Girls x Cross ~Half-Year's Four Paths~ (ガールズ×クロス ～半年間の四道～) is a short story included in the compilation of short stories from spin offs released as part of the ninth of ten projects of the 10th Anniversary Campaign of DanMachi.
Summary[]
Lefiya was diligently studying in her room when Elfy suddenly came in with the Adventurer Rankings of that week. She didn't want to look at them at first but eventually relented once her friend reminded her that they hadn't been hanging out lately and how much Lefiya had worried her recently.
Lefiya felt proud upon hearing the rankings of her familia's female executives though she didn't care much about how she was doing. Elfy was disappointed by her indifference. She reminisced about how something like that would have made her embarrassed and react cutely before, feeling sad about how much she had changed. Fed up with her friend's serious attitude she moved on to the rest of the rankings and cried out in surprise upon seeing that Bell had surpassed Ais in one ranking.
In the City's Fastest Ranking, whose top three used to be Allen, Bete and Ais, Bell was now in second place. Lefiya could barely tolerate that her rival had reached Level 5 and thus surpassed her, which was the reason she studied and trained so hard, but she couldn't stand that he surpassed Ais. Accusing the surveys of fraud, Lefiya proclaimed that she would confront those in charge and force them to redo them to return things to the way they should be. After she stormed out of their room, Elfy commented that she felt calm to see that, even though she had changed, Lefiya was still the same in certain aspects.
Lefiya exploded in the streets against Syr when she heard that she was collecting votes for a ranking clearly focused on Bell. The waitress played with her without caring about her anger until the Elf asked her the reason for her obsession with Bell, abandoning her mocking attitude to answer that she loved him. She didn't think that would help him, but she wanted to know what everyone thought of her beloved. She also believed that if she did so, she could ease her feelings of love for him. That might drive her even more mad with grief, but that was precisely why Syr wanted to do it as a form of punishment, as well as atonement for her sins.
Syr then asked Lefiya what she thought of Bell, pointing out her clear annoyance at his position in the rankings when she tried to say she didn't care. Her first impulse was to launch a torrent of insults and list some of her bad experiences with him. However, the mage realized she was being evaluated and closed her eyes to ponder her answer. Once she opened them she proclaimed that the boy was her worthy rival, hence why neither she nor her familia would lose to him.
Syr commented that her soul seemed beautiful and wondered what would have happened if Hedin had recruited her. Confused, Lefiya thought about asking her what she meant until she realized they were the center of attention of everyone around them. Realizing how embarrassed she felt, Syr invited Lefiya to accompany her so she could make sure she didn't conduct any strange surveys and to hear everyone's opinions.
After coming across each other on the street by chance, Ais and Ryuu had a brief and awkward exchange of words before opting to go their separate ways. However, Ryuu ultimately decided to ask for some of her time. After taking her to the terrace of a cafe, the Elf apologized profusely for ambushing her during the Xenos incident. Although she barely showed a reaction outwardly, Ais was speechless on the inside as she formed the connection that the Hostess of Fertility's waitress was Gale, a former member of the Astraea Familia, who had participated in the Great Faction War and was also the masked adventurer she had faced.
Ais took the opportunity to ask her if they had fought before, sensing that it had been in the Dark Age, a suspicion that Ryuu confirmed. Putting their battle on Daedalus Street aside, Ryuu wanted to know how she managed to create the gap between their combat skills that she noticed that night. The swordswoman simply replied that she had killed too many monsters. However, she also confessed that she caused several problems for her familia who always supported her, especially during the last six months.
After giving her answer, Ais asked her the same question. The waitress attributed it to the fact that she had finished her journey. She told her that she had lost her "justice", but was unable to completely separate herself from it and pretended to have it, until recently when she had found her answer. While she did not fully understand what she said, Ais was happy to see that she had overcome problems that had tormented her. Her good mood however was replaced by concern when the Elf looked down. As much as she was embarrassed to do so, Ryuu asked her what she thought of Bell, curious after hearing that Ais was the one the boy loved, taking her by surprise.
Ryuu was disappointed when she simply said that he looked like a rabbit, the same answer she had given to Hestia when the Goddess asked her the same question months ago. However, several things had happened since then. Their clash during the Xenos incident, how he saved her from her "black flame" in Knossos, and how happy he was to have met her when Freya charmed the city. All of it made her think of him more than before, something she openly admitted. Again Ais asked her the same out of curiosity. Although she blushed at first, Ryuu gathered her resolve to answer but was interrupted by Syr and Lefiya, who just happened to pass by the terrace.
Ryuu found it unusual to see them together and Syr explained that they were conducting surveys due to their interest in Bell. Lefiya denied that she was interested in the boy and was shocked when Ais commented that they were talking about him. Syr then proposed they had a girl talk about who was interested in Bell the most. Syr loudly proclaimed her confidence that her love was the greatest, Ryuu expressed dismay that her friend continued with her desperate self harming tendencies, Ais was surprised that all of them were interested in Bell and Lefiya shouted that it was not the case for her. Thus the table of two became one of four and the voices of the girls did not stop echoing from there, the crossroad where the paths intersected.