A Strong Wind Knows a Sturdy Weed

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A Strong Wind Knows a Sturdy Weed
Kanji		疾風に勁草を知る
Romaji		Shippu ni keishou kusa wo Shiru
English		A Strong Wind Knows A Sturdy Wind
Information
Volume		1
Chapter		3
Release Date		August 30, 2017
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A Strong Wind Knows A Sturdy Wind (疾風に勁草を知る, Shippu ni keishou kusa wo Shiru^?) is the third chapter of the Kusunoki Mebuki is a Hero light novel series.

Translation

That night, Kagajou Suzume was in Kusunoki Mebuki's room, clinging to her and crying.

"Thank you, Mebuuuu~! I'm alive thanks to you, you know~! You really are my hero, Mebuuu~!"

"Just look at you, trying to sweet-talk me like that", - while her voice sounded annoyed, her expression was somewhat soft.

The topmost amongst the sentinels - Mebuki, and the bottommost - Suzume. The strong-willed Mebuki and the pessimistic Suzume. They couldn't resemble each other any less. Their relationship was hard to understand to a bystander. The origin of their strange relationship can be largely attributed to Suzume's personality.

When she was little, Suzume could never play on the swings. When the rest of the kids her age were happily playing on it in the park, Suzume could only look at them and think.

"...how can they do something this scary? What if, while hanging on, they happen to fall off? What if the metal part they're holding to breaks? What if the plank they're sitting on breaks?" - imagining such things, she became scared, and couldn't get on it.

Suzume always imagined the worst possible outcome.

When going up a tall building, she imagined making a mistake and falling down from it.

When going to an attraction, she imagined it breaking down and dying in an accident.

When catching a light cold, she imagined it growing worse and ending lethally.

When going to a hospital, she imagined dying due to a medical error.

And Suzume really hated scary and painful things.

When getting an injection, she'd almost start crying from the pain.

When down with a cold, she cursed the world for thrusting such a horrible fate upon her. And then, imagining her own death, she'd start crying.

(Why am I such a coward?)

Suzume was a coward when it came to other people as well.

When she saw scary people, she'd be afraid of getting bullied by them.

That's why, through kindergarten and grade school, she always tried to get protected by the people she saw as high up in the hierarchy.

Lame. Pathetic. A bootlicker.

She was well aware she was called that. She didn't care. That was the best way of survival. It was much better than getting bullied or hit.

She was well-aware of her own lameness. And she did not like it.

Having gone through kindergarten and grade school like that, the reason Suzume joined a student association in middle school was, naturally, to find protection for herself. The president of it was the prettiest of the 3rd years, good at studies and from a good family - she was on top of the hierarchy amongst the female students. When she invited Suzume to that association, Suzume saw her as the best possible support for herself, and agreed immediately.

There were four more members in that association. It didn't have any particular activities, they just lazed around and chattered after school. For Suzume, it was a cradle of happiness, with no signs of danger or scary people around. But she couldn't understand why the president even created such an association, and what was its reason for existence.

And then, when the summer of her 2nd year in middle school was approaching, the president said: "Today, we're disbanding the association".

It was a bolt from the blue. Suzume was shaken. She desperately tried to stop the association from being disbanded. If it was gone, then Suzume would lose her pillar of support.

Answering Suzume's desperate clamours, the president said with slight sadness in her tone: "There's no reason for it to exist anymore".

But even then, Suzume's desperate struggle continued. In face of her tenacity, the president had no choice but to give in and reveal Suzume, and Suzume alone the truth. The reason behind that club's existence.

It was created to gather people to fight the beings known as "Vertexes" invading Shikoku. Such groups were made all over Shikoku. When the Vertexes broke in, one of them would end up being chosen by the Shinju-sama, and its members would awaken as "heroes". It wasn't a story a normal person would believe, but Suzume, for whom imagining the worst possible outcome was natural, immediately accepted it as reality. The reason behing the association's existence that kept bugging her also became clear.

The Vertexes already invaded. Suzume and the rest of her group were not chosen by Shinju-sama. Thus, the group outlived its purpose.

Suzume shuddered. If she was selected to be a hero, it'd mean being given a dangerous duty. She could've died as a result.

Suzume felt resentment towards the president. Resentment for thrusting them into such danger without them knowing at all.

But she was soon to notice how misplaced that grudge was. Suzume joined with an ulterior motive of her own, after all.

She was facing the president, who protected her for all that time, with resentment, however small it might've been. Suzume felt disgusted with herself.

Being a coward, she thought to herself: "Just why am I such a coward?"

And several months later, Suzume, recognised as a coward both by herself and other people, somehow ended up being given the dangerous duty of a sentinel.

The number Suzume was given amongst the sentinels was "32". Which is to say, she was evaluated as the single weakest member of the entire sentinel grup by the Taisha. Suzume herself agreed with that ranking. The Taisha considered the possibility of her dropping out during the very first mission rather high, but she did not, and was in the middle of the sentinels' fifth sortie beyond the wall.

"Gyaaaaah!! What's that? No way no way I'll die it'll kill meeeeee!" - Suzume's wails resounded through the scorching land.

Her screams at the attacks of Stardust were a common occurrence, but this time they were not facing Stardust. A countless number of them gathered together, and gave birth to a gigantic, grotesque figure.

Mebuki recognised that shape.

"Sagittarius Vertex..."

The enemies of mankind Taisha told them about. The enemies the heroes were facing. The messengers of the heavens, bearing the names of the 12 constellations. It was one of them, named after the Sagittarius.

The priests told them that the Vertexes would not appear. However, they were told than an imperfect form of them could possibly appear. They looked exactly the same, but the incomplete ones lacked the so-called "core". They were significantly weaker than the perfect Vertexes that possessed a core, but they were still enemies far beyond the sentinels' reach.

Without a moment of faltering, Mebuki called out to all members: "Halt the sample gathering! Commence retreat immediately!"

The sentinels who were busy gathering soil stopped their work and started moving.

"Gunner squad, take aim! Fire!"

The rifle-bearing sentinels unleashed a volley towards a Stardust group. One by one, they were getting exterminated.

"No matter how many of those weaklings come, they do not pose even the slightest threat to Miroku Yumiko! Mebuki-san, I propose a forceful breakthrough!" - said Yumiko with confidence while taking down the Stardust.

However, Suzume wailed out: " Wait wait! There's no way we can break through here, no way! There's too many of the Stardust, we'll all die!"

"Then what else? The Sagittarius-alike right behind us is far more dangerous than Stardust, numerous as they might be!"

Behind them, the Sagittarius Vertex-like being was being formed. Sagittarius possessed two ways of attacking. Attacking with small arrows that rained down in countless numbers and shooting one massive arrow. Either of those would be lethal for a sentinel.

And then, the sentinels were encircled by countless Stardust.

"Stardust in front and Sagittarius in the back! Aaagh, I hate this, I'm gonna die, totally gonna die! If we move we'll die, if we stop we'll die tooooo!" - the wailing Suzume slumped down onto the ground.

"Do you desire to die a pointless death? Get up right this instant and get going!"

Yumiko started dragging the sitting Suzume up.

Mebuki, however, stopped her.

"No, wait a little, Miroku-san. We're completely surrounded right now, we won't be able to evacuate in time. Suzume's correct. We should stay here."

"Eeh?! Mebuki-san, what might you be saying now? We shall all get slaughtered here..."

"Protector squad, deploy shields! Prepare for an arrow volley from Sagittarius!"

At Mebuki's order, the sentinels enlarged their shields and linked them together.

"Waaaaah, I'm scared, scared, scared!"

Suzume, who has been sitting on the ground, got up as well and put her shield in a formation with those of the rest. The sentinel squad got completely enveloped by a wall of shields.

Right afterwards, the finished Sagittarius Vertex-alike unleashed a rain of countless arrows. Their numbers and speed made then resemblant less arrows, and more machine gun bullets. The protector sentinels were gritting their teeth and holding down the downpour of attacks.

As the countless arrows struck the shield's surface, they produced a terrifying sound that rang through the interior of the shield wall. That sound invoked terror amongst the sentinels. If the shields gave in to the attack, the sentinels would get wiped out.

Eventually, the sound of arrows stopped. The enemy's attack must have stopped as well.

The girls breathed a sigh of relief.

"Gyaaaaaah! No way, no way, I don't wanna die!"

All of a sudden, Suzume disjointed her shield from the wall, and jumped outside it.

"Suzume-san? Just what might you be doing?!" - yelled Yumiko. The sentinels thought if Suzume went insane from the terror.

But they were wrong.

Outside of the shield wall, Suzume deployed her shield again.

The following moment Sagittarius released an arrow tens of times larger than before at the sentinels.

"Waaaaah! If we take that on, we're dead for suuuure!"

Suzume's shrieking coincided with the arrow making contact with the shield. The shields of the sentinels could not possibly defend against such a gigantic arrow. But Suzume didn't take it head on. Positioned at an angle, her shield deflected the arrow's destructive power.

Unlike the small arrows, the large ones couldn't be fired continuously.

"Protector squad, retract shields! Run with all your strength!"

At Mebuki's order, the protector sentinels returned their shields to their normal size and took the shield wall down.

Without anyone noticing, the amount of Stardust surrounding the sentinels dropped significantly. They could make a forceful breakthrough now. The girls started running towards the wall.

"Just why did their numbers fall?".

Running along, Mebuki answered Yumiko: "It's Sagittarius's arrows! It ended up shooting the Stardust down as well! They gathered to kill us themselves in the first place!"

Right after that, Sagittarius shot out a second gigantic arrow.

"Gyaaaaah! Save me!" - screaming, Suzume once again used the shield to avert it. The arrow, having changed its direction, flew off into a Stardust group, killing them all.

(Not just protecting from that arrow, but using it to take down other enemies... No, Suzume probably didn't plan on that. But even if instinctively, Suzume found the ideal way out.)

Mebuki believed in Kagajou Suzume's sharpness when it came to finding a way of staying alive. So this time, as well, she relied on her suggestions.

The sentinels continued running towards the wall for their dear life. This time, as well, there were a few wounded people, but the number of casualties was zero.

That night, while they were having dinner at the mess hall of the Gold Tower, Aya said with a serious face: "Mebuki-senpai. It's really amazing how little injuries the sentinels received."

As usual, Mebuki, Yumiko, Suzume, Shizuku and Aya gathered together to eat.

"Thanks, Aya-chan. But we brought back a pretty small amount of soil samples this time around."

"You brought back enough to analyse. And more important than the results of your harvesting is the fact nobody died", - said Aya, with her eyes glistening as if saying "That's wonderful!".

Shizuku lightly tugged on Mebuki's sleeve.

"What's wrong, Shizuku?"

"..." - Shizuku silently lowered her head.

"What are you suddenly apologising for?"

"...couldn't change over. Sorry..."

The Shizuku this time wasn't the ferocious SHIZUKU that appeared in the middle of their second mission, but the normal silent, expressionless Shizuku. SHIZUKU was much stronger in combat, but it's not as if she could change personalities at will.

"Don't worry about that. Coming up with the best tactics according to what personnel they have is the duty of a commander. If it's you, Shizuku, then I have to consider that. If it was the other SHIZUKU, then I'd have to think of tactics that would use her".

But Shizuku shook her head.

"...I caused you trouble, Kusunoki..."

Aya grasped Shizuku's hands.

"Are you worried about that? But Shizuku-senpai, you were great! You brought back the highest amount of samples!"

"..."

At hearing Aya's words, Shizuku slightly bowed her head. It was her way of expressing gratitude.

Looking at them, Mebuki nodded as well.

"For that mission, it was better than it was you, Shizuku. If it was the other SHIZUKU, she'd probably rush at Sagittarius and gotten herself heavily wounded".

Even though SHIZUKU agreed to follow Mebuki's orders, she was still hard to control.

"Haah... But you know, Mebu, it's great you ordered retreat so quickly. If we fought there, we'd deeefinitely die." - Suzume sighed while, as usual, eating a mandarin.

"Well, if Mebuki-san did not order us to retreat, then I would have simply carved that so-called Sagittarius into pieces and added one more to the numerous achievements of the Miroku family".

"No way" - said Suzume.

"Yeah, impossible" - agreed Mebuki.

"..." - silently shook her head Shizuku.

"Everyone, you are far too untrusting! Have I went all-out, that porcupinefish would not have stood a chance!"

"A battle is a thing of luck. Miroku-senpai, maybe you would've won after all. But right now, we should offer our thanks to Shinju-sama for everyone being safe. It must have been thanks to its divine protection".

Aya turned towards the shrine in the mess hall and lowered her head.

"In fact, you are much more successful than we expected".

After the meal, Mebuki came into the priestess' room to deliver her regular report. The priestess was inputting the information into her notebook PC and spoke with a disinterested tone: "Zero casualties so far, and following the second mission, no heavy injuries either. We assumed there would be need for more replacement members".

"That's right, isn't it. This sentinel system was made with the premise of easily exchangeable members, right?"

Seeing how fast the replacements after their first mission came, it was an easy conclusion to come to. In case any more people dropped out, their replacements were probably already decided upon.

"Yes, that's correct" - the priestess answered Mebuki's question without hesitation.

"But for us Taisha, the fact there is little need for replacements is desirable. There is not enough time to train the new sentinels, and thus a high possibility they won't be able to accomplish their missions. We highly value you accomplishing the missions without casualties."

The priestess only cared about the completion of their missions. In the case a replacement would be needed, she would pay no heed to the victims that occurred.

"In my squad, not a single person will die. This is a vow I've made to myself", - said Mebuki, staring at the priestess.

The devout Aya said their lack of casualties was thanks to "Shinju's divine protection", but Mebuki didn't think so. It was a fruit of Mebuki's own tenacity.

"Your vow as a commander?"

"My vow as a human. During the Christian era, and two years ago there were casualties amongst the heroes, weren't there? The messengers of heavenly gods? Mankind's natural enemy? As if I care! We have to bring the age of humans being slaughtered by those monsters to an end!"

The time when humans would have to be the victims of the gods was over. She would make it end.

That's why Mebuki swore that she would not allow a single casualty to happen in her squad.

The priestess did not indicate whether she was listening to Mebuki, and kept typing on her computer's keyboard, then said indifferently: "If your report is over, then you're free to leave".

After exiting the priestess' room and heading towards her own, Mebuki bumped into two sentinel girls. Those two were friends and were commonly seen together.

"Ah, Kusunoki-san. Are you back from training?"

"No, I was making a report to the priestess. I'm going to be training now."

"Woah, now? Kusunoki-san, gotta respect your exercise-mindedness. That's our commander!"

"Exercise-mindedness?.."

Mebuki made a puzzled expression, but the two paid no attention and continued.

"Say, Kusunoki-san, you were one of the candidates to inherit a terminal of a previous hero, right?"

"Yes, that's right".

"We two are from the unpicked hero groups. We've never seen the real ones. But one of the candidates became one, right? Uuh... Miyoshi Karin-san, was it?

"..."

Miyoshi Karin. Just hearing that name made Mebuki's heart uneasy.

As the time they spent together grew longer, the sentinels started getting along and knowing more about each other. Since Mebuki particularly stood out as the commander, people began to find out she was acquainted with the hero Miyoshi Karin and constantly came to ask about her. The fact Shizuku personally knew the heroes of the previous generation, however, wasn't known outside of Mebuki's group. That's why all of the sentinels' curiosity about the heroes was directed at Mebuki alone.

"What kind of people was the hero? If she was picked by Shinju-sama, she must've been an extraordinary fighter, right? With superhuman strength, a body so hard a sword couldn't cut it, capable of crushing rocks with her fists and running faster than sound, right!"

"No no, strength isn't everything. She must've been overflowing with divinity and an aura of charisma! Her body would be glowing and she'd have a halo!"

Mebuki was lost for words at such an inhuman description. But to someone who's never seen one, it was probably not unusual to deify the being known as the hero.

"Miyoshi-san wasn't that different from us. Of course, she was strong, but in the limits of what a human can achieve. Her body wasn't glowing, she had no halo and I wouldn't say she was particularly charismatic either".

"Eeh... really?" - with disappointment on their faces asked the two.

"That's right. The heroes are normal people, no different from us".

And that was exactly what fueled Mebuki's ire. There was nothing special about Miyoshi Karin. Her training results were excellent, but Mebuki was the same in that regard. So why was Karin the one chosen to be a hero and not Mebuki? Mebuki still couldn't understand the selection criteria.

The following day, during the lunch break, another bunch of girls approached Mebuki's group to ask about Karin.

"Kusunoki-san, is it true that the hero was a normal person? She really wasn't a battle genius or had super powers?"

"It's true. She was good at fighting, of course, but comparable to me".

"Hmm... Alright", - with no look of conviction in their faces, the girls left.

And the day after, yet another group of girls came to her between training sessions.

"Say, Kusunoki-san, what kind of person was the hero Miyoshi Karin?"

"Not a superhuman, without superpowers, a normal person. Maybe a bit too taken with supplements and dried sardines, but a normal person."

After dinner, she was approached with a "What was the hero-"

"A normal person".

And thus, Mebuki kept being pestered with questions about Karin.

Having answered yet another group of girls who approached her during lunch break with "a normal person", Mebuki let out a sigh.

"Hey Mebu, you're pretty popular, aren't you?" - Suzume poked fun at her.

"I'm getting sick of this. How many times do I have to tell them the same thing?"

Aya let out a bitter smile.

"Not many people have seen the heroes, after all. Actually, I've never encountered them either, so I'm curious too".

"And you, Aya-chan?!"

"Ahaha, don't worry, Mebuki-senpai. I'm not going to bother you with that".

"Shall we listen to the magnificent history of the Miroku family instead then?" - leaned forward Yumiko. In her hands was a book titled "The 300-year history of the Miroku-family" - self-published, maybe?

"..." - Shizuku tugged on Yumiko's sleeve and shook her head.

"I ask that you do not just silently decline like that!"

"Miroku family's history aside, I'm sick of answering questions about Miyoshi Karin already. Maybe we should hang a poster in the mess hall. «Miyoshi-san was somewhat strong at fighting, is the type who does her studies during the last night and has a mania for supplements and dried sardines.»"

"Yeah, that person looked kinda strong, but didn't feel particularly "special" in any way. If I didn't know she was a hero beforehand, I would've never believed it", - Suzume said somewhat nostalgically.

"...wait. Suzume, you've met Miyoshi-san?"

"Heheheh. You all have been listening to Mebu alone, but in fact... not just Miyoshi-san, I've met all of the current generation heroes!" - with slight elation, Suzume started talking.

Divine Era, year 300, June.

While the weather forecast said that the rainy season started and the amount of rainy days would improve, for the past few days the sun had been shining. Kagajou Suzume was being slightly rocked by the moving train. Outside the window, a scenery of fields and small huts was passing by.

She was skipping out on afternoon classes and was going from Ehime to the city of Sanshuu in Kagawa. The association president told her about the existence of heroes. Suzume felt indescribable relief about not being chosen for that dangerous duty. But why couldn't help but be curious about what people got selected for it.

(The heroes must be from some warrior race like the Amazons or have superpowers like manga characters... If I come at them from the front, they'll probably grab me and eat me. I mean, the president told me that the first generation heroes ate Stardust alive and a previous generation hero drank a Vertex...)

She was planning to peek quietly, and not to get noticed.

At the station she got off the train and arrived at the Sanshuu middle school. The president told her that this was the place where the chosen 5 were.

The lessons just ended, and the students were coming out of the gates one after another. She couldn't let them notice she came to probe for info on the heroes. If she got caught, they'd probably drag her to them. "Venerable heroes, today we offer you this seedy-looking girl as your meal", or something like that. Timidly, Suzume approached on the girls who exited the gates and asked her: "Aaaah... I'm sorry... Might you know where miss Inubouzaki Fuu might be, by any chance? A-a-and miss Tougou Mimori, miss Yuuki Yuuna, miss Inubouzaki Itsuki and miss Miyoshi Karin..."

Suzume was quivering like a phone in vibration mode.

"Aah, you mean the girls from the hero club?"

"...eh?"

Suzume was dumbfounded. There was no trace of veneration in the girl's voice. As if she was talking about some ordinary people.

"Hm, they usually have work all around, so I don't know, try their clubroom maybe?" - the female student informed her about the place that sounded like the heroes' hideout, and then went away with a smile.

(Hold on, this must be a trap!)

That girl's relaxed attitude had Suzume calm down a little, but she immediately regained her vigilance. It must've been a plan to make her go soft, go into their shady hideout and be eaten right there.

(It's a trap, just like carnivorous plants or an antlion pit! I have to stay cautious!)

Standing in front of the "Hero club clubroom" she was told about, Suzume was on full alert, and peeked in the crack in the doorway. The room was long, and the view to the inside of it was closed off by bookshelves. Further in, she could hear several people talking.

"Alright, we've got a lot of requests today. Let's show our full girl power and finish them all!"

"Yes!"

"Got it!"

"Sure!"

"Fine, I need to keep observing you people, so I'll help out".

"You keep saying that, Karin, but you're pretty used to this already~!"

"Shut up! Don't get buddy-buddy with me, it's annoying!"

"Alright, request number one, helping out with the gardening club's flowerbed! Yuuna, Itsuki, you're on that".

"Leave it to me!"

"Got it, Sis!"

"Next up, a request from the library staff. Helping out to fill the book checkout data into the database and sorting it out. Tougou, that one is on you".

"Literary knowledge is the cornerstone of the country! I will apply myself in earnest!"

"And the last one, from a student. She found a kitten on the way home, brought it to school but it ran away... So we need to find it, then try and find it a new owner. Karin, you're going with me for that one".

"Geh, with you?"

"As the club president, it's my responsibility to show the newbies the ropes, you know~"

"Hmph. Whatever, fine".

After that, the girls headed towards the exit while chatting along.

(So those are the heroes... They really don't look that different from normal people. No, this must be camouflage! Anyway, I've gotta hide for now!)

Suzume moved away from the door and hid behind a corner down the hallway.

Following that, Suzume pursued the heroes. First of all, she trailed the two that headed towards the courtyard. After reaching the flowerbed, they started talking to the people in front of it, who must've been the gardening club members.

"Yuuki Yuuna, from the hero club! We'll be helping out today!"

"Um, I'm Inubouzaki Itsuki. Nice to meet you".

The two heroes greeted the gardening club members.

Suzume hid in the shadows of the trees, took our a pair of binoculars and started observing the situation.

(What are they doing? Oh, maybe those gardening club members are the heroes' slaves and are being forced to grow food for them? In a harsh environment, forced to work until they lose consciousness...)

While Suzume was imagining that, the gardening club girls were casually talking to the heroes.

"Thanks for coming to help us. Let's start weeding right away".

After the gardening club members said that, the two heroes nodded and started weeding the flowerbed.

(W-whaaaaaaaaat!? Aren't the heroes being put to work here?)

Suzume was at a complete loss. Was the gardening club above the heroes in this school? Just what kind of hierarchy did it have?

After that, Suzume headed towards the library. She peeked through the gap in the doorway.

A girl in a wheelchair was there. She probably had disabled legs. Was that maybe a wound from fighting the Vertex? That'd make her a disabled veteran.

She was typing on the computer's keyboard with frightening speed, and beside her were the girls she assumed to be the library staff, holding checkout cards.

"Tougou-san, take care of these next, please. I've sorted them by year and gender."

"Leave it to me, please!" - the hero gave a sharp salute.

Suzume's head was filled with questions.

(Are even the librarians higher than the heroes at this school?)

Suzume went to look for the remaining two - Inubouzaki Fuu and Miyoshi Karin. Since they kept moving about, even finding them was problematic. While wary of other students' eyes, Suzume kept trailing the school until she finally found the two.

The heroes were talking to a female student.

"Have you seen a kitten around school?" - the hero, Inubouzaki Fuu asked.

The girl casually answered: "A kitten? Nope, haven't seen any".

"Really? Well, thanks. If you find one, tell us".

The hero did not appear to be angered by such lack of courtesy.

At this point, Suzume realised.

(The heroes are... just normal people, aren't they...)

They looked like normal people, and it didn't feel like they had some superhuman powers. They treated the other students like equals too.

Their "hero club" looked like a group of handymen or a volunteer organisation.

Inubouzaki Fuu and Miyoshi Karin were walking through the hallway while talking.

"It's probably impossible to find a kitten who ran away in the morning now. In the first place, it's probably outside the school grounds already".

"Yeah, I guess. But we don't really have enough people to search around the whole city... Karin, any ideas?"

"If I had any supplements we could use to lure it... Wait, before that."

Karin took a ballpoint pen out of her pocket, suddenly turned around and threw it.

*Thunk!*

The pen hit the corner of the wall where Suzume was hiding.

"Eeeek!" - Suzume accidentally raised her voice and fell on her butt.

Karin stood in front of Suzume and looked down at her.

"You've been trailing us back from the clubroom. What's your deal?"

(T-t-t-they've found me!?..)

Startled by Karin's imposing look and voice, Suzume nearly wet herself. She was about to run away crying, but her legs were shaking from fear, she couldn't move an inch.

But then a light chop was delivered to the head of Karin, staring down Suzume.

"Ow!"

"Hey, you! Don't threaten people! And don't throw pens at walls!"

Suzume was caught by Fuu and Karin and brought to their clubroom. She felt like an alien being taken away by the men in black. Soon afterwards Yuuki Yuuna, Inubouzaki Itsuki and Tougou Mimori finished their tasks as well and returned to the clubroom.

Suzume was sitting on the floor in the seiza position in front of the heroes. Nobody told her to, she just wanted to show that she bore absolutely no will to resist.

"Eh? Who's this girl? A new club members? Oh, Karin-chan, is this your little sister?"

"Why, we don't look alike at all!" - retorted Karin to Yuuna's sudden suggestion.

"Did you come from a different school?" - asked Mimori, having noticed the different uniform.

"Y-yes... I-I'm Kagajou Suzume. I'm from a school in Ehime... I've heard rumours about the "Hero club", so I came to check it out".

"Ehime! Our hero club's name has finally spread even to other prefectures! Thanks to Tougou's homepage we got well-known over the internet, but that's a different thing... Even girls our age are getting curious about us now... Mwahaha, the girl power inside me is throbbing!.."

"Sis, your girl power is starting to turn into something weird..." - Itsuki let out a bitter smile at Fuu's rising spirits.

"Suzume-chan, we're the club who heroically works for the sake of other people! In other words, a hero club! We take requests from a lot of people and help them out!"

"Yuuna, if she came from a different prefecture after knowing our name, obviously she knows what we do already".

"Ah, that's probably right! Great job as always, Karin-chan!" - said Yuuna with admiration.

Suzume didn't actually know what their activities were, but thanks to Yuuna she understood. Her initial guess wasn't that far away either.

"So, Kagajou-san, if you came here from a different prefecture, you must have some kind of request for us, right?"

At Mimori's question, Suzume was lost. She had no requests. But if she said that, she'd probably be met with a retort like "Well then why did you come here?" That would be dangerous.

"...Umm... T-that's right, I have a request!"

Suzume blurted out something she came up with on the spot: "I-I've always been a coward! That's why... I want to get a bit more brave, even just slightly!"

Even though it was something she came up on the spot...no, exactly because she came up with it on the spot, Suzume revealed her deepest desire.

"To become brave. That's just the right request for the hero club, Fuu-senpai! Let's give her our help!" - exclaimed Yuuna with enthusiasm.

"Alright, gotcha!"

Fuu drew a check on the blackboard.

"Today's request number two! Helping Kagajou-san with becoming brave!"

"Yuuna, Tougou, Itsuki dealt with their requests unexpectedly quickly anyway, and our cat searching is stopped until we go searching around the town tomorrow along with the client, so we've got time. But what do we do with an emotional problem like that?"

"Maybe search for psychology books? I'll try to find out" - Mimori faced the computer and started looking up psychology and counselling-related sites.

"If you want to cure your cowardice, you have to eat dried sardines".

"...eh, do dried sardines really have that effect?"

To the doubtful Suzume, Karin delivered a boastful answer: "dried sardines are full of calcium, iron, amino acids, DHA and EPA. Calcium, iron, DHA and EPA lighten anxiousness. Amino acids turn into a substance known as serotonin in your brain, which heightens your mood. Which means if you eat dried sardines, your fears will fade away and you'll get brave. Now eat up".

"Uh, okay".

Karin took out a bag full of dried sardines and forced it on Suzume.

"I found a psychological book on how to cure cowardice. I'll go to the library".

"I'll go with you, Tougou-san!"

Yuuna grabbed Tougou's wheelchair and went outside the clubroom.

"T-thank you very much", - taken aback by their vigour, Suzume bowed.

Itsuki then started lining up tarot cards on the table.

"Kagajou-san, I think that fear comes from the feeling of "not knowing". So if you know your future, there will be less things to be afraid of. So let's try fortune telling. I can even teach you tarot if you'd like".

"O-okay..." - Suzume nodded, unable to turn down the earnest Itsuki.

(Why are these people thinking about that so seriously?)

They have no reason to care about Suzume. They wouldn't get a reward for helping her either. So why they were this eager to help some stranger?

Suzume was eating dried sardines, reading the book Tougou and Yuuna brought and listening to Itsuki's fortune-telling instructions.

"Uh... I think I got some bravery now. Thank you very much. I'll be on my way then!"

Afraid that if she stayed any longer, she'd be busted, Suzume tried to get away. Then, she saw a figure of a cat sleeping on the edge of the roof of the neighbouring school building in the window.

"...is that a cat?" - pointed her finger Suzume.

"Aaaah! The lost kitten from the request! Kagajou-san, well spotted!"

Fuu burst out of the classroom, and the others followed suit.

"Suzume-chan! Come with us!

"Eh? O-okay", - responding to Yuuna, accidentally said Suzume.

All of the hero club members plus Suzume arrived at the rooftop of the school building.

(How did I end up coming here with them?)

The kitten was still sleeping on the edge of the roof.

"I'll get it back!"

Yuuna went past the guard railings and was approaching it.

"Yuuna-chan, be careful!"

"Don't worry, Tougou-san! Okay, carefully, not to startle it..."

Yuuna was slowly coming towards the kitten.

The kitten noticed her, but couldn't run anywhere. As if understanding that flailing around would only end up putting itself in danger, it let itself get picked by Yuuna without much resistance. Carrying the kitten, Yuuna handed it over to Itsuki, who was on the other side of the railing.

"Alright, request complete. Now-"

That moment, a strong wind suddenly blew. To Suzume's eyes everything looked like it was in slow motion.

Yuuna lost her balance.

Suzume moved.

Suzume leaned over the railing and grabbed Yuuna's sleeve, trying to save her.

However, she couldn't drag her up and lost her footing as well.

They both fell down.

The few seconds until they hit the ground felt horribly drawn out.

(What am I even doing?..)

Why did a coward like her do something dangerous like trying to save Yuuna?

She didn't understand herself either.

Did she feel responsibility for having spotted the kitten and brought them here? Or did she feel indebted to the girls who worked so earnestly for someone like her, who they barely knew?

(Either way, it's not like me at all...)

While falling, Suzume tightly grabbed on to Yuuna. For some reason, she felt like being right next to her bore the highest chances of survival. Suzume, with her extraordinary knack for everything related to surviving, understood that instinctively.

"Uuuh..."

When she came to, Yuuna was lying there, passed out. Suzume looked over her own body to see where she hit herself while falling. Her shoulder was slightly hurting, but otherwise she had no injuries. Yuuna, lying nearby didn't look injured either, and must've been fine.

"I, I'm aliiiiive! What a reliiiiiief!" - yelled out Suzume with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Uuh... It hurts..." - Yuuna opened her eyes as well.

"Yuuki-san! We've alive!"

"Y-you're right! How!?"

A fall from that height would usually be lethal. With luck, you'd be off with heavy injuries. Being unharmed by that fall was nothing short of a miracle.

Right before they made contact with the ground, a small pink cow-like being and a pale film-like thing appeared and protected Yuuna - or so it seemed like to Suzume.

(Was I... saved by a barrier protecting Yuuna-san? Yeah, no way, I'm just imagining things)

The weird cow and pale film must've been her eyes playing tricks on her, or so Suzume assumed.

Above Suzume and Yuuna's heads were lush, verdant trees. They must've fallen through those and had the impact softened.

"Anyway, it's good to be aliiiiiiiive!" - loudly screamed out Suzume.

The rest of the heroes immediately descended down, and took Suzume and Yuuna to the infirmary just in case.

Mimori was loudly weeping, and the other three, while not as blatant as her, had tears in their eyes.

"Ahaha... If anything happened to Yuuna, I'd probably have to pay with my life..." - Fuu said in a fairly serious tone.

Looking at them, Suzume realised that Yuuna must be really loved by the rest of the girls around her.

"Suzume-chan, thank you! You tried to save me there, right?" - said Yuuna with a smile.

"But I wasn't of any use..."

Completely useless. While putting herself in danger was completely unlike her, not being of any use at all was just like her.

"Look, Suzume-chan! I don't think you're right when you say you don't have any bravery! I mean, you tried saving me, even if it was so dangerous! If you weren't brave, you couldn't have done that!"

"No, that's... That's not bravery, I just moved reflexively..."

"That's why it's bravery!"

"Huh?.."

"Ah, well, how do I say it, we're kind of like that too..." - Yuuna got flustered and was fumbling for words.

Then Fuu let out a wry smile and joined in: "Kagajou-san. We don't have bravery either".

"Eh? But..."

These girls fought the Vertexes, unspeakable monstrosities. They couldn't possibly do that if they weren't brave.

"Everyone hates painful and scary things. If they don't, then they're broken somewhere as a human being. Being brave is about hating painful and scary things, but doing your best when the push comes to shove. But people like that don't do that because they think "I've got bravery, so I'll keep going!" When they end up doing their best, the people around them think "This person is brave!" The person themselves doesn't really think that. Isn't it just like what you did, Kagajou-san?"

"...Do you think so? But still, I really am a coward..."

Yuuna clasped Suzume's hands.

"I'm a coward too. I hate when it's scary or it hurts. But if my friends were in trouble, I think I'd definitely save them even if it was painful or scary. Just like you did right now, Suzume-chan!"

Brave, but cowardly? Suzume didn't really understand.

Mimori came near Suzume and said: "First of all, let me deeply thank you for saving Yuuna-chan. And, Kagajou-san. I think bravery and cowardice aren't opposites of each other. I think they can coexist. A person who's cowardly, but at the same time brave. Kagajou-san, I think you're a person like that".

"Uuh, I couldn't say it properly so Fuu-senpai and Tougou-san said it instead... I'm really bad at explaining things", - Yuuna lowered her shoulders in dejection.

"Yuuna-san, don't worry! Everyone knew that from the start!"

"Itsuki, that doesn't really help... Well, it's Yuuna, what can you do".

Itsuki tried encouraging Yuuna, while Karin teased her.

"Hehe, that's just like Yuuna-chan".

"Yeah, it is".

Tougou and Fuu smiled.

They were a friendly group of girls you could find everywhere. Nothing about them looked like they were tasked with the country's most important duty.

Mebuki and the rest kept listening to Suzume's story.

"And that was the dramatic meeting of the heroes and yours truly, Kagajou Suzume! Just like Mebu says, the heroes aren't really that different from the rest of us. Both on the outside and the inside. But..."

Suzume looked at her hands. The ones that Yuuna grasped. When she got touched by Yuuna, she felt a strange warmth.

"But, they felt like good people to me. I still don't really get what they were trying to say about the coexistence of bravery and cowardice though".

Aya smiled at Suzume's words.

"Suzume-senpai, I think the heroes described you very well. You're both a coward and a brave person. If you were just a coward without any bravery, you couldn't have protected everyone against Sagittarius like you did during your last duty".

Mebuki, on the other hand, could only feel the discomfort in her mind grow when she listened to Suzume's story.

(That's right, Miyoshi Karin and the rest of the heroes, they're just like us... Where are they different to me?)

Why wasn't she chosen?

What is a hero?

Mebuki still couldn't grasp that.

That night, after Mebuki returned from her training, she was building a plastic model.

Amongst Shikoku's 88 temples, some have five-storied pagodas. Mebuki was building a 1/60 model of one of them. Not just the ornaments and the look of it, but even the layout of the wood composing the real thing were replicated in that model.

Building plastic models and DIY were Mebuki's sole hobbies. Being a temple carpenter, her father often made models. Sometimes he'd made models of historically famous buildings for exhibitions, sometimes he would first make a smaller version of a large-scale shrine that was being planned. Looking at her father, Mebuki would sometimes end up building models herself, and eventually became quite adept at it, making a bunch of well-done articles herself.

While constructing, Mebuki could lose herself in her thoughts. And now, as well, she was thinking about various things.

About what would happen to the squad afterwards.

About how the investigation locations kept moving further away from the wall.

About how the time they spent on the missions kept increasing.

About how the longer they were outside, the more danger the sentinels were subjected to.

About how they would probably keep encountering more of the enemies as powerful as last time.

About how to keep going without any casualties.

About how long the sentinel duty would continue.

About if what they were doing really was helpful in protecting the world.

And then, she remembered Suzume's story she heard earlier.

The heroes are no different from ordinary humans. No different from Mebuki. Then why isn't Mebuki a hero? Why couldn't she become one?

Right then she heard a knock on the door, and Suzume shyly entered the room.

Mebuki stopped building her model and asked: "What's wrong?"

"You know... When I was talking about the heroes, you were making a gloomy face, Mebu".

"...That's right. I still can't accept it... The fact Miyoshi Karin was selected as a hero".

If it was anyone but Suzume, Mebuki would not be able to speak her mind openly like that. Their personalities couldn't be any further apart, but Mebuki could open her heart to Suzume.

"You know, Mebu".

"What?"

"For me, you're a hero, Mebu! Not the tiniest bit worse than Miyoshi-san or Yuuki-san! You're amazing, Mebu! I really think that!"

Suzume's words that almost sounded like a complaint made Mebuki's eyes widen for a moment. Then she looked at Suzume with scorn.

"Aren't you just flattering me?"

"...Honestly, there's that too".

"Su-zu-me..."

"D-don't get angryyyy, Mebuuu~! I mean, if you don't protect me, I'll diiiiiiiie!"

Just what does Suzume think of me - Mebuki was astonished.

"A-and anyway! Yes, I am flattering you, but these are my honest feelings too! Mebu, you really are hero for me!"

"Do you think that will make me happy right after you said you're flattering me? Good grief..." - Mebuki let out a bitter smile. In truth, she was somewhat happy.

Even if she did it out of self-interest, Suzume, who called Mebuki her hero, was a special being to her.

"Of course I'll protect you. I won't let anyone in my squad die".

"Thank you, Mebuuuu~! I'm alive thanks to you, you know~! You really are my hero, Mebuuu~!"

Suzume was tightly clinging to Mebuki.

The relationship of the two girls was hard to understand at first glance. But maybe it was something called friendship.

And then, thanks to the efforts of Mebuki and all the other sentinels, their duty has progressed from investigation to the next stage.

And so, the next mission entrusted to them was this - the arduous task of taking Kokudo Aya outside the wall.

Summary

TBA

Gallery