「 Well then, sally forth! 」Nei told us.
Nei, Edie, and I went down the cargo compartment.
Oh, it"s dark outside now.
All the street lights are lit up.
「 Are you sure? They can see that you"re coming out of the truck 」
Tendou Otome, who also got off the pa.s.senger seat points at the car that tailed us.
Hey, don"t point at them like that.
「 It"s fine~ It"s okay! They don"t understand what we"re trying to do anyway 」
Nei smiled.
「 Okay, here, here, your luggage 」
「 Okay 」
「 Roger that! 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan, Anjou Mitama, and Kinuka carries various tools and wrapping cloth on their back.
They"re also holding poles.
Somehow, they look like Musas.h.i.+bou Benkei more than Takeda s.h.i.+ngen.
This mysterious trio comes down from the truck that came from the Kouzuki mansion.
Naturally, the guys who followed us are confused.
「 In the end, they can"t decide on their plan until their boss, Irokuchou Ichirou-san confirms it with his own eyes 」
Minaho-neesan said.
「 And as for me, I"ll stay here 」
Michi climbs up to the roof of the truck.
「 Hey, if you go up there 」
Tendou Otome speaks in surprise.
「 They will take photos of her and post with a caption that she"s a young woman acting rashly 」
Yeah, just like some youngsters who stuff themselves in the convenience store"s freezer as a joke.
A middle school girl climbing up the roof of a truck is like that.
「 It"s dark around here, and I can erase my presence, pedestrians won"t notice me 」
Michi said.
「 It"s only the enemies who observed me climb this roof, they know that I"m here 」
Michi recently had a demonstration where she destroyed a traffic sign in a blink of an eye.
The guys on the car that followed us are Irokuchou Ichirou"s subordinates, they will report to their allies that someone dangerous is hiding on the roof of the truck.
They can"t approach carelessly now.
「 We won"t lock the back door. Be careful 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan told Yomi and Tsukiko, who remains in the truck.
「 It"s okay 」
Yomi replies with a nervous look.
「 I"m relying on you 」
I told Tsukiko.
Tsukiko smiled at me.
For now, Tendou Otome can"t sense Tsukiko, so I"m not going for a conversation.
「 It"s okay. Michi-san is on the roof, I will not suddenly drive or stop 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan"s moving, so Minaho-neesan has to drive the truck after this.
「 Nei, you will give the go-sign 」
Minaho-neesan hands Nei a radio.
「 Make a call with this, the contents will distribute to each group 」
She hands Edie and Kinos.h.i.+tsan a radio with earphones.
She stretches her hand to Michi, who"s on the roof and hands over another piece.
「 Kou, Nei, and Adelheid-san will confirm the status of the girls in the karaoke box. Then, if we can break in, give the instructions. Everyone, depart immediately once Nei gives the sign. Okay? 」
「 Okay, roger that 」
「 Certainly 」
「 Okay 」
「 Haa, we have a heavy responsibility in our shoulders, Yo-chan 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan"s smiling, Michi"s expressionless, and Edie"s also smiling.
Nei embraces me.
「 Tendou Otome-san, Adelheid-san, and Anjou sisters, good luck 」
「 Oh, Ooh 」
「 Okay. 」
「 Certainly! 」
「 Certainly! 」
Then, Minaho-neesan gets in the driver"s seat.
Okay.
Nei, Adelheid-san, and I are going to scout.
Edie and Tendou Otome are sneaking in from behind.
Kinos.h.i.+tsan and Anjou sisters are going for the street performance.
Everyone walks to the karaoke box where Tendou Sadao"s hiding.
Minaho-neesan, Michi, Yomi, and Tsukiko are on the truck, they will arrive on-site later.
「 Still, it makes you realize how scary Tsukiko-san is, right? Yo-chan 」
Nei talks to me while walking on the night streets.
「 Huh? What do you mean? 」
「 I mean, she"s in complete control of Tendou Otome-san"s mind, right? 」
That"s…
Tendou Otome and Edie are walking ahead of us at a faster pace.
They will have to go from behind the karaoke box building.
「 Mii-chan and Ruri-chan, and even the young lady of Torii house were present, and Tendou Otome didn"t talk about anything too shocking for them, right? 」
Right, when Misuzu was present.
She never talked about the fathers of the eight s.e.xually abusing them.
「 But, Tendou Otome-san mentioned that the s.e.xual abuse started half a year ago, right? 」
「 That"s why! Tsukiko-san was stopping her from talking about the situation from half a year ago 」
Nei said.
「 I guess it"s because she doesn"t want Ruriko and Torii-san to hear anything negative about s.e.x? 」
Raped by their father, turned to prost.i.tutes, oh right, there were the siblings that were used for lolicon videos?
We don"t want those young ladies to know such horrific reality.
「 That"s because Yo-chan thinks that way 」
Huh?
「 Tsukiko-san is acting as Yo-chan desires. She"s used her power all-out back then, hasn"t she? But now, she"s not careful in manipulating the other party"s mind because Yo-chan"s afraid 」
I look back.
I can"t see Tsukiko on the silver aluminum truck.
「 That"s why Tsukiko-san is scary. She"ll do anything if it"s for Yo-chan. 」
「 Even when it"s just a little thought in my head? 」
「 Yeah. For example, Yo-chan can think of “Sc.u.ms like them should die,” but don"t want it to happen for real… You don"t speak of it, but you still think of that 」
Tsukiko can read that thought.
「 And sc.u.ms could commit suicide before they do anything to Yo-chan 」
Tsukiko can use her power to make people commit suicide.
「 Well, that"s the worst case, but on the other hand, once Yo-chan looks at a cute girl and thought “I want to have s.e.x with her” 」
Tsukiko will make that girl think that she needs to have s.e.x with me.
「 Well, not that we can do anything about it, Tsukiko-san"s reason for living is Yo-chan 」
Nei said.
「 Tsukiko-san has no vision on what the shrine maiden should do despite succeeding the t.i.tle since the shrine maidens were just toys for the Kansai Yakuza for over a hundred years 」
「 But, she mentioned that healing the hearts of Tendou Otome"s friends is her job as the shrine maiden, right? 」
「 That"s because she was reading Yo-chan"s mind 」
Huh?
「 Yo-chan, you want to save those girls from their painful memories, right? 」
Wait, then it"s me?
「 I don"t know what Tsukiko-san thinks of the Yakuza"s daughters for real 」
Then, Nei looked at Adelheid-san.
「 chan, did you join this operation voluntarily? 」
Adelheid-san"s surprised.
「 See? Are you aware? Maybe Tsukiko-san thought that the personnel isn"t enough and that"s why chan had to partic.i.p.ate too 」
Nei also thought that it"s weird that Adelheid-san, Torii-san"s bodyguard, decided to join this operation, which she has no relation to.
「 n.o.body"s influenced me with their power 」
Adelheid-san speaks flatly.
「 Really? 」
Nei looks at Adelheid-san"s reactions.
She"s trying to check if that"s Adelheid-san"s true feelings, or it Tsukiko"s power making her think that way.
「 I have a reason to why I"m partic.i.p.ating this operation 」
Adelheid-san shows the will from her mind.
「 What"s the reason? 」
I asked.
「 No, if you don"t want to say it then you don"t have to 」
Adelheid-san.
「 I was born from a prost.i.tution den 」
Prost.i.tution den? In Europe?
「 If I wasn"t lucky enough to get rescued, I would"ve also become a prost.i.tute and suffer 」
Adelheid-san seems to have gone through a lot before she graduated as a 13-year-old bodyguard from the academy.
「 My father cast away mother and I. Therefore, I can"t forgive fathers who let their daughters suffer 」
She grips her fist, trembling.
Oh.
She got angry because of the discussion where Tendou Sadao"s group torments their daughters.
「 Okay, I trust you, Adelheid-san 」
I told her.
「 But, don"t do anything on your own during the operation. You have to follow orders 」
「 Yes, I understand 」
She replied while looking down, but…
Is this going to be okay?
If blood rushed up to her head, she might forget about us and rush recklessly.
「 Yo-chan, don"t make that face! Minaho-oneechan told us that it"s a battle of speed, right? 」
Nei embraces my arm.
「 Minaho-oneechan already a.s.sumed that you"ll hesitate like that 」
I see. Minaho-neesan teamed Adelheid-san with us,
Because she can consult with us if she has worries.
「 Tsukiko-san also hasn"t used her power on Minaho-oneechan 」
Nei said.
「 Why do you think so? 」
「 I mean, Yo-chan…Tsukiko-san can"t make a plan for this operation. It"s outside her expertise. If she manipulated Minaho-oneechan"s mind forcibly and it turned the idea to an irregular one, it will put Yo-chan and all of us in danger, right? She won"t do anything that risky. Tsukiko-san"s clever at that 」
RIght.
「 Oh well, Adelheid-san, hold hands with Nei 」
「 What? 」
She looks at me with a surprised face.
「 Well, we"re here to scout, and so we should pretend that we"re good friends. You should get used to it 」
「 Ah, right. chan"s the only one walking far from us. You need to get close to us, or the enemy will doubt us right away 」
「 O-Okay… 」
「 If you want, you can hold hands with me instead of Ychan? 」
I told the wavering Adelheid-san, then,
「 No, I"ll go with her 」
She held hands with Nei.
Does she hate me, or does she prefer girls?
Her response is different.
I guess she"s still a virgin.
That"s what I think.
「 Yo-chan, can we go talk in English for a while? 」
Nei said.
「 chan"s mother tongue probably isn"t English, but since she graduated from the same academy as Shou-neechan, then you can talk in English, right? 」
「 Err, why English? 」
Adelheid-san asks Nei.
「 It"s because Yo-chan can"t understand the contents when we go English 」
Then, from then on…
The two talk at a fast pace in English.
Adelheid-san also talks in English desperately.
I can only hear, “Sure?!” Or “Really?” from time to time, and I don"t understand everything else.
Nei continued to talk in English for a while, then,
Adelheid-san continues to answer.
But I get it.
They can get along, bit by bit, if this conversation continues.
Minaho-neesan put Adelheid-san in our team because;
Nei can break down Adelheid-san"s wall in her heart slowly.
◇ ◇ ◇
The Karaoke box building Tendou Sadao"s hiding in has a few pedestrians around.
There"s no break from them.
Oh, the other side is a train station.
The sky is now dark, and so most of them are walking around the streets merrily.
However, the karaoke box has a “temporarily closed” sign, and the lights on the sign are turned off.
That shop is the only one slightly dark.
For some reason, the street lights in front of the store are also turned off.
It"s a dark area, and so pedestrians naturally steer away from the karaoke box.
「 Okay, Edie and Tendou-san have gone around! Then, Kinos.h.i.+tsan, you can start! 」
Nei gives instructions on the radio she received earlier.
Then.
「 Dondendondendondendon 」
「 Tattakata Tatata! Tatta kata! 」
The Anjou sisters wearing s.h.i.+ngen clothing shout loudly while heading to the front of the karaoke shop.
They purposely take a few meters distance away from the shop and set their camp.
「 Oisho! 」
「 Korasho! 」
They put down the wrapping cloth they were carrying on their backs.
Then.
Suddenly, the street lights lit up.
Oh, it"s Shou-neechan.
It"s Kouzuki SS who turned off the lights on purpose.
「 W-What? 」
「 What are those?! 」
The pedestrians got curious about the strange-looking girls in that place that suddenly lit up.
They gathered the interests of pedestrians.
「 Yaa, yaa, those who are from afar, come over here 」
「 Yaa, yaa, and for those who are close, then watch closely 」
Err.
「 The ancient text says nothing ventured, nothing gained 」
「 Get in, ranbanbabaranba, ranbabarabara 」
The sisters hold a three-meter pole like a spear then shouts from the bottom of their lungs.
「 Watch our skills 」
「 And be at awe! Iyaaa! 」
「 Okay, let"s go 」
Before anyone noticed, Kinos.h.i.+tsan from behind the two takes out a big disc-shaped item from their luggage.
I mean, do I call it a disc or…
That"s a porcelain plate, right?
「 Okay, there we go! 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan throws the plates in mid-air.
「 Seiya! 」
Then, Mitamsan catches it with her three-meter pole.
「 And this one too! 」
「 Come at me! 」
Kinuksan also catches the plates with the tip of her stick mid-air.
「 And there we go! 」
「 Easy! Easy! 」
This is…
Plate spinning?
「 Wow! That"s cool! 」
「 These girls are good at this! 」
「 Are they recording for a TV show? 」
The pedestrians stopped and watched the Anjou sisters do their plate spinning trick.
「 Okay, and the second one! 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan hands over another pole to the sisters.
「 Here we go! 」
「 Okay! 」
「 Come at me! 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan throws two plates at the same time.
Then, Anjou sisters catch it with their free poles and spin it.
They"re holding poles at each hand and spinning plates.
「 They"re skilled 」
「 Yeah. I wonder which entertainment group they belong to? 」
Mitamsan"s a beauty and Kinuksan"s cute.
It"s weird to see them spin plates.
「 Although, the two have stiff expressions 」
「 They"re still children so it can"t be helped 」
Yeah, they remain expressionless.
These sisters are.
「 Meanwhile, the girl throwing plates at them is so charming 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan"s always smiling.
「 Here, here, here, and we can still go on 」
She shouted at the spectators.
「 Eeh, wait? Are you going to use your mouth to spin a third plate? 」
A guy who gets carried away easily told Kinos.h.i.+tsan.
「 Too bad, you"re wrong! It"s more than that! Okay, girls?! 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan called the two.
「 Let"s go! Onee-sama! 」
「 Come! Kinuka! 」
Kinuksan tuns towards Kinos.h.i.+tsan while still spinning the plates.
What are they going to do?
「 Okay! 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan bends her body.
「 Observe! There!!! 」
Kinuksan jumps in front of Kinos.h.i.+tsan.
Kinos.h.i.+tsan throws Kinuksan up in the air.
Naturally, Kinuksan"s plates also fly high.
「 Secret technique! Sisters combined! 」
「 Grand Cross! 」
Kinuksan jumped high, then.
She lands on Mitamsan"s hood.
「 Haihaihaihai!! 」
Then, Mitamsan catches the plates mid-air lightly.
Oh, while the elder sister"s spinning plates with both hands.
The little sister also continues to spin plates with both hands.
「 Now be amazed by our skill! 」
「 See that?! See that?! 」
Anjou sisters look at the spectators, then…
「 Ooooh! 」
Cheers come from their surroundings.
「 Okay, these children are also performing artist, just like me 」
Kinos.h.i.+tsan throws in a joke.
「 First step complete. We"re going in. Minaho-oneechan, Edie, Mitchan, ready? 」
Nei speaks to the radio.
Now that the pedestrian has their attention on the Anjou sisters.
n.o.body will see the fuss inside the karaoke box.
「 Yo-chan, we"re heading in 」
Nei told me.
「 chan too 」
「 O-Okay 」
Adelheid-san replied.
「 Geez, don"t be too stiff! Smile! 」
「 O-Okay 」
「 Yo-chan, touch chan"s a.s.s 」
Yeah.
「 Kyaau 」
Adelheid-san trembled.
「 W-What are you doing?! 」
「 Okay, you"re no longer stiff. Let"s go 」
Then, Nei pulls Adelheid-san"s hand.
I followed the two and get inside the karaoke box.