Chapter 12 – Second Coupling
One.
The battle ended safely.
After landing in the hangar, Netoru stepped down from the cockpit and briefly glanced at Karen’s holy cavalry.
Although they fought quite dangerously, Karen’s holy cavalry remained largely intact.
Other than a few minor cuts, there were no major injuries. So there shouldn’t be much difficulty in Karen’s adjustment work.
“Let’s try something like this for once.”
Netoru laughed as he recalled the battle that took place today. He didn’t know that he would see himself fighting like this.
Originally, Netoru’s fighting style was not the type of overdoing it while drawing attention from enemies.
It is closer to relying on individual strength rather than cooperation.
I would have to say that he is a selfish character who only believes in himself rather than trusting others.
However, in this battle, Netoru deliberately changed his fighting style differently from before.
That way it would feel familiar to Karen.
This was also one of several ways to increase the coupling wavelength.
I don’t know if it really worked…
If she recalled her former coupling partner, then Tohru’s intentions worked.
2.
Returning to her unit, Karen found Asuna, the head of the maintenance team. It was to check what the coupling wavelength was drawing in today’s battle.
How much did it really rise?
At least she’s doing a lot better than her first coupling.
Karen said she was sure her numbers had gone up.
It has no choice but to do that, when she first did the coupling, she is in such good condition that it is incomparable to her.
Of course, it’s relatively good, but the fact that the coupling with Netoru is unstable remains unchanged.
However, it was Netoru’s specialty that coupling was possible even in such a state. In the first place, it was ridiculous to couple when the wavelengths didn’t match.
“Karen. The coupling wavelength record you’ve been waiting for is out.”
She didn’t wait long before Asuna approached, fluttering a piece of paper with the results written on it. It was a job she requested in advance before the sortie, so the work was done quickly.
At Asuna’s words, Karen’s eyes lit up.
“How is it? Has the wavelength matching rate increased a lot?”
“That is… First of all, compared to before, it definitely went up, but the number is still too low for coupling.”
“Ah, but where is the climb?”
She climbed anyway. That was enough, so Karen accepted her paper from Asuna with a smile on her lips.
‘… Hmm.”
Upon checking, it was clear that the coupling numbers were still at rock bottom, just as Asuna had said. Compared to other pilots, it was a disastrous figure. But it’s okay.
19.6936%
Because the numbers are definitely higher than before.
In addition, the graph recording the change in the coincidence rate of the coupling wavelength also showed a fairly significant shape.
The coincidence rate of the coupling wavelength is not constant.
In particular, it changes the most during battle, because there are many times when coupling partners do not agree with each other’s thoughts and feelings.
For example, when a male pilot wants to move aggressively, but a female pilot wants to move defensively, this discrepancy becomes even greater.
Therefore, the coincidence rate of the coupling wavelength repeats going up and down every time,
According to the graph drawn on the paper, the agreement rate between Karen and Netoru continued to rise.
“… ”
In particular, it is impressive that he draws the lowest point during a sortie and then peaks during the battle.
This was probably the shame when Netoru became a bait and drew attention.
Netoru’s actions were reckless, but deep down, it meant that Karen agreed with his judgment.
“That’s interesting. Even though they even slapped each other about 15 days ago, they seem to be breathing together during the battle?
“Haha… Iknow, right?”
Karen smiled awkwardly at the words of Asuna, who was watching with her.
Certainly Karen was a little curious about this.
She had the idea of just participating in the battle somehow, but it matched so well that it was incomparable to the first coupling. Thanks to that, the things I worried about before the sortie somehow felt useless.
‘… If we do well, we will be able to fight without major problems until Natsuo returns.’
As the number gradually improves, the burden on Karen’s body becomes less. Then, if she doesn’t overdo it, she will be able to continue fighting.
However, the problem is who will be Netoru’s coupling partner when Natsuo returns later.
‘Hmm… Let’s think about it then.’
After all, he was a guy anyone could relate to.
If a new pilot moves in in the middle, it is enough to try swapping at that time.
… That was the moment Karen thought.
────!
With her sudden feeling of tingling all over her body, Karen slumped to the floor as if her legs gave out.
“… What?”
Karen let go of her moans as she clutched her forehead.
Her eyes are blurry and her head is spinning.
The fading sensations throughout her body were causing her to feel a terrible urge to vomit.
“… Karen!?”
“Okay, it’s okay…”
“No, what’s okay is okay! Cold sweats come out like this!”
“Haha…”
At Asuna’s scream, Karen gave her a bitter smile. Clenching her fists and biting her lips, anyone could see that she was desperately suppressing her pain.
Asuna, who was watching Karen with her complex eyes, bit her lip.
“… You. Were you pretending to be okay?”
“… “
Karen said nothing.
She couldn’t exactly.
In fact, she couldn’t even judge Karen herself. Was she pretending that she was fine?
Karen thought as she chewed her lips.
“… Still, it’s better than the first coupling.”
Fortunately, the vertigo soon began to improve. Karen put her hands on the floor and slowly lifted her body up. At that moment, she had a scene flash through Karen’s mind.
‘… Was that a problem too?’
In order to save Fer A and Kyokyo, she instantly increased the output of the Holy Trooper to its maximum. The recoil was by no means light.
But it wasn’t Netoru’s fault.
He just answered Karen’s call, and it was necessary. Rather, it was rather fortunate that he saved two people with such a large group.
“Karen. Go straight to the infirmary.”
“Yes.”
Karen gave her a small nod at Asuna’s words as she glared at her sternly.
And then.
─Today, thank you very much!
─Thanks to you, I’m alive!”
Turning her head, she could see Per A and Kyoko chattering around Netoru.
Your skills are amazing, thank you for saving me, I hope you will be the platoon leader next time… Etc.
Like children, a clear and cute smile flows.
Karen, who was watching Per A and Kyokyo, smiled lightly and headed to her infirmary.
If that’s the case, then this is fine.
3.
“I was really thankful for today!
“I’m alive thanks to Netoru oppa!”
As soon as I came down from the cavalry, a boy and two girls approached me in good spirits.
It was Fera and Kyokyo.
Netoru examined the complexion of the two. The one with good complexion doesn’t seem to have any major injuries.
While bickering with each other like that during the battle, it seemed that they were breathing together unexpectedly.
For some reason, Netoru looked at the two, whose eyes twinkled to the point of being burdensome, and asked.
“How many years have the couple been dating?”
“… Hmm. It hasn’t even been a year yet. Will it be 10 months soon?”
“Ten months… You’re both 15 years old, right?”
“”Yes. That’s right!””
“… “
Netoru unconsciously frowned.
He had already heard about it, but after confirming it with the people himself, a feeling of annoyance surged from the inside of his chest.
Throwing little kids who are just starting puberty into the battlefield.
Also, the seniors are not sane.
In fact, isn’t it that both of them were thrown into the battlefield as soon as the magical nervous system was established in the institution?
Originally, the magic nervous system was a secret technique for knights to reach the realm of superhumans, but in the present age, it has changed to a secret technique for operating holy cavalry.
Of course, no matter how the purpose has changed, it is not easy to build a magical nervous system.
It was a job that the knights had to invest more than 10 years at least to reach the realm of superhumans.
Knights, who are called combat weapons on the battlefield, would be like that, but how amazing would it have been for commoner kids to have a magical nervous system built into their bodies?
‘… But the problem is that most of the kids in this unit are like this.’
Netoru barely managed to hold back a sigh.
As far as Netoru knew, there were only two pilots in the unit who were over the age of 20.
Chandler and Ceres.
These two were the oldest survivors of the 393rd Unit and at the same time the oldest.
And the rest of the unit were all teenagers.
In fact, the average age is no more than 20 years old.
‘It’s nonsense.’
If you think about it, it’s absurd that a guy named Natsuo and Karen acted as aces in the unit.
To think that a boy or girl who is only 19 years old is being evaluated as one of the best in the unit…
Of course, Natsuo was like that, and her Karen’s talent was just as outstanding. As much as her beauty, there was a reason for everything that Netoru coveted.
But even so, is this normal for me?
Looking at this, it is not difficult to understand that Karen is trying to sortie too much.
If it were real, even a 19-year-old girl who would barely put down her uniform would not have been very trustworthy with the younger unit members.
And it’s funny.
Is it because of the average age of these troops?
Thanks to that, after Netoru came to Unit 393, he couldn’t touch a woman even once. It was not for nothing that he had been starving for a woman for a month.
Not only did I not like children who still had downy hair, and the only decent adult women in the unit were Commander Rien, Asuna, and Ceres.
Rien was a difficult commander to touch,
Asuna is also not an existence that Netoru can do carelessly because of her position.
And finally, for Ceres, it was taken properly from the first day.
‘… Tsk.’
Thinking of Ceres, Netoru narrowed his brows.
She is, in many ways, a woman who has become a villain now. Ceres played a big role in Netoru’s reputation being destroyed as soon as he joined the unit.
Due to the low average age of his unit members, Ceres was forced to stand out from the first day Netoru joined the unit.
Indeed, as befits the eldest member of the unit, Ceres had a mature body, and the charm of a mature woman was overwhelming even compared to women in other units.
Her long purple hair down to her waist, her soft eyes and a small teardrop under her right eye… A tolerant beauty with slightly drooping eyebrows,
Maybe it’s because of Ceres’ unique innocent look?
She approached prematurely and was beaten back. She would be right in saying that she was tested by her.
Netoru, who recalled the bad memories of that time, raised his head.
Just in time, Ceres was seen walking away with her coupling partner, with her calm, unhurried steps.
─You all worked hard.
─Yes! Ceres noona suffered too!
─Sister! Would you like to go wash up right away?
In addition to her beautiful S-shaped body, which is evident from her pilot suit, her long purple hair that falls down to her hips gently drapes.
As she passed by, she greeted her unit members for their hard work, and the way she behaved was kind, just like her favorite kindergarten teacher.
But don’t be fooled by that.
Contrary to what she looked like, she was a sneaky fox-like bitch.
And the coupling partner next to her was a 17-year-old boy.
