Even late into the evening, I found myself completely stuck.

“Can fight supervillains and save kidnapped teenagers but can’t write a damn speech. How pathetic.”

I was on something like my ninth draft, and I still felt like everything I was writing was irredeemable crap. I was beginning to lose the last ounces of motivation I had.

“My instincts told me I would find thee here. How goes thy quest?”

My lamentation was interrupted by the arrival of my right hand, Kyouma.

“Hey, Kyou. It’s… not going so great, I’ll be honest. No matter how many times I try to reword it, I just… I can’t get it to feel right.” I didn’t hide the frustration in my voice. We were on a time limit, and I was steadily encroaching on it with my constant delays. We had less than four weeks to be battle ready.

While I continued rereading over my own writing, Kyouma wandered over to where I was sat down and rested her chin on my head, slinging her arms around my shoulders in a loose hug.

“Do thou remember the words I spoke to thee on the day thou rescued me from my captors?” She suddenly asked.

“How could I ever forget such an incredible declaration. ‘Even if you march to your own death, I will be at your side every step of the way.’ Those words have a permanent place in my heart.”

“Though I may have been the one to voice them, those words are shared by each and every one of the people thee have risked thy life to save. Every girl in this manor owes a life debt to thee, and every one of them is eager to pay it back. Whatever speech thee give, I believe they will rally to thy side, even in death.”

“But that’s just the problem. I don’t want them to feel like they’re paying back a debt. I will not lead hundreds of girls to death and damnation over something as trivial as unpaid dues. I want them to make the independent decision to fight for humanity, not for me.”

In truth, calling upon them to pay back their supposed life debts would almost certainly work. The girls of the manor expressed an overwhelming amount of gratitude to me at every opportunity, so much so that our secret society had almost begun to resemble a cult.

But I’m not a cult leader. Nor am I a debt collector. I’m just a girl who wants to protect the people and the world she loves, and I need their help to do so.

“Hmm… might I peruse what thee have written so far?”

“Be my guest.”

Without releasing me from her semi-hug, Kyouma used one arm to pick the paper up from my desk and hold it in front of her face. A surprising amount of anxiety welled up within me as she silently read over my work. There was little in the world more embarrassing to me than having someone read something I had written.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Hmm…” she said after a while, placing the paper back on the desk and letting her arm drop around me again.

“What do you think?”

“I believe I’ve found the issue.”

“That being?”

“These aren’t thy words.”

Her blunt rejection of the speech stung slightly, but it mostly confused me. What could she mean? I had written it from the ground up by myself.

“Are you accusing me of plagiarism?”

“I’m accusing thee of imitation. I know thee more thoroughly than any other person alive, thus I can recognise thy style and manneris-“

“Without the sophistry, Kyou.”

“It doesn’t read like it comes from Hana Hajime. It reads like a lacklustre imitation of Saki Tachibana.”

I raised an eyebrow, confused at the criticism.

“Of course you’ll be able to spot influences of Saki-Senpai in my writing. She’s my greatest guiding light.”

“That much may be true, but what I see here is not the work of a person who has been influenced by another, but that of someone trying to emulate the other completely. Everything down to the manner of speech seems out of character for you.”

“So I’m emulating Saki-senpai a little, why is that a bad thing? She’s a fearless leader, someone brave enough to do what needs to be done even at the risk of her own life. To capture the spirit of someone like her would be perfect for my purposes.”

“But the three hundred don’t revere Saki Tachibana, the fearless leader. They revere Hana Hajime, the iron protector. The words they will respond to are those that come from the person they respect above all others. A speech that comes from the depths of thine own heart, one that resonates with them because it came from thee. Our soldiers love thee. Show them the same love in return by being the truest version of thyself. That is all I have to suggest.” She kissed me on the cheek before standing back from my chair, giving me space for freedom of movement once again. “And aside from that, even if not a single person in this manor agrees to go along with this war, I alone will stand at thy side. In sickness and in health, even in death we shall not part. I vow that much to thee.”

Though she seemed to speak in an unserious way, conversations with Kyouma always made me feel understood in a way no others could. She wasn’t just my right hand, she was the best friend I could ever ask for.

“Thank you, Kyouma. In sickness and in health, I swear I will never leave you behind. Even in death, there will always be a place for you by my side.”

“I am in thy eternal debt. I’ll leave thee to thy work. I love thee true, and I bid thee goodnight.”

“Love you too, Kyouma. Goodnight.”

The door clicked behind me, and I was once again alone with a fountain pen, paper and my own thoughts. Except this time, I knew exactly what I wanted to write.

My pen seemed to flow across the page, the words in my mind translating so comfortably to writing that my hand continued to move without pause.

Eventually, before me sat a page wet with ink, my words finally moved from my mind to paper, and a feeling of immense satisfaction filled my heart.

I looked over at the clock on my desk to find that night had since fallen, but not so long ago that the person I wanted to talk to would likely be in bed. I picked up my phone and dialled her number without a second thought.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Hana?”

“Saki, think you could bring your team down to the manor tomorrow? I’m ready to rally the troops. I want you to be there with me.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’m proud of you, Hana.”

“Thank you… I’m proud of me too.”