novelVolume 9, Stage 04: The Truth About "Brother" (2)
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Volume 9, Stage 04: The Truth About "Brother" (2)
Yet his fingers controlled the Blood-Sign with unmatched accuracy. They were like the robot arms attaching the ultra-thin gold circuits in a semiconductor plant. His movements were fully cut off from his emotions and they built up his Material with abnormal speed.
Kyousuke had a Divine-class. Sound Range: Low. Cost: 7.
That ruler of demons had a name starting with "l". His deadly sin was pride. He was a leader of rebels symbolized by Venus and he was the wicked influencer who had led a third of heaven's population down the path of evil.
The little sister also had a Divine-class. Sound Range: Low. Cost: 9.
That fat lord of the flies had a name starting with "b". His deadly sin was gluttony. He had a unique origin distinct from the legend of Canaan and he was the ruler of the Witch's Sabbath who was worshiped by all witches and blessed them on that special night.
"The same Sound Range and a Cost difference of 2! I can still attack her from here!!"
"No, Kyousuke."
A dull rumble overturned the young boy's assumptions.
"Your Material is panicking. I taught you to be extra careful with Divine-classes from the same or similar mythologies, didn't I? Did you think they were equal because they both rule over one of the Seven Deadly Sins? Just look at Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum. Beelzebub is the ruler and Lucifer is only one of the officials."
That meant he only had to switch to some other Divine-class, but that meant a slight time loss.
And when the change was forced onto him by outside circumstances rather than his own plan, his options were drastically reduced. And a reduction in options could easily mean incredible risk.
"You can do better than that. Right, Onii-chan?" Doctor S chuckled while still leaning back against the wall."Weren't you going to save your mother and little sister from your cruel father one day? Well, that day happened to be today. You weren't in time for your mother, but what about your little sister? What will happen to her if you let go now? Which one of you will reach out for that monster? If you don't stop her now, the entire world will turn on her."
"Shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!"
He shouted.
He shouted and yelled and wailed.
But he may have actually realized the truth: now that it had started, there was no stopping it. There was no stopping this until he or his little sister summoned the White Queen and ended it.
So.
He shouted until his throat was raw because he wanted to stop his little sister before that happened.
Kyousuke had one of the Three. Unexplored-class. Sound Range: Middle. Cost: 18.
The Wicked "Green" Woman who Fills the World with Empty Treasure (lu - o - np - e - qo - ei - r - k - a - rum - pl).
The little sister also had one of the Three. Unexplored-class. Sound Range: Low. Cost: 20.
The "Red-Eyed" Lady who Sees Through all Sin and Calamity (fa - ao - ab - ei - fj - cib - b - du - a - eif).
"I have the superior Sound Range."
When young Kyousuke said that, there was no joy on his face.
In fact, he looked like it sent a chill down his spine.
"No, don't kill her!!"
The silkworm vessel obeyed only Doctor S and the Unexplored-class was not supported by a Box, so did his words even reach it?
The Material had the upper body of a lovely girl and the lower body of a sinister serpent. Countless scepters symbolizing the patriarchy stabbed into the serpentine lower body and never-before-seen crimes bubbled up from her. That Unexplored-class only glanced at the young boy as if to scoff at him.
Then came the whirlwind of violence.
She would not last. The little sister would be defeated. Kyousuke quickly tried to summon a different Unexplored-class, but that was no more than switching around without building the Material up any further. He was approaching a dead end.
Brother and sister.
This battle would never end unless one of them ended it. And they had already arrived at the Unexplored-class. The end was nigh. They would summon the White Queen. Once they reached that point, it was all over. Only the winner would survive. The one whose skill was not up to snuff would be disposed of in accordance with the withdrawal manual. That ridiculous plan would become a reality!!
"I will win."
Resentment filled her voice.
His little sister had absorbed the information too well.
"I will win, win, win!! I will win and survive! I swear I will, no matter what it takes!!"
"No, you idiot!! What future will you have if you survive by doing what that awful man says!?"
Yelling would not stop time.
She was going to reach that point.
The situation was approaching the theoretical limit.
They could practically see the pure white already.
iu - nu - fb - a - wuh - ei -kx - eu - pl - vjz.
"Just one letter."
Kyousuke must not have had a long-term plan for victory.
He just wanted to delay the ending as much as possible.
That was the only thing on his mind.
"If I can get her to miss just one letter!! If I can stop her from completing the name!!"
This resulted in a fight over an "f".
The little sister used a forceful power shot and young Kyousuke used a spinning trick shot.
That Petal would normally just be one of many, but in this moment, its value skyrocketed. Both Kyousuke and his little sister sharply launched a White Thorn toward it.
And.
While young Kyousuke continued fighting in the illusion, the Shiroyama Kyousuke watching it groaned some words.
"You don't have to watch."
"Which one of you ultimately summoned the White Queen?"
"It doesn't really matter."
There was no hope in those words.
"Wishes don't come true."
Part 6
The first step was crucial in all things.
If you did not stand on the starting line, you had no chance whatsoever of winning first prize.
The midsummer sun ruled the clear blue sky and the few cumulonimbus clouds, but the surface was filled with even more energy.
"Wait, aren't we getting ahead of ourselves here? How will this help me learn what it means to be human? We haven't solved all the mysteries surrounding my brother yet."
"Oh, shut up. You and Kyousuke-chan need to get closer before we can do anything about the world! And that means one of you needs to approach the other. We both know Kyousuke-chan is too stubborn to do it, so that means it's up to you to approach him!!"
They seemed to be flirting in front of the show windows along the midair walkway of the shopping center's second floor.
Waitress Demon Biondetta moved behind the barelegged casual dress White Queen, grabbed her slender shoulders, and pushed her in front of one show window in particular.
"Time for a change of clothes."
"Eek!"
"Time - for - a - change - of - clothes!! I mean, you've been wearing that dress since Kingdom F just because it was on hand! It's lazy!! That's why you're showing off your thighs like that and your clothes should mean something when you're meeting a boy! So come here!!"
"Wait, um, Shigara Masami, please say something."
[Yes, I really should set an upper limit. Try to keep it under 30, 000 yen, okay?]
After she was betrayed with a smile, the White Queen was dragged away by everyone's big sister, Biondetta.
And from inside...
"You don't need to make up your mind right away. Queen, let's start with the standard options. So how about this?"
"Wait, how is that standard!? And can you even call it clothing when so much of it is see-through? Are you sure this isn't a kind of underwear?"
"If you want to go the boyish route, this would be the way to go. Try on this T-shirt and shorts."
"I didn't know they made shorts that short. Japan's extinct bloomers would cover up more."
"Oh, that's not a bad idea, actually. Wanna try some on?"
"Do I need to explain why they were driven extinct!?"
"Yeah, but Kyousuke-chan is ultra dense, so if you don't make your intentions super obvious, he won't catch on. Maybe this femdom police uniform? Ooh, or this riding suit."
"A bunny? Cat ears??? Are you sure this is a clothing store and not a party goods shop!?"
"C'mon, Queen, hurry it up! There's still a ton more to try on, so you need to get a new outfit on at least once every two minutes!!"
"Wait, this is the dressing room!! Don't just open the curtain like that!!!!!!"
Shigara Masami sighed.
She had lost her chance by just watching them go.
She regretted not joining in like she had wanted to.
The Multiple shopping center was supported by the three pillars of food, clothing, and electronics, but the shops along the midair walkway were mostly interior and accessory shops rather than the necessities. The White Queen had been so uncharacteristically timid because of the many couples gifts they offered like pair rings and mugs.
The non-automatic glass door burst open.
[Oh, my. ]
Shigara Masami was surprised by what she saw.
The White Queen left the shop in something other than the short casual dress. She now wore a summery yukata with pure white lily flowers on a light blue base.
"Honestly, when this is the only decent thing in the shop, you can tell they have too much variety in a very bad sort of way."
[I think it's a good choice, Queen. I bet Kyousuke-kun will be surprised. ]
The White Queen did look pleased.
She toyed with her silver twintails which were now tied using Japanese-style strings and she twisted her body around to look at as much of the yukata as she could manage.
But then the demon snuck up behind her.
And Biondetta whispered in her ear.
"(Uh. oh. I already did the mini-yukata thing back during the Elvast Toydream incident. I'm a little reluctant to say so, but the second yukata of the summer will have far less of an impact. )"
"!!!!!!"
The White Queen marched right back into the shop.
In the end, she was right back in her white casual dress.
"I made the right choice the first time. I need to stick with the classics if I am to keep brother's attention!!"
"Don't blame me if that limited-time-only shiny dress SR card is your undoing."
Biondetta's muttered comment was enough of a shock to the White Queen that she started trembling.
[She may not be completely off-base, Queen. ] Shigara Masami laughed with a hand over her mouth. [It was a huge shock to Kyousuke-kun's psyche when I covered for you. So even if he has been doing nothing but reject you on the surface, he is less sure deep down. It is because of his doubts and hesitation that something like this can shake him so badly. It shakes him so hard the signs show up on the surface. Or to put it much more simply, he is currently checking to make sure he has been doing the right thing all this time. He wants to know if he has gone too far even if his opponent was you, the White Queen. ]
"..."
The White Queen could not immediately respond to that.
Even though she was known for her wisdom and beauty as much as for her extreme violence.
"Well, I know I can't go too far. I want him to look my way. That is the only thing on my mind and I have done so much to achieve it."
[It is because you can think of it that way that are worrying over how to approach him now. In a way, things are a lot easier when you're up against a mindless and absolute evil. But that isn't the case here. Although he really should have known that as far back as the Queen's Miniature Garden. ]
That failure had left him afraid.
It had felt like a punishment against the fools who tried to measure the White Queen by human standards.
So he had mentally sealed her away.
He had decided she was fundamentally incomprehensible and an absolute evil, so there was no need to even try reasoning with her.
She was starting to see the answer in her journey to learn what it means to be human.
[It's like how a kitten learns. When a kitten hops up onto the stove and gets burned, it will never approach the stove again. The same happens if it nearly drowns in the tub or sink. Kyousuke-kun has set up rules for himself to avoid danger based on his own experiences. He has told himself he will suffer a fatal wound if he approaches you. ]
This was further complicated by the fact that Kyousuke was a combat expert. He would fight with everything he had even if it was just to escape danger. Because he could never defeat this opponent under normal circumstances, he honed himself for combat as much as possible to increase his odds of success.
A similar phenomenon could be seen in adult society. When people were able to logically explain their emotions, they would quickly justify their actions and refuse to change. In a way, using the phrase "I'm doing nothing wrong" as a weapon could produce pleasure signals.
They were producing results, so they felt no one could complain.
And in fact, how many people had actually protested what Freedom Award 903 was doing? Freedom Award 3000, Shigara Masami, had become a crucial turning point as far as that was concerned.
But the White Queen shook her head in her thin casual dress.
"He isn't wrong, though."
[It covers too wide a range. Queen, it is true you are a higher being who is much too risky for people to try to contact and use. But at the same time, it is unnatural and frankly impossible for anyone to remain entirely unaffected by you. If someone decides to stay away from all water for fear of drowning, they will have nothing to drink and they will die of thirst. ] Shigara Masami relaxed her shoulders at this point. [To be blunt, everyone is influenced by you in some way just by living in this world. It doesn't matter if we're talking about a normal person with no knowledge of the Blood-Sign Summoning Ceremony or an extraterrestrial lifeform in the far-off reaches of space. Queen, that is how much weight your existence carries. It is a basic fact of life with no room for issues of morality or preference. It is on the same level as no one getting motion sickness from the rotation of the galaxy or feeling nauseated by the flow of time. ]
Shigara Masami had researched it all as something that simply existed, so that was how she viewed the laws of the universe. Those laws were simply there and not even the people who discovered them could alter them based on their personal plans. They were not something you could resist or push back against. The heliocentric model had overturned the geocentric model, so everyone just had to accept it and keep living.
But Kyousuke refused to accept it.
To him, a black hole was no more than an all-destroying incarnation of evil. He did not stop to consider the fact that the gravity that caused the black hole was what allowed people to keep their feet on the ground. He had learned to avoid danger just like a kitten, so he kept away from the White Queen without checking to see whether that would really be beneficial or not. He had discovered this new law, so it was his responsibility. He had to cross out the simple equation to protect the world.
And the Colorless Little Girl was the two lines he used to cross it out.
It may have seemed like a good idea to his juvenile sense of justice, but from the viewpoint of a researcher, it was something he never should have done. There was no such thing as absolute justice. Kyousuke was wrong for trying to reject the White Queen's absolute authority to do whatever she pleased, but from someone else's point of view, Shigara Masami was wrong to shake her ponytailed head in response to Kyousuke's decision.
[There is an extremely simple way to show a kitten there is nothing to be afraid of. ] Shigara Masami raised her index finger like a teacher. [Just place it on the stove or in the bathtub. Take the kitten to the site of its painful experience and overwrite that with a new experience. It's very simple, Queen. Human history and the fate of the world is really just a collection of people doing just that. ]
"And that..."
The White Queen knew what the researcher in a lab coat and suit was trying to say.
But she frowned and pointed into a show window.
"...is this?"
"Hwa ha ha. I call it Operation Gift Giving!! Giving physical form to unseen things is always the most effective method. Now, it's usually the guy who gives the girl a bag or a ring, but if you wait for that the densest boy alive to figure out what you want, you'll be waiting until the end of time. So go find something you like and have an employee wrap it up all nice for you!!"
Now.
That was a little much to throw at the White Queen all of a sudden.
She pressed her soft hands to her cheeks as she worried over it. She had done plenty of complaining about Kyousuke and how obsessed with fighting he was, but she was much the same. She had tended in that direction when she followed Alice (with) Rabbit's style to get his attention. She had ended up thinking of everything in terms of fighting. She was not sure what to think or say when asked to approach this from a more normal angle.
"This is all so sudden....But I can think of several ways of surprising my brother."
"It doesn't count if it would make him cry."
"..."
"Wait. Why do you look depressed? Hold on!! You can't do that to me! If the boke doesn't do their part, the tsukkomi just looks like an asshole!"
Why did emotionally unstable people get so serious out of nowhere like that?
As the life of the party, Biondetta Onee-chan knew it was her job to cheer everyone back up.
"Just picture it!! Let's say you set aside Blood-Signs, Materials, and all that stuff and go on a date like a normal boy and girl! What would you want to do!? Don't lie to yourself with this serious aura! C'mon, you wanna do all sorts of flirty things with Kyousuke-chan, don't you!?"
"Wait, don't say that so loud! What if someone hears you? Oh, dear. This is the popular destination for dates, isn't it? I just realized. Kyah☆"
[Biondetta-chan, step away from her immediately. Touch the Queen when she's electrified from embarrassment and you'll be blown to smithereens. ]
The hem of the white casual dress fluttered and the White Queen floated up into the air a bit. To keep everyone safe, she established a ground line to allow all the energy escape and the earth had to work overtime to absorb it all.
[It doesn't have to be anything special. Just choose something you want to give to Kyousuke-kun. ]
"..."
This effort was almost guaranteed to be wasted.
The world was not simple enough for anything else. No matter how much the White Queen approached him, Shiroyama Kyousuke would slap her hand away with pure hostility. If she wrapped up her weak and gentle side and handed it to him, he would only throw it to the ground and stomp on it.
She had done enough to deserve it.
The White Queen was aware of that.
But.
Even so.
(I don't care. )
She bit her lip as she thought.
(If it won't reach him, I just have to keep it up until it does. If he won't accept it, I just have to keep it up until he does. The impending rupture of the cocoon is no excuse. In fact, the idea that you have to push everything else aside because of an emergency is the reason the world has accepted everything I've done. )
Shiroyama Kyousuke knew the pain of having your feelings stomped on.
That was why he had never accepted it when others played the historian by saying "can you really blame them when you look at the big picture?"
(I won't make any excuses. I won't confront him with the emergency known as the White Queen. In fact, I've attempted this so many times before. I'm just changing my method this time. So even if he throws it down and stomps on it, it's sure to become the foundation of something. In the final moment before the cocoon ruptures and the Colorless Little Girl starts to move. )
Shigara Masami and Biondetta had said something worrying.
They had said Shiroyama Kyousuke could become an even greater monster than her if the circumstances were right.
She had to prevent that at all costs. He was like a kitten. He had established his own rules based on his past experiences and that had led to creating the irregular rule known as the Colorless Little Girl. And there was no guarantee he would stop there this time, so if she was to soften the result before that happened, she had to make him a normal boy again.
When her thoughts reached that point, she tugged down the bottom of her short dress with one hand and shook her head.
[Queen?]
"No, " she faced her own thoughts once more."That won't work. I'm pretending I understand, but I'm really just interpreting it through the Blood-Sign System and using logic to justify my actions."
That was a very embarrassing thing.
She did not want anyone other than herself to go on that kind of rampage.
There was something she could see now thanks to her journey to learn what it means to be human.
It might seem silly after the mess she had made of the world. Shiroyama Kyousuke was certainly not going to forgive her. But even so, she had to face her own thoughts. She was supposed to be accepting that she had been wrong all this time, so why was she trying to save face by coming up with logical excuses for her actions? No one needed excuses for their feelings.
Her feelings might not reach the boy she loved and he might cruelly trample on them. It might take tens of thousands of attempts for a miracle to finally occur. The cocoon and the Colorless Little Girl might be on the verge of destroying the entire world. But none of that was a reason for taking this lightly. None of it was an excuse for holding back during this final day. The situation was not going to change the feelings in her heart.
There was no need to keep those feelings inside.
She no longer needed her hedgehog spines or her charisma that masked her true essence.
She had to face him without hiding anything.
What did it matter if he rejected her, trampled on her, and scoffed at her?
That boy had taught her what to do.
He had always crawled through his own coughed up blood while reaching toward an unachievable goal.
If she had not learned anything from that, it would mean everything in this world was a lie.
"That's right."
The girl had made up her mind.
The gears turning inside her were entirely different from the usual ones and they transferred a great power.
"Then I will take one of these. Yes, and wrap it in red and black."
She had to face defeat.
A blow to this would mean this attempt shattered in failure. But that could still produce something.
However, would it happen before the world ended?
Part 7
And.
And.
And.
It felt like that single second of time stretched out for an eternity. And in that place, it was possible time really was being distorted.
The color white blew through a small house.
It had all begun in July of 1999.
Doctor S's research group had completed their theory, but something was missing when they tried to do it in practice. They only managed to see some light and the White Queen never actually took form. It was an imperfect result.
With a complete failure, he might have given up.
With a complete success, he might have been satisfied.
The imperfection of it was the problem. It was that longing that grasped Doctor S's heart and would not let go. It was his desire to reach one result or the other that had created this hell.
That was why he had not built a grand temple or a cold lab. In a way, it had been inevitable that those wings of light would descend upon that completely ordinary looking house. The house had been built for this purpose. It was a type of "door" of uncanny thickness created by young blood, sweat, and tears.
"So we meet again, Queen."
Doctor S sounded like he was speaking to an old friend.
"And welcome to our world."
The world's first complete summoning of the White Queen was underway. The fact of the summoning would remain the same no matter which sibling arrived there first. And the one who summoned her would swiftly crush the other to prove which one it had been.
"So which one was it?" Meinokawa Aoi was focused on the vision of the past."Which one summoned her and won?"
The grown Shiroyama Kyousuke could not bear to watch.
And he spoke in perfect unison with the small boy.
"That's enough!! Please don't!!"
"That's enough!! Please don't!!"
That suggested it was his little sister who had reached the White Queen first. Had young Kyousuke been devoured and his little sister was taken away by Doctor S as the success?
"Please. I beg you."
"Please. I beg you."
But no.
That was not what happened. He had more to say.
"Please don't appear!! I don't want to win!! I don't want to hurt my little sister!! So...so...so just let me save her!!!!!!"
"Please don't appear!! I don't want to win!! I don't want to hurt my little sister!! So...so...so just let me save her!!!!!!"
Part 8
At that time, the White Queen had long since grown bored with everything.
She had already defeated the laws meant to stop her tyranny in the other world - in other words, the Unexplored-class.
The door to this world had opened in July of 1999, but what had she found waiting for her there? Those humans had talked big about conquering the occult with technology, but when the light of a mere fraction of the White had touched them, they had easily succumbed and become yet more worshipers.
There was nothing certain there.
Even though she had wanted something sturdy enough to attach her lifeline to.
"..."
Two young siblings had been abused and then ordered to battle each other by their own father. It was a cheap tragedy that felt like a hackneyed drama dragged out into reality. So many people had sought the White Queen for salvation, so this was not going to move her heart. She would simply destroy things, people would say she had brought salvation, and another lovely story would be passed around without her knowledge. She was honestly sick of it. She was sure they would come to her with tears in their eyes, show off how tragic their situation was, and demand she share her blessings with them. People seemed to think they could get away with anything if they could move you to emotion.
And that was why.
"That's enough!! Please don't!!"
Those hopelessly incoherent words rang loud in her ears.
She felt their weight directly in her heart.
For the first time, the White Queen felt the weight of the world.
"Please. I beg you."
She knew what it meant.
She trembled.
Here was someone who would reject her despite knowing who she was. Here was someone who would stay true to their beliefs even when awash with her overwhelming white light. She had wanted someone she could attach her lifeline to. Was this that person?
Was finding someone who could support her really such a pleasant feeling?
"Please don't appear!! I don't want to win!! I don't want to hurt my little sister!! So...so...so just let me save her!!!!!!"
So while trembling, the White Queen asked a question of the world's knowledge. She asked a question of something that would drive a normal human mad if they simply gazed upon it.
What is that?
"A predecessor, one who shows the way, one you can rely upon, the master of an apprentice."
The answer was simple.
When she searched that knowledge it always provided the same result.
"In other words, a being known as an older brother."
The White Queen found herself tracing a finger along her own lips.
She did not really know what that word meant, but her trembling lips repeatedly sounded it out.
"Brother..."
She had established a definition for herself.
And she quickly responded to the summons from the human world.
"Brother!!"
Part 9
So in the end, it did not really matter which of the siblings summoned the White Queen.
From the moment the Queen responded to the summons, she had intended to protect Shiroyama Kyousuke.
"Ah..."
The young, young girl felt fear.
But the White Queen did not care.
That was the enemy.
That was the enemy who intended to harm Shiroyama Kyousuke.
So what she needed to do could not have been more obvious. An Unexplored-class Material and the summoner's protective circle were trivial matters. The White Queen had decided to do something and that was the one and only absolute rule.
She looked to the young girl.
Did the girl even realize her fate had been decided in that moment?
"Help m-..."
She did not even have time to speak those two words.
A sword of concentrated white light eliminated the threat.
Part 10
"Ah, ahh."
Not even the theory of relativity could be trusted in that warped coordinate.
A voiceless voice rang out.
No matter how much force was placed behind it, there was no meaning in it.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
He knew the truth.
Young Kyousuke did know the truth.
Complaining that it violated the rules would change nothing. What he had seen occur before his eyes was a simple fact. Combat was not a game or a sport. The protective circle was supposed to keep the summoner safe no matter what, yet it had been shredded like mere paper. No Material could stand up to this, not even one of the Three of the Unexplored-class. And there was blood. The little sister he had wanted to protect so badly fell to her knees and then collapsed to the floor.
The original murder.
The first sin.
The Artificial Sacred Ground and his own protective circle meant nothing to him now.
He ran over and desperately tried to prop up his little sister even as her blood soaked him.
She was light.
Far too light.
She felt so fleeting, like she was missing some vital part of a human body.
The grown boy had to look away again.
"No..."
Young Shiroyama Kyousuke did not care how he looked.
He shouted at the top of his lungs with tears and blood soaking his face.
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"
"G-..."
A breath escaped the girl's bloody lips.
He did not want to think of this as the end. He did not care how hateful her words might be. He just wanted to hear any sign of life from his little sister.
But it was not hate he heard.
Had she been freed by whatever was possessing her? No, it was not even that.
"Good... ————, you're still alive."
"..."
When Doctor S had thrown out his toys, who had stolen them back and hidden them in the attic?
They might have been chosen as staff members. The mother and little sister might have been playing a part to set Kyousuke up.
"I finally know...what I want to say. Being praised for that was meaningless."
But if that was all it was, she would not have had to do that behind Doctor S's back. If she had been caught, she would only have been hurt even more.
But she had still done it for Kyousuke's sake.
She had been unable to stick to the malicious role given to her.
"I was...wrong. I was wrong this whole time. I didn't know how to save you. Not just today. But all this time. I'm so tired of being the good girl. So I'm glad...I finally found what to do..."
They had fought over the "f".
They had launched their final White Thorns.
But in that moment, the little sister's aim had strayed just a bit.
"No."
He clenched his teeth and trembled.
Kyousuke shouted at the top of his lungs while holding that disconcertingly light body in his arms.
A minicar, a ball, and an animal encyclopedia.
He recalled the toys hidden in the attic. They held no strategic purpose, but they had still helped bring peace to his young heart.
And yet.
What had he just done here?
"That isn't true!! I won't say it! I won't let anyone say something like this saved me!!"
"I failed...again?"
He could not nod or shake his head.
He could only wail and tremble while his little sister looked up at him and smiled.
"Then I'll do better next time."
"*****(star star star star)?"
She probably could not even see anymore.
But she still managed to smile like an angel and speak.
"When I'm reborn, then I'll take your side and help you, Nii-sama."
That was the end.
He almost forgot the definition of death when he saw the smile on her face.
He no longer needed words.
Kyousuke screamed so loud he thought his lungs and throat would tear, but then Doctor S, the man with slender jaw and black hair exposed, spoke to him.
"So it didn't even last a full second."
His unpleasant voice was like having someone take a file to your eardrums.
"But I learned a lot from this. Kyousuke, looks like you were the success after all. Now it's time to analyze this result, figure out how to mass-produce it, and spread that system around. We don't need this house anymore, so let's clean up what we no longer need and leave."
"..."
"That includes that filthy lump of flesh in your arms there. I don't know why she thought she could hold onto the privileges of a good person when she was betraying you. God, and she really made a mess of things, didn't she? This is going to be a pain to clean up. Hey, Kyousuke, I'll take care of it, so you go take a shower and a put on some fresh clothes."
"............................................................................................................................................................"
Shiroyama Kyousuke rebooted with the stiff movements of a doll in dire need of some oil. He gently placed his little sister's body on the floor and picked back up his Blood-Sign with blood-slick hands.
A red light did not do it justice.
How could you even describe the look in his eyes?
"Hm? What do you hope to do with that?"
Doctor S scoffed.
He had no trouble watching his own child soaked in blood.
"I control the silkworm vessels. Throw an Incense Grenade and you're done for. And the battles in this cramped lab are not like those in the real world. My experience far outweighs yours in true combat using pure Materials. Do you really think a kid like you could beat me?"
He did not respond.
Shiroyama Kyousuke instead spoke to someone who was not even there.
"White Queen..."
"Wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait!! The Artificial Sacred Ground is gone and the original field has returned. You haven't kept a Chain going, so how do you expect to get help from that higher being!? You are the product of my research, so if you keep acting so dumb, people are going to doubt my intellect!"
But Doctor S was wrong.
Why didn't he realize the truth?
The look in Shiroyama Kyousuke's eyes was beyond that of a hound. That boy had the eyes of an untamable and bloodthirsty wolf, so he would never pray to a higher power and rely on optimism. He would rip flesh and spill blood using a much more direct and surefire method.
So.
So.
So.
The humanoid wolf made his demand of the Queen.
"Don't you dare interfere."
Young Kyousuke spun his Blood-Sign like a baton.
That was as much as Doctor S could see.
It was truly like an awakening.
That fool of a researcher must have entirely forgotten the task he had set for himself.
He had used violence and abuse to draw out the killer intent and hatred needed to complete the precision-guided missile.
He had filled the boy with those emotions.
He had fit the many gears together.
And this may have been the moment when the ultimate weapon was completed.
At this point, there was no time to leisurely pull the pin of an Incense Grenade. The Blood-Sign flew, struck, jabbed, crushed, pierced, and drove all forms of destruction into the researcher's body.
In the present day, Doctor S used an oxygen mask to regulate the amount of oxygen sent to his brain to control his emotions.
But it was not necessarily the White Queen who had made that necessary.
Part 11
Tah dah!! It is now 11 o'clock. The Colorful Sentai Hero Show is beginning, so now is your chance to gather at the central fountain plaza!!
On the midair walkway at the second floor of the Multiple shopping center, the White Queen, Shigara Masami, and Biondetta sat at a round table in front of a café. They could view the show in the plaza from a different angle here.
"Okay. Shigara Masami, you had a hot dog and a weak coffee, right?"
[Yes, with some brandy for flav-...]
"No, you foockhead."
[Umm, what is that you have, Biondetta-chan?]
"Eh? Just a special whip honey syrup crushed nuts caramel custard chocolate matcha strawberry milk iced latte."
The liquids of different densities were forming layers inside. It looked more like a parfait or sundae with the colorful layers of white, pink, light green, brown, and more inside the clear container. It looked fine like that, but if she mixed it up with a spoon, it would probably form some horrific mixed drink. She had only ordered a drink, yet the ponytail researcher who had also ordered some food still seemed to have the healthier option.
"And the Queen ordered..."
"A white mocha."
"Right, right. And you also had the white wiener in a steamed white bun with cream cheese."
"If only I could have gotten a cauliflower and white asparagus salad and some milk custard for dessert....Oh? Why are you two looking at me like that?"
"..."
"..."
It was all extremely white. In clothing and food, she really was the White Queen. She was generally perfect in every way, but there was definitely something wrong with her taste in colors. It would be one thing if she were making it herself, but it looked far more bizarre when she managed to get it all to match when eating out.
There was a small box unrelated to the food sitting on their table.
She must have had the boy's tastes in mind because it was wrapped in red wrapping paper with a black bow.
It was about the right size to hold a large apple.
[A mug, hm?]
"Nee shee shee. With a bunny on it to boot."
Shiroyama Kyousuke would eat nothing but cereal given the option, but he had shared a cake with everyone back in the Queen's Miniature Garden. He was not entirely immune to luxuries.
The White Queen faintly smiled while gripping the skirt of her thin casual dress below the table.
"Yes, but he isn't going to accept it."
Even the noise of the cheerful hero show seemed to grow more distant.
An eerie wind seemed to blow through.
"But even if he throws it to the ground and stomps on it, I will just do the same thing again. I will do everything I can until the very moment the cocoon and Colorless Little Girl burst. This is the first step. I just have to think of it as the foundation for teaching brother he was mistaken about the danger, like a kitten on the stove."
[Non. ]
However, Shigara Masami was quick to correct her.
[Have you learned nothing on this journey, Queen? The feelings behind this aren't that shallow, are they?]
The White Queen's expression silently changed when she heard that. And she covered her face with her hands before anyone could tell what emotion had caused the change.
She knew it would never happen.
Failure was inevitable.
And yet.
And yet.
And yet.
"...Hey."
She spoke quietly while covering her face and hanging her head.
"I really want you to accept this, brother."
That was her wish.
You did not make wishes because you could see a realistic way to achieve them.
You made wishes specifically because you knew they could never come true.
Part 12
He had seen everything.
He had learned everything.
Finally, Shiroyama Kyousuke had retrieved the blotted-out faces of his mother and little sister.
But there was no chance of speaking to either one as both had been killed.
Time was distorted in this place, but he still forgot all about the flow of time for a moment.
"Are you satisfied?"
He had more than just his "help me" syndrome.
He had gone on a rampage of his own.
He was a human with every last emotion that entailed and there was definite shame and resentment in his voice.
"Are you satisfied now, Meinokawa Aoi? If so, then laugh. Look down on me like you always do. Say you've taken a neutral position so my sob story is none of your concern!!"
The silver-haired shrine maiden said nothing for a while.
She simply embraced Kyousuke's head and held him to her sarashi-bound chest. She had felt it was necessary. If she simply accepted it all, she was no different from the White Queen. There were times when she had to push him away to apply the brakes. But this was the result? She regretted it now, wishing she had been kinder to him.
He could be a child throwing a fit if need be.
As long as there was a human heart behind it.
The Shiroyama Kyousuke before her now was battered, pitiful, and had cast aside the title of strongest, but he was not the precision-guided missile some odious person had designed him as.
For that at least, she was glad.
He had broken free of those chains, saved a great many people, and stood here now.
He could be proud of that.
His life might have been a series of losses to the White Queen, but there was no need to look down on the path he had taken.
"Cry."
"Shut up."
"Boy, don't bottle it up any longer. This is what it means to be human, right?"
"I said shut up!!"
And.
While holding the trembling boy, Aoi bit her lip and finally opened her mouth once more.
"But still."
She knew not all of it had been right.
She hesitated and questioned it, but she still spoke to the boy at her chest.
"I cannot bring myself to place the blame on you or the White Queen. You were desperately trying to find a way to save your family to the very last moment and she was only protecting you, even if she was oblivious to what her actions would mean. The blame clearly lies with Doctor S, does it not?"
I know that, you idiot.
The White Queen and I thought the same thing during the Secret War.
I joined a plan to kill her, but I let my emotions get the better of me and befriended her.
I baselessly thought it might turn out all right.
I wanted us to be happy.
I wanted to live alongside her.
But.
In the end.
Nothing changed.
She hadn't learned her lesson. It felt like she was denying my little sister's death.
So I had no idea what to do.
Part 13
The White Queen suddenly looked up.
Without warning, the barelegged girl in a casual dress provided an oracle.
"Brother is coming."
Shigara Masami and Biondetta's expressions changed.
Just like always, if the White Queen said so, then it had to be true.
Sinceria Report 05
"..."
"Do we really have to keep researching, mom? Are you sure you aren't using this to stay away from Onii-chan after what happened last night!?"
Despite what Olivia said, Sinceria continued her investigation.
This time, she had set her sights on Isabelle and Murasame Kuina.
Two vessels was an unusual pairing, but the report she had read said they were split between enemy and ally during the battle against Biondetta.
"Shiroyama Kyousuke?"
"Ugh. Why do you have to bring up someone like him after intruding on our class trip?"
The girl with short blonde hair was Isabelle. The one with brown hair was Kuina. It was surprising, but Isabelle's real name was Kawamo Sayuri and she was Japanese despite her skin, eye, and hair color. The very structure of her body had been changed by the Anthill experiment led by Government.
(Yes, that's right. I am not the only one. This girl must be the same. She must be just as strong as me after the changes to her soul from making contracts with so many different summoners. Hee hee hee. Ah ha ha. So no one can call me a mountain gorilla. That hunk of junk should really be calling me an absolute monarch with unparalleled beauty. Mutter, mutter. )
"I guess we can talk, but could we move into the shade first? This girl is surprisingly frail, so she could get heatstroke if we stand out in the sun for too long."
"Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
"Calm down, my queen!!"
Her faithful knight managed to restrain her and prevented anything unfortunate from occurring.
The doll-like girl called Isabelle silently tilted her head.
"My impression of Shiroyama Kyousuke? Hmm (deadpan)."
It took her a while.
But once short-tempered Olivia started getting irritated, she finally answered.
"A baby?"
"Bffh!?"
Everyone else spat out the contents of their mouths. That word had come as a complete surprise.
But it did not look like Isabelle was trying to be weird.
"It is true he is a top-level summoner, but he doesn't give any thought to what happens after he saves someone. He goes around saving a super-sized amount of people and then just leaves them there like a baby that gets tired of playing with his toys and falls asleep."
Sinceria flapped her mouth wordlessly and glanced over at Murasame Kuina, but the brown-haired girl only gave an exaggerated shake of her head.
"Sorry. I was with his enemy, Biondetta, so I didn't spend any time with him. But I think we can trust what Sayuri says. Still...a baby???"
"I don't think he knows how to maintain a connection with other people. Not even a small-sized amount."
Isabelle's cold eyes did not even waver as she said that.
She had approached the crux of the issue.
"Whether you're talking about a parent, a sibling, a friend, or a lover, he does not think the connections between people can or should ever change. He thinks they should never change or be altered. That is why he cannot forgive the incidents caused by the White Queen or her worshipers when they shake and sever those bonds. And at the same time, he does not think 'merely' saving someone can create such powerful bonds. Yes, he does not think even that can change things. So when the incident is over, he always severs his contract with the vessel and irresponsibly returns them to the world they left behind. Grr, grr (deadpan)."
"..."
Merely saving someone could not create an eternal bond.
Was that a concept he came up with so he could reject the link between the White Queen and her worshipers?
"The thing is."
Most likely, that was a view of him exclusive to someone who had been with him during that specific time.
The quantity and quality of the time was not the issue. This was a puzzle piece only seen in the time Isabelle had spent with him, so not even Meinokawa Higan, Librarian-chan, Himekawa Mika, Sekurtiti, Lu Niang Lan, Olivia Highland, or Meinokawa Aoi could have provided it.
"He wants love more than anyone, but he does not know how to accept love. So he respects anyone who can do it. It has nothing to do with the Summoning Ceremony or Awards. I do not know how he ended up like that. I fought alongside him against Biondetta, but I did not see his past. It isn't about whether or not he is broken. What matters is that he knows he is broken. So he has drawn a line in the sand and he makes sure not to drag anyone else down with him. Because he does not want to destroy everything around him with his combat-oriented rules. And yet he does not actually know if that caution is even necessary."
Silence followed.
No one could say a word.
Even the wind had died on that midsummer day. That was how long it took for them all to process the information Isabelle had given them.
"In other words."
Finally, Sinceria Highland restarted the stopped time.
"Kyousuke is suffering from a love deficiency, so what is it he needs? Nothing could be more obvious! It is finally my time to shine!! Now, does he want my love as a woman, a ruler, or a mother!!!???"
"Oh, no. That would be too much of a shock to Onii-chan's system when he's so exhausted. He really would develop a mother complex then."
Facts:
*Sinceria's long ears are a sign of structural changes on the skeletal level that make her more powerful than she looks.
*There is no Award called "Gorilla who rips off the heads of any female vessels she sees near the (much younger) boy she is preying on", so Sinceria can rest easy.
*The woman who was Kyousuke's mother and Doctor S's wife was disposed of when they withdrew from that house.
*The White Queen was only summoned for less than a second. It can be speculated that the data was erased from the world because she was trying to protect someone for the first time ever and did not know how to hold back.
*It is unclear whether Kyousuke or his little sister summoned the White Queen. Based on what they said afterwards, the odds are good it was Kyousuke. But either way, the Queen killed his little sister to protect him. The driving force behind the Queen has not changed since then and she made the exact same mistake when she fought to protect Kyousuke in the Secret War that affected Biondetta and Shigara Masami as well. Just because the evil deeds did not start with you does not mean anything can be forgiven unconditionally.
*Young Kyousuke was unable to hear his little sister finish saying "help me".
*Shiroyama Kyousuke's little sister seemed to call him "Nii-sama"?
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