"Ha… ha… agh—"
Hiding in the shadows of the forest, Shinji leaned his back against a tree trunk, his shoulders heaving violently with his breaths.
Bright red blood gradually stained his shoulder. Shinji gritted his teeth, his forehead covered in sweat from the pain.
During the escape just now, Shinji had been unlucky. A bullet had struck his shoulder.
"Shinji, does it hurt badly?"
"Hmph… This much of an injury is nothing—gh!"
He originally wanted to act cool in front of Mio and say sothing like a tough guy, but the intense pain from the wound quickly robbed him of the ability to force himself. It felt as though a rivet was stirring deep in his bone marrow. The muscles on Shinji's face twisted, and he nearly cried from the pain.
"It's okay. Leave it to ."
As she spoke, Mio crouched down beside Shinji, placed both hands over the wound on his shoulder, and released a faint glow.
Soon, sothing miraculous happened. The bullet embedded in his bone was easily removed. His skin, muscles, and bones healed at an astonishing speed. The maddening pain from before gradually eased and disappeared.
After finishing the treatnt, Mio let out a long breath.
"All done… Shin, try moving your arm."
"Mm…?! Amazing! It doesn't hurt at all! You're amazing, Mio!"
Moving his arm according to Mio's instructions, Shinji could not help exclaiming.
"It's nothing special."
Mio shook her head and said,
"I only used spiritual power to remove the bullet, then stimulated Shin's natural healing ability."
"No… that's already incredible."
Shinji could not help smiling wryly. If a doctor saw what had just happened, they would probably be so shocked they would question their entire life.
At that mont, the rustling of leaves and the sound of hard objects stepping on the ground reached their ears.
Shinji and Mio both held their breaths.
—Found them?
—No. They shouldn't be around here.
—Then let's search over there.
The white light of searchlights swept over the two of them several tis before the footsteps gradually moved into the distance.
"Phew…"
Shinji could not help sighing in relief. He said to Mio,
"If we stay here, we'll be found sooner or later. Let's get out of here quickly."
"Mm."
Mio nodded, held Shinji's hand, and moved through the forest while avoiding the people searching for them.
A silent stillness spread between them. Even though he was alone with the person he loved most and holding her hand, Shinji could not feel happy at all.
"Shin…"
Finally, Mio could not help speaking.
"Mana… will she be all right?"
"…She'll definitely be fine."
Shinji pressed his lips together and answered in a slightly dry voice.
Because of their hurried escape earlier, Mana had gotten separated from them partway through. Her current whereabouts were unknown.
Although Shinji was also very worried about his sister, as Mio's boyfriend, he absolutely could not show fear and panic that would make Mio uneasy.
"Even if she ets the enemy, with Mana's skill, she can easily take them down with kendo. She's definitely sowhere in this forest right now, preparing to et up with us."
"Mm."
A faint smile appeared on Mio's face, and she nodded softly.
If anything, the dangerous side right now was Shinji's side. Although they were temporarily able to use their familiarity with the terrain to circle around and avoid the enemy, the other side was nurous and carried firearms. If they truly ran into them, Shinji, an unard high school student, would definitely die.
(If only I had so kind of weapon to fight with.)
Shinji secretly glanced at Mio. If this followed the developnt of an ani or light novel, the male lead would usually obtain power from the heroine who fell from the sky. For example, she would pull a greatsword from her chest, or they would form a contract and he would awaken so special power, then reverse the entire situation in one go. (TL: guilty gear ahh plot~)
"Hey… Mio, with that Spirit power of yours, can you do anything? Like create a greatsword, or teleport, or sothing?"
Shinji could not help asking.
"—!?"
Shinji felt Mio's hand tremble sharply.
"Sorry, Shin. I'm afraid I can't et your expectations."
Mio said in a low voice.
"The power I possess… is very frightening. So frightening that even I cannot control it… I still cannot handle it. If I use it carelessly… if it goes out of control…"
"If it goes out of control?"
"Most likely… the mountains around this area would be flattened… and nothing would remain."
"I see…"
Shinji could not help sweating coldly. Indeed, if that happened, Mio herself might survive, but he and Mana would definitely die.
"And… I don't want to hurt anyone."
Suddenly, Mio's voice beca choked.
"The world is clearly so beautiful, and there are so many gentle humans like Shin and Mana. If I use my power… surely thousands… tens of thousands of people would die again."
"I… don't want to kill anyone anymore."
"Mio...."
Shinji could not help feeling stunned. Then he quickly understood. Every television station and website recorded reports about the casualties caused by the spacequake disaster, as well as the tragic news of the victims's families. And as one of her ways of obtaining knowledge and information, Mio could not possibly have avoided using the TV and computer.
In other words, she knew better than anyone that she was the culprit behind the spacequake.
And yet, even so, in order not to worry others, she still greeted Shinji every day with the sa gentle, brilliant smile, hiding her pain alone inside her heart.
After realizing this, Shinji wanted nothing more than to slap himself several tis.
"Don't worry, Shin."
Mio seed to have made a decision and spoke solemnly.
"Their target should be . If there really cos a ti when there's no other choice…"
"If it cos to that, you'll hand yourself over, and Mana and I will be safe?"
Cutting off Mio's words first, Shinji could not help smiling and shaking his head.
"Honestly. I said all those pretty words, but the mont we're in danger, I can't help wanting to rely on my girlfriend. And in the end, I even make my girlfriend worry about and protect ? Heh… I'm a pretty failed boyfriend."
—!
Suddenly, Shinji clenched his fist and punched himself hard in the face.
"—Shin!?"
"I'm fine, Mio. I just needed to wake myself up a little."
Shaking his head, Shinji smiled wryly and waved his hand.
"Don't worry, Mio. From the mont I first called out to the girl at the center of the explosion site, I was already prepared to get dragged into trouble."
Gripping Mio's soft little hand tightly, Shinji declared firmly,
"We're family, right? Even if we exchanged you for safety, Mana and I absolutely wouldn't be happy. So don't say things like that again."
"…Mm."
Seemingly feeling Shinji's resolve, Mio squeezed his hand back and nodded.
"Hey, hey, no way. Why did you have to run right to of all people?"
At that mont, a human voice ca from ahead, instantly making the two of them tense up. Soon, a blond foreign man walked out from the depths of the forest ahead.
Although Shinji was not very familiar with Western standards of beauty, in his eyes, the man before him was undoubtedly handso. He had a tall, clean cut figure, bright blond hair, and refined features full of heroic spirit. Just by appearing, he gave Shinji a sense of defeat as a man.
If not for the fact that he was wearing a black suit in the sa style as DEM, Shinji would probably have mistaken him for so Hollywood star.
Looking at the wary Mio and Shinji, the man scratched his head with an expression that was hard to describe as troubled or unsure, his deanor extrely unmotivated.
"Um… Sorry, boy over there. Could you hand the girl beside you over to ?"
The blond man spoke fluent Japanese.
"…On what grounds?"
Shinji frowned. Judging from his attitude, this man was clearly different from the n in black earlier, but Shinji was still sowhat surprised.
"Hmm… how should I put it… for the sake of protecting world peace, I suppose. That girl, despite being so beautiful, is the culprit behind the spacequakes. If left alone, she's very dangerous."
"Oho… Are you going to say you're an ally of justice next?"
Shinji asked back with a cold smile.
"Well… It's hard to say whether everyone is, but at the very least, I think of myself that way."
"If that's true, why did you shoot at ordinary civilians like us?"
"Eh? Shoot? Damn… Ellen's subordinates really are…"
The man was first taken aback, then held his forehead with a headache.
"Um… how should I say this? I'm sorry my subordinates attacked you. I'll order them to stop later. But we really are looking for that girl. Could you hand her over to ? I bear her no ill will. I won't hurt her."
"…I refuse."
Although the man's frank apology surprised Shinji a little, he still shook his head in the end and protected Mio behind him.
"You said it yourself just now, didn't you? Your organization is not of one mind. Even if you really won't hurt her, that doesn't an Mio won't be in danger."
The blond man did not deny it.
"Perhaps so. But if she is left alone, spacequakes will continue to happen, and more innocent people will die. And we at DEM have a way to stop—"
"Don't talk about Mio like she's a monster!"
Shinji glared at the blond man, anger showing in his eyes.
"Mio is just an ordinary human. She likes reading books, she cries, she laughs, and she's a very gentle ordinary girl."
"I've lived with Mio for over a month, and not a single spacequake has happened. She knows how to care for others, and she doesn't want to hurt anyone. It's not as if she's so beast you can't communicate with. What right do you have to treat her like an earthquake or a typhoon?"
"Pfft… hahahaha!"
The blond man quietly listened to Shinji's roar. He neither grew angry nor refuted him. Instead, he burst into laughter as if sothing had hit his funny bone.
"What are you laughing at!?"
"Ah—sorry, sorry! I'm not laughing at you. If anything, what you said is so right that I couldn't help laughing. Honestly, Ike really ca up with such a fake sounding excuse. Just saying it makes my whole body itch."
After laughing to his heart's content, the blond man wiped the tears from his eyes and turned his gaze to Mio.
"…Mio. Is that your na?"
"…Yes. It's the na Shin gave ."
"I see… Mm, it's a good na."
With the faintest trace of jealousy in his voice, the man sighed lightly, then changed the question.
"Then, Mio, right now—are you happy?"
"…At the very least, I do not have a fetish that makes happy to be hunted by people bearing hostility toward ."
"Pfft—not what I ant. I'm asking whether you're happy being with this boy."
Staring warily at the blond man, although she did not understand the intention behind his question, Mio still nodded.
"I see—"
After receiving Mio's reply, the man's shoulders drooped as if all strength had left him. Then, seeming to have made so kind of decision, he stepped sideways and opened the path.
"Go."
"…Huh?"
Clearly not expecting him to let them pass so easily, the two stared in astonishnt.
"Wh-What do you an?"
"What else could I an? I'm letting you run. Otherwise—"
"Found them! They're here!"
As if to drown out the man's words, three pursuers rushed out from the forest behind them.
"Yare yare~ That's exactly what I was trying to say."
The man sighed helplessly. His previously gentle gaze suddenly sharpened.
The next instant, the man's figure vanished from Shinji's sight. Only three dull, heavy impacts rang out. When Shinji turned his head, the three attackers had already been easily knocked down by the blond man.
(He's… he's strong!)
"All right, stop spacing out. Hurry and go."
The blond man pointed forward and said,
"That child, Mio, is in your hands now, kid."
"…Mm, yeah."
Hearing those words, Shinji finally snapped back to himself as if waking from a dream and pulled Mio forward.
After watching the two leave, the blond man let out a long breath.
"Phew… Now then."
As he stretched his body and turned around, what greeted him were dozens of magicians equipped with Realizers who had rushed over after hearing the noise.
"Woodman-sama! What is the aning of this?"
"Are you planning to betray Westcott-sama?"
"Well~ as expected, I really can't stand Ike's way of doing things. So after I defeat you and force you to retreat, please help pass a ssage to him."
Taking out a golden naplate, the blond man declared with a gallant smile.
"From this day forth, Elliot Baldwin Woodman and DEM are parting ways!"
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