Children Reason (14 page)

KAGEROU DAZE PART FOUR

(translated by
kidotsunbomi
)

"Hey, you. O~i. 
You
.”

"I can hear you… what is it?"

"Is that so. As I thought, you suit 
that child
 
well, huh.”

"It looks that way… still frustrating, though."

"I know that feeling too. But I’ve explained this to you before, you know."

"Eh?"

"With your ‘Eyes’, you can see through the ‘Eyes’ of people on the outside. So it’s fine."

"Now that you mention it, that’s right. I almost forgot."

"Isn’t that why I told you? So that you don’t forget."

“That, I do remember.”

"Right. If so, then I have nothing else to say."

"… Gotcha. Is it fine if I ask you something?"

"… Yeah. That’s fine."

"Speaking of other people’s ‘Eyes’, it would be good if there was a way to seek them out…"

"Ah, if that was possible, it would be quite easy. It’s easy enough, though, since they have a bright red color."

"Bright red, huh… That’s the same for me as well, right?"

"Of course. It’s cool. It’s the color of a hero."

"So it’s fine to get used to it…"

"It’s all right. You believe in me?"

"Yes. Ah, it’s about time, huh."

"Yeah. Take care. It’s be no good if you forgot about ‘her’, right?"

"Understood. I’ll come back as soon as possible. Ah, sorry, one last thing."

"Okay. What?"

"Your red muffler, to whom did you take the ‘color of a hero’?"

"Hm, I wonder~ Ah, that’s right, try asking someone outside. Maybe they’ll have an answer."

"Is that so. Well, for now, it seems like this is farewell."

"Yeah. See you… I wonder how this’ll turn out?"

"I’ll do it. Definitely."

"Yeah. Well then, see you."

KAIEN PANZERMAST

(translated by
kidotsunbomi
)

While wishing in front of the moon, I kept going toward the base one step at a time.

“This is embarrassing, oba—I mean, Momo.”

“It can’t be helped, right? Because Hibiya-kun fell so suddenly. You just made a mistake, yeah?”

“No, it’s hard to suddenly…!”

“Don’t whine about something so trivial! Even I’ve hurt my foot. Look, we’ve still got a ways to go.”

There was a substantial distance from the park to the base. From walking while carrying Hibiya-kun, if I was to sit down now, my legs would be probably end up being useless. 

“Do you think everyone believed my story? I wonder if they’re really willing to cooperate with me…”

“You’re still doubting? Well, believe in us! We’re all comrades, right?”

“S-since when was that decided?!”

“Hm~? Just today!”

Hibiya-kun was incredibly perplexed at that. It made sense that that would be the case. Yesterday he had said such caustic words, Konoha-san bearing the brunt of his verbal abuse. To top it off, he had run away from the base without permission, causing Kido-san to worry. 

“Ah~ … Well, it’s fine, it’s fine.”

“Just now, isn’t that way of saying it somewhat delicate?”

“It was a joke! Ah~ Although I guess that might be the case.”

“Eh?! I was right?!”

While enjoying Hibiya-kun’s good reaction, I was finally able to see the base.

“Oh, loo~k, look! We can see the base now!”

“R-right…”

“Ah, that’s right. Before you were introduced to everyone, your ability—we never gave it a name, right?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

Of course, there are no real rules, but all in all everyone was given a name. Somehow, that sort of thing feels nice. 

“Because Hibiya-kun’s power is to see things from a distance… hmm…”

“… What about ‘Concentrating Eyes’?”

“Eh?”

“I mean, if no one else’s is called ‘Concentrating Eyes’, I wonder if that suits me. Since it’s somewhat of an amazing power.”

“… I wanted to give you one. Apart from that, it’s cool.”

“Then, what…?”

During that time, the door of the base came into view. The outstanding performance of Hibiya-kun and I, we’ll finally be able to talk to everyone about it.

With that, Hibiya-kun stood in front of the door, opening it forcefully. 

“We’re back~! Momo and Hibiya-kun have… returned…?”

The scene of the living room in the base, despite what I had anticipated, was a chaotic mess. On the sofa, my brother who was dressed like a mountain climber groggily said “Ah… Welcome back…” in what I thought was a very thin voice. Meanwhile, a shirtless Konoha was staring confusedly in my direction. Mary-chan was repairing a large hole in Konoha-san’s shirt, while Kido-san was focused on reading some sort of collection of old notes.

Then, with a ‘hah’, Kido-san noticed I was here and stood up, closing the book with a bang. With that, she walked over until she was right in front of me.

“Oh, were you fine alone, Kisaragi? Did you need any help? Oh, Hibiya was with you. You guys came back at just the right time.”

“T-that is… Danchou-san? W-what on earth is this?”

With a grave look lacking any hint of mischievousness, Kido-san declared this to everyone in the room.

“Now that Kisaragi has returned, from today on we will put the ‘Kagerou Daze Capture Strategy’ into effect! This way, we won’t be careless in our preparations!”

“… Eh?”

“H-hey… Momo. I…?”

Despite only just beginning to understand everything, the ‘Kagerou Daze Capture Strategy’ would be the Mekakushi Dan’s last operation.

Rather, that that would be the last time I would spend with the members of the Mekakushi Dan, I at that time, of course, had no reason to know.

— 
3rd novel END
 
—