Editing City Series:Volume3a Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 3===

Gunmal’s answer was so short and simple that Akira was slow to react.

…''So…

She placed the envelope on the desk and took a breath.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“As a Tuner, you must know the history of Tuning and Busting.”

“But what about that history?”

“Tuning and Busting are techniques to destroy the world. Busters destroy Lives and Tuners can only act as healers to support those Busters. The gentle and Tuner-oriented Wind Up used to be at the base of it all, but now the simplified Over Up used by Busters is the standard, right?”

“…”

They both looked away from the other.

That created a gap in the time and the sound.

The silence was enough to emphasize the surrounding noise and it continued for a little while.

But before it could grow awkward, Akira spoke.

“So because of that past…”

She hesitated before quietly asking her question.

“You’re going to destroy that Device?”

He nodded once.

“With a powerful Device, both Busters and Tuners will end up killing-…”

Before he could finish, a great sound came from his cheek.

“!?”

The solid sound gathered the attention of the surrounding people once more.

Akira felt their Lives of curiosity stabbing into her body, but she ignored it.

She did not care.

Instead, she spoke without looking him in the eye.

“Gunmal, do you really think that?”

He did not answer.

“Do you think I’m that kind of person too?”

She regretted the words as soon as she spoke them.

…''That was too much. I got carried away.

This would only escalate things further.

Another slight silence fell and nothing but awkwardness filled it, so she frantically opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

She meaninglessly apologized on her own, nodded, and continued.

“I-I’m a little sorry. I want to calm down, so I’m going to step outside for a-…”

She stood, but a tug came at her hand.

“…”

She turned around to find Gunmal’s gloved right hand holding her hand.

He immediately looked her in the eye and scratched his head with his other hand.

“Sorry.”

He gave a one word apology.

His hand felt hard and cold through his glove and she finally realized something about him.

…''His right hand is a prosthetic.

The hand inside the glove was a machine, so it did not send out a Live or anything else. But this was enough to tell Akira she had relaxed.

“…”

…''He must have his reasons.

She still could not see his Live.

“Okay.”

She nodded for no reason and sat back down.

She then resumed the search.

In only took a few seconds.

Once they started, they found J-Gun’s citizen data right away.

“The Yard’s name is pretty powerful, isn’t it?”

“Y-yes, it is.”

Once he finally spoke again, she quickly agreed with him.

She also typed on the keyboard.

“Should I get a printout for you?”

She turned to ask and saw a red mark on his cheek. She could vaguely make out the shape of her hand.

…''Oh, dear.

She sighed in her heart just as the printer on the side of the desk began spitting out paper.

“My brother hadn’t been working for about the last three months. He was paying a fixed amount of taxes.”

“Will this data help?”

“Who knows. But this is no surprise when it comes to my stupid brother.”

There was not a hint of ill will on Gunmal’s face.

Akira breathed a sigh of relief and smiled a little.

“He must have been a good brother. …Unlike mine. All we ever did was fight.”

“I’d say that’s a nice sibling relationship, too. …What’s your brother doing now?”

“I don’t know. I was the only one our mom trained as a Tuner. He had apparently self-taught himself Tune Emblems, but I don’t know what he’s been doing since reaching an Octave of 160,000.”

“Tune Emblems? That’s unusual.”

She nodded and gave an additional comment.

“Rumor has it my parents were amazing Tuners. They could supposedly control an Octave in the tens of millions. They apparently met about twenty years ago and retired after having my brother.”

“I see. So your parents taught you. …That would explain why you slapped me.”

“That isn’t what I was taught Tuning is for and it isn’t what I think it’s for.”

“Then what ''do'' you think it’s for?”

He asked in a teasing tone, so she thought about it and gave a short answer.

“That’s a secret.”

“It’s a secret?”

She shrugged.

“I used to tell everyone, but no one believed me.”

She kept her Live as restrained as possible so he could not read her thoughts.

“And I don’t want to make it look cheap.”

“Makes sense.”

Gunmal looked down at the paperwork and sighed a comment.

“They must have been good parents.”

“Eh?”

“I saw the photo in your room and I could tell. Especially your dad.”

“He looks like the General, doesn’t he?”

“Eh?”

“Like the scar on the cheek.”

That seemed to give Gunmal a sudden thought.

“Yeah, they do have similar scars. …Is it a sign of something?”

“I don’t know, but my dad would laugh and say something cryptic about it being Hong Kong’s most important scar.”

“I see.” Gunmal nodded. “Hey, this may be sudden, but what if I said I wanted to see you Tune?”

“Eh?”

The sudden question confused her and he turned toward her.

“How is your Tuning different from the Tuning I know?”