The car carrying Touya and Akira stopped in front of the familiar blue building. It will be my third time to come here. It's the seventh branch of the president in formalin.
"Isn't this place already destroyed?"
Akira opened his mouth.
"Everyone who worked here has died.
The driver explains and urges them to get off. The word show gives Touya a bad feeling.
Surrounded by eight men on all sides, she was taken into the building and walked through the corridor for a while. She was made to stand in front of the door, and she told her to go in alone.
The men are standing on the left and right sides of the door. Both Touya and Akira easily guessed that they were watching over them so that they wouldn't escape.
"The inside of the door was a theater." There is a stage and there are seats for the audience. A man stood on the stage and welcomed Toya and Akira. There are no other figures.
"Welcome, Irshaina."
With an accented intonation, a black man in a suit wearing a clown mask bows his head respectfully. The mouth part under the mask is exposed.
"I'm Mike Leonard, Death. I've been assigned to be one of the top executives of the formalin-soaked president.
"Isn't it closed already?"
Akira asked Leonard, who introduced himself in strange Japanese.
"Yes. A single battle will come to an end. But you, Junko Yukioka, and we are still alive. I wish for a complete settlement. With Junko Yukioka's death."
Toya was surprised by Leonard's words. She understood what they were called and wondered at the same time. Junko said that while on the surface she was hostile to the formalin-soaked president, behind the scenes she was connected to the top executives of the organization. Were there also completely hostile events during these four days?
"In other words, are we the bait to lure Junko? Will her Junko and her seniors get caught in such a transparent trap and come hoi hoi~?"
Akira seemed to have noticed as well, and spoke in a calm voice.
(Not coming means that we will be abandoned. Well, I don't think we will be abandoned, and I don't want to think that.)
Toya thinks.
"Come on. I know Miss Yukioka's personality. I'm sure she's the kind of person who jumps at me because it's such a transparent trap. I'm sure she's going to outwit me, but I also have a plan. An hour ago, I announced that there would be a show where you could fight each other on the internet――」
"Why are you trying to kill Junko? Aren't you working behind the scenes?"
Toya interrupted Leonard as he spoke happily.
"Yes, that's right, Deshita. But to tell you the truth, I've been secretly worried for a long time about Desuyo. I thought that crazy girl might one day become a real threat to the organization. That relationship will last forever. I don't think it's going to continue.There are divided opinions within the organization, but I'm a neutral deshita who can't say either way.However, recently, by chance, I've come to think that Junko Yukioka's existence is dangerous. Death. It's better to crush it when you can. Yes."
Leonard had a smile on his lips and spoke softly, but on the contrary, it felt frightening in Toya. There is a strong sense of determination and murderous intent in this man.
"Are we just waiting here for Junko to come?"
"I've already contacted you, so I don't think I'll wait that long. But... that's right. I don't have time to just wait, so how about killing each other and waiting?" If you broadcast the situation as a live broadcast as a show, it will be a show."
Touya's face was drawn to Leonard, who kept his soft tone and made an outrageous proposal.
"I'd like to think it's a joke, but it's not." It's just an idea, and on top of that, I'm saying it seriously. It's an organization that makes money doing things like that.
"It's fine, but if either of you dies easily, won't you become a hostage?"
"Are you sure!"
Toya unintentionally yells at Akira, who responds lightly.
"If there's even one person left, that's fine, Senyo."
"Oh, then I'll give you a massage in Toya."
Akira turned to face Toya with a mischievous smile.
"Are you serious..."
Moaning Toya. I can't be serious. He thinks that Akira must be plotting something, but he is amazed that he listened to her without any resistance.
"So you're saying it's going to be broadcast live as a show? It's also a chance for me to publicize myself as a groomer, and if I refuse to do it here, I think they'll either kill me or something. In that case, you should fight each other and wait for Junko and Senpai to come to your rescue before then.
"I don't think help will come at such a convenient time."
Touya braced himself with a sigh.
"Are you okay without that heroic suit?"
"It's bulletproof and has an emotional suppression device, but it's a different thing from my own abilities."
Toya answered Akira's question reluctantly. Junko eventually said that the suit itself would be strengthened to fit Toya's body, and she even told her to accompany her on the experiment at that time. Toya said she would wash her feet from the back alley, but it seems that Junko has no intention of letting her escape as a test subject.
Even if she doesn't have a suit, she knows that Junko's experiments have remodeled and strengthened her, so she has to control the field well. Toya felt depressed because she had absolutely no confidence that she could do it well.
"You're too good at listening, aren't you? Some kind of enterprise..."
Leonard's voice was drowned out by Akira's gunshot.
"Hey! Don't aim for the head! Even if I get hit, I'll die!"
Toya hurriedly dodged the shooting and protested while crouching.
"Well, I thought I could dodge it now. You can come too."
"You can come here, if you hit me seriously, you'll die instantly."
Frowning, Toya closes the distance with Akira and punches him in the chest.
Just before Toya's punch landed, Akira successfully pulled himself back, but he couldn't dodge and his fist hit Akira's chest a little.
"Guhaa!"
With a shout, Akira's body was blown away, flew about 5 meters into the air, and then was slammed onto the chair.
"Here you go... this is it."
Touya held her forehead in disappointment.
"Umm...you guys...wouldn't you be a little more worried about fighting with your friends, or would you like to take it easy? Death suddenly seems like you're doing it seriously..."
To Leonard's reluctant question, I replied in my heart that Toya was a big help. Even with this, I'm going to take it easy, but it's just that I can't adjust it well.
"Damn, you really hit me. I'm already angry."
"No, I took it easy, and you shot at a place where you could die if you made a mistake."
Akira stood up with a stunned expression and Touya replied with annoyance.
I've never had a fight with Akira before, but in fact, it could be said that this was my first fight. They are clearly emotional towards each other.
"I won't kill you, but I think I'll send you to the hospital..."
After saying something disturbing, Akira pulled out a knife. For the time being, I'm learning how to handle a knife from the truth.
"What the hell are you doing... If that's the case, I won't go easy on you either. Think of it as breaking two or three bones."
Even though Touya yells at him, he thinks it's not good to aim at Akira's torso and head, so he decides to focus his attacks on his hands and feet.
Akira runs towards Touya and pulls out a knife at his throat. Just like before, it's an attack that doesn't seem to be moderate.
I grabbed the knife blade with my bare hands and blocked it. It's a trick that can only be done by strengthening the body, but Toya feels that it's amazing, as if it's someone else's problem.
"Let's take a chance and kill him"
As they got closer, Akira brought his face closer to him, grinning, and whispered in a voice that only Toya could hear.
"Pretend I lost"
"You're wary of that sort of thing, aren't you?"
Toya whispered while still holding Akira's knife as he proposed.
"I'll have to try it. Alright, I'll go with you."
"I'm not looking for a chance, are you going now?"
"There's a lot of openings right now. Alright, let's go!"
Akira threw away his knife, pulled out his gun, and fired two shots at Leonard. Touya is dumbfounded, wondering where the story of pretending to lose went.
Leonard only lightly twisted his body and dodged it easily. As if to show off his composure, he still had a smile on his lips. Judging from his expression, it seems that he was expecting a surprise attack on himself from the beginning.
Akira fired two more shots.
At the same time as Akira fired for the second time, Toya ran towards Leonard.
Leonard's combat power is unknown, but Toya and Akira wondered if he would be able to resist Toya, who had been remodeled by Junko and had physical abilities that far exceeded those of ordinary people.
Immediately after that, another thought crossed Toya's head. If he stays alone in front of Touya and Akira and disobeys his subordinates, it may be because he is confident that he can handle it even if he is attacked. If that's the case, then you can see it as having considerable ability.
Leonard lightly dodged Akira's bullet. Immediately after, Touya runs up the stage and approaches Leonard's eyes.
"White-eye chop!"
After yelling, thinking that Junko wasn't here anyway, and there was no need to shout out the name of her technique, Touya aimed his sword at Leonard's flank and slashed sideways.
Leonard grabbed his wrist with one hand and easily blocked Touya's attacks. Looking up, the mouth exposed from the mask was still in the shape of a smile. I tried to shake it off, but it didn't budge. A cold feeling different from fear hits Touya.
Touya tries to get him to knee-kick Leonard's crotch while still holding his hand.
But before that, Leonard hit Toya's cheek with his fist with his other hand. At the same time, Touya's grasped wrist was released, and he was blown away while spinning in the air many times, and plunged into the audience.
"Ten nights!"
Akira shouted in surprise. But he hasn't taken his eyes off Leonard. He was taught from the bottom of his heart that he should never lose sight of his enemies during combat.
"What's going on, this person. He's stronger than me... and..."
Touya groans while getting up.
"It's not just about having power." When Leonard grabbed him, a kind of chill ran down his neck and down his back, an indescribable horrific feeling. I was convinced that the clown masked man in front of me had somehow stepped into the realm of the supernatural.
"Now then, let's fight again. It doesn't matter if it's a stretched battle like now. Rather, let the fight go on for as long as possible. Until Junko Yukioka and Makoto Aizawa come."
Leonard said while laughing under his mask.
"Isn't it fine if I fight you then?"
said Akira.
"Well, even though I look like this, I'm relatively well-known. I've done a few shows myself, Mashita. It's no fun if you and I fight, Death. You've seen my show. People know I'm going to win."
With a smile on his lips, Leonard spreads his hands out. Hearing those words, Touya and Akira looked at each other.
"what will you do?"
Toya wakes up and asks. Despite being hit hard on the seat, he was uninjured. The pain subsided in an instant.
"It's annoying to do what you want, but there's nothing you can do about it. It's okay, let's fight with the intention of training. As I said earlier, if it's broadcasted, it's an advertisement. Hold on tight, Toya. But you say you can't do anything in hand-to-hand combat.
Touya's mouth loosens at Akira's positive thinking. Akira had the vitality and persuasiveness to make him think that he could get through any situation with this guy. Touya was attracted to that, and was saved.
"But please stop aiming for my head."
Akira pointed his gun at Toya with a fearless smile.
＊＊＊
Ten minutes before Toya and Akira were abducted by the formalin-soaked President's Seventh Branch, Leonard called the Yukioka Research Institute and told them that they had been kidnapped. In fact, at this time, the two had not yet been kidnapped.
"If you want to help me, come to me.
"Even if you ignore me, I'll go on my own, so there's no problem."
Makoto calmly said to Junko, who was half-teasing her, while cleaning her gun.
"I'll go too, though. I've been nominated. Besides, if it's just about defeating Mr. Leonard, if you're going to help Touya-kun and the others at the same time, I think it's better for the two of you to go and act separately. I guess they're waiting for me with a trap anyway, and I have a rough idea of what kind of trap they're setting up."
"It's a pattern like locking them in a room and keeping them in a water prison, anyway."
"I don't think so. My guess is that if they're in a building, they'd probably invite us into the building and then blow the whole building up or something like that. Considering Mr. Leonard's personality, it seems like he would do such a rough and easy thing-"
"Then why don't you pretend to be caught in a trap and outwit it. Use this."
Makoto tapped a large, thick cylindrical object wrapped in cloth that was placed beside him.
"I was thinking the same thing. Well, I was the one who taught you the basics of this world, so it's not unreasonable that we share similar thoughts, but I'm a little happy to be your teacher."
Looking at her true face, Junko smiled with genuine joy.
"To make you an enemy in the true sense of the word, even that clown mask must have done something drastic."
"Maybe it's because I provoked you a little on the phone the other day.
Junko came up with something and clapped her hands.
"So anyway, if Touya-kun and the others beat Leonard-san and broadcast the situation in real time, it would be a good publicity.
"How can I help you?"
"The truth is doubtful." She envisioned hiding in the shadows and shooting secretly, but with that kind of support, the viewer would find out as soon as they saw it.
"I'll know when that time comes."
Junko points to the cylinder beside Makoto.
"Makoto-kun, take it and use it to rescue those children. I will act separately."
"I'm worried about that other action."
From my experience so far, she usually doesn't do bad things when Junko acts alone, so if possible, I want her to be by her side and keep an eye on her. In reality, whether she's by her side or not, she's Junko who doesn't do bad things, but there's still a chance she'll be able to curb her rampage.
"I'm just going to mark Mr. Leonard. I'll stop him from running away. So let's go."
Junko leaves her room first.
"Unusually decent. No... I can't let my guard down."
After she muttered that, she took a long bag from the shelf in the room, put a cloth-wrapped tube inside and carried it on her back, while Makoto followed Junko.