(No matter how bad it tastes, isn't it?)
Machida called out to Rin, who had simply abandoned the job of disposing of Junko Yukioka's mouse and returned to the 7th branch building.
"He's the one I met at the shooting range the other day."
Rin mutters aloud as she walks through the building.
"The girl who looks like she's cosplaying has a black light that shines brighter. Yeah. It's nice. The other naughty girl seems to have black flames burning and flickering.
He smiled as he remembered Toya and Akira facing each other in the garden.
"You just made your debut in the back alley through Yukioka Research Institute. It's the same as me. It's too early to pick it. I don't want to kill you right now."
(Haa... Really... I enjoy killing, but I'm naive. No matter who you are, I'm your enemy. With that kind of feeling, you'll be killed.)
"It doesn't matter. I've had enough fun already, so I don't mind dying at any time. I killed a lot and had fun. I'm sure I could have lived a billion times better than a normal life."
Rin yells, but from the perspective of Machida, who was once conscious of the inescapable fear of death, she didn't think she would be able to say the same lines when Rin really witnessed her death. .
(That's why I'm in trouble. I need someone to take over my art.)
"So who are you going to have a baby with?"
Between Rin and Machida, she ends up in a repeated exchange. Rin smiles funny, and Machida sighs in her Rin's classic flow.
"After all, I don't want to kill those children with black flames burning in their hearts. The guy in hero-like mode who helped the princess the other day wasn't funny at all, and I didn't feel anything even if I killed him, If I kill those children without question, I'll have a hard time waking up.
(The formalin-soaked president is not silent.)
"In that case, all you have to do is take Junko's side, and the other side will calculate it, so there's no blame, right? I'm a shop. I want you to hire me with that much knowledge."
While saying that, Rin opens the room where Okumura is. Okumura was sitting inside with an expression that was neither stunned nor stunned.
"what happened?"
Rin asks. This is the first time I've seen Okumura's face.
No, before that, I thought he was angry at me for rounding up on his own, but this reaction is strange. From his expression, I could tell that something else had happened besides his own abandonment of the battle.
"That's what I want to hear. About your return, and about Yukioka's withdrawal."
Okumura answered with a soulless voice, holding his head with both hands and bowing his head on the desk.
After this, Rin expected that Junko and the others would rush into the 7th Branch building and kill all the members and Okumura, so Junko's sudden withdrawal certainly seemed a strange development.
"Isn't there something going on over there?"
Rin's words no longer seemed to reach Okumura's ears, who was drowning in shock at the show being ruined.
＊＊＊
As soon as the four of them returned to Yukioka Research Institute, Junko began diagnosis and treatment for Toya.
While Junko was examining Toya in one of the laboratories, Akira and Makoto waited in silence for Junko's return in another room.
Akira sat down with his hands together in front of his face as if praying.
Makoto didn't even give him any words of encouragement or comfort, he just put a cup of coffee and offered it to Akira once. Akira took it with a small nod and sipped it.
"It's over.
The door to the room opens and Junko comes in and she reports with a smile.
Hearing that, Akira let out a big sigh of relief, but his true reaction was completely different.
"Do not be silly"
Makoto glared at Junko and let out an ominous voice.
Akira was surprised to see his true face, which was clearly tinged with anger, unlike his previous expressionless face.
"I didn't think that someone who was my junior and had a certain situation would undergo such a life-threatening remodeling surgery.
"Hmm, I was just following my own rules, you know? Did you think that I was an ally of justice who only killed the bad guys? Nothing like that had happened until now, right? "
"Since you're a junior who admires me, I'm telling you to think a little!"
Seeing the unapologetic Junko and Makoto, who raises her voice and expresses anger for the first time, Akira's heart is filled with warmth.
"It seemed like Akira was the only one who admired you, but hey."
"That's not the problem. I've been taking care of these guys since the day before yesterday. At that point, they're like my disciples, literally juniors. Even if it's only for two days. How can you treat them like this?" I cannot allow
Junko, who had initially shown some composure at the truth of blaming her for looking at herself, gradually began to falter.
"Hmm, ummm... I wasn't malicious, I'm not perfect, and I thought I was relatively safe, but it wasn't... I mean, it was unexpected, yeah, that's it. …"
With a bewildered expression, Junko apologized to her, but eventually bowed her head.
"Sumanko"
Junko's words of apology sounded like she was joking, and Akira unintentionally blew.
"I will take responsibility for Toya-kun.
"If you let me die, I'll blow up this laboratory."
While staring at Junko, Makoto speaks quietly, but after listening to her fear.
"It's okay. Maybe. Then I have some business so I'm going out."
Junko leaves the room looking embarrassed.
"Aizawa-senpai! Aizawa-senpai may look cool, but he's a hot man inside!"
After Junko leaves, Akira brightens her face and speaks with a bouncy voice of excitement.
"It's cool, it's just an expressionless face. There's a reason why it turned out like this."
"It's hard to say if it's true."
"Because my parents strictly trained me not to show my emotions. If I wanted to show even the slightest expression, I was scolded and beaten all the time, so I couldn't do it. I'm training myself to be able to do that, but it's quite difficult... I've subconsciously suppressed my way of speaking, my tone of voice, etc. Due to the obsession planted by my parents, I wonder if it's become difficult to connect emotions and facial expressions.Sometimes, it seems that facial expressions appear unconsciously, but I don't notice it myself, and I've been worried about it for years."
"Was Aizawa-senpai also abused by his parents?"
Akira's shining expression turned cloudy.
"Whether or not it feels like abuse is up to the individual, but I have made peace with my parents.
I wanted to point out that even if they reconciled, they would end up falling into a back alley, but as expected, Akira restrained himself.
"During the process of growing up, something unfortunate happened in the surrounding environment, and it became abnormal, or it was in an unhappy environment from the beginning, or it must be a person with such a sharp soul from a previous life. It seems to be a double of unfortunate events and a sharp soul, so if you borrow Yukioka's words, you should have fallen."
"Hmm... If you're in a blessed environment, maybe you'll be satisfied with a normal life? Or maybe you'll have to be swayed by your soul from before you were born."
With a clouded face, Akira looked away from the truth and lowered his head.
"Even though they were raised in a privileged environment, there are still some people who come to this side unsatisfied. There must be something that causes them to get off the rails. So, do you regret it? "Normal" that you have gone off the rails of
Even if Akira didn't say anything, Makoto had seen through Akira to some extent. The reason why Akira fell to this side is a considerably serious thing. He also senses that Akira is doing something that is irreversible.
"I didn't. I decided on my own will."
Akira lifted his head in response to Makoto's words.
Akira noticed that his voice sounded stubborn and looked away again.
"Did you impulsively do something that can't be reversed, and instead of deciding on the result, did you decide everything from the beginning? I wasn't like that. I was also longing for a life like this, but in the end I ended up here because of various things."
"Ahaha, you've been spotted for some reason. Really amazing, Senpai."
Akira laughs masochistically and looks at Makoto again.
"I've always admired my seniors because of the legends about them passed down at school and stories about them on the internet, but I didn't really know what kind of person they were, so I fantasized about all sorts of patterns. , The real thing was more wonderful than any of them. The way he teaches shooting and taijutsu is very polite, and what he says is cool and persuasive."
"Don't be embarrassed to say such things in front of yourself. Even this makes me embarrassed."
Even as he said this, Makoto remained expressionless as usual.
"Because I've never had anyone older than me that I could respect. There were a lot of idiots who used their age as an umbrella to boast about it. So in that sense, I'm happy. I can respect my seniors. He was a superior person, even though he's shorter than me and looks like a child."
"I don't need to be tall.
"No... it's not bad. It was just unexpected."
Makoto said that he was worried about his height, so Akira tried not to mention it any further. Even if you try, you tend to forget quickly.
"Well, even from my point of view, teaching others the experience and skills that I have cultivated is quite refreshing, and I've come to think that it's not bad."
"Ooh, then put everything you've learned into me, Senpai. Right away, today's training."
Akira stood up as if he was repelled and quickly left the room before Makoto could say anything. Seeing that, Makoto stood up with a sigh and left the room after Akira.