Chapter 29

Her voice gradually lowered as she spoke, ending in a quiet murmur. Minoru, unable to respond, sat in silence, and she shot him another look. “Utsugi, you saw Komura in the flesh, right?” “Y…yeah.” “Then, did she tell you what color your sight line was?” “Yes…it was colorless, apparently. Su… Komura said it was ‘the color of apathy.’” “Apathy, huh…? You’re consistent, at least.” Brushing away a black strand of hair that had fallen over her cheek, Yumiko gave a faint, bitter chuckle. “She finally showed herself to me, too, about a month ago. I think you and I might be the only ones who have seen her face aside from Chief Himi and Professor Riri. However…Komura wouldn’t tell me what color my sight line was.” “Ah…” “I’d imagine it was a color she didn’t want to talk about…but I can hazard a guess. My sight line toward her was probably purple…the color of jealousy.” “Jealousy…?” “That’s right. I am jealous of Komura. But…that started way before I had ever even seen that outrageously pretty appearance of hers.” Yumiko sighed, her eyes wandering toward the window in the south side of the room. Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve, and so at this point in the late afternoon, the sun was already tumbling down toward the horizon, dyeing the light that streamed through the window a deep orange. Looking at Yumiko’s face as the sunlight illuminated it with golden edges, Minoru couldn’t help thinking that she was perfectly beautiful herself. Then, realizing this line of thinking was just comparing Yumiko and Suu, he quickly looked away. Yumiko glanced at him and continued her explanation in a low, quiet voice. “The SFD began its activities about a month after the Third Eyes came to Earth… In other words, we started about two months ago, with only Sanae, DD, the Professor, and myself. Olivier joined shortly after, and then after that came the Komura siblings.” Looking again at Minoru, who was listening attentively, Yumiko traced numbers in the air with her finger. “Sanae and I paired up and brought down seven Ruby Eyes together. But Suu has secured at least as many as that all on her own. She can serve as both backup and offense…the strongest Jet Eye in the SFD.” “The…the strongest?!” Minoru repeated, his memories of Suu Komura flashing through his mind’s eye. Sitting in the car after she revealed herself for the first time, averting her eyes as if she was afraid of him. At his dining table, spreading rice and garnishes onto a piece of seaweed in her left hand with a look of intense concentration. And in his bedroom, sitting face-to-face, quietly explaining about sight lines. Suu Komura, the middle school girl who always looked as if she could vanish into the air at any second—and had the power to literally do so… Yumiko was saying that this girl was the strongest fighter in the SFD? “Your face says you don’t believe me,” Yumiko said, a thin smile on the edges of her lips. “But if you think about it a little, it makes sense. When she uses her powers almost to their fullest, all you can see are two tiny black pupils. And her detection radius is only about one meter. Which means unless they’re surrounded by something like water or mud, or they have some kind of strong sensor that doesn’t rely on sight, an opponent won’t notice her until she’s at point-blank range.” “…And from that range…” “That’s right. Whether she uses a Taser, an anesthetic injection, or, of course, a gun, she’s sure to hit her target.” As she fell silent for a moment, Yumiko’s smile shifted into one of self-deprecation. “The only reason the Professor put me into the battle last week against Igniter instead of Komura was that it was taking place at a pool… That, or she was just humoring my grudge against Igniter. Although, in the end, all I really did was nearly die and get rescued by you, huh?” “What?” Minoru shook his head earnestly. “No…that’s not true. My power is useless on its own for anything but defense. If you weren’t there with your acceleration, we never would have beaten Igniter.” Yumiko looked at Minoru keenly, a serious look suddenly coming into her eyes. “…I’ll be honest. Ever since we combined my ability with your protective shell and defeated Igniter in one blow, I’ve been thinking…if we could use that incredible power at any given time, I’d be able to win against Komura.” “Ah…” “The mission at the Tokyo Bay Nuclear Power Plant just proved that your shell is invincible against any attack. In which case, it wouldn’t matter whether the enemy detects us or not. We could neutralize any Ruby Eye just by charging in and body slamming them. For that matter, if we can confirm where the Syndicate’s base is, you and I could march right in and take them all out.” The Syndicate… That’s a group of Ruby Eyes, right? But Minoru was too distracted by the intensity of Yumiko’s words to focus on that question. Taken aback by her fervor, Minoru responded instinctively. “W…win against Komura? Is there really any point in competing against another SFD member…?” For a moment, he thought he saw a sharp flash in Yumiko’s eyes. However, it quickly disappeared, her shoulders sagging as the rueful smile returned to her face. “…You’re right. Our goal is to neutralize Ruby Eyes and protect people from becoming their victims. It doesn’t matter which of us individually has the most victories.” “R-right…” “Yes. It’s absolutely right, beyond a shadow of a doubt. But you know, Utsugi…the only reason you can say that so easily is that you don’t yet know how it feels to truly hate them.” Though Yumiko’s voice was quiet, Minoru could sense an intense fire behind her words. “Hate…?” “Yes. If they ever take away someone you care about, give you a personal reason to truly despise them…I’m sure you’ll understand then.” Minoru glanced toward the southern wall of the room, thinking of Sanae, the Shooter, asleep in the living room on the other side. “But…,” he murmured. “You’ve already beaten Igniter. The Ruby Eye who put Sanae into a coma…his powers and memories were taken away, and he’s back to being an ordinary person. Doesn’t that mean your revenge is over?” “So I should retire from the front lines, is that it? Are you saying I should just settle for being a backup and let Olivier and Komura and the others handle the real battles?” “Wh… No, of course not…” “You know…” Yumiko’s eyes glittered as she stared Minoru down, speaking almost in a whisper. “On its own, my power isn’t all that useful in battle. Sure, I can use my acceleration to get close to an enemy regardless of their speed or distance, but since I can’t become invisible like Komura, they usually see me long before I’m within range to use a weapon against them. That means I can’t do anything against Ruby Eyes who use long-distance attacks or transform their bodies. You’ve seen that firsthand—I couldn’t win against Biter one-on-one… Without Sanae’s shooting to back me up, I’m as good as useless.” But…that’s not true! Minoru wanted to cry out. Yumiko’s acceleration ability was plenty frightening on its own. With her ultrahigh speed, it would be difficult to pinpoint her even in close-quarters combat. She could use her ability on a knife for a powerful attack or extend it into her beloved motorcycle to make it move at over 483 kilometers per hour, jumping over dozens of meters with ease. How could someone with those abilities ever be useless? But as if she were reading his thoughts, Yumiko shook her head lightly. “Sure, I can speed up my motorcycle, but I have to have a motorcycle handy to use that ability…I’m so dependent. On Sanae, on my bike…and now I’m trying to lean on you, too. “…I bet the only reason Sanae’s Third Eye is hanging on and keeping her alive and breathing is that she’s worried about me. She’s probably trying to stay by my side because she knows I can’t fight on my own… I have to prove myself. I have to show her that I can get by without her now… But now I’m just trying to use you to do that. I…I’m so…” Silently, fresh streams of tears formed on Yumiko’s cheeks. Burying her face in the stuffed animal on her knees, Accelerator began to sob quietly. Her antagonism toward Suu Komura. Her intense hatred of the Ruby Eyes. Finally, Minoru understood that the state of her partner, Sanae Ikoma the Shooter, was at the heart of all these emotions. When she had first brought Minoru into room 404, she said that she and Sanae had been the ultimate combination of offense and backup. However, Igniter’s oxygen deprivation attack had fractured one of their wings. Ever since, Sanae had been in a vegetative state, continuing to breathe only because of the Third Eye in her body. Yumiko believed that this was because of her own weakness. What’s more, she believed that Sanae remained in this state somewhere between life and death because Yumiko couldn’t fight alone to her own satisfaction, lagging behind Suu Komura in her ability to succeed in battle. And now she was tormenting herself with the belief that she had to defeat a multitude of Ruby Eyes on her own in order to resolve Sanae’s worries. Of course, Minoru had no way of knowing the cause of Sanae’s comatose state. Yumiko’s guess could even be correct, though it could just as easily be wrong. But it pained him to see Yumiko feeling that way—to see her crying like this in front of him. She’s hurting, he realized somewhere deep in his mind. I’m not the only one in pain. Yumiko… No, Suu, Olivier, and the Professor, too…all of them carry the pain of their own wounds. All of us. This concept was incredibly foreign to Minoru. For as long as he could remember, he had seen other people only as potential threats who held the ability to hurt him. But maybe he had been wrong. Maybe everyone carried a fragile heart inside a protective shell, sometimes colliding and hurting one another. At the very least, he knew that he had caused the tears that Yumiko was now crying in front of his eyes. And in that way… This person isn’t a stranger. The feeling rose up in his heart out of nowhere, then faded as quickly as it came. Minoru held his breath, trying to hold on to the lingering traces of that feeling. This is it. This was what he’d felt in his heart the time he protected Yumiko from the explosion or when he and Suu attempted the experiment in his room. It was quiet and invisible, yet seemed to contain within it some strong desire. “Yumiko…,” Minoru said quietly. The crying girl’s shoulders twitched, and her weeping abated slightly. “I think…if we tried right now…” Yumiko raised her head slightly, her cheeks wet with tears, and Minoru looked steadily into her eyes. But before he could continue, the sound of a buzzer blared sharply through the speaker in the wall. Then it was quickly followed by DD’s voice, which sounded full of tension. “This is DD. Oli and I were just out patrolling the city, and we detected a Ruby Eye scent on Kasuga Street!” “Is it Trancer?!” “N-no. I’ve sensed this Ruby Eye only once before… I think it’s her. Liquidizer…” “What?!” The Professor’s voice cut in over DD’s, sounding strained. “Be careful—don’t get any closer to her! Just keep plenty of distance between you and follow her scent. Don’t let her notice you! Yukko, Mikkun…and Hinako, please come to the fifth floor at once!” “How is your wound doing, boy?” In response, Trancer gave a strained smile. “Please refrain from calling me that. We’re not master and apprentice anymore, you know.” “Oh? But you must still be a novice to have gotten such a deep wound, ah…Mikawa.” A sarcastic smile painted on her red lips, Mikawa’s visitor—the executive of the Syndicate, Liquidizer—paused a moment before calling him by his name. However, the smile was quickly replaced with a frown. “Goodness, though, why did you choose such a flashy name?” “Flashy? That’s harsh. Mi as in ‘three’ and kawa as in ‘river’; it’s a reference to the River of Three Crossings, which the dead cross to get to the afterlife. Haven’t you heard the phrase ‘raindrops fall from the Sanzu River’?” “Hmm… No. What is that supposed to mean?” “It means that as soon as you take a single step outside, you never know what dangers await you.” “I see. Well, you’ve certainly demonstrated that with this little incident.” With another cynical smile, Liquidizer tossed one of the two paper bags she was carrying onto Mikawa’s bed. A bundle of gauze, a roll of bandages, and a small bottle of ointment rolled out onto the blankets. Returning the sarcastic smile, Mikawa picked up the items and looked down at his own body. Bloodstained bandages were wrapped tightly around his bare chest. That was the spot where Divider had opened up three of his ribs two days ago. Fortunately, his lung hadn’t been torn, but it was still an unquestionably serious wound; even two days later, his chest still ached with every breath he took. Unwinding the bandages with his left hand, Mikawa glanced at Liquidizer. “…This is going to be pretty tough to replace all by myself.” “I’d imagine so.” “…I’d certainly be very grateful if you helped me with it.” “I don’t wanna. It’d be a pain.” Having expected that response, Mikawa smirked again. He couldn’t really complain. After all, when he had come crawling pathetically back to the hideout from Aoyama Cemetery, the enigmatic woman before him had treated his wounds, even using her liquefaction ability and medical adhesive to temporarily repair his broken ribs. Crumpling up the used bandages and tossing them into the trash, Mikawa peeled the clinging gauze away from the wound, causing fresh blood to ooze forth. However, the wound had already healed considerably in just two days. This was probably thanks to his Third Eye enhancing his body’s healing abilities, but the admirable precision of the cut he’d received from Divider’s ridiculous sword probably helped, too. Mikawa slathered antibiotic salve onto the wound, applied the gauze, and began with some difficulty to attempt wrapping the bandages. Then, Liquidizer shot him a bewitching smile. “Oh yes…but I suppose if you’ll do me one small favor, I could be persuaded to help you.” Without waiting for a response, she strolled over to the kitchen in the corner of the drab room and produced a mineral-water bottle from the fridge. Taking a crystal glass from the cabinet nearby, she poured the water into it. “If you would be so kind.” Mikawa looked at the glass and shrugged slightly. Pushing down the pain as he sucked in air, he puckered his lips and blew a light, thin breath toward it. There was no apparent change to the water inside, but a distinctive kshhh resounded in the air. “…Done.” At Mikawa’s words, Liquidizer tilted the glass in her left hand over the sink. The water flowed out in a thin stream, and she skillfully flicked the glass upright before the rest of its contents could be emptied. What remained at the bottom was a handful of perfectly round, transparent spheres about five centimeters in diameter. Mikawa had frozen them into ice. Using one’s abilities carelessly ran a risk of attracting the attention of the black ones, but the handful of safe houses they had in the metropolitan area were exempt from that rule. Liquidizer looked satisfied as she held the glass up to the light, watching it play over the spheres of ice for a moment. Then, she reached back into the cupboard, this time producing a bottle of Scotch whiskey, and poured the amber liquid over the ice in the glass. Leaving the kitchen, she sat in the single chair in the room, crossing her long legs. Mikawa forgot the pain of his wound for a moment as he watched his former master. It was impossible to guess her age. With the dark eye shadow she wore and her red-stained lips, and the proportions of her body that was at least 173 centimeters, one might guess that she was in her late twenties, but her carefully controlled words and mannerisms suggested the maturity of someone slightly older. With her light brown hair done up in a bun, Liquidizer wore her usual suit jacket and tight skirt that were undoubtedly from a high-class brand. Apparently heedless of Mikawa’s gaze, she looked thoughtfully into her glass for a while, then finally brought it to her lips and took a long swig, swallowing the dark liquid down her slim throat. Then she gave a long, contented sigh. “Delicious. Really, nothing else compares to the ice you make for me, boy. Maybe the shape of the spheres prevents bubbles from forming?” “I wouldn’t know the first thing about what makes alcohol good or not,” Mikawa answered with a shrug, turning his back toward her. “More importantly, you’ll help me out now, right?” “Don’t be such a wet blanket. This is thirty-year-old Dalmore Scotch, you know.” Liquidizer huffed, but as promised, she walked over to the bed and began to wrap his bandages around for him. Each time her soft, cold fingertips touched his bare skin, a shiver went up Trancer’s spine. But it wasn’t a shiver of desire by any means. It was his instincts—or perhaps his Third Eye—warning him how dangerous she was. Hypothetically, if I had to fight Liquidizer right now, how would I do it? The thought came to him unbidden as he lay with his back exposed to her. Mikawa’s weapon of choice, water, was readily available in the form of the plastic bottles of mineral water that sat in cardboard boxes in the corner of the kitchen. First, he would convert all of it to steam and disperse it through the room. Then, if he froze the vapor that was touching her, he could encase her in a solid shell of ice… He had thought it through only this far before Liquidizer reached the end of the roll of bandages, tucking it in lightly at the center of his chest. Then, with one smooth stroke, the end of the bandage vanished, perfectly fused into the bandages below at a molecular level by her liquefaction ability. “There, all done.” As she pulled away, Mikawa watched her retreating back with a grim smile. I would lose. At this range, she would surely manage to lay a hand on him before he could finish sealing her into a block of ice. In that instant, Mikawa’s body would be liquefied, a level of damage that would make Divider’s near-fatal cut seem like a scratch in comparison. What was truly frightening about Liquidizer’s ability was that it worked on everything—even the human body. Although Mikawa’s ability was manipulating the phases of water, he couldn’t use it on the liquid content inside a human body, since that did not exist as its own separate entity. He had to be able to recognize the individual water molecules in order to be able to influence them. By the same token, he couldn’t use the moisture in soil or anything along those lines. Most likely, these same restrictions had applied to Igniter’s manipulation of oxygen as well, since he hadn’t been able to use the dissolved oxygen that exists in people’s blood. But Liquidizer was different. With a single touch, she could liquefy any solid object, whether the target was inanimate or a living thing. In other words, she could turn any part of a human body into protein soup just by touching it. If it was an arm or a leg that she touched, the target might be able to survive, but if she were able to melt even part of their head or torso, it would mean instant death. Thus, in order to stand a chance in battle against her, one would have to maintain a safe distance at all times so as to avoid being touched. In this small room, victory would be impossible. The ideal battlefield would be a large, open space with plenty of water around. Like a beach, for instance… “Would it kill you to at least thank me, boy?” Liquidizer smiled as she returned to her chair. Immediately putting aside that line of thought, Mikawa returned the smile and bowed his head. “My apologies. Thank you very much for your help.” “It’ll take more than a glass of Scotch on the rocks next time, understand?” “I guess I’ll have to learn some new tricks, then… Anyway, I’ve been wondering, what’s in the bag?” Mikawa pointed at the second paper bag that Liquidizer had with her, hoping that perhaps she’d brought him a get-well gift of pastries from a famous bakery or the like. “Oh, this?” Instead, what she produced from the brown bag was a large, battered old video camera. Mikawa frowned. “What do you have that for? Do you have a secret filmmaking hobby or something?” “Don’t be ridiculous. As a matter of fact, I made a quick stop at the hospital before I came here today.” “The hospital…?” “That’s right. I was paying a visit to that old man who sadly missed his chance to join our ranks not long ago.” Mikawa’s eyes widened. “Igniter…?! B-but why now? He’s lost his Third Eye and all his memories of being Igniter, hasn’t he…?” “Really, it’s cruel of them, those Jet Eyes. Turning our people back into helpless, purposeless humans… It would be far more merciful just to kill them.” “…Don’t tell me you…killed him…?” Liquidizer gave an uncharacteristic laugh in response to Mikawa’s nervous question. “Ha! Of course not. Why would I do something so utterly pointless? No, I went with Empathizer to see if there were any traces of his memories left in some corner of his mind.” Upon hearing that name, Mikawa instinctively grimaced. “That Peeping Tom? Sounds pointless to me. There’s never been a case of a former Ruby Eye retaining their memories after undergoing the black ones’ treatment, right?” The ends of Liquidizer’s red lips turned upward in a mysterious smile, and she tossed the video camera over to Mikawa, who barely managed to catch it in midair. Surprised by its heaviness, he checked the logo and realized that, far from being a digital camera, it was a long-outdated Hi8 camcorder, which used an analog tape. “Play it and have a look.” Mikawa cocked his head doubtfully as he opened up the LCD video panel and pushed the playback button. At first, all that appeared was a sandstorm of gray. Occasionally, the grains would clump together as if about to form a shape, but then they would turn back into noise. “I don’t see anything…,” Mikawa began, but at that moment, a noise rang through the tinny speakers and a faded image came into view on the screen. The light swayed unsteadily. It was a body of water. Reflected in its surface, a sandy beach and a few somewhat shoddy palm trees could be seen. But this wasn’t a tropical island. Judging by the metal beams and glass barriers in the background, it was a pool meant to look like a beach. On closer inspection, about half the palm trees were broken in the middle, and most of the glass was in pieces as well. It looked like the aftermath of a huge explosion. Suddenly, a man’s voice cried out hoarsely, “UNFORGIVABLE!!” A cut and bleeding left hand came into the frame. Its clawed fingers were outstretched toward two hazy figures standing huddled together some distance away. The owner of the hand was most likely Igniter. And the two he was aiming his finger at must have been the black hunters. A red light surged out from the center of his outstretched hand. The steam that surrounded the two figures was pulled away in an instant. This was Igniter’s ability to manipulate oxygen; he had taken away all of the oxygen molecules from the air surrounding the two black hunters. In seconds, they would collapse to the floor, suffering in agony. However… “…Why?” Igniter growled, speaking the same question that was on Mikawa’s mind. Surrounded by the shallow water, the two black agents were still standing, undisturbed. There should have been no breathable air around them, yet they didn’t show the slightest sign of discomfort. “WHYYY?!” Igniter’s voice rose to a scream of rage. He clenched his outstretched hand, fresh blood spurting from countless wounds. At that moment, one of the two black hunters took a single step forward. It was just one motion, and yet it sent both of the black agents, now holding on to each other, flying straight toward the screen at a terrible speed, as if propelled by boosters in their shoes. The pool water was scattered to their left and right, forming a tall column of water. Despite the fact that he was watching this on a tiny screen, Mikawa instinctively leaned away. The image was too blurry to distinguish facial features, but the pair of hunters appeared to be a young man and woman. Approaching at breakneck speed, their shoulders slammed into Igniter, and the video immediately cut to black. “…Is this video…?” After a long silence, Mikawa finally spoke. “Is this what they call ‘psychic photography’? Empathizer can not only see people’s memories, but he can do this…?” “That’s right. Although it doesn’t work with digital cameras, for whatever reason. You wouldn’t believe what a pain it was to track down this ancient thing.” Mikawa nodded slowly, looking at the Hi8 in his hands. Then he rewound the tape to watch Igniter’s memories again from the beginning. One-sided though it may have been, Mikawa had felt kinship and respect toward him because of their similar abilities, and so hearing Igniter’s bloody scream made his own heart ache with pain. If only I had been there… With that much water at his disposal, Mikawa could have taken on any number of black agents. But the same should have been true of Igniter. It was clear that the explosion at the indoor pool at Ariake Heaven’s Shore had been the work of his oxygen-manipulating powers. How had those two black hunters survived such a powerful explosion? “We won’t be able to say much until we’ve analyzed that footage at the hideout…,” Liquidizer commented in a somewhat sultry voice, as if sensing Mikawa’s misgivings. “But what do you think? There was something awfully strange about the way the water moved when those two were charging, don’t you think?” “Ah…really?” Knitting his brow, Mikawa squinted at the blurry images. Now that he looked again, the water at the black agents’ feet during their high-speed approach did seem to be spraying out far higher than it should. Yet their feet, which should be splashing through the water, didn’t seem to be making contact with it at all. “…It’s wind pressure, right? Like a hovercraft…” “That’s right. Or possibly some kind of barrier…” “Barrier…?” Mikawa tilted his head uncertainly, trying to grasp her meaning. In response, Liquidizer swirled her now-drained glass, the still-solid ice clinking against the sides. “An invisible wall, like this. It could be made of something transparent, like glass or ice…” “It’s probably not either of those, if this barrier protected those black hunters from Igniter’s explosion.” “Well, like diamond or orichalcum, then.” Liquidizer spoke as she poured herself another glass of whiskey. “But whatever the case may be, let’s assume the male hunter is the one who made this barrier that was strong enough to withstand the explosion at the pool.” Mikawa raised his hand slightly. “The male? Why him?” “The girl with the long hair most likely has a movement-related ability. The Jet Eye who stabbed Mr. Igniter with a knife fairly fit her description. And if it was her ability that launched them forward with a single step, the barrier must be his ability… At any rate, Trancer, how do you suppose you would fight a Jet Eye with the ability to create a barrier as strong as diamond?” Mikawa thought for a moment, then gestured with his left hand dismissively. “I wouldn’t. If he can make diamond out of the carbon in the air whenever he likes, I’d join forces with him and make a killing in the diamond industry.” “Oh my. You’d come up against the De Beers company, then.” “Sounds like fun to me… All jokes aside, well…assuming we’re in a place with plenty of water around, I suppose I’d bury him under ice, barrier and all, and wait for him to run out of oxygen?” “Hmm. And what if he had a high-capacity oxygen cylinder with him?” “I’d wait for that to run out, then. Or for him to die of thirst or starvation.” Liquidizer raised her glass wryly. “A toast to your remarkable patience, then, boy. But I suppose burying him in ice does sound like it would work…” “You know, master, I can’t help but detect a note of reluctance in your voice,” Mikawa commented with an equally wry smile. “I mean, if it was you fighting him, it’d be over once you touched the barrier whether it’s diamond or anything else, right?” “As long as it’s a solid material…yes.” Liquidizer’s eyes narrowed, and she brought her glass to her lips, downing the rest of the amber liquid in one go. Then she carelessly held it away from her body. Splish. With a little noise, the glass melted into a transparent liquid and dripped down onto the floor. Mikawa watched with a shudder as the pool of liquid immediately solidified back into a pane of glass. Afraid Liquidizer would sense the fear oozing from his heart, Mikawa quickly snapped the camcorder’s screen into place. “This thing is a pain to close,” he complained. Liquidizer only smirked in response, so he attempted to change the subject. “So, in order to get this footage, you and Empathizer must have used your abilities in Igniter’s hospital, correct? Is that going to be all right? They might sense you were there and use that to come after us…” “The information we gained was worth the risk. Besides, I left some bait for those Jet Eyes elsewhere. I’m sure those little dogs are sniffing around in the wrong place even as we speak.” Yumiko had informed him that she would catch up after washing her face, so Minoru left room 404 on his own. The curious feeling that had been born in the depths of Minoru’s heart shortly before they’d received DD’s communication had vanished, leaving only the faintest echoes behind. As he walked toward the elevator, Minoru struggled to remember that moment. She’s not a stranger. Those few simple words seemed to reverberate through his mind. But the more he tried to grasp their meaning, the further away he seemed to get from the revelation he’d had just a few minutes ago. A person who’s not a stranger. Certainly, he now knew about Accelerator Yumiko Azu’s secret pain, which she’d kept locked away in her heart all this time. In that respect, Yumiko was far from being someone unfamiliar. But what did that make her, then? A friend? A partner? A comrade? None of those words seemed to capture the feeling he was looking for. Perhaps he would have been able to explain it at that moment, but right now he couldn’t put it into words at all. However, there was one thing he knew. The key to his ability to take someone into his protective shell lay in Minoru’s perception of that person. It could be that the moment his emotions were synchronized with the other person’s, they would stop being a foreign substance that the shell inherently rejected. “My emotions…” Minoru murmured while pressing the elevator’s up button. In other words, taking something into his heart and reacting to it…which would also mean the creation of new memories. Ever since his family had died eight years ago, he had stubbornly avoided making any new memories with others, keeping his distance from everyone and refusing to even look people in the face when speaking with them. The reason for this was that he was afraid of the thoughts of him that would be created in others’ minds and the memories of others being created in his own. Just imagining feeling strong negative feelings toward others, or being scorned, ostracized, or hated by them, was enough to make his limbs go cold and his chest tighten. Some adults might say that this was just human nature and it was best not to worry about it, but Minoru knew there was no limit to the malice that can be born in a human heart. As the elevator doors slid shut and it began its ascent, Minoru clenched his sweating hands. Other people were terrifying. It was impossible to know when they might turn on you. And he was afraid of himself, too. At any moment, his human heart could give in to those same malicious impulses. Therefore, Minoru fundamentally wanted to avoid having any feelings at all toward other people. He didn’t want to know anything about them. He didn’t even want to be in the same room as them. That private desire may very well have been the source of his protective shell ability. Not fear or rejection of others, but the desire to be separated from them. But if that was the case, what was the feeling that arose when he was able to bring another person inside the shell? Minoru was still wrapped up in his anxious thoughts as he arrived at the fifth floor, changed into slippers, and walked toward the west side of the room. Passing by the TV area and the bookshelves, he walked into the research area where Professor Riri Isa was waiting. “…Yumiko will be here shortly,” he said to the Professor, who was staring at the monitor. Walking over to the eight folding chairs lined up in the room, he sat on the only one that had a pink cushion on the seat. “…?” Something felt strange. For a cushion, the surface was strangely elastic; the back of the chair was extremely soft. On top of all that, the chair was giving off a faint, sweet scent. One that he felt like he’d smelled somewhere recently… “Hello, Minoru.” A voice spoke from directly behind him. Minoru sprang out of the chair with an unbecoming shriek, stumbling as he turned to stare at it. At the same time, a faint whooshing noise came from that direction. As if materializing from thin air, Refractor Suu Komura suddenly appeared in the chair that Minoru had plunked himself onto just moments ago. A startled Minoru toppled backward and landed on his rump on the floor, where he sat staring. Suu was again dressed in a one-piece and leggings, similar to her outfit from the other day, but with her hair tied up in a dainty ribbon. Her face, as lovely and elfin as ever, showed the faintest smile for just a moment as she spoke. “This cushion is meant to indicate where I’m sitting. Please keep that in mind in the future.” “R-right.” Minoru nodded automatically, then finally realized what had just happened: He’d sat down with all his weight on Suu’s lap. His nodding immediately switched to a rapid shake of the head, his hands flailing frantically. “S-s-s-s-sorry, I’m so sorry! I should have noticed… Um, please forgive me!” He apologized profusely, his voice shrill, but Suu simply shrugged noncommittally. “Don’t worry. The weight was nothing compared to when you got on top of me in your bed before.” “…Oh?” The Professor raised her eyebrows, turning from the monitor. Minoru felt the blood draining from his face, and he shook his head hurriedly. “D-d-during the experiment!” he explained fumblingly. “We had no choice…for safety…um—” Suu cut in smoothly. “Also, compared to the forty-plus seconds it took you to get my smartphone out of my breast pocket, the amount of time was nothing, either.” “…Oh-ho?” Get me out of here! Minoru screamed silently, about to instinctively activate his protective shell, when the elevator creaked behind him. Instantly, there was another whoosh as Suu vanished into the air. Now that he knew she was there, he could see an indent in the pink cushion where she was sitting. “…What are you up to now?” “N…nothing, really…,” Minoru mumbled sheepishly, slinking into a different chair. Glancing to his right, Yumiko caught sight of the pink cushion and gave a slight nod, her expression steady. “Hello, Komura.” A response came immediately from the seemingly empty air above the cushion. “Hello, Azu.” Looking away, Yumiko took the seat to Minoru’s left. Immediately, as if he’d been waiting for the three to assemble, DD’s strained voice came through the speaker. “This is DD. We’ve arrived at the area where Liquidizer seems to have used her power. She’s already long gone. But…it’s very strange.” “What is?” the Professor asked quickly, speaking into the microphone on top of the desk. After a moment, a response came not from DD but from Olivier. “…Nobody’s been killed.” “What…? It wasn’t a murder?” The Professor’s pigtails swayed as she spoke slowly and dubiously. “Then what did they do…?” “It was a robbery. In fact, it looks like something out of a Hollywood heist movie. Looks like that woman used her liquefaction ability to melt a giant hole in the wall of a bank and enter the vault.” Olivier’s words stunned all of them into silence, their eyes wide, with the obvious exception of Suu, whose expression wasn’t visible. “So does that mean…they stole a bunch of gold…?” “Well, about that…” DD’s voice returned to continue his report. “The site of the robbery was the Yamato Bank branch near Ootsuka Station, but of course it was already all blocked off by the police…though we tapped into the police radio and heard them say that none of the money was missing. Apparently they just went through the safe-deposit boxes and stole some of their contents.” “Safe-deposit boxes, huh…? Hmm. Then it’ll be tough to figure out what exactly they stole.” “Yeah. Even the bank staff don’t usually know what the customers are keeping in their safe-deposit boxes…” “Hmm…” The Professor folded her arms over her lab coat and leaned back in her high-back chair, closing her eyes. Behind her smooth forehead, her speculation ability was likely hard at work. Her eyes still closed, the ten-year-old commander spoke as if thinking out loud. “Liquidizer was probably after just a single item and used the other safe-deposit boxes for a diversion. And if she was willing to risk us detecting her use of her abilities, the item was probably very important to the Syndicate’s goal of a widespread attack on humanity…or was something to help them exterminate the SFD.” The Professor’s eyes snapped open, and she shifted her gaze to the round analog clock on the wall. “But wait… Why now? It’s not even four o’clock yet. There would still be the risk of passersby seeing them, and bank clerks, too. Why would they break in at that time?” “Maybe it’s just their Ruby Eyes arrogance…?” Yumiko spoke up, her eyes narrowed and her voice quiet and hard. “They don’t even see ordinary humans as people anymore. Couldn’t it be that they just didn’t care if there were eyewitnesses, since they could kill anyone who got in their way…?” “Hmm…I’m not so sure about that. Judging by the data we’ve collected so far, Liquidizer is a coolheaded pragmatist. She would have everything planned to a T, without a single unnecessary action. It would obviously be much easier to break in to a bank at night than during the day. That woman would surely have known that, so deliberately choosing daytime—and the fact that she made a hole in the other wall to begin with… There must have been a reason. Which means…” The Professor pressed her middle finger to her temple, then continued in a more forceful tone. “Which means it wasn’t every safe-deposit box but one that was the diversion… They all were. This entire break-in was meant to distract us—it was bait to attract DD’s senses!” Everyone in the room, as well as DD and Olivier over the speakers, was shocked into silence. After a moment, Minoru ventured a dumbfounded question. “You mean…at the same time, the Ruby Eyes were up to something else in some other place?” “So it would seem. And I’m willing to bet that what they did there wasn’t a murder, either. If it was, I doubt they would’ve gone so out of their way to distract us from it.” With her speculation ability at full throttle, the Professor rattled off deductions: “Whatever they were doing, and wherever they did it, they didn’t want us to find out about it. And it was something they could do only during daytime. No…most likely, a place that they could get into only in the daytime.” She whirled in her chair to face Minoru and Yumiko. “What sorts of places come to mind that you can enter only until about three or four p.m.?” “Other banks,” Yumiko guessed immediately. “The post office,” Suu suggested, still invisible in her seat. “…School?” Minoru offered uncertainly. I feel like there’s someplace else… As he racked his brain, the young women to his left and right continued firing off ideas in succession: “A ward office.” “Museums.” “Art galleries.” “Hospitals.” “That’s it!” the Professor shouted, half leaping out of her mesh chair. “There was a report a while ago that one of the former Ruby Eyes who’d undergone Third Eye removal surgery and was in rehabilitation had been contacted by someone possibly from the Syndicate. If that’s what happened here, then the target must have been…” The Professor grabbed the receiver of the landline phone off the desk, hitting a speed-dial button. As soon as it connected, she fired off a rapid question, then snapped her fingers when the person on the other end responded. With a hasty thank-you, she hung up the phone, the traces of a triumphant smile on her lips. “Bingo. Today at three thirty p.m., at the Harbour Ward Hospital, the patient Yousuke Nakakubo—in other words, the former Igniter—had a visitor for the first time.” “What?” This time it was Minoru who half rose from his seat. “Don’t tell me they…k-killed…” “If that were the case, they’d have no reason to cover their tracks. No, Nakakubo is safe. However, one of the nurses witnessed something strange. Apparently, the man who visited Nakakubo was recording his face with a video camera while he slept. I’m not sure why, but that recording must somehow contain information valuable enough that Liquidizer staged a bank heist in order to acquire it in secret.” The Professor then leaned over and spoke into the microphone, her voice full of conviction. “DD, Oli-V. Forget about the bank. Sorry, but can you head straight over to the hospital where Nakakubo is being kept? I need you to get a hold of the surveillance camera footage. I’ll make the arrangements with the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare now.” Walking out of the building that served as a Syndicate safe house, Mikawa paused and looked back for a moment. It really did look like a harmless five-story building. Rain stained the concrete outer walls black, and there was a dust cloud gathered at the entrance. However, the inside bore no resemblance to the decrepit exterior. For reasons unclear, one could use Third Eye abilities inside the building as much as one pleased without fear of detection by the black hunters. Presumably, this was thanks to some kind of device set up in the walls. At one point, Mikawa had asked Liquidizer how it all worked. But a knowing smile had been her only response. There were still many things he didn’t know about the Syndicate. He had been a part of it for about two months now, yet he didn’t even know how many members it had, and he’d never met the group’s leaders. However, none of that ultimately mattered to him. The Syndicate provided Mikawa with shelter and information, without even asking for anything in return. Now that he was independent, they wouldn’t come to his rescue if he got into battle with the Jet Eyes, but he was thankful just to have a place like this to nurse his wounds. Apparently, Igniter had rejected the Syndicate’s invitation because he hadn’t liked their strict limitations on murder. Mikawa felt the same way, but he also knew that going around killing recklessly was a surefire way to get sniffed out by the black dogs. Two days ago, he had obtained plenty of kills thanks to an unexpectedly heavy downpour. Even now, if he closed his eyes, he could picture perfectly the sweet spectacle of countless cars crashing into one another and going up in flames. This memory alone could likely sustain him for the next month; he needed time to let his chest wound fully heal, anyway. And once January came, there would surely be plenty of snowstorms. Snow would mean a much larger buildup on the ground than any rain. If he could come up with some creative new ways to use his power, he was sure he could have even more fun than two days ago. And the humans, who would assume that the havoc he caused was brought on by water’s natural phase transitions, would learn just how terrifying and merciless those phenomena could be. Just as I once learned it firsthand. And just as my friend continues to experience it, somewhere in the recesses of this city. Abruptly, Mikawa turned his back on the building and began to walk unhurriedly toward the nearest station, mindful of the wound on the right side of his chest. “Okay…here goes nothing.” “Go ahead,” a quiet voice responded from behind Minoru’s back. Minoru glanced briefly at the silently watching Professor Riri and Yumiko, then activated his protective shell in despair. It’s just going to fail again. Suu’s going to get thrown into the wall, just like Yumiko did before. The fact that it succeeded in my room was definitely a one-time-only stroke of luck. And my mind is so preoccupied right now… His head full of such thoughts, Minoru waited a moment in the newly created perfect silence before he slowly, fearfully looked over his shoulder. But as he looked at the polyurethane foam padding through the pale blue haze, he didn’t see a single dent. “Um…did it…?” he started in a whisper. Immediately, a voice responded so close to his ear that he jumped. “Yes, I’m here, Minoru. No matter how many times I experience this…it’s still very strange.” “Ah…um, that is… Yes.” Why did it work?! In his mind, Minoru practically screamed. True enough, he couldn’t see Suu Komura right now with her refraction ability activated. And after taking into consideration the failures from a few days ago, they had changed positions so that Minoru stood in front of her instead of behind. But with her pressed so close to his back, he could still feel her body heat and hear her breath by his ear. It could hardly be said that he wasn’t aware of her presence. Could it be that the success or failure of these experiments isn’t based on my mentality at all, just on the random whims of my Third Eye itself? …Hey, that’s what’s going on, right? He addressed his thoughts toward the Third Eye parasite embedded in his chest. At the same time, he cast a sidelong glance toward his left. Professor Riri was standing by the recording equipment with a look of intense interest on her face, while Yumiko sat a little ways away, fixing Minoru with a bit of a glare. This in spite of the fact that she herself had suggested they attempt to re-create the experiment while they waited for DD and Olivier’s reconnaissance report. And directly beforehand, she had whispered privately in Minoru’s ear, “It’s not as though I’m hoping for you to fail or anything.” So while he didn’t expect her to be thrilled about the experiment’s success or anything, he would’ve appreciated it if she would at least refrain from directing a piercing ice beam at him from her eyes. As this thought was running through his mind, the Professor picked up a small microphone from the desk and spoke into it. The same light-wave communication system they had used for the nuclear power plant mission a few days before was again set in Minoru’s left ear, and she made no effort to hide her excitement as her voice flowed through. “All right! Now please proceed to the second stage of the experiment.” “Huh? Second stage…?” Minoru tilted his head, puzzled. “That was directed at me,” Suu said quietly behind him, equipped with the same communication setup. “The Professor and I made some arrangements earlier.” “Huh…? Suu, what are you…?” Without answering his question, Suu suddenly wrapped her invisible arms around Minoru’s torso. The body heat he could feel on his back intensified, and he stiffened up immediately, only to feel Suu’s breath on his right ear as she whispered softly: “Minoru. I don’t know why, or maybe there are a lot of different factors, but…whatever the reason might be, I don’t feel afraid of you. Even though I couldn’t even show my real appearance to Chief Himi, who I trust and respect…” “Um…right…,” Minoru responded stupidly, unsure how to react to this sudden confession. Suu continued calmly. “So you shouldn’t be afraid of me, either.” “Huh…? Of course I’m not a-afraid…” “The day before yesterday, I said that your sight line was transparent. But to be honest, it did have a very slight hint of color…the faintest tint of gray. Black…is the color of fear. I think that if I could see my own sight line, it would be as black as ink.” “…Black…,” Minoru repeated dazedly, forgetting all about the Professor and Yumiko watching them nearby. But it made sense. There was no doubt that Suu Komura was still a stranger to him. No matter how similar their abilities were or how much he sympathized with her pain, he still couldn’t read her thoughts and feelings. For all he knew, underneath her cool facade, she could secretly be laughing at him, scorning him, despising him— “…!!” Minoru gritted his teeth, forcibly cutting himself off from that line of thought. If he was doubting whether Suu might secretly hold malice toward him, that was virtually the same as having malicious thoughts toward her himself. “…I’m sorry. I don’t know if I can stop being afraid of you…of anyone entirely,” Minoru murmured dejectedly into the silence that was otherwise broken by only the mysterious, rhythmic noise. “But…for what it’s worth, I believe you. That you’re not afraid of me.” “Thank you.” Suu’s quiet words were carried into his ear on a warm breath. Then she spoke more loudly into the headset. “All right, I’m going to start now.” Whoosh. Minoru heard a quiet noise like static. Then he saw his body—from his head to his feet, complete with his hooded jacket, jeans, and all—vanish into thin air. “Wh…wha—?!” he yelped, waving his right hand in front of his face, but he could see nothing there, no matter how hard he focused. He could feel the wind pressure when he blew on his hand and his skin when he touched his nose and cheeks, but he definitely couldn’t see any part of his body at all. “Did you… Is this…” “Yes, it’s my refraction ability. The visible light all around you is avoiding your body, making you completely transparent. Aside from your pupils, that is.” “You mean… Suu, you can apply your ability to other people, too…?” Minoru asked in a hushed voice, but he felt Suu shaking her head by his right shoulder. “No…not just anyone. Until now, the only other person I’ve been able to make vanish with me is my brother.” “Your brother…?” Minoru repeated what she said, realizing that although he knew that Suu had an older brother, he didn’t know anything about him: his name, his age, or his ability. However, this must mean that Suu didn’t feel any fear toward her older brother, either. This seemed like it would be natural, but she had said a few days ago that she was even afraid of both her parents. Minoru’s thoughts were interrupted by a movement on his left, and he turned to look. The Professor was smiling complacently, giving them a thumbs-up. “…Well, I’ll deactivate my ability now. We’ll just have to look forward to finding out what happens when I activate it fully next time.” As Suu spoke, Minoru’s body came back into view. He deactivated his protective shell as well, and exhaled deeply when he felt Suu’s body heat pull away from his back. Just as he looked up, he heard the Professor shout. “All right! Mikkun, Hinako, great job!” “Ah…um, thanks…” Minoru nodded absently, shifting his gaze to her left to see Yumiko, her expression even more dangerous now. The Professor seemed to have forgotten all about the situation from just two hours ago, in which Yumiko had stormed out and she herself had sent Minoru after her. “Ah…errr, um…” I have to do something about this. He racked his brain desperately, a stiff smile on his face as he fumbled for words. “U-um, but this combination of isolation and refraction isn’t really all that useful, right? Suu’s ability on its own is enough for surprise attacks and stuff without mine…” “Not at all, Mikkun!” the Professor responded excitedly, obliviously dashing Minoru’s efforts. “Now we’ll be able to enact a mission that’s been impossible until now!” “Huh? A…a mission?” “That’s right! A while ago, we were planning to have Hinako go invisible and do some intelligence gathering about the Syndicate. But even though Hinako’s detection radius is pretty small, there’s still the risk of someone noticing her if she gets too close… But with your protective shell thrown in the mix, it’s another story entirely. Your protective shell even cuts off the scent that would allow others to detect you, and even if you’re found out, you’ll be able to escape safely. In other words, with both your powers working in tandem, you can sneak into a Syndicate safe house and find out where their headquarters is. It’s a reconnaissance mission!” As the clock’s hand turned past five, DD’s worn-out-sounding voice finally came in through the speakers. “Ahem, this is DD. It was a bit tough, but we finally managed to get copies of the surveillance footage for the day from Nakakubo’s hospital. The problem is that the guy who visited him was in disguise… He was wearing a hat, glasses, and a mustache. We can barely make out his face at all.” “Hmm. Well, I suppose that’s to be expected,” the Professor responded through the desktop microphone. “But having an idea of his height, physique, and gait will still make for very useful data.” Minoru watched the Professor intently, his hand pausing midair with a piece of pancake impaled on a fork. As usual, he’d been coerced into making snacks per Yumiko’s orders. They were just simple pancakes using a store-bought mix, but there was a trick to cooking them. As soon as you dropped the batter onto the pan, you had to turn up the heat or else there wouldn’t be enough gas and the pancakes would cook into uneven, hard discs instead of fluffy round perfection. It was a technique that Minoru had perfected over years of pancake making. As he finished up, Yumiko and Suu each took a stack of four pancakes, adding their butter and maple syrup with looks of serious concentration. Though of course, Yumiko’s expression was the only one actually visible, since Suu had reactivated her refraction ability, her pancakes seemingly cutting themselves up with an invisible knife and fork. As Minoru watched in amazement, each portion of her pancakes disappeared as soon as the invisible fork stabbed it. Apparently Suu’s ability could even extend to the tools she was using and the objects those tools made contact with. “…These are delicious. Minoru, you’ll make an excellent housewife someday.” “Utsugi’s code name is Isolator for a reason, you know,” Yumiko countered, already finishing her first pancake. At that moment, the communication system showed an incoming signal from DD. Apparently unwilling to let her pancakes get cold during the exchange, the Professor took a huge bite before speaking into the microphone again, chewing away as she talked. “Whah abouh the pharking phwot footage?” “Uh…it kinda sounds like you’ve got something tasty going on over there.” “Ho-ho!” the Professor exclaimed, gulping down her food. “You’ve got sharp hearing as well as a good nose, huh, DD? Mikkun made us pancakes!” “What?! No fair! Why do you guys get homemade snacks when I’m not around?!” “Fine, I’ll save you a bite. So, did you get any more information?” “…Yeah. The guy’s license plate number apparently showed up for a fraction of a second when he drove away.” “Great! It’s probably a fake number anyway, but we should be able to track his movements from today at least with the N System! What’s the number? Okay…okay…yep, got it! Thanks for going to all that trouble!” Ending the call, the Professor continued eating with the fork in her left hand while skillfully manipulating the keyboard with her right. Minoru’s brow furrowed, and he leaned over to Yumiko to reluctantly ask yet another stupid question. “Um…what’s the ‘N System’ again?” “It’s a network set up by the police that monitors the main roads in the city and automatically records the license plate numbers of the cars that pass by. Even if the number in question is fake, it should be recorded by the system anyway, so that we can track where it went and what roads it used.” “Ahh…I see. So we can use that to figure out where Igniter’s visitor came from and where he went…?” Instinctively, Minoru looked over at the Professor’s back as she tapped away at the keys. It was hard to tell as her pigtails bounced around on her small back, but their tiny commander’s speculation ability really was incredible. She had guessed correctly from a tiny hunch that the bank incident had been a diversion, figured out that their enemy had actually been visiting Igniter, and now she was even able to track that enemy’s movements. Just as Minoru thought this with a small, private sigh of admiration, the Professor suddenly waved her fork in the air without looking up from the monitor. “Mikkun, more pancakes!” “I agree.” Startled, Minoru turned to see Yumiko assenting with a deadly serious expression. “It’s really one of the greatest benefits of the Third Eye that no matter how much you eat, the extra calories will all be consumed by the parasite instead of turning into fat.” “You’re absolutely right,” a quiet voice agreed from a seemingly empty chair, and a single now-empty plate floated over to Minoru all on its own. 4 It was the morning of December 31, New Year’s Eve, and Minoru was already getting rattled about on the JR Saikyou line train. He had a feeling that Norie was growing suspicious about his frequent trips into Tokyo, but for whatever reason, she had seen him off with a smile and a “Have a good day!” without questioning him about where he was going. Maybe she’s got the wrong idea about me and Suu and thinks that has something to do with it…, he thought, hanging on to one of the overhead straps. Technically, he was going to see Suu, so that made him feel a little less guilty. Still, he got the feeling that letting Norie carry on with her misunderstanding was setting himself up for an eventual catastrophe. I guess I really should consider moving to headquarters…but how would I explain that to Norie? Minoru worried to himself as he got off at Nishiwaseda Station, walked along Suwa Road to arrive at SFD Headquarters, and took the elevator to the fifth floor. He still couldn’t believe his orders. “Huh?! Sneaking into the enemy’s base…?!” Minoru nearly stumbled backward in surprise, but the Professor just smiled and nodded. “Yup. It’s the reconnaissance mission I was talking about yesterday. We got a perfect hit on the number we got from that car in the N System. Using security camera footage, we’ve tracked him to a specific parking lot. The company that was registered as owning the lot was totally bogus, but there was a building nearby registered under the same company name. Most likely, that building is the Syndicate safe house we’ve been looking for!” Her voice full of excitement, she snapped her fingers and rapidly continued to explain. “The timing of this with the fact that we just successfully combined your and Hinako’s powers has got to be some kind of divine intervention. As long as you activate your powers some distance away, you should be able to totally avoid the detection-radius issue. Then, you can stay invisible as you approach the building in question, sneak inside, and gather as much information as you can! If we’re lucky, we might even find a clue that’ll lead us to their headquarters!” “Uh…I see…,” Minoru mumbled, thinking hard. So, in other words, Suu and I would have to be practically glued to each other the whole time? And one of us would have to cling to the other from behind for…minutes? Hours? “Um…wait a second…,” he said aloud, suddenly frantic, but then an invisible hand clapped him on the shoulder and a voice spoke up from behind him. “Very well. Let’s do our best, Minoru.” It seemed as though Suu was already on standby for the mission. Her voice was as level as ever, without a hint of enthusiasm or trepidation. “‘Do our best’…? But…” Alarmed, Minoru looked over his shoulder to face the spot that the voice had come from, gesturing frantically. “But if we’re going to go in without being detected, we’ll have to activate the shell far away from the building…wh-which means you’ll have to stick super close to me the whole time! Ah, I mean, um, not that I mind, but, uh…” “I don’t mind, either.” “…” Minoru was flummoxed for a moment before he rallied his thoughts and tried again. “B-but, um, the protective shell’s shape adapts to my movements, so…even if you’re staying close to me, you wouldn’t be able to walk. In fact, I think maybe the pressure from the shell could end up injuring you… I-it’s just too dangerous!” “No, I think it should be fine.” This time, it was the Professor who countered him. “I’m still in the process of analyzing the data we gathered yesterday, but to give you an idea…I don’t think your shell is the super-hard, solid physical barrier we thought it was.” “Huh? It’s…not hard?” “Of course it is. But it also has a certain level of elasticity. And it’s restricted to only one direction.” Minoru blinked, not understanding, and the Professor shuffled closer and held out her right hand. “Listen. When you activate your protective shell, some invisible thing is produced around you, a little over two centimeters away from your body. This barrier is literally impenetrable from the outside. Not even a diamond drill could pierce it, and not even a hydraulic cutter could cut through it.” The Professor waved her hand around near Minoru’s body, pretending to be repelled by an invisible barrier, then lightly brushed her hand against him. It tickled a bit, but he did his best to endure it and listen to the rest of the explanation. “But if something makes contact with you from inside that barrier, those limits don’t apply. When you produce your protective shell, your clothes are included inside the three-centimeter space… Remember when I had you try activating your shell with a baseball in your pocket?” “Y-yes…” “That ball had a diameter of almost eight centimeters. I was expecting it to be violently ejected from the shell to the point where the seams would be shredded up, but…” Grinning as Minoru’s jaw dropped, she continued, “But that’s not what happened. It seems like there was a little pressure, but not nearly enough to damage the ball significantly. So…I tried touching the barrier around the ball, and sure enough, that part of the barrier alone was jutting out. Which means that your shell has a certain amount of elasticity if pressure is applied to it from the inside.” “Elasticity…from the inside…?” Minoru repeated. With the barrier activated, he cautiously attempted to move his right hand outward, but since the shell adapted to his movements, he wasn’t able to touch it himself. “Ah…I think I understand,” Suu said abruptly from close behind him. “When I enter Minoru’s barrier, I do feel a slight amount of pressure. It’s like being wrapped in some kind of stretchy fabric… Well, no, not exactly. When I touch it from inside, it doesn’t stretch at all. It’s very hard.” “…What? It doesn’t move if you push on it from the inside, Hinako…? How strange. I was sure it would stretch a bit like rubber if you touched it…” The Professor crossed her arms and started to pace back and forth. “Um…” Minoru spoke up timidly. “In that case, wouldn’t it be better to postpone this ‘reconnaissance mission’ until we know exactly how it works…?” “Hrmm…so it’s not a property of the shell itself…? Does the elasticity fluctuate…? But what are the parameters for that change? It’s not time… Is it the hardness of the object being brought into the shell? I don’t think so…” Realizing it would take some time for her to work her way through her thoughts, Minoru attempted to sneak away, but a polite tap on the shoulder from an invisible finger stopped him. “Professor,” Suu said quietly. The lab coat–clad elementary school student looked up and clapped her hands together, apparently remembering the situation at hand. “Oh, right! Well, whatever the exact nature of the shell might be, if Hinako’s body stays in a fixed position relative to yours, it shouldn’t be a problem. And so…” The Professor strolled into the research booth and produced a strange object from the desk, stretching out what looked to Minoru like a heap of tangled cords. It had a series of wide belts that intersected in complicated-looking ways, with padding thrown in somewhere in the mix. There were also several sturdy-looking buckles attached. Overall, it looked like a device for somehow attaching something to something else, but Minoru had no idea what its practical use might be. “…Um, Professor? What on earth is that?” he asked nervously. The Professor grinned. “It’s a product developed especially by the SFD Equipment Department—the back-mounting harness!” “The back…what?” “It’s incredible! The belts are all made with military-grade aramid fiber, and the pad uses moisture-wicking materials that won’t get all sweaty. And the carbon-made buckles are ultrahigh quality and ultralightweight…” “But…what is it?” “Of course, more primitive versions of this tool have been used in Japan since ancient times. I guess back then they would’ve called it a baby carrier!” Minoru was silent for a moment. Then, he made another attempt to escape the room, this time at full speed, but he was stopped again by Suu’s hand. Lane six, South Aoyama, Harbour Ward, Tokyo. That was the location the N System had pinpointed as a Syndicate safe house. Leaving SFD Headquarters, Minoru was now sitting in the backseat of a black Delica D:5 as they drove south down Gaien Higashidori, intently holding his breath. Eighty percent of the reason he was sweating it out was, of course, nervousness about the reconnaissance mission. However, half of the remaining 20 percent came from the new equipment he held in his hands, the…whatever-it-was harness. And the other 10 percent was thanks to the silent figure in the passenger’s seat—Accelerator, Yumiko Azu. I mean, I understand that we need to have a backup for this kind of mission. But why Yumiko of all people? Wasn’t it the Professor who told me to look out for Yumiko’s mental well-being in the first place? The fact that Minoru was now partnering up with Suu Komura certainly couldn’t be helping matters there. After all, Yumiko already viewed Suu as her chief rival, and this was being majorly intensified by the fact that Minoru could bring Suu into his protective shell and not her. So why would the Professor have Suu and me form a team together? What was she thinking…? —Actually, it’s entirely possible she’s just doing this for her own amusement… As Minoru was caught up in these thoughts, the Delica came to a stop. For a while now, they had been trapped behind a terribly slow-moving BMW, and as a result, they had been forced to stop at every single traffic light. This was probably not helping the temper of the speed demon Yumiko, and finally, unable to take the atmosphere of persistently rising tension, DD spoke up from the driver’s seat. “Uh, so how about this… Maybe after the recon mission, Utsugi can carry Yumiko piggyback, too?” OH GOD, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! Minoru screamed inwardly. At the same time, Yumiko simply reached over to the steering wheel and pushed on the horn, producing a long hoooooonk. This was directed at the BMW, which hadn’t moved despite the light turning green, but instead of prompting the car’s swift departure, it resulted in the BMW’s side doors flying open and a group of angry-looking men charging toward the Delica. “Yeeek!” DD yelped, cutting the steering wheel sharply to the right as he pushed down on the gas pedal. As the car screeched past the men, a series of shouts along the lines of “HEYGETBACKHEREWHEREDOYOUTHINKYOU’REGOINGYOUASSHOOOOOLE” was audible through the car windows. Accelerating and weaving through traffic, DD didn’t slow the car until the BMW had vanished from the rearview mirror. Then he unleashed another shriek. “What the hell was that, Yumiko?! Those guys were totally Japanese mafia!! That might’ve been the heir to the family learning how to drive or something!!” “Well then, they should’ve put a new-driver sticker on the car,” Yumiko retorted sullenly. Then, glancing into the backseat, she gave a calm smile. “I’m sure this goes without saying, but no, there is not a single atom in my body that wants you to carry me on your back.” “R…right.” “Besides, you already basically carried me like a baby in our fight against Igniter, so I have no reason to want you to do such a thing now. Obviously.” With a huff, she faced forward again. Then Minoru heard Suu’s quiet voice murmur next to him: “…Is that true, Minoru?” “Huh? Um…‘like a baby’…? I mean…,” he stammered, sure that anything he said could trigger another crisis. Luckily, as he was desperately shifting his gaze back and forth, the Professor’s voice came in through the headset in his left ear. “If we could end this little comedy skit there for now, I’d like to begin preparations. Now, the door to the building we’re targeting will most likely be locked, but as long as it’s nothing terribly elaborate, the lock-picking gun I set you up with should be enough to open it.” “U-understood,” Minoru responded, looking at the building’s floor plan that each of them had been given. The Professor’s instructions continued. “Of course, you should be able to confirm any Ruby Eye presences in the building beforehand with DD’s ability. I think it should be virtually unmanned, but if that’s not the case, we’ll change our strategy from reconnaissance to observation and shadowing.” “Gotcha,” DD answered. The car had by now left Shinjuku and entered Harbour Ward; they were probably only a few minutes away from the enemy’s location. Minoru glanced out the side window. Under the cloudy gray sky, the town was virtually deserted, as it was early afternoon on New Year’s Eve. Although the heat was on in the car, Minoru still felt a bit of a chill, and he rubbed his hands over his sleeves. Somehow, Minoru had expected South Aoyama to consist of tidy streets lined with stylish, trendy shops, but as the Delica slowed, all he saw was a slew of gray multitenant buildings. A little farther south, he could see the overhead structure of the Route 3 Shibuya Line, and he heard the distant rumble of cars passing by. “All right, I’m going to bring us past the building now, so try to remember the way,” said DD. “Right,” Minoru responded, turning to watch attentively through the front windshield. The car passed slowly along the two-lane street, which was lined with parking meters. On the large screen of the car’s navigation system, the map scrolled along at the same pace, until finally a red marker appeared to indicate their destination. “That’s it on our right. The concrete five-story building there.” DD pointed at a very mundane, commonplace-looking apartment building. It didn’t seem to be occupied by any tenants, and there were no signs on the walls. All the windows, too, had the blinds closed from inside. Overall, it was as if the building was hidden away between the slightly larger ones on either side. “…Since the Professor called it a safe house and all, I was kind of expecting something more…like a fort or a stronghold, I guess,” Minoru mumbled. DD laughed drily. “Wouldn’t it defeat the purpose of a safe house if it stood out? Our headquarters don’t exactly look like a secret hideout, either, right?” “It’s just a shabby apartment complex,” Yumiko added. With her trademark expression of slight irritation, she looked over her shoulder. “Listen. The Professor said to focus on intelligence gathering and avoid combat if possible. Safety is the highest priority here, got it? If you sense even the slightest bit of danger, you’re to stay in the protective shell and escape as quickly as possible—jump through a window if you have to.” “R…right, of course.” Minoru nodded apprehensively. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” DD drawled easily. “There aren’t any Ruby Eyes within a ninety-one-meter radius of that building. If there were, I could sniff ’em out from this distance whether they used their powers or not.” “And yet you can smell food from a mile away,” Yumiko observed mercilessly. Meanwhile, the car passed by the front of the building and stopped in front of a parking meter, just about ninety meters away. “We’ll be on standby right here, and Oli is already in the area keeping watch on the building. If there’s an emergency, use the light communicator…or, well, I’d like to say that, but I guess it doesn’t work very well when there’s stuff in the way of the line…” “Well, we couldn’t very well have set up transmitters all over the place. Apparently the Professor is researching miniaturization technology right now, but…for now, we’ll just have to use our phones for communication.” Minoru was only half listening to DD and Yumiko’s exchange. He was more worried about his most difficult mission yet, and that wasn’t referring to the reconnaissance. It was the SFD-made “back-mounting harness” in his hands. Staring down at it, Minoru mumbled a bit hoarsely, “…Um. Couldn’t we, like…tie our legs together like a three-legged race…or like a centipede race or something?” “I’m not good at either of those,” Suu responded coolly. Minoru’s mind was still churning as he clambered into the back of the Delica. In the driver’s seat, Yumiko was in her usual blazer, but Minoru and Suu had changed into black jackets reminiscent of some kind of military special-ops uniform. Reluctantly, Minoru fixed the front half of the harness around his shoulders and waist, clicking the buckles into place. “Go ahead, M-Ms. Komura…” He turned his back toward Suu’s direction, and she responded with a dry “Pardon me,” soon followed by a faint, sweet scent, the feeling of something soft, and finally a moderate amount of weight on his back, the three-way assault forcing Minoru’s thoughts to grind to a halt— “Need some help there, Utsugi?” Yumiko inquired sweetly. Minoru flinched and shook his head. “N-no, thank you! Um, K-Komura, can you get the buckles all right?” There was an additional round of clattering sounds, followed by a small voice. “I can’t reach the ones near your waist.” After two tension-laden minutes, the setup was finally complete, all the belts fastened tightly. Tentatively, Minoru shifted back and forth. The high-tech harness held Suu firmly in place, even without her hanging on. “O…okay, I’m ready.” “Me, too.” Looking sour as ever, Yumiko nodded and got out of the car first, checking their surroundings. Then she pounded on the rear door, signaling Minoru and Suu to activate their abilities. “Um…after you, then, Komura,” Minoru said, trying to calm down. Near his right shoulder, he felt Suu nod. “Very well.” There was a whoosh of static, and Minoru’s body disappeared from view. Even though he’d experienced it before, it was still very bizarre. He had to reach out with an invisible hand and pat his body to assure himself that it still existed before he spoke again. “O…okay, um…here I go.” But he hesitated for a moment before activating his ability. So far, he had brought Suu into his protective shell only under experimental circumstances, with very little consequences if he failed. This would be the first time they’d attempted it in an actual mission—one that could involve combat with Ruby Eyes. If he failed now, the barrier would probably break the harness and send Suu flying. If she was thrown into the side of the car, Third Eye user or not, there was no way she wouldn’t be injured. In other words, failure was not an option from here on out. Minoru’s back stiffened as the sudden surge of stress overwhelmed him. At that moment, he felt warm breath on his right ear, carrying a quiet voice. “Don’t worry.” It was just two words, but it was enough. Minoru nodded, shook off his hesitation, and activated his protective shell. The world around him turned blue and silent, and his body floated ever so slightly. To his relief, he could still feel Suu’s weight on his back. Minoru tapped on the back door of the car, and Yumiko opened it and took a step back. With both their powers activated, Suu and Minoru were completely separated from the outside world. Yumiko couldn’t see, talk to, or touch Minoru. And yet, Accelerator seemed to look straight into his eyes as she mouthed two words: “Be careful.” Reading her lips, Minoru nodded. “I will,” he said, though he knew she couldn’t hear him. Then he began to walk north along the road. Though it was a walk of only about ninety meters, it was a very strange walk, indeed. Naturally, Minoru had never gone anywhere while carrying a girl on his back before. It would probably have made a very strange sight, but nobody they passed on the sidewalk so much as glanced at them. Of course, the other pedestrians made no effort to avoid them, either, so Minoru had to give them an extra-wide berth to avoid brushing against them. And out of fear that a bicycle or something might suddenly come up behind them, he looked over his shoulder frequently as well, adding even more time to what should have been a fairly brief journey. Despite all this, they managed to make it to the front of the building without incident, other than a quizzical look from an alley cat. “…This is the place, right?” Minoru whispered. “It should be.” Doing his best to ignore the strange feeling of the girl shifting around on his back, Minoru examined the building’s rather dark entryway. There was nothing particularly suspicious about it. On the left was an elevator door, and on the right was a staircase. “I’m going in,” he announced shortly, gathering his courage and walking in. Glancing to the left and right, he decided to start by exploring the first floor. “…Huh?” There wasn’t one. Aside from the elevator and the staircase, there wasn’t a single door or hallway in sight. He thought there ought to be some kind of entrance in the front wall, but there was nothing but a blank concrete surface. As Minoru looked around uncertainly, he heard Suu’s voice behind him. “Minoru. The wall in front of us…it seems different from the walls on the left and right.” “Huh? Really?” He squinted, but as everything was tinted blue by his barrier, it was difficult to tell. Drawing closer, he cautiously pushed on the wall through his shell, but this brought him no closer to any kind of revelation. “You don’t think…they figured out that we found this place and sealed off the entrance with concrete or…?” he murmured uncertainly. “We just found it yesterday, so I don’t think they would’ve had time for that.” “R…right.” “I’m sorry. It must have been my imagination. Let’s try the second floor.” Still feeling a bit uncertain, Minoru withdrew from the wall and headed up the dimly lit staircase, emerging into a hallway on the second floor. This time, there was a metal door in the sort of wall he’d expected to see downstairs, and he cautiously approached. Before they’d entered, DD had confirmed with his prized nose that there were no Ruby Eyes in the building, but it was possible that people unrelated to the Syndicate could be inside. In order to verify that and to unlock the door, he would need to deactivate his ability. Minoru checked that there were no security cameras in the stairwell. “I’m going to turn off the shell for a moment,” he announced as he did so. His body sank back down, the soles of his shoes landing on the floor. Suu, too, deactivated her ability, and the two of them became visible again. For a moment, both of them focused all their senses on the incoming temperature, sounds, and smells. They felt only the midwinter chill, the noise from the street, and the dry, dusty air of the building; the wild, beastly smell of the Ruby Eyes was nowhere to be found. Breathing a quick sigh of relief, Minoru pulled out a small mobile phone from his jacket and pressed the speed-dial button that would connect him simultaneously to the waiting car outside and SFD Headquarters. Holding it to his ear, he whispered into the receiver. “This is Isolator. Refractor and I are now infiltrating the second floor.” There was a short “roger” from the Professor and a “no Ruby Eyes detected” from DD. Minoru promptly ended the call. As he was doing this, Suu, still strapped to his back, was pressing a stethoscope-like device to the wall with her right hand. “No sounds from inside,” she reported, pulling it away. “I don’t think anyone is there.” “Ah…all right. I’ll open the door, then…,” he whispered, reaching into a different pocket. This time, he produced a lock-picking gun and held it to the keyhole. When he pulled the trigger, the gun unleashed a barrage of complexly shaped needles into the hole. After a bit of resistance, he felt them slide all the way through and gently turned the gun to the left. Click! The door opened, and Minoru breathed another short sigh. Putting away the gun, he reached out with a thinly gloved hand and turned the doorknob. The door opened away from him surprisingly smoothly. The other side was shrouded in darkness. All he could see was a faint stream of light from a window much farther down the hall. As the air from inside drifted over him, Minoru caught a faintly familiar scent. It was heavy, sort of like rust… “…I smell blood,” Suu said quietly. Minoru felt a knot forming in his stomach, but they couldn’t very well turn back now. He walked into the entrance hall, closing and locking the door behind him. At the same time, both of them reactivated their abilities, and the metallic smell vanished. Trying not to think about where that smell had come from, Minoru turned on the small high-luminance LED light in his left hand. A dim circle of white light appeared in the murky darkness. “It’s…sort of like a pretty normal home…,” Minoru observed, his voice a low whisper despite the fact that his barrier would lock in any level of noise. “Like a two-bedroom apartment,” Suu agreed on his back. Perhaps sensing his anxiety, she continued, “Don’t worry. Nobody’s going to ambush us. If anyone was here, I would’ve seen their line of sight.” “Ah…that’s true.” Minoru nodded, took a deep breath, and continued into the hallway. This building still had three more floors above this one. There was no sense in wasting too much time on the second floor. The layout of this floor was that of an ordinary apartment, but it didn’t seem very lived in. There wasn’t a single pair of shoes or slippers by the entryway. Minoru peeked into the bathroom on the left of the hall, but it didn’t appear to be used, either. Next, he carefully opened a door that was about halfway down the hall. Fortunately, it had a push handle instead of a knob, so he was able to open it without deactivating his shell. This room seemed to be about forty square meters. The first thing his LED light illuminated was a simple pipe bed. There were blankets folded on top of the bedsheets, but in a somewhat disorderly fashion. Unlike the bathroom, it seemed like this room had been used. Moving the light around the room, Minoru saw a small sink and refrigerator in the corner and a pile of cardboard boxes nearby. When he approached the refrigerator and opened it with some difficulty, he was a bit taken aback by its contents. Bottles of mineral water lined the door, but more oddly, the shelves were full of nothing but glass jars. The jars were painstakingly labeled, but Minoru had no idea what the words meant. As he furrowed his brow, Suu spoke quietly over his shoulder. “Antibiotics…styptics… They’re all medicine. And all of them are for external wounds.” Minoru straightened up and looked in the cabinet above the sink, finding neat stacks of gauze and bandages. The one object that seemed out of place was a small bottle of what looked like whiskey, but he supposed this could also be for disinfecting. “So this room is…a sickroom…? Or a treatment and recovery room, I guess…?” “So it seems. It may very well be a place for treating wounds they’ve incurred in battle with us.” “Then…the blood we smelled before must have come from here…” Instinctively, Minoru pointed his light at the floor, but the smooth resin tiles appeared to be devoid of bloodstains. However, he suspected that if he were to use some sort of powder that reacts with blood like a TV detective might, it would light up the room. Minoru shuddered a little as he continued to search, but this medical treatment room didn’t seem to contain any documents or computers, so they soon moved on to the next room. Minoru was terrified, convinced that the next door would surely lead to a gruesome scene of bloodstained floors or even a corpse. However… “…Huh?” The room was almost disappointingly normal. Or more accurately, it was empty. The thirty-by-thirty-meter room didn’t even have a tiled floor, just gray concrete that was beginning to peel. The walls were in a similar state, too, with concrete and exposed plasterboard. The only furnishing was a single LED light that hung from the ceiling. Minoru gingerly stepped inside, pressing his foot down on various parts of the ground through his shell, but the floor seemed to be of uniform firmness, with no secret hatches or the like to be found. “…I’m moving on to the next room.” “Go ahead,” Suu responded after a moment. It seemed as if she, too, had a gut instinct holding her back, but since the room was clearly empty, they couldn’t afford to spend any more time there. Returning to the hallway, Minoru opened a glass door toward the back end. The interior was very spacious, possibly as much as ninty-one square meters, suitable for use as a living room. However, this room, too, was mostly unfurnished. Light slanted into the room through the blinds of the windows on the south wall, enough so that Minoru decided the LED was unnecessary. He switched it off and put it away, then scanned the room quickly. “Ah…” “Ah.” The pair reacted in unison. Against the western wall of the room, there was a simple desk and chair. And on top of the desk, at last, was what they had been searching for: a slim rectangular shape that was undoubtedly a notebook computer. In addition to the power cable sticking out from the side, there was a LAN cable connected to a port in the wall. “…We…have to take a look inside, huh?” Minoru commented nervously. “Of course.” He nodded somewhat reluctantly. In order to operate the computer, he would have to drop his barrier. Glancing back toward the entrance to confirm there was no movement, Minoru again deactivated his ability. The soles of his sneakers made a soft thump as they came back down to the floor, and the sounds and smells of his surroundings all rushed back in. It didn’t seem like anybody was going to rush in and attack them. He reached into his pocket for the cell phone, but since Suu’s ability was still in effect, he couldn’t see the screen or his own hands. Luckily, since it was an old flip phone and not a smartphone, he could manage by feeling around the buttons, but it still took him three tries before he managed to call the SFD line again. “This is Isolator. We’ve successfully infiltrated the second floor, and we found a laptop. It seems to be connected to the Net.” “Great!” the Professor responded immediately. “Plug the flash drive I gave you into the USB port and boot it up. It should automatically copy all the data and then return the laptop to its regular state. Once the program starts, you’ll be able to close the lid without affecting it.” “R-roger.” Wow, I feel like I’m in a movie, Minoru thought, taking the black USB flash drive out of his pocket and inserting it in the port on the side of the laptop. He eased the lid open carefully, causing the LCD screen to light up automatically. It appeared the laptop had only been in standby, not powered off. With an apparently fast CPU and an advanced SSD, it took only a few moments for the machine to load the desktop. The background was solid black, with only the drab default icons visible. A progress bar appeared automatically, and the light on the flash drive began to flash rapidly. “Um…copying is under way,” Minoru reported. He was closing the lid of the laptop when DD’s voice suddenly cut in. “Ah…oh, shit!” His voice was low and tense through the phone’s speakers. “There’s a Ruby Eye approaching from the northwest! I can’t tell who it is…but they’re giving off crazy pressure—my nose is burning up! Isolator, activate your shell right now! They’re gonna reach the room you’re in in less than a minute!!” “B-but the data is still…” The small blue light was still flashing frantically. If he activated his shell, he wouldn’t be able to collect the drive—and if he pulled it out now, it wouldn’t be able to set the PC back to its original state, and the enemy might realize the computer had been tampered with. “…It doesn’t matter; your safety is our top priority. Turn it on now!” ordered the Professor. “Roger,” Minoru responded, immediately activating his protective shell. Based on the data from their previous battles, Minoru’s detection radius—in other words, the range from which a Ruby Eye could smell the activation of his abilities—was about nine meters. If this Ruby Eye was walking toward the living room from the north side of the building, they should be well outside that distance. Thus, the approaching Ruby Eye should still be unaware of Minoru’s and Suu’s presence. Nonetheless, Minoru headed over to the southwest corner of the room in the blue-tinted silence of his shell. “…Crouch down, so we’re in the shadow of the wall,” Suu said unexpectedly. Puzzled, Minoru did so, and she explained, “You and I are mostly invisible right now, but our pupils aren’t. If we’re up against a light background, it’s possible that someone could notice them.” “I-I see…” At this, Minoru’s heart began to pound even faster. Just then, Suu reached around from his back and pressed her hands over his heart. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. If it comes down to it, we’ll fight. There’s no power on earth that can beat ours when we’re working together.” “…Yeah.” Even through the sturdy harness, Minoru could feel the warmth of Suu’s hands, slightly cooler than his own. As if her hands were draining away his anxiety, he felt his heartbeat slowly settling down as he nodded. A few moments later, the doorknob on the living room’s glass door turned slowly. The only Ruby Eyes Minoru had ever faced down directly were Biter and Igniter. Their ages, physiques, and personalities had been very different, but they’d shared one trait in common: hatred. Both of them had held a seemingly endless level of hatred toward other humans that radiated from them like a poisonous cloud. Even through his protective shell, Minoru had been able to feel that hate. But the Ruby Eye who was coming through the glass door now was completely different from both Biter and Igniter. Their movements and even the atmosphere they projected were perfectly controlled, not revealing a single hint of information about the Ruby Eye’s thoughts. And there was one more obvious difference: This Ruby Eye was a woman. “…?!” Minoru let out a loud gasp, then instinctively covered his mouth in a panic before remembering that there was no way for her to hear him through the shell, anyway. Taking a deep breath, he looked at her more closely. The woman walked toward the sofa on the opposite side of the room from their hiding place as if gliding across the spacious wooden floor. Placing the tote bag she was carrying on the floor, she stretched and gave a long sigh, then walked over to the window and opened the blinds. Light poured into the room, illuminating her body. She was fairly tall, at least 170 centimeters. Her light brown hair was gathered up in a bun, and she wore a stylish blue-gray suit with a tight matching skirt. Her long legs were clad in glossy tan stockings, and her lovely face could only be described as bewitching. She wore rather heavy makeup, with a long nose and double eyelids rarely found on a Japanese person. She seemed to be in her late twenties, but it was difficult to say for sure. She’s no ordinary person, Minoru’s instincts told him, but he was unable to tell what kind of threat she might pose immediately, so he whispered hoarsely to Suu, “Is that…the Ruby Eye…?” “…I think so,” Suu answered, her voice echoing Minoru’s uncertainty. “I’ve never seen her before… It’s too bad we can’t photograph her.” “Wh…? Oh, right…” Minoru was about to ask why not, but then he worked it out himself. Suu’s refraction ability also applied to the clothes she was wearing and objects she was holding, so a phone or camera would also be affected, meaning the light that should normally reflect off it would avoid it instead. In other words, even if they had a camera, its lens would be unable to capture the necessary light. In that case, we can at least burn her image into our eyes until smoke comes out of them, Minoru thought, focusing on her. “Huh?!” he yelped suddenly in alarm. Suu had covered his eyes with both hands. The light that should have been flowing into his pupils was now blocked by her hands, so he couldn’t see a thing. “Wh-what are you doing?!” “Nnng…” “…‘nng’?” “Nnng.” Repeating her mysterious groan, Suu seemed very reluctant as she let go of Minoru’s eyes. The sight that awaited him made Minoru jerk backward, nearly headbutting Suu in the face. The woman who was presumed to be a Ruby Eye was in the process of unzipping her skirt and tossing it onto the floor. Minoru froze in shock and stayed frozen as she proceeded to unbutton her blouse. Even as the white fabric slipped away from her shoulders, he didn’t have the mental capacity to look away, rooted to the spot less than nine meters away from the woman as she stripped down to her black underwear. When the woman tossed her clothes onto the couch and sat down, pulling off her tan stockings, Minoru finally calmed down enough to avert his eyes, his mouth still hanging open. The atmosphere inside the silent protective shell had become unbearably tense. Feeling that he had to do something about this, Minoru cast around for ideas, for a moment contemplating making some kind of joke before quickly giving up on that plan. His neck creaked as he turned his head to look at the laptop and finally hit upon something to say.