Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  Yukari and Mika walked to a quiet corner in school and sat down across each other.

  "Wakaba-san is busy right now with her club activities, correct?"

  "Yeah."

  "I feel like she intentionally misled me, yet she didn't tell me a single lie… she's truly amazing." Yukari sighed.

  "Chiaki has always been amazing," Mika responded.

  "The two of you are good friends. When things don't involve Seigo… Seiji, what type of relationship do you have with her?" Yukari inquired.

  Mika didn't reply.

  "It's fine if you don't want to tell me. You have no obligation to answer this question from me." Yukari smiled. "I'm just curious, and slightly envious as well. This is because I'd actually like to become friends with Wakaba-san."

  This was the truth. Yukari felt quite pressured having Chiaki Wakaba as her opponent. She felt it would be best if they could become allies.

  "Chiaki is actually really appreciative of you as a person as well. If it wasn't for Seiji, the two of you could probably become excellent friends," Mika stated softly. "I even feel like I'm not really good enough to be one of Chiaki's best friends. Her best friend should be more like you."

  "That isn't right. You shouldn't say something like that." Yukari looked directly at Mika. "To be honest, I wouldn't have anything to do with or ever met Chiaki Wakaba if it wasn't for Seiji. She recognizes you as her good friend, which means that you're good enough for her. This has nothing to do with you thinking that you don't have the right to be her friend. Your words are not only debasing yourself, it's also rude towards her as well. Please don't say such a thing in front of her."

  Mika blinked upon hearing this.

  "Thank you for your advice… You really remind me of Seiji like this."

  "Eh?"

  "The content of what you just said, as well as the tone, caused me to think of Seiji… Chiaki said before that you're like a female version of him. I agree with her assessment."

  Yukari didn't know what to say.

  "The way you put it sounds rather strange." The purple-haired girl now had a rather subtle expression.

  "You really are quite like him, in Chiaki's and my opinion."

  "Seiji and I do have some points in common, but calling me a female version of him… I think that's still not quite accurate." Yukari folded her arms. "Even without mentioning the differences between men and women, the two of us have some foundational differences."

  "Such as?" Mika looked at Yukari.

  "I don't know how to say it clearly… should I say that he's more resolute than I am, or…" Yukari thought about it for a moment. "…Simply speaking, he's stronger than I am."

  "Stronger?"

  "Yes, that's the easiest way to describe it." The purple-haired girl paused for a moment. "To use killing others as an example, he'll unhesitatingly do it if he considers it absolutely necessary, while I can't do the same… I'm not saying that he's cruel; it's that he's stronger than me on a deeper level… something like that."

  Something flashed in Mika's eyes when she heard this.

  "He has this incredible strength to him, which is why he's a 'hero'. And as for me, I'm at most a 'princess', nothing more." That was Yukari's conclusion.

  "I… feel like I understand what you mean."

  "That's good, then."

  Several seconds of silence fell between them.

  "Let's move on to the main topic." Yukari now had a serious expression. "Uehara-san, just what precisely do you think after hearing what Wakaba-san said last week?"

  Later that night, Seiji invited Mika and the others into his apartment.

  Chiaki started playing a video game together with Reo in the living room, while Seiji, Mika, and Kaede went to his study to have a discussion.

  "Seiji, is your true goal actually to protect us?"

  This was what Mika said after hearing his explanation.

  Seiji blinked upon hearing this.

  "I said it just now, my goal is…"

  "Isn't it fine even if you don't achieve that goal? Am I correct?" Mika looked at him.

  "…Why do you think that?"

  "I had a discussion with Asamiya-san and came to the conclusion."

  "You and Yukari did?"

  Mika nodded.

  "I met with her after school and talked about a lot with her. After that, both of us agreed that creating a Spirit-branded Retainer team to duel against your older sister is only an excuse. Your real objective is to take advantage of the Haruta Family's power to protect the Awakened… to protect your friends."

  Seiji didn't say anything in response.

  "Of course, it would be nice if you could achieve that secondary goal of defeating your older sister. But if it's truly unachievable, you wouldn't force us to fight her at all. After all, your true goal is simply to take us in under your name and help us to become stronger." Mika gazed directly at him. "Am I correct?"

  Seiji smiled as he looked back at her.

  "Looks like you've seen through me," he admitted. "You're absolutely correct. That's exactly what I was thinking. Of course, it would be nice if we can successfully defeat my older sister Yui. But, if it's not possible to do so, I won't force things at all. Ever since the New Year's, strange things have constantly been happening in succession. I feel that it'll only become harder for me to protect all my friends in the future, which is why I wish for all of you to become stronger so that you can protect yourselves when you meet danger. Of course, the process of becoming stronger is risky as well, so perhaps what I'm doing is a bit contradictory. Still, I believe that proactively working to become stronger is better than passively reacting to whatever happens. That's just my personal opinion. Perhaps you all have different opinions from me. This is why I wish for you to join my team, but also why I wish you can think things through for yourselves and make your own decisions."

  "Seiji…" Something flashed in Kaede's eyes as she looked at him.

  "I want to join." Mika was still looking at his face. "I wish to become stronger and be of help to you, which is why I choose to join in."

  "Mika…"

  "I'll definitely get left behind by you if I don't join in."

  "Eh?"

  "You're really strong, Seiji. Not only that, you're continuing to grow stronger. I'm going to work my hardest so that I can follow in your footsteps!" Mika said this seriously.

  That was the final conclusion she came to after discussing with Yukari Asamiya.

  Seiji Haruta was someone who would continue marching forward despite how strong he currently was already. Unless she followed after him, she would be left behind. Even if they still remained friends, they might become more and more distant from each other.

  From this angle, falling in love with him was something difficult, but also something blissful.

  That was because as long as she used her love as motivation and followed in his footsteps, she'd be able to reach a much higher level that she wouldn't have reached by herself!

  Natsuya Yoruhana was the "Empress".

  Shika Kagura was the "Demon King".

  Chiaki Wakaba… perhaps she counted as a "Wise One"?

  In that case, who was Mika Uehara?

  Yukari couldn't help but think such things to herself as she sat in her own bedroom, facing her drawing board but not coming up with anything to draw, instead recalling the earlier conversation with Mika.

  The most astonishing part of that entire conversation to her was that not only did Mika Uehara already accept the fact that Seiji had killed someone else before, she even had the resolution to be able to kill someone else for Seiji's sake!

  Yukari still didn't have such firm resolution yet… or, more accurately, she was unsure whether she would be able to do it or not if such a situation arose.

  Yet, Mika already had such firm resolution already, even before Seiji invited her to his team! Even if she might not do such a thing in the end, it was already amazing how she had such resolution… even a little scary.

  Yukari long since believed that Mika had plenty of potential. Still, Mika's reaction was still far beyond what Yukari expected.

  This was why Yukari had trouble figuring out what type of character Mika was.

  However, she figured it out a while later.

  Although Mika was a bit clumsy and simple-minded, she didn't give up easily and had deep hidden potential as well as a resolute will… Wasn't such a person just like the main character in classical stories? She was a "hero"!

  Mika Uehara was a "hero".

  'Perhaps Mika doesn't stand out now, but she may just grow and develop in unexpected ways,' Yukari thought to herself.