Editing City Series:Volume4b Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 2===

'''2:13 PM

The temperature below the clouds remained relatively unchanged even in the early afternoon.

The gray sky in the background made the scene look all the more wintery.

Especially in an area with a good view.

Nandaimon Shrine on its hill in the southern Koto region had an excellent view of that dimly-lit sky.

If one looked up from the center of the gravel shrine grounds, the surrounding woods were out of view and only the sun filled their vision.

Koto Chancellor and Koto Guardian Yuuki Yuuki was viewing the sky just like that.

She wore her Nandaimon shrine maiden outfit and held a broom.

Phoenix, her false right eye, viewed a certain point in the sky.

Suzaku Ver. 40 was there.

It was the world’s only combat satellite and it was situated at a gravitational and centrifugal Lagrange point, so it moved in an oval above the Koto and Osaka regions. The time it took to complete a circuit changed depending on the phase of the moon and the season, so it was not always in the same place.

“It will enter the Osaka region in two hours.”

After that muttered comment, she looked back down.

She saw the woods surrounding the shrine in all directions.

The withered trees looked horribly cold below the cloudy sky.

She swept their fallen leaves into a pile.

–''Yuuki – Spear/Boxing Tech – Multi-Take – Sweep – Hit.

There was a trick to sweeping up just the leaves while leaving the gravel in place.

She quietly, slowly, and accurately swept up the leaves.

And…

–''Yuuki – Hear Tech – Auto-Take – Hear – Hit.

She heard the gravel moving behind her.

“…?”

She looked back and saw a small animal standing in the spot she had been in a moment before.

It was a Dog God.

It was five meters away.

That animal had kept that distance behind her since the day before.

When she walked, so did it.

When she stopped, so did it.

When she sat down, it lay down.

When she had gone to sleep that night, it had curled up in its tail while just barely keeping a distance of five meters in the corner of her austere room.

When she had woken up, it had already been up and wagging its tail.

It did not do anything. It simply stayed with her and watched her.

That was all.

“…”

Yuuki looked around.

–''Yuuki – Sight Tech – Take – Confirm Situation – Hit.

There was no one here except for herself and the Dog God.

Once she confirmed that, she faced the Dog God.

Five seconds.

After that, she suddenly took a forceful step forward on the gravel.

The Dog God took a frantic step back.

She took two steps forward.

It ran back two steps.

It watched her the entire time to accurately keep its distance.

Yuuki stopped.

The Dog God stopped.

She looked up into the sky a little.

It was a cloudy sky.

The Dog God did so as well.

In that instant, she stepped forward with a loud step on the gravel.

Shocked, the Dog God hopped up for just a moment and then ran back.

But Yuuki had not taken a step.

[[Image:City_v04b_195.jpg|thumb]]

She had placed her foot forward and stopped.

It was a feint.

The Dog God looked confused as it ran back while looking back toward her.

A moment later, it ran head-first into one of the shrine’s lanterns.

With a quiet sound, its light brown body rolled a few times with its long tail wrapping around it.

It got up and quickly shook its head in a sitting position.

Yuuki narrowed her eyes and laughed quietly as she watched.

Her laughter was followed by an unexpected voice behind her.

“You can have fun with that thing if you want, but have you finished sweeping yet, Yuuki?”

It was Senga’s voice.

Yuuki stopped laughing and looked back.

Senga stood surprisingly close behind her.

She looked up at Yuuki with a bitter smile.

“That part of you hasn’t changed, Yuuki.”

“…”

Yuuki said nothing. She simply faced Senga with all emotion erased from her face.

Senga maintained her bitter smile as she spoke to Yuuki.

“I know you were scheduled to patrol the shrine border this afternoon, but could you head over to Osaka instead?’

“Why?”

“I’ve received word that the Nanba family’s Modified Purple Electricity Style dojo was half-destroyed, but none of the details made it here. Could you go check that out?”

“Why not ask that…Iwai Sanzou from yesterday?”

Senga tilted her head at that question.

“I did, but he only said it was a training accident. …But something like that would never destroy the Kusanagi-user’s dojo, would it?”

“What, so is the Nanba family hiding something?”

“I called the Osaka Guardian, but they apparently don’t know anything either.”

“So I have to actually pay them a visit, do I?”

Yuuki nodded and handed the broom to Senga.

“Here, grandmother. You take care of the rest.”

“Yes, yes. I always do get stuck with the cleaning for some reason or another.”

Senga slapped Yuuki’s butt, and…

–''Yuuki – Mind Tech – Auto-Take – Detect Presence – Hit!

–''Senga – Mind Tech – Auto-Take – Detect Presence – Hit!

Grandmother and granddaughter simultaneously raised their right hands.

They faced the stairs up to the shrine.

Someone lay at the top of the stairs.

He wore a monk’s outfit.

“Did he collapse…?” speculated Yuuki.

But Senga ran over before she could finish.

“Iba!” she shouted.

She called his name, but the monk-dressed man did not get up.

Yuuki jogged after Senga.

“Grandmother, should I call an ambulance?”

“Wait! There must be more to this! We can’t make it public.”

Senga stopped her and Yuuki obeyed.

They reached Iba’s side in the span of a breath.

This was Yuuki’s first time seeing the man.

Senga would sometimes call his name in her sleep.

During the Kinki Riot, he had stood between Tokyo Chancellor Nakamura Midori and Osaka Chancellor Kuki Udai.

And he was closely involved to everything going on this time.

He was now collapsed in front of her.

Senga crouched down next to Yuuki and asked the most crucial question.

“What happened!?”

Iba lay face down, so she lifted him up. That was when she received an answer of sorts.

His mouth and below were so bloody it looked like he had eaten raw meat.

He had bleeding in his lungs.

The blood was fresh and had yet to dry. The impact of collapsing and the relaxation of passing out had likely induced the coughing.

Senga flipped her former student onto his back in her arms.

“…”

The wind blew through.

It was a chilly north wind.

When its chill washed across his face, Iba’s eyes opened ever so slightly.

His empty eyes focused and looked up at Senga.

His bloody lips moved.

“I can no longer see the future and the Kinki Riot begins anew…”

“The Kinki Riot?” asked Yuuki.

But when Iba nodded, he kept his eyes on Senga.

His lips moved.

He raised the corners of his mouth to force a smile, but…

“I never thought he would be even greater than Midori…”

His expression changed to one on the verge of tears.

Then he began coughing up blood.

The blood splattered on Senga’s clothing and face and on Yuuki’s shrine maiden outfit.

But the two of them were unfazed.

Without panicking or rushing, Senga lay Iba’s head back down now that his eyes had closed once more.

The cold wind washed away the stench of blood.

And Senga spoke in a voice so cold it cut off that wind.

“I will heal him. Yuuki, you hurry to the Nanba family.”

“Will you be okay on your own?”

“I took care of him a lot in the past.”

Senga did not look back toward Yuuki, so Yuuki said nothing more and walked toward the house.

The Dog God ran after her.

The wind very, very quietly and coldly brushed across the person and animal.