[Mushi Uta v3 ] Chapter 3.01: Shiika Part 4

Team Shiika, Yuu, and Ubuki Vs (C)

No escape, fight!

[Erii's pic re-uploaded~]
Enjoy xD~

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Version: 1.02
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3.01

Shiika Part 4



Shiika and Yuu were running towards the construction area where many incomplete buildings could be seen.

The sound of roaring engines came from behind them.

Numerous unmanned cars came from that direction, chasing after Shiika.

“Shiika-san!”

Running up a dirt hill, Yuu turned around to look at Shiika.

The sound of the engines was approaching rapidly from behind.

“Mm…Mmm!”

Shiika ran desperately towards Yuu who had her hand out. After they jumped over the small hill together, the unmanned cars charged into the hill one by one.

“……!”

Dumping wave after wave of sand onto their heads, the cars flew over them with blinding speed. All of the cars had failed to land properly; the cars that flipped upon landing stopped moving after crashing into one another.

“Ah…!”

At the other side of the black smoke, a figure could be been approaching them.

It was Erii. There were more cars waiting behind the girl, their driver seats were all empty as well.

The cars repeatedly crashed against the hill, gradually flattening the mound out.

“Shiika-san, this way!”

Shiika and Yuu ran towards the shopping district that was still under construction.

Turning around, Erii had already crossed over the small hill.

Blue-white sparks continued to surge from the entire body of the girl with the heart-shaped patterned clothing. The sparks formed into countless butterflies, before flying off in different directions. The machines that came in contact with the butterflies, growled as their engines began to roar.

“What exactly is that (Mushi)…?!”

Shiika could not help but feel perplexed. Erii’s (Mushi) was a type that Shiika had never seen before.

A giant excavator was closing in on them from behind with blinding speed.

Just then, the ground that they were running on suddenly became paved; the path was sandwiched in between many buildings.

“If Erii can only manipulate vehicles… then she probably won’t be able to attack us anymore if we were to go into buildings!”

Yuu held Shiika’s hand, and began to run towards a certain building in front. That building seemed to be the information center of the shopping district. The two of them ran full-speed towards the emergency exit that was open.

“Shiika-san, hurry!”

Being pulled by Yuu, the two of them charged into the central building’s emergency exit.

“Ah…!”

The excavator narrowly missed them as it completely crashed into the emergency exit. Their bodies were sent flying into the dim hallway from the after-gust. The excavator that was completely stuck in the emergency exit stopped moving.

“G-Go up…!”

“Mm.”

They ran up the staircase under the illumination of the emergency lights. Due to the fact that they had been running full speed, by the time they reached the third floor, the two of them were already exhausted.

Many doors could be seen lined up right next to each other in the dim hallway.

“What exactly is that person’s ability…? How could she freely control the vehicles like that…?”

Sitting next to Yuu, Shiika whispered with a low voice. Yuu shrugged her shoulders while shaking her head:

“I don’t think it’s that simple. If she can only manipulate vehicles, then Ubuki-san shouldn’t become like that ---“

Yuu stopped talking halfway.

In the dim hallway, illumination devices began to light up one after another. At the same time, an alarm rang out loud; the rolling shutters in the third floor began to roll down one by one starting from the nearest to them— completely sealing off the doors.

“W-What…?”

Shiika was puzzled.

The sound of footsteps coming from below was gradually approaching.

Just then, Yuu shouted as if she just remembered something:

“It’s electricity! Erii can manipulate electric currents!”

Shiika and Yuu hurried to the stairway and ran up, but after only a couple of stairs, they had to stop. The stair that led to the next floor was blocked off by a pile of cement bags.

It seemed like the higher floors were still incomplete; there weren’t any interior walls or hallways at all. Aside from a few poles, the whole floor was empty.

“At that time when she was explaining what she did to Ubuki-san, she had said something about the brain’s current or something of that sort… I remember that vehicles nowadays are starting to use electricity to control…”

“So the rolling shutters before were also the same?”

“But even if we know this, there’s nothing we can ---“

Stopping halfway, Yuu widened her eyes. Shiika frowned for a moment before following the direction Yuu’s gaze was fixed at.

Through the glass walls that were located at the floor’s two opposite sides, many cranes could be seen approaching.

The cranes swung their metal wires, tossing the objects that were hanging from their hooks into the building.

“Ahhh!!”

Yuu’s screaming was canceled out by the loud sound of glass shattering.

The objects that were thrown into the building by the cranes were small-sized excavators. Although most of them crashed into the poles and fell to their sides when they were thrown in, some of them did make it through. Those remaining excavators slowly turned their claws and faced them.

Facing the small-sized excavators that were closing in on them, the two of them were stunned and dumbfounded. It was only after they got a closer look at the machinery did the two of them notice that they were shrouded in blue-white currents.

The sound of their caterpillar tracks grinding the floor surrounded them. The claws that were stained in mud swung straight down at Shiika and Yuu from above.

Shiika and Yuu closed their eyes. With a sound of “Dong”, Shiika’s body felt a vibration tackling her.

--- And then after that, the sound of metal striking the ground came from a far distance.

When Shiika reopened her eyes, the first thing that came into her view was the figure of the information center building drifting further and further away. The strong beating sound of wings that would not lose to the sound of the furious wind flowed into Shiika’s ear.

“……Ubuki!”

Ubuki was carrying Shiika in her arms, while beating her two pairs of wings. On their side, there was the figure of Yuu being clutched by her two tentacles.

“Ubuki-san!”

“Sorry to keep you waiting! Iya, onee-san was totally careless because I thought that the opponent was just a brat!~”

Ubuki said this in her usual tone as she intended to fly over the center buildings.

“……!”

However, Ubuki suddenly changed her expression. She immediately changed her direction, and began to glide downwards. An object flew past them at blinding speed as they turned; taking a closer look, it seemed like a sharp-tipped arrow.

“We’re gonna take shelter, hang on tight!”

Ubuki stuck close to the ground as she flew horizontally, before charging into one of the buildings in the shopping district.

That building was an incomplete cinema. Flying across the hallway that was decorated halfway, they entered a large audio-visual room that had half of its chairs set up.

Ubuki flew past a big screen, and landed at the corner of the room.

“If we hide here, (Konoha)-tan’s eyes and (Toramaru)-tan’s arrows shouldn’t be able to reach us… So in the end, what exactly is that kid?”

“She seemed to be from the SEPB’s Intel or Special squad...codenamed (C).”

“Ah --- So it’s that kid! I heard she just recently got changed to Hishu! If she were from the Intel squad, then I guess it makes sense that I didn’t know her. Since a no-rank member wouldn’t be able to obtain the passwords needed to open data base’s Intel. But setting the combat squad and inspector squad aside, why did the Intel squad’s (C)-tan come here as well?”

“That kid said she wanted to kill me…”

“Kill, Shiika-tan, you?”

Just then, Yuu tackle-hugged the Ubuki who was tilting her head.

“What’s wrong, Yuu-tan? Were you scared? There *pat pat*, it’s already---“

“I’m so glad that you’re safe, Ubuki-san…”

Yuu who raised her head had a face filled with tears.

Ubuki’s expression instantly became stiff.

“Thank god…If something were to happen to you, I-I…”

Ubuki gazed surprised at the sobbing Yuu for a moment, before shifting it to Shiika who was smiling at her.

Ubuki’s expression was slowly distorting.

“More-“

Averting their gaze, Ubuki moved Yuu away from her.

“More importantly, we have to come up with plans on how to deal with Erii now!”

At that instant, Shiika noticed that Ubuki was injured. The blood stain on her shoulder was gradually expanding.

“Ubuki… Are you okay?!”

“Ahh, this? I grazed by (Toramaru)-tan on our way here. It is just a scratch, don’t worry about it! This coat is pretty tough after all; it’s capable of blocking slashes, enduring high temperatures, and much more! But setting that aside for now, if we were to leave the shopping center, we will definitely get sniped by them… What should we do…?”

“We have to think of ways to deal with Erii first… She seems capable of discovering our whereabouts……”

Next to the Shiika and Ubuki that were exchanging glances, Yuu muttered lightly as she concentrated on trying to come up with countermeasures.

“How about we take our chances, and tackle Erii head on? If it goes well, we should be able to inflict some damage to her. Although she has a special type (Mushi) just like (Kasuou)-tan, she doesn’t seem have to anything that she could use to protect herself unlike (Kasuou)-tan.”

"B-But if we get too close, wouldn't she do the same to us as she did to you Ubuki, and prevent us from moving?"

“Hmm, you do have a point there. We can’t get too close to her, but we can’t do anything at all if we're too far away. Even if we wanted to escape, (Toramaru)-tan’s arrows will be waiting for us on top. Seriously, I even told her to come here alone… What a liar, that Erii…”

“…Just like (Kasuou)…”

Yuu mumbled as Ubuki crossed her hands behind her head.

“I’m seriously no good against special type Mushitsuki! Unless I have the ability like (MinMin)’s from the East Central Division that can attack (Mushi) directly, I won’t be able to do any damage at all… The only choice left probably is to attack the host herself."

“Attacking the host…”

Yuu murmured as she turned to look at the entrance of the cinema.

“(C)…is still not here. Why is she taking so long…?”

“I suppose she’s still trying to get down from that building? Since we took the shortcut and flew down from there after all.”

“I see… She’s just like (Kasuou)…!”

Shiika and Ubuki turned to look at Yuu at once.

“Erii is the same as (Kasuou)! Although their abilities are different, there exists a limit to their attack range…they must be in the center of the mist or electricity in order for them to attack. I remember seeing the charged butterflies coming out from Erii’s body first, before she could manipulate the machinery that they came in contact with…”

"Now that you mention it, it really does seem that way. The other special type Mushitsuki that I know of; every single one is like that. Although they're strong from within their attack range, when they were against distant enemies, they had to get close to the enemies personally."

“I finally understand…the reason that she didn’t wear a coat… If so, then we can use…”

Yuu who was biting her bent index finger suddenly looked up:

“U-Uhm… Although I’m not sure if this works or not---“

Yuu quickly explained to them the things that came to her mind.

Shiika and Ubuki both nodded their head as they threw in their suggestions and ideas, and began to plan their countermeasure.

“Yuu-tan you’re awesome! How did you even notice these details?”

“Y-You think it would work?---”

Just then, from the entrance of the cinema, rang the sound of violent crashing. And then after that, the sound of engine roaring came.

“It doesn’t seem like we have any more time to cook up another plan!”

“B-But…!”

The one who was objecting was none other than Yuu, who made up the whole plan.

“If we were to follow this plan, Ubuki-san you will… Please give me a bit more time; I might be able to come up a better plan than this…!”

“What are you still saying at a time like this? You’re seriously…”

“Be-Because…! Anyway, please give me more time! That way, I’m sure I will be able to come up with a—“

Shiika suddenly held onto Yuu’s hands, which caused her from continuing.

“Shiika-san…”

“Listen to me, Yuu-chan. I think that this feeling of wanting to do something on your own is very important. I’ve already told you that before right? When one truly faces the things they want to do, they can’t overcome it just by themselves…”

“B-But…”

Shiika shifted her gaze away from Yuu to Ubuki. Upon meeting her gaze, Ubuki’s shoulder trembled slightly.

“But, I think that it takes much more courage to trust others, than trying to overcome it alone.”

Yuu gasped slightly as she saw the uneasy expression Ubuki had underneath her goggles.

“Didn’t you tell us that you wanted to become stronger? Doing everything on your own isn’t what it means to be stronger!”

Shiika gazed at Yuu once again as she said so.

“…I…understand.”

Yuu nodded her head in response.

“Please, Ubuki-san! You absolutely cannot die!”

Feeling Yuu’s earnest gaze looking straight at her, Ubuki could feel her heart waver a little.

“…Isn’t that obvious? If I were to die here, all the hard work I spent on escaping till now would go to waste, wouldn’t it?”

Ubuki glanced at Shiika, and lowered her voice. Her latter tone sounded as if she was talking to herself.

“That’s right, I still have things that I need to do. That’s why I will live on…no matter what happens. Even without Yuu-tan asking me, I at least know ---“

Only Shiika, who was being embraced in Ubuki’s arms, could hear her soft murmur. The two tentacles that extended from Ubuki’s back wrapped around Yuu.

The instant Shiika felt a slight breeze blowing against her cheeks, the three of them had already flown across the big screen.

Just then, a girl shrouded in blue white currents appeared at the entrance of the audio- visual room.

“(Karasu)!”

Erii spread her arms out wide with a grim look, trying to block the approaching Ubuki.

Ubuki held tightly onto Shiika and Yuu, and made an emergency spin. The three of them glided pass by Erii, and flew into the hallway.

“I won’t let you escape!”

Small-sized construction machines began to fill the entrance of the hallway. However, Ubuki was able to see a gap among the machinery, and charged out of the hallway in one go.

Like a bullet, Ubuki shot out of the cinema before landing onto the ground.

“Well then, I’ma go on ahead! The two of you, don’t get finished off by Erii, okay?!”

“Mhm, we will be waiting for you.”

Shiika showed a smile; this caused a wavering expression to emerge onto Ubuki’s face once again.

“…I mean you guys have to lure Erii properly, don’t get me wrong!”

After saying it with a whisper, Ubuki beat her wings and flew away.

(Toramaru)’s arrow immediately came straight at the soaring Ubuki. However, Ubuki dodged it by drawing an arc with her body in the sky.

“Shiika-san! We should also get going!”

“M-Mm.”

The construction machinery army led by (C) was closing in from behind.

Shiika and Yuu began to dash further into the shopping district.

At the end of the cement-paved sidewalk, a tall tower could be seen standing. The tower’s top and base both had a hexahedral form; with a sphere sandwiched in between them; a very modernized design. The sphere was supported by a couple pillars, and was covered in glass. It’s reflection of the sunset’s rays rendered the whole tower into a burning red.

“Kya!”

“Yuu-chan!”

A high-speed truck crashed into the street lamp next to the two of them. Due to the sudden quake resulting from the crash, Yuu almost tripped. Shiika held onto her hand, and continued to run forward.

The two of them ran towards the shopping center’s entrance, gradually advancing towards a fountain plaza. Their goal was the tower situated at the other end of the plaza.

The tower’s entrance was a vast hall, but the 5 automatic doors that connected to the hall were all closed.

“W-What should we do? The doors are all closed!”

Just when Yuu was troubled about what to do, a black shadow flashed past them.

It was Ubuki. While flying in the air, she used her tentacles to grab onto a nearby bench and threw it at the automatic door.

A hole was then blasted onto the automatic door’s glass with a loud shattering sound.

“Ubuki!”

Ubuki immediately soared higher into the sky after that. But in that instant, the arrow that (Toramaru) fired graze by her neck, causing red blood to splatter across the sky. Because of this, Ubuki lost her balance.

“Ubuki-san!”

However, Ubuki somehow managed to regain consciousness and returned to her flight posture as she continuously dodged the arrows that rained down on her. Ubuki was desperately trying to fulfill her mission.

“Yuu-chan, Hurry!”

Shiika grabbed Yuu’s wrist, and dashed into the tower.

Right after they ran into the hall, the construction machines crashed into the tower. The glass wall was shattered into pieces as vehicles charged straight at the counter one after another.

“Kya!”

A bulldozer narrowly ran past them, and crashed violently into the wall before it stopped moving. If it had moved just one meter closer, the two of them would've definitely gotten run over.

“G-Go up the stairs!”

At the direction where Yuu’s finger was pointing at, was a stairway leading to the next floor. The two of them crawled through from under the bulldozer, and charged straight towards the stairway.

Even after they arrived at the stairway, the two of them didn’t have time for a break. Shiika was pulled by Yuu as they moved up the stairs.

“W-We have to hurry, Shiika-san! If not, Ubuki-san will…”

“Mm!”

“As long as we are up here, the vehicles won’t be able do anything to us… In addition, the surroundings aren’t as vast as before, so she can’t use cranes to attack… We can also get away from Erii…”

Just then, the stairway’s light bulbs suddenly lit up as the air conditioner began to operate; a slightly moist atmosphere could be felt flowing in the building.

“(C) has already entered the tower…”

“It’s okay… we should still be out of her attack range right now---“

As if it were rejecting Yuu’s inference, the sprinklers on the ceiling gave off the sound of air escaping.

“Eh?”

Large amounts of water sprayed down from the sprinklers on the ceiling.

“W-What…?”

The water that sprayed down from the sprinklers instantly turned the two of them into drowned rats. Because there weren’t anything around to take shelter, they could only let the water downpour on them as it wishes.

“Why did the sprinklers suddenly……”

“…-It can’t be!”

Yuu suddenly grabbed Shiika’s hand, and dashed to the 6th floor’s hallway. After surveying the whole floor in hurry, she finally found a spot at the corner that was not wet from the spray.

“Shiika-san, over there!”

Yuu tackle-hugged the dumbfounded Shiika, and jumped towards the only arid area.

And in the next instant,

A fierce “Biribiri” sound, akin to wet towel splashed against wall, rocked the whole tower. Blue-white lightning enveloped the whole floor that they were on.

In the nick of time, Shiika and Yuu somehow managed to escape the lighting’s fury. The action of jumping to a dry place had saved them from the danger of being electrified.

“Wha……”

“It’s Erii’s doing! By running current through water, she wants to electrify us who are out of her attack range… Just like what Ubuki-san did to defeat (Ashitaka).”

“Y-Yuu-chan…look…”

The remaining sparks that were spurting out from the flooded floor began to gather, before forming into countless mocker swallowtails.

It seemed like the attack from before had caused the wiring to short circuit. All the lights blacked out in an instant, the sprinklers were also coughing black smokes. The blue-white butterflies began to join together like a bunch of ghosts.

“W-We have to go to places where there is no water!”

Yuu held Shiika’s hand, and ran back to where the stairway was by sticking as closely to the wall as possible, trying to evade the water puddles.

“There’s only a little more. Let’s do our best, Shiika-san!”

“M-Mm!”

After running up to the middle floors, the stairway’s design had changed. The two of them followed the spiral staircase that was surrounded by an outer cylindrical glass wall and ran up.

“…W-We’re here…”

The place which the two of them had finally arrived was an observation deck surrounded by glass walls every direction; a place designed for visitors to enjoy the view.

“Ubuki…!”

At the other side of the glass wall, Ubuki could be seen flying freely in the sun setting sky, desperately dodging (Toramaru)’s fierce attacks.

“Shiika-san!”

Yuu gave a sharp warning. The elevator, that was situated at the center of the observation deck, was about to reach the floor that the two of them were on.

“Please, make it work…!”

Yuu gazed straight at the entrance of the elevator, while muttering her prayer.

The most important factor needed to make this plan work, was the timing; there wouldn’t be a second chance if they messed up.

“It’s here!”

Shiika’s whisper echoed the silence floor.

Accompanied by a weak electric sound, the elevator’s door began to slightly open up.

“…!”

However, the elevator was empty; there was no one inside there.

“Ah…!”

Just then, Yuu cried a weak gasp. Shiika, who had also turned her head around, was stunned and dumbfounded.

A girl could be seen panting heavily while shaking her shoulders, standing behind them.

It was Erii. It seemed like she had feigned to take the elevator, but actually ran up the stairways just like them. Blue-white sparks suddenly emitted from the girl’s panting body.

With a sound of “Dong”, Yuu dropped lifelessly onto the ground.

“Yuu-chan!”

“Don’t move!”

Being screamed at by Erii’s sharp voice, Shiika stopped moving.

“I have only deprived her body’s movement just like what I did to (Karasu) from before… But, if you dare to do anything suspicious, I’ll instantly destroy her brain completely!”

Erii shouted with a tone that was full of hostility, totally unlike a girl at her age would say. The currents enveloping her body were sparking restlessly.

Upon seeing Erii’s pale face, Shiika knew something was wrong. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was over using her ability? The girl’s pupils were slowly losing their luster.

“Don’t move, (Fuyuhotaru)… I’ll free you right away…”

“S-Stop it! If you’re continuing to use your ability like this, you will ---“

Even though Shiika was telling her that, Erii completely ignored her. She gradually shortened the distance between her and Shiika, while deep-breathing to stabilize her panting.

“Ugh…”

Erii sounded a weak moan as she dropped to her knees. Her consciousness was starting to become blurred.

“Are you ok---?!”

“Don’t…move…!”

Erii raised her right hand that was shrouded in currents, and stopped Shiika from getting closer to her. Even though her eyes were only half-opened, she still glared at Shiika with a look full of hatred.

“Why……”

Shiika bit her lips.

It didn’t seem like Erii was just an assassin; for some reason, she seemed to hold some resentment towards Shiika.

The act of helping Shiika back at Akamaki City also seemed to be caused by this resentment.

However, Shiika just couldn’t figure it out; what were the reasons that caused Erii to hate her this much?

“Why…did you have to go this far just to kill me? Is it because it’s SEPB’s order…?”

“It’s because…you’re…a hindrance…!”

Erii showed a furious expression, as she continued:

“The reason that I was able to put up with all of these…was because he is here! How could you cause him even more trouble than you already have?! For the past 4 years, you have been binding him, isn’t that enough already…?!”

“…H-He?...What are you talking about?”

Upon seeing Shiika locking her eyebrows, Erii clenched her teeth even harder.

“You won’t know… No one knows… Only I know…!”

The words that came out from the girl’s mouth were becoming more and more absurd.

To Mushitsuki in general, there wasn’t anything more dangerous than continuously overusing their (Mushi)’s ability. Erii seemed to have fallen into a chaotic state, and couldn’t even think straight anymore.

“Erii, stop it!”

“If it weren’t for you…!”

Blue-white butterflies suddenly appeared on Erii’s fingertip.

Just then, Shiika shouted out loud:

“Ubuki!”

Erii immediately widened her eyes as if she came to realize something, before turning her head to the side.

Through the glass wall, 2 pairs of black wings could be seen straight at her, before soaring upward slowly.

--- During the time span Shiika and Yuu were luring (C) into the tower and isolating her. It was Ubuki’s mission to provoke (Toramaru); constantly dodging his attack and distracting him, so that he couldn’t see his comrade Erii’s position.

Ubuki soared higher into the sky, and moved out of the way.

In place of Ubuki, numerous sharp arrows that were shining brightly could be seen flying straight at her direction.

“(Toramaru)…”

Erii aimed her index finger at the direction of the glass wall the instant when the arrows scattered the glass and entered the observation deck.

“This kind of attack…!”

Numerous charged mocker swallowtails appeared onto the girl’s fingertip and took flight.

The instant the high-speeding arrow came in contact with the butterflies, they were enveloped in a bright light before being blown into pieces by thunderous lightning strikes, causing a storm to rage within the observation deck.

“Haa… Haa… I don’t have much time… (Konoha) and (Toramaru)’s team should’ve found this place by now…”

After the storm had calmed down, Erii glared at Shiika once again as more blue-white sparks began to gather in front of her fingertip.

“Do you think that alone was enough to kill me? (Fuyuhotaru).”

“We’re not gonna kill you~ we just wanna teach you a good lesson!”

Just then, Ubuki’s voice suddenly came from above Erii.

“…!”

It seemed like Ubuki had snuck into the observation deck the moment the glass wall was scattered. She de-fused from her (Mushi) in the midair, and used her long coat to wrap around Erii.

“Wha…!”

“SEPB’s coat is pretty convenient! It can resist almost everything, of course, that includes electricity!”

Without giving Erii a chance to escape, a raven dragonfly descended onto the long coat wrapping around the girl. When Ubuki touched the raven dragonfly, it began to fuse as one with the long coat.

“Uh…This…kind of…!”

Although the girl struggled desperately, the long coat didn’t even budge. Within the long coat, intense sparks could be heard being emitted.

The currents surrounding Erii was blocked off by the long coat, interrupting it from connecting to the outside world. The lights in the observation deck were starting to black out.

And this, was also the sign of the victory.

“Uh…Mm! Mmm…!”

However, Erii still didn’t give up struggling; she was also biting her lips contritely. Large tears began to fall down from her eyes as she continued to resist.

Shiika and Ubuki quietly observed the girl’s resistance. Due to the injuries from (Toramaru)’s attacks, numerous bloodstains could be seen on Ubuki’s sweater.

“…Why…?”

Shiika kneeled down next to Erii as she asked that. The girl stopped her struggling, and stared at Shiika with her tearful eyes.

“Why do you hate me this much?...Who is “he” that you’re talking about…?”

Erii was still putting up a hostile expression, refusing to answer. She seemed to be relying on her will to barely sustain her consciousness; it felt as if she was going to collapse very soon.

Suddenly, Erii shifted her eyes that seemed as if they were about to close to look at Shiika. On the girl’s face, new tears appeared.

“(Fuyuhotaru)… I beg you… go back to SEPB…”

Shiika bit her lips tightly.

“If you were to leave…then he would no longer…have a reason to stay in SEPB… Please, I beg you… don’t deprive him from us… He is our…we Mushitsuki’s only…”

“……”

Shiika could only watch Erii slowly close her eyes, unable to give any response in time.

Ubuki took the long coat off the Erii who had finally lost her consciousness, and put it onto herself.

"She over-used her ability a bit too much; I don't think she will able to move for a short period of time. Well, we should consider ourselves lucky that we didn't have to go through the pinch of her maturation right? Hehe."

After a while, Yuu regained her consciousness and woke up.

“Yuu-chan, are you okay?”

Shiika helped Yuu to stand up.

Yuu took a look at her surroundings with a dreamily look, and became still from trying to remember what had just happened. Yet the instant she saw Ubuki’s figure, she immediately showed a joyful smile.

“Ubuki-san! You were okay! Thank god!”

Upon seeing Yuu cry from being overjoyed, although Ubuki was still perplexed, her expression began to gradually soften.

“It’s because the plan that Yuu-tan came up had successfully worked! Onee-san was thinking if I should pat your head, and give you a hug to praise you?---. But the Yuu-tan now covered in sand and water is so dirty, so let’s forget about that.”

“I-I’m not dirty at all!”

“Hehe.”

“Ah…Where’s Erii? What happened to her?”

“She’s over there sleeping!”

Upon seeing the unconscious Erii on the floor, Yuu screamed “Kya!” as she jumped back three steps.

“It’s fine now. Everything went the way we had planned.”

“…Eh?”

“And it’s all because of Yuu-chan’s hard work, thank you.”

After Shiika said that line with a smile, Yuu finally showed an expression of relief.

“Oh, that’s right. (C) had also said this, we don’t have much time left! (Konoha)-tan and (Toramaru)-tan’s team will be here along with other squads very soon, we have get out of here as soon as possible. During this time, as long as we don’t fly, I think we should be able to get away by moving behind the buildings.”

“Eh? L-Let’s get going then!”

“What’s wrong, Shiika-tan?”

Ubuki and Yuu turned around to look at the Shiika who had been gazing at them in silence for a while.

“We…made it through!”

Shiika showed a bright smile.

Ubuki and Yuu exchanged glances at each other before shouting:

“Yeah!”

“Of course, isn’t that obvious?”

The three of them smiled at each other.

Higano City’s night, was just beginning to fall.



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Thank you for reading~
Feel free to leave comments for any questions or feedback~

And so, it's their victory ! ^ ^ Yeahh~

PS: The reason why these chapters came out so fast together is because these were translated during my break, and it's just that editors caught up with me. I'll try to get the next chapter out by Valentine's day. Still trying to get use to school you know >.>

With that done, here's a daww picture of the C-chan,

By: 椎名樹