Looking at the enormous fist closing in on her, Yutsuki quickly reacted.
Use future calculation to predict the opponent's attack trajectory, dodge, create distance, then release a certain amount of electricity to restrain the opponent—this was Yutsuki's most familiar fighting style.
However, this ti, Yutsuki's body disobeyed her commands on its own.
Step. Twist.
Facing the fierce wind of the fist rushing toward her face, Yutsuki's body neither dodged nor retreated. Like a great tree rooted into the earth, she first swept her fist sideways to push aside the opponent's strike, then used the opening to turn her body into the opponent's gap and drive her solid elbow toward his abdon.
If that blow landed properly, all the force behind the previous powerful punch would be converted into damage to his own body, enough to make him vomit out last night's dinner on the spot.
However, faced with Yutsuki's forceful counterattack, the other party seed to have been prepared for it long ago. His left hand turned into a palm and pushed away the elbow strike, while he swiftly shifted from defense to offense.
Elbow thrusts, lifting strikes, low guards, shoulder checks—under Yutsuki's astonished gaze, her body seed as if it had been possessed by so martial arts master, relying on a pile of moves even she herself did not recognize to exchange several rounds of offense and defense evenly with the unfamiliar middle aged man before her.
(Spirit power can't be used for now, and this feels very similar to when I beca the protagonist of The Flying Trunk. Am I currently playing a character inside this mory?)
Yutsuki vaguely ford a guess in her heart.
From the initial exploration of so taphorical ntal world, to observing Ai Mulian's childhood mories from the perspective of an audience, and now to experiencing things in first person as if she were truly there.
Ai Mulian was showing Ryougi Yutsuki her life from different angles.
"Hmph!"
Suddenly, Yutsuki heard a low shout. In the end, the sturdy man before her was still a level above Ai Mulian at this period. With one back leaning shoulder strike, he knocked Yutsuki away.
Taking that blow solidly, Yutsuki instantly felt as if her internal organs had nearly been displaced.
"Rest."
After saying that, the sturdy man's brows relaxed. His stern, rigid face gained a few traces of warmth.
"Mulian, rember this. Although I agreed to teach you martial arts for self defense, that does not an I agreed for you to go fight other people. The most important part of martial arts is still self cultivation…"
As he spoke, the middle-aged man looked at Yutsuki lying on the ground. His deep eyes seed to see sothing, and a trace of worry entered his tone.
"Rember, Mulian. In the future, no matter what you do, you must take responsibility for your actions. If you keep indulging your desires, what you gain in the end will only be regret."
Listening to the man's lecture, Yutsuki did not feel any rejection or annoyance from Ai Mulian at this ti. Although her body was covered in bruises from being beaten, Ai Mulian was filled with respect toward the man before her.
However, from Yutsuki's perspective, what the man wanted to convey and what Ai Mulian understood from it seed to have produced so kind of error.
After that, Yutsuki felt her own face uncontrollably reveal a smile, and she answered calmly.
"Okay, Dad."
The mont her voice fell, the scenery before her changed once more. Yutsuki, who had originally been lying flat in the training hall, was now standing on a street late at night.
(…A police station?)
Standing at the entrance of the police station, Yutsuki looked at the sleepy officer on duty, and her face revealed a strange expression.
The officer on duty did not seem to notice Yutsuki's existence. He yawned vaguely. Then, at a certain mont, the officer suddenly widened his eyes and stared ahead in horror.
Following the officer's gaze, Yutsuki's pupils suddenly contracted.
Under the cold streetlight, Ai Mulian, who had grown into a young girl, wore a half covering, translucent nightgown and slippers. Dragging a suitcase, she slowly walked toward the police station.
And from the heavy looking suitcase, crimson liquid was constantly leaking through the gaps, dragging a long trail of blood across the sidewalk.
"Excuse , officer."
Without the slightest panic or fear, Ai Mulian spoke to the officer with a satisfied smile.
"I just killed soone. I'm here to turn myself in."
Then, the instant the suitcase was opened, one officer with poor psychological endurance vomited on the spot. The girl was imdiately locked inside a cell.
Afterward, the police investigated every aspect of the incident and restored the truth.
The facts proved that although this case was vile, it was not complicated. Whether from subjective intent or objective fact, the girl had deliberately killed soone, and her thods had been extrely cruel. The girl herself confessed everything completely. She did not cry injustice, nor did she choose to act insane during the psychiatric evaluation.
And on the day of the cri, the girl had just passed her sixteenth birthday.
Thus, after several trials, the girl was sentenced to death without any suspense.
Bang.
Watching the girl slowly fall beneath the cold muzzle of the gun, Yutsuki discovered that even at the very last mont, there was no regret on Ai Mulian's face.
"Because irresponsibly indulging desire will make a person regret it in the end. So as long as you take responsibility for your actions after indulging your desire, you won't regret it in the end… What the hell kind of logic is that?"
Trying to digest the information, Yutsuki fell silent for a while before retorting speechlessly.
Reality proved that one should not try to understand a pervert's logic. Their so called beliefs and aesthetics, which made no damn sense at all, would only make people doubt life after hearing them.
However, just as Yutsuki thought everything was over, the surrounding scene changed once again.
"There's more?"
Unable to stop herself from frowning, Yutsuki suddenly sensed sothing wrong.
Yutsuki had previously investigated Ai Mulian's information as well. If the other party had truly committed such a terrible cri in the past, the case would definitely have left records online. It would have been impossible for her to find no trace of it at all.
Taking ten thousand steps back, even if everything she had just seen was true, Ai Mulian should have already died long ago. Then what was the Ai Mulian opposing Yutsuki and the others now?
As these thoughts flashed through Yutsuki's mind, the scenery around her completed its transformation. This ti, the sight before her once again exceeded Yutsuki's expectations.
Black smoke and fire stained the sky. Deafening explosions, gunfire, and cannon fire rang out without end. Steel tanks and aircraft passed by, crushing lifeless bodies and leaving behind land dyed red with blood.
A battlefield.
Unlike Tengu City, where they were fighting DEM, this was a battlefield in the true, literal sense.
"Ah—! dic! dic!"
A scream drew Yutsuki's attention. Searching for the source of the sound, Yutsuki found a survivor among a pile of fallen soldiers.
(He's badly injured, but he can still be saved. I need to get him treated quickly—)
After seeing the other person's injuries, Yutsuki crouched down, dragged his body to a place with cover, then took out the first-aid kit on her body and began ergency treatnt.
Wait. Why do I have a first aid kit?
After realizing that she was currently wearing a military dic's uniform, Yutsuki understood that she had once again entered Ai Mulian's first person perspective.
"What's going on? What's happening to ? Why can't I see anything?!"
At this ti, the surviving soldier seed emotionally unstable because his vision was blocked. Yutsuki sighed helplessly and comforted him while using water to clean the blood from his face.
"Calm down. You're not dead yet. How about now? Can you see ?"
"Y-yeah… barely…"
The soldier slowly opened his eyes. Looking at Yutsuki, he involuntarily said,
"Are you… an angel sent by God to receive ?"
"I'm just an ordinary dic. Mm… your right eye has to be treated. A tal fragnt blown away by an explosion pierced it."
After confirming the other party's injury, Yutsuki comforted him.
"Don't worry. As long as you receive treatnt, you should be able to recover your sight."
"I-is that so… That's good."
Hearing that, the soldier could not help letting out a relieved breath.
"No enemy soldiers should pass through here for now. Rest here for the mont. Soone will co pick you up later."
After saying that, Yutsuki found a relatively large piece of cloth and covered the soldier's lower body, preventing him from noticing that his left leg had already been blown off.
After finishing the first aid, Yutsuki did not stop. She left the cover and continued searching for other survivors.
"It's over… It's over… I'm going to die soon… Heh… It's finally going to end… this shitty life."
Very soon, Yutsuki found another survivor inside a building where a shootout had occurred. However, compared to her body, this woman seed to have suffered a more serious ntal blow.
(Mm… Her head was grazed by a stray bullet, so her brain has a problem?)
Sighing speechlessly, Yutsuki skillfully pulled out the first aid kit.
"Y-you, who are you?! Why are you here?"
After noticing Yutsuki, the soldier shouted emotionally.
"Huh? What are you saying? It's too noisy here, I can't hear you… This hair is getting in the way. I'll shave it first."
"Aren't you the enemy?! Why are you saving ?!"
"Hah?! Enemy?"
Yutsuki froze for two seconds and looked at the mark on her clothes. However, she clearly could not tell the difference between them anyway and was too lazy to think about it. She continued using scissors to clear away the other party's hair.
"Who cares? I'm not interested in that stuff. If I leave you here now, wouldn't that make look like a murderer?"
"Don't bother with ! I don't need pity from the enemy!"
"Tch. You're not even my type. So difficult."
Yutsuki clicked her tongue speechlessly, then slapped the wound treatnt spray directly onto the woman's face.
"Ngh—"
The soldier's expression imdiately twisted into sothing extrely vivid.
"Do you not have anyone important to you? Parents or friends, anything works."
"…Hmph… They all died thirty years ago…"
The soldier laughed bitterly. Hearing that, Yutsuki raised her brow.
"They died in war?"
"No… They died in the spacequake… If I hadn't been out of country with grandfather back then… I could have gone with them."
"Spacequake? What's that?"
Faced with this question, surprise appeared on the soldier's face.
"You've never heard of spacequakes?"
Yutsuki shook her head.
"Never heard of them. After I woke up, I was suddenly in this damned place for no reason. Then I was sohow thrown into the army. If I hadn't learned dicine from my mother for a while before, I'd probably be holding a gun and fighting people to the death just like you."
As she spoke, Yutsuki's mouth muttered on its own,
"Honestly… I had already calmly accepted the death penalty. Why did I have to transmigrate? Sigh. I wonder how many people I have to save before it counts as taking responsibility."
Not hearing Yutsuki's quiet muttering, the soldier looked at the strange dic bandaging her and hesitated for a mont before speaking.
"…It was a special disaster that appeared thirty years ago. It can destroy every living thing in the area where it occurs. Thirty years ago, a massive spacequake destroyed this country, and 150 million people died…"
"Hm~ So it's basically this world's version of an earthquake?"
Yutsuki clearly was not interested in this topic and continued asking,
"Is your grandfather gone?"
"…He passed away two years ago."
"So you ca to the battlefield to seek death? Did your grandfather tell you to co?"
"…"
"Looks like he didn't. Your family worked so hard to raise you this much, so wouldn't it be pretty unfair to him if you didn't live properly… Uh, at the very least, find a boyfriend first. It's not too late to die together after that."
"Hah?"
Ignoring the other party's dumbfounded expression, Yutsuki took out the communicator from her pocket.
"This is dic Ai Mulian. I've found one wounded soldier. Please co receive them. Over."
"Received. Team A is engaged with enemy forces. Two wounded. Please proceed to assist as soon as possible. Over."
"Received. Over."
After turning off the communicator, Yutsuki curled her lips and could not help sighing.
"Ah… those lunatics in my squad are charging again. Fine. Ti to work hard."
After saying that, Yutsuki—Ai Mulian—carried the first aid kit and braved the rain of bullets and shells, rushing toward the front line to treat the wounded.
It was said that after witnessing Ai Mulian caring for the wounded on the battlefield, soldiers began calling her things like the miracle doctor who brought spring back to withered hands, Nightingale reborn, and an angel sent by God.
"…What the hell?"
After a long silence, Yutsuki finally squeezed out that sentence.
Original Author's PS: I only wrote Ai Mulian's self surrender part briefly. First, because its style is too different from Date A Live, and second, because if I wrote it in detail, it probably wouldn't pass review.
Original Author's PS2: When I first made Ai Mulian's character, I honestly decided on her a little too casually on impulse. Looking back now… sigh, all I can say is that since I dug this hole myself, I have to fill it with tears in my eyes.
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