Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 7 Chapter 3 (section)

== 3.00 Akatsuki Part 6 ==
A few days passed since he'd found the Fallen Orion near the museum.

Coming to school late, Akatsuki went to Ako's classroom around noon.

He thought she would be eating lunch by herself, but couldn't see the petite girl anywhere. He spoke to the girl group who brought their desks together near her desk.

"Say, do you know where Ako is?"

The girls all exchanged glances. "Nope," they said and shook their heads.

"I see, thanks. —Oh, right."

He was about to leave but suddenly stopped.

"Say. What does everyone in the class think about Ako?"

At this sudden question the girls glanced at him again. "What do we think…?" "Hmm?" they nodded at each, finding it hard to speak. One of them looked up at Akatsuki.

"We think she's a bit hard to approach. I was in the same class as her during our first year, but… she wasn't like this before."

"She does say strange stuff from time to time, but she's just a bit unique, I suppose. I mean, she's amusing when you talk to her.  She's nice when she doesn't have her camera."

"I know that, but… it's somewhat hard to explain. A lot of things happened the year before."

Akatsuki raised an eyebrow. Was this the "I mistook my path and got punished for it" thing that Ako had mentioned? Before he could ask Orion about that she'd become a Fallen. Even if he wanted to talk about this here, it seemed like it would be hard with these girls.

"I don't really know what happened, but I know that she's a good kid. Could you please speak with her a bit from time to time? It might be strange for me to ask you that, but I think that having nobody in class to talk to is sad. …Please!"

He knew he was meddling.

But Akatsuki thought that Ako eating lunch by herself was far too lonely. Also, she seemed a bit happy when he came. Ako always made a face like everything was fine, but at least for Akatsuki it didn't look so.

He didn't know what happened last year. But Ako seemed to regret it. It was a pity for her to always remain lonely like this.

Akatsuki would leave school before long.

So he couldn't leave her with only one friend.

"S-sure. I don't really mind, I guess…"

"Thank you!"

After he thanked her with a smile, Ako's classmates blushed in embarrassment. It was like this even at Moira High School, but he felt grateful for his charm only at such times.

"Member Akatsuki. Have you recovered?"

Ako returned to the classroom with camera in hands.

"Yeah."

He greeted her with a smile. He directed an expectant glance toward the other girls.

"Then let's get straight to the battle meeting. I also investigated quite a lot, but to keep going I definitely require an assistant—"

"Haemori-san, how about you eat with us?"

The classmate noticing Akatsuki's gaze raised her voice. Ako became speechless. Perhaps she was surprised at the sudden invitation.

"…But I need to go to a meeting with member Akatsuki…"

"Sorry, Ako! I have to go to the staff room right now. Also, from now on I might not be able to come here after lunch. I'm eating with people in my class."

"…"

"Let's do the meeting after school. C'mon, put your camera aside."

He'd already grabbed Ako's camera and pushed her back. Having lost her weapon, Ako glanced between Akatsuki and her classmates, then finally nodded.

"…Okay."

Akatsuki thanked the girls with his gaze and left the classroom.

While he took a break from school, Akatsuki had been called to the hideout of the North Central Branch and underwent questioning.

He had been asked about the mysterious phenomenon in the museum as well as the case of Orion becoming a Fallen. Apparently Orion had spoken about him making suspicious movements in her last transmission. They wondered if he was the one who turned her into a Fallen.

Another person went to check the phenomenon that switched bodies in the museum, but apparently nothing happened. Did it lose that effect, or had someone erased the evidence?

They didn't need to question Ako about this case. Since she had only been sleeping, she didn't even know she'd been involved in anything strange.

"Orion…"

Coming back to school, he reflected upon the reality of the girl Orion becoming a Fallen.

Although his suspicious were not cleared, Akatsuki was able to become free for a while. Also, Orion herself had made some suspicious movements.

If Akatsuki's testimony was correct, there was the possibility Orion had been replaced with someone. She turned the suspicions at him perhaps to try and internally confuse the SEPB.

"She was annoying to talk with, but with her not being here… it feels lonely."

What was happening in this town?

Who was hiding in it?

That still remained a mystery.

Yet the SEPB already came and confirmed the presence of an enemy.

"A life without any fighting suits me much better."

Akatsuki's mumble was swallowed by the hustle and bustle of lunch break.

In just a week of spending time with Ako, Youko and the non-combatant Orion, he was reminded of his true self.

Akatsuki hated fighting.

He couldn't get excited by fighting, and he hated hurting others as much as hated getting hurt himself. There was nothing to be gained by fighting. Only lose.

"So stupid. If you fight you lose… if you don't fight you regret your loss."

He also bore some responsibility for Orion becoming a Fallen. Turning his eyes away from the mission in this town, he ran away to the peaceful life.

''—Akatsuki-san. The situation has changed. Please return to the East Central Branch.''

It happened yesterday. While he'd been apprehended by the North Central Branch, Goroumaru Touko came to him.

Just like the North Central Branch, the East Central Branch had also misjudged the severity of the threat. Rank 2 members were precious. He was obviously important to the East Central Branch, but even North didn't want to take responsibility in the unlikely case that something happened to him. He wasn't needed anymore for this mission.

"How can I keep from not being alone?"

He'd vaguely noticed something.

He was a selfish and greedy Mushitsuki much more than anyone.

Despite being a Mushitsuki he didn't want to fight. Because he didn't want to lose even a single thing.

''—Senri-san's worried about you.''

Touko's single sentence shook Akatsuki's heart.

There was a place he was needed in more than this town. He had promised his dead friends to protect Senri.

But Akatsuki obsessed over staying in town.

If he returned to Senri now, their positions would be swapped. Akatsuki, wracked by his guilt of letting Orion get taken out, needed the safety of Senri. He was supposed to have protected her, but was protected by her instead.

Just like back then when he'd lost Tachibana Rina.

"I can't go back like this."

He didn't deserve to go back to Senri as he was.

Akatsuki remained in town not because of any orders, but out of his own will.

"Akatsuki-kun."

Someone called out to him en route to the cafeteria.

Hearing this familiar voice, he thought ''oh no''. Since he was busy with thoughts, he didn't notice her passing by.

"Youko-senpai."

Turning around, he wanted to try apologizing. But Akatsuki tilted his head.

"…Oh, sorry. I got the wrong person."

"Eh?"

Receiving a shock, the girl seemed about to cry.

She was a beauty with long hair. She was slim, about as tall as Akatsuki, and her white thighs peeked from within her short skirt. A hairpin separated her bangs so that he could see the misty eyes beneath.

"Y-you didn't get the wrong person. …Huh? Or maybe you did? Did you refer to another Youko? Right, sorry, I probably just got carried away…"

He saw her hanging her head dejectedly and then noticed. He definitely could remember that beauty mark near her mouth.

"Are you actually Youko-senpai…?"

"Yeah, I'm Youko, but which Youko-senpai are you talking—"

"Satou Youko-senpai. The Third Satou-san."

Hearing Akatsuki's words, Youko's expression sparkled. She nodded desperately.

"I just tried wearing contacts for a change… so it does look strange, huh?"

That wasn't the issue.

There was no way that the act of switching from glasses to contact lenses would also change her hairstyle and clothes along with it.

Now that he thought of it, her long hair, thin limbs and face were unchanged from the base Youko. The way she loosened up her necktie and opened up the chest of her uniform also brought Orion to mind.

"I thought I'd try changing all sorts of things while I'm at it… but I was just copying someone so maybe it's too strange…"

"Rather than strange… no, I think it looks good."

He couldn't explain what exactly was good; Akatsuki let his mouth run and say strange things due to his surprise.

Yet Youko looked happy. "R-really? Great!" she wore a relieved smile.

Usually Youko lacked a sense of presence, but that wasn't why he hadn't noticed her walking by. She simply looked so different that he thought she was another person.

"But what's up with that? Did you attempt a makeover?"

"Eh? I mean, you were the one who told me I'd look better with contact lenses—"

She blurted without thinking. Youko's face blushed and she hurriedly put a hand to her mouth.

Accordingly Akatsuki also turned bashful. He's felt this strange feeling well up inside up with Youko before, but—now he was still enchanted by her.

"N-no! It's the Demon Lord…!"

"Huh?"

Perhaps hiding her embarrassment, Youko kept rattling on.

"Ako-chan also said it, right? The Demon Lord aims for this town! So I just thought we might lose if things stayed as they were… there're also many people in the army of darkness!"

"I-is that so?"

"It is! …Umm, Akatsuki-san, where are you going? The cafeteria?"

"Oh, yes. You too, senpai?"

"I forgot my lunch box…"

Silence befell the two. Akatsuki put it aside with an "umm".

"If you'd like to, we can go together? I'm also alone today."

"S-sure."

His invitation was casual, but Youko nodded with a serious face.

While heading together to take lunch, Youko's suspicious behavior calmed down.

Getting used to each other, the conversation continued without stop. Since Akatsuki didn't speak much about himself, he only listened to Youko during the short time until they finished eating.

She told him that her father worked as a counselor. These last few years he was so busy that he barely came back home. However, she said that she wasn't really bothered by that and even went to see him herself from time to time.

They finished eating and started gathering the dishes.

"U-umm? Can I ask you something weird?"

"Sure."

"I just wondered if you have like, someone you're dating… n-not that this means anything!"

Akatsuki was taken aback and gazed back at Youko's face. His upperclassman took out the pin she'd gone through the trouble of using and hid her face within her bangs.

"Ahaha, I don't. I'm the type of guy that's hard to see as more than a friend."

"I-is that so…"

Youko raised her hair-hidden face. Akatsuki scratched his face, smiling.

"But there's someone I'd like to be dating. …N-not like it's hopeless, yes? Since we're good friends I believe it's just one step further. But now's not really the time for that, and… n-no, I'm personally ready for it anytime but… oh, by ready I mean mentally, not in any lewd sense or—"

Scratching his empty plate with his fork, Akatsuki mumbled to himself. Girls passing by looked at him, disturbed.

With her face still raised, Youko was paralyzed.

"I… see."

"Ako told me 'since you're like that, you seem to have a long road ahead of you', though. Well, that's just Ako's opinion."

He held the cutlery and rose. Yet Youko stayed seated.

"Youko-senpai?"

"I'll rest for a bit and go back to class. Don't mind me."

Having a smile pointed at him, Akatsuki's heart leaped in his chest. "R-right," he nodded and left the school cafeteria first.

It was the same even during the time she'd looked plain. Youko was meek, but she'd sometimes wear an astonishingly beautiful smile. That surprise attack of an expression made him restless.

"Akatsuki-kun."

"Wah!"

When he put his cutlery into the receiver, he turned around to see the smiling Youko standing in front of him. Although she was now pretty, the fact she had a lack of presence was unchanged.

"Could you pass something over to Ako-chan?"

"Hah. What is it?"

"Let's both do our best to defeat the Demon Lord!"

Seeing her pump her fists in high spirits, he smiled wryly.

"I'll also save you, Akatsuki-kun!"

"…Did Ako possibly tell you about me coming from a secret organization or whatever?"

"You're being deceived, Akatsuki-kun! Belonging to the army of darkness doesn't fit you at all."

While being reproached in the cafeteria, he expectedly blushed. The gazes around him hurt.

At the same time he felt there was something strange.

If he recalled correctly, Ako said that the armies of darkness or whatever were different from the organization (that she thought that) Akatsuki belonged to. Yet Youko treated them as the same.

''Are Ako and Youko-senpai talking about a different Demon Lord and army of darkness…?''

"Ahaha… thank you."

Even while being puzzled on the inside he thanked her, and they left the cafeteria behind, arriving at the stairs.

If not for this she would've been a normal, kind senpai, he sighed in his heart. No, now that she'd gone through a makeover she was more like a beautiful, kind senpai.

"But actually… Youko-senpai seems to be more infected from Ako than before. She wasn't the sort of person to talk about the Demon Lord and all that in front of people."

But perhaps it would fine for her to gain some individuality that way, he half-joked in his mind.

On the way back to his classroom, Akatsuki received emergency contact from the North Central Branch.

The member dispatched as a replacement for Orion was discovered as a Fallen. From his various wounds it was decided he had been tortured.

There was the possibility that Akatsuki's identity had been leaked to the person hiding in town. He had to be cautious—

That was the order he'd received from the North Central Branch.

The order for caution received from the SEPB also contained an advice to withdraw.

If he could quietly return to the East Central Branch it would be best. If he didn't, then whatever happened to Akatsuki, the North Central Branch would bear no responsibility, is what they said.

''I see'', he thought.

Akatsuki finally saw through the North Central Branch. Thinking about it, he heard that the North and East branches had terrible relations. He now understood why.

The North Central Branch had operated exactly the opposite of the East Central Branch.

When the East Central Branch members received difficult missions they would dispatch high-ranked members. Yet the North Central Branch did the opposite, sending low members to dangerous missions. They repeated this until their enemy was revealed. Once they finally found out their enemy, they called in the big guns.

As a matter of fact, Akatsuki had been invited by the North Central Branch during the time he'd been apprehended.

They wanted him to join the North Central Branch on the condition he'd be sent only to safe missions. If he wanted to, he could even bring Senri along with him, they said.

He was shook. Thinking about Senri, he obviously wanted her to be safe.

But knowing the situation, his anger welled up.

''Thanks but no thanks—''

The safety created by using other Mushitsuki as disposable pawns would never be accepted by the kind Senri. Perhaps if the high-ranked had been involved in the first place those sacrifices wouldn't have been needed anyway.

''—Peace is the best, meow.''

Orion said that she avoided battle in the capital and came to this peaceful town.

Perhaps she also hated unneeded sacrifices and reached here—did he think that due to his guilt of not saving her?

Anyway, Akatsuki remained in town.

Since there was the possibility that the enemy knew his identity, he had to remain vigilant and aware of his surroundings.

From now on he should prioritize acting in secret. He simply had to focus on his investigation while avoiding the school where there were many unrelated people.

So he thought.

"A message from Satou-senpai?"

Ako turned toward him just as they got off the bus in the town suburbs. She carried her digital camera and bag as always.

"Yeah. I forgot to tell you."

''This isn't the time to be playing like this—''

While he wanted to hold his head and groan, he conveyed to her what Youko had said in the cafeteria.

"She said that we should all do our best to defeat the Demon Lord."

"Yup. As the True Journalist, I am resolved to expend all of my efforts in unveiling the Demon Lord."

Above the scenery of empty fields, they could see a somewhat high hill.

Around them they could only see a bent power pole and a pump house. In the far distance they could see the merchant district at the center of town.

"Say, Ako. Are we really doing this?"

"Yup. Due to the Demon Lord's machinations, I had been unable to get any photographs in the museum. Yet my information network was able to grasp other locations of the army of darkness. No one would ever be able to stop my zeal for reporting the truth."

Ako stumbled on a pebble and nearly fell down, so he grabbed her hand.

"Machinations… Didn't you just fall asleep?"

"…"

"No, umm, of course! That was definitely a machination! The True Journalist doesn't allow herself to lose heart over such things! You're a genius, Ako!"

He hurriedly comforted Ako who was about to get depressed. She immediately felt better and nodded forcefully with a ''Yup''.

This wasn't the right time for doing this sort of thing. Yet Ako told him they had to go out and get the next materials or whatever and hadn't listened to him. He wanted to decline with the excuse of having business to take care of, but she said that "The Demon Lord creeps ever closer" and that she would go out even by herself.

But there was the museum incident. Another mysterious phenomenon might occur if she went to gather material. If Ako went there alone, then it was better for Akatsuki to go with her despite it being a bit dangerous.

He would conduct his investigation during day and night, and after school help along with Ako's wild chase.

Akatsuki decided that was what he should do while still in town.

"What kind of rumor are we checking this time?"

There was strong wind today. The grass growing on the road was flattened.

"'The Angel of the Radio Tower'."

"…Yeah, sounds suspicious like always…"

"Don't be naïve, member Akatsuki. The truth is always right besides us."

The camera's lens turned to Akatsuki. Ako wore her rare smile that appeared only about once per day.

"Can't you see it? There are countless 'truths' giving out their first cry after being born without anyone noticing them. —They are all squirming around while wanting us to find them. Therefore they leave all kinds of hints in front of us."

He didn't know what Ako had been doing these last few days, but when they headed out to get material following the museum incident, she looked like she was having fun. It was obvious from how lively her voice was.

"We're like some detectives then. So are rumors also a kind of hint?"

"I also admire the profession of a detective, obviously. However, the journalists' opponents are much more formidable than killers. Because these truths sometimes hide in people, at times hide by accident, and at times lie waiting with traps. Finding those to release is what being a true journalist is all about."

"And the Demon Lord is one of those hidden truths?"

"Like I said before, the Demon Lord is the enemy of truth. They try to warp the truth using fear and then unleash it in front of people. The truth possesses frightening power, so it is a double-edged sword. I had also been possessed and nearly went down the same road as the Demon Lord, so I know this…"

From around the road the houses were gone and gradually replaced by sand hills. On top of the hill, a large tower rising up to the sky could be seen.

"Perhaps I and the Demon Lord are two sides of the same coin; meaning, archenemies."

While filming the many trees visible from afar, Ako kept walking leisurely.

"Both of us are possessed by the truth, yet we are incompatible."

As always, he couldn't understand what the girl fused with her camera was saying.

Yet her smile was contagious to Akatsuki.

"I hope you'll beat the Demon Lord someday, Ako."

"Yup."

Perhaps he'd been infected by Ako's good mood.

At times in the school corridor.

At times in the countryside merchant district.

At times in the middle of a field.

The activities of the journalism club were proceeding smoothly today as well.

And they reached their destination today, too.

"A large wall stood in front of us, the journalism club, seekers of the truth. This place, abandoned to the ravages of time, quietly looks down at us as if to deny the existence of the foreign beings known as humans. However, saving the barred, secluded truth is our fate as true journalists—" 

"You sure are motivated about the narration. But… can we even get inside?"

After arriving, Ako readied her digital camera and shook it vigorously. Meanwhile, Akatsuki looked at the fortifications spreading ahead, leaking a large sigh.

Large power poles towering over the vast premises. There were scaffolds split to three parts installed on the silhouette of the four thick steel pipes piercing the skies.

The scaffold closest to the ground was about as tall as the school roof. A fence outlined the outer side of the scaffold, with several small antennas installed on it. If this counted as the first floor, then you could go up to the second floor, then to the third floor which had the largest antenna on it.

Next to the radio tower shaped like a triangular pyramid was another faded concrete structure. Perhaps this was the transmission room meant to control the radio tower. The transmission and electric equipment should all be inside.

The tall fence surrounding the grounds was carefully covered in barbed wire. Even the steel rakes blocking the entrance formed a rigid barricade.

"Days and months passed since it finished its duty, yet the aging equipment nonetheless lives even now. Without severing the link to the satellite until summer, it stays the same as if it could still transmit to town. The retired old soldier still ready for battle just stands there, colored by grief."

"Huh? A section of the barbed wire has been cut…"

Akatsuki discovered something the edge of the fence. He picked up some barbed wire thrown on the ground and his expression changed.

Compared to the other cut parts, it had less rust. Perhaps only a few days passed ever since it was cut.

''So someone other than us came here recently—''

Recalling the museum incident, he braced himself. Although it was just a rumor, they might be exploited by another mysterious phenomenon.

"Yup. Let's go up from here."

"W-wait, Ako! It's dangerous and it's trespassing from here on. We should stop here for today."

Putting back the digital camera in her bag, he stopped Ako from putting a hand to the fence. In the unlikely case some dangerous incident happened, he couldn't be sure he would be able to protect her.

"The Angel of the Radio Tower is a much more famous rumor than the other places."

"Huh?"

"Starting this rumor was a woman who tried killing herself by jumping from the radio tower, only to survive miraculously… the collapsed woman was found by a patrolling guard, so he called an ambulance and it became quite the event. Yet the woman was unhurt. When she was asked this by the confused officer, her testimony was 'I was saved from death by angel coming down to me, surrounded with light'."

With her hand still on the fence, Ako explained calmly.

"Our local channel heard of this rumor and it became a huge topic for a while on TV. Ever since then people tried sneaking inside here for fun.  The rumor of possibly meeting an angel remained even now."

Akatsuki's anxiousness lessened a bit.

"Oh, so those people also cut the barbed wire… no, wait. Based on the order, it should be the person who tried committing suicide. —But isn't it possible the person killing herself just lied about it? She was possibility just seeking attention."

"Yeah. In the end this theory prevailed. I mean, no angels could possibility exist and it's impossible for grievous injuries to heal in an instant." 

"But you don't think so?"

"I already told you. I don't believe anything I don't verify myself."

She looked more like a journalist when she wasn't holding a camera. If he were to actually tell her that it would probably depress her, so he definitely wouldn't, though.

Anyway, Ako wanted to enter the premises. Having no choice, he climbed the fences and pulled her from above.

"You sure have no stamina, Ako."

"How d'you know?"

He obviously couldn't tell her that it was because he'd turned into her. "I can just tell," he spoke vaguely, and they landed inside.

"Now that we have succeeded in entering this dark territory, we have to look for the vestiges of the Demon Lord."

Walking behind Ako who pulled out her camera, Akatsuki stayed vigilant of his surroundings.

There was no presence of any other person there.

The radio tower surroundings made of asphalt had some flowerbeds here and there. Was it because a simple surface would be too dreary?

One of the flowerbeds had much more flowers in it than the other ones. It caught Ako's attention at well and she stopped to focus her camera on it.

While being fanned by the wind, Akatsuki looked up the radio tower. Its paint was peeling off and it was covered in rust, yet looking up at the large spire was still overwhelming.

"Let's get up here. I'm glad I wore tights."

Ako put the camera back in her bag. ''Eh'', Akatsuki stammered.

"Get up? You mean on the tower?"

"Obviously. It's basic to go to the relevant scene when you want to verify something."

Asserting this calmly, Ako started climbing. There were stairs, but they looped around the spire and formed a very thin spiral.

"I-it's too dangerous!"

"If you're afraid of heights you can wait here."

Ako glanced down at him and hurried up, so he had no choice but to follow.

Desperately holding the thin railing, he aimed above. Every time some fierce wind hit him he feared getting thrown into the air.

"Why did that person claiming to see the angel jump from here anyway?"

"It's been a popular spot for suicide ever since it was closed. Look, there aren't any other tall buildings."

"Wah…"

He asked something he shouldn't have. He tried climbing the remaining steps while clearing his mind.

The pair reached safely the first floor's scaffold. While Akatsuki took a breather, Ako retrieved her camera and started filming again.

The second and third floor had proper stairs. Akatsuki climbed them to check if they were safe and couldn't find anything particularly dangerous.

Returning to the first floor, the pair walked around silently for a while. There were many fuse boxes installed around, but they were all covered by plastic sheets and wrapped tightly with thick ropes.

On the fences covering the scaffold were lines of small antennas. It almost looked like they stood on top of a pretty triple-layered cake.

"There's nothing strange around here."

Ako seemed focused on filming. Seeing her lean on the fence, he hurriedly got closer.

"The person who saw the angel probably jumped from here."

"Hmm…"

They both looked down to the surface in the same position. This made him dizzy.

"Something's glowing there."

"Where? Oh, that—"

A spot on the ground asphalt looked brighter than other places. Akatsuki immediately noticed the origin. Turning to look back, he pointed at a single bent antenna.

"It reflects the sun, doesn't it? The angle fits, too."

"Yup. Looks like it."

The first one to give up was Akatsuki. He distanced himself from the rails, sitting on the scaffold.

"Looks like we've hit a dead end this time."

He felt bad for Ako, but was relieved. As long as the rumor wasn't occult, the SEPB didn't have to be vigilant.

It was a pity in the sense of it not helping Akatsuki's investigation. But as long as he was together with Ako then not being in danger was perhaps the best result.

"I'd like to try check a bit more. There's something I find curious."

"Then just five more minutes. If the sun sets we'll have to get back in complete darkness."

Turning away from Ako, he widened his eyes.

Something white was falling from above her.

"AKO!"

Immediately kicking the floor, he dashed at her.

He had no time to check what the white thing was. He embraced Ako and collapsed on the floor.

"M-member Akatsuki?"

His body clashed against the floor. Grimacing, he left Ako and approached the railing immediately. The white object was still falling toward the ground.

An enemy attack…?

But when he looked down to the surface, something happened just as the white object reached the ground.

The wind blew.

Something white leapt from the ground. It once again jumped into his sight.

"An angel…?"

At some point Ako also came to the railing. She turned the camera toward the object and muttered.

Akatsuki readied himself, taking a position from where he could call out his Mushi at any time.

The white object momentarily leapt even higher than their current location.

"Ah…?"

Without thinking, Akatsuki let out a stupid sounding voice.

Next to him, Ako captured the identity of the object dancing in air with her camera.

"—A plastic sheet?"

The girl's mutter was erased by the gale.

A large plastic sheet was being fanned by the wind, dancing. They hadn't been able to see it due to the reflection of the setting sun, but now they noticed it was tied by a rope.

The rope was dangling from the second floor, connected all the way to the other side of the tower. On the other side of the sheet was a metallic board that looked like the lid of a fuse box.

"…"

The plastic sheet happily swam in air while they stood without moving a muscle.

It took several seconds for Akatsuki to understand the situation.

So this meant—

"The fuse box sheet got detached and maybe it caused the door on the other side of the radio tower to fall? It's strong enough to hold the door only on especially windy days, and then it seems like it the sheet simply comes and goes between the surface and the second floor."

Ako analyzed calmly.

Thinking about it, he recalled that the fuse box on the second floor wasn't covered by any sheet. The sheet and metal door tied by the rope that got caught on the fence had apparently hidden between two of the four pillars.

"So is this the so-called angel…?"

He instantly became dejected. Akatsuki sat down on the spot.

"So it seems."

Ako also acknowledged it.

There was a silence on the radio tower for a while.

"Kah—"

Unable to withstand it, Akatsuki let leak a voice.

"Ahahaha! This is the angel… can that really be?"

"At times truth is cruel…"

Ako looked disappointed. She was probably disappointed at her expectations being subverted. Seeing her like this, Akatsuki felt it was all much too ridiculous.

Akatsuki couldn't stop laughing while Ako was slightly despondent.

The contrastive pair was illuminated by the setting sun.

After laughing for a while, he finally turned back to Ako.

"Geniuses fail at times too. Cheer up, Ako!"

"You're half laughing at me so you're not being persuasive. …But I got some nice footage so it's fine."

Ako's profile smiled for the second time that day.

Her camera captured the large setting sun.

Akatsuki also gazed at that scene.

"Next is the 'People-Eating Deserted Hospital'. There'd definitely be the traces of the Demon Lord there."

"…So we're not done yet, huh."

Their shadows stretched on the radio tower's rusted floor.