POV - Jay

"... The Bronya is tired of fighting you guys. Don't follow Bronya."

I say this, but it's clear they won't let it be. A lot of members from the AST are on the ground; some are quite hurt, but nothing really serious. Their mecha suits are destroyed and can't be used anymore.

Especially Idiotka; even with her suit destroyed, she will still try something.

I jump away quite high, and Project Bunny slows my descent as I see the familiar sight of the empty city.

Five times.

I reappeared in this city five different times, but I'm still not used to everything.

The first thing is this body's habits.

Trying to talk makes me say what I want in a weird, robotic-like way. It's not impossible to say something 'normally', but it is extremely annoying... If I try, not only do I talk slower, but it also feels wrong... Like having the feeling that whatever was said was misspoken... So I gave up for now; it's not like I can talk with anyone other than Idiotka.

Right before I land, my power flares up, and a light covers my legs. In the next instance, a pair of futuristic-looking rollerblades appear on my feet as I speed away.

Having powers is a double-edged sword. Really convenient, but brings so many problems... Fighting all the time gets dull after a while.

I search around as I sigh, until a building catches my eye. Without thinking too much, I make my way inside; it's not like there is anyone else around to tell me not to.

In the building, I find out what it was: an amusement arcade. For a moment, my eyes stayed fixed on some of those games.

... I want to play.

The only thing I did after I became Bronya was either fight or hide. Even if I were a battle junkie, there is a limit to how much I can reasonably fight back because the AST is rather weak.

... And if I go too far, it will only make things worse.

Everyone I met after becoming like this simply wanted to kill me; all I wish was for someone to not do that for once... ugh...

For a second, I thought of meeting the main character... But thinking of what comes after...

Maybe if they were not a human it would be better? I wonder if I can meet a fellow spirit. There's a lot I don't understand about being one, so they could teach me.

I'm not even sure when I'll be pulled back into sleeping, which is when I disappear from this world... And speaking of this...

I shake my head to dispel useless thoughts and find a machine where I could buy some coins to play, but that was not my objective. At the corner of the screen are the time and the date.

"... 16 days since the last time Bronya appeared, still a random amount of time. All beyond 2 weeks each, is that the minimum time needed for each time Bronya's here? ... No, its improbable time is related to my predicament."

Walking away dejected from not finding a clue towards where I was before, I can't help but complain.

This sucks! How I envy those protagonists who get to use all that knowledge from the future!..

There's nothing to do other than just roll with it; it's better to live in the present than to regret the past... I'm still mad, though.

I look at the games around me; maybe I deserve some time for myself.

Or it's what I would like to do, but...

"Ah..."

Times up.

The familiar pull signals the end of my journey today.

My last thought before falling into unconsciousness was a simple wish.

For something different to happen.

.........

......

...

POV - ???

The city's alarm is extremely loud, warning me that a catastrophe is about to happen.

A boy is running recklessly, without trying to even pace himself, through the empty streets, passing by the abandoned cars of the people who left for shelter.

"Why would you want to keep such a stupid promise?!"

He screams. I'm at the top of a big building, so far away from him that it would be impossible for a normal person to hear him even if he screamed... Lucky for me, I'm not normal.

"What an idiot."

From what it looks like, he is searching for someone. But other than the flying mecha girls surveying around, there isn't anyone else. And even if there were, what does he think he can do against a spacequake? Hmm...

This type of recklessness is a sign of main character disease... Is he..?

My thoughts are stopped by a change in the air. I cover my eyes, and in the next instant, a bright light appears, followed by a loud explosion sound and a strong shockwave.

The light is annoying, but the other two weren't that bad. Looking down at the 'wannabe MC', he was a little more than some meters outside of the range of that... I'll promote him to 'Probable MC'.

And then he immediately got a second promotion when he managed to dodge a big attack by getting weak in the knees.

Seriously, dodging an attack from a spirit by getting scared? I just put his title as 'Lucky Guy' for now.

I jump down from the twelveth floor of the building I am in and reach the ground in less than a second. Unlike what is expected, the landing doesn't make much noise, so I get closer to the action without alerting anyone... Only to nearly fall on the floor when I heard what his question to the girl who tried to kill him was...

"What... Is your name?"

He upgraded from 'Lucky Guy' to 'Lucky Bastard'.

I sigh; that's certainly the one... With a glance upward, it was possible to see missiles and one certain AST member rushing ahead. The spirit didn't care and stopped every single attack with ease. Let's see, not counting this one, there are six others providing support. I guess these are my training partners now... The three talk, but I didn't pay much attention, at least until the last part. The spirit, in a standstill with the mecha girl and likely bored, sighs before talking with her.

"You guys from the Mecha Mecha Squad are too stubborn; you should know this type of attack is useless. It's really idiotic."

The girl, who had a rather expressionless face, showed the first sign of emotion with furrowed eyes. She talks under her teeth.

"Don't call me Idiotka!"

"Eh..? I said it was idiotic; I never called you something like Idiotka... You idiot."

... Oh, this is bad. The mecha girl's body language shows that she will attack with a lot of strength, and the spirit will respond in kind. The tension was too high; any small trigger would cause their fight to resume... The problem is the lucky bastard guy who is too close to both of them. Does he want to die, or is his luck just so good that he doesn't need to care?

And like a prank from destiny, the signal that resumed the fight came from his own cellphone.

... Can't be helped... I move at the same time as their attacks and save him from the impact created by their weapons clashing. If there is one thing I'm confident in, it's speed.

"Huh?!! What?!?!"

He is panicking... I pull out my trusty sword and put it against his neck; he freezes instantly.

"Don't talk, just run away before a stray attack kills you... Unless you want to die?"

I lower my weapon as he shakes his head to deny it. I look around to find my practice targets in the air, but before I go away, he calls me again.

"Wait!.. I mean... Huh..."

I look back to find his conflicted face; he has too many questions and can't seem to decide what to ask first.

"... Who are you?"

A basic question... Weirdly, it's also one for which I don't have a definite answer. What should I say? My name from before I came here? Or would the name Artoria be correct because of my body? No, there is another way to answer...

"I guess... I'm just the mysterious heroine... Hehe."

I ended up laughing a bit at my own words. Since talking anymore would be awkward, it's time to use my secret technique. Running away!

With a single jump, I'm out of his sight. For him, it probably looked like I disappeared, but that's not my problem.

Now, I'll start my training. Finding one of the support girls from the AST, I prepare myself before jumping into action.