Editing City Series:Volume4b Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 4===

'''6:23 PM

The sun had set and night had been around for some time.

There was no moon in the sky and the stars alone were beginning to twinkle.

There was one sort of place far more suited to seeing that starlight than the city.

Those were large, unlit places.

The fields of Takatsuki on the northern end of Osaka Plain were perfect for stargazing.

That vast unlit land had a slight slope and the starry sky was reflected in the distant Yodo River.

The only thing to obstruct the view of the sky was the long elevated railway that passed by overhead.

That railway was used by bullet trains.

It was the same railway from which a bullet train had derailed the night before.

Two people were currently below that railway.

One was a boy and the other a girl.

The boy was somewhat short. The girl was tall and had a giant prosthetic in the place of a left arm.

They were Tokyo Chancellor Nakamura Hisahide and Nagoya Chancellor Yamashita Taeko.

Taeko leaned against one of the railway’s supports while Nakamura crouched down on one knee.

They were surrounded by darkness.

They could see the city lights far in the distance at the bottom of the vast slope.

Other than the somewhat bright sky there, they only had the starlight for illumination.

Taeko suddenly spoke.

“If ya can’t find it, maybe a Buster destroyed it along with the train.”

She received no response.

Only a gentle wind blew through.

None of the train cars remained from the night before.

The Houzenji Group’s special forces had likely Busted them that night. Only shards of glass and small metal components were scattered around.

Taeko sniffed quietly.

“So ya can only find glass and screws lyin’ around, huh?”

“Shut up.”

Nakamura finally spoke.

It was a deep and exhausted voice.

It was also full of menace.

But Taeko was not afraid.

“If ya can’t find that girl’s ring, are ya actually gonna beat up everyone from Osaka like ya said ya would?”

His answer came after a short pause.

“What other choice do I have?”

“?”

“She was the one that knew how I could become king…but there’s nothing left of her now. Not even a memento.”

“Ya can’t make yer triumphant return to Nagoya without the girl who was supposed to be yer queen?”

Nakamura did not answer.

He said nothing as he crouched in the darkness.

Taeko sighed.

“I can’t believe this.” She smiled bitterly. “Yer prophecy belonged to both of ya, didn’t it?”

She stood up from the bridge support and stood next to Nakamura.

“Ya wanted to us her prophecy to become king so ya could make her queen, didn’t ya?”

“…I wanted to show her the truth about herself.”

“And what was that?”

“That she could be more than just a Fast Reader.”

She answered him after a short pause and with some sadness in her voice.

“So ya would’ve become her possibility?”

It was too dark to tell whether or not he nodded.

But he did stand up.

And he turned to look toward Osaka.

“It’s time I became king,” he said.

“Is there any reason for that?” asked Taeko. “It’d be a lot easier to return to Nagoya.”

“When the result is a foregone conclusion, a battle’s possibilities are meaningless.”

“So ya want to choose the more difficult one?”

He did not answer and silently started walking.

Taeko followed him.

After a few steps, Nakamura asked her something.

“Why are you following me?”

“I’m not followin’ ya. But if yer goin’ to Osaka, then that’s where the action’s gonna be. And…” She took a breath. “There’s somethin’ I wanna try in the center of that action.”

She smiled bitterly.

And at that moment, Nakamura came to a sudden stop in front of her.

“…?”

Taeko also stopped.

–''Taeko – Sight Tech – Take – Night Vision – Hit.

She saw why Nakamura had stopped.

A man stood about ten meters in front of them.

The silhouette in the pale starlight was that of a short man in a monk’s outfit.

It was Iba.

He stood alone on the ground and looked to the other two.

“Where do you think you are going?”

Nakamura answered him in an awfully calm voice.

“To Osaka. To become king.”

But that proposal was instantly rejected.

“Go to Nagoya. We must avoid unnecessary conflict.”

“…”

Nakamura answered Iba with silence.

After a while, Iba spoke once more.

“What is this? Do you intend to defy the prophecy? That is the prophecy that will make you king.”

“If I had my queen, you mean.”

“What?”

Nakamura decisively answered Iba’s question.

“The prophecy was wrong and my queen is dead. …I refuse to rely on it any longer.”

“…Do you intend to become king using only your own power?”

“I have my sister’s Flame High. …You wanted me to use that power to become king, didn’t you?”

“I said nothing about killing for no-…”

Iba stopped midsentence and shook his head.

He lowered his hips and slowly raised his arms.

He was prepared to attack.

“Have you lost your way?”

“There is only one way forward: becoming king.”

“Then why are you fighting to achieve that?”

“To show them my possibility. To show them I can become king without relying on the prophecy.”

“Show them? Show who?”

Nakamura did not answer.

He placed one foot forward and the other back as he prepared to fight.

Taeko quickly stood behind Nakamura.

“Wh-what are ya doin’ all of a sudden?”

“Get lost. Unless you want to die.”

“Once I defeat this boy, you are next.”

Taeko was conflicted.

What was she supposed to do?

Nakamura gave her the answer.

“Go and do whatever it is you want to do!”

She nodded at that.

And then she lowered her hips and raised the Dragon Emperor.

Nakamura frowned.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m doin’ what it is I wanna do.”

Taeko said that with a slight smile and then shouted to Iba.

“My brother was more or less killed for the convenience of the adults too!!”

“Fear not. I will not kill him.”

With that, Iba took action.

Nakamura followed suit after a click of the tongue.

As did Taeko.