Editing City Series:Volume4a Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 1===

'''4:25 PM

A boy directly faced the sunset while holding his forehead over his bandanna.

Whenever he lost himself in thought, the scar on his forehead would throb.

Whenever he was nervous and surrounded by enemies, that scar below his bandanna would throb.

And that was why he asked a question with his kind-looking eyes narrowed in a troubled look.

“Um, do we really have to do this because the Emergency Teachers are off duty today?”

Several students holding weapons surrounded the boy on the schoolyard which had been dug up here and there for construction work.

The excellent quality of their weapons was enough to know they were from the Chancellor’s Officers who provided student defense for the Osaka region.

The boy scratched his head as he looked to them, the schoolyard, and the large boxy building of Osaka Prefectural #2 beyond them.

“I can’t believe this… I really don’t think you should be surrounding a transfer student for no reason.”

He really did sound like he could not believe it.

Suddenly, the circle of students around him took a step inwards.

The pressure of their presence caused the boy to hold his chest and take a step back.

That was enough for his back to reach the large concrete wall.

He could not escape.

…''Wow, I really can’t believe this.

He complained in his heart, placed a hand on his forehead again, and faced forward.

An odd heat enveloped the group surrounding him.

It was a suspicious heat that bordered on madness and a voice spoke from within it.

“Hizaka Shoui, Class 2-B Student #21, Critical Forcer. What brought you to our school? I don’t see what a Mountain drop-out needs with a school.”

The boy, Hizaka Shoui, raised his head at that.

He silently touched his bandanna and tilted his head.

“Well, it is true even a drop-out from the Mountain’s chancellor training knows more than a university graduate, but…”

“But what?”

“By any chance…''are you bullying little old me because my smarts scare you''?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you moron! Do you think we ''want'' to pick on a kid who just transferred in!?”

“Th-then why am I being cornered like this? And by the Chancellor’s Officers no less!”

Shoui frantically asked his question while pressing his back against the wall and the others exchanged a glance.

Finally, some voices of doubt escaped them.

“Hey…”

“What?”

“Are you sure this is the guy who trained at the Mountain for two whole years?”

“Yeah, I thought he would be weird since he spent two years when it normally takes half a year, but I didn’t expect this …”

“Maybe he was so bad at it he was held back that long.”

“It could be. All he’s been doing is complain.”

“He looks really weak to me.”

“That he does.”

“But Saki-san seems to know something about this.”

“Hey, hey, hey. I’m the one in trouble here, so don’t leave me out of the conversation.”

Shoui shouted back at the people talking about him loud enough that he did not need to use a Tech to hear it.

“What is this, anyway!? It’s my first day here, so what is this all about!?”

“You’ve been judged to be highly dangerous, obviously.”

A sharp voice broke through the crowd and the crowd split apart.

—''Shoui – Sight Tech – Auto-Take – Spot – Hit!

A tall, slender boy with a spear in hand walked straight through the center of everyone’s gazes.

His short-cut blond hair and sunglasses stood out the most.

The tip of his spear shined in the setting sun.

It shined with a scarlet light.

“!”

A phantom pain ran through Shoui’s forehead when he saw the almost damp scarlet light on the blade.

Instead of the earlier prickling pain, this was powerful enough to wake him up.

…''This is bad.

The phantom pain from the reflected light replayed a certain image in the back of his mind.

It was a scene from the past.

A raised spear was swung down through the darkness to split open his forehead.

He felt blood spraying from his forehead, he was filled with a scorching pain, and…

…''Yuuki.

A girl’s name appeared in his heart, but…

—''Shoui – Mind Tech – Take – Self-Control – Hit!

After three heartbeats and some sweat on his back, he endured the replaying of his past and his fear.

The next thing he knew, the spear boy stood right in front of him.

“…”

They were five meters away from each other.

At just a few steps apart, the boy pulled a memo pad from his pocket using the hand not holding the spear.

He looked back and forth between Shoui’s face and the memo pad before asking a question.

“Hizaka Shoui. You have a tendency to compromise, so it’s never clear what you’re thinking. You used to live at the Nandaimon Shrine, you trained at the Mountain for two years, and…now you’re a Dis-Worder. Is that accurate?”

“Y-yes. Perfectly accurate.”

Shoui looked the boy in the eye and quickly nodded several times.

The boy nodded just once.

“I see. I understand now.”

“Oh, good. You understand? Can we handle this peacefully now?”

“Yes, I understand you need to be executed.”

“What?”

“So we’ll be sending you to the hospital.”

Shoui pointed at the boy who was still calmly staring at the memo pad.

“Y-y-y-y-y-you rotten monster! What’s going on here!?”

“The details don’t matter. Word Accelerator Ixolde is being activated the day after tomorrow, so could you stay away from here until then?”

“I have no idea what you’re even talking about! Please give me a logical explanation!”

—''Shoui – Mind Tech – Take – Intimidation – Hit!

The boy must have realized what the look in Shoui’s eyes meant because he gave him an upturned look and spoke.

“You spent two years at the Mountain before they kicked you out and you still didn’t become a Chancellor, so why are you joining our Prefectural #2 just before Ixolde’s activation? …After all, Prefectural #2 is home to the Osaka Chancellor’s Officers Headquarters and current Osaka Chancellor Nanba Souichirou.”

“Eh? W-well, I’d always wanted to go to school here. Besides, what’s wrong with me being here?”

“Why would you want to go to school here?”

“Well, it’s a mixed boys and girls school and it even has student dorms to live in.”

The boy silently held his spear below his right arm in preparation to fight.

“Ah, I can’t believe you! You just ignored everything I said, didn’t you!?”

“Shut up. I’m First Special Duty Officer Saki Seiji. As head of intelligence, I will eliminate you here.”

“I can’t believe this. I’m no good at fighting Strike Forcers, you know?”

“Oh? …Hizaka Shoui, I’ve long heard rumors of you and your lack of Words.”

“Wow, am I famous? I can’t believe it… Really, I’m gonna blush. What do I do?”

“Quit wiggling around. At the very least, any fighter these days will have heard your name somewhere or another. …Except for the last two years, that is.”

“…”

“Normally, you have to be sixteen to undergo chancellor training at the Mountain and it only lasts a year. So why did you go the Mountain at fifteen and what were you doing for those two years?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

“Hm? …What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t really matter. More importantly, could you maybe do something about this current situation?”

—''Shoui – Mind Tech – Take – Expression Decoding – Hit.

“I guess not.”

“Oh? Is that how it looks?”

“I don’t think anyone could see it differently. I can’t believe this. And I’m supposed to be the ultimate pacifist. Nowadays, anyway.”

“ ‘Nowadays’? Then what about two years ago?”

“Two years ago?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Saki nodded and a slight smile entered his voice. “On that snowy night when you, a guest at the Nandaimon Shrine, made the Koto Guardian kill someone.”

“…”

Shoui did not respond.

He remained silent.

He only pressed his back against the wall and lowered his bandanna.

He touched the scar on his forehead through the bandanna.

The bandanna was mounted on a forehead protector which was split in two down the center.

He touched the cold metal edge and took a deep breath.

—''Shoui – Mind Tech – Take – Self-Control – Hit.

As he controlled his heart, words filled it rather than images.

…''Childhood friend.

…''My own lack of Words.

…''My duty to protect her.

…''Her injury and her eye.

…''Murderer.

“Do you see how dangerous you are now? From our perspective, we have no idea why you lack the Words all of us have, you’ve undergone some unknown training for an excessive amount of time, and you’re friends with a murderer.”

Shoui remained silent and his vision was mostly covered by his bandanna.

This was a method he had learned over the past two years. At the very least, his vision would not pick up any blades swung down toward him.

But he could hear his opponent.

“Whatever your situation is, your words are going to fall on deaf ears. All that matters are the facts I laid out for you. Understand?”

“In other words, you don’t want to have a deactivated time bomb anywhere near you?”

“At the very least, we don’t want you coming to this school until Ixolde’s activation is complete. Will you take a hit from my Pressure High and spend the time in the hospital, or will you stay home on your own? It’s your choice.”

“I can’t believe this. I don’t like either of those options… I really can’t believe this.”

“Then let me give you one piece of information.”

Saki used his empty hand to tell the other students to back away.

“It may not have reached your ears, but Koto Guardian and Koto Chancellor Yuuki Yuuki currently has a certain Urban Name.”

“An Urban Name?”

“Killing Holder.”

Saki gave a brief answer and continued with a bitter smile.

“It means she holds death inside herself. Since she killed someone.”

Shoui’s body gave a single quick tremor at the word “kill”.

But his silence did not seem to bother Saki Seiji.

“So what’ll it be? At this rate, I’ll be acting as a member of the Chancellor’s Officers to eliminate someone I’ve deemed dangerous…but how do you want this to end, ‘Dog of Nandaimon’ Hizaka Shoui-kun?”

“I can’t believe this.”

Shoui’s voice remained light and his shoulders drooped.

After a beat, he immediately took action.