Not a Duel — Together
Wow, this is so sweet.
Rai slipped off her legs and followed Shalla, arriving at a small park nearby.
It was already deep in the night. Not a single soul could be seen in the park, and only a few streetlights cast a faint glow over their surroundings.
The moment Orchi stepped into the park, she let go of Rai's hand.
Twaak--!!
"Orchi?"
"Pigeons~~!!!"
"Hey, hold on—"
Orchi was already off chasing the pigeons.
"Coo!!"
"Wait for me~!"
Shaaaash--!!!
As Orchi stretched out her tentacles and gave chase, the pigeons fluttered wildly and scattered in every direction.
"Don't ruuun~~!!"
"Should... should you really be doing that...?"
Rai broke into a cold sweat at the absurd scene.
"Let's sit here."
Just then, Shalla pointed at the bench in front of them.
"Uh... okay."
And so Rai sat down on the park bench with Shalla. Though they sat side by side, a considerable distance stretched between them.
"..........."
"..........."
Neither of them spoke first. For a while, only silence stretched on.
"Um...."
Rai opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
But Shalla cut him off, her head bowed.
"Let me go first."
"........."
Her hands clenched tight in her lap.
"....I'm sorry."
Her voice was small and shaking.
"All this time... I deceived you without asking. I thought it was better if you didn't know anything, so I kept hiding it... and even when you asked, I never gave you a real answer."
Shalla took a breath before continuing.
"I'm truly sorry."
Rai regarded her for a long moment. Then he spoke quietly.
"I'm sorry too."
Shalla lifted her head.
"...What?"
"I told you not to go into the inner room."
Rai gave a wry smile.
"But I went in on my own anyway."
"........"
"So I was at fault too. You were angry enough to say you'd never show yourself in front of me again... right?"
"Rai...."
Their apologies flowed toward each other in turn. It wasn't something that could be weighed on a scale, deciding who had been more wrong.
Shalla lowered her head again.
"....Still, it's my fault."
".........."
"All I thought about was hiding what you shouldn't have to know. And in the end, it all came out anyway...."
Her voice trembled.
"This time... I'll tell you everything."
She slowly raised her head. Tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes without her noticing.
"Who you are."
"........"
"Why I was by your side."
".........."
"And why Chain is hunting you, too."
Shalla looked Rai dead in the eyes. But Rai stared back at her for a moment, then shook his head.
"No."
"....What?"
"If it's hard to say, you don't have to."
Shalla's eyes went wide.
"...It's about you, though."
"I know."
"Even so?"
"Yeah."
"You... don't want to know who I am?"
Rai considered it for a moment, then shook his head.
"I don't really need to."
"..........."
"I'm just...."
Rai watched Orchi chasing the pigeons across the grass.
"A homeowner who feeds the house's praying mantis and looks after Orchi. That's all."
"........."
Shalla stared at him blankly for a while. And then...
"...Heh."
A hollow laugh escaped her.
"Haha...."
With her head still bowed, she began to laugh quietly.
"Really, you..."
"What?"
"You're so you."
Rai made a puzzled face. Shalla laughed for a while, then wiped her tears.
Sniff. Sniff.
"But you know...."
At Rai's words, Shalla turned her head.
"When you said you'd never appear in front of me again...."
Rai paused.
"...I was pretty shocked. A lot more than I expected."
Shalla's eyes widened.
"...What?"
"More than I thought I would be."
Rai turned his head away, embarrassed.
"With you not at the house... it felt kind of lonely."
"........"
"So."
Rai murmured, his ears turning faintly red.
"To me, you were... someone pretty special, I think."
"Wh... wha... that's..."
Tears welled up in Shalla's eyes again. But this time, it wasn't from sorrow.
She stared blankly at him for a moment after hearing those words, then slowly lifted the corners of her mouth.
Grin.
"...I already knew that, dummy."
"What?"
"Vella told me."
Shalla smiled as she wiped away her tears.
"She said you started changing after I moved into the house."
"...Vella even said that?"
"Yep."
"That girl... she really does talk too much about the wrong things."
"Tell me about it."
The two of them laughed for a while. The frozen air between them thawed, little by little.
Shalla stood up, getting ready to leave.
"So."
"Yeah?"
"Our time for apologizing is over now."
Shalla looked at Rai.
"Vella tracked down your location for me. That's how I finally found you."
"Uh... again?"
Rai made a look of utter disbelief.
"Same thing with Orchi, too... how is Vella so ridiculously good at finding where I am?"
"No idea..."
Shalla said, deadly serious.
"That woman gives me the creeps half the time. I'm telling you, the yandere tag is there for a reason..."
"Uh... what?"
Shalla rose from the bench.
Whoosh.
"Anyway, the matter of Chain is between the two of us."
"........"
"I already told Vella to stay out of it from here on."
Rai fell silent for a moment. Then he asked, carefully.
"It's not that I'm dying to know the whole truth or anything, but there's something I need to ask to be sure. Will you answer?"
"Yes."
"So basically...."
Rai looked at Shalla.
"Should I understand it as Chain sunbae mistaking me for an Akra and trying to kill me?"
Shalla looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes. That's about the right way to understand it."
"'About'... well, okay, got it for now."
Rai let out a sigh.
"So what do we do now?"
"In the end...."
Shalla looked off into the distance.
"It'll come down to a one-on-one duel between me and her."
"Do you think you can win?"
Rai had witnessed firsthand just how strong she was. It was only natural that he worried.
Whoosh.
At Rai's question, Shalla turned around. And she smiled.
"Of course."
Tap. Tap.
She lightly thumped her own chest.
"I'm the security guard for your house, after all. An incredibly strong one, at that."
"........."
Rai snorted at her answer.
"You'd have to show me that sometime to make it believable~!"
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Not that I don't believe you~!"
"Shut up!! Believe me if I tell you to believe!!"
The moment Shalla was about to stand up—
Grab.
Rai caught her by the wrist.
"....?"
Shalla looked back at him, puzzled.
"What is it?"
Rai looked at her and spoke.
"Come to think of it, there's one thing you said that's wrong."
"...What is it?"
Rai didn't let go of her wrist. He gazed into both her eyes and said:
"It's not going to be a one-on-one between Chain sunbae and you."
Shalla's eyes went wide.
"...Rai."
"I'm fighting too."
"No."
Shalla answered instantly.
"That's my—"
"I have something to say about that."
Rai cut her off.
"You've been holding out all alone this whole time, fighting all by yourself, haven't you?"
".......!!"
"So this time—"
Rai smiled faintly.
"It'll be the first time, but we're fighting your sunbae together."
Shalla couldn't say anything for a long while. Then, slowly, she smiled.
"...That really is just like you."
From far away, Orchi shouted as she chased the pigeons.
"Rai! Shalla! Look at this!"
"What is it?"
"I caught a pigeon!"
"Squawk--!! Squawk---!!"
Orchi held out the pigeons whose necks were gripped in her countless tentacles.
"Ju... just don't eat them..."
"Ahahahaha...!!!"
The two of them laughter echoed small through the park at night.
___.___
And so, about an hour passed...
A night when the wind blew fiercely. On the rooftop of a high-rise building rising from the heart of the city, Chain stood alone.
Whooooosh...!!
Her long hair and the hem of her clothes whipped in the wind. Leaning against nothing, she stared across at the opposite building.
There, too, stood a figure.
Tap.
It was Shalla.
With the wide gulf between the two buildings laid out below, their gazes met exactly.
Chain checked her wristwatch.
"Exactly one hour~!"
Chain smiled, looking satisfied.
"I kept the time I promised."
She spread her arms wide.
"There's no one more generous than me~!"
"Cut the crap."
Shalla, on the opposite building, shot back coldly. Unlike before, there was no hesitation in her eyes.
"From this moment on, I'm going to beat you to death."
Shalla took a step forward.
"So don't come crying later, wishing you'd stayed back and sniped from a distance."
Chain snorted at her words.
"Oh my~?"
Her gaze slid to Shalla's side. There, Rai stood as well, watching Chain with a stiff expression.
Chain's eyes narrowed.
"And why did you bring your little sunbae-worshipping junior along?"
Rai said nothing.
Drum.
His hand unconsciously tightened into a fist.
The woman before him was an S-rank Awakener who had hunted him down with the intent to kill. And from everything she'd shown so far, he knew she was a monster beyond anything he could handle.
And yet Rai did not back down.
Chain stared at him for a long moment, then tilted her head.
"Don't tell me...."
A smile spread across her lips again.
"Don't tell me you want to fight me too, junior?"
Shalla answered before Rai could.
"He does."
"Hmm."
Chain rested her chin on her hand.
"Then things just got a little more interesting than before~!"
Whooooooooosh--!!!
The wind tore violently between the two of them.
Whoosh.
Chain slowly raised her chainsaw.
Vrooooooom---!!!!
The shriek of the spinning blade rang out into the night sky. Shalla's eyes turned fierce.
Rai swallowed hard. Then the two of them fixed their gazes on Chain at the same time.
Chain grinned.
"Good. Then...."
She rested the chainsaw across her shoulder.
"Shall we see just how long the two of you can hold out?"
Shalla smiled back at her words.
"What the hell did you hear us say?"
Tap.
Setting her foot on the building's railing, Shalla shouted boldly.
"You're about to find out how fast we can blow you away--!!!"