Chapter 5

Ascension

This will be insane.

What I am about to pull off came directly out of an anime, and its odds of failure are extremely high. The situation I am in is already insane by itself, however, so adding a bit more won't make much of a difference.

I forgot to ask Inori one thing, though: just how smart is this Gai? Well… if he's leading a fight against the GHQ and his identity is still hidden, then he has to be good.

"Yes?"

There, he picked the phone. A serious voice came through the phone's speaker, evidently showing a deep form of grimness in its tone.

I draw a deep breath, preparing myself. This is madness…

"This is the Pasta Parlor, right? I'd like to make an order, the name is Yuzuriha Inori."

The telephone lines are undoubtedly being tapped, so I need to feed the GHQ with bullshit while still giving the message to Gai. I did some emphasis on the important words so he can tell what I'm trying to say, but God… I hope he doesn't answer with a 'what are you talking about'?

"Do you have any coupons? Just saying the code is fine."

YES! This clever bastard is good; the concealed call might just work after all!

"I have one. It says it expires on December 24, so it should still be valid… the code is 2036."

The man on the other side of the line seems surprised, as he gasps lightly. I'm guessing he realized I am here indeed on Inori's behalf, since judging from his reaction I can safely say he understood the password.

"That's a special order coupon, sir! I bet your party must be pretty big."

He sounds casual and cheerful now that he replies. Is he happy Inori is alive, or is he just keeping an act so the officers listening to our conversation won't suspect a thing?

At any rate, he mentioned a party… does he mean our mess with the GHQ?

"Not yet, actually. So far it's only the two of us, but I think I'll ask for a lot of food anyway… we might get some uninvited guests along the way. I'm really glad the coupon works, for we may really need the Parlor's help."

Gai laughs.

"Uninvited guests are the worst, we understand the situation. May I ask why Inori-san is not calling, though? She's one of our most frequent costumers, you see."

Heh… yes, it must be very strange for him to see someone else calling in her stead.

"She was in a real pinch with the uninvited guests' problem; the neighbors are keeping an eye out for her, so I insisted I should be the one to order the food so nobody would see her."

Stop asking about that, Gai! If there are spies on us, they will see through the fake call and will come and get me. Agh, perhaps asking for him to believe me was too much.

"I see… that does happen to her sometimes, she's rather popular. So, would you like for us to deliver the food at your home?"

Sending help to my place, huh… I'd rather not; there are too many Anti-Bodies in the area. If a firefight breaks out, they may end up messing the whole department complex.

"No, I think the neighbors would pay a visit if you did. We'll go and pick the order on your restaurant; I trust Inori should know the way."

Now the Funeral Parlor knows we're going to them. I they are serious about helping us, then they should be mobilizing some support for us, hopefully a transport to pick Inori up.

"Ah! Our main store is currently being remodeled, but we can give you the alternate address we're using at the moment…"

Hmm… so they're not at their headquarters. Or is their headquarters mobile? I have no idea. In any case, Gai tells me where to meet with him. It is a bit in the outer edge of the city, but there's a train station relatively nearby. We should be able to walk our way over there once we drop off, so things look good.

Also, I didn't hide this line's location; Gai should already know where we are. There's still some hope of getting reinforcements from him if he takes the initiative and decides to search for us while we're making way to the rendezvous point.

"I'll be there in a bit, then. Thanks!"

"Our thanks go to you as well, sir! Please send Inori our best regards, and tell her we will be waiting for her… she's very important to us."

And there it goes. I hang the phone and head back to my home, again dodging the soldiers guarding the area. Who would've thought Souta's taste for videogames would pay off in real life? Though it's only virtual experience, I do know a thing or two about tactics and stealth after having played with him a couple of times. The bastard is obsessed with infiltration missions, and speaks of them often… I should thank him for it someday.

It was he who taught me that I would be doomed if I went barging straight in through everything. Casually waiting for the soldiers to look elsewhere and then using other people as a means for blocking their line of sight towards me has worked well so far. We should hurry and make our escape while there's still lots of people outside… we need them to sneak past the Anti-Bodies' careful watch.

I knock the door to my own home, and Inori opens it slowly, peeking outside suspiciously in case the one calling wasn't me. She lets me through silently. I walk inside, taking my shoes off, and Inori closes the door behind me.

"How did it go?"

"Fantastic… I doubt the GHQ will pay attention to the call, and Gai told me where to meet up with him. We're leaving in a moment; I'll just go get something for you."

Inori tilts her head, wondering what I'm talking about.

"Something for me?"

"Yup, you can keep it."

We head to my room, and I open my closet. Searching through my things, I find a new sweater Haruka gave to me this past Christmas… a girl's sweater. The genius just took the first thing she stumbled upon in the shopping mall and brought it home, wrapped as a present. I understand she was very busy with work that day, but randomly picking a gift was harsher than giving me nothing at all.

Well, it is fairly useful right now… it has a hoodie on it, so Inori can conceal her hair without raising much suspicion – it's starting to get a bit cold now that night has fallen.

"Here, take it… I think it is your size."

Inori picks the black sweater and looks at it curiously. Upon touching it around a little, she puts it on. It's a little big for her, but it should do the trick.

"It's soft."

"Yeah; Haruka gave it to me last year, but I never used it. She lost the ticket, and we couldn't return it after we realized it was a girl's. So, it is yours now… I hope you like it."

Inori grabs the hoodie and covers her head with it, pushing her hair down her neck to make it less visible. She got the point as of why I gave it to her, that's good.

"Who's Haruka?"

Oh. It seems I also have a bad habit of saying names without the others knowing about them… I guess I can't complain about Inori anymore.

"My mother. She's at work almost every day, so she hardly has any time for me. Do you have family, Inori?"

She looks away awkwardly. It seems I messed up… I may have hit a soft spot.

"I have Gai."

Well, that's something. I'm getting jealous, though…

Uh… why is there an awkward silence again? Damn.

"We should be going."

Was I too rash? I may have looked rather hasty; I hope I didn't reveal my emotions.

"Yes… let's go, Shu."

We leave the house, stepping into the night. As I look out over the handrail, I see there are still people in the subway station, so we should be able to infiltrate the place without much difficulty. The only problem is now there's two of us, and I'm taking my backpack with me to conceal Funell… we're a bit more bulky than when I went to the phone booth a while ago, so our chances of being spotted are higher.

Inori and I take the elevator and go down to ground level again, and then make way for the stairs leading underground near the park where the taxi dropped us off. We mix in with the people walking to the same direction, step into a couple of stores when soldiers pass by, and continue our journey to the station.

As we are about to reach the stairs, however, a soldier comes walking up through them right towards us. Both Inori and I look away discretely, redirecting our steps to go around him. It seems he hasn't seen us yet; there are still a lot of people around us, so our cover hasn't been blown despite being so close to him.

This is fortunate; we are succeeding in avoiding detection… only a few steps and we can –

"Ouma Shu!"

...

Inori and I freeze on our tracks. Why, God? Why did I…

"Where were you at school? The police went crazy interrogating everyone, why did you -"

… have to run into Hare in this precise moment?

The soldier immediately reacts to my name and turns around, ready to approach us.

I can still get out of this… If I come up with an excuse, I can -

There's a gunshot.

Inori acted before I could – she instantly turned towards the man, wielding her gun, and fired a round pointblank to his head.

Hare screams in horror, and so does everyone around us.

Inori takes my hand and breaks running towards the street instead of the subway. There, she points her gun at a terrified motorist waiting for the green light.

"Please, your keys and you phone."

She's being polite? For all that I hold holy, is he really being polite? She looks timid even as she's robbing someone of his phone and his motorcycle. Her pistol is a fairly convincing reason not to argue with her, however, and the man does as told.

Inori jumps in the back of his bike and offers the key to me.

"Can you drive?"

"A bit… let's go!"

I take off my backpack and give it to Inori. She puts it on and wraps her arms tightly around me. I have only had practice for getting my license when I turn 18, but that is enough for me to know how to operate a bike. Naturally, I'm not a very proficient driver… when the Anti-Bodies catch up to us in hot pursuit, we'll be done for.

We rush out of the scene, leaving Hare behind. Damn it! She'll never see me the same again. I know I just lost something I'll never be able to get back to normal. Agh and she'll know it was I who took her spare uniform for Inori… she's still wearing it, so Hare will realize it without fail. She's going to hate me after this for real.

"Shu, careful!"

Ah, fuck! I nearly hit a car. Damn, I'm thinking too much… I'll focus on driving.

There are sirens ringing around us… not surprising, considering Inori killed a soldier right in the middle of their searching area.

We squeeze our way through the cars, making use of the heavy traffic around us. At least we'll manage to delay our capture by a small margin, given the Anti-Bodies cannot maneuver easily through the vehicular congestion.

And there's helicopters looking for us… fantastic.

I change our route, aiming to use an underground section of the streets built a few years ago… we mustn't let their air support keep track of our location.

"Shu, brake!"

As we are about to enter the tunnel, Inori extends her hand past my face above my shoulder and opens fire. Her gun's noise is deafening, but I keep my composure and do as she says. As I see ahead of me, I notice the walls outside the structure are splattered with blood bursting seemingly out of thin air.

Inori mentioned something about a stealth suit back at home… that'd mean the GHQ also possesses the technology. As proof of this, the bloodied silhouettes of several men lie dead on the floor.

I turn and leave the road, rushing through the sidewalk where we are covered by trees from above. As we arrive to our improvised hiding place, several bullets fly past us and hit the ground by our sides. They have snipers atop the buildings around us…

We are pinned. We cannot enter the tunnel, nor can we go back – if we go into the open, the marksmen in higher ground will kill us, but if we stay here we'll be caught as well.

Inori holds onto me more tightly, also aware of her impotence. Despite her impressive combat skills, she cannot overcome the numeric disadvantage we find ourselves in, and even if she could, the snipers are likely to be out of her gun's range.

However, as we resign ourselves to our somber fate, something unexpected happens – several metallic objects fall around us through the street and release a thick cloud of smoke. I can only see very vaguely through the growing smokescreen, but I can discern the figure of an Endlave deactivating its stealth field above the tunnel's entrance.

"Get out of here, Inori! I'll cover you!"

A female voice screams out its speaker, calling to us… the Funeral Parlor arrived in time.

"That's Ayase! Shu, hurry!"

"I know!"

But I can't be reckless! All the drivers around us are freaked out because of the smoke and bullets – our allied Endlave itself is firing towards the soldiers rushing to us. We stay on the sideway, desperately dodging the cars that leave the road in the midst of panic and confusion. I can't see a thing – the smoke that is blinding the snipers is also blocking my own sight; it is a miracle we haven't been hit by anything yet.

Suddenly, something heavy lands by our side. Judging from the mechanic sound escaping from it, I can guess it is Ayase's Endlave.

"Quickly, move!"

Her voice shouts at us again, as the metallic giant swings its arms in front of us and moves the cars before us. I can hear a heavy sound behind us as well – a car crashed against the Endlave as it is blocking the way so we cannot be followed, allowing time for us to enter the tunnel at last.

Uttering words of gratitude, I turn the accelerator and speed through the dense smoke, receiving a hail of bullets all over around us. Ayase absorbs most of them, saving our lives in the process as we leave the open air and enter the underground street complex.

A loud explosion bangs behind us, and the tunnel's entrance collapses. It seems Ayase gave it her all to ascertain we would not be followed… I will not let her efforts be in vain.

Inori opens fire again with her gun immediately after the smoke we dragged inside dissipates, killing a trio of soldiers waiting for us inside. Apparently, they had already anticipated us to take this route to dodge their air vehicles.

I lower our speed a little to avoid crashing against one of the many cars fearfully driving inside the tunnel and continue going forward while Inori maneuvers to reload her gun with a new magazine in case more Anti-Bodies show up.

The girl riding by my back is insanely dangerous. Though she seems shy and quiet, she has already killed at least ten men today… just what kind of training has she undergone?

"Gai should have the other end of the tunnel secure. Keep going straight."

While saying this, Inori takes out the stolen phone and swiftly strikes on its screen to make a call. I can guess who she's dialing.

"Gai, it's Inori."

On spot.

I can't hear the other end of the conversation, however, so I am left in doubt as of what he is saying… I'll have to wait until Inori is done to know.

"We're on our way, please hold, Gai!"

Ah shit. Inori sounded desperate… if something got into her, it must be very serious. This is the first time I've seen her getting emotional, so it's likely we'll have a rough time ahead.

Inori closes the phone, ending the call. That was quick.

"They're trying to seal us in."

"What?"

Seal us in as in destroying the other entrances? Along with the several hundred people together with us? Are they insane!?

"Gai is keeping them off in the entrance ahead of us, but he cannot cover the rest. If he is overpowered, it will be over for us."

"This is madness! Why are they –"

"I told you, GHQ is dangerous. They don't care about its people."

… I can see that, alright. The cars around us are stopped – it makes it harder for me to continue advancing, but I go between them as fast as I can in our desperate race against time. Those GHQ bastards; I can't believe they're willing to kill everyone only to drag Inori and me down with them.

I need an urgent word with Gai – I need to know the truth about all this fighting. I was resistant to believing in what Inori had told me at home… but now that I witness them firsthand, I'm being swayed towards the Funeral Parlor's side in this conflict.

We continue making our way through the crowded tunnel, until we find ourselves face to face with a group of soldiers. Their uniforms, however, are different… and Inori is not killing them either. Though we are still away from the entrance, the men clad in black attire have made a way open for us and seem intent on allowing us to escape.

"Those are my friends."

I sigh in relief. Gai was indeed fast in sending aid to us… he even went as far as mobilizing a sizable force capable to stall the Anti-Bodies for a brief time. I lower my speed a bit as I close to them through the gap they created among the clustered cars, intending to exchange a few words.

As I raise my palm to greet them, one of the men waiting for us speaks first.

"Keep going, Gai is waiting for you outside. Here, take this."

He tosses a communications transmitter to Inori, which she catches without issue despite our being in movement. I turn briefly to look at her through the corner of my eye and notice she already had something equipped on her – she is wearing some form of screen in one of her eyes, as if it were a rectangular monocles displaying information.

Inori tugs lightly at one of my arms. I look down and see she is giving a transmitter to me as well. I take it and place it on my ear, careful not to lose the bike's balance. I accommodate the microphone by my mouth as well and bid farewell to the soldiers behind us as I hit the accelerator once more.

"Inori here. Where are you, Gai?"

"I'm right ahead of you, you'll see me shortly. Is your friend there?"

"Ouma Shu, pleased to meet you."

"Ouma?"

Gai laughs, despite the sound of guns raging around him. Even without the transmitter, I can hear their distinct noise coming inside the tunnel… we are speeding towards the open once more, and the smell of gunpowder is starting to fill the air.

"You sure found someone interesting, Inori."

I hear his words as we burst out of the tunnel. What we see before us is nothing short of a battlefield – there's dozens of soldiers and vehicles facing off, those on our side desperately trying to keep the entrance clear for us while the Anti-Bodies in front seek to bring us down with all they have.

I stop the bike before the ongoing onslaught, horrified of what my eyes are witnessing.

"Gai, the Endlaves are heading to your position, we cannot hold them any further!"

A female voice speaks to us through our transmitters, telling us we're short on time.

I can hear Gai talking in return.

"Understood, Tsugumi. Is Ayase safe?"

"She just lost her craft, so you need to get out of there fast! My radar is broken; I cannot see the battlefield anymore!"

Uh… I can hear them fairly close. Matter of fact, Inori does as well, given she says –

"Shu, dodge!"

I release the brake and accelerate, rushing to the flank of our allied forces. A trio of Endlaves lands where we used to be, much to the surprise of our comrades. The massive combat walkers fire missiles at the tunnel's entrance, effectively sealing everyone inside – we made it out by a very small margin.

The soldiers in front of us turn and fire at the Endlaves, but to no avail – their weapons are no match for their heavy armor. Among the valiantly fighting men is a blonde-haired man in the distance, who is visibly shouting orders to everyone around… that blazing figure in the middle of the field must be Gai, their leader.

"Get Inori out of here, Shu! We'll keep them at bay for as long as we can!"

"Gai, wait!"

"Go with him, Inori! He'll keep you safe!"

Why the hell do you show trust towards me, Gai? I'm glad you do, but I'm not as reliable as you may think! Damn it, I can barely keep the bike straight as we're rushing out of here for dear life. FUCK!

Inori is firing her gun furiously behind me. I'm not looking back, or else we'd crash, but through the bike's mirrors I can see the Endlaves are following us. I catch a glimpse of the shooting, and see among the hail of bullets being fired at them that Inori managed to destroy the closest one's visual system.

Being blinded, it opens a series of lids on its top and fires FUCKING MISSILES AT US! DUDE, ACCELERATE NOW!

Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh I make way through a building in the last second, and the rockets blast the living hell out of it – the entire structure is shaking and threatens to fall on top of us in any moment.

It was sheer luck that the door was open when I plunged inside – I'm forcing my way through the horrified people, but there's a crystal screen in front of us impeding our way out… I think this a shop, since the display windows are enormous.

The whole place is in darkness, as the whole electric infrastructure was made a mess by the explosions – I can only see through the bike's light as I hastily continue my way, probably trampling on a few people on the ground as I do.

Fucking damn it, I'm becoming the patron saint of collateral damage this day! Inori is firing desperately at the window's glass before us after having hastily reloaded a new mag once more. The crystal shatters, but I mess up and crash right into the wall beneath the newly created exit.

Both Inori and I fall to the floor and roll among the sharp shards scattered everywhere around us. We're full of wounds now, but there's a greater concern for us at hand – the building is collapsing. I force myself up, ignoring the excruciating pain shooting throughout my whole body, and firmly grasp Inori in my arms.

It seems she was hit harder by the fall, as she can barely move again. Damn, what am I doing? I was supposed to protect her; how did things go this way?

"Hold on tight, Inori… I'm saving you."

I draw out all of my remaining strength as I pick her up and order my legs to run, bearing how her weight pushes the glass sticking to our clothes down my skin. I make as much distance between the falling building and us as possible, barely dodging the molten debris flying through the air.

The Endlaves pursuing us stay in the distance, waiting for the dense dust and smoke to disperse. Their pilots are unforgiving, however, and blindly open fire at us with their heavy machineguns. Our fate lies entirely in the hands of luck now – the bullets will eventually hit us, and both of us will die.

But I can't allow that – I swore to myself I would protect her. For my sister's sake, and to redeem my sins from so long ago, I have to let this girl survive. The only atonement for a killer it so save another life - even if it costs my own, I cannot miss the one chance I found to forgive myself! I want her to live, I want her voice to sing aloud once more, I want to give her the chance to see a new day – I want Yuzuriha Inori to live, even if I have to use my own bone and flesh to shield her.

I throw ourselves to the ground and I lay atop Inori, protecting her with my body. The Endlaves are aiming a little bit above us, but they'll get down to us in no time. Even if only for a moment, I will protect her – they'll have to step over my dead body to lay their hands on her.

"Forgive me, Inori… I failed us."

I apologize to her before my death. I know I won't make it alive out of here, but I still have hope that I might buy enough time for Gai to arrive and save her… I'll have to place my hopes on him, whoever he may be.

The bullets are getting closer to us, telling me my time in this world has almost reached its end. I press my eyes shut and wait for it – the swift embrace of death to come and claim me. Before it does, however… Inori speaks into my ear.

"No, Shu… you forgive me."

I am still trying to understand what she is saying when a thick piece of metal pierces my neck, shooting an unbearable pain throughout my entire body unlike anything else I had ever felt before. I can feel something being injected into me – this repulsive feeling is that of a syringe; I still remember it vividly from the blood transfusion back at home.

My body reacts in an instant – my muscles are shaking violently, and my senses are going rampage. What did she just do? I feel as if something were taking control over me. My mind is being permeated by a foreign substance, and my body feels as if it were being torn apart and rebuilt over and over again.

Amidst the hell raging inside of me, and the inferno of bullets raging around us, I feel a hand holding my own… it is Inori's. She pulls it slowly towards her chest and holds it tightly against it. I open my eyes to meet hers before me – our gazes dive into each other's, swiftly forming a bond between our searing hearts.

"Shu… use me."

I understand the meaning of her words with absolute certainty. It must be because of what she injected me with, since I am acting entirely out of intuition now – it is as if my instincts themselves were telling me what to do, like it was something entirely natural.

I plunge my hand into Inori's chest and grasp what I can only describe as the core of her soul. A majestic blue light erupts around us, soaring high into the sky, piercing into the eyes of the entirety of Tokyo's inhabitants as I pull out the object I found inside of her.

Threads of silver swirl and sway around us as I pull her essence out, crystalizing it and weaving it into material form – that which I hold in my hands is a physical manifestation of her spirit brought forth into reality, shaped in the form of a massive longsword that would normally be impossible for me to wield.

The laws of reality seem to have been broken by the sheer pressure of the sword's presence, given how I seem able to swing it around with utmost ease.

The dust around us is now gone, blown away by the surge of power that manifested from Inori's blade. I raise my eyes towards the pair of Endlaves standing before us… they ceased firing their weapons as they were entranced by the radiance that shone in front of them, and little do they know that this moment of hesitation has led to their defeat.

I charge towards them with incredible force – I don't know if this strength came from what Inori injected me with or if the sword itself is enhancing my abilities, but before I can even beat my eyes I'm already within striking range.

I swing down the sword at the Endlave before me and slice it in half as if I were cutting through butter. This sword is insane… I had always perceived Inori as a dangerous being, but the weapon I drew from her goes far beyond the wildest of my dreams.

The second Endlave is still stunned in shock and is unable to react in time – I mercilessly tear it to pieces with Inori's sword moments after destroying the first one, and now both of them are wrecked beyond recognition behind me as I walk back to Inori.

She is on her knees, looking at me in silence. I walk towards her and firmly dig the sword's tip downwards on the floor between us. A surge of energy gushes out of the blade, knocking away all the glass shards covering our bodies. I reach for her and pick her up, holding her with one arm and clasping her sword with the other.

I know what I have to do – Gai and the others are still in need of assistance. I'll go and help them drive the Anti-Bodies back so we can retreat to a secure location.

"Let's go."

I turn around, offering my back to her. She climbs onto it and wraps her arms around my neck. Once again, I feel a strange air of familiarity towards her… it may be because I have her soul in my hands, but… something feels strange. I feel way too familiar with her, almost as if we were close relatives… almost as if she were Mana herself.

I cast my thoughts aside and we return to the battlefield, where the Funeral Parlor had been pinned down by a vast number of Endlaves. I swiftly run through them, cutting them down one after another while I carry on my back the girl I must protect.

The war vehicles shift their attention to me and open fire with their bullets and missiles, but to no avail – though I have had it in my hands for not even a few minutes, I already know that the sword is a perfect weapon in both offense and defense. As their projectiles are about to reach me, Inori's sword generates numerous shields around us and defends us from all harm.

The Anti-Bodies before us can only watch in horror as their weaponry is proven to be useless against their near-godlike opponents, no matter how fast and desperately they empty their ammunition on us.

I lash out the blade at them in reply, unleashing thick threads of silver strips to attack them from a distance, rapidly piling up Anti-Bodies casualties. The tide of battle turns in a matter of seconds – the remaining enemy forces scatter and flee, and most of the Endlaves deployed by the GHQ lay wrecked beyond repair throughout our surroundings.

This wasn't even a fight anymore, it was slaughter: I made them bite the curb and then stomped my sole against their faces. Just in the world did Inori do to me?

The few remaining Anti-Bodies flee the battlefield with their morale shattered as I wonder about this. The blonde-haired man I saw before approaches us in the middle of our remaining allies' celebration, and he extends his hand out to me as I let Inori down my back. I offer mine in return, and we shake hands solemnly, finally meeting face to face as battle-forged brothers.

Though it was I who butted my head into their conflict, I already feel deeply grateful to Gai for having assisted us in our escape – if it were not for him, both Inori and I would have been killed. As our eyes meet, a gasp escapes my mouth… it cannot be –

"It's been a long time, Shu. I am Tsutsugami Gai… but you would know me better by the name of Triton."