Editing City Series:Volume3b Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 2===

A great rumbling tore apart the asphalt.

The General’s beloved modified Grant raced toward the Yard HQ at full speed.

Each time it drove over a head-sized piece of rubble, the thirty ton tank would shake.

That shaking affected the top canopy the most, so the General’s body shook about as he leaned out.

“Has my Tunin’ gotten weak? How’d I let a big-shot like that get so close?”

He held his arms sharply forward to fight the shaking and looked back in the direction Gunmal had gone.

For once, his expression was tense.

“Honestly… Gunmal’s gettin’ pretty close to some interestin’ parts of Hong Kong’s past. Kids these days need to quit scarin’ their elders so much.”

He sighed, peered inside the tank, and asked a question.

“Hey, are we still not in relay range for the radio?”

He nodded when a crewmember told him they would be in range after moving another three hundred meters north.

“Once we’re in range, transmit a message to all of Hong Kong, tellin’ everyone who can to gather at the Yard. I’ll take responsibility for whatever happens.”

He then leaned out into the wind once more.

And he gathered his thoughts on his own.

“Since Akira’s brother’s on the move, then the final ceremony must be close, just like that young lady and Rin said. They must be gettin’ desperate.”

As soon as he nodded to himself, he heard an explosion from behind.

“!”

The ground shook a bit and the Grant trembled.

“Now that’s a frightenin’ Live. …Is it Gunmal?”

He moved just his gaze back and spotted smoke rising into the sky.

He clicked his tongue and faced forward again.

In that instant, someone ran out in front of the Grant.

“…!? Full stop!”

He shouted far louder than one would expect of such a small body and the Grant immediately reacted.

The sharp silhouette of the tank pitched forward.

The treads coated in resin using the European method blew blue smoke backwards and peeled away.

After a long sound like piles of cloth being torn, a metallic sound finished it all off.

After that, the wheels screeched and the Grant stopped.

To make sure he was not thrown out, the General had lowered his upper body onto the upper surface of the tank.

“…Wait.”

The word that escaped his lips was directed at the figure frozen in place only two meters in front of the Grant.

The female figure had two sharply-angled wings on her back.

It was Akira.

“Impossible.” The General gasped. “Weren’t you fightin’ in that battle back there!?”

He got up as he spoke and Akira blinked in confusion.

“F-fighting? Me?”

“Yeah, that’s what they said…”

“What? Didn’t Kouga contact you? I’ve been searching for Rin this entire time. But I thought things were getting dangerous when I saw that explosion, so I was on my way to somewhere safe.”

“Explosion?”

“Yeah. You saw that smoke, right? Over there… I wonder what it was. Maybe some remaining fuel caught fire like they mentioned in the newspaper.”

“That was no explosion! It’s a battle between a Buster and Tuner.”

“It couldn’t be.” Akira frowned. “If that was Tuning and Busting, there would be Lives with powerful Messages…”

She slowly trailed off and her expression changed entirely. It was the look of someone who had stepped on something they should not have.

When she hid her mouth to hide it, the General spoke up.

“Get goin’.”

“…Wh-what about you?”

“I’ve got my own job to do.”

“D-don’t say that! That’s irresponsible!”

“Yeah, and this problem is your responsibility.”

“H-has something bad happened?”

“If you want to know, then get goin’!”

His shout sent a tremor through her body.

She opened her lips as if to say something back.

“…”

But only silence came out.

Instead, she nodded once and moved her legs.

She passed by the General’s Grant and began to run.

She continued forward while hanging her head.