Chapter 3: One of Those “The True Battle Begins Now” Kind of Situations

Yuichi’s fist slammed into the giant’s face.

Rising diagonally out of a crouch, he planted his knuckles into the giant’s jaw and jostled his brainpan. It should have been enough to end the fight, but it also inspired a sinking feeling in Yuichi’s gut.

There was something strange about how the hit had connected. It didn’t feel like a human body. Rather, it didn’t feel like a living human body.

His fist had collided with the dead, mushy flesh of a corpse.

He was standing in a wide, circular space, a stone arena in the shape of a disc, facing off against the huge man while a huge audience looked on.

Even if they were underground, it was hard to believe you could run a facility this big without anybody finding out. But perhaps that was the secret society at work.

There was an underground martial arts tournament going on. Yuichi had advanced from the preliminaries and was now in the finals, and he’d just sent his opponent, a musclebound giant, flying.

Yuichi watched calmly as the giant slowly climbed to his feet.

Something was wrong. He couldn’t move until he knew for sure what this man really was. Yuichi was thinking over the source of the disconnect when a bizarre phenomenon began to unfold before him that made him doubt his eyes.

The giant’s already-bulging muscles had begun to swell even more. It easily far surpassed the region of a bodybuilder’s flexing, what the body could do just by focusing blood and lymph.

As he watched, the giant swelled up like a balloon. It was immediately obvious to Yuichi where this was going, and his gut feeling was soon confirmed.

The giant exploded.

His body split open from within, showering his surroundings in blood. Thankfully, Yuichi was far enough away that he wasn’t bathed in it, but he was still dumbstruck by the sight.

“Yu! When did you learn how to do that Fist of the North Star stuff? I’m stunned!” Mutsuko shouted from the stands.

“I didn’t do it!” Yuichi shouted back to his big sister.

“Sakaki! Something’s moving!” At Aiko’s cry, he turned his eyes back to the giant’s remains.

The mass of blood and flesh was moving.

As he watched, something stood up from within: a young man coated in blood.

“Whew. It was getting pretty stuffy in there!” The way the man spit out the words gave them the weight of reality.

“Um... were you... inside that thing?” Yuichi hedged.

The man was about the same height as Yuichi. Size-wise, he could have fit inside it, technically, but it was hard to imagine anyone doing anything that ridiculous.

“That’s right,” the man said.

“Um, I have a lot I could say about that, but never mind. Does this mean you’re my actual opponent?”

“Heh! That armor wasn’t for defense! It was a binding to seal in my overwhelming power!” the man declared.

“Yu! This is a common shonen manga trope! I can’t believe I’m seeing someone actually doing it!” Mutsuko squealed.

“Uh, but it wasn’t armor, it was just some muscly old guy’s body...” His sister was extremely excited, but Yuichi found himself caring less and less.

“By the way... do I look familiar to you, Yuichi Sakaki?” the man questioned.

“Well, you look a little like a character out of a Stephen King movie, but I can’t say we’ve met...” It was hard to recognize anyone with their hair and face slicked down with blood. He basically had only his voice to go on, and that didn’t ring any bells.

“Are you shocked? I’m your older brother, Yuji Sakaki!” the man declared.

“Wh-What did you say?!” Mutsuko shrieked. Despite Yuji’s smug pronouncement, she was the only one who showed a noticeable reaction.

“You’re acting pretty credulous,” Yuichi said. “Do I even have a brother, Sis?”

“Not that I know of! I’ve never heard about any other siblings!”

“Then don’t act so impressed! He could just be spinning a line!”

“Now... let’s find out which of us is the stronger brother!” Yuji hollered. “I intend to prove that no little brother can ever surpass his elder!”

“Look, whatever. I just have to beat you, right?” As stupid as Yuichi was starting to find all this, Yuji’s strength was an unknown quantity. He knew he couldn’t just charge in, but he also had no way of figuring out just how strong Yuji was.

Something tore through the ceiling and fell towards them.

The next instant, a blade-like object was protruding from Yuji’s chest.

Yuji pitched forward, coughing up blood. Standing behind him was a stone statue.

“Um, what the heck is...”

It was a gargoyle: a stone carving of a monster traditionally put on roofs and outer walls to act as rain gutters, that also had evil-warding properties. But why was such a thing moving, let alone showing up in a place like this? Yuichi had no idea.

The gargoyle had remained mute since stabbing Yuji, not moving an inch.

Yuichi had decided to stay where he was and watch carefully, but just then, someone else descended into the arena.

Wearing a black cape and pressing a hand to his forehead — a pose he clearly thought made him look very cool — was Aiko’s big brother, Kyoya Noro. “They have come at last... the vanguard of the demon world’s army!”

“What are you talking about, Kyoya?”

Kyoya had middle school syndrome, like Yuichi’s sister, and in a situation like this it was hard to tell if he was manifesting symptoms, or if he was actually telling the truth.

“You know what it is!” Mutsuko called from the stands. “It’s that familiar shonen manga trope where in the middle of a tournament or a test, someone interferes in the fight and throws everything into disarray! It adds to the element of surprise, but frustrates readers wanting to see a proper ending, which makes everything way awkward!”

“Stop comparing everything to shonen manga!” Yuichi snapped back. Just then, another two gargoyles dropped down from the hole in the ceiling. “What should I do? I can’t keep up with all this...”

Can I really fight these guys? he was thinking. But as the thought entered his mind, Yuji stood up and slowly began walking towards him.

“Yuichi... I’m sorry... I’d intended to clear them up by myself... would you call me brother... one last time?”

“No way.”

No matter what the man said, he was a total stranger as far as Yuichi was concerned. Even if he was dying, he felt no obligation to say something like that to him.

“Hey, hey, hey, come on! It’s a moving reunion between feuding brothers! How can you not get into this?” Yuji complained.

“You seem surprisingly energetic, so if you want to clear them up, go right ahead.” Yuichi found the idea of fighting statues to be kind of a pain.

“No, I’m definitely on my way out,” the man said. “I leave the rest to you!”

“Do you really? ...Wait, huh?” Yuichi said, startled.

Yuji’s body had begun to glow. The light pouring from his body enveloped Yuichi and caused him to start glowing, too. As if this had exhausted the last of his strength, Yuji then collapsed right where he was, and didn’t move again.

“Seriously, what the hell is going on here...?”

It was as if they had been waiting for the mystery power to be bestowed, because the moment the light was absorbed by Yuichi, the gargoyles started moving. But then, as if someone else had been waiting for that to happen, one of the gargoyles’ heads went flying.

It was Natsuki Takeuchi; she had made it down into the arena too, at some point.

“Sakaki, leave this to me and go.” She’d always wanted to say that. (At least, he assumed that, given her tone.)

“Um, where exactly am I supposed to go?” he asked.

“Heh! I’ll show you what a true vampire can do!” Kyoya attacked a gargoyle, too.

Even Ibaraki showed up to deliver a jump-kick to a third.

All three of them ignored Yuichi, as if high on their own sense of self-sacrificing devotion.

“I want to go home,” Yuichi muttered. But just as he thought that, he began to glow and hover. “Huh?”

“Go! Now! Do you want their sacrifice to be in vain?” Mutsuko pleaded with him, tears of emotion streaming down her face.

“But where am I supposed to go?!” he shouted.

“Like, the demon world, I guess?”

“I don’t know where that is!”

But the mysterious power seemed to know. Yuichi rose higher, sucked into the hole that had opened in the ceiling.

Before him lay a world cast in dark red, wreathed in stormclouds. Barren wastelands covered in jagged rocks, packed with warped, strange monsters. In this place worthy of the name “demon world,” Yuichi fought, alone.

Battered and broken.

But Yuichi smiled confidently.

“Who do you think I am? I’m the little brother of Mutsuko Sakaki, that big sister who lives in a fantasy world, and my name is Yuichi!” Yuichi howled as he raced toward the enemy hordes.

And so Yuichi’s endless battle goes on!

Thank you all for reading!

* * * * *

“What the hell was all that?” Yuichi demanded after enduring Ende’s seemingly interminable narration.

“What do you think? It’s how I kill you,” Ende said. “In other words, that’s how you’ll end up if you defy me. Well? Starting to get afraid yet?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid,” he said. “For your sanity, being able to roll out a story like that in a cafe in broad daylight.”

“Hmph. So you don’t like the ‘our battle continues’ ending, huh? What about a Swordmaster-style ending, dragging everything to a conclusion? Or the revelation that it was all a time loop? A big tough enemy appears and beats you to a pulp, but you wake up and it’s spring vacation, and you restart from the part where you got Soul Reader? Well, I guess that’s an offshoot of the ‘our battle continues’ ending, but it’s a bit of a twist at least, right?”

“Look... what exactly are you trying to accomplish?” Yuichi asked. Ende seemed to have a wild imagination at least on par with Mutsuko’s.

“The point is, no matter how good a fighter you are, that alone won’t get you anywhere,” said Ende. “Even if I can’t beat you in a hand-to-hand fight, I can think up a strategy to accomplish what I’m after.”

“What strategy does it take to get me into an underground martial arts tournament or send me to a demon world?” he demanded. It was so absurd, he could barely even argue. He even found himself missing Mutsuko’s delusions.

“Outers have all kinds of powers that let them arrange situations to their advantage,” Ende said. “It would be no trouble for me to slot you into some absolutely ridiculous plotline.”

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’d die, does it?”

“Oh? You’ve got more of a protagonist mindset than I thought. You’re only viewing things within the limitations that exist within your own setting and the needs of your story. You think that as long as you work hard, things will probably work out, right?”

That was true. He was fairly confident he could find his way out of any bit of weirdness she got him mixed into.

This wasn’t mere arrogance on his part; he thought it was important to take the stance that you would never give up, no matter what happened. As long as you didn’t give up, then no matter what situation you found yourself in, there was probably something you could do. Your situation could always change. Yuichi tried to think that way at all times.

“But let’s say, hypothetically, that an atomic bomb was dropped on you and it exploded,” Ende said. “You’d die, right?”

“That’s a pretty extreme example! You think you can make that happen, huh?”

“I can,” she said. “That’s how Outers work. Of course, it would be difficult to prepare an atomic bomb right here and now, but poison gas could be arranged easily enough. If all I wanted was to kill you, I could do so easily with a little manipulation of your surrounding environment. It’s easy to kill a single person if you don’t care how it’s done. You know that, don’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re really gonna drag innocent people into this?”

“No, no, nameless extras don’t count, story-wise. They’re just numbers, there for impact. Of course, knowing you, you might just manage to luck your way out of an atomic bomb or poison gas, too. You’re Mutsuko Sakaki’s little brother, after all.”

“What are you...” The things she was saying sounded like threats, yet she voiced them all so casually.

The most terrifying thing about it was that Ende was serious. Everything she said had the weight of sincerity, even that delusional nonsense from earlier.

“Now, let me ask again,” Ende said. “Will you return to the Divine Vessels War?”

“What happens if I refuse?”

“Good question. I might start with the people who are connected to you on the outermost fringes. There’s a chance that the people close to you may be protected by your worldview, and you might be able to stop me. But can you protect your distant relatives, your casual playmates from when you were a child, the people you’ve met that you barely even remember? Maybe I’ll have a little killing spree among them just to spite you a little.”

“Damn you...” She seemed completely harmless on the outside, but her calm way of speaking about mass murder was a reminder to Yuichi that Outers really were complete garbage.

“Well, I’ll ask you again after a few obituaries of your relatives and friends,” she said. “Though, since they’re unconnected to the story, it’ll be a little lacking in dramatic weight.”

“You... You’d go that far to get me involved in some stupid game?”

“Calling it stupid is mean to Nergal,” she said. “Though I’d agree that the rules are rather arbitrary and tedious, so maybe it is pretty stupid.”

“So all I need to do is participate, right?”

“Of course. If you come back of your own volition, I won’t have to motivate you, so I won’t have to destroy any extras. Like I said before, it’s not like killing extras really makes things more exciting.”

“First Makina, now you... are all Outers like this?” Yuichi demanded.

“Of course we are. We’re absolute garbage, only interested in what’s fun. I thought you already knew that, though.”

“Let me ask one question. Is it possible to kill all you guys and reach a ‘happy end’ storyline?”

Most people wouldn’t even bother asking something like that of an enemy, but Yuichi had a feeling Ende might just take him up on it.

Ende froze up, mouth slightly agape. After a moment, she began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, well, I never even imagined that scenario. That could be fun in its own way. But that’s all down the line, isn’t it? You should probably deal with the situation right in front of you first.”

“I never said I was rejoining the war.”

Yuichi didn’t have to. But Ende was going to do whatever it took to get him to come back, and taking the bigger picture into account, he was starting to think that it was probably the better option just to play along.

“So, what do you want me to do?” he asked, at length.

“I want you to go looking for a young man named Ryoma Takei, find him, and fight him.”

“Who’s that?” he asked. Since she wanted Yuichi to return to the Divine Vessels War, that guy was probably a participant. He would need a Divine Vessel to get back into the war, so maybe that was what this was about.

“As you’ve inferred, he’s a Divine Vessel host,” Ende said. “He’s also a pawn I’ve prepared for your sake.”

“I don’t quite follow. I understand that you want me to fight him and take his Divine Vessel, but what do you mean by ‘go looking for him’?” Yuichi wouldn’t want to fight Ryoma unless he determined him to be a shady character, but he could determine that after he met him.

Therefore, he didn’t mind looking for him — but the fact that Ende had asked him to go looking suggested that she didn’t know where he was, either.

“Ryoma’s label is ‘Protagonist.’”

“Protagonist, huh?” he said. “Does that make me a side character? But isn’t everyone the protagonist of their own life?”

“I don’t mean it in that trite way,” she said. “He’s a bit special. Monika explained to you a bit about worldviews, didn’t she? It’s all based on that.”

“I more or less grasp it.”

“Each worldview has a personification — a Worldview Holder. But while a Worldview Holder is definitely that world’s central figure, they’re not necessarily that world’s protagonist. There are worldviews that don’t have protagonists, too, of course.”

“Could you dumb it down a little for me?” Yuichi was genuinely still having a hard time understanding it all.

“Oh, put simply, he’ll overshadow you, like a protagonist swap, if we’re comparing worldviews to stories. Ryoma, a character from another story, is going to take over your world’s protagonist role.”

“So what?” Yuichi asked.

“Huh? He’ll be the protagonist. Don’t you find that threatening at all?” Ende’s eyes widened. She seemed surprised by his reaction. “Fighting a protagonist makes things pretty grim. Things always conspire to make sure the protagonist wins in the end, after all. That’s why I didn’t go with the atomic bomb or poison gas I mentioned earlier.”

“I think you just can’t actually arrange that kind of stuff,” he said.

“No, it’s because you’re a protagonist. Protagonists are sheltered to an absurd degree. Villains can’t use attacks that are totally inescapable, because no matter how bad things get, the protagonist needs to preserve some chance of winning. Even if it’s absurd. That’s why villains tend to be idiots who never even consider their most efficient options. Don’t you think that’s unfair?”

“You’re a little too eager to sympathize with villains,” he said. “Anyway, I feel like we’re getting off the subject. Does this mean you don’t know where this guy Ryoma is?”

“Yeah. Ryoma’s a protagonist but he’d never made use of the fact. So I tried cracking his shell a little... but I went too far and he went crazy.”

“You...” Yuichi was dumbstruck by Ende’s tone. She might as well have been saying “my bad.”

“So then he ran off somewhere, and I don’t quite know what to do.”

“Can’t you use your powers to tell where he is?”

“Since a protagonist has the power to alter worldviews, it makes him harder for us Outers to read. Typically when it comes to worldview manipulation, it’s all about whoever acts first.”

“Any clues?” Yuichi asked.

“I think he means to participate in the Divine Vessels War, so he’ll probably be searching for those. But I can’t be totally sure about that, either.”

“How irresponsible can you get?” Yuichi was utterly disgusted by how little she seemed to care about the mess she had caused.

“At first I’d planned to manipulate him to get him to attack you. But that doesn’t seem like it’ll work now, so I changed my plan to have you attack him instead.”

“That’s not exactly a plan,” Yuichi shot back. “And you said that if I don’t fight him, you’ll kill the people around me? You’re really an awful person.”

“Yeah, I am. So, what now?”

It seemed his only choice was to go along with her ridiculous offer. Outers didn’t seem like they’d do anything too crazy as long as things were generally following their plot outlines. If things ended up getting too out of hand, the stories as they perceived them would fall apart.

Ende didn’t just want to defeat Yuichi. She wanted to make sure it happened in a way that was enjoyable and interesting. Which meant that she would probably keep her promise.

“So I just have to go looking for this Ryoma guy, right?” he said. “I’ll do it. But you need to give me some clues on how to find him. If you don’t, I could just wander around town all day claiming I’m looking for him, right?”

He’d be technically keeping his promise then, and Ende couldn’t go after anyone he knew. An Outer wouldn’t just overlook the potential for that, surely.

“Let me see,” she said. “The last place I saw him was in my library. A hero girl fell from the ceiling, and they beat a hasty retreat together.”

“A hero girl, huh?” Yuichi only knew one person who could fit that description. It sounded like Yurika Maruyama. He couldn’t imagine many other girls who said crazy enough things to qualify.

Yuichi tried remembering everything he knew about Yurika.

She was a first-year student at Seishin High.

She called herself a hero.

She was a Divine Vessel host with the ability was to turn whatever she held into a weapon.

Her ally was a priest who used Bajiquan.

She seemed to know Natsuki Takeuchi.

That was about it.

Today was Sunday. If he went to school tomorrow, he might run into her. But what concerned him was Ende mentioning that she was on the run from something.

She seemed to be earnestly engaging with the Divine Vessels War, so if he got too complacent, he might lose his only lead.

Yuichi pulled out his cell phone and dialed Natsuki’s number.

“This is unusual,” Natsuki said, answering it. “I hardly ever get phone calls from you.”

“How are you holding up? Are you still in the hospital?” he asked.

“I got out today. I’m back at home. Takizawa seems like she’ll be there for a while longer, though. Did you just call to check up on me?”

“No. You know Yurika Maruyama, right?” Yurika had been fervently searching for Natsuki after she went missing, which suggested they knew each other fairly well.

“I do. What about her?”

“I’m searching for a man who’s apparently on the run with her. Do you have any idea where she might be?”

“I don’t understand why you’re asking about this.”

“Um, did you know she’s calling herself a hero?” Yuichi hedged.

“She did mention some nonsense like that, yes.”

“And it seems like she’s a Divine Vessel host.”

“I’m still not following. What do you want me to do?”

“Let’s see... do you know her phone number?” he asked.

Calling her seemed like the fastest way to find her. If she answered, he could at least confirm she was alive, and he might even be able to ask where she was.

“I don’t. She acted like we were friends, but I didn’t care about her.”

What an unhelpful response.

“That sounds like a pretty desolate relationship...” Yuichi muttered.

“Could you wait a minute? Maruyama’s house is next to mine, so I’ll check.” With that, she hung up.

She called him back a few minutes later.

“It seems she hasn’t been back home since yesterday. Though apparently such things happen occasionally, so her mother isn’t terribly worried.”

“I see. Thanks. I’ll get searching on my own, then.”

“Sakaki, where are you now?” Natsuki asked.

“A cafe near the station.”

“I’ll meet up with you there. It would be easier to find her if you’re with someone she knows well, right?”

Since Yuichi barely knew the girl at all, he had to admit that was true. He gave Natsuki more detailed information on his location, then hung up.

“And that’s that. I’m doing everything I can, so don’t do anything crazy, okay?” Yuichi warned Ende.

“Certainly. As long as you’re displaying real enthusiasm, I have no need to get involved... though I think you’re the kind of person trouble inevitably finds anyway.”

Yuichi grimaced.

He’d gotten involved in a lot of strange things in the past, it was true. The reason he’d wanted to get rid of Soul Reader was because he was sick of it all, but that was almost feeling like too much to hope for now.

“So, is this the end of our talk?” he demanded.

“I think so. But someone’s on the way here, if you’ll wait around a little bit. I’d like to introduce you; do you mind?”

“They just happen to be coming here, right? Or did you ask someone to come?” Yuichi felt a little dubious about the latter, as Ende had shown no signs of calling someone here either on their way here or after they arrived.

“I asked them,” Ende said. “See, I can see a little bit of the future. That’s why I told them to come here in advance.”

“Well, I have to meet with Takeuchi here, so that should be fine.” Though it wasn’t like they had anything to talk about in the meantime.

Minutes passed in awkward silence. Yuichi was just starting to think about leaving when Ende spoke up with a triumphant expression.

“I think it’s almost time. Look out the window, would you?”

Wondering if it would be someone he was surprised to see, Yuichi did as he was told. But when he looked outside, he didn’t see anything special. It was just a road with lots of people and a few cars passing by.

“There’s nothing there,” he said.

Just then, someone approached.

A large man walked right up to the window beyond which Yuichi and Ende were sitting and peered inside.

Yuichi recognized him, though they had barely spoken; it was Sakiyama, the stalker who served as Natsuki’s subordinate.

“Is he a friend of yours? Or did Takeuchi send him?” Yuichi asked.

It was just about the time when Natsuki might show up, so maybe Sakiyama had come with her. That was his best guess about what was going on.

Sakiyama’s eyes were vacant as he gazed at Yuichi. He definitely seemed to have some business with him, but he was still acting strangely. Although he was just standing there, there was something twisted about his posture, and his center of gravity was unsteady. His face was ash pale, and there were traces of suturing across his neck.

Huh? There’s something strange about his aura, Yuichi realized. It’s like he’s not actually human...

He looked like a walking corpse.

The moment that thought entered Yuichi’s head, Sakiyama began to move, sluggishly, raising a fist behind him.

“Damn!” Yuichi glared at Ende, wondering if he’d fallen for some sort of trap of hers.

But Ende looked surprised, too. “This wasn’t the person I was expecting. What should I do?”

“I don’t care!”

Yuichi was torn. She was an enemy, and in that respect, he felt no obligation to help her. At the same time, she still looked like an ordinary girl, which made him hesitant to just abandon her.

“Hey, now,” she said. “If you have to think about it, you might as well save me. You can’t just ignore a beautiful girl in distress.”

“I thought Outers couldn’t die!” he snapped.

But Outers weren’t truly invincible. They were, simply put, extremely lucky, which meant that it was possible for them to get hurt under certain circumstances.

Yuichi picked up Ende and began running for it.

A moment later, the window glass broke in with a crash.

“Dammit! What’s going on?” he shouted.

The cafe was in chaos. The customers, seeing the bizarre scene unfold, began to flee, unable to resist the urge to rush like a mob for the building’s one small entrance. Yuichi was starting to think he should probably stop coming to this cafe.

“Hmm, the customer evacuation isn’t going well. Though I doubt you want to fight him here,” Ende said in amusement, clinging to him as he carried her.

“Just to make sure, he’s not after you, is he?” Yuichi demanded.

“No way. You know I exist outside of destiny, right? I’ll never be heroine-pursued-by-evildoers material, sad though it may be.”

“So it’s definitely me... I seem to make trouble for this cafe every time I come... though I’m not sure it’s really my fault...” Still, if Yuichi was the one drawing his enemies here, then he did feel some responsibility.

“That’s Sakiyama, Natsuki’s subordinate,” Ende commented. “But it’s strange... I thought he was dead.”

“Wait a minute! What do you mean, he was dead?”

“Remember how Natsuki was being pursued by Nergal’s underlings recently? Sakiyama was killed by one of them. See his neck? Look at the sloppy way his head has been sewn on.”

“None of this makes any sense,” Yuichi complained. “If he was dead, then why is he alive now? And coming after me?!”

It was possible that Sakiyama held a grudge against him over Natsuki. But if that was the case, it seemed awfully sudden.

“How heartless can a guy get?” Ende asked. “Someone you know has died, and that’s all the feeling you can muster?”

“Look, it’s a little hard to feel sympathy when they’re walking around and attacking you!”

“Fair point. So, what now? Going to try to fight in the cafe?”

“Sakaki!” Natsuki fought her way through the fleeing customers to arrive next to Yuichi. “What’s going on here?”

“I don’t know!” he called back. “Sakiyama just attacked us!”

“Sakiyama... how...”

Sakiyama was in the process of climbing through the window frame to get inside. Seeing a corpse up and walking around was certainly unsettling, but his nature also meant that his movements were sluggish; it would be easy to just run away from him.

“He seems to be dead,” Yuichi said. “Did you know about this?”

As Natsuki noticed Sakiyama, a hint of dismay entered her expression. “Yes. I saw him decapitated.”

“Anyway, we can’t stay here. We should try to get some distance for now.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ende asked. “What if you run, and he starts attacking people indiscriminately? It wouldn’t be very good for your ‘paragon of justice’ image.”

She was right, but they couldn’t just fight in such a populated area. They had to find a way to get somewhere else. The police would probably show up soon, too, which meant they had no time to lose.

“Let’s try to lead him to the back alleys,” Yuichi said. “I’ve heard it’s hard for people to come there.”

He and the others headed for the exit. Sakiyama was still moving sluggishly, and couldn’t keep up with them.

The customers were all gone now, so it would probably be easy enough to leave. But as they were heading for the door, it opened, and someone else entered.

It was a woman dressed in an anachronistic style, with a silk hat and an old-style black riding dress. She was staring straight at Natsuki.

“Natsuki dear, it’s been such a long time. I came to play with your boyfriend, but seeing you here, too, why... as your big sister, I’m so surprised...”

The woman looked overjoyed.