Hidan no Aria - Volume 13 - Chapter 5

Volume 13: Kowloon Counter-Attack–Kowloon Reverse

Chapter 5: Leaping Hong Kong–Dance Outrage

[BEGIN CHAPTER FIVE]

The first sign to skim past was a wide『Tenkorou Ltd.』sign hanging at chest height– Son back-flipped and I ducked to avoid it.

Taking advantage of the instant my field of view was obstructed, Son– *Pa!*

Crossed the 9 metres from the front to the back of the tram in a single leap.

It looked like wire-work, because it covered a distance that common sense dictated was impossible.

The instant she landed, Son struck, *Bam!* and kicked up toward the sky in a Kung Fu movement.

–Zetsurou!

Even with all these people watching me, I turned my body into a revolving door and received her attack with the Tohyama family secret technique.

Using the densest part of my body–absorbing the power of her bare heeled kick– And that instant, I switched from defence to offense.

–*Ba!* Using Son’s kick, I kicked myself back into a somersault– A move that even G-3 at 100 times acceleration is Hysteria Mode couldn’t track, and capturing–

「–Eh!」

Son noticed and responded.

Crossing her arms over her chest and abdomen, she cut the power of my attack in half, dispersing it with her arms. She took damage, but it was minor.

W-what reflexes! I am fighting a non-human after all.

It seems my prison is not so ‘absolute’6. Because of the shaking of the tram, my balance wasn’t centred. But that’s just self-consolation talking because I didn’t want to believe my secret technique had been seen through.

「–!」

Pushed back to the front of the tram by the force of my attack, Son looked slightly surprised.

She must have never expected that a human was capable of such a thing, forcing her to fall back on the defensive for a moment.

–*Lick!*

Licking her lips, her mouth formed into a grinning smile.

「…Not bad, Tohyama. You’re full of surprises.」

With seeming perfect assurance of the knowledge of what was behind her, Son leapt up over the approaching signboard– Twisting her body on the other side she struck, and kicked the sign toward me.

As I turned to dodge the flying Coca-Cola sign, Son jumped off the tram and pushed off the side of the building in a kick– *Bam!*

–!

Barely sidestepping, the flying kick grazed past my hair.

With a *Pa!*, Son caught herself with her toes, balancing on another sign and leapt back toward me. Turning her whole body into a projectile, she tried to collide with me. I tried to catch her and perform a throw– But her body had an unnatural lift that allowed her to escape my grasp. She caught herself on another overhead sign board and hung from a iron bar by her tail.

Then she dropped down, trying to shred my body with another barefoot kick.

What’s with this 3-D battle? It’s like a gymnastics exhibition!

「–Spinning Ax–!」

Landing in a handstand, she supported herself on crossed hands–

Uncrossing her arms, she spun herself around.

In less than one second, she unleashed a three part attack with her right foot, left foot, and tail directed at my abdomen.

It was devastating. If I hadn’t dodged it at the last possible moment, I would have been cut in half.

Backing up to the edge of the roof to create some distance, I:

「…Son. Uh… Do you think you could hold back a bit? You skirt and blouse are very short after all.」

I asked while trying to hide the cold sweat that had broken out–

Rotating in her handstand, she arched herself backward onto her feet like a gymnast and faced me with a grin. Like Tamamo had done, she shaped her tail into a『?』shape.

「Tohyama, you certainly… don’t think of my body as a woman’s? This body stopped developing at the age of 10. Look, it’s a child’s!」

Son turned her buttocks toward me and slapped them to show me. Then turning only her head back, made an akanbe face at me.

Just like a primary schooler teasing a highschooler.

「…What about that, Tohyama?」

「Even though you say that…」

Her behaviour though… Is that of a woman, and it stirs up male feelings.

Is this what you’d call: The body of a child and the mind of an adult?7 It’s applicable to Son.

It must be like a shorter, older woman… Yeah, that fits. I don’t dislike them, after all.

Normally, I wouldn’t like talking about such things, but… right now, I need some reasons to buy time.

The girls of CVR use their gender– And I will do the same thing.

「…Men have an unreasoning reaction to female affection. You may have heard from Koko but my performance in battle depends on it.」

「Well then how is it going? What’s your reaction to me?」

「Not bad. You might be my type.」

The tram has been moving for 2, maybe 3 minutes..

「…Your taste makes me bit nervous, but I’m happy to be treated as a woman. In all 2000 years of life, I’ve never even been slightly wanted.」

As her skirt ruffled in the wind, Son looked pleased.

「…but are you sure you really want someone like me?」

She looked down at her non-existent chest and the line of her legs.

She was a girl that, until now, had never been wanted, yet yearned for love…

But now, meeting a man who told her he liked her as she was, she had an expression of disbelief as she trembled.

「–Women are women from the day they are born. They are the flowers that adorn the world. It is a basic human instinct to cherish them, so my older brother… er… older sister… er, brother taught me. So I love you.」

While I whispered these half understood sweet nothings–

I was secretly operating my mobile in the hand held behind my back.

「…I-I’m warning you! Older women are scary if you play with our feelings. I’ll give you the cruelest torture in all China then finish you off with the Nyoibou.」

Son blushed an appropriate shade of red to match the colour of the terribly bloody statement.

「Now that we’ve reached this point…let me introduce you to my other, lovable flowers– My girlfriends.」

「Cheating already!?」

「It’s part of life.」

As I said that…

Because of my response, Son finally realised I was using my mobile behind my back.

「–Hey, Tohyama– Don’t call your friends. You want more dead bodies?」

But I had already been given enough time to make the call.

「Son, you should have listened when I warned you about fighting in those scandalous clothes… Because of that, my blood flow has increased– I’ve gotten stronger.」

I sense it in my core, alongside a feeling of heat.

At the start, my Hysteria Mode was confused by the moral quandary presented by Son’s childish appearance, but… now that I know she is older, the obstacle has suddenly been removed. I do have a preference for older women, after all.

「Now then, I’ll give you a fun fact about Japanese culture. Japanese love their mobiles. So much that we can do anything while using them.」

「Anything? Alright, then I’ll attack you again. That way you’ll need to use both hands.」

「Come on. Check out my hands-free style.」

I was already connected to Shirayuki, so I tossed my mobile through the gap between billboards–

Son rushed me and using both feet and legs, began a flurry of blows.

*Bam!* *Pow!* Whomp!*

One heavy blow after another. But my Kikka worked admirably. 2 or 3 times, I was also able to use Zetsurou and turn her attack back on her, and she frowned at the inexplicable technique.

While fighting Son Goku and dodging groups of hanging signs–

「Hello? Shirayuki?」

*Bounce!* *Bounce!*

My mobile fell from the sky, and keepie-uppie-ing it, I spoke to Shirayuki.

『Kin-chan?』

「I met an enemy. They’re harassing me right now.」

『Eeeeh!?』

Son aimed a roundhouse at my head, and I ducked–

I rolled my head back around to continue speaking normally.

With my Hysteria Mode reasoning, I then said:

「Turn onto Hennessy Road from Admiralty Road, then follow the tram tracks.」

The ICC looks down on Hong Kong, providing a bird’s eye view. Combine that with her memory of the GPS map I showed her yesterday, Shirayuki should be able to follow the route.

Shirayuki is in the Wan Chai area looking for Rampan, and this tram is headed in that direction. I planned to meet up from the start when I planned my escape. The tram was rumbling right along, all I needed was time, and at the end we’d get there.

「–Haaa!」

Son cried as she unleashed a kick that almost completely exposed her backside–

Sensing the beginning of her movement and seizing the initiative, I executed a one-inch punch taken from Chinese Martial Arts,『Clear Fall Water』.

*Whomp!*

With a loud noise of impact, I cancelled out the force of her kick–

Again, Son’s eyes widened in shock.

In the meantime, my mobile shifted to the crook of my left arm.

「Please call Riko and Reki. My hands are a bit tied up at the moment.」

『Right! Just one minute! We’ll be there soon!』

Shirayuki’s shout… was loud enough I didn’t need my enhanced sense of hearing to understand it, and with my right hand *Clack!*

I closed my mobile on my left elbow and *Slip!* put it in my pocket.

I took the opportunity to wink at Son, and with a happy look on her face, she shuddered in excitement or fear.

If I had to say it looked more like arousal.

She likes strong men– I guess this acrobatic performance counts as a show of strength.

Does this girl have some weird fetish? But it’s not like I have room to talk…

Glancing around… I saw that another double-decker tram was approaching in the opposite lane.

The operator had already noticed the fight, and was staring wide-eyed. I’m sorry.

Drawing my gun–

「By the way, Son, I don’t think you’ve paid for your ticket. You really should step off. However, since it would be hard to do so here, I’ll get off first… you’ll have to excuse me for not allowing the lady to go first.」

Saying that, I paused for a second, no, I concentrated intently on my aim and… *Bang!*

I shot at the bumper of the oncoming tram.

With a *Fwing!* the bullet ricocheted into the first floor of our tram.

With a *Ching!*, I heard the bullet ricochet again inside the car, then…. *Click!* From memory, I recalled the layout of the operations panel and grazed the brake lever, bringing the tram to a halt.

–Blind L L8

With my increased sense of spatial awareness, I could use a shooting technique to hit something with a ricochet without having to see the target. This is the first time I’ve done so.

「Now for scene 3– let’s move to indoor combat. Please follow me, Miss Heroine.」

Decelerating, from the tram car continued to move forward under inertia–

I leapt onto the roof of the passing tramcar.

The from the tram car, I ducked into a department store through a window.

Seeing me use the passing car as a stepping stone…

「Hee hee! I thought you’d never ask!」

Son flashed a smile and *Whoosh!*

Stepping onto the tramcar, she vaulted across the space.

*******************************************************************************

Backing further into the building, I found that I had entered a third floor department store–

Whoops…!

Well, this was unfortunate, now wasn’t it?

The area forbidden to men, the mythical El Dorado– The women’s lingerie department.

Countless articles with designs more risque than Japanese styles stood out. Underwear in all colours stretched in every direction, making me dizzy.

From the luxurious carpet underfoot and the exquisite feminine design, it must have been a higher class shop.

Reacting to the high school boy that had backed into the shop through the window…

The clerks and the Hong Kong beauties that were shopping there stared at me with wide eyes.

「…Hello. Pardon the intrusion.」

Since I couldn’t communicate with words, for the time being, I flashed them a smile.

The thing I most wanted to say, but couldn’t was:『Leave, it’s dangerous here』–

But a shot toward the window that Son was about to enter conveyed the thought eloquently.

At the *Bang!* of my gun, the universal female scream of *Kyaa!* went up and they all hastily cleared the floor. Even those in the changing rooms ran out while still in their underwear. Please forgive me. After all, every film has at least one risque scene, so I hope that one day you can look back and laugh at this.

Having easily dodged my shot at that range, Son said:

「So you really are a pervert, like the rumours say, huh? Entering the most inappropriate shop possible!」

Son blushed angrily as she said this, perhaps having a complex about such lingerie that with her body she could never use.

「…It’s probably not very convincing, but I have to speak the truth. This was absolutely not my choice!」

Remembering I had said the same thing before, I had to smile bitterly–

Barefoot Son rushed forward, and with gun and fist, I took up a position to meet her for an Aru Kata fight.

As she ran, Son knocked over a coat rack, took the tubular pole, and with a *Whump!* turned toward me back first. She sprung up covering a lot of ground, with knees flexed and vaulted forward.

「–!」

With such speed and agility, even with her bold attack, I still lacked the time to pull the trigger. With a *Whoosh!*, she swung the steel rod and I moved out of the way, falling backward over a full table of underwear.

The moment her feet touched the floor, Son struck, kicking the table up into the air– Son jumped up on top of the table, and using the steel rod like a man-catcher, tried to pin me to the floor.

–Clever. Son is skilled with a staff.

Perhaps that is why the Nyoibou laser and the staff were mistaken for each other far back into history?

Still pinned to the floor– I kicked at the table Son stood on, breaking the legs, taking her balance, and free myself.

Falling from the table, Son rolled a carpet on floor.

「–Ha!」

As she began to stand, Son aimed a blow with the pole toward my head–

At the same time, I pulled with all my strength on the carpet underneath her with a wink. With a *Swish!*

「Kyaa!」

With both feet high in the air, Son fell on her butt dramatically.

With a crash, the pole she held fell impacted the ground next me, narrowly missing.

Ha ha! Until now you’ve been fighting like a demon, but you’re still a small girl. You don’t weigh much after all.

A smile rose to my face, then–

「–?」

I noticed that there was still one woman on the floor that had not sought refuge.

On the other side of the lingerie shop, near the sweets at the tills… A young clerk with braided hair was doing something.

The girl who looked like she could be AMBULANCE’s Tsugumi Soumiya’s older sister then:

「…!…」

From underneath the clear acrylic display case she took out a hidden Liuyedao– What in Japanese would be called a Seiryuutou9…!

But from her expression, it doesn’t look like she plans to use it to defend herself. While trembling, she made eye contact with Son.

–Now I understand.

She must be one of the many members or Rampan scattered throughout downtown Hong Kong.

「Kou-sama! Please use this!」

*Swoosh!*

The woman with the Seiryuutou was not far away, so I reached out– But using the pole, Son reached out and snagged the sword by the red tassel that dangled off of it.

Then Son cast aside the pole with a clatter.

「–Hee Hee! Since you’ve come all the way to China, I thought I’d let you try a bit of everything.」

In an expert display of skill she swung the sword around her, even passing it behind her back.

Hearing a noise, I turned back to look at the girl from earlier…

「–Haa, Haa…!」

In her tight skirt and high heels, she hardly seemed fit to fight in a melee, but despite that she brandished Shanjiegan–also known as nunchucks.

But I can tell she is a complete beginner. Her every move is slow.

「Shaa!」

She tried to imitate Bruce Lee’ famous stance, catching the one end of the nunchucks under her arm, but *Bonk!*

Missing, she hit herself on the back.

「Awaa!」

And collapsed. She tried to do something, but this happened.

In every Hong Kong Kung Fu film, there’s always a Sammo Han Kimpo-esque10 role responsible for the comedy.

Son and I watch silently for a while…

The woman had discarded her nunchucks and was making a staggering escape, leaving her back totally exposed.

…Without having done anything, it seems this member of Rampan was defeated.

「Uh…well… Sorry about that. It seems the Shanjiegan have been cancelled.」

「Well, in that case, can I use them instead?」

「Can you!?」

「At school… in ASSAULT I had a 3 hour course in nunchucks and triple staff. The instructor was from Hong Kong.」

Speaking those glib words, I picked up the nunchucks.

Taking the oak ends in each of my hands, I held them across my body–

But it was just for show.

「Well then. To make up for my colleague’s disgraceful display, I’ll give you that favour, Tohyama.」

Amidst the scattered lingerie, strewn like a field of flowers, Son plopped down on her side like she watching television with the Seiryutou still grasped in one hand.

「Now don’t you run away. I’d be disgraced.」

Son said, looking relaxed.

「Don’t worry. In Japan we have a saying:『It’s a man’s shame to not eat the meal set before him.』It wouldn’t be cool to abandon the woman in front of me.」

Given this chance… *Whoosh!*

Closing the distance…

Taking a page out of Son’s book, I leapt up and struck low.

Nunchucks have more power than their appearance would suggest. With the centrifugal force generated, the end of the rod would move and impact faster than a staff.

「–Hee hee!」

But my attack was met by her blade.

Rotating her whole body like a roulette wheel as she laid on the ground, she calmly deflected my attack and counterattacked, swinging her blade in attempt to sever my ankles.

–But I anticipated the movement.

At a glance, she might seem defenceless, but it was part of a Chinese martial art– Diquan11.

This set of martial arts techniques was developed to attack a standing enemy from a position on the ground and requires many long hours of diligent study. Thank goodness I was aware of it. It truly was no loss to have learned this lesson so well from ASSAULT’s ‘Die die’ group.

It seems Son had mastered this unusual fighting style–

I dodged the lightning kick she unleashed from the ground.

「…!」

Then taking advantage of my inexperience with the nunchucks, *Cling!*

She struck out with her sword at the weapon’s weak point–the chain–destroying it.

Now all I held were two wooden sticks–and having anticipated this situation–with a *Clack!* I caught and trapped her sword between them.

Then I slammed the side of the blade against my knees with all my strength.

*Crack!*

–I snapped it.

In contrast to Japanese swords that are painstakingly forged layer by layer, Chinese blades are mass produced by casting. Beautifully engraved and decorated with a tassel, without being forged they are very brittle.

This was my plan when I picked up the nunchucks–

But having seemingly anticipated things even further Son:

「–Die!」

Grabbing the tip of the sword from out of the air, she immediately hurled it at me like a shuriken.

「–Augh!」

Having little experience dodging object thrown from beneath me, my dodging maneuver was quite exaggerated.

Taking advantage of that opening, Son reached up and grabbed the lapels of my blazer with the toes of both feet, using them as nimbly as if they were hands.

Then with superhuman leg strength–

Pulled herself close and wrapped her legs around me.

「–!」

With a *Thud!* I fell with both my arms wrapped around Son’s back… and Son’s legs still wrapped around my waist.

Locked in unarmed combat, she tried to take a guard position, but… since a girl was doing it… it was a maddeningly embarrassing situation I never would have dreamed of otherwise.

Mounted on top, Son looked very pleased as she squeezed her legs tighter in a very unlady-like manuevre, drawing my head in closer.

「Is this what they call the ‘Daishuki Hold’12?」

「How the heck do you know Japanese words that even I don’t know, Son!?」

Lifting my upper torso away from her, I immediately tried to drive down with a shoulder attack.

「Hee hee!」

Pushing up off the floor with her tail, Son flew up past my waist…

Then she clamped down on my right arm and locked out my elbow.

Sliding her body up in a upside-down cross legged position, she used her thighs and crotch to envelop my head.

It was a Triangle Choke, no– It was too shallow.

The original technique was meant to cut off the carotid artery, but she is gripping my head.

Additionally, in this somewhat embarrassing position, my mouth and nose are blocked by Son’s crotch.

「Tohyama. You are a fairly entertaining man, but no more than ‘fairly’. My Dulou Jian Jian Jao13 is the perfect end for you. I hate weak men. Your insufficient intuition and inability to devise countermeasures disappoints me. How about I finish you? Right here? 」

…!?

*Squeeze!*…! *Squeeze!*…!

No, this is different. It isn’t a Triangle Choke or some other textbook technique. It’s probably some kind of secret Chinese Kempo technique.

Swiftly immobilise your opponent’s arm, cut off their breathing with your crotch– Then finally, crush their head…!

「Die in this lingerie shop, like the Womaniser you are, with your brains scattered beneath a skirt, Tohyama.」

Ordinarily, such a hold wouldn’t be a problem. There are any number of ways to escape.

But that assumes that your opponent is human. Son’s leg strength is superhuman.

I-I can’t escape Son’s thighs!

*Squeeze!* *Squeeze!*… I could hear my cranial plates grating against each other…

「Three, twoooo, one!」

Just as she was about to pour all her strength into her legs:

*Clang!*

–Accompanied by the rattle of chains, the lock on my arm was released.

「–!」

Thanks to that, I was able to extract my head from between her legs.

–That was close! If I had stayed there for one more second, my head would have split like a watermelon.

Looking up, I saw chains with a counterweight on the the end wrapped around Son’s neck–

The chains extended from the third floor shop to the stairs near a flower shop across the street.

Holding the end of the chain attached to the sword steel forged sickle:

「Wh-what kind of… enviable, shameless things are you doing with Kin-chan…!」

It was my ally Shirayuki–or at least I hoped she was my ally–the light having drained from her eyes at the sight of Son and me in such an compromising position.

「Sh-Shirayuki! You saved me! We were fighting, but you might not have seen that before we got into that complicated situation…」

As I stuttered an explanation, from on top of me as she unwound the counter-weighted chain from her arm–

–Son also looked toward Shirayuki.

「Is she your mistress? What a real Japanese beauty!」

In one instant, she said the most dangerous word…! No!!!

「M-m-mistress..!? Is that what you think of meeeeeeeee–!!!」

*Thunk!*

Shirayuki sent the sickle thudding into the floor.

*Rustle!*

She drew out a long, looong ammunition belt from her uniform with a *Ka-Ching!* Then, as if she had given birth to it, a piece of iron appeared in the space between her feet– It unfolded and reshaped itself into an M-60 machine gun!

「!」

Son and I, entangled in a forest of lingerie, scattered!

With strangely coordinated timing, we dodged right and left–

I dove into a nearby pharmacy, and Son sought cover behind the till in the women’s clothing section.

「–Wa~sshoi! Wa~sshoi!」

Leaving aside the fact that she was using a traditional festival chant, with each『Wa~sshoi』, Shirayuki hitched up her sleeves with a 100 bullet ammuntion belt–

*Chung!*

She snapped up the M-60 in a spring-loaded action like a Monster Hunter Gunlance.

With a *Ka-Chunk!*, She loaded the first bullet on the chain into machine gun.

「Diviiiiiiiine Puuuuuuunishmeeeeeeeeent!!!」

–*Tatatatatatatatatatatatatata!*

A storm of 7.62×51mm NATO bullets burst into the shop interior as the Hong Kong action film changed into a Hollywood war film.

It seems that seeing Son and me in such a posture was enough for her to switch over to Kuroyuki.

「Ahahahaha!!! Those kinds of enviable, shameless things! It’s fine, isn’t it fine! Even though you didn’t want to do them with me! Isn’t that right! Isn’t that right, Kin-chan!」

Ripping off the melody from『Doreamon’s Song』and『Hey Moomin!』, Shirayuki swung the M60, laughing as Son dodged here and there.

*Ping!* *Ping!* *Ping!* *Ping!* *Ping!* Five mannequins’ heads in a row were hit one after another and shattered on the floor. The barrage reached a liquor shop and its sake bottles and wine sparyed liquid like blood from a wound. Crap… how many HKD in damages is this going to be?

「Ahaha! Ahahahahahahahaha–!」

Scattering brass shell casings around, Shirayuki laughed loudly amidst the blooming mist of shattering debris.

「–Tee Hee! As I thought, your woman is amazing!」

Son shouted as she trampled the broken mannequins.

Leaping toward the chandelier above the women’s department till, Son knocked it down with clawed hands and kicked it toward Shirayuki– And it shattered with a crash…!

「Sh-Shirayuki..!」

Just as I worried about her being buried under an avalance of bouquets from the flower shop shelves–*Pop!*

An M60 barrel stuck out of the small mountain of flowers.

Then *Tatatatatatatata!* Shirayuki unleashed a barrage even as she lay prone.

You’re a stubborn woman, Shirayuki…!

「What a stubborn woman!」

It seems Son had the same thought I did, to which:

「A woman should be persistent!」

Shirayuki screeched from her fortress of flowers…

*Clang!*… *Click!* *Click!* *Click!*

The firestorm stopped.

Standing up from where I had lain facedown in the pharmacy…*Whoosh!*

Shirayuki had also come to her feet– Emerging from the mountain of flowers with a katana in hand.

「Kin-chan–Son is a monkey–not human! What I do form now on is monkey extermination, not murder. Fufufu–Oh Divine Thunderbolt! Cleanse and Purify!14–Die!」

*Whoosh!* *Whoosh!*

Shirayuki raised Irokaneayame into a hassou stance above the pile of flowers.

Sh-she plans to kill her!

In Kuroyuki-mode, she might actually do it.

Her overwhelming desire was filling the air.

But– I had learned something in my battle with Son.

We should not deal with Son by killing her.

「W-wait, Shirayuki…! Son is–」

Even as I felt it was useless, I tried to persuade her.

「Die! Die! Monkey extermination! Monkey extermination! Exterminate, Hotogi miko!」

She showed me it was as useless as I thought.

Son, for her part–will have surely picked up on her murderous intent and will want to fight her.

Turning toward them in order to find some way of mediating between them…

–Son was frozen in shock.

「Ahh…The girl who wields the Irokane blade…If she has harnessed its power… this must be the Himiko! Ayee!」

Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead as she mumbled these strange words and edged back.

Until now she had been belligerant, but now she harboured doubts about her own fighting ability.

By no means had she lost the will to fight, but her face showed that she was now cautious about a battle with Shirayuki.

…?

As I furrowed my eybrows at this new state of affairs–

*Beeeep!* *Beeep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beeep!*–

*Beeep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*

From down in front of the shop came the intermittent sound of a car horn.

That noise that sounded like someone was playing with the horn– was Morse Code.

Translating it inside my head…『Riko Riko-rin-rin』… it said.

A girl who could further complicate the situation had arrived.

But this could be my chance.

Riko is sounding the horn from the driver’s seat, and it could be an excellent means of escape.

The 30 minutes I had promised Son are almost up, so– we should retreat. For now.

But… Shirayuki will not stop.

「Shirayuki, that’s enough! Retreat! Son might use her Nyoibou…!」

As I ran toward her, I tried once more to persuade her.

「Kin-chan step aside, if you don’t I can’t kill her! I have been prepared to die since the beginning!」

She was in the same state as the time she came to my room to kill Aria, I stepped in front of her and–

–*Clap!*

I clapped my hands in front of her face to disorient her.

Then I scooped her up in my arms.

「–Shirayuki. God would never forgive me if allowed you to die before our love had blossomed.」

Still holding her sword, I quickly used『Kotou』15whispering into her ear…

All at once, Shirayuki was enchanted.

Kuroyuki was changing back to Shirayuki as she looked up to me from my arms.

「Come now, smile. It grieves me to see you trembiling in rage. But the one who can always soothe my grief is you– Shirayuki. So won’t you smile for me?」

If this were a film, the audience would have been put off by that cheesy line, but Shirayuki thinks everything about me is amazing. Her devotion to me is as fanatical as that for a film star whose film she would go see no matter how bad it was. Then…

「–Yes!」

Waaah…! It’s scary just how quickly she completely reversed expression. Now she was smiling brightly at me from inside my arms.

I grown rather skilled at controlling her, despite the fact we have reached the point of a paired comedy act16.

I gave a wry smile, still carrying her in my arms–

And I rushed over to the window where I had heard Riko honking the horn.

「Oi– Tohyama!」

Son shouted at my back.

But the 30 minutes had passed. I’ve spent enough time playing with you. An extension would be expensive, don’t you know?

I wanted to make a cool exit without looking back.

Then–

–During our battle, I’ve come to understand you, Son. Understand what kind of person you are. If only in part.

Hysteria Mode’s original purpose was to leave behind offspring.

But for those offspring to appear, a woman must accept a man unconditionally, with all her heart.

So… while in Hysteria Mode, I am sensitive to girls’ true feelings. I am able to see deep, deep into their true feelings– That is their heart.

Son– You are not yourself.

You are not here right now.

Your true self–is far away from Kou’s body that someone far away is controlling like a puppet.

It wasn’t Koko, Shokatsu, or Patra; it’s someone else. The real person behind Son–the one whose heart I should be accepting–is somewhere else.

I understood that…and I saw what I had to do for her.

It was not to fight her.

–But save her.

Expel Son so that only Kou remains.

Obviously, I’m nothing like a psychiatrist, and I don’t know what exactly should be done. But the two of us were destined to become each other’s enemy and fight. The difficult situation seems impossible to solve.

Even so, rest assured.

I am『The Enabler』, and as my nickname says, I’ve made many impossible things possible.

Now I will take up this challenge in order to save you.

Why would I save my opponent–You might ask? There are three reasons:

1. Because you are a girl–

2. I am a man.

And 3. Saving women is a man’s responsibility. Isn’t it?

[END CHAPTER FIVE]

(END TEXT)

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1. A type of military APC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_Saracen

2. A Hong Kong Horror Comedy film franchise.

3. This is the same ‘Ran’ as in Rampan.

4. The family name of the Cao clan, the Koko sisters’ famous ancestor.

5. As you may recall, the kanji for ‘Enabler’ means ‘the one who makes the impossible possible’ thus the joke.

6. Zetsurou is written in kanji as ‘Absolute prison’.

7. Detective Conan Reference.

8. The name refere=s to the shape of the trajectory of the bullet, zig-zagging in two ‘L-shaped’ segments as it ricochets.

9. A type of Chinese sword with a heavy tip similar to a saber or cutlass.

10. Semi-famous martial arts film instructor, trainer, and stuntman.

11. Chinese for ‘Ground Fist’. A set of techniques meant for use when the practitioner is lying on the ground. ‘Chitouken’ in Japanese.

12. Seems to be a corruption of: ‘Daisuki’, so it should be meaning something like ‘Lover’s Embrace’.

13. Means ‘Skull Leg Shears’ in Chinese.

14. Rough translation of a Bhuddist mantra invoking some kind of war deity or aspect.

15. ‘Charming Call’ in kanji.

16.m’Manzai’ in the original. A traditional style of stand-up comedy in Japanese culture, which usually involves two performers (manzaishi)—a straight man and a funny man— trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve around mutual misunderstandings, double-talk, puns and other verbal gags– Wikipedia