“Now it’s plain!” Kafka continued trying to describe the new taste. “No, hold on. Maybe I should change that to ‘missing flavor.’”
Next to Kafka, Reno tried a sip, and his eyes snapped open wide. “Wow. The sweetness and the aroma fade away after just a moment, like they were passing you by.”
Kafka was impressed. “L-listen to you, Ichikawa! That’s one heck of a review!”
“I don’t think it was all that impressive—”
“Dang, this stuff is great, but I just can’t put the flavor into words very well.”
Seeing agitation on Kafka’s face, Kikoru grinned.
“Hmph. Well, it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. You’ve never had it before, right? So it’s no wonder your tongue can’t keep up.”
Kafka stumbled over a few more words, then with a frustrated expression, pointed his finger straight at Kikoru. “Get down offa that high horse, young lady! There’s something I’ve drunk before that I bet you’re totally clueless about.”
“Something you’ve drunk that I never have?” Kikoru put a hand to her mouth as she considered. “Muddy water?”
“I’ve never had that either, all right? Heh. It’s a shame, really. You don’t even know the flavor!”
“Surely you’re not talking about beer or something. I am a minor,” Kikoru reminded him.
Kafka opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He’d frozen up the instant she’d spoken.
“Mr. Hibino. Don’t you think that was a little immature?”
“Ha, ha ha ha. What’re you yappin’ about, Ichikawa? Of course it ain’t. Hey, wait! I got it! Yeah, that’s the ticket!”
Kafka’s face lit up, and he stuck his finger on the tip of Kikoru’s nose.
“Ramune!” he said.
He had the look of someone struck with a brilliant idea at the moment that all hope had seemed lost.
However—
“Ramune?” Kikoru said. “I know about it. It’s that fizzy drink they sell at festivals, right?”
“Oh, you knew?” Kafka said. “Ah, but have you tried it? Can you get the marble out of the way?”
“Marble? We’re talking about drinks. What are you bringing up marbles for?”
When Kafka heard those words, he opened his mouth and burst out laughing. He crossed his arms, puffed out his chest, and said, “Yesss! I win! Even the great Kikoru is a total noob when it comes to ramune!”
“Please, Mr. Hibino,” Kikoru said. “Don’t gloat over something so trivial.” As she observed Kafka’s behavior, Kikoru was unaware of her pouting expression. “Well,” she said, “if you’re gonna build it up like that, I guess I’ll make sure to try some the next chance I get. But it better be fantastic, or this won’t end well for you.”
What an imbecilic conversation.
Kikoru had been idly reminiscing while walking down the street. Suddenly, she realized she was thinking of Kafka yet again. She shook her head to drive the thoughts out.
What was that all about? It’s almost exactly what Akari said I was doing.
A twofold beep in her ear announced an incoming transmission from Okonogi. “Miss Shinomiya, are you all right?”
“All right about what?” Kikoru asked.
“There’s an abnormality in your vitals,” Okonogi said. “Your heart rate seems to be climbing.”
“Nothing’s amiss, okay?”
“Sheesh, no need to snap—”
“I repeat: it’s nothing, Miss O-kay-nogi. Just frustration. Because I can’t find the kaiju.”
Afterward, Kikoru advanced all the way to the confining wall at the far end of the ground, but ultimately she did not engage the honju.
“Hmm,” said Hoshina through the communicator. “Can’t seem to find it, huh, Shinomiya? Come back over to the entrance.”
“Yes, sir. Heading back now,” Kikoru said.
The kaiju was apparently hiding somewhere and not coming out. Kikoru walked on the long, straight road for a while, and up ahead, the entrance—the rotary in front of the station—came into view. There was a massive crack in the road.
Just as she was stepping in front of the station, there came a rumbling sound, and the earth shuddered.
Right next to Kikoru, the asphalt burst apart, and a massive claw emerged from the ground. She took a big leap backward.
A massive crab-type kaiju several times the size of a yoju appeared from beneath the street. Huge amounts of dirt and asphalt were packed tightly against its body.
“It came back over to the entrance,” Kikoru said under her breath. “He knew good and well it was over here! That dirty-dealing—”
“I can hear that, Shinomiya,” Hoshina said. “You up for some push-ups later?”
“Yes, sir. Well, whatever.” Kikoru said indifferently. “This saves me the trouble of looking for it.” Kikoru raised the greatsword above her head, preparing to strike.
Combat power, full release!
All around her, the air crackled and shook. In a single motion, Kikoru sprang forward. The kaiju was caught on some rubble, and she swung the greatsword at its head. The blow that Kikoru unleashed easily split the kaiju’s head in half—at least, that’s what she thought would happen.
The sword made a loud noise and bounced off the tightly packed asphalt on the kaiju’s back. She’d done some damage and sheared off some of it, but she hadn’t reached its carapace. She clenched her teeth tightly. “Have another!”
Kikoru swung her sword at the kaiju’s giant claw, which was coated in large amounts of entangled dirt and rock. Once again, her sword bounced off. “It pushed me back!”
Although the kaiju had taken two attacks now, it was still essentially unharmed. It stared intently at Kikoru with eyes like obsidian. Then, as if in challenge, it stuck its enormous claws out at her.
“You pest!” Kikoru yelled.
In the control room, the kaiju’s position within the training ground was being monitored in real time. When Kikoru had returned to the entrance, it had been assumed she would engage the kaiju in battle.
“So not even Shinomiya can hack through a honju with one swing, eh?”
At Hoshina’s murmur, Okonogi nodded while she looked at the data. “The honju’s carapace is a few times thicker than the yoju’s. Its uniorgan secretes a lot more fluid too. Breaking through the shell when it’s covered in asphalt might be tricky even for a division captain.”
Hearing that, the television director raised a question. “Mr. Hoshina. If that’s the case, what methods can you think of for dealing with it?”
“It has its vulnerabilities,” said Hoshina. “The first thing I’d suggest is to aim for its joints. Actually, that’s what I had my officers do when we captured it.”
“I see. So that’s the method you would —”
“Nah, I think I’d just kill it the usual way.”
“What?” said the director, drawing back a bit.
“Using this,” Hoshina said, and patted his custom weapon—a daggerlike ninja sword—that he wore on his hip.
“Hoshina,” said Ashiro, “your method wouldn’t be any help.”
“Oh? Then what would you do, Captain?”
“Blow a hole through the carapace with artillery.”
“I don’t think that helps us much either.” Hoshina said.
With a grimace, Okonogi answered the director, who was now overwhelmed by a conversation far beyond his experience. “You can’t rely too much on the standards of these two, so—”
“Ha ha ha. Seems that way, huh?” the director agreed.
As Ashiro watched Kikoru in battle, she murmured, “Is this the turn of events you were aiming for, Hoshina?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hoshina said, cocking his head.
“If all this was just to showcase her custom weapon, there would have been no need to bring a truck loaded with weapons into the training ground. You must have predicted that that greatsword wouldn’t work on the honju.”
“Nothing gets by you, does it, Captain?”
“I can guess right away what you’re likely to think of,” Ashiro replied.
Listening from the side, Okonogi wasn’t sure what the point of this was. “Vice-Captain Hoshina,” she asked, “why would you do such a thing?”
“Ms. Okonogi, there are situations where relying on your custom weapon alone can actually trip you up,” Hoshina explained. “That’s especially true for Shinomiya, given that she’s still light on field experience. To deal with that kaiju, she ought to judiciously incorporate standard weapons into her attacks. There are freezing bombs in that van. Using those, she could inhibit the kaiju’s movements. The best way is to do that first, and then hammer it with her custom weapon.”
“I see.”
“At this rate she’s going to gradually run out of options. What’s your next move, Shinomiya?” Hoshina wondered.
As Hoshina had predicted, Kikoru was struggling.
This thing!
She could break the armor that the kaiju was wearing. But one slice wasn’t enough to reach her real target, its carapace. Even now, the kaiju was continuing to spew out that sticky fluid. The sand and asphalt scattered on the ground were getting stuck in it and creating new armor as quickly as Kikoru could destroy it.