Look for Avenir - Volume 1 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Coring
Despite having 5 lanes, the bridge that is
known as K23 is just for the coming and going of
the capital’s garbage trucks.
Even so, its status as a public road means
ordinary vehicles are allowed to drive over it.
However there’s only a garbage disposal facility on
the land reclamation site at the end of it so, apart
from the waste trucks, only those who’ve come to
fish use it.
Although it resembles a former garbage dump
on reclaimed land, its purpose changed considerably
and now there’s almost no smell at all.
Besides strictly enforcing the separate
collection of waste, raw garbage’s stench was
degraded and it was made into fertiliser by means of
scattering EMO stimulated by effective
microorganisms over it. By mixing this EMO with
dismantled plastics, they could be perfectly
recycled.
Even so, they needed reclaimed land for a
factory to process all of this, and for temporary
storage of the garbage.
Hyuga Honore was angered by the garbage
trucks driving along the 5 lane highway between the
basically uninhabited factories (short-statured
buildings) as though they didn’t know what had
happened in the city center.
“Adults put their work first, they don’t try to
understand what happens before their very eyes.”
He pulled out of the garbage disposal factory
and crossed over the flat bridge, entering the
reclaimed land used to store garbage.
Behind him to the left the silver airframe came
back through the sky. He thought he caught sight of
three Musshan Tender Gears pursuing it, but the
garbage trucks got in his way and he couldn’t be
sure.
But as he was crossing over the bridge he saw
an explosion to his right at sea.
“…Shit…!”
The red and white flash breaking out from the
centre of the ring of black smoke was exactly the
same as an explosion he’d seen in a movie.
Instinctually he revved the accelerator as far as
it would go and jumped the bike onto the reclaimed
land.
There were several slagheap-type rises there
that from an outsider’s perspective looked like
better shelter than the factory, so he felt that would
be the place to hide.
But the paved road cut out, and when the
electro-bike hit dirt Honore realised there’d be no
hiding if the Tender Gear’s nuclear fusion reactor
exploded.
“There’s no way something like that could happen
here.”
That thought could only help to calm his worries,
but the slagheap obscured his view to the west as he
tried to catch his breath and he began to panic.
If it exploded it would make his coming here
meaningless.
“…Oof!”
As Honore mounted the bike and turned the
handlebars he revved the engine. Unlike gas motors, the
electric one in his bike was pathetically powerless.
Loose dirt sprayed out behind him and Tokyo Bay came
into view as he came out onto the breakwater.
“…I’m doing it!”
When Honoré first caught sight of the Tender Gear
skimming across the sea surface he was impressed, but
in the next instant the three machines rose into the sky to
put on speed.
They were probably the mobile suits belonging to
the Tokyo unit that was stationed at the Imperial
Palace’s park.
“…!?”
Honore followed the direction the three suits took
along the breakwater not because he’d forgotten the
danger of explosions.
He had his mind set and wanted nothing more than
to see what they were going to do.
Imagining that he might be able to see a dog fight
between that silver Tender Gear and Sergei’s Musshan
mmm
was thrilling.
“…!”
Honore heard a loud bang and when he looked
up he imagined he could see sparkling silver dust
falling.
In the sky above, the silver Tender Gear looked
like it was standing agilely, but that was only
Honore’s impression.
The suit wasn’t flying low enough to make out
details, nor was it particularly close.
He thought the weaving Tender Gear might
have been hit, but that was his imagination too.
The next time Honore saw them, they were
close enough that he could identify the falling
aircraft as a Musshan, but he couldn’t understand
why an undamaged Musshan was dropping like
garbage.
“…!”
Honore shuddered as the Musshan kicked up
spray on the sea surface and he realised the silver
suit was up to something terrible.
When he looked up with a feeling of hostility,
he thought he saw a streaked light that looked like a
needle going through the blue sky… Well, it was
more of a hunch.
“…Seriously…!?”

When Honore realised the suit that had seemed
to melt into the blue sky were going to come down
much further away than before, he became aware
that he’d made a huge mistake.
“…!?”
He’d come here thinking it would be better to
be safe than sorry, but it seemed like staying at
home would have been the right choice.
Suddenly he heard the rumbling exhaust noise
of a hopper nozzle and when his eyes chased the
sound he saw that the silver airframe was hovering
not even a kilometer away on the south side of the
same land reclamation site he was on.
“…! Is that the one they call Alafman!?”
Honore turned his bike towards the silver suit
as it descended in an erect stance.
The reason for his current decision was the
same as all of his actions: he didn’t think ahead.
Although the rubbish piles obstructed his view
once or twice, Honore could see the airframe known
as Alafman landing calmly.
“…Sergei’s Musshan were done in so easily,
and now the enemy has time to relax… It doesn’t
seem like it’s landing because it’s taken damage.”
Honore instinctually knew that the silver
airframe being undamaged was probably unheard
of.
What!?
He stopped being able to heard the Tender Gear
engine’s high-pitched idling sound.
Then,
[…Avenir-san, the sky’s good too, but we
could swim in the ocean…]
A man’s consciousness made a direct hit on
Honore.
He realised that it belonged to the man called
Beston Kriger who’d done the electro-jack.
The feeling and scent entwined in his
consciousness felt the same as what had been on the
TV.
So Honore twisted the throttle.
Whoosh!
His bike leapt forward and he came into
position to be able to look down on the landing spot
of the unfamiliar Tender Gear.
[Then why aren’t you with Avenir!]
A female consciousness completely different to
the sensation of Beston Kriger’s voice jumped into
Honore’s perception.
At that moment, Honore was airborne.
“Don’t do that!”
Yelled Honore without knowing why, but he
and the bike were falling.
Thud!
“Ugh! What does that mean?”
Honore sat up in a flash and then,
Bang!
The reverberations of a pistol being fired rang
in his ears.
“What the hell…!?”
From the many things going on in front of him,
Honore sighted something with spread wings on its
back, flying up holding the body of a semitransparent,
seemingly nude girl.
Was this a hallucination…!?
But he wasn’t confused and he was fully
conscious, so he stood up.
Beyond the hallucination Honore saw a figure
descending from the silver aircraft and then running
off to the left of the suit’s feet.
“…!!”
Honore mounted his bike, and gunned it
towards the silver suit.
What!?
But before he even had a chance of
comprehending what he’d witnessed,
mmmmmmmm
Grrrrrr…rr, rr, rr… rrrr…
The three Tender Gears descended while
spreading out.
Musshan…!?
Seeing the silver aircraft was unreactive, two of
the Musshan went around and cut in behind it, and
the third Musshan spouted exhaust fumes out of its
hopper nozzle from behind Honore.
“...Someone fell!”
The unit that held a Vulcan cannon equipped in
its left hand was landing menacingly to the centre
right of Honore.
“Daisanka’s Musshan!!”
Honore’s body was pelted with the intense
sandstorm kicked up by its down exhaust and
staggered backwards.
[What the hell is Avenir up to!]
A female consciousness reverberated within
Honore.
That’s how he became aware that the figure
behind the silver suit was trying to sneak into the
concrete debris to the left.
<Is that their voice!?>
He perceived a consciousness like the
sweetness of roasting rice cakes.
Whoosh! The Musshan’s landing gear let out a
clamorous noise.
“Why are you interfering!? It looks like
someone’s died!”

Honore turned around to yell at the landed
Musshan as he chased after the dark figure.
***
“Avenir, go swim in the sea… I can’t take it
anymore…”
“Then shouldn’t you be with Avenir?”
“I can’t do that!”
First Lieutenant Fubuki Kei perceived the
woman and youth’s minds in the same quality as
Beston Krieger’s.
“Unh…!?”
The reclaimed land where the Tender Gear
airframe known as Alafman crouched could be seen
from the middle of the deep blue Bay of Tokyo.
Something had stopped the Tender Gear from
continuing what it was doing. It was much larger
than the Musshan Fubuki had been entrusted with.
“What is this?”
Although Fubuki felt physically restless, he
was aware and judged that
There’s a pilot lying down under the Tender
Gear that has its front armor open… Even if I’m
wrong, we’ll get no resistance from the Tender
Gear.
And in that way he confirmed that his own
consciousness was normal.
“Raizen, Son, stay there.”
Fubuki called out to the two youngsters,
landing his own craft in front of Alafman.
From the pilot’s fallen state it seemed he’d
collapsed after fainting or had been shot, but the
latter was unlikely.
As Fubuki landed his own aircraft, the landing
gear folded up and the trunk inclined forward.
The boy looked like he was being chased by the
figure running from behind the Alafman.
“Three people…”
Fubuki unholstered his gun and raised the visor
on his pilot suit. He raised the front armor and
pushed down on the console panel.
“This is First Lieutenant Fubuki Kei. I’m in
front of the unidentified aircraft. I’m about to start
my investigation.”
Although Sergei would deny it, following
procedure to a tee was the only martial habit that
Fubuki had embraced. The radio that connected him
to his two subordinates should have also been
monitored at General Staff Headquarters, but that
line appeared to remain dead.
The fixed manipulator became scaffolding
between the ground and the cockpit and as he
alighted on the reclaimed land,
mmmmmmmmmmm
Fubuki fired his gun at the figure running
towards the left-hand embankment.
It was a feint.
“Son, you should see two people on your right
hand side. Capture them.”
“Yes, sir…”
Fubuki approached the silver airframe and his
eyes didn’t stray from above the giant lying under
the craft.
A fairy…?
He thought it was a joke.
He could see a winged fairy. No, it looked
more like an angel. Like a Japanese celestial
maiden, it had a kimono sash-like cloth wrapped
around its body.
A winged baby? A girl…!?
There didn’t seem to be just one. Several?
They laughed. They mourned. He saw them
fresh faced after outpourings of sympathy.
…How many of them are there!?
They were flitting about, flying past each other,
so there couldn’t just be one… He didn’t
understand… Fluttering. He had the impression
they were going straight up as well.
They swayed, soared and danced on the bright
silver background.
Were their wings attached to their backs or did
they spring out from their arms? It wasn’t clear.
They stood up on the giant’s forehead and chest,
swaying like a mirage.
Whoooooosh!
The sandstorm hit Fubuki full on from the side.
It felt like the salty sea breeze got stronger.
“…!!”
The flickering shook off his hallucinations.
Fubuki collected himself and marched forward,
heading towards the man lying at Alafman’s feet.
But all that was there was a giant’s corpse.
“He looks like the man known as Beston
Kreiger…”
When Fubuki planted his feet on either side of
the giant’s head to verify that, he was disgusted to
find the man’s expression defied his expectations.
…!? Why does he look so happy?
Fubuki felt like he was in a nightmare.
A chill ran through his whole body, but Fubuki
couldn’t resist taking another look at the man’s
face.
He turned and looked straight down into his
face.
His impression of the man’s expression didn’t
change from when he’d look at it upside down.
He had a bullet hole on his forehead but it
shone and so he hadn’t noticed it.
“…Why does he look so happy? …Almost like
an orgasm face…”
Orgasm face - The face of one in ecstasy.
“…Did he go insane?”
Fubuki was shaken by the associations his own
mind made from what he saw, and he raised his
eyes to the cockpit in front of him.
The Tender Gear was larger by far than the
Musshan but their basic structures were the same.
As humanoid machines, vehicles with a cockpit
installed, they were basically the same shape.
“This is a strange craft…”
Thinking about the airframe, Fubuki’s feelings
settled and he holstered his gun.
***
I was flying above the concrete debris. This
woman, black from top to bottom, suddenly
stopped.
“You’re the one who killed that person, right?
Why? You shouldn’t have done this.”
I didn’t know what I was saying. The disgust I
felt for even speaking to this gloomy woman was
too overwhelming.
She was that kind of woman. A leather jacket,
leather pants and boots, a piercing flashing up on
the right side of her lips. Dark eyes and long,
fluttering hair. You couldn’t imagine a more
stereotypical white woman with bad upbringing.
“That was a fairy’s dance... you want to see
more of it? Little brat!” She spoke Japanese.
Her pierced lips spoke in an unsteady manner. I
could see how her hands, tucked into the pockets of
her leather jacket, began to move. I didn’t expect to
have a gun aimed at me, so I took a leap without
giving it too much thought. Even feeling the bullets
hitting my thighs after landing near her couldn’t
stop me from clinging to the automatic rifle she
pulled out.
“God damn!”
It seems like she’s reverting to English when
her blood pressure rises. Our bodies twisted, stirring
up the surrounding dust us while my arms were
tightly clutched around her wrist. As my shoulder
bumped into her chest, I could feel the warmth of
her body. Suddenly, I was overcome by the fear of
losing this fight.
To avoid being intimidated by the rage in her
greyish blue eyes, I didn’t look at her face but
instead tried to push her chin up using my elbow.
“Arg...!”
Using both of my arms, I managed to make her
drop the gun by twisting her wrist around. As soon
as I heard something heavy hitting the ground, I
tried hitting the woman’s stomach with a kick while
turning towards the gun on the ground.
“Shit!”
She swore at me. My hands could reach the
gun! I felt like I was faster than her, and then...
Swoooosh!
A cloud of dust violently hit my back, knocking
the gun a few yards back.
“Wha-?”
A single Musshan was slowly approaching the
surface, hitting down exhaust just in time. I tried
making my way through the dust cloud, crouching
in the direction of the gun as the Musshan’s landing
gear reached out to the surface and blocked my
path.
“Don’t move. If you move, you will be
disposed of by the Daisanka.”
The intimidating voice of a woman rose up
above our heads. Being disposed of by the Daisanka
would equal being killed, of course.
“Got it...!?”
As I turned around to face the Musshan, I could
see the woman in black sneering at me, throwing
her hands up in the air while making slutty poses.
“Is she mistaking this place for a strip club...!?”
She was behaving like that. I was starting to
feel that she wasn’t even serious, and it confused
me. I noticed that there was a replica of a Harley
Davidson Sportster standing behind her back. A
rather large bag was tucked onto its rear frame.
As stereotypical a combination as it can get...
I realized that this woman was what one would
call a wanderer. An outsider, if put into modern
terms. I gazed into the deep dark muzzles of several
barrels that were part of the Musshan’s gatling gun
sitting right above my head.
“If I were killed by that, I would be blown into
thousands of bits and pieces without feeling any
pain. That would be fine with me.”
That’s what I’m thinking for a second.
“Woman, climb up the concrete hill. You too,
boy.”
Although the young woman’s voice which was
amplified by the speaker had a charming side to it,
there was also a lot of power behind it.
“That was legitimate self-defense! I thought I
was lending the Daisanka a hand!”
With her eyes turned up, the woman in black
climbed the concrete rubble while yelling at the
cockpit of the Musshan.
... I could hear what she was thinking...
Hearing her words, I immediately felt like that.
The voice coming from the Musshan’s cockpit
though swept away all my doubts and unrest.
“WE will decide on that. Boy! If you’re a man,
follow that woman and climb that concrete hill
already!”