Editing City Series:Volume4b Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 8===

'''8:08 PM

After it was all over, it took several minutes before Shoui regained clarity of mind.

“…”

The color of the scene returned to his eyes.

He saw the winter night sky.

He had seen that vast sky a few times already today.

If that night sky lay before his eyes, he had to be on his back.

The ground below him was made of dirt.

With the thin frost of the winter earth, the ground was cold.

It was not an appropriate place to sleep.

He tried to get up, but his body would not move.

–''Shoui – Medical Tech – Take – Determine Wounds – Hit.

He had hit his back hard on something when the train car had overturned.

He felt numb and his head felt heavy.

He gathered air in his gut and held his breath.

–''Shoui – Mind/Gym Tech – Take – Focus – Hit.

He shot to his feet.

When he lifted his hips, a dull pain ran through the core of his body.

–''Shoui – Mind/Medical Tech – Take – Ignore Pain – Hit.

:–''Shoui – Gym Tech – Take – Control Stance – Hit.

He almost collapsed, so he put his left leg back to support himself.

He felt a blow to the back of his head.

“Ow!”

He quickly turned around to see what unexpected obstacle he had struck.

He saw the train car that had been split by the icicle and rolled upside down.

He could see inside through the slice.

Several of the seats had come undone and fallen from the floor which was now on top, so it looked like a bizarre work of art.

The walls had grown distorted and all of the glass was gone from the windows.

It had clearly hit something hard.

“…”

Shoui silently rested his elbow on the ceiling which was now the floor.

When he did, the Dog God climbed down his arm and onto the ceiling.

The small foxlike spirit beast had apparently not followed Takada into death.

…''Is that because it followed me of its own free will?

It had been born of her Live, but it was now just an animal.

Her will was nowhere to be found.

He sighed at that thought.

…''I can’t believe this.

He tried to speak the words, but only a scratchy breath escaped.

His throat was still refusing to produce words.

He had once more faced the opponent who had injured his throat, but it had resolved nothing. It had only deepened his feeling of defeat.

He smiled bitterly.

The Dog God glanced up at him and ran further inside the train car.

He watched its back and swaying tail and then looked up to the floor that was now the ceiling.

There was nothing there expect for the occasional seat.

The part of the car containing Takada’s ashes had continued on to Nagoya.

Shoui had nothing.

Once he became aware of that, a thought came to him.

…''So my indecision expanded our possibilities in a negative direction.

When he should have protected Yuuki and stopped them, he had given into his doubts and done nothing.

So…

…''You might be able to say I killed Takada-san.

“…”

He looked back behind him.

He saw the night sky and the ground there.

A few long line-like objects had fallen onto the dark expanse of Osaka Plain.

They were the other cars.

Shoui looked around.

–''Shoui – Sight Tech – Take – Search – Hit.

The Sight Tech told him the person he was searching for was not there.

…''There is nobody, hm?

Yuuki was nowhere to be found.

He was certain she was not dead.

He knew very well she was not the type to make a suicide attack.

She had likely been the one to remove him from the car and place him on the ground.

But she was gone.

He did not know if she had gone after the enemy or to inform someone of the crash.

The one thing he knew for sure was her absence by his side.

That girl had said she did not need him, had forgotten the promise from three years before, and had controlled the battle.

She had been the first to react when Taeko had charged in.

…''The Killing Holder, hm?

As he thought that, he heard a quiet sound by his right side.

…''?

He looked down and saw the Dog God looking up at him from the edge of the ceiling.

Something glittered at the Dog God’s feet.

It was a gold ring.

It was the one Takada had worn.

…''Is this…?

As he picked it up, the Dog God stared at him and suddenly hopped to the ground.

“!?”

He reached out on reflex, but it ran a few meters away.

It then stopped and looked up at Shoui.

Shoui remained silent.

But the Dog God gave a small metallic cry.

It was saying goodbye.

The Dog God turned its back and ran off into the dry grass.

Its tail swished above the waves of grass a few times before vanishing.

The rustling as the small animal parted the grass quickly moved off into the distance.

Instead of pursuing, Shoui squeezed Takada’s ring in his left hand.

“…”

He said nothing, said nothing, got up from the train wreckage, and began to walk.

His body ached, but he walked regardless.

The field was deserted.

The sky was vast, dark, and empty except for the stars.

Shoui was alone.

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