Chapter 4: Stop Sign. Beast_Body,_Human_Heart.[Part 2]

Stunned, Kazakiri Hyouka was sitting inside the dark subway.

The flashing lights that were engraved in her eyes and the gunshots that nearly broke her eardrums had ceased. In order to prevent Sherry from escaping to the surface, Anti-Skill was using wireless radio to coordinate all over the place.

Suddenly, Kazakiri sensed that some people were quarrelling. Looking back, it was actually Kamijou quarrelling with a female Anti-Skill member. To be honest, Kamijou was so agitated that he wanted to punch her.

"Damn it! That woman's no longer in the underground streets, so why can't you remove the perimeter underground?"

"How many times must I explain it to you? The one in charge of the underground streets is someone different from us. We have already sent a request, but it'll take some times before the orders reach, so there's no way we can remove it so quickly!"

"DAMN IT!"

Kamijou cursed as he kicked against a wall. Seeing that, Kazakiri's shoulders trembled. Kamijou didn't look all right; the direct threat of Sherry wasn't around, why was Kamijou looking so anxious?

The female Anti-Skill member who Kamijou was arguing with picked up the wireless radio. She got away from Kamijou and used some technical terms and heated words to argue with another person on the radio.

Kazakiri saw Kamijou standing alone, and like a magnet attracted to him, she walked towards him. Though she felt that he was scary, she felt that the him right now was like a child who would cry anytime soon, and couldn't bear to leave him alone like that.

"…Ah…erm…just now, thank you…"

"Hm? It's not something you need to give thanks for. Oh yeah, is your body alright?"

"Ah…mm…I guess it's alright…erm…excuse me…but did something happen?"

On hearing these words, Kamijou remained silent. He was most likely hesitating whether he should say it or not. Finally, he slowly said it. He wasn't deliberately choosing his words, but slowly vomiting out all the emotion that was built up within him.

"Sherry Cromwell…that dirty looking gothic-clothed woman didn't escape, she went off to look for the next target, Index."

"Eh…?"

"Seems like she didn't come here to kill me nor you. As long as the conditions are met, she will kill anyone. And Index is one of us."

Kazakiri gasped. Thinking back about it, that blond lady had mentioned it before. There were many Anti-Skill members beside Kazakiri and Kamijou, but right now, Index was unguarded. If anyone could be chosen, of course the logical answer was to choose the unguarded one. "I tried to negotiate with Anti-Skill, but the lock on the underground streets can't be removed. Damn it, if that thick wall won't open, I can't get out at all!"

"…But…but…even so…why can't you just tell them? There are many Anti-Skill members out there…so you just need to ask them to help protect Index…"

"No way."

Without hesitation, Kamijou denied what seemed like a logical proposal.

"Wh…why?"

"Index isn't a citizen of this city. If Anti-Skill sees her, they won't even protect her, she might even get arrested…of course that's just likelihood."

Kamijou suppressed his voice as he said,

"Though she has a temporary ID, since it's red alert now, I can't guarantee that it's effective now. In this situation, it's not unreasonable even if one's asked to show a driver's license, credit card or other forms of identification."

Saying all the way till here, he let his jaw drop.

"This is bad. To be honest, she doesn't have a 'meaningful form of identification'. Forget about a credit card, insurance certificate or ID, she doesn't even have any records of age, blood type or even birthday. Besides, anyone can tell that this name called Index is a fake name. Anti-Skill is looking for 'suspicious people from the outside world', how can they let off this unknown person?"

At that moment, Kazakiri finally realized the reason Kamijou was acting so panicky. Though there were many citizens in this city, compared to Kazakiri Hyouka, Index's companions were overwhelmingly less.

"Bu…but…I can't be counted as a citizen of this city…"

"Your situation is different from Index. Though it's true that you don't have an Academy City pass, that's all it is. Though your real identity isn't that much different from normal humans, you may not be a dangerous person. However, Index is different. Basically, she belongs to a different group from Academy City. And just this alone is enough to designate her as dangerous person."

After saying that, Kamijou suddenly moved forward. Kazakiri followed him from behind.

Kamijou was heading towards the large hole that the blond lady had escaped from.

"Seems like we can only escape from here. Damn it, if the wall nearby can open, I can easily cut them off and don't have to lose the initiative by playing catch up from behind!"

Kazakiri stared at the huge hole.

It was pitched black, there was no light at all, so it was impossible to see the bottom. Who knew how many meters deep the hole was, could anyone really jump in? One couldn't even grasp the timing to reduce the impact.

"Wai…wait a minute…you really…intend to go down alone…?"

Kazakiri felt that even if they wanted to take some risks, they should contact Anti-Skill first. As her own body had gotten damaged a few times, Kazakiri understood the terror that blond lady brought.

No matter what, it was not an enemy an ordinary high school student could take on without a plan.

Thinking of which, Kamijou should be clear about this. The reason why he had been able to win just now was because of Anti-Skill's help. If it were one on one, it was likely that even a tank alone was not going to beat that stone figure. That was a real 'monster'.

But even so, Kamijou did not waver.

Even if he hid 'an enemy to Academy City on purpose', for whatever reason, one thing that was obvious was that Kamijou would continue to protect that girl.

Kazakiri also understood that feeling. To Kazakiri, Index was the first precious friend that she had ever made. Just thinking of the possibility of losing that friend, or that friend getting hurt, it made her tremble.

However…

That didn't mean that the boy could just go ahead on a suicide-like run.

Kamijou definitely wouldn't want to lose Index, and Kazakiri herself definitely wouldn't want to lose these two people.

They had to protect Index from that monster.

She couldn't let Kamijou Touma fight against it.

Was there a way to settle these two contradicting things? Kazakiri pondered for a while, before pausing.

There was a way.

"…Don't worry…even if you don't go…there's a way to save her."

On hearing this, Kamijou frowned in shock.

Kazakiri then explained,

"Let a monster…handle another monster…"

Kamijou gasped. Kazakiri herself however revealed a smile.

"Even though…I don't think I can beat that monster…at least I can become bait…once I get attacked by the monster, I can create a chance for her to escape…since I'm a monster as well. I can only…offer such help…"

Kamijou was shocked on hearing such words.

Afterwards, his expression changed from shock into anger.

"WHY ARE YOU SAYING SUCH WORDS LISTEN, IF YOU WANT ME TO PUT IT PLAINLY FOR YOU TO HEAR, I'LL EXPLAIN IT TO YOU CLEARLY: YOU ARE NOT A MONSTER! WHY DO YOU THINK WE CAME ALL THE WAY HERE, PLEASE, THINK ABOUT IT, WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND IT!?"

The tone was extremely sincere, there was no pretense in it. Kazakiri was extremely touched by his rage over her own negativity.

"DO YOU THINK I'LL BE HAPPY IF YOU DID SUCH A THING? DO I LOOK LIKE SOMEONE LIKE THAT? DO YOU THINK THAT WHEN THAT MONSTER BEAT YOU DOWN, THAT INDEX WILL RUN AWAY? STOP JOKING AROUND! EVEN IF YOU ABANDON US, WE WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU! NO WAY WILL WE DO THAT!"

But Kamijou himself didn't realize it.

The stone golem that Anti-Skill and Kamijou were fighting in order to protect Hyouka was a monster like Kazakiri Hyouka. That monster had been attacked by cannon fire, and finally crumbled on the floor, scattered all over.

They had seen the remains of the monster, yet they never felt any pity.

In the end, 'those things that weren't human' end up like that.

"…However, never mind…I'll be the monster…"

Looking straight at Kamijou, Kazakiri said,

"For I am something intangible…I won't die no matter how many times I get beaten down…for I am a monster, I have power to fight against that stone golem…"

At that moment, Kazakiri paused, then continued,

"I can…use my own power to protect those important to me…so, I'm glad that I'm a monster."

With a gentle smile, Kazakiri Hyouka walked towards the edge of the huge hole that Sherry Cromwell had made and jumped down. Kamijou shouted out loud, frantically trying to grab Hyouka, however, he froze halfway through. Maybe it was because he hadn't thought through it, but that was the right hand that Kamijou was so used to using.

The absolute hand that would erase any monster the moment he touched.

Deep inside, Kamijou was somewhat aware of it.

Kazakiri's body continued to descend with the effects of gravity. Midway through, she smiled at Kamijou as if saying to Kamijou while he was rebuking himself over pulling his arm back: 'this isn't your fault'.

The monster descended into the darkness.

She could finally find shelter at the end of the world as she continued to sink down into the darkness.