Bofuri (The Strongest Shield Of Tensura)

"Does she always glow like this?" Glenda asked as she stepped into the infirmary.

The room was spacious, more akin to a private medical suite than a typical ward. It was equipped with various amenities, monitors, padded walls, even a soft ambient light setting, all designed to promote comfort and quiet.

Kaede had arranged for Kirara to have her own section of the infirmary, despite her current unresponsive state. It wasn’t strictly necessary, but Kaede didn’t want the noise and commotion of other patients to disturb the first friend she had made in this world.

A green-haired Antari stood quietly in the corner. Her name was Rebecca, Kirara’s designated handler, responsible for her well-being and physical care while she remained unconscious.

Moments later, Kaede and Ari entered, accompanied by Hanae and Acer. The air shifted as they stepped in, a subtle tension giving way to reverence.

Rebecca bowed immediately. “Lady Kaede, welcome,” she greeted respectfully. “Lady Ari, Lady Acer, Lady Hanae, it’s a pleasure to welcome you all.”

“Rebecca.” Kaede smiled warmly, walking over to her. She gently placed a hand on the Antari’s shoulder. “How have you been? I haven’t checked in on you this past month. Hopefully you haven’t been cooped up in here all day.”

Rebecca tried, and failed, to hide a slight blush. “I’m fine, my Lady. No need to worry about me. I know you’ve been busy.”

“I wish I wasn’t,” Kaede said with a soft sigh, ruffling Rebecca’s hair affectionately. “Really, I do.” She then turned to glance at Kirara, who lay still on the bed, her body faintly glowing with residual magic. “Any new developments? Is she stable?”

Rebecca’s expression sobered. “There have been no changes over the past month. However, Lady Kirara remains physically stable. As healthy as one can be in her condition.”

Kaede smiled faintly. “That’s good to hear. I’ll get you a raise.” She looked over her shoulder. “Ari, remind Sera to remind me to give Rebecca a raise.”

Ari nodded. “Of course, Mother.”

Rebecca's eyes widened. “Y-you don’t need to, my Lady! Just being of use to you is more than enough for me!”

Kaede gave her a gentle look. “No, I don’t think you understand just how important your job is.”

She stepped closer to Kirara’s bedside, her gaze softening as she looked at the unconscious girl. “So, Glenda?”

“Right,” Glenda nodded. She reached into her sleeve and slipped off a silver bracelet, Kaede hadn’t even noticed she was wearing it.

Kaede’s brow lifted. “What’s that?”

Glenda paused, just before slipping the bracelet onto Kirara’s wrist. “This... is the Saints' secret weapon,” she said with quiet reverence. “An Elemental Armament.”

"Elemental Armaments," Kaede repeated, letting the words linger in her mouth.

Glenda nodded. "Yeah. The Elemental Armaments are discreet-looking bracelets made from high-quality Magisteel, refined specifically to interface with elemental spirits."

Kaede’s eyes glimmered faintly blue, her irises flickering with subtle streams of ones and zeroes as she began analyzing the bracelet.

Unfazed by Kaede's scrutiny, Glenda continued, "Once activated, the bracelet accepts an elemental spirit summoned by its user. The spirit then fuses with the armament and manifests as a suit of holy mail, tailored around the armor the user is already wearing. It’s like an upgrade layered over your base gear."

Acer took a step forward, brow furrowed. "And how exactly does that help Aunt Kirara with her coma?"

"Because," Glenda said, motioning toward the glowing girl, "it seems Kirara has already fused with her contracted spirit."

She gave the group a moment to digest that before elaborating. "It’s rare enough to find an elementalist. Rarer still are those who can fuse with their spirits. Even then, they can only tap into a fraction of that power, never the full thing. Except for Hinata, cause she's a beast."

"But the Elemental Armaments were designed by the Saints to bypass that. They allow us to safely use one hundred percent of a spirit’s strength. Well... with the cost of some stamina, anyway. Still, the boost is proportional to the spirit’s power. If your spirit’s weak, your gains are minimal. But Kirara?"

Glenda turned to the unconscious girl, a flicker of awe in her eyes. "Kirara’s spirit is terrifyingly powerful. So strong, in fact, that she doesn’t even need full access to overwhelm her body. Even ten percent is too much. That’s why she’s catatonic, her body is trying to adjust to the massive influx of power. It’s like plugging a firehose into a garden sprinkler."

She sighed. "Honestly? There's no danger. Her vitals are stable. Give it a year or two, and she should wake up on her own. Her body will acclimate, close the gap between them, and everything should stabilize naturally."

"Yeah, that won’t work," Kaede said flatly.

Glenda blinked, turning to her. "Pardon?"

Kaede scratched her head, frowning. "See, I assumed Kirara was suffering from something similar to what I went through. I thought her body had gone into low-power mode from a lack of magicules. So, over two years ago, when I noticed her body absorbing ambient magicules like crazy, I didn’t question it. I thought it was just a recovery mechanism."

She glanced at Kirara, then back to Glenda. "But if you’re right, and the issue is spirit overload... then that means both Kirara and her spirit, Eve, have been growing stronger all this time. Which also means the gap between them might not be closing. It could be getting wider."

Glenda let out a low whistle. "Damn. A blessed problem if I ever heard one. Bracelet it is."

Without wasting another moment, she stepped forward and gently clasped the bracelet onto Kirara’s wrist.

The polished Magisteel shimmered briefly in the soft ambient light, then settled like any ordinary ornament.

Nothing happened at first.

Then Kaede stepped forward, eyes narrowing as faint lines of code danced across her irises.

"Yes Artificia, I can see it.” she murmured.

The bracelet pulsed once. A quiet hum vibrated through the room, deep and resonant like the distant toll of a bell underwater. Small arcs of light, like static electricity, snapped across Kirara’s skin, harmless but visible.

Rebecca tensed. “Is this normal?”

“Perfectly,” Glenda said, though her voice had dropped into a whisper. Her eyes remained fixed on the bracelet. “She’s beginning resonance. The Elemental Armament is drawing a handshake from the spirit. If it works… Eve will no longer flood her. They’ll breathe together.”

The faint glow around Kirara’s body flickered, then flared. Bright, blinding. The room was bathed in silvery-white light tinged with violet edges. Everyone shielded their eyes.

And then... A breath.

It was soft, but unmistakable. Kirara inhaled.

Kaede's heart lurched. “Kirara?”

The glow collapsed inward like a star folding in on itself. The bracelet flashed once more, and then...

Lying on the infirmary bed was a figure clad in sleek armor. The suit shimmered like woven silver cloth, reinforced with segmented blue plating at vital points. The glowing blue outlines traced along the seams of the armor, pulsing faintly with rhythmic energy. It was elegant and futuristic, more like an advanced exo-suit than traditional armor.

Over her head was a smooth silver helmet, compact and seamless, resembling a biker helmet but with no visible joints, hinges, or visor. It looked fused to her, almost grown rather than worn.

Glenda stared for a moment, then dropped to her knees, her voice cracking in disbelief. “She turned into a freaking Power Ranger…? What is this? Why is everyone so absurdly strong? Even a coma patient’s flexing on me. This isn’t fair.”

Kaede, still examining the suit with quiet awe, glanced sideways at her. “Glenda,” she said softly, “what’s a Power Ranger?”

Glenda looked up at her, visibly betrayed. “You don’t know what a Power Ranger is?!”

Kaede blinked. “Should I?”

Glenda groaned and fell dramatically onto her back, arms splayed out. “It’s like I’ve died and woken up in a world with magic and robots but no childhood.”

“…Kaede?” A familiar voice called out, sounding exhausted. "Is that you?"

Kaede stared for a heartbeat longer than necessary. Then she moved, fast, dropping to her knees beside the bed and clasping Kirara’s silver silver clad hand.

“You’re back,” she whispered, a smile trembling at the edges of her lips. “Welcome back.”

Kirara gave her a weak smile. “You look… different.”

Kaede laughed, brushing tears from her cheeks. “So do you.”

Behind them, Glenda exhaled in relief and despair as well, “Why not me?" She screamed very silently.

"How are you feeling?” Kaede asked gently, leaning closer as she looked into the glossy visor of Kirara’s helmet.

“Physically? I feel amazing,” Kirara replied, slowly sitting up with a faint hum of servos from her suit. “Mentally, though… I’m exhausted.” She exhaled shakily. “I’ve missed you so much these past few days. I know it wasn’t long, but it might as well have been the worst days of my life. Every time I wanted to give in, to just sink into that silence, I kept thinking, Kaede would never give up. And so I didn’t either.”

Kaede shifted slightly, a flicker of unease crossing her face. “Kirara, I think maybe you should...”

But Kirara wasn’t done. “You were all I could think about in the quiet. Just you. Well… and that one fairy, but mostly you.”

Kaede blinked. “Fairy?”

Kirara smiled softly. “It made me realize something. I think… I’m actually bi.”

Kaede reached out and gently took Kirara’s gloved hand in hers. “Kirara, you need to calm down. You’ve just woken up. We can talk more when...”

“And I’m in love with you.”

Silence fell like a curtain. Kaede froze, mouth slightly open, stunned into stillness.

Kirara leaned forward until her helmeted forehead lightly touched Kaede’s. “I… I want to spend the rest of my...”

Thud.

A dull sound echoed from the contact point.

Kirara paused, confused. “What’s on my head?”