Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 4 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

Another Storyteller 

—Somewhere in Japan, at an abandoned factory. 

"Bat-san, are you okay!?" 

The raindrops resounded off on the factory roof, and the Sapphire Girl—Yui Saikawa called out my name. I could hear her even without her yelling that loud, but I guess she's so anxious because I looked so wounded. 

"…Hah, this wound isn't much…" 

Well, my almost blind eyes couldn't see how injured I was though. 

I laughed as I leaned against a rusty pillar in the abandoned factory we escaped into. We had left the Saikawa residence and had been running away from the enemy for more than half a day now. 

Yeah, the enemy attacked—it seemed that SEED needed a new vessel more urgently than we thought. SEED itself hadn't shown up though, which meant that we were cornered by the remnants of ?SPES?. Seems like I grew weaker during my time at the villa… 

"People who are fine don't bleed that much!" 

The Sapphire Girl growled for some reason, and tried to stop the bleeding with a handkerchief on a particularly bad spot. 

"Who's the overprotective one here?" 

I teased, unable to stand the fact that a girl 20 years younger was taking care of me. 

"This isn't being overprotective. If it were Kimizuka-san, he'd be crying and screaming if I didn't give him a hug and a headpat." 

What does that guy usually get involved in? 

"Well, actually, having my right ear crushed is definitely troublesome." 

The seed ingrained itself in my right ear. If it's damaged, I wouldn't be able to use my bat hearing abilities. Then I wouldn't be able to see when the enemy's attacking. 

"But that might be because I was negligent and let him go that time. What goes around comes around, huh?" 

The ?SPES? remnant that attacked us was the man who had tried to attack the Sapphire Girl with a blowgun. Since I had the time to smoke a cigarette, I should have gone after him back then. 

"Is he an ?Android? too? I saw something that looked like a feeler when we were running away." 

"He's a half-Android like me, with a ?seed? forcibly implanted in him. Back when I was still in the organization, I heard that he has the ability to control poison." 

Apparently, the arrow that grazed my right ear was also coated with poison. That remnant really got a sneaky way of doing things, just like the rest of us. the codename's Jellyfish, or something a little cooler, I forgot. Well, he's just a minor character in this story. In that case, I made the right choice when I had a good smoke instead of going after him. Hahaha. 

"Kimizuka-san, can you please hurry…?" 

Sapphire Girl mumbled in a low voice as she tended to me. Yep, thanks to him contacting us beforehand, we're able to anticipate the enemy's attack. 

"You're pretty honest when he's not here." 

"…You are not allowed to mess with me. Since you're a good-looking uncle, please realize my feelings." 

So she said quickly as she tied the wound firmly with a handkerchief. She's easy to read. 

"Do you really think he's going to bring back the key to defeating SEED?" 

I asked her again if she really had that much faith in him. 

"Yes, I do." 

And she answered immediately. 

"That's why I picked up the microphone instead of the pistol." 

"…Yeah, that's right." 

She's able to say this because she decided to walk with her friends instead of living a life of revenge. She is able to smile because she has given up on her hatred, her doubts, and had forgiven, believed, and erased her doubts. People might dismiss this as a fake beautiful thing, but Yui Saikawa will always fight back with a single microphone. That's the strength she has, and that's definitely something I've never had before. 

"Saikawa, you alright?" 

A moment later, the heavy door of the factory opened. 

"Kimizuka-san!" 

The timing was so perfect; it's basically saying that any believer will be saved. While the Sapphire Girl tended to my wounds, she hailed the s avior who showed up. 

"You're finally here…! Seriously, I wasn't able to chat with you for the past three days, I'm going to let you spoil me thoroughly. I'll…let you off the hook for arguing with me." 

"Haha, I'm sorry." 

"? That's some rare honesty from you…Kimizuka-san." 

The Sapphire Girl was confused, but she put her hand on her chest, relieved by her friend's return. 

I didn't know she trusted him that much. Hmm, should I be jealous now? 

"Huh, by the way, where's Nagisa-san?" 

"Ah, she's a little late. She'll be here later." 

Kimihiko Kimizuka then answered us with this voice. My eyes couldn't see, and this right ear I'm proud of couldn't be used for the time being. It's difficult to gauge the distance. 

"Sorry, looks like the handkerchief on the wound is loose." 

I implicitly hinted to the Sapphire Girl to retie it. 

"What? Oh, goodness, you really are bothersome, Bat-san." 

Her voice was anxious for some reason as she grumbled while approaching me. 

Sorry, but I'm not handing over this girl to you, so I implied to the man standing before us . 

"Bat, thanks for protecting Saikawa until now." 

"Hahaha, nope, it's not for you." 

We were basically joking around, as though we're betting over a woman. Seriously, why did I have to do this? That's my thought while I did my best to be a stage actor. 

"We've been enemies since the moment we met. There's no way I'd do anything to benefit you." 

That's right, this guy and I would never help each other out. That's how it's been from the start. 

"But you've already cut ties with ?SPES?, haven't you, Bat-san? If so, then…" 

Yui Saikawa raised a question. To which I replied, 

"Ha, I only joined ?SPES? for my own aims anyway." 

Once again, I confessed that I had no loyalty to ?SPES?. 

"I used to have a little sister. Our family conditions were so bad, and we couldn't raise so many people, so we sent her to an orphanage. Well, that's pretty common in the world of people living in the slums." 

While recounting my past, I groped for the only cigarette I had left and lit it. 

"But I was so na ï ve back then. I believed that one day, I could escape that cesspool of a world and pick up my sister. I skipped school and went to work, and at thirteen, I dabbled in backdoor jobs to earn money efficiently. It was while I was working as a courier that I learned of the existence of ?SPES?." 

I looked up and let out a high puff of smoke. 

"Eventually, I found out that they were also involved in the operation of the orphanage my sister was at. I smelled something fishy, so I infiltrated ?SPES?." 

"So that's why you joined ?SPES? …" 

"Yeah. But the more I investigated, the more I realized that my sister's life was in danger. Given that I knew so much, I couldn't hesitate anymore, so I used  a forbidden method." 

"You stole a seed of SEED?" 

This time, Kimihiko Kimizuka's voice asked me. 

"Yeah, I thought if I had ears that could hear voices a hundred kilometers away, I could meet my sister someday. I actually used it to steal information and locate the orphanage… but my sister was no longer there. I still obeyed though, went around the world, believing that we'll meet again. Most than a decade passed, and the result was that?" 

My sister was dead. 

"Maybe it's more appropriate to say that she was already dead. After more than ten years of gathering information, I eventually learned that my sister had died in an experiment a long time ago. At the same time, they found out about my scheme, and I was punished." 

That's how the hijack happened four years ago. 

That's how I parted company with ?SPES?. 

"But I didn't give up. I swore to myself that I would never die until I saw my sister again. When I traveled around the world as a member of ?SPES?, I heard a rumor." 

"—Vampire." 

Yui Saikawa, who had witnessed the existence of the vampire, muttered to herself. 

"Yeah, that's right. There's a being with the ability to bring dead people back to life—a vampire. If the rumors were true, I had a chance to meet my little sister again. 

"But that ability…" 

"Yeah, that's right. His ability to bring people back from the dead wasn't what I was expecting." 

Scarlet's ?Immortals? were nothing more than zombies that lost all but their strongest instincts in life. My wish wouldn't be fulfilled, in the truest sense. 

"Therefore, my purpose in life is all gone. This wish will never be fulfilled." 

"So you offered to help us instead?" 

Kimihiko Kimizuka's voice asked that question. 

If my own wish couldn't be fulfilled, I should at least help others out. 

"Hahaha, come on. Do you think I'm such a person worthy of praise?" 

I didn't think that guy would make such a joke. I put out the cigarette I was smoking on the concrete floor. 

"It's just a lingering wish I have. Something left behind, squeezed like a rag, it's not even a will. If I had to give it a name, what's driving me right now is a stupid inner urge called vengeance—" 

I said so and got my slightly recovered body to stand up. 

"Bat-san…?" 

"Stay back." 

I hid Yui Saikawa behind me as she asked incredulously. 

"The only thing I have left to do is…" 

Then I said to the man who had been pretending to be Kimihiko Kimizuka  and pointing a gun at him: 

"I'm going to kill you with my own hands— SEED ." 

Villain 

And so, without hesitation, I fired a bullet that went straight through SEED's forehead. 

But, 

"I see, you've noticed." 

that guy says this matter-of-factly without showing any reaction to it. Apparently, a hole in the forehead still wasn't enough to stop the enemy from moving. 

But even so, I could tell its voice and tone were different from before. I couldn't see it with my light-deprived eyes, but it probably changed its appearance from Kimihiko Kimizuka to its usual self. If I remembered correctly, the base appearance was a young man with white hair. 

"That's …" 

Yui Saikawa muttered dumbfoundedly as she stood beside me. 

I guessed she was fooled because she could see so well that… The man standing before us is the parent of all ?Androids? and the greatest enemy—SEED. It got the ability to transform itself at will and acted like it's here to save its friends, but it's just here to snatch away the vessel Yui Saikawa. 

"How did you know?" 

SEED asked quietly, with the muzzle of my gun pointed at it. 

"Well, my ear that's supposed to hear things from a hundred kilometers away got crushed. Normally, I wouldn't be able to detect your true identity." 

But sorry, SEED, you're special. 

"All the cells and blood in my body are ringing so loudly that I can't miss the heartbeat of my enemy. You may flee to the depths of hell, but this rage isn't going to disappear…" 

I said, and fired again, relying on the enemy's presence. 

"Why do I need to run away?" 

But there was no response, and the voice that came back was cold and devoid of emotion. And then— 

"Watch out …!" 

There was a jab to my lower abdomen, but it wasn't an enemy attack…it came from Sapphire Girl. She bumped into me, and I was pushed down. 

"I've just pushed over a grown man…" 

"Don't worry, that's a good call. You saved me." 

I stand up, patting her head absentmindedly. 

"I see. She is starting to use my seed well." 

Piu piu , I hear something cut through the air above me. SEED probably swung its ?feeler? about. The Sapphire Girl was quick to realize, and thanks to her quick thinking, I was able to avoid a fatal wound. 

"It wasn't thanks to you. It was Bat-san's training." 

Yui Saikawa stood next to me and told SEED. 

"With my ?Left Eye? now, I can see your movements easily…!" 

Yes, that's a new way of using Yui Saikawa's ?Left Eye?. When a person normally moves, usually the muscles move before the part of the body they move .The sapphire left eye  could detect such movements several seconds before they happen. She could see through the fibers of her opponent's muscles, one by one, if she wanted to, which she did. Of course, she hadn't had enough time to train yet, and her ability wasn't anywhere close to being fully awakened. 

"I can avoid any attack with this power. You may be an a ndroid or an alien, but we definitely won't lose." 

Even so, Yui Saikawa said defiantly and insisted on fighting alongside me. 

And to such a reliable ally, I said… 

"No, run away right now." 

I told her plainly that the best course of action was to flee from the enemy. 

"I'll buy you some time. I'm willing to do that much work, so Missy…" 

"—No!" 

I guessed she knew that I would say that, even without using that ?Left Eye?. 

"What? Don't tell me you're going to say ‘Leave this to me and run’? That's not the trendy thing to do nowadays." 

Yui Saikawa retorted as though she was the one being held back. 

"I don't think this line is appropriate coming from you, Bat-san. Those pretentious words are usually said by naughty seniors in high school who act like they're almighty, not someone like Bat-san who used to be an enemy but is now a friend and a hard-boiled uncle. Because, you know…" 

"Get down!" 

It seems that time my instincts prevailed over the ?Left Eye?. The ?feeler? that stabbed into my back as I defended Yui Saikawa was the proof. 

"Because you make it sound like you're going to die here." 

Yui Saikawa seemed to be crying. 

It's strange. I thought people would be happier if they were saved instead. 

"We all have a role to play." 

I said calmly as I endured the intense pain that nearly faded my consciousness. 

"For example, Nagisa Natsunagi is taking on the will of the famous detective and intending to defeat the enemies of the world. For example, Yui Saikawa will continue to sing songs while bearing her parents' feelings. For example, I have a mission to remain alone on the battlefield." 

"That's…just to protect me…" 

"…Hahaha, don't get me wrong, Missy. I wasn't trying to protect you." 

I raised myself up again, turned my back to Yui Saikawa, and said, 

"There is only one reason for me to stay here. I'm here to kill that guy with my own hands." 

Yeah, I wasn't sacrificing myself to save someone else. 

Over here, my aim was to choke out the enemy with my own hands. 

"—So, you're a flawed breed too." 

In the next moment, something miasma-like emanated from the SEED, and even this blind me could see it. It seemed that countless ?feelers? were pointing at me. 

"Then as the parent, it is my duty to get rid of them." 

And the sharp tips of the ?feelers? fly at me like a whip. But… 

"You're the one who needs to be cut down—SEED." 

There's the sound of bodily fluids gushing out. A sharp blade probably sliced through a ?feeler? with a single stroke. 

"Charl-san…!" 

Yui Saikawa seemed relieved to be reunited with her friend. 

"Sorry, I was late because I encountered an enemy." 

The blonde girl said, swinging her sword that had SEED's body fluids on it. 

"But we got this chance to hunt down the remnants." 

Apparently, she took care of that guy who injured my ear. Since she's right here, my wish could be fulfilled. 

"Can I ask you for something?" 

"…Are you giving me a task now?" 

Oh, thank goodness you're observant enough. Seemed like that nasty policewoman did train a pretty good agent. 

"…! Charl-san, why!?" 

Yui Saikawa, who was being held up by her friend, shouted in confusion. 

"I'm sorry, Yui, but you can hit me as many times as you want later." 

The girl who agreed to carry Yui Saikawa away turned her back to me, 

"Hope you can accomplish your mission." 

She left behind a very agent-like line and left. 

All I could hear was the crying voice of a still young girl. 

"Is this the ending you want?" 

It seemed something was burned, but that's just the sound made by SEED's ?feeler? while it got regenerated. 

"Then you've made a mistake. The moment you let that vessel girl go on the brink of death, the survival instinct of the seed inside her will rise, and also improve her suitability as a vessel." 

Well, I guess so. Days ago, Yui Saikawa was attacked at the dome concert, but that was just a threat. The idea was to expose her to danger and enhance her survival instinct, and by proxy, strengthen the vessel. But that didn't matter in the slightest at this point. 

"Hahaha, how many times do I have to say it? I'm only here because I want to personally kill you." 

I pointed the  feeler tip sprouting from my right ear at SEED. 

"I see. So that ?seed? has not died completely." 

Yeah, I might be dying, but I still got this thing. Don't you think the plot of a child killing the parent is a rather amusing development? 

…Hahaha, that's good. It's getting interesting at the very end of this story. I guess it's fun to act like a protagonist, an ally of justice, at the climax. 

"Obey the laws of nature and breathe your last." 

SEED's let loose countless sharp ?feelers? onto me. 

And so, just before the final battle, I uttered one word. 

"Hahaha! You're the one who's going to die!" 

But, I see. 

It seemed I couldn't get rid of the fact that I was once a villain. 

That's the last remaining survival instinct. 

The ?feelers? clashed. Mine was aimed at the left chest, throat, or head of the enemy. Body fluids splattered, the smell of blood everywhere. My ?feeler? was the same as SEED's, so the battle wasn't too tough on me at this moment. However, SEED's the creator of all the ?Androids? and had all the unique organs and abilities that Chameleon and the other clones possessed. 

Even with my bat-like ear that I trained for twenty years, when my enemy's so powerful, how many minutes could I, a former human being, hang on? 

"It's useless, you won't last much longer." 

The voice of SEED, devoid of emotion, sounded so distant. 

But it wasn't because of the physical distance between us. It was probably because my consciousness was fading. I was on my knees, trying to hold myself up with my arms, but then I remembered that I didn't have my right arm anymore. 

"…Haha, that's tough." 

My right arm was slashed off by SEED's ?feeler? from the shoulder. I could feel warm blood dripping down my arm, and tried my best to stand up. 

"…But I took your right ear." 

I discarded SEED's ear that I cut off with the ?feeler?. I knew that it would regrow soon, but first, I needed to take away its most troublesome ability, which was the same as mine. 

"Why do you fight so hard?" 

SEED asked me as a matter-of-factly. I was blinded, got my stomach gouged through, and I was missing an arm. Even then, I stood up, and it seemed it really couldn't understand why I stood up. 

 …No, actually, SEED never had a heart. It's just a plant, a ?seed? that came from space. Even if we could have a conversation, what would come of it? 

"This vengeance is the survival instinct that keeps me alive now." 

And yet I said these words. I recalled the meaning of these words. Vengeance—humiliation, avenging, was there really a meaning to them? 

—I guess so. 

That's why I suggested it to the Sapphire Girl. I told her to shoot a bullet in revenge against the enemy who killed her parents, to alleviate her parents' regrets. 

But the girl didn't choose that. Instead, she chose a microphone instead of a pistol. Well, I wasn't going to deny that at this point. I didn't have the right to. 

The only question left was, what am I supposed to do about it? 

Right. That's all I'm asking. 

"What's so funny?" 

SEED suddenly asked. 

Ah, so I was laughing? 

I didn't realize it myself, probably because I was spacing out from the intense pain. 

"Ah, it's nothing. Just that I remembered a line I heard somewhere." 

Revenge brings nothing. No one wants revenge. 

Hatred only breeds more hatred. 

I've always wanted to beat the crap out of hypocrites who said that. 

The dead don't want revenge? 

Who are you? Why do you speak for the dead? 

If the dead say nothing, then just shut up already. 

I will do what I want to do and nobody tells me what to do. 

"I see. So you will continue to fight until your last breath." 

SEED muttered, perhaps with a hint of disappointment, as he saw the ?feeler? growing from my right ear again. 

It seemed I didn't give it the answer it wanted. Well, I've been looking for a fight to the death, not a dialogue. That fight too will soon come to an end. 

"Yeah, but don't get impatient. I'm taking you along with me—SEED." 

The vibration of the cell phone at my chest notified me that all the preparations were done, so I discreetly pressed the detonation switch hidden in my pocket. The bomb buried beneath SEED's feet detonated in no time at all and immediately engulfed the enemy. 

Yeah, I didn't escape to this abandoned factory just because I was being defeated. I already got intel beforehand and set a trap for SEED. 

"—Trying to bomb me? Truly this would be a decent move if I were human." 

But SEED's deep voice could be heard through the flames. And then… 

"…! Ha…" 

A burning ?feeler? extended through the flaming vortex and stabbed through my chest. My windpipe was burned, and I had difficulty breathing. I didn't know how many holes were punctured through me. 

"…Yeah, I'm still no match for you after all." 

The voice was so hoarse, I couldn't believe it was mine. Even then, I grabbed SEED's ?feeler? that was stabbed through my chest with my left hand and said: 

"It's true, I can't kill you alone. The flames can't burn you." 

It's impossible to burn the abnormal plant that's the ?Primordial Seed?, not when it's nowhere above 2,000 degrees Celsius. 

That's why we had to come up with a plan. 

It's the first and last time we'd ever work together—we would use this trap to defeat this great evil. 

I extended the ?feeler? in my right ear and bound SEED to the blazing flames. 

"Bat, are you intending to die like this?" 

"I managed to save my life four years ago." 

Maybe it's because that white-haired famous detective fulfilled my request that I had a chance to fulfill this wish. If that's the case, there's nothing more ironic than this, I thought, and quietly sneered. 

"Sorry, SEED, it's not me or the flames from this explosion that will kill you." 

In the next moment, a timed bomb on the ceiling of the factory detonated, blowing off the metal roof. And in the black smoke, peeking down from the wrecked roof above was, 

"It's the sun that will burn you." 

Microphone and pistol. 

"What… is that…" 

I arrived at the abandoned factory that Saikawa had told me about, and was stunned by the sight before me. The building, save for a few pillars, was all blown up and reduced to rubble. 

"They blew it up… The whole factory…" 

Natsunagi, standing next to me, shielded her eyes from the black smoke with her hands, eking out these words. 

We hypothesized at ?SPES? experimental facility that SEED's weakness was the sun, and came up with a plan before we arrived at this factory. The plan was to lure SEED to a certain location, and while Bat was stalling the enemy, Natsunagi and I would blow up the roof of the factory with bombs to expose them to the sun's rays. 

But Bat ensured that the plan would succeed…by acting on his own to prove our hypothesis, and blew up the entire factory. Looking at the devastation, the battle's over, and the winner was… 

"Bat…?" 

Amidst the flickering flames and smoke, a battered man in a suit stood with his back turned to us. On a closer look, his right arm was missing from around his shoulder. 

"…!" 

I immediately stepped forward, wanting to hurry over. 

"That's not Bat anymore." 

But at that moment, a third girl's voice interrupted me. Her blonde hair swept in front of us and sliced the approaching ?feeler? with her golden sword. 

"Charl…?" 

Charlotte Arisaka Anderson, the agent who could kill at will, glared at the target with her sword at the ready. 

"That thing's already been taken over by the ?Primordial Seed?. I made a mistake… I knew Yui wasn't the only one SEED could use as a vessel." 

"…! SEED's using Bat as a temporary vessel? …" 

The reason was simple; SEED protected itself from the sun. 

That's also why SEED planned to break Bat out of jail days ago. Bat was simply emergency food to SEED. 

"Bat…" 

The former rival then turned his head around at an unnatural angle, his unfocused purple eyes towards me. Our plan—Bat's gamble came up just short of decapitating the enemy. 

"…! Kimizuka and Nagisa, get down!" 

Before Charl could shout, Bat's—no, the ?feelers? from SEED's back split into three, and attacked us each. 

"I don't remember saying I'd never carry a pistol again." 

But then, a shot rang out. 

With a short wince, SEED spat red blood from the mouth. 

It slowly turned around to see Yui Saikawa standing there—wielding a pistol in both hands instead of a microphone. 

"It's revenge." 

Then she smiled, looking completely crestfallen. 

That definitely wasn't something that could be simply described as revenge. Just as she had vowed that night, she would no longer be trapped by resentment or hatred. And yet, for the sake of our friends who were moving forward with us, for the sake of connecting our story to the future, Yui Saikawa squeezed the trigger with determination. 

"—I suppose it will be difficult when there is no time to recover." 

SEED looked at the bullet hole in its belly and muttered so. Maybe it got injured by a little bit of sunlight before it took Bat as a vessel. SEED then used the ?feeler? like a spring, leaped into the air, and disappeared into the surroundings like Chameleon. 

The four of us who were left behind slowly gathered at a spot at the remains of the battlefield. 

"Is everyone alright?" 

Charl asks us on behalf of the three of us. 

It's been a few days since we last saw each other, but we looked like we had been fighting for years, battered all over. 

"Yeah, we're alive somehow." 

—However… 

"Survival's not our goal." 

Yes, our main goal was to defeat SEED. 

The enemy attacked suddenly, but we were going to take SEED by surprise and defeat it here…or so was the plan. Well, we were too naïve though. Just a step further, and we could have prevented the worst enemy from being unleashed upon the world once again. 

"—But, we're alive." 

I was dejected, but what prompted me to look up was that voice. 

Could it be Natsunagi's ?word spirit? ability at work? 

No, it's not. It's the unique trait only she had. 

"As long as we're alive, we can keep trying, and keep fighting." 

We can get up over and over again.  Natsunagi gave a somewhat mischievous smile. 

These words wouldn't seem convincing coming from me, but somehow, it inexplicably suited Nagisa Natsunagi. It suits her. Just hearing her voice, her words—just her shouts would somehow keep us moving forward. It didn't have anything to do with her red eyes or words; there's just the strong, determined will called Nagisa Natsunagi's passion. 

"But there's no doubt the sun is SEED's weak point, right?" 

Then Charl asked again about the circumstances that led to this operation. 

"Yeah, that's the hypothesis Natsunagi and I came up with after gathering intel at the ?SPES? experimental facility…and Bat proved it by risking his life." 

With the help of ?Siesta? at that place, we checked the activity history of the ?Android clones?, starting with SEED. It turned out that they only moved conspicuously at night or in rough weather. 

In hindsight, a year ago in London, Cerberus was killing people in the dark to collect hearts and attacked me late at night. I remembered there was a sudden downpour when SEED disguised itself as Fuubi Kase and paid a visit to the house Siesta and I lived in. Chameleon kidnapped Natsunagi on a cruise ship about a month ago, but only showed up after the sun had set. 

The derived hypothesis is that SEED and its clones were deliberately avoiding sunlight. They probably couldn't live under the sun's rays. No matter where they went on this planet, they couldn't escape the sun. 

That's why SEED created the organization ?SPES? …and had Bat and Hel, ex-humans who didn't fear the sun, act openly. Then, it decided to breed human vessels to overcome its weakness, the sun. 

But it's just a hypothesis, a theory. 

Until Bat risked his life to prove it just now. 

"It's a beautiful blue sky." 

At that moment, Saikawa seemed to have something on her mind and looked up at the sky. 

The rain that had fallen since morning was completely gone. 

Cloud seeding was used to ensure the success of the mission. Our opponent SEED was a cautious enemy who wouldn't reveal itself so openly. There just so happened to be thick rain clouds on this day and it attacked to obtain the vessel Saikawa even though it was early in the morning. But— 

"We used a thousand missiles to blow aside the rain clouds." 

It's a technology derived from artificial rainfall, put to practical use in countries such as Russia. Using air force planes, liquid nitrogen was sprayed to disperse the clouds, and missiles filled with silver iodide were used to dissipate precipitation clouds. We'll have to thank the red-haired policewoman later for arranging this. 

"Well, Kimizuka-san really can't read the mood, like usual." 

Saikawa stared at me and sighed heavily. 

Well, that's unreasonable. 

It's been a while since I saw that expression though, and my face did relax. 

"Now I have another reason to fight." 

I said, looking at the cigarette butts on the concrete. 

"Bat-san protected me until the end." 

And Saikawa, still staring into the distant sky, said so. 

"I lost sight of him, but this ?Left Eye? tells me where the enemy has escaped to." 

There's no need to ask what she meant. Before I knew it, Natsunagi and Charl found themselves looking up in the same direction, into the distant summer sky. 

Yeah, I know what you mean. 

For me, I'm going to finish this story that began four years ago. 

"We'll defeat SEED today, with our own hands." 

If you swear you won't die 

A sedan ran along the seaside road. 

"Charl-san, take a left at the next corner and keep going straight." 

"Thanks, Yui, I'll speed up." 

Charl had the steering wheel, and Saikawa, in the front passenger  seat, gave precise directions as the navigator. The sun was once again shrouded by the clouds, and the rain started to fall while the four of us drove off in the direction SEED went to. 

"Are you really going to settle this on your own?" 

Then, Charl looks at us in the mirror. 

"Yeah, we don't know what SEED is going to do next, or what it's planning. Now's the perfect chance to take it out, when it's injured." 

Fuubi-san wasn't around, and obviously, Siesta wasn't revived. Bat, who became our ally, was killed. If we prepare ourselves thoroughly and return, SEED might execute a new plan, and all the damage caused would be for nothing. 

"That's why we'll defeat SEED on our own. We'll eradicate ?SPES? —and end it all today." 

We could only finish everything as Siesta had left us… the last hope she spoke of. 

I was certain this day would be our final battle against ?SPES?. 

"Is that… really alright?" 

To be honest, this was my own plan, and it's kinda late, but I asked them. 

"Of course." 

Saikawa, who was riding in the front passenger seat, looked back at the back seat and said, 

"As I said before, I'm Kimizuka-san's left eye, not his right arm! I'm sure this left eye will see a perfect happy ending next!" 

"…Ah, that's reassuring." 

Saikawa, who's the youngest but the most mature, was always there for me. Even after knowing the relationship between her parents and ?SPES?, Saikawa wasn't bound by the past and chose the future. There's no way we could lose this battle, for the sake of a bright future. 

"Well, that's what I've been planning right from the beginning." 

Charl looked forward as she said to us who were behind her. 

"And that's why I came here with a car loaded with weapons." 

"You're as prepared as Siesta." 

I'm sure Charl didn't mean to imply that she was on our side the entire time, but we're fine with that. Charl and I would never get along, and we're like parallel lines…just facing the same direction was progress to us. 

"You fine with this too, Natsunagi?" 

So I finally ask Natsunagi, who was also sitting in the back row. 

"Hmm, I guess so." 

…I didn't think she would make such a reaction at this moment. Natsunagi stretched and pondered about it for a while, 

"I guess it's fine if you swear that you won't die, Kimizuka." 

Natsunagi gave a poised smile and said to me who was next to her. 

" Alright . If I survive, you'll have to do one thing for me." 

I jokingly set up such a flag on purpose. Since it's so obvious, it might end up as a survival flag. 

"It's scary when it's coming from you, Kimizuka… What kind of request do you want…?" 

"Might not be R18. You may need to prepare for R80 instead." 

"What is it that can be done at 80 years old?" 

"Like, accompanying grandchildren, drinking tea in the garden, playing shogi." 

"That's something to be done only at 80!… Eh, wait, doesn't this sound like an indirect proposal to live together forever…?" 

"Getting married to Natsunagi …………… ? Impossible." 

"It's even worse when you reject it after giving it a lot of thought! No, I wasn't thinking of that either!" 

Natsunagi hammered me repeatedly in the shoulder, ranting away. 

This time, I noticed Saikawa's stern gaze looking at me through the mirror. 

"Eh? Aren't you two arguing like lovers now? Did something happen in London? Did you really become adults?" 

"Really, what have you been doing while we worked so hard?" 

Charl too gave us a displeased look. 

"Anyway, don't flirt away while someone else is driving. It's really infuriating, you know?" 

"I mean, it's really annoying when you drive people and they make out in the back." 

"Well, Charl-san, it seems that we aren't Kimizuka-san's targets, after all, we're just side-heroines." 

"No, I've never wanted to be Kimizuka's heroine in the first place." 

I'll insist on that,  Charl strongly denied with a straight face. 

"Ah, Charl-san, you really do act like this. Both Nagisa-san and Charl-san are quite similar in some aspects, such as being stubborn, yet unexpectedly vulnerable. It's easy to differentiate though since I just need to remember that Charl-san is the one who hates Kimizuka-san, and Nagisa-san is the one who really likes Kimizuka-san. " 

"Yui, you really do throw out quite a large bombshell once in a while. I'm scared of sitting in the back now. I don't even know how awkward the mood in the back is now thanks to what you said." 

"Don't worry, Charl-san, in a romcom, the protagonist usually goes deaf for a moment, so he probably didn't hear what I just said." 

"Kimizuka, your phone's alarm is going off! It's so loud!" 

"Oh, I set the time to London, sorry… By the way, Saikawa, were you talking to us earlier?" 

"No, not at all!" 

"That's amazing." 

For some reason, Saikawa and Charl seemed to be chatting furiously, but I couldn't hear them over the loud alarm. I wondered what they were talking about. 

"But is it really okay to be so relaxed?" 

Charl said with a sigh. 

The final battle was about to begin, and she's probably worried about how we're acting like usual. 

"It's fine, you know. It's the same as back then." 

But that's us. A year ago—before the final battle, Siesta enjoyed her delicious tea as always. 

"Well, if it's okay with you, then fine." 

Charl chuckled for a moment, 

"But… No more goofing off from here on." 

The voice was tense, and the atmosphere changed. 

According to Saikawa's prediction, SEED should have landed somewhere nearby. 

"Over there!" 

She was the first to raise her voice and point at it. There's a large bridge over the sea. There was a pile-up on that bridge, and in the middle of the bridge, where the black smoke rose, a stumbling silhouette could be seen. 

"Bat…" 

Behind the smoke was a blonde man in a suit, but was it actually SEED…? So I wondered. It's hard to imagine that SEED would wait for us here without preparations. I thought for a moment. But it is unlikely that SEED is waiting here unprepared. Perhaps SEED has already discarded the broken temporary vessel called Bat. 

"! What should we do? Yui-chan, is SEED nearby?" 

"I can't see SEED even with my ?Left Eye?. There's a chance it might be invisible. I can't tell…" 

Saikawa replied to Natsunagi's question with a grim face. 

"Let's get off. Charl, stop the car." 

In any case, we couldn't ignore Bat. We stopped the car about ten meters before Bat and got out. There was no one else on the bridge but us, because everyone else probably ran away, fearing the monster. 

"Bat…" 

I walk up to him, loading my gun. 

His right arm was severed down the shoulder area, and his chest and stomach were clearly punctured through by SEED's ?feeler?. He somehow managed to keep his balance, but he wobbled greatly and lowered his head as he met us in the eyes. 

"Kimizuka-san, please be careful, Bat-san is already…!" 

Saikawa shouted, and just as she had predicted, a ?feeler? sprouted from Bat's right ear. 

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" 

Bat twisted his upper body and roared. 

The ?seed? probably went berserk—I saw this before when we fought Chameleon on the cruise ship. 

Bat was temporarily used as a vessel by SEED even when wounded and was in direct contact with SEED's  blood. As a result, the ?seed? devoured Bat's body inside out. 

"It's time to end it." 

I looked at Bat and walked towards him. 

"Kimizuka." 

Then Natsunagi gave me a somewhat worried look. 

It's fine. 

Besides, I had to settle this. 

It's not a coincidence. 

However, fate wasn't a word that suited our relationship. 

 So, yeah, maybe it's just—coincidence. 

"This is my second time fighting you, Bat." 

And with that, I pointed my gun at my enemy of four years. 

Albert Coleman 

It would be a fierce battle. 

That's what I thought when I first raised my gun. 

"Bat, you…" 

But Bat was no longer in any condition to fight. He couldn't maintain his balance, probably because he was missing one arm, and he fell down many times…he weakly swung the ?feeler? extended from his ear, but even I, who wasn't as agile as Charl, was able to avoid him. 

It was a one-sided battle that made me hesitate to attack, and I wondered if I should just finish him off with a single blow. The former enemy lost his ego and was just rampaging around weakly, acting like the ? Immortal s? that Scarlet summoned the other day. 

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" 

However, the battlefield that had been filled with such hesitation finally came to an end. 

Feelers? sprouted out of both of Bat's ears as if out of control, primed at me, and he yelled away with his eyes turned white. He probably had all his energy focused on this. In that case, it's over—I fire a bullet at the approaching ?feeler?. 

"…Gaa, ahhh…" 

The body fluids sprayed about, and the ?feeler? was knocked away. Bat let out a short cry and collapsed to his knees. I guess I destroyed the ?seed? inside him. 

"Forgive me, Bat." 

And with that, I pointed the muzzle of my gun at Bat's crumpled head. 

It's been four years since I first met this ex-enemy. 

To be honest, Bat's hijacking of the plane on that day four years ago was when I started my extraordinary journey. If I could say that I had a fated encounter with Siesta, my encounter with this guy too should also be described as fate. 

But that will end today. 

By my own hands. 

All I had to do is put a few hundred grams of force into this trigger… 

"…Haha, ironic, isn't it?" 

"…!" 

That's when Bat slowly looked up. Perhaps the destruction of the ?seed? had brought him back to his senses, but he also looked up at me with those eyes that lost their sight and gave me a faint smile. 

"Bat, I'll give you a hand…" 

"Oy oy,  what are you talking about now after we just tried to kill each other?" 

I'm not going to make it anyway , Bat took one look at his own bloodied form and chuckled sarcastically. Perhaps as the price of being used as a vessel for SEED,  Bat's body started to crack in various places. 

"Oh, man. I thought I was going to die in style in that abandoned factory, but I never thought I'd end up looking like this." 

I carried Bat, who was mocking himself, to the railing of the bridge and made him lean against it. 

"! You don't have to talk now." 

"Hahaha, I'm dying. Let me talk for the last time." 

Bat, sitting on the ground, continued to banter and smirk away. 

"But there's something I just don't get. I should have told you that." 

So he said, and his body started to crumble over there. 

"Ahh, I was hoping to at least have one more smoke before I die…guess not." 

Bat threw away the bloodied cigarette with trembling fingertips. It was soaked in blood during the battle. It wouldn't light. 

"If it's all right with you…?" 

Just then, slender fingertips suddenly held out a cigarette toward Bat. 

Charlotte Arisaka Anderson had witnessed our battle, and before I knew it, the other three, including her, had approached me. 

"Well, it's hers." 

It seemed like she got it from Fuubi-san. Yeah, I was just thinking that she should stop bluffing about quitting smoking. 

"That feels good. Hahaha, I'll smoke it for you." 

Charl then lit the cigarette in Bat's mouth with his lighter. 

"—Tastes good." 

Bat exhaled a large puff of smoke and enjoyed the moment. 

"There's something I wanted to tell you." 

Next, Natsunagi went to Bat. 

"Thank you, for telling me who has my heart." 

About a month ago, Natsunagi and I went to the prison where Bat was being held. Bat used his special ear and detected that Siesta was the donor of Natsunagi's heart. 

"Ever since that day, my life began to move again. If I hadn't known that, I wouldn't have been able to face my past. I wouldn't have been able to remember anything. That's why." 

Thank you,  she said again. 

"Haha, I don't think I did anything that people would actually thank me for… That's not a bad feeling." 

Bat stared at Natsunagi with his vacant eyes, 

"You'll fulfill your mission with that heart of yours." 

He nudged her in the back with his steady voice. 

Natsunagi gave a soft smile in return and gave up her place to me. 

"…Ahhh, guess I remembered what I wanted to say because of this." 

Bat then grabbed my shoulder with his left hand, the only arm he had left. 

"Don't ever give up." 

He said to me as though he's entrusting me with something inside him. 

"I've failed. But you can still do it. No matter the sacrifices, no matter the costs, don't stop trying to make your wish come true. Stop thinking. People will scold you for taking the forbidden method, and laugh at you for taking the path of carnage. But if that wish swirling inside you is real and you want it to come true no matter what—Cling to it and grasp it—Kimihiko Kimizuka." 

Bat said that and called my name for the first time. 

"Yeah, okay." 

I responded and Bat grinned at me. 

"Well… Now that I'm done talking about everything and anything under the sun, I guess this is the end of my life." 

A cigarette fell from Bat's fingertips. 

"I can't tell if I'm cold or hot, and my hearing's fading. I see, so this is death." 

"! Bat, I'll… We'll definitely defeat SEED. So." 

"You want me to go in peace? I never thought the enemy would be so merciful to me. Even a top-notch agent has fallen." 

Haha, Bat laughed as usual. 

A girl then knelt down next to him. 

"Bat-san…" 

Then the girl… Yui Saikawa held Bat's left hand, her eyes filled with tears. 

"What are you crying about, Sapphire Girl?" 

"Because Bat-san, you protected me …  and I still need Bat-san to teach me things…!" 

"How many times do I have to say it?" 

Bat scolded Saikawa harshly. 

"I was just trying to do my own thing." 

That's a story between Bat and Saikawa that I didn't know. I was sure that they had a mutual mission of revenge, even if they came to different answers. There was something only they could share with each other… 

"One more piece of advice. When you point a pistol at an enemy, don't hesitate to shoot him in the head, that's the rule. Oh, and when you get home today, eat some pizza and watch a lot of zombie movies." 

With that, Bat smiled towards Saikawa, who was crying. 

"I'll remember that…!" 

And Saikawa, with tears streaming down her cheeks, says loudly to Bat. 

"Ah, of course, a moment's hesitation or opening can lead to a pinch…" 

"That's not true … Bat-san, I'll always remember you!" 

Bat's eyes widened for a moment when Saikawa cried, even though he shouldn't be able to see. 

"Just as you never forgot your sister for twenty years! Just as I have always had the image of my parents burned into my eyelids! I'll remember you from now on! This left eye will always remember your image! I—The four of us here will always remember what you wanted to protect! So—" 

Saikawa's face was swollen with tears, but in the end, she said with a smile. 

"So, please don't worry, Albert-san." 

Then she called out Bat's real name, presumably. 

"I see." 

Bat leaned against the parapet, murmured in a voice that seemed to spill from a small bowl, and reached out a trembling hand toward the sun. 

"Will the thought never go away?" 

Yes. Even if your body perishes, the thought never goes away. 

As long as someone remembers them, their legacy will never die. 

"Haha, I didn't know that." 

Good to know in the end, he said. 

Bat smiled like a boy as if he'd been transported back twenty years. 

Then Bat, basking under the sunlight, looked as if he could see someone on the other side of the light, and murmured at the very end. 

"We meet again, Ellie."