Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 15===

Risako, the girl in gym clothes, did not remember how she had gotten here.

Her vision was mostly filled with the color white despite being in the dark sewer. She was out of breath and her chest hurt. Tears spilled from her eyes. Each time the small LED light on her personal alarm hit the walls or ceiling, the reflection was so bright it hurt her eyes. If mister had not given it to her, she would have thrown it away, completely forgetting it was her only source of light.

She ran.

She ran and ran.

She had wandered into a place she never should have been. Maybe she should have realized something was wrong when she walked and walked and never found Sodate’s secret base, but she had unfortunately never given up and turned back. She just kept telling herself it had to be “just a little further” until she had wandered into a place that felt like it would tear her body and mind to pieces.

''Something had allowed this to happen.

''Something had placed her on a track she normally never could have found.

(What was that?)

She was too scared to look back. She ran down the narrow pathway and shoved herself through the gaps between thick pipes to get as far away as possible. Something terrifying was chasing after her.

She could not let him catch her. She knew something terrible would happen if he did.

(That man was talking to himself!!)

“Ah!”

There was nothing sticking out from the ground, but she still tripped and fell. She forgot to even cry from the pain in her knees.

Her only light had gone out. She was surrounded by darkness.

(I need my light.)

She no longer felt the egg-shaped personal alarm in her hand. It must have slid along the floor when she tripped. She did not know if the switch had flipped off or if it had broken, but this place was as pitch black as a movie theater. She could not keep going without a light. She could still hear the quiet splashing of the sewer river, so she might fall in if she tried to continue on blind.

Down on all fours, she searched around with her small hand, but she could not feel anything like it.

Mister had given her that alarm and he sometimes seemed to be having money trouble, so she did not want to have to say she had lost it.

But she searched and searched to no avail. She was trying so hard, but she still could not find it.

The stench suddenly grew worse. From behind her.

That monster had been holding a flashlight before, so had he turned it off? Did that mean he could see her in the dark? But how?

Maybe she should have started running right away. Maybe she should have bolted into the darkness no matter what she crashed into on the way. But she could not bring herself to give up on the alarm. She bit her lip and patted around on the filthy floor with tears in her eyes.

(No…)

She could not find it.

She could not find it.

She simply could not find the alarm mister had given her.

(No, where is it?)

She felt a great pressure like the ceiling was lowering.

Something may have been looming over her as she searched for the alarm on all fours.

It was too dark to see, but she still squeezed her eyes shut.

Then she heard a squashing sound.

The thick wall of pressure moved back as if flinching.

She opened her eyes in shock, but it was still too dark to see anything.

Or it should have been.

She heard a scraping sound and then she saw a light somewhat larger than a birthday cake candle. It was not a will-o’-the-wisp. Once she realized it was the flame of a lighter like the one mister had used when they were shooting off fireworks, she detected an animal scent she had noticed before.

“Oh, whoops. Not in front of the child.”

A creature had pulled out an object and started to put it in his mouth, but he stopped after seeing Risako.

She could not believe it.

The creature that spoke to her with a human voice was very clearly a large dog.

“A Jinmenken?”

“''Sigh'', I would say I have a little more romance than that. But maybe most people would see me as something similar. It is better than being written off as some new form of technology, at least.”

She normally would have been afraid to find such a large dog so close to her. Especially one without its owner holding the leash. But this golden retriever gently walked right past her while she sat on the floor. Almost like it was shielding her from the monster pushing in from behind.

“Get going, miss,” said the bearer of light. “The side paths and rusted doors might draw your interest along the way, but ignore them all and continue straight down this pathway. If you can shake free of your doubts, you will find some stairs leading out of this place at the end of this long, long pathway. I give you a chance, but whether you use it or not is up to you.”

“But mister’s alarm…”

She was not given time to explain what she meant.

Something small was tossed her way and she caught it to find it was the egg-shaped device she had found so difficult to find.

How had the dog thrown it? For that matter, how was he holding the lighter?

Before she could ask, the golden retriever said one more word.

Strongly this time.

“Hurry.”

The girl in gym clothes started to run, but she soon stopped.

He had said it was dangerous here, but she still looked back.

“Doggy…”

She was not asking if he would be coming too. Realizing she wanted to ask his name, he sighed.

If a dog was capable of smiling, he might have been doing so.

“I am Kihara Noukan of the dark side. Dealing with this sort of person is my job.”



The darkness shook behind him.

After confirming that the small back really did vanish down the long pathway this time, the golden retriever slowly turned around in the darkness he called home.

He used a thin mechanical arm to toy with a quality cigar and brought the oil lighter’s flame toward its tip.

“Now I can smoke.”

His tone had changed.

Entirely.

“No need to worry about the health of someone who is about to die anyway.”

The wall of darkness moved. It had flinched back from the unexpected pain before, but now it was back with even greater pressure.

The pressure spoke with a human voice.

“Are you part of the dark side too?”

“Indeed I am. And if your bizarre logic says you can prove you aren’t by killing someone who is, then I can fill in for that child, can’t I?” The golden retriever gently blew out some cigar smoke. “And in that sense, I am the perfect target for you. After all, I am one of the most hidden Kiharas.”

“Shut up.” The giant took a merciless step forward, allowing the oil lighter to illuminate him from below. “If that last attack is all you’ve got, you can’t win. I’m not even bleeding.”

“Yes, I can’t deny that my original A.A.A. was made into a toy for ''those girls'' and my few spares were all destroyed during Handcuffs.”

All the golden retriever could do now was launch the containers and cases that had once been used to transport his ultimate weapon. They did not pack much of a punch while empty. And even if they were packed full of explosives, that monster could probably stop the blast with his muscles.

“I will now beat you to death,” said the man. “I refuse to let the dark side exist, no matter what form it takes.”

He had a strangely twisted appearance. Thick muscles surrounded him like armor, but his face remained the same as always. The Anti-Skill officer with a combover and glasses faced the golden retriever wearing a backpack but spoke to something other than the dog.

“And you seem willing to face me knowing that will happen. Makes me curious about that girl you’re willing to throw your life away to protect. ''She must be a dark side VIP. I can’t possibly let her escape.'' Chase her down afterwards and I can dig up all sorts of darkness along with her. I mean, nothing else makes sense. If she wasn’t with the dark side, she never could have reached this place.”

“Hey, listen.” Kihara Noukan sounded irritated. Not even his favorite brand filling his lungs was enough to help. “I have some bad news for you. Who is it you think you were talking to here? The Decomposer? If you mean Hanatsuyu Kaai, she is indeed floating around this area. In a way, she may have become something that can never die. ''Much like Yakumi Hisako.'' But do you really think she is in any state to create the vibrations needed for a physical voice? How could she do that after dissolving into the filthy water down here?”

“…”

“''Anyone can reach this pathway. You don’t need to be with the dark side.'' That is the boring truth. I imagine that girl was so terrified because she ran into a greasy balding old man soaking up to the shoulders in smelly sewer water and talking to himself with a look of ecstasy on his face. That voice you heard wasn’t real. This place reminded you of a traumatic moment in your past, but you refused to accept that you had stepped on that landmine all on your own. You wanted to believe you had fallen for some clever trap as part of someone’s master plan, not that you had stumbled into your own ruin by accident. So when you heard the splashing of this sticky sewer water, you imagined you were hearing malicious laughter instead.”

“……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

Rakuoka Houfu came to a stop.

Not even Kihara Noukan could tell how he was processing this. Not that he cared.

“The more I try to look to the future, the more pathetic I feel. That must mean I’ve been corrupted too.”

“By that?”

“But that still doesn’t explain what that girl was doing here. She was dressed weird too. She had some kind of sensors on her arms and legs. They looked very high tech. She must be with the dark side.”

“I suppose this was inevitable. To be clear, I am not lying to you.”

Rakuoka reached for a nearby pipe. It was thicker than the average person’s torso, but he tore it away with a single hand.

Looking at a person’s weight and muscle fibers was enough to calculate out their general muscle strength. He would be able to wield it like a sugar sculpture or whip instead of a blunt weapon. Think of it as the difference between simply swinging down a thin tree branch or swinging it with a snap of the wrist. That would give it between five and ten times as much force.

But the dog did not fall back.

He narrowed his eyes as if to say enjoying the flavor of his cigar was more important.

“''So I finally meet a member of the family that killed a Kihara and perfectly disposed of the body.'' I might have fought by your side were circumstances different.” The large dog sighed and whispered words of devastating importance. “Kihara Heikin. He called it taking a psychological approach, but he had a bad habit of leaving no boundary between his work and his personal life. I did warn him quite sternly that the techniques used for a stakeout at work would qualify as stalking when done for personal reasons.”

He seemed to be reminiscing.

Or maybe he was regretting his past actions.

“If all you had done was protect your family, I would have respected you. You might not think your courageous action was the right thing to do, but I sensed the light of great romance in it. You might have been expelled from the path of good, but my little corner of the dark side would have welcomed your arrival.”

However.

The golden retriever stiffly spat out his next words.

“But none of that light remains now that you are chasing after a child for no reason. Not now that you have located a conveniently weak target to label evil so you can feast upon them. My little corner of the dark side must reject you. I am sorry, but I must eliminate you now.”

The atmosphere changed. The stiffness of his words seemed to affect the density and viscosity of the air.

Rakuoka Houfu was still not swallowed up by it, so as rotten as he had become, he may have still retained some vestige of the Kihara Killer he once was.

A good person who had been distorted beyond repair was far nastier than a bad person. Kihara Noukan made his blunt assessment…and the man did not stack up.

Yes, the dark side could be found anywhere. In the next apartment over, at the neighborhood supermarket, in the entertainment industry on TV, and even within the very Anti-Skill that fought to keep the peace. Did the current rookie Chairman really understand that sweeping the dark side clean was to locate all the stains and wrinkles you found unsightly and to slice them away with a knife, skin and all?

“You haven’t answered my question,” said Rakuoka.

“Oh?”

“If that was all you’ve got, you can’t win. So what are you going to do about it?”

Kihara Noukan paused for a moment. He pricked up his ears while pretending to think, but he could no longer hear those small feet on the concrete. The gym clothes girl must have taken his advice and run down the long straight path without taking any turns. She would probably be arriving at the surface soon.

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“I would ask if you know what romance is, but I doubt you could give me a decent answer as you are now.”

He had no weapons.

And even if Rakuoka Houfu had gone berserk—no, because he had gone berserk—his skill was very real and it was boosted to the point of changing the shape of his body. There were no rules when the dark side fought, so it was best not to think about what would happen if you lost.

Nevertheless, the large dog puffed happily at his cigar and spoke.

“Romance means to set aside efficiency and logic. Romance means to enjoy the pointless things in life. And that definition is what separates me from the strays.”