According to the map that had been prepared for them, they were supposed to slip through a narrow passage. What was in fact before their eyes was a large apartment building lying on its side. The path they were supposed to follow was completely buried beneath it.
“This isn’t on the map,” Reno said. “So there must have been an accident. Should I contact the vice-captain and ask if it’s all right to take a detour?”
Kafka stared unmoving at the path before them and gave an unexpected reply: “No, Ichikawa. This might just be exactly what the vice-captain has in mind.”
“Huh?” Reno’s hand paused at Kafka’s unexpected words.
“These are abandoned buildings. That being the case, isn’t it safe to assume the course may deteriorate? That the state of the battlefield can be changed by the pairs that came through before us?”
“Yeah, I could see that happening!”
Kafka had a good point. It had been like that at Sagamihara. In real combat, cities took damage from monsters and changed moment by moment. The information they were given wasn’t necessarily correct. That would mean that in today’s training, the map was only valid for the first pair.
“Shinomiya probably realized this. But what do we do?” Reno asked.
“Ichikawa, you can jump to the top of the building by yourself, can’t you? No way you could do it with the luggage and me, but—”
“I told you before, didn’t I? Sure, I could jump it myself, but I’m not gonna!”
“I’m not planning on giving up either,” Kafka said. “Use this.”
Kafka produced a coil of rope for mountain climbing from his backpack and said, “These rucksacks aren’t just here to weigh us down. Before we set out, I checked what was in it. They’ve got supplies and survival gear inside. Ichikawa, mind carrying this up there for me?” Kafka refused to give up, even faced with all these difficulties. And he was trying to overcome them using his own abilities.
“Yes, sir. I’ll take it up now.” Holding one end of the rope in his hand, Reno jogged a few paces and then took off running. He took a mighty leap, and then kicked his way up the side of the wall as he made his way to the top of the apartment building.
A throbbing, dull pain ran through Reno’s left thigh. It was right where Kaiju No. 9 had gouged his flesh—it still wasn’t completely healed. Taking pains not to let it show in his face, Reno secured the rope. “You’re all set, Mr. Hibino!”
“All right, here we go!” Grunting beneath the weight of his pack, Kafka started climbing. The rope went taut, and Kafka came climbing up the vertical face of the wall. He clenched his teeth, and a look of desperation appeared on his face. His progress was achingly slow, and he seemed to be making little progress. One step at a time, though, he was steadily drawing nearer. Then, when he was almost to the top, Kafka’s foot slipped.
“Whoa!”
“Mr. Hibino!” Reno leaned out over the wall and grabbed hold of his hand. Bracing every muscle in his body, he pulled Kafka up to the top.
“Whew, that was a close one!” Kafka said. “Thank you.”
“We’re running out of time. Let’s get out of here.”
After that, they passed through the ninth checkpoint. All that remained was the final target. Under the weight of the backpack, Kafka was breaking down physically, and sweat was coming off him like a waterfall.
“Mr. Hibino, if you’re at your limit, I can carry that.”
“W-what’re you talking about? This thing?”
“Your knees are sagging.”
Kafka drove his fists into his wobbling knees. “There. They’ve stopped.”
“But—”
“Ichikawa, I bet your leg’s aching too.”
“You noticed?”
And here he’d thought he’d managed to hide it.
“Sorry,” said Kafka. “I’m the one who ought to be helping you out, but I’ve been nothing but trouble.”
“No, you are helping me.”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t transform, did you?” Reno asked.
“Who’d do a thing like that? And right next to you when you’re trying so hard?”
Though not a year had yet passed since they’d first met, Reno felt that Kafka really was an odd one. Ordinarily, even an exercise like this one should have been easy for him. When Kafka turned into Kaiju No. 8, his physical abilities increased by leaps and bounds. Even with just a partial metamorphosis, he could have blown right through this course with no problem. But he didn’t do that. He was keeping his true nature—and his power—hidden away.
“Even though most times a sneeze will have you on the verge of transforming,” Reno said.
“W-what was that?” Kafka asked.
“Nothing at all, sir.”
Kafka struggled but nevertheless headed straight for the goal, never giving in to the hardship.
Reno wondered how many times this side of Kafka had helped him out. This was exactly why Kafka was still a “sir” and a “mister” to Reno, even if there was no longer seniority between them. There would always be respect.
I can’t let this man transform any more than he already has. And to keep it from happening, I’ve—
Reno put a bullet through the last remaining target as it showed itself up ahead.
—gotta get stronger.
The starting point came into view. There, Hoshina and the other teams that had gone on ahead were waiting. Though Reno and Kafka had set out relatively early, they had ended up in very last place. When they arrived at the goal, Kafka and Reno stood side by side and saluted Hoshina.
“Kafka Hibino, returning, sir!”
“Reno Ichikawa, returning, sir!”
Hoshina looked up from his watch at both of their faces and nodded. “Both of you: your return is acknowledged. This brings the exercise to an end.”
No sooner had these words reached his ears than Kafka collapsed on the ground, arms and legs spread wide. He was likely already way beyond his physical limit. Reno’s leg started aching again, and he crouched down on the ground.
“We originally assumed it would take thirty minutes or less to finish the course,” Hoshina said, gazing at his electronic tablet. “Kaguragi’s pair did it in fifteen.”
“But we did it after the circumstances had changed, and at the highest difficulty!” Kafka insisted.
“Oh yeah, that is true,” said Hoshina. “We didn’t plan on that either.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
In front of the dumbfounded Kafka and Reno, Hoshina rubbed his jaw. “I figured the course might take a bit of a pounding, but wow, that was something else. That rascal Shinomiya ran ahead and had a little too much fun.”
“So are you telling me—are you saying—”
Hoshina nodded at Reno’s question. “If you’d called in at that point, I would’ve guided you to a different course.”
“Gaaah! I can’t believe it!” Kafka cried, holding his head in his hands. “So, in the end, everything I went through was just wasted effort? Ichikawa, I am so sorry I wrapped you up in this too!”
Reno cracked up with laughter. “It’s no problem, sir.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, it was a hard way to go, but it sure wasn’t wasted. I think it was the path we needed to take to get closer to our goal. I believe that.”
Pressing on his bad leg, Reno rose to his feet. City streets turned to crumbling ruins were all around. But when he looked upward, the thought of the grim surroundings was lost in the blue sky spread out above.
The officers headed back from the training ground. Hoshina was also getting ready to go back when he heard footsteps approach from behind. He turned, and standing there was a tall, noble young lady with raven hair pulled back in a single braid It was Third Division captain Mina Ashiro.
“Captain Ashiro. Finally able to get away from the office?”
“Yes, I came to a good stopping point. How were this year’s officers?”
“Since Sagamihara, every last one of ’em has really caught fire. You can see it in their eyes. I think they’ll get better and better going forward. Reno Ichikawa in particular. Never mind that he just returned to work after recovery—he moved really well. Seems like he figured something out at Sagamihara.”
Ashiro looked down at the tablet Hoshina was holding. “How about the one he was paired with, Kafka Hibino?
“He’s struggling,” Hoshina said, straight and to the point. “Without Ichikawa backing him up in every way, he would’ve blown it right from the get-go. His unleashed combat power’s still only 1 percent.”
“I see.”
“Still, I can admit he’s got guts.”
Ashiro’s eyes widened slightly at Hoshina’s words of praise for Kafka.
“Seems like at first, the news crew thought he’d drop out,” Hoshina said. “What changed their minds was Ichikawa’s support and Hibino’s own determination. They make a good team.”
“You seem pleased,” Ashiro said.
“That’s ’cause for my part, I don’t much care to see my subordinates being taken lightly. Well, I need to go. Got to go do the postmortem on today’s exercise in the lecture room.”
Hoshina began walking away, following after the officers. When he looked up ahead, Kafka, Kikoru, and Reno were noisily yelling at each other about something.
“Sheesh. Rowdy bunch, aren’t they?”