Volume 13 Chapter 436 Yukishiro Emily, A Woman Toyed With by Destiny
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
A few days after it was revealed that Aqua-sama would be heading into space, I called the usual three members of our group to the Japan branch of Space Experience X in Nihonbashi.
”Emily-senpai, what is this about? I’m busy, you know…” Kanon said, already turning around as though attending the meeting had been nothing more than a brief stop in her day.
”No, no, no!” I shot back. “You did not come all the way here just to leave! Seriously, you’re such a pain. You’re only doing this because you want my attention, aren’t you?”
”Hey, wait a sec!”
I slipped into a perfect imitation of Aqua-sama’s legendary scene from the Monday 9 PM drama Love Innovation1, the scene that had stolen the hearts of viewers across the country, and called her back.
”This is what you wanted to see, right? You love my Aqua-sama impressions, don’t you?”
Kanon puffed out her cheeks, yet she turned back anyway, looking far more entertained than she wanted to admit. The actress who had received that line from Aqua-sama during filming reportedly spent three days in bed afterward, which only made it more impressive that she managed to hold herself together until the cameras stopped rolling. That was professionalism on a completely different level.
”Ugh,” Kanon groaned. “This better not be a waste of time. Get on with it.”
Good grief. This was exactly why bulletin board types2 always rushed straight to the conclusion. Sometimes I had serious things to talk about too. I shot everyone my sharpest look, only for Kaede-paisen to return a stare that somehow carried equal amounts of exhaustion and suspicion.
”Knowing you, you screwed something up again, didn’t you?” she said, her voice slipping into its usual rough rhythm. “Just spit it out and apologize to Nee-san already. Seriously, I only just finished dealing with Onidzuka-senpai the other day…”
”Ah, Kaede-paisen. Is that story going to take a while? If it is, can we save it for later?”
The devastation on her face was immediate.
”Emily-san, please hurry,” Nee-san said calmly.
Nee-san…
This was exactly why people on the boards kept throwing around the nickname ‘Virgin BBA’3. Granted, the person who had started using it years ago was me, back when I was in kindergarten.
I sat down on the sofa, leaned forward, clasped my hands together, and switched into serious mode.
”Listen, you guys… do you really think Aqua-sama is going to perform a concert in space and then simply come home?”
All three of them groaned and grabbed their heads.
See? It was not just me.
There was no way Aqua-sama was going to quietly finish a concert and return without incident. The man attracted trouble the way a black hole attracted matter. I was convinced that sooner or later something—or someone—would drag him into a real mission.
”I mean… yeah,” Kanon admitted. “But do you really think we can stop him?”
Nee-san and Kaede-paisen nodded in agreement.
”Are you stupid?” I fired back. “There is no way anybody can stop Aqua-sama. He’s like a bag of shrimp chips4. Once you start, there is no stopping.”
”Then what exactly are you proposing?” Kanon asked.
”Kanon, you’re a genius for asking that!” I cried. “I knew you’d get it. We go too. That way, if Aqua-sama gets caught up in something, we’ll already be there.”
”Go?” Kanon tilted her head. “Go where?”
Honestly, she could be painfully slow when it mattered.
Throwing my arms wide, I muttered, “Good grief.”
”That is unbelievably annoying. Can I unfriend you?”
I launched myself at her leg instantly.
”Anything but that! Please!”
The entire exchange lasted twenty-one seconds.
The fact that we could bicker with such perfect timing honestly frightened me sometimes.
”So, Emily-san,” Nee-san asked, “where exactly are we going?”
”Wait,” Kaede-paisen said. “You’re not talking about a space mission, are you?”
As expected of Kaede-paisen. She really was the brains of both the Verification Team and the Nightmare Generation.
I slid a file across the table.
”The Izanagi, the new shuttle developed by Space Experience X for Aqua-sama’s journey. And this…”
I tapped the second page.
”…is its sister craft, the Izanami.”
Kanon, Kaede-paisen, and Nee-san stared at the documents with identical expressions of disbelief.
Honestly, even I still wanted to make that face.
Why did a second shuttle exist?
The answer was so absurd that I had eventually given up questioning it and accepted reality as it was.
”No, no, no!” Nee-san exclaimed. “I have about twelve questions, but even if we somehow have a shuttle, how are we supposed to fly it into space?”
Kaede-paisen and I slowly turned toward her.
She blinked.
Then she pointed at herself.
”Eh? Me?”
Obviously.
After all, Nee-san had spent two years studying aerospace engineering at a national university before transferring to Aviation and Space University, graduating from its pilot training program, joining Amakusa Aviation at twenty-two, flying large passenger jets as a co-pilot for three years, and eventually becoming a test pilot for new aircraft and shuttles at Amakusa Aviation Development Industry.
If anyone here could get us into orbit, it was her.
People on the boards treated the Verification Team like some kind of comedy troupe, but the truth was that strangely brilliant women kept gathering around us. Otherwise, Kaede-paisen would never have attended Mary Women’s University on a scholarship while using the handle “Chinposuki,” and our local news anchor would not spend her mornings cheerfully saying “Hoge~” and “Pawa~” on live television.
Nee-san looked through the file, her expression gradually tightening.
”If I memorize the manuals, I could probably fly it,” she said. “But alone? That would be impossible.”
”Nee-san, do not worry. We’re bringing Mikoto-chan with us. AI 3510 already has every manual and system specification uploaded.”
I had already secured her cooperation.
Or rather, I had cried while begging, “Help me, Miko-emon!”
”Does that mean we need zero-gravity training?” Kanon asked. “And what about you, Emily-senpai? You’re pregnant.”
”I’ll focus on classroom study until the baby is born.”
If I had two months, I could make it work.
At least, I believed I could.
”Well, if that’s the plan, then I’m in,” Kaede-paisen declared. “I don’t think Aqua-kun is the type to sit quietly either. My instincts—my wild instincts—are screaming that something’s going to happen.”
”Kaede-paisen!!”
That was exactly what I wanted to hear.
When it came to situations like this, instinct often beat logic.
Together, Kaede-paisen and I turned toward the easiest person in the room to persuade.
”I also don’t think Aqua-sama is going to stay out of trouble,” Kanon admitted. “And being prepared for the worst is not a bad idea. Fine. I’ll help.”
”Kanon~!”
I tried to jump on her for a hug, but she sidestepped gracefully.
Damn it.
She had figured out I was trying to sneak in a little sexual harassment.
The three of us then looked toward the last holdout.
Not that it really mattered anymore.
When the Verification Team reached a consensus, the only thing left was obtaining approval from the sole functioning adult in the room.
”…Understood,” Nee-san said at last. “As Kanon-san said, it is preparation that cannot hurt. Besides, I do not think I can ignore the instincts of Kaede-san and Emily-san.”
”Yes!!” I shouted. “That’s our Nee-san! I love you, Nee-san! Yahoo!”
”By the way…” she said. “Why do two shuttles exist in the first place?”
”G-gulp.”
I tried puffing out my cheeks in a desperate attempt to distract her.
It failed.
Nee-san grabbed my shoulder.
”Explain.”
”Well… you all know I’m the chairwoman of Space Experience X, right?”
”Yes.”
”…I accidentally ordered two.”
Silence.
Look, this was not like ordering extra stock for a convenience store.
I had accidentally purchased another spacecraft worth roughly three hundred billion yen.
When I realized what I had done, my hands shook so hard that—
Well.
Never mind that part.
”I mean, if they want to blame me, that’s fine!” I cried. “But everyone at the company keeps looking at me with these sparkling eyes, convinced I must have some grand hidden plan behind it all. I can’t betray that trust!”
Nee-san looked less confused than genuinely worried.
Kaede-paisen doubled over laughing.
Kanon stared at me as though she had never met me before.
Come on, you guys.
We were comrades.
The Three Musketeers of the Same Rod, plus one extra.
”Please help me, Kunis, Chintos, and Tashinamiyan!”
”Who are you calling Tashinamiyan?!” Kanon snapped. “Honestly, you’re always saying ridiculous things.”
Even so, they helped me anyway.
That kindness was priceless.
Really…
I was lucky to have met all of them.
A few months later, we found ourselves doing exactly what I had predicted.
Flying into space.
”See?! See?! I told you this would happen!”
”Yes, yes. We know.”
We were in the locker room, putting on our powered suits.
Kanon wore the Prototype Heaven’s Sword. I wore the Ro-Schutz-Marr. Kaede-paisen had the Kunka Kunker, while Nee-san’s suit was modeled after the Deka-onna.
Apparently, the Seijo Midara suit had been rejected due to excessive exposure and serious airtightness issues.
”All right,” Nee-san said. “Let’s go.”
”Yeah!”
”Yup!”
”Right!”
Following Nee-san, we headed toward the launchpad.
Unlike Aqua-sama’s departure, nobody was there to see us off.
After stepping into the elevator, we looked out across the view from the top.
”This is the last view of Earth that Aqua and the others saw, isn’t it?” Kanon asked quietly.
”Yeah. That’s right.”
The wind tugged at our hair as we stood there in silence, engraving the sight of Earth into our memories before leaving it behind.
”Let’s definitely come back,” Kanon said. “With Aqua.”
The rest of us nodded.
There was no need for more words.
Our feelings had always been the same.
We climbed aboard the shuttle and strapped ourselves into our seats.
”Everyone, are you ready? Launch preparations are almost complete!”
Mikoto-chan’s voice echoed through the cabin.
Directly linked to the shuttle, Mikoto-chan handled command-center operations, navigation support, and final systems checks. Even so, she was not working alone. The other members of the 3510-series AI network supported her from behind the scenes, feeding her data and assisting with calculations as launch approached.
The playful expression she had worn only moments earlier vanished completely, leaving behind nothing but absolute focus.
”Beginning countdown. Sixty seconds to launch.”
The announcement echoed through the cabin, and my nerves finally caught up with me.
Then Kaede-senpai nearly crushed my hand.
”Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow!” I yelped. “Kaede-senpai! If you squeeze any harder, you’re going to snap the bones in my hand through the powered suit!”
”Ten… seven, six, five… three, two… Launch!”
”Booster ignition.”
The shuttle lurched violently.
A thunderous vibration tore through the cabin as the Izanami blasted skyward, and the force pressing against my body was so overwhelming that it felt as though a giant hand was trying to shove me through my seat.
”Gwaaaaaaaaaaaah!” I screamed. “What is this G-force?!”
My teeth rattled, my vision shook, and for one terrifying moment I seriously questioned whether human beings were ever meant to leave the ground.
Still, there was nothing left to do now except trust the people around me.
Trust Nee-san, who sat at the controls.
Trust Mikoto-chan, who monitored every system.
And trust that all those miserable training sessions where I threw up until I thought my soul might leave my body had not been for nothing.
”Booster jettison,” Nee-san ordered.
”Understood. Jettisoning boosters.”
A sharp impact reverberated through the hull as the booster units separated, and the shuttle continued climbing toward space under its own power.
”Atmospheric exit confirmed.”
The violent shaking gradually faded away.
Then, as suddenly as it had arrived, the crushing weight pinning me to my seat disappeared.
I turned toward the viewport.
Beyond the glass floated the Earth we had just left behind, vast and beautiful against the darkness.
”Hyper-booster location on Orbital Star Lynx confirmed. Ninety-two seconds to target,” Mikoto-chan reported.
”Copy that. We’re docking on the first orbit. Someone get me a manual lock.”
Kaede-senpai immediately responded, releasing her restraints and heading toward the sector module to begin the connection procedure.5
Orbital Star Lynx was an unmanned station that housed the hyper-boosters needed to bridge the enormous distance ahead of us. From what I had heard, Aqua-sama and the others had connected the Izanagi to one of these exact boosters before beginning their journey toward the Comet.
”Hyper-booster positioned. Initiating reverse thrusters. Matching velocity.”
”Copy. Reverse thrusters live. Easy does it.”
As we approached the station, the Izanami’s speed steadily bled away.
Nee-san really was incredible.
Then again, perhaps I should have expected that. A woman capable of such advanced maneuvering in the bedroom naturally possessed extraordinary vehicle-control skills as well.
”Velocity nominal. Approach angle error less than 0.0003. Exceptional piloting, Captain.”
Less than 0.0003.
That number sounded absurd even to me.
Nee-san guided the shuttle with such impossible precision that it felt less like piloting and more like threading a needle in the middle of a hurricane. Naturally, my brain immediately connected that mastery to her other highly developed areas of expertise, and before I knew it, I was once again admiring the countless hours of oral-maintenance training that had helped shape the leader of the Verification Team.
Truly, there was no one better suited for the role.
”Hyper-booster connection established. Kaede-san, are you all right over there?” Nee-san asked.
”Yeah! Locked in tight, Nee-san!”
Whew.
For a moment I had genuinely worried that Kaede-senpai might accidentally snap the locking handle in half.
Kanon and I exchanged glances, and we both released the breath we had been holding.
”Inputting target coordinates,” Mikoto-chan reported.
”Understood. Coordinates confirmed.”
Nee-san moved across the control panel with practiced confidence, flipping switches and preparing for the next stage while Mikoto supported her every step of the way.
Wait.
Hold on a second.
Did I actually need to come to space?
Nee-san could fly the shuttle.
Mikoto-chan could manage the systems.
Kaede-paisen handled the hardware.
Even Kanon seemed perfectly calm.
Was I… completely unnecessary?
No.
That could not be right.
Surely there was something only I could contribute.
I straightened my back and put on the most determined expression I could manage.
”Hyper-booster ignition. Target: Izanagi!” Nee-san shouted.
”Acknowledged. Space Shuttle Izanami launching toward the Izanagi.”
The engines roared.
The booster ignited.
And with the Earth shrinking behind us and endless stars spreading out ahead, the Izanami surged into the darkness, racing after the Izanagi and the people waiting aboard her.
—
Summary:
Emily gathers her team to disclose a dangerous plan to follow Aqua-sama into space using a second shuttle she accidentally purchased. Despite initial skepticism and concern about Emily’s pregnancy, the team—Kanon, Kaede-paisen, and Nee-san—reluctantly agrees to help due to their shared intuition about Aqua-sama’s chaotic nature. The narrative concludes with the group suiting up in powered gear, overlooking Earth, and committing to their mission to retrieve him.
The crew of the shuttle Izanami launches from Earth, enduring intense G-forces during the ascent to orbit. Nee-san expertly pilots the vessel toward the Orbital Star Lynx station to link with a Hyper-booster. The team successfully docks and prepares to pursue the ship Izanagi, leaving the protagonist questioning her specific role in the mission.
—
Trivia:
The Verification Team is frequently dismissed as a comedy troupe by the bulletin board community.
The team’s members have a high rate of being both eccentric and highly intelligent.
Emily’s accidental purchase of a 300 billion yen shuttle is treated with a mix of genuine concern and disbelief by her peers.
The group wears specialized powered suits, including models like ‘Ro-Schutz-Marr’ and ‘Kunka Kunker’.
Mikoto-chan is assisted by a group of numbered AI 3510 units.
The Orbital Star Lynx is an unmanned station.
The protagonist has undergone specific, harsh training to withstand high-gravity environments.
There is an in-universe song called “Ganbare Ebi-sen Kun” that became popular.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Aqua – Aqua (Shirogane) is a charismatic male idol and BERYL leader with sharp eyes, sleek hair, and a commanding yet cute demeanor. Wielding past-life wisdom, this young student once led space evacuations, saved Shintaro, and is a family man. Though initially perceived as dense or useless, he has grown significantly over the last two years, harboring a deep sense of duty and hidden resolve. He is often caught between his public image and private vulnerabilities, playing games with his rival, Yukari, as a central figure in their conflict. His impact is so vast that fans compare his legendary performances to Hakuryuu-sensei.
• Emily – Emily (Yukishiro Emily), the graceful, heavily pregnant Yukishiro heir and “Impression King,” co-hosts variety shows with her husband, Shirogane Aqua, and acts as an acquaintance who teaches performance tricks. Serving as Kukuri’s “oneechan,” she secretly stalks Aqua as a reporter, holds an intimate bond with Hakuryuu-sensei, and aided Yui. She is an Aqua mediator but has not been seen lately.
• Kanon – Kanon-sama, an internet master and fashion icon, is one of Shirogane Aqua’s wives and a mother. Associated with Ayana and close to Emily, she left a note for Hakuryuu-sensei before disappearing. Balancing a cool, jealous demeanor with a tender side, she famously shared a “helmet kiss” with Aqua in quarantine, watching his turmoil with Kukuri with mixed admiration and exasperation.
• Kaede – Tall, silver-haired Morikawa Kaede is an eccentric Mary’s scholarship student, Satsuki’s mother, and a Church of Power Intelligence rep who leads “Power” chants. Aqua’s predecessor and Emily’s acquaintance, this Verification Team mentor teaches body language, advocates the Power Birth Method, and believes power solves everything. Lately, however, this pitch-black curry maker has not been seen.
• Onidzuka – Kyoko-san is a professional national broadcaster announcer known for her sharp attire and cool persona. Acting as a conduit for public concern during the crisis, she maintains a strict work ethic but transforms completely around children, becoming extremely doting, particularly toward Satsuki.
• Nee-san – A veteran board user and member of the Verification Team. Feared for her temper.
• Amakusa – A Chief of security who protects Yui from attackers. A high-ranking government official and Yui’s superior at the National Confidentiality Bureau.
• Mary – An elderly woman referred to as an Empress and Star Reader who possesses the ability to see the future.
• Mikoto – A self-proclaimed genius who input data from bulletin board users into the AIs.
• Fi – A member of Milk Dipper. A support staff member for the concert.
• Tashinami – Kanon, now a married Verification Team member with a dreamy demeanor, appears as a motherly yet klutzy participant in the stream/board community. The Tashinami‑mom faction teases her for needing protection, especially around Aqua.
• Su – A young child who is still in the Shirogane Kingdom.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply