Translator: Reflet

  Editor: ryunakama

  At last, they reached the building at the back alleyway of the business district. As soon as he got out of the van, Enya walked briskly to the entrance.

  “The hell are–ugyahh!”


  Taiyou heard a scream. Enya must have attacked someone.

  “Now then–”


  “Let’s go, Taiyou.”


  Akiha was even more ready than Taiyou was, pulling him by the arm as soon as he got out to the vehicle.

  “Well aren’t you the eager one.”


  “Cause it’s fantastic man!”


  “Is it now?”


  They entered the building together, noticing the bodies of yakuza lying down along the way like signposts.

  “Wow, no mercy.”


  The fallen men on the ground groaned as blood flowed from their bodies. Enya must have cut and stabbed them.

  “Should we finish them off to be sure?”


  “Yeesh, you’re pretty brutal in your own way.”


  “Young man, if you let your enemy live, they may very well come back to hurt your loved ones.”


  Akiha said in a dramatic voice.

  “The heck was that from?”


  “Got it from Hera. Did it come from something?”


  “You really understand her, I see.”


  Taiyou grinned.

  Sure, she probably got it slightly off memory-wise, but that was definitely the sort of phrasing that Hera would come up with. Plus this was a very appropriate situation to bring it up.

  Contemplating it a moment, Taiyou went up to each of the men and struck their vital points, knocking them out. It wouldn’t have been necessary if it were just him and Enya, but right now Akiha was here too. He didn’t think of her as being anything close to a weak girl, but he didn’t see her as much of a fighter either. It was best to do this.

  “Uhh, like this! I guess…”


  “What are you doing?”


  “Just doing what Taiyou would do! Knockin’ their skulls off.”


  “Guhagh…”


  The man she had hit groaned, clearly in pain. She hadn’t quite knocked him unconscious, so he was probably in even more pain now.

  “Nah, this is how you do it.”


  “What?”


  Taiyou taught Akiha how to do it properly. After some practice, she finally got the hang of it. All of a sudden she was now a master in hitting vital points.

  “Yo, can you do that one thing?”


  “What thing?”


  “The thing where you chop their neck.”


  “Well yeah, sure…”


  “Teach me that too!”


  “A bit later.”


  “Ehhh, why?”


  “That’s because you have to first be able to either move really fast or move backward. No point just teaching you the angle and location of the karate chop, right?”


  “Ah, you do have a point.”


  Akiha easily gave in.

  This was a type of building that Taiyou had experienced numerous times: extravagantly long hallways, no windows. It was especially made to slow down attackers.

  They advanced together up the stairs, attempting to stay a certain distance away from the screams and sounds of battle. Of course he didn’t want to expose Akiha to danger.

  “Hey Taiyou, can’t we go faster? They’ll all be defeated at this rate, y’know.”


  “Enya-san wants to deal with them alone. He has a reputation to uphold, so we’d best leave it to him.”


  Taiyou simply thought that if Enya was fine by himself then there was no need to try and assist.

  “But then you won’t be able to shine.”


  “True.”


  “Hey, c’mon, let’s go. Just a little bit won’t hurt.”


  “Were you even listening to what I—watch out!”


  Suddenly, one man jumped up and assailed Akiha.

  “Yaah!”


  Faster than Taiyou could respond, Akiha had grabbed the man’s head, slamming him into the wall. She didn’t have all that much power or speed in the motion, but her reaction was simply amazing.

  “…”


  “What?”


  “Wow, you’re amazing.”


  “That’s cause I did lots of studying.”


  “Studying?”


  “Ah-”


  Akiha covered her mouth. Apparently, she had said something that she hadn’t meant to.

  “What kind of studying, hm?”


  “Mm, ah, who even cares.”


  Akiha made a slight grimace and answered.

  “I just had someone teach me skills that I could use to protect myself.”


  “Self-defense, right?”


  “It’s a bit different, though. But anyhow, lots of different stuff.”


  “…Wow, I’m surprised.”


  “Huh?”


  “At first I thought you just had a passing interest in all this, but just now…I could tell that you had rehearsed that movement very well. I didn’t think of you as that type of person so I was surprised.”


  “What did you think I was?”


  “Mm, a natural-born genius?”


  “The heck is that?”


  “Overcoming all challenges in your path with emotion, talent, and going with the flow.”


  “That’s horrible, haha.”


  Akiha cackled despite saying that. She didn’t seem to be fazed in the slightest.

  “Well, I also have something I’m aiming for.”


  “Such as?”


  “You wanna know?”


  “Sure do.”


  Taiyou nodded, simply interested in the reason why she had put effort into this sort of thing.

  “You may have forgotten, but I like Aoba.”


  “I haven’t though.”


  Taiyou said.