Chapter 17

The day of the tournament registration was the first time that all three girls went to the arena in their tiny forms at once.  Ayane rode on the back of Sayuri’s motorcycle, while Haruko made use of her own airbike.

“I really need to get one of these.” Ayane remarked as they drove.  “Do they sell bikes on their own?”

“Factory Advance does.” Haruko replied, briefly grinning with pride at the mention of her manufacturer.  “We can stop at the store later.”

Even with vehicles, the trip was a bit energy-intensive at their small scale, so they wouldn’t be fighting today.  Instead the trio went straight for the registrar when they arrived at the arena.  There was quite the crowd of entrants: even with a Gourai, a Zelnogrard and a pair of WISM girls all handling entrants, there was still a sizeable line.

Ayane was visibly awestruck.  “There must be hundreds.”

“Nearly every AI girl likes to battle, at least sometimes.” Sayuri said.  “Some more than others, but a big tournament like this is going to draw just about everyone who can make it.”  She smiled quietly as she watched Ayane’s eyes roam over the crowd, soaking in the vast diversity on display.  Eventually they made their way to the front of the line, with dozens more entrants still behind them.

“Is this all of you?” the Gourai asked as the trio approached her station.

Haruko threw her arms around Sayuri and Ayane’s shoulders, giving the Gourai a cheery grin.  “Yep, team of three~”

“Might we make it a team of four?” another voice asked.  The girls turned to look, their eyes widening in matching surprise when they saw Shizuka had appeared alongside them.

Ayane was the first to recover enough composure to speak.  “When did you get here?”

“Master and I were waiting on an interesting team.”  Shizuka nodded in the direction of Keiko, who was standing nearby the registrar and gave the girls a faint welcoming smile as they noticed her.  Shizuka’s own expression remained stoic.  “I will fight alongside you, if you’ll have me.”

Both other girls looked to Sayuri for direction, who gave a shrug and a smile of her own after a moment.  “I guess I don’t see why not.  Team of four, then.”

The Gourai nodded.  “I’ll need your registry information, then.”  The three AI girls provided it swiftly, while Ayane took a moment longer to remember how to do it.  The Gourai didn’t seem to notice the slight delay, her display confirming the quartet were now registered on one team.

“You have until the start of the second round to add any additional members.  Make sure you arrive on time or you may be disqualified.”

“Thank you~” Haruko cheered, as the girls cleared the way for the next group.  They naturally gravitated over to Keiko, who bowed her head to the tiny girls.

“Thank you for accepting our offer.  I know it was sudden.”

“Not at all.” Sayuri replied.  “We’re lucky to have you, just...why us?  Surely there’s teams more at your skill level?”

“I wanted to get to know you better.”  Keiko gave the girls an invitational look. “Perhaps you could introduce me to your masters?”

“Eh?”  The trio exchanged nervous glances.  Eventually Sayuri spoke up.  “Ah, sure...”

<><><>

“So how are we going to pull this off, exactly?” Ayane asked as they rode back towards home, Keiko and Shizuka following along.

“I don’t know.” Sayuri admitted.  “We’ve kinda been winging it.”

“Well, we’ll have to keep winging it.” Haruko pulled in close enough to the pair to join the conversation.  “What if we switch back and forth?  You drive my shell for a bit and we act like you’re me with me, then I’ll drive your shell and act like I’m you with you.”

“Um, problem?  You can’t drive me.” Ayane objected.

Haruko rubbed her temples with one hand.  “Okay, well, say you’re tired and going to charge, then spend the whole time as yourself.”  She paused, parsing the ridiculousness of the sentence.  “Your human self.  You know what I mean.”

Ayane sighed.  “Can’t think of anything better.  Alright, let’s hope this works.”

None of the three saw the amused look on Keiko’s face.

<><><>

It was mid-afternoon by the time the trio and their guests arrived at home.  Sayuri made a show of knocking on the door.

“Master!  We’re home!”  Like many houses, their front door had a smaller door built into it for AI girls to use.  Sayuri slipped inside ahead of their guests and headed upstairs.  When she came back down to answer the door, it was in Haruko’s shell.

“Hey there!” Sayuri said in her best impression of Haruko’s usual attitude.  The body naturally came with Haruko’s voice patterns, so it wasn’t difficult to sound like she would.  In fact, Sayuri realized too late, it was maybe a little too easy, as the sound of her voice caused Keiko to crack a smile.

“I’m sorry, I can’t...ahahaha~!”  Keiko usual composure abruptly shattered, and she broke into a fit of laughter as Sayuri flushed in sudden embarrassment.  Ayane shot Haruko a dirty look that prompted a sheepish grin back from the Hresvelgr.  Shizuka for her part winced: there was a reason her master rarely laughed like that.  Sure enough, Keiko’s laughter faded within seconds as her cataplexy struck and her body went limp.

“Ah?” Sayuri reacted with robotic speed, catching the collapsing human girl.  “Oh no...what happened?”

“Master has a condition.” This time it was Shizuka’s turn to look embarrassed.  “She’ll be alright, but please, bring her inside.”

Sayuri obliged the request, laying Keiko out on the living room couch and allowing the others to follow her into the house.  By the time Keiko roused, all three girls had moved to their human-sized forms, while Shizuka knelt on the table.

“I’m sorry, just...that was quite poorly executed.”  Keiko regained a mirthful expression as her control over her body returned to her, though it was much more restrained now.  “Though I suppose I did show you my secret as well.”  She sat up slowly to look over the trio, her gaze lingering on Sayuri in particular as the only one of the trio she hadn’t seen yet.  “Don’t worry,” she quickly said, “I won’t tell.”

All three girls let out a relieved breath at the assurance.

“So...how’d you figure it out?” Ayane asked, breaking the awkward silence that followed.

“You weren’t quite a match for a newly-activated AI girl, for one.” Keiko replied.  “You reacted to starting the session just a bit later than a true AI girl would have, even one who’d never done it before.  For another, she called out your name when you were hurt.”  She nodded her head towards Sayuri, who flushed in embarrassment.

“I might not have noticed that it was the same as your master registry if we hadn’t been classmates, although someone else with a keen eye might notice with any of you.  You should consider adopting aliases, or at least registering under different masters.”  The playfulness returned as Keiko looked at Haruko in particular.  “And you should change your hair.”

“Ugh, yeah…” Haruko groaned, rubbing her head.  Keiko’s eyes briefly widened in surprise as the Hresvelgr’s hair shed its green tone in favor of a blonde to match her sister, or the shade she might have had if she were an Ater.  “This better?”

“Yes...that’s quite the trick.”  Keiko looked over the trio once more.  “If I might pry, how did all this come about?”

“Well...”

Sayuri began to explain their family’s strange story, from the death of her master to the events that had brought them together under this roof.  Haruko and Ayane both chimed in as needed, filling in Sayuri’s story with their own.  Shizuka and her master both listened quietly to the full tale, lost in a mixture of sympathy and amazement.

“So, this thing...” Keiko mused as she looked at the headband Ayane had brought out to show them.  “Does it work for other people?”

“Huh?”  Ayane looked down at the headband herself.  “I...don’t know, actually.  Haruko?”

“Well, yeah and no.” Haruko replied.  “That one in particular only works for Ayane, but they’re not hard to make.  Why, you want in on this?”

“It’s intriguing.” Keiko admitted.  “I wouldn’t mind getting to experience it.  And, well...”  This time it was her turn to look embarrassed.  “I...can’t help but wonder if it might get around what’s wrong with me.”

“Master...”  Shizuka looked up at Keiko, who shook her head.

“It’s unlikely, I know.”

“I can’t promise it would,” Haruko said after a bit of thought, “but I can’t say it wouldn’t, either.  What’s going on there?”

“I’m cataplectic.” Keiko admitted.  “Stress or strong emotion causes something inside me to misfire, and my body falls asleep while my mind stays awake.”

“Huh...you hide it really well.” Ayane said.  “I never even heard a rumor about anything like that.”

“I have Shizuka to thank for that.”  Keiko nodded down at her Fubuki, who lightly blushed at the praise.  “She’s taken care of me for a long time now.”

“It’s only my duty, master.” Shizuka said with an embarrassed look.  Sayuri and Haruko both absently nodded in understanding, though in doing so they drew the Shinki’s gaze.  “To be honest, it’s more impressive that you can go without masters.  It must be difficult.”

Sayuri shook her head.  “It’s Master’s order.  That helps, a lot.”

Haruko just stayed quiet for a bit.  She hadn’t talked about where she came from, Keiko noted, only how she’d met Sayuri.  She considered prying, but decided it wasn’t the time.

“Still,” she said, “it would be nice to be able to stand on my own more, even if it were in a different body.  Besides which, I have to admit I’m also curious.  Battles seem quite exciting, aren’t they?”

“It’s...yeah, to be honest, it’s a total rush.” Ayane admitted.

“Well, if you want to try it, I guess I can make a new headband for you,” Haruko said, “but that means we really need to figure out what we’re doing more than ever.”

“Well, first off, let’s not try the whole “being in two places at once” thing again.” Ayane said.  “Even if you look different, sounding the same when you’re right next to each other is too much.  If someone wants to come over, let’s schedule it so we’ve got time to sort out who’s going to be what.”

Sayuri nodded.  “Agreed.  As for names at the arena, well...”  A wicked smile grew on her face, the kind she normally reserved for her camshows.  “There’s always...my way~”