Shori No Megami

Objective #8. A Flight Versus a Pride

Shinai Academy, Abandoned Building C, May 11th, 1000 hours.

Sumire looks at the challenge letter in front of her. “This is the first one we’ve gotten since we took over Takahashi...?” She reads it for the third time, still amazed by the horrible grammar and spelling. “The Lions from Ketsui Public High school, huh? Watanabe-kun, do you have a current map of the schools in the prefecture on your laptop? I’d like to maintain an interactive map of the territories and who occupies what.”

Watanabe smiles and nods. He’s warmed to Sumire in the short time since she joined. It was inevitable; since joining she’s pushed a campaign favoring strategy and planning over response and brute strength. Shou is a good leader, but he has a habit of emphasizing combat training over strategy and tactics. Generally he’s relied on Watanabe for his plans. However, while Watanabe has no problem laying plans when it comes to matters concerning Shinai, he’s struggled with how to handle the attacks from outside gangs and schools. Since Sumire’s arrival and thanks to her careful planning, the once daily attacks against Sparrows outside of the school have become a thing of the past.

Sumire sits next to him, her shoulder pressed against his as she points to the location on the map indicating Ketsui Public. Watanabe can’t help but blush slightly at her proximity. But she’s all business now, her attention on Ketsui’s location. She notes that it’s to the northeast of Shinai, thus touching both Takahashi and Shinai territories. As one of the largest public schools and, according to Watanabe’s reports, one of the schools with the most active gang communities in the area, it likely controls a substantial area. “So if we take them out…”

She’s thinking now, planning. She glances up and looks around until she spots the person she’s looking for. Kaito is curled up in one of the big, stuffy armchairs, his drawing pad on his lap. “Kaito-kun, you have a graphics tablet installed on Watanabe’s laptop, right? I’ve seen some of your printouts… Is it possible to sync your tablet to this image and draw over it?”

Kaito’s head comes up. “Ah, sure, Sumire-chan.” Kaito digs around in his art supply bag until he finds his graphics tablet and pen before joining them. He plugs the graphics tablet into Watanabe’s laptop and boots up his image manipulation software. Once he loads the map file he passes the tablet to Sumire. “Is this okay?”

Sumire gives him a warm, grateful smile. “Perfect! Do you mind if I use this for a bit?”

“As long as you need, Sumire-chan.” He wanders back to his chair to continue drawing, only to find Sawada flipping through his sketch pad.

“Jeez, Kaito, you’re developing a Sumire complex,” Sawada snickers, admiring the various poses and fight scenes Kaito has sketched over the last few days.

“It’s not Sumire, it’s Shori no Megami!”

“Sumire IS Shori no Megami,” Sawada replies, still grinning.

“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s just OUR Shori no Megami.” Shou interrupts their dispute. He’s just finished beating on the punching bag in the corner of the room. Curious, he walks over to where Watanabe and Sumire have their heads bowed together.

“What are you two up to?” Shou eyes Watanabe suspiciously. Watanabe is notoriously cold-blooded towards the opposite sex—until Sumire arrived, he’d kept even the butterflies at a distance. But Watanabe’s behavior toward Sumire has changed from cold suspicion to warm acceptance. For Watanabe, that’s the equivelant of flirting. It may only be a matter of respect, but it’s still out of character. More to the point, it’s getting on Shou’s nerves.

Sumire glances up at him. “Planning for tomorrow’s fight, what else? Oh, Shou, would you go with me to scout the park mentioned in the challenge letter later today? I want to get some pictures and coordinate team movements based on the environment.”