That night, Rindou sat in the meeting hall and reflected on that day’s fight against the hero.
Azuma’s ability to hear the eggs had been unexpectedly neutralized. That was all it had taken to place them at a disadvantage. The thought made Rindou’s skin crawl. Fortunately, today’s opponent happened to be small. But there was no guarantee the same would be true next time.
If anything, heroes were often too big to slay with a single strike. What would they do then? Rindou wasn’t sure.
“Although I guess this is just what everyone has to go through…”
The ability to locate the heroes’ eggs was unique. Azuma was the only one who possessed it, and Charon had been relying on his ability up until now. Now that Rindou had given it some thought, he realized things had been pretty easy for them. Azuma pointed, and they attacked. It was as simple as that.
“Except…once Kaguya showed up, even that much was no longer necessary.”
With Kaguya on their side, they had been able to eliminate any opponent, no matter how aggressive and powerful. Rindou would be lying if he said they hadn’t started to use her as a crutch.
“We really started relying on her at some point…”
At first, they had rejected her. But at this moment, even Rindou found himself wishing she were there.
“I suppose you could say we got too dependent—”
“Too dependent…? Who do you mean?”
A voice spoke up from the entrance to the hall, interrupting Rindou’s thoughts. He lifted his head. Not that he needed to look to see, but it was Koyuki. She was leaning against the wall.
“Kaguya or Azuma? Which one are we too dependent on?”
“Who said you could eavesdrop? Mind your business.”
“I just got here.”
Koyuki plopped herself down on the sofa without bothering to ask first. The cushion springs beneath her sagged, though not nearly as much as they did for Rindou.
“Both,” he said, answering Koyuki’s question. “The truth is Azuma and Kaguya have been carrying us… Actually, once Kaguya arrived, even the carrying was just for show. At the end of the day, the two of them would be more than capable of handling things on their own.”
“That’s true.” Koyuki glanced down at her hands. Smooth and pale, yet calloused. “I’ve been fighting against heroes all this time, but even though it’s only been six months since Kaguya got here, I’ve started to wonder: What if we could save them instead?”
Rindou did not reply.
“Heroes are just monsters, nothing more and nothing less—that was what I used to think.”
Rindou had felt the same way. He was probably even more staunch about it than Koyuki was. It wasn’t that he held any strong grudge against the heroes or anything. It was just, having thrown his life away once, fighting them had now become his reason for going on.
But something felt different now.
“Things go smoother when she’s here, at least. Being able to immobilize them like that has saved our butts plenty of times,” said Rindou.
“Is that all you care about? Really…?”
Rindou frowned, not liking what Koyuki was getting at. “What’s that supposed to mean…?”
“Why don’t you just admit you like saving the heroes, too?”
“Come on, don’t give me that shit—”
“How long have we known each other, Rindou? You can’t fool me.”
“Get off my nuts, geez…,” Rindou grumbled, scowling. But he didn’t disagree.
Koyuki chuckled. “You’ve been trying to act like some kind of tough guy ever since you met her. It’s fine by me, but you’re gonna give people the wrong impression, you know?”
“Just so long as you guys get me,” Rindou said before suddenly catching himself.
“Hmm?” Koyuki hummed with a devilish grin.
Rindou realized instinctively that he had just put his foot in his mouth.
“You’re gonna make me blush, big guy.”
“Quit acting dumb,” he said, doing his best to come off as intimidating, but it was useless against Koyuki.
The two were stuck with each other by this point. They knew each other inside and out—in a way that was completely different from the kind of awkward relationship that Azuma and Kaguya had. They were used to not holding back with one another.
“Anyway, putting that aside,” Rindou said, forcefully changing the subject, “it’s not good that we’re so dependent on them. Maybe we should rethink the way we do things.”
“You’re right. They’ve been supporting us up until now. It’s our turn to return the favor.”
To pay Azuma and Kaguya back for taking them for granted, Rindou and Kaguya needed to learn how to defeat heroes on their own. If they couldn’t do that, then there was no point in them being there in the first place.
“It’s time we stepped up to the plate, Rindou,” Koyuki said, making a fist and thrusting it out toward him.
Rindou nodded, realizing immediately what she was saying. Obviously, he was on board. He made a fist and bumped it against Koyuki’s smaller one.
Koyuki was his comrade, the best word to describe their relationship. It was different from what he had with Azuma or Kaguya, even a little different from what he had once had with Sakura. Something unique and difficult to describe.
Koyuki’s catlike vermilion eyes and Rindou’s auburn brown ones needed to meet only briefly for the two comrades to know that they were in total agreement. This was a connection that was rare for someone like Rindou.
“Anyway, I’m going to bed,” Koyuki announced, standing up from the sofa. She smiled at Rindou as he glanced up at her questioningly. “I feel a little tired today…”
“Just today?”
This time it was Rindou’s turn to see right through Koyuki. She laughed, her eyes widening slightly.
“I’m tired, too,” Rindou said.
“Ha-ha, I’m sure you are. You should get some sleep as well. Takanashi will get pissed if you stay up too late.”
Rindou stared off into the distance as if the mention of Takanashi’s name had caused him to remember something. Specifically, he stared in the direction of the kitchen.
“Takanashi, huh? Just what the hell has she been up to lately anyway?”
“Apparently, she’s been poking her nose into things at the Bureau. She’s originally from Inspection, after all.”
There was no need to ask what she was poking her nose into. The Director’s death, of course…as well as other matters.
As a former Inspection officer, uncovering answers was what Takanashi did best. It was her bread and butter. Rindou hadn’t had many opportunities to speak with her lately, seeing as she had been so busy with her investigations. Not that he spoke with her much to begin with. Still, though…
“Just what the heck does she get up to all day?”
It was hard not to be at least a little curious.
After Rindou left, Koyuki leaned back on the sofa and let out a huge sigh. The sound, as it settled into the quiet of the deserted meeting hall, seemed a little sad.
“I told her, didn’t I?”
That there was no need for a girl from Technical to try so hard to prove herself with Tactical Infantry.
“Or did I never say that out loud…?”
How could any of them have said it out loud?
Kaguya had completely changed the way that Charon fought. She had shown them a new way forward. It was easy to see what Rindou was getting at.
Charon had grown complacent in the end—despite knowing how dangerous that could be.
There hadn’t been anything different about the hero they had fought last week. Meaning that whatever had occurred, it must have been on Kaguya’s side. But it was their own fault. They were the ones who had pushed Kaguya to the breaking point like this.
“Everything is just back to the way it used to be…”
Like Azuma said, things were just back to the way they once were from Charon’s point of view. Back to their original way of doing things.
Kaguya probably would have been livid had she known.
“As for that other girl…”
From Koyuki’s point of view, Mari Ezakura was practically a stranger. But thinking about how she must be feeling now caused even Koyuki’s heart to ache. Ezakura’s boss was gone, and her mentor, Kaguya, was stuck in a coma.
The door squeaked on its hinges, and Koyuki lifted her head. Due to shoddy installation, even the slightest movement caused the door to protest.
“Oh… Azuma,” she said.
Azuma entered the room, seemingly lost in thought, as usual. There were thick worry lines between his eyebrows. He always had a tendency to brood, but that tendency had become even more pronounced since losing Kaguya.
“You look like you’ve got one foot in the grave…,” Koyuki said, causing Azuma to finally notice her presence. “What’s gotten into you? You sure you’re getting enough sleep?”
“You’re hardly one to talk…,” Azuma said with a smile of uncharacteristic chagrin as he sat down opposite Koyuki. “You don’t seem very eager to go to bed yourself.”
“Hey, don’t change the subject… But no, I can’t sleep. It’s too quiet.”
Kaguya had always been working on something late into the night. Now that the room was quiet again, Koyuki found it surprisingly difficult to sleep. The fact that there was nothing actually keeping her awake made her insomnia all the more aggravating.
The same had happened after Sakura left.
“Come to think of it, Azuma, there was something I wanted to discuss with you.”