"—Mio! Mana!"
Shinji pushed open the front door and shouted anxiously.
"Shin, welco ho."
"What is it, Nii-sama?"
Hearing Shinji's voice, the two of them ca out from the living room and looked at him in confusion.
Seeing that both of them were safe, Shinji let out a relieved breath. But soon, his expression tightened again, and he spoke gravely.
"Get ready to run. Take only what we need. We're leaving this city right now!"
"Eh?"
Watching Shinji start moving without further explanation, Mana stared at him in astonishnt.
"Eh? What do you an? Skipping school? Has Nii-sama entered his rebellious phase? Were you lured in by so strange pyramid sche? In that case, I may have no choice but to awaken Nii-sama's conscience through violence—"
"Mana, I'm completely sane right now."
Seeing that Mana still did not understand the situation, Shinji explained in a low voice.
"When I was coming ho just now, I saw several suspicious foreigners asking around for information about Mio."
"Nii-sama, are you saying…"
"Do you rember what Mio said? The first humans she saw were foreigners speaking English—this is probably connected to them."
After listening to Shinji's words, Mana furrowed her brows and asked uncertainly.
"…Nii-sama, are you sure? This isn't just your imagination running wild, is it?"
"If it really is my imagination, then that would be wonderful."
With a sowhat helpless wry smile, Shinji continued.
"But in reality, our—no, everyone's lives went off the rails a long ti ago, didn't they? Everyone just refused to accept reality, looked away, and chose to escape."
How ironic.
Once upon a ti, he had fantasized more than once about so abnormal event arriving to break apart his monotonous life. Yet now that it had actually happened, he wished from the bottom of his heart that it was nothing more than his own delusion.
"…Understood. Although it sounds absurd, I will believe Nii-sama."
"Thanks, Mana."
Shinji said gratefully.
"Then, Nii-sama, what do you plan to do next?"
"For now, I want to leave this city as soon as possible, then go hide with Mom and Dad for a while. Mio has lived here for over a month now. There should be plenty of people in the city who have seen her. It's only a matter of ti before they find this house."
"Sorry… Shin… Mana… Because of … I've dragged you both into this."
Listening to their conversation, Mio bit her lip and lowered her head in deep self-reproach.
"That's not true. Mio hasn't done anything wrong."
Noticing Mio's pale face, Shinji imdiately realized that his anxious attitude had also made Mio uneasy. He hurriedly pulled her into his arms and comforted her softly.
"Shin…"
"It's okay. You only wanted to live like an ordinary girl, right? Isn't that only natural? There's no need for you to bla yourself."
"But…"
After hesitating for a mont, Mio looked toward Mana.
"Well, I agree with Nii-sama. You don't need to bla yourself."
Mana shrugged, then declared firmly.
"After all, we're already family. Abandoning family would violate both the code of the samurai and the Takamiya family rules!"
"Our family has rules like that?"
Shinji could not help retorting.
"We didn't before, but we do now!"
"You made them up on the spot!"
"Hehe—"
Watching the Takamiya siblings interact, Mio could not help smiling through her tears.
"That's right. I really do prefer seeing Mio smile."
With a light chuckle, Shinji kissed Mio's forehead and spoke firmly.
"Believe in your lover and your sister in law. We'll definitely overco this safely and continue living happily."
"…Mm."
Hearing Shinji's answer, Mio nodded with a reassured smile.
…
(That said… what should we actually do?)
Looking at the n in black wandering through the streets, Shinji could not help feeling troubled.
Shinji and Mana had already taken the minimum necessities and left ho. To avoid being recognized, Mio had also put on a knit cap and sunglasses, disguising herself as a stylish Harajuku girl. She looked completely different from her usual impression.
Apparently, this was one of the backup outfits she had learned about when she asked Mana's friend for fashion advice before the date. To be honest, if circumstances allowed, Shinji would have loved to go on a date with Mio dressed in that style.
"No good, Nii-sama. This road is being watched too."
After finishing her scouting, Mana returned to the two of them and shook her head.
"I see…"
Shinji secretly gritted his teeth. The other side had reacted even faster than he expected. They seed to have already determined that Mio was in this city. On every road leading out, they could see foreign soldiers in military uniforms guarding the exits.
"Nii-sama, what about the trains and the airport?"
"No good either. Those places are being watched too."
Shinji also shook his head. He had contacted Tatsuo and Haruko earlier, and according to them, the station they usually used also had those foreign n in black guarding it today. The reason seed to be an investigation into a wanted criminal. Accessories like sunglasses had to be removed, and people were only allowed through after their appearance was confird. In that case, there was no way Mio's disguise would pass.
"Ah, those people really are thorough."
Mana could not help complaining. After thinking for a mont, Mio proposed.
"I saw it in a book… This city is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The only ways to leave are by road, subway line, or plane. If all three are impossible… then the only remaining option is to cross through the forest."
"The forest, huh…"
At Mio's suggestion, Shinji hesitated. It was not as if he had not thought of that. But neither he nor Mana had experience moving through the woods, and the signal in the forest was very poor. If they got lost by accident, they could end up stranded.
But judging from the current situation, this was their only choice.
"Got it. Let's do that. Mana, Mio, co with …"
After saying so, Shinji led the two of them while avoiding the patrols of the n in black and headed toward their destination.
Shinji's destination was none other than his school.
Taking advantage of the night, they slipped into the campus. After avoiding the patrolling security guards, the three of them arrived at the school's backyard.
"This is it… Through this gate, we can leave the city from the mountain behind the school. Wait a mont. I'll open it now."
Watching Shinji easily climb over the wall, then open the iron gate from the outside, Mana's mouth twitched slightly.
"Nii-sama, would you mind telling why you know about this little path? And why your movents are so practiced?"
"Ah… There was a period before when I thought classes were too boring, so I would sotis skip through here… Of course! Only sotis! I've already given it up now!"
"Haah… Although I really want to punish Nii-sama's lazy nature, since we found an escape route thanks to you, I'll let it slide this ti."
After leaving the school and entering the forest behind the mountain, the night woods, without any lights, were pitch-black. They were gloomy and eerie like a haunted house, with hissing wind sounds from ti to ti.
Shinji could not help swallowing.
"…Mana, did you bring the compass, flashlight, and map?"
"Mm… I brought the flashlight and compass, but as for a forest map…"
"No problem. I saw a map of this forest in the study before. I know how to go."
At that mont, Mio suddenly spoke.
"And I've also read about the plants and animals that appear in this forest in survival manuals. Even if we run out of food and water, I have a way to keep everyone alive."
"Oooh…"
Mana and Shinji could not help exclaiming in admiration.
"I never expected… the most reliable one among the three of us would actually be Mio."
"Well, ordinary people wouldn't deliberately pay attention to that kind of knowledge. Mio, can we leave guiding us to you?"
"Mm, leave it to ."
Taking out the flashlight and compass, Shinji and Mana followed Mio's guidance and moved through the forest.
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Mana stopped with a serious expression.
"There's a sound… approaching."
"A sound? Is it so kind of wild animal?"
Shinji asked in confusion.
Mana pressed her ear to the ground. After a brief silence, she answered.
"…No. Like us, they're footsteps from people… and there are many of them!"
"Wha—"
Before Shinji could react, a powerful white light suddenly shone onto them.
"Found them! Target spotted!"
"Mana! Mio! Run!"
Without thinking, Shinji shouted and grabbed Mio's hand, then ran at full speed deeper into the forest.
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