Q'S --: 09/15/2030, 20:45 ♪ BGM: Ominous Ambience ♫ There was a single man walking on the other side of the street. He was covering his face with a jacket hood and sunglasses even though it was nighttime.  --Mashiro, Salyu. That man...!Mashiro and Salyu looked at the man after Natsuhiko whispered to them. The man was tall, and they could tell he was quite muscular even through his jacket. There was a strange intensity about him as well. Is that the man who was on the bus...? M-Maybe... At least he looks like he has the same build. He's coming this way...!The man walked straight towards them, never looking to either side. (What if he's a terrorist--!?)The fact that he was approaching without hiding or running away probably meant that he had business with them. The fact that he wasn't on guard meant-- (He could be armed... Don't tell me he's here to silence us...!?)Natsuhiko promptly put himself on guard. If the man wasn't a terrorist, he'd just walk past them. The man stopped about 50 m away from the kids, but then-- ♪ BGM: Pose the Question to this World ♫ --he suddenly made a mad dash at them. !! Mashiro, Salyu, let's get out of here! Y-yeah!Natsuhiko turned back and tried to run. --But on the other side of the road was just a single straight path continuing on forever. It was not a distance he could run while taking Mashiro with him. This way! Turn to the side road!In a daze, Natsuhiko dragged Mashiro and Salyu into the side road. They ran down the unpaved road. They could tell the man was following them. They made a desperate run for their life in the darkness with nary a streetlight. ...!Soon enough, Natsuhiko realized something: this street was familiar. (This path leads to--!)That's right. It should lead to the ruined factory. He didn't know if taking refuge in those ruins would be a blessing or a curse. But he knew that if they kept running, their chances of escaping were low. This way, guys!Natsuhiko shouted and rushed into the ruined factory.  Whew...! ...!They tried to catch their breath as quietly as they could. And with stealthy steps, they hid under cover. As they held their breath, they heard Mashiro using telepathy. {... You think we'll be okay if we hide here...?}Natsuhiko and Salyu answered her in a whisper. ...I don't know. Hopefully he overlooks this ruined factory and passes it by... We can't be optimistic. If he does come here-- I'll stall him with a surprise attack.Mashiro quietly gasped at those words. {A surprise attack? You're gonna attack that huge a man?} There should be no problem as long as he doesn't have any hand-to-hand combat skills. Even if he is trained in hand-to-hand combat or he's armed, I'll be able to manage if I take him by surprise. ...Will you really be okay? I will... as long as he's alone, that is. (Then what if he's not alone!?)As soon as that thought crossed Natsuhiko's mind, he heard footsteps outside the factory. !Natsuhiko shrunk down and held his breath. The footsteps slowly came into the factory. The number of footsteps revealed-- --that he was alone. {He seems to be alone... Can you manage?}Salyu silently nodded. {Should we help?}Salyu silently shook her head. {You can do it by yourself...?}Salyu nodded and smiled. As if to tell Mashiro to relax. ...The footsteps drew closer. So close they could almost feel the man's breath. Salyu slowly calculated her timing-- --and jumped out of her cover. Man: !? Salyu's shadow danced in the darkness. They could hear the man gasp. Shah!!Salyu moved faster than the man could ready himself--   The man silently fell to the floor. Y-you did it! Amazing! Way to go, Salyu!Salyu looked away, as if embarrassed by Natsuhiko and Mashiro's praise. ...More importantly, who is this man? Judging by the circumstances, he seems like a terrorist, but... Should we wait until he wakes up and ask him? No... that seems too dangerous. Mashiro, can you read his mind with empathy? Hmm, I don't know... I've never tried reading the mind of an unconscious person before. But I'll try it out. Yeah, I'll try too.Natsuhiko and Mashiro put their fingers to their brows. They concentrated their consciousnesses on the fainted man and focused deeply on the desire to read his mind. (Tell me... Who are you? Are you really a terrorist!?)He focused on that question with all his heart. All his mind. He deepened his concentration and eventually his five senses faded.  ♪ BGM: Extra-Sensory Perception ♫ The moment he made that realization, his lost senses were replaced-- With the sound of a bizarre voice.  But the voice was nothing but the unintelligible vestiges of thought. He only heard fragments of noise. No matter how carefully he searched, the result was the same. (Dammit, I can't figure out anything like this... I guess it really doesn't work, huh? Can't exactly ''open your heart'' if you're conked out.) ♪ BGM: Silence ♫ Mashiro, how's it going on--Natsuhiko gasped before he could finish. Mashiro was standing stock still with her eyes peeled wide open. N-Natsuhiko...! !?He gasped and traced Mashiro's gaze--  ♪ BGM: Pose the Question to this World ♫ --only to see two unfamiliar men suddenly standing there in the darkness. Wha...!?Only then did Natsuhiko notice.  That Salyu was collapsed at the men's feet. And that the man on the left was holding a gun. There was no room for doubt-- In no uncertain terms, these men were terrorists. (Dammit, so he really did have allies...!)Natsuhiko cursed his carelessness. Once Natsuhiko tried to use BC, his five senses died out. In other words, he became oblivious to what was going on around him. (Did these new guys come in from the back and knock Salyu out...!?)It seemed she was only unconscious, judging by the lack of blood. But now that Salyu, the only one among them with combat skills, was incapacitated-- they had no means of a counteroffensive. S-Salyu...Mashiro muttered Salyu's name in a trembling voice and tried to walk up to her, Man 2: Don't move. but that voice stopped her. Man 2: The second you move, I shoot. ...!Natsuhiko stood to cover for Mashiro. Upon which, the third man spoke. Man 3: Natsuhiko Tenkawa and Mashiro Toba, I presume? ...! How do you know our names...!?And it is thus that something becomes confirmed that people have been suspecting for quite some time now. Something that has been alluded to in-game as well. We now see where that one memory scene we saw in the chapter ''In The Mirror'' of Natsuhiko saying that line came from, and both from that, and from hearing this man's voice, we now know one thing. This ''Man 3'', one of the terrorists, is indeed Watase Kasasagi. And going from what we've already seen from the run-in our group had with the rescue workers, we can pretty much confirm that ''Man 1'' and ''Man 2'' are Dojima and Hiyama.  We had someone look into it. We heard we had a couple of kids trying to sniff out our plan, see. ...!A cold chill ran down Natsuhiko's spine. He had never expected to be apprehended by the enemy so easily. (Are these guys... an even huger organization than we thought...!?)The man continued as Natsuhiko found himself at a loss for words. ...Self-righteousness just leads to self-destruction. Sorry, but we have to dispose of you. Y... you're gonna kill us?The other man answered the question quite briefly. Man 2: Yeah, we will. Eep...! Wait, it'll be too conspicuous if we leave bodies behind.Man 2: But even so, we can't leave any insecurities in our plan before it hatches, can we? Of course not, so in that case-- Let's just put you kids to sleep for now.Not one second after the man finished talking, he ran over to Mashiro.  Aah...!Mashiro gasped before collapsing on the spot. Wh-what are you doing!? I said I'm putting you kids to sleep, didn't I? How... how dare you! How dare you lay a hand on Mashiro!Natsuhiko gave into his anger and tried to strike the man. But the man dodged all too easily and wrapped around behind him. And the very next moment, the man wrapped his thick arm around Natsuhiko's neck. Guh... ghah...!Natsuhiko's breathing stopped. The man wrung out every last bit of air from his lungs. drat... it... Let... go...!But all the strength in Natsuhiko's body was not enough to make the man budge one bit. The grip in the man's arm was enough to show Natsuhiko the hopeless difference in strength between them. His consciousness started to fade into the distance. (D-dammit...! Is this where it ends...!?)There was nothing more that Natsuhiko could do. As soon as he understood the extent of his own powerlessness, fury burst up from inside of him. (At the very least... Let me at least know what exactly these guys are plotting...!)He screamed from the depths of his mind not to let things end this way. A torrent of rage surged from inside Natsuhiko. (Let me use empathy, or anything at all! Show me what's in their minds--!)--As that thought crossed his mind--   ♪ BGM: Ominous Ambience ♫ (!?)He saw an unfamiliar room. He heard someone's voice from right beside him. --Silence them, huh?Again, we can tell by the voice that this side of the conversation is Watase. And then he heard someone else answer. ???: Not like we've got a choice... You're telling us... to kill children????: Don't go that far. Just threaten them and tie them up. The security department's mobilizing too. We don't want to draw their attention and we can't have LABO increasing their own level of security either. Because D-day is tomorrow-- Right as Natsuhiko heard up to that point, the voices quickly faded away-- And the vision disappeared too.  Natsuhiko gasped. What just happened? He had a feeling it was a little different from empathy. But one thing was for certain. (So their real target... was LABO after all...! And D-day is tomorrow...!? S...to...p...) ♪ BGM: Silence ♫  His sight sank into darkness and his hearing fell silent too. And yet, for some reason-- He heard the painfully loud ticking of a watch's second hand. And mixed in with that sound, he heard a faint voice.  It was Yuuri's voice. (... Yuuri?)She sounded somehow sad.  {...Hikorin, you've finally reached it, haven't you?} (Huh?) {The apex of a Communicator's journey... The ability beyond empathy. The power to connect minds rather than just brains. But it would be best if you didn't use it anymore... For you might end up knowing something you'd rather not know.} (No way... Like hell there's something I'd rather not know!)Natsuhiko shouted voicelessly. (I learned what their goal was! Our conjecture was right! So we have to do something!) But by the time he made that realization, it was too late. Natsuhiko's consciousness was blanking out. A short silence passed-- and then Yuuri seemed just a little bit happy. {...I see. Of course you'd think that way, Hikorin... In that case, you mustn't give up... For the truth is already right before you. I'm sure you can reach it, Hikorin.} Eventually even the sound of the watch's second hand faded out-- And ceased.   
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| ← # ? Feb 11, 2017 18:43 |
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