Editing City Series:Volume4a Chapter 10 (section)

===Part 1===

'''2:29 PM

A shopping district known as Europe Town existed near the Shinsaibashi district of Osaka.

Several dozen shops were densely packed in between two short roads. It was primarily made up of boutiques and cafes, so it acted as a contrast to the northern business district. The stores were filled with people and bright colors.

Two people stood on the second floor of a certain brick building there.

One was a boy in a suit and the other was a girl in rough personal clothes.

They were Ikemaru Takahiro and Aoi Hijiri.

The two of them were inside a lingerie shop.

Colorful underwear was displayed half-disorderly and half-orderly under the white lights of the store that was larger than it looked from the outside.

Since it was only early afternoon, the store was relatively empty and most of the customers were women, but there was also an older couple.

When she saw that couple, Aoi gently elbowed Ikemaru in the side.

“That middle-aged couple has got to be cheating.”

“Why do you say that?”

“They’re using separate wallets. …So what do you think about this color?”

“I think it would look great on you.”

“Then what about this color?”

“I think it would look great on you.”

“Then what about this risqué one?”

“It would not suit you in the slightest.”

“You have some pretty solid preferences, Takahiro.”

“I prefer to keep some of it left to the imagination.”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure I can live up to your imagination…”

Aoi looked to Takahiro’s suit.

A manila envelope was poking out from below the scarf she had made.

“Will that idiot Hisahide really be okay with those documents…and those Discord Bombs you bought?”

“We are in trouble if he isn’t. Hacking into the government office only revealed the one sewage line running by near Ixolde and we only have the three Discord Bombs.”

“So we have to know where to set the Discord Bombs? We’re really relying on others a lot on this expedition.”

“I would prefer to obtain a lot more information. Preparing the charms is not easy either.”

“You put a lot of effort into this. That’s an information broker for you.”

“I prefer to be called a businessman.”

Aoi smiled bitterly.

“It’s true you might not be an information broker after all. You haven’t been able to figure out where Seigi is.”

“It hasn’t been easy.”

“Hisahide’s upset. After all, Seigi was the first person to agree that he would become the king.”

Aoi lightly tapped the underwear-wearing mannequin standing next to her.

With a small sound, the plastic body shook a little.

“The king, hm?”

“Personally, my top priority is your issue, not making him the king.”

“We’re having trouble finding that too, aren’t we?”

“Not even the Live laboratory I hacked into said anything about cherry blossoms blooming in the winter.”

Takahiro looked to his own right hand.

He wore a black leather glove and the gaze behind his glasses was cold.

But…

“Don’t worry about it. Even the power of your kotodama can’t create data that wasn’t in the databank to begin with.”

“Even without the data, I could still alter the Lives of the cherry blossoms like when I created the Dog God.”

“Altering the Lives of organic objects takes a lot out of you, right? Seigi told me.”

“…”

“Besides, I doubt the cherry blossoms my mom and that man saw blooming in the winter had anything to do with Lives. Maybe you could call it an unusual phenomenon that occurs under the right conditions. That’s what I think it was.”

“In that case, we won’t find anything written about it at the sightseeing spots.”

“Iba isn’t going to tell us, so we need to be patient. Maybe look through some of Osaka’s historical records. …And if we can help Hisahide rejoin the east and west, finding the cherry blossoms will be a lot easier.”

“You sure are positive.”

“Being negative is pretty attractive too. Like Seigi used to be. I was jealous that she could tremble like that. Don’t you agree, Takahiro?”

“Being able to tremble in your indecisiveness is the ultimate luxury.”

“I used to be like that. Until that man died and I learned the true reason the Shinkage Style was created.”

She sighed and fell silent.

Meanwhile, Ikemaru removed his right glove.

“…”

As soon as he lightly shook his white hand, a single copper coin appeared between his index and middle finger.

He placed the dull brown coin in his palm and showed it to Aoi.

“Flower.”

As soon as he spoke that quiet word, the coin split open with a sound much like breaking ice.

It did not just break in half. The surface peeled away like a skin, split apart, and extended outwards and upwards. It almost looked like a blossoming flower bud.

The small coin produced thin flower petals.

After a mere five seconds, a red copper flower had formed in his palm.

It resembled a cherry blossom and Aoi commented on it.

“A Tune Bust transformation… That was your Word Master power, wasn’t it?”

“I can read all Lives and freely change the Live structure of anything I speak to while touching it with my skin. …It is a useful power.”

“Didn’t you used to call it an unpleasant power?”

“Not to worry. I now have someone who can reject my power.”

“Then is this flower for the one person in the world you know will be fine touching it with her bare hands?”

“Yes.”

Aoi smiled, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head.

“Are you trying to cheer me up because I fell silent like that?”

“Do you not want this flower?”

“It only cost ten yen, didn’t it?”

“Only I can make one.”

“Then I’ll take it.”

When she accepted, Ikemaru placed the metal flower in the breast pocket of her blouson. And…

“Sorry, Takahiro. I have been kind of gloomy lately.”

“Didn’t you just say being negative is attractive?”

“I got that line from my mom.”

“But it’s true.”

“Then…why did you save Seigi? You were the one that saved her from her negativity even though creating that Dog God put you in the hospital for three days.”

“I will answer that…when the time is right.”

It was a vague response, but Aoi thought about it and nodded.

She then looked away from him.

“Oh?” she said after looking out the window.

“What is it?” he asked.

“This is convenient. There’s the person we were thinking about speaking with at the hotel.”

The two of them looked down to the road where a tall girl walked along the sidewalk.

Her ponytail and giant false left arm made her quite recognizable.

It was Nagoya Chancellor Yamashita Taeko.

“She must be on the way to Prefectural #2. Probably to wait for Ixolde’s activation.”

“If we’re going to stop her, now would be the time,” agreed Aoi. “If what our master said is true, then Nagoya won’t side with us unless we get her on our side.”

“Then let’s stop her before she meets up with the Kansai group. It will probably mean a fight, but first…”

“But first?”

Ikemaru gave Aoi a serious look.

“You need to buy a bra and put it on. You will probably have difficulty fighting without the proper support.”

Aoi forcefully elbowed him in the side.