"It's finished!"
Masao and Yukinoshita's voices rang out in unison as they slotted the final component into place with care.
A wave of shared accomplishment washed over them. Without thinking, they turned to each other, their faces alight with the same triumphant smile.
The motion brought them startlingly close. They had been sitting side-by-side, their shoulders nearly touching, but now they were face-to-face, a mere ten centimeters apart.
Their eyes met. The thrill of success instantly flickered into something else—a flash of surprise, a jolt of self-conscious heat.
They flinched back as if shocked, moving in perfect, synchronized retreat.
Masao's heart hammered against his ribs.
Was it just the afterglow of their creative high? Or was it… something more?
Maybe it was both.
On her side of the table, Yukino was fighting a similar battle. Her own pulse was a frantic drumbeat in her ears, the source of the tumult a mystery she couldn't quite unravel.
Masao rubbed the back of his neck, feeling suddenly warm. Whether from their intense focus or the lingering tension, a fine sheen of sweat coated his skin.
"Well, it's finally done," he said, standing up to break the spell. "I'll go find some bottles. Time for a field test."
"Alright. I'll wait here."
Stepping out of the room, Masao was met by a cool breeze that soothed his flushed cheeks and cleared the strange, stuffy heat from his body.
He took a steadying breath, patted his face to regain focus, and headed to the kitchen. He poured three glasses of cold barley tea and collected a handful of empty milk cartons before returning.
By then Yukinoshita had reclaimed her composure as well. She sat primly at the table, using the leftover cardboard to fold a fresh batch of ammunition.
"Here. Take a break," Masao said, setting a glass before her.
"Thank you." She paused her work and took a grateful sip.
Just then, Jahy marched over, her own weapon—a formidable-looking hybrid of a crossbow and a slingshot—held aloft.
She drained her glass of juice in a few loud gulps and fixed Masao with a look of challenge.
"Well? Is that toy of yours ready?" she crowed, planting a fist on her hip. "Prepare to be humbled by my superior might!"
"Of course It's ready," Masao retorted, hefting his sleek cardboard pistol. "Try to keep up. It's time you learned the power of applied physics."
The living room was too confined for their contest, so the trio relocated to the backyard, carrying their arsenals and ten milk cartons as targets.
The rules were simple:
The two competitors would stand fifteen meters away from the cartons and open fire.
Knocking over or piercing a carton counted as a successful hit.
The first one to successfully take down five milk cartons would be the victor.
The contestants were Masao and Jahy, with Yukinoshita acting as the referee.
Masao checked the magazine of his pistol, loaded with precision-cut cardboard discs.
Jahy brandished her weapon, a bundle of sharpened chopsticks—her chosen arrows—clutched in her other hand.
They struck their poses—Masao with a cool gunslinger's stance, Jahy with a dramatic, villainous flourish.
"Heh heh heh! You'd better not blink, Masao," Jahy taunted. "I'll obliterate all ten targets before you can even squeeze off a second shot!"
"Hah. The only thing that'll be obliterated is your pride, Jahy. The fact that I'm even allowing that medieval relic to compete against modern engineering is a concession you should be thanking me for."
"Enough prattling!"
"Let's do this!"
Their glares locked, the air between them crackling with competitive energy.
Yukinoshita, standing between them with an improvised flag, found herself swept up in the moment.
"Contestants, ready!" she announced, her voice bright with excitement. "Begin in three... two... one... Fire!"
'She's really getting into this,' Masao thought, a flicker of amusement cutting through his focus.
On cue, both weapons were leveled and fired.
A sharp thwack from Jahy's bow and a softer thip from Masao's pistol sounded almost as one.
Masao's bullet struck a carton, cleanly tipping it onto its side.
Jahy's bolt, however, hit with enough force to not only knock her target over but to sink its sharpened tip deep into the cardboard.
In raw, destructive power, Jahy was the clear winner.
But the contest was about more than just power. It was about speed.
And here, Masao's engineered design proved its brilliance. With a simple trigger pull, he could fire again instantly. Jahy, however, had to notch another chopstick into her weapon.
In the few seconds it took her to reload, Masao had already finished the match.
Thip. Thip. Thip. Thip.
A rapid, rhythmic cadence of shots, and his five targets were down.
He gave his pistol a casual spin around his finger. "And that's that."
Almost as an afterthought, he pivoted and swiftly knocked down Jahy's remaining cartons as well.
Jahy, her second bolt finally nocked, could only stare, her jaw slack with disbelief.
"W-What?! How?!"
Her eyes were wide, first at the fallen cartons, then at the innocuous-looking pistol in Masao's hand. The mechanics of it defied her understanding.
"Pfah! A cheap trick!" she spluttered, rallying. "So you can shoot a little faster! My weapon possesses true power! On the field of battle, a single, decisive blow is all a true warrior needs! Your rapid fire is just… showy desperation! The rules are flawed, that's all!"
Masao simply shook his head, a wry smile playing on his lips.
"Is it really so hard to admit when someone else is superior?"
"Guh—!"
The verbal blow landed with physical force. He had thrown her own words—the very ones she'd used to mock his studying—right back at her.
"Alright, that's enough, you two," Yukinoshita interjected, stepping between them.
"We did make the rules rather quickly. They were perhaps not perfectly balanced. Let's call it a draw. One point for ingenuity," she nodded to Masao, "and one for raw power," she added, with a glance at Jahy.
By a strict reading of the rules, it was a biased call. But Masao didn't mind; the pistol was, after all, a product of his and Yukinoshita's collaboration.
"Fine by me," he agreed.
Jahy crossed her arms with a definitive hmph!
"I graciously accept this outcome."
A loss was a loss, but a draw? A draw she could live with.
'A draw…' Jahy's thoughts raced. 'Last time, for the armor, I lost. This time, a draw. I am evolving! I, Jahy-sama, am ascending to new heights of power! Next time... next time, victory will be mine without a doubt! Heh heh heh... Just you wait, Masao. You will kneel!'
Yet, despite her internal grandstanding, her gaze remained locked on Masao's pistol, its design now burning itself into her mind.
'That device... its power is lacking, but its speed... its speed is no joke,' she admitted to herself. 'I must acquire its secrets. A weapon like that... it would be the perfect supplement. A failsafe. My tactical options would be limitless.'
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