Editing City Series:Volume4b Chapter 8 (section)

===Part 3===

'''6:08 AM

“So this is the truth of the matter!?” shouted Iba Masaaki as he watched Shoui.

He stood up to better see Shoui and Souichirou moving on the beach below.

Senga also watched Shoui as she sat with Iwai next to him.

Taeko and Saki watched the two down below while standing next to the others.

The five of them saw a clash between Kusanagi and the Flame High.

Souichirou picked up his dropped Device and moved around while Shoui swung his Flame High fist.

They were fast.

The audience had difficulty keeping up.

Souichirou mostly stuck to thrusting attacks.

And Shoui’s movements were far from normal.

Taeko commented on what she saw.

“It’s the same as when he snapped against me in the Mountain…”

“It was the same in middle school when he was hit by Ichiyama Yuusei in a karate match.”

“Shouldn’t we be stopping him, granny?” asked Saki.

“Can you stop him?” asked Senga with a quiet look in her eyes. “Yamashita Taeko, you only lost your left arm to the Break High, but that was because you were lucky.”

Taeko nodded in response.

“I know that,” she said. “The dragon told me.”

“I see. Then I suppose I can tell you now. The person who killed your brother was…”

Taeko cut in and answered for Senga.

“Hizaka Shoui…!”

She shouted the name.

She had the bitter expression of someone with sand in their mouth. She had understood it intellectually, but it was still painful to hear it from someone else.

Everyone remained silent.

The only noise was from the battle on the beach below.

The Flame High’s fire flew and Kusanagi stabbed through and cut it apart.

When she heard that roar, Taeko asked a question.

“But…how? How can Shoui use the Flame High?”

Only Senga could answer that.

“A Rhythm’s power can be used without the music as long as you can reproduce the Message that transforms the ether’s Lives. But that was only understood after I had spread the Heavy Rhythms to everyone.”

“So that’s why the Kinki Riot happened…”

“It would have been too late by the time everyone was trapped by a power like the Flame High, right?” asked Iwai Senzou.

“But.” Senga sighed. “Sometimes an idiot like that shows up. An idiot who refuses to follow the same path as everyone else.”

She saw Shoui emit more flames using the Flame High.

“When faced with death, his desire to protect transformed into a desire to win and he killed Yamashita Gihei.”

“Then…?”

“He does not remember it. The shock of his own action and the cut from Yamashita Gihei left him with no memory of it.” She took a breath. “Yamashita Taeko, Shoui stopped moving after destroying your left arm because…he subconsciously remembered killing your brother in the same way. He tore off his arm with the Break High and then attacked with the Flame High. …And when nothing but ashes remained, the wind swept it all away.”

“Then your granddaughter…?” asked Iba.

“Why does the Koto Chancellor claim to be the Killing Holder!?” shouted Taeko.

“Because she wanted to! You got a problem with that!?”

Three of them fell silent after that and the fourth spoke.

It was Iba.

“So there never was a Killing Holder…!?”

“All there was was a foolish granddaughter. …A truly foolish one.” Senga smiled bitterly. “For two years, Shoui trained and came to loathe the concept of death that was subconsciously carved into him. I really thought he never would use the Flame High again…”

“And the Koto Chancellor…”

“She played the part of the Killing Holder. She really did want Shoui to return, but she said nothing.”

The two combatants continued to move on the beach below.

Shoui attacked and Souichirou received.

It tended in that direction.

Saki took a step forward as he watched them fight.

But he stopped, kicked the sand, and clicked his tongue.

“H-hey, granny! Can’t you do something!?”

“There is something.”

“What is it?”

“It’s all up to Shoui, though. If he is truly thinking about Yuuki, he will find a good way to resolve this.”

“The Koto Chancellor!?” asked Saki. “Where is she!?”

“She hurt her leg, so it’ll take time for her to climb up onto this beach!” Taeko pointed behind her. “I thought I would lend her my shoulder to help, but she insisted she was fine on her own…”

“Wait a moment.” Senga crossed her arms and looked to Shoui. “Iba! You know the Rhythm that Kuki Udai once used, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. But…”

“Kuki was a Dis-Worder just like Shoui. …Iba, can you tell me why your student Nakamura became a Harmonist and was able to use the Flame High?”

Iba did not hesitate to answer.

“Someone who has no experience with Rhythms and Techs can best use a high-speed Rhythm like the Flame High.”

“Yes, Nakamura Midori was the same.”

When Senga said that, Iwai Sanzou frowned.

He scratched his head.

“Then…he is the same?”

Senga did not nod.

“I don’t know if Shoui is. But the opposite of a Harmonist is someone who can use all Rhythms and is skilled in Techs. They can use the Rhythm that opposes the Flame High without actually using a Rhythm.”

She took a breath.”

“They are the Loudist that lives in the realm of Black Noise.”