“Are you all right?” my rescuer asked, once we were on top of the cliff.
“…You’re asking me that? You’re at death’s door yourself.”
“Ha-ha. Well, the irony’s good. That’s appropriate for us, isn’t it?”
Ryan White smiled at my disgruntled expression. He was back in his white military uniform, and his face was its usual, irritating self again.
“You look like hell.”
The man who should have been a symbol of justice had a big wound. One that wouldn’t disappear, inflicted on him by a real ally of justice. He wouldn’t die, though. That Ace Detective would never kill him.
“I don’t plan to apologize,” Ryan said. He was still sitting on the ground, and he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I have no intention of perverting my justice. I won’t let anyone talk me out of it. Someday, you and yours will see that I was right.”
So his philosophy hadn’t been under the control of a code, at least.
That’s fine, then. Stick to your guns.
“Bring it anytime. I’ll stop you as often as I have to.”
When you become an enemy of the world, stopping you will be the Assassin’s mission. And so, at least until that day, I’ll—
“—Fuubi!”
Ryan covered me.
There was a streak of light. I felt heat, smelled something burning. Fresh blood spurted from Ryan’s neck.
I twisted around to look. A small sphere floated in midair.
“—Dammit!” I drew the only gun I’d brought in and fired, smashing the sphere into the depths of the abyss.
“Ryan!”
Ryan had a hand to his neck, and he collapsed, leaning into me. He was bleeding heavily. The laser that sphere had fired had grazed him.
I tore some fabric off my clothes, pressing it to Ryan’s neck. Stop, I wished, but the System was breaking down, and it didn’t acknowledge that will.
“I guess I was the one the world didn’t choose, hm?” Ryan murmured, mocking himself.
“—Don’t talk.”
“I was supposed to meet Abel here,” Ryan started. He wasn’t listening to me. “He never showed up. In the end, I probably was just his pawn. That attack might also have been…”
Had Abel used a code somewhere, working with this broken System?
“In that case, he’s planning to control this world with methods that go farther than mine.”
“What do you mean?” I asked in spite of myself.
“He’ll probably try to restore the System. Then he’ll begin preparing to evolve the Akashic records… By now, it’s possible your companions know more about this than I do. Ask them once you get out of here.”
Right. Catching Abel had been the Assassin’s mission to begin with. I’d get on that immediately.
“I’m not getting out alone, though. You’re coming with me.” There’s a ton of stuff I have to ask you. “The interrogation’s going to be rough. Brace yourself.”
“Ha-ha. That’s terrifying.” Ryan smiled just a little. “This is as far as I go, though. I can’t continue. I’m sorry, Fuubi.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
You just said it yourself. You said your justice hadn’t been wrong.
“I got violent with you.”
“You were being controlled by Abel’s code.”
“That makes it worse. I’m deeply ashamed of having given myself over to a great evil. I can’t go back to your world anymore.” Ryan’s head was resting on my lap. His lips were pale.
“Are you an idiot?” Coward. If you’ve made a mistake, admit it and atone. Then work for the sake of justice again. That’s your mission, right? It’s how you live, right? “This is no place for you to…”
But Ryan shook his head. And then… “Will you do it?”
He didn’t specify what.
“No. The Assassin’s mission is to kill innocent people in the service of noble causes. You’re a criminal. I don’t kill people who’ve committed crimes. I just let the law judge them.”
“I see. In that case, definitely kill me. If you do, you’ll have violated the Federal Charter, and they’ll fire you as the Assassin. It’s about time you were set free from that mission of yours.”
“Don’t screw with me! I’m—!”
“I’m not telling you to stop being a hero. You’re just not suited to being the Assassin. You’re too—kind.”
That wasn’t true. I’d gotten my hands dirty countless times. That meant it was way too late for this.
“I’m sorry,” Ryan apologized again. His voice was thin. “I should have been the one to do it. I should have gone to that side right from the start. You and me, the hidden side and the public side. Which of us would protect which world? I should have flipped our roles back then.”
No. I’d decided all of that. I’d thought it was fine that way. I didn’t regret any of it. I’ll keep on killing people in order to protect others—
“Fuubi.” Reaching out with a bloodied hand, Ryan touched my cheek. In exchange, the tips of my hair poked his cheek. “Don’t cry.”
My tears fell onto Ryan’s face, which was twisted with sorrow.
It was the first time I’d cried in fifteen years.
“We’re not kids anymore. You don’t have to worry about stuff like that.”
“I see. That’s true.”
Right. We were adults. Adults who protected the world for kids.
“In that case, Fuubi, mind if I say something?”
No, don’t talk anymore.
Before I could say those words, Ryan said his.
“I did love you.”
My body almost moved.
That wasn’t right, though. It wasn’t. That wasn’t what I needed to be doing right now.
I’d decided what I’d do fifteen whole years ago.
“Ha! Who’d fall for a lie like that, you fool?”
I smiled as I said it.
Ryan looked startled; his eyes widened, even though they’d been gradually closing. But then he smiled just like me. It was something we’d left undone that day, fifteen years back.
“Ryan.” After we’d smiled together for a while, I called his name. One of my old regrets had vanished, and now it was time to fulfill our current promise. “What is real justice? I can’t be satisfied with the answer I got this time. I’ll keep asking, as often as it takes.”
“Yeah. Someday, for sure, we’ll make a peaceful world without war.”
My hand tightened around my gun. That hand wasn’t shaking anymore.
The sound of a gunshot echoed in the crumbling world.