Not long after Hana’s speech ended, the three hundred returned to their work stations with a renewed vigour. According to Hikari, there was now no doubt in her mind that all the equipment necessary for the battle would be finished long before the solstice came about.

Hana and Saki had called a few of the girls (who I assumed to be field commanders of sorts) into a makeshift “war room” for a strategy meeting, along with Mai since her unparalleled intelligence was indispensable to them. Meanwhile, Suzume and Hikari returned to their own workstations. With Kyouma likely off somewhere causing trouble, that left Sunao and I to our own devices. We had taken to simply walking around the manor to familiarise ourself with its layout as we talked.

“I’m surprised you’re not with Saki at the strategy meeting, Nao.”

“Sh-she did ask me to come along, but I was worried I’d just be a hindrance. Military strategy isn’t exactly my forte…”

“That’s fair enough. I’m just used to seeing you guys joined at the hip.”

Those words made me realise that I had only ever talked to Nao alone a handful of times. I had spent a lot of time alone with Saki for sparring and practice reasons, but I pretty much only saw Nao when she was with Saki.

“Sh-she and I have known each other for so long, I’ve become dependent on her. I-I don’t know if I’d even manage without her…”

“I think you sell yourself too short, y’know.” Nao, who had been looking down toward the ground as she tended to do, actually looked up and met my eye as I spoke. “You and Saki make up for each other’s weaknesses, but you also have plenty of individual strengths that make you both exceptional people. I mean, you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”

“B-but not the smartest, right?” She looked back down at the ground again, a tinge of melancholy in her voice. “There’s nothing that I can be the best at. I’m not as intelligent as Mai. I’m not as strong as you. I’m not as… incredible as Saki. She’s amazing in ways I can hardly describe. She’s brave but not reckless, impassioned but not blinded by passion, driven but level headed. She’s everything I could never be.”

Though I knew Nao struggled with self esteem, I was surprised to hear those words leave her mouth. It was like the floodgates opened as soon as she stared speaking, and she was unable to close them.

It also made me realise something about her relationship with Saki that I had failed to pick up on before.

“You… feel inferior to her. You don’t feel like you can be equal with Saki, do you?”

“How could I not feel that way? She’s incredible. She’s everything I admire and everything I envy. Next to her I just look like a one-trick pony that’s good at chemistry and nothing else.”

Nao seemed so adamant on her inferiority that she even ceased stuttering. As if the certainty of her words was so great that she had no reason to stammer over them.

Unfortunately, the words she was so sure of were blind self hatred.

“You love her, right? As a woman, I mean.”

“I-I… I think… I don’t kn-…” she breathed in heavily, letting out a deep sigh before simply muttering “yes.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Is this why you haven’t confessed those feelings to her yet? You don’t think you’re worthy of her or something?”

“Of course I’m not worthy of her. If we were t-together like that, I’d just… hold her back. She could never reach her full potential with someone as useless as me at her side…”

“That’s the complete opposite of the truth, you fool.” I let my sharp tongue get away from me for a moment, causing Nao to jump slightly, but her insistence on self deprecation had begun to get to me. “I’m pretty sure Saki wouldn’t have gotten half as far as she has if you weren’t by her side. Have you not realised just how much she relies on you?”

“I don’t… I’m not… what do you mean?”

“I’m not Saki, so I can’t tell you what goes on in her mind, but if I had to guess I’d say the only reason she’s pushed herself as hard as she has over the years is because she knew you were by her side the whole time.” I, in fact, knew all of this with certainty because I’d managed to worm it out of Saki myself. “Don’t get me wrong, Saki’s determination even alone is incredible. She’s a truly exceptional person from her head to her toes. But I think being so close with you is the one driving force that’s pushed her further than any others. You’re not her inferior. You’re her equal in every way.”

I expressed all of my honest thoughts, not caring to hide the slight agitation in my voice. I wasn’t angry at Sunao per se. I was upset that someone I considered a close friend was so adamant on putting herself down. And that it was a hurdle between her and Saki being happy together.

“I could never lead other people the way she does…”

“And you don’t need to. Mai and I can go into battle feeling safe because we have Saki leading from the front and you protecting us from behind. You’re as valuable as each other.”

“But she’d be happier with someone more like her. Someone like Hana. Someone she can relate to, not someone who has to lean on her like a crutch.”

“She’d be happiest with the person she loves. You know exactly who that is.”

I had begun to grow tired of Saki and Nao referring to each other as “crutches.” It seemed like the one thing preventing them from being together is their inability to fathom the concept of “mutual support.”

“…do you honestly think I’m good enough for her? That she’d be happy with someone as useless as me?”

“Useless? Would someone who’s useless be invited to an academy for society’s most exceptional people? Would someone who’s useless be able to single-handedly reverse chemical brainwashing and cause hundreds of lives to be saved? Would someone who’s useless have been able to win our sparring match against people with powers we had never even seen before? You’re not useless, Nao. You’re just as incredible as she is. And she knows that just as well as I do. Stop worrying about whether you’re good enough. The only person in the world who’s ‘good enough’ to belong by her side is you.”

Nao didn’t rebut at first. She fell into silence, letting my every word sink in. It was clear that she wasn’t entirely convinced, though that came as no surprise. Self esteem couldn’t be fixed with some nice words in five minutes. But if she was giving my words some thought, I could ask for no more than that.

“…you really know how to talk to someone’s heart, don’t you?”

“Blame Mai for that. I think she turned me into a romantic somehow.”

“Hehe. I think I like this version of you better than the gloomy one who just snarks people out all the time.”

“Hey! I wasn’t that bad! …was I?”

Nao giggled a little bit, which made me glad for having improved her mood a little. Seeing her beat herself up like that was starting to hurt my soul a little.

“…thank you, Shin. You’re a good friend.”

“You’re very welcome, Nao. I’m glad to have been of some help.”

It was as we sunk into silence again that I noticed we had been wandering the halls for quite some time. Since it seemed like the strategy meeting would last a long while, I started to think about going back to Mum and Dad and waiting for Mai there instead.

“Hey, Nao. It’s pretty late into the evening. Reckon we should find Kyouma and head back to our homes?”

“Ah- you go on ahead. I… I think I need to talk to Saki for a while…”

I let a smile curl onto my lips, which caused Nao to avert her gaze and blush furiously.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to yourself for now then. Break a leg, girl. Me and Mai will be ready with the champagne.”

“D-don’t be such a dork…” even as she said that, Nao couldn’t hide her own smile.