Hiya! I can't believe it's been another 3 months already. The story is nearing its end and I don't want to rush things up just to ruin things. Plus, I've been feverishly trying to improve my writing skills. Whether I've succeeded in that regard, I'll be relying on you, the reader, to tell me.
Last but not least, here's a shout-out for NKC's amazing story, Our Beats Incarnate. The story helped me out a lot in improving my writing and style. I just hope I can return the favor :)
Chapter 27 - Dual operation II (Part 3): Impossible Encounter
Yuri's Team (7:55 p.m.) -ギルド連絡通路B9
Life is full of unexpected twists. Some are welcoming and pleasant; they are what makes life fun. Most of the time, however, twists ruin everything you've planned or worked for. There is yet another kind of twists, ones that spin you in confusion and make you wonder if you've gone mad.
Like now, when our group was standing right on top of a trap that could collapse and send us falling thirty feet at any moment, a white-haired girl was looking straight at us, the blades that protruded from the backs of both of her hands glowing an eerie blue in the darkness.
I stopped short. I almost couldn't believe my eyes.
'Hey...' Hinata said after a moment thick with uncertain silence. 'Isn't that Kanade?'
Strangely, the way Kanade was holding her blades was almost like she was geared up for a fight, and she was staring at us with such intensity it almost seemed like she was glaring. Glaring at us with those... No... it can't be...
I was about to warn everyone in horror but I was a moment too late. The white-haired girl disappeared in a flash, and with a gust of wind blew by us, destroying our only weapons along the way.
When she emerged on the other side, she turned slowly, revealing her ferocious, blood-red eyes.
'Is... is that really Kanade?' Hinata stuttered.
'This is getting way too complicated,' Noda said. 'Whose side is she on anyway?'
'Damn it!' I shouted. We lost all weapons we had, save Noda's axe. But I wasn't about to risk a close-range fight with someone with the lust to kill. Especially not when dying counts!
'Everyone, run!' I shouted and dashed for the exit on the other side, temporarily forgetting the deadly trap awaiting us.
The others followed suit, and the harmonics clone made no attempt to chase after us. She continued to glare at us as the wooden floorboards broke one by one behind us, threatening to drop us.
We made it in time with less than seconds to share, and we collapsed, gasping for breath.
'What was that all about?' Hinata gasped. 'Why is Kanade attacking us?'
'That's not Kanade,' I said after my breathing returned to a more restful rhythm. 'Did you notice her eyes? She's a clone.'
'The more important thing to ask is,' Takeyama cut in. 'Why is she here in the first place?'
I glared at him. 'Takeyama, be honest with us. What exactly happened to Otonashi and Kanade?'
A moment of hesitation flashed across his face, but the way all of us were staring at him told him he didn't have a choice. Slowly, he began his story.
/ / / / / / / / / /
'I met them for the first time that day. It was late in the evening - I had a meeting that day at school and was in a hurry to return home. I didn't have an umbrella, and it was soon pouring down on me, so I ran as quickly as my legs could take me. That's when he came to me.
'All of a sudden, a guy I didn't know tapped my shoulder and handed me an umbrella. He was with a girl, a white-haired girl whose name I soon learned was Kanade Tachibana. He smiled at me in an assuring way, almost like he knew me.
'Anyway, I'm never one to take anything from strangers. So I bowed gratefully and turned away. But then he called out my name. "Hey, Takeyama," he said. "Are you by any chance joining the Inter-School Science and Mathematics competition held in two weeks?"
'That got me curious. The boy seemed to know me. From the way the girl was looking at me, I'd guess she knew me too. I turned and studied their faces carefully, but I still had no idea who they were.
'The boy insisted that I take the umbrella, and we walked together to the train station. We boarded the train, and the boy started asking if I knew certain people, or at least if I'd remembered anything after seeing their faces. I was confused, but I answered honestly nonetheless. He seemed to ponder a while before dropping the issue, and then it came. It was a terrible accident...
'Our train crashed. The girl was fatally injured; the boy did everything he could to help her, but he couldn't get God to spare her life. She died in his arms.
'From that moment on, he just sat there with the girl. He wouldn't eat or drink anything. He wouldn't even let us take care of his own injuries. I tried to convince him, but he wouldn't be told.'
We all listened quietly as Takeyama recalled everything that had happened that day.
Takeyama then fell silent, as if he couldn't bear to continue.
'That's a nice story,' Noda said. 'But it still doesn't explain why Angel's here with us.'
'Unless we all died at some point during our trip here, there's no theoretical way,' I agreed.
'Maybe we did die,' Hinata suggested. 'We just don't know it yet.'
'Now you're just being ridiculous,' Iwasawa said.
'With the floorboards now broken, we can't go back,' I said. 'Not that I'm particularly eager to see that clone again...'
'And there's the other question,' Hinata said. 'Why is she even using harmonics? Can she even use harmonics? I mean, I thought Yuri took care of it when she installed the timewait program.'
'I don't know,' I answered honestly.
'So what do we do now Yurippe?' Hinata asked.
'The only thing we can. We move on.'
Yuri's Team (8:30 p.m.) -ギルド連絡通路B13
We advanced vigilantly, looking out for traps as well as any hostile clones. We had descended four floors and we had yet to see another clone pop up. And now we'd arrived at the famous water trap.
Fujimaki wasn't here, and the rest of us could swim, so I wasn't really worried. But as soon as we plunged into the water, I knew it was too soon for me to let down my guard.
There, down in the water, a clone was waiting for us with hand-sonic at the ready.
I temporarily forgot to breathe and nearly choked on the water as I gasped in surprise. The others also stared wide-eyed at the clone before swimming frantically for the exit. If we couldn't beat a clone on land with all of our weapons, there was absolutely no way we could beat her underwater when she seemed to have no trouble holding its breath.
The clone stared after us with an amusing smirk until we'd swum far enough, and then like an arrow, sped after us, completely unhindered by the water. The exit was in sight, but she was closing in on us fast.
Then suddenly, Noda turned, shouted inaudibly underwater, and swam in the reverse direction with his axe firmly in hand. I nearly choked for the second time.
Noda, no! I wanted to shout, but I couldn't. The clone spun effortlessly and created a mini-vortex that forced Noda to hold back while she advanced. She stopped abruptly once within range, and then with a thrust of her blade, she aimed directly at Noda's stomach.
NODA! Noda froze, and strands of red marked where Noda had been brutally stabbed. Or so I thought, until the clone gritted her teeth and turned slowly in dismay.
Right before the clone attacked Noda, a black-haired girl had successfully thrust her own weapon - a kodachi - into the clone's body.
I choked for the umpteenth time when I noticed she wasn't alone. Behind her was a team of familiar-looking people.
Fujimaki, while holding Otonashi's unconscious body, gestured urgently for me to swim ashore. The others had already arrived safely at the exit, and Shiina should be able to fend off a clone on her own, so I nodded and obliged.
I emerged from the water taking an urgent gasp for air. Hinata's hand was already there waiting for me, pulling me up. Shiina, Noda and the others also emerged unharmed a moment later.
I had barely caught my breath when I shouted, 'Shiina!'
The black-haired girl who wasn't even breaking a sweat or gasping for breath turned, her expression neutral. 'What?'
'Shiina!'
'What?'
I had trouble figuring out if I should hug her first in joy, thank her for saving us, or if I should just ask my question.
I opted for the middle option. 'Thanks,' I said, still gasping.
She scoffed. 'You're welcome.'
Hinata grunted. 'This isn't making any sense. Why are you here? At the very least, what is Otonashi doing here?'
'Oh,' Fujimaki said. 'That's my fault. The punk wouldn't let us take care of a clone earlier so I knocked him unconscious.'
'That's not what I meant!'
'We're here too, you know?' Another voice called out from behind us. I immediately recognized that voice.
'Naoi!' I shouted and turned. So many things had happened over such a short time that I wasn't sure what exactly was happening anymore.
Naoi was carrying an unconscious, disheveled Takamatsu while Matsushita was carrying a flattened Oyama.
Naoi scoffed. 'You've got some nerve leaving God behind. If I were... less kind, I would've hypnotized you all. But since I feel like being nice today, I'll let you off the hook.'
Hinata couldn't hold it in anymore. He stood up, shouted and clenched his fists into claws. 'WHAT IS GOING ON?'
His voice echoed through the stone tunnel.
'Hey, calm down, man,' Fujimaki said.
'Yeah,' I said. 'At least we've got everyone with us. That's a good thing, isn't it?'
'I am a little curious though,' Matsushita said. 'I thought Yuri and the others were supposed to be a part of the real-world battlefront. Why are they here with us?'
'SEE?' Hinata shouted.
Matsushita continued, 'So does that mean either you died or we've been miraculously brought back to life?'
'But that's not possible,' I said.
'Maybe it's one of histricks,' Iwasawa suggested.
'Oh,' Hinata slapped his hand in realization. 'You mean like maybe we're all hallucinating?'
'No, you nitwit,' Iwasawa said. 'It's obvious everything that's happening here is real.'
I started in sudden realization.
'What is it, Yurippe?' Hinata asked.
'I think I know exactly what's going on. Think about it. The Guild was never supposed to exist in the real world, and yet it does.'
'Yeah. But what does that mean?'
'My guess is that the Guild is somehow one of the "connections" between the Afterlife and the real world. And the closer we get to it, the more vague the boundary between them becomes.'
Everyone looked at me in confusion.
Then Naoi put Takamatsu down cautiously and strolled nonchalantly forwards. 'Seriously, you imbeciles don't understand anything. With the exception of Otonashi, of course,' he added hastily, although Otonashi was still lying unconscious. 'What Yuri is trying to point out is that the Guild is a link, and since members from both the real world and the Afterlife battlefront are pursuing that link, it inevitably brings us together.'
'That's about right. Thanks, Naoi.'
A startled gasp followed by a grunt of pain came from behind me, and I turned to find Fujimaki staring in wide-eyed horror at his chest. Or rather, the shining blue blade that protruded from his chest.
He fell unconscious within seconds and dropped Otonashi, and as his body was moved slowly by the blade, a white-haired clone came into view smirking at us.
'Damn it, how did she get here?' Noda growled.
'She must have been another clone hiding under the water,' Shiina shouted as she got up abruptly from her resting position and pulled out her weapons. 'Go! I'll cover you!'
If there was anything I believed in Shiina, it would be her combat abilities. So I nodded and urged everyone to descend for the next floor while remaining in the back. Shiina was jumping here and there, fending off the attacks from the ferocious clone. She wasn't looking to deal any damage - just to buy enough time for us to escape from the clone.
In hindsight, it wasn't a good idea. If I'd known then that there would be an army of clones waiting for us just ahead, asking my teammates to charge directly into danger would be the last thing I'd do.
That's it for now. Again, sorry for the long wait. Reviews would be truly wonderful :)
