Editing City Series:Volume4b Chapter 7 (section)

===Part 2===

'''5:02 AM

Yuuki awoke in her own bed.

The room’s lights were on.

She was facing the wall and lying on her side in an unnatural pose.

She quickly realized why.

Below the blanket, her right ankle was wrapped in bandages.

If she was lying on her back, the weight of the blanket on her toes would hurt her ankle.

It was likely a light sprain.

She could feel bandages and charms placed on her joints.

–''Yuuki – Medical Tech – Take – Check Injuries – Hit.

Her right ankle, ribs, and right knee must have been broken.

That would normally be some serious injuries, but she seemed to have received Tune healing while she was passed out.

“I suppose those injuries are surprisingly light for a building collapse at that height.”

She sighed.

She looked to the wall and then narrowed her eyes.

She had dropped her glasses during the battle and had not seen them since.

She silently started to close her eyes, but then she raised her head a little.

She looked to the edge of the bed.

Some paperback and hard cover novels were sitting where she had left them in a pile.

But there was something other than a book on the very top.

It was a paper bag.

It contained what she had bought the day before.

She reached from the blanket and grabbed it.

After placing both hands on it, she slowly pulled it below the blanket and held it to her chest.

“…”

She curled up around the paper bag while sinking back into the blanket.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

Strength filled the hands holding the bag, producing a crinkling sound.

She opened her mouth while listening to that.

[[Image:City_v04b_269.jpg|thumb]]

And she prepared to speak the precious words she could only say while alone.

Except…

“What’s that paper bag? Somethin’ important?”

The blanket sprang up in response to that sudden voice.

She got up.

She had never suspected there was anyone else in the room, so her face was filled with panic.

It was a rare response for her.

–''Yuuki – Sight Tech – Take – Locate Enemy – Hit!

The enemy who was not really an enemy was right in front of her.

It was Nagoya Chancellor Yamashita Taeko.

She was sitting down while wearing a yukata over a Nandaimon shrine maiden outfit.

She had the Dragon Emperor on her left arm, so the shrine maiden outfit’s sleeve was loosened to allow the metal fist out.

A guest futon was laid out below her and that fist.

“…?”

Yuuki used her eyes to ask what was going on, so Taeko answered while combing her undone hair with her hand.

“Yer gramma apparently put us in the same room.”

“She did…?”

“She asked to get a look at me, said I wasn’t an enemy, and then told me to get along with ya.”

Taeko sat cross-legged, rested her cheek in her hand, and breathed a masculine sigh.

“I can’t stand it.”

“?”

“Ya understand, don’t ya? There’s so much about this I can’t stand.”

Yuuki remained silent, so Taeko tilted her head.

“Yer not good with people, are ya?”

“…”

Taeko took Yuuki’s silence as a yes and gave an agreeable smile.

“There’s so much I don’t understand, though. …Do ya know why I managed to escape yer technique?”

Yuuki shook her head.

“Just when I thought I had hit you with my barrier, the building was blown away.”

“That might’ve been the Dragon Emperor.”

“The Dragon Emperor?”

“I solved a question of mine, so it might’ve helped me out.”

Taeko looked to her prosthetic arm.

She sounded more like she was talking to herself than asking a question.

“Why did the Dragon Emperor avoid fightin’ with ya? I think I get it now. …But that guess leads to a pretty serious conclusion.” She took a breath. “But I can’t think of any other reason the Dragon Emperor would stop in front of ya. …That’d only happen if yer on the side of justice and my actions are evil.”

Taeko held the Dragon Emperor’s fist in front of her eyes.

She clenched the steel fist, producing the sound of creaking metal.

“Do ya understand?”

She did not receive an answer, but she did not care.

Her bitter smile deepened and she lowered the fist to her side.

She looked to Yuuki from the floor.

“Hey.”

“…”

“I can tell ya wouldn’t answer me if I asked about the truth.”

“…”

“So I’ll ask in a different way.”

Taeko closed her eyes.

“How did ya kill my brother?”

It was a quiet question.

But unlike the previous questions, Yuuki answered this one immediately.

“With Suzaku’s flash freezing.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Taeko asked another question without opening her eyes.

“Then why weren’t there any pieces of him left?”

That question did not receive an answer.

But Taeko asked more.

“And at Private Showa, yer flash freezin’ technique didn’t kill anyone. …The reason why is simple: unlike mere objects, people will subconsciously negate the Rhythm attack with their own Rhythm.”

An exhausted sigh left Taeko’s mouth.

It was a heavy sigh.

And that breath seemed to draw out more words.

“Ya might lie, but the Dragon Emperor won’t.”

“What lie are you talking about?”

“The one about how ya became the Killing Holder!” shouted Taeko.

She raised her head and opened her eyelids to look at Yuuki.

Her expression was entirely serious.

“I’ve made my decision.”

“About what?”

“Koto Chancellor, ya are the only one I’ll follow.”

Yuuki frowned at that.

Taeko smiled bitterly.

And she said more with that tearful smile.

“A moron who can never catch a break like ya needs someone by her side.”

“…”

“Shoui would really be the best choice, though…”

“I do not need Hizaka Shoui.”

“Probably not.”

Taeko narrowed her eyes and looked to the corner of the room.

“And I guess ya do have that thing…”

She was referencing the small creature with light brown fur sitting in the corner.

It was a Dog God.

“It’s been there this whole time. Is it Shoui’s?”

“I don’t know.”

The Dog God was about 3 meters from Yuuki.

“…It’s closer.”

“Eh?”

“Nothing.”

Taeko tilted her head and nodded at that.

And she glanced over at the Dog God.

“I kinda hope it is Shoui’s.”

She sighed.

And before that breath could fall to the futon, Yuuki began to move.

She pulled her blanket in close and curled up to hide the paper bag in her arms.

“Why are you so fixated on him?”

It was the Dragon Emperor that first responded to her question.

It raised its low rumbling voice.

The armor panels opened somewhat as it rose to the combat mode known as the 3rd Activation.

Taeko looked to the false arm that had started up on its own.

“When earnin’ the position of Chancellor at the Mountain, ya end it with some battles, right?”

“I was given the position on a recommendation based on my testing, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Is that so?” asked Taeko with a bitter smile. “Well, whatever.” The bitterness left her smile. “I fought Shoui during the semi-finals and I punched him out once.”

Some tenseness came to her face.

“And I know that he fought my brother to protect ya. …We had trained at the same trainin’ ground, so when I learned that, I felt some hesitation and resentment. And when I hit him…”

She sighed.

“That moron completely snapped.”

“…And?”

“Would ya call it combat instincts? Well, when he passed out…he started movin’ at frightenin’ speed. He circled behind me in the blink of an eye…”

Yuuki said nothing.

Taeko placed her hand on the Dragon Emperor.

“The Rhythm he used was the Break High. My left arm was torn off and sent airborne in no time at all. But…”

“…”

“Right afterwards, he seemed to come back to his senses. Would ya call it a look of regret? He had that dumb look on his face and didn’t move at all…”

She said nothing more.

The answer was already known.

Taeko had been the one to become a Chancellor.

That meant she had defeated Shoui.

Someone who could not defeat their opponent when they needed to could not become a Chancellor.

That unwritten rule was absolute.

So she said something else instead.

“It’s thanks to his instincts that he doesn’t die when he should’ve been killed.”

“Is that so?”

“There are two sides to everythin’. Someone who’s strong with one power is strong with the opposite power.”

With that, she stood up.

Her head reached the fluorescent light illuminating the room.

And she looked down at Yuuki from that height.

“I have a number of things to check on. Your gramma said to go to the coast of Osaka Bay before sunrise.”

With that, she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket.

The location was written there.

And Taeko spoke to supplement it.

“The match held here will save Japan from a second Kinki Riot.”

The Dog God seemed to answer her by quietly barking in the corner of the room.