Editing Kino no Tabi:Volume15 Prologue (section)

==“What it Means to Fight and Die · b” — Order! · b —==

The man screamed.

''“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”''

And there, where the scream echoed like the cry of ripping silk, stood Ti, undaunted.

There was also me, Master Shizu, and several young men nearby.

''“THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE! I-I-I’M—!”''

The man fell to his knees, and covered his face with his hands, seemingly about to tear off his forehead.

Then with his fingernails, he clawed at the skin again and again, until the blood ran.

The young men stood behind the man in shock.

“What in the...”

Unable to take action, they stood there doing nothing, except to mutter these words. Master Shizu was no different.

“...”

And beside the quiet Ti,

''“I AM! I— AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”''

The man continued to scream.

''“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”''

The scream that went on for a long, long time,

“Ah!”

Suddenly stopped.

The man extracted the hand persuader from the holster on his hip, and pressed it on his right temple.

“No. I want to die.”

He said, as he unlocked the safety of his persuader.

From where I stood, and from where Master Shizu stood—

It is not possible to reach him in time to stop him from taking his life.

As I looked at the man’s smiling face, all damp with tears, I also saw his resolve to dye it next with blood. I was only relieved that from where we stood, neither Master Shizu nor Ti, nor I, were in danger of getting hit by a stray bullet.

The trigger was pulled.

The hammer began to descend.

When—

It was stopped by a young man’s finger.

The young man jumped from behind, and reached for the persuader with his arm, then his hand, and finally with his finger.

It was truly just in the nick of time. The force that was supposed to hit and send the bullet flying was now squeezing at the young man’s little finger. The skin tore, and blood came oozing out.

“Eh?”

The teary-eyed man turned around, perplexed, and looked at the young man.

“Please excuse me.”

With his finger still blocking the hammer, the young man gripped the persuader, and quickly confiscated it.

“Wha... what are you doing...? Give that back!”

“No, I can’t do that.”

The young man responded to the man’s command, his tone bold and grave.

“‘No matter what the circumstances are, only after you have fought with all your might can you die!’ —You taught us that!”


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| Kino no Tabi
| [[Kino_no_Tabi:Volume15_Frontispiece2|Frontispiece]]
| [[Kino_no_Tabi:Volume15_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
}}
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