Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

Happiness overwhelmed Chris, but then, the thought that it was all just her imagination and that she would have to face the cold reality when she woke up made her heart ache.

As if doused with a bucket of cold water, Chris looked again at the girl beneath her, whose expression seemed somewhat dazed, and a wave of sadness and resentment washed over her.

"Why! Why did you leave me all alone after such a precious reunion, a reunion blessed by the gods? Why did you keep everything bottled up inside and never tell me about your pain? Don't you trust me at all? Am I really that untrustworthy?!"

So, with tears in her eyes, Chris, as if venting her frustrations, spoke to the dream doll in her eyes what she had never been able to say before.

"Ah, I know. It's because I'm too weak. I'm too weak to keep up with you, so you left me behind. I'm too weak to solve your pain, so you don't say anything because you don't want me to worry. I'm too weak to worry about you, so you have to worry about my safety."

Tears blurred her vision, making the figure in front of her slightly distorted, but Chris ignored it and continued to ramble on about her thoughts.

"I understand, I understand everything, but I just can't accept it... Every single day, I fantasize about how wonderful it would be if we could go back to how we were before, but it's always just an empty dream. I've gone from hope to despair so many times that I can't even tell the difference anymore... Waaah—"

She gripped the other person's hand tightly, revealing her most vulnerable side. Tears dripped onto her cheeks and streamed down her face as Chris released all the emotions she had been holding back. She even choked up at the end.

"I don't know why the gods made that arrangement, causing you to suffer that pain and making you the way you are now, and I don't know how to resolve all of this."

"But I don't want to get involved in any of those things, Lingyi, I really, really, really miss you..."

She lay on top of the girl, burying her head in the hair behind her neck, and whispered her last words.

In the dimly lit sports equipment room, in the narrow and cramped space, the dim yellow sunset cast messy shadows on the disheveled white-haired and blonde girl.

On the soft sports mattress, in the room filled with dust and a somewhat messy atmosphere, silence fell as Chris stopped speaking.

In the silence, Lingyi began to think, but then she couldn't think anymore.

After all, Zero really didn't know how to respond to Chris's words, or rather, she had no way to give any response.

Oh no, what should I do...?

Complex feelings surged through my mind. Human emotions are something that neither heretical technology nor science can solve. Even if Lingyi possesses the power to control people's hearts, she cannot come up with a perfect solution to this situation.

[At least for now, let her realize that this isn't a dream.]

But Zero knew she had to do something now, because she saw Chris, who had recovered slightly from her grief, begin to clumsily try out new poses that she herself had learned from who-knows-where.

Thinking this, Lingyi exerted a little force and pinched the other person's finger hard.

"Ouch, Lingyi, you do it... Wait, it hurts?"

Under the influence of the pain, Chris seemed to regain her senses slightly.

When Chris came to her senses, she looked at her current position, at the person she was pressing down on, and felt the lingering sensation from his lips.

puff--

The sound, like the boiling of a kettle, came from above Chris's head, and Chris herself blushed as adorably as a ripe apple.

Chapter Fourteen Seal

In the dimly lit equipment room, a white-haired girl straddled the waist of a girl in a gym uniform, her eyes now rounded, and steam rising from her flushed face.

"Hoo... Chris, does it feel good to be on top of me?"

Seeing Chris almost faint from shame, Zero sighed, offering a question that served as both a reminder and a way to distract her.

"Ah... um—"

Reminded by Zero, Chris realized that the current situation was not very elegant and responded in a barely audible whisper.

After that, she mechanically got up like a stiff machine, leaned against the corner of the wall, squatted down, and buried her burning face between her legs, as if this would make it seem as if what had just happened had never occurred.

“Chris…no need to say more, I understand. It’s normal to be curious about that kind of thing during puberty, but, well, maybe you should restrain yourself a little.”

She stood up, patted her slightly wrinkled clothes, and looked at the completely withdrawn Bai Mao. Lingyi hesitated for a moment before giving a tactful evaluation of his behavior and the emotions that had just surfaced in his mind.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with Chris having those thoughts, but what worried her was that she saw from Chris's memories that Chris used those things to relieve stress a little too often, which was not good for her physical development.

"Urusai, in the end it's all because of you. If you hadn't done those despicable things and kept disappearing, I wouldn't have... huh?!"

Chris, her face flushed, realized the situation and got up to ask Zero about it, but before she could say a few words, she covered her face, which was steaming again, because she remembered the romantic atmosphere just now.

"Um... well, Chris, you can adjust it yourself."

Taking advantage of Chris's seemingly uncommunicative state, Lingyi turned around, intending to leave first. She hadn't made any preparations beforehand, and seeing Chris any longer might lead to more mistakes.

Chris stopped the other person in her tracks. Although the blush on her face had not yet faded, she knew that the most important thing was to find out Zero's purpose and that she could not let her go so easily.

"What's wrong? Is there anything you want to ask?"

Looking at the girl blocking her way, Lingyi asked.

"Hmph... I want to know why you're here, why you're wearing Lydian Academy's gymnastics uniform, and why it's soaked and clinging to your body... Uh, no, I want to ask you why you're here!"

Still not quite clear-headed, Chris shook her head to clear away the accumulated yellow rubbish in her mind and asked Zero.

"The reason... um."

Trying her best to ignore the blush-inducing images peeking into Chris's mind, Zero considered how much to say to Chris.

"Chris-chan, are you alright? Did Zero-chan do anything to you?!"

Just as the two were facing off, they noticed that Chris had followed Rei in and entered. They rushed over and opened the door in concern.

"Hey, nothing, what could be wrong with me? What's wrong? Why are you so flustered?"

Seeing the two of them looking flustered, Chris composed herself and asked Tachibana Hibiki a question in a strange tone.

"Whether something is wrong or not can't be sensed, Chris. Do you remember... what we fought for before?"

The composed Kohinata Mirai immediately began confirming a fact with Chris as soon as she entered.

"How could I forget? Of course, I'll give her a good beating, bring her back, and then treat her."

Chris glanced at Zero and replied matter-of-factly, not understanding why Kohinata Mirai would ask such an obvious question.

"Phew... It seems that Chris, your memories haven't been erased by Zero."

Seeing that Chris's memory was still so clear, Kohinata Mirai breathed a slight sigh of relief and said something that made Chris furious.

"Erase memories... Hey, are you kidding me? What's going on? What does 'erase memories' mean?!"

Upon hearing this, Chris turned her gaze to Zero, who hadn't had a chance to say anything yet, her eyes filled with confusion and unease.

She had never heard of Lingyi doing such a thing.

"Don't look at me like that. Chris's situation is more complicated than yours. She and I are too close. Erasing her memories is much more difficult than erasing yours."

Having recovered from Chris's actions, Zero smiled and addressed the group present, acknowledging the fact.

"Hey, Baka, what's going on? What do you mean by 'modifying memories'?!"

A mix of emotions surged within Chris. Biting her lip, she began to seek information from the two people beside her that she did not know.

"Ah, I was planning to tell you this after school, Chris-chan. Well, to put it simply... it seems that Rei-chan is trying to erase all traces of the past, including our memories, for safety reasons."

"At noon, Xiang almost had her memory erased on the rooftop. I sensed something was wrong and rushed to her side. After asking her, I realized that Lingyi actually had such a dangerous purpose."

Very quickly, Tachibana Hibiki and Kohinata Mirai recounted their experiences on the rooftop at noon to Chris.

"ha? "

Chris wasn't stupid; she quickly understood everything.

After understanding everything, Chris turned around, looked at Zero who was still smiling and watching them, and fell into a long silence.

"Are you alright, Chris-chan?"

Hibiki Tachibana was somewhat worried. She knew Rei's position in Chris's heart, so she was concerned about Rei's mindset and emotions.

"Hoo... Hah—I have a question. If you really intend to do this, then Zero, what do you intend for me to forget?"

Without responding to Hibiki Tachibana, Chris simply let out a long sigh, looked at Rei with a gloomy expression, and asked this question.

"Because you and I are too close, Chris, you have too many dangerous memories. So, it's probably all of them, all the non-ordinary memories from the first time we met until now."

"It's okay, isn't it? Just like Kohinata, Chris, you must also be suffering because of those memories with me. As long as you forget me, you'll never have to go through that kind of pain again. Wouldn't that be better?"

With nothing to hide, Lingyi smiled and told Chris about her plans, speaking as if it were all perfectly natural.

For this girl who knows more about her past and with whom she has a closer relationship, Lingyi's approach is naturally more radical; she has no intention of preserving any memories of herself for her.

"you……"

After listening to Lingyi's words, Chris entered into a long period of thought, trying to understand the meaning behind Lingyi's words and to decipher the emotions contained within them.

She wanted to know what kind of thought process led Lingyi to say such words that completely ignited the deepest anger within her.

"It seems you're very angry, Chris. Well, we still have plenty of time to discuss this. I believe that in the end, you and your allies will be able to accept it. After all, there's nothing else you can do but accept it."

"Alright, judging by the time, I should go back and prepare the meal. Could you please move aside?"

Seeing Chris's ever-changing expression, Lingyi lost interest in continuing the conversation. She smiled and asked the three people blocking her way to move aside.

"Tiao... Zero-chan, what did you do to her?"

Upon hearing Rei mention the Tsukuyomi Chronicle, Tachibana Hibiki instinctively asked a worried question.

"Don't worry, I'm just temporarily replacing SONG as her guardian. Once I find Qiege, extract the Fini soul from her, and kill her, I'll leave."

"Ah, speaking of which, she was the first failed case of my memory erasure. I really don't understand why she would resist so fiercely even when I tried to manipulate her."

In response to Hibiki's question, Rei smiled and said that Tsukuyomi's current situation was safe, and casually complained slightly about her unwavering will.

Before coming to Lydian Academy to put her ideas into practice, her first priority was to take control of Tsukuyomi Chō, so that she would be able to detect any attempt by Akatsuki to approach her.

"Alright, are there any other questions, Chris? If there's nothing else, could you let me through?"

After briefly explaining her actions to Hibiki Tachibana, Rei turned her gaze back to Chris, who was still blocking her way, and began to speak.

"Inhale—exhale—"

[Stay calm. Anger won't solve anything. Without my magic bow, I can't beat this guy up right now.]

On the other side, Chris, who had been trembling like a volcano about to erupt, calmed down after taking another deep breath.

She was still furious about Lingyi's actions, but this anger actually calmed her mind.

[...After calming down, I realized, ha, even so, to erase all those precious memories between me and her from the first time we met until now, wait, when we first met, I remember...] Trying to calm down, Chris began to try to sort out the cause and effect of the situation. Just as she turned her attention to those precious memories of the past, she discovered something she was only now noticing.

[That expression... isn't that exactly the expression I had when we first met? -@〓月*〨漪*/1器锍壹=衫尔栮?久 Sure enough, this guy has never changed; now it's just that his annoying trait has become even more pronounced.]

After calming down, Chris looked at Zero again and noticed the unchanging smile on her face, and realized this.

In the past, due to her parents' circumstances, her life overlapped with that of Lingyi for a period of time, and during that time, she and Lingyi developed a very good relationship.

But when she saw that faint, familiar, forced smile on the other person's face, Chris remembered that she had seen a similar expression on Zero before, right when she first met her.

When they first met, the other person had a similar unpleasant expression on their face and was doing things that annoyed her. It wasn't until they lived together for a while that this trait diminished considerably, and their relationship improved a lot.

"Ha, I think I understand now. Your reasons for doing this have never changed. You still prefer to tough it out on your own instead of trusting others when you encounter difficulties."

"You want to erase our memories for your so-called safety reasons? That's the opposite of what you think. You probably believe that the best outcome for us is if we all ignore your affairs, which is why you're doing this."

Standing in front of Zero, Chris, who had her own thoughts, calmly presented her deductions about Zero's current thoughts to the person in front of her.

"I don't quite understand the point of what you're saying, Chris... Whether it's true or false, this deduction is useless. You weaklings can't change anything."

Zero neither confirmed nor denied Chris's deduction. Faced with absolute overwhelming strength, no matter how the other party explained her behavior, it had no effect on her in the slightest.

"It's not that it's useless. Once I understood that, I knew what I needed to do now."

Immediately afterward, while saying this, Chris stepped forward with her own will, hugged Zero tightly, and whispered in her ear.

"I understand your thoughts, but I will not give up. Don't even think about abandoning me. I will rush to your side even if it means my death. No matter how strong or weak I am, I will stick to you and never let go."

Chris made this declaration firmly in Zero's ear.

“Chris, you…”

Slightly to Lingyi's surprise, she had thought Chris would be as shy as before, but she didn't expect her to make such a slightly bold move.

"And then, there's one more thing. You want to erase our memories, which is really outrageous, extremely outrageous, and infuriating. Even though you haven't succeeded yet, I'm already... furious. So..."

Before Zero could react, Chris, who had just been making her declaration, opened her mouth and aimed it at Zero's exposed shoulder.

"Hiss—Chris, what are you doing?"

Feeling the pain and warmth in her shoulder, Lingyi's body trembled involuntarily.

"This is your punishment. Who told you to abandon me every day? Remember, this is just interest. The real cost will be made to pay you back later!"

After releasing Lingyi's body, Chris smiled contentedly and said this, no longer bothering her, and made way for her.

Gently touching the teeth marks on her neck, Zero didn't know what to say. In the end, she chose to remain silent, stepping over the somewhat surprised Tachibana Hibiki and Kohinata Mirai, and leaving the place.

Chapter Fifteen: Tuning and Singing