Wh-What the—
Is your computer okay?
Yes. I think so.
Cool.
Then we'd better split up now.
Mitsuki-san.
See you tomorrow.
Special-Purpose Building
School Year Calendar
RECORDS ROOM
The next day, the room was locked.
{\an8\fnCourier New\b1\bord5\fs40\t(\fs28)\shad0\c&H1CFEFC&\3c&H8B04E0&\t(2275,2276,\alpha&HFF&)\t(2850,2851,\alpha&H00&)\t(4280,4281,\alpha&HFF&)\t(5148,5149,\alpha&H00&)\t(9485,9485,\c&HE8FEDF&\3c&HF171F4&)\t(9650,9651,\c&H1CFEFC&\3c&H8B04E0&)\t(9900,9901,\c&HE8FEDF&\3c&HF171F4&))}YOUNG LADIES DON'T PLAY FIGHTING GAMES
Attention all first-years. An assembly has been added to the schedule.
Please gather in building A's assembly hall immediately after evening roll-call.
ASSEMBLY HALL
Good evening.
I am Morino Fujimiya, chair of the dorm monitors committee.
You must be wondering why we've asked you to gather here today.
It's because, yesterday, after lessons,
someone smashed a first-floor window in the special-purpose building.
A custodian who witnessed the incident reported
that although he didn't see the faces of the culprits,
he found this first-year ribbon at the scene.
See you tomorrow.
White Lily, you stupid bitch!
So I'd like to ask if any of you can shed some light on this incident.
I understand.
In that case, all first-years will take collective responsibility.
For one month, you will all clean the dorms before morning roll-call.
What do you have to say to that?
Yes, ma'am.
Okay, dismissed. You can all go.
Smash a window? Would any Kuromi girl really do something so barbaric?
I can't believe we have to get up a whole hour early.
{\an8\fnTimes New Roman\b1\fay-0.07\fs14\fscx85\bord0\shad0\blur0.3\c&H3B3839&\pos(115,305)\frx0\fry348}Natsume Sakisaka
{\an8\fnTimes New Roman\b1\fay0.02\fax-0.05\fs14\fscx85\bord0\shad0\blur0.3\c&H3B3839&\pos(225.5,297.5)\frz4.741}Aya Mitsuki
I feel like something god-adjacent has told me to take a step back and chill.
I'm making the other first-years' lives harder,
and one screwup will get me expelled.
Now that I stop to think about it, the risks far outweigh the rewards.
Okay. Sorry, White Lily-sama.
Logically, playing fighting games now is a no-go.
Still...
Wow!
"Higii"?
Natsume-san, would you mind not getting into point-blank range without warning?
"Point-blank range"?
So what would you like me to teach you today?
Oh, I had a physics question.
It's this one. I think it's a velocity problem?
Oh, this is about speed, not velocity.
Velocity has a direction.
Still, there is something that keeps bugging me.
Next, Mitsuki.
Here.
Did you see the White Lily's graceful belly roll?
Yes. What an elegant Fosbury flop.
Her belly roll was more impressive.
Dear me, no. It was the flop.
Nothing of the... Pardon?
Oh, my.
Mitsuki!
Right!
Thanks so much again, Aya-san.
The way you explain everything to me is such a help.
You're so good at schoolwork. I suppose you must enjoy studying.
Well, not exactly, but I guess I don't mind it.
It's like a puzzle. I could zen out and go at it forever.
"Forever"?
m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
*Forever: for a long time When an opponent does the same thing over and over, you might say: "She did ___ forever." In reality, "forever" is often a few minutes.
But if you could do it forever, you must like it after all.
Oh, yeah. Maybe you're right.
Hm? "Like."
"Like"?
How do you shine so brightly?
Well, I guess...
I don't really know what to tell you.
I just do what I like as hard as I can.
Maybe that just naturally makes me look like I'm shining.
Attention all dorm residents. Quiet time has ended.
Change for bed and prepare for lights out.
I repeat...
The impact of breaking through that glass helped bring feelings
I'd been bottling up back into sharp focus.
What if I go the rest of my life
without finding anything I can lose myself in like I used to?
Anxiety. Fear.
I worried myself to death and decided to pursue the opposite of fighting games.
Even then, what she said was so shallow, I would usually have laughed it off.
But from a girl with perfect looks, aura, and an ability to geniunely enjoy games?
If only that line hadn't come from the White Lily.
I'm quitting. I'm done with fighting games.
I'm quitting, okay?
But first, I'm gonna grind her spirit...
into dust.
{\an8\fnTimes New Roman\b1\fay-0.07\fs14\fscx85\bord0\shad0\blur0.3\c&H3B3839&\pos(115,305)\frx0\fry348}Natsume Sakisaka
{\an8\fnTimes New Roman\b1\fay0.02\fax-0.05\fs14\fscx85\bord0\shad0\blur0.3\c&H3B3839&\pos(225.5,297.5)\frz4.741}Aya Mitsuki
What's the matter, Aya-san?
One moment, you go out looking like a demoness,
and the next, you come back with the White Lily.
I had no idea the two of you were so close.
Natsume-san.
Please don't ask why...
but would you mind sleeping in the White Lily's room tonight?
Well, I don't really mind...
But does that mean...
Um...
I mean, you know...
What I mean to say is, uh, are the two of you, well...
Love comes in many forms!
Aya-san, I'm...
rooting for you!
Kuromi Girls' Dorm: No Noise After 8PM Lights Out: 10PM\h\h\h\hRise: 6AM No Exceptions
FT5.
How about we do first to five this time?
Okay. Fine by me.
I know I'm just projecting, but...
I'm gonna crush her.
I'm gonna crush her anyway!
There she goes.
While throwing safe fireballs, she crouches for a second
to make it look like she's doing a Hadoken,
and does a crouching medium punch or Hashogeki, which look similar,
to bait a parry and make my anti-fireball tech whiff.
And once I'm focused on her fireballs to make sure I don't fall for it...
I hate not being sure.
I know there's no guarantee this will lead
to "something I can lose myself in like I used to."
All I'm sure of is that I'll never find out if I don't keep going.
But if I'm still wondering if I'm on the right path, I'll waste too much time.
So...
I'll deny you.
So that I can be sure...
For my future...
White Lily, I'm going to deny you!
This is what Cammy does best:
Massacring opponents trapped in the corner.
She's dead meat!
She got out of the corner? She stuck it out.
Huh?
I mean... What? What was she thinking, using invincibility like that?
Invincible moves.
Some special moves have a brief period of invincibility on startup.
Even if a strike or throw would normally crush them,
they can power through and hit an opponent who can't hit back!
These are invincible moves.
But if an opponent blocks one,
you're left wide open to massive damage, making them a double-edged sword.
Th-That does it.
What's wrong with her?
She didn't do that invincible move raw to get out of corner pressure.
m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
*Raw: Gambling on a risky move without anything preceding it.
She blocked her way out of hell in one piece,
then threw out an okizeme Shoryu. Raw. For no reason!
She's dead.
N-No. Stop it. Calm down.
Those who lose their cool die first. That's fighting games.
However, in the second game,
Aya won a round by exploiting a mistake to wreck the White Lily with okizeme.
Then Aya got into point-blank range and thought she had it in the bag,
only for the White Lily to weather her assault and take the game.
It's wild how much she wants to win, for better or worse.
It's what makes her Ryu scary.
But it blows up in her face a lot, too.
Why do you want to win so bad?
Unlike me, you don't have anything riding on this set.
Now we're tied. Four games to four.
Oh, damn it.
She's gonna be messing with my head forever.
Just when I thought I'd taken control with ice-cold calm,
she threw out a forward dash like a lunatic,
and I've been tense as hell ever since.
I don't get her or her Ryu.
Her weird obsession with winning, her unpredictability...
I went into this planning to stomp her 5-0 and break her spirit,
but we're down to one more game. Just beating her isn't enough.
If I land a lucky hit and win without figuring her out,
I won't be able to make her feel like she lost.
And that's why I—
Mitsuki-san.
Your heart...
is pounding like crazy.
Do you give up?
Huh?
You're too scared to keep going, right? Those footsteps spooked you.
I don't mind.
We can just say I won.
No, I'll play it out.
I-Is she for real?
I think I've got it.
She's like an elementary schooler.
That's why she cries when things don't go her way.
She's not thinking about tomorrow.
It's all about winning right now.
Yeah. That's right. Back then...
I wasn't playing for the future or anything else,
but I still wanted to win.
Hell yeah!
Those were...
some good games.
U-Uh...
You know, about yesterday...
Outing Notice
Room
1st Year Chrysanthemum Class
Name
Aya Mitsuki
I will leave school grounds for the reasons I have written.
Hey, SF5 is out! Let's do another tournament at Takeda's place!
Ah, I dunno. Everyone's too busy with clubs to really get into it.
Besides...
Besides what?
Takeda said he sold all his arcade sticks and consoles to buy kendo gear.
Mitsuki, video games are fun, but you should play us at soccer sometime.
Wait. Why soccer?
I'm gonna make you cry today, Mitsuki, you hear?
You liars.
I can't play against anyone on my own.
Should I apologize?
But what would I say? "Sorry I won"?
That'd just be rubbing it in.
Whoa! You're here!
Warn me before you shout like that.
It's your fault for sneaking up on me. What are you doing here?
Isn't it obvious?
I'm here to fight.
Seriously?
She's turtling all the time. A total 180 from the night before last.
But that's not all. She's way better at dealing with my offense.
When did you lab?
You can't use that classroom anymore, so there's no way you had time.
m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
*Labbing: Practicing in training mode. Used in the sense of "honing one's skills."
I labbed in my head.
All in my head.
I have nothing better to do in class, so I spent all yesterday in the lab.
So she just labbed forever?
Good game!
I'm gonna make you cry today, Mitsuki, you hear?
Next time, you're dead meat!
So, White Lily-sama, about that set...
Since you anti-aired all those Strikes low to the ground,
I thought for sure I'd get past you.
Don't tell me you weren't hitting buttons on reaction, but—
Wait a moment.
Would you mind giving that cringe "White Lily" nickname a rest?
Huh?
I mean, all the young ladies at Kuromi call you that.
And white lilies are what people dedicate to the Virgin Mary.
No, it's just plain weird.
You hurl insults without a micron of hesitation, huh?
The rich girls are free to see the world through yuri glasses if they want,
but I really wish they'd stop giving me nicknames and dragging me into it.
And what's a "micron"?
Anyway, they all talk way too loud for some reason.
They could at least try to make it so I can't hear them talking about me.
It's a pain in the ass.
I failed at making friends in high school and ended up alone again because of them.
I'm not good at socializing, damn it!
Ah, what's the big deal?
I'll be your friend, okay?
What's that look for?
Oh, hey. You can see the ocean from here.
Uh, not that we couldn't before.
Friends, huh?
Mio.
Mio Yorue.
That's my name.
Illustration:
Translation: William Varteresian Timing: Edgar Cruz Editing: SMR Quality Check: Geoff Mazzolini Translation Check: David Saylor