"[If you are reading this letter, then you must have already discovered that I am not here. I'm sorry, Sister Megumi, Kurumi, Yuri, everyone. There's something I need to investigate myself, but it's too dangerous there. For everyone's safety, I can only let you leave.]"
"[Actually, when I found this button at the police station, I had already thought that rescue would come. To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, I secretly wrote this letter.]"
"[Don't worry about me, or rather... forget me. Just like a passerby you meet on the road, I am merely someone who happened to appear in your lives. Besides, I am used to living alone. This period of living with everyone has been the happiest time of my life.]"
The content of the letter was very short, almost just a simple farewell, and words asking them to forget her.
Everyone looked at the letter in Wakasa Yuri's hand with heavy hearts, and before she had even finished reading it, Wakasa Yuri directly tore up the letter in her hand.
Rather than a farewell letter, it was more like a will.
Acting alone in Megurigaoka City was undoubtedly a suicidal act in their eyes.
Of course, what Wakasa Yuri and the others found most unacceptable were the words in the letter asking them to forget Inaba Tsukiyo.
What was this? Their lives of mutual support had long made them consider Inaba Tsukiyo their most important friend, and after learning Inaba Tsukiyo's secret, they felt pained by the words 'used to living alone' in the letter.
"Tsukiyo-chan, this!!! Idiot!!!"
"Ah-choo! Really, is someone cursing me? Goodness, this is a time when I need to be mentally focused."
Rubbing her aching nose, Inaba Tsukiyo was concentrating two hundred percent, relying on the car that Sakura Megumi had left behind.
Originally, with Nero's inherent skill [Riding: B], Inaba Tsukiyo's driving skills were better than most humans.
It was just... when she actually started driving, Inaba Tsukiyo realized a very important problem: when she sat in the driver's seat, her legs couldn't reach the accelerator or the brake. This was very awkward.
To have excellent driving skills but be unable to drive properly due to one's physical limitations—there was nothing more embarrassing than this problem.
To make her legs long enough to reach the accelerator and brake, Inaba Tsukiyo specifically found some tools at school and made a pair of extended shoes, allowing her to reach the accelerator and brake even when sitting in the driver's seat.
"Really, isn't there any world that is more favorable to people with petite figures like us? Why can't the brakes and accelerator be controlled by machines? Don't they know this causes me a lot of trouble? Luckily there are no traffic police, otherwise I would definitely be caught."
Or if a video of her driving were filmed, it would immediately appear on various news sections or headlines.
[Shocking! What kind of reason makes a Little Girl who can't even reach the accelerator drive? Is it a distortion of human nature, or a degradation of morality?]
[Blind person driving! Is this another step forward for humanity, or is there another conspiracy? Please follow the developments at this time, and let us delve into the story behind the Little Girl.]
Such chaotic news headlines would probably appear on the front page of various news outlets.
Thanks to her powerful Mind's Eye and perception abilities, accidents basically didn't happen. Driving was essential to get from Kyonohoka Academy to Randall Company.
While it wasn't impossible to use Shukuchi to rush through, the amount of magical power and stamina consumed would be far too great.
Even walking might take several days, as there were simply too many zombies on the road, and even with some resources she carried, she wasn't sure if she could safely make it inside Randall Company.
However... while driving, Inaba Tsukiyo thought about her recent actions, wondering if what she did was good or bad.
From a rational perspective, Inaba Tsukiyo's actions were correct.
As the person sent by alaya to save this world from crisis, she had to stay in Megurigaoka City and eliminate the negative effects that the abnormal energy might bring.
Entering the center of the abnormal energy would definitely lead to encountering a large number of enemies; those special zombies that appeared last time would certainly be there, and not just one, but several, and even more powerful zombies might appear.
Kurumi and the others weren't special forces, and even special forces might not be a match for those special zombies. Taking them along would only make things worse, and they might even get infected with the zombie virus, which Inaba Tsukiyo did not want to see.
So, that night, after discovering the distress device, she secretly wrote that letter, telling them not to come back and to stay away from this dangerous place.
However, Inaba Tsukiyo knew that everyone would surely dislike her doing this.
They had talked about what they would do after returning to normal daily life when they chatted in the School Living Club.
Inaba Tsukiyo didn't speak the entire time; she just quietly listened to Takenouchi Yuki, Kurumi, and Wakasa Yuri talk.
She knew very well that her words were just lies to them, and what Inaba Tsukiyo hated most were lies.
But... she herself had to tell a huge lie to get Kurumi and the others to leave safely.
Suddenly, she slammed on the brakes, stopping the car in the middle of the road.
Inaba Tsukiyo leaned back in her seat, while several zombies, attracted by the sound, had already gathered around the windows.
They pounded on the windows, and some zombies even bit at them, trying to break them to attack Inaba Tsukiyo.
Facing the zombies' actions, Inaba Tsukiyo paid no attention. Instead, she remembered Little Vi's promise when she came of age and learned of her secret of immortality, holding her hand when she was at her weakest.
"I swear, I will never die before you."
"Liar... big liar Little Vi. You made me suffer so much."
"But, I've become a liar now too. So, I guess we're even now."
Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes. All this time, she had sealed off her heart, trying not to care, enclosing the feeling of loneliness, burying it deep inside to protect herself.
However... living with everyone in the School Living Club gradually made her feel alive again, and at the same time, that sealed loneliness gradually reawakened.
Just a few hours after leaving everyone, she was already a little afraid that the period with Little Vi would return.
"But, I must survive. lord alaya has allowed me to see you again after completing the mission. To see you, I must survive. Even if this mission is a near-certain death, I will seize that sliver of hope."
Her right hand rested on her chest, her heart beating steadily. She remembered what Little Vi had told her.
"The rabbit is actually the monster's heart. The monster and the rabbit are an inseparable whole. If the rabbit dies, the monster dies too."
The rabbit was Inaba Tsukiyo, and the monster was Little Vi. Little Vi had told Inaba Tsukiyo that Inaba Tsukiyo was like a rabbit.
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful monster, and by her side was a rabbit who served her. The rabbit, with her ability to mislead, drove away anyone who approached or intended to harm the monster.
Because the rabbit drove away those who approached the monster, those who wanted to get close to the monster killed the rabbit to get to the monster.
However, after the rabbit died, the monster also died, because they were one heart, one body; if the monster's heart died, the monster would also die with it.
So Inaba Tsukiyo was Little Vi's heart. As long as Inaba Tsukiyo was alive, then she, as the monster, was still alive.
This is what Little Vi had once told her: as long as she was alive, then she, as the monster, as the beautiful monster, was still alive.
"Because I want to see you, I will go back alive, and then, I will tell you what I most want to tell you again, Little Vi."
Unable to help but smile, Inaba Tsukiyo, her spirits renewed, pulled the handbrake, stepped on the accelerator, and the rear wheels screeched with friction.
Just like a professional race car, Sakura Megumi's car instantly transformed into a modified race car, spinning in a circle, knocking away all the zombies surrounding it. Then, with dazzling maneuvers, the car sped off.
In the past, she could only use such words to deceive herself, but now with alaya's promise, Inaba Tsukiyo had the motivation to keep moving forward.
She was the rabbit of the beautiful monster. No matter where she was, Inaba Tsukiyo would find her. No matter how many things she had to go through, Inaba Tsukiyo would never give up!
With this thought, Inaba Tsukiyo accelerated towards Randall Company. She could already feel the ominous energy getting closer and closer to her.
However... what Inaba Tsukiyo didn't expect was that her recent mental activity was completely monitored by alaya.
For Inaba Tsukiyo, alaya could be said to have done a lot. To prevent Inaba Tsukiyo from doing anything foolish, she specifically kept an eye on her.
(fuhai: Are you sure it's not peeping? Did she learn the peeping skills of Lady Yukari from Gensokyo... Lady Yukari?)
"lord alaya, calm... calm down. If you get angry, Lord gaia will discover your abnormality, and Lord gaia might discover the master (master). Please calm down!"
Okita Souji and Nero, confined here, felt the powerful aura emanating from alaya. Although frightened, they still reminded her in a low voice.
"Angry? No, I'm very calm. How could I be angry? It's just like Yoshino; when I found her, some guy got there first. Haha~ It's always like this, always like this."
"Is it because of a special identity? Even I can't interfere with the parallel world she's in, only through her own summoning of Heroic Spirits for help. What is this? Doesn't this mean I can't influence the previous world at all?"
alaya was infuriated like never before, more so than when gaia was lazy and pushed all the work onto her.
It's always like this. Last time it was Tojo Nozomi, this time it's that Little Vi, and the heart of a beautiful monster?
"I'm so angry!!!"