right word for them. An inhuman barbarian, heartless, a wild beast stained through to their soul with violence. If I gave such a mighty power to that demon, even supposing they could use it, I think they might become a greater threat to Earth than the Ultima Guil are.”

Twoearle poured out her heart with a bitter expression.

“Is that so? There are villains like that among people who like twintails, that’s kind of sad...”

“Hmm. Even though they have Elemera, they’re a demon with no heart. That’s odd.”

“Yes. I could not have believed it myself until I saw it with my own eyes. Actually, I still can’t believe it.”

In any case, we can’t expect reinforcements. It looks like I have to fight by myself for now or it’ll be hopeless.

“Naturally, I want to stop Souji from fighting in a war, but if he’s the only one that can fight, I guess there’s nothing I can do... But your safety is your first priority, all right?”

“Yeah, I know!”

“You don’t know! Listen, if you’re the greatest thing to them, you’re going to become their number one target! What if you lose, what do you think they’re going to do to you!?”

“Aika, you’re so gloomy... Elemerians do not have any particular interest in the human bo... lime juice!!”

Another back suplex. Before long the floor’s going to wear out.

“Your face is bright red, is it not! You are imagining something like tentacles!!”

“Sh, shut up shut up!! If they like that kind of thing, or if they have an element like that...”

Aika, waving her hands like an angry kid, abruptly stopped with a serious look.

“...Hey. You said that all the world’s Elemera was stolen, right? Then how did the Tailgear...”

“Oh my, it’s already this late!”

Twoearle looked somewhat unnaturally at the clock hanging on the wall behind her and clapped her hands. Aika had started to say something, but was interrupted by her badly delivered line and made another 八 with her eyebrows.

“I think that it would be a good idea to go home and rest before long, Aika. Are you not tired?”

“No, I’m just fine. Why are you trying to get me to go home by myself?”

“I thought you might be tired...”

Endless.

Twoearle felt around in the pockets of her white coat, and stood up suddenly with a smirk.

“Souji-sama, I am going to go make some more tea.”

“No, I can’t let you do that, you’re a guest - hey.”

I tried to get up but she stopped me, put the cups on the tray, and left the room hastily.

“...Hey, wait a second, Twoearle! My mom’s in the kitche...!!”

“I have made some more.”

“So fast!?”

I was about to hurry out of the room and follow her, but the door opened again after only seconds. Did she use the teleportation pen again? For some reason she had just one cup and was holding it carefully.

There was steam rising from it, certainly, but... did she really make more.

No, it’s not steam, there are bubbles rising from the unnaturally boiling water, or a piece of wrapping paper had fallen out of the pocket she was using, or it looked like she had just finished emptying the contents, or is that what’s going on or isn’t it, which one is it, it’s this mood where a chill is running up my spine again.

“Well, please go ahead, Aika.”

“Uh, okay...?”

You’ve been shouting all this time, your throat is probably dry.

Aika accepted it obediently and was about to raise the cup to her lips...

“...”

Her hand trembled and she stopped short as if she had felt the presence of a ghost. I couldn’t help but be drawn to the source of the gaze either. When I looked tactfully out of the corner of my eye at Twoearle, she was sta-ring at Aika with her eyes wide open like an owl.

“Now, drink,” her look said.

“...Twoearle, try a little bit of this.”

Aika handed back the cup.

“No, I have already had enough.”

“Just a sip is fine, though.”

“No, no.”

“Please, drink.”

“Absolutely not.”

“...You put something in this, didn’t you, you fucker!!”

Aika brandished the cup and threw the tea in Twoearle’s face.

“Nyuonmuuuu!!”

“Aaah ―― what are you doing, Aika!! That’s terrible!!”

When I see the way Twoearle is holding her mouth firmly closed, I feel absolutely sure she did put a sleeping pill or something in there. Why is she trying this hard to get Aika to go away!?

“Sou-ji, you can’t put any confidence in this woman! She absolutely has some kind of plot!!”

Uh, you know, I’m not going to believe everything Twoearle says all of a sudden either, but usually, when I try to think carefully about it, I get interrupted by screaming. What am I supposed to do!

“Calling it a plot is too harsh, I think.”

“So - Souji... Why are you putting this much trust in her! Is it because she has breasts!?”

Aika demanded an answer with tears in her eyes. Was she worrying about it that much? Maybe it would have been better to hold back the joke about her chest in that fight...

I pulled a hand towel out of the storage under my bed.

“Use this towel, Twoearle. I’m going to bring some ice from downstairs.”

“That is all right, it was not really that hot.”

“It looked pretty hot!?”

I started to wipe Twoearle’s face carefully with the towel.

“...M~m... m~ fu...”

She’s bringing her face unnaturally close to me. Watching us, Aika started to groan quietly, and her body was shaking. Feelings of guilt were naturally welling up within her, I guess?

“I don’t think you’ll have a burn... Aika, even if she came from another world, she’s just a normal human being. If you do the kind of tsukkomi you usually do on me, she’ll get hurt.”

I should have said that back when we met. How many punches has she taken already?

“Oh, that’s right.”

Twoearle, lying back in my arms as I was wiping her face, smiled as if she had realized something and suddenly began to wriggle again.

“It is hot... it is hot inside my clothes too. Please wipe me there...”

She took off her white coat. The plump breasts under her thin untrustworthy underwear shook as if they were about to burst.

“Eeeh...!? No, that is, uh, definitely... I’ll ask Aika.”

“If Aika did it, she might pour more boiling water in, I am worried.”

“I’m not gonna!!”

“That is a lie! You were trying to see if you could twist off my breasts earlier!!”

“They stayed on in the end, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

I think I can turn a blind eye to this conversation. I feel unspeakable fear responding in me, a long way beyond any of the scenes of destruction that I saw today.

“Let me have that!!”

As I broke out in a cold sweat, Aika took the chance and grabbed the towel from me.

“Nuryaaa!!”

Aika threw all her strength into scrubbing Twoearle’s chest with the towel to the point that it was more like rubdown therapy.

“The heat of friction is cutting down my breaaaaasts!!”

“You should get cut down to the bone, people like you!!”

It’s a little late to be saying this, but that first impression of Twoearle has certainly been smashed to atoms.

“Let, let’s talk about exactly how to operate the Tailgear later... I will leave the details for tomorrow or later, so let us stop here, all right...”

Twoearle made this suggestion while rubbing her chest. (By the way, without learning anything she said “Souji-sama, could you rub my chest” and took an open-palm blow from Aika on her chin.)

“Yeah, okay.”

To be honest, there are still many things I haven’t heard enough about, but I decided to agree with her since Aika has been in a really bad mood this whole time. I’ve asked the main things, and this should be enough for today. And I think this conversation is going to cut down Twoearle’s life if it goes on too long.

“Um... sorry. Throwing the tea on you. I went too far there.”

Aika seemed to be unwilling, but she apologized.

“It is all right. After all, I am stronger than a normal human. Incidentally, I think the other threats to my life may also have gone a bit too far.”

“Sorry, all right!!”

Stronger. I hadn’t expected to hear that word, and doubt rose into my mind at it. What was it that gave Twoearle that strength? She said that her goal was revenge, but I can’t feel even a hint of tragedy in her.

No, it wasn’t the kind of “invasion” that left everything a scorched earth, but even when she was talking about her old world, even when she was explaining her enemy the Elemerians, there didn’t seem to be even a bit of anger or sadness or resentment in her.

If that’s because she was putting a happy face on it, I think she really is strong.

“Umm~.”

“Whoa!”

Twoearle rubbed her hands together in front of my thighs, and gave me a look pregnant with meaning that was mixed with long, feverish breaths.

“So, then, Souji-sama. I also want to be able to back you up in a fight, so, from now on, I would like us to do everything together as much as possible. For efficiency’s sake, even eating and sleeping... um, the essential one of those is sleeping...”

She closed her mouth there. A look as sharp as a bed of nails had been fired from behind me.

“Eating and sleeping... wait, you mean here?”

“Yes, so would you allow me to borrow a room? As long as I can sleep it will be enough.”

“Huh!?”

“If you are going to say ‘we don’t have any rooms to lend to someone like you,’ then even a toilet will be fine, so... Hhh, haah...”

That would be even more inconvenient. But Twoearle is breathing louder for some reason.

“No, there’s not really anyone here but me and my mom, and we have extra rooms, so it’s fine, but... can’t you stay at Aika’s house? You’re both girls, and there’s something better about that.”

Aika’s parents are overseas for a job right now, so she’s living together with her older sister. As long as her sister is okay with it, I think that would be better, but...

“It is better with a boy and a girl... er, what I mean is, there are a number of considerations.”

“Even Aika doesn’t normally throw tea on people. Do you?”

“Of course I don’t! How savage do you think I am!!”

She wants to say I’m being ridiculous, but looking back at the amount of violence in not even an entire afternoon, she doesn’t make so unpersuasive an objection.

“But I am going to support you, Souji-sama, so it is more efficient if you let me live here. The assassins of the Ultima Guil are going to be coming again and again after this, you know!”

“U~mm, but...”

That was something that I didn't have an instant reply to. First of all, how should I explain this to mom?

“My mom is really like a kid in some ways. So, you know, if this incident leaks out, I’m worried she’ll stick her nose in.”

She lives her life jumping into the next exciting thing - for example, her half-hearted management of the cafe. If I let her know that I’m going to take care of a girl, she won’t worry about it or scold me, she is the master of taking nothing seriously. I’m scared to talk to her about this. I can see too clearly what would happen.

“Another urgent matter is the establishment of a base.”

“A base―”

Aika was taken aback at the jump in vocabulary. Come to think of it, there was something about that in the chart for the Tailgear.

“Due to the tremendous scale of the enemy, the system that supports Souji-sama must be flawless. Mission support, monitoring of the combat, maintenance of all kinds... it will also act as a research laboratory, so the base has to have a suitable size.”

“I see.”

I agreed with her. The value of support had been more than proven in the first battle today.

“And so, I would like you to allow me to dig a space underneath your house. The ground under this house is also more suitable.”

“Space under my house!? I’m not sure it will be okay if there’s an earthquake or something.”

“...Wait, the ground? But I live right next door...”

Aika’s also extremely worried. We’re such close neighbours that we’re practically connected, after all.

“Please do not worry. I will finish it tonight.”

Twoearle said something so ridiculous that people throughout the world working in the construction industry are going to do an old-fashioned spit take and blow out their tea.

“That makes it even harder to feel safe. What’s that lightning-speed work! Our houses aren’t just all going to sink into the ground, right?”

Twoearle shook her head gently and smiled sweetly.

“Aika, if you were living by yourself, I would not be unwilling even to demolish you and your house together with explosives, but I cannot cause trouble for your family.”

“Why don’t you get buried, hey, why don’t you get buried!”

Aika is shoving Twoearle’s head into the floor with an angry look on her face, on the verge of caving in the floorboards. She’s so beautiful that you feel ashamed just to look at her, but it looks like Aika’s gotten totally used to that. She doesn’t hold back when she scolds her.

“Twoearle. I’ll persuade my mom one way or another, so... could you help me think of a good reason why we’re going to live together? I absolutely don’t want anything about the Tailgear and the stuff about the Ultima Guil to come out.”

“Leave that to me. I can think of any number of lies like that. I am Seek Time=Zero Twoearle, I need no thinking time whatsoever.”

She hit her chest proudly with a thump. Another sketchy name in the ruby.

“Don’t act proud! And don’t shake your breasts!!”

Aika shot an “I still haven’t wiped it enough?” glare at that chest as if it had killed her father.

“How about this? I am your classmate, studying abroad from a foreign country.”

“I see, a homestay line or something?”

“No, I was lost in an unfamiliar city, and you tricked and kidnapped me and locked me up. See, I’m desperately trying to run away, so it makes perfect sense for me to dig a hole!”

“Does that make sense!!”

Twoearle took a punch to the liver.

“...I’ll persuade her on my own, okay?”

“Yeah. That’s a better idea. Go do it before she gets back up.”

I’m sorry. I can’t watch this.

She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life, and she’s rolling on the floor in agony in a way I’ve never seen outside of a fighting manga. It could easily overturn my whole view of life to look directly at this spectacle.

I went out into the hallway and breathed a big sigh of resignation.

This is the first time I’ve ever told my mom a lie this huge. It’s a kind of tension I’ve never tasted before.

The homestay line is the safest one, I think.

I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to explain it all afterward, but I am not good at lying. Ad-libbing doesn’t work either, as I’ve had rubbed in my face twice today.

“I’ll hide the parts I need to, and I’ll explain the truth as much as I can afterward. That’s all I can do...”

My mom was leaning on the with her arms folded when I came down the stairs.

“―― I hope you didn’t mind me listening in!”

“Don't listen to――!!”

“Oh my.”

I pulled my mom into the living room.

“Do you not care about your own son’s privacy?!!”

“You brought a girl other than Aika-chan along with you. I was sure there would be some interesting developments!!”

I rubbed my forehead and groaned. The whole thing was already revealed back when we walked in. I shouldn’t have worried about eyewitnesses at the scene, I should have been on maximum alert after I came home.

“...How much did you hear?! What did you hear?!!”

“I heard a girl screaming over and over. Muhuhu, things were pretty rough.”

Ah, she heard almost the whole thing. That’s already almost the whole thing. By the way, all the violence without exception was the young girl from next door.

“You said you were the ones who settled the incident that was on the news?”

“Why do you believe that!? Don’t you even have a little doubt!?”

We believe it because we saw it with our own eyes and then fought in it, but somehow she believes the whole thing just from eavesdropping on us.

My mother looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

“So at last, this day has come...”

I stepped back in shock at the serious expression on my mother’s face.

This calmness, the speed of adaptation... there was only one conclusion I could come to.

“...It can’t be, mom, you’ve already known for a long time... I was going to be chosen as the wearer of the Tailgear...!!”

“Umm, I don't know anything about it, but...”

Complete denial with the same serious face.

“Why were you acting like you knew!? Or actually, you didn’t hear anything we talked about!!”

“Monsters called Elemerians in the Ultima Guil attacked this world to obtain Elemera, the mental energy of humans, and you fight them using a suit called the Tailgear, Sou-chan?”

“Or you understand all of it, or which one!?”

That’s impressive understanding considering she was eavesdropping.

“...This was my dream, you know.”

My mother raised her face to heaven with lips tinged with drool and an expression of ecstasy on her face.

“Souji, your mother grew up with a serious case of chuunibyou. I passed my days dreaming of becoming a heroine who protected the world, and finally, without ever getting my wish, I became a mother of one. But, listen, I passed that dream down through the umbilical cord and I entrusted it to you.”

“What are you doing to your kid before he’s even born!!”

With a little effort this could probably have become a moving, unforgettable conversation between parent and child, but my mom was talking about the errors of her youth.

“And your late father, he was also ――― a terminal chuunibyou patient.”

“Is that something you pause before saying? ...Dad had a bad case of chuunibyou too......”

My eyes feel itchy, and not because I’m about to cry.

“We fell in love in an instant, and threw our chuuni back and forth at each other to our hearts’ content, wishing together. Dad also wanted very, very much to be a hero. He’d make stories where he became a hero in great detail, and he let me hear about them! At the end, he’d even tell me how he felt when he powered up and things like that.”

“Stop― I think I’m about to run into the front hall and smash his portrait!!”

I pressed my hands against my skull as if under assault by ultrasonic waves. Just listening to these memories feels like it’s blocking the blood vessels in my brain.

“But the situation your mother hoped for the most was to get close to a young man from the enemy organization and fall in love with each other. On the other hand, your father also dreamt of exactly the opposite situation, so we fought with each other on countless occasions! To be honest, several times we decided to break up because of that.”

English is not my strong point at all, but right now I think I could fluently say “ＯＨＭＹＧＯＤ!”

Someone who tries to put on a bracelet that transforms you into a young girl when they ask to share a table seems normal.

My parents, on countless occasions, fought and broke up for reasons as irrational as any in the world - it’s too heavy for the heart of a boy in adolescence. It’s very difficult to take.

“It was the winter of our third year in university. Your heartbroken mother said, “Let’s try a setting where a boy and girl who are always at each others’ throats are drawn to each other,” as a concession, but your father insisted that it had to be forbidden love with the female commander of the enemy forces (wearing body armor like a swimsuit) and refused to compromise. Even our relationship can only go so far... that’s about the time I started to resign myself to that. ...Sou-chan. I realized that you were in my belly around...”

Ectoplasm is coming out of my mouth. I can’t push it back in, my hands have no strength.

Dating each other with messed up fantasies, and then a shotgun marriage. This kind of parents. What do I do, what am I supposed to do with these frustrated feelings.

Something even heavier than the peace of the planet Earth is settling onto my shoulders.

“After that we got along with each other so well that it seemed unbelievable... heh heh, we often said that our child was the tie between us.”

That might have been true in my mother’s relationship, but when I hear that right now I feel pain like a spike being driven through my head!

“There’s one more important thing I have to say. This is a good time, I think.”

“Huh?”

“You know, Souji... you’re the oldest child, so did you ever wonder why your name has the character ‘two’ in it?”

A deep sadness dwelled in my mother’s eyes.

Certainly I’ve wondered, but in the end I never asked about it.

Why is she talking about that now?

“...Ah... Did I have some older brother or sister that you expected to come before me!?”

Mom shook her head.

“It came from the shared feelings of your father and I. ‘Ah, the real grade two of middle school was the most fun time,’ we said. It was the nostalgia we felt for those happy days gone by that made us put the letter ‘two’ in grade two in your name!...”

[Unavoidable TL note: The literal meaning of chuunibyou is "grade-two-of-middle-school syndrome," or eighth grade syndrome. Miharu and her husband loved the way they felt that year so much that they put the "two" in grade two into Souji's name.]

“Couldn’t you have taken that secret to the grave!? I’m going to be a delinquent! If they had to hear interesting secrets of their birth one after another like this, any normal adolescent human would be a delinquent already the next day!”

“I wanted to make it something more impressive, really. Like Meteo or Ultimate. But this was another compromise between the two of us - we finally chose a kanji that we both liked.”

“Sorry, Souji is good.”

I sunk to my knees at last. I nearly wore the name of a self-conscious enemy organization...

Hey, is it possible that my, the part of me that people think is a bit of a pain, really is a hereditary thing passed down through the umbilical cord?

The sound of a floorboard creaking made me hold my breath.

“Um~, is it all right?”

“Wai... Twoearle, you can’t come yet!”

Twoearle was peeking into the living room, half hiding behind the door. She is already very lively even though she took a straight punch to the liver some minutes ago.

“Hehe, you let me listen in on your conversation, Twoearle-chan!”

“Actually, I have also been taking the opportunity to listen in.”

I’m out of reactions.

That funny story about my birth, on a level that could win a prize if you submitted it to a variety program - I guess she heard that too. I could die of agony from the memory.

“Honored mother... I have already spoken about this with Souji-sama, but I would like to live here, if you would be so kind.”

“Sure, I’ve got no reason to say no!”

“Also, I would like to build a research laboratory underground if possible, and use it as a starting point for backup.”

“Get it done right away. A hundred kilometers deep if you like. I always wanted a secret base. Let me see it once in a while, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Heeeeeyy―!?”

The conversation is advancing bewilderingly fast. She’s even been allowed to break the limits on excavation depth in the private property regulations, it’s nuts.

“Also, honored mother, could I manage to have you say ‘Oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!’?”

“...Twoearle-chan, that’s good. You are really good! For someone like you to come to us from an alternate universe makes me really happy! Please think of this place as your own home! ...But, oh, that’s a problem, we don’t have any spare futons. That’s right, you can just sleep together in Souji’s bed!”

The hell are you playing it back perfectly like a voice recorder! That’s a woman who devoted her whole youth to chuunibyou for you. Apparently mom can also use Seek Time=Zero.

I’m being washed in some kind of aura coming off the two of them, mom and Twoearle, and it looks to me like they’re being pulled together by something like magnetic force. ...Sympathy?

Twoearle must have a severe case of chuunibyou also, I guess. She puts Vs into words, too.

This is scary, now what am I going to do, I’m asking you a favor, so, just once, let me cry without worrying about what other people might think.

“And so I don’t have any problem with Twoearle staying at our house. Think of this as your own home, including Sou-chan’s room, and use it without reservation.”

“Thank you very much, Mother (in law). It will mainly be Souji-sama’s room that I think of as my house.”

What’s this? They’re making fun of me, I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on.

If I make comebacks one by one it’ll be me who loses.

I bowed my head. I had reached a degree of enlightenment.

“...Hehe, instead, would you mind making Sou-chan into a proper man sometime?”

“Oh, no, Mother (in law), please don’t be so reserved. Why do you not say ‘tonight?’”

“Twoearle-chan...!!”

“Mother (in law)...!!”

The two hugged each other for dear life.

Aika came down the stairs at a run, raising dust. “Wai... Aunt Miharu, come over here, please!”

“My my, mother is very popular.”

“And also, you, don’t think “in law” when you say mother!”

“How did you know!?”

Aika went right past Twoearle without even remembering to punch her. ...Maybe I should cry now while I can... silently, with tears streaming down my face.

<center>◇</center>

Aika took Souji’s mom ・Miharu into a neighbouring room and closed the door. She really didn’t want to be heard, opening the door a crack to check Souji and then shutting it again right away.

“Aunt Miharu! Think about this carefully! If you make him live together with a woman like that, Souji’s virtue will be in danger!”

“I couldn’t ask for more, could I? Suddenly a beautiful girl comes to live with the hero, and things turn in an erotic direction. It’s just like that day, that hour, the dream I painted in my mind back then! Even if she pushes Souji down, it won’t bother me at all.”

“And you still call yourself his mother!!”

It looks like she also painted a detailed love comedy in her youth of chuuni fantasy, but... I wonder why a woman had a dream with a development like that?

“But, it’s normal for a parent to want her son to find a girlfriend?”

Miharu gave her a probing look.

“......That...... that might be true, but......”

A bashful Aika poking her fingers together.

“Or else, you, Aika-chan...?”

Aika hastily waved her hand. “It’s not like I... I’m just worried about Souji as his childhood friend...”

“Ye~s, if that girl hadn’t appeared, I wanted to look at you a little more carefully.”

“Wh, what are you saying?”

“Twoearle-chan has a good look in her eyes. They’re the eyes of a woman who wants to eat a virgin, an aroused woman with no principles!”

“Even as a joke, is that something you say about your guest!?”

It made even Aika feel pity; she tried to defend her.

“A guest... no! Twoearle-chan is already a fine member of our family.”

The door opened with a soft sound. Twoearle came in, her eyes wet with tears.

“Mother (in law)...”

She gripped both of Miharu’s hands tightly, and something passed between their eyes.

“Huh? Why is there an emotional atmosphere!?”

“I am sorry, mother, but I am not a woman without principles. I have one principle: Souji-sama.”

“You should deny the rest of it too!!”

“That is right. It’s romance for a woman to lose all her principles when it comes to a single man!”

Has a day come when in just a few minutes the air is filled with such unromantic words? Why has a girl her age gotten to the point where her eyes brim with happy tears when mom calls her a virgin eater? Just like Souji, Aika seems to have been assaulted by a violent headache.

Although she was holding her forehead with her head lowered, Aika’s lips were pressed hard together. Miharu still thinks she’s just worried about Souji, and no, she still didn’t trust her.

(The way she’s acting, some of it is joking, but...)

Twoearle was holding hands with Miharu and turning around in circles as Aika stared with distrustful eyes.

(There are a lot of crucial things she’s holding out of focus. Like in a world where Elemera had been hunted to exhaustion, how did she get the Twintail Element for the core of the Tailgear?)

The Tailgear, armor that lets you fight without covering your face. Aika felt that its manufacturer had hidden her own face behind a heavy mask.

(I know there’s something important she’s hiding...)

<center>◇</center>

Aika had stressed it to the point of stubbornness as she was about to head home.

“Souji, from today on, sleep with your door locked.”

“Why?”

“Who cares! If you don’t, I’ll weld it shut from outside!!”

That’s ridiculous, it’s a wooden door, I was thinking, but I understood it as Aika’s way of saying that I should be more careful about crime prevention. Without objecting any further, I nodded obediently, and I went obediently to bed that night. But.

Mohyan.

Memepoppo, puryon.

Kyopo-. Kyopo-.

Ryoromuminminminmohe-.

“............”

I can’t sleep.

I hardly feel awake, but my eyes have opened on their own.

It’s fine, leave it to me, Twoearle had said.

I’m not worried about something like digging a hole in the basement of the house. Even taking present-day Japan as an example, construction techniques have reached the point where they look like magic to an ordinary person, as you can see from the subways stretching through the earth under Tokyo like the mesh of a net.

Twoearle has come from a world where scientific techniques are far more advanced, so even though she’s doing rush construction, I don’t think there’s much reason to worry about a cave-in. I understand that, and I’m lying in bed like this, but...

No matter how I put them into text, it seems like you’ll doubt my sense of sound - what in the world are these weird construction noises?

“Ah! ...Dangerous, dangerous, I was almost about to break through to the planetary core...”

I shouldn’t be able to hear her distant voice, but it was as clear as if it were directly assaulting my brain.

Let’s sleep.

I have to sleep.

I have to leave these odd sounds and words on the other side of a dream.

Before much time had passed, suddenly the sounds stopped. She said she’d get it done in one night so I thought she’d have to work hard tonight, but it looks like she’s finished. Or the planetary core - no, let’s not think about it.

My exposure to the vortex of weird sound made even the ticking of the second hand of the wall clock sounded louder than usual when it stopped.

“Whew...”

I should be terribly tired, but for some reason I’m wide awake and can’t sleep. I raised my upper body out of bed and opened the curtains of the window.

The sky was full of stars.

As I watched them rising into the night sky I had a poetic thought, out of character.

That girl is just like a fragment that has fallen from one of those stars.

Zip.

A human face with bloodshot eyes fell into sight, facing the other way up. Its wide eyes met mine straight on as it passed the window.

“Gwaa――――――!!”

“Aahwaa――――――!!”

I fell off the bed in surprise but the girl on the other side of the window didn’t have it that easy.

“Hawawa, Souji-sama...”

“What are you doing, Twoearle!!”

Getting back on my bed, I hurried to pull up Twoearle, who got her hand on the windowframe in the nick of time. Well, first, my nomination of “fragment of a star” will probably lose the election without much debate.

...She had been doing some Sunday carpentry on the planetary engineering level, but despite that she had a nice smell. Something like peaches.

“I, I am inexcusably sorry, it looks as though I fell asleep while I was working and... while I was half asleep I walked up to the roof at some point, and the instant I realized where I was, my foot carelessly slipped and I fell.”

Seek Time=Zero. Certainly the thinking time is extremely close to zero, but isn’t the roughness of the contents a fatal flaw?

“Er... If that’s really true, there is room for careful thought about our mutual position.”

“No, no, no, you can use any position you want and I will be fine! Strength, direction, time doesn’t matter, whatever, however, wherever you come from, by all means!!”

I feel like a misunderstanding has crept in somewhere, but if she tells me I can take whatever position I want, I want her to let me put a little distance between us, so that’s how we’ll do it.

“Hey, Sou-ji, what are you doing! There was a huge noise, but......!!”

The sound of a window being shoved open.

Wearing light blue pajamas, Aika bent forward out of her window, her face changing color.

The house next door... my room and Aika’s are right across, and the gap between them is so small that you can put one foot on each window, but tonight that convenience has backfired.

“...Ah?”

Twoearle was sitting on the bed just the way I had pulled her up. We were facing each other.

“What are you doing in theeere!!”

With a violent four-footed leap, Aika entered my room with a dynamic ☆ sorry for butting in and with the same force sent Twoearle flying.

“Eh...... me... why me, in a love comedy it is the guy who gets punch... higaah!!”

Under Aika’s rush Twoearle floated into the air hit by hit.

Together with the dull sounds of impact.

The brilliant kicks and punches continued without a break.

And on top of that, the illusion of faint blue afterimages on the arc of motion.

This is the first time I’ve seen a human being do that outside of a fighting game.

“What are these about, these breasts! They piss me off! They piss me off!!”

“Do not worry. I myself used to be very small once. But I reached an ordinary size after two or three years. By the way, if you do not stop sooner or later I will di...”

“What do you mean average!? There’s nothing average about them -mune!!”

Ah, it's pathetically moving the way she’s turned her overflowing anger into a verbal tic.

“Even if I am from another world, human gh...”

They’re so close to me, but they’re far away.

“...Heeey.”

Even calling to them didn’t stop them, so I gave up on all of it and pulled the futon over my head.

<center>◇</center>

Yougetsu Academy suspended its first hour of classes, and the whole school was gathered in the gymnasium. Of course, about the incident yesterday.

A solemn atmosphere ruled by silence.

The fact that I couldn’t see any odd students out who were yawning and wishing for the assembly to end soon seemed odd in itself.

Only one thing broke the quiet: the steps of the student council president, Shindou Erina, walking up to the podium.

Standing at it, she swept her gaze across the room to cover every student. Just like peasants waiting for a verdict from the South Magistrate of Edo, they kept silent, waiting for her to speak.

Several of her maids stood like special police in the shadows behind her, maybe reflecting on their failure yesterday. They weren’t worrying about the way things looked any more.

“Everyone. As you are aware, the town faced a heretofore unprecedented danger yesterday, when it was assaulted by a group of mysterious monsters.”

Certainly, it’s beyond unprecedented. The monsters with their clear intention to collect twintails are in some sense even more of a shock than an invasion from outer space.

“In fact, I happened to be at the site, and was one of the targets.”

“Wh...!!”

“What’s that!”

The students suddenly started to murmur. They were trying to keep quiet for the sake of the president, but even so, when their anger rose up and overflowed, they couldn’t hold it back.

Her twintails were swaying with the motions of her body and hands, so I felt the tension rise too.

“Unforgivable!!”

“Even if it kills me, I’m going to try and beat them!”

“Hey, quick, someone strap dynamite to my body! Shut up, do it right now!”

Male and female students were shouting without a pause, as angry as if it had happened to them personally, or rather angrier. The flame of anger ran through the students’ bodies like a fuse, trying to turn the children of two thousand parents into insurgents.

If getting carried away like this is your school spirit, then just laugh and accept something small like my slip of the tongue yesterday!

“Your righteous anger makes me very happy. It is a wonderful thing for your hearts to ache for a stranger. And on top of that, for someone like me who is so inexperienced as a leader.”

She was short, so she was using a riser to reply. And yet still she was standing on tiptoes. I thought of a young girl stretching out as far as possible to write her answer on the blackboard.

That courage was another source of intoxication for her very well-trained dogs... rather, students.

“However, their aim was not me alone. Even in this room, there are several people who were targeted, I believe? And if we look outside of school there are even more girls who almost fell into the evil hands of the invaders.”

Another burst of murmuring, but this time she intercepted it with a sharp “But!”

“As you can see, I stand here unharmed. There is still very little information on television, but I believe many of you have learned about it from the net or other places. At that place there appeared like the wind... a gallant fighter for justice, who was kind enough to save us!”

Her voice became a little sweeter in the middle. She sounded just like a princess, her heart burning for the one she loved.

......A fighter for justice?

I felt an uncomfortable suspicion, and cold sweat ran down my spine.

“――That girl, that day, she stole my heart!!”

A loud and enthusiastic cheer rose up in response.

‘I’ve been waiting for those words, President!!”

“I’m so glad... Although I’ve been saying ‘a tiny girl with so much pride, so sexy,’ honestly I feel hesitant. But if that’s what the president says, I don’t feel sad at all any more!!”

“This is bad... I do feel sad, but it's still sexy!!”

“The tiny little president has a tiny little ally of justice... is this the kindness of God? I feel like I understand something about the world!”

It was a cauldron of excitement. I was reminded of the scene you often see at the end of an action movie, when they find out that the operation was successful and a whole room of FBI agents wave their hands in the air and cheer.

One after another they say things that make me worry about the future of Japan, or the world.

Eh? Could it be that I got the president to fall in love with me?

But the one she likes is me as TailRed... as a little girl... eh?

“Students, behold!”

When the president raised her right hand, without a moment’s delay one of the maids set up a projector screen. A large image of a girl appeared on it.

““““Ooooo―hh!!””””

“Aaah!!”

The exact opposite of the cheers around me. Sure enough, what they had put up on the screen was me after transformation. It’s a perfect angle. Pictures like this have already leaked out here and there on the net, it seems like.

“Eee...”

It’s frustrating, but... those are spectacular twintails...!! I can’t keep myself from looking!!

Lined up with the president, it’s a splendid view that is already rocking my heart.

A fierce power created by the harmony of two bodies in one, like being under the gaze of the two temple guardians that stand at the Niōmon.

It's probably because it resonates with the two beautiful tails of hair that are the foundation of the twintail.

“The Shindou family has decided to do everything in its power to support her! I ask everyone here, somehow, together with us, to aid the savior of the new era!”

The cheering became even louder.

A passionate gaze at the president, and TailRed’s twintails.

Everyone is looking at... my twintails――――

“Huh!?”

I felt my heart beating strangely fast in my chest for a reason it would not be a good idea to think about, and made a fist with my right hand and punched myself in the cheek.

The Shindou family had decided to support me, including even the president’s mother, the director of Yougetsu Academy. Lots of the students adore the president, so the student body should agree almost without exception.

The whole school is behind me ― but as someone who’s burdened with the job of turning into a little girl this isn’t something like high school baseball, where I can be openly proud of the fact that every student is cheering me on.

Even though school has just started, I can’t remember anything that’s happening in class.

I’m overhearing bits of gossip from all over, and probably all of it is about me, TailRed.

The day went by, and my stomach continued to hurt.

<center>◇</center>

At lunch, Aika came over to my seat carrying a bundle with a bento box in it.

“Hey, Souji, listen, after school...”

“Ah, sorry. I’m going home as soon as school ends, I promised to listen to the explanation of the Tailgear. And I need to let her show me the base, too.”

I answered her quietly to keep from being heard.

“The rest from yesterday?”

“I’m just going to hear how to use it, so you don’t have to come today.”

“...Just you and her?”

“There’s no one else, is there?”

It’s possible Mom will insist on joining in from the start this time.

“―M, me too!!”

Aika banged the table with the water bottle she was holding.

“I want... to hear it too, so let me come.”

“...Okay.”

With that much force in her voice, that was all I could say.

It was the first day of normal class. It was too early for people to be having lunch with new friends they had made, so almost everyone in both the bento faction and the cafeteria faction was eating with the people they knew from middle school.

Aika has quite a few friends from back in middle school, but I don’t even have one. I appreciate the fact that she’s coming to see me at lunch like this.

Yeah, that’s right.

We’re always together like this. If Aika wants to, I’ll let her hang out with me to the end.

“Ohh~, I haven’t seen this picture before!!”

When I looked over at the happy group of guys that were gathered by the window, their eyes were rooted to a tablet that one of them was holding.

“I’ve decided! From now on, I am TailRed-tan’s oniichan!!”

The lethal noise pierced my eardrum.

“Pffff―”

Without thinking I spit out the Fruits au Lait I was drinking.

“Wait a minute, Souji, don’t get it on my face! Ugh, it’s sticky...”

“So, sorry... I couldn’t help it...”

It did bother me that the girls nearby were grinning for some reason as they listened to us, but the guys were a bigger problem. You could easily see even from here a bright red young girl... TailRed was on the screen, and on top of that, it looked like it was switching in a slideshow.

“It’s all over the net now, isn’t it...!!”

I took my head in my hands.

“When we go home today, why don’t I get my hands on Twoearle and make her delete all the files that have gotten out? With her scientific ability, she should be able to do it.”

“Listen, think of something that doesn’t involve violence once in a while!”

As we whispered to each other, the guys were heating up even more.

“Really cute! Really cute! Really cute!”

I shuddered with chills. Ah, I was happy with the sight of all those people cheering for me, but when you look at them one by one this is what it feels like. It was the right decision not to give in to that strange feeling earlier.

“I was more into large breasts, but, you know... I’ve woken up.”

Woken up to what?

“Uhehe, she’s cute carrying that sword... I want her to cut me too.”

I will hit you as many thousand times with the flame blade as you want.

“Ah, man, I can’t take it anymore!!”

The owner of the tablet, no longer able to bear it, pursed his lips and leaned close to the screen.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

I suddenly grabbed Aika’s water bottle, and, although I didn’t even remember my classmate’s name, I took aim at his head and threw it. It hit barely in time, three centimeters before the kiss.

“Aaow! ...What the hell, Mitsuka!!”

“You should be ashamed of yourself, with such a little girl!!”

“Ah, if it’s shame, I’ve already accepted it! And here I stand!!”

What kind of state of mind have you reached at this young age!

I tore at my scalp.

And yet this guy properly remembers what my name is! Ngh...

“...Hm-hu~m. Come to think of it, you like twintails so much that on the first day, you wanted to make a Twintail Club! You just want to keep TailRed-tan yourself!”

“Noooooooo!!”

I wanted to recover from my mistake on the first day and somehow live a quiet student life, but somehow, now that I’m in the high school section, everyone seems to get sucked into the flow far more easily than I expected.

“I’m tired...”

The peace and quiet after school came with a pile of worries. My exhaustion was reaching its peak around the time I left, together with Aika as I had promised.

People in higher grades were crowded together on the walkway from the entrance to the school gate, enthusiastically welcoming the new students. But, whether the dark clouds gathering on my back were so thick that they could be seen or not, no one tried to talk to me.

I had a sudden thought as I was walking.

“You know, I wrote something like Twintail Club and left it undecided... what club should I join?“

“You’re not going to be fighting every day. When it comes to things like club life, just choose what you want like normal.”

Now that you say it, maybe you’re right.

“But I need to be prepared. Even today we don’t know if they’re going to show up again!”

“No way. After yesterday...”

I turned the corner with a bitter smile, and

≪To all humans who live on this Earth! We are the chosen soldiers of God from another dimension, the Ultima Guil!≫

“...”

“...”

We dropped our bags at the same time.

An enormous screen was floating in the sky.

≪Ladies and gentlemen, we do not intend to harm you! All we want is the light within your hearts! Resistance is useless! And if you don’t resist, we guarantee your lives!≫

A monster that looked like a dragon sat in a show-off throne. With his legs crossed, he was making a speech.

Well, anyway it’s a sight that would piss you off.

≪But it seems there are those of you who would bear arms against us. Resistance is useless! And if despite that, you dare resist, we will take up any challenge you give! Attack as you like!≫

“Is this a world broadcast!?”

The sound could be heard even from the houses in the residential area, on top of the razor-thin computer window that was floating in the sky.

With an unlikely thought I turned on my cellphone’s 1seg. Sure enough the same image was being shown on every channel I switched to.

What is this, are they coming in on the whole broadcast spectrum!? So extreme...

“Those guys, are they really going to invade the whole Earth?!!”

A relaxed speech that said, resist as much as you want to.

If they have really foreseen all the military and scientific power humanity possesses when they say that, then what kind of power does their organization boast?

Twoearle had said that they had overthrown many “worlds.” The meaning of her words became even deeper, and it made my legs sink under me.

Their invasion isn’t destructive.

A quiet conquest that steals the light from hearts, and the brilliance of life.

Yesterday’s fight was only really a skirmish. From now on, an overwhelming invasion would start, and the opponent would be the whole world.

Once that happens I’m not sure what just one person can do.

≪Hahaha, I am Turtle Guildy! As our leader Drag Guildy says, resistance is useless! I will be taking the light of the stars that shine in youth’s glittering sky... the Element of Bloomers!≫

The dragon had been replaced by a turtle-like monster, who was leaning back proudly.

But an Ultiroid approached apologetically from behind him and whispered into his ear.

≪...What!!? You say they hardly exist in this world any more! You have been fools, humans, you have been digging your own graves!!≫

The monster screamed, and humanity was speechless.

I can understand a hairstyle, but even your feelings about a half-extinct type of clothing can give you tremendous power? There are profound depths in this that I don’t want to know about. Seriously, what in the world is Elemera.

Once, once is enough, I want to take a look at the faces of the people who loved bloomers enough to give birth to a thing like that.

≪Souji-sama, did you see that just now!?≫

Shortly thereafter a message came in from Twoearle. The high school the next town over - apparently still in bloomers - was being raided. Let’s do it, then.

There are probably people who love bloomers so much that they can’t get enough, the way I am for twintails, aren’t there? Even if they have already started to go extinct on their own, I can’t let them be stolen by the invaders.

“...Ta, tail on.”

The activation words... the ones we’d decided on yesterday in a break in the conversation. I was still embarrassed about them, but...

Let’s go.

To crush this terribly small-scale “world invasion.”

<center>◇</center>

“Welcome home~, Souji-samaan~”

When I opened the door of my room, my optic nerve was hit with enough peach-colored light to give me vertigo. Twoearle had remodeled my bed to give it a canopy, and she greeted me wearing a negligee and wriggling a little.

“Hey, pervert.”

“...Uh, what, Aika!? Why are you here? Souji-sama said he would be alone! This is not what he promised!!”

“What kind of eternal promise do you think he maaaaade!!”

With a kick, Aika broke a support of the canopy and flattened Twoearle under it.

Getting remodeled, getting broken... my bed’s tragedies continue.

“...Uu, it’s awful! It is too much! And you didn’t come home quickly when the fight was over, so I’ve been lying like this for over an hour!”

“What’s too much is your breasts!!”

Aika promised to listen to the explanation. If you were waiting, then you should have been waiting for both of us honestly at the cafe.

But I’m exhausted from the fight. I don’t have the energy to think of comebacks or worry about the two of you. The turtle monster who kept saying “bloomers” was killed instantly, but I was surrounded by the students at the school where the fight happened and it was a lot of trouble to escape. That’s most of the fatigue.

“I give up, I had people take so many pictures of me with their phones and things...”

“That the day would come when someone in a man’s body would be scared of the words ‘secret photographs on the net’...”

“U, uu... Twoearle, is there anything I can do at this point? Their declaration of war went out across all of Japan!”

I poured out my anxieties to Twoearle, who had crawled out from under the canopy.

It’s terrifying not to feel any interest when a girl this beautiful is wearing a thin negligee.

“It was broadcast to almost the whole world at the same time, apparently. Every country is in a downroar at this point.”

“...Well, certainly I don’t know if it would cause an ‘up’roar, but...”

“Weren’t they speaking Japanese, though?”

“It was merely converted into Japanese when we heard it. They are creatures of mental force, and the language they speak does not travel through the ears, it comes directly into the head.”

I turned on the TV in my room. Just as she said, all over the world various speculations were in the air. It wasn’t a high alert situation yet, but it seemed like the events that had happened in Japan had been accepted in every country, and countermeasures were being put together.

NASA was bearing the brunt of it, so it looked like they had mistaken them for aliens.

“Ah, it’s getting to be a serious thing...”

I sank to the floor and buried my head in the bed.

“There is no need to worry. They only caused so much damage yesterday because we were not adequately prepared. From now on, if they appear, we can detect them right away.”

I remembered what I saw yesterday. Twoearle continued in an even more cheerful voice as if she had noticed that anxiety.

“Basically, defeat them right away when they appear. If we are thorough with that stance, it will not be such a problem. If we hold damage to the minimum possible level, public interest should fade and there should not be an uproar.”

“But with a loud proclamation of war like that, even the police and the army are going to come in, aren’t they?”

“As I said yesterday... even if the army does appear, they cannot get through to the Elemerians. They are materializations of spirit. You have to have the Tailgear, which can convert that same spiritual energy into power.”

“...Can I do this... an enemy who is attacking the whole world.”

I had a painful feeling that I’d gotten myself into this without much thought. My feelings of wanting to protect haven’t changed, but can I really keep fighting when it’s just me on my own?

All it would take is for several of them to appear at different places and I’d be out. And that’s something that they could put into practice at any time.

“That is what the secret underground base is for. Why not go and see it after this! We can already use the space leap equipment, so now it will only take a second even to get to the other side of the earth!”

That overtechnology too. If we weren’t in this situation I think my eyes would be glittering with happiness, though. Maybe because Twoearle was worried about my sinking feelings ―

“[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%A7%E4%BD%8D_%28%E6%80%A7%E8%A1%8C%E7%82%BA%29 Zai]sho-tto”

With a shout of encouragement as terrifying as any, she came and straddled my legs facing me.

“Two, Twoearle!?”

“Please get back up, Souji-sama, in various ways.”

With her hands behind her back and a suspicious smile, she touched my thighs. Her fingers crept upward, trying to keep me in suspense ―

“What are you doing!!”

“Cedar woodware!!”

Aika’s fist hit her and blew her away, making a strange noise. She stuck into the wall head-first.

“...Ph... hahah”

Watching their argument, I couldn’t help but laugh.

It’s no use if all I do is worry. I have to trust Twoearle, and trust my Elemera. I’ll just fight as long as I can. This fight of mine is just beginning, after all, so ―

“So, Souji... sama... that’s an ending flag ...”

I thought I could hear the brave words of a girl trying to hold back an ending herself.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-03-06T07:05:15Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 1: I am a Twintail ==

After school on the first day of my high school life. A day I should have had fond memories of.

I, Mitsuka Souji, together with my childhood friend Tsube Aika, was having a late lunch at the Cafe Adolescenza. It might seem pretty fashionable for us to be eating lunch at a cafe, but seeing as I live here, it’s like a normal meal for me.

Its main selling point is our special house blend coffee. It has lots of fans, but, being something my mom does on the side, the shop is prone to being closed whenever she feels like it.

The sign over the door read “Closed”. Of course, that meant that it was just the two of us in here.

The intense spicy smell hanging in the air was nothing compared to the weight of sorrow in my chest.

“Why the heck did I put down something like that...”

“There’s no such thing as the Twintail Club,” my childhood friend said, looking at me amazed. The smell of spice swirled around her.

“I was put on the spot... and wrote it down without thinking. I didn't mean to!”

“If you ask me, anyone that would inadvertently write down something like that is bad news. You have Twintails on the brain.”

“Shut up! How many times do you plan to make fun of me for that?!”

“Yeah, yeah, ta-daa―”

She took the two tails on both sides of her head, long enough to reach her hips, and swung them at me.

“.........ngh.”

She may be trying her best to make me angry, but to me it feels more like a refreshing greeting.

As always, her twintails were wonderful to behold.

Waist-length twintails framing the head ― they may be the most basic, but their simple purity shows you the elegant conceit of hair that has been worn in twintails every day for years. A great artist's paintings can draw people in even when they aren’t using flashy colours or a surprising subject. It’s like that, I think.

“Still, the teacher didn't have to say it out loud...”

“Well, what did you expect when you wrote something that bizarre?”

“Well, excuse me!”

No matter how long we continue the pointless argument, it will not overturn this fact: there are over a thousand days of my life as a high school student ahead of me, and on the first day, I made the biggest mistake of my life.

The private school that I go to, Yougetsu Academy, can take you straight from elementary school into university. A super-escalator school. I wasn’t going to feel different just because I’d moved up into high school.

That’s what I thought, but... the size of the school building, the gymnasium, everything was so much larger than junior high school that I was overwhelmed.

And the highlight was the orientation in the gymnasium by the leaders of the clubs, after the entrance ceremony had ended. The various sports and culture clubs took turns making their appeals to the new students. The passion they showed moved me deeply.

But.

The image I see when I close my eyes is the girl who took the stage after that. To be exact, her hairstyle. Twintails.

Shindou Erina.

She may have been about as tall as a grade schooler, but her freshman welcoming speech as student council president would rival that of the greatest orators in human history. Her address touched the hearts of everyone who heard it.

“There are no limits to what you can accomplish here. I, together with the high school division of Yougetsu Academy, will guide your brilliant future on the path to its full bloom. I promise you!”

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, yet the tone of her speech contained no hint of condescension. The dignified manner in which she stood was mesmerizing.

(She’s beautiful...)

I stared at her, forgetting to blink.

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, but it was the first time I’d ever heard a woman use ’young lady’ language, and she made it sound so natural that I was shocked.

And above all else – her twintails.

Hair, of course, does not have a peerage. But if it did, then those beautiful twintails would have held a high and noble title. The way the tips of her hair curled softly into circles also showed the excellence of her upbringing.

As she put heat in her words and moved more vehemently, the twintails danced through the air in response to her motion, as if she were a princess under a luxurious chandelier and the twintails were her partner on the dance floor.

I couldn’t get my heart to stop pounding.

It felt like everyone around me was staring at her as though a kitten had gotten up on the stage, but I'm probably imagining things.

The student council president has such amazing twintails. I can only imagine how wonderful the next three years of my life are going to be.

On the way back to my classroom, I paid no attention to my chattering classmates. They were like a candle compared to the brilliant light still burning in my heart. The lingering memory of the orientation wasn’t much more than a fart.

All I could see was that beautiful scene. My head was full of twintails. I had my head in the clouds for the self-introductions once we got back to the classroom, too.

And I don’t even seem to have noticed when they handed out the club questionnaire.

“All right, pass your sheets forward starting at the back, ple~ase.”

“Oh!”

The class rep's slow drawl brought me back down to Earth. The girl whose name I didn’t know (of course, because I hadn’t listened to her introduction) handed me some sheets. In a panic, I scribbled something on the the paper before me.

“Hm hmm... Huh~? Someone forgot to write their name on their survey~”

“Oh... Sorry. I think that’s mine. I was rushing.”

The teacher looked up from the sheets she was going through and tilted her head in doubt, so I said my name.

“Ahh, Mitsuka-kun, was it? ...Twintail club? Did we have a twintail club here? ... Oh~h, you mean you want to set one up.”

"What!? No, I didn't actually want to do that, really! I was-"

I was even more nervous, and I had gone beyond rescue.

“I see~. ... Twintail club? You must really like twintails, Mitsuka.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Obviously.”

― Conditioned reflex.

And here I was hoping that I could start anew, in this place full of fresh faces.

That was the instant that decided my position for three years of high school.

“Alright everyone, that’s all for today’s homeroom. It seems like there have been some deviants in the area lately, so be careful!”

“Why are you saying this now!? Look, teacher, please wait! I am serious! I really, seriously love twintails!! Wait, that’s not what I... argh!!”

And so, the first day of my brilliant high school life ended, with me sabotaging myself in the most pathetic way imaginable.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....”

Just the memory of it is killing me.

When I see a blank I write “twintail” in it. That is a pretty ridiculous conditioned reflex. It’s already part of my physiological makeup ― no, it might be closer to the area of ecology.

“Mguh... mm. Seconds.”

Ignoring me and the full cup of coffee that hadn’t even touched my lips, Aika calmly put her hand on the second plate of curry.

Uh, I don’t have any appetite, so it’s fine, but still, that one’s mine.

“Writing that stuff down isn’t so bad, but that was pretty much the worst follow-up ever made. Why did you have to freak out so badly?”

“If you knew that I was nervous, then you should have come in and backed me up! Aren’t we friends!!”

“Friends... yeah.”

There was something sullen about the look on Aika’s face. What are you mad about? You just stole my lunch.

“You have to use questionnaires and stuff to make a good first impression. It's just an interest check, after all. Yeah, it says to write down clubs you're interested in, or clubs you want to start, and all that, but it's just a formality. What new student would suddenly assert themselves like that?”

“Uh... You mean...”

“You know what that means, don't you? By writing that down, you're telling everyone that, even after seeing all the clubs give their presentations, even after all their recruiting efforts, you still want to set up your own club. You get it, don't you?”

“And then I... wrote something strange like `twintail club’?”

“That’s right.”

“We can look back and analyze it calmly now, but you know, back then my mind was one hundred percent blank!!”

“Well, I could have at least stuck out my chest and said, ’A lot of people don’t even know the word for that hairstyle, so don’t suddenly start talking about it.’”

“That wouldn’t have helped at all, and what were you going to stick out, there’s nothing thbuhhh”

My little resistance was cut off in the middle.
Aika's got a complex about her modest (non-existent) chest, which is why I like to rib her about it. But, as you can see, if you do that, she will punch you in the face with one hand while eating off her plate with the other.

It can’t be helped, the rest of her is perfect.

Especially the twintails, and the twintails.

“Ugh. If only I was better at improvising...”

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that it’s indirectly the fault of the student council president that my future was destroyed, the exact opposite of what she said in her speech. Although, as Aika says, I was basically inviting this result by being such a loser.

Sighing gloomily, I wrapped my arms about my head.

“Besides, that obsession of yours would have been exposed sooner or later. Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

“You’re telling me I’ve come to a crossroads in my life? Then don’t just go on eating two meals worth of curry as if nothing's wrong! And I’m impressed you can eat curry while drinking all that coffee!”

You'd think someone like her, who could finish off two large plates of curry as if it were nothing, would have a bigger chest. Is it because of her hair? Does her body need all the nutrients just to sustain it...?

I felt a strange chill suddenly and glanced around the store.

“...?”

A woman customer was sitting alone. Her position was at an exact right angle to our seats.

Was it my imagination, or were her eyes flickering over here?

(That’s strange. I thought Mom already closed the store.)

But when I look at the cup on her table, it seems like she was sitting there from the start. We just didn’t notice. Probably Mom didn’t take a good look around before she rushed off.

Great. I thought there would be no one else around. Why did I have to run my mouth like that? I’m not surprised she’s looking.

“Hey, Souji... you’re doing it again.”

“Ah!”

Snapping back to my senses, I realized that I was holding on to Aika’s twintails. She breathed out a tired sigh and I hurriedly released my grip.

It’s half your fault for leaving them on the table and letting them slip into my grasp so easily ― but that’s a very selfish thing to say.

Because when they’re as long as Aika’s, if you don’t lay them on a chair or a table, they’d touch the ground the moment you sat down.

“Sorry. I really can’t help it. It’s been like this since we were kids. Touching your twintails just... calms me down.”

I know that already, Aika replied, coolly. She sighed again.

“Seriously. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel ashamed of myself.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“What are you going to do if someone takes this the wrong way? They’ll look at my twintails, and... and us being friendly... and connect the dots...”

Having exhausted her coffee, Aika kept glancing between me and the table, all the while pressing her index fingers together bashfully.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you want to change your hairstyle?”

“N-no way! Why would I change my hairstyle just because someone said something about it? I like my hair this way, thank you very much!”

Exactly. Seeing this steadfast determination of hers made me proud to be her childhood friend.

Despite her attitude, Aika’s the one person who would understand my love for twintails. As she said, we’d often get made fun of because we were always together.

But ― neither of us cared about what anyone else had to say about it.

She’s my childhood friend. My best friend.

Everyone has a friend or two they’d keep for life. Someone they can open their heart to. As for myself, by pure chance - that someone just happened to be a girl.

Part of it was because we were neighbours, but it seems like our families have been on good terms for a long time. That’s why it’s almost as if we were siblings. As if we were from the same family.

Back in grade school, I was never able to beat her in a fight. It was only afterwards that I found out her granddad had been teaching her martial arts.

Suppressing my wounded pride, I eventually started training with her at the dojo. I suppose that was when it all started. Ever since then, we’ve always spent our time together.

For some reason, we’d always end up in the same class. No matter how classes got shuffled, or how many people transferred in, we’d see each other in class every year.

To be honest, it was starting to get really weird.

Aika was always popular. She’s frank, honest, strong, and always so full of life - I mean, why wouldn’t she be?

And here I am, screwing everything up in the first day of school. I hope I don’t cause her too much trouble.

“―!?”

I felt another shiver run down my back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”

I kept my voice low. Aika seemed to have noticed it as well. That customer was still around.

“How... Why didn’t I sense her presence...!?”

Although Aika was whispering, what she was saying was even more grandiose than usual. Do you normally sense people’s presence as you go through your day...?

That woman was still sitting there. Quietly observing us.

Her eyes met mine. She hurriedly spun around, turning to face the wall behind her.

“What the heck...?”

Okay? That was strange, but I’d feel uncomfortable too if some other customer was kicking up a fuss across the room. Guess I’d better restrain myself.

While I started to relax, Aika was having none of it. I could tell she was on high alert.

Twintails have expressions of their own. Anger, sadness, joy, suspicion, and anxiety are just some of the emotions that they can show.

What I’m saying is - twintails are like a second mouth.

“...”

Aika gestured to me silently from the side of the table. That woman was now holding up a newspaper, as if to conceal herself from us.

She had poked a hole through it, and was peeping at us through it.

Are you kidding me?

It was beyond ridiculous. Was she filming some kind of comedy skit?

I became paranoid there might be some kind of hidden camera in the cafe. Please keep me from becoming Boy A in the credits.

“... Let’s try not to make eye contact.”

“Right.”

Aika had also settled on that being the best course of action in this situation.

Our assumed suspect folded the newspaper over, set it on the table, and stood up.

For a moment, I hoped she would leave. Instead she went right past the entrance, heading in our direction.

Stopping right next to me, unphased by our shocked expressions, she looked directly at me with a smile on her face.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Hold it right there!” Aika shouted in a rapid-fire manner, exasperated.

“Yes?”

Aika stood up while scowling at me. I flinched instinctively. Leaning her head back, the woman began to laugh.

“Who are you?!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do mind!”

“I have some business with this gentlemen over here.”

“With me?!”

Like a tour guide giving information, she pointed in my direction with her palm open.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?! Standing there with that calm look on your face in those flashy clothes. I’m gonna jam a straw in your cleavage!”

“Now, now, Aika, calm down. Please,” I said, looking to defuse the situation.

I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She may have been be a bit odd, but seeing her up close, she really was an incredibly beautiful woman - young lady, from the looks of it.

Her Japanese was excellent, but she was definitely a foreigner. She had white hair... no, wait. Make that silver hair.

Like it was dyed, yet it seemed natural. Which made it even more unnatural. Silver hair like hers doesn’t exist. Yet, it was still beautiful.

It seemed to glitter in the dim lighting of the cafe.

Along with her long eyelashes, her eyes were so blue they reminded one of sapphires.

Following my gaze down the bridge of her nose, she smiled brightly with her delicate pink lips.

Like something straight out of a movie, she was a mysterious faerie., It felt like her entire body was surrounded in a faint glow, like the twinkling light of a firefly.

Above all, just barely below visible when you look at her face, the enormous volume of her breasts demanded your attention. What an outrageous fairy.

She looked to be around the same age as Aika, and yet the difference between them was almost depressing. The thin clothes emphasizing her cleavage clashed with her clean-cut features. Over which she wore a white robe. One might even call it a coat. The design was quite fashionable.

Her skirt, which one might even hesitate to call a mini-skirt... traced a line that made one wonder how her panties weren’t visible. Yet, with one look at her long slender legs, any doubts about her ability to coordinate clothes vanished. It was certainly a sight not seen among the masses.

It’s such a shame.

Twintails would undoubtedly suit sparkling silver hair like hers.

There I go again... I’ve barely even met this girl, and yet my brain was already filled with thoughts of twintails.

For a guy going through puberty, undressing such a cute girl in your mind would be a natural instinct, honed over millennia.

Naked? With twintails?

Hmm...

I suppose that still counts?

“Ow.”

Aika jabbed me in the temple with her straw. What the heck are you doing, I asked, in a hushed tone. Aika simply turned her head away with a “Hmph!”.

Watching the two of us bicker, the girl looked like she was smirking while she laughed. Instead of an innocent laugh, I sensed a twinge of evil to her laugh. Maybe I’m wrong. She does seem like a very gentle person.

“Uhm, is there something that ''we'' can help you with?”

I unconsciously drew myself into the back of the chair.

The girl put her hand on top of the bench and leaned in closer to me.

“Yes. I have very important business with ''you''.”

“...Important business?”

Pretending not to hear her clearly wasn’t working.

Re-iterating she only wants to speak with me... was it a language problem? Across the table, Aika’s frown deepened.

“My name is Twoearle.”

“I see... Miss... Twoearle...”

She’s definitely not from this country. Nevertheless, her Japanese was impeccable.

“You sure like twintails.”

“I love them.”

Oops... that’s what I felt inside. And I blurted it out immediately. Saying it out loud to someone I just met – I really didn’t learn anything from what happened earlier today, did I?

“Would you mind not asking why, and put on this bracelet for me?”

“What the heck does this have to do with anything!?”

The girl known as Twoearle suddenly pulled an object out of her coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a very beautiful glittering red bracelet.

Taking advantage of my confusion, she softly took the bracelet and gently prised my fingers apart.

“H-hey now―”

With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the back of my hand. At which point, a strange tingling feeling shot through my body.

“Now, please put it on.”

“He doesn’t need it!”

Leaning over the table, Aika roughly grabbed the bracelet and pushed it back towards Twoearle.

“What is with you?! You just waltz over here and start pushing strange things onto him, how rude!”

“It is not anything suspicious.”

“At this point, it’s a little late to see it as anything but suspicious!”

As usual, she doesn’t hold back even with people we’ve just met.

...Well, I do agree it’s rather suspicious.

“...Uhm, well... hmm... ah!”

Twoearle abruptly clasped my hands and said, “It’s me, Souji-kun. Me.”

“...Eh?”

I was perplexed by her suddenly friendly tone.

“You remember me. Look, it’s me. Twoearle. You see, I’ve got a bit of a problem right now – so, could you please put that bracelet on?”

I think I’m imagining things, but the way she thoughtlessly leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, seemed as though she was begging for me to look at her ample chest.

“Uh, weeell...”

“What kind of idiot would use an ore-ore scam to someone’s face!”

“Eeaagh!”

A whirlwind tore past me as I hesitated. Aika hit Twoearle’s cheek with an open-palm strike of terrifying power, improved by a snap of the wrist.

“Are you insaaane?! Don’t hit people that you just met, seriously!! That was a really sharp sound!”

My shout was already close to a scream.

And it was no wonder. That wasn’t a slap but a little trick that aimed for the cheekbones ― one of the jujitsu techniques of the Mizukage school taught by Aika’s late grandfather. Overturning all theories of martial arts, it was meant to cause as much sharp and serious pain as possible to its target without moving the chest too much. Close to a torture technique.

And it had been carried out brilliantly and flawlessly by a mere high school girl.

It was no wonder that the old man had wanted to make her his successor right up until the moment he died.

“Souji, I’m sure this woman is a crook! Just like those people by the train station who say, I’ll tell your fortune, come into this alleyway! But then they have a bunch of people with mohicans and spikes on their shoulders or something waiting there for you!”

“I don’t know about the first part, but not the second!!”

If there is a villain here she’s in front of me.

Twoearle was bent over with a hand pressed against her cheek. I felt worried and looked over at her.

“A-are you okay? This girl, sometimes she doesn’t know when to hold back.”

She’s so beautiful, and she’s a foreigner. It would really suck if this turned into an international incident.

“Huh?... I was holding back, it shouldn’t be that...”

Aika started to look uneasy, although about at the level of a young kid with a knee scrape that you can fix by rubbing spit on it.

If you were holding back, then what was that noise.

“Oh, y, es... I am... fine...”

“Are you really okay...!?”

The way you’re cupping your cheek and trembling tells me that you’re not! I started to hold out my hand to her, and ―

“!”

Aika desperately caught my wrist.

“Oh.”

...Twoearle had gotten the bracelet into my blind spot and was trying to put it on my hand.

“So you were just acting!”

“Why are you trying this hard? What do you want me to put my hand in that bracelet for...!?”

Getting a little uncomfortable with this after all, I took a step back. And my heart felt like it went back a hundred meters.

“But I am not asking for any money! ...Just put it in! All I want you to do is put it in! Please put it in, if you don’t put it in I don’t know what I will do!! If you want me to, I will put it in for you.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the bracelet, but you could hear it as something else, so stop, please.

“You can’t, Souji, if you put it on, they’ll say you can’t cancel any more or something and take a huge amount of money off you! Those mohawk guys are going to crash through the entrance of the store on armored buggies!!”

Aika’s got a keen sense of danger, but her information seems to be a little bit lopsided. Twoearle put her hands together as if praying and looked straight into my eyes.

“Please. I will do anything you want if you wear the bracelet...”

“Eh?”

My mind was screaming no, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes moved towards Twoearle’s hair.

“Anything... you said?”

“Yes... I will do anything you ask of me. I will be fine with whatever special interests you may have! Especially the kinky stuff... ha... ha...”

For some reason, Twoearle was starting to breathe heavily. Her face was red.

“Don’t say things like that!”

This is bad.

Is this what you call a cultural divide? Are the differences in humanity that difficult to reconcile? Even though we speak the same language, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the same wavelength.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but asking him something like that is useless. The only thing he ever thinks about are twintails. He’d just ask you to tie your hair up or something.”

“R-really!? But, he’s a guy, isn’t he!?”

I’m not surprised that Aika could tell what I was thinking, but Twoearle seemed more than a little shocked.

If you say you’d do anything...

Yeah.

Of course.

Twintails.

Twoearle raised her hands, half-smiling.

“You must be kidding me... It is alright! Think of this as advance payment. I’ll let you squeeze them, right here... hurry... they’re surprisingly soft!”

Her softly wobbling chest seemed to explode in my vision. I didn’t know where to look.

Cupping her hands over her breasts, Twoearle thrust herself at me.

“Get away, you pervert! I’ll crush your spine in self-defense if you come any closer!”

Why are you even explaining to her what you’re going to do in self-defense?

“Calm down, Aika! ... I get it, I get it!”

I have to stop this mess before Aika crosses the line.

“I’ll take it. She said it was free, didn’t she? It’s almost like picking a tissue off the sidewalk. If that’s all it takes to make her happy ... it is free, isn’t it?”

“Of course!!”

Her sudden smile, like a flower blooming, caught me off guard. If only she’d act a little more normal...

“No! Don’t! She’s just trying to scam you! It’s like those spa treatment packages where they say the bath salts are free but it ends up being really expensive! She’s just like one of those door-to-door salesmen!!”

“What are you talking about this time?”

“If he does not wear it, the world will end! Also, it is against the law to bait people by giving out bath salts for free!”

“That’s exactly what I was saying, you free-bath-salt merchant!”

Seriously, what kind of a conversation is this? And what’s up with all the bath salts?

“Anyway, if you do not put this on! All the twintails in this world are going to vanish!!”

“―What!!”

Twoearle’s sudden exclamation was like a punch to my stomach. I stepped up to her.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“Hup.”

In that brief moment, Twoearle grabbed my arm, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Wha―”

Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. However, the spirit-shattering thought of all the twintails in the world disappearing, coupled with that pair of all-encompassing, enveloping, Gaia-class motherly breasts pressing against me ― the assault on my heart and mind left me unable to avoid it.

“Thank goodness. Like this, we will be ready when it finally appears.”

Looking at the clock, Twoearle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her teary eyes towards me.

Oh shit. I don’t think she noticed, but when she’s that close... every inch she moves makes her chest jiggle, pushing their soft, undulating mass against my body... this is bad.

Stay strong, Mitsuka Souji! You mustn’t be defeated by something like this!

She’s a foreigner, okay? This level of intimacy is probably completely normal for her. Don’t imagine anything lewd! You’ll destroy the esteemed image of Japanese men if it ends up showing on your face!

“Take it off! Throw that thing away!!”

While I was lost in thought, Aika grabbed me by my neck, forcefully pulling me away from Twoearle’s embrace.

“Whoa!”

It felt as if I was flying. Can you believe it? She just lifted me up with one hand!

The sudden movement sent the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table flying all around me.

“Come on... h-huh!?”

Aika was pulling on the bracelet with both hands, her face twisted in exertion. Guess it fit better than I thought.

“Argh! I can’t... get it off!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!! What the hell is this thing? It’s like a wedding ring that’s gotten stuck on a finger joint!”

And unlike Twoearle, Aika has no `cushions’, so having her press herself against me was very uncomfortable to say the least.

“A wedding ring!? Aaargh——!”

“Yeaaargh!! Stop! You’ll rip my arm off!”

For some reason, Aika started pulling at it even harder than before. My arm jerked around as if it were a candle flame in the wind.

“This is... strange... Why is it... so tight...!? Look! There isn’t even... a gap on this... thing!”

She’s right. It’s made of metal, and definitely isn’t elastic. How did Twoearle even manage to get it on my arm in the first place!?

I wonder if you can unscrew this thing, I heard my childhood friend say. Stop! Humans don’t work that way!

I almost wanted to cry from the suspicion and despair flooding my mind.

It’s strange asking Twoearle to take it off after I let her put it on me, but I don’t have any choices left.

“Um, excuse me, could you please―”

In a flash.

We were enveloped in a retina-burning, polychromatic stream of light.

As if we were melting into the air, our bodies began fading away along with the light―

And then, we were gone.

<center>◇</center>

“I am very sorry about all this, but I thought it would be faster than an explanation.”

I heard Twoearle say.

“―Huh? Huh!?”

Just as the burst of light faded from my vision, a very different sight greeted my eyes.

Soot. The acrid, stinging smell of smoke filled the air around us.

I looked around in a panic.

Sunlight. Wind. Sidewalk. Asphalt.

It was a feeling unlike any that I’d experienced before. My body struggled to get up to speed.

“Why are we... outside?”

We weren’t dreaming, were we? How did we get outside without even noticing it?

“Answer me! Why are we here!?”

Our surroundings were familiar, yet it took quite some time for me to recognize them. No way. How could we have made it here?

‘Maxim Horizon’, the biggest convention center in town. A giant building, spanning two blocks, with an equally large open-air exhibition space. Events, live concerts, and other activities were often held here.

Somehow, we ended up at the center’s open air parking lot.

Roughly 20 minutes away from where we previously were. By car.

“Earlier than expected... I intended for us to have some prep time, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.”

In contrast to the two of us, Twoearle was completely calm.

“I really should have done this earlier...”

She was holding a small stick, about the size of a pen and talking in a very subdued voice.

Unless I’m mistaken, that pen-like thing was what emitted that strange burst of light.

“W-what did you do to us!?”

“I did not intend to bring you along with us, Aika-san, but unfortunately, you would not leave the effective radius. Sorry about that.”

For a moment, I thought they would end up having a (very one-sided) argument again, but a loud sound derailed my train of thought.

“What is it this time!?”

And then, we finally understood what was causing all the soot and smoke.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars around us were cooking off like popcorn, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“This can’t be happening...”

Earlier, I thought we would end up being on some comedy program. Now... it was as if we were passers-by getting caught up in some Hollywood movie pyrotechnics display.

It just didn’t seem real.

“Souji-sama. Please try your best not to leave my side. They will spot you. I cannot project my recognition jamming field very far.”

“Recognition... jamming?”

Twoearle stopped me from moving closer to one of the flaming cars.

“If you stay beside me, they will not be able to see you. Look at that thing over there.”

Twoearle pointed at something in the distance. In the middle of the parking lot was... something.

Both Aika and I leaned in for a closer look... and we both screamed.

“―― Whaaa!?”

“It can’t be! What is that thing!?”

It’s like someone forcefully jammed an insect’s head onto a man’s body. The figure was fully clad in some kind of armored exoskeleton.

Normally, I would have thought it was some actor in a suit, thanks to where we were, but―

Its weight ― wherever it stood, cracks formed in the asphalt.

Its height ― over two meters tall.

Its eyes ― they never stopped moving, darting left and right.

Its teeth ― they looked as if they could crush a boulder.

Its spines ― as sharp as swords, and too many to count, extending from spine to tail.

Everything about it was as real as it could get.

Every cell, every breath it took, was real.

I really wish it was just a suited actor. I really hoped it was.

But, that thing... the mere sight of it filled me with dread. Pure, unrelenting―

“M―monster!”

The wreckage... the fire... and the smoke. And in the middle of it all, the swaggering figure of that unknown figure... it was almost picturesque.

Almost like a scene from a movie, made real.

“Come out, wherever you are!”

!!

As if flicking a bug, the thing sent a nearby car flying. At the same time, I clearly heard it say that line.

Speaking human language.

Speaking Japanese.

Aika and I were too shocked to say anything. The creature, not noticing our presence, twisted it’s mouth, roaring.

Roaring those words of doom that would strike the hearts of its listeners with despair-

“Fuhahahahahaha!! All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!!”

“Uuugh~~~~!!”

At the hoarse, resonant voice and the warped thing it was saying I came close to choking up blood.

We were pretty far from it here, but it felt like its voice was ringing right in my ear.

“...Hey, Souji, what are you doing wearing a theme park costume.”

“That’s not me!”

A large number of pure-black creatures manifested themselves around the monster.

The identical mindless drones were massed in a group, ready for battle. Their strange forms were uniformly solid black. It was an incredibly eerie sight.

The combat drones skittered away, dispersing rapidly in all directions, capturing a number of random girls.

“Twin... tails...”

But my heart was not beating fast because the girls had twintails. It was because of the monster’s orders.

“What are they holding... Hey, it’s twintail girls!”

“What are they planning to do?”

Unlike Aika and I, who fretted in hushed voices, Twoearle silently tracked their movements.

“Even so, this world is regrettably lacking in twintails! Draped in nothing but steel and electricity ― it’s like they never left the Stone Age!”

It was clearly speaking Japanese, but something was off. Something... no, everything.

“Oh well, that just means we have to find twintails of the finest quality!”

With a wild tone of voice, the monster walked with its shoulders held high.

“Don’t forget the orders from our commander, you vermin! Top quality twintails have been detected in this area, so leave no stone unturned! … There might even be a young girl crying while holding her stuffed bunny rabbit!”

“... Moke? Moke- “

“Hold your tongues! Gathering all of the twintails is our ultimate goal… however! Beyond being a soldier, I’m also a man… and so I’d also like to see a young girl holding a stuffed animal! Find me one and there will be a reward waiting for you!!”

It wasn’t my imagination.

No, it was speaking fluent Japanese,　but for some reason nothing it was saying made any sense.

“We have no need for adults! Drag them out here quickly! I don’t mind if you’re a little rough!”

The black creatures were moving efficiently to carry out its orders.

“Moke-”

“What? There are no young girls carrying stuffed animals!? Hmm, if girls don’t have stuffed animals, then a man can provide!! I don’t care, bring them here!”

...Although, can you really call these orders? He’s shouting so crazily that I think if he had something hard in his hand he would throw it.

“Heeeelp!”

A crying young girl was brought in front of the monster.

The way she looked, with her twintails disheveled under the eyes of the grotesque, hulking figure, made me think of a shrine maiden taken for human sacrifice, the victim of a crime against nature.

I tried to jump out, but Aika grabbed my arm and stopped me.

My hazy brain began to catch up with what was going on. I got the situation clear in my head, at least.

“They’re only taking girls with twintails, what are they planning to do?”

The monster and his troops weren’t hurting them. Rather, they were giving them dolls to calm them down.

So we can stay here and watch for now, but...

“Hey, Twoearle, you took us here because you knew this was happening, didn’t you? What is that monster...”

Halfway through the sentence, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

In my line of sight was something I should never have seen.

Well, this isn’t the place for sarcasm. But the radiant sight that had burned itself into my heart earlier today had not been a dream or an illusion. I knew that now.

“The... president...”

No mistake. That was it, the source of my suffering from the first day of high school life, the diabolical hairstyle that had charmed me in both the good and bad sense of the word.

Two of the solid black combat drones were dragging along Shindou Erina, president of the student council, in her school uniform, one on each arm.

“It’s, it’s her! Hey! Isn’t that the president?”

It looks like Aika has noticed too.

In the gym there were maids standing by her silently to attend on her, but I couldn’t see anyone like that now.

The president was holding something tight in her arms as if it were important. It was hard to see, of course, but the thing sticking halfway out of her shopping bag looked like a toy from a kids’ tokusatsu series.

“Release me!”

Determined resistance.

The monster ran his eyes over her as if he were deciding on her price.

“Ho-hooo, a nice little child! Not only that, but she looks like she’s a princess! A twintail princess... no, indeed, this is nearly perfect! Yours could be the ultimate twintails!!”

“Ultimate...!? No, tell me who you are! You speak human language, don’t you!? Set the other girls free!!”

“I do. As you can see, we can communicate well with each other. And so, I tell you that I cannot release them.”

“Then what are your intentions!”

“You’ll understand soon! First, while I have the opportunity...”

The monster handed a large stuffed animal to the president with an overfamiliar gentleness.

“I want you to hold this kitten stuffie! There is sweetness even in your hostility. A kitten stuffie suits a naughty young girl well!! Hug it!!”

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_049.jpg|thumb|''"You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa!"'']]

The jet-black figures came up carrying a three-meter-wide pink sofa which it was hard to believe existed, maybe part of their supplies.

They forced the president, now holding the stuffed animal, to sit on it.

“You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa! This is the golden ratio that my long years of discipline have led me to!!”

“““Mokkekeke―!!”””

The monster was acting like it had at last succeeded in turning gold into a base metal, and on top of that the shrill voices seemed to be cheering it for what it had done. I felt light-headed.

“...We understand that they are aiming for girls with twintails, anyway... Tell me, Twoearle, what can I do? You brought me here because there’s something I can do, right?”

“I will leave the details for later. Right now, we will act.”

My legs were trembling a little despite my brave act, but Twoearle ignored that. She was so calm that she seemed reliable.

“Souji-sama... First, please take off the clothes I am wearing. No, more like rip them off, please. ...Oh, yes. Push both of my arms above my head like this and hold them there... Like this, Souji-sama, with one hand. Then with your other hand, pull off my bra...”

“What is wroooooooooong with you!!”

Twoearle had been making gestures to go with what she was saying.

“Aika, too loud!”

I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth, but―

“Ohh, I sense the presence of a new twintail... Where? Where are you hiding!!”

(What is a presence supposed to be!)

I left that comeback inside my heart, and looked at the twintails beside me. Certainly, they do draw the eye, but...

“Aaah, I’m a twintail too―!”

“Wheeeare are yoooou!!”

We were sixty or seventy meters away from the center of the huge open-air parking lot, but the thick, harsh voice sounded as though it were coming from right next to us. Still, even though we weren’t under any kind of cover, he can’t see us. What is this?

He’s looking straight at us, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I felt deja vu.

Aika’s words in the store went through my mind.

― “How... Why didn’t I sense her presence?”

Recognition... jamming... that’s what she said earlier.

“...Oh, ohh... Even though I was taking the serious route that I’m not used to and holding it in... This situation I was longing for... The script I polished over and over again... I can’t believe my plan was crushed the moment it started...”

Twoearle’s glare at Aika was a mixture of resentment and disappointment. Apparently something hadn’t gone well for her.

“There’s some way we can help those girls, right!? Come on, tell me!!”

Impatient, I grabbed her shoulders hard.

“Aan...”

For some reason a seductive voice.

“Oh, we can do a course correction! Well, Souji-sama, let us go ahead with the script just like before! Shove me against the wall like this, and we’re up to the place where you rip all my clothes off at once! Take them with one cut!!”

“Why don’t I shove you against the wall? As hard as I can!?”

Under Aika’s glare, Twoearle reluctantly said, “I, I understand. It is true we do not have much time, so I will skip a little! And they can sense her Twintail Element even through recognition jamming, so even in the first battle I do not think we can take them lightly.”

Did you say “the first battle?”... but I didn’t have time to wonder, because what she said next was even more outrageous.

“Souji-sama, use the bracelet I gave you and transform!”

“Transform!?”

“This is what she was going for! All that stuff earlier was for this!”

Twoearle ignored Aika and continued.

“That device creates a battle suit that will reinforce your physical power. You should become at least a match for that monster when you transform.”

“Are you serious!?”

Just as if it were a kids’ superhero show or something like that.

...But I was willing to grasp at any straw right then, and my heart soaked it up without resistance as if it were a voice from heaven.

She could have said any crazy thing to me and I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it was a joke or a trick after the unreal experience of being put through the teleporter.

At least there’s no harm in trying.

“Wa, wait a minute, I don’t know about transforming, but why do you need Souji to do something that dangerous!!”

“You idiot! The enemy’s target is twintails!! How can we overlook that!!”

“...Wait, umm, that’s the most surreal thing about this, or rather, that goal is too stupid... Or Souji, can’t you at least say that it’s because they are kidnapping girls...?”

“No, that is how it should be. It is because you love twintails that you can use the bracelet. There is no need to act like you care about justice.”

“No, I mean, I did want to rescue the girls, I was thinking that...”

An enemy who’s aiming at twintails, and supposedly I can fight against them because I love twintails? What is this?

Really more and more this seems like a joke.

The earth shook so much that I seemed to float for a second, and then came an ear-splitting roar.

“Souji, the people they caught!”

A terrifying scene was unfolding where Aika pointed.

A tragic scene as though I were looking into hell.

In the very center of the parking lot ― the parked cars had been torn out by the roots and scattered and the girls they had caught were lined up single file.

An improvised ceremonial site.

I don’t know if the girl at the front of the line had fainted, but she didn’t seem to be moving as her body floated into the air.

Like a lion jumping through a flaming hoop, the girls in the line moved through a metallic ring with light stretched across it in iridescent colours like a soap bubble. The moment the first girl passed through, her hair came gently untied, and she drifted back down tracing an arc across the sky.

One by one, the instant they could put the next one through, the girls went through the ring as lifeless as parts on a belt conveyor.

In less time than it took to blink, it was President Shindou’s turn... and even the beautiful twintails that had fascinated me dissolved into the air.

“All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!”

That had sounded like a joke, but I was seeing it for real now.

“― Those bastards.”

I felt something deep snap in my heart for the first time in my life.

“Souji-sama, please compose yourself. It is still all right, they can still be saved.”

“Tell me...! How can I save the twintails? How can I destroy those guys?!!”

“You’re kind of exaggerating... You know, they don’t seem to be hurt at all aside from losing their twintails?”

“Exaggerating, you say......!?”

I grabbed Aika by the front of her shirt and lifted her up with violent emotion overflowing in my heart.

“Aah...”

“Is that all that twintails mean to you? If someone takes them, then that’s fine, you don’t really care? Were they such a little thing to you?!!”

“Ca, calm down, Souji. They’ll notice us again...!”

“...S, sorry.”

When I heard Aika’s out-of-character thin voice without any force in it, my head cooled off a little, and I let go of her.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you too, Twoearle. But tell me how to use this thing. Quickly.”

“...Are you serious!? No, Souji, you shouldn’t! Especially after earlier! I don’t think you can trust her at all!”

Aika’s voice had tension in it like she was trying to talk a friend out of murder.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid or if it’s dangerous. I can’t forgive those monsters for playing games with twintails!”

Twoearle had been at least half messing around with me, but I think that that part of my feelings got through to her.

She nodded with an earnest expression, and explained, raising her own right arm to her chest.

“Please wish in your heart, ‘I want to transform.’ Wish hard. If you do that, the bracelet should activate.”

“That’s all I have to do? I don’t think about anything specific?”

Twoearle nodded forcefully.

“Okay. Sounds like something even I can do.”

“Souji!!”

I gathered my resolve and raised the bracelet to my chest, making a fist with my right hand.

Closing my eyes, like she had told me, I wished hard, hard.

I want to transform... I want to save the president, those girls. To take back the twintails. To become someone who can defeat those bastards.

It wasn’t righteous anger. Is there a guy anywhere who can just keep quiet after he sees something he loves trampled into the dust!!

The next instant―

The “transformation” really happened, just like that.

<center>◇</center>

Light began to shine from the bracelet on Souji’s right arm.

An intense light as though soundless fireworks were exploding before his eyes.

“Aahh!”

Aika covered her eyes with her arm at the unexpected brilliance.

Bands of red light looped around Souji’s body, forming a cocoon. As specks of light flooded out, they tightened around him.

An even brighter sudden flash.

They began to change the barely visible silhouette.

Shoulders, chest, hips, legs - from the top in order light burst like an explosion, and Souji was covered from the neck down in a red suit. But this all happened in a hundredth of a second ― the work of an instant, faster than the eye could see.

Spraying out like steam, lines of red light.

And although it was strange, Souji was surrounded by a radiance that didn’t come from reflected light, just like Twoearle’s silver hair.

“Awesome... I really did transform...”

Souji put all the strength into the fists, testing how it felt.

As far as he could see, the suit covered the body without a gap, from the tips of the feet when he looked down to the fingertips he was opening and closing over and over again. But he seems to have noticed before long that there was no pressure on his head.

“Huh? My face... It isn’t hidden!?”

Touching the cheeks, Souji was disturbed to find that they weren’t covered.

“The suit itself is not that important to the defense system. Also, it is using Imagine Chaff as a countermeasure, so even though your face is uncovered, other people will not realize that it is you, Souji-sama.”

“Imagine... What’s that?”

“It is something so you do not have to worry about people finding out your real identity! Please fight with peace of mind!”

“I, is that so? Okay! Let me try this...!!” I don’t really understand the practical side very well, and there are a lot of things I’m still worried about, but there’s no time left.

Souji put his faith in Twoearle’s words and started to run toward the battlefield, his hair gallantly ''fluttering behind him''.

“Nh, uh...”

Souji had already vanished by the time Aika opened her eyes.

“That idiot! Why did he agree to all of this so easily?!”

Aika knitted her eyebrows and looked around.

“Hey, you, uh... hey, Twoearle.”

“Yes?”

“There weren’t any other girls around here just now...?”

<center>◇</center>

“Li... light, what is this, I can’t run so easil... whoaaa―!!”

As if someone had put the decimal point in the wrong place, the power in my legs was so great that I kept almost falling on my face when I sprinted.

I was reminded of the time when I was bored and tried setting the running machine to maximum speed.

≪Please focus your awareness! Souji-sama, that suit, the Tailgear, is created with the power of your mind. You must drive it with your will!≫

Some kind of communications device? I heard Twoearle’s voice as if she were whispering into my ear, although I don’t think anything was mounted on it.

“The force of my mind... My will...!!”

This time, I tried to wrap my awareness around my legs.

Up until then it felt like I was clinging to a car moving at top speed, but I suddenly started to feel my feet landing on the ground through the suit.

It wasn’t like driving a car, it was a sense of complete unity like I had become the car.

I had already reached the parking lot and gone more than halfway across it, kicking the rubble out of the way as I was running without trying to avoid it. I could see the girls lying unconscious on the asphalt now.

I know they regretted having their twintails stolen.

I’ll absolutely get them back for you...!!

“Hmmm, magnificent Twintail Elements... But at this rate, I’m not sure if we can obtain the greatest power under this star, the one the Commander was praising as the ultimate...”

It seems like my hearing has improved, too. I can hear the monster muttering something cryptic to President Shindou, lying at his feet.

My anger hit its peak when I saw the president with her twintails cruelly untied.

“Stoooop――!!”

“Mu!?”

I planted my feet on the ground, braking at high speed. As I did, something like stoppers came down from somewhere near my ankles and jammed into the asphalt, scraping it and blowing off sparks and dust.

(...What ridiculous strength. That girl created this...!?)

A sense of awe filled my body at the unknown power, taking my mind off my anger. And then I started to be afraid. I was surprised again by the kind of power the girl called Twoearle had in her hands.

How had she created something with this kind of terrifying strength? Just as I was told, just as I had wished, I had accepted it, but had that been the right thing to do?

No, I don’t have time to think about that now. I have to concentrate on saving the twintails... saving the people before me.

“You understand human language, right, monster? Give these people back the twintails that you... took.”

“Tha... You are...”

“...Did you not hear me...? You stole their twintails. Give them back, goddamn you!!”

My anger itself hit him together with my scream.

It sounds strange when I say it, but I understood that the strange ring could take people’s twintails away from them. And so it should also be possible for it to give them back.

Who would subject someone to this kind of danger just because they have twintails? The word “irrational” is not good enough for them, it’s absurd, it’s monstrous.

“Steal the twintails.” If what they said, if their objective were known to the public, then tomorrow there might not be anyone wearing twintails anymore. Because it would be stupid to take the risk.

I can’t... I can’t forgive that...!!

“Whoa... whooaaaaaaaaaaa――!?”

When I scowled at him, the monster soared high into the sky as if he had been caught in a sudden gust of wind.

“Gahaaa!!”

The ground hit him face-first.

“H, hey.”

“Nnn, nngh... Was I blown away by such a strong ''young innocent''... Those are... spectacular twintails!!”

“...Huh?”

“The Commander’s prediction was right when he chose this spot! Even if I leave out the girls before. It was you...! You’ve finally come! We didn’t miss our mark, those are the ultimate twintails!”

The monster was staggering to his feet in exultation.

“The ultimate... twintails...?”

Something is strange.

What the monster was saying gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time I myself began to feel obscure doubt.

My field of vision, my viewpoint was oddly low.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the hands I was holding up also seemed smaller than usual.

“......”

Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

A premonition of evil stronger than I’d ever tasted in my life sent a chill through my whole body.

“Could...”

Like a rusty gear grinding, I turned my head over to the side.

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_063.jpg|thumb|top|alt="Souji looking in a car windshield."|''There was a girl with lovely twintails there.'']]

One of the car windshields was still in its original shape. I saw the reflection and was speechless.

What would you call this.

― There was a girl with lovely twintails there.

“――― Oh.”

Even now a “twinta~ils” sound effect rang like a chime in my head. Beautiful, spectacular twintails hanging down past the knee.

And ribbon-shaped pieces that moved up and down together with her breathing, so smoothly that they seemed to be swaying.

Her wide eyes opened even farther.

The word “armor” was a little off the mark for what she was wearing, a strange protective suit that didn’t look like it had any weight at all, showy in its use of fashion with red and white as its key colours.

In places, on top of the body suit that stuck closely to her bare skin, angular mechanical-looking armaments had been attached. They were the source of a mysterious glow.

“Ohh.”

And, and and. There were giant attachments on either side of her hips, but the crotch area of the suit had been designed like a bikini, and half of her thighs were exposed.

I wasn’t sure if I believed this. But I tried touching my chest and groin. My chest was just as flat as it looked from outside, but my constant companion for half my life, the prince between my legs, my important partner, was cleanly and completely missing.

“O, oh...”

Now that I understood, I became more conscious of it. My unnaturally high voice.

Yes, the reflection in the glass was ―

I, who had become a twintail.

“It turned me into a girl―――――――――――――!!?”

A childish scream was absorbed by the sky.

<center>◇</center>

“Wh...!!”

Aika, watching, was also lost for words.

“...What is that.”

“That is our single strongest weapon against those monsters, the Daydream Armor, Tailgear! Aah, you are wonderful, Souji-sama! Ehehehehe big success.”

Twoearle, with a ribbon of drool that was hanging down to the choker around her neck, stared at the panicking Souji with a look of ecstasy on her face.

“...It’s too wonderful, I’m starting to cry!!”

Aika visited Twoearle with the palm of her hand, using even less restraint. It wasn’t a pinpoint strike to her cheek or somewhere this time but an impact to the whole top of her skull.

“Is, is this already a girls’ catfight scene... or actually it is more like being mauled by a tiger...”

“Depending on your answer it really will be like that. What happened, why is Souji a wwwwwoman!! That’s not just girls’ clothing, is it? He’s even way shorter now!!”

“...Aika-san. In order to obtain great power, you have to pay a corresponding price. It makes a person stronger to face the truth ― little girls are cute, little girls!”

“Is this your fucking rotten hobby―!!”

The sound of a merciless blow.

“That’s not transforming, that’s warped!”

Of course, she didn’t mean “warped” in the sense of metamorphosis.

“Fight fire with fire, they say. When the enemy is ‘hentai,’ a fighter cannot oppose them without becoming HENTAI to a certain degree themselves.”

“So the enemy is yooooooooooooooooooou!!”

Thud, thud, thud...

The head of the beautiful girl whose default was complete corruption ― Twoearle’s imagination soared left and right in thrilling leaps.

<center>◇</center>

Is this my punishment?

I’ve been saying twintails, twintails from childhood until now, did God finally get fed up with me and say, you’re a pain in the ass, shut up, become a twintail already, and give me a shove in the back?

You shoved too hard, God. This isn’t like I can stagger and keep moving forward, this is like a complete orbit of the Earth.

This is like even my cool entrance scene earlier looped once around the Earth and crashed into the back of my head.

“A, a, a, ah.”

I was confused and unable to deal with reality, and the monster and the black things had completely surrounded me.

“Hmm, so you’ve decided you want to be ours? You have my gratitude! Show her along, and be polite!”

At my lack of resistance, the monster suddenly switched to kindness.

“Moke―”

The black thing... the soldier in front broke out into a run toward me.

“Ge... get awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!”

As I was waving my arms in front of me like a kid throwing a tantrum, I lightly hit the black thing, and it flew into the air with a clear ‘thunk’ sound like a plastic bottle rocket and crashed into a wall on the rooftop level of a distant building.

Its body began to glow. Before long, it exploded softly into dust and disappeared into the sky.

The monster let out a little noise of interest.

“Hnnn... One Ultiroid in one blow! You’re not just beautiful twintails... What is that fierce power!? Who are you, child!!”

The enemy’s words were getting bit by bit more old-fashioned, and now, as if we were actors in a period drama, he was handing me my promised “cue.”

Although judging from his expression he was serious.

≪Souji-sama! This is a great chance for a cool intro speech!≫

Intro speech?

“...What am I supposed to be?”

If you have something you want to say, then say it, God --

≪Aaah~, that is right, you did not decide what you were going to call yourself after you transformed, did you...!?≫

“No, I’m not worried about my name, I’m having doubts about my identity!”

Communicate, help me out, Aika... If I can’t hear your comebacks, how am I supposed to do this?

Not who I am, I’m not even sure what I am.

“Waoo~h, I’m not sure what’s going on but this downhearted little girl ― I can’t stand it!! One of you, get me a doll she can hug!”

“Mokee―.”

The encirclement slowly tightened around me.

I could feel piercing stares even from the soldiers though I didn’t know where their eyes were.

Like they were giving off desire as an aura.

The target of those innumerable desires ― I didn’t try to hold in the chill climbing up my spine.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

≪Souji-sama, touch the ribbon piece and picture a weapon in your heart. It should create a weapon made just for you!!≫

“Rib, bo, n.”

With bloodshot eyes, I hit one of the two metal ribbon pieces, the only armor on my head.

“Turn me, turn me back into a man......! Agagagagagagaga”

≪The ribbon does not grant wishes!?≫

What is this... I’m not in a fairytale with a moral, there’s no way this punishment can happen, no way I turned into a twintail!!

I hit the ribbon over and over.

Whether my bitter wish got through or not, it lit up and a burst of flame shot out. Forming a spiral in the air, it gathered in my right hand and began to take the shape of a sword like vapor condensing.

The red blade lengthened, wrapping itself around a black core.

A word appeared in my mind like it was being punched into a typewriter.

≪Blazer Blade≫

Fire burst out from my right hand. The magnificent double-edged sword was finished, glowing with red heat.

You couldn’t call it a longsword, but in my hands it looked like a longer than average blade.

Amazi~ng, coo~ol... by the way turn me back.

“Moke――”

One of the soldiers came down out of the air with a pose like a jumping frog.

My voice was frozen, so I swung the sword. The enemy took a diagonal slash to the chest, and with a small explosion evaporated into dust.

“Mokeh”

“Mokee~~~~~~”

“Aagh! These...!!”

I was attacked without a moment of pause and made a sudden horizontal sweep. The soldiers, cut in half, vanished one after another.

With no hesitation - with even less hesitation than before, attacks began to come all at once from the earth and sky.

“De... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

I slashed at them, the spinning sword wrapped in fire that traveled with the sword’s pressure, spreading out like a burst from a flamethrower.

The figures all in black attacked four ways, eight ways, and evaporated without even having time to scream.

“Hah... hah...”

The reptile monster, alone now, was trembling all over.

“I’m nailed to this spot, I can’t move... The sword like lightning and the twintails dancing in the sky... I was sure that I was lost in heaven!!”

“You really are lost! Stop, that’s creepy!!”

The monster was overcome with emotion. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

I’m the one who wants to cry.

“Haaah, haah, twintails...”

“Wha...!?”

Desire was swirling around the monster like a vortex. He stuck out his hands and came at me like a zombie.

He was different from the one-kick soldiers before. In many ways.

“Those twintails... Could you pinch them between your thumb and index finger and give my cheeks a few slaps, pechi pechi...!!”

Wide eyes, the blood pulsing in them. Rough, thick breaths. And with the tip of his lips stained with drool, the monster came at me.

A dread second to none rushing through me and a weak scream I’d never heard from myself even once before.

“Kyaa―!!”

I fell on my butt, letting the sword drop.

“Haah, haah, twintails...”

I can’t stand to look at this.

Is that right... is this what I look like.

Were guys who like twintails all like this? Would someone who didn’t know me think of me as his accomplice? Was this how other people saw me?

...If nobody approves of me, will I become warped too?

“Shit, it’s because there are things like you that...!”

Clutching my head and trembling, I curled up into a ball.

My memories flickered around me like shadows from a lantern.

The times when I had a passionate talk with someone about twintails.

Or when they might not have known them well, but they knew what they were.

There's not a single one of them who didn't start to look suspicious.

What’s wrong with insisting on the kind of hairstyle you like, I always thought... but was this kind of monster what they were seeing?

I was pretending that I was confident and didn’t care what anyone thought, but maybe I was really feeling guilty about my love of twintails...?

≪Sou-ji! Get a hold of yourself! You’re the one who said you were going to save them, what are you doing!!≫

“...Ah...!!”

At Aika’s words I came back to reality.

≪You were bragging earlier how important twintails were to you, you even grabbed my... you grabbed the front of a girl’s shirt and lifted her up. Now that you became a twintail you’re scared!? Pull yourself together!≫

≪She said ‘the front of her shirt,’ but Souji-sama, you just grabbed her collar in one smooth motion, didn’t you? There were no obstacles to intercept you, were there? Hahaha≫

≪I’m sorry I stopped you before... I can’t look at that monster anymore either, that creep, don’t worry about all the other stuff, just punch him hard!≫

≪...Don’t, squeeze like a washcloth... Please let go of my obstacles!!≫

≪If you can’t do anything now, then that’s the thing that will make you his accomplice! If you feel guilty about your usual self, then when it’s time to act, do it right!≫

≪It hurts, ow ow ow ow ow!!≫

“...Aika...!”

Aika’s precise speech, as if she could see straight through me. A feeling rose in my heart like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I thought I heard a voice rising in pain, but my mind had already become one with the space around it.

And I’m not confused about what I am anymore.

I’m an idiot.

What Aika says is right. After shaking her off and coming into the battle, what am I doing.

I have been given the power to protect what I love and respect and I’m completely losing it because of my own small worries.

Come to think of it, back when I was a kid, when I was fighting Aika and I had that old man training me, he beat that into my head a lot. You have a lot of idle thoughts, you have to empty your heart - that kind of thing.

Let your heart fill the space... let idle thoughts loose.

Let your heart―

“You are tearing off my breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasts!!”

“...Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!”

For the first time in my life my whole mind is concentrated on this fight. But there’s something, some noise that I can’t imagine comes from a creature of this world, that’s pulling me away and making it really hard to focus, so I let a scream out and began to run.

Nothing else than the scream now.

“Hmm!?”

“I’ll pechi-pechi you! Get your face out here!!”

I lifted the Blazer Blade above my head.

“Oooh!”

For the first time my slash was blocked.

But on the left cheek of the monster that hadn’t been touched, a burn like the mark of a sword appeared, running in a single horizontal line.

“You’re... Haah!!”

The monster screamed and a beam of light flashed out of the palm of his hand.

But the beam evaporated as soon as it touched my body without disturbing my twintails a millimeter. I didn’t feel anything either.

“Hmmn!?”

A combat suit that was so thin, except at my hips, and arms and legs and other places covered by the angular armor, that it didn’t hold me back at all - the Tailgear.

You could see its true worth in the light that surrounded me.

“...Photon Absorber... Is that what this is.”

An ≪explanation≫ echoed in my head.

The ultimate defensive film takes the absorbed energy of motion - in other words, impact - and kills it completely by controlling and intercepting it at the molecular level.

This is also the reason why the head, which should be protected as much as possible, is exposed. No attack will hit the Tailgear as long as the whole body is covered in light, and that makes it an invincible weapon.

“Hmph... You’re a terrifying little kid! For the first time in many days my soldier’s spirit is roaring! I am Lizard Guildy, the leader of the Ultima Guil raid squadron! I fight in the belief that a man’s heart should beat even stronger at the sight of a girl who is holding a doll! Tell me your name, at least, if nothing else!!”

“―TailRed!!”

I said it so naturally that I was surprised. It felt as though the suit itself was telling me what to say.

The moment I had broken through, it had started calling to my heart.

An irrepressible power was pulsing in my whole body.

“...I asked for your real name!!”

“It’s fine... If you shout a disturbing belief like that at the top of your lungs then I don’t need someone like you to remember my name!”

“That’s mysterious! You believe more or less the same thing, don’t you?”

“Don’t put me together with you!”

“It’s obvious at a glance! If you weren’t one who loves twintails more than anything else, you wouldn’t be shining like that!”

“You know your stuff, don’t you... Fine, I shine all the brighter because of my love for twintails - go ahead and remember that!!”

“That runs counter to what we want, then, doesn’t it... For us, we love twintails even more when we have our hands on them! Hnnnn... hmph!!”

The countless spines on Lizard Guildy’s back separated and lifted high into the sky.

A thin belt of light seemed to bind the spines and his body together.

And one by one as if they had a mind of their own they came down to attack.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

I started to cut all of them down with the Blazer Blade.

The burning spines one after another started to hiss like bombs, and after they hit they blew away part of the asphalt.

“Hnnnnn...!!”

They came flying even faster. I could dodge them by the width of a hair and they’d still spin around quickly and pursue me like guided missiles.

My eyesight for moving objects was much better because of the Tailgear, but even for my improved vision the complicated orbits were a threat.

“Twoearle! Will everything be okay even when I defeat this guy? What will happen to the twintails!?”

≪The twintails that were stolen...? The Elements... they’re stored in that ring for an hour or so, I believe! So ignore that guy! Defeat him and break the ring and they’ll go back! ...I believe!!≫

“All right!”

I had been a little frightened about the thing Aika called me about... no, incredibly frightened, but I would stick with my first decision to rescue the president’s, and everyone else’s twintails.

“Magnificent! I will not forget this day if I live for ever! My apologies, but I’d like to take a photograph as a souvenir! Rest your head on my shoulder like this, and hold a stuffed...”

“Shut uuuuu-p!”

I shortened the distance with a single bound and with my left hand wreathed in fire, I punched him hard.

His face mushed in and a large amount of blood came out of his nose.

“Agh, aaugh... No, no help for it... I was trying hard to keep from hurting your face or your twintails, but you’re going to have to resign yourself to a certain amount of damage!!”

The muscles under Lizard Guildy’s steel scales bulged out still more.

He must be gathering all of his strength for an attack.

I stood straight in front of him, preparing for the worst.

But isn’t there... It’s going to be dangerous for the girls lying around here if we keep fighting in this flashy way!

At that moment the vivid image of a deep red pillar of fire floated into my mind.

“―Aura Pillar...? This, then!”

It’s like a help file was included and I can search through it by thinking. Very nice of her.

Fire burst out of the tip of the Blazer Blade and swelled to the size of a basketball. With all my strength I swung the sword up and let it fly loose.

“What is this!?”

The ball of fire exploded right in front of Lizard Guildy, and drawing a spiral encircled his body as its track took the shape of a pillar.

“N, m, nor can I move!”

It certainly is a barrier that binds the enemy. So this is the Aura Pillar!

“Uooooooooooh!!”

Keeping my eyes on Lizard Guildy, I began to run.

The sword that I was holding started to change shape, responding to my spirit. The hilt and ornamental piece unfolded, and the lines that ran through the sword like the veins of a leaf began to flash violently.

Fire shot from the blade shining with red heat, stretching it to almost twice its length.

The edge slipped through the barrier that was holding him. And straight down in the direction it was already going, it cut Lizard Guildy in a single sweep from the crown of his head.

Yes, ≪Grand Blazer≫ is definitely a final move... The trails of flame ran into the sky.

“Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A heat wave like a bubble popping. Lizard Guildy screamed in agony. Arcs of electricity were coming off him.

“He, hehahahaha... Magnificent... To perish with a twintail brushing gently against my cheek... How can I have any regrets! This is the end I always dreamed of as a child!!”

“Wait, hey!!”

The Aura Pillar swelled out suddenly to three times its size.

“Farewell――!!”

Lizard Guildy, holding his belief next to his heart to his last moment, detonated in a tremendous explosion which couldn’t be compared to the others, and dispersed on the wind ―

“Don’t vanish with a dying vision like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!”

After there was only silence.

I looked out on the devastated parking lot, although you could hardly tell that’s what it was anymore.

On the other hand, Grand Blazer had scorched the ground a little, but there weren’t many more traces of my fight. The unbelievable flare and impact had done almost no damage to the surroundings.

I saw Aura Pillar as something like a support technique for capturing the enemy, but maybe it’s to keep damage from explosions down to a minimum.

“Hup~”

I cut the drifting huge metal ring in half without any particularly strong feelings.

As if it had completed its task, the sword I was holding turned into flame and dissolved into the air.

The ring broke into tiny pieces and the light inside it became sparks that broke into streams flowing down into the unconscious girls one by one.

As I saw their hairstyles returning properly to twintails, I was hit by a sense of exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if I might fall on my back.

I had been lost in the fight, but was I really able to save these girls... was I really able to save twintails?

There was a small diamond-shaped stone glittering light green on the ground. I picked it up.

<Doll>

The word came into my mind. As I held it the armor piece on my left hand slid open and sucked it in.

“...Huh, this is another power of the Tailgear?”

“―Um.”

“!”

I almost jumped when someone called me from behind.

The president was awake and looking at me in wonder with her twintails fluttering behind her. They were covered in soot but had not lost their nobility.

She was making a token effort to hold the hem of her torn skirt together with her hand.

“I would like to... thank you very much for saving me.”

“Ah, hahaha, for what? I’m just a guy, no girl who happened to be passing through!”

I don’t think anyone could believe that when I’m dressed like this but I have to come up with something.

“No, um, that is... I woke up midway through the fight.”

“What?......”

“Yo, you fought wonderfully! ... You’re still only small, but you’re gallant... and strong ... I was... so moved!”

“―――!!”

This is bad. I thought everyone was unconscious.

The president is also really young-looking, but right now I don’t look like any more than an elementary schooler.

And that child was carrying a sword and fighting with monsters... how can you come up with an explanation for that situation.

“Excuse me... How in the world did you...!”

“A, a, I’m an ally of justice! Now, please get, out of here quickly!”

I’m really feeling how bad I am at ad-lib, as Aika pointed out an hour ago.

“I would like to thank you very much for saving me!! Will we meet again!?”

“You’ll see me again, as long as you love twintails.”

Bowing deeply to me, the president left at a half-run.

Thank goodness, she didn’t investigate too much.

For something on the spur of the moment, that line wasn’t bad. Although I was just trying to get through this.

“Young mistreessss!!”

A limousine cut diagonally across the parking lot at a reckless speed like it was slashing the lot in half and stopped, leaving a huge tire mark. Maids, a lot of maids, jumped out from inside and rushed over to the president.

A few of the girls who had fainted also began to wake up. The maids... probably at the orders of the president, broke the task up and began to care for them. It didn’t seem like there was any place for me anymore.

Afterward were the girls’ parents and families, maybe... adults, now free, also came running one by one.

The president might have seen me when I was screaming in terror... but I had rescued everyone safely, so I’d like her to forget about it.

“Whew...”

I shifted my line of sight to the front.

I can see myself reflected in the side mirror of a car.

“.........”

It’s a little young, but the way I look is certainly exactly what I was dreaming of, my ideal twintails.

I felt heat coming into my cheeks and shook my head desperately.

If I keep looking at myself, happiness and unease will hit me simultaneously.

Sirens started to come into earshot. Of course, the police and ambulances and things would be coming.

As the thread of tension snapped I felt dizzy.

Hugging a wall to avoid people’s eyes, as I went around a corner I saw Aika and Twoearle, who had been waiting for me.

“It’s finally over...”

My last strength drained out and I fell back on the ground.

The transformation was cancelled, and I was wrapped in a cocoon of light and returned to my original shape.

Thank God I didn’t stay like that my whole life...

“Sou-ji!”

Aika ran over to me and caught me in her arms, and out of relief, maybe, I flickered in and out of consciousness.

“It is a pity for you to have your head pressed against the ground. Please come here, my chest has proper cushions.”

“It’s my chest, not the ground!!”

“―For a woman it is only called a chest once it has begun to puff out. That is, the area below your neck is referred to as the ground, Aika-san.”

“Why don’t you kiss the ground, dumbaaaaaaass!!”

Aika caught the back of Twoearle’s head with an eagle grip and shoved her into the sidewalk.

“Nooo, stooooop, it’s my first kiiiiiiiss!!”

I want to fall asleep feeling like I made everything turn out okay, but I still hear screaming. Come on, guys.

As though guided by fate I dived into the maelstrom of war.

And the curtain closed on TailRed’s first battle.

<references/>

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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-03-06T06:58:13Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 1: I am a Twintail ==

After school on the first day of my high school life. A day I should have had fond memories of.

I, Mitsuka Souji, together with my childhood friend Tsube Aika, was having a late lunch at the Cafe Adolescenza. It might seem pretty fashionable for us to be eating lunch at a cafe, but seeing as I live here, it’s like a normal meal for me.

Its main selling point is our special house blend coffee. It has lots of fans, but, being something my mom does on the side, the shop is prone to being closed whenever she feels like it.

The sign over the door read “Closed”. Of course, that meant that it was just the two of us in here.

The intense spicy smell hanging in the air was nothing compared to the weight of sorrow in my chest.

“Why the heck did I put down something like that...”

“There’s no such thing as the Twintail Club,” my childhood friend said, looking at me amazed. The smell of spice swirled around her.

“I was put on the spot... and wrote it down without thinking. I didn't mean to!”

“If you ask me, anyone that would inadvertently write down something like that is bad news. You have Twintails on the brain.”

“Shut up! How many times do you plan to make fun of me for that?!”

“Yeah, yeah, ta-daa―”

She held the two tails on both sides of her head, long enough to reach her hips, and swung them to stir me up.

“......nguh.”

She may be trying her best to make me angry, but to me it feels more like a refreshing greeting.

As always, her twintails were wonderful to behold.

Waist-length twintails framing the head ― they may be the most basic, but their simple purity shows you the elegant conceit of hair that has been worn in twintails every day for years. A great artist's paintings can draw people in even when they aren’t using flashy colours or a surprising subject. It’s like that, I think.

“Still, the teacher didn't have to say it out loud...”

“Well, what did you expect when you wrote something that bizarre?”

“Well, excuse me!”

No matter how long we continue the pointless argument, it will not overturn this fact: there are over a thousand days of my life as a high school student ahead of me, and on the first day, I made the biggest mistake of my life.

The private school that I go to, Yougetsu Academy, can take you straight from elementary school into university. A super-escalator school. I wasn’t going to feel different just because I’d moved up into high school.

That’s what I thought, but... the size of the school building, the gymnasium, everything was so much larger than junior high school that I was overwhelmed.

And the highlight was the orientation in the gymnasium by the leaders of the clubs, after the entrance ceremony had ended. The various sports and culture clubs took turns making their appeals to the new students. The passion they showed moved me deeply.

But.

The image I see when I close my eyes is the girl who took the stage after that. To be exact, her hairstyle. Twintails.

Shindou Erina.

She may have been about as tall as a grade schooler, but her freshman welcoming speech as student council president would rival that of the greatest orators in human history. Her address touched the hearts of everyone who heard it.

“There are no limits to what you can accomplish here. I, together with the high school division of Yougetsu Academy, will guide your brilliant future on the path to its full bloom. I promise you!”

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, yet the tone of her speech contained no hint of condescension. The dignified manner in which she stood was mesmerizing.

(She’s beautiful...)

I stared at her, forgetting to blink.

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, but it was the first time I’d ever heard a woman use ’young lady’ language, and she made it sound so natural that I was shocked.

And above all else – her twintails.

Hair, of course, does not have a peerage. But if it did, then those beautiful twintails would have held a high and noble title. The way the tips of her hair curled softly into circles also showed the excellence of her upbringing.

As she put heat in her words and moved more vehemently, the twintails danced through the air in response to her motion, as if she were a princess under a luxurious chandelier and the twintails were her partner on the dance floor.

I couldn’t get my heart to stop pounding.

It felt like everyone around me was staring at her as though a kitten had gotten up on the stage, but I'm probably imagining things.

The student council president has such amazing twintails. I can only imagine how wonderful the next three years of my life are going to be.

On the way back to my classroom, I paid no attention to my chattering classmates. They were like a candle compared to the brilliant light still burning in my heart. The lingering memory of the orientation wasn’t much more than a fart.

All I could see was that beautiful scene. My head was full of twintails. I had my head in the clouds for the self-introductions once we got back to the classroom, too.

And I don’t even seem to have noticed when they handed out the club questionnaire.

“All right, pass your sheets forward starting at the back, ple~ase.”

“Oh!”

The class rep's slow drawl brought me back down to Earth. The girl whose name I didn’t know (of course, because I hadn’t listened to her introduction) handed me some sheets. In a panic, I scribbled something on the the paper before me.

“Hm hmm... Huh~? Someone forgot to write their name on their survey~”

“Oh... Sorry. I think that’s mine. I was rushing.”

The teacher looked up from the sheets she was going through and tilted her head in doubt, so I said my name.

“Ahh, Mitsuka-kun, was it? ...Twintail club? Did we have a twintail club here? ... Oh~h, you mean you want to set one up.”

"What!? No, I didn't actually want to do that, really! I was-"

I was even more nervous, and I had gone beyond rescue.

“I see~. ... Twintail club? You must really like twintails, Mitsuka.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Obviously.”

― Conditioned reflex.

And here I was hoping that I could start anew, in this place full of fresh faces.

That was the instant that decided my position for three years of high school.

“Alright everyone, that’s all for today’s homeroom. It seems like there have been some deviants in the area lately, so be careful!”

“Why are you saying this now!? Look, teacher, please wait! I am serious! I really, seriously love twintails!! Wait, that’s not what I... argh!!”

And so, the first day of my brilliant high school life ended, with me sabotaging myself in the most pathetic way imaginable.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....”

Just the memory of it is killing me.

When I see a blank I write “twintail” in it. That is a pretty ridiculous conditioned reflex. It’s already part of my physiological makeup ― no, it might be closer to the area of ecology.

“Mguh... mm. Seconds.”

Ignoring me and the full cup of coffee that hadn’t even touched my lips, Aika calmly put her hand on the second plate of curry.

Uh, I don’t have any appetite, so it’s fine, but still, that one’s mine.

“Writing that stuff down isn’t so bad, but that was pretty much the worst follow-up ever made. Why did you have to freak out so badly?”

“If you knew that I was nervous, then you should have come in and backed me up! Aren’t we friends!!”

“Friends... yeah.”

There was something sullen about the look on Aika’s face. What are you mad about? You just stole my lunch.

“You have to use questionnaires and stuff to make a good first impression. It's just an interest check, after all. Yeah, it says to write down clubs you're interested in, or clubs you want to start, and all that, but it's just a formality. What new student would suddenly assert themselves like that?”

“Uh... You mean...”

“You know what that means, don't you? By writing that down, you're telling everyone that, even after seeing all the clubs give their presentations, even after all their recruiting efforts, you still want to set up your own club. You get it, don't you?”

“And then I... wrote something strange like `twintail club’?”

“That’s right.”

“We can look back and analyze it calmly now, but you know, back then my mind was one hundred percent blank!!”

“Well, I could have at least stuck out my chest and said, ’A lot of people don’t even know the word for that hairstyle, so don’t suddenly start talking about it.’”

“That wouldn’t have helped at all, and what were you going to stick out, there’s nothing thbuhhh”

My little resistance was cut off in the middle.
Aika's got a complex about her modest (non-existent) chest, which is why I like to rib her about it. But, as you can see, if you do that, she will punch you in the face with one hand while eating off her plate with the other.

It can’t be helped, the rest of her is perfect.

Especially the twintails, and the twintails.

“Ugh. If only I was better at improvising...”

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that it’s indirectly the fault of the student council president that my future was destroyed, the exact opposite of what she said in her speech. Although, as Aika says, I was basically inviting this result by being such a loser.

Sighing gloomily, I wrapped my arms about my head.

“Besides, that obsession of yours would have been exposed sooner or later. Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

“You’re telling me I’ve come to a crossroads in my life? Then don’t just go on eating two meals worth of curry as if nothing's wrong! And I’m impressed you can eat curry while drinking all that coffee!”

You'd think someone like her, who could finish off two large plates of curry as if it were nothing, would have a bigger chest. Is it because of her hair? Does her body need all the nutrients just to sustain it...?

I felt a strange chill suddenly and glanced around the store.

“...?”

A woman customer was sitting alone. Her position was at an exact right angle to our seats.

Was it my imagination, or were her eyes flickering over here?

(That’s strange. I thought Mom already closed the store.)

But when I look at the cup on her table, it seems like she was sitting there from the start. We just didn’t notice. Probably Mom didn’t take a good look around before she rushed off.

Great. I thought there would be no one else around. Why did I have to run my mouth like that? I’m not surprised she’s looking.

“Hey, Souji... you’re doing it again.”

“Ah!”

Snapping back to my senses, I realized that I was holding on to Aika’s twintails. She breathed out a tired sigh and I hurriedly released my grip.

It’s half your fault for leaving them on the table and letting them slip into my grasp so easily ― but that’s a very selfish thing to say.

Because when they’re as long as Aika’s, if you don’t lay them on a chair or a table, they’d touch the ground the moment you sat down.

“Sorry. I really can’t help it. It’s been like this since we were kids. Touching your twintails just... calms me down.”

I know that already, Aika replied, coolly. She sighed again.

“Seriously. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel ashamed of myself.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“What are you going to do if someone takes this the wrong way? They’ll look at my twintails, and... and us being friendly... and connect the dots...”

Having exhausted her coffee, Aika kept glancing between me and the table, all the while pressing her index fingers together bashfully.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you want to change your hairstyle?”

“N-no way! Why would I change my hairstyle just because someone said something about it? I like my hair this way, thank you very much!”

Exactly. Seeing this steadfast determination of hers made me proud to be her childhood friend.

Despite her attitude, Aika’s the one person who would understand my love for twintails. As she said, we’d often get made fun of because we were always together.

But ― neither of us cared about what anyone else had to say about it.

She’s my childhood friend. My best friend.

Everyone has a friend or two they’d keep for life. Someone they can open their heart to. As for myself, by pure chance - that someone just happened to be a girl.

Part of it was because we were neighbours, but it seems like our families have been on good terms for a long time. That’s why it’s almost as if we were siblings. As if we were from the same family.

Back in grade school, I was never able to beat her in a fight. It was only afterwards that I found out her granddad had been teaching her martial arts.

Suppressing my wounded pride, I eventually started training with her at the dojo. I suppose that was when it all started. Ever since then, we’ve always spent our time together.

For some reason, we’d always end up in the same class. No matter how classes got shuffled, or how many people transferred in, we’d see each other in class every year.

To be honest, it was starting to get really weird.

Aika was always popular. She’s frank, honest, strong, and always so full of life - I mean, why wouldn’t she be?

And here I am, screwing everything up in the first day of school. I hope I don’t cause her too much trouble.

“―!?”

I felt another shiver run down my back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”

I kept my voice low. Aika seemed to have noticed it as well. That customer was still around.

“How... Why didn’t I sense her presence...!?”

Although Aika was whispering, what she was saying was even more grandiose than usual. Do you normally sense people’s presence as you go through your day...?

That woman was still sitting there. Quietly observing us.

Her eyes met mine. She hurriedly spun around, turning to face the wall behind her.

“What the heck...?”

Okay? That was strange, but I’d feel uncomfortable too if some other customer was kicking up a fuss across the room. Guess I’d better restrain myself.

While I started to relax, Aika was having none of it. I could tell she was on high alert.

Twintails have expressions of their own. Anger, sadness, joy, suspicion, and anxiety are just some of the emotions that they can show.

What I’m saying is - twintails are like a second mouth.

“...”

Aika gestured to me silently from the side of the table. That woman was now holding up a newspaper, as if to conceal herself from us.

She had poked a hole through it, and was peeping at us through it.

Are you kidding me?

It was beyond ridiculous. Was she filming some kind of comedy skit?

I became paranoid there might be some kind of hidden camera in the cafe. Please keep me from becoming Boy A in the credits.

“... Let’s try not to make eye contact.”

“Right.”

Aika had also settled on that being the best course of action in this situation.

Our assumed suspect folded the newspaper over, set it on the table, and stood up.

For a moment, I hoped she would leave. Instead she went right past the entrance, heading in our direction.

Stopping right next to me, unphased by our shocked expressions, she looked directly at me with a smile on her face.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Hold it right there!” Aika shouted in a rapid-fire manner, exasperated.

“Yes?”

Aika stood up while scowling at me. I flinched instinctively. Leaning her head back, the woman began to laugh.

“Who are you?!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do mind!”

“I have some business with this gentlemen over here.”

“With me?!”

Like a tour guide giving information, she pointed in my direction with her palm open.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?! Standing there with that calm look on your face in those flashy clothes. I’m gonna jam a straw in your cleavage!”

“Now, now, Aika, calm down. Please,” I said, looking to defuse the situation.

I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She may have been be a bit odd, but seeing her up close, she really was an incredibly beautiful woman - young lady, from the looks of it.

Her Japanese was excellent, but she was definitely a foreigner. She had white hair... no, wait. Make that silver hair.

Like it was dyed, yet it seemed natural. Which made it even more unnatural. Silver hair like hers doesn’t exist. Yet, it was still beautiful.

It seemed to glitter in the dim lighting of the cafe.

Along with her long eyelashes, her eyes were so blue they reminded one of sapphires.

Following my gaze down the bridge of her nose, she smiled brightly with her delicate pink lips.

Like something straight out of a movie, she was a mysterious faerie., It felt like her entire body was surrounded in a faint glow, like the twinkling light of a firefly.

Above all, just barely below visible when you look at her face, the enormous volume of her breasts demanded your attention. What an outrageous fairy.

She looked to be around the same age as Aika, and yet the difference between them was almost depressing. The thin clothes emphasizing her cleavage clashed with her clean-cut features. Over which she wore a white robe. One might even call it a coat. The design was quite fashionable.

Her skirt, which one might even hesitate to call a mini-skirt... traced a line that made one wonder how her panties weren’t visible. Yet, with one look at her long slender legs, any doubts about her ability to coordinate clothes vanished. It was certainly a sight not seen among the masses.

It’s such a shame.

Twintails would undoubtedly suit sparkling silver hair like hers.

There I go again... I’ve barely even met this girl, and yet my brain was already filled with thoughts of twintails.

For a guy going through puberty, undressing such a cute girl in your mind would be a natural instinct, honed over millennia.

Naked? With twintails?

Hmm...

I suppose that still counts?

“Ow.”

Aika jabbed me in the temple with her straw. What the heck are you doing, I asked, in a hushed tone. Aika simply turned her head away with a “Hmph!”.

Watching the two of us bicker, the girl looked like she was smirking while she laughed. Instead of an innocent laugh, I sensed a twinge of evil to her laugh. Maybe I’m wrong. She does seem like a very gentle person.

“Uhm, is there something that ''we'' can help you with?”

I unconsciously drew myself into the back of the chair.

The girl put her hand on top of the bench and leaned in closer to me.

“Yes. I have very important business with ''you''.”

“...Important business?”

Pretending not to hear her clearly wasn’t working.

Re-iterating she only wants to speak with me... was it a language problem? Across the table, Aika’s frown deepened.

“My name is Twoearle.”

“I see... Miss... Twoearle...”

She’s definitely not from this country. Nevertheless, her Japanese was impeccable.

“You sure like twintails.”

“I love them.”

Oops... that’s what I felt inside. And I blurted it out immediately. Saying it out loud to someone I just met – I really didn’t learn anything from what happened earlier today, did I?

“Would you mind not asking why, and put on this bracelet for me?”

“What the heck does this have to do with anything!?”

The girl known as Twoearle suddenly pulled an object out of her coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a very beautiful glittering red bracelet.

Taking advantage of my confusion, she softly took the bracelet and gently prised my fingers apart.

“H-hey now―”

With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the back of my hand. At which point, a strange tingling feeling shot through my body.

“Now, please put it on.”

“He doesn’t need it!”

Leaning over the table, Aika roughly grabbed the bracelet and pushed it back towards Twoearle.

“What is with you?! You just waltz over here and start pushing strange things onto him, how rude!”

“It is not anything suspicious.”

“At this point, it’s a little late to see it as anything but suspicious!”

As usual, she doesn’t hold back even with people we’ve just met.

...Well, I do agree it’s rather suspicious.

“...Uhm, well... hmm... ah!”

Twoearle abruptly clasped my hands and said, “It’s me, Souji-kun. Me.”

“...Eh?”

I was perplexed by her suddenly friendly tone.

“You remember me. Look, it’s me. Twoearle. You see, I’ve got a bit of a problem right now – so, could you please put that bracelet on?”

I think I’m imagining things, but the way she thoughtlessly leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, seemed as though she was begging for me to look at her ample chest.

“Uh, weeell...”

“What kind of idiot would use an ore-ore scam to someone’s face!”

“Eeaagh!”

A whirlwind tore past me as I hesitated. Aika hit Twoearle’s cheek with an open-palm strike of terrifying power, improved by a snap of the wrist.

“Are you insaaane?! Don’t hit people that you just met, seriously!! That was a really sharp sound!”

My shout was already close to a scream.

And it was no wonder. That wasn’t a slap but a little trick that aimed for the cheekbones ― one of the jujitsu techniques of the Mizukage school taught by Aika’s late grandfather. Overturning all theories of martial arts, it was meant to cause as much sharp and serious pain as possible to its target without moving the chest too much. Close to a torture technique.

And it had been carried out brilliantly and flawlessly by a mere high school girl.

It was no wonder that the old man had wanted to make her his successor right up until the moment he died.

“Souji, I’m sure this woman is a crook! Just like those people by the train station who say, I’ll tell your fortune, come into this alleyway! But then they have a bunch of people with mohicans and spikes on their shoulders or something waiting there for you!”

“I don’t know about the first part, but not the second!!”

If there is a villain here she’s in front of me.

Twoearle was bent over with a hand pressed against her cheek. I felt worried and looked over at her.

“A-are you okay? This girl, sometimes she doesn’t know when to hold back.”

She’s so beautiful, and she’s a foreigner. It would really suck if this turned into an international incident.

“Huh?... I was holding back, it shouldn’t be that...”

Aika started to look uneasy, although about at the level of a young kid with a knee scrape that you can fix by rubbing spit on it.

If you were holding back, then what was that noise.

“Oh, y, es... I am... fine...”

“Are you really okay...!?”

The way you’re cupping your cheek and trembling tells me that you’re not! I started to hold out my hand to her, and ―

“!”

Aika desperately caught my wrist.

“Oh.”

...Twoearle had gotten the bracelet into my blind spot and was trying to put it on my hand.

“So you were just acting!”

“Why are you trying this hard? What do you want me to put my hand in that bracelet for...!?”

Getting a little uncomfortable with this after all, I took a step back. And my heart felt like it went back a hundred meters.

“But I am not asking for any money! ...Just put it in! All I want you to do is put it in! Please put it in, if you don’t put it in I don’t know what I will do!! If you want me to, I will put it in for you.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the bracelet, but you could hear it as something else, so stop, please.

“You can’t, Souji, if you put it on, they’ll say you can’t cancel any more or something and take a huge amount of money off you! Those mohawk guys are going to crash through the entrance of the store on armored buggies!!”

Aika’s got a keen sense of danger, but her information seems to be a little bit lopsided. Twoearle put her hands together as if praying and looked straight into my eyes.

“Please. I will do anything you want if you wear the bracelet...”

“Eh?”

My mind was screaming no, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes moved towards Twoearle’s hair.

“Anything... you said?”

“Yes... I will do anything you ask of me. I will be fine with whatever special interests you may have! Especially the kinky stuff... ha... ha...”

For some reason, Twoearle was starting to breathe heavily. Her face was red.

“Don’t say things like that!”

This is bad.

Is this what you call a cultural divide? Are the differences in humanity that difficult to reconcile? Even though we speak the same language, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the same wavelength.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but asking him something like that is useless. The only thing he ever thinks about are twintails. He’d just ask you to tie your hair up or something.”

“R-really!? But, he’s a guy, isn’t he!?”

I’m not surprised that Aika could tell what I was thinking, but Twoearle seemed more than a little shocked.

If you say you’d do anything...

Yeah.

Of course.

Twintails.

Twoearle raised her hands, half-smiling.

“You must be kidding me... It is alright! Think of this as advance payment. I’ll let you squeeze them, right here... hurry... they’re surprisingly soft!”

Her softly wobbling chest seemed to explode in my vision. I didn’t know where to look.

Cupping her hands over her breasts, Twoearle thrust herself at me.

“Get away, you pervert! I’ll crush your spine in self-defense if you come any closer!”

Why are you even explaining to her what you’re going to do in self-defense?

“Calm down, Aika! ... I get it, I get it!”

I have to stop this mess before Aika crosses the line.

“I’ll take it. She said it was free, didn’t she? It’s almost like picking a tissue off the sidewalk. If that’s all it takes to make her happy ... it is free, isn’t it?”

“Of course!!”

Her sudden smile, like a flower blooming, caught me off guard. If only she’d act a little more normal...

“No! Don’t! She’s just trying to scam you! It’s like those spa treatment packages where they say the bath salts are free but it ends up being really expensive! She’s just like one of those door-to-door salesmen!!”

“What are you talking about this time?”

“If he does not wear it, the world will end! Also, it is against the law to bait people by giving out bath salts for free!”

“That’s exactly what I was saying, you free-bath-salt merchant!”

Seriously, what kind of a conversation is this? And what’s up with all the bath salts?

“Anyway, if you do not put this on! All the twintails in this world are going to vanish!!”

“―What!!”

Twoearle’s sudden exclamation was like a punch to my stomach. I stepped up to her.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“Hup.”

In that brief moment, Twoearle grabbed my arm, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Wha―”

Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. However, the spirit-shattering thought of all the twintails in the world disappearing, coupled with that pair of all-encompassing, enveloping, Gaia-class motherly breasts pressing against me ― the assault on my heart and mind left me unable to avoid it.

“Thank goodness. Like this, we will be ready when it finally appears.”

Looking at the clock, Twoearle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her teary eyes towards me.

Oh shit. I don’t think she noticed, but when she’s that close... every inch she moves makes her chest jiggle, pushing their soft, undulating mass against my body... this is bad.

Stay strong, Mitsuka Souji! You mustn’t be defeated by something like this!

She’s a foreigner, okay? This level of intimacy is probably completely normal for her. Don’t imagine anything lewd! You’ll destroy the esteemed image of Japanese men if it ends up showing on your face!

“Take it off! Throw that thing away!!”

While I was lost in thought, Aika grabbed me by my neck, forcefully pulling me away from Twoearle’s embrace.

“Whoa!”

It felt as if I was flying. Can you believe it? She just lifted me up with one hand!

The sudden movement sent the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table flying all around me.

“Come on... h-huh!?”

Aika was pulling on the bracelet with both hands, her face twisted in exertion. Guess it fit better than I thought.

“Argh! I can’t... get it off!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!! What the hell is this thing? It’s like a wedding ring that’s gotten stuck on a finger joint!”

And unlike Twoearle, Aika has no `cushions’, so having her press herself against me was very uncomfortable to say the least.

“A wedding ring!? Aaargh——!”

“Yeaaargh!! Stop! You’ll rip my arm off!”

For some reason, Aika started pulling at it even harder than before. My arm jerked around as if it were a candle flame in the wind.

“This is... strange... Why is it... so tight...!? Look! There isn’t even... a gap on this... thing!”

She’s right. It’s made of metal, and definitely isn’t elastic. How did Twoearle even manage to get it on my arm in the first place!?

I wonder if you can unscrew this thing, I heard my childhood friend say. Stop! Humans don’t work that way!

I almost wanted to cry from the suspicion and despair flooding my mind.

It’s strange asking Twoearle to take it off after I let her put it on me, but I don’t have any choices left.

“Um, excuse me, could you please―”

In a flash.

We were enveloped in a retina-burning, polychromatic stream of light.

As if we were melting into the air, our bodies began fading away along with the light―

And then, we were gone.

<center>◇</center>

“I am very sorry about all this, but I thought it would be faster than an explanation.”

I heard Twoearle say.

“―Huh? Huh!?”

Just as the burst of light faded from my vision, a very different sight greeted my eyes.

Soot. The acrid, stinging smell of smoke filled the air around us.

I looked around in a panic.

Sunlight. Wind. Sidewalk. Asphalt.

It was a feeling unlike any that I’d experienced before. My body struggled to get up to speed.

“Why are we... outside?”

We weren’t dreaming, were we? How did we get outside without even noticing it?

“Answer me! Why are we here!?”

Our surroundings were familiar, yet it took quite some time for me to recognize them. No way. How could we have made it here?

‘Maxim Horizon’, the biggest convention center in town. A giant building, spanning two blocks, with an equally large open-air exhibition space. Events, live concerts, and other activities were often held here.

Somehow, we ended up at the center’s open air parking lot.

Roughly 20 minutes away from where we previously were. By car.

“Earlier than expected... I intended for us to have some prep time, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.”

In contrast to the two of us, Twoearle was completely calm.

“I really should have done this earlier...”

She was holding a small stick, about the size of a pen and talking in a very subdued voice.

Unless I’m mistaken, that pen-like thing was what emitted that strange burst of light.

“W-what did you do to us!?”

“I did not intend to bring you along with us, Aika-san, but unfortunately, you would not leave the effective radius. Sorry about that.”

For a moment, I thought they would end up having a (very one-sided) argument again, but a loud sound derailed my train of thought.

“What is it this time!?”

And then, we finally understood what was causing all the soot and smoke.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars around us were cooking off like popcorn, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“This can’t be happening...”

Earlier, I thought we would end up being on some comedy program. Now... it was as if we were passers-by getting caught up in some Hollywood movie pyrotechnics display.

It just didn’t seem real.

“Souji-sama. Please try your best not to leave my side. They will spot you. I cannot project my recognition jamming field very far.”

“Recognition... jamming?”

Twoearle stopped me from moving closer to one of the flaming cars.

“If you stay beside me, they will not be able to see you. Look at that thing over there.”

Twoearle pointed at something in the distance. In the middle of the parking lot was... something.

Both Aika and I leaned in for a closer look... and we both screamed.

“―― Whaaa!?”

“It can’t be! What is that thing!?”

It’s like someone forcefully jammed an insect’s head onto a man’s body. The figure was fully clad in some kind of armored exoskeleton.

Normally, I would have thought it was some actor in a suit, thanks to where we were, but―

Its weight ― wherever it stood, cracks formed in the asphalt.

Its height ― over two meters tall.

Its eyes ― they never stopped moving, darting left and right.

Its teeth ― they looked as if they could crush a boulder.

Its spines ― as sharp as swords, and too many to count, extending from spine to tail.

Everything about it was as real as it could get.

Every cell, every breath it took, was real.

I really wish it was just a suited actor. I really hoped it was.

But, that thing... the mere sight of it filled me with dread. Pure, unrelenting―

“M―monster!”

The wreckage... the fire... and the smoke. And in the middle of it all, the swaggering figure of that unknown figure... it was almost picturesque.

Almost like a scene from a movie, made real.

“Come out, wherever you are!”

!!

As if flicking a bug, the thing sent a nearby car flying. At the same time, I clearly heard it say that line.

Speaking human language.

Speaking Japanese.

Aika and I were too shocked to say anything. The creature, not noticing our presence, twisted it’s mouth, roaring.

Roaring those words of doom that would strike the hearts of its listeners with despair-

“Fuhahahahahaha!! All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!!”

“Uuugh~~~~!!”

At the hoarse, resonant voice and the warped thing it was saying I came close to choking up blood.

We were pretty far from it here, but it felt like its voice was ringing right in my ear.

“...Hey, Souji, what are you doing wearing a theme park costume.”

“That’s not me!”

A large number of pure-black creatures manifested themselves around the monster.

The identical mindless drones were massed in a group, ready for battle. Their strange forms were uniformly solid black. It was an incredibly eerie sight.

The combat drones skittered away, dispersing rapidly in all directions, capturing a number of random girls.

“Twin... tails...”

But my heart was not beating fast because the girls had twintails. It was because of the monster’s orders.

“What are they holding... Hey, it’s twintail girls!”

“What are they planning to do?”

Unlike Aika and I, who fretted in hushed voices, Twoearle silently tracked their movements.

“Even so, this world is regrettably lacking in twintails! Draped in nothing but steel and electricity ― it’s like they never left the Stone Age!”

It was clearly speaking Japanese, but something was off. Something... no, everything.

“Oh well, that just means we have to find twintails of the finest quality!”

With a wild tone of voice, the monster walked with its shoulders held high.

“Don’t forget the orders from our commander, you vermin! Top quality twintails have been detected in this area, so leave no stone unturned! … There might even be a young girl crying while holding her stuffed bunny rabbit!”

“... Moke? Moke- “

“Hold your tongues! Gathering all of the twintails is our ultimate goal… however! Beyond being a soldier, I’m also a man… and so I’d also like to see a young girl holding a stuffed animal! Find me one and there will be a reward waiting for you!!”

It wasn’t my imagination.

No, it was speaking fluent Japanese,　but for some reason nothing it was saying made any sense.

“We have no need for adults! Drag them out here quickly! I don’t mind if you’re a little rough!”

The black creatures were moving efficiently to carry out its orders.

“Moke-”

“What? There are no young girls carrying stuffed animals!? Hmm, if girls don’t have stuffed animals, then a man can provide!! I don’t care, bring them here!”

...Although, can you really call these orders? He’s shouting so crazily that I think if he had something hard in his hand he would throw it.

“Heeeelp!”

A crying young girl was brought in front of the monster.

The way she looked, with her twintails disheveled under the eyes of the grotesque, hulking figure, made me think of a shrine maiden taken for human sacrifice, the victim of a crime against nature.

I tried to jump out, but Aika grabbed my arm and stopped me.

My hazy brain began to catch up with what was going on. I got the situation clear in my head, at least.

“They’re only taking girls with twintails, what are they planning to do?”

The monster and his troops weren’t hurting them. Rather, they were giving them dolls to calm them down.

So we can stay here and watch for now, but...

“Hey, Twoearle, you took us here because you knew this was happening, didn’t you? What is that monster...”

Halfway through the sentence, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

In my line of sight was something I should never have seen.

Well, this isn’t the place for sarcasm. But the radiant sight that had burned itself into my heart earlier today had not been a dream or an illusion. I knew that now.

“The... president...”

No mistake. That was it, the source of my suffering from the first day of high school life, the diabolical hairstyle that had charmed me in both the good and bad sense of the word.

Two of the solid black combat drones were dragging along Shindou Erina, president of the student council, in her school uniform, one on each arm.

“It’s, it’s her! Hey! Isn’t that the president?”

It looks like Aika has noticed too.

In the gym there were maids standing by her silently to attend on her, but I couldn’t see anyone like that now.

The president was holding something tight in her arms as if it were important. It was hard to see, of course, but the thing sticking halfway out of her shopping bag looked like a toy from a kids’ tokusatsu series.

“Release me!”

Determined resistance.

The monster ran his eyes over her as if he were deciding on her price.

“Ho-hooo, a nice little child! Not only that, but she looks like she’s a princess! A twintail princess... no, indeed, this is nearly perfect! Yours could be the ultimate twintails!!”

“Ultimate...!? No, tell me who you are! You speak human language, don’t you!? Set the other girls free!!”

“I do. As you can see, we can communicate well with each other. And so, I tell you that I cannot release them.”

“Then what are your intentions!”

“You’ll understand soon! First, while I have the opportunity...”

The monster handed a large stuffed animal to the president with an overfamiliar gentleness.

“I want you to hold this kitten stuffie! There is sweetness even in your hostility. A kitten stuffie suits a naughty young girl well!! Hug it!!”

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_049.jpg|thumb|''"You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa!"'']]

The jet-black figures came up carrying a three-meter-wide pink sofa which it was hard to believe existed, maybe part of their supplies.

They forced the president, now holding the stuffed animal, to sit on it.

“You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa! This is the golden ratio that my long years of discipline have led me to!!”

“““Mokkekeke―!!”””

The monster was acting like it had at last succeeded in turning gold into a base metal, and on top of that the shrill voices seemed to be cheering it for what it had done. I felt light-headed.

“...We understand that they are aiming for girls with twintails, anyway... Tell me, Twoearle, what can I do? You brought me here because there’s something I can do, right?”

“I will leave the details for later. Right now, we will act.”

My legs were trembling a little despite my brave act, but Twoearle ignored that. She was so calm that she seemed reliable.

“Souji-sama... First, please take off the clothes I am wearing. No, more like rip them off, please. ...Oh, yes. Push both of my arms above my head like this and hold them there... Like this, Souji-sama, with one hand. Then with your other hand, pull off my bra...”

“What is wroooooooooong with you!!”

Twoearle had been making gestures to go with what she was saying.

“Aika, too loud!”

I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth, but―

“Ohh, I sense the presence of a new twintail... Where? Where are you hiding!!”

(What is a presence supposed to be!)

I left that comeback inside my heart, and looked at the twintails beside me. Certainly, they do draw the eye, but...

“Aaah, I’m a twintail too―!”

“Wheeeare are yoooou!!”

We were sixty or seventy meters away from the center of the huge open-air parking lot, but the thick, harsh voice sounded as though it were coming from right next to us. Still, even though we weren’t under any kind of cover, he can’t see us. What is this?

He’s looking straight at us, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I felt deja vu.

Aika’s words in the store went through my mind.

― “How... Why didn’t I sense her presence?”

Recognition... jamming... that’s what she said earlier.

“...Oh, ohh... Even though I was taking the serious route that I’m not used to and holding it in... This situation I was longing for... The script I polished over and over again... I can’t believe my plan was crushed the moment it started...”

Twoearle’s glare at Aika was a mixture of resentment and disappointment. Apparently something hadn’t gone well for her.

“There’s some way we can help those girls, right!? Come on, tell me!!”

Impatient, I grabbed her shoulders hard.

“Aan...”

For some reason a seductive voice.

“Oh, we can do a course correction! Well, Souji-sama, let us go ahead with the script just like before! Shove me against the wall like this, and we’re up to the place where you rip all my clothes off at once! Take them with one cut!!”

“Why don’t I shove you against the wall? As hard as I can!?”

Under Aika’s glare, Twoearle reluctantly said, “I, I understand. It is true we do not have much time, so I will skip a little! And they can sense her Twintail Element even through recognition jamming, so even in the first battle I do not think we can take them lightly.”

Did you say “the first battle?”... but I didn’t have time to wonder, because what she said next was even more outrageous.

“Souji-sama, use the bracelet I gave you and transform!”

“Transform!?”

“This is what she was going for! All that stuff earlier was for this!”

Twoearle ignored Aika and continued.

“That device creates a battle suit that will reinforce your physical power. You should become at least a match for that monster when you transform.”

“Are you serious!?”

Just as if it were a kids’ superhero show or something like that.

...But I was willing to grasp at any straw right then, and my heart soaked it up without resistance as if it were a voice from heaven.

She could have said any crazy thing to me and I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it was a joke or a trick after the unreal experience of being put through the teleporter.

At least there’s no harm in trying.

“Wa, wait a minute, I don’t know about transforming, but why do you need Souji to do something that dangerous!!”

“You idiot! The enemy’s target is twintails!! How can we overlook that!!”

“...Wait, umm, that’s the most surreal thing about this, or rather, that goal is too stupid... Or Souji, can’t you at least say that it’s because they are kidnapping girls...?”

“No, that is how it should be. It is because you love twintails that you can use the bracelet. There is no need to act like you care about justice.”

“No, I mean, I did want to rescue the girls, I was thinking that...”

An enemy who’s aiming at twintails, and supposedly I can fight against them because I love twintails? What is this?

Really more and more this seems like a joke.

The earth shook so much that I seemed to float for a second, and then came an ear-splitting roar.

“Souji, the people they caught!”

A terrifying scene was unfolding where Aika pointed.

A tragic scene as though I were looking into hell.

In the very center of the parking lot ― the parked cars had been torn out by the roots and scattered and the girls they had caught were lined up single file.

An improvised ceremonial site.

I don’t know if the girl at the front of the line had fainted, but she didn’t seem to be moving as her body floated into the air.

Like a lion jumping through a flaming hoop, the girls in the line moved through a metallic ring with light stretched across it in iridescent colours like a soap bubble. The moment the first girl passed through, her hair came gently untied, and she drifted back down tracing an arc across the sky.

One by one, the instant they could put the next one through, the girls went through the ring as lifeless as parts on a belt conveyor.

In less time than it took to blink, it was President Shindou’s turn... and even the beautiful twintails that had fascinated me dissolved into the air.

“All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!”

That had sounded like a joke, but I was seeing it for real now.

“― Those bastards.”

I felt something deep snap in my heart for the first time in my life.

“Souji-sama, please compose yourself. It is still all right, they can still be saved.”

“Tell me...! How can I save the twintails? How can I destroy those guys?!!”

“You’re kind of exaggerating... You know, they don’t seem to be hurt at all aside from losing their twintails?”

“Exaggerating, you say......!?”

I grabbed Aika by the front of her shirt and lifted her up with violent emotion overflowing in my heart.

“Aah...”

“Is that all that twintails mean to you? If someone takes them, then that’s fine, you don’t really care? Were they such a little thing to you?!!”

“Ca, calm down, Souji. They’ll notice us again...!”

“...S, sorry.”

When I heard Aika’s out-of-character thin voice without any force in it, my head cooled off a little, and I let go of her.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you too, Twoearle. But tell me how to use this thing. Quickly.”

“...Are you serious!? No, Souji, you shouldn’t! Especially after earlier! I don’t think you can trust her at all!”

Aika’s voice had tension in it like she was trying to talk a friend out of murder.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid or if it’s dangerous. I can’t forgive those monsters for playing games with twintails!”

Twoearle had been at least half messing around with me, but I think that that part of my feelings got through to her.

She nodded with an earnest expression, and explained, raising her own right arm to her chest.

“Please wish in your heart, ‘I want to transform.’ Wish hard. If you do that, the bracelet should activate.”

“That’s all I have to do? I don’t think about anything specific?”

Twoearle nodded forcefully.

“Okay. Sounds like something even I can do.”

“Souji!!”

I gathered my resolve and raised the bracelet to my chest, making a fist with my right hand.

Closing my eyes, like she had told me, I wished hard, hard.

I want to transform... I want to save the president, those girls. To take back the twintails. To become someone who can defeat those bastards.

It wasn’t righteous anger. Is there a guy anywhere who can just keep quiet after he sees something he loves trampled into the dust!!

The next instant―

The “transformation” really happened, just like that.

<center>◇</center>

Light began to shine from the bracelet on Souji’s right arm.

An intense light as though soundless fireworks were exploding before his eyes.

“Aahh!”

Aika covered her eyes with her arm at the unexpected brilliance.

Bands of red light looped around Souji’s body, forming a cocoon. As specks of light flooded out, they tightened around him.

An even brighter sudden flash.

They began to change the barely visible silhouette.

Shoulders, chest, hips, legs - from the top in order light burst like an explosion, and Souji was covered from the neck down in a red suit. But this all happened in a hundredth of a second ― the work of an instant, faster than the eye could see.

Spraying out like steam, lines of red light.

And although it was strange, Souji was surrounded by a radiance that didn’t come from reflected light, just like Twoearle’s silver hair.

“Awesome... I really did transform...”

Souji put all the strength into the fists, testing how it felt.

As far as he could see, the suit covered the body without a gap, from the tips of the feet when he looked down to the fingertips he was opening and closing over and over again. But he seems to have noticed before long that there was no pressure on his head.

“Huh? My face... It isn’t hidden!?”

Touching the cheeks, Souji was disturbed to find that they weren’t covered.

“The suit itself is not that important to the defense system. Also, it is using Imagine Chaff as a countermeasure, so even though your face is uncovered, other people will not realize that it is you, Souji-sama.”

“Imagine... What’s that?”

“It is something so you do not have to worry about people finding out your real identity! Please fight with peace of mind!”

“I, is that so? Okay! Let me try this...!!” I don’t really understand the practical side very well, and there are a lot of things I’m still worried about, but there’s no time left.

Souji put his faith in Twoearle’s words and started to run toward the battlefield, his hair gallantly ''fluttering behind him''.

“Nh, uh...”

Souji had already vanished by the time Aika opened her eyes.

“That idiot! Why did he agree to all of this so easily?!”

Aika knitted her eyebrows and looked around.

“Hey, you, uh... hey, Twoearle.”

“Yes?”

“There weren’t any other girls around here just now...?”

<center>◇</center>

“Li... light, what is this, I can’t run so easil... whoaaa―!!”

As if someone had put the decimal point in the wrong place, the power in my legs was so great that I kept almost falling on my face when I sprinted.

I was reminded of the time when I was bored and tried setting the running machine to maximum speed.

≪Please focus your awareness! Souji-sama, that suit, the Tailgear, is created with the power of your mind. You must drive it with your will!≫

Some kind of communications device? I heard Twoearle’s voice as if she were whispering into my ear, although I don’t think anything was mounted on it.

“The force of my mind... My will...!!”

This time, I tried to wrap my awareness around my legs.

Up until then it felt like I was clinging to a car moving at top speed, but I suddenly started to feel my feet landing on the ground through the suit.

It wasn’t like driving a car, it was a sense of complete unity like I had become the car.

I had already reached the parking lot and gone more than halfway across it, kicking the rubble out of the way as I was running without trying to avoid it. I could see the girls lying unconscious on the asphalt now.

I know they regretted having their twintails stolen.

I’ll absolutely get them back for you...!!

“Hmmm, magnificent Twintail Elements... But at this rate, I’m not sure if we can obtain the greatest power under this star, the one the Commander was praising as the ultimate...”

It seems like my hearing has improved, too. I can hear the monster muttering something cryptic to President Shindou, lying at his feet.

My anger hit its peak when I saw the president with her twintails cruelly untied.

“Stoooop――!!”

“Mu!?”

I planted my feet on the ground, braking at high speed. As I did, something like stoppers came down from somewhere near my ankles and jammed into the asphalt, scraping it and blowing off sparks and dust.

(...What ridiculous strength. That girl created this...!?)

A sense of awe filled my body at the unknown power, taking my mind off my anger. And then I started to be afraid. I was surprised again by the kind of power the girl called Twoearle had in her hands.

How had she created something with this kind of terrifying strength? Just as I was told, just as I had wished, I had accepted it, but had that been the right thing to do?

No, I don’t have time to think about that now. I have to concentrate on saving the twintails... saving the people before me.

“You understand human language, right, monster? Give these people back the twintails that you... took.”

“Tha... You are...”

“...Did you not hear me...? You stole their twintails. Give them back, goddamn you!!”

My anger itself hit him together with my scream.

It sounds strange when I say it, but I understood that the strange ring could take people’s twintails away from them. And so it should also be possible for it to give them back.

Who would subject someone to this kind of danger just because they have twintails? The word “irrational” is not good enough for them, it’s absurd, it’s monstrous.

“Steal the twintails.” If what they said, if their objective were known to the public, then tomorrow there might not be anyone wearing twintails anymore. Because it would be stupid to take the risk.

I can’t... I can’t forgive that...!!

“Whoa... whooaaaaaaaaaaa――!?”

When I scowled at him, the monster soared high into the sky as if he had been caught in a sudden gust of wind.

“Gahaaa!!”

The ground hit him face-first.

“H, hey.”

“Nnn, nngh... Was I blown away by such a strong ''young innocent''... Those are... spectacular twintails!!”

“...Huh?”

“The Commander’s prediction was right when he chose this spot! Even if I leave out the girls before. It was you...! You’ve finally come! We didn’t miss our mark, those are the ultimate twintails!”

The monster was staggering to his feet in exultation.

“The ultimate... twintails...?”

Something is strange.

What the monster was saying gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time I myself began to feel obscure doubt.

My field of vision, my viewpoint was oddly low.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the hands I was holding up also seemed smaller than usual.

“......”

Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

A premonition of evil stronger than I’d ever tasted in my life sent a chill through my whole body.

“Could...”

Like a rusty gear grinding, I turned my head over to the side.

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_063.jpg|thumb|top|alt="Souji looking in a car windshield."|''There was a girl with lovely twintails there.'']]

One of the car windshields was still in its original shape. I saw the reflection and was speechless.

What would you call this.

― There was a girl with lovely twintails there.

“――― Oh.”

Even now a “twinta~ils” sound effect rang like a chime in my head. Beautiful, spectacular twintails hanging down past the knee.

And ribbon-shaped pieces that moved up and down together with her breathing, so smoothly that they seemed to be swaying.

Her wide eyes opened even farther.

The word “armor” was a little off the mark for what she was wearing, a strange protective suit that didn’t look like it had any weight at all, showy in its use of fashion with red and white as its key colours.

In places, on top of the body suit that stuck closely to her bare skin, angular mechanical-looking armaments had been attached. They were the source of a mysterious glow.

“Ohh.”

And, and and. There were giant attachments on either side of her hips, but the crotch area of the suit had been designed like a bikini, and half of her thighs were exposed.

I wasn’t sure if I believed this. But I tried touching my chest and groin. My chest was just as flat as it looked from outside, but my constant companion for half my life, the prince between my legs, my important partner, was cleanly and completely missing.

“O, oh...”

Now that I understood, I became more conscious of it. My unnaturally high voice.

Yes, the reflection in the glass was ―

I, who had become a twintail.

“It turned me into a girl―――――――――――――!!?”

A childish scream was absorbed by the sky.

<center>◇</center>

“Wh...!!”

Aika, watching, was also lost for words.

“...What is that.”

“That is our single strongest weapon against those monsters, the Daydream Armor, Tailgear! Aah, you are wonderful, Souji-sama! Ehehehehe big success.”

Twoearle, with a ribbon of drool that was hanging down to the choker around her neck, stared at the panicking Souji with a look of ecstasy on her face.

“...It’s too wonderful, I’m starting to cry!!”

Aika visited Twoearle with the palm of her hand, using even less restraint. It wasn’t a pinpoint strike to her cheek or somewhere this time but an impact to the whole top of her skull.

“Is, is this already a girls’ catfight scene... or actually it is more like being mauled by a tiger...”

“Depending on your answer it really will be like that. What happened, why is Souji a wwwwwoman!! That’s not just girls’ clothing, is it? He’s even way shorter now!!”

“...Aika-san. In order to obtain great power, you have to pay a corresponding price. It makes a person stronger to face the truth ― little girls are cute, little girls!”

“Is this your fucking rotten hobby―!!”

The sound of a merciless blow.

“That’s not transforming, that’s warped!”

Of course, she didn’t mean “warped” in the sense of metamorphosis.

“Fight fire with fire, they say. When the enemy is ‘hentai,’ a fighter cannot oppose them without becoming HENTAI to a certain degree themselves.”

“So the enemy is yooooooooooooooooooou!!”

Thud, thud, thud...

The head of the beautiful girl whose default was complete corruption ― Twoearle’s imagination soared left and right in thrilling leaps.

<center>◇</center>

Is this my punishment?

I’ve been saying twintails, twintails from childhood until now, did God finally get fed up with me and say, you’re a pain in the ass, shut up, become a twintail already, and give me a shove in the back?

You shoved too hard, God. This isn’t like I can stagger and keep moving forward, this is like a complete orbit of the Earth.

This is like even my cool entrance scene earlier looped once around the Earth and crashed into the back of my head.

“A, a, a, ah.”

I was confused and unable to deal with reality, and the monster and the black things had completely surrounded me.

“Hmm, so you’ve decided you want to be ours? You have my gratitude! Show her along, and be polite!”

At my lack of resistance, the monster suddenly switched to kindness.

“Moke―”

The black thing... the soldier in front broke out into a run toward me.

“Ge... get awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!”

As I was waving my arms in front of me like a kid throwing a tantrum, I lightly hit the black thing, and it flew into the air with a clear ‘thunk’ sound like a plastic bottle rocket and crashed into a wall on the rooftop level of a distant building.

Its body began to glow. Before long, it exploded softly into dust and disappeared into the sky.

The monster let out a little noise of interest.

“Hnnn... One Ultiroid in one blow! You’re not just beautiful twintails... What is that fierce power!? Who are you, child!!”

The enemy’s words were getting bit by bit more old-fashioned, and now, as if we were actors in a period drama, he was handing me my promised “cue.”

Although judging from his expression he was serious.

≪Souji-sama! This is a great chance for a cool intro speech!≫

Intro speech?

“...What am I supposed to be?”

If you have something you want to say, then say it, God --

≪Aaah~, that is right, you did not decide what you were going to call yourself after you transformed, did you...!?≫

“No, I’m not worried about my name, I’m having doubts about my identity!”

Communicate, help me out, Aika... If I can’t hear your comebacks, how am I supposed to do this?

Not who I am, I’m not even sure what I am.

“Waoo~h, I’m not sure what’s going on but this downhearted little girl ― I can’t stand it!! One of you, get me a doll she can hug!”

“Mokee―.”

The encirclement slowly tightened around me.

I could feel piercing stares even from the soldiers though I didn’t know where their eyes were.

Like they were giving off desire as an aura.

The target of those innumerable desires ― I didn’t try to hold in the chill climbing up my spine.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

≪Souji-sama, touch the ribbon piece and picture a weapon in your heart. It should create a weapon made just for you!!≫

“Rib, bo, n.”

With bloodshot eyes, I hit one of the two metal ribbon pieces, the only armor on my head.

“Turn me, turn me back into a man......! Agagagagagagaga”

≪The ribbon does not grant wishes!?≫

What is this... I’m not in a fairytale with a moral, there’s no way this punishment can happen, no way I turned into a twintail!!

I hit the ribbon over and over.

Whether my bitter wish got through or not, it lit up and a burst of flame shot out. Forming a spiral in the air, it gathered in my right hand and began to take the shape of a sword like vapor condensing.

The red blade lengthened, wrapping itself around a black core.

A word appeared in my mind like it was being punched into a typewriter.

≪Blazer Blade≫

Fire burst out from my right hand. The magnificent double-edged sword was finished, glowing with red heat.

You couldn’t call it a longsword, but in my hands it looked like a longer than average blade.

Amazi~ng, coo~ol... by the way turn me back.

“Moke――”

One of the soldiers came down out of the air with a pose like a jumping frog.

My voice was frozen, so I swung the sword. The enemy took a diagonal slash to the chest, and with a small explosion evaporated into dust.

“Mokeh”

“Mokee~~~~~~”

“Aagh! These...!!”

I was attacked without a moment of pause and made a sudden horizontal sweep. The soldiers, cut in half, vanished one after another.

With no hesitation - with even less hesitation than before, attacks began to come all at once from the earth and sky.

“De... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

I slashed at them, the spinning sword wrapped in fire that traveled with the sword’s pressure, spreading out like a burst from a flamethrower.

The figures all in black attacked four ways, eight ways, and evaporated without even having time to scream.

“Hah... hah...”

The reptile monster, alone now, was trembling all over.

“I’m nailed to this spot, I can’t move... The sword like lightning and the twintails dancing in the sky... I was sure that I was lost in heaven!!”

“You really are lost! Stop, that’s creepy!!”

The monster was overcome with emotion. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

I’m the one who wants to cry.

“Haaah, haah, twintails...”

“Wha...!?”

Desire was swirling around the monster like a vortex. He stuck out his hands and came at me like a zombie.

He was different from the one-kick soldiers before. In many ways.

“Those twintails... Could you pinch them between your thumb and index finger and give my cheeks a few slaps, pechi pechi...!!”

Wide eyes, the blood pulsing in them. Rough, thick breaths. And with the tip of his lips stained with drool, the monster came at me.

A dread second to none rushing through me and a weak scream I’d never heard from myself even once before.

“Kyaa―!!”

I fell on my butt, letting the sword drop.

“Haah, haah, twintails...”

I can’t stand to look at this.

Is that right... is this what I look like.

Were guys who like twintails all like this? Would someone who didn’t know me think of me as his accomplice? Was this how other people saw me?

...If nobody approves of me, will I become warped too?

“Shit, it’s because there are things like you that...!”

Clutching my head and trembling, I curled up into a ball.

My memories flickered around me like shadows from a lantern.

The times when I had a passionate talk with someone about twintails.

Or when they might not have known them well, but they knew what they were.

There's not a single one of them who didn't start to look suspicious.

What’s wrong with insisting on the kind of hairstyle you like, I always thought... but was this kind of monster what they were seeing?

I was pretending that I was confident and didn’t care what anyone thought, but maybe I was really feeling guilty about my love of twintails...?

≪Sou-ji! Get a hold of yourself! You’re the one who said you were going to save them, what are you doing!!≫

“...Ah...!!”

At Aika’s words I came back to reality.

≪You were bragging earlier how important twintails were to you, you even grabbed my... you grabbed the front of a girl’s shirt and lifted her up. Now that you became a twintail you’re scared!? Pull yourself together!≫

≪She said ‘the front of her shirt,’ but Souji-sama, you just grabbed her collar in one smooth motion, didn’t you? There were no obstacles to intercept you, were there? Hahaha≫

≪I’m sorry I stopped you before... I can’t look at that monster anymore either, that creep, don’t worry about all the other stuff, just punch him hard!≫

≪...Don’t, squeeze like a washcloth... Please let go of my obstacles!!≫

≪If you can’t do anything now, then that’s the thing that will make you his accomplice! If you feel guilty about your usual self, then when it’s time to act, do it right!≫

≪It hurts, ow ow ow ow ow!!≫

“...Aika...!”

Aika’s precise speech, as if she could see straight through me. A feeling rose in my heart like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I thought I heard a voice rising in pain, but my mind had already become one with the space around it.

And I’m not confused about what I am anymore.

I’m an idiot.

What Aika says is right. After shaking her off and coming into the battle, what am I doing.

I have been given the power to protect what I love and respect and I’m completely losing it because of my own small worries.

Come to think of it, back when I was a kid, when I was fighting Aika and I had that old man training me, he beat that into my head a lot. You have a lot of idle thoughts, you have to empty your heart - that kind of thing.

Let your heart fill the space... let idle thoughts loose.

Let your heart―

“You are tearing off my breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasts!!”

“...Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!”

For the first time in my life my whole mind is concentrated on this fight. But there’s something, some noise that I can’t imagine comes from a creature of this world, that’s pulling me away and making it really hard to focus, so I let a scream out and began to run.

Nothing else than the scream now.

“Hmm!?”

“I’ll pechi-pechi you! Get your face out here!!”

I lifted the Blazer Blade above my head.

“Oooh!”

For the first time my slash was blocked.

But on the left cheek of the monster that hadn’t been touched, a burn like the mark of a sword appeared, running in a single horizontal line.

“You’re... Haah!!”

The monster screamed and a beam of light flashed out of the palm of his hand.

But the beam evaporated as soon as it touched my body without disturbing my twintails a millimeter. I didn’t feel anything either.

“Hmmn!?”

A combat suit that was so thin, except at my hips, and arms and legs and other places covered by the angular armor, that it didn’t hold me back at all - the Tailgear.

You could see its true worth in the light that surrounded me.

“...Photon Absorber... Is that what this is.”

An ≪explanation≫ echoed in my head.

The ultimate defensive film takes the absorbed energy of motion - in other words, impact - and kills it completely by controlling and intercepting it at the molecular level.

This is also the reason why the head, which should be protected as much as possible, is exposed. No attack will hit the Tailgear as long as the whole body is covered in light, and that makes it an invincible weapon.

“Hmph... You’re a terrifying little kid! For the first time in many days my soldier’s spirit is roaring! I am Lizard Guildy, the leader of the Ultima Guil raid squadron! I fight in the belief that a man’s heart should beat even stronger at the sight of a girl who is holding a doll! Tell me your name, at least, if nothing else!!”

“―TailRed!!”

I said it so naturally that I was surprised. It felt as though the suit itself was telling me what to say.

The moment I had broken through, it had started calling to my heart.

An irrepressible power was pulsing in my whole body.

“...I asked for your real name!!”

“It’s fine... If you shout a disturbing belief like that at the top of your lungs then I don’t need someone like you to remember my name!”

“That’s mysterious! You believe more or less the same thing, don’t you?”

“Don’t put me together with you!”

“It’s obvious at a glance! If you weren’t one who loves twintails more than anything else, you wouldn’t be shining like that!”

“You know your stuff, don’t you... Fine, I shine all the brighter because of my love for twintails - go ahead and remember that!!”

“That runs counter to what we want, then, doesn’t it... For us, we love twintails even more when we have our hands on them! Hnnnn... hmph!!”

The countless spines on Lizard Guildy’s back separated and lifted high into the sky.

A thin belt of light seemed to bind the spines and his body together.

And one by one as if they had a mind of their own they came down to attack.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

I started to cut all of them down with the Blazer Blade.

The burning spines one after another started to hiss like bombs, and after they hit they blew away part of the asphalt.

“Hnnnnn...!!”

They came flying even faster. I could dodge them by the width of a hair and they’d still spin around quickly and pursue me like guided missiles.

My eyesight for moving objects was much better because of the Tailgear, but even for my improved vision the complicated orbits were a threat.

“Twoearle! Will everything be okay even when I defeat this guy? What will happen to the twintails!?”

≪The twintails that were stolen...? The Elements... they’re stored in that ring for an hour or so, I believe! So ignore that guy! Defeat him and break the ring and they’ll go back! ...I believe!!≫

“All right!”

I had been a little frightened about the thing Aika called me about... no, incredibly frightened, but I would stick with my first decision to rescue the president’s, and everyone else’s twintails.

“Magnificent! I will not forget this day if I live for ever! My apologies, but I’d like to take a photograph as a souvenir! Rest your head on my shoulder like this, and hold a stuffed...”

“Shut uuuuu-p!”

I shortened the distance with a single bound and with my left hand wreathed in fire, I punched him hard.

His face mushed in and a large amount of blood came out of his nose.

“Agh, aaugh... No, no help for it... I was trying hard to keep from hurting your face or your twintails, but you’re going to have to resign yourself to a certain amount of damage!!”

The muscles under Lizard Guildy’s steel scales bulged out still more.

He must be gathering all of his strength for an attack.

I stood straight in front of him, preparing for the worst.

But isn’t there... It’s going to be dangerous for the girls lying around here if we keep fighting in this flashy way!

At that moment the vivid image of a deep red pillar of fire floated into my mind.

“―Aura Pillar...? This, then!”

It’s like a help file was included and I can search through it by thinking. Very nice of her.

Fire burst out of the tip of the Blazer Blade and swelled to the size of a basketball. With all my strength I swung the sword up and let it fly loose.

“What is this!?”

The ball of fire exploded right in front of Lizard Guildy, and drawing a spiral encircled his body as its track took the shape of a pillar.

“N, m, nor can I move!”

It certainly is a barrier that binds the enemy. So this is the Aura Pillar!

“Uooooooooooh!!”

Keeping my eyes on Lizard Guildy, I began to run.

The sword that I was holding started to change shape, responding to my spirit. The hilt and ornamental piece unfolded, and the lines that ran through the sword like the veins of a leaf began to flash violently.

Fire shot from the blade shining with red heat, stretching it to almost twice its length.

The edge slipped through the barrier that was holding him. And straight down in the direction it was already going, it cut Lizard Guildy in a single sweep from the crown of his head.

Yes, ≪Grand Blazer≫ is definitely a final move... The trails of flame ran into the sky.

“Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A heat wave like a bubble popping. Lizard Guildy screamed in agony. Arcs of electricity were coming off him.

“He, hehahahaha... Magnificent... To perish with a twintail brushing gently against my cheek... How can I have any regrets! This is the end I always dreamed of as a child!!”

“Wait, hey!!”

The Aura Pillar swelled out suddenly to three times its size.

“Farewell――!!”

Lizard Guildy, holding his belief next to his heart to his last moment, detonated in a tremendous explosion which couldn’t be compared to the others, and dispersed on the wind ―

“Don’t vanish with a dying vision like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!”

After there was only silence.

I looked out on the devastated parking lot, although you could hardly tell that’s what it was anymore.

On the other hand, Grand Blazer had scorched the ground a little, but there weren’t many more traces of my fight. The unbelievable flare and impact had done almost no damage to the surroundings.

I saw Aura Pillar as something like a support technique for capturing the enemy, but maybe it’s to keep damage from explosions down to a minimum.

“Hup~”

I cut the drifting huge metal ring in half without any particularly strong feelings.

As if it had completed its task, the sword I was holding turned into flame and dissolved into the air.

The ring broke into tiny pieces and the light inside it became sparks that broke into streams flowing down into the unconscious girls one by one.

As I saw their hairstyles returning properly to twintails, I was hit by a sense of exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if I might fall on my back.

I had been lost in the fight, but was I really able to save these girls... was I really able to save twintails?

There was a small diamond-shaped stone glittering light green on the ground. I picked it up.

<Doll>

The word came into my mind. As I held it the armor piece on my left hand slid open and sucked it in.

“...Huh, this is another power of the Tailgear?”

“―Um.”

“!”

I almost jumped when someone called me from behind.

The president was awake and looking at me in wonder with her twintails fluttering behind her. They were covered in soot but had not lost their nobility.

She was making a token effort to hold the hem of her torn skirt together with her hand.

“I would like to... thank you very much for saving me.”

“Ah, hahaha, for what? I’m just a guy, no girl who happened to be passing through!”

I don’t think anyone could believe that when I’m dressed like this but I have to come up with something.

“No, um, that is... I woke up midway through the fight.”

“What?......”

“Yo, you fought wonderfully! ... You’re still only small, but you’re gallant... and strong ... I was... so moved!”

“―――!!”

This is bad. I thought everyone was unconscious.

The president is also really young-looking, but right now I don’t look like any more than an elementary schooler.

And that child was carrying a sword and fighting with monsters... how can you come up with an explanation for that situation.

“Excuse me... How in the world did you...!”

“A, a, I’m an ally of justice! Now, please get, out of here quickly!”

I’m really feeling how bad I am at ad-lib, as Aika pointed out an hour ago.

“I would like to thank you very much for saving me!! Will we meet again!?”

“You’ll see me again, as long as you love twintails.”

Bowing deeply to me, the president left at a half-run.

Thank goodness, she didn’t investigate too much.

For something on the spur of the moment, that line wasn’t bad. Although I was just trying to get through this.

“Young mistreessss!!”

A limousine cut diagonally across the parking lot at a reckless speed like it was slashing the lot in half and stopped, leaving a huge tire mark. Maids, a lot of maids, jumped out from inside and rushed over to the president.

A few of the girls who had fainted also began to wake up. The maids... probably at the orders of the president, broke the task up and began to care for them. It didn’t seem like there was any place for me anymore.

Afterward were the girls’ parents and families, maybe... adults, now free, also came running one by one.

The president might have seen me when I was screaming in terror... but I had rescued everyone safely, so I’d like her to forget about it.

“Whew...”

I shifted my line of sight to the front.

I can see myself reflected in the side mirror of a car.

“.........”

It’s a little young, but the way I look is certainly exactly what I was dreaming of, my ideal twintails.

I felt heat coming into my cheeks and shook my head desperately.

If I keep looking at myself, happiness and unease will hit me simultaneously.

Sirens started to come into earshot. Of course, the police and ambulances and things would be coming.

As the thread of tension snapped I felt dizzy.

Hugging a wall to avoid people’s eyes, as I went around a corner I saw Aika and Twoearle, who had been waiting for me.

“It’s finally over...”

My last strength drained out and I fell back on the ground.

The transformation was cancelled, and I was wrapped in a cocoon of light and returned to my original shape.

Thank God I didn’t stay like that my whole life...

“Sou-ji!”

Aika ran over to me and caught me in her arms, and out of relief, maybe, I flickered in and out of consciousness.

“It is a pity for you to have your head pressed against the ground. Please come here, my chest has proper cushions.”

“It’s my chest, not the ground!!”

“―For a woman it is only called a chest once it has begun to puff out. That is, the area below your neck is referred to as the ground, Aika-san.”

“Why don’t you kiss the ground, dumbaaaaaaass!!”

Aika caught the back of Twoearle’s head with an eagle grip and shoved her into the sidewalk.

“Nooo, stooooop, it’s my first kiiiiiiiss!!”

I want to fall asleep feeling like I made everything turn out okay, but I still hear screaming. Come on, guys.

As though guided by fate I dived into the maelstrom of war.

And the curtain closed on TailRed’s first battle.

<references/>

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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1 character pictures

2015-03-06T06:03:02Z

Contradiction:

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_086_translated.gif|Souji]] [[File:OreTwintail_v1_087_translated.gif|Aika]]

YouTube is written in Japanese as "YouTsube," so maybe Tsube is supposed to remind you of "tube," as in, the geometric shape which her body most r

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T23:06:37Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was Twoearle's confession that made me notice the dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at them.

Trying to distract her as she watched them safely leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that as I see people walking, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

If you have a hairstyle you like, or an unusual kind of clothing, especially things that would make people who overhear it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. I was even starting to wonder if yesterday’s fight was a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika, stopped with just one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T23:06:02Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was Twoearle's confession that made me notice the dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at them.

Trying to distract her as she watched them safely leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that as I see people walking, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

If you have a hairstyle you like, or an unusual kind of clothing, especially things that would make people who overhear it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika, stopped with just one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T23:05:30Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was Twoearle's confession that made me notice the dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at them.

Trying to distract her as she watched them safely leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that as I see people walking, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

If you have a hairstyle you like, or an unusual kind of clothing, especially if it's something that would make people who overhear it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika, stopped with just one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Afterword

2015-03-01T16:53:48Z

Contradiction:

== Afterword ==

Nice to meet you, I am Mizusawa Yume. Thank you for being kind enough to pick up this book.

If you saw the cover illustration and the last battle scene in the frontispiece and thought "Whoa, that looks really cool," so you got interested and bought it, and then you realized "hey, this whole book is nothing but twintails," I apologize.

But... but you knew that already from the title, didn't you! If twintails are in the title, the inside of the book is also going to be filled with twintails!

In any case, I was trying to write a lighthearted story that would be fun to read. If you enjoyed it, I'm really happy.

If you enjoyed it...! I'm really happy――!!

Oh, oh, what's this? There's something other than the ''GAGAGA'' booklet, there's a postcard stuck in the book too? A reader response card? That's Shogakukan-sama for you! They don't even ask you to stick a stamp on it or anything stingy like that. It's COD mail, isn't it! And it looks like you can even win a book card!

Heh... This roundabout nonsense suits me little. I'll speak straight from the heart.

Please fill out the QA.

You can say your favourite characters are ① Drag Guildy ② Fox Guildy ③ Lizard Guildy if you want, so please! Also, please recommend it to your friends! Thank you very much!

I still can't really believe it got turned into a book, but as I am writing this afterword, I can remember the day several months ago when they told me I won the award like it was yesterday.

I want to express my deepest thanks to Hata Kenjirou-sensei, who served as the guest judge, for choosing this story that I somehow managed to finish. The main reason I submitted it was because sensei was going to read the entries, so I can hardly express how moved I am that he chose it! By the way, I'd like to see Hinagiku and Athena in twintails in the story sometime too.

To my supervisor Hamada, I caused nothing but trouble and I'm sorry. Having the two of us face each other with all our strength over this ridiculous story has been more support to me than anything else. Though I'm a hick who got lost on the way to the award ceremony and ended up late, I've been able to push ahead continuously without losing the chuuni spirit in my heart! Please guide me for many more happy years!

To my illustrator Kasuga, thank you very much for the supreme illustrations, both impressive and cute! I can't forget how moved I was when I saw the roughs of the scenes. When I heard you said you wanted to draw a picture of that one scene no matter what, my heart really got hot. Afterward too, I'm in your hands!

And to everyone in the editorial department, and everyone who was kind enough to handle completion and publication, I'd like to thank you from my heart.

I'll keep hanging on with all my strength, so please take care of Mizusawa Yume and twintails!

<div style="text-align: right;">Mizusawa Yume</div>

<noinclude>== Translator's afterword ==</noinclude>

Thanks, Aereus, for giving me the chance to take over this project, even though it took me seven months to finish. It was a lot of fun for me, and I hope that passion comes through in the translation, despite my mistakes―and there are probably still a lot of them.

In the last couple months I've been staring hard enough at people's hairstyles to make them a little uncomfortable. There are a lot of really nice braids in this area, thick braids in black or brown or gold hair, and some great ponytails, but I don't think I've seen a single pair of twintails on an adult, except for the one that, uh―I've been wearing once in a while, most recently on Twintail Day.

I started reading this series back in May of 2014 on the recommendation of Taruby, and fell in love with it. I'm sorry I couldn't help him solve the ethical problems he had with English translation communities... or keep his comments from getting filled with link spam. Wow.

I do like twintails, and ponytails, but most of all I like genderbending. The Japanese TS scene is great, to the point that people can write popular light novels where genderbending is a huge element, and I want to encourage more people in the English-language world to work on their own ideas. I hope this translation will encourage that.

It's been a bit lonely, so there aren't too many people to thank, but I want to say hi to cautr and some people who helped me on lang-8, thank the people that were kind enough to compliment my twintails... and give my deep apologies and thanks to Mizusawa Yume.

And thank you for reading.

<p style="padding-left: 4%; padding-top: 3em;">[[File:Volume_1_Translator's_afterword_contradiction.png]]</p>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Afterword

2015-03-01T16:53:25Z

Contradiction:

== Afterword ==

Nice to meet you, I am Mizusawa Yume. Thank you for being kind enough to pick up this book.

If you saw the cover illustration and the last battle scene in the frontispiece and thought "Whoa, that looks really cool," so you got interested and bought it, and then you realized "hey, this whole book is nothing but twintails," I apologize.

But... but you knew that already from the title, didn't you! If someone puts twintails in the title, the inside of the book is also going to be filled with twintails!

In any case, I was trying to write a lighthearted story that would be fun to read. If you enjoyed it, I'm really happy.

If you enjoyed it...! I'm really happy――!!

Oh, oh, what's this? There's something other than the ''GAGAGA'' booklet, there's a postcard stuck in the book too? A reader response card? That's Shogakukan-sama for you! They don't even ask you to stick a stamp on it or anything stingy like that. It's COD mail, isn't it! And it looks like you can even win a book card!

Heh... This roundabout nonsense suits me little. I'll speak straight from the heart.

Please fill out the QA.

You can say your favourite characters are ① Drag Guildy ② Fox Guildy ③ Lizard Guildy if you want, so please! Also, please recommend it to your friends! Thank you very much!

I still can't really believe it got turned into a book, but as I am writing this afterword, I can remember the day several months ago when they told me I won the award like it was yesterday.

I want to express my deepest thanks to Hata Kenjirou-sensei, who served as the guest judge, for choosing this story that I somehow managed to finish. The main reason I submitted it was because sensei was going to read the entries, so I can hardly express how moved I am that he chose it! By the way, I'd like to see Hinagiku and Athena in twintails in the story sometime too.

To my supervisor Hamada, I caused nothing but trouble and I'm sorry. Having the two of us face each other with all our strength over this ridiculous story has been more support to me than anything else. Though I'm a hick who got lost on the way to the award ceremony and ended up late, I've been able to push ahead continuously without losing the chuuni spirit in my heart! Please guide me for many more happy years!

To my illustrator Kasuga, thank you very much for the supreme illustrations, both impressive and cute! I can't forget how moved I was when I saw the roughs of the scenes. When I heard you said you wanted to draw a picture of that one scene no matter what, my heart really got hot. Afterward too, I'm in your hands!

And to everyone in the editorial department, and everyone who was kind enough to handle completion and publication, I'd like to thank you from my heart.

I'll keep hanging on with all my strength, so please take care of Mizusawa Yume and twintails!

<div style="text-align: right;">Mizusawa Yume</div>

<noinclude>== Translator's afterword ==</noinclude>

Thanks, Aereus, for giving me the chance to take over this project, even though it took me seven months to finish. It was a lot of fun for me, and I hope that passion comes through in the translation, despite my mistakes―and there are probably still a lot of them.

In the last couple months I've been staring hard enough at people's hairstyles to make them a little uncomfortable. There are a lot of really nice braids in this area, thick braids in black or brown or gold hair, and some great ponytails, but I don't think I've seen a single pair of twintails on an adult, except for the one that, uh―I've been wearing once in a while, most recently on Twintail Day.

I started reading this series back in May of 2014 on the recommendation of Taruby, and fell in love with it. I'm sorry I couldn't help him solve the ethical problems he had with English translation communities... or keep his comments from getting filled with link spam. Wow.

I do like twintails, and ponytails, but most of all I like genderbending. The Japanese TS scene is great, to the point that people can write popular light novels where genderbending is a huge element, and I want to encourage more people in the English-language world to work on their own ideas. I hope this translation will encourage that.

It's been a bit lonely, so there aren't too many people to thank, but I want to say hi to cautr and some people who helped me on lang-8, thank the people that were kind enough to compliment my twintails... and give my deep apologies and thanks to Mizusawa Yume.

And thank you for reading.

<p style="padding-left: 4%; padding-top: 3em;">[[File:Volume_1_Translator's_afterword_contradiction.png]]</p>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Afterword

2015-03-01T16:33:56Z

Contradiction:

== Afterword ==

Nice to meet you, I am Mizusawa Yume. Thank you for being kind enough to pick up this book.

If you saw the cover illustration and the last battle scene in the frontispiece and thought "Whoa, that looks really cool," so you got interested and bought it, and then you realized "hey, this whole book is nothing but twintails," I apologize.

But... but you knew that from the title, didn't you! If someone puts twintails in the title, the inside of the book is also going to be filled with twintails!

In any case, I was trying to write a lighthearted story that would be fun to read. If you enjoyed it, I'm really happy.

If you enjoyed it...! I'm really happy――!!

Oh, oh, what's this? There's something other than the ''GAGAGA'' booklet, there's a postcard stuck in the book too? A reader response card? That's Shogakukan-sama for you! They don't even ask you to stick a stamp on it or anything stingy like that. It's COD mail, isn't it! And it looks like you can even win a book card!

Heh... This roundabout nonsense suits me little. I'll speak straight from the heart.

Please fill out the QA.

You can say your favourite characters are ① Drag Guildy ② Fox Guildy ③ Lizard Guildy if you want, so please! Also, please recommend it to your friends! Thank you very much!

I still can't really believe it got turned into a book, but as I am writing this afterword, I can remember the day several months ago when they told me I won the award like it was yesterday.

I want to express my deepest thanks to Hata Kenjirou-sensei, who served as the guest judge, for choosing this story that I somehow managed to finish. The main reason I submitted it was because sensei was going to read the entries, so I can hardly express how moved I am that he chose it! By the way, I'd like to see Hinagiku and Athena in twintails in the story sometime too.

To my supervisor Hamada, I caused nothing but trouble and I'm sorry. Having the two of us face each other with all our strength over this ridiculous story has been more support to me than anything else. Though I'm a hick who got lost on the way to the award ceremony and ended up late, I've been able to push ahead continuously without losing the chuuni spirit in my heart! Please guide me for many more happy years!

To my illustrator Kasuga, thank you very much for the supreme illustrations, both impressive and cute! I can't forget how moved I was when I saw the roughs of the scenes. When I heard you said you wanted to draw a picture of that one scene no matter what, my heart really got hot. Afterward too, I'm in your hands!

And to everyone in the editorial department, and everyone who was kind enough to handle completion and publication, I'd like to thank you from my heart.

I'll keep hanging on with all my strength, so please take care of Mizusawa Yume and twintails!

<div style="text-align: right;">Mizusawa Yume</div>

<noinclude>== Translator's afterword ==</noinclude>

Thanks, Aereus, for giving me the chance to take over this project, even though it took me seven months to finish. It was a lot of fun for me, and I hope that passion comes through in the translation, despite my mistakes―and there are probably still a lot of them.

In the last couple months I've been staring hard enough at people's hairstyles to make them a little uncomfortable. There are a lot of really nice braids in this area, thick braids in black or brown or gold hair, and some great ponytails, but I don't think I've seen a single pair of twintails on an adult, except for the one that, uh―I've been wearing once in a while, most recently on Twintail Day.

I started reading this series back in May of 2014 on the recommendation of Taruby, and fell in love with it. I'm sorry I couldn't help him solve the ethical problems he had with English translation communities... or keep his comments from getting filled with link spam. Wow.

I do like twintails, and ponytails, but most of all I like genderbending. The Japanese TS scene is great, to the point that people can write popular light novels where genderbending is a huge element, and I want to encourage more people in the English-language world to work on their own ideas. I hope this translation will encourage that.

It's been a bit lonely, so there aren't too many people to thank, but I want to say hi to cautr and some people who helped me on lang-8, thank the people that were kind enough to compliment my twintails... and give my deep apologies and thanks to Mizusawa Yume.

And thank you for reading.

<p style="padding-left: 4%; padding-top: 3em;">[[File:Volume_1_Translator's_afterword_contradiction.png]]</p>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Afterword

2015-03-01T16:32:27Z

Contradiction:

== Afterword ==

Nice to meet you, I am Mizusawa Yume. Thank you for being kind enough to pick up this book.

If you saw the cover illustration and the last battle scene in the frontispiece and thought "Whoa, that looks really cool," so you got interested and bought it, and then you realized "hey, this whole book is nothing but twintails," I apologize.

But... but you knew that from the title, didn't you! If someone puts twintails in the title, the inside of the book is also going to be filled with twintails!

In any case, I was trying to write a lighthearted story that would be fun to read. If you enjoyed it, I'm really happy.

If you enjoyed it...! I'm really happy――!!

Oh, oh, what's this? There's something other than the ''GAGAGA'' booklet, there's a postcard stuck in the book too? A reader response card? That's Shogakukan-sama for you! They don't even ask you to stick a stamp on it or anything stingy like that. It's COD mail, isn't it! And it looks like you can even win a book card!

Heh... This roundabout nonsense suits me little. I'll speak straight from the heart.

Please fill out the QA.

You can say your favourite characters are ① Drag Guildy ② Fox Guildy ③ Lizard Guildy if you want, so please! Also, please recommend it to your friends! Thank you very much!

I still can't really believe it got turned into a book, but as I am writing this afterword, I can remember the day several months ago when they told me I won the award like it was yesterday.

I want to express my deepest thanks to Hata Kenjirou-sensei, who served as the guest judge, for choosing this story that I managed somehow to get done. The main reason I submitted it was because sensei was going to read the entries, so I can hardly express how moved I am that he chose it! By the way, I'd like to see Hinagiku and Athena in twintails in the story sometime too.

To my supervisor Hamada, I caused nothing but trouble and I'm sorry. Having the two of us face each other with all our strength over this ridiculous story has been more support to me than anything else. Though I'm a hick who got lost on the way to the award ceremony and ended up late, I've been able to push ahead continuously without losing the chuuni spirit in my heart! Please guide me for many more happy years!

To my illustrator Kasuga, thank you very much for the supreme illustrations, both impressive and cute! I can't forget how moved I was when I saw the roughs of the scenes. When I heard you said you wanted to draw a picture of that one scene no matter what, my heart really got warm. Afterward too, I'm in your hands!

And to everyone in the editorial department, and everyone who was kind enough to handle completion and publication, I'd like to thank you from my heart.

I'll keep hanging on with all my strength, so please take care of Mizusawa Yume and twintails!

<div style="text-align: right;">Mizusawa Yume</div>

<noinclude>== Translator's afterword ==</noinclude>

Thanks, Aereus, for giving me the chance to take over this project, even though it took me seven months to finish. It was a lot of fun for me, and I hope that passion comes through in the translation, despite my mistakes―and there are probably still a lot of them.

In the last couple months I've been staring hard enough at people's hairstyles to make them a little uncomfortable. There are a lot of really nice braids in this area, thick braids in black or brown or gold hair, and some great ponytails, but I don't think I've seen a single pair of twintails on an adult, except for the one that, uh―I've been wearing once in a while, most recently on Twintail Day.

I started reading this series back in May of 2014 on the recommendation of Taruby, and fell in love with it. I'm sorry I couldn't help him solve the ethical problems he had with English translation communities... or keep his comments from getting filled with link spam. Wow.

I do like twintails, and ponytails, but most of all I like genderbending. The Japanese TS scene is great, to the point that people can write popular light novels where genderbending is a huge element, and I want to encourage more people in the English-language world to work on their own ideas. I hope this translation will encourage that.

It's been a bit lonely, so there aren't too many people to thank, but I want to say hi to cautr and some people who helped me on lang-8, thank the people that were kind enough to compliment my twintails... and give my deep apologies and thanks to Mizusawa Yume.

And thank you for reading.

<p style="padding-left: 4%; padding-top: 3em;">[[File:Volume_1_Translator's_afterword_contradiction.png]]</p>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T16:30:28Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was Twoearle's confession that made me notice the dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at them.

Trying to distract her as she watched them safely leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that as I see people walking, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that make people who overhear it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika, stopped with just one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T16:23:06Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was Twoearle's confession that made me notice the dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at them.

Trying to distract her as she watched them safely leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that as I see people walking, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that make people who overhear it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:38:27Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was Twoearle's confession that made me notice the dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at them.

Trying to distract her as she watched them safely leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that as I see people walking, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:37:02Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was Twoearle's confession that made me notice the dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at them.

Trying to distract her as she watched them safely leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:29:22Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was Twoearle's confession that made me notice the dangerous look in her eyes as she stared at them.

Trying to distract her as she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:28:41Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual scene as we headed to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was that confession that made me notice the dangerous look in Twoearle's eyes.

Trying to distract her as she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:27:43Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual sights as we went to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was that confession that made me notice the dangerous look in Twoearle's eyes.

Trying to distract her as she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:27:12Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual sights as we went to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was that confession that made me notice the dangerous look in Twoearle's eyes.

As she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said as a diversion,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:05:10Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual sights as we went to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was that confession that made me notice the dangerous look in Twoearle's eyes.

As a diversion as she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said, “You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I savor my happiness deeply.

And that’s why we, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

I raise my eyes to the sky with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:02:12Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual sights as we went to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was that confession that made me notice the dangerous look in Twoearle's eyes.

As a diversion as she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said, “You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

<center>Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika</center>

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I deeply appreciate my happiness. That’s why... We, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

And I raise my eyes to the sky, with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:01:37Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual sights as we went to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was that confession that made me notice the dangerous look in Twoearle's eyes.

As a diversion as she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said, “You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because when I imagine the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in, I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

Original work: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I deeply appreciate my happiness. That’s why... We, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

And I raise my eyes to the sky, with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T03:00:26Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual sights as we went to school, no different from yesterday. Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves. I guess it was that confession that made me notice the dangerous look in Twoearle's eyes.

As a diversion as she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, Aika said, “You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket. If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because I'm imagining the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in. I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

Original story: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I deeply appreciate my happiness. That’s why... We, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

And I raise my eyes to the sky, with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue

2015-03-01T02:59:23Z

Contradiction:

== Epilogue: Twintails and all of us. ==

The usual sights as we went to school, no different from yesterday.

Two elementary-school girls crossed our path, humming to themselves.

I guess it was that confession that made me notice the dangerous look in Twoearle's eyes.

Aika said, as a diversion as she watched them leave out of the corner of her eye,

“You know, I wonder what Elemera your mom has, Souji.”

“Hey, stupid, stop it.”

“No, I’m completely serious. I keep thinking about that when I see people walking by, ever since I joined the Twintails. What kind of Elemera do they have? Is it a totally normal one, or do they have a really strange one they can’t tell people about? That kind of thing.”

Now that you say that, I think I might have been doing that too.

“Elemera, huh.”

The empty world that Twoearle was from.

A favourite hairstyle, an unusual kind of clothing, especially the things that would make a person who overheard it laugh in scorn and say "What the hell is that," there are many people who will tell you they cherish it.

You didn’t have to shout it at the top of your lungs, but even so―

“...Yeah, I think, the world where you can live loving the things you love is best.”

“...Yeah.”

It’s fine if people’s minds are half full of nonsense. It’s fine to make a racket.

If we can keep them so safe they're not even afraid of the invasion, isn't that best of all?

There were no witnesses to the greatest fight.

They were running the usual happy photos of TailRed on the morning news, with so little change it was like I was watching a videotape rewind. It was even making me start to wonder if yesterday’s fight had been a dream.

By the way, I saw Mom in the living room putting together a costume that had a touch of bondage to it and realized where Kamen Twintail’s mask had come from. I think she's going to wear that costume in the secret base and pretend to be a commander or something. There's no end to my tears of blood.

“Souji-sama, thank you, for striking at the enemy of my world...”

Drag Guildy had brought her world to ruin. So even if we did have a second Tailgear, she said it had been a fifty-fifty chance whether we would win the decisive battle she expected. A gamble.

There was probably still some of the force left, but with their boss gone from the control tower, I think it’s going to be all right even if we don’t take too much care with the rest.

“...Are you going to go back to your old world once the Ultima Guil has been completely annihilated, Twoearle?”

“I will not go back! It is terrible of you to use a person as stock for a good mood and then chase them out when they become inconvenient! Aika, you are ungrateful. As always!!”

“If you want to be stock that much, I can wring your juice out right here!”

...I think Aika was trying to hide how happy she was, rolling up her sleeves and putting on that threatening act.

You don’t want her to go back, do you? I don’t either, though.

“Heh... I will not be your victim as usual this time! I have developed a heat ray for the purpose of repelling you! Anti-Aika Mark 1! Fire!!”

“What is this, it’s weak.”

“What―!? An attack from Anti-Aika stopped with one hand!?”

“All right, let’s start breaking some bones.”

“And it’s me as usual―!!”

Don’t commit violations of the Firearms and Swords Law and respond with unjustifiable self-defense on the public roads, guys. Please give me a break.

I thought the place for the comeback should have been when Twoearle showed up in her school uniform, but...

“I don’t care anymore. You might as well transfer in if you want to. And tossing you into a place with a lot of boys might cure you of that urge to breed.”

“But I am not a bitch like Aika-san! Haha, watch me. Because in less than three days, the whole school will recognize me.”

“Ngh... that’s just fine! Do you think I’m going to lose to you?! I’ll break through too!!”

Recognize you... for what?

Do you mean the school suspicious-individual playoffs? Because I'm imagining the things Twoearle will probably do right after she transfers in. I don’t think she needs three days, or even thirty minutes.

“But... sorry. I'll apologize again, properly.”

“What is going on, Aika-san? Being nice is out of character for you.”

“I'm talking about doubting you! I thought you were sneaking around behind our backs, planning something bad. And because of that, my comebacks were getting a little bit harsh...”

Right at the start of the day I’m hearing an amazing lie. That had nothing to do with how hard you were hitting her.

“But I was planning something! The stronger TailRed gets, the more the Little Girl Element buds along with the Twintail Element. The country is overflowing with cute little girls, exactly according to my calculations!”

...That’s a lie too, Twoearle.

It wasn’t because it was your hobby, or because it was effective against the enemy. It didn’t have anything to do with that.

TailRed becomes a little girl because you trusted me with one more part of your heart, also.

That’s why. ...Listen, that’s why, isn’t it? Please tell me that's true.

Aika coughed, and wiping her palm on her skirt, held her hand out to Twoearle.

“I’ll... take good care of the Tailgear. From now on, I’ll think of you as a real friend. But that has nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, okay?”

“――――I understand. Which of us will be recognized first is still a fight!”

They shook hands, and Twoearle broke into easy, dancing steps and ran around in front of Aika. She turned, setting her hair and skirt fluttering, and smiled with the sunlight at her back.

...Why is she standing so still, fluttering in the wind.

The scene is starting to fade to white!

Original story: Twoearle

CAST

Twoearle: Twoearle

Mitsuka Souji: Mitsuka Souji

Bitch: Tsube Aika

...

......

...Hey, I’m hallucinating some kind of letters, the end of some kind of game is starting.

“Yes, the heroine’s dying, so it’s a BAD END.”

“Aagyaaaaaah the whiteout pastel CG ending of my dreams is becoming a black screen with white text―!!”

You do look like you’re having a lot of fun, you two...

I wonder if S and M have something to do with Elemera? Uh, no, that thought did not come from looking at these two. Absolutely.

As I think about such stupid things, in the world where I can I love the things I love, I deeply appreciate my happiness. That’s why... We, the Twintails, are going to keep protecting it.

And I raise my eyes to the sky, with new resolution.

“Uwaah!!”

At some point a rectangle had been cut out of the absolutely cloudless blue sky.

It switched to a closeup of a grim animal face, so early in the morning.

<<Uwa―――hahahaha! Twintails! I imagine you feel a little hope now, but that will hardly do! The world where Drag Guildy-sama fell suits us for our graves too! We will fight to the death! We will take any Elemera anyone has of any kind! And we have been joined by strong reinforcements!!>>

“...Yeah, they weren’t gonna give up, I guess.”

“I won’t be surprised if they start coming every day...”

Aika put her hands on her hips and looked up wearily.

<<School Swimsuits!! The garments of water in which we trust ourselves to our Mother Earth! Let us call this Elemera the inheritor of the will of the planet! I am Tiger Guildy, the sworn brother of Drag Guildy, and I will be taking the Elemera of the school swimsuit!>>

“Every day... huh.”

I checked the time.

Twenty minutes until the first bell rings. To keep them from making fun of us as we all come in late at the same time, we have to finish this up in ten minutes.

“Hey, Aika, have you picked a club?”

“Huh?”

“Twoearle, too. Do you have something you’re hoping for?”

“Hmm.”

“I haven’t decided yet... Cause there’s been all this trouble.”

“I want to be with Souji-sama. A young boy and girl, in a locked club room, after school... ufufu”

“Okay. Then...”

I stuck my right arm high into the air in answer to the declaration of war, aiming at the rough bunch blocking the blue sky.

“...Why don’t the three of us try and make the Twintail Club for real?”

“Hmmm. What are the club activities?”

Aika turned to check with the grinning Twoearle, nodded, and then turned an invincible smile on me.

“Of course―”

On my raised right arm, the red bracelet glowed.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction

2015-02-23T03:20:33Z

Contradiction:

== Prologue: Twintails and Me ==

I love twintails. The world is beautiful because it has twintails in it. I have known that ever since I was old enough to understand these things.

The sun for me isn’t the bright round thing in the sky, but the hairstyle that catches its light.

It would be an exaggeration to say that they are the world to me, but... no, it’s no exaggeration. In any case, twintails mean so much to me that nothing can ever replace them.

Twintails, in layman’s terms, are two ponytails that are tied up on either side of the head. They look better with long hair, but short hair collected in little ties is also a cute and simple feminine style. There are a broad range of variations, and endless possibilities are hidden within.

I think that most readers have a picture in their mind after that explanation, even if they haven’t heard the word before. But twintails seem to be a mark of childishness all over the world.

Girls in adolescence usually want to show everyone that they’re growing up, and they let go of everything childish and everything they feel insecure about. Unfortunately, twintails are one of those things. They are weighed and discarded in the process of adulthood.

And women who look good with a twintail as adults are rare. And it’s silly for guys to make unreasonable requests and irritate their loved ones. And so twintails leave you behind as you grow up.

That’s fine. That’s the normal course of life. But it’s different for me.

I don’t know if I should call it a longing or an inability to let go, but the more grown-up I become, the more of an adult I become, the more uselessly intense this feeling gets.

I search unconsciously for twintails when there are many people around, and the image editing software in my head has reached the point where it can instantly add a twintail layer with just one keystroke. It’s unconscious, so it doesn’t bother me, but still, twintails make up the majority of my life.

...Well, I’ve said twintails over and over again. At this point in the conversation, even people who seemed like they would become good friends start to remember other things they have to do and make a quick exit. It has always been like that.

Even so, I don’t hesitate. And I have no regrets.

I want to live in a world where I can live loving the things I love.
I don’t like the idea of trying to change your tastes, or lying about what you like just because it’s unpopular.

And that makes it all the more frustrating.

I love twintails so much, but as a guy, I can’t have a twintail. Even if I grow my hair out for many years before finally tying it up, that will not be a twintail.

All I have is a heart that loves twintails.
Maybe I cannot understand twintails, in the true sense.

So, I wish for this heart to take form.
I want my feelings -- my heart to be real.
I want it to appear before me.

I know it would have my ideal twintails.

If that were to happen, how wonderful it would be.

I was always, always dreaming of it.

Until the day that I met her ―

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction

2015-02-23T03:20:04Z

Contradiction:

== Prologue: Twintails and Me ==

I love twintails. The world is beautiful because it has twintails in it. I have known that ever since I was old enough to understand these things.

The sun for me isn’t the bright round thing in the sky, but the hairstyle that catches its light.

It would be an exaggeration to say that they are the world to me, but... no, it’s no exaggeration. In any case, twintails mean so much to me that nothing can ever replace them.

Twintails, in layman’s terms, are two ponytails that are tied up on either side of the head. They look better with long hair, but short hair collected in little ties is also a cute and simple feminine style. There are a broad range of variations, and endless possibilities are hidden within.

I think that most readers have a picture in their mind after that explanation, even if they haven’t heard the word before. But twintails seem to be a mark of childishness all over the world.

Girls in adolescence usually want to show everyone that they’re growing up, and they let go of everything childish and everything they feel insecure about. Unfortunately, twintails are one of those things. They are weighed and discarded in the process of adulthood.

And women who look good with a twintail as adults are rare. And it’s silly for guys to make unreasonable requests and irritate their loved ones. And so twintails leave you behind as you grow up.

That’s fine. That’s the normal course of life. But it’s different for me.

I don’t know if I should call it a longing or an inability to let go, but the more grown-up I become, the more of an adult I become, the more uselessly intense this feeling gets.

I search unconsciously for twintails when there are many people around, and the image editing software in my head has reached the point where it can instantly add a twintail layer with just one keystroke. It’s unconscious, so it doesn’t bother me, but still, twintails make up the majority of my life.

...Well, I’ve said twintails over and over again, and at this point in the conversation, even people who seemed like they would become good friends start to remember other things they have to do and make a quick exit. It has always been like that.

Even so, I don’t hesitate. And I have no regrets.

I want to live in a world where I can live loving the things I love.
I don’t like the idea of trying to change your tastes, or lying about what you like just because it’s unpopular.

And that makes it all the more frustrating.

I love twintails so much, but as a guy, I can’t have a twintail. Even if I grow my hair out for many years before finally tying it up, that will not be a twintail.

All I have is a heart that loves twintails.
Maybe I cannot understand twintails, in the true sense.

So, I wish for this heart to take form.
I want my feelings -- my heart to be real.
I want it to appear before me.

I know it would have my ideal twintails.

If that were to happen, how wonderful it would be.

I was always, always dreaming of it.

Until the day that I met her ―

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction

2015-02-23T03:19:30Z

Contradiction:

== Prologue: Twintails and Me ==

I love twintails. The world is beautiful because it has twintails in it. I have known that ever since I was old enough to understand these things.

The sun for me isn’t the bright round thing in the sky, but the hairstyle that catches its light.

It would be an exaggeration to say that they are the world to me, but... no, it’s no exaggeration. In any case, twintails mean so much to me that nothing can ever replace them.

Twintails, in layman’s terms, are two ponytails that are tied up on either side of the head. They look better with long hair, but short hair collected in little ties is also a cute and simple feminine style. There are a broad range of variations, and endless possibilities are hidden within.

I think that most readers have a picture in their mind after that explanation, even if they haven’t heard the word before. But twintails seem to be a mark of childishness all over the world.

Girls in adolescence usually want to show everyone that they’re growing up, and they let go of everything childish and everything they feel insecure about. Unfortunately, twintails are one of those things. They are weighed and discarded in the process of adulthood.

And women who look good with a twintail as adults are rare. And it’s silly for guys to make unreasonable requests and irritate their loved ones. And so twintails become more distant as you become an adult.

That’s fine. That’s the normal course of life. But it’s different for me.

I don’t know if I should call it a longing or an inability to let go, but the more grown-up I become, the more of an adult I become, the more uselessly intense this feeling gets.

I search unconsciously for twintails when there are many people around, and the image editing software in my head has reached the point where it can instantly add a twintail layer with just one keystroke. It’s unconscious, so it doesn’t bother me, but still, twintails make up the majority of my life.

...Well, I’ve said twintails over and over again, and at this point in the conversation, even people who seemed like they would become good friends start to remember other things they have to do and make a quick exit. It has always been like that.

Even so, I don’t hesitate. And I have no regrets.

I want to live in a world where I can live loving the things I love.
I don’t like the idea of trying to change your tastes, or lying about what you like just because it’s unpopular.

And that makes it all the more frustrating.

I love twintails so much, but as a guy, I can’t have a twintail. Even if I grow my hair out for many years before finally tying it up, that will not be a twintail.

All I have is a heart that loves twintails.
Maybe I cannot understand twintails, in the true sense.

So, I wish for this heart to take form.
I want my feelings -- my heart to be real.
I want it to appear before me.

I know it would have my ideal twintails.

If that were to happen, how wonderful it would be.

I was always, always dreaming of it.

Until the day that I met her ―

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction

2015-02-23T03:09:29Z

Contradiction:

== Prologue: Twintails and Me ==

I love twintails. The world is beautiful because it has twintails in it. I have known that ever since I was old enough to understand these things.

The sun for me isn’t the bright round thing in the sky, but the hairstyle that catches its light.

It would be an exaggeration to say that they are the world to me, but... no, it’s no exaggeration. In any case, twintails mean so much to me that nothing can ever replace them.

Twintails, in layman’s terms, are two ponytails that are tied up on either side of the head. They look better with long hair, but short hair collected in little ties is also a cute and simple feminine style. There are a broad range of variations, and endless possibilities are hidden within.

I think that most readers have a picture in their mind after that explanation, even if they haven’t heard the word before. But twintails seem to be a mark of childishness all over the world.

Girls in adolescence usually want to show everyone that they’re growing up, and they let go of everything childish and everything they feel insecure about. Unfortunately, twintails are one of those things. They are weighed and discarded in the process of adulthood.

And women who look good with a twintail as adults are rare. And it’s silly for guys to make unreasonable requests and irritate their loved ones. And so twintails become more distant as you grow up.

That’s fine. That’s the normal course of life. But it’s different for me.

I don’t know if I should call it a longing or an inability to let go, but the more grown-up I become, the more of an adult I become, the more uselessly intense this feeling gets.

I search unconsciously for twintails when there are many people around, and the image editing software in my head has reached the point where it can instantly add a twintail layer with just one keystroke. It’s unconscious, so it doesn’t bother me, but still, twintails make up the majority of my life.

...Well, I’ve said twintails over and over again, and at this point in the conversation, even people who seemed like they would become good friends start to remember other things they have to do and make a quick exit. It has always been like that.

Even so, I don’t hesitate. And I have no regrets.

I want to live in a world where I can live loving the things I love.
I don’t like the idea of trying to change your tastes, or lying about what you like just because it’s unpopular.

And that makes it all the more frustrating.

I love twintails so much, but as a guy, I can’t have a twintail. Even if I grow my hair out for many years before finally tying it up, that will not be a twintail.

All I have is a heart that loves twintails.
Maybe I cannot understand twintails, in the true sense.

So, I wish for this heart to take form.
I want my feelings -- my heart to be real.
I want it to appear before me.

I know it would have my ideal twintails.

If that were to happen, how wonderful it would be.

I was always, always dreaming of it.

Until the day that I met her ―

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction

2015-02-23T03:07:52Z

Contradiction:

== Prologue: Twintails and Me ==

I love twintails. The world is beautiful because it has twintails in it. I have known that ever since I was old enough to understand these things.

The sun for me isn’t the bright round thing in the sky, but the hairstyle that catches its light.

It would be an exaggeration to say that they are the world to me, but... no, it’s no exaggeration. In any case, twintails mean so much to me that nothing can ever replace them.

Twintails, in layman’s terms, are two ponytails that are tied up on either side of the head. They look better with long hair, but short hair collected in little ties is also a cute and simple feminine style. There are a broad range of variations, and endless possibilities are hidden within.

I think that most readers have a picture in their mind after that explanation, even if they haven’t heard the word before. But twintails seem to be a mark of childishness all over the world.

Girls in adolescence usually want to show everyone that they’re growing up, and they let go of every childish feature and everything they feel insecure about. Unfortunately, twintails are one of those things. They are weighed and discarded in the process of adulthood.

And women who look good with a twintail as adults are rare. And it’s silly for guys to make unreasonable requests and irritate their loved ones. And so twintails become more distant as you grow up.

That’s fine. That’s the normal course of life. But it’s different for me.

I don’t know if I should call it a longing or an inability to let go, but the more grown-up I become, the more of an adult I become, the more uselessly intense this feeling gets.

I search unconsciously for twintails when there are many people around, and the image editing software in my head has reached the point where it can instantly add a twintail layer with just one keystroke. It’s unconscious, so it doesn’t bother me, but still, twintails make up the majority of my life.

...Well, I’ve said twintails over and over again, and at this point in the conversation, even people who seemed like they would become good friends start to remember other things they have to do and make a quick exit. It has always been like that.

Even so, I don’t hesitate. And I have no regrets.

I want to live in a world where I can live loving the things I love.
I don’t like the idea of trying to change your tastes, or lying about what you like just because it’s unpopular.

And that makes it all the more frustrating.

I love twintails so much, but as a guy, I can’t have a twintail. Even if I grow my hair out for many years before finally tying it up, that will not be a twintail.

All I have is a heart that loves twintails.
Maybe I cannot understand twintails, in the true sense.

So, I wish for this heart to take form.
I want my feelings -- my heart to be real.
I want it to appear before me.

I know it would have my ideal twintails.

If that were to happen, how wonderful it would be.

I was always, always dreaming of it.

Until the day that I met her ―

Help talk:Administration Contact Page

2015-02-22T21:03:04Z

Contradiction:

__NOTOC__
== Ongoing ==

=== Alt. Language Projects with No Content in Pending Authorisation Category ===

<div style="border:2px dotted orange;padding:5px;">This is a quick service announcement pertaining to project reclassification status:
*'''There are a handful of Alt. Lang. Projects that have no translations uploaded WHATSOEVER.'''
::I left these questionable projects in [[:Category:Pending Authorisation]]. <small>(Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo (Italiano), Mokushiroku Arisu - Français)</small>
::Theoretically, according to the new English conventions, these pages should be deleted if nothing is uploaded '''within a week'''. However, I'll leave it up to the Alt. Language Supervisors to decide what course of action to take with these projects, whether you want to officially give them extensions, or issue notifications, etc. This is just a memo so that we don't forget about them. --[[User:Cloudii|Cloudii]] ([[User talk:Cloudii|talk]]) 00:54, 31 May 2014 (CDT)
</div>

List of concerned projects updated. I'll delete them if I don't have anything regarding their activity. -- [[User:Misogi|Misogi]] ([[User talk:Misogi|talk]]) 07:10, 16 August 2014 (CDT)

=== <span style="color:red">Registration & Login Issues on the Forum</span> ===

If registration is impossible because of a "banned IP", confirm the form again, use a different mail or a VPN to bypass this issue. This is caused by an IP ban range that is randomly changed.

For those who have troubles while logging on the forum, please refer to [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10583 this thread].

[[User:Misogi|Misogi]] ([[User talk:Misogi|talk]]) 05:03, 1 August 2014 (CDT)

== On Hold ==

=== Shinonome Yuuko ===

[[Shinonome Yuuko wa Tanpen Shousetsu o Aishite Iru]] will be upgraded to full project status, once one volume is finished. -- [[User:Misogi|Misogi]] ([[User talk:Misogi|talk]]) 05:03, 1 August 2014 (CDT)

=== Imoutolicious LNT ===

[[The Indecent Relationship between Four Lovers]] and [[Queen's Knight Kael]] will be upgraded to full project status, once one volume is finished.

== <big>Projects needing approval:</big> ==

=== 2 new hosted projects ===

Translation Group Name (with link): Heart Crusade Scans (http://heartcrusadescans.wordpress.com/)
Name of Representative: non∞ ([[User:Angelanime|Angelanime]] - user name change to non∞)
Desired Series for Affiliation:
<br />
1. [http://heartcrusadescans.wordpress.com/kyuuketsuki-ni-natta-kimi-wa-eien-no-ai-wo-hajimeru/ Kyuuketsuki ni Natta Kimi wa Eien no Ai wo Hajimeru]
<br />
2. [http://heartcrusadescans.wordpress.com/novels/the-sleepy-residents-of-birdcage-manor/ Torikagosou no Kyou mo Nemutai Juunintachi]

Desired Affiliation Type (Hosted/Linked): Hosted
Specific Accommodations/Rules Desired:
Minor typo corrections and stylistic edits are okay.
Email and contact information: heart.crusader@gmail.com, B-T forum username: angelanime
--[[User:Angelanime|non∞]] 05:42, 15 September 2014 (CDT)

:Do you wish to have an affiliate link on the main page? Or, are you planning something like what Nanodesu Translation is doing? --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 23:30, 26 September 2014 (CDT)

I can host directly on the site. Nanodesu is linking their releases to their sites, right? I mean to place text here to be available for editors to edit. --[[User:Angelanime|non∞]] 06:43, 27 September 2014 (CDT)

:Nanodesu is indeed doing that. Just inform us here again once you're done making the pages. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 07:49, 27 September 2014 (CDT)

Here are the project pages. I'll create the registration pages, etc. later.
*[[Kyuuketsuki_ni_Natta_Kimi_wa_Eien_no_Ai_wo_Hajimeru| Kyuuketsuki ni Natta Kimi wa Eien no Ai wo Hajimeru]]
*[[Torikagosou_no_Kyou_mo_Nemutai_Juunintachi| Torikagosou no Kyou mo Nemutai Juunintachi]]
--[[User:Angelanime|non∞]] 06:49, 28 September 2014 (CDT)

I decided I'll host the translation here always after 24 hours passed since it's published it on my website.
Also, the registration pages are created, volume 1 novel illustrations and prologues added. --[[User:Angelanime|non∞]] 12:53, 28 September 2014 (CDT)

=== Approval Project ===

I, Xdtiagonzhar, have started a new project for Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari and uploaded some translations. But I started at 1 month ago, sorry for not contact first.
The link to the project overview page is here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Tate_no_Yuusha_no_Nariagari_(Indonesia). --[[User:Xdtiagonzhar|Xdtiagonzhar]] ([[User talk:Xdtiagonzhar|talk]]) 23:34, 8 October 2014 (CDT)

=== New Translation Project. ===

I, Fresh Mint, have started a new project for Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (Spanish) and uploaded some translations.
The link to the project overview page is here: [[Tate_no_Yuusha_no_Nariagari_(Spanish)|Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (Spanish).]] --[[User:Fresh Mint|Fresh Mint]] ([[User talk:Fresh Mint|talk]]) 23:51, 5 November 2014 (CST)

=== Highschool dxd romanian ===

Hi , i am a new translator guy wich i want to translate highschool dxd into romanian . i also made the webpage so i hope that i will get an aprovement . This is the link [[High School DxD (Romanian)]] .
I`m sorry if i sent again the message but i forgot , my bad , to sign for administration
--[[User:DragoMuseveni|DragoMuseveni]] ([[User talk:DragoMuseveni|talk]]) 13:17, 7 November 2014 (CST)

=== New Project: Owari no Serafu (Indonesia) ===

I, Bhrerigas, have started a new project for Owari no Serafu (Indonesia) and uploaded some translations.
The link to the project overview page is here: [[Owari no Serafu (Indonesia)]]. --[[User:Bhrerigas|Bhrerigas]] ([[User_talk:Bhrerigas|talk]]) 04:08, 12 December 2014 (CST)

=== Approval for New Project ===

I, Bowguyz, have started a new project for Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan and uploaded some translations.
The link to the project overview page is here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kuusen_Madoushi_Kouhosei_no_Kyoukan. --[[User:Bowguyz|Bowguyz]] ([[User talk:Bowguyz|talk]]) 09:48, 15 December 2014 (CST)

I've started a new project for '''Maru-MA series''' in Spanish, I'm uploading all the volume 01 and I'm working on 02 to 04 right now.
The link to the project overview page is here: [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Maru-MA_~_(Spanish) Maru-MA ~ (Spanish)]. --[[User:RedGlassesGirl|RedGlassesGirl]] ([[User talk:RedGlassesGirl|talk]]) 04:52, 17 December 2014 (CST)

I, RedGlassesGirl, am assuming Project Manager responsibilities for [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Maru-MA_~_(Spanish) Maru-MA ~ (Spanish)].
There are no other active members right now, but I'm the main translator and editor out of Baka Tsuki for this project, so if some of the staff of the fansub join they'll endorse this nomination. --[[User:RedGlassesGirl|RedGlassesGirl]] ([[User talk:RedGlassesGirl|talk]]) 04:58, 17 December 2014 (CST)

I started a new project for '''Zectas'''. It is a hosted project and links are provided for one complete volume. The links to overview page is [[Zectas]] --[[User:Rex|Rex]] ([[User talk:Rex|talk]]) 19:52, 26 December 2014 (CST)

I, Hamberz19, have started a new project for '''Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan (Spanish)''', Currently I'm uploading all the volume 01 but due to some changes on the English version it'll take a while to upload the whole volume one. The link to the project overview page is here: [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Rakudai_Kishi_no_Eiyuutan_~_(Spanish) Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan (Spanish)]. --[[User:Hamberz19|Hamberz19]] ([[User talk:Hamberz19|talk]]) 17:35, 13 January 2015 (CST)

=== New Alt. Language Project. ===

Hey, I, Ota, have started a new project for <b>Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria</b> and uploaded a few translations.<br>Here's the link to the project overview: [[Utsuro_no_Hako_to_Zero_no_Maria_~_(Brazilian_Portuguese)|Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria (Brazilian Portuguese)]]. --[[User:Otakkun|Otakkun]] ([[User talk:Otakkun|talk]]) 00:44, 22 December 2014 (CST)

== <big>Account Problems, Human Resources:</big> ==
=== For managerial post transfer & Post ===

Most of the projects that were managed by [[User:Par74583|Par74583]] were started by me and I'm in the staff. But he has been inactive for over a year or so. So i'd like to transfer to the managerial post of those projects as i took that of chaika's. i'm thinking of searching for someone interested in tl'ing them, i'll probably help out if i find someone to continue them, or if someone takes them over.and since anyone interested would probably contact the manager first if they want to tl it, it will be better if i'm there to respond. --[[User:Ways|<span style="color:green;font:bold 10pt kristen itc">TheCatWalk</span>]] --nyaa~ 22:35, 3 October 2014 (CDT)

Doing this project, so i'll be talking managerial post [[Lugal_Gigam]] --[[User:Ways|<span style="color:green;font:bold 10pt kristen itc">TheCatWalk</span>]] --nyaa~ 03:26, 26 October 2014 (CDT)

== <big>Site or project problems:</big> ==

=== Removal of Teasers from Main Projects ===

The following light novels were incorrectly tagged as light novel (Seriously need a better tag for main projects) which put them onto the main projects page despite being a teaser:

Owari no Serafu

City Series

Kyuuketsuki ni Natta Kimi wa Eien no Ai wo Hajimeru

*Removed LN tag from Owari, Kyuuketsuki, and one that was unlisted here. I left City series because it's close to one vol and I remember Ping was big on there being exceptions in cases like it (aka js). --[[User:Cthaeh|Cthaeh]] ([[User talk:Cthaeh|talk]]) 18:56, 5 December 2014 (CST)

=== OLN The Devil's Spice link in the side bar is going to a "File not Found" error page ===

The OLN The Devil's Spice link in the side bar is going to an error page. I suspect this is because of the apostrophe in the page title, but I am not certain. When I hover over the link, it says "INVALID-TITLE" in the baka-tsuki URL. Can an admin fix this broken link? This is a newly approved OLN by Onizuka-Gto.

It should be going to this URL: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=The_Devil%27s_Spice

--[[User:Kandahikaru|Kandahikaru]] ([[User talk:Kandahikaru|talk]]) 08:48, 24 December 2014 (CST)

== Requesting to Propose A New Project Under A Translated Version of LN ==

Hi and greeting.

My name is Muhamad from Malaysia. I'm currently studying undergraduate in United Kingdom.
During my spare time, I used to read Light Novels (LN) from Baka-Tsuki (BT) and my Japanese friend, who is in the same universities. I do enjoy reading both original and English-translated LN.

Then, he said to me: 'Why not translating them into your Own Language (Malay)?" And here I am, quite to afraid to suggest it beforehand.

Therefore, I would like to request your permission, and your approval to add another language-translated LN, that is Malay.

I know this is something new, but I would like to try it by means of translating it to my native language.
If possible, I would like to found this new project, so that people from my country and those who can read Malay appreciate more stories in LN by means of Malay language.

I will give it a try, and you could give me a response.

Here's my email: mujahidmuda13@gmail.com. Feel free to drop me a email, to ask any question.

Thank you for your time reading this post, and also for your help and support.
I am looking forward to be part of BT community team.

Regards,
Muhamad.

== New Project page for hosted/linked. ==

I, NoOne2246, have started a new project for Maou na Anoko to Murabito A and uploaded some translations.
The link to the project overview page is here: https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Maou_na_Anoko_to_Murabito_A.

Translation Group Name (with link):
:NoOne2246 (http://noone2246.wordpress.com/)

Name of Representative:
:NoOne2246

Desired Series for Affiliation:
:Maou na Anoko to Murabito A (魔王なあの娘と村人A)

Desired Affiliation Type (Hosted/Linked):
:*Hosted text that has been completely translated, translation checked and edited.
:*Linked to other text that is still under the process of translation.

Specific Accommodations/Rules Desired:
:*Text will reflect any major edits done to the blog translation.
:*minor edits like spelling and grammar.
:*Suggestions to sentence structure will be posted onto the discussion page to be checked first.

Email and contact information:
:pm on BT forums.

--5th January 2015 7:45am AEST(+10)

== Supervisor needed for removing Light Novel (English) tag from abandoned projects ==

No Game No Life and Log Horizon are now fully abandoned, so their "Light Novel (English)" category tags should be removed to take them off the main project list. Since the pages are now protected, this requires a supervisor. --[[User:Cthaeh|Cthaeh]] ([[User talk:Cthaeh|talk]]) 21:20, 4 January 2015 (CST)

Done. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 22:50, 4 January 2015 (CST)

== Unification of Series Overview sections ==

As stated in the subject title, the release info in series overview sections should be unified. Some don't list subtitles in japanese, or some extra list the page count, other have totally different formats of date. The way the brackets or dashes are put are different from project to project. Please consider making a formatting rule for this information. --non∞ 14:31, 9 January 2015 (CST)

== Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan ==

I, Hamberz19, have started a new project for Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan and uploaded some translation.
The link to the project overview page is here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Rakudai_Kishi_no_Eiyuutan_~_(Spanish)--[[User:Hamberz19|Hamberz19]] ([[User talk:Hamberz19|talk]]) 17:23, 13 January 2015 (CST)

== External Project Request ==

Translation Group Name (with link): Sousetsuka sousetsuka.blogspot.com

Name of Representative: Either Sousetsuka or this username is fine

Desired Series for Affiliation: Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku

Desired Affiliation Type (Hosted/Linked): Linked

Specific Accommodations/Rules Desired:
Listing one link to homepage in the main project page. The rest follow guideline for linked affiliation project.

Email and contact information: zweindrei@gmail.com

--[[User:Muryoku daga|Muryoku daga]] ([[User talk:Muryoku daga|talk]]) 01:26, 15 January 2015 (CST)

== Functionality to Download as PDF Not Working ==

Just tried to download the double seven chapters from Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei:Volume 12, and I'm presented with a "POST request failed" error.

also included is "The POST request to http://tools.pediapress.com/mw-serve/ failed ($2)."

== Assuming a Project Manager for Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan (Spanish/Español) ==

I, [[User:Hamberz19|Hamberz19]], am assuming Project Manager responsibilities for [[Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan ~ (Spanish)|Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan (Spanish)]]. All active members of the Project Staff endorse this nomination.

== Forum Issues==

=== Forum: Password changing issue ===

I am being asked for the password change but the following message comes upon 'submit':
The e-mail domain gmail.com you have used for your e-mail address has been blocked because it is blacklisted. For details please seehttp://www.ahbl.org/lktool?lookup=gmail.com.
An entry on the blacklist may have several reasons:

Not able to navigate/post to the above forum topic linked by misogi, and the redirected link 'ahbl' not working. Need help please. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 23:55, 7 January 2015 (CST)

=== Impossible to register e-mail address on forum. ===

Hello, I've been trying to connect to the forums, but I have to change my password. But in order to change my password, I have to fill up the mail textfield even if my mail address was already confirmed. And here's my problem; no matter what mail address I use, the website keeps saying "The e-mail domain gmail.com you have used for your e-mail address has been blocked because it is blacklisted. For details please see http://www.ahbl.org/lktool?lookup=gmail.com." (The same goes with my qq.com address and my yahoo.com address). This is due to that : http://www.ahbl.org/content/last-notice-wildcarding-services-jan-1st
Can you please fix it as I cannot even browse the forums because of that, and this is probably the case of many other users.

Thanks in advance.

Antoine "UraKn0x" COUY

Hi

Unfortunately, this issue can only be resolved through TLG.

The current issue is that: The site checker went down... so every website returns positive.

Unfortunately, nothing can be done on our part at the moment.

~Teh Ping

I cannot access my forum account for several weeks now. This is the error message when I am forced to create a new password ("Before you may continue browsing the board you are required to change your password."):

The e-mail domain gmail.com you have used for your e-mail address has been blocked because it is blacklisted. For details please see http://www.ahbl.org/lktool?lookup=gmail.com.
An entry on the blacklist may have several reasons:
1. You are a well-known spammer.
2. Last time a well-known spammer was using the dynamic IP address which you got from your ISP (Internet Service Provider), your e-mail address or the username you have choosen.
3. Your ISP is well-known for a lot of spamming customers and is not fighting against spammers enough.

I have no idea what's wrong with gmail and I am not a spammer nor, to my knowledge, is my well-known ISP a spammer.

=== forum account blocked ===

i logged in multiple times with the wrong password on different occasions because it was saved wrong and was to busy reset it and now that i did it tells me to change pasword and when i do it gives me this.

user:zerak
The e-mail domain hotmail.com you have used for your e-mail address has been blocked because it is blacklisted. For details please see http://spameatingmonkey.com/lookup.html?check=hotmail.com.
An entry on the blacklist may have several reasons:

1. You are a well-known spammer.

2. Last time a well-known spammer was using the dynamic IP address which you got from your ISP (Internet Service Provider), your e-mail address or the username you have choosen.

3. Your ISP is well-known for a lot of spamming customers and is not fighting against spammers enough.

=== Forum Access ===

I had a problem today and could not enter the forum area. It said I needed to change my Password. When I tried to do that, It said that my email address IP was not allowed because it was blacklisted and gave me the site address to check it. When I did, the check site said that it was not blacklisted. What gives? Does my forum account need to be reset or something? I was able to access the regular project page by creating a log in through there but can't still access the forum part of the site.
Please let me know what I'm doing wrong.

=== Refer to the main page ===
Hi everyone, please refer to the [[Main_Page|main page]] for information. This is an issue but unfortunately we are unable to do anything without TLG. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User talk:KuroiHikari|talk]]) 07:12, 25 January 2015 (CST)

=== Banned from the forums? --FateXeroSaber ===

If this isn't the right place to post this, then sorry, but i have no where to else to go...

I'm FateXeroSaber, i normally view a particular translation forum post for Mondaiji ... however i don't always log in unless i go to reply.
I went to log in, and naturally it asks me to change my password... upon doing that, apparently my domain name (hotmail/gmail) is apparently blocked so i can't do anything.
I can't view most of the pages needed (The Team) to try and get in contact since i can't change my password.
Using the links it provided, it said that those domains aren't even on the list. so i have no idea what to do. I'm the only one in the house that even knows/uses this website, and it can't be due to spamming, as i haven't even been logged in to post... So any help with this matter would be appreciated.

--FateXeroSaber 10:44pm (UTC +10)

As above --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User talk:KuroiHikari|talk]]) 08:17, 28 January 2015 (CST)

== Adachi to Shimamura - Translation to English ==

I (Vceopc) started a new project for Adachi to Shimamura (安達としまむら) and uploaded some translations.
The link to the project overview page is here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Adachi_to_Shimamura.

I haven't really worked with wikis before. Sorry if there's anything I didn't do properly. >_<

--[[User:Vceopc|Vceopc]] ([[User talk:Vceopc|talk]]) 23:22, 28 January 2015 (CST)

== New Project ==
I, {Aeroline}, have started a new project for {CtG—Zero Kara Sodateru Dennou Shoujo} and uploaded some translations.
The link to the project overview page is here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=CtG—Zero_Kara_Sodateru_Dennou_Shoujo. --[[User:Aeroline|Aeroline]] ([[User talk:Aeroline|talk]]) 04:02, 4 February 2015 (CST)

I, {Translatebear}, have started a new project for {Seiken Tsukai no World Break} and uploaded some translations.
The link to the project overview page is here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Seiken_Tsukai_No_World_Break. --[[User:Translatebear|Translatebear]] ([[User talk:Translatebear|talk]]) 15:23, 5 February 2015 (CST)

== Pending projects ready for approval to full projects ==

The projects [[Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan]] and [[Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?]] appear to meet all full project requirements and their respective project staff have placed the pages in the Pending Authorisation category to await administration approval. --[[User:Cthaeh|Cthaeh]] ([[User talk:Cthaeh|talk]]) 11:15, 7 February 2015 (CST)

== Username ==

I can log into the BT main site but I think my forum name is banned? I don't use it very ofen, and I think the last time might have been over a year ago. Would it be possible to correct this if it is indeed banned?

== Game Sensou ==

Hello Sir,

I've updated the Teaser Project "Boku to Kanojo no Game Sensou" and posted the complete Volume 1 as a external contributor of Kami Translation. Though I've updated the "Staff section", in the page, I don't know how to update the "Update Section" myself. the "Feedback thread" linked the forum is also Transferred to the Teaser Section of the Forums for now, if possible please check if I did something wrong or not and while you are at it, if found no error, transfer it from Teaser Project to the Main Project section.

===Project Manager for Maru-MA series===
I, [[user:RedGlassesGirl|RedGlassesGirl]], am assuming Project Manager responsibilities for [[Maru-MA]].
All active members of the Project Staff endorse this nomination. --[[User:RedGlassesGirl|RedGlassesGirl]] ([[User talk:RedGlassesGirl|talk]]) 07:01, 9 February 2015 (CST)

==Pending project to full project==

I think [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu]] meets the requirements for a full project! I'm not planning to work on it any more for a while, but I want to increase its visibility so other translators will get interested. I'll stay as the project manager unless someone wants to take over. --[[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]] ([[User talk:Contradiction|talk]]) 15:03, 22 February 2015 (CST)

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu

2015-02-22T20:06:35Z

Contradiction: /* Translators */

[[Category:Pending Authorisation]]

{{Teaser|English}}

[[File:OreTwintail v1 00a.jpg|thumb|300px]]
'''Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu''' (俺、ツインテールになります。) is a Japanese light novel written by '''Mizusawa Yume''' (水沢夢) and illustrated by '''Kasuga Ayumu''' (春日歩). The publisher is ''GAGAGA bunko.'' An anime adaptation aired from Oct 10, 2014 to Dec 26, 2014 consisting of 12 episodes.

'''Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu''' series is also available in the following languages:
*[[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu - Français|French (Français)]]

== Story Synopsis (Amazon version) ==

For the sake of the Earth, I will become a twintail!

Mitsuka Souji is a normal high school student with an extraordinary passion for twintails. One day, Twoearle, a beautiful, mysterious girl who claims to come from another world, appears before him. And at the same time, monsters appear in the town where Souji lives!

“Fuhahahahaha! We will gather all the twintails of this world!”

They are creatures from another world who feed on the power of the human spirit, Elemera. Twoearle entrusts Souji with the Daydream Armor "Tailgear," which is powered by his intense twintail element, and he transforms into a young girl twintail warrior, TailRed!

From this day, an aberrant battle with TailRed and a little bit of transformation has begun!

Winner of the judges' award in the 6th Shogakukan Light Novel Awards.

== Translation ==

=== [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

Here is the [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Registration Page|registration page]]. Contact [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]] before signing up. The Baka-Tsuki format guidelines might come in handy, although this project has its own version: [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Format Guidelines]]

== Talk page and Q&A ==

If you want to ask questions or send complaints or comments, one avenue of contact is the [[Talk:Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu|Talk Page]]. It has a little Q&A section, too.

There is also the neglected [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=6079 Feedback thread].

== Updates ==
* 16 February 2015
** Posted the epilogue and afterword. Also, I posted a revised version of the prologue and Chapter 1, and tried to fix some of the inconsistent punctuation. If I messed up the formatting, please let me know at ultiroid at gmail.com.
* 15 February 2015
** Posted Chapter 4 to the sound of Drag Guildy exploding in the background.
* 1 February 2015
** I was trying to finish it all at once, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. So with 28 pages left, here is [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HQcyvsJqSf-F_Vt4YreUbV00EP6An3WkRVVgomWtp1o the current google doc].
* 7 January 2015
** The draft of Chapter 3 was posted. There are more untranslated character pages: now it's Miharu, Erina, and Drag Guildy. I did [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=File:OreTwintail_v1_157_translated.gif Twoearle] but the size of the text font is a little off.
* 21 December 2014
** I'm active again. Also, while I was fucking around, someone translated all of Chapter 3 [http://pastebin.com/b0ApSEDr (pastebin)] and some amount of Chapter 4. Please check that out if you're getting tired of waiting. I will keep working on this version, though. It's nice to have more than one person doing it.
* 12 October 2014
** Officially joined the "Twoearle" faction. (It can't be "Thuearle" because "u" in that font doesn't have a chip out of the top right corner: [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=File:OreTwintail_v1_225.jpg])
* 6 September 2014
** The draft of Chapter 2 was posted. There are some untranslated character pages, but I skipped those for now and started working on Chapter 3 ([https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_s1wNTdALi-RetZ8lJl0xLKBe-zAchU3ae1WhF5rlZg/edit google doc])
* 5 July 2014
** Translated [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1 character pictures|the two character sheet pages]] between chapters 1 and 2, and started working on Chapter 2. ([https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QR7sLEQNzG4htmiSFlADjHwzGrYL0LASbk9L75-9JNw google doc])
* 3 July 2014
** The draft of [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Volume 1 Chapter 1]] was posted.
* 6 May 2013‎
** Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu teaser project initiated.

== ''Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu'' by Mizusawa Yume ==

=== Volume 1 ([[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1|Full Text]])===
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]] | [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue|(old)]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]] | [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1 (old)|(old)]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1 character pictures|Chapter 1 character sheets]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2 character pictures|Chapter 2 character sheets]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3 character pictures|Chapter 3 character sheets]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Translator's Notes|Translator's notes]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Afterword|Afterword]]

== Project Staff ==

* Project Manager: [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]]

== Translators ==
For details on who did what, please consult the project [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Registration Page|registration page]].

===Active===
*[[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]]

===Inactive===
*[[User:RikiNutcase| RikiNutcase]]
*Aereus (translated a lot of chapter 1. Not a BT user, but the translation was used with permission)

== Project Status ==

Project Status: '''Teaser'''

== Series Overview ==
:*俺、ツインテールになります。   19 June 2012 ISBN： 978-4094513462
:*俺、ツインテールになります。2 20 November 2012 ISBN： 978-4094513752
:*俺、ツインテールになります。3 19 March 2013 ISBN： 978-4094513981
:*俺、ツインテールになります。4 18 July 2013 ISBN： 978-4094514247
:*俺、ツインテールになります。5 18 December 2013 ISBN： 978-4094514544
:*俺、ツインテールになります。6 16 June 2014 ISBN: 978-4094514919
:*俺、ツインテールになります。7 18 September 2014 ISBN: 978-4094515084
:*俺、ツインテールになります。8 19 December 2014 ISBN: 978-4094515244

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-02-20T15:20:25Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 1: I am a Twintail ==

After school on the first day of my high school life. A day I should have had fond memories of.

I, Mitsuka Souji, along with my childhood friend Tsube Aika, were having a late lunch at the Cafe Adolescenza. It might seem pretty fashionable for us to be eating lunch at a cafe, but seeing as I live here, it’s like a normal meal for me.

Its main selling point is our special house blend coffee. It has lots of fans, but, being something my mom does on the side, the shop is prone to being closed whenever she feels like it.

The sign over the door read “Closed”. Of course, that meant that it was just the two of us in here.

The intense spicy smell hanging in the air was nothing compared to the weight of sorrow in my chest.

“Why the heck did I put down something like that...”

“There’s no such thing as the Twintail Club,” my childhood friend said, looking at me amazed. The smell of spice swirled around her.

“I was put on the spot... and wrote it down without thinking. I didn't mean to!”

“If you ask me, anyone that would inadvertently write down something like that is bad news. You have Twintails on the brain.”

“Shut up! How many times do you plan to make fun of me for that?!”

“Yeah, yeah, ta-daa―”

She held the two tails on both sides of her head, long enough to reach her hips, and swung them to stir me up.

“......nguh.”

She may be trying her best to make me angry, but to me it feels more like a refreshing greeting.

As always, her twintails were wonderful to behold.

Waist-length twintails framing the head ― they may be the most basic, but their simple purity shows you the elegant conceit of hair that has been worn in twintails every day for years. A great artist's paintings can draw people in even when they aren’t using flashy colours or a surprising subject. It’s like that, I think.

“Still, the teacher didn't have to say it out loud...”

“Well, what did you expect when you wrote something that bizarre?”

“Well, excuse me!”

No matter how long we continue the pointless argument, it will not overturn this fact: there are over a thousand days of my life as a high school student ahead of me, and on the first day, I made the biggest mistake of my life.

The private school that I go to, Yougetsu Academy, can take you straight from elementary school into university. A super-escalator school. I wasn’t going to feel different just because I’d moved up into high school.

That’s what I thought, but... the size of the school building, the gymnasium, everything was so much larger than junior high school that I was overwhelmed.

And the highlight was the orientation in the gymnasium by the leaders of the clubs, after the entrance ceremony had ended. The various sports and culture clubs took turns making their appeals to the new students. The passion they showed moved me deeply.

But.

The image I see when I close my eyes is the girl who took the stage after that. To be exact, her hairstyle. Twintails.

Shindou Erina.

She may have been about as tall as a grade schooler, but her freshman welcoming speech as student council president would rival that of the greatest orators in human history. Her address touched the hearts of everyone who heard it.

“There are no limits to what you can accomplish here. I, together with the high school division of Yougetsu Academy, will guide your brilliant future on the path to its full bloom. I promise you!”

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, yet the tone of her speech contained no hint of condescension. The dignified manner in which she stood was mesmerizing.

(She’s beautiful...)

I stared at her, forgetting to blink.

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, but it was the first time I’d ever heard a woman use ’young lady’ language, and she made it sound so natural that I was shocked.

And above all else – her twintails.

Hair, of course, does not have a peerage. But if it did, then those beautiful twintails would have held a high and noble title. The way the tips of her hair curled softly into circles also showed the excellence of her upbringing.

As she put heat in her words and moved more vehemently, the twintails danced through the air in response to her motion, as if she were a princess under a luxurious chandelier and the twintails were her partner on the dance floor.

I couldn’t get my heart to stop pounding.

It felt like everyone around me was staring at her as though a kitten had gotten up on the stage, but I'm probably imagining things.

The student council president has such amazing twintails. I can only imagine how wonderful the next three years of my life are going to be.

On the way back to my classroom, I paid no attention to my chattering classmates. They were like a candle compared to the brilliant light still burning in my heart. The lingering memory of the orientation wasn’t much more than a fart.

All I could see was that beautiful scene. My head was full of twintails. I had my head in the clouds for the self-introductions once we got back to the classroom, too.

And I don’t even seem to have noticed when they handed out the club questionnaire.

“All right, pass your sheets forward starting at the back, ple~ase.”

“Oh!”

The class rep's slow drawl brought me back down to Earth. The girl whose name I didn’t know (of course, because I hadn’t listened to her introduction) handed me some sheets. In a panic, I scribbled something on the the paper before me.

“Hm hmm... Huh~? Someone forgot to write their name on their survey~”

“Oh... Sorry. I think that’s mine. I was rushing.”

The teacher looked up from the sheets she was going through and tilted her head in doubt, so I said my name.

“Ahh, Mitsuka-kun, was it? ...Twintail club? Did we have a twintail club here? ... Oh~h, you mean you want to set one up.”

"What!? No, I didn't actually want to do that, really! I was-"

I was even more nervous, and I had gone beyond rescue.

“I see~. ... Twintail club? You must really like twintails, Mitsuka.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Obviously.”

― Conditioned reflex.

And here I was hoping that I could start anew, in this place full of fresh faces.

That was the instant that decided my position for three years of high school.

“Alright everyone, that’s all for today’s homeroom. It seems like there have been some deviants in the area lately, so be careful!”

“Why are you saying this now!? Look, teacher, please wait! I am serious! I really, seriously love twintails!! Wait, that’s not what I... argh!!”

And so, the first day of my brilliant high school life ended, with me sabotaging myself in the most pathetic way imaginable.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....”

Just the memory of it is killing me.

When I see a blank I write “twintail” in it. That is a pretty ridiculous conditioned reflex. It’s already part of my physiological makeup ― no, it might be closer to the area of ecology.

“Mguh... mm. Seconds.”

Ignoring me and the full cup of coffee that hadn’t even touched my lips, Aika calmly put her hand on the second plate of curry.

Uh, I don’t have any appetite, so it’s fine, but still, that one’s mine.

“Writing that stuff down isn’t so bad, but that was pretty much the worst follow-up ever made. Why did you have to freak out so badly?”

“If you knew that I was nervous, then you should have come in and backed me up! Aren’t we friends!!”

“Friends... yeah.”

There was something sullen about the look on Aika’s face. What are you mad about? You just stole my lunch.

“You have to use questionnaires and stuff to make a good first impression. It's just an interest check, after all. Yeah, it says to write down clubs you're interested in, or clubs you want to start, and all that, but it's just a formality. What new student would suddenly assert themselves like that?”

“Uh... You mean...”

“You know what that means, don't you? By writing that down, you're telling everyone that, even after seeing all the clubs give their presentations, even after all their recruiting efforts, you still want to set up your own club. You get it, don't you?”

“And then I... wrote something strange like `twintail club’?”

“That’s right.”

“We can look back and analyze it calmly now, but you know, back then my mind was one hundred percent blank!!”

“Well, I could have at least stuck out my chest and said, ’A lot of people don’t even know the word for that hairstyle, so don’t suddenly start talking about it.’”

“That wouldn’t have helped at all, and what were you going to stick out, there’s nothing thbuhhh”

My little resistance was cut off in the middle.
Aika's got a complex about her modest (non-existent) chest, which is why I like to rib her about it. But, as you can see, if you do that, she will punch you in the face with one hand while eating off her plate with the other.

It can’t be helped, the rest of her is perfect.

Especially the twintails, and the twintails.

“Ugh. If only I was better at improvising...”

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that it’s indirectly the fault of the student council president that my future was destroyed, the exact opposite of what she said in her speech. Although, as Aika says, I was basically inviting this result by being such a loser.

Sighing gloomily, I wrapped my arms about my head.

“Besides, that obsession of yours would have been exposed sooner or later. Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

“You’re telling me I’ve come to a crossroads in my life? Then don’t just go on eating two meals worth of curry as if nothing's wrong! And I’m impressed you can eat curry while drinking all that coffee!”

You'd think someone like her, who could finish off two large plates of curry as if it were nothing, would have a bigger chest. Is it because of her hair? Does her body need all the nutrients just to sustain it...?

I felt a strange chill suddenly and glanced around the store.

“...?”

A woman customer was sitting alone. Her position was at an exact right angle to our seats.

Was it my imagination, or were her eyes flickering over here?

(That’s strange. I thought Mom already closed the store.)

But when I look at the cup on her table, it seems like she was sitting there from the start. We just didn’t notice. Probably Mom didn’t take a good look around before she rushed off.

Great. I thought there would be no one else around. Why did I have to run my mouth like that? I’m not surprised she’s looking.

“Hey, Souji... you’re doing it again.”

“Ah!”

Snapping back to my senses, I realized that I was holding on to Aika’s twintails. She breathed out a tired sigh and I hurriedly released my grip.

It’s half your fault for leaving them on the table and letting them slip into my grasp so easily ― but that’s a very selfish thing to say.

Because when they’re as long as Aika’s, if you don’t lay them on a chair or a table, they’d touch the ground the moment you sat down.

“Sorry. I really can’t help it. It’s been like this since we were kids. Touching your twintails just... calms me down.”

I know that already, Aika replied, coolly. She sighed again.

“Seriously. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel ashamed of myself.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“What are you going to do if someone takes this the wrong way? They’ll look at my twintails, and... and us being friendly... and connect the dots...”

Having exhausted her coffee, Aika kept glancing between me and the table, all the while pressing her index fingers together bashfully.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you want to change your hairstyle?”

“N-no way! Why would I change my hairstyle just because someone said something about it? I like my hair this way, thank you very much!”

Exactly. Seeing this steadfast determination of hers made me proud to be her childhood friend.

Despite her attitude, Aika’s the one person who would understand my love for twintails. As she said, we’d often get made fun of because we were always together.

But ― neither of us cared about what anyone else had to say about it.

She’s my childhood friend. My best friend.

Everyone has a friend or two they’d keep for life. Someone they can open their heart to. As for myself, by pure chance - that someone just happened to be a girl.

Part of it was because we were neighbours, but it seems like our families have been on good terms for a long time. That’s why it’s almost as if we were siblings. As if we were from the same family.

Back in grade school, I was never able to beat her in a fight. It was only afterwards that I found out her granddad had been teaching her martial arts.

Suppressing my wounded pride, I eventually started training with her at the dojo. I suppose that was when it all started. Ever since then, we’ve always spent our time together.

For some reason, we’d always end up in the same class. No matter how classes got shuffled, or how many people transferred in, we’d see each other in class every year.

To be honest, it was starting to get really weird.

Aika was always popular. She’s frank, honest, strong, and always so full of life - I mean, why wouldn’t she be?

And here I am, screwing everything up in the first day of school. I hope I don’t cause her too much trouble.

“―!?”

I felt another shiver run down my back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”

I kept my voice low. Aika seemed to have noticed it as well. That customer was still around.

“How... Why didn’t I sense her presence...!?”

Although Aika was whispering, what she was saying was even more grandiose than usual. Do you normally sense people’s presence as you go through your day...?

That woman was still sitting there. Quietly observing us.

Her eyes met mine. She hurriedly spun around, turning to face the wall behind her.

“What the heck...?”

Okay? That was strange, but I’d feel uncomfortable too if some other customer was kicking up a fuss across the room. Guess I’d better restrain myself.

While I started to relax, Aika was having none of it. I could tell she was on high alert.

Twintails have expressions of their own. Anger, sadness, joy, suspicion, and anxiety are just some of the emotions that they can show.

What I’m saying is - twintails are like a second mouth.

“...”

Aika gestured to me silently from the side of the table. That woman was now holding up a newspaper, as if to conceal herself from us.

She had poked a hole through it, and was peeping at us through it.

Are you kidding me?

It was beyond ridiculous. Was she filming some kind of comedy skit?

I became paranoid there might be some kind of hidden camera in the cafe. Please keep me from becoming Boy A in the credits.

“... Let’s try not to make eye contact.”

“Right.”

Aika had also settled on that being the best course of action in this situation.

Our assumed suspect folded the newspaper over, set it on the table, and stood up.

For a moment, I hoped she would leave. Instead she went right past the entrance, heading in our direction.

Stopping right next to me, unphased by our shocked expressions, she looked directly at me with a smile on her face.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Hold it right there!” Aika shouted in a rapid-fire manner, exasperated.

“Yes?”

Aika stood up while scowling at me. I flinched instinctively. Leaning her head back, the woman began to laugh.

“Who are you?!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do mind!”

“I have some business with this gentlemen over here.”

“With me?!”

Like a tour guide giving information, she pointed in my direction with her palm open.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?! Standing there with that calm look on your face in those flashy clothes. I’m gonna jam a straw in your cleavage!”

“Now, now, Aika, calm down. Please,” I said, looking to defuse the situation.

I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She may have been be a bit odd, but seeing her up close, she really was an incredibly beautiful woman - young lady, from the looks of it.

Her Japanese was excellent, but she was definitely a foreigner. She had white hair... no, wait. Make that silver hair.

Like it was dyed, yet it seemed natural. Which made it even more unnatural. Silver hair like hers doesn’t exist. Yet, it was still beautiful.

It seemed to glitter in the dim lighting of the cafe.

Along with her long eyelashes, her eyes were so blue they reminded one of sapphires.

Following my gaze down the bridge of her nose, she smiled brightly with her delicate pink lips.

Like something straight out of a movie, she was a mysterious faerie., It felt like her entire body was surrounded in a faint glow, like the twinkling light of a firefly.

Above all, just barely below visible when you look at her face, the enormous volume of her breasts demanded your attention. What an outrageous fairy.

She looked to be around the same age as Aika, and yet the difference between them was almost depressing. The thin clothes emphasizing her cleavage clashed with her clean-cut features. Over which she wore a white robe. One might even call it a coat. The design was quite fashionable.

Her skirt, which one might even hesitate to call a mini-skirt... traced a line that made one wonder how her panties weren’t visible. Yet, with one look at her long slender legs, any doubts about her ability to coordinate clothes vanished. It was certainly a sight not seen among the masses.

It’s such a shame.

Twintails would undoubtedly suit sparkling silver hair like hers.

There I go again... I’ve barely even met this girl, and yet my brain was already filled with thoughts of twintails.

For a guy going through puberty, undressing such a cute girl in your mind would be a natural instinct, honed over millennia.

Naked? With twintails?

Hmm...

I suppose that still counts?

“Ow.”

Aika jabbed me in the temple with her straw. What the heck are you doing, I asked, in a hushed tone. Aika simply turned her head away with a “Hmph!”.

Watching the two of us bicker, the girl looked like she was smirking while she laughed. Instead of an innocent laugh, I sensed a twinge of evil to her laugh. Maybe I’m wrong. She does seem like a very gentle person.

“Uhm, is there something that ''we'' can help you with?”

I unconsciously drew myself into the back of the chair.

The girl put her hand on top of the bench and leaned in closer to me.

“Yes. I have very important business with ''you''.”

“...Important business?”

Pretending not to hear her clearly wasn’t working.

Re-iterating she only wants to speak with me... was it a language problem? Across the table, Aika’s frown deepened.

“My name is Twoearle.”

“I see... Miss... Twoearle...”

She’s definitely not from this country. Nevertheless, her Japanese was impeccable.

“You sure like twintails.”

“I love them.”

Oops... that’s what I felt inside. And I blurted it out immediately. Saying it out loud to someone I just met – I really didn’t learn anything from what happened earlier today, did I?

“Would you mind not asking why, and put on this bracelet for me?”

“What the heck does this have to do with anything!?”

The girl known as Twoearle suddenly pulled an object out of her coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a very beautiful glittering red bracelet.

Taking advantage of my confusion, she softly took the bracelet and gently prised my fingers apart.

“H-hey now―”

With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the back of my hand. At which point, a strange tingling feeling shot through my body.

“Now, please put it on.”

“He doesn’t need it!”

Leaning over the table, Aika roughly grabbed the bracelet and pushed it back towards Twoearle.

“What is with you?! You just waltz over here and start pushing strange things onto him, how rude!”

“It is not anything suspicious.”

“At this point, it’s a little late to see it as anything but suspicious!”

As usual, she doesn’t hold back even with people we’ve just met.

...Well, I do agree it’s rather suspicious.

“...Uhm, well... hmm... ah!”

Twoearle abruptly clasped my hands and said, “It’s me, Souji-kun. Me.”

“...Eh?”

I was perplexed by her suddenly friendly tone.

“You remember me. Look, it’s me. Twoearle. You see, I’ve got a bit of a problem right now – so, could you please put that bracelet on?”

I think I’m imagining things, but the way she thoughtlessly leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, seemed as though she was begging for me to look at her ample chest.

“Uh, weeell...”

“What kind of idiot would use an ore-ore scam to someone’s face!”

“Eeaagh!”

A whirlwind tore past me as I hesitated. Aika hit Twoearle’s cheek with an open-palm strike of terrifying power, improved by a snap of the wrist.

“Are you insaaane?! Don’t hit people that you just met, seriously!! That was a really sharp sound!”

My shout was already close to a scream.

And it was no wonder. That wasn’t a slap but a little trick that aimed for the cheekbones ― one of the jujitsu techniques of the Mizukage school taught by Aika’s late grandfather. Overturning all theories of martial arts, it was meant to cause as much sharp and serious pain as possible to its target without moving the chest too much. Close to a torture technique.

And it had been carried out brilliantly and flawlessly by a mere high school girl.

It was no wonder that the old man had wanted to make her his successor right up until the moment he died.

“Souji, I’m sure this woman is a crook! Just like those people by the train station who say, I’ll tell your fortune, come into this alleyway! But then they have a bunch of people with mohicans and spikes on their shoulders or something waiting there for you!”

“I don’t know about the first part, but not the second!!”

If there is a villain here she’s in front of me.

Twoearle was bent over with a hand pressed against her cheek. I felt worried and looked over at her.

“A-are you okay? This girl, sometimes she doesn’t know when to hold back.”

She’s so beautiful, and she’s a foreigner. It would really suck if this turned into an international incident.

“Huh?... I was holding back, it shouldn’t be that...”

Aika started to look uneasy, although about at the level of a young kid with a knee scrape that you can fix by rubbing spit on it.

If you were holding back, then what was that noise.

“Oh, y, es... I am... fine...”

“Are you really okay...!?”

The way you’re cupping your cheek and trembling tells me that you’re not! I started to hold out my hand to her, and ―

“!”

Aika desperately caught my wrist.

“Oh.”

...Twoearle had gotten the bracelet into my blind spot and was trying to put it on my hand.

“So you were just acting!”

“Why are you trying this hard? What do you want me to put my hand in that bracelet for...!?”

Getting a little uncomfortable with this after all, I took a step back. And my heart felt like it went back a hundred meters.

“But I am not asking for any money! ...Just put it in! All I want you to do is put it in! Please put it in, if you don’t put it in I don’t know what I will do!! If you want me to, I will put it in for you.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the bracelet, but you could hear it as something else, so stop, please.

“You can’t, Souji, if you put it on, they’ll say you can’t cancel any more or something and take a huge amount of money off you! Those mohawk guys are going to crash through the entrance of the store on armored buggies!!”

Aika’s got a keen sense of danger, but her information seems to be a little bit lopsided. Twoearle put her hands together as if praying and looked straight into my eyes.

“Please. I will do anything you want if you wear the bracelet...”

“Eh?”

My mind was screaming no, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes moved towards Twoearle’s hair.

“Anything... you said?”

“Yes... I will do anything you ask of me. I will be fine with whatever special interests you may have! Especially the kinky stuff... ha... ha...”

For some reason, Twoearle was starting to breathe heavily. Her face was red.

“Don’t say things like that!”

This is bad.

Is this what you call a cultural divide? Are the differences in humanity that difficult to reconcile? Even though we speak the same language, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the same wavelength.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but asking him something like that is useless. The only thing he ever thinks about are twintails. He’d just ask you to tie your hair up or something.”

“R-really!? But, he’s a guy, isn’t he!?”

I’m not surprised that Aika could tell what I was thinking, but Twoearle seemed more than a little shocked.

If you say you’d do anything...

Yeah.

Of course.

Twintails.

Twoearle raised her hands, half-smiling.

“You must be kidding me... It is alright! Think of this as advance payment. I’ll let you squeeze them, right here... hurry... they’re surprisingly soft!”

Her softly wobbling chest seemed to explode in my vision. I didn’t know where to look.

Cupping her hands over her breasts, Twoearle thrust herself at me.

“Get away, you pervert! I’ll crush your spine in self-defense if you come any closer!”

Why are you even explaining to her what you’re going to do in self-defense?

“Calm down, Aika! ... I get it, I get it!”

I have to stop this mess before Aika crosses the line.

“I’ll take it. She said it was free, didn’t she? It’s almost like picking a tissue off the sidewalk. If that’s all it takes to make her happy ... it is free, isn’t it?”

“Of course!!”

Her sudden smile, like a flower blooming, caught me off guard. If only she’d act a little more normal...

“No! Don’t! She’s just trying to scam you! It’s like those spa treatment packages where they say the bath salts are free but it ends up being really expensive! She’s just like one of those door-to-door salesmen!!”

“What are you talking about this time?”

“If he does not wear it, the world will end! Also, it is against the law to bait people by giving out bath salts for free!”

“That’s exactly what I was saying, you free-bath-salt merchant!”

Seriously, what kind of a conversation is this? And what’s up with all the bath salts?

“Anyway, if you do not put this on! All the twintails in this world are going to vanish!!”

“―What!!”

Twoearle’s sudden exclamation was like a punch to my stomach. I stepped up to her.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“Hup.”

In that brief moment, Twoearle grabbed my arm, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Wha―”

Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. However, the spirit-shattering thought of all the twintails in the world disappearing, coupled with that pair of all-encompassing, enveloping, Gaia-class motherly breasts pressing against me ― the assault on my heart and mind left me unable to avoid it.

“Thank goodness. Like this, we will be ready when it finally appears.”

Looking at the clock, Twoearle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her teary eyes towards me.

Oh shit. I don’t think she noticed, but when she’s that close... every inch she moves makes her chest jiggle, pushing their soft, undulating mass against my body... this is bad.

Stay strong, Mitsuka Souji! You mustn’t be defeated by something like this!

She’s a foreigner, okay? This level of intimacy is probably completely normal for her. Don’t imagine anything lewd! You’ll destroy the esteemed image of Japanese men if it ends up showing on your face!

“Take it off! Throw that thing away!!”

While I was lost in thought, Aika grabbed me by my neck, forcefully pulling me away from Twoearle’s embrace.

“Whoa!”

It felt as if I was flying. Can you believe it? She just lifted me up with one hand!

The sudden movement sent the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table flying all around me.

“Come on... h-huh!?”

Aika was pulling on the bracelet with both hands, her face twisted in exertion. Guess it fit better than I thought.

“Argh! I can’t... get it off!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!! What the hell is this thing? It’s like a wedding ring that’s gotten stuck on a finger joint!”

And unlike Twoearle, Aika has no `cushions’, so having her press herself against me was very uncomfortable to say the least.

“A wedding ring!? Aaargh——!”

“Yeaaargh!! Stop! You’ll rip my arm off!”

For some reason, Aika started pulling at it even harder than before. My arm jerked around as if it were a candle flame in the wind.

“This is... strange... Why is it... so tight...!? Look! There isn’t even... a gap on this... thing!”

She’s right. It’s made of metal, and definitely isn’t elastic. How did Twoearle even manage to get it on my arm in the first place!?

I wonder if you can unscrew this thing, I heard my childhood friend say. Stop! Humans don’t work that way!

I almost wanted to cry from the suspicion and despair flooding my mind.

It’s strange asking Twoearle to take it off after I let her put it on me, but I don’t have any choices left.

“Um, excuse me, could you please―”

In a flash.

We were enveloped in a retina-burning, polychromatic stream of light.

As if we were melting into the air, our bodies began fading away along with the light―

And then, we were gone.

<center>◇</center>

“I am very sorry about all this, but I thought it would be faster than an explanation.”

I heard Twoearle say.

“―Huh? Huh!?”

Just as the burst of light faded from my vision, a very different sight greeted my eyes.

Soot. The acrid, stinging smell of smoke filled the air around us.

I looked around in a panic.

Sunlight. Wind. Sidewalk. Asphalt.

It was a feeling unlike any that I’d experienced before. My body struggled to get up to speed.

“Why are we... outside?”

We weren’t dreaming, were we? How did we get outside without even noticing it?

“Answer me! Why are we here!?”

Our surroundings were familiar, yet it took quite some time for me to recognize them. No way. How could we have made it here?

‘Maxim Horizon’, the biggest convention center in town. A giant building, spanning two blocks, with an equally large open-air exhibition space. Events, live concerts, and other activities were often held here.

Somehow, we ended up at the center’s open air parking lot.

Roughly 20 minutes away from where we previously were. By car.

“Earlier than expected... I intended for us to have some prep time, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.”

In contrast to the two of us, Twoearle was completely calm.

“I really should have done this earlier...”

She was holding a small stick, about the size of a pen and talking in a very subdued voice.

Unless I’m mistaken, that pen-like thing was what emitted that strange burst of light.

“W-what did you do to us!?”

“I did not intend to bring you along with us, Aika-san, but unfortunately, you would not leave the effective radius. Sorry about that.”

For a moment, I thought they would end up having a (very one-sided) argument again, but a loud sound derailed my train of thought.

“What is it this time!?”

And then, we finally understood what was causing all the soot and smoke.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars around us were cooking off like popcorn, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“This can’t be happening...”

Earlier, I thought we would end up being on some comedy program. Now... it was as if we were passers-by getting caught up in some Hollywood movie pyrotechnics display.

It just didn’t seem real.

“Souji-sama. Please try your best not to leave my side. They will spot you. I cannot project my recognition jamming field very far.”

“Recognition... jamming?”

Twoearle stopped me from moving closer to one of the flaming cars.

“If you stay beside me, they will not be able to see you. Look at that thing over there.”

Twoearle pointed at something in the distance. In the middle of the parking lot was... something.

Both Aika and I leaned in for a closer look... and we both screamed.

“―― Whaaa!?”

“It can’t be! What is that thing!?”

It’s like someone forcefully jammed an insect’s head onto a man’s body. The figure was fully clad in some kind of armored exoskeleton.

Normally, I would have thought it was some actor in a suit, thanks to where we were, but―

Its weight ― wherever it stood, cracks formed in the asphalt.

Its height ― over two meters tall.

Its eyes ― they never stopped moving, darting left and right.

Its teeth ― they looked as if they could crush a boulder.

Its spines ― as sharp as swords, and too many to count, extending from spine to tail.

Everything about it was as real as it could get.

Every cell, every breath it took, was real.

I really wish it was just a suited actor. I really hoped it was.

But, that thing... the mere sight of it filled me with dread. Pure, unrelenting―

“M―monster!”

The wreckage... the fire... and the smoke. And in the middle of it all, the swaggering figure of that unknown figure... it was almost picturesque.

Almost like a scene from a movie, made real.

“Come out, wherever you are!”

!!

As if flicking a bug, the thing sent a nearby car flying. At the same time, I clearly heard it say that line.

Speaking human language.

Speaking Japanese.

Aika and I were too shocked to say anything. The creature, not noticing our presence, twisted it’s mouth, roaring.

Roaring those words of doom that would strike the hearts of its listeners with despair-

“Fuhahahahahaha!! All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!!”

“Uuugh~~~~!!”

At the hoarse, resonant voice and the warped thing it was saying I came close to choking up blood.

We were pretty far from it here, but it felt like its voice was ringing right in my ear.

“...Hey, Souji, what are you doing wearing a theme park costume.”

“That’s not me!”

A large number of pure-black creatures manifested themselves around the monster.

The identical mindless drones were massed in a group, ready for battle. Their strange forms were uniformly solid black. It was an incredibly eerie sight.

The combat drones skittered away, dispersing rapidly in all directions, capturing a number of random girls.

“Twin... tails...”

But my heart was not beating fast because the girls had twintails. It was because of the monster’s orders.

“What are they holding... Hey, it’s twintail girls!”

“What are they planning to do?”

Unlike Aika and I, who fretted in hushed voices, Twoearle silently tracked their movements.

“Even so, this world is regrettably lacking in twintails! Draped in nothing but steel and electricity ― it’s like they never left the Stone Age!”

It was clearly speaking Japanese, but something was off. Something... no, everything.

“Oh well, that just means we have to find twintails of the finest quality!”

With a wild tone of voice, the monster walked with its shoulders held high.

“Don’t forget the orders from our commander, you vermin! Top quality twintails have been detected in this area, so leave no stone unturned! … There might even be a young girl crying while holding her stuffed bunny rabbit!”

“... Moke? Moke- “

“Hold your tongues! Gathering all of the twintails is our ultimate goal… however! Beyond being a soldier, I’m also a man… and so I’d also like to see a young girl holding a stuffed animal! Find me one and there will be a reward waiting for you!!”

It wasn’t my imagination.

No, it was speaking fluent Japanese,　but for some reason nothing it was saying made any sense.

“We have no need for adults! Drag them out here quickly! I don’t mind if you’re a little rough!”

The black creatures were moving efficiently to carry out its orders.

“Moke-”

“What? There are no young girls carrying stuffed animals!? Hmm, if girls don’t have stuffed animals, then a man can provide!! I don’t care, bring them here!”

...Although, can you really call these orders? He’s shouting so crazily that I think if he had something hard in his hand he would throw it.

“Heeeelp!”

A crying young girl was brought in front of the monster.

The way she looked, with her twintails disheveled under the eyes of the grotesque, hulking figure, made me think of a shrine maiden taken for human sacrifice, the victim of a crime against nature.

I tried to jump out, but Aika grabbed my arm and stopped me.

My hazy brain began to catch up with what was going on. I got the situation clear in my head, at least.

“They’re only taking girls with twintails, what are they planning to do?”

The monster and his troops weren’t hurting them. Rather, they were giving them dolls to calm them down.

So we can stay here and watch for now, but...

“Hey, Twoearle, you took us here because you knew this was happening, didn’t you? What is that monster...”

Halfway through the sentence, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

In my line of sight was something I should never have seen.

Well, this isn’t the place for sarcasm. But the radiant sight that had burned itself into my heart earlier today had not been a dream or an illusion. I knew that now.

“The... president...”

No mistake. That was it, the source of my suffering from the first day of high school life, the diabolical hairstyle that had charmed me in both the good and bad sense of the word.

Two of the solid black combat drones were dragging along Shindou Erina, president of the student council, in her school uniform, one on each arm.

“It’s, it’s her! Hey! Isn’t that the president?”

It looks like Aika has noticed too.

In the gym there were maids standing by her silently to attend on her, but I couldn’t see anyone like that now.

The president was holding something tight in her arms as if it were important. It was hard to see, of course, but the thing sticking halfway out of her shopping bag looked like a toy from a kids’ tokusatsu series.

“Release me!”

Determined resistance.

The monster ran his eyes over her as if he were deciding on her price.

“Ho-hooo, a nice little child! Not only that, but she looks like she’s a princess! A twintail princess... no, indeed, this is nearly perfect! Yours could be the ultimate twintails!!”

“Ultimate...!? No, tell me who you are! You speak human language, don’t you!? Set the other girls free!!”

“I do. As you can see, we can communicate well with each other. And so, I tell you that I cannot release them.”

“Then what are your intentions!”

“You’ll understand soon! First, while I have the opportunity...”

The monster handed a large stuffed animal to the president with an overfamiliar gentleness.

“I want you to hold this kitten stuffie! There is sweetness even in your hostility. A kitten stuffie suits a naughty young girl well!! Hug it!!”

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_049.jpg|thumb|''"You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa!"'']]

The jet-black figures came up carrying a three-meter-wide pink sofa which it was hard to believe existed, maybe part of their supplies.

They forced the president, now holding the stuffed animal, to sit on it.

“You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa! This is the golden ratio that my long years of discipline have led me to!!”

“““Mokkekeke―!!”””

The monster was acting like it had at last succeeded in turning gold into a base metal, and on top of that the shrill voices seemed to be cheering it for what it had done. I felt light-headed.

“...We understand that they are aiming for girls with twintails, anyway... Tell me, Twoearle, what can I do? You brought me here because there’s something I can do, right?”

“I will leave the details for later. Right now, we will act.”

My legs were trembling a little despite my brave act, but Twoearle ignored that. She was so calm that she seemed reliable.

“Souji-sama... First, please take off the clothes I am wearing. No, more like rip them off, please. ...Oh, yes. Push both of my arms above my head like this and hold them there... Like this, Souji-sama, with one hand. Then with your other hand, pull off my bra...”

“What is wroooooooooong with you!!”

Twoearle had been making gestures to go with what she was saying.

“Aika, too loud!”

I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth, but―

“Ohh, I sense the presence of a new twintail... Where? Where are you hiding!!”

(What is a presence supposed to be!)

I left that comeback inside my heart, and looked at the twintails beside me. Certainly, they do draw the eye, but...

“Aaah, I’m a twintail too―!”

“Wheeeare are yoooou!!”

We were sixty or seventy meters away from the center of the huge open-air parking lot, but the thick, harsh voice sounded as though it were coming from right next to us. Still, even though we weren’t under any kind of cover, he can’t see us. What is this?

He’s looking straight at us, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I felt deja vu.

Aika’s words in the store went through my mind.

― “How... Why didn’t I sense her presence?”

Recognition... jamming... that’s what she said earlier.

“...Oh, ohh... Even though I was taking the serious route that I’m not used to and holding it in... This situation I was longing for... The script I polished over and over again... I can’t believe my plan was crushed the moment it started...”

Twoearle’s glare at Aika was a mixture of resentment and disappointment. Apparently something hadn’t gone well for her.

“There’s some way we can help those girls, right!? Come on, tell me!!”

Impatient, I grabbed her shoulders hard.

“Aan...”

For some reason a seductive voice.

“Oh, we can do a course correction! Well, Souji-sama, let us go ahead with the script just like before! Shove me against the wall like this, and we’re up to the place where you rip all my clothes off at once! Take them with one cut!!”

“Why don’t I shove you against the wall? As hard as I can!?”

Under Aika’s glare, Twoearle reluctantly said, “I, I understand. It is true we do not have much time, so I will skip a little! And they can sense her Twintail Element even through recognition jamming, so even in the first battle I do not think we can take them lightly.”

Did you say “the first battle?”... but I didn’t have time to wonder, because what she said next was even more outrageous.

“Souji-sama, use the bracelet I gave you and transform!”

“Transform!?”

“This is what she was going for! All that stuff earlier was for this!”

Twoearle ignored Aika and continued.

“That device creates a battle suit that will reinforce your physical power. You should become at least a match for that monster when you transform.”

“Are you serious!?”

Just as if it were a kids’ superhero show or something like that.

...But I was willing to grasp at any straw right then, and my heart soaked it up without resistance as if it were a voice from heaven.

She could have said any crazy thing to me and I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it was a joke or a trick after the unreal experience of being put through the teleporter.

At least there’s no harm in trying.

“Wa, wait a minute, I don’t know about transforming, but why do you need Souji to do something that dangerous!!”

“You idiot! The enemy’s target is twintails!! How can we overlook that!!”

“...Wait, umm, that’s the most surreal thing about this, or rather, that goal is too stupid... Or Souji, can’t you at least say that it’s because they are kidnapping girls...?”

“No, that is how it should be. It is because you love twintails that you can use the bracelet. There is no need to act like you care about justice.”

“No, I mean, I did want to rescue the girls, I was thinking that...”

An enemy who’s aiming at twintails, and supposedly I can fight against them because I love twintails? What is this?

Really more and more this seems like a joke.

The earth shook so much that I seemed to float for a second, and then came an ear-splitting roar.

“Souji, the people they caught!”

A terrifying scene was unfolding where Aika pointed.

A tragic scene as though I were looking into hell.

In the very center of the parking lot ― the parked cars had been torn out by the roots and scattered and the girls they had caught were lined up single file.

An improvised ceremonial site.

I don’t know if the girl at the front of the line had fainted, but she didn’t seem to be moving as her body floated into the air.

Like a lion jumping through a flaming hoop, the girls in the line moved through a metallic ring with light stretched across it in iridescent colours like a soap bubble. The moment the first girl passed through, her hair came gently untied, and she drifted back down tracing an arc across the sky.

One by one, the instant they could put the next one through, the girls went through the ring as lifeless as parts on a belt conveyor.

In less time than it took to blink, it was President Shindou’s turn... and even the beautiful twintails that had fascinated me dissolved into the air.

“All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!”

That had sounded like a joke, but I was seeing it for real now.

“― Those bastards.”

I felt something deep snap in my heart for the first time in my life.

“Souji-sama, please compose yourself. It is still all right, they can still be saved.”

“Tell me...! How can I save the twintails? How can I destroy those guys?!!”

“You’re kind of exaggerating... You know, they don’t seem to be hurt at all aside from losing their twintails?”

“Exaggerating, you say......!?”

I grabbed Aika by the front of her shirt and lifted her up with violent emotion overflowing in my heart.

“Aah...”

“Is that all that twintails mean to you? If someone takes them, then that’s fine, you don’t really care? Were they such a little thing to you?!!”

“Ca, calm down, Souji. They’ll notice us again...!”

“...S, sorry.”

When I heard Aika’s out-of-character thin voice without any force in it, my head cooled off a little, and I let go of her.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you too, Twoearle. But tell me how to use this thing. Quickly.”

“...Are you serious!? No, Souji, you shouldn’t! Especially after earlier! I don’t think you can trust her at all!”

Aika’s voice had tension in it like she was trying to talk a friend out of murder.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid or if it’s dangerous. I can’t forgive those monsters for playing games with twintails!”

Twoearle had been at least half messing around with me, but I think that that part of my feelings got through to her.

She nodded with an earnest expression, and explained, raising her own right arm to her chest.

“Please wish in your heart, ‘I want to transform.’ Wish hard. If you do that, the bracelet should activate.”

“That’s all I have to do? I don’t think about anything specific?”

Twoearle nodded forcefully.

“Okay. Sounds like something even I can do.”

“Souji!!”

I gathered my resolve and raised the bracelet to my chest, making a fist with my right hand.

Closing my eyes, like she had told me, I wished hard, hard.

I want to transform... I want to save the president, those girls. To take back the twintails. To become someone who can defeat those bastards.

It wasn’t righteous anger. Is there a guy anywhere who can just keep quiet after he sees something he loves trampled into the dust!!

The next instant―

The “transformation” really happened, just like that.

<center>◇</center>

Light began to shine from the bracelet on Souji’s right arm.

An intense light as though soundless fireworks were exploding before his eyes.

“Aahh!”

Aika covered her eyes with her arm at the unexpected brilliance.

Bands of red light looped around Souji’s body, forming a cocoon. As specks of light flooded out, they tightened around him.

An even brighter sudden flash.

They began to change the barely visible silhouette.

Shoulders, chest, hips, legs - from the top in order light burst like an explosion, and Souji was covered from the neck down in a red suit. But this all happened in a hundredth of a second ― the work of an instant, faster than the eye could see.

Spraying out like steam, lines of red light.

And although it was strange, Souji was surrounded by a radiance that didn’t come from reflected light, just like Twoearle’s silver hair.

“Awesome... I really did transform...”

Souji put all the strength into the fists, testing how it felt.

As far as he could see, the suit covered the body without a gap, from the tips of the feet when he looked down to the fingertips he was opening and closing over and over again. But he seems to have noticed before long that there was no pressure on his head.

“Huh? My face... It isn’t hidden!?”

Touching the cheeks, Souji was disturbed to find that they weren’t covered.

“The suit itself is not that important to the defense system. Also, it is using Imagine Chaff as a countermeasure, so even though your face is uncovered, other people will not realize that it is you, Souji-sama.”

“Imagine... What’s that?”

“It is something so you do not have to worry about people finding out your real identity! Please fight with peace of mind!”

“I, is that so? Okay! Let me try this...!!” I don’t really understand the practical side very well, and there are a lot of things I’m still worried about, but there’s no time left.

Souji put his faith in Twoearle’s words and started to run toward the battlefield, his hair gallantly ''fluttering behind him''.

“Nh, uh...”

Souji had already vanished by the time Aika opened her eyes.

“That idiot! Why did he agree to all of this so easily?!”

Aika knitted her eyebrows and looked around.

“Hey, you, uh... hey, Twoearle.”

“Yes?”

“There weren’t any other girls around here just now...?”

<center>◇</center>

“Li... light, what is this, I can’t run so easil... whoaaa―!!”

As if someone had put the decimal point in the wrong place, the power in my legs was so great that I kept almost falling on my face when I sprinted.

I was reminded of the time when I was bored and tried setting the running machine to maximum speed.

≪Please focus your awareness! Souji-sama, that suit, the Tailgear, is created with the power of your mind. You must drive it with your will!≫

Some kind of communications device? I heard Twoearle’s voice as if she were whispering into my ear, although I don’t think anything was mounted on it.

“The force of my mind... My will...!!”

This time, I tried to wrap my awareness around my legs.

Up until then it felt like I was clinging to a car moving at top speed, but I suddenly started to feel my feet landing on the ground through the suit.

It wasn’t like driving a car, it was a sense of complete unity like I had become the car.

I had already reached the parking lot and gone more than halfway across it, kicking the rubble out of the way as I was running without trying to avoid it. I could see the girls lying unconscious on the asphalt now.

I know they regretted having their twintails stolen.

I’ll absolutely get them back for you...!!

“Hmmm, magnificent Twintail Elements... But at this rate, I’m not sure if we can obtain the greatest power under this star, the one the Commander was praising as the ultimate...”

It seems like my hearing has improved, too. I can hear the monster muttering something cryptic to President Shindou, lying at his feet.

My anger hit its peak when I saw the president with her twintails cruelly untied.

“Stoooop――!!”

“Mu!?”

I planted my feet on the ground, braking at high speed. As I did, something like stoppers came down from somewhere near my ankles and jammed into the asphalt, scraping it and blowing off sparks and dust.

(...What ridiculous strength. That girl created this...!?)

A sense of awe filled my body at the unknown power, taking my mind off my anger. And then I started to be afraid. I was surprised again by the kind of power the girl called Twoearle had in her hands.

How had she created something with this kind of terrifying strength? Just as I was told, just as I had wished, I had accepted it, but had that been the right thing to do?

No, I don’t have time to think about that now. I have to concentrate on saving the twintails... saving the people before me.

“You understand human language, right, monster? Give these people back the twintails that you... took.”

“Tha... You are...”

“...Did you not hear me...? You stole their twintails. Give them back, goddamn you!!”

My anger itself hit him together with my scream.

It sounds strange when I say it, but I understood that the strange ring could take people’s twintails away from them. And so it should also be possible for it to give them back.

Who would subject someone to this kind of danger just because they have twintails? The word “irrational” is not good enough for them, it’s absurd, it’s monstrous.

“Steal the twintails.” If what they said, if their objective were known to the public, then tomorrow there might not be anyone wearing twintails anymore. Because it would be stupid to take the risk.

I can’t... I can’t forgive that...!!

“Whoa... whooaaaaaaaaaaa――!?”

When I scowled at him, the monster soared high into the sky as if he had been caught in a sudden gust of wind.

“Gahaaa!!”

The ground hit him face-first.

“H, hey.”

“Nnn, nngh... Was I blown away by such a strong ''young innocent''... Those are... spectacular twintails!!”

“...Huh?”

“The Commander’s prediction was right when he chose this spot! Even if I leave out the girls before. It was you...! You’ve finally come! We didn’t miss our mark, those are the ultimate twintails!”

The monster was staggering to his feet in exultation.

“The ultimate... twintails...?”

Something is strange.

What the monster was saying gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time I myself began to feel obscure doubt.

My field of vision, my viewpoint was oddly low.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the hands I was holding up also seemed smaller than usual.

“......”

Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

A premonition of evil stronger than I’d ever tasted in my life sent a chill through my whole body.

“Could...”

Like a rusty gear grinding, I turned my head over to the side.

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_063.jpg|thumb|top|alt="Souji looking in a car windshield."|''There was a girl with lovely twintails there.'']]

One of the car windshields was still in its original shape. I saw the reflection and was speechless.

What would you call this.

― There was a girl with lovely twintails there.

“――― Oh.”

Even now a “twinta~ils” sound effect rang like a chime in my head. Beautiful, spectacular twintails hanging down past the knee.

And ribbon-shaped pieces that moved up and down together with her breathing, so smoothly that they seemed to be swaying.

Her wide eyes opened even farther.

The word “armor” was a little off the mark for what she was wearing, a strange protective suit that didn’t look like it had any weight at all, showy in its use of fashion with red and white as its key colours.

In places, on top of the body suit that stuck closely to her bare skin, angular mechanical-looking armaments had been attached. They were the source of a mysterious glow.

“Ohh.”

And, and and. There were giant attachments on either side of her hips, but the crotch area of the suit had been designed like a bikini, and half of her thighs were exposed.

I wasn’t sure if I believed this. But I tried touching my chest and groin. My chest was just as flat as it looked from outside, but my constant companion for half my life, the prince between my legs, my important partner, was cleanly and completely missing.

“O, oh...”

Now that I understood, I became more conscious of it. My unnaturally high voice.

Yes, the reflection in the glass was ―

I, who had become a twintail.

“It turned me into a girl―――――――――――――!!?”

A childish scream was absorbed by the sky.

<center>◇</center>

“Wh...!!”

Aika, watching, was also lost for words.

“...What is that.”

“That is our single strongest weapon against those monsters, the Daydream Armor, Tailgear! Aah, you are wonderful, Souji-sama! Ehehehehe big success.”

Twoearle, with a ribbon of drool that was hanging down to the choker around her neck, stared at the panicking Souji with a look of ecstasy on her face.

“...It’s too wonderful, I’m starting to cry!!”

Aika visited Twoearle with the palm of her hand, using even less restraint. It wasn’t a pinpoint strike to her cheek or somewhere this time but an impact to the whole top of her skull.

“Is, is this already a girls’ catfight scene... or actually it is more like being mauled by a tiger...”

“Depending on your answer it really will be like that. What happened, why is Souji a wwwwwoman!! That’s not just girls’ clothing, is it? He’s even way shorter now!!”

“...Aika-san. In order to obtain great power, you have to pay a corresponding price. It makes a person stronger to face the truth ― little girls are cute, little girls!”

“Is this your fucking rotten hobby―!!”

The sound of a merciless blow.

“That’s not transforming, that’s warped!”

Of course, she didn’t mean “warped” in the sense of metamorphosis.

“Fight fire with fire, they say. When the enemy is ‘hentai,’ a fighter cannot oppose them without becoming HENTAI to a certain degree themselves.”

“So the enemy is yooooooooooooooooooou!!”

Thud, thud, thud...

The head of the beautiful girl whose default was complete corruption ― Twoearle’s imagination soared left and right in thrilling leaps.

<center>◇</center>

Is this my punishment?

I’ve been saying twintails, twintails from childhood until now, did God finally get fed up with me and say, you’re a pain in the ass, shut up, become a twintail already, and give me a shove in the back?

You shoved too hard, God. This isn’t like I can stagger and keep moving forward, this is like a complete orbit of the Earth.

This is like even my cool entrance scene earlier looped once around the Earth and crashed into the back of my head.

“A, a, a, ah.”

I was confused and unable to deal with reality, and the monster and the black things had completely surrounded me.

“Hmm, so you’ve decided you want to be ours? You have my gratitude! Show her along, and be polite!”

At my lack of resistance, the monster suddenly switched to kindness.

“Moke―”

The black thing... the soldier in front broke out into a run toward me.

“Ge... get awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!”

As I was waving my arms in front of me like a kid throwing a tantrum, I lightly hit the black thing, and it flew into the air with a clear ‘thunk’ sound like a plastic bottle rocket and crashed into a wall on the rooftop level of a distant building.

Its body began to glow. Before long, it exploded softly into dust and disappeared into the sky.

The monster let out a little noise of interest.

“Hnnn... One Ultiroid in one blow! You’re not just beautiful twintails... What is that fierce power!? Who are you, child!!”

The enemy’s words were getting bit by bit more old-fashioned, and now, as if we were actors in a period drama, he was handing me my promised “cue.”

Although judging from his expression he was serious.

≪Souji-sama! This is a great chance for a cool intro speech!≫

Intro speech?

“...What am I supposed to be?”

If you have something you want to say, then say it, God --

≪Aaah~, that is right, you did not decide what you were going to call yourself after you transformed, did you...!?≫

“No, I’m not worried about my name, I’m having doubts about my identity!”

Communicate, help me out, Aika... If I can’t hear your comebacks, how am I supposed to do this?

Not who I am, I’m not even sure what I am.

“Waoo~h, I’m not sure what’s going on but this downhearted little girl ― I can’t stand it!! One of you, get me a doll she can hug!”

“Mokee―.”

The encirclement slowly tightened around me.

I could feel piercing stares even from the soldiers though I didn’t know where their eyes were.

Like they were giving off desire as an aura.

The target of those innumerable desires ― I didn’t try to hold in the chill climbing up my spine.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

≪Souji-sama, touch the ribbon piece and picture a weapon in your heart. It should create a weapon made just for you!!≫

“Rib, bo, n.”

With bloodshot eyes, I hit one of the two metal ribbon pieces, the only armor on my head.

“Turn me, turn me back into a man......! Agagagagagagaga”

≪The ribbon does not grant wishes!?≫

What is this... I’m not in a fairytale with a moral, there’s no way this punishment can happen, no way I turned into a twintail!!

I hit the ribbon over and over.

Whether my bitter wish got through or not, it lit up and a burst of flame shot out. Forming a spiral in the air, it gathered in my right hand and began to take the shape of a sword like vapor condensing.

The red blade lengthened, wrapping itself around a black core.

A word appeared in my mind like it was being punched into a typewriter.

≪Blazer Blade≫

Fire burst out from my right hand. The magnificent double-edged sword was finished, glowing with red heat.

You couldn’t call it a longsword, but in my hands it looked like a longer than average blade.

Amazi~ng, coo~ol... by the way turn me back.

“Moke――”

One of the soldiers came down out of the air with a pose like a jumping frog.

My voice was frozen, so I swung the sword. The enemy took a diagonal slash to the chest, and with a small explosion evaporated into dust.

“Mokeh”

“Mokee~~~~~~”

“Aagh! These...!!”

I was attacked without a moment of pause and made a sudden horizontal sweep. The soldiers, cut in half, vanished one after another.

With no hesitation - with even less hesitation than before, attacks began to come all at once from the earth and sky.

“De... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

I slashed at them, the spinning sword wrapped in fire that traveled with the sword’s pressure, spreading out like a burst from a flamethrower.

The figures all in black attacked four ways, eight ways, and evaporated without even having time to scream.

“Hah... hah...”

The reptile monster, alone now, was trembling all over.

“I’m nailed to this spot, I can’t move... The sword like lightning and the twintails dancing in the sky... I was sure that I was lost in heaven!!”

“You really are lost! Stop, that’s creepy!!”

The monster was overcome with emotion. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

I’m the one who wants to cry.

“Haaah, haah, twintails...”

“Wha...!?”

Desire was swirling around the monster like a vortex. He stuck out his hands and came at me like a zombie.

He was different from the one-kick soldiers before. In many ways.

“Those twintails... Could you pinch them between your thumb and index finger and give my cheeks a few slaps, pechi pechi...!!”

Wide eyes, the blood pulsing in them. Rough, thick breaths. And with the tip of his lips stained with drool, the monster came at me.

A dread second to none rushing through me and a weak scream I’d never heard from myself even once before.

“Kyaa―!!”

I fell on my butt, letting the sword drop.

“Haah, haah, twintails...”

I can’t stand to look at this.

Is that right... is this what I look like.

Were guys who like twintails all like this? Would someone who didn’t know me think of me as his accomplice? Was this how other people saw me?

...If nobody approves of me, will I become warped too?

“Shit, it’s because there are things like you that...!”

Clutching my head and trembling, I curled up into a ball.

My memories flickered around me like shadows from a lantern.

The times when I had a passionate talk with someone about twintails.

Or when they might not have known them well, but they knew what they were.

There's not a single one of them who didn't start to look suspicious.

What’s wrong with insisting on the kind of hairstyle you like, I always thought... but was this kind of monster what they were seeing?

I was pretending that I was confident and didn’t care what anyone thought, but maybe I was really feeling guilty about my love of twintails...?

≪Sou-ji! Get a hold of yourself! You’re the one who said you were going to save them, what are you doing!!≫

“...Ah...!!”

At Aika’s words I came back to reality.

≪You were bragging earlier how important twintails were to you, you even grabbed my... you grabbed the front of a girl’s shirt and lifted her up. Now that you became a twintail you’re scared!? Pull yourself together!≫

≪She said ‘the front of her shirt,’ but Souji-sama, you just grabbed her collar in one smooth motion, didn’t you? There were no obstacles to intercept you, were there? Hahaha≫

≪I’m sorry I stopped you before... I can’t look at that monster anymore either, that creep, don’t worry about all the other stuff, just punch him hard!≫

≪...Don’t, squeeze like a washcloth... Please let go of my obstacles!!≫

≪If you can’t do anything now, then that’s the thing that will make you his accomplice! If you feel guilty about your usual self, then when it’s time to act, do it right!≫

≪It hurts, ow ow ow ow ow!!≫

“...Aika...!”

Aika’s precise speech, as if she could see straight through me. A feeling rose in my heart like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I thought I heard a voice rising in pain, but my mind had already become one with the space around it.

And I’m not confused about what I am anymore.

I’m an idiot.

What Aika says is right. After shaking her off and coming into the battle, what am I doing.

I have been given the power to protect what I love and respect and I’m completely losing it because of my own small worries.

Come to think of it, back when I was a kid, when I was fighting Aika and I had that old man training me, he beat that into my head a lot. You have a lot of idle thoughts, you have to empty your heart - that kind of thing.

Let your heart fill the space... let idle thoughts loose.

Let your heart―

“You are tearing off my breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasts!!”

“...Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!”

For the first time in my life my whole mind is concentrated on this fight. But there’s something, some noise that I can’t imagine comes from a creature of this world, that’s pulling me away and making it really hard to focus, so I let a scream out and began to run.

Nothing else than the scream now.

“Hmm!?”

“I’ll pechi-pechi you! Get your face out here!!”

I lifted the Blazer Blade above my head.

“Oooh!”

For the first time my slash was blocked.

But on the left cheek of the monster that hadn’t been touched, a burn like the mark of a sword appeared, running in a single horizontal line.

“You’re... Haah!!”

The monster screamed and a beam of light flashed out of the palm of his hand.

But the beam evaporated as soon as it touched my body without disturbing my twintails a millimeter. I didn’t feel anything either.

“Hmmn!?”

A combat suit that was so thin, except at my hips, and arms and legs and other places covered by the angular armor, that it didn’t hold me back at all - the Tailgear.

You could see its true worth in the light that surrounded me.

“...Photon Absorber... Is that what this is.”

An ≪explanation≫ echoed in my head.

The ultimate defensive film takes the absorbed energy of motion - in other words, impact - and kills it completely by controlling and intercepting it at the molecular level.

This is also the reason why the head, which should be protected as much as possible, is exposed. No attack will hit the Tailgear as long as the whole body is covered in light, and that makes it an invincible weapon.

“Hmph... You’re a terrifying little kid! For the first time in many days my soldier’s spirit is roaring! I am Lizard Guildy, the leader of the Ultima Guil raid squadron! I fight in the belief that a man’s heart should beat even stronger at the sight of a girl who is holding a doll! Tell me your name, at least, if nothing else!!”

“―TailRed!!”

I said it so naturally that I was surprised. It felt as though the suit itself was telling me what to say.

The moment I had broken through, it had started calling to my heart.

An irrepressible power was pulsing in my whole body.

“...I asked for your real name!!”

“It’s fine... If you shout a disturbing belief like that at the top of your lungs then I don’t need someone like you to remember my name!”

“That’s mysterious! You believe more or less the same thing, don’t you?”

“Don’t put me together with you!”

“It’s obvious at a glance! If you weren’t one who loves twintails more than anything else, you wouldn’t be shining like that!”

“You know your stuff, don’t you... Fine, I shine all the brighter because of my love for twintails - go ahead and remember that!!”

“That runs counter to what we want, then, doesn’t it... For us, we love twintails even more when we have our hands on them! Hnnnn... hmph!!”

The countless spines on Lizard Guildy’s back separated and lifted high into the sky.

A thin belt of light seemed to bind the spines and his body together.

And one by one as if they had a mind of their own they came down to attack.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

I started to cut all of them down with the Blazer Blade.

The burning spines one after another started to hiss like bombs, and after they hit they blew away part of the asphalt.

“Hnnnnn...!!”

They came flying even faster. I could dodge them by the width of a hair and they’d still spin around quickly and pursue me like guided missiles.

My eyesight for moving objects was much better because of the Tailgear, but even for my improved vision the complicated orbits were a threat.

“Twoearle! Will everything be okay even when I defeat this guy? What will happen to the twintails!?”

≪The twintails that were stolen...? The Elements... they’re stored in that ring for an hour or so, I believe! So ignore that guy! Defeat him and break the ring and they’ll go back! ...I believe!!≫

“All right!”

I had been a little frightened about the thing Aika called me about... no, incredibly frightened, but I would stick with my first decision to rescue the president’s, and everyone else’s twintails.

“Magnificent! I will not forget this day if I live for ever! My apologies, but I’d like to take a photograph as a souvenir! Rest your head on my shoulder like this, and hold a stuffed...”

“Shut uuuuu-p!”

I shortened the distance with a single bound and with my left hand wreathed in fire, I punched him hard.

His face mushed in and a large amount of blood came out of his nose.

“Agh, aaugh... No, no help for it... I was trying hard to keep from hurting your face or your twintails, but you’re going to have to resign yourself to a certain amount of damage!!”

The muscles under Lizard Guildy’s steel scales bulged out still more.

He must be gathering all of his strength for an attack.

I stood straight in front of him, preparing for the worst.

But isn’t there... It’s going to be dangerous for the girls lying around here if we keep fighting in this flashy way!

At that moment the vivid image of a deep red pillar of fire floated into my mind.

“―Aura Pillar...? This, then!”

It’s like a help file was included and I can search through it by thinking. Very nice of her.

Fire burst out of the tip of the Blazer Blade and swelled to the size of a basketball. With all my strength I swung the sword up and let it fly loose.

“What is this!?”

The ball of fire exploded right in front of Lizard Guildy, and drawing a spiral encircled his body as its track took the shape of a pillar.

“N, m, nor can I move!”

It certainly is a barrier that binds the enemy. So this is the Aura Pillar!

“Uooooooooooh!!”

Keeping my eyes on Lizard Guildy, I began to run.

The sword that I was holding started to change shape, responding to my spirit. The hilt and ornamental piece unfolded, and the lines that ran through the sword like the veins of a leaf began to flash violently.

Fire shot from the blade shining with red heat, stretching it to almost twice its length.

The edge slipped through the barrier that was holding him. And straight down in the direction it was already going, it cut Lizard Guildy in a single sweep from the crown of his head.

Yes, ≪Grand Blazer≫ is definitely a final move... The trails of flame ran into the sky.

“Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A heat wave like a bubble popping. Lizard Guildy screamed in agony. Arcs of electricity were coming off him.

“He, hehahahaha... Magnificent... To perish with a twintail brushing gently against my cheek... How can I have any regrets! This is the end I always dreamed of as a child!!”

“Wait, hey!!”

The Aura Pillar swelled out suddenly to three times its size.

“Farewell――!!”

Lizard Guildy, holding his belief next to his heart to his last moment, detonated in a tremendous explosion which couldn’t be compared to the others, and dispersed on the wind ―

“Don’t vanish with a dying vision like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!”

After there was only silence.

I looked out on the devastated parking lot, although you could hardly tell that’s what it was anymore.

On the other hand, Grand Blazer had scorched the ground a little, but there weren’t many more traces of my fight. The unbelievable flare and impact had done almost no damage to the surroundings.

I saw Aura Pillar as something like a support technique for capturing the enemy, but maybe it’s to keep damage from explosions down to a minimum.

“Hup~”

I cut the drifting huge metal ring in half without any particularly strong feelings.

As if it had completed its task, the sword I was holding turned into flame and dissolved into the air.

The ring broke into tiny pieces and the light inside it became sparks that broke into streams flowing down into the unconscious girls one by one.

As I saw their hairstyles returning properly to twintails, I was hit by a sense of exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if I might fall on my back.

I had been lost in the fight, but was I really able to save these girls... was I really able to save twintails?

There was a small diamond-shaped stone glittering light green on the ground. I picked it up.

<Doll>

The word came into my mind. As I held it the armor piece on my left hand slid open and sucked it in.

“...Huh, this is another power of the Tailgear?”

“―Um.”

“!”

I almost jumped when someone called me from behind.

The president was awake and looking at me in wonder with her twintails fluttering behind her. They were covered in soot but had not lost their nobility.

She was making a token effort to hold the hem of her torn skirt together with her hand.

“I would like to... thank you very much for saving me.”

“Ah, hahaha, for what? I’m just a guy, no girl who happened to be passing through!”

I don’t think anyone could believe that when I’m dressed like this but I have to come up with something.

“No, um, that is... I woke up midway through the fight.”

“What?......”

“Yo, you fought wonderfully! ... You’re still only small, but you’re gallant... and strong ... I was... so moved!”

“―――!!”

This is bad. I thought everyone was unconscious.

The president is also really young-looking, but right now I don’t look like any more than an elementary schooler.

And that child was carrying a sword and fighting with monsters... how can you come up with an explanation for that situation.

“Excuse me... How in the world did you...!”

“A, a, I’m an ally of justice! Now, please get, out of here quickly!”

I’m really feeling how bad I am at ad-lib, as Aika pointed out an hour ago.

“I would like to thank you very much for saving me!! Will we meet again!?”

“You’ll see me again, as long as you love twintails.”

Bowing deeply to me, the president left at a half-run.

Thank goodness, she didn’t investigate too much.

For something on the spur of the moment, that line wasn’t bad. Although I was just trying to get through this.

“Young mistreessss!!”

A limousine cut diagonally across the parking lot at a reckless speed like it was slashing the lot in half and stopped, leaving a huge tire mark. Maids, a lot of maids, jumped out from inside and rushed over to the president.

A few of the girls who had fainted also began to wake up. The maids... probably at the orders of the president, broke the task up and began to care for them. It didn’t seem like there was any place for me anymore.

Afterward were the girls’ parents and families, maybe... adults, now free, also came running one by one.

The president might have seen me when I was screaming in terror... but I had rescued everyone safely, so I’d like her to forget about it.

“Whew...”

I shifted my line of sight to the front.

I can see myself reflected in the side mirror of a car.

“.........”

It’s a little young, but the way I look is certainly exactly what I was dreaming of, my ideal twintails.

I felt heat coming into my cheeks and shook my head desperately.

If I keep looking at myself, happiness and unease will hit me simultaneously.

Sirens started to come into earshot. Of course, the police and ambulances and things would be coming.

As the thread of tension snapped I felt dizzy.

Hugging a wall to avoid people’s eyes, as I went around a corner I saw Aika and Twoearle, who had been waiting for me.

“It’s finally over...”

My last strength drained out and I fell back on the ground.

The transformation was cancelled, and I was wrapped in a cocoon of light and returned to my original shape.

Thank God I didn’t stay like that my whole life...

“Sou-ji!”

Aika ran over to me and caught me in her arms, and out of relief, maybe, I flickered in and out of consciousness.

“It is a pity for you to have your head pressed against the ground. Please come here, my chest has proper cushions.”

“It’s my chest, not the ground!!”

“―For a woman it is only called a chest once it has begun to puff out. That is, the area below your neck is referred to as the ground, Aika-san.”

“Why don’t you kiss the ground, dumbaaaaaaass!!”

Aika caught the back of Twoearle’s head with an eagle grip and shoved her into the sidewalk.

“Nooo, stooooop, it’s my first kiiiiiiiss!!”

I want to fall asleep feeling like I made everything turn out okay, but I still hear screaming. Come on, guys.

As though guided by fate I dived into the maelstrom of war.

And the curtain closed on TailRed’s first battle.

<references/>

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-02-20T14:14:06Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 1: I am a Twintail ==

After school on the first day of my high school life. A day I should have had fond memories of.

I, Mitsuka Souji, along with my childhood friend Tsube Aika, were having a late lunch at the Cafe Adolescenza. It might seem pretty fashionable for us to be eating lunch at a cafe, but seeing as I live here, it’s like a normal meal for me.

Its main selling point is our special house blend coffee. It has lots of fans, but, being something my mom does on the side, the shop is prone to being closed whenever she feels like it.

The sign over the door read “Closed”. Of course, that meant that it was just the two of us in here.

The intense spicy smell hanging in the air was nothing compared to the weight of sorrow in my chest.

“Why the heck did I put down something like that...”

“There’s no such thing as the Twintail Club,” my childhood friend said, looking at me amazed. The smell of spice swirled around her.

“I was put on the spot... and wrote it down without thinking. I didn't mean to!”

“If you ask me, anyone that would inadvertently write down something like that is bad news. You have Twintails on the brain.”

“Shut up! How many times do you plan to make fun of me for that?!”

“Yeah, yeah, ta-daa―”

She held the two tails on both sides of her head, long enough to reach her hips, and swung them to stir me up.

“......nguh.”

She may be trying her best to make me angry, but to me it feels more like a refreshing greeting.

As always, her twintails were wonderful to behold.

Waist-length twintails framing the head ― they may be the most basic, but their simple purity shows you the elegant conceit of hair that has been worn in twintails every day for years. A great artist's paintings can draw people in even when they aren’t using flashy colours or a surprising subject. It’s like that, I think.

“Still, the teacher didn't have to say it out loud...”

“Well, what did you expect when you wrote something that bizarre?”

“Well, excuse me!”

No matter how long we continue the pointless argument, it will not overturn this fact: there are over a thousand days of my life as a high school student ahead of me, and on the first day, I made the biggest mistake of my life.

The private school that I go to, Yougetsu Academy, can take you straight from elementary school into university. A super-escalator school. I wasn’t going to feel different just because I’d moved up into high school.

That’s what I thought, but... the size of the school building, the gymnasium, everything was so much larger than junior high school that I was overwhelmed.

And the highlight was the orientation in the gymnasium by the leaders of the clubs, after the entrance ceremony had ended. The various sports and culture clubs took turns making their appeals to the new students. The passion they showed moved me deeply.

But.

The image I see when I close my eyes is the girl who took the stage after that. To be exact, her hairstyle. Twintails.

Shindou Erina.

She may have been about as tall as a grade schooler, but her freshman welcoming speech as student council president would rival that of the greatest orators in human history. Her address touched the hearts of everyone who heard it.

“There are no limits to what you can accomplish here. I, together with the high school division of Yougetsu Academy, will guide your brilliant future on the path to its full bloom. I promise you!”

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, yet the tone of her speech contained no hint of condescension. The dignified manner in which she stood was mesmerizing.

(She’s beautiful...)

I stared at her, forgetting to blink.

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, but it was the first time I’d ever heard a woman use ’young lady’ language, and she made it sound so natural that I was shocked.

And above all else – her twintails.

Hair, of course, does not have a peerage. But if it did, then those beautiful twintails would have held a high and noble title. The way the tips of her hair curled softly into circles also showed the excellence of her upbringing.

As she put heat in her words and moved more vehemently, the twintails danced through the air in response to her motion, as if she were a princess under a luxurious chandelier and the twintails were her partner on the dance floor.

I couldn’t get my heart to stop pounding.

It felt like everyone around me was staring at her as though a kitten had gotten up on the stage, but I'm probably imagining things.

The student council president has such amazing twintails. I can only imagine how wonderful the next three years of my life are going to be.

On the way back to my classroom, I paid no attention to my chattering classmates. They were like a candle compared to the brilliant light still burning in my heart. The lingering memory of the orientation wasn’t much more than a fart.

All I could see was that beautiful scene. My head was full of twintails. I had my head in the clouds for the self-introductions once we got back to the classroom, too.

And I don’t even seem to have noticed when they handed out the club questionnaire.

“All right, pass your sheets forward starting at the back, ple~ase.”

“Oh!”

The class rep's slow drawl brought me back down to Earth. The girl whose name I didn’t know (of course, because I hadn’t listened to her introduction) handed me some sheets. In a panic, I scribbled something on the the paper before me.

“Hm hmm... Huh~? Someone forgot to write their name on their survey~”

“Oh... Sorry. I think that’s mine. I was rushing.”

The teacher looked up from the sheets she was going through and tilted her head in doubt, so I said my name.

“Ahh, Mitsuka-kun, was it? ...Twintail club? Did we have a twintail club here? ... Oh~h, you mean you want to set one up.”

"What!? No, I didn't actually want to do that, really! I was-"

I was even more nervous, and I had gone beyond rescue.

“I see~. ... Twintail club? You must really like twintails, Mitsuka.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Obviously.”

― Conditioned reflex.

And here I was hoping that I could start anew, in this place full of fresh faces.

That was the instant that decided my position for three years of high school.

“Alright everyone, that’s all for today’s homeroom. It seems like there have been some deviants in the area lately, so be careful!”

“Why are you saying this now!? Look, teacher, please wait! I am serious! I really, seriously love twintails!! Wait, that’s not what I... argh!!”

And so, the first day of my brilliant high school life ended, with me sabotaging myself in the most pathetic way imaginable.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....”

Just the memory of it is killing me.

When I see a blank I write “twintail” in it. That is a pretty ridiculous conditioned reflex. It’s already part of my physiological makeup ― no, it might be closer to the area of ecology.

“Mguh... mm. Seconds.”

Ignoring me and the full cup of coffee that hadn’t even touched my lips, Aika calmly put her hand on the second plate of curry.

Uh, I don’t have any appetite, so it’s fine, but still, that one’s mine.

“Writing that stuff down isn’t so bad, but that was pretty much the worst follow-up ever made. Why did you have to freak out so badly?”

“If you knew that I was nervous, then you should have come in and backed me up! Aren’t we friends!!”

“Friends... yeah.”

There was something sullen about the look on Aika’s face. What are you mad about? You just stole my lunch.

“You have to use questionnaires and stuff to make a good first impression. It's just an interest check, after all. Yeah, it says to write down clubs you're interested in, or clubs you want to start, and all that, but it's just a formality. What new student would suddenly assert themselves like that?”

“Uh... You mean...”

“You know what that means, don't you? By writing that down, you're telling everyone that, even after seeing all the clubs give their presentations, even after all their recruiting efforts, you still want to set up your own club. You get it, don't you?”

“And then I... wrote something strange like `twintail club’?”

“That’s right.”

“We can look back and analyze it calmly now, but you know, back then my mind was one hundred percent blank!!”

“Well, I could have at least stuck out my chest and said, ’A lot of people don’t even know the word for that hairstyle, so don’t suddenly start talking about it.’”

“That wouldn’t have helped at all, and what were you going to stick out, there’s nothing thbuhhh”

My little resistance was cut off in the middle.
Aika's got a complex about her modest (non-existent) chest, which is why I like to rib her about it. But, as you can see, if you do that, she will punch you in the face with one hand while eating off her plate with the other.

It can’t be helped, the rest of her is perfect.

Especially the twintails, and the twintails.

“Ugh. If only I was better at improvising...”

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that it’s indirectly the fault of the student council president that my future was destroyed, the exact opposite of what she said in her speech. Although, as Aika says, I was basically inviting this result by being such a loser.

Sighing gloomily, I wrapped my arms about my head.

“Besides, that obsession of yours would have been exposed sooner or later. Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

“You’re telling me I’ve come to a crossroads in my life? Then don’t just go on eating two meals worth of curry as if nothing's wrong! And I’m impressed you can eat curry while drinking all that coffee!”

You'd think someone like her, who could finish off two large plates of curry as if it were nothing, would have a bigger chest. Is it because of her hair? Does her body need all the nutrients just to sustain it...?

I felt a strange chill suddenly and glanced around the store.

“...?”

A woman customer was sitting alone. Her position was at an exact right angle to our seats.

Was it my imagination, or were her eyes flickering over here?

(That’s strange. I thought Mom already closed the store.)

But when I look at the cup on her table, it seems like she was sitting there from the start. We just didn’t notice. Probably Mom didn’t take a good look around before she rushed off.

Great. I thought there would be no one else around. Why did I have to run my mouth like that? I’m not surprised she’s looking.

“Hey, Souji... you’re doing it again.”

“Ah!”

Snapping back to my senses, I realized that I was holding on to Aika’s twintails. She breathed out a tired sigh and I hurriedly released my grip.

It’s half your fault for leaving them on the table and letting them slip into my grasp so easily ― but that’s a very selfish thing to say.

Because when they’re as long as Aika’s, if you don’t lay them on a chair or a table, they’d touch the ground the moment you sat down.

“Sorry. I really can’t help it. It’s been like this since we were kids. Touching your twintails just... calms me down.”

I know that already, Aika replied, coolly. She sighed again.

“Seriously. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel ashamed of myself.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“What are you going to do if someone takes this the wrong way? They’ll look at my twintails, and... and us being friendly... and connect the dots...”

Having exhausted her coffee, Aika kept glancing between me and the table, all the while pressing her index fingers together bashfully.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you want to change your hairstyle?”

“N-no way! Why would I change my hairstyle just because someone said something about it? I like my hair this way, thank you very much!”

Exactly. Seeing this steadfast determination of hers made me proud to be her childhood friend.

Despite her attitude, Aika’s the one person who would understand my love for twintails. As she said, we’d often get made fun of because we were always together.

But ― neither of us cared about what anyone else had to say about it.

She’s my childhood friend. My best friend.

Everyone has a friend or two they’d keep for life. Someone they can open their heart to. As for myself, by pure chance - that someone just happened to be a girl.

Part of it was because we were neighbours, but it seems like our families have been on good terms for a long time. That’s why it’s almost as if we were siblings. As if we were from the same family.

Back in grade school, I was never able to beat her in a fight. It was only afterwards that I found out her granddad had been teaching her martial arts.

Suppressing my wounded pride, I eventually started training with her at the dojo. I suppose that was when it all started. Ever since then, we’ve always spent our time together.

For some reason, we’d always end up in the same class. No matter how classes got shuffled, or how many people transferred in, we’d see each other in class every year.

To be honest, it was starting to get really weird.

Aika was always popular. She’s frank, honest, strong, and always so full of life - I mean, why wouldn’t she be?

And here I am, screwing everything up in the first day of school. I hope I don’t cause her too much trouble.

“―!?”

I felt another shiver run down my back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”

I kept my voice low. Aika seemed to have noticed it as well. That customer was still around.

“How... Why didn’t I sense her presence...!?”

Although Aika was whispering, what she was saying was even more grandiose than usual. Do you normally sense people’s presence as you go through your day...?

That woman was still sitting there. Quietly observing us.

Her eyes met mine. She hurriedly spun around, turning to face the wall behind her.

“What the heck...?”

Okay? That was strange, but I’d feel uncomfortable too if some other customer was kicking up a fuss across the room. Guess I’d better restrain myself.

While I started to relax, Aika was having none of it. I could tell she was on high alert.

Twintails have expressions of their own. Anger, sadness, joy, suspicion, and anxiety are just some of the emotions that they can show.

What I’m saying is - twintails are like a second mouth.

“...”

Aika gestured to me silently from the side of the table. That woman was now holding up a newspaper, as if to conceal herself from us.

She had poked a hole through it, and was peeping at us through it.

Are you kidding me?

It was beyond ridiculous. Was she filming some kind of comedy skit?

I became paranoid there might be some kind of hidden camera in the cafe. Please keep me from becoming Boy A in the credits.

“... Let’s try not to make eye contact.”

“Right.”

Aika had also settled on that being the best course of action in this situation.

Our assumed suspect folded the newspaper over, set it on the table, and stood up.

For a moment, I hoped she would leave. Instead she went right past the entrance, heading in our direction.

Stopping right next to me, unphased by our shocked expressions, she looked directly at me with a smile on her face.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Hold it right there!” Aika shouted in a rapid-fire manner, exasperated.

“Yes?”

Aika stood up while scowling at me. I flinched instinctively. Leaning her head back, the woman began to laugh.

“Who are you?!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do mind!”

“I have some business with this gentlemen over here.”

“With me?!”

Like a tour guide giving information, she pointed in my direction with her palm open.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?! Standing there with that calm look on your face in those flashy clothes. I’m gonna jam a straw in your cleavage!”

“Now, now, Aika, calm down. Please,” I said, looking to defuse the situation.

I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She may have been be a bit odd, but seeing her up close, she really was an incredibly beautiful woman - young lady, from the looks of it.

Her Japanese was excellent, but she was definitely a foreigner. She had white hair... no, wait. Make that silver hair.

Like it was dyed, yet it seemed natural. Which made it even more unnatural. Silver hair like hers doesn’t exist. Yet, it was still beautiful.

It seemed to glitter in the dim lighting of the cafe.

Along with her long eyelashes, her eyes were so blue they reminded one of sapphires.

Following my gaze down the bridge of her nose, she smiled brightly with her delicate pink lips.

Like something straight out of a movie, she was a mysterious faerie., It felt like her entire body was surrounded in a faint glow, like the twinkling light of a firefly.

Above all, just barely below visible when you look at her face, the enormous volume of her breasts demanded your attention. What an outrageous fairy.

She looked to be around the same age as Aika, and yet the difference between them was almost depressing. The thin clothes emphasizing her cleavage clashed with her clean-cut features. Over which she wore a white robe. One might even call it a coat. The design was quite fashionable.

Her skirt, which one might even hesitate to call a mini-skirt... traced a line that made one wonder how her panties weren’t visible. Yet, with one look at her long slender legs, any doubts about her ability to coordinate clothes vanished. It was certainly a sight not seen among the masses.

It’s such a shame.

Twintails would undoubtedly suit sparkling silver hair like hers.

There I go again... I’ve barely even met this girl, and yet my brain was already filled with thoughts of twintails.

For a guy going through puberty, undressing such a cute girl in your mind would be a natural instinct, honed over millennia.

Naked? With twintails?

Hmm...

I suppose that still counts?

“Ow.”

Aika jabbed me in the temple with her straw. What the heck are you doing, I asked, in a hushed tone. Aika simply turned her head away with a “Hmph!”.

Watching the two of us bicker, the girl looked like she was smirking while she laughed. Instead of an innocent laugh, I sensed a twinge of evil to her laugh. Maybe I’m wrong. She does seem like a very gentle person.

“Uhm, is there something that ''we'' can help you with?”

I unconsciously drew myself into the back of the chair.

The girl put her hand on top of the bench and leaned in closer to me.

“Yes. I have very important business with ''you''.”

“...Important business?”

Pretending not to hear her clearly wasn’t working.

Re-iterating she only wants to speak with me... was it a language problem? Across the table, Aika’s frown deepened.

“My name is Twoearle.”

“I see... Miss... Twoearle...”

She’s definitely not from this country. Nevertheless, her Japanese was impeccable.

“You sure like twintails.”

“I love them.”

Oops... that’s what I felt inside. And I blurted it out immediately. Saying it out loud to someone I just met – I really didn’t learn anything from what happened earlier today, did I?

“Would you mind not asking why, and put on this bracelet for me?”

“What the heck does this have to do with anything!?”

The girl known as Twoearle suddenly pulled an object out of her coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a very beautiful glittering red bracelet.

Taking advantage of my confusion, she softly took the bracelet and gently prised my fingers apart.

“H-hey now―”

With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the back of my hand. At which point, a strange tingling feeling shot through my body.

“Now, please put it on.”

“He doesn’t need it!”

Leaning over the table, Aika roughly grabbed the bracelet and pushed it back towards Twoearle.

“What is with you?! You just waltz over here and start pushing strange things onto him, how rude!”

“It is not anything suspicious.”

“At this point, it’s a little late to see it as anything but suspicious!”

As usual, she doesn’t hold back even with people we’ve just met.

...Well, I do agree it’s rather suspicious.

“...Uhm, well... hmm... ah!”

Twoearle abruptly clasped my hands and said, “It’s me, Souji-kun. Me.”

“...Eh?”

I was perplexed by her suddenly friendly tone.

“You remember me. Look, it’s me. Twoearle. You see, I’ve got a bit of a problem right now – so, could you please put that bracelet on?”

I think I’m imagining things, but the way she thoughtlessly leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, seemed as though she was begging for me to look at her ample chest.

“Uh, weeell...”

“What kind of idiot would use an ore-ore scam to someone’s face!”

“Eeaagh!”

A whirlwind tore past me as I hesitated. Aika hit Twoearle’s cheek with an open-palm strike of terrifying power, improved by a snap of the wrist.

“Are you insaaane?! Don’t hit people that you just met, seriously!! That was a really sharp sound!”

My shout was already close to a scream.

And it was no wonder. That wasn’t a slap but a little trick that aimed for the cheekbones ― one of the jujitsu techniques of the Mizukage school taught by Aika’s late grandfather. Overturning all theories of martial arts, it was meant to cause as much sharp and serious pain as possible to its target without moving the chest too much. Close to a torture technique.

And it had been carried out brilliantly and flawlessly by a mere high school girl.

It was no wonder that the old man had wanted to make her his successor right up until the moment he died.

“Souji, I’m sure this woman is a crook! Just like those people by the train station who say, I’ll tell your fortune, come into this alleyway! But then they have a bunch of people with mohicans and spikes on their shoulders or something waiting there for you!”

“I don’t know about the first part, but not the second!!”

If there is a villain here she’s in front of me.

Twoearle was bent over with a hand pressed against her cheek. I felt worried and looked over at her.

“A-are you okay? This girl, sometimes she doesn’t know when to hold back.”

She’s so beautiful, and she’s a foreigner. It would really suck if this turned into an international incident.

“Huh?... I was holding back, it shouldn’t be that...”

Aika started to look uneasy, although about at the level of a young kid with a knee scrape that you can fix by rubbing spit on it.

If you were holding back, then what was that noise.

“Oh, y, es... I am... fine...”

“Are you really okay...!?”

The way you’re cupping your cheek and trembling tells me that you’re not! I started to hold out my hand to her, and ―

“!”

Aika desperately caught my wrist.

“Oh.”

...Twoearle had gotten the bracelet into my blind spot and was trying to put it on my hand.

“So you were just acting!”

“Why are you trying this hard? What do you want me to put my hand in that bracelet for...!?”

Getting a little uncomfortable with this after all, I took a step back. And my heart felt like it went back a hundred meters.

“But I am not asking for any money! ...Just put it in! All I want you to do is put it in! Please put it in, if you don’t put it in I don’t know what I will do!! If you want me to, I will put it in for you.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the bracelet, but you could hear it as something else, so stop, please.

“You can’t, Souji, if you put it on, they’ll say you can’t cancel any more or something and take a huge amount of money off you! Those mohawk guys are going to crash through the entrance of the store on armored buggies!!”

Aika’s got a keen sense of danger, but her information seems to be a little bit lopsided. Twoearle put her hands together as if praying and looked straight into my eyes.

“Please. I will do anything you want if you wear the bracelet...”

“Eh?”

My mind was screaming no, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes moved towards Twoearle’s hair.

“Anything... you said?”

“Yes... I will do anything you ask of me. I will be fine with whatever special interests you may have! Especially the kinky stuff... ha... ha...”

For some reason, Twoearle was starting to breathe heavily. Her face was red.

“Don’t say things like that!”

This is bad.

Is this what you call a cultural divide? Are the differences in humanity that difficult to reconcile? Even though we speak the same language, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the same wavelength.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but asking him something like that is useless. The only thing he ever thinks about are twintails. He’d just ask you to tie your hair up or something.”

“R-really!? But, he’s a guy, isn’t he!?”

I’m not surprised that Aika could tell what I was thinking, but Twoearle seemed more than a little shocked.

If you say you’d do anything...

Yeah.

Of course.

Twintails.

Twoearle raised her hands, half-smiling.

“You must be kidding me... It is alright! Think of this as advance payment. I’ll let you squeeze them, right here... hurry... they’re surprisingly soft!”

Her softly wobbling chest seemed to explode in my vision. I didn’t know where to look.

Cupping her hands over her breasts, Twoearle thrust herself at me.

“Get away, you pervert! I’ll crush your spine in self-defense if you come any closer!”

Why are you even explaining to her what you’re going to do in self-defense?

“Calm down, Aika! ... I get it, I get it!”

I have to stop this mess before Aika crosses the line.

“I’ll take it. She said it was free, didn’t she? It’s almost like picking a tissue off the sidewalk. If that’s all it takes to make her happy ... it is free, isn’t it?”

“Of course!!”

Her sudden smile, like a flower blooming, caught me off guard. If only she’d act a little more normal...

“No! Don’t! She’s just trying to scam you! It’s like those spa treatment packages where they say the bath salts are free but it ends up being really expensive! She’s just like one of those door-to-door salesmen!!”

“What are you talking about this time?”

“If he does not wear it, the world will end! Also, it is against the law to bait people by giving out bath salts for free!”

“That’s exactly what I was saying, you free-bath-salt merchant!”

Seriously, what kind of a conversation is this? And what’s up with all the bath salts?

“Anyway, if you do not put this on! All the twintails in this world are going to vanish!!”

“―What!!”

Twoearle’s sudden exclamation was like a punch to my stomach. I stepped up to her.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“Hup.”

In that brief moment, Twoearle grabbed my arm, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Wha―”

Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. However, the spirit-shattering thought of all the twintails in the world disappearing, coupled with that pair of all-encompassing, enveloping, Gaia-class motherly breasts pressing against me ― the assault on my heart and mind left me unable to avoid it.

“Thank goodness. Like this, we will be ready when it finally appears.”

Looking at the clock, Twoearle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her teary eyes towards me.

Oh shit. I don’t think she noticed, but when she’s that close... every inch she moves makes her chest jiggle, pushing their soft, undulating mass against my body... this is bad.

Stay strong, Mitsuka Souji! You mustn’t be defeated by something like this!

She’s a foreigner, okay? This level of intimacy is probably completely normal for her. Don’t imagine anything lewd! You’ll destroy the esteemed image of Japanese men if it ends up showing on your face!

“Take it off! Throw that thing away!!”

While I was lost in thought, Aika grabbed me by my neck, forcefully pulling me away from Twoearle’s embrace.

“Whoa!”

It felt as if I was flying. Can you believe it? She just lifted me up with one hand!

The sudden movement sent the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table flying all around me.

“Come on... h-huh!?”

Aika was pulling on the bracelet with both hands, her face twisted in exertion. Guess it fit better than I thought.

“Argh! I can’t... get it off!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!! What the hell is this thing? It’s like a wedding ring that’s gotten stuck on a finger joint!”

And unlike Twoearle, Aika has no `cushions’, so having her press herself against me was very uncomfortable to say the least.

“A wedding ring!? Aaargh——!”

“Yeaaargh!! Stop! You’ll rip my arm off!”

For some reason, Aika started pulling at it even harder than before. My arm jerked around as if it were a candle flame in the wind.

“This is... strange... Why is it... so tight...!? Look! There isn’t even... a gap on this... thing!”

She’s right. It’s made of metal, and definitely isn’t elastic. How did Twoearle even manage to get it on my arm in the first place!?

I wonder if you can unscrew this thing, I heard my childhood friend say. Stop! Humans don’t work that way!

I almost wanted to cry from the suspicion and despair flooding my mind.

It’s strange asking Twoearle to take it off after I let her put it on me, but I don’t have any choices left.

“Um, excuse me, could you please―”

In a flash.

We were enveloped in a retina-burning, polychromatic stream of light.

As if we were melting into the air, our bodies began fading away along with the light―

And then, we were gone.

<center>◇</center>

“I am very sorry about all this, but I thought it would be faster than an explanation.”

I heard Twoearle say.

“―Huh? Huh!?”

Just as the burst of light faded from my vision, a very different sight greeted my eyes.

Soot. The acrid, stinging smell of smoke filled the air around us.

I looked around in a panic.

Sunlight. Wind. Sidewalk. Asphalt.

It was a feeling unlike any that I’d experienced before. My body struggled to get up to speed.

“Why are we... outside?”

We weren’t dreaming, were we? How did we get outside without even noticing it?

“Answer me! Why are we here!?”

Our surroundings were familiar, yet it took quite some time for me to recognize them. No way. How could we have made it here?

‘Maxim Horizon’, the biggest convention center in town. A giant building, spanning two blocks, with an equally large open-air exhibition space. Events, live concerts, and other activities were often held here.

Somehow, we ended up at the center’s open air parking lot.

Roughly 20 minutes away from where we previously were. By car.

“Earlier than expected... I intended for us to have some prep time, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.”

In contrast to the two of us, Twoearle was completely calm.

“I really should have done this earlier...”

She was holding a small stick, about the size of a pen and talking in a very subdued voice.

Unless I’m mistaken, that pen-like thing was what emitted that strange burst of light.

“W-what did you do to us!?”

“I did not intend to bring you along with us, Aika-san, but unfortunately, you would not leave the effective radius. Sorry about that.”

For a moment, I thought they would end up having a (very one-sided) argument again, but a loud sound derailed my train of thought.

“What is it this time!?”

And then, we finally understood what was causing all the soot and smoke.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars around us were cooking off like popcorn, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“This can’t be happening...”

Earlier, I thought we would end up being on some comedy program. Now... it was as if we were passers-by getting caught up in some Hollywood movie pyrotechnics display.

It just didn’t seem real.

“Souji-sama. Please try your best not to leave my side. They will spot you. I cannot project my recognition jamming field very far.”

“Recognition... jamming?”

Twoearle stopped me from moving closer to one of the flaming cars.

“If you stay beside me, they will not be able to see you. Look at that thing over there.”

Twoearle pointed at something in the distance. In the middle of the parking lot was... something.

Both Aika and I leaned in for a closer look... and we both screamed.

“―― Whaaa!?”

“It can’t be! What is that thing!?”

It’s like someone forcefully jammed an insect’s head onto a man’s body. The figure was fully clad in some kind of armored exoskeleton.

Normally, I would have thought it was some actor in a suit, thanks to where we were, but―

Its weight ― wherever it stood, cracks formed in the asphalt.

Its height ― over two meters tall.

Its eyes ― they never stopped moving, darting left and right.

Its teeth ― they looked as if they could crush a boulder.

Its spines ― as sharp as swords, and too many to count, extending from spine to tail.

Everything about it was as real as it could get.

Every cell, every breath it took, was real.

I really wish it was just a suited actor. I really hoped it was.

But, that thing... the mere sight of it filled me with dread. Pure, unrelenting―

“M―monster!”

The wreckage... the fire... and the smoke. And in the middle of it all, the swaggering figure of that unknown figure... it was almost picturesque.

Almost like a scene from a movie, made real.

“Come out, wherever you are!”

!!

As if flicking a bug, the thing sent a nearby car flying. At the same time, I clearly heard it say that line.

Speaking human language.

Speaking Japanese.

Aika and I were too shocked to say anything. The creature, not noticing our presence, twisted it’s mouth, roaring.

Roaring those words of doom that would strike the hearts of its listeners with despair-

“Fuhahahahahaha!! All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!!”

“Uuugh~~~~!!”

At the hoarse, resonant voice and the warped thing it was saying I came close to choking up blood.

We were pretty far from it here, but it felt like its voice was ringing right in my ear.

“...Hey, Souji, what are you doing wearing a theme park costume.”

“That’s not me!”

A large number of pure-black creatures manifested themselves around the monster.

The identical mindless drones were massed in a group, ready for battle. Their strange forms were uniformly solid black. It was an incredibly eerie sight.

The combat drones skittered away, dispersing rapidly in all directions, capturing a number of random girls.

“Twin... tails...”

But my heart was not beating fast because the girls had twintails. It was because of the monster’s orders.

“What are they holding... Hey, it’s twintail girls!”

“What are they planning to do?”

Unlike Aika and I, who fretted in hushed voices, Twoearle silently tracked their movements.

“Even so, this world is regrettably lacking in twintails! Draped in nothing but steel and electricity ― it’s like they never left the Stone Age!”

It was clearly speaking Japanese, but something was off. Something... no, everything.

“Oh well, that just means we have to find twintails of the finest quality!”

With a wild tone of voice, the monster walked with its shoulders held high.

“Don’t forget the orders from our commander, you vermin! Top quality twintails have been detected in this area, so leave no stone unturned! … There might even be a young girl crying while holding her stuffed bunny rabbit!”

“... Moke? Moke- “

“Hold your tongues! Gathering all of the twintails is our ultimate goal… however! Beyond being a soldier, I’m also a man… and so I’d also like to see a young girl holding a stuffed animal! Find me one and there will be a reward waiting for you!!”

It wasn’t my imagination.

No, it was speaking fluent Japanese,　but for some reason nothing it was saying made any sense.

“We have no need for adults! Drag them out here quickly! I don’t mind if you’re a little rough!”

The black creatures were moving efficiently to carry out its orders.

“Moke-”

“What? There are no young girls carrying stuffed animals!? Hmm, if girls don’t have stuffed animals, then a man can provide!! I don’t care, bring them here!”

...Although, can you really call these orders? He’s shouting so crazily that I think if he had something hard in his hand he would throw it.

“Heeeelp!”

A crying young girl was brought in front of the monster.

The way she looked, with her twintails disheveled under the eyes of the grotesque, hulking figure, made me think of a shrine maiden taken for human sacrifice, the victim of a crime against nature.

I tried to jump out, but Aika grabbed my arm and stopped me.

My hazy brain began to catch up with what was going on. I got the situation clear in my head, at least.

“They’re only taking girls with twintails, what are they planning to do?”

The monster and his troops weren’t hurting them. Rather, they were giving them dolls to calm them down.

So we can stay here and watch for now, but...

“Hey, Twoearle, you took us here because you knew this was happening, didn’t you? What is that monster...”

Halfway through the sentence, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

In my line of sight was something I should never have seen.

Well, this isn’t the place for sarcasm. But the radiant sight that had burned itself into my heart earlier today had not been a dream or an illusion. I knew that now.

“The... president...”

No mistake. That was it, the source of my suffering from the first day of high school life, the diabolical hairstyle that had charmed me in both the good and bad sense of the word.

Two of the solid black combat drones were dragging along Shindou Erina, president of the student council, in her school uniform, one on each arm.

“It’s, it’s her! Hey! Isn’t that the president?”

It looks like Aika has noticed too.

In the gym there were maids standing by her silently to attend on her, but I couldn’t see anyone like that now.

The president was holding something tight in her arms as if it were important. It was hard to see, of course, but the thing sticking halfway out of her shopping bag looked like a toy from a kids’ tokusatsu series.

“Release me!”

Determined resistance.

The monster ran his eyes over her as if he were deciding on her price.

“Ho-hooo, a nice little child! Not only that, but she looks like she’s a princess! A twintail princess... no, indeed, this is nearly perfect! Yours could be the ultimate twintails!!”

“Ultimate...!? No, tell me who you are! You speak human language, don’t you!? Set the other girls free!!”

“I do. As you can see, we can communicate well with each other. And so, I tell you that I cannot release them.”

“Then what are your intentions!”

“You’ll understand soon! First, while I have the opportunity...”

The monster handed a large stuffed animal to the president with an overfamiliar gentleness.

“I want you to hold this kitten stuffie! There is sweetness even in your hostility. A kitten stuffie suits a naughty young girl well!! Hug it!!”

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_049.jpg|thumb|''"You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa!"'']]

The jet-black figures came up carrying a three-meter-wide pink sofa which it was hard to believe existed, maybe part of their supplies.

They forced the president, now holding the stuffed animal, to sit on it.

“You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa! This is the golden ratio that my long years of discipline have led me to!!”

“““Mokkekeke―!!”””

The monster was acting like it had at last succeeded in turning gold into a base metal, and on top of that the shrill voices seemed to be cheering it for what it had done. I felt light-headed.

“...We understand that they are aiming for girls with twintails, anyway... Tell me, Twoearle, what can I do? You brought me here because there’s something I can do, right?”

“I will leave the details for later. Right now, we will act.”

My legs were trembling a little despite my brave act, but Twoearle ignored that. She was so calm that she seemed reliable.

“Souji-sama... First, please take off the clothes I am wearing. No, more like rip them off, please. ...Oh, yes. Push both of my arms above my head like this and hold them there... Like this, Souji-sama, with one hand. Then with your other hand, pull off my bra...”

“What is wroooooooooong with you!!”

Twoearle had been making gestures to go with what she was saying.

“Aika, too loud!”

I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth, but―

“Ohh, I sense the presence of a new twintail... Where? Where are you hiding!!”

(What is a presence supposed to be!)

I left that comeback inside my heart, and looked at the twintails beside me. Certainly, they do draw the eye, but...

“Aaah, I’m a twintail too―!”

“Wheeeare are yoooou!!”

We were sixty or seventy meters away from the center of the huge open-air parking lot, but the thick, harsh voice sounded as though it were coming from right next to us. Still, even though we weren’t under any kind of cover, he can’t see us. What is this?

He’s looking straight at us, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I felt deja vu.

Aika’s words in the store went through my mind.

― “How... Why didn’t I sense her presence?”

Recognition... jamming... that’s what she said earlier.

“...Oh, ohh... Even though I was taking the serious route that I’m not used to and holding it in... This situation I was longing for... The script I polished over and over again... I can’t believe my plan was crushed the moment it started...”

Twoearle’s glare at Aika was a mixture of resentment and disappointment. Apparently something hadn’t gone well for her.

“There’s some way we can help those girls, right!? Come on, tell me!!”

Impatient, I grabbed her shoulders hard.

“Aan...”

For some reason a seductive voice.

“Oh, we can do a course correction! Well, Souji-sama, let us go ahead with the script just like before! Shove me against the wall like this, and we’re up to the place where you rip all my clothes off at once! Take them with one cut!!”

“Why don’t I shove you against the wall? As hard as I can!?”

Under Aika’s glare, Twoearle reluctantly said, “I, I understand. It is true we do not have much time, so I will skip a little! And they can sense her Twintail Element even through recognition jamming, so even in the first battle I do not think we can take them lightly.”

Did you say “the first battle?”... but I didn’t have time to wonder, because what she said next was even more outrageous.

“Souji-sama, use the bracelet I gave you and transform!”

“Transform!?”

“This is what she was going for! All that stuff earlier was for this!”

Twoearle ignored Aika and continued.

“That device creates a battle suit that will reinforce your physical power. You should become at least a match for that monster when you transform.”

“Are you serious!?”

Just as if it were a kids’ superhero show or something like that.

...But I was willing to grasp at any straw right then, and my heart soaked it up without resistance as if it were a voice from heaven.

She could have said any crazy thing to me and I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it was a joke or a trick after the unreal experience of being put through the teleporter.

At least there’s no harm in trying.

“Wa, wait a minute, I don’t know about transforming, but why do you need Souji to do something that dangerous!!”

“You idiot! The enemy’s target is twintails!! How can we overlook that!!”

“...Wait, umm, that’s the most surreal thing about this, or rather, that goal is too stupid... Or Souji, can’t you at least say that it’s because they are kidnapping girls...?”

“No, that is how it should be. It is because you love twintails that you can use the bracelet. There is no need to act like you care about justice.”

“No, I mean, I did want to rescue the girls, I was thinking that...”

An enemy who’s aiming at twintails, and supposedly I can fight against them because I love twintails? What is this?

Really more and more this seems like a joke.

The earth shook so much that I seemed to float for a second, and then came an ear-splitting roar.

“Souji, the people they caught!”

A terrifying scene was unfolding where Aika pointed.

A tragic scene as though I were looking into hell.

In the very center of the parking lot ― the parked cars had been torn out by the roots and scattered and the girls they had caught were lined up single file.

An improvised ceremonial site.

I don’t know if the girl at the front of the line had fainted, but she didn’t seem to be moving as her body floated into the air.

Like a lion jumping through a flaming hoop, the girls in the line moved through a metallic ring with light stretched across it in iridescent colours like a soap bubble. The moment the first girl passed through, her hair came gently untied, and she drifted back down tracing an arc across the sky.

One by one, the instant they could put the next one through, the girls went through the ring as lifeless as parts on a belt conveyor.

In less time than it took to blink, it was President Shindou’s turn... and even the beautiful twintails that had fascinated me dissolved into the air.

“All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!”

That had sounded like a joke, but I was seeing it for real now.

“― Those bastards.”

I felt something deep snap in my heart for the first time in my life.

“Souji-sama, please compose yourself. It is still all right, they can still be saved.”

“Tell me...! How can I save the twintails? How can I destroy those guys?!!”

“You’re kind of exaggerating... You know, they don’t seem to be hurt at all aside from losing their twintails?”

“Exaggerating, you say......!?”

I grabbed Aika by the front of her shirt and lifted her up with violent emotion overflowing in my heart.

“Aah...”

“Is that all that twintails mean to you? If someone takes them, then that’s fine, you don’t really care? Were they such a little thing to you?!!”

“Ca, calm down, Souji. They’ll notice us again...!”

“...S, sorry.”

When I heard Aika’s out-of-character thin voice without any force in it, my head cooled off a little, and I let go of her.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you too, Twoearle. But tell me how to use this thing. Quickly.”

“...Are you serious!? No, Souji, you shouldn’t! Especially after earlier! I don’t think you can trust her at all!”

Aika’s voice had tension in it like she was trying to talk a friend out of murder.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid or if it’s dangerous. I can’t forgive those monsters for playing games with twintails!”

Twoearle had been at least half messing around with me, but I think that that part of my feelings got through to her.

She nodded with an earnest expression, and explained, raising her own right arm to her chest.

“Please wish in your heart, ‘I want to transform.’ Wish hard. If you do that, the bracelet should activate.”

“That’s all I have to do? I don’t think about anything specific?”

Twoearle nodded forcefully.

“Okay. Sounds like something even I can do.”

“Souji!!”

I gathered my resolve and raised the bracelet to my chest, making a fist with my right hand.

Closing my eyes, like she had told me, I wished hard, hard.

I want to transform... I want to save the president, those girls. To take back the twintails. To become someone who can defeat those bastards.

It wasn’t righteous anger. Is there a guy anywhere who can just keep quiet after he sees something he loves trampled into the dust!!

The next instant―

The “transformation” really happened, just like that.

<center>◇</center>

Light began to shine from the bracelet on Souji’s right arm.

An intense light as though soundless fireworks were exploding before his eyes.

“Aahh!”

Aika covered her eyes with her arm at the unexpected brilliance.

Bands of red light looped around Souji’s body, forming a cocoon. As specks of light flooded out, they tightened around him.

An even brighter sudden flash.

They began to change the barely visible silhouette.

Shoulders, chest, hips, legs - from the top in order light burst like an explosion, and Souji was covered from the neck down in a red suit. But this all happened in a hundredth of a second ― the work of an instant, faster than the eye could see.

Spraying out like steam, lines of red light.

And although it was strange, Souji was surrounded by a radiance that didn’t come from reflected light, just like Twoearle’s silver hair.

“Awesome... I really did transform...”

Souji put all the strength into the fists, testing how it felt.

As far as he could see, the suit covered the body without a gap, from the tips of the feet when he looked down to the fingertips he was opening and closing over and over again. But he seems to have noticed before long that there was no pressure on his head.

“Huh? My face... It isn’t hidden!?”

Touching the cheeks, Souji was disturbed to find that they weren’t covered.

“The suit itself is not that important to the defense system. Also, it is using Imagine Chaff as a countermeasure, so even though your face is uncovered, other people will not realize that it is you, Souji-sama.”

“Imagine... What’s that?”

“It is something so you do not have to worry about people finding out your real identity! Please fight with peace of mind!”

“I, is that so? Okay! Let me try this...!!” I don’t really understand the practical side very well, and there are a lot of things I’m still worried about, but there’s no time left.

Souji put his faith in Twoearle’s words and started to run toward the battlefield, his hair gallantly ''fluttering behind him''.

“Nh, uh...”

Souji had already vanished by the time Aika opened her eyes.

“That idiot! Why did he agree to all of this so easily?!”

Aika knitted her eyebrows and looked around.

“Hey, you, uh... hey, Twoearle.”

“Yes?”

“There weren’t any other girls around here just now...?”

<center>◇</center>

“Li... light, what is this, I can’t run so easil... whoaaa―!!”

As if someone had put the decimal point in the wrong place, the power in my legs was so great that I kept almost falling on my face when I sprinted.

I was reminded of the time when I was bored and tried setting the running machine to maximum speed.

≪Please focus your awareness! Souji-sama, that suit, the Tailgear, is created with the power of your mind. You must drive it with your will!≫

Some kind of communications device? I heard Twoearle’s voice as if she were whispering into my ear, although I don’t think anything was mounted on it.

“The force of my mind... My will...!!”

This time, I tried to wrap my awareness around my legs.

Up until then it felt like I was clinging to a car moving at top speed, but I suddenly started to feel my feet landing on the ground through the suit.

It wasn’t like driving a car, it was a sense of complete unity like I had become the car.

I had already reached the parking lot and gone more than halfway across it, kicking the rubble out of the way as I was running without trying to avoid it. I could see the girls lying unconscious on the asphalt now.

I know they regretted having their twintails stolen.

I’ll absolutely get them back for you...!!

“Hmmm, magnificent Twintail Elements... But at this rate, I’m not sure if we can obtain the greatest power under this star, the one the Commander was praising as the ultimate...”

It seems like my hearing has improved, too. I can hear the monster muttering something cryptic to President Shindou, lying at his feet.

My anger hit its peak when I saw the president with her twintails cruelly untied.

“Stoooop――!!”

“Mu!?”

I planted my feet on the ground, braking at high speed. As I did, something like stoppers came down from somewhere near my ankles and jammed into the asphalt, scraping it and blowing off sparks and dust.

(...What ridiculous strength. That girl created this...!?)

A sense of awe filled my body at the unknown power, taking my mind off my anger. And then I started to be afraid. I was surprised again by the kind of power the girl called Twoearle had in her hands.

How had she created something with this kind of terrifying strength? Just as I was told, just as I had wished, I had accepted it, but had that been the right thing to do?

No, I don’t have time to think about that now. I have to concentrate on saving the twintails... saving the people before me.

“You understand human language, right, monster? Give these people back the twintails that you... took.”

“Tha... You are...”

“...Did you not hear me...? You stole their twintails. Give them back, goddamn you!!”

My anger itself hit him together with my scream.

It sounds strange when I say it, but I understood that the strange ring could take people’s twintails away from them. And so it should also be possible for it to give them back.

Who would subject someone to this kind of danger just because they have twintails? The word “irrational” is not good enough for them, it’s absurd, it’s monstrous.

“Steal the twintails.” If what they said, if their objective were known to the public, then tomorrow there might not be anyone wearing twintails anymore. Because it would be stupid to take the risk.

I can’t... I can’t forgive that...!!

“Whoa... whooaaaaaaaaaaa――!?”

When I scowled at him, the monster soared high into the sky as if he had been caught in a sudden gust of wind.

“Gahaaa!!”

The ground hit him face-first.

“H, hey.”

“Nnn, nngh... Was I blown away by such a strong ''young innocent''... Those are... spectacular twintails!!”

“...Huh?”

“The Commander’s prediction was right when he chose this spot! Even if I leave out the girls before. It was you...! You’ve finally come! We didn’t miss our mark, those are the ultimate twintails!”

The monster was staggering to his feet in exultation.

“The ultimate... twintails...?”

Something is strange.

What the monster was saying gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time I myself began to feel obscure doubt.

My field of vision, my viewpoint was oddly low.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the hands I was holding up also seemed smaller than usual.

“......”

Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

A premonition of evil stronger than I’d ever tasted in my life sent a chill through my whole body.

“Could...”

Like a rusty gear grinding, I turned my head over to the side.

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_063.jpg|thumb|top|alt="Souji looking in a car windshield."|''There was a girl with lovely twintails there.'']]

One of the car windshields was still in its original shape. I saw the reflection and was speechless.

What would you call this.

― There was a girl with lovely twintails there.

“――― Oh.”

Even now a “twinta~ils” sound effect rang like a chime in my head. Beautiful, spectacular twintails hanging down past the knee.

And ribbon-shaped pieces that moved up and down together with her breathing, so smoothly that they seemed to be swaying.

Her wide eyes opened even farther.

The word “armor” was a little off the mark for what she was wearing, a strange protective suit that didn’t look like it had any weight at all, showy in its use of fashion with red and white as its key colours.

In places, on top of the body suit that stuck closely to her bare skin, angular mechanical-looking armaments had been attached. They were the source of a mysterious glow.

“Ohh.”

And, and and. There were giant attachments on either side of her hips, but the crotch area of the suit had been designed like a bikini, and half of her thighs were exposed.

I wasn’t sure if I believed this. But I tried touching my chest and groin. My chest was just as flat as it looked from outside, but my constant companion for half my life, the prince between my legs, my important partner, was cleanly and completely missing.

“O, oh...”

Now that I understood, I became more conscious of it. My unnaturally high voice.

Yes, the reflection in the glass was ―

I, who had become a twintail.

“It turned me into a girl―――――――――――――!!?”

A childish scream was absorbed by the sky.

<center>◇</center>

“Wh...!!”

Aika, watching, was also lost for words.

“...What is that.”

“That is our single strongest weapon against those monsters, the Daydream Armor, Tailgear! Aah, you are wonderful, Souji-sama! Ehehehehe big success.”

Twoearle, with a ribbon of drool that was hanging down to the choker around her neck, stared at the panicking Souji with a look of ecstasy on her face.

“...It’s too wonderful, I’m starting to cry!!”

Aika visited Twoearle with the palm of her hand, using even less restraint. It wasn’t a pinpoint strike to her cheek or somewhere this time but an impact to the whole top of her skull.

“Is, is this already a girls’ catfight scene... or actually it is more like being mauled by a tiger...”

“Depending on your answer it really will be like that. What happened, why is Souji a wwwwwoman!! That’s not just girls’ clothing, is it? He’s even way shorter now!!”

“...Aika-san. In order to obtain great power, you have to pay a corresponding price. It makes a person stronger to face the truth ― little girls are cute, little girls!”

“Is this your fucking rotten hobby―!!”

The sound of a merciless blow.

“That’s not transforming, that’s warped!”

Of course, she didn’t mean “warped” in the sense of metamorphosis.

“Fight fire with fire, they say. When the enemy is ‘hentai,’ a fighter cannot oppose them without becoming HENTAI to a certain degree themselves.”

“So the enemy is yooooooooooooooooooou!!”

Thud, thud, thud...

The head of the beautiful girl whose default was complete corruption ― Twoearle’s imagination soared left and right in thrilling leaps.

<center>◇</center>

Is this my punishment?

I’ve been saying twintails, twintails from childhood until now, did God finally get fed up with me and say, you’re a pain in the ass, shut up, become a twintail already, and give me a shove in the back?

You shoved too hard, God. This isn’t like I can stagger and keep moving forward, this is like a complete orbit of the Earth.

This is like even my cool entrance scene earlier looped once around the Earth and crashed into the back of my head.

“A, a, a, ah.”

I was confused and unable to deal with reality, and the monster and the black things had completely surrounded me.

“Hmm, so you’ve decided you want to be ours? You have my gratitude! Show her along, and be polite!”

At my lack of resistance, the monster suddenly switched to kindness.

“Moke―”

The black thing... the soldier in front broke out into a run toward me.

“Ge... get awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!”

As I was waving my arms in front of me like a kid throwing a tantrum, I lightly hit the black thing, and it flew into the air with a clear ‘thunk’ sound like a plastic bottle rocket and crashed into a wall on the rooftop level of a distant building.

Its body began to glow. Before long, it exploded softly into dust and disappeared into the sky.

The monster let out a little noise of interest.

“Hnnn... One Ultiroid in one blow! You’re not just beautiful twintails... What is that fierce power!? Who are you, child!!”

The enemy’s words were getting bit by bit more old-fashioned, and now, as if we were actors in a period drama, he was handing me my promised “cue.”

Although judging from his expression he was serious.

≪Souji-sama! This is a great chance for a cool intro speech!≫

Intro speech?

“...What am I supposed to be?”

If you have something you want to say, then say it, God --

≪Aaah~, that is right, you did not decide what you were going to call yourself after you transformed, did you...!?≫

“No, I’m not worried about my name, I’m having doubts about my identity!”

Communicate, help me out, Aika... If I can’t hear your comebacks, how am I supposed to do this?

Not who I am, I’m not even sure what I am.

“Waoo~h, I’m not sure what’s going on but this downhearted little girl - I can’t stand it!! One of you, get me a doll she can hug!”

“Mokee-.”

The encirclement slowly tightened around me.

I could feel piercing stares even from the soldiers though I didn’t know where their eyes were.

Like they were giving off desire as an aura.

The target of those innumerable desires - I didn’t try to hold in the chill climbing up my spine.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

≪Souji-sama, touch the ribbon piece and picture a weapon in your heart. It should create a weapon made just for you!!≫

“Rib, bo, n.”

With bloodshot eyes, I hit one of the two metal ribbon pieces, the only armor on my head.

“Turn me, turn me back into a man......! Agagagagagagaga”

≪It is not a machine that grants wishes!?≫

What is this... I’m not in a fairytale with a moral, there’s no way this punishment can happen, no way I turned into a twintail!!

I hit the ribbon over and over.

Whether my bitter wish got through or not, it lit up and a burst of flame shot out. Forming a spiral in the air, it gathered in my right hand and began to take the shape of a sword like vapor condensing.

The red blade lengthened, wrapping itself around a black core.

A word appeared in my mind like it was being punched into a typewriter.

≪Blazer Blade≫

Fire burst out from my right hand. The magnificent double-edged sword was finished, glowing with red heat.

You couldn’t call it a longsword, but in my hands it looked like a longer than average blade.

Amazi~ng, coo~ol... by the way turn me back.

“Moke――”

One of the soldiers came down out of the air with a pose like a jumping frog.

My voice was frozen, so I swung the sword. The enemy took a diagonal slash to the chest, and with a small explosion evaporated into dust.

“Mokeh”

“Mokee~~~~~~”

“Aagh! These...!!”

I was attacked without a moment of pause and made a sudden horizontal sweep. The soldiers, cut in half, vanished one after another.

With no hesitation - with even less hesitation than before, attacks began to come all at once from the earth and sky.

“De... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

I slashed at them, the spinning sword wrapped in fire that traveled with the sword’s pressure, spreading out like a burst from a flamethrower.

The figures all in black attacked four ways, eight ways, and evaporated without even having time to scream.

“Hah... hah...”

The reptile monster, alone now, was trembling all over.

“I’m nailed to this spot, I can’t move... The sword like lightning and the twintails dancing in the sky... I was sure that I was lost in heaven!!”

“You really are lost! Stop, that’s creepy!!”

The monster was overcome with emotion. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

I’m the one who wants to cry.

“Haaah, haah, twintails...”

“Wha...!?”

Desire was swirling around the monster like a vortex. He stuck out his hands and came at me like a zombie.

He was different from the one-kick soldiers before. In many ways.

“Those twintails... Could I have you take them between your thumb and index finger and give my cheeks a few slaps, pechi pechi...!!”

Wide eyes, the blood pulsing in them. Rough, thick breaths. And with the tip of his lips stained with drool, the monster came at me.

A dread second to none rushing through me and a weak scream I’d never heard from myself even once before.

“Kyaa--!!”

I fell on my butt, letting the sword drop.

“Haah, haah, twintails...”

I can’t stand to look at this.

Is that right... is this what I look like.

Were guys who like twintails all like this? Would someone who didn’t know me think of me as his accomplice? Was this how other people saw me?

...If nobody approves of me, will I become warped too?

“Shit, it’s because there are things like you that...!”

Clutching my head and trembling, I curled up into a ball.

My memories flickered around me like shadows from a lantern.

The times I talked passionately about twintails.

Or maybe the person I was talking to didn’t know them well, but they knew something about them.

Everyone would always start to look suspicious.

What’s wrong with insisting on the kind of hairstyle you like, I always thought... but was it that monster that they were seeing?

I was pretending that I was confident and didn’t care what anyone thought, but maybe I was really feeling guilty about my love of twintails...?

≪Sou-ji! Get a hold of yourself! You’re the one who said you were going to save them, what are you doing!!≫

“...Ah...!!”

At Aika’s words I came back to reality.

≪You were bragging earlier how important twintails were to you, you even grabbed my... you grabbed the front of a girl’s shirt and lifted her up. Now that you became a twintail you’re scared!? Pull yourself together!≫

≪She said ‘the front of her shirt,’ but Souji-sama, you just grabbed her collar in one smooth motion, didn’t you? There were no obstacles to intercept you, were there? Hahaha≫

≪I’m sorry I stopped you before... I can’t look at that monster anymore either, that creep, don’t worry about all the other stuff, just punch him hard!≫

≪...Don’t, squeeze like a washcloth... Please let go of my obstacles!!≫

≪If you can’t do anything now, then that’s the thing that will make you his accomplice! If you feel guilty about your usual self, then when it’s time to act, do it right!≫

≪It hurts, ow ow ow ow ow!!≫

“...Aika...!”

Aika’s precise speech, as if she could see straight through me. A feeling rose in my heart like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I thought I heard a voice rising in pain, but my mind had already become one with the space around it.

And I’m not confused about what I am anymore.

I’m an idiot.

What Aika says is right. After shaking her off and coming into the battle, what am I doing.

I have been given the power to protect what I love and respect and I’m completely losing it because of my own small worries.

Come to think of it, back when I was a kid, when I was fighting Aika and I had that old man training me, he beat that into my head a lot. You have a lot of idle thoughts, you have to empty your heart - that kind of thing.

Let your heart fill the space... let idle thoughts loose.

Let your heart―

“You are tearing off my breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasts!!”

“...Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!”

For the first time in my life my whole mind is concentrated on this fight. But there’s something, some noise that I can’t imagine comes from a creature of this world, that’s pulling me away and making it really hard to focus, so I let a scream out and began to run.

Nothing else than the scream now.

“Hmm!?”

“I’ll pechi-pechi you! Get your face out here!!”

I lifted the Blazer Blade above my head.

“Oooh!”

For the first time my slash was blocked.

But on the left cheek of the monster that hadn’t been touched, a burn like the mark of a sword appeared, running in a single horizontal line.

“You’re... Haah!!”

The monster screamed and a beam of light flashed out of the palm of his hand.

But the beam evaporated as soon as it touched my body without disturbing my twintails a millimeter. I didn’t feel anything either.

“Hmmn!?”

A combat suit that was so thin, except at my hips, and arms and legs and other places covered by the angular armor, that it didn’t hold me back at all - the Tailgear.

You could see its true worth in the light that surrounded me.

“...Photon Absorber... Is that what this is.”

An ≪explanation≫ echoed in my head.

The ultimate defensive film takes the absorbed energy of motion - in other words, impact - and kills it completely by controlling and intercepting it at the molecular level.

This is also the reason why the head, which should be protected as much as possible, is exposed. No attack will hit the Tailgear as long as the whole body is covered in light, and that makes it an invincible weapon.

“Hmph... You’re a terrifying little kid! For the first time in many days my soldier’s spirit is roaring! I am Lizard Guildy, the leader of the Ultima Guil raid squadron! I fight in the belief that a man’s heart should beat even stronger at the sight of a girl who is holding a doll! Tell me your name, at least, if nothing else!!”

“―TailRed!!”

I said it so naturally that I was surprised. It felt as though the suit itself was telling me what to say.

The moment I had broken through, it had started calling to my heart.

An irrepressible power was pulsing in my whole body.

“...I asked for your real name!!”

“It’s fine... If you shout a disturbing belief like that at the top of your lungs then I don’t need someone like you to remember my name!”

“That’s mysterious! You believe more or less the same thing, don’t you?”

“Don’t put me together with you!”

“It’s obvious at a glance! If you weren’t one who loves twintails more than anything else, you wouldn’t be shining like that!”

“You know your stuff, don’t you... Fine, I shine all the brighter because of my love for twintails - go ahead and remember that!!”

“That runs counter to what we want, then, doesn’t it... For us, we love twintails even more when we have our hands on them! Hnnnn... hmph!!”

The countless spines on Lizard Guildy’s back separated and lifted high into the sky.

A thin belt of light seemed to bind the spines and his body together.

And one by one as if they had a mind of their own they came down to attack.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

I started to cut all of them down with the Blazer Blade.

The burning spines one after another started to hiss like bombs, and after they hit they blew away part of the asphalt.

“Hnnnnn...!!”

They came flying even faster. I could dodge them by the width of a hair and they’d still spin around quickly and pursue me like guided missiles.

My eyesight for moving objects was much better because of the Tailgear, but even for my improved vision the complicated orbits were a threat.

“Twoearle! Will everything be okay even when I defeat this guy? What will happen to the twintails!?”

≪The twintails that were stolen...? The Elements... they’re stored in that ring for an hour or so, I believe! So ignore that guy! Defeat him and break the ring and they’ll go back! ...I believe!!≫

“All right!”

I had been a little frightened about the thing Aika called me about... no, incredibly frightened, but I would stick with my first decision to rescue the president’s, and everyone else’s twintails.

“Magnificent! I will not forget this day if I live for ever! My apologies, but I’d like to take a photograph as a souvenir! Rest your head on my shoulder like this, and hold a stuffed...”

“Shut uuuuu-p!”

I shortened the distance with a single bound and with my left hand wreathed in fire, I punched him hard.

His face mushed in and a large amount of blood came out of his nose.

“Agh, aaugh... No, no help for it... I was trying hard to keep from hurting your face or your twintails, but you’re going to have to resign yourself to a certain amount of damage!!”

The muscles under Lizard Guildy’s steel scales bulged out still more.

He must be gathering all of his strength for an attack.

I stood straight in front of him, preparing for the worst.

But isn’t there... It’s going to be dangerous for the girls lying around here if we keep fighting in this flashy way!

At that moment the vivid image of a deep red pillar of fire floated into my mind.

“―Aura Pillar...? This, then!”

It’s like a help file was included and I can search through it by thinking. Very nice of her.

Fire burst out of the tip of the Blazer Blade and swelled to the size of a basketball. With all my strength I swung the sword up and let it fly loose.

“What is this!?”

The ball of fire exploded right in front of Lizard Guildy, and drawing a spiral encircled his body as its track took the shape of a pillar.

“N, m, nor can I move!”

It certainly is a barrier that binds the enemy. So this is the Aura Pillar!

“Uooooooooooh!!”

Keeping my eyes on Lizard Guildy, I began to run.

The sword that I was holding started to change shape, responding to my spirit. The hilt and ornamental piece unfolded, and the lines that ran through the sword like the veins of a leaf began to flash violently.

Fire shot from the blade shining with red heat, stretching it to almost twice its length.

The edge slipped through the barrier that was holding him. And straight down in the direction it was already going, it cut Lizard Guildy in a single sweep from the crown of his head.

Yes, ≪Grand Blazer≫ is definitely a final move... The trails of flame ran into the sky.

“Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A heat wave like a bubble popping. Lizard Guildy screamed in agony. Arcs of electricity were coming off him.

“He, hehahahaha... Magnificent... To perish with a twintail brushing gently against my cheek... How can I have any regrets! This is the end I always dreamed of as a child!!”

“Wait, hey!!”

The Aura Pillar swelled out suddenly to three times its size.

“Farewell――!!”

Lizard Guildy, holding his belief next to his heart to his last moment, detonated in a tremendous explosion which couldn’t be compared to the others, and dispersed on the wind ―

“Don’t vanish with a dying vision like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!”

After there was only silence.

I looked out on the devastated parking lot, although you could hardly tell that’s what it was anymore.

On the other hand, Grand Blazer had scorched the ground a little, but there weren’t many more traces of my fight. The unbelievable flare and impact had done almost no damage to the surroundings.

I saw Aura Pillar as something like a support technique for capturing the enemy, but maybe it’s to keep damage from explosions down to a minimum.

“Hup~”

I cut the drifting huge metal ring in half without any particularly strong feelings.

As if it had completed its task, the sword I was holding turned into flame and dissolved into the air.

The ring broke into tiny pieces and the light inside it became sparks that broke into streams flowing down into the unconscious girls one by one.

As I saw their hairstyles returning properly to twintails, I was hit by a sense of exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if I might fall on my back.

I had been lost in the fight, but was I really able to save these girls... was I really able to save twintails?

There was a small diamond-shaped stone glittering light green on the ground. I picked it up.

<Doll>

The word came into my mind. As I held it the armor piece on my left hand slid open and sucked it in.

“...Huh, this is another power of the Tailgear?”

“―Um.”

“!”

I almost jumped when someone called me from behind.

The president was awake and looking at me in wonder with her twintails fluttering behind her. They were covered in soot but had not lost their nobility.

She was making a token effort to hold the hem of her torn skirt together with her hand.

“I would like to... thank you very much for saving me.”

“Ah, hahaha, for what? I’m just a guy, no girl who happened to be passing through!”

I don’t think anyone could believe that when I’m dressed like this but I have to come up with something.

“No, um, that is... I woke up midway through the fight.”

“What?......”

“Yo, you fought wonderfully! ... You’re still only small, but you’re gallant... and strong ... I was... so moved!”

“―――!!”

This is bad. I thought everyone was unconscious.

The president is also really young-looking, but right now I don’t look like any more than an elementary schooler.

And that child was carrying a sword and fighting with monsters... how can you come up with an explanation for that situation.

“Excuse me... How in the world did you...!”

“A, a, I’m an ally of justice! Now, please get, out of here quickly!”

I’m really feeling how bad I am at ad-lib, as Aika pointed out an hour ago.

“I would like to thank you very much for saving me!! Will we meet again!?”

“You’ll see me again, as long as you love twintails.”

Bowing deeply to me, the president left at a half-run.

Thank goodness, she didn’t investigate too much.

For something on the spur of the moment, that line wasn’t bad. Although I was just trying to get through this.

“Young mistreessss!!”

A limousine cut diagonally across the parking lot at a reckless speed like it was slashing the lot in half and stopped, leaving a huge tire mark. Maids, a lot of maids, jumped out from inside and rushed over to the president.

A few of the girls who had fainted also began to wake up. The maids... probably at the orders of the president, broke the task up and began to care for them. It didn’t seem like there was any place for me anymore.

Afterward were the girls’ parents and families, maybe... adults, now free, also came running one by one.

The president might have seen me when I was screaming in terror... but I had rescued everyone safely, so I’d like her to forget about it.

“Whew...”

I shifted my line of sight to the front.

I can see myself reflected in the side mirror of a car.

“.........”

It’s a little young, but the way I look is certainly exactly what I was dreaming of, my ideal twintails.

I felt heat coming into my cheeks and shook my head desperately.

If I keep looking at myself, happiness and unease will hit me simultaneously.

Sirens started to come into earshot. Of course, the police and ambulances and things would be coming.

As the thread of tension snapped I felt dizzy.

Hugging a wall to avoid people’s eyes, as I went around a corner I saw Aika and Twoearle, who had been waiting for me.

“It’s finally over...”

My last strength drained out and I fell back on the ground.

The transformation was cancelled, and I was wrapped in a cocoon of light and returned to my original shape.

Thank God I didn’t stay like that my whole life...

“Sou-ji!”

Aika ran over to me and caught me in her arms, and out of relief, maybe, I flickered in and out of consciousness.

“It is a pity for you to have your head pressed against the ground. Please come here, my chest has proper cushions.”

“It’s my chest, not the ground!!”

“―For a woman it is only called a chest once it has begun to puff out. That is, the area below your neck is referred to as the ground, Aika-san.”

“Why don’t you kiss the ground, dumbaaaaaaass!!”

Aika caught the back of Twoearle’s head with an eagle grip and shoved her into the sidewalk.

“Nooo, stooooop, it’s my first kiiiiiiiss!!”

I want to fall asleep feeling like I made everything turn out okay, but I still hear screaming. Come on, guys.

As though guided by fate I dived into the maelstrom of war.

And the curtain closed on TailRed’s first battle.

<references/>

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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-02-20T08:33:26Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 1: I am a Twintail ==

After school on the first day of my high school life. A day I should have had fond memories of. I, Mitsuka Souji, along with my childhood friend Tsube Aika, were having a late lunch at the Cafe Adolescenza. It might seem pretty fashionable for us to be eating lunch at a cafe, but seeing as I live here, it’s like a normal meal for me.

Its main selling point is our special house blend coffee. It has lots of fans, but, being something my mom does on the side, the shop is prone to being closed whenever she feels like it.

The sign over the door read “Closed”. Of course, that meant that it was just the two of us in here.

The intense spicy smell hanging in the air was nothing compared to the weight of sorrow in my chest.

“Why the heck did I put down something like that...”

“There’s no such thing as the Twintail Club,” my childhood friend said, looking at me amazed. The smell of spice swirled around her.

“I was put on the spot... and wrote it down without thinking. I didn't mean to!”

“If you ask me, anyone that would inadvertently write down something like that is bad news. You have Twintails on the brain.”

“Shut up! How many times do you plan to make fun of me for that?!”

“Yeah, yeah, ta-daa―”

She held the two tails on both sides of her head, long enough to reach her hips, and swung them to stir me up.

“......nguh.”

She may be trying her best to make me angry, but to me it feels more like a refreshing greeting.

As always, her twintails were wonderful to behold.

Waist-length twintails framing the head ― they may be the most basic, but their simple purity shows you the elegant conceit of hair that has been worn in twintails every day for years. A great artist's paintings can draw people in even when they aren’t using flashy colours or a surprising subject. It’s like that, I think.

“Still, the teacher didn't have to say it out loud...”

“Well, what did you expect when you wrote something that bizarre?”

“Well, excuse me!”

No matter how long we continue the pointless argument, it will not overturn this fact: there are over a thousand days of my life as a high school student ahead of me, and on the first day, I made the biggest mistake of my life.

The private school that I go to, Yougetsu Academy, can take you straight from elementary school into university. A super-escalator school. I wasn’t going to feel different just because I’d moved up into high school.

That’s what I thought, but... the size of the school building, the gymnasium, everything was so much larger than junior high school that I was overwhelmed.

And the highlight was the orientation in the gymnasium by the leaders of the clubs, after the entrance ceremony had ended. The various sports and culture clubs took turns making their appeals to the new students. The passion they showed moved me deeply.

But.

The image I see when I close my eyes is the girl who took the stage after that. To be exact, her hairstyle. Twintails.

Shindou Erina.

She may have been about as tall as a grade schooler, but her freshman welcoming speech as student council president would rival that of the greatest orators in human history. Her address touched the hearts of everyone who heard it.

“There are no limits to what you can accomplish here. I, together with the high school division of Yougetsu Academy, will guide your brilliant future on the path to its full bloom. I promise you!”

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, yet the tone of her speech contained no hint of condescension. The dignified manner in which she stood was mesmerizing.

(She’s beautiful...)

I stared at her, forgetting to blink.

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, but it was the first time I’d ever heard a woman use ’young lady’ language, and she made it sound so natural that I was shocked.

And above all else – her twintails.

Hair, of course, does not have a peerage. But if it did, then those beautiful twintails would have held a high and noble title. The way the tips of her hair curled softly into circles also showed the excellence of her upbringing.

As she put heat in her words and moved more vehemently, the twintails danced through the air in response to her motion, as if she were a princess under a luxurious chandelier and the twintails were her partner on the dance floor.

I couldn’t get my heart to stop pounding.

It felt like everyone around me was staring at her as though a kitten had gotten up on the stage, but I'm probably imagining things.

The student council president has such amazing twintails. I can only imagine how wonderful the next three years of my life are going to be.

On the way back to my classroom, I paid no attention to my chattering classmates. They were like a candle compared to the brilliant light still burning in my heart. The lingering memory of the orientation wasn’t much more than a fart.

All I could see was that beautiful scene. My head was full of twintails. I had my head in the clouds for the self-introductions once we got back to the classroom, too.

And I don’t even seem to have noticed when they handed out the club questionnaire.

“All right, pass your sheets forward starting at the back, ple~ase.”

“Oh!”

The class rep's slow drawl brought me back down to Earth. The girl whose name I didn’t know (of course, because I hadn’t listened to her introduction) handed me some sheets. In a panic, I scribbled something on the the paper before me.

“Hm hmm... Huh~? Someone forgot to write their name on their survey~”

“Oh... Sorry. I think that’s mine. I was rushing.”

The teacher looked up from the sheets she was going through and tilted her head in doubt, so I said my name.

“Ahh, Mitsuka-kun, was it? ...Twintail club? Did we have a twintail club here? ... Oh~h, you mean you want to set one up.”

"What!? No, I didn't actually want to do that, really! I was-"

I was even more nervous, and I had gone beyond rescue.

“I see~. ... Twintail club? You must really like twintails, Mitsuka.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Obviously.”

― Conditioned reflex.

And here I was hoping that I could start anew, in this place full of fresh faces.

That was the instant that decided my position for three years of high school.

“Alright everyone, that’s all for today’s homeroom. It seems like there have been some deviants in the area lately, so be careful!”

“Why are you saying this now!? Look, teacher, please wait! I am serious! I really, seriously love twintails!! Wait, that’s not what I... argh!!”

And so, the first day of my brilliant high school life ended, with me sabotaging myself in the most pathetic way imaginable.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....”

Just the memory of it is killing me.

When I see a blank I write “twintail” in it. That is a pretty ridiculous conditioned reflex. It’s already part of my physiological makeup ― no, it might be closer to the area of ecology.

“Mguh... mm. Seconds.”

Ignoring me and the full cup of coffee that hadn’t even touched my lips, Aika calmly put her hand on the second plate of curry.

Uh, I don’t have any appetite, so it’s fine, but still, that one’s mine.

“Writing that stuff down isn’t so bad, but that was pretty much the worst follow-up ever made. Why did you have to freak out so badly?”

“If you knew that I was nervous, then you should have come in and backed me up! Aren’t we friends!!”

“Friends... yeah.”

There was something sullen about the look on Aika’s face. What are you mad about? You just stole my lunch.

“You have to use questionnaires and stuff to make a good first impression. It's just an interest check, after all. Yeah, it says to write down clubs you're interested in, or clubs you want to start, and all that, but it's just a formality. What new student would suddenly assert themselves like that?”

“Uh... You mean...”

“You know what that means, don't you? By writing that down, you're telling everyone that, even after seeing all the clubs give their presentations, even after all their recruiting efforts, you still want to set up your own club. You get it, don't you?”

“And then I... wrote something strange like `twintail club’?”

“That’s right.”

“We can look back and analyze it calmly now, but you know, back then my mind was one hundred percent blank!!”

“Well, I could have at least stuck out my chest and said, ’A lot of people don’t even know the word for that hairstyle, so don’t suddenly start talking about it.’”

“That wouldn’t have helped at all, and what were you going to stick out, there’s nothing thbuhhh”

My little resistance was cut off in the middle.
Aika's got a complex about her modest (non-existent) chest, which is why I like to rib her about it. But, as you can see, if you do that, she will punch you in the face with one hand while eating off her plate with the other.

It can’t be helped, the rest of her is perfect.

Especially the twintails, and the twintails.

“Ugh. If only I was better at improvising...”

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that it’s indirectly the fault of the student council president that my future was destroyed, the exact opposite of what she said in her speech. Although, as Aika says, I was basically inviting this result by being such a loser.

Sighing gloomily, I wrapped my arms about my head.

“Besides, that obsession of yours would have been exposed sooner or later. Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

“You’re telling me I’ve come to a crossroads in my life? Then don’t just go on eating two meals worth of curry as if nothing's wrong! And I’m impressed you can eat curry while drinking all that coffee!”

You'd think someone like her, who could finish off two large plates of curry as if it were nothing, would have a bigger chest. Is it because of her hair? Does her body need all the nutrients just to sustain it...?

I felt a strange chill suddenly and glanced around the store.

“...?”

A woman customer was sitting alone. Her position was at an exact right angle to our seats.

Was it my imagination, or were her eyes flickering over here?

(That’s strange. I thought Mom already closed the store.)

But when I look at the cup on her table, it seems like she was sitting there from the start. We just didn’t notice. Probably Mom didn’t take a good look around before she rushed off.

Great. I thought there would be no one else around. Why did I have to run my mouth like that? I’m not surprised she’s looking.

“Hey, Souji... you’re doing it again.”

“Ah!”

Snapping back to my senses, I realized that I was holding on to Aika’s twintails. She breathed out a tired sigh and I hurriedly released my grip.

It’s half your fault for leaving them on the table and letting them slip into my grasp so easily ― but that’s a very selfish thing to say.

Because when they’re as long as Aika’s, if you don’t lay them on a chair or a table, they’d touch the ground the moment you sat down.

“Sorry. I really can’t help it. It’s been like this since we were kids. Touching your twintails just... calms me down.”

I know that already, Aika replied, coolly. She sighed again.

“Seriously. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel ashamed of myself.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“What are you going to do if someone takes this the wrong way? They’ll look at my twintails, and... and us being friendly... and connect the dots...”

Having exhausted her coffee, Aika kept glancing between me and the table, all the while pressing her index fingers together bashfully.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you want to change your hairstyle?”

“N-no way! Why would I change my hairstyle just because someone said something about it? I like my hair this way, thank you very much!”

Exactly. Seeing this steadfast determination of hers made me proud to be her childhood friend.

Despite her attitude, Aika’s the one person who would understand my love for twintails. As she said, we’d often get made fun of because we were always together.

But ― neither of us cared about what anyone else had to say about it.

She’s my childhood friend. My best friend.

Everyone has a friend or two they’d keep for life. Someone they can open their heart to. As for myself, by pure chance - that someone just happened to be a girl.

Part of it was because we were neighbours, but it seems like our families have been on good terms for a long time. That’s why it’s almost as if we were siblings. As if we were from the same family.

Back in grade school, I was never able to beat her in a fight. It was only afterwards that I found out her granddad had been teaching her martial arts.

Suppressing my wounded pride, I eventually started training with her at the dojo. I suppose that was when it all started. Ever since then, we’ve always spent our time together.

For some reason, we’d always end up in the same class. No matter how classes got shuffled, or how many people transferred in, we’d see each other in class every year.

To be honest, it was starting to get really weird.

Aika was always popular. She’s frank, honest, strong, and always so full of life - I mean, why wouldn’t she be?

And here I am, screwing everything up in the first day of school. I hope I don’t cause her too much trouble.

“―!?”

I felt another shiver run down my back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”

I kept my voice low. Aika seemed to have noticed it as well. That customer was still around.

“How... Why didn’t I sense her presence...!?”

Although Aika was whispering, what she was saying was even more grandiose than usual. Do you normally sense people’s presence as you go through your day...?

That woman was still sitting there. Quietly observing us.

Her eyes met mine. She hurriedly spun around, turning to face the wall behind her.

“What the heck...?”

Okay? That was strange, but I’d feel uncomfortable too if some other customer was kicking up a fuss across the room. Guess I’d better restrain myself.

While I started to relax, Aika was having none of it. I could tell she was on high alert.

Twintails have expressions of their own. Anger, sadness, joy, suspicion, and anxiety are just some of the emotions that they can show.

What I’m saying is - twintails are like a second mouth.

“...”

Aika gestured to me silently from the side of the table. That woman was now holding up a newspaper, as if to conceal herself from us.

She had poked a hole through it, and was peeping at us through it.

Are you kidding me?

It was beyond ridiculous. Was she filming some kind of comedy skit?

I became paranoid there might be some kind of hidden camera in the cafe. Please keep me from becoming Boy A in the credits.

“... Let’s try not to make eye contact.”

“Right.”

Aika had also settled on that being the best course of action in this situation.

Our assumed suspect folded the newspaper over, set it on the table, and stood up.

For a moment, I hoped she would leave. Instead she went right past the entrance, heading in our direction.

Stopping right next to me, unphased by our shocked expressions, she looked directly at me with a smile on her face.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Hold it right there!” Aika shouted in a rapid-fire manner, exasperated.

“Yes?”

Aika stood up while scowling at me. I flinched instinctively. Leaning her head back, the woman began to laugh.

“Who are you?!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do mind!”

“I have some business with this gentlemen over here.”

“With me?!”

Like a tour guide giving information, she pointed in my direction with her palm open.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?! Standing there with that calm look on your face in those flashy clothes. I’m gonna jam a straw in your cleavage!”

“Now, now, Aika, calm down. Please,” I said, looking to defuse the situation.

I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She may have been be a bit odd, but seeing her up close, she really was an incredibly beautiful woman - young lady, from the looks of it.

Her Japanese was excellent, but she was definitely a foreigner. She had white hair... no, wait. Make that silver hair.

Like it was dyed, yet it seemed natural. Which made it even more unnatural. Silver hair like hers doesn’t exist. Yet, it was still beautiful.

It seemed to glitter in the dim lighting of the cafe.

Along with her long eyelashes, her eyes were so blue they reminded one of sapphires.

Following my gaze down the bridge of her nose, she smiled brightly with her delicate pink lips.

Like something straight out of a movie, she was a mysterious faerie., It felt like her entire body was surrounded in a faint glow, like the twinkling light of a firefly.

Above all, just barely below visible when you look at her face, the enormous volume of her breasts demanded your attention. What an outrageous fairy.

She looked to be around the same age as Aika, and yet the difference between them was almost depressing. The thin clothes emphasizing her cleavage clashed with her clean-cut features. Over which she wore a white robe. One might even call it a coat. The design was quite fashionable.

Her skirt, which one might even hesitate to call a mini-skirt... traced a line that made one wonder how her panties weren’t visible. Yet, with one look at her long slender legs, any doubts about her ability to coordinate clothes vanished. It was certainly a sight not seen among the masses.

It’s such a shame.

Twintails would undoubtedly suit sparkling silver hair like hers.

There I go again... I’ve barely even met this girl, and yet my brain was already filled with thoughts of twintails.

For a guy going through puberty, undressing such a cute girl in your mind would be a natural instinct, honed over millennia.

Naked? With twintails?

Hmm...

I suppose that still counts?

“Ow.”

Aika jabbed me in the temple with her straw. What the heck are you doing, I asked, in a hushed tone. Aika simply turned her head away with a “Hmph!”.

Watching the two of us bicker, the girl looked like she was smirking while she laughed. Instead of an innocent laugh, I sensed a twinge of evil to her laugh. Maybe I’m wrong. She does seem like a very gentle person.

“Uhm, is there something that ''we'' can help you with?”

I unconsciously drew myself into the back of the chair.

The girl put her hand on top of the bench and leaned in closer to me.

“Yes. I have very important business with ''you''.”

“...Important business?”

Pretending not to hear her clearly wasn’t working.

Re-iterating she only wants to speak with me... was it a language problem? Across the table, Aika’s frown deepened.

“My name is Twoearle.”

“I see... Miss... Twoearle...”

She’s definitely not from this country. Nevertheless, her Japanese was impeccable.

“You sure like twintails.”

“I love them.”

Oops... that’s what I felt inside. And I blurted it out immediately. Saying it out loud to someone I just met – I really didn’t learn anything from what happened earlier today, did I?

“Would you mind not asking why, and put on this bracelet for me?”

“What the heck does this have to do with anything!?”

The girl known as Twoearle suddenly pulled an object out of her coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a very beautiful glittering red bracelet.

Taking advantage of my confusion, she softly took the bracelet and gently prised my fingers apart.

“H-hey now―”

With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the back of my hand. At which point, a strange tingling feeling shot through my body.

“Now, please put it on.”

“He doesn’t need it!”

Leaning over the table, Aika roughly grabbed the bracelet and pushed it back towards Twoearle.

“What is with you?! You just waltz over here and start pushing strange things onto him, how rude!”

“It is not anything suspicious.”

“At this point, it’s a little late to see it as anything but suspicious!”

As usual, she doesn’t hold back even with people we’ve just met.

...Well, I do agree it’s rather suspicious.

“...Uhm, well... hmm... ah!”

Twoearle abruptly clasped my hands and said, “It’s me, Souji-kun. Me.”

“...Eh?”

I was perplexed by her suddenly friendly tone.

“You remember me. Look, it’s me. Twoearle. You see, I’ve got a bit of a problem right now – so, could you please put that bracelet on?”

I think I’m imagining things, but the way she thoughtlessly leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, seemed as though she was begging for me to look at her ample chest.

“Uh, weeell...”

“What kind of idiot would use an ore-ore scam to someone’s face!”

“Eeaagh!”

A whirlwind tore past me as I hesitated. Aika hit Twoearle’s cheek with an open-palm strike of terrifying power, improved by a snap of the wrist.

“Are you insaaane?! Don’t hit people that you just met, seriously!! That was a really sharp sound!”

My shout was already close to a scream.

And it was no wonder. That wasn’t a slap but a little trick that aimed for the cheekbones ― one of the jujitsu techniques of the Mizukage school taught by Aika’s late grandfather. Overturning all theories of martial arts, it was meant to cause as much sharp and serious pain as possible to its target without moving the chest too much. Close to a torture technique.

And it had been carried out brilliantly and flawlessly by a mere high school girl.

It was no wonder that the old man had wanted to make her his successor right up until the moment he died.

“Souji, I’m sure this woman is a crook! Just like those people by the train station who say, I’ll tell your fortune, come into this alleyway! But then they have a bunch of people with mohicans and spikes on their shoulders or something waiting there for you!”

“I don’t know about the first part, but not the second!!”

If there is a villain here she’s in front of me.

Twoearle was bent over with a hand pressed against her cheek. I felt worried and looked over at her.

“A-are you okay? This girl, sometimes she doesn’t know when to hold back.”

She’s so beautiful, and she’s a foreigner. It would really suck if this turned into an international incident.

“Huh?... I was holding back, it shouldn’t be that...”

Aika started to look uneasy, although about at the level of a young kid with a knee scrape that you can fix by rubbing spit on it.

If you were holding back, then what was that noise.

“Oh, y, es... I am... fine...”

“Are you really okay...!?”

The way you’re cupping your cheek and trembling tells me that you’re not! I started to hold out my hand to her, and ―

“!”

Aika desperately caught my wrist.

“Oh.”

...Twoearle had gotten the bracelet into my blind spot and was trying to put it on my hand.

“So you were just acting!”

“Why are you trying this hard? What do you want me to put my hand in that bracelet for...!?”

Getting a little uncomfortable with this after all, I took a step back. And my heart felt like it went back a hundred meters.

“But I am not asking for any money! ...Just put it in! All I want you to do is put it in! Please put it in, if you don’t put it in I don’t know what I will do!! If you want me to, I will put it in for you.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the bracelet, but you could hear it as something else, so stop, please.

“You can’t, Souji, if you put it on, they’ll say you can’t cancel any more or something and take a huge amount of money off you! Those mohawk guys are going to crash through the entrance of the store on armored buggies!!”

Aika’s got a keen sense of danger, but her information seems to be a little bit lopsided. Twoearle put her hands together as if praying and looked straight into my eyes.

“Please. I will do anything you want if you wear the bracelet...”

“Eh?”

My mind was screaming no, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes moved towards Twoearle’s hair.

“Anything... you said?”

“Yes... I will do anything you ask of me. I will be fine with whatever special interests you may have! Especially the kinky stuff... ha... ha...”

For some reason, Twoearle was starting to breathe heavily. Her face was red.

“Don’t say things like that!”

This is bad.

Is this what you call a cultural divide? Are the differences in humanity that difficult to reconcile? Even though we speak the same language, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the same wavelength.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but asking him something like that is useless. The only thing he ever thinks about are twintails. He’d just ask you to tie your hair up or something.”

“R-really!? But, he’s a guy, isn’t he!?”

I’m not surprised that Aika could tell what I was thinking, but Twoearle seemed more than a little shocked.

If you say you’d do anything...

Yeah.

Of course.

Twintails.

Twoearle raised her hands, half-smiling.

“You must be kidding me... It is alright! Think of this as advance payment. I’ll let you squeeze them, right here... hurry... they’re surprisingly soft!”

Her softly wobbling chest seemed to explode in my vision. I didn’t know where to look.

Cupping her hands over her breasts, Twoearle thrust herself at me.

“Get away, you pervert! I’ll crush your spine in self-defense if you come any closer!”

Why are you even explaining to her what you’re going to do in self-defense?

“Calm down, Aika! ... I get it, I get it!”

I have to stop this mess before Aika crosses the line.

“I’ll take it. She said it was free, didn’t she? It’s almost like picking a tissue off the sidewalk. If that’s all it takes to make her happy ... it is free, isn’t it?”

“Of course!!”

Her sudden smile, like a flower blooming, caught me off guard. If only she’d act a little more normal...

“No! Don’t! She’s just trying to scam you! It’s like those spa treatment packages where they say the bath salts are free but it ends up being really expensive! She’s just like one of those door-to-door salesmen!!”

“What are you talking about this time?”

“If he does not wear it, the world will end! Also, it is against the law to bait people by giving out bath salts for free!”

“That’s exactly what I was saying, you free-bath-salt merchant!”

Seriously, what kind of a conversation is this? And what’s up with all the bath salts?

“Anyway, if you do not put this on! All the twintails in this world are going to vanish!!”

“―What!!”

Twoearle’s sudden exclamation was like a punch to my stomach. I stepped up to her.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“Hup.”

In that brief moment, Twoearle grabbed my arm, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Wha―”

Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. However, the spirit-shattering thought of all the twintails in the world disappearing, coupled with that pair of all-encompassing, enveloping, Gaia-class motherly breasts pressing against me ― the assault on my heart and mind left me unable to avoid it.

“Thank goodness. Like this, we will be ready when it finally appears.”

Looking at the clock, Twoearle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her teary eyes towards me.

Oh shit. I don’t think she noticed, but when she’s that close... every inch she moves makes her chest jiggle, pushing their soft, undulating mass against my body... this is bad.

Stay strong, Mitsuka Souji! You mustn’t be defeated by something like this!

She’s a foreigner, okay? This level of intimacy is probably completely normal for her. Don’t imagine anything lewd! You’ll destroy the esteemed image of Japanese men if it ends up showing on your face!

“Take it off! Throw that thing away!!”

While I was lost in thought, Aika grabbed me by my neck, forcefully pulling me away from Twoearle’s embrace.

“Whoa!”

It felt as if I was flying. Can you believe it? She just lifted me up with one hand!

The sudden movement sent the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table flying all around me.

“Come on... h-huh!?”

Aika was pulling on the bracelet with both hands, her face twisted in exertion. Guess it fit better than I thought.

“Argh! I can’t... get it off!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!! What the hell is this thing? It’s like a wedding ring that’s gotten stuck on a finger joint!”

And unlike Twoearle, Aika has no `cushions’, so having her press herself against me was very uncomfortable to say the least.

“A wedding ring!? Aaargh——!”

“Yeaaargh!! Stop! You’ll rip my arm off!”

For some reason, Aika started pulling at it even harder than before. My arm jerked around as if it were a candle flame in the wind.

“This is... strange... Why is it... so tight...!? Look! There isn’t even... a gap on this... thing!”

She’s right. It’s made of metal, and definitely isn’t elastic. How did Twoearle even manage to get it on my arm in the first place!?

I wonder if you can unscrew this thing, I heard my childhood friend say. Stop! Humans don’t work that way!

I almost wanted to cry from the suspicion and despair flooding my mind.

It’s strange asking Twoearle to take it off after I let her put it on me, but I don’t have any choices left.

“Um, excuse me, could you please―”

In a flash.

We were enveloped in a retina-burning, polychromatic stream of light.

As if we were melting into the air, our bodies began fading away along with the light―

And then, we were gone.

<center>◇</center>

“I am very sorry about all this, but I thought it would be faster than an explanation.”

I heard Twoearle say.

“―Huh? Huh!?”

Just as the burst of light faded from my vision, a very different sight greeted my eyes.

Soot. The acrid, stinging smell of smoke filled the air around us.

I looked around in a panic.

Sunlight. Wind. Sidewalk. Asphalt.

It was a feeling unlike any that I’d experienced before. My body struggled to get up to speed.

“Why are we... outside?”

We weren’t dreaming, were we? How did we get outside without even noticing it?

“Answer me! Why are we here!?”

Our surroundings were familiar, yet it took quite some time for me to recognize them. No way. How could we have made it here?

‘Maxim Horizon’, the biggest convention center in town. A giant building, spanning two blocks, with an equally large open-air exhibition space. Events, live concerts, and other activities were often held here.

Somehow, we ended up at the center’s open air parking lot.

Roughly 20 minutes away from where we previously were. By car.

“Earlier than expected... I intended for us to have some prep time, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.”

In contrast to the two of us, Twoearle was completely calm.

“I really should have done this earlier...”

She was holding a small stick, about the size of a pen and talking in a very subdued voice.

Unless I’m mistaken, that pen-like thing was what emitted that strange burst of light.

“W-what did you do to us!?”

“I did not intend to bring you along with us, Aika-san, but unfortunately, you would not leave the effective radius. Sorry about that.”

For a moment, I thought they would end up having a (very one-sided) argument again, but a loud sound derailed my train of thought.

“What is it this time!?”

And then, we finally understood what was causing all the soot and smoke.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars around us were cooking off like popcorn, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“This can’t be happening...”

Earlier, I thought we would end up being on some comedy program. Now... it was as if we were passers-by getting caught up in some Hollywood movie pyrotechnics display.

It just didn’t seem real.

“Souji-sama. Please try your best not to leave my side. They will spot you. I cannot project my recognition jamming field very far.”

“Recognition... jamming?”

Twoearle stopped me from moving closer to one of the flaming cars.

“If you stay beside me, they will not be able to see you. Look at that thing over there.”

Twoearle pointed at something in the distance. In the middle of the parking lot was... something.

Both Aika and I leaned in for a closer look... and we both screamed.

“―― Whaaa!?”

“It can’t be! What is that thing!?”

It’s like someone forcefully jammed an insect’s head onto a man’s body. The figure was fully clad in some kind of armored exoskeleton.

Normally, I would have thought it was some actor in a suit, thanks to where we were, but―

Its weight ― wherever it stood, cracks formed in the asphalt.

Its height ― over two meters tall.

Its eyes ― they never stopped moving, darting left and right.

Its teeth ― they looked as if they could crush a boulder.

Its spines ― as sharp as swords, and too many to count, extending from spine to tail.

Everything about it was as real as it could get.

Every cell, every breath it took, was real.

I really wish it was just a suited actor. I really hoped it was.

But, that thing... the mere sight of it filled me with dread. Pure, unrelenting―

“M―monster!”

The wreckage... the fire... and the smoke. And in the middle of it all, the swaggering figure of that unknown figure... it was almost picturesque.

Almost like a scene from a movie, made real.

“Come out, wherever you are!”

!!

As if flicking a bug, the thing sent a nearby car flying. At the same time, I clearly heard it say that line.

Speaking human language.

Speaking Japanese.

Aika and I were too shocked to say anything. The creature, not noticing our presence, twisted it’s mouth, roaring.

Roaring those words of doom that would strike the hearts of its listeners with despair-

“Fuhahahahahaha!! All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!!”

“Uuugh~~~~!!”

At the hoarse, resonant voice and the warped thing it was saying I came close to choking up blood.

We were pretty far from it here, but it felt like its voice was ringing right in my ear.

“...Hey, Souji, what are you doing wearing a theme park costume.”

“That’s not me!”

A large number of pure-black creatures manifested themselves around the monster.

The identical mindless drones were massed in a group, ready for battle. Their strange forms were uniformly solid black. It was an incredibly eerie sight.

The combat drones skittered away, dispersing rapidly in all directions, capturing a number of random girls.

“Twin... tails...”

But my heart was not beating fast because the girls had twintails. It was because of the monster’s orders.

“What are they holding... Hey, it’s twintail girls!”

“What are they planning to do?”

Unlike Aika and I, who fretted in hushed voices, Twoearle silently tracked their movements.

“Even so, this world is regrettably lacking in twintails! Draped in nothing but steel and electricity ― it’s like they never left the Stone Age!”

It was clearly speaking Japanese, but something was off. Something... no, everything.

“Oh well, that just means we have to find twintails of the finest quality!”

With a wild tone of voice, the monster walked with its shoulders held high.

“Don’t forget the orders from our commander, you vermin! Top quality twintails have been detected in this area, so leave no stone unturned! … There might even be a young girl crying while holding her stuffed bunny rabbit!”

“... Moke? Moke- “

“Hold your tongues! Gathering all of the twintails is our ultimate goal… however! Beyond being a soldier, I’m also a man… and so I’d also like to see a young girl holding a stuffed animal! Find me one and there will be a reward waiting for you!!”

It wasn’t my imagination.

No, it was speaking fluent Japanese,　but for some reason nothing it was saying made any sense.

“We have no need for adults! Drag them out here quickly! I don’t mind if you’re a little rough!”

The black creatures were moving efficiently to carry out its orders.

“Moke-”

“What? There are no young girls carrying stuffed animals!? Hmm, if girls don’t have stuffed animals, then a man can provide!! I don’t care, bring them here!”

...Although, can you really call these orders? He’s shouting so crazily that I think if he had something hard in his hand he would throw it.

“Heeeelp!”

A crying young girl was brought in front of the monster.

The way she looked, with her twintails disheveled under the eyes of the grotesque, hulking figure, made me think of a shrine maiden taken for human sacrifice, the victim of a crime against nature.

I tried to jump out, but Aika grabbed my arm and stopped me.

My hazy brain began to catch up with what was going on. I got the situation clear in my head, at least.

“They’re only taking girls with twintails, what are they planning to do?”

The monster and his troops weren’t hurting them. Rather, they were giving them dolls to calm them down.

So we can stay here and watch for now, but...

“Hey, Twoearle, you took us here because you knew this was happening, didn’t you? What is that monster...”

Halfway through the sentence, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

In my line of sight was something I should never have seen.

Well, this isn’t the place for sarcasm. But the radiant sight that had burned itself into my heart earlier today had not been a dream or an illusion. I knew that now.

“The... president...”

No mistake. That was it, the source of my suffering from the first day of high school life, the diabolical hairstyle that had charmed me in both the good and bad sense of the word.

Two of the solid black combat drones were dragging along Shindou Erina, president of the student council, in her school uniform, one on each arm.

“It’s, it’s her! Hey! Isn’t that the president?”

It looks like Aika has noticed too.

In the gym there were maids standing by her silently to attend on her, but I couldn’t see anyone like that now.

The president was holding something tight in her arms as if it were important. It was hard to see, of course, but the thing sticking halfway out of her shopping bag looked like a toy from a kids’ tokusatsu series.

“Release me!”

Determined resistance.

The monster ran his eyes over her as if he were deciding on her price.

“Ho-hooo, a nice little child! Not only that, but she looks like she’s a princess! A twintail princess... no, indeed, this is nearly perfect! Yours could be the ultimate twintails!!”

“Ultimate...!? No, tell me who you are! You speak human language, don’t you!? Set the other girls free!!”

“I do. As you can see, we can communicate well with each other. And so, I tell you that I cannot release them.”

“Then what are your intentions!”

“You’ll understand soon! First, while I have the opportunity...”

The monster handed a large stuffed animal to the president with an overfamiliar gentleness.

“I want you to hold this kitten stuffie! There is sweetness even in your hostility. A kitten stuffie suits a naughty young girl well!! Hug it!!”

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_049.jpg|thumb|''"You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa!"'']]

The jet-black figures came up carrying a three-meter-wide pink sofa which it was hard to believe existed, maybe part of their supplies.

They forced the president, now holding the stuffed animal, to sit on it.

“You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa! This is the golden ratio that my long years of discipline have led me to!!”

“““Mokkekeke―!!”””

The monster was acting like it had at last succeeded in turning gold into a base metal, and on top of that the shrill voices seemed to be cheering it for what it had done. I felt light-headed.

“...We understand that they are aiming for girls with twintails, anyway... Tell me, Twoearle, what can I do? You brought me here because there’s something I can do, right?”

“I will leave the details for later. Right now, we will act.”

My legs were trembling a little despite my brave act, but Twoearle ignored that. She was so calm that she seemed reliable.

“Souji-sama... First, please take off the clothes I am wearing. No, more like rip them off, please. ...Oh, yes. Push both of my arms above my head like this and hold them there... Like this, Souji-sama, with one hand. Then with your other hand, pull off my bra...”

“What is wroooooooooong with you!!”

Twoearle had been making gestures to go with what she was saying.

“Aika, too loud!”

I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth, but―

“Ohh, I sense the presence of a new twintail... Where? Where are you hiding!!”

(What is a presence supposed to be!)

I left that comeback inside my heart, and looked at the twintails beside me. Certainly, they do draw the eye, but...

“Aaah, I’m a twintail too―!”

“Wheeeare are yoooou!!”

We were sixty or seventy meters away from the center of the huge open-air parking lot, but the thick, harsh voice sounded as though it were coming from right next to us. Still, even though we weren’t under any kind of cover, he can’t see us. What is this?

He’s looking straight at us, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I felt deja vu.

Aika’s words in the store went through my mind.

― “How... Why didn’t I sense her presence?”

Recognition... jamming... that’s what she said earlier.

“...Oh, ohh... Even though I was taking the serious route that I’m not used to and holding it in... This situation I was longing for... The script I polished over and over again... I can’t believe my plan was crushed the moment it started...”

Twoearle’s glare at Aika was a mixture of resentment and disappointment. Apparently something hadn’t gone well for her.

“There’s some way we can help those girls, right!? Come on, tell me!!”

Impatient, I grabbed her shoulders hard.

“Aan...”

For some reason a seductive voice.

“Oh, we can do a course correction! Well, Souji-sama, let us go ahead with the script just like before! Shove me against the wall like this, and we’re up to the place where you rip all my clothes off at once! Take them with one cut!!”

“Why don’t I shove you against the wall? As hard as I can!?”

Under Aika’s glare, Twoearle reluctantly said, “I, I understand. It is true we do not have much time, so I will skip a little! And they can sense her Twintail Element even through recognition jamming, so even in the first battle I do not think we can take them lightly.”

Did you say “the first battle?”... but I didn’t have time to wonder, because what she said next was even more outrageous.

“Souji-sama, use the bracelet I gave you and transform!”

“Transform!?”

“This is what she was going for! All that stuff earlier was for this!”

Twoearle ignored Aika and continued.

“That device creates a battle suit that will reinforce your physical power. You should become at least a match for that monster when you transform.”

“Are you serious!?”

Just as if it were a kids’ superhero show or something like that.

...But I was willing to grasp at any straw right then, and my heart soaked it up without resistance as if it were a voice from heaven.

She could have said any crazy thing to me and I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it was a joke or a trick after the unreal experience of being put through the teleporter.

At least there’s no harm in trying.

“Wa, wait a minute, I don’t know about transforming, but why do you need Souji to do something that dangerous!!”

“You idiot! The enemy’s target is twintails!! How can we overlook that!!”

“...Wait, umm, that’s the most surreal thing about this, or rather, that goal is too stupid... Or Souji, can’t you at least say that it’s because they are kidnapping girls...?”

“No, that is how it should be. It is because you love twintails that you can use the bracelet. There is no need to act like you care about justice.”

“No, I mean, I did want to rescue the girls, I was thinking that...”

An enemy who’s aiming at twintails, and supposedly I can fight against them because I love twintails? What is this?

Really more and more this seems like a joke.

The earth shook so much that I seemed to float for a second, and then came an ear-splitting roar.

“Souji, the people they caught!”

A terrifying scene was unfolding where Aika pointed.

A tragic scene as though I were looking into hell.

In the very center of the parking lot ― the parked cars had been torn out by the roots and scattered and the girls they had caught were lined up single file.

An improvised ceremonial site.

I don’t know if the girl at the front of the line had fainted, but she didn’t seem to be moving as her body floated into the air.

Like a lion jumping through a flaming hoop, the girls in the line moved through a metallic ring with light stretched across it in iridescent colours like a soap bubble. The moment the first girl passed through, her hair came gently untied, and she drifted back down tracing an arc across the sky.

One by one, the instant they could put the next one through, the girls went through the ring as lifeless as parts on a belt conveyor.

In less time than it took to blink, it was President Shindou’s turn... and even the beautiful twintails that had fascinated me dissolved into the air.

“All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!”

That had sounded like a joke, but I was seeing it for real now.

“― Those bastards.”

I felt something deep snap in my heart for the first time in my life.

“Souji-sama, please compose yourself. It is still all right, they can still be saved.”

“Tell me...! How can I save the twintails? How can I destroy those guys?!!”

“You’re kind of exaggerating... You know, they don’t seem to be hurt at all aside from losing their twintails?”

“Exaggerating, you say......!?”

I grabbed Aika by the front of her shirt and lifted her up with violent emotion overflowing in my heart.

“Aah...”

“Is that all that twintails mean to you? If someone takes them, then that’s fine, you don’t really care? Were they such a little thing to you?!!”

“Ca, calm down, Souji. They’ll notice us again...!”

“...S, sorry.”

When I heard Aika’s out-of-character thin voice without any force in it, my head cooled off a little, and I let go of her.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you too, Twoearle. But tell me how to use this thing. Quickly.”

“...Are you serious!? No, Souji, you shouldn’t! Especially after earlier! I don’t think you can trust her at all!”

Aika’s voice had tension in it like she was trying to talk a friend out of murder.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid or if it’s dangerous. I can’t forgive those monsters for playing games with twintails!”

Twoearle had been at least half messing around with me, but I think that that part of my feelings got through to her.

She nodded with an earnest expression, and explained, raising her own right arm to her chest.

“Please wish in your heart, ‘I want to transform.’ Wish hard. If you do that, the bracelet should activate.”

“That’s all I have to do? I don’t think about anything specific?”

Twoearle nodded forcefully.

“Okay. Sounds like something even I can do.”

“Souji!!”

I gathered my resolve and raised the bracelet to my chest, making a fist with my right hand.

Closing my eyes, like she had told me, I wished hard, hard.

I want to transform... I want to save the president, those girls. To take back the twintails. To become someone who can defeat those bastards.

It wasn’t righteous anger. Is there a guy anywhere who can just keep quiet after he sees something he loves trampled into the dust!!

The next instant―

The “transformation” really happened, just like that.

<center>◇</center>

Light began to shine from the bracelet on Souji’s right arm.

An intense light as though soundless fireworks were exploding before his eyes.

“Aahh!”

Aika covered her eyes with her arm at the unexpected brilliance.

Bands of red light looped around Souji’s body, forming a cocoon. As specks of light flooded out, they tightened around him.

An even brighter sudden flash.

They began to change the barely visible silhouette.

Shoulders, chest, hips, legs - from the top in order light burst like an explosion, and Souji was covered from the neck down in a red suit. But this all happened in a hundredth of a second ― the work of an instant, faster than the eye could see.

Spraying out like steam, lines of red light.

And although it was strange, Souji was surrounded by a radiance that didn’t come from reflected light, just like Twoearle’s silver hair.

“Awesome... I really did transform...”

Souji put all the strength into the fists, testing how it felt.

As far as he could see, the suit covered the body without a gap, from the tips of the feet when he looked down to the fingertips he was opening and closing over and over again. But he seems to have noticed before long that there was no pressure on his head.

“Huh? My face... It isn’t hidden!?”

Touching the cheeks, Souji was disturbed to find that they weren’t covered.

“The suit itself is not that important to the defense system. Also, it is using Imagine Chaff as a countermeasure, so even though your face is uncovered, other people will not realize that it is you, Souji-sama.”

“Imagine... What’s that?”

“It is something so you do not have to worry about people finding out your real identity! Please fight with peace of mind!”

“I, is that so? Okay! Let me try this...!!” I don’t really understand the practical side very well, and there are a lot of things I’m still worried about, but there’s no time left.

Souji put his faith in Twoearle’s words and started to run toward the battlefield, his hair gallantly ''fluttering behind him''.

“Nh, uh...”

Souji had already vanished by the time Aika opened her eyes.

“That idiot! Why did he agree to all of this so easily?!”

Aika knitted her eyebrows and looked around.

“Hey, you, uh... hey, Twoearle.”

“Yes?”

“There weren’t any other girls around here just now...?”

<center>◇</center>

“Li... light, what is this, I can’t run so easil... whoaaa―!!”

As if someone had put the decimal point in the wrong place, the power in my legs was so great that I kept almost falling on my face when I sprinted.

I was reminded of the time when I was bored and tried setting the running machine to maximum speed.

≪Please focus your awareness! Souji-sama, that suit, the Tailgear, is created with the power of your mind. You must drive it with your will!≫

Some kind of communications device? I heard Twoearle’s voice as if she were whispering into my ear, although I don’t think anything was mounted on it.

“The force of my mind... My will...!!”

This time, I tried to wrap my awareness around my legs.

Up until then it felt like I was clinging to a car moving at top speed, but I suddenly started to feel my feet landing on the ground through the suit.

It wasn’t like driving a car, it was a sense of complete unity like I had become the car.

I had already reached the parking lot and gone more than halfway across it, kicking the rubble out of the way as I was running without trying to avoid it. I could see the girls lying unconscious on the asphalt now.

I know they regretted having their twintails stolen.

I’ll absolutely get them back for you...!!

“Hmmm, magnificent Twintail Elements... But at this rate, I’m not sure if we can obtain the greatest power under this star, the one the Commander was praising as the ultimate...”

It seems like my hearing has improved, too. I can hear the monster muttering something cryptic to President Shindou, lying at his feet.

My anger hit its peak when I saw the president with her twintails cruelly untied.

“Stoooop――!!”

“Mu!?”

I planted my feet on the ground, braking at high speed. As I did, something like stoppers came down from somewhere near my ankles and jammed into the asphalt, scraping it and blowing off sparks and dust.

(...What ridiculous strength. That girl created this...!?)

A sense of awe filled my body at the unknown power, taking my mind off my anger. And then I started to be afraid. I was surprised again by the kind of power the girl called Twoearle had in her hands.

How had she created something with this kind of terrifying strength? Just as I was told, just as I had wished, I had accepted it, but had that been the right thing to do?

No, I don’t have time to think about that now. I have to concentrate on saving the twintails... saving the people before me.

“You understand human language, right, monster? Give these people back the twintails that you... took.”

“Tha... You are...”

“...Did you not hear me...? You stole their twintails. Give them back, goddamn you!!”

My anger itself hit him together with my scream.

It sounds strange when I say it, but I understood that the strange ring could take people’s twintails away from them. And so it should also be possible for it to give them back.

Who would subject someone to this kind of danger just because they have twintails? The word “irrational” is not good enough for them, it’s absurd, it’s monstrous.

“Steal the twintails.” If what they said, if their objective were known to the public, then tomorrow there might not be anyone wearing twintails anymore. Because it would be stupid to take the risk.

I can’t... I can’t forgive that...!!

“Whoa... whooaaaaaaaaaaa――!?”

When I scowled at him, the monster soared high into the sky as if he had been caught in a sudden gust of wind.

“Gahaaa!!”

The ground hit him face-first.

“H, hey.”

“Nnn, nngh... Was I blown away by such a strong ''young innocent''... Those are... spectacular twintails!!”

“...Huh?”

“The Commander’s prediction was right when he chose this spot! Even if I leave out the girls before. It was you...! You’ve finally come! We didn’t miss our mark, those are the ultimate twintails!”

The monster was staggering to his feet in exultation.

“The ultimate... twintails...?”

Something is strange.

What the monster was saying gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time I myself began to feel obscure doubt.

My field of vision, my viewpoint was oddly low.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the hands I was holding up also seemed smaller than usual.

“......”

Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

A premonition of evil stronger than I’d ever tasted in my life sent a chill through my whole body.

“Could...”

Like a rusty gear grinding, I turned my head over to the side.

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_063.jpg|thumb|top|alt="Souji looking in a car windshield."|''There was a girl with lovely twintails there.'']]

One of the car windshields was still in its original shape. I saw the reflection and was speechless.

What would you call this.

― There was a girl with lovely twintails there.

“――― Oh.”

Even now a “twinta~ils” sound effect rang like a chime in my head. Beautiful, spectacular twintails hanging down past the knee.

And ribbon-shaped pieces that moved up and down together with her breathing, so smoothly that they seemed to be swaying.

Her wide eyes opened even farther.

The word “armor” was a little off the mark for what she was wearing, a strange protective suit that didn’t look like it had any weight at all, showy in its use of fashion with red and white as its key colours.

In places, on top of the body suit that stuck closely to her bare skin, angular mechanical-looking armaments had been attached. They were the source of a mysterious glow.

“Ohh.”

And, and and. There were giant attachments on either side of her hips, but the crotch area of the suit had been designed like a bikini, and half of her thighs were exposed.

I wasn’t sure if I believed this. But I tried touching my chest and groin. My chest was just as flat as it looked from outside, but my constant companion for half my life, the prince between my legs, my important partner, was cleanly and completely missing.

“O, oh...”

Now that I understood, I became more conscious of it. My unnaturally high voice.

Yes, the reflection in the glass was ―

I, who had become a twintail.

“It turned me into a girl―――――――――――――!!?”

A childish scream was absorbed by the sky.

<center>◇</center>

“Wh...!!”

Aika, watching, was also lost for words.

“...What is that.”

“That is our single strongest weapon against those monsters, the Daydream Armor, Tailgear! Aah, you are wonderful, Souji-sama! Ehehehehe big success.”

Twoearle, with a ribbon of drool that was hanging down to the choker around her neck, stared at the panicking Souji with a look of ecstasy on her face.

“...It’s too wonderful, I’m starting to cry!!”

Aika visited Twoearle with the palm of her hand, using even less restraint. It wasn’t a pinpoint strike to her cheek or somewhere this time but an impact to the whole top of her skull.

“Is, is this already a girls’ catfight scene... or actually it is more like being mauled by a tiger...”

“Depending on your answer it really will be like that. What happened, why is Souji a wwwwwoman!! That’s not just girls’ clothing, is it? He’s even way shorter now!!”

“...Aika-san. In order to obtain great power, you have to pay a corresponding price. It makes a person stronger to face the truth ― little girls are cute, little girls!”

“Is this your fucking rotten hobby―!!”

The sound of a merciless blow.

“That’s not transforming, that’s warped!”

Of course, she didn’t mean “warped” in the sense of metamorphosis.

“Fight fire with fire, they say. When the enemy is ‘hentai,’ a fighter cannot oppose them without becoming HENTAI to a certain degree themselves.”

“So the enemy is yooooooooooooooooooou!!”

Thud, thud, thud...

The head of the beautiful girl whose default was complete corruption ― Twoearle’s imagination soared left and right in thrilling leaps.

<center>◇</center>

Is this my punishment?

I’ve been saying twintails, twintails from childhood until now, did God finally get fed up with me and say, you’re a pain in the ass, shut up, become a twintail already, and give me a shove in the back?

You shoved too hard, God. This isn’t like I can stagger and keep moving forward, this is like a complete orbit of the Earth.

This is like even my cool entrance scene earlier looped once around the Earth and crashed into the back of my head.

“A, a, a, ah.”

I was confused and unable to deal with reality, and the monster and the black things had completely surrounded me.

“Hmm, so you’ve decided you want to be ours? You have my gratitude! Show her along, and be polite!”

At my lack of resistance, the monster suddenly switched to kindness.

“Moke―”

The black thing... the soldier in front broke out into a run toward me.

“Ge... get awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!”

As I was waving my arms in front of me like a kid throwing a tantrum, I lightly hit the black thing, and it flew into the air with a clear ‘thunk’ sound like a plastic bottle rocket and crashed into a wall on the rooftop level of a distant building.

Its body began to glow. Before long, it exploded softly into dust and disappeared into the sky.

The monster let out a little noise of interest.

“Hnnn... One Ultiroid in one blow! You’re not just beautiful twintails... What is that fierce power!? Who are you, child!!”

The enemy’s words were getting bit by bit more old-fashioned, and now, as if we were actors in a period drama, he was handing me my promised “cue.”

Although judging from his expression he was serious.

≪Souji-sama! This is a great chance for a cool intro speech!≫

Intro speech?

“...What am I supposed to be?”

If you have something you want to say, then say it, God --

≪Aaah~, that is right, you did not decide what you were going to call yourself after you transformed, did you...!?≫

“No, I’m not worried about my name, I’m having doubts about my identity!”

Communicate, help me out, Aika... If I can’t hear your comebacks, how am I supposed to do this?

Not who I am, I’m not even sure what I am.

“Waoo~h, I’m not sure what’s going on but this downhearted little girl - I can’t stand it!! One of you, get me a doll she can hug!”

“Mokee-.”

The encirclement slowly tightened around me.

I could feel piercing stares even from the soldiers though I didn’t know where their eyes were.

Like they were giving off desire as an aura.

The target of those innumerable desires - I didn’t try to hold in the chill climbing up my spine.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

≪Souji-sama, touch the ribbon piece and picture a weapon in your heart. It should create a weapon made just for you!!≫

“Rib, bo, n.”

With bloodshot eyes, I hit one of the two metal ribbon pieces, the only armor on my head.

“Turn me, turn me back into a man......! Agagagagagagaga”

≪It is not a machine that grants wishes!?≫

What is this... I’m not in a fairytale with a moral, there’s no way this punishment can happen, no way I turned into a twintail!!

I hit the ribbon over and over.

Whether my bitter wish got through or not, it lit up and a burst of flame shot out. Forming a spiral in the air, it gathered in my right hand and began to take the shape of a sword like vapor condensing.

The red blade lengthened, wrapping itself around a black core.

A word appeared in my mind like it was being punched into a typewriter.

≪Blazer Blade≫

Fire burst out from my right hand. The magnificent double-edged sword was finished, glowing with red heat.

You couldn’t call it a longsword, but in my hands it looked like a longer than average blade.

Amazi~ng, coo~ol... by the way turn me back.

“Moke――”

One of the soldiers came down out of the air with a pose like a jumping frog.

My voice was frozen, so I swung the sword. The enemy took a diagonal slash to the chest, and with a small explosion evaporated into dust.

“Mokeh”

“Mokee~~~~~~”

“Aagh! These...!!”

I was attacked without a moment of pause and made a sudden horizontal sweep. The soldiers, cut in half, vanished one after another.

With no hesitation - with even less hesitation than before, attacks began to come all at once from the earth and sky.

“De... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

I slashed at them, the spinning sword wrapped in fire that traveled with the sword’s pressure, spreading out like a burst from a flamethrower.

The figures all in black attacked four ways, eight ways, and evaporated without even having time to scream.

“Hah... hah...”

The reptile monster, alone now, was trembling all over.

“I’m nailed to this spot, I can’t move... The sword like lightning and the twintails dancing in the sky... I was sure that I was lost in heaven!!”

“You really are lost! Stop, that’s creepy!!”

The monster was overcome with emotion. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

I’m the one who wants to cry.

“Haaah, haah, twintails...”

“Wha...!?”

Desire was swirling around the monster like a vortex. He stuck out his hands and came at me like a zombie.

He was different from the one-kick soldiers before. In many ways.

“Those twintails... Could I have you take them between your thumb and index finger and give my cheeks a few slaps, pechi pechi...!!”

Wide eyes, the blood pulsing in them. Rough, thick breaths. And with the tip of his lips stained with drool, the monster came at me.

A dread second to none rushing through me and a weak scream I’d never heard from myself even once before.

“Kyaa--!!”

I fell on my butt, letting the sword drop.

“Haah, haah, twintails...”

I can’t stand to look at this.

Is that right... is this what I look like.

Were guys who like twintails all like this? Would someone who didn’t know me think of me as his accomplice? Was this how other people saw me?

...If nobody approves of me, will I become warped too?

“Shit, it’s because there are things like you that...!”

Clutching my head and trembling, I curled up into a ball.

My memories flickered around me like shadows from a lantern.

The times I talked passionately about twintails.

Or maybe the person I was talking to didn’t know them well, but they knew something about them.

Everyone would always start to look suspicious.

What’s wrong with insisting on the kind of hairstyle you like, I always thought... but was it that monster that they were seeing?

I was pretending that I was confident and didn’t care what anyone thought, but maybe I was really feeling guilty about my love of twintails...?

≪Sou-ji! Get a hold of yourself! You’re the one who said you were going to save them, what are you doing!!≫

“...Ah...!!”

At Aika’s words I came back to reality.

≪You were bragging earlier how important twintails were to you, you even grabbed my... you grabbed the front of a girl’s shirt and lifted her up. Now that you became a twintail you’re scared!? Pull yourself together!≫

≪She said ‘the front of her shirt,’ but Souji-sama, you just grabbed her collar in one smooth motion, didn’t you? There were no obstacles to intercept you, were there? Hahaha≫

≪I’m sorry I stopped you before... I can’t look at that monster anymore either, that creep, don’t worry about all the other stuff, just punch him hard!≫

≪...Don’t, squeeze like a washcloth... Please let go of my obstacles!!≫

≪If you can’t do anything now, then that’s the thing that will make you his accomplice! If you feel guilty about your usual self, then when it’s time to act, do it right!≫

≪It hurts, ow ow ow ow ow!!≫

“...Aika...!”

Aika’s precise speech, as if she could see straight through me. A feeling rose in my heart like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I thought I heard a voice rising in pain, but my mind had already become one with the space around it.

And I’m not confused about what I am anymore.

I’m an idiot.

What Aika says is right. After shaking her off and coming into the battle, what am I doing.

I have been given the power to protect what I love and respect and I’m completely losing it because of my own small worries.

Come to think of it, back when I was a kid, when I was fighting Aika and I had that old man training me, he beat that into my head a lot. You have a lot of idle thoughts, you have to empty your heart - that kind of thing.

Let your heart fill the space... let idle thoughts loose.

Let your heart―

“You are tearing off my breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasts!!”

“...Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!”

For the first time in my life my whole mind is concentrated on this fight. But there’s something, some noise that I can’t imagine comes from a creature of this world, that’s pulling me away and making it really hard to focus, so I let a scream out and began to run.

Nothing else than the scream now.

“Hmm!?”

“I’ll pechi-pechi you! Get your face out here!!”

I lifted the Blazer Blade above my head.

“Oooh!”

For the first time my slash was blocked.

But on the left cheek of the monster that hadn’t been touched, a burn like the mark of a sword appeared, running in a single horizontal line.

“You’re... Haah!!”

The monster screamed and a beam of light flashed out of the palm of his hand.

But the beam evaporated as soon as it touched my body without disturbing my twintails a millimeter. I didn’t feel anything either.

“Hmmn!?”

A combat suit that was so thin, except at my hips, and arms and legs and other places covered by the angular armor, that it didn’t hold me back at all - the Tailgear.

You could see its true worth in the light that surrounded me.

“...Photon Absorber... Is that what this is.”

An ≪explanation≫ echoed in my head.

The ultimate defensive film takes the absorbed energy of motion - in other words, impact - and kills it completely by controlling and intercepting it at the molecular level.

This is also the reason why the head, which should be protected as much as possible, is exposed. No attack will hit the Tailgear as long as the whole body is covered in light, and that makes it an invincible weapon.

“Hmph... You’re a terrifying little kid! For the first time in many days my soldier’s spirit is roaring! I am Lizard Guildy, the leader of the Ultima Guil raid squadron! I fight in the belief that a man’s heart should beat even stronger at the sight of a girl who is holding a doll! Tell me your name, at least, if nothing else!!”

“―TailRed!!”

I said it so naturally that I was surprised. It felt as though the suit itself was telling me what to say.

The moment I had broken through, it had started calling to my heart.

An irrepressible power was pulsing in my whole body.

“...I asked for your real name!!”

“It’s fine... If you shout a disturbing belief like that at the top of your lungs then I don’t need someone like you to remember my name!”

“That’s mysterious! You believe more or less the same thing, don’t you?”

“Don’t put me together with you!”

“It’s obvious at a glance! If you weren’t one who loves twintails more than anything else, you wouldn’t be shining like that!”

“You know your stuff, don’t you... Fine, I shine all the brighter because of my love for twintails - go ahead and remember that!!”

“That runs counter to what we want, then, doesn’t it... For us, we love twintails even more when we have our hands on them! Hnnnn... hmph!!”

The countless spines on Lizard Guildy’s back separated and lifted high into the sky.

A thin belt of light seemed to bind the spines and his body together.

And one by one as if they had a mind of their own they came down to attack.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

I started to cut all of them down with the Blazer Blade.

The burning spines one after another started to hiss like bombs, and after they hit they blew away part of the asphalt.

“Hnnnnn...!!”

They came flying even faster. I could dodge them by the width of a hair and they’d still spin around quickly and pursue me like guided missiles.

My eyesight for moving objects was much better because of the Tailgear, but even for my improved vision the complicated orbits were a threat.

“Twoearle! Will everything be okay even when I defeat this guy? What will happen to the twintails!?”

≪The twintails that were stolen...? The Elements... they’re stored in that ring for an hour or so, I believe! So ignore that guy! Defeat him and break the ring and they’ll go back! ...I believe!!≫

“All right!”

I had been a little frightened about the thing Aika called me about... no, incredibly frightened, but I would stick with my first decision to rescue the president’s, and everyone else’s twintails.

“Magnificent! I will not forget this day if I live for ever! My apologies, but I’d like to take a photograph as a souvenir! Rest your head on my shoulder like this, and hold a stuffed...”

“Shut uuuuu-p!”

I shortened the distance with a single bound and with my left hand wreathed in fire, I punched him hard.

His face mushed in and a large amount of blood came out of his nose.

“Agh, aaugh... No, no help for it... I was trying hard to keep from hurting your face or your twintails, but you’re going to have to resign yourself to a certain amount of damage!!”

The muscles under Lizard Guildy’s steel scales bulged out still more.

He must be gathering all of his strength for an attack.

I stood straight in front of him, preparing for the worst.

But isn’t there... It’s going to be dangerous for the girls lying around here if we keep fighting in this flashy way!

At that moment the vivid image of a deep red pillar of fire floated into my mind.

“―Aura Pillar...? This, then!”

It’s like a help file was included and I can search through it by thinking. Very nice of her.

Fire burst out of the tip of the Blazer Blade and swelled to the size of a basketball. With all my strength I swung the sword up and let it fly loose.

“What is this!?”

The ball of fire exploded right in front of Lizard Guildy, and drawing a spiral encircled his body as its track took the shape of a pillar.

“N, m, nor can I move!”

It certainly is a barrier that binds the enemy. So this is the Aura Pillar!

“Uooooooooooh!!”

Keeping my eyes on Lizard Guildy, I began to run.

The sword that I was holding started to change shape, responding to my spirit. The hilt and ornamental piece unfolded, and the lines that ran through the sword like the veins of a leaf began to flash violently.

Fire shot from the blade shining with red heat, stretching it to almost twice its length.

The edge slipped through the barrier that was holding him. And straight down in the direction it was already going, it cut Lizard Guildy in a single sweep from the crown of his head.

Yes, ≪Grand Blazer≫ is definitely a final move... The trails of flame ran into the sky.

“Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A heat wave like a bubble popping. Lizard Guildy screamed in agony. Arcs of electricity were coming off him.

“He, hehahahaha... Magnificent... To perish with a twintail brushing gently against my cheek... How can I have any regrets! This is the end I always dreamed of as a child!!”

“Wait, hey!!”

The Aura Pillar swelled out suddenly to three times its size.

“Farewell――!!”

Lizard Guildy, holding his belief next to his heart to his last moment, detonated in a tremendous explosion which couldn’t be compared to the others, and dispersed on the wind ―

“Don’t vanish with a dying vision like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!”

After there was only silence.

I looked out on the devastated parking lot, although you could hardly tell that’s what it was anymore.

On the other hand, Grand Blazer had scorched the ground a little, but there weren’t many more traces of my fight. The unbelievable flare and impact had done almost no damage to the surroundings.

I saw Aura Pillar as something like a support technique for capturing the enemy, but maybe it’s to keep damage from explosions down to a minimum.

“Hup~”

I cut the drifting huge metal ring in half without any particularly strong feelings.

As if it had completed its task, the sword I was holding turned into flame and dissolved into the air.

The ring broke into tiny pieces and the light inside it became sparks that broke into streams flowing down into the unconscious girls one by one.

As I saw their hairstyles returning properly to twintails, I was hit by a sense of exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if I might fall on my back.

I had been lost in the fight, but was I really able to save these girls... was I really able to save twintails?

There was a small diamond-shaped stone glittering light green on the ground. I picked it up.

<Doll>

The word came into my mind. As I held it the armor piece on my left hand slid open and sucked it in.

“...Huh, this is another power of the Tailgear?”

“―Um.”

“!”

I almost jumped when someone called me from behind.

The president was awake and looking at me in wonder with her twintails fluttering behind her. They were covered in soot but had not lost their nobility.

She was making a token effort to hold the hem of her torn skirt together with her hand.

“I would like to... thank you very much for saving me.”

“Ah, hahaha, for what? I’m just a guy, no girl who happened to be passing through!”

I don’t think anyone could believe that when I’m dressed like this but I have to come up with something.

“No, um, that is... I woke up midway through the fight.”

“What?......”

“Yo, you fought wonderfully! ... You’re still only small, but you’re gallant... and strong ... I was... so moved!”

“―――!!”

This is bad. I thought everyone was unconscious.

The president is also really young-looking, but right now I don’t look like any more than an elementary schooler.

And that child was carrying a sword and fighting with monsters... how can you come up with an explanation for that situation.

“Excuse me... How in the world did you...!”

“A, a, I’m an ally of justice! Now, please get, out of here quickly!”

I’m really feeling how bad I am at ad-lib, as Aika pointed out an hour ago.

“I would like to thank you very much for saving me!! Will we meet again!?”

“You’ll see me again, as long as you love twintails.”

Bowing deeply to me, the president left at a half-run.

Thank goodness, she didn’t investigate too much.

For something on the spur of the moment, that line wasn’t bad. Although I was just trying to get through this.

“Young mistreessss!!”

A limousine cut diagonally across the parking lot at a reckless speed like it was slashing the lot in half and stopped, leaving a huge tire mark. Maids, a lot of maids, jumped out from inside and rushed over to the president.

A few of the girls who had fainted also began to wake up. The maids... probably at the orders of the president, broke the task up and began to care for them. It didn’t seem like there was any place for me anymore.

Afterward were the girls’ parents and families, maybe... adults, now free, also came running one by one.

The president might have seen me when I was screaming in terror... but I had rescued everyone safely, so I’d like her to forget about it.

“Whew...”

I shifted my line of sight to the front.

I can see myself reflected in the side mirror of a car.

“.........”

It’s a little young, but the way I look is certainly exactly what I was dreaming of, my ideal twintails.

I felt heat coming into my cheeks and shook my head desperately.

If I keep looking at myself, happiness and unease will hit me simultaneously.

Sirens started to come into earshot. Of course, the police and ambulances and things would be coming.

As the thread of tension snapped I felt dizzy.

Hugging a wall to avoid people’s eyes, as I went around a corner I saw Aika and Twoearle, who had been waiting for me.

“It’s finally over...”

My last strength drained out and I fell back on the ground.

The transformation was cancelled, and I was wrapped in a cocoon of light and returned to my original shape.

Thank God I didn’t stay like that my whole life...

“Sou-ji!”

Aika ran over to me and caught me in her arms, and out of relief, maybe, I flickered in and out of consciousness.

“It is a pity for you to have your head pressed against the ground. Please come here, my chest has proper cushions.”

“It’s my chest, not the ground!!”

“―For a woman it is only called a chest once it has begun to puff out. That is, the area below your neck is referred to as the ground, Aika-san.”

“Why don’t you kiss the ground, dumbaaaaaaass!!”

Aika caught the back of Twoearle’s head with an eagle grip and shoved her into the sidewalk.

“Nooo, stooooop, it’s my first kiiiiiiiss!!”

I want to fall asleep feeling like I made everything turn out okay, but I still hear screaming. Come on, guys.

As though guided by fate I dived into the maelstrom of war.

And the curtain closed on TailRed’s first battle.

<references/>

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-02-20T08:31:44Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 1: I am a Twintail ==

After school on the first day of my high school life. A day I should have had fond memories of. I, Mitsuka Souji, along with my childhood friend Tsube Aika, were having a late lunch at the Cafe Adolescenza. It might seem pretty fashionable for us to be eating lunch at a cafe, but seeing as I live here, it’s like a normal meal for me.

Its main selling point is our special house blend coffee. It has lots of fans, but, being something my mom does on the side, the shop is prone to being closed whenever she feels like it.

The sign over the door read “Closed”. Of course, that meant that it was just the two of us in here.

The intense spicy smell hanging in the air was nothing compared to the weight of sorrow in my chest.

“Why the heck did I put down something like that...”

“There’s no such thing as the Twintail Club,” my childhood friend said, looking at me amazed. The smell of spice swirled around her.

“I was put on the spot... and wrote it down without thinking. I didn't mean to!”

“If you ask me, anyone that would inadvertently write down something like that is bad news. You have Twintails on the brain.”

“Shut up! How many times do you plan to make fun of me for that?!”

“Yeah, yeah, ta-daa―”

She held the two tails on both sides of her head, long enough to reach her hips, and swung them to stir me up.

“......nguh.”

She may be trying her best to make me angry, but to me it feels more like a refreshing greeting.

As always, her twintails were wonderful to behold.

Waist-length twintails framing the head ― they may be the most basic, but their simple purity shows you the elegant conceit of hair that has been worn in twintails every day for years. A great artist's paintings can draw people in even when they aren’t using flashy colours or a surprising subject. It’s like that, I think.

“Still, the teacher didn't have to say it out loud...”

“Well, what did you expect when you wrote something that bizarre?”

“Well, excuse me!”

No matter how long we continue the pointless argument, it will not overturn this fact: there are over a thousand days of my life as a high school student ahead of me, and on the first day, I made the biggest mistake of my life.

The private school that I go to, Yougetsu Academy, can take you straight from elementary school into university. A super-escalator school. I wasn’t going to feel different just because I’d moved up into high school.

That’s what I thought, but... the size of the school building, the gymnasium, everything was so much larger than junior high school that I was overwhelmed.

And the highlight was the orientation in the gymnasium by the leaders of the clubs, after the entrance ceremony had ended. The various sports and culture clubs took turns making their appeals to the new students. The passion they showed moved me deeply.

But.

The image I see when I close my eyes is the girl who took the stage after that. To be exact, her hairstyle. Twintails.

Shindou Erina.

She may have been about as tall as a grade schooler, but her freshman welcoming speech as student council president would rival that of the greatest orators in human history. Her address touched the hearts of everyone who heard it.

“There are no limits to what you can accomplish here. I, together with the high school division of Yougetsu Academy, will guide your brilliant future on the path to its full bloom. I promise you!”

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, yet the tone of her speech contained no hint of condescension. The dignified manner in which she stood was mesmerizing.

(She’s beautiful...)

I stared at her, forgetting to blink.

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, but it was the first time I’d ever heard a woman use ’young lady’ language, and she made it sound so natural that I was shocked.

And above all else – her twintails.

Hair, of course, does not have a peerage. But if it did, then those beautiful twintails would have held a high and noble title. The way the tips of her hair curled softly into circles also showed the excellence of her upbringing.

As she put heat in her words and moved more vehemently, the twintails danced through the air in response to her motion, as if she were a princess under a luxurious chandelier and the twintails were her partner on the dance floor.

I couldn’t get my heart to stop pounding.

It felt like everyone around me was staring at her as though a kitten had gotten up on the stage, but I'm probably imagining things.

The student council president has such amazing twintails. I can only imagine how wonderful the next three years of my life are going to be.

On the way back to my classroom, I paid no attention to my chattering classmates. They were like a candle compared to the brilliant light still burning in my heart. The lingering memory of the orientation wasn’t much more than a fart.

All I could see was that beautiful scene. My head was full of twintails. I had my head in the clouds for the self-introductions once we got back to the classroom, too.

And I don’t even seem to have noticed when they handed out the club questionnaire.

“All right, pass your sheets forward starting at the back, ple~ase.”

“Oh!”

The class rep's slow drawl brought me back down to Earth. The girl whose name I didn’t know (of course, because I hadn’t listened to her introduction) handed me some sheets. In a panic, I scribbled something on the the paper before me.

“Hm hmm... Huh~? Someone forgot to write their name on their survey~”

“Oh... Sorry. I think that’s mine. I was rushing.”

The teacher looked up from the sheets she was going through and tilted her head in doubt, so I said my name.

“Ahh, Mitsuka-kun, was it? ...Twintail club? Did we have a twintail club here? ... Oh~h, you mean you want to set one up.”

"What!? No, I didn't actually want to do that, really! I was-"

I was even more nervous, and I had gone beyond rescue.

“I see~. ... Twintail club? You must really like twintails, Mitsuka.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Obviously.”

― Conditioned reflex.

And here I was hoping that I could start anew, in this place full of fresh faces.

That was the instant that decided my position for three years of high school.

“Alright everyone, that’s all for today’s homeroom. It seems like there have been some deviants in the area lately, so be careful!”

“Why are you saying this now!? Look, teacher, please wait! I am serious! I really, seriously love twintails!! Wait, that’s not what I... argh!!”

And so, the first day of my brilliant high school life ended, with me sabotaging myself in the most pathetic way imaginable.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....”

Just the memory of it is killing me.

When I see a blank I write “twintail” in it. That is a pretty ridiculous conditioned reflex. It’s already part of my physiological makeup ― no, it might be closer to the area of ecology.

“Mguh... mm. Seconds.”

Ignoring me and the full cup of coffee that hadn’t even touched my lips, Aika calmly put her hand on the second plate of curry.

Uh, I don’t have any appetite, so it’s fine, but still, that one’s mine.

“Writing that stuff down isn’t so bad, but that was pretty much the worst follow-up ever made. Why did you have to freak out so badly?”

“If you knew that I was nervous, then you should have come in and backed me up! Aren’t we friends!!”

“Friends... yeah.”

There was something sullen about the look on Aika’s face. What are you mad about? You just stole my lunch.

“You have to use questionnaires and stuff to make a good first impression. It's just an interest check, after all. Yeah, it says to write down clubs you're interested in, or clubs you want to start, and all that, but it's just a formality. What new student would suddenly assert themselves like that?”

“Uh... You mean...”

“You know what that means, don't you? By writing that down, you're telling everyone that, even after seeing all the clubs give their presentations, even after all their recruiting efforts, you still want to set up your own club. You get it, don't you?”

“And then I... wrote something strange like `twintail club’?”

“That’s right.”

“We can look back and analyze it calmly now, but you know, back then my mind was one hundred percent blank!!”

“Well, I could have at least stuck out my chest and said, ’A lot of people don’t even know the word for that hairstyle, so don’t suddenly start talking about it.’”

“That wouldn’t have helped at all, and what were you going to stick out, there’s nothing thbuhhh”

My little resistance was cut off in the middle.
Aika's got a complex about her modest (non-existent) chest, which is why I like to rib her about it. But, as you can see, if you do that, she will punch you in the face with one hand while eating off her plate with the other.

It can’t be helped, the rest of her is perfect.

Especially the twintails, and the twintails.

“Ugh. If only I was better at improvising...”

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that it’s indirectly the fault of the student council president that my future was destroyed, the exact opposite of what she said in her speech. Although, as Aika says, I was basically inviting this result by being such a loser.

Sighing gloomily, I wrapped my arms about my head.

“Besides, that obsession of yours would have been exposed sooner or later. Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

“You’re telling me I’ve come to a crossroads in my life? Then don’t just go on eating two meals worth of curry as if nothing's wrong! And I’m impressed you can eat curry while drinking all that coffee!”

You'd think someone like her, who could finish off two large plates of curry as if it were nothing, would have a bigger chest. Is it because of her hair? Does her body need all the nutrients just to sustain it...?

I felt a strange chill suddenly and glanced around the store.

“...?”

A woman customer was sitting alone. Her position was at an exact right angle to our seats.

Was it my imagination, or were her eyes flickering over here?

(That’s strange. I thought Mom already closed the store.)

But when I look at the cup on her table, it seems like she was sitting there from the start. We just didn’t notice. Probably Mom didn’t take a good look around before she rushed off.

Great. I thought there would be no one else around. Why did I have to run my mouth like that? I’m not surprised she’s looking.

“Hey, Souji... you’re doing it again.”

“Ah!”

Snapping back to my senses, I realized that I was holding on to Aika’s twintails. She breathed out a tired sigh and I hurriedly released my grip.

It’s half your fault for leaving them on the table and letting them slip into my grasp so easily ― but that’s a very selfish thing to say.

Because when they’re as long as Aika’s, if you don’t lay them on a chair or a table, they’d touch the ground the moment you sat down.

“Sorry. I really can’t help it. It’s been like this since we were kids. Touching your twintails just... calms me down.”

I know that already, Aika replied, coolly. She sighed again.

“Seriously. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel ashamed of myself.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“What are you going to do if someone takes this the wrong way? They’ll look at my twintails, and... and us being friendly... and connect the dots...”

Having exhausted her coffee, Aika kept glancing between me and the table, all the while pressing her index fingers together bashfully.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you want to change your hairstyle?”

“N-no way! Why would I change my hairstyle just because someone said something about it? I like my hair this way, thank you very much!”

Exactly. Seeing this steadfast determination of hers made me proud to be her childhood friend.

Despite her attitude, Aika’s the one person who would understand my love for twintails. As she said, we’d often get made fun of because we were always together.

But ― neither of us cared about what anyone else had to say about it.

She’s my childhood friend. My best friend.

Everyone has a friend or two they’d keep for life. Someone they can open their heart to. As for myself, by pure chance - that someone just happened to be a girl.

Part of it was because we were neighbours, but it seems like our families have been on good terms for a long time. That’s why it’s almost as if we were siblings. As if we were from the same family.

Back in grade school, I was never able to beat her in a fight. It was only afterwards that I found out her granddad had been teaching her martial arts.

Suppressing my wounded pride, I eventually started training with her at the dojo. I suppose that was when it all started. Ever since then, we’ve always spent our time together.

For some reason, we’d always end up in the same class. No matter how classes got shuffled, or how many people transferred in, we’d see each other in class every year.

To be honest, it was starting to get really weird.

Aika was always popular. She’s frank, honest, strong, and always so full of life - I mean, why wouldn’t she be?

And here I am, screwing everything up in the first day of school. I hope I don’t cause her too much trouble.

“―!?”

I felt another shiver run down my back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”

I kept my voice low. Aika seemed to have noticed it as well. That customer was still around.

“How... Why didn’t I sense her presence...!?”

Although Aika was whispering, what she was saying was even more grandiose than usual. Do you normally sense people’s presence as you go through your day...?

That woman was still sitting there. Quietly observing us.

Her eyes met mine. She hurriedly spun around, turning to face the wall behind her.

“What the heck...?”

Okay? That was strange, but I’d feel uncomfortable too if some other customer was kicking up a fuss across the room. Guess I’d better restrain myself.

While I started to relax, Aika was having none of it. I could tell she was on high alert.

Twintails have expressions of their own. Anger, sadness, joy, suspicion, and anxiety are just some of the emotions that they can show.

What I’m saying is - twintails are like a second mouth.

“...”

Aika gestured to me silently from the side of the table. That woman was now holding up a newspaper, as if to conceal herself from us.

She had poked a hole through it, and was peeping at us through it.

Are you kidding me?

It was beyond ridiculous. Was she filming some kind of comedy skit?

I became paranoid there might be some kind of hidden camera in the cafe. Please keep me from becoming Boy A in the credits.

“... Let’s try not to make eye contact.”

“Right.”

Aika had also settled on that being the best course of action in this situation.

Our assumed suspect folded the newspaper over, set it on the table, and stood up.

For a moment, I hoped she would leave. Instead she went right past the entrance, heading in our direction.

Stopping right next to me, unphased by our shocked expressions, she looked directly at me with a smile on her face.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Hold it right there!” Aika shouted in a rapid-fire manner, exasperated.

“Yes?”

Aika stood up while scowling at me. I flinched instinctively. Leaning her head back, the woman began to laugh.

“Who are you?!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do mind!”

“I have some business with this gentlemen over here.”

“With me?!”

Like a tour guide giving information, she pointed in my direction with her palm open.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?! Standing there with that calm look on your face in those flashy clothes. I’m gonna jam a straw in your cleavage!”

“Now, now, Aika, calm down. Please,” I said, looking to defuse the situation.

I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She may have been be a bit odd, but seeing her up close, she really was an incredibly beautiful woman - young lady, from the looks of it.

Her Japanese was excellent, but she was definitely a foreigner. She had white hair... no, wait. Make that silver hair.

Like it was dyed, yet it seemed natural. Which made it even more unnatural. Silver hair like hers doesn’t exist. Yet, it was still beautiful.

It seemed to glitter in the dim lighting of the cafe.

Along with her long eyelashes, her eyes were so blue they reminded one of sapphires.

Following my gaze down the bridge of her nose, she smiled brightly with her delicate pink lips.

Like something straight out of a movie, she was a mysterious faerie., It felt like her entire body was surrounded in a faint glow, like the twinkling light of a firefly.

Above all, just barely below visible when you look at her face, the enormous volume of her breasts demanded your attention. What an outrageous fairy.

She looked to be around the same age as Aika, and yet the difference between them was almost depressing. The thin clothes emphasizing her cleavage clashed with her clean-cut features. Over which she wore a white robe. One might even call it a coat. The design was quite fashionable.

Her skirt, which one might even hesitate to call a mini-skirt... traced a line that made one wonder how her panties weren’t visible. Yet, with one look at her long slender legs, any doubts about her ability to coordinate clothes vanished. It was certainly a sight not seen among the masses.

It’s such a shame.

Twintails would undoubtedly suit sparkling silver hair like hers.

There I go again... I’ve barely even met this girl, and yet my brain was already filled with thoughts of twintails.

For a guy going through puberty, undressing such a cute girl in your mind would be a natural instinct, honed over millennia.

Naked? With twintails?

Hmm...

I suppose that still counts?

“Ow.”

Aika jabbed me in the temple with her straw. What the heck are you doing, I asked, in a hushed tone. Aika simply turned her head away with a “Hmph!”.

Watching the two of us bicker, the girl looked like she was smirking while she laughed. Instead of an innocent laugh, I sensed a twinge of evil to her laugh. Maybe I’m wrong. She does seem like a very gentle person.

“Uhm, is there something that ''we'' can help you with?”

I unconsciously drew myself into the back of the chair.

The girl put her hand on top of the bench and leaned in closer to me.

“Yes. I have very important business with ''you''.”

“...Important business?”

Pretending not to hear her clearly wasn’t working.

Re-iterating she only wants to speak with me... was it a language problem? Across the table, Aika’s frown deepened.

“My name is Twoearle.”

“I see... Miss... Twoearle...”

She’s definitely not from this country. Nevertheless, her Japanese was impeccable.

“You sure like twintails.”

“I love them.”

Oops... that’s what I felt inside. And I blurted it out immediately. Saying it out loud to someone I just met – I really didn’t learn anything from what happened earlier today, did I?

“Would you mind not asking why, and put on this bracelet for me?”

“What the heck does this have to do with anything!?”

The girl known as Twoearle suddenly pulled an object out of her coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a very beautiful glittering red bracelet.

Taking advantage of my confusion, she softly took the bracelet and gently prised my fingers apart.

“H-hey now―”

With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the back of my hand. At which point, a strange tingling feeling shot through my body.

“Now, please put it on.”

“He doesn’t need it!”

Leaning over the table, Aika roughly grabbed the bracelet and pushed it back towards Twoearle.

“What is with you?! You just waltz over here and start pushing strange things onto him, how rude!”

“It is not anything suspicious.”

“At this point, it’s a little late to see it as anything but suspicious!”

As usual, she doesn’t hold back even with people we’ve just met.

...Well, I do agree it’s rather suspicious.

“...Uhm, well... hmm... ah!”

Twoearle abruptly clasped my hands and said, “It’s me, Souji-kun. Me.”

“...Eh?”

I was perplexed by her suddenly friendly tone.

“You remember me. Look, it’s me. Twoearle. You see, I’ve got a bit of a problem right now – so, could you please put that bracelet on?”

I think I’m imagining things, but the way she thoughtlessly leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, seemed as though she was begging for me to look at her ample chest.

“Uh, weeell...”

“What kind of idiot would use an ore-ore scam to someone’s face!”

“Eeaagh!”

A whirlwind tore past me as I hesitated. Aika hit Twoearle’s cheek with an open-palm strike of terrifying power, improved by a snap of the wrist.

“Are you insaaane?! Don’t hit people that you just met, seriously!! That was a really sharp sound!”

My shout was already close to a scream.

And it was no wonder. That wasn’t a slap but a little trick that aimed for the cheekbones ― one of the jujitsu techniques of the Mizukage school taught by Aika’s late grandfather. Overturning all theories of martial arts, it was meant to cause as much sharp and serious pain as possible to its target without moving the chest too much. Close to a torture technique.

And it had been carried out brilliantly and flawlessly by a mere high school girl.

It was no wonder that the old man had wanted to make her his successor right up until the moment he died.

“Souji, I’m sure this woman is a crook! Just like those people by the train station who say, I’ll tell your fortune, come into this alleyway! But then they have a bunch of people with mohicans and spikes on their shoulders or something waiting there for you!”

“I don’t know about the first part, but not the second!!”

If there is a villain here she’s in front of me.

Twoearle was bent over with a hand pressed against her cheek. I felt worried and looked over at her.

“A-are you okay? This girl, sometimes she doesn’t know when to hold back.”

She’s so beautiful, and she’s a foreigner. It would really suck if this turned into an international incident.

“Huh?... I was holding back, it shouldn’t be that...”

Aika started to look uneasy, although about at the level of a young kid with a knee scrape that you can fix by rubbing spit on it.

If you were holding back, then what was that noise.

“Oh, y, es... I am... fine...”

“Are you really okay...!?”

The way you’re cupping your cheek and trembling tells me that you’re not! I started to hold out my hand to her, and ―

“!”

Aika desperately caught my wrist.

“Oh.”

...Twoearle had gotten the bracelet into my blind spot and was trying to put it on my hand.

“So you were just acting!”

“Why are you trying this hard? What do you want me to put my hand in that bracelet for...!?”

Getting a little uncomfortable with this after all, I took a step back. And my heart felt like it went back a hundred meters.

“But I am not asking for any money! ...Just put it in! All I want you to do is put it in! Please put it in, if you don’t put it in I don’t know what I will do!! If you want me to, I will put it in for you.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the bracelet, but you could hear it as something else, so stop, please.

“You can’t, Souji, if you put it on, they’ll say you can’t cancel any more or something and take a huge amount of money off you! Those mohawk guys are going to crash through the entrance of the store on armored buggies!!”

Aika’s got a keen sense of danger, but her information seems to be a little bit lopsided. Twoearle put her hands together as if praying and looked straight into my eyes.

“Please. I will do anything you want if you wear the bracelet...”

“Eh?”

My mind was screaming no, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes moved towards Twoearle’s hair.

“Anything... you said?”

“Yes... I will do anything you ask of me. I will be fine with whatever special interests you may have! Especially the kinky stuff... ha... ha...”

For some reason, Twoearle was starting to breathe heavily. Her face was red.

“Don’t say things like that!”

This is bad.

Is this what you call a cultural divide? Are the differences in humanity that difficult to reconcile? Even though we speak the same language, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the same wavelength.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but asking him something like that is useless. The only thing he ever thinks about are twintails. He’d just ask you to tie your hair up or something.”

“R-really!? But, he’s a guy, isn’t he!?”

I’m not surprised that Aika could tell what I was thinking, but Twoearle seemed more than a little shocked.

If you say you’d do anything...

Yeah.

Of course.

Twintails.

Twoearle raised her hands, half-smiling.

“You must be kidding me... It is alright! Think of this as advance payment. I’ll let you squeeze them, right here... hurry... they’re surprisingly soft!”

Her softly wobbling chest seemed to explode in my vision. I didn’t know where to look.

Cupping her hands over her breasts, Twoearle thrust herself at me.

“Get away, you pervert! I’ll crush your spine in self-defense if you come any closer!”

Why are you even explaining to her what you’re going to do in self-defense?

“Calm down, Aika! ... I get it, I get it!”

I have to stop this mess before Aika crosses the line.

“I’ll take it. She said it was free, didn’t she? It’s almost like picking a tissue off the sidewalk. If that’s all it takes to make her happy ... it is free, isn’t it?”

“Of course!!”

Her sudden smile, like a flower blooming, caught me off guard. If only she’d act a little more normal...

“No! Don’t! She’s just trying to scam you! It’s like those spa treatment packages where they say the bath salts are free but it ends up being really expensive! She’s just like one of those door-to-door salesmen!!”

“What are you talking about this time?”

“If he does not wear it, the world will end! Also, it is against the law to bait people by giving out bath salts for free!”

“That’s exactly what I was saying, you free-bath-salt merchant!”

Seriously, what kind of a conversation is this? And what’s up with all the bath salts?

“Anyway, if you do not put this on! All the twintails in this world are going to vanish!!”

“―What!!”

Twoearle’s sudden exclamation was like a punch to my stomach. I stepped up to her.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“Hup.”

In that brief moment, Twoearle grabbed my arm, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Wha―”

Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. However, the spirit-shattering thought of all the twintails in the world disappearing, coupled with that pair of all-encompassing, enveloping, Gaia-class motherly breasts pressing against me ― the assault on my heart and mind left me unable to avoid it.

“Thank goodness. Like this, we will be ready when it finally appears.”

Looking at the clock, Twoearle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her teary eyes towards me.

Oh shit. I don’t think she noticed, but when she’s that close... every inch she moves makes her chest jiggle, pushing their soft, undulating mass against my body... this is bad.

Stay strong, Mitsuka Souji! You mustn’t be defeated by something like this!

She’s a foreigner, okay? This level of intimacy is probably completely normal for her. Don’t imagine anything lewd! You’ll destroy the esteemed image of Japanese men if it ends up showing on your face!

“Take it off! Throw that thing away!!”

While I was lost in thought, Aika grabbed me by my neck, forcefully pulling me away from Twoearle’s embrace.

“Whoa!”

It felt as if I was flying. Can you believe it? She just lifted me up with one hand!

The sudden movement sent the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table flying all around me.

“Come on... h-huh!?”

Aika was pulling on the bracelet with both hands, her face twisted in exertion. Guess it fit better than I thought.

“Argh! I can’t... get it off!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!! What the hell is this thing? It’s like a wedding ring that’s gotten stuck on a finger joint!”

And unlike Twoearle, Aika has no `cushions’, so having her press herself against me was very uncomfortable to say the least.

“A wedding ring!? Aaargh——!”

“Yeaaargh!! Stop! You’ll rip my arm off!”

For some reason, Aika started pulling at it even harder than before. My arm jerked around as if it were a candle flame in the wind.

“This is... strange... Why is it... so tight...!? Look! There isn’t even... a gap on this... thing!”

She’s right. It’s made of metal, and definitely isn’t elastic. How did Twoearle even manage to get it on my arm in the first place!?

I wonder if you can unscrew this thing, I heard my childhood friend say. Stop! Humans don’t work that way!

I almost wanted to cry from the suspicion and despair flooding my mind.

It’s strange asking Twoearle to take it off after I let her put it on me, but I don’t have any choices left.

“Um, excuse me, could you please―”

In a flash.

We were enveloped in a retina-burning, polychromatic stream of light.

As if we were melting into the air, our bodies began fading away along with the light―

And then, we were gone.

<center>◇</center>

“I am very sorry about all this, but I thought it would be faster than an explanation.”

I heard Twoearle say.

“―Huh? Huh!?”

Just as the burst of light faded from my vision, a very different sight greeted my eyes.

Soot. The acrid, stinging smell of smoke filled the air around us.

I looked around in a panic.

Sunlight. Wind. Sidewalk. Asphalt.

It was a feeling unlike any that I’d experienced before. My body struggled to get up to speed.

“Why are we... outside?”

We weren’t dreaming, were we? How did we get outside without even noticing it?

“Answer me! Why are we here!?”

Our surroundings were familiar, yet it took quite some time for me to recognize them. No way. How could we have made it here?

‘Maxim Horizon’, the biggest convention center in town. A giant building, spanning two blocks, with an equally large open-air exhibition space. Events, live concerts, and other activities were often held here.

Somehow, we ended up at the center’s open air parking lot.

Roughly 20 minutes away from where we previously were. By car.

“Earlier than expected... I intended for us to have some prep time, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.”

In contrast to the two of us, Twoearle was completely calm.

“I really should have done this earlier...”

She was holding a small stick, about the size of a pen and talking in a very subdued voice.

Unless I’m mistaken, that pen-like thing was what emitted that strange burst of light.

“W-what did you do to us!?”

“I did not intend to bring you along with us, Aika-san, but unfortunately, you would not leave the effective radius. Sorry about that.”

For a moment, I thought they would end up having a (very one-sided) argument again, but a loud sound derailed my train of thought.

“What is it this time!?”

And then, we finally understood what was causing all the soot and smoke.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars around us were cooking off like popcorn, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“This can’t be happening...”

Earlier, I thought we would end up being on some comedy program. Now... it was as if we were passers-by getting caught up in some Hollywood movie pyrotechnics display.

It just didn’t seem real.

“Souji-sama. Please try your best not to leave my side. They will spot you. I cannot project my recognition jamming field very far.”

“Recognition... jamming?”

Twoearle stopped me from moving closer to one of the flaming cars.

“If you stay beside me, they will not be able to see you. Look at that thing over there.”

Twoearle pointed at something in the distance. In the middle of the parking lot was... something.

Both Aika and I leaned in for a closer look... and we both screamed.

“―― Whaaa!?”

“It can’t be! What is that thing!?”

It’s like someone forcefully jammed an insect’s head onto a man’s body. The figure was fully clad in some kind of armored exoskeleton.

Normally, I would have thought it was some actor in a suit, thanks to where we were, but―

Its weight ― wherever it stood, cracks formed in the asphalt.

Its height ― over two meters tall.

Its eyes ― they never stopped moving, darting left and right.

Its teeth ― they looked as if they could crush a boulder.

Its spines ― as sharp as swords, and too many to count, extending from spine to tail.

Everything about it was as real as it could get.

Every cell, every breath it took, was real.

I really wish it was just a suited actor. I really hoped it was.

But, that thing... the mere sight of it filled me with dread. Pure, unrelenting―

“M―monster!”

The wreckage... the fire... and the smoke. And in the middle of it all, the swaggering figure of that unknown figure... it was almost picturesque.

Almost like a scene from a movie, made real.

“Come out, wherever you are!”

!!

As if flicking a bug, the thing sent a nearby car flying. At the same time, I clearly heard it say that line.

Speaking human language.

Speaking Japanese.

Aika and I were too shocked to say anything. The creature, not noticing our presence, twisted it’s mouth, roaring.

Roaring those words of doom that would strike the hearts of its listeners with despair-

“Fuhahahahahaha!! All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!!”

“Uuugh~~~~!!”

At the hoarse, resonant voice and the warped thing it was saying I came close to choking up blood.

We were pretty far from it here, but it felt like its voice was ringing right in my ear.

“...Hey, Souji, what are you doing wearing a theme park costume.”

“That’s not me!”

A large number of pure-black creatures manifested themselves around the monster.

The identical mindless drones were massed in a group, ready for battle. Their strange forms were uniformly solid black. It was an incredibly eerie sight.

The combat drones skittered away, dispersing rapidly in all directions, capturing a number of random girls.

“Twin... tails...”

But my heart was not beating fast because the girls had twintails. It was because of the monster’s orders.

“What are they holding... Hey, it’s twintail girls!”

“What are they planning to do?”

Unlike Aika and I, who fretted in hushed voices, Twoearle silently tracked their movements.

“Even so, this world is regrettably lacking in twintails! Draped in nothing but steel and electricity ― it’s like they never left the Stone Age!”

It was clearly speaking Japanese, but something was off. Something... no, everything.

“Oh well, that just means we have to find twintails of the finest quality!”

With a wild tone of voice, the monster walked with its shoulders held high.

“Don’t forget the orders from our commander, you vermin! Top quality twintails have been detected in this area, so leave no stone unturned! … There might even be a young girl crying while holding her stuffed bunny rabbit!”

“... Moke? Moke- “

“Hold your tongues! Gathering all of the twintails is our ultimate goal… however! Beyond being a soldier, I’m also a man… and so I’d also like to see a young girl holding a stuffed animal! Find me one and there will be a reward waiting for you!!”

It wasn’t my imagination.

No, it was speaking fluent Japanese,　but for some reason nothing it was saying made any sense.

“We have no need for adults! Drag them out here quickly! I don’t mind if you’re a little rough!”

The black creatures were moving efficiently to carry out its orders.

“Moke-”

“What? There are no young girls carrying stuffed animals!? Hmm, if girls don’t have stuffed animals, then a man can provide!! I don’t care, bring them here!”

...Although, can you really call these orders? He’s shouting so crazily that I think if he had something hard in his hand he would throw it.

“Heeeelp!”

A crying young girl was brought in front of the monster.

The way she looked, with her twintails disheveled under the eyes of the grotesque, hulking figure, made me think of a shrine maiden taken for human sacrifice, the victim of a crime against nature.

I tried to jump out, but Aika grabbed my arm and stopped me.

My hazy brain began to catch up with what was going on. I got the situation clear in my head, at least.

“They’re only taking girls with twintails, what are they planning to do?”

The monster and his troops weren’t hurting them. Rather, they were giving them dolls to calm them down.

So we can stay here and watch for now, but...

“Hey, Twoearle, you took us here because you knew this was happening, didn’t you? What is that monster...”

Halfway through the sentence, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

In my line of sight was something I should never have seen.

Well, this isn’t the place for sarcasm. But the radiant sight that had burned itself into my heart earlier today had not been a dream or an illusion. I knew that now.

“The... president...”

No mistake. That was it, the source of my suffering from the first day of high school life, the diabolical hairstyle that had charmed me in both the good and bad sense of the word.

Two of the solid black combat drones were dragging along Shindou Erina, president of the student council, in her school uniform, one on each arm.

“It’s, it’s her! Hey! Isn’t that the president?”

It looks like Aika has noticed too.

In the gym there were maids standing by her silently to attend on her, but I couldn’t see anyone like that now.

The president was holding something tight in her arms as if it were important. It was hard to see, of course, but the thing sticking halfway out of her shopping bag looked like a toy from a kids’ tokusatsu series.

“Release me!”

Determined resistance.

The monster ran his eyes over her as if he were deciding on her price.

“Ho-hooo, a nice little child! Not only that, but she looks like she’s a princess! A twintail princess... no, indeed, this is nearly perfect! Yours could be the ultimate twintails!!”

“Ultimate...!? No, tell me who you are! You speak human language, don’t you!? Set the other girls free!!”

“I do. As you can see, we can communicate well with each other. And so, I tell you that I cannot release them.”

“Then what are your intentions!”

“You’ll understand soon! First, while I have the opportunity...”

The monster handed a large stuffed animal to the president with an overfamiliar gentleness.

“I want you to hold this kitten stuffie! There is sweetness even in your hostility. A kitten stuffie suits a naughty young girl well!! Hug it!!”

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_049.jpg|thumb|''"You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa!"'']]

The jet-black figures came up carrying a three-meter-wide pink sofa which it was hard to believe existed, maybe part of their supplies.

They forced the president, now holding the stuffed animal, to sit on it.

“You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa! This is the golden ratio that my long years of discipline have led me to!!”

“““Mokkekeke―!!”””

The monster was acting like it had at last succeeded in turning gold into a base metal, and on top of that the shrill voices seemed to be cheering it for what it had done. I felt light-headed.

“...We understand that they are aiming for girls with twintails, anyway... Tell me, Twoearle, what can I do? You brought me here because there’s something I can do, right?”

“I will leave the details for later. Right now, we will act.”

My legs were trembling a little despite my brave act, but Twoearle ignored that. She was so calm that she seemed reliable.

“Souji-sama... First, please take off the clothes I am wearing. No, more like rip them off, please. ...Oh, yes. Push both of my arms above my head like this and hold them there... Like this, Souji-sama, with one hand. Then with your other hand, pull off my bra...”

“What is wroooooooooong with you!!”

Twoearle had been making gestures to go with what she was saying.

“Aika, too loud!”

I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth, but―

“Ohh, I sense the presence of a new twintail... Where? Where are you hiding!!”

(What is a presence supposed to be!)

I left that comeback inside my heart, and looked at the twintails beside me. Certainly, they do draw the eye, but...

“Aaah, I’m a twintail too―!”

“Wheeeare are yoooou!!”

We were sixty or seventy meters away from the center of the huge open-air parking lot, but the thick, harsh voice sounded as though it were coming from right next to us. Still, even though we weren’t under any kind of cover, he can’t see us. What is this?

He’s looking straight at us, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I felt deja vu.

Aika’s words in the store went through my mind.

― “How... Why didn’t I sense her presence?”

Recognition... jamming... that’s what she said earlier.

“...Oh, ohh... Even though I was taking the serious route that I’m not used to and holding it in... This situation I was longing for... The script I polished over and over again... I can’t believe my plan was crushed the moment it started...”

Twoearle’s glare at Aika was a mixture of resentment and disappointment. Apparently something hadn’t gone well for her.

“There’s some way we can help those girls, right!? Come on, tell me!!”

Impatient, I grabbed her shoulders hard.

“Aan...”

For some reason a seductive voice.

“Oh, we can do a course correction! Well, Souji-sama, let us go ahead with the script just like before! Shove me against the wall like this, and we’re up to the place where you rip all my clothes off at once! Take them with one cut!!”

“Why don’t I shove you against the wall? As hard as I can!?”

Under Aika’s glare, Twoearle reluctantly said, “I, I understand. It is true we do not have much time, so I will skip a little! And they can sense her Twintail Element even through recognition jamming, so even in the first battle I do not think we can take them lightly.”

Did you say “the first battle?”... but I didn’t have time to wonder, because what she said next was even more outrageous.

“Souji-sama, use the bracelet I gave you and transform!”

“Transform!?”

“This is what she was going for! All that stuff earlier was for this!”

Twoearle ignored Aika and continued.

“That device creates a battle suit that will reinforce your physical power. You should become at least a match for that monster when you transform.”

“Are you serious!?”

Just as if it were a kids’ superhero show or something like that.

...But I was willing to grasp at any straw right then, and my heart soaked it up without resistance as if it were a voice from heaven.

She could have said any crazy thing to me and I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it was a joke or a trick after the unreal experience of being put through the teleporter.

At least there’s no harm in trying.

“Wa, wait a minute, I don’t know about transforming, but why do you need Souji to do something that dangerous!!”

“You idiot! The enemy’s target is twintails!! How can we overlook that!!”

“...Wait, umm, that’s the most surreal thing about this, or rather, that goal is too stupid... Or Souji, can’t you at least say that it’s because they are kidnapping girls...?”

“No, that is how it should be. It is because you love twintails that you can use the bracelet. There is no need to act like you care about justice.”

“No, I mean, I did want to rescue the girls, I was thinking that...”

An enemy who’s aiming at twintails, and supposedly I can fight against them because I love twintails? What is this?

Really more and more this seems like a joke.

The earth shook so much that I seemed to float for a second, and then came an ear-splitting roar.

“Souji, the people they caught!”

A terrifying scene was unfolding where Aika pointed.

A tragic scene as though I were looking into hell.

In the very center of the parking lot ― the parked cars had been torn out by the roots and scattered and the girls they had caught were lined up single file.

An improvised ceremonial site.

I don’t know if the girl at the front of the line had fainted, but she didn’t seem to be moving as her body floated into the air.

Like a lion jumping through a flaming hoop, the girls in the line moved through a metallic ring with light stretched across it in iridescent colours like a soap bubble. The moment the first girl passed through, her hair came gently untied, and she drifted back down tracing an arc across the sky.

One by one, the instant they could put the next one through, the girls went through the ring as lifeless as parts on a belt conveyor.

In less time than it took to blink, it was President Shindou’s turn... and even the beautiful twintails that had fascinated me dissolved into the air.

“All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!”

That had sounded like a joke, but I was seeing it for real now.

“― Those bastards.”

I felt something deep snap in my heart for the first time in my life.

“Souji-sama, please compose yourself. It is still all right, they can still be saved.”

“Tell me...! How can I save the twintails? How can I destroy those guys?!!”

“You’re kind of exaggerating... You know, they don’t seem to be hurt at all aside from losing their twintails?”

“Exaggerating, you say......!?”

I grabbed Aika by the front of her shirt and lifted her up with violent emotion overflowing in my heart.

“Aah...”

“Is that all that twintails mean to you? If someone takes them, then that’s fine, you don’t really care? Were they such a little thing to you?!!”

“Ca, calm down, Souji. They’ll notice us again...!”

“...S, sorry.”

When I heard Aika’s out-of-character thin voice without any force in it, my head cooled off a little, and I let go of her.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you too, Twoearle. But tell me how to use this thing. Quickly.”

“...Are you serious!? No, Souji, you shouldn’t! Especially after earlier! I don’t think you can trust her at all!”

Aika’s voice had tension in it as if she were trying to stop a comrade of hers from committing an act of murder.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid or if it’s dangerous. I can’t forgive those monsters for playing games with twintails!”

Twoearle had been at least half messing around with me, but I think that that part of my feelings got through to her.

She nodded with an earnest expression, and explained, raising her own right arm to her chest.

“Please wish in your heart, ‘I want to transform.’ Wish hard. If you do that, the bracelet should activate.”

“That’s all I have to do? I don’t think about anything specific?”

Twoearle nodded forcefully.

“Okay. Sounds like something even I can do.”

“Souji!!”

I gathered my resolve and raised the bracelet to my chest, making a fist with my right hand.

Closing my eyes, like she had told me, I wished hard, hard.

I want to transform... I want to save the president, those girls. To take back the twintails. To become someone who can defeat those bastards.

It wasn’t righteous anger. Is there a guy anywhere who can just keep quiet after he sees something he loves trampled into the dust!!

The next instant―

The “transformation” really happened, just like that.

<center>◇</center>

Light began to shine from the bracelet on Souji’s right arm.

An intense light as though soundless fireworks were exploding before his eyes.

“Aahh!”

Aika covered her eyes with her arm at the unexpected brilliance.

Bands of red light looped around Souji’s body, forming a cocoon. As specks of light flooded out, they tightened around him.

An even brighter sudden flash.

They began to change the barely visible silhouette.

Shoulders, chest, hips, legs - from the top in order light burst like an explosion, and Souji was covered from the neck down in a red suit. But this all happened in a hundredth of a second ― the work of an instant, faster than the eye could see.

Spraying out like steam, lines of red light.

And although it was strange, Souji was surrounded by a radiance that didn’t come from reflected light, just like Twoearle’s silver hair.

“Awesome... I really did transform...”

Souji put all the strength into the fists, testing how it felt.

As far as he could see, the suit covered the body without a gap, from the tips of the feet when he looked down to the fingertips he was opening and closing over and over again. But he seems to have noticed before long that there was no pressure on his head.

“Huh? My face... It isn’t hidden!?”

Touching the cheeks, Souji was disturbed to find that they weren’t covered.

“The suit itself is not that important to the defense system. Also, it is using Imagine Chaff as a countermeasure, so even though your face is uncovered, other people will not realize that it is you, Souji-sama.”

“Imagine... What’s that?”

“It is something so you do not have to worry about people finding out your real identity! Please fight with peace of mind!”

“I, is that so? Okay! Let me try this...!!” I don’t really understand the practical side very well, and there are a lot of things I’m still worried about, but there’s no time left.

Souji put his faith in Twoearle’s words and started to run toward the battlefield, his hair gallantly ''fluttering behind him''.

“Nh, uh...”

Souji had already vanished by the time Aika opened her eyes.

“That idiot! Why did he agree to all of this so easily?!”

Aika knitted her eyebrows and looked around.

“Hey, you, uh... hey, Twoearle.”

“Yes?”

“There weren’t any other girls around here just now...?”

<center>◇</center>

“Li... light, what is this, I can’t run so easil... whoaaa―!!”

As if someone had put the decimal point in the wrong place, the power in my legs was so great that I kept almost falling on my face when I sprinted.

I was reminded of the time when I was bored and tried setting the running machine to maximum speed.

≪Please focus your awareness! Souji-sama, that suit, the Tailgear, is created with the power of your mind. You must drive it with your will!≫

Some kind of communications device? I heard Twoearle’s voice as if she were whispering into my ear, although I don’t think anything was mounted on it.

“The force of my mind... My will...!!”

This time, I tried to wrap my awareness around my legs.

Up until then it felt like I was clinging to a car moving at top speed, but I suddenly started to feel my feet landing on the ground through the suit.

It wasn’t like driving a car, it was a sense of complete unity like I had become the car.

I had already reached the parking lot and gone more than halfway across it, kicking the rubble out of the way as I was running without trying to avoid it. I could see the girls lying unconscious on the asphalt now.

I know they regretted having their twintails stolen.

I’ll absolutely get them back for you...!!

“Hmmm, magnificent Twintail Elements... But at this rate, I’m not sure if we can obtain the greatest power under this star, the one the Commander was praising as the ultimate...”

It seems like my hearing has improved, too. I can hear the monster muttering something cryptic to President Shindou, lying at his feet.

My anger hit its peak when I saw the president with her twintails cruelly untied.

“Stoooop――!!”

“Mu!?”

I planted my feet on the ground, braking at high speed. As I did, something like stoppers came down from somewhere near my ankles and jammed into the asphalt, scraping it and blowing off sparks and dust.

(...What ridiculous strength. That girl created this...!?)

A sense of awe filled my body at the unknown power, taking my mind off my anger. And then I started to be afraid. I was surprised again by the kind of power the girl called Twoearle had in her hands.

How had she created something with this kind of terrifying strength? Just as I was told, just as I had wished, I had accepted it, but had that been the right thing to do?

No, I don’t have time to think about that now. I have to concentrate on saving the twintails... saving the people before me.

“You understand human language, right, monster? Give these people back the twintails that you... took.”

“Tha... You are...”

“...Did you not hear me...? You stole their twintails. Give them back, goddamn you!!”

My anger itself hit him together with my scream.

It sounds strange when I say it, but I understood that the strange ring could take people’s twintails away from them. And so it should also be possible for it to give them back.

Who would subject someone to this kind of danger just because they have twintails? The word “irrational” is not good enough for them, it’s absurd, it’s monstrous.

“Steal the twintails.” If what they said, if their objective were known to the public, then tomorrow there might not be anyone wearing twintails anymore. Because it would be stupid to take the risk.

I can’t... I can’t forgive that...!!

“Whoa... whooaaaaaaaaaaa――!?”

When I scowled at him, the monster soared high into the sky as if he had been caught in a sudden gust of wind.

“Gahaaa!!”

The ground hit him face-first.

“H, hey.”

“Nnn, nngh... Was I blown away by such a strong ''young innocent''... Those are... spectacular twintails!!”

“...Huh?”

“The Commander’s prediction was right when he chose this spot! Even if I leave out the girls before. It was you...! You’ve finally come! We didn’t miss our mark, those are the ultimate twintails!”

The monster was staggering to his feet in exultation.

“The ultimate... twintails...?”

Something is strange.

What the monster was saying gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time I myself began to feel obscure doubt.

My field of vision, my viewpoint was oddly low.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the hands I was holding up also seemed smaller than usual.

“......”

Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

A premonition of evil stronger than I’d ever tasted in my life sent a chill through my whole body.

“Could...”

Like a rusty gear grinding, I turned my head over to the side.

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_063.jpg|thumb|top|alt="Souji looking in a car windshield."|''There was a girl with lovely twintails there.'']]

One of the car windshields was still in its original shape. I saw the reflection and was speechless.

What would you call this.

― There was a girl with lovely twintails there.

“――― Oh.”

Even now a “twinta~ils” sound effect rang like a chime in my head. Beautiful, spectacular twintails hanging down past the knee.

And ribbon-shaped pieces that moved up and down together with her breathing, so smoothly that they seemed to be swaying.

Her wide eyes opened even farther.

The word “armor” was a little off the mark for what she was wearing, a strange protective suit that didn’t look like it had any weight at all, showy in its use of fashion with red and white as its key colours.

In places, on top of the body suit that stuck closely to her bare skin, angular mechanical-looking armaments had been attached. They were the source of a mysterious glow.

“Ohh.”

And, and and. There were giant attachments on either side of her hips, but the crotch area of the suit had been designed like a bikini, and half of her thighs were exposed.

I wasn’t sure if I believed this. But I tried touching my chest and groin. My chest was just as flat as it looked from outside, but my constant companion for half my life, the prince between my legs, my important partner, was cleanly and completely missing.

“O, oh...”

Now that I understood, I became more conscious of it. My unnaturally high voice.

Yes, the reflection in the glass was ―

I, who had become a twintail.

“It turned me into a girl―――――――――――――!!?”

A childish scream was absorbed by the sky.

<center>◇</center>

“Wh...!!”

Aika, watching, was also lost for words.

“...What is that.”

“That is our single strongest weapon against those monsters, the Daydream Armor, Tailgear! Aah, you are wonderful, Souji-sama! Ehehehehe big success.”

Twoearle, with a ribbon of drool that was hanging down to the choker around her neck, stared at the panicking Souji with a look of ecstasy on her face.

“...It’s too wonderful, I’m starting to cry!!”

Aika visited Twoearle with the palm of her hand, using even less restraint. It wasn’t a pinpoint strike to her cheek or somewhere this time but an impact to the whole top of her skull.

“Is, is this already a girls’ catfight scene... or actually it is more like being mauled by a tiger...”

“Depending on your answer it really will be like that. What happened, why is Souji a wwwwwoman!! That’s not just girls’ clothing, is it? He’s even way shorter now!!”

“...Aika-san. In order to obtain great power, you have to pay a corresponding price. It makes a person stronger to face the truth ― little girls are cute, little girls!”

“Is this your fucking rotten hobby―!!”

The sound of a merciless blow.

“That’s not transforming, that’s warped!”

Of course, she didn’t mean “warped” in the sense of metamorphosis.

“Fight fire with fire, they say. When the enemy is ‘hentai,’ a fighter cannot oppose them without becoming HENTAI to a certain degree themselves.”

“So the enemy is yooooooooooooooooooou!!”

Thud, thud, thud...

The head of the beautiful girl whose default was complete corruption ― Twoearle’s imagination soared left and right in thrilling leaps.

<center>◇</center>

Is this my punishment?

I’ve been saying twintails, twintails from childhood until now, did God finally get fed up with me and say, you’re a pain in the ass, shut up, become a twintail already, and give me a shove in the back?

You shoved too hard, God. This isn’t like I can stagger and keep moving forward, this is like a complete orbit of the Earth.

This is like even my cool entrance scene earlier looped once around the Earth and crashed into the back of my head.

“A, a, a, ah.”

I was confused and unable to deal with reality, and the monster and the black things had completely surrounded me.

“Hmm, so you’ve decided you want to be ours? You have my gratitude! Show her along, and be polite!”

At my lack of resistance, the monster suddenly switched to kindness.

“Moke―”

The black thing... the soldier in front broke out into a run toward me.

“Ge... get awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!”

As I was waving my arms in front of me like a kid throwing a tantrum, I lightly hit the black thing, and it flew into the air with a clear ‘thunk’ sound like a plastic bottle rocket and crashed into a wall on the rooftop level of a distant building.

Its body began to glow. Before long, it exploded softly into dust and disappeared into the sky.

The monster let out a little noise of interest.

“Hnnn... One Ultiroid in one blow! You’re not just beautiful twintails... What is that fierce power!? Who are you, child!!”

The enemy’s words were getting bit by bit more old-fashioned, and now, as if we were actors in a period drama, he was handing me my promised “cue.”

Although judging from his expression he was serious.

≪Souji-sama! This is a great chance for a cool intro speech!≫

Intro speech?

“...What am I supposed to be?”

If you have something you want to say, then say it, God --

≪Aaah~, that is right, you did not decide what you were going to call yourself after you transformed, did you...!?≫

“No, I’m not worried about my name, I’m having doubts about my identity!”

Communicate, help me out, Aika... If I can’t hear your comebacks, how am I supposed to do this?

Not who I am, I’m not even sure what I am.

“Waoo~h, I’m not sure what’s going on but this downhearted little girl - I can’t stand it!! One of you, get me a doll she can hug!”

“Mokee-.”

The encirclement slowly tightened around me.

I could feel piercing stares even from the soldiers though I didn’t know where their eyes were.

Like they were giving off desire as an aura.

The target of those innumerable desires - I didn’t try to hold in the chill climbing up my spine.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

≪Souji-sama, touch the ribbon piece and picture a weapon in your heart. It should create a weapon made just for you!!≫

“Rib, bo, n.”

With bloodshot eyes, I hit one of the two metal ribbon pieces, the only armor on my head.

“Turn me, turn me back into a man......! Agagagagagagaga”

≪It is not a machine that grants wishes!?≫

What is this... I’m not in a fairytale with a moral, there’s no way this punishment can happen, no way I turned into a twintail!!

I hit the ribbon over and over.

Whether my bitter wish got through or not, it lit up and a burst of flame shot out. Forming a spiral in the air, it gathered in my right hand and began to take the shape of a sword like vapor condensing.

The red blade lengthened, wrapping itself around a black core.

A word appeared in my mind like it was being punched into a typewriter.

≪Blazer Blade≫

Fire burst out from my right hand. The magnificent double-edged sword was finished, glowing with red heat.

You couldn’t call it a longsword, but in my hands it looked like a longer than average blade.

Amazi~ng, coo~ol... by the way turn me back.

“Moke――”

One of the soldiers came down out of the air with a pose like a jumping frog.

My voice was frozen, so I swung the sword. The enemy took a diagonal slash to the chest, and with a small explosion evaporated into dust.

“Mokeh”

“Mokee~~~~~~”

“Aagh! These...!!”

I was attacked without a moment of pause and made a sudden horizontal sweep. The soldiers, cut in half, vanished one after another.

With no hesitation - with even less hesitation than before, attacks began to come all at once from the earth and sky.

“De... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

I slashed at them, the spinning sword wrapped in fire that traveled with the sword’s pressure, spreading out like a burst from a flamethrower.

The figures all in black attacked four ways, eight ways, and evaporated without even having time to scream.

“Hah... hah...”

The reptile monster, alone now, was trembling all over.

“I’m nailed to this spot, I can’t move... The sword like lightning and the twintails dancing in the sky... I was sure that I was lost in heaven!!”

“You really are lost! Stop, that’s creepy!!”

The monster was overcome with emotion. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

I’m the one who wants to cry.

“Haaah, haah, twintails...”

“Wha...!?”

Desire was swirling around the monster like a vortex. He stuck out his hands and came at me like a zombie.

He was different from the one-kick soldiers before. In many ways.

“Those twintails... Could I have you take them between your thumb and index finger and give my cheeks a few slaps, pechi pechi...!!”

Wide eyes, the blood pulsing in them. Rough, thick breaths. And with the tip of his lips stained with drool, the monster came at me.

A dread second to none rushing through me and a weak scream I’d never heard from myself even once before.

“Kyaa--!!”

I fell on my butt, letting the sword drop.

“Haah, haah, twintails...”

I can’t stand to look at this.

Is that right... is this what I look like.

Were guys who like twintails all like this? Would someone who didn’t know me think of me as his accomplice? Was this how other people saw me?

...If nobody approves of me, will I become warped too?

“Shit, it’s because there are things like you that...!”

Clutching my head and trembling, I curled up into a ball.

My memories flickered around me like shadows from a lantern.

The times I talked passionately about twintails.

Or maybe the person I was talking to didn’t know them well, but they knew something about them.

Everyone would always start to look suspicious.

What’s wrong with insisting on the kind of hairstyle you like, I always thought... but was it that monster that they were seeing?

I was pretending that I was confident and didn’t care what anyone thought, but maybe I was really feeling guilty about my love of twintails...?

≪Sou-ji! Get a hold of yourself! You’re the one who said you were going to save them, what are you doing!!≫

“...Ah...!!”

At Aika’s words I came back to reality.

≪You were bragging earlier how important twintails were to you, you even grabbed my... you grabbed the front of a girl’s shirt and lifted her up. Now that you became a twintail you’re scared!? Pull yourself together!≫

≪She said ‘the front of her shirt,’ but Souji-sama, you just grabbed her collar in one smooth motion, didn’t you? There were no obstacles to intercept you, were there? Hahaha≫

≪I’m sorry I stopped you before... I can’t look at that monster anymore either, that creep, don’t worry about all the other stuff, just punch him hard!≫

≪...Don’t, squeeze like a washcloth... Please let go of my obstacles!!≫

≪If you can’t do anything now, then that’s the thing that will make you his accomplice! If you feel guilty about your usual self, then when it’s time to act, do it right!≫

≪It hurts, ow ow ow ow ow!!≫

“...Aika...!”

Aika’s precise speech, as if she could see straight through me. A feeling rose in my heart like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I thought I heard a voice rising in pain, but my mind had already become one with the space around it.

And I’m not confused about what I am anymore.

I’m an idiot.

What Aika says is right. After shaking her off and coming into the battle, what am I doing.

I have been given the power to protect what I love and respect and I’m completely losing it because of my own small worries.

Come to think of it, back when I was a kid, when I was fighting Aika and I had that old man training me, he beat that into my head a lot. You have a lot of idle thoughts, you have to empty your heart - that kind of thing.

Let your heart fill the space... let idle thoughts loose.

Let your heart―

“You are tearing off my breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasts!!”

“...Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!”

For the first time in my life my whole mind is concentrated on this fight. But there’s something, some noise that I can’t imagine comes from a creature of this world, that’s pulling me away and making it really hard to focus, so I let a scream out and began to run.

Nothing else than the scream now.

“Hmm!?”

“I’ll pechi-pechi you! Get your face out here!!”

I lifted the Blazer Blade above my head.

“Oooh!”

For the first time my slash was blocked.

But on the left cheek of the monster that hadn’t been touched, a burn like the mark of a sword appeared, running in a single horizontal line.

“You’re... Haah!!”

The monster screamed and a beam of light flashed out of the palm of his hand.

But the beam evaporated as soon as it touched my body without disturbing my twintails a millimeter. I didn’t feel anything either.

“Hmmn!?”

A combat suit that was so thin, except at my hips, and arms and legs and other places covered by the angular armor, that it didn’t hold me back at all - the Tailgear.

You could see its true worth in the light that surrounded me.

“...Photon Absorber... Is that what this is.”

An ≪explanation≫ echoed in my head.

The ultimate defensive film takes the absorbed energy of motion - in other words, impact - and kills it completely by controlling and intercepting it at the molecular level.

This is also the reason why the head, which should be protected as much as possible, is exposed. No attack will hit the Tailgear as long as the whole body is covered in light, and that makes it an invincible weapon.

“Hmph... You’re a terrifying little kid! For the first time in many days my soldier’s spirit is roaring! I am Lizard Guildy, the leader of the Ultima Guil raid squadron! I fight in the belief that a man’s heart should beat even stronger at the sight of a girl who is holding a doll! Tell me your name, at least, if nothing else!!”

“―TailRed!!”

I said it so naturally that I was surprised. It felt as though the suit itself was telling me what to say.

The moment I had broken through, it had started calling to my heart.

An irrepressible power was pulsing in my whole body.

“...I asked for your real name!!”

“It’s fine... If you shout a disturbing belief like that at the top of your lungs then I don’t need someone like you to remember my name!”

“That’s mysterious! You believe more or less the same thing, don’t you?”

“Don’t put me together with you!”

“It’s obvious at a glance! If you weren’t one who loves twintails more than anything else, you wouldn’t be shining like that!”

“You know your stuff, don’t you... Fine, I shine all the brighter because of my love for twintails - go ahead and remember that!!”

“That runs counter to what we want, then, doesn’t it... For us, we love twintails even more when we have our hands on them! Hnnnn... hmph!!”

The countless spines on Lizard Guildy’s back separated and lifted high into the sky.

A thin belt of light seemed to bind the spines and his body together.

And one by one as if they had a mind of their own they came down to attack.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

I started to cut all of them down with the Blazer Blade.

The burning spines one after another started to hiss like bombs, and after they hit they blew away part of the asphalt.

“Hnnnnn...!!”

They came flying even faster. I could dodge them by the width of a hair and they’d still spin around quickly and pursue me like guided missiles.

My eyesight for moving objects was much better because of the Tailgear, but even for my improved vision the complicated orbits were a threat.

“Twoearle! Will everything be okay even when I defeat this guy? What will happen to the twintails!?”

≪The twintails that were stolen...? The Elements... they’re stored in that ring for an hour or so, I believe! So ignore that guy! Defeat him and break the ring and they’ll go back! ...I believe!!≫

“All right!”

I had been a little frightened about the thing Aika called me about... no, incredibly frightened, but I would stick with my first decision to rescue the president’s, and everyone else’s twintails.

“Magnificent! I will not forget this day if I live for ever! My apologies, but I’d like to take a photograph as a souvenir! Rest your head on my shoulder like this, and hold a stuffed...”

“Shut uuuuu-p!”

I shortened the distance with a single bound and with my left hand wreathed in fire, I punched him hard.

His face mushed in and a large amount of blood came out of his nose.

“Agh, aaugh... No, no help for it... I was trying hard to keep from hurting your face or your twintails, but you’re going to have to resign yourself to a certain amount of damage!!”

The muscles under Lizard Guildy’s steel scales bulged out still more.

He must be gathering all of his strength for an attack.

I stood straight in front of him, preparing for the worst.

But isn’t there... It’s going to be dangerous for the girls lying around here if we keep fighting in this flashy way!

At that moment the vivid image of a deep red pillar of fire floated into my mind.

“―Aura Pillar...? This, then!”

It’s like a help file was included and I can search through it by thinking. Very nice of her.

Fire burst out of the tip of the Blazer Blade and swelled to the size of a basketball. With all my strength I swung the sword up and let it fly loose.

“What is this!?”

The ball of fire exploded right in front of Lizard Guildy, and drawing a spiral encircled his body as its track took the shape of a pillar.

“N, m, nor can I move!”

It certainly is a barrier that binds the enemy. So this is the Aura Pillar!

“Uooooooooooh!!”

Keeping my eyes on Lizard Guildy, I began to run.

The sword that I was holding started to change shape, responding to my spirit. The hilt and ornamental piece unfolded, and the lines that ran through the sword like the veins of a leaf began to flash violently.

Fire shot from the blade shining with red heat, stretching it to almost twice its length.

The edge slipped through the barrier that was holding him. And straight down in the direction it was already going, it cut Lizard Guildy in a single sweep from the crown of his head.

Yes, ≪Grand Blazer≫ is definitely a final move... The trails of flame ran into the sky.

“Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A heat wave like a bubble popping. Lizard Guildy screamed in agony. Arcs of electricity were coming off him.

“He, hehahahaha... Magnificent... To perish with a twintail brushing gently against my cheek... How can I have any regrets! This is the end I always dreamed of as a child!!”

“Wait, hey!!”

The Aura Pillar swelled out suddenly to three times its size.

“Farewell――!!”

Lizard Guildy, holding his belief next to his heart to his last moment, detonated in a tremendous explosion which couldn’t be compared to the others, and dispersed on the wind ―

“Don’t vanish with a dying vision like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!”

After there was only silence.

I looked out on the devastated parking lot, although you could hardly tell that’s what it was anymore.

On the other hand, Grand Blazer had scorched the ground a little, but there weren’t many more traces of my fight. The unbelievable flare and impact had done almost no damage to the surroundings.

I saw Aura Pillar as something like a support technique for capturing the enemy, but maybe it’s to keep damage from explosions down to a minimum.

“Hup~”

I cut the drifting huge metal ring in half without any particularly strong feelings.

As if it had completed its task, the sword I was holding turned into flame and dissolved into the air.

The ring broke into tiny pieces and the light inside it became sparks that broke into streams flowing down into the unconscious girls one by one.

As I saw their hairstyles returning properly to twintails, I was hit by a sense of exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if I might fall on my back.

I had been lost in the fight, but was I really able to save these girls... was I really able to save twintails?

There was a small diamond-shaped stone glittering light green on the ground. I picked it up.

<Doll>

The word came into my mind. As I held it the armor piece on my left hand slid open and sucked it in.

“...Huh, this is another power of the Tailgear?”

“―Um.”

“!”

I almost jumped when someone called me from behind.

The president was awake and looking at me in wonder with her twintails fluttering behind her. They were covered in soot but had not lost their nobility.

She was making a token effort to hold the hem of her torn skirt together with her hand.

“I would like to... thank you very much for saving me.”

“Ah, hahaha, for what? I’m just a guy, no girl who happened to be passing through!”

I don’t think anyone could believe that when I’m dressed like this but I have to come up with something.

“No, um, that is... I woke up midway through the fight.”

“What?......”

“Yo, you fought wonderfully! ... You’re still only small, but you’re gallant... and strong ... I was... so moved!”

“―――!!”

This is bad. I thought everyone was unconscious.

The president is also really young-looking, but right now I don’t look like any more than an elementary schooler.

And that child was carrying a sword and fighting with monsters... how can you come up with an explanation for that situation.

“Excuse me... How in the world did you...!”

“A, a, I’m an ally of justice! Now, please get, out of here quickly!”

I’m really feeling how bad I am at ad-lib, as Aika pointed out an hour ago.

“I would like to thank you very much for saving me!! Will we meet again!?”

“You’ll see me again, as long as you love twintails.”

Bowing deeply to me, the president left at a half-run.

Thank goodness, she didn’t investigate too much.

For something on the spur of the moment, that line wasn’t bad. Although I was just trying to get through this.

“Young mistreessss!!”

A limousine cut diagonally across the parking lot at a reckless speed like it was slashing the lot in half and stopped, leaving a huge tire mark. Maids, a lot of maids, jumped out from inside and rushed over to the president.

A few of the girls who had fainted also began to wake up. The maids... probably at the orders of the president, broke the task up and began to care for them. It didn’t seem like there was any place for me anymore.

Afterward were the girls’ parents and families, maybe... adults, now free, also came running one by one.

The president might have seen me when I was screaming in terror... but I had rescued everyone safely, so I’d like her to forget about it.

“Whew...”

I shifted my line of sight to the front.

I can see myself reflected in the side mirror of a car.

“.........”

It’s a little young, but the way I look is certainly exactly what I was dreaming of, my ideal twintails.

I felt heat coming into my cheeks and shook my head desperately.

If I keep looking at myself, happiness and unease will hit me simultaneously.

Sirens started to come into earshot. Of course, the police and ambulances and things would be coming.

As the thread of tension snapped I felt dizzy.

Hugging a wall to avoid people’s eyes, as I went around a corner I saw Aika and Twoearle, who had been waiting for me.

“It’s finally over...”

My last strength drained out and I fell back on the ground.

The transformation was cancelled, and I was wrapped in a cocoon of light and returned to my original shape.

Thank God I didn’t stay like that my whole life...

“Sou-ji!”

Aika ran over to me and caught me in her arms, and out of relief, maybe, I flickered in and out of consciousness.

“It is a pity for you to have your head pressed against the ground. Please come here, my chest has proper cushions.”

“It’s my chest, not the ground!!”

“―For a woman it is only called a chest once it has begun to puff out. That is, the area below your neck is referred to as the ground, Aika-san.”

“Why don’t you kiss the ground, dumbaaaaaaass!!”

Aika caught the back of Twoearle’s head with an eagle grip and shoved her into the sidewalk.

“Nooo, stooooop, it’s my first kiiiiiiiss!!”

I want to fall asleep feeling like I made everything turn out okay, but I still hear screaming. Come on, guys.

As though guided by fate I dived into the maelstrom of war.

And the curtain closed on TailRed’s first battle.

<references/>

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-02-20T08:30:34Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 1: I am a Twintail ==

After school on the first day of my high school life. A day I should have had fond memories of. I, Mitsuka Souji, along with my childhood friend Tsube Aika, were having a late lunch at the Cafe Adolescenza. It might seem pretty fashionable for us to be eating lunch at a cafe, but seeing as I live here, it’s like a normal meal for me.

Its main selling point is our special house blend coffee. It has lots of fans, but, being something my mom does on the side, the shop is prone to being closed whenever she feels like it.

The sign over the door read “Closed”. Of course, that meant that it was just the two of us in here.

The intense spicy smell hanging in the air was nothing compared to the weight of sorrow in my chest.

“Why the heck did I put down something like that...”

“There’s no such thing as the Twintail Club,” my childhood friend said, looking at me amazed. The smell of spice swirled around her.

“I was put on the spot... and wrote it down without thinking. I didn't mean to!”

“If you ask me, anyone that would inadvertently write down something like that is bad news. You have Twintails on the brain.”

“Shut up! How many times do you plan to make fun of me for that?!”

“Yeah, yeah, ta-daa―”

She held the two tails on both sides of her head, long enough to reach her hips, and swung them to stir me up.

“......nguh.”

She may be trying her best to make me angry, but to me it feels more like a refreshing greeting.

As always, her twintails were wonderful to behold.

Waist-length twintails framing the head ― they may be the most basic, but their simple purity shows you the elegant conceit of hair that has been worn in twintails every day for years. A great artist's paintings can draw people in even when they aren’t using flashy colours or a surprising subject. It’s like that, I think.

“Still, the teacher didn't have to say it out loud...”

“Well, what did you expect when you wrote something that bizarre?”

“Well, excuse me!”

No matter how long we continue the pointless argument, it will not overturn this fact: there are over a thousand days of my life as a high school student ahead of me, and on the first day, I made the biggest mistake of my life.

The private school that I go to, Yougetsu Academy, can take you straight from elementary school into university. A super-escalator school. I wasn’t going to feel different just because I’d moved up into high school.

That’s what I thought, but... the size of the school building, the gymnasium, everything was so much larger than junior high school that I was overwhelmed.

And the highlight was the orientation in the gymnasium by the leaders of the clubs, after the entrance ceremony had ended. The various sports and culture clubs took turns making their appeals to the new students. The passion they showed moved me deeply.

But.

The image I see when I close my eyes is the girl who took the stage after that. To be exact, her hairstyle. Twintails.

Shindou Erina.

She may have been about as tall as a grade schooler, but her freshman welcoming speech as student council president would rival that of the greatest orators in human history. Her address touched the hearts of everyone who heard it.

“There are no limits to what you can accomplish here. I, together with the high school division of Yougetsu Academy, will guide your brilliant future on the path to its full bloom. I promise you!”

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, yet the tone of her speech contained no hint of condescension. The dignified manner in which she stood was mesmerizing.

(She’s beautiful...)

I stared at her, forgetting to blink.

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, but it was the first time I’d ever heard a woman use ’young lady’ language, and she made it sound so natural that I was shocked.

And above all else – her twintails.

Hair, of course, does not have a peerage. But if it did, then those beautiful twintails would have held a high and noble title. The way the tips of her hair curled softly into circles also showed the excellence of her upbringing.

As she put heat in her words and moved more vehemently, the twintails danced through the air in response to her motion, as if she were a princess under a luxurious chandelier and the twintails were her partner on the dance floor.

I couldn’t get my heart to stop pounding.

It felt like everyone around me was staring at her as though a kitten had gotten up on the stage, but I'm probably imagining things.

The student council president has such amazing twintails. I can only imagine how wonderful the next three years of my life are going to be.

On the way back to my classroom, I paid no attention to my chattering classmates. They were like a candle compared to the brilliant light still burning in my heart. The lingering memory of the orientation wasn’t much more than a fart.

All I could see was that beautiful scene. My head was full of twintails. I had my head in the clouds for the self-introductions once we got back to the classroom, too.

And I don’t even seem to have noticed when they handed out the club questionnaire.

“All right, pass your sheets forward starting at the back, ple~ase.”

“Oh!”

The class rep's slow drawl brought me back down to Earth. The girl whose name I didn’t know (of course, because I hadn’t listened to her introduction) handed me some sheets. In a panic, I scribbled something on the the paper before me.

“Hm hmm... Huh~? Someone forgot to write their name on their survey~”

“Oh... Sorry. I think that’s mine. I was rushing.”

The teacher looked up from the sheets she was going through and tilted her head in doubt, so I said my name.

“Ahh, Mitsuka-kun, was it? ...Twintail club? Did we have a twintail club here? ... Oh~h, you mean you want to set one up.”

"What!? No, I didn't actually want to do that, really! I was-"

I was even more nervous, and I had gone beyond rescue.

“I see~. ... Twintail club? You must really like twintails, Mitsuka.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Obviously.”

― Conditioned reflex.

And here I was hoping that I could start anew, in this place full of fresh faces.

That was the instant that decided my position for three years of high school.

“Alright everyone, that’s all for today’s homeroom. It seems like there have been some deviants in the area lately, so be careful!”

“Why are you saying this now!? Look, teacher, please wait! I am serious! I really, seriously love twintails!! Wait, that’s not what I... argh!!”

And so, the first day of my brilliant high school life ended, with me sabotaging myself in the most pathetic way imaginable.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....”

Just the memory of it is killing me.

When I see a blank I write “twintail” in it. That is a pretty ridiculous conditioned reflex. It’s already part of my physiological makeup ― no, it might be closer to the area of ecology.

“Mguh... mm. Seconds.”

Ignoring me and the full cup of coffee that hadn’t even touched my lips, Aika calmly put her hand on the second plate of curry.

Uh, I don’t have any appetite, so it’s fine, but still, that one’s mine.

“Writing that stuff down isn’t so bad, but that was pretty much the worst follow-up ever made. Why did you have to freak out so badly?”

“If you knew that I was nervous, then you should have come in and backed me up! Aren’t we friends!!”

“Friends... yeah.”

There was something sullen about the look on Aika’s face. What are you mad about? You just stole my lunch.

“You have to use questionnaires and stuff to make a good first impression. It's just an interest check, after all. Yeah, it says to write down clubs you're interested in, or clubs you want to start, and all that, but it's just a formality. What new student would suddenly assert themselves like that?”

“Uh... You mean...”

“You know what that means, don't you? By writing that down, you're telling everyone that, even after seeing all the clubs give their presentations, even after all their recruiting efforts, you still want to set up your own club. You get it, don't you?”

“And then I... wrote something strange like `twintail club’?”

“That’s right.”

“We can look back and analyze it calmly now, but you know, back then my mind was one hundred percent blank!!”

“Well, I could have at least stuck out my chest and said, ’A lot of people don’t even know the word for that hairstyle, so don’t suddenly start talking about it.’”

“That wouldn’t have helped at all, and what were you going to stick out, there’s nothing thbuhhh”

My little resistance was cut off in the middle.
Aika's got a complex about her modest (non-existent) chest, which is why I like to rib her about it. But, as you can see, if you do that, she will punch you in the face with one hand while eating off her plate with the other.

It can’t be helped, the rest of her is perfect.

Especially the twintails, and the twintails.

“Ugh. If only I was better at improvising...”

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that it’s indirectly the fault of the student council president that my future was destroyed, the exact opposite of what she said in her speech. Although, as Aika says, I was basically inviting this result by being such a loser.

Sighing gloomily, I wrapped my arms about my head.

“Besides, that obsession of yours would have been exposed sooner or later. Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

“You’re telling me I’ve come to a crossroads in my life? Then don’t just go on eating two meals worth of curry as if nothing's wrong! And I’m impressed you can eat curry while drinking all that coffee!”

You'd think someone like her, who could finish off two large plates of curry as if it were nothing, would have a bigger chest. Is it because of her hair? Does her body need all the nutrients just to sustain it...?

I felt a strange chill suddenly and glanced around the store.

“...?”

A woman customer was sitting alone. Her position was at an exact right angle to our seats.

Was it my imagination, or were her eyes flickering over here?

(That’s strange. I thought Mom already closed the store.)

But when I look at the cup on her table, it seems like she was sitting there from the start. We just didn’t notice. Probably Mom didn’t take a good look around before she rushed off.

Great. I thought there would be no one else around. Why did I have to run my mouth like that? I’m not surprised she’s looking.

“Hey, Souji... you’re doing it again.”

“Ah!”

Snapping back to my senses, I realized that I was holding on to Aika’s twintails. She breathed out a tired sigh and I hurriedly released my grip.

It’s half your fault for leaving them on the table and letting them slip into my grasp so easily ― but that’s a very selfish thing to say.

Because when they’re as long as Aika’s, if you don’t lay them on a chair or a table, they’d touch the ground the moment you sat down.

“Sorry. I really can’t help it. It’s been like this since we were kids. Touching your twintails just... calms me down.”

I know that already, Aika replied, coolly. She sighed again.

“Seriously. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel ashamed of myself.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“What are you going to do if someone takes this the wrong way? They’ll look at my twintails, and... and us being friendly... and connect the dots...”

Having exhausted her coffee, Aika kept glancing between me and the table, all the while pressing her index fingers together bashfully.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you want to change your hairstyle?”

“N-no way! Why would I change my hairstyle just because someone said something about it? I like my hair this way, thank you very much!”

Exactly. Seeing this steadfast determination of hers made me proud to be her childhood friend.

Despite her attitude, Aika’s the one person who would understand my love for twintails. As she said, we’d often get made fun of because we were always together.

But ― neither of us cared about what anyone else had to say about it.

She’s my childhood friend. My best friend.

Everyone has a friend or two they’d keep for life. Someone they can open their heart to. As for myself, by pure chance - that someone just happened to be a girl.

Part of it was because we were neighbours, but it seems like our families have been on good terms for a long time. That’s why it’s almost as if we were siblings. As if we were from the same family.

Back in grade school, I was never able to beat her in a fight. It was only afterwards that I found out her granddad had been teaching her martial arts.

Suppressing my wounded pride, I eventually started training with her at the dojo. I suppose that was when it all started. Ever since then, we’ve always spent our time together.

For some reason, we’d always end up in the same class. No matter how classes got shuffled, or how many people transferred in, we’d see each other in class every year.

To be honest, it was starting to get really weird.

Aika was always popular. She’s frank, honest, strong, and always so full of life - I mean, why wouldn’t she be?

And here I am, screwing everything up in the first day of school. I hope I don’t cause her too much trouble.

“―!?”

I felt another shiver run down my back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”

I kept my voice low. Aika seemed to have noticed it as well. That customer was still around.

“How... Why didn’t I sense her presence...!?”

Although Aika was whispering, what she was saying was even more grandiose than usual. Do you normally sense people’s presence as you go through your day...?

That woman was still sitting there. Quietly observing us.

Her eyes met mine. She hurriedly spun around, turning to face the wall behind her.

“What the heck...?”

Okay? That was strange, but I’d feel uncomfortable too if some other customer was kicking up a fuss across the room. Guess I’d better restrain myself.

While I started to relax, Aika was having none of it. I could tell she was on high alert.

Twintails have expressions of their own. Anger, sadness, joy, suspicion, and anxiety are just some of the emotions that they can show.

What I’m saying is - twintails are like a second mouth.

“...”

Aika gestured to me silently from the side of the table. That woman was now holding up a newspaper, as if to conceal herself from us.

She had poked a hole through it, and was peeping at us through it.

Are you kidding me?

It was beyond ridiculous. Was she filming some kind of comedy skit?

I became paranoid there might be some kind of hidden camera in the cafe. Please keep me from becoming Boy A in the credits.

“... Let’s try not to make eye contact.”

“Right.”

Aika had also settled on that being the best course of action in this situation.

Our assumed suspect folded the newspaper over, set it on the table, and stood up.

For a moment, I hoped she would leave. Instead she went right past the entrance, heading in our direction.

Stopping right next to me, unphased by our shocked expressions, she looked directly at me with a smile on her face.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Hold it right there!” Aika shouted in a rapid-fire manner, exasperated.

“Yes?”

Aika stood up while scowling at me. I flinched instinctively. Leaning her head back, the woman began to laugh.

“Who are you?!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do mind!”

“I have some business with this gentlemen over here.”

“With me?!”

Like a tour guide giving information, she pointed in my direction with her palm open.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?! Standing there with that calm look on your face in those flashy clothes. I’m gonna jam a straw in your cleavage!”

“Now, now, Aika, calm down. Please,” I said, looking to defuse the situation.

I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She may have been be a bit odd, but seeing her up close, she really was an incredibly beautiful woman - young lady, from the looks of it.

Her Japanese was excellent, but she was definitely a foreigner. She had white hair... no, wait. Make that silver hair.

Like it was dyed, yet it seemed natural. Which made it even more unnatural. Silver hair like hers doesn’t exist. Yet, it was still beautiful.

It seemed to glitter in the dim lighting of the cafe.

Along with her long eyelashes, her eyes were so blue they reminded one of sapphires.

Following my gaze down the bridge of her nose, she smiled brightly with her delicate pink lips.

Like something straight out of a movie, she was a mysterious faerie., It felt like her entire body was surrounded in a faint glow, like the twinkling light of a firefly.

Above all, just barely below visible when you look at her face, the enormous volume of her breasts demanded your attention. What an outrageous fairy.

She looked to be around the same age as Aika, and yet the difference between them was almost depressing. The thin clothes emphasizing her cleavage clashed with her clean-cut features. Over which she wore a white robe. One might even call it a coat. The design was quite fashionable.

Her skirt, which one might even hesitate to call a mini-skirt... traced a line that made one wonder how her panties weren’t visible. Yet, with one look at her long slender legs, any doubts about her ability to coordinate clothes vanished. It was certainly a sight not seen among the masses.

It’s such a shame.

Twintails would undoubtedly suit sparkling silver hair like hers.

There I go again... I’ve barely even met this girl, and yet my brain was already filled with thoughts of twintails.

For a guy going through puberty, undressing such a cute girl in your mind would be a natural instinct, honed over millennia.

Naked? With twintails?

Hmm...

I suppose that still counts?

“Ow.”

Aika jabbed me in the temple with her straw. What the heck are you doing, I asked, in a hushed tone. Aika simply turned her head away with a “Hmph!”.

Watching the two of us bicker, the girl looked like she was smirking while she laughed. Instead of an innocent laugh, I sensed a twinge of evil to her laugh. Maybe I’m wrong. She does seem like a very gentle person.

“Uhm, is there something that ''we'' can help you with?”

I unconsciously drew myself into the back of the chair.

The girl put her hand on top of the bench and leaned in closer to me.

“Yes. I have very important business with ''you''.”

“...Important business?”

Pretending not to hear her clearly wasn’t working.

Re-iterating she only wants to speak with me... was it a language problem? Across the table, Aika’s frown deepened.

“My name is Twoearle.”

“I see... Miss... Twoearle...”

She’s definitely not from this country. Nevertheless, her Japanese was impeccable.

“You sure like twintails.”

“I love them.”

Oops... that’s what I felt inside. And I blurted it out immediately. Saying it out loud to someone I just met – I really didn’t learn anything from what happened earlier today, did I?

“Would you mind not asking why, and put on this bracelet for me?”

“What the heck does this have to do with anything!?”

The girl known as Twoearle suddenly pulled an object out of her coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a very beautiful glittering red bracelet.

Taking advantage of my confusion, she softly took the bracelet and gently prised my fingers apart.

“H-hey now―”

With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the back of my hand. At which point, a strange tingling feeling shot through my body.

“Now, please put it on.”

“He doesn’t need it!”

Leaning over the table, Aika roughly grabbed the bracelet and pushed it back towards Twoearle.

“What is with you?! You just waltz over here and start pushing strange things onto him, how rude!”

“It is not anything suspicious.”

“At this point, it’s a little late to see it as anything but suspicious!”

As usual, she doesn’t hold back even with people we’ve just met.

...Well, I do agree it’s rather suspicious.

“...Uhm, well... hmm... ah!”

Twoearle abruptly clasped my hands and said, “It’s me, Souji-kun. Me.”

“...Eh?”

I was perplexed by her suddenly friendly tone.

“You remember me. Look, it’s me. Twoearle. You see, I’ve got a bit of a problem right now – so, could you please put that bracelet on?”

I think I’m imagining things, but the way she thoughtlessly leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, seemed as though she was begging for me to look at her ample chest.

“Uh, weeell...”

“What kind of idiot would use an ore-ore scam to someone’s face!”

“Eeaagh!”

A whirlwind tore past me as I hesitated. Aika hit Twoearle’s cheek with an open-palm strike of terrifying power, improved by a snap of the wrist.

“Are you insaaane?! Don’t hit people that you just met, seriously!! That was a really sharp sound!”

My shout was already close to a scream.

And it was no wonder. That wasn’t a slap but a little trick that aimed for the cheekbones ― one of the jujitsu techniques of the Mizukage school taught by Aika’s late grandfather. Overturning all theories of martial arts, it was meant to cause as much sharp and serious pain as possible to its target without moving the chest too much. Close to a torture technique.

And it had been carried out brilliantly and flawlessly by a mere high school girl.

It was no wonder that the old man had wanted to make her his successor right up until the moment he died.

“Souji, I’m sure this woman is a crook! Just like those people by the train station who say, I’ll tell your fortune, come into this alleyway! But then they have a bunch of people with mohicans and spikes on their shoulders or something waiting there for you!”

“I don’t know about the first part, but not the second!!”

If there is a villain here she’s in front of me.

Twoearle was bent over with a hand pressed against her cheek. I felt worried and looked over at her.

“A-are you okay? This girl, sometimes she doesn’t know when to hold back.”

She’s so beautiful, and she’s a foreigner. It would really suck if this turned into an international incident.

“Huh?... I was holding back, it shouldn’t be that...”

Aika started to look uneasy, although about at the level of a young kid with a knee scrape that you can fix by rubbing spit on it.

If you were holding back, then what was that noise.

“Oh, y, es... I am... fine...”

“Are you really okay...!?”

The way you’re cupping your cheek and trembling tells me that you’re not! I started to hold out my hand to her, and ―

“!”

Aika desperately caught my wrist.

“Oh.”

...Twoearle had gotten the bracelet into my blind spot and was trying to put it on my hand.

“So you were just acting!”

“Why are you trying this hard? What do you want me to put my hand in that bracelet for...!?”

Getting a little uncomfortable with this after all, I took a step back. And my heart felt like it went back a hundred meters.

“But I am not asking for any money! ...Just put it in! All I want you to do is put it in! Please put it in, if you don’t put it in I don’t know what I will do!! If you want me to, I will put it in for you.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the bracelet, but you could hear it as something else, so stop, please.

“You can’t, Souji, if you put it on, they’ll say you can’t cancel any more or something and take a huge amount of money off you! Those mohawk guys are going to crash through the entrance of the store on armored buggies!!”

Aika’s got a keen sense of danger, but her information seems to be a little bit lopsided. Twoearle put her hands together as if praying and looked straight into my eyes.

“Please. I will do anything you want if you wear the bracelet...”

“Eh?”

My mind was screaming no, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes moved towards Twoearle’s hair.

“Anything... you said?”

“Yes... I will do anything you ask of me. I will be fine with whatever special interests you may have! Especially the kinky stuff... ha... ha...”

For some reason, Twoearle was starting to breathe heavily. Her face was red.

“Don’t say things like that!”

This is bad.

Is this what you call a cultural divide? Are the differences in humanity that difficult to reconcile? Even though we speak the same language, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the same wavelength.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but asking him something like that is useless. The only thing he ever thinks about are twintails. He’d just ask you to tie your hair up or something.”

“R-really!? But, he’s a guy, isn’t he!?”

I’m not surprised that Aika could tell what I was thinking, but Twoearle seemed more than a little shocked.

If you say you’d do anything...

Yeah.

Of course.

Twintails.

Twoearle raised her hands, half-smiling.

“You must be kidding me... It is alright! Think of this as advance payment. I’ll let you squeeze them, right here... hurry... they’re surprisingly soft!”

Her softly wobbling chest seemed to explode in my vision. I didn’t know where to look.

Cupping her hands over her breasts, Twoearle thrust herself at me.

“Get away, you pervert! I’ll crush your spine in self-defense if you come any closer!”

Why are you even explaining to her what you’re going to do in self-defense?

“Calm down, Aika! ... I get it, I get it!”

I have to stop this mess before Aika crosses the line.

“I’ll take it. She said it was free, didn’t she? It’s almost like picking a tissue off the sidewalk. If that’s all it takes to make her happy ... it is free, isn’t it?”

“Of course!!”

Her sudden smile, like a flower blooming, caught me off guard. If only she’d act a little more normal...

“No! Don’t! She’s just trying to scam you! It’s like those spa treatment packages where they say the bath salts are free but it ends up being really expensive! She’s just like one of those door-to-door salesmen!!”

“What are you talking about this time?”

“If he does not wear it, the world will end! Also, it is against the law to bait people by giving out bath salts for free!”

“That’s exactly what I was saying, you free-bath-salt merchant!”

Seriously, what kind of a conversation is this? And what’s up with all the bath salts?

“Anyway, if you do not put this on! All the twintails in this world are going to vanish!!”

“―What!!”

Twoearle’s sudden exclamation was like a punch to my stomach. I stepped up to her.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“Hup.”

In that brief moment, Twoearle grabbed my arm, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Wha―”

Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. However, the spirit-shattering thought of all the twintails in the world disappearing, coupled with that pair of all-encompassing, enveloping, Gaia-class motherly breasts pressing against me ― the assault on my heart and mind left me unable to avoid it.

“Thank goodness. Like this, we will be ready when it finally appears.”

Looking at the clock, Twoearle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her teary eyes towards me.

Oh shit. I don’t think she noticed, but when she’s that close... every inch she moves makes her chest jiggle, pushing their soft, undulating mass against my body... this is bad.

Stay strong, Mitsuka Souji! You mustn’t be defeated by something like this!

She’s a foreigner, okay? This level of intimacy is probably completely normal for her. Don’t imagine anything lewd! You’ll destroy the esteemed image of Japanese men if it ends up showing on your face!

“Take it off! Throw that thing away!!”

While I was lost in thought, Aika grabbed me by my neck, forcefully pulling me away from Twoearle’s embrace.

“Whoa!”

It felt as if I was flying. Can you believe it? She just lifted me up with one hand!

The sudden movement sent the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table flying all around me.

“Come on... h-huh!?”

Aika was pulling on the bracelet with both hands, her face twisted in exertion. Guess it fit better than I thought.

“Argh! I can’t... get it off!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!! What the hell is this thing? It’s like a wedding ring that’s gotten stuck on a finger joint!”

And unlike Twoearle, Aika has no `cushions’, so having her press herself against me was very uncomfortable to say the least.

“A wedding ring!? Aaargh——!”

“Yeaaargh!! Stop! You’ll rip my arm off!”

For some reason, Aika started pulling at it even harder than before. My arm jerked around as if it were a candle flame in the wind.

“This is... strange... Why is it... so tight...!? Look! There isn’t even... a gap on this... thing!”

She’s right. It’s made of metal, and definitely isn’t elastic. How did Twoearle even manage to get it on my arm in the first place!?

I wonder if you can unscrew this thing, I heard my childhood friend say. Stop! Humans don’t work that way!

I almost wanted to cry from the suspicion and despair flooding my mind.

It’s strange asking Twoearle to take it off after I let her put it on me, but I don’t have any choices left.

“Um, excuse me, could you please―”

In a flash.

We were enveloped in a retina-burning, polychromatic stream of light.

As if we were melting into the air, our bodies began fading away along with the light―

And then, we were gone.

<center>◇</center>

“I am very sorry about all this, but I thought it would be faster than an explanation.”

I heard Twoearle say.

“―Huh? Huh!?”

Just as the burst of light faded from my vision, a very different sight greeted my eyes.

Soot. The acrid, stinging smell of smoke filled the air around us.

I looked around in a panic.

Sunlight. Wind. Sidewalk. Asphalt.

It was a feeling unlike any that I’d experienced before. My body struggled to get up to speed.

“Why are we... outside?”

We weren’t dreaming, were we? How did we get outside without even noticing it?

“Answer me! Why are we here!?”

Our surroundings were familiar, yet it took quite some time for me to recognize them. No way. How could we have made it here?

‘Maxim Horizon’, the biggest convention center in town. A giant building, spanning two blocks, with an equally large open-air exhibition space. Events, live concerts, and other activities were often held here.

Somehow, we ended up at the center’s open air parking lot.

Roughly 20 minutes away from where we previously were. By car.

“Earlier than expected... I intended for us to have some prep time, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.”

In contrast to the two of us, Twoearle was completely calm.

“I really should have done this earlier...”

She was holding a small stick, about the size of a pen and talking in a very subdued voice.

Unless I’m mistaken, that pen-like thing was what emitted that strange burst of light.

“W-what did you do to us!?”

“I did not intend to bring you along with us, Aika-san, but unfortunately, you would not leave the effective radius. Sorry about that.”

For a moment, I thought they would end up having a (very one-sided) argument again, but a loud sound derailed my train of thought.

“What is it this time!?”

And then, we finally understood what was causing all the soot and smoke.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars around us were cooking off like popcorn, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“This can’t be happening...”

Earlier, I thought we would end up being on some comedy program. Now... it was as if we were passers-by getting caught up in some Hollywood movie pyrotechnics display.

It just didn’t seem real.

“Souji-sama. Please try your best not to leave my side. They will spot you. I cannot project my recognition jamming field very far.”

“Recognition... jamming?”

Twoearle stopped me from moving closer to one of the flaming cars.

“If you stay beside me, they will not be able to see you. Look at that thing over there.”

Twoearle pointed at something in the distance. In the middle of the parking lot was... something.

Both Aika and I leaned in for a closer look... and we both screamed.

“―― Whaaa!?”

“It can’t be! What is that thing!?”

It’s like someone forcefully jammed an insect’s head onto a man’s body. The figure was fully clad in some kind of armored exoskeleton.

Normally, I would have thought it was some actor in a suit, thanks to where we were, but―

Its weight ― wherever it stood, cracks formed in the asphalt.

Its height ― over two meters tall.

Its eyes ― they never stopped moving, darting left and right.

Its teeth ― they looked as if they could crush a boulder.

Its spines ― as sharp as swords, and too many to count, extending from spine to tail.

Everything about it was as real as it could get.

Every cell, every breath it took, was real.

I really wish it was just a suited actor. I really hoped it was.

But, that thing... the mere sight of it filled me with dread. Pure, unrelenting―

“M―monster!”

The wreckage... the fire... and the smoke. And in the middle of it all, the swaggering figure of that unknown figure... it was almost picturesque.

Almost like a scene from a movie, made real.

“Come out, wherever you are!”

!!

As if flicking a bug, the thing sent a nearby car flying. At the same time, I clearly heard it say that line.

Speaking human language.

Speaking Japanese.

Aika and I were too shocked to say anything. The creature, not noticing our presence, twisted it’s mouth, roaring.

Roaring those words of doom that would strike the hearts of its listeners with despair-

“Fuhahahahahaha!! All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!!”

“Uuugh~~~~!!”

At the hoarse, resonant voice and the warped thing it was saying I came close to choking up blood.

We were pretty far from it here, but it felt like its voice was ringing right in my ear.

“...Hey, Souji, what are you doing wearing a theme park costume.”

“That’s not me!”

A large number of pure-black creatures manifested themselves around the monster.

The identical mindless drones were massed in a group, ready for battle. Their strange forms were uniformly solid black. It was an incredibly eerie sight.

The combat drones skittered away, dispersing rapidly in all directions, capturing a number of random girls.

“Twin... tails...”

But my heart was not beating fast because the girls had twintails. It was because of the monster’s orders.

“What are they holding... Hey, it’s twintail girls!”

“What are they planning to do?”

Unlike Aika and I, who fretted in hushed voices, Twoearle silently tracked their movements.

“Even so, this world is regrettably lacking in twintails! Draped in nothing but steel and electricity ― it’s like they never left the Stone Age!”

It was clearly speaking Japanese, but something was off. Something... no, everything.

“Oh well, that just means we have to find twintails of the finest quality!”

With a wild tone of voice, the monster walked with its shoulders held high.

“Don’t forget the orders from our commander, you vermin! Top quality twintails have been detected in this area, so leave no stone unturned! … There might even be a young girl crying while holding her stuffed bunny rabbit!”

“... Moke? Moke- “

“Hold your tongues! Gathering all of the twintails is our ultimate goal… however! Beyond being a soldier, I’m also a man… and so I’d also like to see a young girl holding a stuffed animal! Find me one and there will be a reward waiting for you!!”

It wasn’t my imagination.

No, it was speaking fluent Japanese,　but for some reason nothing it was saying made any sense.

“We have no need for adults! Drag them out here quickly! I don’t mind if you’re a little rough!”

The black creatures were moving efficiently to carry out its orders.

“Moke-”

“What? There are no young girls carrying stuffed animals!? Hmm, if girls don’t have stuffed animals, then a man can provide!! I don’t care, bring them here!”

...Although, can you really call these orders? He’s shouting so crazily that I think if he had something hard in his hand he would throw it.

“Heeeelp!”

A crying young girl was brought in front of the monster.

The way she looked, with her twintails disheveled under the eyes of the grotesque, hulking figure, made me think of a shrine maiden taken for human sacrifice, the victim of a crime against nature.

I tried to jump out, but Aika grabbed my arm and stopped me.

My hazy brain began to catch up with what was going on. I got the situation clear in my head, at least.

“They’re only taking girls with twintails, what are they planning to do?”

The monster and his troops weren’t hurting them. Rather, they were giving them dolls to calm them down.

So we can stay here and watch for now, but...

“Hey, Twoearle, you took us here because you knew this was happening, didn’t you? What is that monster...”

Halfway through the sentence, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

In my line of sight was something I should never have seen.

Well, this isn’t the place for sarcasm. But the radiant sight that had burned itself into my heart earlier today had not been a dream or an illusion. I knew that now.

“The... president...”

No mistake. That was it, the source of my suffering from the first day of high school life, the diabolical hairstyle that had charmed me in both the good and bad sense of the word.

Two of the solid black combat drones were dragging along Shindou Erina, president of the student council, in her school uniform, one on each arm.

“It’s, it’s her! Hey! Isn’t that the president?”

It looks like Aika has noticed too.

In the gym there were maids standing by her silently to attend on her, but I couldn’t see anyone like that now.

The president was holding something tight in her arms as if it were important. It was hard to see, of course, but the thing sticking halfway out of her shopping bag looked like a toy from a kids’ tokusatsu series.

“Release me!”

Determined resistance.

The monster ran his eyes over her as if he were deciding on her price.

“Ho-hooo, a nice little child! Not only that, but she looks like she’s a princess! A twintail princess... no, indeed, this is nearly perfect! Yours could be the ultimate twintails!!”

“Ultimate...!? No, tell me who you are! You speak human language, don’t you!? Set the other girls free!!”

“I do. As you can see, we can communicate well with each other. And so, I tell you that I cannot release them.”

“Then what are your intentions!”

“You’ll understand soon! First, while I have the opportunity...”

The monster handed a large stuffed animal to the president with an overfamiliar gentleness.

“I want you to hold this kitten stuffie! There is sweetness even in your hostility. A kitten stuffie suits a naughty young girl well!! Hug it!!”

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_049.jpg|thumb|''"You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa!"'']]

The jet-black figures came up carrying a three-meter-wide pink sofa which it was hard to believe existed, maybe part of their supplies.

They forced the president, now holding the stuffed animal, to sit on it.

“You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa! This is the golden ratio that my long years of discipline have led me to!!”

“““Mokkekeke―!!”””

The monster was acting like it had at last succeeded in turning gold into a base metal, and on top of that the shrill voices seemed to be cheering it for what it had done. I felt light-headed.

“...We understand that they are aiming for girls with twintails, anyway... Tell me, Twoearle, what can I do? You brought me here because there’s something I can do, right?”

“I will leave the details for later. Right now, we will act.”

My legs were trembling a little despite my brave act, but Twoearle ignored that. She was so calm that she seemed reliable.

“Souji-sama... First, please take off the clothes I am wearing. No, more like rip them off, please. ...Oh, yes. Push both of my arms above my head like this and hold them there... Like this, Souji-sama, with one hand. Then with your other hand, pull off my bra...”

“What is wroooooooooong with you!!”

Twoearle had been making gestures to go with what she was saying.

“Aika, too loud!”

I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth, but―

“Ohh, I sense the presence of a new twintail... Where? Where are you hiding!!”

(What is a presence supposed to be!)

I left that comeback inside my heart, and looked at the twintails beside me. Certainly, they do draw the eye, but...

“Aaah, I’m a twintail too―!”

“Wheeeare are yoooou!!”

We were sixty or seventy meters away from the center of the huge open-air parking lot, but the thick, harsh voice sounded as though it were coming from right next to us. Still, even though we weren’t under any kind of cover, he can’t see us. What is this?

He’s looking straight at us, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I felt deja vu.

Aika’s words in the store went through my mind.

― “How... Why didn’t I sense her presence?”

Recognition... jamming... that’s what she said earlier.

“...Oh, ohh... Even though I was taking the serious route that I’m not used to and holding it in... This situation I was longing for... The script I polished over and over again... I can’t believe my plan was crushed the moment it started...”

Twoearle’s glare at Aika was a mixture of resentment and disappointment. Apparently something hadn’t gone well for her.

“There’s some way we can help those girls, right!? Come on, tell me!!”

Impatient, I grabbed her shoulders hard.

“Aan...”

For some reason a seductive voice.

“Oh, we can do a course correction! Well, Souji-sama, let us go ahead with the script just like before! Shove me against the wall like this, and we’re up to the place where you rip all my clothes off at once! Take them with one cut!!”

“Why don’t I shove you against the wall? As hard as I can!?”

Under Aika’s glare, Twoearle reluctantly said, “I, I understand. It is true we do not have much time, so I will skip a little! And they can sense her Twintail Element even through recognition jamming, so even in the first battle I do not think we can take them lightly.”

Did you say “the first battle?”... but I didn’t have time to wonder, because what she said next was even more outrageous.

“Souji-sama, use the bracelet I gave you and transform!”

“Transform!?”

“This is what she was going for! All that stuff earlier was for this!”

Twoearle ignored Aika and continued.

“That device creates a battle suit that will reinforce your physical power. You should become at least a match for that monster when you transform.”

“Are you serious!?”

Just as if it were a kids’ superhero show or something like that.

...But I was willing to grasp at any straw right then, and my heart soaked it up without resistance as if it were a voice from heaven.

She could have said any crazy thing to me and I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it was a joke or a trick after the unreal experience of being put through the teleporter.

At least there’s no harm in trying.

“Wa, wait a minute, I don’t know about transforming, but why do you need Souji to do something that dangerous!!”

“You idiot! The enemy’s target is twintails!! How can we overlook that!!”

“...Wait, umm, that’s the most surreal thing about this, or rather, that goal is too stupid... Or Souji, can’t you at least say that it’s because they are kidnapping girls...?”

“No, that is how it should be. It is because you love twintails that you can use the bracelet. There is no need to act like you care about justice.”

“No, I mean, I did want to rescue the girls, I was thinking that...”

An enemy who’s aiming at twintails, and supposedly I can fight against them because I love twintails? What is this?

Really more and more this seems like a joke.

The earth shook so much that I seemed to float for a second, and then came an ear-splitting roar.

“Souji, the people they caught!”

A terrifying scene was unfolding where Aika pointed.

A tragic scene as though I were looking into hell.

In the very center of the parking lot ― the parked cars had been torn out by the roots and scattered and the girls they had caught were lined up single file.

An improvised ceremonial site.

I don’t know if the girl at the front of the line had fainted, but she didn’t seem to be moving as her body floated into the air.

Like a lion jumping through a flaming hoop, the girls in the line moved through a metallic ring with light stretched across it in iridescent colours like a soap bubble. The moment the first girl passed through, her hair came gently untied, and she drifted back down tracing an arc across the sky.

One by one, the instant they could put the next one through, the girls went through the ring as lifeless as parts on a belt conveyor.

In less time than it took to blink, it was President Shindou’s turn... and even the beautiful twintails that had fascinated me dissolved into the air.

“All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!”

That had sounded like a joke, but I was seeing it for real now.

“― Those bastards.”

I felt something deep snap in my heart for the first time in my life.

“Souji-sama, please compose yourself. It is still all right, they can still be saved.”

“Tell me...! How can I save the twintails? How can I destroy those guys?!!”

“You’re kind of exaggerating... You know, they don’t seem to be hurt at all aside from losing their twintails?”

“Exaggerating, you say......!?”

I grabbed Aika by the front of her shirt and lifted her up with violent emotion overflowing in my heart.

“Aah...”

“Was that all that twintails meant to you? If someone takes them, then that’s fine, you don’t really care? Were they such a little thing to you?!!”

“Ca, calm down, Souji. They’ll notice us again...!”

“...S, sorry.”

When I heard Aika’s out-of-character thin voice without any force in it, my head cooled off a little, and I let go of her.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you too, Twoearle. But tell me how to use this thing. Quickly.”

“...Are you serious!? No, Souji, you shouldn’t! Especially after earlier! I don’t think you can trust her at all!”

Aika’s voice had tension in it as if she were trying to stop a comrade of hers from committing an act of murder.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid or if it’s dangerous. I can’t forgive those monsters for playing games with twintails!”

Twoearle had been at least half messing around with me, but I think that that part of my feelings got through to her.

She nodded with an earnest expression, and explained, raising her own right arm to her chest.

“Please wish in your heart, ‘I want to transform.’ Wish hard. If you do that, the bracelet should activate.”

“That’s all I have to do? I don’t think about anything specific?”

Twoearle nodded forcefully.

“Okay. Sounds like something even I can do.”

“Souji!!”

I gathered my resolve and raised the bracelet to my chest, making a fist with my right hand.

Closing my eyes, like she had told me, I wished hard, hard.

I want to transform... I want to save the president, those girls. To take back the twintails. To become someone who can defeat those bastards.

It wasn’t righteous anger. Is there a guy anywhere who can just keep quiet after he sees something he loves trampled into the dust!!

The next instant―

The “transformation” really happened, just like that.

<center>◇</center>

Light began to shine from the bracelet on Souji’s right arm.

An intense light as though soundless fireworks were exploding before his eyes.

“Aahh!”

Aika covered her eyes with her arm at the unexpected brilliance.

Bands of red light looped around Souji’s body, forming a cocoon. As specks of light flooded out, they tightened around him.

An even brighter sudden flash.

They began to change the barely visible silhouette.

Shoulders, chest, hips, legs - from the top in order light burst like an explosion, and Souji was covered from the neck down in a red suit. But this all happened in a hundredth of a second ― the work of an instant, faster than the eye could see.

Spraying out like steam, lines of red light.

And although it was strange, Souji was surrounded by a radiance that didn’t come from reflected light, just like Twoearle’s silver hair.

“Awesome... I really did transform...”

Souji put all the strength into the fists, testing how it felt.

As far as he could see, the suit covered the body without a gap, from the tips of the feet when he looked down to the fingertips he was opening and closing over and over again. But he seems to have noticed before long that there was no pressure on his head.

“Huh? My face... It isn’t hidden!?”

Touching the cheeks, Souji was disturbed to find that they weren’t covered.

“The suit itself is not that important to the defense system. Also, it is using Imagine Chaff as a countermeasure, so even though your face is uncovered, other people will not realize that it is you, Souji-sama.”

“Imagine... What’s that?”

“It is something so you do not have to worry about people finding out your real identity! Please fight with peace of mind!”

“I, is that so? Okay! Let me try this...!!” I don’t really understand the practical side very well, and there are a lot of things I’m still worried about, but there’s no time left.

Souji put his faith in Twoearle’s words and started to run toward the battlefield, his hair gallantly ''fluttering behind him''.

“Nh, uh...”

Souji had already vanished by the time Aika opened her eyes.

“That idiot! Why did he agree to all of this so easily?!”

Aika knitted her eyebrows and looked around.

“Hey, you, uh... hey, Twoearle.”

“Yes?”

“There weren’t any other girls around here just now...?”

<center>◇</center>

“Li... light, what is this, I can’t run so easil... whoaaa―!!”

As if someone had put the decimal point in the wrong place, the power in my legs was so great that I kept almost falling on my face when I sprinted.

I was reminded of the time when I was bored and tried setting the running machine to maximum speed.

≪Please focus your awareness! Souji-sama, that suit, the Tailgear, is created with the power of your mind. You must drive it with your will!≫

Some kind of communications device? I heard Twoearle’s voice as if she were whispering into my ear, although I don’t think anything was mounted on it.

“The force of my mind... My will...!!”

This time, I tried to wrap my awareness around my legs.

Up until then it felt like I was clinging to a car moving at top speed, but I suddenly started to feel my feet landing on the ground through the suit.

It wasn’t like driving a car, it was a sense of complete unity like I had become the car.

I had already reached the parking lot and gone more than halfway across it, kicking the rubble out of the way as I was running without trying to avoid it. I could see the girls lying unconscious on the asphalt now.

I know they regretted having their twintails stolen.

I’ll absolutely get them back for you...!!

“Hmmm, magnificent Twintail Elements... But at this rate, I’m not sure if we can obtain the greatest power under this star, the one the Commander was praising as the ultimate...”

It seems like my hearing has improved, too. I can hear the monster muttering something cryptic to President Shindou, lying at his feet.

My anger hit its peak when I saw the president with her twintails cruelly untied.

“Stoooop――!!”

“Mu!?”

I planted my feet on the ground, braking at high speed. As I did, something like stoppers came down from somewhere near my ankles and jammed into the asphalt, scraping it and blowing off sparks and dust.

(...What ridiculous strength. That girl created this...!?)

A sense of awe filled my body at the unknown power, taking my mind off my anger. And then I started to be afraid. I was surprised again by the kind of power the girl called Twoearle had in her hands.

How had she created something with this kind of terrifying strength? Just as I was told, just as I had wished, I had accepted it, but had that been the right thing to do?

No, I don’t have time to think about that now. I have to concentrate on saving the twintails... saving the people before me.

“You understand human language, right, monster? Give these people back the twintails that you... took.”

“Tha... You are...”

“...Did you not hear me...? You stole their twintails. Give them back, goddamn you!!”

My anger itself hit him together with my scream.

It sounds strange when I say it, but I understood that the strange ring could take people’s twintails away from them. And so it should also be possible for it to give them back.

Who would subject someone to this kind of danger just because they have twintails? The word “irrational” is not good enough for them, it’s absurd, it’s monstrous.

“Steal the twintails.” If what they said, if their objective were known to the public, then tomorrow there might not be anyone wearing twintails anymore. Because it would be stupid to take the risk.

I can’t... I can’t forgive that...!!

“Whoa... whooaaaaaaaaaaa――!?”

When I scowled at him, the monster soared high into the sky as if he had been caught in a sudden gust of wind.

“Gahaaa!!”

The ground hit him face-first.

“H, hey.”

“Nnn, nngh... Was I blown away by such a strong ''young innocent''... Those are... spectacular twintails!!”

“...Huh?”

“The Commander’s prediction was right when he chose this spot! Even if I leave out the girls before. It was you...! You’ve finally come! We didn’t miss our mark, those are the ultimate twintails!”

The monster was staggering to his feet in exultation.

“The ultimate... twintails...?”

Something is strange.

What the monster was saying gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time I myself began to feel obscure doubt.

My field of vision, my viewpoint was oddly low.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the hands I was holding up also seemed smaller than usual.

“......”

Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

A premonition of evil stronger than I’d ever tasted in my life sent a chill through my whole body.

“Could...”

Like a rusty gear grinding, I turned my head over to the side.

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_063.jpg|thumb|top|alt="Souji looking in a car windshield."|''There was a girl with lovely twintails there.'']]

One of the car windshields was still in its original shape. I saw the reflection and was speechless.

What would you call this.

― There was a girl with lovely twintails there.

“――― Oh.”

Even now a “twinta~ils” sound effect rang like a chime in my head. Beautiful, spectacular twintails hanging down past the knee.

And ribbon-shaped pieces that moved up and down together with her breathing, so smoothly that they seemed to be swaying.

Her wide eyes opened even farther.

The word “armor” was a little off the mark for what she was wearing, a strange protective suit that didn’t look like it had any weight at all, showy in its use of fashion with red and white as its key colours.

In places, on top of the body suit that stuck closely to her bare skin, angular mechanical-looking armaments had been attached. They were the source of a mysterious glow.

“Ohh.”

And, and and. There were giant attachments on either side of her hips, but the crotch area of the suit had been designed like a bikini, and half of her thighs were exposed.

I wasn’t sure if I believed this. But I tried touching my chest and groin. My chest was just as flat as it looked from outside, but my constant companion for half my life, the prince between my legs, my important partner, was cleanly and completely missing.

“O, oh...”

Now that I understood, I became more conscious of it. My unnaturally high voice.

Yes, the reflection in the glass was ―

I, who had become a twintail.

“It turned me into a girl―――――――――――――!!?”

A childish scream was absorbed by the sky.

<center>◇</center>

“Wh...!!”

Aika, watching, was also lost for words.

“...What is that.”

“That is our single strongest weapon against those monsters, the Daydream Armor, Tailgear! Aah, you are wonderful, Souji-sama! Ehehehehe big success.”

Twoearle, with a ribbon of drool that was hanging down to the choker around her neck, stared at the panicking Souji with a look of ecstasy on her face.

“...It’s too wonderful, I’m starting to cry!!”

Aika visited Twoearle with the palm of her hand, using even less restraint. It wasn’t a pinpoint strike to her cheek or somewhere this time but an impact to the whole top of her skull.

“Is, is this already a girls’ catfight scene... or actually it is more like being mauled by a tiger...”

“Depending on your answer it really will be like that. What happened, why is Souji a wwwwwoman!! That’s not just girls’ clothing, is it? He’s even way shorter now!!”

“...Aika-san. In order to obtain great power, you have to pay a corresponding price. It makes a person stronger to face the truth ― little girls are cute, little girls!”

“Is this your fucking rotten hobby―!!”

The sound of a merciless blow.

“That’s not transforming, that’s warped!”

Of course, she didn’t mean “warped” in the sense of metamorphosis.

“Fight fire with fire, they say. When the enemy is ‘hentai,’ a fighter cannot oppose them without becoming HENTAI to a certain degree themselves.”

“So the enemy is yooooooooooooooooooou!!”

Thud, thud, thud...

The head of the beautiful girl whose default was complete corruption ― Twoearle’s imagination soared left and right in thrilling leaps.

<center>◇</center>

Is this my punishment?

I’ve been saying twintails, twintails from childhood until now, did God finally get fed up with me and say, you’re a pain in the ass, shut up, become a twintail already, and give me a shove in the back?

You shoved too hard, God. This isn’t like I can stagger and keep moving forward, this is like a complete orbit of the Earth.

This is like even my cool entrance scene earlier looped once around the Earth and crashed into the back of my head.

“A, a, a, ah.”

I was confused and unable to deal with reality, and the monster and the black things had completely surrounded me.

“Hmm, so you’ve decided you want to be ours? You have my gratitude! Show her along, and be polite!”

At my lack of resistance, the monster suddenly switched to kindness.

“Moke―”

The black thing... the soldier in front broke out into a run toward me.

“Ge... get awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!”

As I was waving my arms in front of me like a kid throwing a tantrum, I lightly hit the black thing, and it flew into the air with a clear ‘thunk’ sound like a plastic bottle rocket and crashed into a wall on the rooftop level of a distant building.

Its body began to glow. Before long, it exploded softly into dust and disappeared into the sky.

The monster let out a little noise of interest.

“Hnnn... One Ultiroid in one blow! You’re not just beautiful twintails... What is that fierce power!? Who are you, child!!”

The enemy’s words were getting bit by bit more old-fashioned, and now, as if we were actors in a period drama, he was handing me my promised “cue.”

Although judging from his expression he was serious.

≪Souji-sama! This is a great chance for a cool intro speech!≫

Intro speech?

“...What am I supposed to be?”

If you have something you want to say, then say it, God --

≪Aaah~, that is right, you did not decide what you were going to call yourself after you transformed, did you...!?≫

“No, I’m not worried about my name, I’m having doubts about my identity!”

Communicate, help me out, Aika... If I can’t hear your comebacks, how am I supposed to do this?

Not who I am, I’m not even sure what I am.

“Waoo~h, I’m not sure what’s going on but this downhearted little girl - I can’t stand it!! One of you, get me a doll she can hug!”

“Mokee-.”

The encirclement slowly tightened around me.

I could feel piercing stares even from the soldiers though I didn’t know where their eyes were.

Like they were giving off desire as an aura.

The target of those innumerable desires - I didn’t try to hold in the chill climbing up my spine.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

≪Souji-sama, touch the ribbon piece and picture a weapon in your heart. It should create a weapon made just for you!!≫

“Rib, bo, n.”

With bloodshot eyes, I hit one of the two metal ribbon pieces, the only armor on my head.

“Turn me, turn me back into a man......! Agagagagagagaga”

≪It is not a machine that grants wishes!?≫

What is this... I’m not in a fairytale with a moral, there’s no way this punishment can happen, no way I turned into a twintail!!

I hit the ribbon over and over.

Whether my bitter wish got through or not, it lit up and a burst of flame shot out. Forming a spiral in the air, it gathered in my right hand and began to take the shape of a sword like vapor condensing.

The red blade lengthened, wrapping itself around a black core.

A word appeared in my mind like it was being punched into a typewriter.

≪Blazer Blade≫

Fire burst out from my right hand. The magnificent double-edged sword was finished, glowing with red heat.

You couldn’t call it a longsword, but in my hands it looked like a longer than average blade.

Amazi~ng, coo~ol... by the way turn me back.

“Moke――”

One of the soldiers came down out of the air with a pose like a jumping frog.

My voice was frozen, so I swung the sword. The enemy took a diagonal slash to the chest, and with a small explosion evaporated into dust.

“Mokeh”

“Mokee~~~~~~”

“Aagh! These...!!”

I was attacked without a moment of pause and made a sudden horizontal sweep. The soldiers, cut in half, vanished one after another.

With no hesitation - with even less hesitation than before, attacks began to come all at once from the earth and sky.

“De... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

I slashed at them, the spinning sword wrapped in fire that traveled with the sword’s pressure, spreading out like a burst from a flamethrower.

The figures all in black attacked four ways, eight ways, and evaporated without even having time to scream.

“Hah... hah...”

The reptile monster, alone now, was trembling all over.

“I’m nailed to this spot, I can’t move... The sword like lightning and the twintails dancing in the sky... I was sure that I was lost in heaven!!”

“You really are lost! Stop, that’s creepy!!”

The monster was overcome with emotion. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

I’m the one who wants to cry.

“Haaah, haah, twintails...”

“Wha...!?”

Desire was swirling around the monster like a vortex. He stuck out his hands and came at me like a zombie.

He was different from the one-kick soldiers before. In many ways.

“Those twintails... Could I have you take them between your thumb and index finger and give my cheeks a few slaps, pechi pechi...!!”

Wide eyes, the blood pulsing in them. Rough, thick breaths. And with the tip of his lips stained with drool, the monster came at me.

A dread second to none rushing through me and a weak scream I’d never heard from myself even once before.

“Kyaa--!!”

I fell on my butt, letting the sword drop.

“Haah, haah, twintails...”

I can’t stand to look at this.

Is that right... is this what I look like.

Were guys who like twintails all like this? Would someone who didn’t know me think of me as his accomplice? Was this how other people saw me?

...If nobody approves of me, will I become warped too?

“Shit, it’s because there are things like you that...!”

Clutching my head and trembling, I curled up into a ball.

My memories flickered around me like shadows from a lantern.

The times I talked passionately about twintails.

Or maybe the person I was talking to didn’t know them well, but they knew something about them.

Everyone would always start to look suspicious.

What’s wrong with insisting on the kind of hairstyle you like, I always thought... but was it that monster that they were seeing?

I was pretending that I was confident and didn’t care what anyone thought, but maybe I was really feeling guilty about my love of twintails...?

≪Sou-ji! Get a hold of yourself! You’re the one who said you were going to save them, what are you doing!!≫

“...Ah...!!”

At Aika’s words I came back to reality.

≪You were bragging earlier how important twintails were to you, you even grabbed my... you grabbed the front of a girl’s shirt and lifted her up. Now that you became a twintail you’re scared!? Pull yourself together!≫

≪She said ‘the front of her shirt,’ but Souji-sama, you just grabbed her collar in one smooth motion, didn’t you? There were no obstacles to intercept you, were there? Hahaha≫

≪I’m sorry I stopped you before... I can’t look at that monster anymore either, that creep, don’t worry about all the other stuff, just punch him hard!≫

≪...Don’t, squeeze like a washcloth... Please let go of my obstacles!!≫

≪If you can’t do anything now, then that’s the thing that will make you his accomplice! If you feel guilty about your usual self, then when it’s time to act, do it right!≫

≪It hurts, ow ow ow ow ow!!≫

“...Aika...!”

Aika’s precise speech, as if she could see straight through me. A feeling rose in my heart like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I thought I heard a voice rising in pain, but my mind had already become one with the space around it.

And I’m not confused about what I am anymore.

I’m an idiot.

What Aika says is right. After shaking her off and coming into the battle, what am I doing.

I have been given the power to protect what I love and respect and I’m completely losing it because of my own small worries.

Come to think of it, back when I was a kid, when I was fighting Aika and I had that old man training me, he beat that into my head a lot. You have a lot of idle thoughts, you have to empty your heart - that kind of thing.

Let your heart fill the space... let idle thoughts loose.

Let your heart―

“You are tearing off my breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasts!!”

“...Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!”

For the first time in my life my whole mind is concentrated on this fight. But there’s something, some noise that I can’t imagine comes from a creature of this world, that’s pulling me away and making it really hard to focus, so I let a scream out and began to run.

Nothing else than the scream now.

“Hmm!?”

“I’ll pechi-pechi you! Get your face out here!!”

I lifted the Blazer Blade above my head.

“Oooh!”

For the first time my slash was blocked.

But on the left cheek of the monster that hadn’t been touched, a burn like the mark of a sword appeared, running in a single horizontal line.

“You’re... Haah!!”

The monster screamed and a beam of light flashed out of the palm of his hand.

But the beam evaporated as soon as it touched my body without disturbing my twintails a millimeter. I didn’t feel anything either.

“Hmmn!?”

A combat suit that was so thin, except at my hips, and arms and legs and other places covered by the angular armor, that it didn’t hold me back at all - the Tailgear.

You could see its true worth in the light that surrounded me.

“...Photon Absorber... Is that what this is.”

An ≪explanation≫ echoed in my head.

The ultimate defensive film takes the absorbed energy of motion - in other words, impact - and kills it completely by controlling and intercepting it at the molecular level.

This is also the reason why the head, which should be protected as much as possible, is exposed. No attack will hit the Tailgear as long as the whole body is covered in light, and that makes it an invincible weapon.

“Hmph... You’re a terrifying little kid! For the first time in many days my soldier’s spirit is roaring! I am Lizard Guildy, the leader of the Ultima Guil raid squadron! I fight in the belief that a man’s heart should beat even stronger at the sight of a girl who is holding a doll! Tell me your name, at least, if nothing else!!”

“―TailRed!!”

I said it so naturally that I was surprised. It felt as though the suit itself was telling me what to say.

The moment I had broken through, it had started calling to my heart.

An irrepressible power was pulsing in my whole body.

“...I asked for your real name!!”

“It’s fine... If you shout a disturbing belief like that at the top of your lungs then I don’t need someone like you to remember my name!”

“That’s mysterious! You believe more or less the same thing, don’t you?”

“Don’t put me together with you!”

“It’s obvious at a glance! If you weren’t one who loves twintails more than anything else, you wouldn’t be shining like that!”

“You know your stuff, don’t you... Fine, I shine all the brighter because of my love for twintails - go ahead and remember that!!”

“That runs counter to what we want, then, doesn’t it... For us, we love twintails even more when we have our hands on them! Hnnnn... hmph!!”

The countless spines on Lizard Guildy’s back separated and lifted high into the sky.

A thin belt of light seemed to bind the spines and his body together.

And one by one as if they had a mind of their own they came down to attack.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

I started to cut all of them down with the Blazer Blade.

The burning spines one after another started to hiss like bombs, and after they hit they blew away part of the asphalt.

“Hnnnnn...!!”

They came flying even faster. I could dodge them by the width of a hair and they’d still spin around quickly and pursue me like guided missiles.

My eyesight for moving objects was much better because of the Tailgear, but even for my improved vision the complicated orbits were a threat.

“Twoearle! Will everything be okay even when I defeat this guy? What will happen to the twintails!?”

≪The twintails that were stolen...? The Elements... they’re stored in that ring for an hour or so, I believe! So ignore that guy! Defeat him and break the ring and they’ll go back! ...I believe!!≫

“All right!”

I had been a little frightened about the thing Aika called me about... no, incredibly frightened, but I would stick with my first decision to rescue the president’s, and everyone else’s twintails.

“Magnificent! I will not forget this day if I live for ever! My apologies, but I’d like to take a photograph as a souvenir! Rest your head on my shoulder like this, and hold a stuffed...”

“Shut uuuuu-p!”

I shortened the distance with a single bound and with my left hand wreathed in fire, I punched him hard.

His face mushed in and a large amount of blood came out of his nose.

“Agh, aaugh... No, no help for it... I was trying hard to keep from hurting your face or your twintails, but you’re going to have to resign yourself to a certain amount of damage!!”

The muscles under Lizard Guildy’s steel scales bulged out still more.

He must be gathering all of his strength for an attack.

I stood straight in front of him, preparing for the worst.

But isn’t there... It’s going to be dangerous for the girls lying around here if we keep fighting in this flashy way!

At that moment the vivid image of a deep red pillar of fire floated into my mind.

“―Aura Pillar...? This, then!”

It’s like a help file was included and I can search through it by thinking. Very nice of her.

Fire burst out of the tip of the Blazer Blade and swelled to the size of a basketball. With all my strength I swung the sword up and let it fly loose.

“What is this!?”

The ball of fire exploded right in front of Lizard Guildy, and drawing a spiral encircled his body as its track took the shape of a pillar.

“N, m, nor can I move!”

It certainly is a barrier that binds the enemy. So this is the Aura Pillar!

“Uooooooooooh!!”

Keeping my eyes on Lizard Guildy, I began to run.

The sword that I was holding started to change shape, responding to my spirit. The hilt and ornamental piece unfolded, and the lines that ran through the sword like the veins of a leaf began to flash violently.

Fire shot from the blade shining with red heat, stretching it to almost twice its length.

The edge slipped through the barrier that was holding him. And straight down in the direction it was already going, it cut Lizard Guildy in a single sweep from the crown of his head.

Yes, ≪Grand Blazer≫ is definitely a final move... The trails of flame ran into the sky.

“Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A heat wave like a bubble popping. Lizard Guildy screamed in agony. Arcs of electricity were coming off him.

“He, hehahahaha... Magnificent... To perish with a twintail brushing gently against my cheek... How can I have any regrets! This is the end I always dreamed of as a child!!”

“Wait, hey!!”

The Aura Pillar swelled out suddenly to three times its size.

“Farewell――!!”

Lizard Guildy, holding his belief next to his heart to his last moment, detonated in a tremendous explosion which couldn’t be compared to the others, and dispersed on the wind ―

“Don’t vanish with a dying vision like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!”

After there was only silence.

I looked out on the devastated parking lot, although you could hardly tell that’s what it was anymore.

On the other hand, Grand Blazer had scorched the ground a little, but there weren’t many more traces of my fight. The unbelievable flare and impact had done almost no damage to the surroundings.

I saw Aura Pillar as something like a support technique for capturing the enemy, but maybe it’s to keep damage from explosions down to a minimum.

“Hup~”

I cut the drifting huge metal ring in half without any particularly strong feelings.

As if it had completed its task, the sword I was holding turned into flame and dissolved into the air.

The ring broke into tiny pieces and the light inside it became sparks that broke into streams flowing down into the unconscious girls one by one.

As I saw their hairstyles returning properly to twintails, I was hit by a sense of exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if I might fall on my back.

I had been lost in the fight, but was I really able to save these girls... was I really able to save twintails?

There was a small diamond-shaped stone glittering light green on the ground. I picked it up.

<Doll>

The word came into my mind. As I held it the armor piece on my left hand slid open and sucked it in.

“...Huh, this is another power of the Tailgear?”

“―Um.”

“!”

I almost jumped when someone called me from behind.

The president was awake and looking at me in wonder with her twintails fluttering behind her. They were covered in soot but had not lost their nobility.

She was making a token effort to hold the hem of her torn skirt together with her hand.

“I would like to... thank you very much for saving me.”

“Ah, hahaha, for what? I’m just a guy, no girl who happened to be passing through!”

I don’t think anyone could believe that when I’m dressed like this but I have to come up with something.

“No, um, that is... I woke up midway through the fight.”

“What?......”

“Yo, you fought wonderfully! ... You’re still only small, but you’re gallant... and strong ... I was... so moved!”

“―――!!”

This is bad. I thought everyone was unconscious.

The president is also really young-looking, but right now I don’t look like any more than an elementary schooler.

And that child was carrying a sword and fighting with monsters... how can you come up with an explanation for that situation.

“Excuse me... How in the world did you...!”

“A, a, I’m an ally of justice! Now, please get, out of here quickly!”

I’m really feeling how bad I am at ad-lib, as Aika pointed out an hour ago.

“I would like to thank you very much for saving me!! Will we meet again!?”

“You’ll see me again, as long as you love twintails.”

Bowing deeply to me, the president left at a half-run.

Thank goodness, she didn’t investigate too much.

For something on the spur of the moment, that line wasn’t bad. Although I was just trying to get through this.

“Young mistreessss!!”

A limousine cut diagonally across the parking lot at a reckless speed like it was slashing the lot in half and stopped, leaving a huge tire mark. Maids, a lot of maids, jumped out from inside and rushed over to the president.

A few of the girls who had fainted also began to wake up. The maids... probably at the orders of the president, broke the task up and began to care for them. It didn’t seem like there was any place for me anymore.

Afterward were the girls’ parents and families, maybe... adults, now free, also came running one by one.

The president might have seen me when I was screaming in terror... but I had rescued everyone safely, so I’d like her to forget about it.

“Whew...”

I shifted my line of sight to the front.

I can see myself reflected in the side mirror of a car.

“.........”

It’s a little young, but the way I look is certainly exactly what I was dreaming of, my ideal twintails.

I felt heat coming into my cheeks and shook my head desperately.

If I keep looking at myself, happiness and unease will hit me simultaneously.

Sirens started to come into earshot. Of course, the police and ambulances and things would be coming.

As the thread of tension snapped I felt dizzy.

Hugging a wall to avoid people’s eyes, as I went around a corner I saw Aika and Twoearle, who had been waiting for me.

“It’s finally over...”

My last strength drained out and I fell back on the ground.

The transformation was cancelled, and I was wrapped in a cocoon of light and returned to my original shape.

Thank God I didn’t stay like that my whole life...

“Sou-ji!”

Aika ran over to me and caught me in her arms, and out of relief, maybe, I flickered in and out of consciousness.

“It is a pity for you to have your head pressed against the ground. Please come here, my chest has proper cushions.”

“It’s my chest, not the ground!!”

“―For a woman it is only called a chest once it has begun to puff out. That is, the area below your neck is referred to as the ground, Aika-san.”

“Why don’t you kiss the ground, dumbaaaaaaass!!”

Aika caught the back of Twoearle’s head with an eagle grip and shoved her into the sidewalk.

“Nooo, stooooop, it’s my first kiiiiiiiss!!”

I want to fall asleep feeling like I made everything turn out okay, but I still hear screaming. Come on, guys.

As though guided by fate I dived into the maelstrom of war.

And the curtain closed on TailRed’s first battle.

<references/>

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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2015-02-20T08:26:29Z

Contradiction:

== Chapter 1: I am a Twintail ==

After school on the first day of my high school life. A day I should have had fond memories of. I, Mitsuka Souji, along with my childhood friend Tsube Aika, were having a late lunch at the Cafe Adolescenza. It might seem pretty fashionable for us to be eating lunch at a cafe, but seeing as I live here, it’s like a normal meal for me.

Its main selling point is our special house blend coffee. It has lots of fans, but, being something my mom does on the side, the shop is prone to being closed whenever she feels like it.

The sign over the door read “Closed”. Of course, that meant that it was just the two of us in here.

The intense spicy smell hanging in the air was nothing compared to the weight of sorrow in my chest.

“Why the heck did I put down something like that...”

“There’s no such thing as the Twintail Club,” my childhood friend said, looking at me amazed. The smell of spice swirled around her.

“I was put on the spot... and wrote it down without thinking. I didn't mean to!”

“If you ask me, anyone that would inadvertently write down something like that is bad news. You have Twintails on the brain.”

“Shut up! How many times do you plan to make fun of me for that?!”

“Yeah, yeah, ta-daa―”

She held the two tails on both sides of her head, long enough to reach her hips, and swung them to stir me up.

“......nguh.”

She may be trying her best to make me angry, but to me it feels more like a refreshing greeting.

As always, her twintails were wonderful to behold.

Waist-length twintails framing the head ― they may be the most basic, but their simple purity shows you the elegant conceit of hair that has been worn in twintails every day for years. A great artist's paintings can draw people in even when they aren’t using flashy colours or a surprising subject. It’s like that, I think.

“Still, the teacher didn't have to say it out loud...”

“Well, what did you expect when you wrote something that bizarre?”

“Well, excuse me!”

No matter how long we continue the pointless argument, it will not overturn this fact: there are over a thousand days of my life as a high school student ahead of me, and on the first day, I made the biggest mistake of my life.

The private school that I go to, Yougetsu Academy, can take you straight from elementary school into university. A super-escalator school. I wasn’t going to feel different just because I’d moved up into high school.

That’s what I thought, but... the size of the school building, the gymnasium, everything was so much larger than junior high school that I was overwhelmed.

And the highlight was the orientation in the gymnasium by the leaders of the clubs, after the entrance ceremony had ended. The various sports and culture clubs took turns making their appeals to the new students. The passion they showed moved me deeply.

But.

The image I see when I close my eyes is the girl who took the stage after that. To be exact, her hairstyle. Twintails.

Shindou Erina.

She may have been about as tall as a grade schooler, but her freshman welcoming speech as student council president would rival that of the greatest orators in human history. Her address touched the hearts of everyone who heard it.

“There are no limits to what you can accomplish here. I, together with the high school division of Yougetsu Academy, will guide your brilliant future on the path to its full bloom. I promise you!”

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, yet the tone of her speech contained no hint of condescension. The dignified manner in which she stood was mesmerizing.

(She’s beautiful...)

I stared at her, forgetting to blink.

She may have been as tall as a grade schooler, but it was the first time I’d ever heard a woman use ’young lady’ language, and she made it sound so natural that I was shocked.

And above all else – her twintails.

Hair, of course, does not have a peerage. But if it did, then those beautiful twintails would have held a high and noble title. The way the tips of her hair curled softly into circles also showed the excellence of her upbringing.

As she put heat in her words and moved more vehemently, the twintails danced through the air in response to her motion, as if she were a princess under a luxurious chandelier and the twintails were her partner on the dance floor.

I couldn’t get my heart to stop pounding.

It felt like everyone around me was staring at her as though a kitten had gotten up on the stage, but I'm probably imagining things.

The student council president has such amazing twintails. I can only imagine how wonderful the next three years of my life are going to be.

On the way back to my classroom, I paid no attention to my chattering classmates. They were like a candle compared to the brilliant light still burning in my heart. The lingering memory of the orientation wasn’t much more than a fart.

All I could see was that beautiful scene. My head was full of twintails. I had my head in the clouds for the self-introductions once we got back to the classroom, too.

And I don’t even seem to have noticed when they handed out the club questionnaire.

“All right, pass your sheets forward starting at the back, ple~ase.”

“Oh!”

The class rep's slow drawl brought me back down to Earth. The girl whose name I didn’t know (of course, because I hadn’t listened to her introduction) handed me some sheets. In a panic, I scribbled something on the the paper before me.

“Hm hmm... Huh~? Someone forgot to write their name on their survey~”

“Oh... Sorry. I think that’s mine. I was rushing.”

The teacher looked up from the sheets she was going through and tilted her head in doubt, so I said my name.

“Ahh, Mitsuka-kun, was it? ...Twintail club? Did we have a twintail club here? ... Oh~h, you mean you want to set one up.”

"What!? No, I didn't actually want to do that, really! I was-"

I was even more nervous, and I had gone beyond rescue.

“I see~. ... Twintail club? You must really like twintails, Mitsuka.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Obviously.”

― Conditioned reflex.

And here I was hoping that I could start anew, in this place full of fresh faces.

That was the instant that decided my position for three years of high school.

“Alright everyone, that’s all for today’s homeroom. It seems like there have been some deviants in the area lately, so be careful!”

“Why are you saying this now!? Look, teacher, please wait! I am serious! I really, seriously love twintails!! Wait, that’s not what I... argh!!”

And so, the first day of my brilliant high school life ended, with me sabotaging myself in the most pathetic way imaginable.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah....”

Just the memory of it is killing me.

When I see a blank I write “twintail” in it. That is a pretty ridiculous conditioned reflex. It’s already part of my physiological makeup ― no, it might be closer to the area of ecology.

“Mguh... mm. Seconds.”

Ignoring me and the full cup of coffee that hadn’t even touched my lips, Aika calmly put her hand on the second plate of curry.

Uh, I don’t have any appetite, so it’s fine, but still, that one’s mine.

“Writing that stuff down isn’t so bad, but that was pretty much the worst follow-up ever made. Why did you have to freak out so badly?”

“If you knew that I was nervous, then you should have come in and backed me up! Aren’t we friends!!”

“Friends... yeah.”

There was something sullen about the look on Aika’s face. What are you mad about? You just stole my lunch.

“You have to use questionnaires and stuff to make a good first impression. It's just an interest check, after all. Yeah, it says to write down clubs you're interested in, or clubs you want to start, and all that, but it's just a formality. What new student would suddenly assert themselves like that?”

“Uh... You mean...”

“You know what that means, don't you? By writing that down, you're telling everyone that, even after seeing all the clubs give their presentations, even after all their recruiting efforts, you still want to set up your own club. You get it, don't you?”

“And then I... wrote something strange like `twintail club’?”

“That’s right.”

“We can look back and analyze it calmly now, but you know, back then my mind was one hundred percent blank!!”

“Well, I could have at least stuck out my chest and said, ’A lot of people don’t even know the word for that hairstyle, so don’t suddenly start talking about it.’”

“That wouldn’t have helped at all, and what were you going to stick out, there’s nothing thbuhhh”

My little resistance was cut off in the middle.
Aika's got a complex about her modest (non-existent) chest, which is why I like to rib her about it. But, as you can see, if you do that, she will punch you in the face with one hand while eating off her plate with the other.

It can’t be helped, the rest of her is perfect.

Especially the twintails, and the twintails.

“Ugh. If only I was better at improvising...”

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that it’s indirectly the fault of the student council president that my future was destroyed, the exact opposite of what she said in her speech. Although, as Aika says, I was basically inviting this result by being such a loser.

Sighing gloomily, I wrapped my arms about my head.

“Besides, that obsession of yours would have been exposed sooner or later. Look on the bright side. At least you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

“You’re telling me I’ve come to a crossroads in my life? Then don’t just go on eating two meals worth of curry as if nothing's wrong! And I’m impressed you can eat curry while drinking all that coffee!”

You'd think someone like her, who could finish off two large plates of curry as if it were nothing, would have a bigger chest. Is it because of her hair? Does her body need all the nutrients just to sustain it...?

I felt a strange chill suddenly and glanced around the store.

“...?”

A woman customer was sitting alone. Her position was at an exact right angle to our seats.

Was it my imagination, or were her eyes flickering over here?

(That’s strange. I thought Mom already closed the store.)

But when I look at the cup on her table, it seems like she was sitting there from the start. We just didn’t notice. Probably Mom didn’t take a good look around before she rushed off.

Great. I thought there would be no one else around. Why did I have to run my mouth like that? I’m not surprised she’s looking.

“Hey, Souji... you’re doing it again.”

“Ah!”

Snapping back to my senses, I realized that I was holding on to Aika’s twintails. She breathed out a tired sigh and I hurriedly released my grip.

It’s half your fault for leaving them on the table and letting them slip into my grasp so easily ― but that’s a very selfish thing to say.

Because when they’re as long as Aika’s, if you don’t lay them on a chair or a table, they’d touch the ground the moment you sat down.

“Sorry. I really can’t help it. It’s been like this since we were kids. Touching your twintails just... calms me down.”

I know that already, Aika replied, coolly. She sighed again.

“Seriously. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel ashamed of myself.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“What are you going to do if someone takes this the wrong way? They’ll look at my twintails, and... and us being friendly... and connect the dots...”

Having exhausted her coffee, Aika kept glancing between me and the table, all the while pressing her index fingers together bashfully.

“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you want to change your hairstyle?”

“N-no way! Why would I change my hairstyle just because someone said something about it? I like my hair this way, thank you very much!”

Exactly. Seeing this steadfast determination of hers made me proud to be her childhood friend.

Despite her attitude, Aika’s the one person who would understand my love for twintails. As she said, we’d often get made fun of because we were always together.

But ― neither of us cared about what anyone else had to say about it.

She’s my childhood friend. My best friend.

Everyone has a friend or two they’d keep for life. Someone they can open their heart to. As for myself, by pure chance - that someone just happened to be a girl.

Part of it was because we were neighbours, but it seems like our families have been on good terms for a long time. That’s why it’s almost as if we were siblings. As if we were from the same family.

Back in grade school, I was never able to beat her in a fight. It was only afterwards that I found out her granddad had been teaching her martial arts.

Suppressing my wounded pride, I eventually started training with her at the dojo. I suppose that was when it all started. Ever since then, we’ve always spent our time together.

For some reason, we’d always end up in the same class. No matter how classes got shuffled, or how many people transferred in, we’d see each other in class every year.

To be honest, it was starting to get really weird.

Aika was always popular. She’s frank, honest, strong, and always so full of life - I mean, why wouldn’t she be?

And here I am, screwing everything up in the first day of school. I hope I don’t cause her too much trouble.

“―!?”

I felt another shiver run down my back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...”

I kept my voice low. Aika seemed to have noticed it as well. That customer was still around.

“How... Why didn’t I sense her presence...!?”

Although Aika was whispering, what she was saying was even more grandiose than usual. Do you normally sense people’s presence as you go through your day...?

That woman was still sitting there. Quietly observing us.

Her eyes met mine. She hurriedly spun around, turning to face the wall behind her.

“What the heck...?”

Okay? That was strange, but I’d feel uncomfortable too if some other customer was kicking up a fuss across the room. Guess I’d better restrain myself.

While I started to relax, Aika was having none of it. I could tell she was on high alert.

Twintails have expressions of their own. Anger, sadness, joy, suspicion, and anxiety are just some of the emotions that they can show.

What I’m saying is - twintails are like a second mouth.

“...”

Aika gestured to me silently from the side of the table. That woman was now holding up a newspaper, as if to conceal herself from us.

She had poked a hole through it, and was peeping at us through it.

Are you kidding me?

It was beyond ridiculous. Was she filming some kind of comedy skit?

I became paranoid there might be some kind of hidden camera in the cafe. Please keep me from becoming Boy A in the credits.

“... Let’s try not to make eye contact.”

“Right.”

Aika had also settled on that being the best course of action in this situation.

Our assumed suspect folded the newspaper over, set it on the table, and stood up.

For a moment, I hoped she would leave. Instead she went right past the entrance, heading in our direction.

Stopping right next to me, unphased by our shocked expressions, she looked directly at me with a smile on her face.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

“Hold it right there!” Aika shouted in a rapid-fire manner, exasperated.

“Yes?”

Aika stood up while scowling at me. I flinched instinctively. Leaning her head back, the woman began to laugh.

“Who are you?!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“I do mind!”

“I have some business with this gentlemen over here.”

“With me?!”

Like a tour guide giving information, she pointed in my direction with her palm open.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?! Standing there with that calm look on your face in those flashy clothes. I’m gonna jam a straw in your cleavage!”

“Now, now, Aika, calm down. Please,” I said, looking to defuse the situation.

I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She may have been be a bit odd, but seeing her up close, she really was an incredibly beautiful woman - young lady, from the looks of it.

Her Japanese was excellent, but she was definitely a foreigner. She had white hair... no, wait. Make that silver hair.

Like it was dyed, yet it seemed natural. Which made it even more unnatural. Silver hair like hers doesn’t exist. Yet, it was still beautiful.

It seemed to glitter in the dim lighting of the cafe.

Along with her long eyelashes, her eyes were so blue they reminded one of sapphires.

Following my gaze down the bridge of her nose, she smiled brightly with her delicate pink lips.

Like something straight out of a movie, she was a mysterious faerie., It felt like her entire body was surrounded in a faint glow, like the twinkling light of a firefly.

Above all, just barely below visible when you look at her face, the enormous volume of her breasts demanded your attention. What an outrageous fairy.

She looked to be around the same age as Aika, and yet the difference between them was almost depressing. The thin clothes emphasizing her cleavage clashed with her clean-cut features. Over which she wore a white robe. One might even call it a coat. The design was quite fashionable.

Her skirt, which one might even hesitate to call a mini-skirt... traced a line that made one wonder how her panties weren’t visible. Yet, with one look at her long slender legs, any doubts about her ability to coordinate clothes vanished. It was certainly a sight not seen among the masses.

It’s such a shame.

Twintails would undoubtedly suit sparkling silver hair like hers.

There I go again... I’ve barely even met this girl, and yet my brain was already filled with thoughts of twintails.

For a guy going through puberty, undressing such a cute girl in your mind would be a natural instinct, honed over millennia.

Naked? With twintails?

Hmm...

I suppose that still counts?

“Ow.”

Aika jabbed me in the temple with her straw. What the heck are you doing, I asked, in a hushed tone. Aika simply turned her head away with a “Hmph!”.

Watching the two of us bicker, the girl looked like she was smirking while she laughed. Instead of an innocent laugh, I sensed a twinge of evil to her laugh. Maybe I’m wrong. She does seem like a very gentle person.

“Uhm, is there something that ''we'' can help you with?”

I unconsciously drew myself into the back of the chair.

The girl put her hand on top of the bench and leaned in closer to me.

“Yes. I have very important business with ''you''.”

“...Important business?”

Pretending not to hear her clearly wasn’t working.

Re-iterating she only wants to speak with me... was it a language problem? Across the table, Aika’s frown deepened.

“My name is Twoearle.”

“I see... Miss... Twoearle...”

She’s definitely not from this country. Nevertheless, her Japanese was impeccable.

“You sure like twintails.”

“I love them.”

Oops... that’s what I felt inside. And I blurted it out immediately. Saying it out loud to someone I just met – I really didn’t learn anything from what happened earlier today, did I?

“Would you mind not asking why, and put on this bracelet for me?”

“What the heck does this have to do with anything!?”

The girl known as Twoearle suddenly pulled an object out of her coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a very beautiful glittering red bracelet.

Taking advantage of my confusion, she softly took the bracelet and gently prised my fingers apart.

“H-hey now―”

With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the back of my hand. At which point, a strange tingling feeling shot through my body.

“Now, please put it on.”

“He doesn’t need it!”

Leaning over the table, Aika roughly grabbed the bracelet and pushed it back towards Twoearle.

“What is with you?! You just waltz over here and start pushing strange things onto him, how rude!”

“It is not anything suspicious.”

“At this point, it’s a little late to see it as anything but suspicious!”

As usual, she doesn’t hold back even with people we’ve just met.

...Well, I do agree it’s rather suspicious.

“...Uhm, well... hmm... ah!”

Twoearle abruptly clasped my hands and said, “It’s me, Souji-kun. Me.”

“...Eh?”

I was perplexed by her suddenly friendly tone.

“You remember me. Look, it’s me. Twoearle. You see, I’ve got a bit of a problem right now – so, could you please put that bracelet on?”

I think I’m imagining things, but the way she thoughtlessly leaned forward, exposing her cleavage to me, seemed as though she was begging for me to look at her ample chest.

“Uh, weeell...”

“What kind of idiot would use an ore-ore scam to someone’s face!”

“Eeaagh!”

A whirlwind tore past me as I hesitated. Aika hit Twoearle’s cheek with an open-palm strike of terrifying power, improved by a snap of the wrist.

“Are you insaaane?! Don’t hit people that you just met, seriously!! That was a really sharp sound!”

My shout was already close to a scream.

And it was no wonder. That wasn’t a slap but a little trick that aimed for the cheekbones ― one of the jujitsu techniques of the Mizukage school taught by Aika’s late grandfather. Overturning all theories of martial arts, it was meant to cause as much sharp and serious pain as possible to its target without moving the chest too much. Close to a torture technique.

And it had been carried out brilliantly and flawlessly by a mere high school girl.

It was no wonder that the old man had wanted to make her his successor right up until the moment he died.

“Souji, I’m sure this woman is a crook! Just like those people by the train station who say, I’ll tell your fortune, come into this alleyway! But then they have a bunch of people with mohicans and spikes on their shoulders or something waiting there for you!”

“I don’t know about the first part, but not the second!!”

If there is a villain here she’s in front of me.

Twoearle was bent over with a hand pressed against her cheek. I felt worried and looked over at her.

“A-are you okay? This girl, sometimes she doesn’t know when to hold back.”

She’s so beautiful, and she’s a foreigner. It would really suck if this turned into an international incident.

“Huh?... I was holding back, it shouldn’t be that...”

Aika started to look uneasy, although about at the level of a young kid with a knee scrape that you can fix by rubbing spit on it.

If you were holding back, then what was that noise.

“Oh, y, es... I am... fine...”

“Are you really okay...!?”

The way you’re cupping your cheek and trembling tells me that you’re not! I started to hold out my hand to her, and ―

“!”

Aika desperately caught my wrist.

“Oh.”

...Twoearle had gotten the bracelet into my blind spot and was trying to put it on my hand.

“So you were just acting!”

“Why are you trying this hard? What do you want me to put my hand in that bracelet for...!?”

Getting a little uncomfortable with this after all, I took a step back. And my heart felt like it went back a hundred meters.

“But I am not asking for any money! ...Just put it in! All I want you to do is put it in! Please put it in, if you don’t put it in I don’t know what I will do!! If you want me to, I will put it in for you.”

I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the bracelet, but you could hear it as something else, so stop, please.

“You can’t, Souji, if you put it on, they’ll say you can’t cancel any more or something and take a huge amount of money off you! Those mohawk guys are going to crash through the entrance of the store on armored buggies!!”

Aika’s got a keen sense of danger, but her information seems to be a little bit lopsided. Twoearle put her hands together as if praying and looked straight into my eyes.

“Please. I will do anything you want if you wear the bracelet...”

“Eh?”

My mind was screaming no, but my heart skipped a beat. My eyes moved towards Twoearle’s hair.

“Anything... you said?”

“Yes... I will do anything you ask of me. I will be fine with whatever special interests you may have! Especially the kinky stuff... ha... ha...”

For some reason, Twoearle was starting to breathe heavily. Her face was red.

“Don’t say things like that!”

This is bad.

Is this what you call a cultural divide? Are the differences in humanity that difficult to reconcile? Even though we speak the same language, I don’t think we’ll ever be on the same wavelength.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but asking him something like that is useless. The only thing he ever thinks about are twintails. He’d just ask you to tie your hair up or something.”

“R-really!? But, he’s a guy, isn’t he!?”

I’m not surprised that Aika could tell what I was thinking, but Twoearle seemed more than a little shocked.

If you say you’d do anything...

Yeah.

Of course.

Twintails.

Twoearle raised her hands, half-smiling.

“You must be kidding me... It is alright! Think of this as advance payment. I’ll let you squeeze them, right here... hurry... they’re surprisingly soft!”

Her softly wobbling chest seemed to explode in my vision. I didn’t know where to look.

Cupping her hands over her breasts, Twoearle thrust herself at me.

“Get away, you pervert! I’ll crush your spine in self-defense if you come any closer!”

Why are you even explaining to her what you’re going to do in self-defense?

“Calm down, Aika! ... I get it, I get it!”

I have to stop this mess before Aika crosses the line.

“I’ll take it. She said it was free, didn’t she? It’s almost like picking a tissue off the sidewalk. If that’s all it takes to make her happy ... it is free, isn’t it?”

“Of course!!”

Her sudden smile, like a flower blooming, caught me off guard. If only she’d act a little more normal...

“No! Don’t! She’s just trying to scam you! It’s like those spa treatment packages where they say the bath salts are free but it ends up being really expensive! She’s just like one of those door-to-door salesmen!!”

“What are you talking about this time?”

“If he does not wear it, the world will end! Also, it is against the law to bait people by giving out bath salts for free!”

“That’s exactly what I was saying, you free-bath-salt merchant!”

Seriously, what kind of a conversation is this? And what’s up with all the bath salts?

“Anyway, if you do not put this on! All the twintails in this world are going to vanish!!”

“―What!!”

Twoearle’s sudden exclamation was like a punch to my stomach. I stepped up to her.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

“Hup.”

In that brief moment, Twoearle grabbed my arm, and slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

“Wha―”

Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. However, the spirit-shattering thought of all the twintails in the world disappearing, coupled with that pair of all-encompassing, enveloping, Gaia-class motherly breasts pressing against me ― the assault on my heart and mind left me unable to avoid it.

“Thank goodness. Like this, we will be ready when it finally appears.”

Looking at the clock, Twoearle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her teary eyes towards me.

Oh shit. I don’t think she noticed, but when she’s that close... every inch she moves makes her chest jiggle, pushing their soft, undulating mass against my body... this is bad.

Stay strong, Mitsuka Souji! You mustn’t be defeated by something like this!

She’s a foreigner, okay? This level of intimacy is probably completely normal for her. Don’t imagine anything lewd! You’ll destroy the esteemed image of Japanese men if it ends up showing on your face!

“Take it off! Throw that thing away!!”

While I was lost in thought, Aika grabbed me by my neck, forcefully pulling me away from Twoearle’s embrace.

“Whoa!”

It felt as if I was flying. Can you believe it? She just lifted me up with one hand!

The sudden movement sent the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table flying all around me.

“Come on... h-huh!?”

Aika was pulling on the bracelet with both hands, her face twisted in exertion. Guess it fit better than I thought.

“Argh! I can’t... get it off!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow!! What the hell is this thing? It’s like a wedding ring that’s gotten stuck on a finger joint!”

And unlike Twoearle, Aika has no `cushions’, so having her press herself against me was very uncomfortable to say the least.

“A wedding ring!? Aaargh——!”

“Yeaaargh!! Stop! You’ll rip my arm off!”

For some reason, Aika started pulling at it even harder than before. My arm jerked around as if it were a candle flame in the wind.

“This is... strange... Why is it... so tight...!? Look! There isn’t even... a gap on this... thing!”

She’s right. It’s made of metal, and definitely isn’t elastic. How did Twoearle even manage to get it on my arm in the first place!?

I wonder if you can unscrew this thing, I heard my childhood friend say. Stop! Humans don’t work that way!

I almost wanted to cry from the suspicion and despair flooding my mind.

It’s strange asking Twoearle to take it off after I let her put it on me, but I don’t have any choices left.

“Um, excuse me, could you please―”

In a flash.

We were enveloped in a retina-burning, polychromatic stream of light.

As if we were melting into the air, our bodies began fading away along with the light―

And then, we were gone.

<center>◇</center>

“I am very sorry about all this, but I thought it would be faster than an explanation.”

I heard Twoearle say.

“―Huh? Huh!?”

Just as the burst of light faded from my vision, a very different sight greeted my eyes.

Soot. The acrid, stinging smell of smoke filled the air around us.

I looked around in a panic.

Sunlight. Wind. Sidewalk. Asphalt.

It was a feeling unlike any that I’d experienced before. My body struggled to get up to speed.

“Why are we... outside?”

We weren’t dreaming, were we? How did we get outside without even noticing it?

“Answer me! Why are we here!?”

Our surroundings were familiar, yet it took quite some time for me to recognize them. No way. How could we have made it here?

‘Maxim Horizon’, the biggest convention center in town. A giant building, spanning two blocks, with an equally large open-air exhibition space. Events, live concerts, and other activities were often held here.

Somehow, we ended up at the center’s open air parking lot.

Roughly 20 minutes away from where we previously were. By car.

“Earlier than expected... I intended for us to have some prep time, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.”

In contrast to the two of us, Twoearle was completely calm.

“I really should have done this earlier...”

She was holding a small stick, about the size of a pen and talking in a very subdued voice.

Unless I’m mistaken, that pen-like thing was what emitted that strange burst of light.

“W-what did you do to us!?”

“I did not intend to bring you along with us, Aika-san, but unfortunately, you would not leave the effective radius. Sorry about that.”

For a moment, I thought they would end up having a (very one-sided) argument again, but a loud sound derailed my train of thought.

“What is it this time!?”

And then, we finally understood what was causing all the soot and smoke.

It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars around us were cooking off like popcorn, sending plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“This can’t be happening...”

Earlier, I thought we would end up being on some comedy program. Now... it was as if we were passers-by getting caught up in some Hollywood movie pyrotechnics display.

It just didn’t seem real.

“Souji-sama. Please try your best not to leave my side. They will spot you. I cannot project my recognition jamming field very far.”

“Recognition... jamming?”

Twoearle stopped me from moving closer to one of the flaming cars.

“If you stay beside me, they will not be able to see you. Look at that thing over there.”

Twoearle pointed at something in the distance. In the middle of the parking lot was... something.

Both Aika and I leaned in for a closer look... and we both screamed.

“―― Whaaa!?”

“It can’t be! What is that thing!?”

It’s like someone forcefully jammed an insect’s head onto a man’s body. The figure was fully clad in some kind of armored exoskeleton.

Normally, I would have thought it was some actor in a suit, thanks to where we were, but―

Its weight ― wherever it stood, cracks formed in the asphalt.

Its height ― over two meters tall.

Its eyes ― they never stopped moving, darting left and right.

Its teeth ― they looked as if they could crush a boulder.

Its spines ― as sharp as swords, and too many to count, extending from spine to tail.

Everything about it was as real as it could get.

Every cell, every breath it took, was real.

I really wish it was just a suited actor. I really hoped it was.

But, that thing... the mere sight of it filled me with dread. Pure, unrelenting―

“M―monster!”

The wreckage... the fire... and the smoke. And in the middle of it all, the swaggering figure of that unknown figure... it was almost picturesque.

Almost like a scene from a movie, made real.

“Come out, wherever you are!”

!!

As if flicking a bug, the thing sent a nearby car flying. At the same time, I clearly heard it say that line.

Speaking human language.

Speaking Japanese.

Aika and I were too shocked to say anything. The creature, not noticing our presence, twisted it’s mouth, roaring.

Roaring those words of doom that would strike the hearts of its listeners with despair-

“Fuhahahahahaha!! All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!!”

“Uuugh~~~~!!”

At the hoarse, resonant voice and the warped thing it was saying I came close to choking up blood.

We were pretty far from it here, but it felt like its voice was ringing right in my ear.

“...Hey, Souji, what are you doing wearing a theme park costume.”

“That’s not me!”

A large number of pure-black creatures manifested themselves around the monster.

The identical mindless drones were massed in a group, ready for battle. Their strange forms were uniformly solid black. It was an incredibly eerie sight.

The combat drones skittered away, dispersing rapidly in all directions, capturing a number of random girls.

“Twin... tails...”

But my heart was not beating fast because the girls had twintails. It was because of the monster’s orders.

“What are they holding... Hey, it’s twintail girls!”

“What are they planning to do?”

Unlike Aika and I, who fretted in hushed voices, Twoearle silently tracked their movements.

“Even so, this world is regrettably lacking in twintails! Draped in nothing but steel and electricity ― it’s like they never left the Stone Age!”

It was clearly speaking Japanese, but something was off. Something... no, everything.

“Oh well, that just means we have to find twintails of the finest quality!”

With a wild tone of voice, the monster walked with its shoulders held high.

“Don’t forget the orders from our commander, you vermin! Top quality twintails have been detected in this area, so leave no stone unturned! … There might even be a young girl crying while holding her stuffed bunny rabbit!”

“... Moke? Moke- “

“Hold your tongues! Gathering all of the twintails is our ultimate goal… however! Beyond being a soldier, I’m also a man… and so I’d also like to see a young girl holding a stuffed animal! Find me one and there will be a reward waiting for you!!”

It wasn’t my imagination.

No, it was speaking fluent Japanese,　but for some reason nothing it was saying made any sense.

“We have no need for adults! Drag them out here quickly! I don’t mind if you’re a little rough!”

The black creatures were moving efficiently to carry out its orders.

“Moke-”

“What? There are no young girls carrying stuffed animals!? Hmm, if girls don’t have stuffed animals, then a man can provide!! I don’t care, bring them here!”

...Although, can you really call these orders? He’s shouting so crazily that I think if he had something hard in his hand he would throw it.

“Heeeelp!”

A crying young girl was brought in front of the monster.

The way she looked, with her twintails disheveled under the eyes of the grotesque, hulking figure, made me think of a shrine maiden taken for human sacrifice, the victim of a crime against nature.

I tried to jump out, but Aika grabbed my arm and stopped me.

My hazy brain began to catch up with what was going on. I got the situation clear in my head, at least.

“They’re only taking girls with twintails, what are they planning to do?”

The monster and his troops weren’t hurting them. Rather, they were giving them dolls to calm them down.

So we can stay here and watch for now, but...

“Hey, Twoearle, you took us here because you knew this was happening, didn’t you? What is that monster...”

Halfway through the sentence, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

In my line of sight was something I should never have seen.

Well, this isn’t the place for sarcasm. But the radiant sight that had burned itself into my heart earlier today had not been a dream or an illusion. I knew that now.

“The... president...”

No mistake. That was it, the source of my suffering from the first day of high school life, the diabolical hairstyle that had charmed me in both the good and bad sense of the word.

Two of the solid black combat drones were dragging along Shindou Erina, president of the student council, in her school uniform, one on each arm.

“It’s, it’s her! Hey! Isn’t that the president?”

It looks like Aika has noticed too.

In the gym there were maids standing by her silently to attend on her, but I couldn’t see anyone like that now.

The president was holding something tight in her arms as if it were important. It was hard to see, of course, but the thing sticking halfway out of her shopping bag looked like a toy from a kids’ tokusatsu series.

“Release me!”

Determined resistance.

The monster ran his eyes over her as if he were deciding on her price.

“Ho-hooo, a nice little child! Not only that, but she looks like she’s a princess! A twintail princess... no, indeed, this is nearly perfect! Yours could be the ultimate twintails!!”

“Ultimate...!? No, tell me who you are! You speak human language, don’t you!? Set the other girls free!!”

“I do. As you can see, we can communicate well with each other. And so, I tell you that I cannot release them.”

“Then what are your intentions!”

“You’ll understand soon! First, while I have the opportunity...”

The monster handed a large stuffed animal to the president with an overfamiliar gentleness.

“I want you to hold this kitten stuffie! There is sweetness even in your hostility. A kitten stuffie suits a naughty young girl well!! Hug it!!”

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_049.jpg|thumb|''"You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa!"'']]

The jet-black figures came up carrying a three-meter-wide pink sofa which it was hard to believe existed, maybe part of their supplies.

They forced the president, now holding the stuffed animal, to sit on it.

“You all, engrave this sight into your minds! Twintails, stuffed animal, and resting on a sofa! This is the golden ratio that my long years of discipline have led me to!!”

“““Mokkekeke―!!”””

The monster was acting like it had at last succeeded in turning gold into a base metal, and on top of that the shrill voices seemed to be cheering it for what it had done. I felt light-headed.

“...We understand that they are aiming for girls with twintails, anyway... Tell me, Twoearle, what can I do? You brought me here because there’s something I can do, right?”

“I will leave the details for later. Right now, we will act.”

My legs were trembling a little despite my brave act, but Twoearle ignored that. She was so calm that she seemed reliable.

“Souji-sama... First, please take off the clothes I am wearing. No, more like rip them off, please. ...Oh, yes. Push both of my arms above my head like this and hold them there... Like this, Souji-sama, with one hand. Then with your other hand, pull off my bra...”

“What is wroooooooooong with you!!”

Twoearle had been making gestures to go with what she was saying.

“Aika, too loud!”

I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth, but―

“Ohh, I sense the presence of a new twintail... Where? Where are you hiding!!”

(What is a presence supposed to be!)

I left that comeback inside my heart, and looked at the twintails beside me. Certainly, they do draw the eye, but...

“Aaah, I’m a twintail too―!”

“Wheeeare are yoooou!!”

We were sixty or seventy meters away from the center of the huge open-air parking lot, but the thick, harsh voice sounded as though it were coming from right next to us. Still, even though we weren’t under any kind of cover, he can’t see us. What is this?

He’s looking straight at us, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

I felt deja vu.

Aika’s words in the store went through my mind.

― “How... Why didn’t I sense her presence?”

Recognition... jamming... that’s what she said earlier.

“...Oh, ohh... Even though I was taking the serious route that I’m not used to and holding it in... This situation I was longing for... The script I polished over and over again... I can’t believe my plan was crushed the moment it started...”

Twoearle’s glare at Aika was a mixture of resentment and disappointment. Apparently something hadn’t gone well for her.

“There’s some way we can help those girls, right!? Come on, tell me!!”

Impatient, I grabbed her shoulders hard.

“Aan...”

For some reason a seductive voice.

“Oh, we can do a course correction! Well, Souji-sama, let us go ahead with the script just like before! Shove me against the wall like this, and we’re up to the place where you rip all my clothes off at once! Take them with one cut!!”

“Why don’t I shove you against the wall? As hard as I can!?”

Under Aika’s glare, Twoearle reluctantly said, “I, I understand. It is true we do not have much time, so I will skip a little! And they can sense her Twintail Element even through recognition jamming, so even in the first battle I do not think we can take them lightly.”

Did you say “the first battle?”... but I didn’t have time to wonder, because what she said next was even more outrageous.

“Souji-sama, use the bracelet I gave you and transform!”

“Transform!?”

“This is what she was going for! All that stuff earlier was for this!”

Twoearle ignored Aika and continued.

“That device creates a battle suit that will reinforce your physical power. You should become at least a match for that monster when you transform.”

“Are you serious!?”

Just as if it were a kids’ superhero show or something like that.

...But I was willing to grasp at any straw right then, and my heart soaked it up without resistance as if it were a voice from heaven.

She could have said any crazy thing to me and I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it was a joke or a trick after the unreal experience of being put through the teleporter.

At least there’s no harm in trying.

“Wa, wait a minute, I don’t know about transforming, but why do you need Souji to do something that dangerous!!”

“You idiot! The enemy’s target is twintails!! How can we overlook that!!”

“...Wait, umm, that’s the most surreal thing about this, or rather, that goal is too stupid... Or Souji, can’t you at least say that it’s because they are kidnapping girls...?”

“No, that is how it should be. It is because you love twintails that you can use the bracelet. There is no need to pretend to care about justice.”

“No, I mean, I did want to rescue the girls, I was thinking that...”

An enemy who’s aiming at twintails, and supposedly I can fight against them because I love twintails? What is this?

Really more and more this seems like a joke.

The earth shook so much that I seemed to float for a second, and then came an ear-splitting roar.

“Souji, the people they caught!”

A terrifying scene was unfolding where Aika pointed.

A tragic scene as though I were looking into hell.

In the very center of the parking lot ― the parked cars had been torn out by the roots and scattered and the girls they had caught were lined up single file.

An improvised ceremonial site.

I don’t know if the girl at the front of the line had fainted, but she didn’t seem to be moving as her body floated into the air.

Like a lion jumping through a flaming hoop, the girls in the line moved through a metallic ring with light stretched across it in iridescent colours like a soap bubble. The moment the first girl passed through, her hair came gently untied, and she drifted back down tracing an arc across the sky.

One by one, the instant they could put the next one through, the girls went through the ring as lifeless as parts on a belt conveyor.

In less time than it took to blink, it was President Shindou’s turn... and even the beautiful twintails that had fascinated me dissolved into the air.

“All the twintails in this miserable world will be ours!”

That had sounded like a joke, but I was seeing it for real now.

“― Those bastards.”

I felt something deep snap in my heart for the first time in my life.

“Souji-sama, please compose yourself. It is still all right, they can still be saved.”

“Tell me...! How can I save the twintails? How can I destroy those guys?!!”

“You’re kind of exaggerating... You know, they don’t seem to be hurt at all aside from losing their twintails?”

“Exaggerating, you say......!?”

I grabbed Aika by the front of her shirt and lifted her up with violent emotion overflowing in my heart.

“Aah...”

“Was that all that twintails meant to you? If someone takes them, then that’s fine, you don’t really care? Were they such a little thing to you?!!”

“Ca, calm down, Souji. They’ll notice us again...!”

“...S, sorry.”

When I heard Aika’s out-of-character thin voice without any force in it, my head cooled off a little, and I let go of her.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you too, Twoearle. But tell me how to use this thing. Quickly.”

“...Are you serious!? No, Souji, you shouldn’t! Especially after earlier! I don’t think you can trust her at all!”

Aika’s voice had tension in it as if she were trying to stop a comrade of hers from committing an act of murder.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid or if it’s dangerous. I can’t forgive those monsters for playing games with twintails!”

Twoearle had been at least half messing around with me, but I think that that part of my feelings got through to her.

She nodded with an earnest expression, and explained, raising her own right arm to her chest.

“Please wish in your heart, ‘I want to transform.’ Wish hard. If you do that, the bracelet should activate.”

“That’s all I have to do? I don’t think about anything specific?”

Twoearle nodded forcefully.

“Okay. Sounds like something even I can do.”

“Souji!!”

I gathered my resolve and raised the bracelet to my chest, making a fist with my right hand.

Closing my eyes, like she had told me, I wished hard, hard.

I want to transform... I want to save the president, those girls. To take back the twintails. To become someone who can defeat those bastards.

It wasn’t righteous anger. Is there a guy anywhere who can just keep quiet after he sees something he loves trampled into the dust!!

The next instant―

The “transformation” really happened, just like that.

<center>◇</center>

Light began to shine from the bracelet on Souji’s right arm.

An intense light as though soundless fireworks were exploding before his eyes.

“Aahh!”

Aika covered her eyes with her arm at the unexpected brilliance.

Bands of red light looped around Souji’s body, forming a cocoon. As specks of light flooded out, they tightened around him.

An even brighter sudden flash.

They began to change the barely visible silhouette.

Shoulders, chest, hips, legs - from the top in order light burst like an explosion, and Souji was covered from the neck down in a red suit. But this all happened in a hundredth of a second ― the work of an instant, faster than the eye could see.

Spraying out like steam, lines of red light.

And although it was strange, Souji was surrounded by a radiance that didn’t come from reflected light, just like Twoearle’s silver hair.

“Awesome... I really did transform...”

Souji put all the strength into the fists, testing how it felt.

As far as he could see, the suit covered the body without a gap, from the tips of the feet when he looked down to the fingertips he was opening and closing over and over again. But he seems to have noticed before long that there was no pressure on his head.

“Huh? My face... It isn’t hidden!?”

Touching the cheeks, Souji was disturbed to find that they weren’t covered.

“The suit itself is not that important to the defense system. Also, it is using Imagine Chaff as a countermeasure, so even though your face is uncovered, other people will not realize that it is you, Souji-sama.”

“Imagine... What’s that?”

“It is something so you do not have to worry about people finding out your real identity! Please fight with peace of mind!”

“I, is that so? Okay! Let me try this...!!” I don’t really understand the practical side very well, and there are a lot of things I’m still worried about, but there’s no time left.

Souji put his faith in Twoearle’s words and started to run toward the battlefield, his hair gallantly ''fluttering behind him''.

“Nh, uh...”

Souji had already vanished by the time Aika opened her eyes.

“That idiot! Why did he agree to all of this so easily?!”

Aika knitted her eyebrows and looked around.

“Hey, you, uh... hey, Twoearle.”

“Yes?”

“There weren’t any other girls around here just now...?”

<center>◇</center>

“Li... light, what is this, I can’t run so easil... whoaaa―!!”

As if someone had put the decimal point in the wrong place, the power in my legs was so great that I kept almost falling on my face when I sprinted.

I was reminded of the time when I was bored and tried setting the running machine to maximum speed.

≪Please focus your awareness! Souji-sama, that suit, the Tailgear, is created with the power of your mind. You must drive it with your will!≫

Some kind of communications device? I heard Twoearle’s voice as if she were whispering into my ear, although I don’t think anything was mounted on it.

“The force of my mind... My will...!!”

This time, I tried to wrap my awareness around my legs.

Up until then it felt like I was clinging to a car moving at top speed, but I suddenly started to feel my feet landing on the ground through the suit.

It wasn’t like driving a car, it was a sense of complete unity like I had become the car.

I had already reached the parking lot and gone more than halfway across it, kicking the rubble out of the way as I was running without trying to avoid it. I could see the girls lying unconscious on the asphalt now.

I know they regretted having their twintails stolen.

I’ll absolutely get them back for you...!!

“Hmmm, magnificent Twintail Elements... But at this rate, I’m not sure if we can obtain the greatest power under this star, the one the Commander was praising as the ultimate...”

It seems like my hearing has improved, too. I can hear the monster muttering something cryptic to President Shindou, lying at his feet.

My anger hit its peak when I saw the president with her twintails cruelly untied.

“Stoooop――!!”

“Mu!?”

I planted my feet on the ground, braking at high speed. As I did, something like stoppers came down from somewhere near my ankles and jammed into the asphalt, scraping it and blowing off sparks and dust.

(...What ridiculous strength. That girl created this...!?)

A sense of awe filled my body at the unknown power, taking my mind off my anger. And then I started to be afraid. I was surprised again by the kind of power the girl called Twoearle had in her hands.

How had she created something with this kind of terrifying strength? Just as I was told, just as I had wished, I had accepted it, but had that been the right thing to do?

No, I don’t have time to think about that now. I have to concentrate on saving the twintails... saving the people before me.

“You understand human language, right, monster? Give these people back the twintails that you... took.”

“Tha... You are...”

“...Did you not hear me...? You stole their twintails. Give them back, goddamn you!!”

My anger itself hit him together with my scream.

It sounds strange when I say it, but I understood that the strange ring could take people’s twintails away from them. And so it should also be possible for it to give them back.

Who would subject someone to this kind of danger just because they have twintails? The word “irrational” is not good enough for them, it’s absurd, it’s monstrous.

“Steal the twintails.” If what they said, if their objective were known to the public, then tomorrow there might not be anyone wearing twintails anymore. Because it would be stupid to take the risk.

I can’t... I can’t forgive that...!!

“Whoa... whooaaaaaaaaaaa――!?”

When I scowled at him, the monster soared high into the sky as if he had been caught in a sudden gust of wind.

“Gahaaa!!”

The ground hit him face-first.

“H, hey.”

“Nnn, nngh... Was I blown away by such a strong ''young innocent''... Those are... spectacular twintails!!”

“...Huh?”

“The Commander’s prediction was right when he chose this spot! Even if I leave out the girls before. It was you...! You’ve finally come! We didn’t miss our mark, those are the ultimate twintails!”

The monster was staggering to his feet in exultation.

“The ultimate... twintails...?”

Something is strange.

What the monster was saying gave me an uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time I myself began to feel obscure doubt.

My field of vision, my viewpoint was oddly low.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the hands I was holding up also seemed smaller than usual.

“......”

Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

A premonition of evil stronger than I’d ever tasted in my life sent a chill through my whole body.

“Could...”

Like a rusty gear grinding, I turned my head over to the side.

[[File:OreTwintail_v1_063.jpg|thumb|top|alt="Souji looking in a car windshield."|''There was a girl with lovely twintails there.'']]

One of the car windshields was still in its original shape. I saw the reflection and was speechless.

What would you call this.

― There was a girl with lovely twintails there.

“――― Oh.”

Even now a “twinta~ils” sound effect rang like a chime in my head. Beautiful, spectacular twintails hanging down past the knee.

And ribbon-shaped pieces that moved up and down together with her breathing, so smoothly that they seemed to be swaying.

Her wide eyes opened even farther.

The word “armor” was a little off the mark for what she was wearing, a strange protective suit that didn’t look like it had any weight at all, showy in its use of fashion with red and white as its key colours.

In places, on top of the body suit that stuck closely to her bare skin, angular mechanical-looking armaments had been attached. They were the source of a mysterious glow.

“Ohh.”

And, and and. There were giant attachments on either side of her hips, but the crotch area of the suit had been designed like a bikini, and half of her thighs were exposed.

I wasn’t sure if I believed this. But I tried touching my chest and groin. My chest was just as flat as it looked from outside, but my constant companion for half my life, the prince between my legs, my important partner, was cleanly and completely missing.

“O, oh...”

Now that I understood, I became more conscious of it. My unnaturally high voice.

Yes, the reflection in the glass was ―

I, who had become a twintail.

“It turned me into a girl―――――――――――――!!?”

A childish scream was absorbed by the sky.

<center>◇</center>

“Wh...!!”

Aika, watching, was also lost for words.

“...What is that.”

“That is our single strongest weapon against those monsters, the Daydream Armor, Tailgear! Aah, you are wonderful, Souji-sama! Ehehehehe big success.”

Twoearle, with a ribbon of drool that was hanging down to the choker around her neck, stared at the panicking Souji with a look of ecstasy on her face.

“...It’s too wonderful, I’m starting to cry!!”

Aika visited Twoearle with the palm of her hand, using even less restraint. It wasn’t a pinpoint strike to her cheek or somewhere this time but an impact to the whole top of her skull.

“Is, is this already a girls’ catfight scene... or actually it is more like being mauled by a tiger...”

“Depending on your answer it really will be like that. What happened, why is Souji a wwwwwoman!! That’s not just girls’ clothing, is it? He’s even way shorter now!!”

“...Aika-san. In order to obtain great power, you have to pay a corresponding price. It makes a person stronger to face the truth ― little girls are cute, little girls!”

“Is this your fucking rotten hobby―!!”

The sound of a merciless blow.

“That’s not transforming, that’s warped!”

Of course, she didn’t mean “warped” in the sense of metamorphosis.

“Fight fire with fire, they say. When the enemy is ‘hentai,’ a fighter cannot oppose them without becoming HENTAI to a certain degree themselves.”

“So the enemy is yooooooooooooooooooou!!”

Thud, thud, thud...

The head of the beautiful girl whose default was complete corruption ― Twoearle’s imagination soared left and right in thrilling leaps.

<center>◇</center>

Is this my punishment?

I’ve been saying twintails, twintails from childhood until now, did God finally get fed up with me and say, you’re a pain in the ass, shut up, become a twintail already, and give me a shove in the back?

You shoved too hard, God. This isn’t like I can stagger and keep moving forward, this is like a complete orbit of the Earth.

This is like even my cool entrance scene earlier looped once around the Earth and crashed into the back of my head.

“A, a, a, ah.”

I was confused and unable to deal with reality, and the monster and the black things had completely surrounded me.

“Hmm, so you’ve decided you want to be ours? You have my gratitude! Show her along, and be polite!”

At my lack of resistance, the monster suddenly switched to kindness.

“Moke―”

The black thing... the soldier in front broke out into a run toward me.

“Ge... get awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!”

As I was waving my arms in front of me like a kid throwing a tantrum, I lightly hit the black thing, and it flew into the air with a clear ‘thunk’ sound like a plastic bottle rocket and crashed into a wall on the rooftop level of a distant building.

Its body began to glow. Before long, it exploded softly into dust and disappeared into the sky.

The monster let out a little noise of interest.

“Hnnn... One Ultiroid in one blow! You’re not just beautiful twintails... What is that fierce power!? Who are you, child!!”

The enemy’s words were getting bit by bit more old-fashioned, and now, as if we were actors in a period drama, he was handing me my promised “cue.”

Although judging from his expression he was serious.

≪Souji-sama! This is a great chance for a cool intro speech!≫

Intro speech?

“...What am I supposed to be?”

If you have something you want to say, then say it, God --

≪Aaah~, that is right, you did not decide what you were going to call yourself after you transformed, did you...!?≫

“No, I’m not worried about my name, I’m having doubts about my identity!”

Communicate, help me out, Aika... If I can’t hear your comebacks, how am I supposed to do this?

Not who I am, I’m not even sure what I am.

“Waoo~h, I’m not sure what’s going on but this downhearted little girl - I can’t stand it!! One of you, get me a doll she can hug!”

“Mokee-.”

The encirclement slowly tightened around me.

I could feel piercing stares even from the soldiers though I didn’t know where their eyes were.

Like they were giving off desire as an aura.

The target of those innumerable desires - I didn’t try to hold in the chill climbing up my spine.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

≪Souji-sama, touch the ribbon piece and picture a weapon in your heart. It should create a weapon made just for you!!≫

“Rib, bo, n.”

With bloodshot eyes, I hit one of the two metal ribbon pieces, the only armor on my head.

“Turn me, turn me back into a man......! Agagagagagagaga”

≪It is not a machine that grants wishes!?≫

What is this... I’m not in a fairytale with a moral, there’s no way this punishment can happen, no way I turned into a twintail!!

I hit the ribbon over and over.

Whether my bitter wish got through or not, it lit up and a burst of flame shot out. Forming a spiral in the air, it gathered in my right hand and began to take the shape of a sword like vapor condensing.

The red blade lengthened, wrapping itself around a black core.

A word appeared in my mind like it was being punched into a typewriter.

≪Blazer Blade≫

Fire burst out from my right hand. The magnificent double-edged sword was finished, glowing with red heat.

You couldn’t call it a longsword, but in my hands it looked like a longer than average blade.

Amazi~ng, coo~ol... by the way turn me back.

“Moke――”

One of the soldiers came down out of the air with a pose like a jumping frog.

My voice was frozen, so I swung the sword. The enemy took a diagonal slash to the chest, and with a small explosion evaporated into dust.

“Mokeh”

“Mokee~~~~~~”

“Aagh! These...!!”

I was attacked without a moment of pause and made a sudden horizontal sweep. The soldiers, cut in half, vanished one after another.

With no hesitation - with even less hesitation than before, attacks began to come all at once from the earth and sky.

“De... yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

I slashed at them, the spinning sword wrapped in fire that traveled with the sword’s pressure, spreading out like a burst from a flamethrower.

The figures all in black attacked four ways, eight ways, and evaporated without even having time to scream.

“Hah... hah...”

The reptile monster, alone now, was trembling all over.

“I’m nailed to this spot, I can’t move... The sword like lightning and the twintails dancing in the sky... I was sure that I was lost in heaven!!”

“You really are lost! Stop, that’s creepy!!”

The monster was overcome with emotion. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

I’m the one who wants to cry.

“Haaah, haah, twintails...”

“Wha...!?”

Desire was swirling around the monster like a vortex. He stuck out his hands and came at me like a zombie.

He was different from the one-kick soldiers before. In many ways.

“Those twintails... Could I have you take them between your thumb and index finger and give my cheeks a few slaps, pechi pechi...!!”

Wide eyes, the blood pulsing in them. Rough, thick breaths. And with the tip of his lips stained with drool, the monster came at me.

A dread second to none rushing through me and a weak scream I’d never heard from myself even once before.

“Kyaa--!!”

I fell on my butt, letting the sword drop.

“Haah, haah, twintails...”

I can’t stand to look at this.

Is that right... is this what I look like.

Were guys who like twintails all like this? Would someone who didn’t know me think of me as his accomplice? Was this how other people saw me?

...If nobody approves of me, will I become warped too?

“Shit, it’s because there are things like you that...!”

Clutching my head and trembling, I curled up into a ball.

My memories flickered around me like shadows from a lantern.

The times I talked passionately about twintails.

Or maybe the person I was talking to didn’t know them well, but they knew something about them.

Everyone would always start to look suspicious.

What’s wrong with insisting on the kind of hairstyle you like, I always thought... but was it that monster that they were seeing?

I was pretending that I was confident and didn’t care what anyone thought, but maybe I was really feeling guilty about my love of twintails...?

≪Sou-ji! Get a hold of yourself! You’re the one who said you were going to save them, what are you doing!!≫

“...Ah...!!”

At Aika’s words I came back to reality.

≪You were bragging earlier how important twintails were to you, you even grabbed my... you grabbed the front of a girl’s shirt and lifted her up. Now that you became a twintail you’re scared!? Pull yourself together!≫

≪She said ‘the front of her shirt,’ but Souji-sama, you just grabbed her collar in one smooth motion, didn’t you? There were no obstacles to intercept you, were there? Hahaha≫

≪I’m sorry I stopped you before... I can’t look at that monster anymore either, that creep, don’t worry about all the other stuff, just punch him hard!≫

≪...Don’t, squeeze like a washcloth... Please let go of my obstacles!!≫

≪If you can’t do anything now, then that’s the thing that will make you his accomplice! If you feel guilty about your usual self, then when it’s time to act, do it right!≫

≪It hurts, ow ow ow ow ow!!≫

“...Aika...!”

Aika’s precise speech, as if she could see straight through me. A feeling rose in my heart like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I thought I heard a voice rising in pain, but my mind had already become one with the space around it.

And I’m not confused about what I am anymore.

I’m an idiot.

What Aika says is right. After shaking her off and coming into the battle, what am I doing.

I have been given the power to protect what I love and respect and I’m completely losing it because of my own small worries.

Come to think of it, back when I was a kid, when I was fighting Aika and I had that old man training me, he beat that into my head a lot. You have a lot of idle thoughts, you have to empty your heart - that kind of thing.

Let your heart fill the space... let idle thoughts loose.

Let your heart―

“You are tearing off my breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasts!!”

“...Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!”

For the first time in my life my whole mind is concentrated on this fight. But there’s something, some noise that I can’t imagine comes from a creature of this world, that’s pulling me away and making it really hard to focus, so I let a scream out and began to run.

Nothing else than the scream now.

“Hmm!?”

“I’ll pechi-pechi you! Get your face out here!!”

I lifted the Blazer Blade above my head.

“Oooh!”

For the first time my slash was blocked.

But on the left cheek of the monster that hadn’t been touched, a burn like the mark of a sword appeared, running in a single horizontal line.

“You’re... Haah!!”

The monster screamed and a beam of light flashed out of the palm of his hand.

But the beam evaporated as soon as it touched my body without disturbing my twintails a millimeter. I didn’t feel anything either.

“Hmmn!?”

A combat suit that was so thin, except at my hips, and arms and legs and other places covered by the angular armor, that it didn’t hold me back at all - the Tailgear.

You could see its true worth in the light that surrounded me.

“...Photon Absorber... Is that what this is.”

An ≪explanation≫ echoed in my head.

The ultimate defensive film takes the absorbed energy of motion - in other words, impact - and kills it completely by controlling and intercepting it at the molecular level.

This is also the reason why the head, which should be protected as much as possible, is exposed. No attack will hit the Tailgear as long as the whole body is covered in light, and that makes it an invincible weapon.

“Hmph... You’re a terrifying little kid! For the first time in many days my soldier’s spirit is roaring! I am Lizard Guildy, the leader of the Ultima Guil raid squadron! I fight in the belief that a man’s heart should beat even stronger at the sight of a girl who is holding a doll! Tell me your name, at least, if nothing else!!”

“―TailRed!!”

I said it so naturally that I was surprised. It felt as though the suit itself was telling me what to say.

The moment I had broken through, it had started calling to my heart.

An irrepressible power was pulsing in my whole body.

“...I asked for your real name!!”

“It’s fine... If you shout a disturbing belief like that at the top of your lungs then I don’t need someone like you to remember my name!”

“That’s mysterious! You believe more or less the same thing, don’t you?”

“Don’t put me together with you!”

“It’s obvious at a glance! If you weren’t one who loves twintails more than anything else, you wouldn’t be shining like that!”

“You know your stuff, don’t you... Fine, I shine all the brighter because of my love for twintails - go ahead and remember that!!”

“That runs counter to what we want, then, doesn’t it... For us, we love twintails even more when we have our hands on them! Hnnnn... hmph!!”

The countless spines on Lizard Guildy’s back separated and lifted high into the sky.

A thin belt of light seemed to bind the spines and his body together.

And one by one as if they had a mind of their own they came down to attack.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

I started to cut all of them down with the Blazer Blade.

The burning spines one after another started to hiss like bombs, and after they hit they blew away part of the asphalt.

“Hnnnnn...!!”

They came flying even faster. I could dodge them by the width of a hair and they’d still spin around quickly and pursue me like guided missiles.

My eyesight for moving objects was much better because of the Tailgear, but even for my improved vision the complicated orbits were a threat.

“Twoearle! Will everything be okay even when I defeat this guy? What will happen to the twintails!?”

≪The twintails that were stolen...? The Elements... they’re stored in that ring for an hour or so, I believe! So ignore that guy! Defeat him and break the ring and they’ll go back! ...I believe!!≫

“All right!”

I had been a little frightened about the thing Aika called me about... no, incredibly frightened, but I would stick with my first decision to rescue the president’s, and everyone else’s twintails.

“Magnificent! I will not forget this day if I live for ever! My apologies, but I’d like to take a photograph as a souvenir! Rest your head on my shoulder like this, and hold a stuffed...”

“Shut uuuuu-p!”

I shortened the distance with a single bound and with my left hand wreathed in fire, I punched him hard.

His face mushed in and a large amount of blood came out of his nose.

“Agh, aaugh... No, no help for it... I was trying hard to keep from hurting your face or your twintails, but you’re going to have to resign yourself to a certain amount of damage!!”

The muscles under Lizard Guildy’s steel scales bulged out still more.

He must be gathering all of his strength for an attack.

I stood straight in front of him, preparing for the worst.

But isn’t there... It’s going to be dangerous for the girls lying around here if we keep fighting in this flashy way!

At that moment the vivid image of a deep red pillar of fire floated into my mind.

“―Aura Pillar...? This, then!”

It’s like a help file was included and I can search through it by thinking. Very nice of her.

Fire burst out of the tip of the Blazer Blade and swelled to the size of a basketball. With all my strength I swung the sword up and let it fly loose.

“What is this!?”

The ball of fire exploded right in front of Lizard Guildy, and drawing a spiral encircled his body as its track took the shape of a pillar.

“N, m, nor can I move!”

It certainly is a barrier that binds the enemy. So this is the Aura Pillar!

“Uooooooooooh!!”

Keeping my eyes on Lizard Guildy, I began to run.

The sword that I was holding started to change shape, responding to my spirit. The hilt and ornamental piece unfolded, and the lines that ran through the sword like the veins of a leaf began to flash violently.

Fire shot from the blade shining with red heat, stretching it to almost twice its length.

The edge slipped through the barrier that was holding him. And straight down in the direction it was already going, it cut Lizard Guildy in a single sweep from the crown of his head.

Yes, ≪Grand Blazer≫ is definitely a final move... The trails of flame ran into the sky.

“Gwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

A heat wave like a bubble popping. Lizard Guildy screamed in agony. Arcs of electricity were coming off him.

“He, hehahahaha... Magnificent... To perish with a twintail brushing gently against my cheek... How can I have any regrets! This is the end I always dreamed of as a child!!”

“Wait, hey!!”

The Aura Pillar swelled out suddenly to three times its size.

“Farewell――!!”

Lizard Guildy, holding his belief next to his heart to his last moment, detonated in a tremendous explosion which couldn’t be compared to the others, and dispersed on the wind ―

“Don’t vanish with a dying vision like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!”

After there was only silence.

I looked out on the devastated parking lot, although you could hardly tell that’s what it was anymore.

On the other hand, Grand Blazer had scorched the ground a little, but there weren’t many more traces of my fight. The unbelievable flare and impact had done almost no damage to the surroundings.

I saw Aura Pillar as something like a support technique for capturing the enemy, but maybe it’s to keep damage from explosions down to a minimum.

“Hup~”

I cut the drifting huge metal ring in half without any particularly strong feelings.

As if it had completed its task, the sword I was holding turned into flame and dissolved into the air.

The ring broke into tiny pieces and the light inside it became sparks that broke into streams flowing down into the unconscious girls one by one.

As I saw their hairstyles returning properly to twintails, I was hit by a sense of exhaustion. I wasn’t sure if I might fall on my back.

I had been lost in the fight, but was I really able to save these girls... was I really able to save twintails?

There was a small diamond-shaped stone glittering light green on the ground. I picked it up.

<Doll>

The word came into my mind. As I held it the armor piece on my left hand slid open and sucked it in.

“...Huh, this is another power of the Tailgear?”

“―Um.”

“!”

I almost jumped when someone called me from behind.

The president was awake and looking at me in wonder with her twintails fluttering behind her. They were covered in soot but had not lost their nobility.

She was making a token effort to hold the hem of her torn skirt together with her hand.

“I would like to... thank you very much for saving me.”

“Ah, hahaha, for what? I’m just a guy, no girl who happened to be passing through!”

I don’t think anyone could believe that when I’m dressed like this but I have to come up with something.

“No, um, that is... I woke up midway through the fight.”

“What?......”

“Yo, you fought wonderfully! ... You’re still only small, but you’re gallant... and strong ... I was... so moved!”

“―――!!”

This is bad. I thought everyone was unconscious.

The president is also really young-looking, but right now I don’t look like any more than an elementary schooler.

And that child was carrying a sword and fighting with monsters... how can you come up with an explanation for that situation.

“Excuse me... How in the world did you...!”

“A, a, I’m an ally of justice! Now, please get, out of here quickly!”

I’m really feeling how bad I am at ad-lib, as Aika pointed out an hour ago.

“I would like to thank you very much for saving me!! Will we meet again!?”

“You’ll see me again, as long as you love twintails.”

Bowing deeply to me, the president left at a half-run.

Thank goodness, she didn’t investigate too much.

For something on the spur of the moment, that line wasn’t bad. Although I was just trying to get through this.

“Young mistreessss!!”

A limousine cut diagonally across the parking lot at a reckless speed like it was slashing the lot in half and stopped, leaving a huge tire mark. Maids, a lot of maids, jumped out from inside and rushed over to the president.

A few of the girls who had fainted also began to wake up. The maids... probably at the orders of the president, broke the task up and began to care for them. It didn’t seem like there was any place for me anymore.

Afterward were the girls’ parents and families, maybe... adults, now free, also came running one by one.

The president might have seen me when I was screaming in terror... but I had rescued everyone safely, so I’d like her to forget about it.

“Whew...”

I shifted my line of sight to the front.

I can see myself reflected in the side mirror of a car.

“.........”

It’s a little young, but the way I look is certainly exactly what I was dreaming of, my ideal twintails.

I felt heat coming into my cheeks and shook my head desperately.

If I keep looking at myself, happiness and unease will hit me simultaneously.

Sirens started to come into earshot. Of course, the police and ambulances and things would be coming.

As the thread of tension snapped I felt dizzy.

Hugging a wall to avoid people’s eyes, as I went around a corner I saw Aika and Twoearle, who had been waiting for me.

“It’s finally over...”

My last strength drained out and I fell back on the ground.

The transformation was cancelled, and I was wrapped in a cocoon of light and returned to my original shape.

Thank God I didn’t stay like that my whole life...

“Sou-ji!”

Aika ran over to me and caught me in her arms, and out of relief, maybe, I flickered in and out of consciousness.

“It is a pity for you to have your head pressed against the ground. Please come here, my chest has proper cushions.”

“It’s my chest, not the ground!!”

“―For a woman it is only called a chest once it has begun to puff out. That is, the area below your neck is referred to as the ground, Aika-san.”

“Why don’t you kiss the ground, dumbaaaaaaass!!”

Aika caught the back of Twoearle’s head with an eagle grip and shoved her into the sidewalk.

“Nooo, stooooop, it’s my first kiiiiiiiss!!”

I want to fall asleep feeling like I made everything turn out okay, but I still hear screaming. Come on, guys.

As though guided by fate I dived into the maelstrom of war.

And the curtain closed on TailRed’s first battle.

<references/>

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu

2015-02-19T03:16:18Z

Contradiction:

[[Category:Pending Authorisation]]

{{Teaser|English}}

[[File:OreTwintail v1 00a.jpg|thumb|300px]]
'''Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu''' (俺、ツインテールになります。) is a Japanese light novel written by '''Mizusawa Yume''' (水沢夢) and illustrated by '''Kasuga Ayumu''' (春日歩). The publisher is ''GAGAGA bunko.'' An anime adaptation aired from Oct 10, 2014 to Dec 26, 2014 consisting of 12 episodes.

'''Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu''' series is also available in the following languages:
*[[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu - Français|French (Français)]]

== Story Synopsis (Amazon version) ==

For the sake of the Earth, I will become a twintail!

Mitsuka Souji is a normal high school student with an extraordinary passion for twintails. One day, Twoearle, a beautiful, mysterious girl who claims to come from another world, appears before him. And at the same time, monsters appear in the town where Souji lives!

“Fuhahahahaha! We will gather all the twintails of this world!”

They are creatures from another world who feed on the power of the human spirit, Elemera. Twoearle entrusts Souji with the Daydream Armor "Tailgear," which is powered by his intense twintail element, and he transforms into a young girl twintail warrior, TailRed!

From this day, an aberrant battle with TailRed and a little bit of transformation has begun!

Winner of the judges' award in the 6th Shogakukan Light Novel Awards.

== Translation ==

=== [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

Here is the [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Registration Page|registration page]]. Contact [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]] before signing up. The Baka-Tsuki format guidelines might come in handy, although this project has its own version: [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Format Guidelines]]

== Talk page and Q&A ==

If you want to ask questions or send complaints or comments, one avenue of contact is the [[Talk:Ore,_Twintail_ni_Narimasu|Talk Page]]. It has a little Q&A section, too.

There is also the neglected [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=6079 Feedback thread].

== Updates ==
* 16 February 2015
** Posted the epilogue and afterword. Also, I posted a revised version of the prologue and Chapter 1, and tried to fix some of the inconsistent punctuation. If I messed up the formatting, please let me know at ultiroid at gmail.com.
* 15 February 2015
** Posted Chapter 4 to the sound of Drag Guildy exploding in the background.
* 1 February 2015
** I was trying to finish it all at once, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. So with 28 pages left, here is [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HQcyvsJqSf-F_Vt4YreUbV00EP6An3WkRVVgomWtp1o the current google doc].
* 7 January 2015
** The draft of Chapter 3 was posted. There are more untranslated character pages: now it's Miharu, Erina, and Drag Guildy. I did [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=File:OreTwintail_v1_157_translated.gif Twoearle] but the size of the text font is a little off.
* 21 December 2014
** I'm active again. Also, while I was fucking around, someone translated all of Chapter 3 [http://pastebin.com/b0ApSEDr (pastebin)] and some amount of Chapter 4. Please check that out if you're getting tired of waiting. I will keep working on this version, though. It's nice to have more than one person doing it.
* 12 October 2014
** Officially joined the "Twoearle" faction. (It can't be "Thuearle" because "u" in that font doesn't have a chip out of the top right corner: [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=File:OreTwintail_v1_225.jpg])
* 6 September 2014
** The draft of Chapter 2 was posted. There are some untranslated character pages, but I skipped those for now and started working on Chapter 3 ([https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_s1wNTdALi-RetZ8lJl0xLKBe-zAchU3ae1WhF5rlZg/edit google doc])
* 5 July 2014
** Translated [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1 character pictures|the two character sheet pages]] between chapters 1 and 2, and started working on Chapter 2. ([https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QR7sLEQNzG4htmiSFlADjHwzGrYL0LASbk9L75-9JNw google doc])
* 3 July 2014
** The draft of [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Volume 1 Chapter 1]] was posted.
* 6 May 2013‎
** Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu teaser project initiated.

== ''Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu'' by Mizusawa Yume ==

=== Volume 1 ([[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1|Full Text]])===
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue:contradiction|Prologue]] | [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Prologue|(old)]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]] | [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1 (old)|(old)]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 1 character pictures|Chapter 1 character sheets]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 2 character pictures|Chapter 2 character sheets]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 3 character pictures|Chapter 3 character sheets]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Translator's Notes|Translator's notes]]
::* [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Volume 1 Afterword|Afterword]]

== Project Staff ==

* Project Manager: [[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]]

== Translators ==
For details on who did what, please consult the project [[Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu:Registration Page|registration page]].

===Active===
*[[User:Contradiction|Contradiction]]

===Inactive===
*[[User:RikiNutcase| RikiNutcase]]

== Project Status ==

Project Status: '''Teaser'''

== Series Overview ==
:*俺、ツインテールになります。   19 June 2012 ISBN： 978-4094513462
:*俺、ツインテールになります。2 20 November 2012 ISBN： 978-4094513752
:*俺、ツインテールになります。3 19 March 2013 ISBN： 978-4094513981
:*俺、ツインテールになります。4 18 July 2013 ISBN： 978-4094514247
:*俺、ツインテールになります。5 18 December 2013 ISBN： 978-4094514544
:*俺、ツインテールになります。6 16 June 2014 ISBN: 978-4094514919
:*俺、ツインテールになります。7 18 September 2014 ISBN: 978-4094515084
:*俺、ツインテールになります。8 19 December 2014 ISBN: 978-4094515244