Editing City Series:Volume4a Chapter 10 (section)

===Part 4===

'''2:51 PM

There was nothing there.

“!?”

Shoui looked forward as his Break High fist thrust out into empty air.

“…It vanished?”

His vision tried to answer his question.

The boy named Ikemaru stood in the distance.

The girl named Aoi stood in front of him with her hexagonal rod still held against the ground.

At the midpoint between Aoi and Shoui, Taeko had fallen onto her butt and was looking toward Shoui.

The ground had been torn up almost all the way to him.

However, someone stood right in front of him.

A short man dressed like a Buddhist monk faced away from him.

The air around the man was still vibrating, but Kusanagi’s power was gone.

The mass of power that had raced along the street while destroying it had utterly vanished in front of Shoui, just like when Aoi had deflected Taeko’s electric attack.

The Fourth Alarm was still sounding and had begun to rule the surrounding atmosphere.

Shoui gasped for breath and heard the man in front of him speaking.

“Enough meaningless fighting. I managed to deflect Kusanagi, but what would have happened if I had not been here?”

“Iba…”

The man took a step toward Aoi’s quiet voice.

Then he looked around the area and looked Shoui straight in the eye.

“That was a reckless decision,” he said. “But it was also a brave one.”

Shoui could not reply.

He did not know what had happened, so his body still contained extreme tension.

But the man paid him no more heed and looked to Aoi and Ikemaru instead.

“A moment ago, Nagoya’s Student Council announced their unconditional surrender to Tokyo.”

“!?”

“Nagoya Chancellor. No matter what you might say, Nagoya now belongs to Tokyo.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Got any proof of that!?”

“If you do not believe me, would you prefer to keep fighting?”

When Aoi heard the man’s arrogant words, she quickly raised her hexagonal rod again.

Taeko clicked her tongue and looked to Shoui.

“I can’t believe this.”

She looked behind him, so he looked back as well.

“?”

The great beast the Dog God had become was no longer there.

He only saw Takada sitting on the road and crying with Taromaru on her shoulder.

Her cries filled his ears more than the siren of the Fourth Alarm.

“I can’t believe this,” said Shoui as well.

At the same time, he heard a metallic sound.

He turned toward it and saw Taeko standing up and wiping the dust from her coat.

“Boss?”

“After talkin’ with Saki Seiji earlier, I had a feelin’ this would happen.”

She shrugged and looked to the Buddhist monk.

“Are ya sayin’ this is the only way for Nagoya to survive?”

“At the very least, your hometown has decided so.”

“Then it can’t be helped.”

She sighed and walked over to Shoui. Aoi kept her weapon at the ready, but…

“I won’t do anythin’,” said Taeko as she came to a stop in front of Shoui.

Her expression contained both exasperation and exhaustion.

“I can’t believe this, Shoui. …Are ya tremblin’?”

“Y-yes. I did try to do something pretty reckless.”

“Hm. That’s convenient.”

“Eh? Wh-what’s convenient?”

“Well, I ended up sidin’ with Osaka because ya were here.”

“Is that so?”

“And now Nagoya has gone over to Tokyo’s side.”

“Yes, so it seems.”

“That gives me contradictory feelings. Do I keep havin’ fun with ya or do I protect Nagoya?”

“Yes, I understand how you must feel.”

“Sorry.”

“Eh?”

—''Taeko – Boxing/Steel Tech – Multi-Take – Strike – Hit!

Without giving him a chance to dodge, the Dragon Emperor’s fist punched Shoui.

Even through his bandanna, a hit to the back of the head was effective.

“Okay. I’ll be joinin’ you along with this guy.”

The Dog God expressed Shoui’s thoughts in response to Taeko’s selfish words.

“I’m passing out again?”

That was exactly what happened.

But in so doing, Nagoya had fully surrendered to Tokyo.

The power balance of Japan’s students was greatly changing.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[City_Series:Volume4a_Chapter_9|Chapter 9]]
| Return to [[City_Series|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[City_Series:Volume4a_Chapter_11|Chapter 11]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>