Once upon a time, the students of Blue Archive were plagued with countless slanderous memes. Some of them were quite famous, and many targeted our princess, but… all of those stories were nothing but baseless rumors.
But then,
Buuuuuuuung——
“Mika, hop on.”
“Uh, um?”
Out of all the slander directed at Shiroko, one of them seemed suspiciously close to the truth.
Shiroko, who sported a fierce-looking bike that made an equally fierce noise, came to a stop right in front of me.
Was she so sure of my tastes now that she was ordering me around without even asking? Did she think I was some sort of yes-girl?
Regardless, using Neru’s phrase, I couldn’t refuse the command from “one incredibly cool older sister riding an incredibly cool bike, who is actually younger than me.”
Since the bike was a bit small for two, I had no choice but to snugly sit behind Shiroko. Naturally, I ended up wrapping my arms around her waist in a rather intimate posture.
Helmet? Please, I’m not even joking.
Even if I crashed or toppled over, I’d only feel a slight sting. No need for those!
“Um…”
“…Puh. Are you nervous?”
“…A little.”
Despite her demand for my company, Shiroko visibly blushed the moment I sat behind her.
Well, I can see why—my body pressing against her must’ve been hard to ignore. If I were in her position, I would’ve been anxious too.
“Alright, here we go.”
“Ahaha… okay! I wonder where our fearsome Wolfie will take me☆”
“I promise it’ll be a nice place.”
With that, Shiroko revved the engine for our two-person hell ride.
With a roaring exhaust note, the bike shot forward faster than I anticipated. If it was this quick from the start, it would only be faster from there.
The bike zipped along the roads near Abydos, where the traces of desert had mostly vanished and vibrant greenery bloomed. I could swear we were already speeding at 150… no, possibly 200km/h.
Before I knew it, the scenery around us blurred, and soon we were racing like a tempest through the sandy expanse of the Abydos Desert.
All there was around us was sand and the occasional remnants of something… but…
“Ahaha, Shiroko-chan, go faster!”
“Okay.”
In that untamed dash with nothing to hinder us, the sensation of the wind hitting my bare skin was simply indescribable. As dopamine surged through me like crazy, I buried my face in the nape of Shiroko’s neck and held her tightly.
We soared over sand dunes, thrillingly almost landing sideways every time, but with the confidence that I wouldn’t get hurt too badly… I couldn’t help but immerse myself in this wild ride that would make anyone think I’d lost my mind.
However, amidst all this excitement, one question suddenly popped into my mind.
Hey, Shiroko, where exactly are we going?
At first, I thought we were just going for a drive around the desert, but it seemed Shiroko had a particular destination in mind.
“Shiroko-chan!!! Where are we going?!”
I raised my voice, fighting against the loud roaring wind to ask about our destination.
“Um… it’s a date spot.”
Hmm… a date spot? Was there even such a place in the Abydos Desert?
I was under the impression that this bike ride was Shiroko’s version of a date, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Umm… honestly, I was okay with this, but it turned out Shiroko didn’t even see this as a date.
“Wait a minute! I never accepted a date or anything?!”
I almost got tricked by how naturally Shiroko acted.
We weren’t even dating in the first place, and this wasn’t a date at all!
Upon hearing my protest, Shiroko seemed to pause, possibly considering a dialogue, and slowed down. Although it was still fast, I could finally hear her voice over the wind without having to shout.
“Mika, that’s not important.”
“What?”
“Wolves, as animals, are said to live their lives with just one mate.”
“…Um, I know wolves are faithful to each other, yeah.”
I countered, hoping to clarify her point, but there was no trace of rejection in her words at all.
“Well… that was just a metaphor. And since Mika isn’t a wolf, it’s fine.”
And because I had already revealed my weak will when I firmly expressed my reluctance before, there was no way Shiroko would be swayed by my flimsy rebuttal.
“I’ve already chosen Mika as my mate, so that’s enough for me.”
“…And my feelings don’t matter?”
“Um… if you ask me to get off now, I’ll take that as a refusal.”
“Hey, Shiroko-chan… if I get off here, I won’t be able to get back!”
“…”
There was no answer, but how could I imagine Shiroko’s proud face popping up in my mind?
Oh, along with Nagisa’s eerie face as she loads a roll cake.
Hmm. I don’t know.
Shiroko gave off a wolf-like vibe in many ways. Especially since, in front of her, I felt as if I were the prey, despite being the stronger one.
“Then I’ll take it you’re not getting off, Mika.”
Even though Nagisa said, “I’m not responsible for this. If you think you can handle it, then it’s your choice,” at this point, I felt like I wouldn’t be forgiven even if I acted cute in a bunny girl outfit in front of her.
Maybe once we graduate, I could spend twenty hours of my day devoted to our kids and somehow manage…?
Or I could find some long-lost artifacts that allowed for body doubles to exist. Not some illusion-based technique like Hokage from Hakgwiyaeng, but the real deal.
After that, we resumed our ride through the desert on the bike without much more conversation.
Deep down, I blamed my personality for being overly susceptible to straightforward approaches without any pushing or pulling, while in reality, I was the one who constantly left openings.
“…Yeah. We’ve arrived.”
How long had it been? Shiroko announced we’d arrived at our destination.
In front of us, as the bike’s speed started to decrease, appeared…
“Black Market?”
“It’s our date spot.”
“…Shiroko-chan, this looks unmistakably like a black market.”
I wanted to deliver a small punishment to Shiroko for denying the obvious, but remembering she was the driver, I held back.
Even if we got into an accident, we wouldn’t be hurt, but what would happen to Shiroko’s bike was a different story altogether.
So why on earth did she bring me to a dating spot… no, to a black market? I couldn’t think of a reason.
I recalled the last time I was there was likely to secretly get some drinks to avoid Nagisa, which, by the way, she had confiscated.
That stuff was ridiculously expensive; she wouldn’t have thrown it away, right? I wasn’t going to drink it but thought it would be a fitting celebration once Nagisa turned into an adult.
“Mika, do you know what’s in the Black Market?”
“…Wait a second.”
Instead of pondering what was in the Black Market, I realized it was better to think of what Shiroko might be interested in there.
So that meant Shiroko brought me here for…
“There’s a bank.”
It was all to plunder Kaiser Corporation’s money-laundering front… to rob the octopus bank.
“Yeah, let’s do it together.”
“Haha! No way… that can’t be true. Ugh….”
With a serious expression on her face, I let out a small sigh.
A date happening at the bank of a black market? It was so Shiroko in a way I found amusing. Typically, starting a first date with a light drive at 200km/h in the desert before robbing a bank seemed problematic on multiple fronts.
However, from Shiroko’s perspective, it was a perfect date course.
Initially, I prioritized seeing others enjoy themselves more than my own preferences.
Shiroko parked the bike at the edge of the Black Market, turned off the engine, and got off. I followed suit, albeit hesitantly. Was this right?
“Hey, Shiroko-chan…? Still, I didn’t bring a gun or anything…”
“I brought one.”
“…?”
Shiroko approached the back of the bike and casually opened what looked like a trunk, pulling out my gun. She also retrieved her own and leaned it against the bike…
“W-Wait a second! How did those come out of there?!”
“…Is that weird?”
“It’s super, ridiculously weird!”
“Umm…”
With a confused tilt of her head, Shiroko started pulling out things that looked like drones and explosives.
I mean, this isn’t some magical fourth-dimensional pocket like Doraemon’s! How can such big items come out from back there?
Alright, let’s gloss over the absurdities of minor details that can’t be explained by logic. After all, Mitsuki’s bag also had a similar vibe.
But robbing a bank was a different matter! Are we really going to plunder a bank and then escape from the market guards after?
“…Okay, let’s do it right now☆”
Wait, what? I absolutely want to do this! Kaiser is done for anyway. Why not just rob it once?
Futost!
