Editing City Series:Volume3a Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 1===

The morning’s clear air was already gone.

Instead, the air contained the warm afternoon sun and the footsteps and voices of people moving through the streets.

Sounds of cars and trams also covered the streets.

The city was beginning to move again after finishing lunch.

That movement was especially noticeable in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of central Kowloon.

The area contained countless tourist-oriented stores near the station and it could be called the face of Hong Kong.

From the heat-filled street, the blue sky was visible between the towering buildings.

The city had the Word Color of blowing wind and its heat somewhat dulled the color of the sky.

The city’s Tempo was as slow as the walking people, but it contained a powerful stepping sound.

It created a unique flow that breathed powerful life into Hong Kong.

“…”

Akira walked through that flowing Live.

When she turned from Peking Road to Nathan Road in front of Tsim Sha Tsui Station, the road opened up.

The government office was working to develop Tsim Sha Tsu, so it had none of the roadside stands or shops that Hong Kong was famous for. In Akira’s opinion, that made it a bit boring.

…''This isn’t the city my dad told me about when I lived in Hong Kong Cave.

She walked around randomly.

She was on patrol for the Yard, so she simply walked and walked in her uniform.

She had been wandering around since morning. The only thing she carried with her was her Device spear.

She had never been the type to stay put in a building all day and, after the incident the night before, she had wanted some time to gather her thoughts.

…''If only I could speak with Rin.

When she had arrived at the Yard that morning, Rin had not been there. She had asked one of the Searchers and learned Rin had only just left for home.

The General of the Tank Force had been out on some kind of job, so she had not even had anyone to chat with.

“I can’t believe this.”

…''What was that last night?

The Buster rumored to be Hong Kong’s best had fallen injured from the sky and died.

Why had that happened? How had he been so badly injured and where had he jumped from?

“I just don’t know.”

Of course, finding the answer from so little information would have been strange in and of itself.

Still, she stopped walking, crossed her arms, leaned against a roadside streetlight, and groaned.

“Hmm.”

Not even wrapping her white wings around herself produced an answer.

Instead, she heard the Lives of the surrounding passersby.

She came back to her senses once she noticed a few of those Lives sounding in her direction.

The Lives shooting straight toward her like arrows were a pale purple with a low Tempo.

They were Lives of suspicion.

Those glimpses of suspicion also contained a Word Color similar to hostility.

“?”

Once she heard those Lives, she stopped thinking.

She looked up, corrected her wings, and looked around. The surrounding flow of people momentarily hesitated.

“…”

And the unpleasantly colored Lives vanished.

Akira paid it no heed.

She lowered her Yard uniform’s hat to cover her eyes and corrected the uniform’s collar.

Her eyes unemotionally reflected the street of Tsim Sha Tsui and the passersby.

“There are plenty of non-humans, so why do they find Nein Engels so strange?”

Feeling a little down, she began to walk again.

But something suddenly appeared in front of her.

It was a face.

A collision and dull pain rang through her head.

“Owwww!”

She held her forehead and crouched down. The force of the headbutt had knocked her hat to the ground, so she picked it up and faced forward.

A man was crouching down in front of her.

He was a young man in a long coat.

His straight hair stood up from his head and he seemed to be a traveler. He carried an oblong bag on his back and a large travel bag sat by his side.

The insides of his eyebrows rose as he stared at Akira.

“Ow, ow, ow. Are you okay, officer? You hit me somewhere I can’t train.”

His forehead was a little red, so she must have run into him pretty hard.

Akira rubbed her own forehead.

“Ow, ow, ow. Hey, you.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Watch where you’re going. And what are you anyway?”

He suddenly looked up into the sky.

“What am I, hm?”

“Eh?”

“That’s quite a philosophical question. What am I…?”

“That isn’t what I meant!”

“Eh? It isn’t?”

“Of course not! You really couldn’t tell?”

“I could, I could. I was just joking. Ha ha ha. …Hey, wait. Where are you going? Hold up.”

She turned her back and started walking away, but he suddenly stopped her.

And he happened to grab the small deformed wing on her back.

The sensation on that sensitive area was hard and cold.

The unexpected action sent a shudder up her spine that escaped as a voice.

“Hyah! …W-wait! You’re molesting me now!?”

“Molesting!? What are you talking about? All I did was touch you.”

“That’s what it means to molest someone!”

“Ehh? Th-then what about between lovers? It always pisses me off seeing them flirt, but i-is that actually a crime? Can I get after them for it?”

“It’s okay if you have consent!”

“Oh, I get it. Then there’s no reason to hold back here.”

“No one ever said ''we'' were lovers!”

“Ehh? Don’t be like that. I’m only touching it because it’s so pretty.”

She crossed her arms at that.

“Pretty? Don’t think you can get out of this with flattery.”

“Flattery? What, has no one ever complimented your wings before?”

“Eh?” she asked.

“That’s a shame. I’ve never seen wings like that before, but they’re a lot prettier than the ones I’ve seen in church paintings.”

He gave her a carefree smile.

His blue eyes were smiling and Akira looked away because she felt those eyes were looking deep inside her.

She noticed her cheeks were a little warm.

She worked her ears a bit and found her own Live was embarrassed.

The Word Color was a transparent red and the Tempo resembled a quiet pulse.

…''Not good, not good. He’s dragging me around at his pace.

With that thought, she cleared her throat toward the ground.

When she looked at him again, she noticed something odd.

She belatedly realized she could not see his Live. She could not even see its Word Color or Tempo.

…''Eh?

She quickly looked around and found she could still see the Lives of the city, the buildings, the cars, and the people.

This young man’s Live was the only one she could not see.

…''What is going on?

She had seen people who had “lost” their Live before.

Those were either the dead or victims of violence who had undergone Balance Fall.

This young man was neither of those.

It would be best to say he was hiding his Live.

Only a minuscule tremor escaped his body into the air.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Even as she answered, Akira did not remove her gaze from him.

…''Who is he? If he can do this, he must be a Buster or a Tuner.

She wanted to ask, but she was naturally hesitant.

Someone’s Live was their individuality. If he was hiding his, he had to have a good reason.

She looked up at him because he was about two heads taller than her.

“Come to think of it, do you need something?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I’ve been wondering. Are you actually a real police officer?”

…''Is there such a thing as a fake police officer?

She frowned but pointed to the Yard hat on her head.

“I’m from Hong Kong Yard’s Cleared division. I’m still on the lowest level, but I am an actual police officer.”

He responded immediately

“That’s wonderful! This must be the work of heaven!”

He suddenly hugged her.

She gave a terribly unsexy shout and slammed an uppercut into the bottom of his jaw.

“Gwoh! Wh-what do you think you’re doing!?”

“That’s my line, you idiot! What are you doing!?”

“It’s a pretty common way of expressing your feelings when someone helps you find your way.”

He took a breath before continuing.

“Then again, this was my first time to ever get lost.”

“Then how could that possibly be common!?”

“Calm down, calm down. You’re disturbing your Live.”

Hearing that, she lowered the hand she had prepared to attack.

She then pouted her lips and spoke.

“Honestly, just tell me where you want to go and I’ll help you.”

“Oh, you’ll act as my guide? That simplifies things.”

“I can’t believe you. I never said I would go with you!”

“Of course not. You won’t be going ''with'' me. You have to lead the way.”

“I don’t ‘have to’ do anything! I am not a guide! I’m a Yard Tuner!”

Her voice grew shrill and the young man suddenly looked up to think.

After a while, he scratched his head and pulled out a traveler’s pocket map.

“Um, I need to get to Canton Road in Yau Ma Tei. But going there alone would be pretty boring, so if you can take me there…”

“Hmm.”

Akira looked down at the map but quickly came back to her senses.

“Hey! Why are you forcing me into this?”

“Eh? Forcing you? You’re imagining things. Hey, taxi!”

The tall young man’s gesture must have stood out because a yellow taxi immediately stopped in front of them. Rare for Hong Kong, the back door opened automatically.

“C’mon, let’s go.”

Grinning, he tugged on her hand. After two or three steps, Akira frowned.

“Wait a second! What are you plotting!?”

“Plotting? Whatever do you mean?”

He threw his travel bag in the taxi and looked to her.

She tore her hand from his and asked him a question.

“Aren’t you forcing me to go with you!?”

“D-don’t be ridiculous. What part of a gentleman like me is being forceful?”

“How about everything from the top of your head to the tips of your toes!?”

As soon as she shouted back, the taxi door closed behind the young man and the taxi itself drove off.

“…”

He turned around and paused for a few seconds.

“Huh?” He tilted his head. “Now, a question for you.”

“Oh?”

“Did I ask them to carry my luggage for me?”

“You don’t know?”

“Okay, time’s up. Next contestant.”

“It was stolen, you idiot!” shouted Akira. “People commit crimes like this all the time. Look!”

She pointed at the speeding taxi with her spear.

The yellow vehicle was already about one hundred meters down the road.

It was still close enough for her to catch up if she flew. The young man looked at it and commented “oh, that thing’s moving fast”, so she performed a roundhouse kick on him.

“I’ll go get it back for you, so wait here!”

She prepared to fly, but then a great roar filled the surroundings.