Chapter 4 – Performance/Crucial Moment 2096, New Year’s Day.
Lina left the apartment building at a time you would still call early morning. You would say early morning, but Lina’s roommate Silvia had left much earlier than Lina. Since the moment they arrived in Japan, both have been in a position within a military operation. That it was New Year’s Day or New Year’s Eve was of no consequence.
Lina was picked up by a box wagon driven by backup personnel, and they headed towards the special clothing store from the other day. These team members do not know that Lina is the Sirius. Everyone in the car was told that Lina is an undercover agent who was scouted for the intelligence department.
Originally, the plan was to buy the one-piece kimono and return home to the temporary residence in the apartment building, get changed and then deploy as intended. However, when asked about the purpose of the clothes and she replied that she was wearing them for Hatsumoude, she was strictly ordered that she must get changed at the store on the day for them to do the hair and makeup set. Unable to oppose the intensity of the store manager, and no less that of the shop assistant, Lina obediently abided by the order.
There is just the one store open on the floor during the early morning of New Year’s Day, despite its not being a convenience store. Open for people like herself to change their clothes and then get the hair and makeup set afterwards. What she was wearing now, as one would expect, she going to wear home. During this secret mission, she should not continue to come into contact with the local civilians any more than this. That degree of knowledge, even Lina had.
Lina retuned to the box wagon, carrying the clothes she had been wearing in a paper bag, and the facial expressions of the backup team members receiving her were model poker faces. The momentous importance of this first contact strategy was something Lina thought that everybody understood. Them not raising a frivolous uproar about the exotic form of her disguise was also something Lina had hoped for.
“We believe the target self-driving automobile is heading towards Hie Jinja in Nagatachou. The probability of that being the destination is more than eighty percent.”
“Understood. Towards Hie Jinja in Nagatachou.”
In accordance with the information from the surveillance group, they decided on their destination. The Lina of now was not Major Sirius, so she did not get a say. Regardless, she would not have been able to make up her mind even if they had requested her to make the preliminary decision anyway, so she was thankful for this state of affairs.
Thereupon, she was hit with a sudden thought.
At present she was the infiltrating covert operative Angelina Shields, not the High Commander of Stars, Angie Sirius. Therefore, she would not be asked to make a decision, nor was she obligated to do so. But from here on out, if a situation arrives in which she must act as Major Sirius, then she herself would have to make the choice in that situation.
At that time, would she be able to make the right decision? Without the advice of subordinates with an abundance of experience, such as Major Canopus or Major Capella?
Lina was assailed by anxiety which she had been unaware of until now in this moment.
From the moment she was ordered on this infiltration mission until this moment, she had had too much to think about, without a surplus to actually consider the actual scene of the encounter in the simulation. As to whether she would be able to accomplish the mission plan which she had been given, she had thought about nothing but that.
Now however, when the wait has given her the time, Lina had finally attained the self-awareness that she was being thrown on the ‘battlefield’ where she must make the decisions herself alone.
(——Well, there is no need to think about it seriously. I just, it’s fine to merely accomplish the mission I was given.)
Or so she tried to persuade herself, but it did not drive off the anxiety.
◇ ◇ ◇
Lina and company arrived at the destination Shinto Shine before the target had arrived.
Because the kind of perception abilities the target possessed were not understood, they were observing them by sight via hacking the Traffic Control System —— cracking it was impossible —— so they could grasp the locations of the vehicle the target boarded. According to that vehicle data, they only have a margin of five minutes until the target arrives.
“I’ll be in position.”
Coincident with the box wagon stopping in the parking lot, Lina had her hand on the door handle.
“Confirmed.”
Waiting for this vehicle’s commander’s permission, Lina disembarks the box wagon. Though better than ten-centimetre pin heels, she stumbles due to being unaccustomed to the high heels of the boots that she is wearing. She had tried them once for a party, but she quickly gave up and switched to a pair with lower heels during that experience. Compared to that, these are easier to walk in by far.
The original simulation plan consisted of ambushing the target in front of the main shrine. However, upon receiving Abigail’s advice, it has been changed to passing the target by on the shrine’s grounds. At any rate, she must arrive in front of the main shrine first. With the short hem of the one-piece kimono flapping away, Lina quickly ascended the stairs of the path leading to the shrine.
Everyone’s gazes gather upon Lina. Within the shrine’s grounds, there are a great number of young women dressed gorgeously in their best formal kimonos, but Lina is the most prominent there at present.
It is possible to say that it is only natural. Her appearance consists of a minilength furisode-like kimono, with a dazzling white Zettai Ryouiki interposed between a petticoat and long boots, and glistening blonde hair in a ringlet ponytail, with a flashy large-flowered tree peony hair ornament.
It is like an Idol’s costume for a New Year’s Day concert, it is really not something you would see worn outside of an anime. In addition to that, a rare beauty. Half a century ago, when the sense of privacy protection was lacking, she would have been showered with a barrage of camera shutters without fail.
However, Lina is in a rush so she herself is only half-aware of the situation. At most, all that crossed her mind was, ‘aren’t I attracting attention?’ That was all. In reality, the guests visiting the shrine she passed and overtook were levelling their gazes to stare at her every move.
Ascending the road leading to the shrine, Lina was exposed to gazes the most today. On the plaza in front of the shrine, her appearance monopolised the gazes of the guests visiting the shrine as they gathered upon her. However, Lina did not pay that any mind —— or rather, she did not have time to spare it any thought, she needed to search for a screen where she could observe the target from the shadows as they were ascending the road leading to the shrine from the opposite direction.
A beautiful girl with blonde hair in a vertical roll and wearing a mini-furisode looking around to the left and right repeatedly. She already stood out, and this made her stand out all the more. However, unfortunately Lina did not have a colleague by her side to advise her of that.
Lina did not notice that she was being observed herself in the end, and for the sake of timing it accurately, she concealed herself in the shadow of the pillar of an ofuda talisman conferment point . The conferment point’s shrine maiden also turned her eyes to observe the suspicious person who had appeared at her back, but Lina failed to notice this completely.
Fortunately, however, the time that all eyes were following Lina around the grounds ended.
Everyone’s eyes turned towards the lower torii gate.
All eyes instantly gathered upon a grand woman clad in a traditional furisode.
Lina was also caused to hold her breath as she saw the divine beauty that one would not believe to be a person of this world.
This young girl is one of the two targets that attend the high school that Lina is infiltrating. Lina already knew her face from the documents beforehand. She already knew she was an outrageously beautiful girl.
But……
(……What, that……?)
Seeing that young girl’s beauty with her own eyes directly, it was shocking. That she was a human being just like herself, it was honestly difficult to believe.
Maybe I’m dreaming……? As she considered that, Lina immediately denied those thoughts.
Such ‘beauty’, there is no way she could dream that up.
That person is not something you could have imagined, nor even imagine in one’s mind except when you are looking at the real thing.
The targets were passing by in front of herself.
Lina hurriedly removed herself from behind the pillar where she was concealing herself and moved to the next cover.
And then stealthily peeked at the target.
In that moment, for a different reason, Lina felt a shock which made her heart stop.
The other target, they had turned to look at Lina.
(I was discovered?)
It was not a misunderstanding. It is certain, the targeted young boy has definitely seen her.
(What should I do?)
Lina was flustered. She understood that she could not afford to hesitate.
It is too late, she has already been discovered in the shadow of a pillar. If she remains concealed like this, it will just make her all the more suspicious.
(Damn, to hell with it!)
She left the shadow behind the pillar in a natural manner. ——Objectively, that in itself was suspicious behaviour.
Lina, with an innocent look —— or so she herself thought —— and began to walk in the target’s direction. Pretending to be a visitor to the shrine passing them by having finished their visit to the shrine.
She was bathed in a powerful gaze that came from the young female target’s direction.
While her real intentions caused her heart to pound, she put on a poker face with all her might as she passed by the target’s group.
Though she had planned to pass on by with an innocent face, she could not endure it and gave a sidelong glance to peek at the target.
She met the gaze of the young male target. The other party was also observing her.
On the young boy’s mouth, as though he had seen through to her true identity, was a cold smile.
Lina’s face stiffened. As a result of that fortunate error, her expression disappeared.
And like that, she escaped the shrine at a mechanical pace without looking around.
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Translator's Notes:
5 http://en.wikiapedia.org/wiki/hie_shrine
6 The thigh thing from Page 23. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettai_ryōiki)
7 An ofuda (御札) is a type of household amulet or talisman, issued by a Shinto shrine, hung in the house for protection. See here for more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofuda
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