Plan to Assassinate Tatsuya Shiba - Volume 1 - The Girl Assassin - Chapter 8

[8] Collision 

Fumiya had no trouble in catching up to the two escaping professional killers. 

One party cannot move freely due to the influence of the poison (non-lethal) gas, the other party is helping them to escape; it would not be difficult to track them even if it were someone other than Fumiya. 

As Fumiya was descending the stairs, he remembered to operate his CAD. 

The magic he selected, ‘Diffusion’, targets sound. The magic expanded to span the staircase, and the floor corridors both at the above and beneath. The range was defined as ‘uninterrupted space’. This sound obstruction does not prevent the average noise from passing through, the magic is designed to be indistinguishable. 

This technique is also a strong point of his older twin sister, Ayako, the same as with Mock Teleportation. Although not to his sister’s degree of perfection, as Fumiya habitually observed her magic from next to her, his mastery of ‘Diffusion’ far exceeded the level of the general combat magician. 

Invoking the magic, it became impossible to discern Fumiya with sound. The duration was set at thirty seconds. He should be able to capture the assassins up ahead with that much. Setting a duration that was longer than necessary is no different to putting an excess burden on yourself personally. As he was fighting, he needed to restrain himself from being excessive to avoid wasting power. 

Even during the short time that it took to operate the CAD and complete the magic, Fumiya did not stop. Nimbly running down the stairs, where at the turnabout landing halfway down to the first floor from the second, the back of a young girl carrying a middle-aged man on her shoulder came into view. The young girl is an assassin named Hashibami Yuki. The man’s identity is unknown, but the man in work clothes was secretly switching Tatsuya’s chair. 

Yuki will arrive in the first-floor corridor in just a few more steps. It would not be an inconvenience for Fumiya even if she did exit into the corridor, conversely there was no reason to wait. He pointed the armament device possessed by his right hand at the man in work clothes. 

A two-inch (five-point-zero-eight-centimetre) needle was fired out from the muzzle of the device which imitated a pocket pistol and stuck into the waist of the man in work clothes. 

The man raised a scream and struggled atop Yuki’s shoulder. 

Yuki unable to bear it, dropped the man from her shoulder. 

Fumiya looked down with a poker face, but inside his mind was frowning thinking ‘what a blunder’. Fumiya had not predicted that the man would bend his body so violently. He did not know whether it was due to pain, or the muscles constricting from the electric current. Either way, it was a mistake in Fumiya’s calculations. 

As the man was falling and tumbling down the stairs, Fumiya observed as the man’s neck bent unnaturally. He understood without needing to check again. It was a fatal wound. 

He was not shaking, but Fumiya was assailed by regret. In this situation he did not need to kill, he had not planned for him to die. As of yet, he had not reached the level where he would not feel anything when killing people. 

To avoid his consciousness straying from the regret, Fumiya intentionally acted with a cold attitude. 

From the stairs below, Yuki glares at Fumiya with hatred and anger. 

Fumiya persuaded himself to ‘stay calm’, while staring back with his façade. 

Fumiya pointed the armament device at Yuki, though he did not do so consciously. The combat posture drilled into him in training, it was just taken naturally. Similar to a conditioned reflex. 

“You……Who are you?” 

Her remarks may have been natural to Yuki, but Fumiya was not expecting to be spoken to at the scene. 

——Should I reply? 

Fumiya voice has not broken, even if he changes it his voice still remains high. His Adam’s apple is not prominent. Rather, it would be fine to say it was ‘non-existent’. There was almost no possibility of leaking his gender by revealing his voice. 

The problem was ‘what should be my reply?’ Or ‘should I reply at all’? 

Whether it was judged necessary or unnecessary, he was not required to reply to Yuki’s question. Divulging his real identity was out of the question. 

But —— to the extent of his codename, should not it be fine to inform them of that? Rather than remaining completely unidentified, just having a given name should but pressure on the other party. 

“It’s not like your mouth doesn’t work! Tell me your name!” 

“Yami.” 

To the demand for ‘his name’, Fumiya gave a two-character response. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

Yuki was watching the young girl pointing a pocket pistol sized ‘small needle gun’ at her, while struggling with violent trembling. 

She was concerned about Bobby’s condition after she dropped him from her shoulder, but she did not have time to check right now. In a situation where a gun’s muzzle was pointed at her. Averting her gaze would be a suicidal act, she had realised that previously, and so she is too afraid to do such a thing. 

That ‘young girl’s’ ‘small needle gun’ would not necessarily always give a fatal wound. The benefit of those thin and sharp needles is that they will not cause extensive tissue damage. Rather, the burns caused by the electric shock have the effect of stopping the bleeding. She knew that from Jack’s wounds when he was shot yesterday. 

But depending on where your hit, a person can die no matter how small the wound. Moreover, even if the shooting does not kill you, you will not know if you will be seized afterwards. Yesterday, Jack was left behind after he was shot but that does not mean it will be the same today. 

Expressionless as a doll, the ‘young girl’ utters not a single word. 

That fanned Yuki's fear. 

As fear rose up from her stomach, Yuki was unable to remain silent. 

Yuki asked the ‘young girl’ for her name. 

The ‘young girl’ replied with just ‘Yami’. 

(‘Yami’? ‘Yami’ (spelt「弥美」All The More Beautiful) ‘Yami’ (spelt「弥実」Increasing Truth) ‘Yami’ (spelt「矢美」Arrow of Beauty)……, no, ‘Yami’ (spelt「闇」Darkness and Despair)……?) 

She did not think the name matched that ‘young girl’s’ sweet looks. 

However, coincident with thinking that it did not suit the peaceful appearance of her age, Yuki also thought that it was the most appropriate version of the name ‘Yami’ (spelt「闇」 Darkness and Despair). 

The low voice did not match her face, but not to the point it could be called mature. However, within that short word, she did not sense any tension or swagger. 

Prepared for combat, not just with mere equipment, her spirit was prepared. Yuki could feel it. 

“……What do you intend to do with me?” 

After saying that, Yuki realised it was a pointless question. She did not know how it was going to end, but for the time being she knew what she planned to do. 

In accordance with her instincts, Yuki jumped horizontally. 

A grey needle pierced her afterimage. 

Yuki landed with both hands and feet on the wall and crawled down the wall beside the staircase without stopping. 

Yami turned the gunpoint towards Yuki on the wall. 

First Yuki’s hand, and then her foot, extended and she jumped to the opposite wall. 

Grabbling the corner of the wall with one hand to kill the momentum of the jump, Yuki descends to the first-floor corridor. 

From the stairs, Yuki’s figure can no longer be seen. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

Fumiya, having lost sight of Yuki, runs down the stairs. 

If he lets her escape here, then it goes without saying that this school’s students could get dragged into the situation. Yuki does not seem the type to thoughtlessly increase the number of victims, but her occupation is that of a professional criminal after all. In a situation where she is driven against a wall, it cannot be guaranteed she will respect another person’s life. 

Yuki disappeared on the left side of the staircase from where Fumiya could see her. 

Fumiya descends the staircase along the left-hand side wall. 

This could be said to be in consideration of the corpse of the man in work clothes who fell on the right side of the staircase, but by going down on the left-hand side it is harder to find an opponent on the left-hand side, a result of unconsciously abiding the manual. However, coincident with that, it is also difficult to find an opponent who is concealing themselves. Stopping just before the last step, Fumiya gently peeked into the corridor from near the wall, 

Yuki who was crouching on the other side of the wall, thrust her knife up. 

The tip was aimed at his heart, Fumiya bent backwards to dodge. 

(You didn’t run away?!) 

Fumiya, who was completely blindsided, falls on his backside onto the stairs, his posture destroyed. 

Yuki, improving her grip on the knife, placed a foot on the stairs to attack Fumiya. 

Fumiya reliably perceived Yuki’s movements with his eyes. 

Fumiya raised the muzzle of his armament device. Though pocket pistol sized, the needles are much thinner than a bullet. It fires with magic so a propellent is unnecessary. 

Loaded with six needles. Presently, four remain. Fumiya pulled the trigger twice without hesitation. 

Aiming at both shoulders. Whichever direction they evade in, one could be counted on to hit. 

However, even here, Yuki’s movements exceeded Fumiya’s expectations. 

She used the one foot she had placed on the stairs to jump over Fumiya’s body. 

Both needles ended up just grazing Yuki’s skirt. 

Putting her left hand upon the stair above and taking her own body weight with one arm, she took a stance that appeared to be that before a jump. Skilfully bending her legs with the force to reach the landing above the stairs. 

In that moment Yuki’s skirt flipped flashily, though unfortunately Fumiya’s sitting posture on the stairs meant his eyes could not keep up. ——He did not see what is concealed underneath her skirt. 

Yuki ran up to the landing. 

Fumiya pointed the muzzle at her back but, as though he was seen aiming, Yuki jumped to the right-hand side of the landing. The stairs turn on the right-hand side. There are walls on both sides of the stairs from the first floor to the landing, but there is a chest high railing on the stairs from the landing to the second floor. However, that railing made of concrete, still results in his being blind. 

Fumiya loops back to the landing and faces towards the second floor. 

Yuki is lying in wait there. 

In her right hand, is a prepared pocket pistol. 

Yuki possessing a gun was outside the assumptions Fumiya had regarded. Because she had not used one, he decided she did not possess one. 

He reflexively sidestepped to the right, concealing his body from being shot. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

Yuki ran up to the second floor from the landing in one go, skipping the last three steps. 

At the first step leading to the third floor she crouched, using the railing as a shield. 

Thereupon she rolled up her sailor suit skirt and extracted a pocket pistol from the small holster coiled around her thigh. 

An upper and lower type double action equipped with an internal hammer. Not a device that imitates a pocket pistol, it is a gun with genuine live ammunition. 

As it is, this is one means of escape, so Yuki chooses to fight. 

She has no means of attacking at a distance. Yuki’s main weapon is the knife. The pocket pistol she is holding in her right hand, it was not as good as a derringer which has become synonymous of this category, and the effective range is extremely short. 

Escaping means leaving the site while effectively visible, and in that situation, it can be judged that she will be attacked continuously. Dealing damage in close quarter combat and then deserting increases the chances of escape. 

Besides, just escaping without receiving a hit would do little to hinder her annoyance. Inside Yuki, there certainly existed such thoughts. 

Yuki hesitated for only an instant, and then jumped out from the handrail concealing her. 

Fortunately, Yami had not ascended the stairs yet.

Yuki holds up the pocket pistol. 

Just at that moment, Yami shows her form on the landing.  

The best timing. 

Yami immediately recognises her and reverses the direction to the one she came from reflexively. 

With this pistol, Yuki is not able to hope she will hit what she is aiming at below the stairs from above them. From the start the effective range is short, and Yuki is not skilled with guns to say the very least. 

However, Yami is not acquainted with Yuki’s skill with firearms, with its poor accuracy rate with a meaning equal to hitting by chance. Inside a room with no wind, it is not possible to disregard the possibility of a chance hit. 

Yami’s evasive action was rational and also truly a reflex. 

Yami took action in combat rationally, as Yuki had calculated. 

That estimation hit the mark. If that is the case, she can take action as planned. 

Yuki held the pocket pistol in her mouth and dived with enough momentum to reach the bottom of the stairs from the top. 

Thrusting with both hands midway, she jumped to the landing while maintaining her height below the railing. 

Her right hand connected with the landing, twisting her body to the left while swinging her foot. 

Her left hand grasping the pistol in her mouth. 

Yuki rolled on the floor of the landing, pulling the trigger as she turned the muzzle towards Yami as her field of view was revolving. 

She was not expecting a hit. 

Yuki turned with the momentum, kicking the floor with enough force to stand up. 

Her body was hurting here and there, but she ignored it for now. 

Her physical boost did not make her body invincible, instead creating an amount of physical strength that would not lose to physical strength that has been enhanced. 

Yuki added enhanced leg power to the force of the fall, rising into a dash from the landing’s wall. 

Yami avoids being gunned down by lowering her body to the stairs below. 

In that moment, it truly took considerably ability to move just one step and not just crouch down completely, but it was obvious that Yuki could not be seen. 

Running sideways on the wall, Yuki leaped at Yami from near the ceiling. 

Yami suddenly faced up, this reaction due to the sound of the fluttering hems of the sailor suit’s collar and skirt. 

Simultaneously landing before Yami’s eyes. 

Her knife prepared with a backhanded grip in the air, Yuki swung her right hand down. 

Yami, by catching Yuki’s right wrist with her left forearm, blocked the knife. 

Yuki’s left hand pulled the trigger of the pocket pistol. 

Yami’s right hand pulled the trigger of the ‘small needle gun’. 

The bullet shot out from the pocket pistol pierces Yami’s skirt and eats into her right leg. 

The needle fired a moment later struck Yuki’s left arm. 

An electric shock ran through Yuki’s left arm. 

Before the scolding pain came along, Yuki cut the senses in her left arm. 

An application of the physical boost. 

The pocket pistol slipped from Yuki’s left hand; in any case it was the type that fired twice in rapid succession. After firing both bullets, there was no allowance for loading more bullets. 

Yuki turned her back to Yami, running down the stairs. 

On route, she is assailed by a strong sense of impending danger, 

Yuki jumps up reflexively. 

Her right hand hits the slanted ceiling, kicks the wall with her right foot and jumps to the left. Kicking the left wall with her left foot, before jumping another time. 

Yuki landed on the bottommost step, and turned forwards without opposing the momentum, Rising to make use of the momentum, and at this time started running at full speed. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

Intense pain was raising in his right leg which was shot. Fumiya had a cold sweat on his forehead as he endured it without revealing his voice. 

Magic is able to manipulate pain. But at the present time there was something other than that which ought to be the priority. 

Fumiya let go of the armament device in his right hand. There was still one needle remaining, but his right hand must be free for the sake of operating the CAD on his left arm. 

Leaning on the wall, Fumiya operated the CAD concealed under his sleeve. 

A specialised CAD in the form of a bracelet, his trump card serving as storage for magic activation sequences. 

The magic’s name is ‘Direct Pain’. 

Magic that bestows pain directly to the other party’s mind. 

The types of pain are limited to those Fumiya is acquainted with. 

He has complete mastery of a potent variety. 

Fumiya bestows the magic with the pain of an electric shock on a level that will cause a loss of consciousness and launches it at the escaping Yuki. 

But just before the magic was invoked, Yuki disappeared. 

He lost sight of Yuki’s form. 

At the present time, Fumiya was not able to invoke magic if he was not able to specify where the target is. 

Even if it cannot be seen see directly, as long as the where of the location is understood, magic is able to interfere with something. But if you lose sight of where it went, the magic will not take. 

As of yet, he is not skilled enough to aim magic with only information associated to the phenomena. He has not grasped the trick of it. 

He turned his eyes to the sound of the wall being kicked. 

But it was too late, Yuki’s form was no longer there. 

Her acrobatic movements, the eye cannot follow. 

No sooner than Fumiya caught Yuki’s shadow, her legs disappeared into the corridor besides the stairs. 

Fumiya leaned back on the wall, slowly slipping down until he was sat. 

His leg was injured. 

But he had to do something about the dead body of the man in work clothes that fell down the stairs. 

Such a thing would cause an uproar if it were seen. 

Fumiya deciding to endure the pain, operated the CAD on his right arm with his left hand. 

First opening the window on the landing, 

And then using Mock Teleportation to throw the man’s corpse into the sky. 

He did not contact them to arrange anything, but he expects that Kurokawa’s team on the blimp will handle it one way or another. 

There is a bullet hole in the wall, but that will merely result in a simple ‘incident’ comparatively. 

By placing the armament device in the skirt’s pocket, and stowing Yuki’s pocket pistol in the opposite one, he had finished cleaning up for the moment. 

Out of strength, Fumiya leaned on the wall. 

That peace of mind lasted all of ten seconds. 

Coming back from his thoughtlessness when he noticed signs of people approaching. 

Fumiya tried to stand up in a panic but squatted again in intense pain. 

The bullet had pierced the bulletproof fibre of the uniform and tights and wedged into the exterior of the thigh. 

The impact was not to that degree, so it likely was not the power of the propellant that penetrated. 

Was the bullet of a type that tapers the head of the metal jacket to enhance penetration power? If not for the bulletproof fibre, it is likely that leg would have been perforated. 

By getting hit there it will not be discovered, so it is probably better this way. 

In any case he could not give up in this place. As Fumiya hurried, 

“What’s wrong?” 

His body stiffened as a voice rose from the stairs below. 

A voice he was familiar with. 

A voice he could not mistake on hearing. 

“……Shiba-kun. That girl, she’s in poor health……” 

“Go on ahead. I’ll take her to the infirmary.” 

“Will you be okay alone?” 

“It’ll be alright.” 

Tatsuya’s words, his three young male classmates obediently abide. 

At this school, Tatsuya appears to have put in place one or two eyes. Considering his appearance, Fumiya became a little glad. That smile floated to his lips, and the pain in his leg immediately vanished. Fumiya raised his face. 

Tatsuya dressed in his gym uniform, immediately crouched down and took a stance on one knee. 

“Is it still Yami?” 

“Tatsuya-niisan…… I, am.” 

Tatsuya’s eyes reins in Fumiya’s excuse. 

Tatsuya holds his left hand over Fumiya’s gunshot wound. 

A dry sound caused by a small bullet falling to the floor. 

Fumiya’s wound disappears in an instant. 

Tatsuya turns his left hand to the bullet hole in the wall. 

The wall returns to its former state, the bullet drops. 

“Take these with you.” 

Tatsuya picks up the two bullets and hands them over to Fumiya. 

“Thank you very much. ……I’ve lost my honour. I let her escape.” 

“The reason appears to be that Direct Pain wasn’t used.” 

“……Yes.” 

The though never crossing his mind to lie, Fumiya bowed his head. 

Had he attacked with Direct Pain, that young female assassin would not have escaped. Had he not considered hiding the scope of his power with the armament device in his palm, had he used Direct Pain from the beginning, it would not have ended with this unrefined shameful sight. 

Fumiya thought so, biting his lip. 

“Fast evasive movements, were you unable to aim?” 

Tatsuya muttered as he observed the small footprints that remained on the wall. 

At the accurate deduction, Fumiya could not say anything and hung his head in shame. 

“The reason it didn’t work appears to be the same as in boxing.” 

But at Tatsuya’s few casual words, Fumiya suddenly raised his face. 

“Tatsuya-niisan, what do you mean by that?” 

“Huh!? I mean what I said as is. In boxing, do you predict where your opponent’s evading when you throw the punch?” 

Fumiya has a small body, so his strongpoint is not games where he has a handicap due to a height advantage such as volleyball and basketball. Rather than say dislike, he loathes them. 

On the other hand, it became a matter of pride in martial arts as of the modern age with the adoption of ranking systems for different weights. Especially amateur boxing, where a degree of skill means being able to achieve an overall victory is highly likely when appearing in a junior tournament. 

“It……is so.” 

“Well, a large part is due to physical sensations in marital arts.” 

Tatsuya expresses a bitter smile as if amazed by his own words. 

“No, it’s a good reference.” 

In contrast with that, Fumiya responded with a cheerful smile. 

“Is that so?” 

That energy pressured Tatsuya a little. 

“Leaving that aside, it’d be better to leave the area before first period ends.” 

For the sake of glossing over the remark he unintendedly raised, Tatsuya changes the topic. 

“Now you mention it, shouldn’t you still be in class……?” 

From that remark, Fumiya recalled a question he had forgotten. 

Of the class time nearly half still remains. Tatsuya and his classmates, why did they happen to pass by here? 

“Ah. Well, we skipped out.” 

“Skipped out…… really?” 

“The match finished. My throat was dry, so I left.” 

“Huh……” 

Would they not be scolded for not studying by observation? Fumiya became a little worried. 

While simultaneously thinking ‘Tatsuya-niisan is wild and cool’, just like a young girl in love. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

Yuki leans her back on a wall behind the school building, finally taking a breath. This place has become a kind of dead spot, almost nobody will approach here. Useable as a temporary safety zone, or so she had heard from Wanizuka. 

Yuki rolled up her sailor suit’s left sleeve. From the skin from just above her elbow, approximately five millimetres a of a dark grey needle was revealed.  

Pinching it with the index finger and thumb of her right hand, Yuki pulled it out in one go. 

At the same time, she released the block on the sense of pain in her left arm. The voice that tries to leak out is swallowed down her throat. 

Passing through the pain, she breaths violently to overpower and kill it. 

“A rather cunning deed, varied and……” 

Putting her breathing in order, she leaked a self-deprecating idle complain. 

Today’s task was also a failure. Deciding to imitate a middle school student, braving the risk of infiltrating, and yet was not able to come into contact with the target. 

She was not able to rescue her co-worker. Her colleague was taken down, and she was not able to bring him back. 

The pistol, a piece of evidence, was left behind at the scene. It is not just careless behaviour as her fingerprints can be taken, ordinarily it is difficult to get your hands on a firearm in Japan. There is no doubt they will investigate the route it was obtained by. 

“Even if I lose my job, I can’t complain…” 

Getting fired from Abousha. It is not the same as being dismissed from a respectable company, you will not simply just lose your job. 

Not that she expects it to end with such a thing. 

“Of course, I’ve no intention of obediently suffering damage.” 

There is no way to become unemployed by the company. 

However, she has no intention of giving up her head. Yuki was persuading herself to accept living by herself. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

Fumiya separated from Tatsuya and ascended to the rooftop. Feeling around for a thirst for blood using ‘Shouinkyou’ (Mirror to Illuminate the Unseen) was no longer getting any hits. For the time being he concluded that no one else will try to infiltrate other than the two professional killers and so decided to follow Tatsuya’s advice and withdraw. 

“This is Yami.” 

He spoke as her turned on the transmitter inserted into his ear. 

“Kurokawa here. Receptions good, so by all means.” 

Not affected by the abruptness, there was no time lag for the reply. 

“I’m returning for the moment.” 

“Roger. Is any support needed?” 

Kurokawa’s question meant does Fumiya need pulling up into the sky from inside the gondola? 

“It would be splendid if you could just open the door please.” 

Naturally, Fumiya had no intention of resigning himself to being treated as luggage like that. 

Looking at the airship. Fumiya is not able to see the gondola’s details, so in accordance with his memory, sets Mock Teleportation’s goal as where he expects the door to be. 

Magic is invoked. 

The next instant, Fumiya is before the door that has been left open. 

Invoking the magic again before gravity can take hold, Fumiya embarks the gondola. 

“I welcome you on your return, Ojou-sama.” 

A black suit other than Kurokawa welcomes Fumiya with those few exaggerated words. 

Fumiya often reacts sharply to excessive treatment as a daughter of a high-class family, but right now he ignores those remarks. 

“The corpse that I sent, were you able to recover it?” “Yes. However, please tell us beforehand from next time.” 

Fumiya asked a question, Kurokawa replied. 

Disregarding his complaints, Fumiya confirmed the corpse of the professional killer in work clothes was laying on the floor. 

“The bone in his neck is broken. This was the direct cause of death.” 

Kurokawa gives an explanation in response to Fumiya’s questioning gaze, anticipating the additional question. 

“Personal belongings?” 

“In his waist bag are tools and approximately one kilogram of plastic explosive, in his tsunagi’s pockets are all sorts of small explosive devices. It appears his assassination speciality is killing with bombings.” 

“The Bomb Demon? Then the chair I sent earlier?” 

“Yes. Explosives were built into it. It was set to explode with a pressure sensor under the seat.” “If you sat down, then it’d be……” 

Certainly, it would ‘light a fire up the ass’. It come to mind that Fumiya’s expression has no elegance, it did not suit his makeup and clothing. 

“If it had exploded, it would have caused damage for more than a ten-meter radius. Your deed was meritorious, Ojou-sama.” 

Fumiya became annoyed inside at the last words that came from Kurokawa’s mouth but taking into account he had not removed his disguise yet; he did not complain. 

“No, it’s not possible to say it stands as a meritorious deed. I let the other person escape.” 

“The young girl called Hashibami Yuki?” 

“That is correct.” 

Though composing his expression for the reply, for an instant, a look of annoyance floated across Fumiya’s face. 

That, Kurokawa pretended not to notice. 

“As I though, that extraordinary talent holder seems befittingly strong.” 

Kurokawa’s remarks we likely consolation. 

“I’ll bring her down next time.” 

Towards that, Fumiya returns a confident response. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

Silencing her breathing, Yuki concealed herself by killing her presence, escaping the school by jumping over the wall behind it when the classes of second period began. This was the planned action. 

In front of her when she jumped down, a grey box wagon was parked waiting. Yuki quickly got into the rear seat. 

“Failure.” 

Wanizuka does not ask anything back to Yuki’s single word, and immediately has the station wagon depart. 

Without caring about Wanizuka’s eyes, Yuki takes of the uniform. Loitering on a weekday while wearing a young girl’s sailor suit will attract needless attention. There is also a concern that Wanizuka who is driving the car will be questioned about his professional duties. 

Putting her legs through denim shorts and putting on a worker’s jacket. Collected her hair in a rubber band and rolled a hair band under her bangs. Finished she was a young female casual labourer. 

“By the way Nuts. Bobby should have been there……” 

Judging from the sound that she had finished changing clothes, Wanizuka spoke to Yuki in a serious tone. 

“You knew?” 

Yuki responded in a harsh voice. 

Smelling the criticism of ‘why didn’t you tell me beforehand?’ there, Wanizuka hurriedly returned a denial. 

“No! I didn’t know Bobby was being dispatched, it was before I departed to meet Nuts. I received an instruction to collect Bobby at the same time from the company.” 

Thereupon, Wanizuka’s eyebrows grimaced with uneasiness. 

“Because of that……did you not meet with Bobby?” 

“That guy was taken down.” 

Yuki returns a response with a complicated sour look. It did not appear intentional, the person themselves seemed to be unaware. 

“Taken down!?” 

“Shot with one of those needles from before. I don’t know if he was caught.” 

“That girl appeared this time!?” 

“Ah. Her name is Yami. Her codename at any rate.” 

The latter said in a sarcastic tone, Yuki added one thing to another in her explanation. 

“I was hit in the left arm. But I got a shot on the other side, should serve as a get-well gift.”  

“Is that so......? This time it’s no different to a match declared drawn due to injury.” 

“It’s good I settled the account by one person.” 

A short silence passes inside the station wagon. 

“……It’s a depressing way to go back to the company.” 

“Regrettably, I can’t choose not to report the situation. It’d be a different situation if I could take escaping for granted.” 

“So be it, nothing but certain death if the patience runs out.” 

“Ha……!” 

Wanizuka’s speech gave of the air of a joke and Yuki laughs at how on the nose it is. 

However, this worn-out phrase is no longer an unjustified joke, and she understood the truth.