Mitou Shoukan://Blood-Sign

Volume 3, Ending X-01: The Girls’ Slight Hope

“Sayuri! I’m here. Right on time, aren’t I?”

“Nuuun (deadpan). My name is Isabelle.”

(Ending X-01 Open 05/24 10:00)

The Girls’ Slight Hope

The night came to an end.

Isabelle, the girl in a red military uniform, was in a park of Toy Dream 35’s P Block.

Shiroyama Kyousuke had agreed to meet her here, but he had not shown up. The pumpkin costume and Oni girl around her were walking and chatting, but time seemed to have stopped where she was.

Despite the crowds, she was left to stand alone in front of a fountain, but then her cellphone range.

“Nuuun (deadpan)? Where are you?”

“Nearby. This will all be over soon.”

Kyousuke sounded the same as always.

“You don’t need to worry about Murasame Kuina. At the very least, she won’t be manipulated by Biondetta and she won’t be turned into a toy for revenge as a vessel.”

“Did you use that Girl’s Backdoor?”

“No, they were defeated in a battle with a summoner, so I could guide them using the shock of seeing their god killed. I gave Biondetta two instructions: end your contract with Murasame Kuina and surrender to Government. Binding such a complex contract would be impossible in that mindless state, but ending one is doable. …At the very least, the incident concerning the Anthills should be over.”

“I super-sized want to know what’s going to happen to Murasame Kuina.”

“You’ll have to ask her about that one. She was being controlled by Biondetta throughout her entire quest for revenge, so she can force that through and get an acquittal. But if she wants to be punished, then I don’t think doing that would qualify as saving her. That said, it wouldn’t really be right to dig up a desire for punishment now that her contract was cancelled and she’s forgotten everything.”

“…”

Isabelle fell silent for a moment.

Her expression did not look at home in a morning park.

“I don’t understand even a small-sized bit what happiness is.”

“Neither do I. I feel like I’ve been wondering that all my life.”

Kyousuke spat out the words and then changed the subject.

“I would also like to solve another problem.”

“?”

“Murasame Kuina…your friend is no longer a vessel, so she’s back to being a normal person. That might sound like a happy ending, but it isn’t really. Your problem remains.”

“You mean…?”

“You’re still Alice (with) Rabbit’s vessel. As a normal person, Murasame Kuina will forget about you the instant she looks away. …We can’t have that, can we? If we end this like that, I don’t think we’ve really saved Murasame Kuina.”

“But if you end our contract…”

“Yes, you’ll forget about me. Until you see me again or bind a contract with a new summoner.”

He readily admitted it.

He sounded like he had said goodbye this way many times before.

“I spoke with Government about it. You don’t need to be manipulated by the Anthill Project any longer. I can’t turn you back into Kawamo Sayuri, but Isabelle won’t have to have anything more taken from her.”

“Wait.”

“I’m not waiting.”

“I super-sized want you to wait!!”

“ ‘Help my friend.’ …Who said that? Sorry, but you alone aren’t my top priority. I’m going to think about what’s best for both you and Murasame Kuina.”

Isabelle heard a slight noise.

Someone stood beyond the crowd.

It was Shiroyama Kyousuke.

It was the white rabbit who would guide a girl to the exit once she wandered into another world.

He lightly bit his right index finger so a drop of blood appeared and he held that fingertip out toward Isabelle.

He could see her with the naked eye.

He pointed at her.

Isabelle realized that was the sign of blood that released a summoner and vessel from their contract.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What are you going to do once you save me?”

“I don’t know.”

Kyousuke answered with a faint, faint smile that she was unsure how to describe.

“What do I want to do?”

A transparent sound seemed to ring deep in her head.

The next thing she knew, Isabelle could not remember why she was standing here.

(Oh, right. I was meeting someone here.)

She quickly looked through the crowd filling the morning park.

She was looking for a familiar face in a desperate attempt to remember who it was.

And…

And…

And…

“Sayuri! I’m here. Right on time, aren’t I?”

When a voice reached her from the side and someone grabbed her slender hand, Isabelle finally remembered.

Yes.

That was right.

Hadn’t she been waiting for her friend Murasame Kuina?

“Nuuun (deadpan). My name is Isabelle.”

“Yes, yes. I don’t know if you’re trying to make a new impression in middle school or if it’s your screenname, but I guess I’ll go along with it. What should we do today? Let’s start by going around to the shopping district’s accessory shops. At lunchtime, we can find a restaurant somewhere. And after that…well, we can figure it out as we go!”

As the girl tugged on her arm, Isabelle vanished into the crowd. She became a part of the crowd and a part of normal society. In turn, she distanced herself from the world of the Summoning Ceremony.

As she spoke with her friend, she looked around just once.

But she did not see any other familiar faces among all the similar-looking faces of the crowd.

“…”

Kyousuke watched as Isabelle disappeared into the crowd.

He did not speak a word.

He did not wave.

He only wished for her safety, turned his back, and left the park through a different exit.

Facts:

*Shiroyama Kyousuke won the summoner battle and hit Biondetta with the shock of seeing her god killed in front of her. With Biondetta in a mindless daze, he ordered her to end her contract with Murasame Kuina and to surrender to Government. The complex process of binding a contract would not be possible, but it apparently is possible to have someone like that end a contract.

*As a result, Shiroyama Kyousuke never once used the Girl’s Backdoor during this incident. Most likely, he is the only one who understands why he maintained that inefficient restriction.

*By ending the contract, Murasame Kuina forgot all about the incident. And since Government placed all the blame on Biondetta for creating the tree-style flowchart, Kuina will apparently be treated like a victim from the normal population.

*Kyousuke ended his contract with Isabelle, so she lost her memories as well.

*The two girls turned their backs on the world of the Summoning Ceremony and disappeared into the light.

*Being selfish is fine as long as it will save someone.

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