“Is there something about Hina that makes her a target, something I don’t know about?”
Her question was completely off the mark.
Ibuki didn’t have such grand reasons.
He just wanted to continue the relationship without being found out.
…No, now he didn’t even know that anymore.
“──Back then, I thought I might lose Hina.”
Rui lowered her eyes slightly.
Her voice trembled as she spoke quietly.
Did she mean the time when Hina was in danger at the shopping mall?
“I don’t want to see Hina suffer like that again.”
As she looked up sharply, a flame of determination flickered in her expression.
“No matter what I have to trade, I’ll protect my best friend, Hina. If I need information for that, I’ll make you spill everything right here…!”
It was a declaration that, understanding Hina’s dreams and goals, she would still protect her.
Faced with that, Ibuki felt unbearably pathetic.
Rui, Hina’s irreplaceable best friend, was so devoted, pouring her whole heart into it.
Yet he could do nothing.
Because he was an outsider in this world.
Not even standing on the stage, just a mere spectator.
And to someone like him,
“Now, answer me. What is your goal?”
“My… goal…”
Did he even have such a thing?
To the woman glaring straight at him, did he have any conviction he could proudly declare?
As an outsider in this world, was he even allowed to hold such a thing?
As his ears throbbed with the sound of his painful heartbeat, a clear voice cut through.
“What do you want to do?”
“───!”
What came to mind was a gentle voice, so different from this interrogation.
──Ibuki-kun, what do you want to do?
A question from a childhood friend, once upon a time.
Back then, he answered like this.
──I want to join the Prim Libra, and then…
Right after, he was told “men aren’t allowed,” and was plunged into despair.
What did the younger version of himself want to say after that “and then…”?
And then—
“To see my Oshi up close as much as I want.”
Mumbling so softly that Rui couldn’t hear, he muttered,
“Ha,”
Even though he tried to hold it back, a sigh escaped.
Because, what kind of answer was that?
In situations like this, wasn’t it supposed to be something like wanting to protect or save someone?
“Pfft…”
Was he stupid? No, he was definitely stupid.
──In the beginning, it was just that simple wish.
Completely self-centered, now buried deep in his heart, a pure desire.
“Ha ha ha, I’m such an idiot.”
“…What are you laughing about…?!”
Rui swings her arm in a rage.
The long sword that had been floating in front of her nose suddenly plunged into the wall, right next to Ibuki’s face.
“Next time, I’ll hit that annoying face of yours.”
She said, casting a glance at the azure long sword.
In the meticulously polished blade, the surrounding scenery was vividly reflected.
And so was the face of a man leaning against the wall.
It was a strange feeling.
Eighteen years of seeing that face every morning and night in the bathroom mirror, and yet,
“Did I always look like this?”
Muttering under his breath, the man in the reflection mimicked his movements.
At that moment, his childhood friend’s voice echoed in his ears once again.
This time, not in a childish tone, but in a mature, calm voice.
──You should look in the mirror once in a while.
“……I really can’t win, can I?”
His hair, a long, thin, light brown, for a man.
His face was soft, almost suspiciously so, with emerald green irises.
It was Ibuki.
Ibuki Ibusuki──the first enemy of Hinata Soehi, who was defeated effortlessly.
“What, I’m actually pretty handsome, aren’t I?”
Looking around carefully, he realized he was in the back alley where the Hinata squad first fled from the 《Divergence》.
Somehow, he had run all the way here.
Gray walls, dark ground.
The rough texture of the wall he leaned against, and the unkempt, pointed surface of the ground.
──There was no soft, comfortable seat anywhere to be found.
“Really, I was such an idiot.──I was.”
He had long been an actor named Ibuki, standing on the stage of this world.
“……Well, whatever.”
Rui sighed, a mix of disappointment and exasperation.
“I’m going to finish you here. I’ll make it look like you got caught up in this attack. That way, your betrayal of Hinata will be erased, and her sorrow will be minimized. Whatever your intentions, if you’re gone, it’s not a problem.”
With that, Rui raised one hand to the sky.
The long swords floating around her all pointed their tips at him.
“Goodbye.”
In that moment, as her supple arm swung down like a guillotine,
Ibuki forcefully swung his right arm.
As his right hand struck the long sword that was still stuck right next to him.
──[Contact] himself and the long sword. [Separate target] himself.
With the 《Divergence》 nullifying inertia, his body was blown away by the recoil of striking the long sword.
“Wh-what…!?”
It was a pitiful attempt at “evasion,” but in reality, Rui’s four swords pierced the air.
Without glancing at the astonished Rui, Ibuki kicked off the ground upon landing.
──[Contact] himself and the ground. [Separate target] himself.
Again, his body was blown away at such a speed that it was impossible to follow with the eye, quickly widening the distance from his pursuer.
His vision showed the world slowly drifting by.
But his body couldn’t keep up with that world.
His limbs wouldn’t move as he wanted, and he landed rolling on the ground.
“Ouch…”
What he was doing was the same as when he escaped from Hinata.
At that time, when he jumped from the clock tower to the building, he nullified his energy and made a light kick for a big leap.
This time, he was doing it with all his might, without holding back.
Hence, the speed and distance were incomparable to before.
Even if he could see it with his eyes, his body couldn’t keep up with such speed, so he couldn’t land well.
This time he managed to do it twice in a row by luck, but next time would be impossible.
That was the extent of this double-edged sword.
But, at this moment, it was immensely useful.
“Damn you…!”
Rui, flustered, chased after him.
Of course, there was no reason to wait, so he resumed his escape.
His body creaked with pain, but even that pain now left a feeling of being “alive” in his chest.
“I won’t let you escape…!”
Another long sword was launched at Ibuki’s back as he ran lightly.
Before it could reach him, Ibuki turned the corner at a crossroads.
If she couldn’t see him, she couldn’t control the sword. Rui chased after the fugitive and turned the corner,
“Damn…out of my way…!”
Her path was blocked by the electric wires strung across the gap between the buildings.
Just as her partner had been.
──Plan C, make use of the location. ……Honestly, I never thought I’d use this again.
Ibuki muttered to himself as he ran, then thought of the next move.
When he had used this annoying trap before, Hinata had cut through the mass of wires.
If Rui was flying, predicting her next move wasn’t hard.
“How clever…!”
She rose above the electric wires.
“Okay. Then, Plan D.”
Ibuki’s eyes caught sight of something in the middle of the road.
He momentarily 《Separated》 it from the road, nullifying its energy──and kicked the manhole cover flying.
“No way.”
Seeing the black hole that had opened in the road beyond the curtain of wires, Rui showed a trace of panic.
“Huh? Oh, this is a rainwater drain, so it’s not that dirty.”
“That’s not what I──”
“Well then, farewell.”
“Wa, wait──”
──Like I’d wait.
Leaving a beaming smile behind, Ibuki disappeared into the manhole.
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“He got away…──he got away!”
Left behind, Rui gritted her teeth in frustration as she thought.
Should she call the command center and have them list all the exits immediately?
……No, there was no time for that.
The underground sewer was an environment unfavorable to her, but it also meant no escape for him.
She had to go.
Deciding in less than ten seconds, she prepared to descend, and then noticed.
“───”
Almost directly beside Rui, who was floating above the wires,
a few meters away, there was someone.
“──When did you get here?”
The figure stood on the electric wires.
Standing there naturally, without a hint of instability or unsteadiness, she seemed at ease.
“Who knows? Maybe just a moment ago.”
Black robes with vivid scarlet embroidery.
The depicted pattern, a spider lily.
“Maybe it was just a moment ago.”
“──Setsuna…!!”
Rui instinctively took a step back.
“Yes, hello, Utsurugi Rui.”
“…………”
Though her expression was hidden, it felt like she was smiling.
“Despite everything, I have to thank you. For waking him up.”
In contrast to the cautious Rui, she spoke casually.
“I don’t really understand……. If you’re grateful, could you disappear?”
“Sorry. Just like you care about someone, I care about him.”
“Damn that womanizer…!”
“I think so too.”
For the [Prim Libra], Setsuna was the greatest threat.
But in their previous encounters, Rui hadn’t felt an overwhelming difference in power between them.
Strong, yes, but not invincible.
That’s why she never let her guard down.
But she didn’t feel like losing either.
Glancing once more at the hole Ibuki had disappeared into, Rui made up her mind.
“If you won’t move, I’ll push through.”
“──I see. That’s a pity.”
“And so, the battle began — — — — moments later, it was over.”
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