Translator: Reflet

Editor: ryunakama

“You’re looking more like a monster every day . ”

“And you…don’t?”

“Touché . ”

Taiyou made a wry smile . If s.h.i.+rokiyami, who was moving around at lightning speed while continuing to dodge bullets was like a monster, then Taiyou, who was bathing in a volley of bullets without a single scratch would also be considered a monster .

This was in actuality what the members in the farmer garb thought of them . Having exhausted all of their ammo, they continued to hold their submachine guns in bewilderment, saying something to one another . Although it was in a language that he hadn’t heard before with lots of trilled r’s, he could at least tell that they were afraid .

“Pretty darn scared over there . I wonder what they’re saying . ”

“Want a…translation?”

“You can understand them?”

“Yawn…yawn . ”

She said on purpose, giving a light nod .

“Your mom…has, an outie . ”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s NOT what they’re saying!”

“Then…your dad…has, telescopic eyes . ”

“Sure, if they were going up against someone who looked like that, they might just make those terrified expressions!”

“Just, kidding . ”

“Eh?”

“It was all…a, lie . ”

“I know that, thank you!”

Taiyou quipped, while s.h.i.+rokiyami acted indifferent .

During that time, their opponent had exchanged their magazines for new ones, attempting to shoot at them once again . While Taiyou was quipping, he casually began to walk toward them, punching each of their lights out one by one .

“Amazing . ”

“That’s like lecturing Gautama on the sutras . ”

“…Malapropism?”

“It means to have Siddartha Gautama compliment you on a lecture . ”

“That’s a, new one . ”

“So do we just keep advancing up the mountain like this?”

“Mhm . ”

“What do we do? Defeat all of them?”

“No…Just the boss, dead or alive . ”

“Never thought I’d get in the kind of situation where I’d hear that game term used correctly . ”

Taiyou and s.h.i.+rokiyami once again ran off in sync . As per earlier, they dashed up to the summit on the bare mountain road, but unlike earlier, Taiyou was now fully in on this .

“What’s wrong?”

“Hm?”

“Your face…it’s, grinning . ”

“Being able to run alongside you like this is so fun that I can’t help it . ”

“The last…spurt?”

“I mean yeah, it is a hill and all…”

He replied, lightly smiling .

“But no, I mean when I think of when I first met you, I’m super happy to be able to keep up at this speed with you . I still remember that day . ”

“Mhm, you totally, wet your pants . ”

“Hey, don’t fabricate it!”

“But…you were, drenched . ”

“Pretty sure that was blood! Blood that came from the wounds from your katana!”

“No, it wasn’t . ”

“Eh?”

s.h.i.+rokiyami was firmly shaking her head for once . Taiyou had a vacant expression on his face . She often played around with him, but it wasn’t characteristic of her to just outright deny the truth…or so he thought .

“That was when you grabbed that child…and got cut . ”

“…Yeah, you’re right . ”

Taiyou nodded as they ran . His memory was partially incorrect . The wound from that time was primarily in his palm area from grabbing s.h.i.+rokiyami’s katana and smas.h.i.+ng it through the middle . Of course she would deny that, thought Taiyou .

“And I really liked…that, child . ”

“Man, I’m envious to hear you talk to lovingly about something . ”

“I like this child…more . ”

“Maybe I should smash that one too . ”

“No…if you ever do such a thing…”

“If I ever do such a thing?”

“I will kill you and then die too . ”

“Hmm, I’m quite curious about why you said that sentence without a single pause!”

Once in a blue moon, s.h.i.+rokiyami would speak in a normal tone . She had some sort of fixed set of lines that she spoke that way with, but he wasn’t really sure when she would do those things .

“Hey, you did have a name for the current kid, right?”

“Mhm…’Heaven Reversal’ . Defying the laws of nature…you are the conqueror . ”

“I didn’t know it meant that . ”

He pondered this a bit while they were running .

“…Did the previous one have a name?”

“Previous?”

“The one I broke . ”

A nod . It was quiet, but she was clearly nodding .

“I see . What is that child doing right now?”

“She is, sleeping . ”

“Let me meet her sometime . I want to apologize . ”

“That’s, fine . ”

“But…”

“Don’t, worry . ”

She firmly shook her head .

“It happened in battle…so, she is, satisfied . ”

“Okay . ”

Taiyou nodded . That one statement revealed s.h.i.+rokiyami’s views on life and death . He felt as if he somehow caught another glimpse of her true self . That made him happy . He was enjoying this .

“You are, grinning . ”

“I told you earlier . I’m happy . ”

“But you know…that I am, holding back, right?”

“Even with that in mind, yeah . ”

Taiyou laughed, filled with unbelievable happiness .

“Cause when I think of when we first met, the very idea of you slowing your pace just for me sounds like it would have been a faraway dream . I probably wouldn’t have even been able to keep up with you like how I am now . ”

“I…see . ”

“I’m even wondering how long I’d last if I went up against you right now . No sneak attacks, just front and center . ”

“Probably…instant, death . ”

“Well that’s pretty delightful in and of itself, cause it would mean that you went all out for me . ”

“You are very…positive . ”

“I just love everything about you and I can’t hold it back . ”

The mountains twisted round and round, but they just kept going straight up . They ran into some members again at another intersection, but they merely ran through them . Taiyou punched them, and s.h.i.+rokiyami cut them down with her katana . It was pretty obvious in her case and even Taiyou’s case that they were hardly using any energy—-holding back in their attacks .

“Oh yeah, there’s something that I forgot to ask you . ”

“What, is it?”

“In order to make you mine, I know that I have to fight and defeat you, but…”

“M, hm . ”

“What about asking you out on a date?”