Lycoris Recoil Episode 3: HQ Blues

Chisato was called to HQ and Takina tagged along. Read on to find out what I mean.

We began the episode with Takina remembering what happened in the hostage situation. It naturally still bothered her. We also got a delightfully brief scene of Kurumi outdoing Mizuki without the latter admitting the petite cutie did a better job analyzing the photo than her or HQ. Suddenly it’s board game night.

Best. “Pretty please?”. Ever. Master Mika’s “I wasn’t staring” reaction was excellent too.

Master Mika and Chisato invited Takina to play but she’s like “This isn’t work so no thanks”. Chisato tried to sweeten her but no go. The Master reminded our lovable blonde she had to return to HQ for an overdue check up. She wasn’t looking forward to it but enjoyed the privileges of a Lycoris license and played along. As soon as Takina heard she would visit the Commander she gloriously begged in ice princess fashion to come along. Knowing the commander was watching the surveillance cameras Chisato made sure to greet her in kind…

At the entrance some lame gossip girls saw Takina and made fun of her failure and expulsion. The one who wasn’t laughing was the Lycoris she saved, Erika. However, she’s too nervous to approach her and didn’t get to all episode. Maybe next time. At least Erika tried standing up for Takina to her roommate so there’s hope. Takina pretended not to be affected by their dissing and stormed off to the shooting gallery.

Chisato went to the locker room and met up with Fuki. We’re at last blessed with a better look at Chisato’s body. Cultured yuri artists please get to work. So Fuki. Like Chisato said she’s a short fused competitive good girl. She meant well but was a stickler for the rules and loyal to HQ. Chisato wasn’t. During their physical exam we saw Chisato’s a lean mean fighting machine while Fuki could barely keep up. When the Commander popped in Chisato asked about Takina. She blamed her for killing the arms dealer but Chisato showed evidence HQ messed up too by sending the Lycoris late to the secret meeting. Fuki tried standing up for the commander saying communication with HQ got jammed but let slip the super computer got hacked. Our heroine was like “You messed up big time but threw Takina under the bus even though she didn’t kill the hostage?” As the commander snuck away Fuki said a Lycoris who didn’t follow orders was useless to HQ. She quietly added Takina’s replacement was on her way.

Said replacement introduced herself to Takina, Otome Sakura. Like the gossip girls she too talked trash until Chisato stopped her. When the commander appeared Takina requested returning to HQ but she pretty much said “Hell no. You didn’t follow orders. You messed up. Otome’s your replacement. You’re out. Deal with it”. She tried talking to Fuki but she repeated the “Lycoris who don’t listen are useless” thing. When Chisato stood up to her she challenged them to a mock battle to prove their superiority. Chisato accepted but Takina ran off. Best part was apart from stopping her Chisato paid zero attention to Otome’s pathetic dissing.

She found her at a popular fountain among Lycoris:

Takina: To be part of HQ is what orphans adopted by them aspire to achieve. When I put on this uniform I was-

Chisato: Happy? Yeah. Been there.

Takina: Then you understand, right? That was my goal…and it was taken away from me!

Chisato: You can serve and protect without being part of HQ.

Takina: Easy for you to say! They still want you back! I lost my raison d’etre.

Chisato: You chose to protect your comrade because you wanted to, not to follow orders. Besides, they kicked you to the curb because they don’t want to admit they messed up.

Takina: What? I have to confront the commander.

Chisato: No! She’ll feign ignorance. You know, I’m glad they kicked you out because I got to meet you.

“Gossip girls made fun of yuri. and Chisato doubled down on her snuggle”

Meeting you was one of the happiest days of my life! Tell you what. Come back to the cafe and work with us a little longer. If you really don’t enjoy being with us then feel free to come back here. There’s plenty of time to make a decision. It’s all up to you. Now if you’ll excuse me. I wanna whoop some bitches who dared insult you. You can join me if you want.

During the very cool mock battle Fuki could tell Chisato was going easy on them, especially Otome. She easily exploited her combat style patiently waiting for Takina to come, which she did. She even got some sweet bonus payback on Fuki too. Later Chisato asked why she aimed at her and not Fuki. It’s because she knew she’d dodge, lowering Fuki’s guard. Something like that.

Three great episodes in a row.