"Do you think that's enough to make us trust you, huh?!"
One of them argued.
"Either believe in me or not, that's your choice. I admit that I caused so much chaos before… Of course, it's hard for you to believe someone like me, but I can give you a piece of evidence that I'm on your side."
After saying that, Charlee then turns on an HT radio.
"Something bad is happening! I can't take on the Yggdrasil anymore! Probably the world will meet its end."
His voice sounds like he's coughing.
"This voice?!"
"Yeah, it's Stephen Smith's last message!"
Isshin Kira said and that surprises them, but they are trying to hear it again.
"Ugh! Dammit! I am heavily injured. If you hear this, probably I have become a goner. That's why, listen to me. There is someone behind this incident. The goal is to make the incident last year happen again---"
Afterward, the radio gives a static sound, and after a few seconds, it turned off.
"Why… Why didn't he tell us about that?!"
One of them argued as he is pissed off by hearing the message and expects Isshin Kira to answer.
"That's why the government was hiding this, they start to not believe in the WTM. When they set me free, I took the chance to find some intel about what happened, and this message is one of them. "
Isshin Kira then continues.
"Without Charlee's aid, I wouldn't be able to retrieve them."
"What are they thinking?!"
Taking something in his trouser pocket, Isshin Kira shows a photograph of a guy named Michio Takayuki.
"Right now, the government sends Yumeno exclusively to put this guy under arrest for an anomaly."
Isshin Kira said.
"Anomaly? Don't tell us that he is the man behind all of this!"
"This guy doesn't have a reason to ruin the Yggdrasil, so I doubt if he is the one."
Charlee then interrupts by showing a detector with a map of an island in Japan. The mark points at the Ichikawa city which is close to the Yggdrasil.
"This is the most important stuff! This detects the upcoming disaster that might happen."
Charlee said.
"No way! There are so many homeless people there…"
"What are the government doing?!"
They argued.
"Probably they want to sacrifice the people to the Yggdrasil."
Isshin Kira answered.
"Dammit! Then, we have to evacuate the people in Ichikawa immediately!"
"After I found this intel, I have dispatched my personal troops to evacuate them. Probably they are on it."
His answer shuts them up.
"How about the evidence he gave? Will you take his aid?"
Charlee asked.
They just let out a sigh and one says,
"To be frank, we are still doubting about you. The mission of the WTM is to protect the Yggdrasil from the void."
"Yet, we don't have time to quarrel about this."
Hearing them, Isshin Kira bows his head and says,
"Thanks for accepting me. It's such an honor."
"Raise your head!"
"If you have dispatched your personal troops to evacuate them, then what do we do?"
Isshin Kira then says,
"I want you to come with me to head to the government!"
---
In the noon. Takayuki with Ryoichi and Yui are looking for firewoods or twigs which would do good to make a bonfire for the homeless to warm themselves tonight.
"Sorry for the trouble, Michio."
Ryoichi said.
"It's cool. Consider it a return for the favor for giving me a free place to live."
Takayuki answered.
"Why do I have to do this?!"
Yui argued as she is upset. She just doesn't want to do something pain in the ass like this.
"If you keep whining and don't wanna help, just go home already!"
Ryoichi said that while giving her a cold gaze that gets her nerves.
"I don't want to! I've decided that I won't go home!"
"Why are you so persistent in not going home?"
Takayuki asked.
"You wanna know? Oh well, I'll tell you if you want to hohoho~"
Then Ryoichi interrupts her.
"I'm sure it's because she was kicked away for toying so many men."
"Can you just shut the fuck up?"
Yui said.
"Do you think I don't know who you are? You are Michiko Yui, a bitch who toys so many men. Once you get what you want, you'll dump them."
Ryoichi answered.
"Hmph! Looks like I've become a celebrity here. Probably I've got a gift to be an actress. Hohoho~"
"I retract it…"
Ryoichi lets out a sigh and shakes his head.
"You are quite beautiful, yet you live in such a place. What a shame. That's what I think."
Takayuki's words make her smile in pride.
"That's right! Someone like me deserves to live in a castle! I am beautiful yet my parents can't get it at all, hmph!"
"Michio! Don't ever say that ever again! Her look disgusts me!"
"What's your problem?!"
Ryoichi and Yui are quarreling as usual. Takayuki feels there must be a reason why she doesn't want to go home. Then, the day has gone late and the trio returns to the slum.
"Huh? Where's everybody?"
Ryoichi wondered.
"Eh? Maybe they are having a feast in the city nearby."
"No way! You two, just stay here! I'll go look for them!"
Saying that, Ryoichi leaves them making it's just Takayuki and Yui alone.
"Hey, Takayuki-kun~"
Yui hugs him from behind out of the blue.
"Eh? Wh-what are you doing Yui san?!"
"You said that a beauty like me doesn't deserve to live here, right?"
"Y-Yes… umm..."
"How about we leave this place together so you can live with a beauty like me?"
She puts a sly fox look on her face.
"If we do, how about Daisuke san? He has saved our lives. Don't you want to return the favor?"
"Huh?! Why do you concern about that?! We don't need to worry about the likes of him."
Hearing that, he slowly lets off her hands from his shoulders and stands before her. That makes her tilt her head.
"If I take you away from here, you'll leave me as well, right? It's the same trick you can use to any guy but me."
She is surprised by his response as she never got rejected by a guy before. Yet, this time a guy named Takayuki just rejected her and that got her nerve.
"What's your problem?! How frustrating! You are nothing but a worthless NEET!"
She argued.
"That's right, I am just a worthless NEET. That's why it's weird for a beauty like you to like a scum like me."
She then realizes that Takayuki is depressed, a guy who is depressed and unable to remember who he is.
She then recalls something. It's when her parents put a high hope on her that depressed her that she ran away.
Yui suddenly cries that it surprises him.
"Eh?! Did I say something wrong?"
Takayuki asked in wonder. Yet, instead of answering, she wipes her tears and runs away.
"Wait!!"
She just ignores him. Then, he is confused about whether go after her or not as he was told to stay by Ryoichi.
In the end, the sun finally sets and Ryoichi returns. Ryoichi looks wonder as he just sees Takayuki alone. Then Ryoichi asks Takayuki where Yui is. Takayuki then explains what happened.
"Huh?! She cried after you said no?"
Ryoichi is surprised as he heard that.
"Um… Then she ran away. I wanted to go after her but you told me to stay here."
"Well, that's because you are good-looking. I didn't expect that she would go that far."
"Eh!?"
"To think she would do that in this urgency. Oh well."
"Urgency? What's happening!?"
"Explanation later! We have to go after her first!"
Ryoichi and Takayuki then look for her and they proceed to the Yawata no Yabushirazu forest.
"Ooh!! I found her!"
Takayuki sees Yui.
"Huh? Where?! Ah, there she is! Why is she sleeping there? What a weird girl."
The duo approaches her.
"Finally we found you. We were so worried about you, Yui san!"
Takayuki said.
They can see that Yui seems to be in pain. They are curious about that.
"What's with the look? How can I bully you with such an ugly look on your face."
Ryoichi said.
Takayuki then screams as he sees a scratch wound on her body as if something just assaulted her. He then shakes her body.
"Yui san! Get a grip!!"
She then drips her tears and touches his face.
"You know… Takayuki… I just want someone who wants to understand me."
She said slowly.
"What are you talking about, Yui san?! Get a grip! I'll bring you to the clinic right away!"
"I can't… fulfill my parents' expectation... That's why I ran away… I…"
She sees Takayuki as she cries and smiles at him. She then slowly closes her eyes.
"Yui-saaan!! Daisuke-san, let's bring her to the clinic right away!!"
Takayuki is confused as Ryoichi puts a shocked look on his face and takes a twig nearby.
"Fuck off!!!"
Ryoichi exclaimed hitting a beasty monster that was about to attack Takayuki with a twig. The monster then thuds by the hit.
"What is that!? What is that, Daisuke-san!?"
Takayuki is surprised as he sees that monster.
"A monster… It might the one that assaulted her!"
Ryoichi said putting a stance with the twig.
It then charges to Ryoichi and he manages to dodge it. He then takes the chance to hit it with the twig that the twig gets destroyed.
"Fuck!"
Ryoichi is surprised to see the monster is about to attack him.
"Whaaaa!!!"
Takayuki then appears holding its body.
"Michio!! What are you doing!?"
Ryoichi exclaimed.
He sees Takayuki who is trying to hold the monster's body with his body out of the blue.
"Daisuke-san, please take her away from me. Leave… This one to me!!"
"What are you talking about, Michio? You even can't fight!"
"I told you to go away! Don't make me mad!"
As he exclaimed, Ryoichi then runs away with Yui.
The monster then howls at Takayuki.
"That's my line! How dare you hurt her!"
The monster then charges that he gets thrown and he gets scratched consecutively without knowing when to stop. He just screams in pain as a whole of his body feels the pain from the monster's blow.
"Ugh!!!"
He then falls to the ground and the monster is about to go after Ryoichi, yet its leg is held by his hand.
"As if… I'll let you go after him!!!"
That gets it nerve that it howls and attacks him again. Yet he still gets up though he ends up getting strangled by it.
"Ugh!!"
He screamed in pain.
"I'm going to die, but that's ok. This is the best. At least, I could protect Daisuke san. But, is this really what I want?"
Takayuki said questioning himself.
"I… Don't wanna die here. I wanna be like him. Sacrificing himself for somebody else. Even I wish for it."
He cries.
"In the end, I can't be like that…"
The monster strengthens the grip that he screams even louder.
"Guess I'll die, I am so useless."
He's holding its hand.
"I don't wanna die here!"
Suddenly he manages to get off from the hand by the roots that came out from his hands. The monster screams in pain by the roots. Takayuki then falls lying on the ground with a great injury that he can't move at all.
"I can't get up, eh?"
He is losing his consciousness.
At that time, it's about to attack him once again, yet a gale of wind slashes it that it vanishes. He is surprised to see a fair lady enter, it's Yumeno Shion.
"How beautiful~"
As he gets his love at first sight towards Yumeno Shion, he has lost consciousness.
---
Previously, Ryoichi was looking for the homeless people of Ichikawa, yet he found no one. As it took him too long for looking for them, he decided to go back to where Takayuki and Yui were.
Yet, in the end, Ryoichi is bringing her body and reluctantly, he let Takayuki become the decoy for the monster.
"If no one is Ichikawa, then the answer is only one."
Ryoichi rushes to leave the Ichikawa and after saving his life with Yui, he manages to get outta the city. But, he is surprised by something before him.
"What!?"
He sees so many soldiers he doesn't know evacuating the homeless and the people of Ichikawa.
"Report! We found a guy bringing a wounded girl's body from Ichikawa!"
Said one of them through the HT radio of a soldier. The soldier then approaches Ryoichi.
"Are you all right?! Are you hurt?!"
Asked one of them.
"Please treat her wound! She is badly injured!"
Seeing her condition, they nod as they look at each other in agreement and take her body to the medical section.
"Oi Ryoichi! You got kicked as well, eh?"
Said one of the homeless who approached Ryoichi.
"Huh!? Kicked!?"
"Well, after a few minutes you left, they suddenly appeared out of nowhere and made us leave the city. I don't know what to put but 'kicked'."
The answer surprises Ryoichi.
'Then, the WTM has known that the monsters are going to come in the first place?'
Ryoichi said in his mind.
"Sorry! I have something to do! We'll talk about this later!"
"Oi! Wait, Ryoichi! I haven't—"
Ignoring him, Ryoichi rushes to where the medical section is.
"It's for the wound ones! Please stay away!"
A nurse warned him.
"At least, tell me! How is she doing?!"
"We will! So, wait-"
No time to lose, he makes his way to the medical section and goes to the room where Yui is.
"How is she, doc?!"
Ryoichi asked.
"I'm sorry! He just made his way here!"
Said one nurse and the doctor just shakes his head as his subordinate could let someone trespass. The doctor then looks at Ryoichi and puts a mellow look on his face and says,
"Unfortunately, we can't save her life. She got injured on her vital part."
That shocks Ryoichi that he pulls the collar of the doctor.
"Do something please! I beg you!"
Ryoichi said as he starts to get depressed. He begs the doctor yet what he gets is a no.
"I'm sorry. The assault of the monster is poisonous. Currently, we don't have an antidote that can cure the poison."
"No way!"
Ryoichi becomes depressed and he gets kicked out from the medical section. He is frustrated with this.
"If only I didn't take her to find the firewood, this wouldn't happen. Michio has sacrificed himself for our sake. In the end, I am the only survivor? Quit it already, you bastard!"
Ryoichi argued hitting the wall with the wrath that surges from his body.
The enraged Ryoichi sees a police car that is standing by for Yumeno.
"She is..?"
Ryoichi remembers that he was saved by her.
"Of course, she is here. She's from the WTM."
Then Ryoichi is surprised to see Takayuki's body is being carried to the car.
"That's Michio?! He's alive?! Wait a minute! If he's wounded, shouldn't he be carried to medic? Why is he being carried to the police?!"
Knowing that, he rushes to put a GPS tracker on the car.
"I usually do this to get the thug that runs away, but I didn't expect that I would do this to police."
After doing that, he rushes to his bike at his house which is located nearby Ichikawa. He turns on his cell phone and tracks where the car is.
"Yosh! Bingo!"
Getting the location, Ryoichi ignites his bike and gets ready to catch the car with his bike.
"Wait for me, Michio!!"
Ryoichi smirked.
---
"AAAAAAHHH!!"
Takayuki screamed as he wakes up.
"Finally, you awake."
Yumeno said.
"Where am I? Wait, I'm alive?!"
He asked.
"You don't remember anything happened to you before?"
She asked.
The question makes him remember. What he knows is that he was fighting with a beasty monster.
"I am alive after encountering that monster?!"
He rushes to see the scratch mark from the monster.
'Eh? It's gone?! How?!'
Takayuki is confused and he just realizes that he is in jail under the surveillance of Yumeno Shion.
"Eh!? Ehhh!? Why am I in a jail!?"
She is confused by his response.
"You are Michio Takayuki, right?"
"Yes! That's my name! Err… Salutation?"
"Salutation! Name's Yumeno Shion. And for the situation, you are under suspicion of the one behind the Yggdrasil incident."
"Why?! Did I do something wrong?!"
His response makes Yumeno confused even more as she thinks that he pretends that he doesn't know a thing. Yet, seeing from his expression which looks real panic as if he has no idea what's happening. This makes her doubt whether he doesn't know or just pretends.
She lets out a sigh and says.
"Do you have a family or such?"
"Sure! I have a mom and dad, they are the family with the pride of Michio family!"
"Michio family?"
"Yes! But, they kicked me out. So, I don't know whether they disown me or not."
Takayuki said in a bit sorrowful tone as he tries to stand up and act naturally and this makes her confused even more that she thinks about something.
'This guy doesn't seem to lie right now. He is telling the truth he believes right now.'
She said in her mind.
"Err… Do you have something to ask me? I still don't understand why I am under suspicion of the one behind the Yggdrasil incident."
He asked.
"Do you know Takayuki? The government has all the info of the citizen around here. If someone just lives here, they'll know the person immediately."
"Then, what does it have something to do with me?"
"You said that you have a family named Michio, right?"
"Um… yes…"
She then shows a paper with information about all people in this country.
"Your name is not on the list…"
She said.
"Eh?"
"In the other words, you are not supposed to be here."
That surprises Takayuki.
"No way! It must be a mistake!"
"There's no way it's a mistake, Takayuki."
The answer depresses him yet it crowds his head right now.
'If Michio family is supposed to not exist, then why am I here?! What is the point for my existence which is supposed not to be here?!'
He said in his mind in frustration and confusion, yet he suddenly hears her who explains what she knows.
"Ever since your existence detected in Ichikawa, this incident started to occur."
"incident?! Do you mean my existence triggered the monsters' invasion?!"
"Yes…"
He then thinks hard about himself. Who is he? Is it true that he is behind this incident? If that's true, indirectly, he is the one that caused Michiko Yui to get hurt.
"I see. Then, we don't have a choice. If I am behind this incident, then I will take this punishment, and no one will get hurt, right? I don't want anyone to get hurt anymore."
He cries.
Seeing how he reacts makes her doubt the government.
'Is it true that Michio Takayuki is the culprit of this incident?! Please help me, Satou. What would you do if you were in my shoes?'
She then recalls that Takayuki was being beaten black and blue by a monster. Is it possible that the mastermind would let himself get hurt by a monster?
"I change my mind."
She opens the jail.
"What are you doing, Yumeno san?! If someone gets hurt because of me, what will we do?!"
He remains silent as she pats his cheeks.
"What I said before is the government's speculation… Yet, I am a member of the WTM!"
She said.