8 - To the Site of the Final Battle

1: On the Road to the Birthplace of the Akabane Swords (1)

Mirja: I have to thank you, Setouchi Chie-san.
Mirja: Without sharing us your lead from Osafune, we would likely still be searching the mountains of Izu in vain.
Chie: You don't have to be so formal, Mirja-san. We're friends, aren't we? At least among this group, I think we should be able to be more open with each other.
Chie: Though, saying that... I have my doubts about this. It's not like Osafune's intelligence department to be very wrong, but...
Mihono: But, Chii-nee...　This place is pretty developed. It's right in front of the station, and there's a bunch of high rise apartments over there.
Mihono: Would the kind of person with such an important lead on the Akabane swords really be hanging around here?
Mihono: Ah! When we're done here, can we buy cake back at the station?
Chie: ...Mihono-chan, we're here on business? But you have a point... It's a little weird to think someone with such a dangerous connection would take us to such a peaceful place.
Mirja: No, I don't think it's out of place. Here, in the Kita ward of Tokyo... After the war, the occupying American military forces seized weapons from the population and collected them here.
Mirja: The Akabane swords were stored here until the American military was ready to remove them from the country, on the ship that sank after leaving from Yokohama. As the name suggests, this place: the Akabane district, is the birthplace of the Akabane swords.
Mirja: So in fact, it doesn't surprise me at all that this place is once again connected to their recent activity.
Chie: That's right... When you put that in perspective, it does feel as though the path we're walking has been expressly laid out for us.
Mirja: That may be truer than you think. Even this very walkway covers what was once railroad tracks used for transport to this storehouse.
Mihono: Oh, I see it! That's why the tiles are aligned like that, like railroad tracks!
Kiyoka: You're right! I didn't notice it at all.
Kofuki: Hmm. So anyway, this place we're going to, there's not gonna be any aradama there, is there?
Mihono: Well of course not. We're just here to talk to someone.
The Bushes: rustle rustle
Mihono: ...?
Small Aradama: GICHIGICHIGIGUGUGGGG...!
Kiyoka: Ehh!?
Mihono: Aradama!? How'd it even get here!?
Kofuki: You lied to me; they're totally here!
Mihono: Wait! Kofuki-san! Come back!

2: On the Road to the Birthplace of the Akabane Swords (2)

Mirja: (Even here the aradama follow us... What is going on... No... With numbers like this, it could be...)
Mirja: Investigation team, listen! If the one we're meeting is in possession of an Akabane sword, the aradama may be gathering to attack them!
Mirja: Even if that's not the case, it's dangerous for us to linger! We need to push through and make contact with them as soon as possible! Then we'll protect them!

3: Mirja ~The Ties that Bind~

Mirja: ...The enemy's numbers are far greater than I imagined. Furthermore, they're becoming more dense as we push forward.
Chie: You're right... I never would have expected this many... I don't know what to make of this.
Mirja: I feel like we may be drawing them in. However, we can't afford to waste any time. Our only option is to quickly make our way through.
Mirja: (Sharpen your senses, Kitora Mirja... Asakura Mihono's breathing, Musumi Kiyoka's limitations, Setouchi Chie's unease, Shichinosato Kofuki's unpredictability...)
Mirja: (When it comes to deciding the investigation team's formation, the first step is considering the actions of Shichinosato Kofuki. The moment she sees aradama, she charges ahead. With her acting as a wedge, the other three must flexibly adapt behind her. The only role I can give her is to push through.)
Mirja: (Setouchi Chie. As a toji, she offers a strong sense of stability. More than that, she is an indispensable mental brace for the others. Honestly, without her support, this team would collapse.)
Mirja: (As I saw in Izu, there is no doubt about Musumi Kiyoka's full potential. Due to her nature and the short reach of her okatana I don't want her in the front, however I can trust her to protect herself.)
Mirja: (The one I have the most trouble understanding would be... Asakura Mihono. When it comes to her movements or her techniques, everything is unstable. In a moment any competence she displays can vanish. And, inversely, there are moments her actions take on a masterful level of expertise.)
Mirja: (She is impossible to gauge. At the very least, she has a strong will, and I can make out her potential through the variety of skills she shows, however...)
Mirja: (Setouchi Chie said... She has known Asakura Mihono for a long time, and claims it's a result of her trouble concentrating. But I very much do not believe that is the full extent of it.)
Mirja: (What is holding her back...? If I could understand the cause, I could form a strategy to cope with it...)
Mirja: (In any case...)
Mirja: (However I look at it, this framework of an investigation team is incomprehensible. Every member is much too strongly idiosyncratic. On top of that, it's difficult to catch anything more than glimpses of their backgrounds. Despite being under the combined supervision of the five presidents, each seems to have an ulterior motive in sending them.)
Mirja: (Even President Souraku Yuzuki. For reasons I do not know, without any leads, her orders were to retrieve Namu Yakushi Kagemitsu at all costs...)
Mirja: (No...)
Mirja: (Knowing President Souraku, there must be a good reason behind this. I only need to carry out the mission she gave me.)
Mirja: (Right now, that is my role here!)

4: Chie ~Duty to Your Cause, Duty to Your Heart~

Chie: (I'm a liar.)
Chie: (I...)
Chie: (I know what's really waiting for us at the end of this path. Knowing that, for my objective, I'm putting everyone in serious danger...)
Chie: (For Mokusa... The organization operating under Osafune Girls' Academy. The resistance formed to overthrow the head of the family, Origami Yukari.)
Chie: (As a member of that resistance, for Mokusa's sake, I was ordered to manipulate this investigation team.)
Chie: (For that sake, I lied... No... That's wrong. That's not right. I was a liar from the beginning.)
Chie: (Right from the start...)
Chie: (The day before the tournament, on my visit to Minoseki. I wasn't there to see Mihono-chan...)
Chie: (I was given a mission to deliver a secret message from Osafune's President Maniwa Sana to Minoseki's President Hashima Ema.)
Chie: (Even so, I missed her... I missed her so much, that I couldn't stop myself from seeing her... And because I got swept up with her, Mihono-chan became a part of this investigation team.)
Chie: (None of them know. Not just about me... That Aoto-kan's Youji-san and Hina-san help Mokusa. That Ellen-san and Kaoru-san are members of Mokusa.)
Chie: (Mihono-chan doesn't know. That I often exchange messages for President Maniwa Sana between Osafune and Minoseki.)
Chie: (That I was already on close terms with Minoseki's President Hashima Ema. That I was only sent to Kamakura in the first place to become a member of this investigation team.)
Chie: (These secrets turn into lies... These lies create more lies, upon lies, upon lies. All I am is lies at this point.)
Chie: (...But still, there's one thing that's true.)
Chie: (I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. That's my only wish. From the start, I never wanted to lie to anyone...)
Chie: (It's my fault Mihono-chan is involved in this... So I have to do everything in my power to protect Mihono-chan. After all, I'm... I'm still Mihono-chan's onee-san.)
Chie: No matter what it takes...!
Mihono: Chii-nee? What was that about? Are you okay?
Chie: No, don't worry about it. Ahem. You can just trust your onee-san, okay?
Mihono: You're so weird, Chii-nee. That goes without saying; I know I can always rely on you!
Mihono: And not just me! Kiyoka-san, Mirja-san... Probably Kofuki-san too. We all know you're our reliable onee-chan!
Mihono: We're all counting on you, Chii-nee!
Chie: All of you...?
Kiyoka: Yes, all of us. You're like an onee-san to me too, Setouchi-san.
Chie: Ah..... W-Well, thank you. ...Now, we should keep moving!

5: Kofuki ~Let's Dance!~

Kofuki: I can feel it! I'm alive! I'm burning up! Even the aradama just keep getting stronger! Shit! How much better can this get!?
Kofuki: I'll carve you! I'll break you! I'll devour you! I'll end you! Haha! Ahaha! Just like that, aradama-chan! I'll tear each and every one of you apart! I love you so much!
Kofuki: Ahhh... Ahhh, man! This investigation team's too good! When I'm with them, it's always happening!
Kofuki: Renpu's research lab, or when those guys in lab coats made me fight... That was all nothing compared to this! This is too much! I can't take it! It's so good I'm gonna cum...!
Kofuki: Ahh... Ahhh.... I get to cut as many as I want... I get to kill as many as I want! All I can feel for my president is thanks anymore!
Mihono: Wait! Kofuki-san! Chii-nee! Mirja-san! Kofuki-san ran off on her own again!
Mirja: I'm aware! Setouchi Chie-san! Follow her!
Chie: Understood!

6: Kiyoka ~I Want to Run Away~ (1)

Kiyoka: Pant... Pant... Um, why do we, why are we fighting? I thought we were only here to meet someone...
Kiyoka: And anyway, what is this place? Now that I'm up close, I can tell... This place is in ruins.
Mirja: Before, this used to be the American military's storehouse... This is where we were headed, but...
Mirja: What's the meaning of this? Why is it so abandoned?
Mihono: "Renpu Girls' School, 5th Physiological Research Institute" is written on the wall...? Renpu had a research lab in Tokyo?
Mirja: Shichonosato Kofuki, do you know anything about this?
Kofuki: Tch, like I'd know? We've got labs all over the place. I'm not gonna remember every single one.
Kofuki: Every last one of the researchers in these things is desperate for results that'd get our president interested.
Kofuki: You know already, don't you? Just what kinda person our president is.
Mihono: What kind, um... Well, she threw us into that surprise exam, didn't she? Ahh, now it's all coming back to me...
Mirja: So what you're saying is, this is one of the research institutes that was abandoned after they couldn't manage to please President Takatsu?
Mirja: I see. However, why are there more aradama the closer we draw near it? And...
Mihono: Why's there no end to them... Ah!? When did we get surrounded...!?
Kofuki: Heheh! What's the problem? We just get to keep crushing them for as long as we want? Right!
Kiyoka: Eh... You guys!? We're going to keep fighting? I-I'm feeling too scared to go on...

7: Kiyoka ~I Want to Run Away~ (2)

Kiyoka: Pant... Pant... Um, please, wait for me...　
Mihono: Kiyoka, are you okay? We're all going inside the building now. If we hang around out here too long we'll end up fighting more than we have to.
Kiyoka: Ah, Um... S-Sorry. I'm so scared; my legs won't...
Kofuki: You stupid or what? For all we know, that building's so full of aradama it's about to explode.
Kofuki: Ahhh, man! I'm getting so damn excited!
Kiyoka: Then... I can't...
Kiyoka: I just don't want to fight anymore... It's scary, and it hurts, and I just can't... How are all of you so okay with this...
Mihono: Well, I'm scared too, to be honest.
Kiyoka: Eh...?
Mihono: There's no way I'd feel okay right now. I don't want to get hurt, or injured, and I could even die... It's just like you said.
Kiyoka: But, you're still...
Mihono: It's fine to feel like that, you know? Scared, and like you hate this. But we're all going to get through this together. We're teammates after all.
Kiyoka: ...Teammates...
Mirja: That's right, Musumi Kiyoka.
Mirja: You were the one who saved us back in Izu. Because you were able to buy us time, I was able to contact President Souraku.
Mirja: Right now, I consider you a member of this team.
Chie: Mirya-san's right. Besides, if you don't come along with us then we won't be able to help protect you, you know?
Mihono: See, Kiyoka? We all feel the same.
Kiyoka: Ah... Okay! Thank you... Asakura-san. I'm scared, and I want to run away... But I'll go with you!

8: Mihono ~Someone Else's Feelings~

???: ...Father, I did it, didn't I? I kept this world safe for her to live in.
Asakura Yoshizumi: Yes. There's not a doubt in my mind you have. You're one of the heroes who changed this world, even if history may not remember it...
Yoshizumi: But, you left her with... Something far, far more precious. You gave her life, in all its brilliance.
???: Thank you, father... Ahh... People are so greedy, aren't we.
???: To leave her something, to keep her safe. And even then, I want more and more. For her to be happy...
???: For her sake... Not just her, but all the world she'll see, wrapped in happiness... I can't help but wish for more.
???: For her to find her own happiness, for her to live and be strong... These things... Are all I can think of.
Yoshizumi: No, you should think that. Desire isn't always a bad thing.
Yoshizumi: Love is simply the desire to make another happy. There is no one in the world who would deny you that.
???: Father...
Yoshizumi: Mm, you don't have to worry. You can rest now. That girl will surely live to grow up strong. After all, she's Kanayago-sama's-
Kiyoka: ...Asakura-san?
Kiyoka: Asakura-san? What's the matter?
Mihono: Ah.... Huh? How long did I space out for? Ten minutes? Or, it felt more like thirty?
Kiyoka: Nothing like that; maybe five seconds?
Mihono: Five seconds...? Ah, okay. Sorry, I didn't mean to right before the final battle.
Mihono: (....Just now... Whose memory was that...?)
Kiyoka: Battle? We're not here to fight, remember? We're just going to meet with someone who knows about the Akabane swords.
Mihono: Haha, oh yeah, you're right. It'd be nice if we don't have to fight anymore.
Chie: Are you two ready? They should be waiting for us just beyond that door. Now's the time to stay focused.
Kiyoka: Ah, yes!
Mihono: Yeah, I got it...! Where there's a will, there's a way! That's all there is to it!
Mihono: (Let's get it together and go, Kiyomitsu. This isn't going to end with nothing happening. I don't know why, but I know it...)