[CITY 3 – PART B]

Reaching the vacation center, they approach the front.

“Oh, cute!” Valarie says, jauntily pointing out Getouttahere!-kun the moment they trip its camera sensor.

Masaru sneers as he moves forward.

Come on over and visit Get Outta Here Travel!~

We’ve got the plans to make your worries unra-

Masaru smacks over the standee, sending it to the ground before he stomps down into the voice box, crushing it and causing the final sounds to crackle out like a damned soul.

“You ‘get outta here’,” he snaps at Getouttahere-Kun

Valerie jolts as she beholds the gruesome murder of such a cute-looking mascot.

“Wh- are they dangerous?” she asks, taking a step back.

“No, just annoying!” Masaru snip as he grinds his shoe into Getouttahere-Kun’s stupid smiling face.

She hums, not necessarily disappointed, but confused.

Masaru squints as he looks up to her. “Wait, you didn’t pass by one of them?” he asks. “The halls were packed with these things.”

Her expression recovers back to a cool calm when she sees the look on his face. “Well, no. I took the roof access.”

“What?!”

She nods. “I start here from the bed and breakfast I was in. This building from that side is blocked, but the little shopping arcade next door connects right to the top. I used the roof hatch to get in,” she says, stepping back to the street to point out the totally obvious shape of a ceiling access against the skyline of the harbor.

Masaru scowls at the smugness of the changing landscape. He knew about those stairs ever since he was a kid, but he never once stopped to think there might be a way to just cross over from the roof.

Smartass city thinks it can just change every time? Masaru thinks as he scrapes the bottom of his shoe against the sidewalk.

“Well, that is a way to get up there,” he says as if it doesn’t bother him.

“Yeah, come on,” she says, stepping off to lead the way.

Masaru follows along, but not before giving an extra-close look to the Getaouttahere!-kun standee. He doesn’t like that little beady-eyed gaze and that wide, genuine smile.

I’m watching you… Masaru directs through his mind to the standee.

The trek through the lonesome shopping arcade is so easy that he almost groans. No thumb tacks. Didn’t even have to listen to that loser cardboard cutout a single time.

“See? Right here,” she says, kicking her boot into the door of the access.

He places his hands on his waist as he sighs. “…Yeah… right there.”

“What?” she asks, her gaze resharpening back to a knife point as she turns the handle to open the door. “You’re happy I’m showing you, right?”

“I mean, yeah, but I hate that…”

He grits his teeth as he suppresses the inclination to finish with “-I didn’t figure it out for myself.”

“I hate that I had to go through the hard way, is all. I’m just being childish, I guess.”

He reaches to take the door as she opens it, but she doesn’t enter. Still moving forward, he fails to correct his balance in time.

Masaru flinches at the feeling of her backside pressing against him as she blocks the door. She doesn’t pull away, but rather she brushes aside as she turns to look at him.

It’s true, they can’t touch each other’s bodies, but they can certainly feel each other through the medium of their clothes.

This is it. She’s going to kill me. He decides in his thoughts.

“I’m no worse than you,” she says. “I think I’m starting to realize that this whole thing is a trick… and the solution is to either sit like Kenji and figure it out yourself by chance, or have someone you can trust to talk it over with.” She directs his gaze on his face, which is presently struggling to keep straight at the sensation between his legs.

“You trust me, right?” she asks, her ice-cold glare searching his expression for his true intentions.

His jaw clamped with a pursed smile, he nods.

“Absolutely.”

She smiles and takes a half step forward, separating them. “I’m glad it’s mutual,” she explains, resetting her grip on her rifle. “I’m looking forward to finishing this out with you, Masaru.”

His gaze flares with courage. He’s never ever felt that part of a woman before, let alone a beautiful, smart, considerate lady like Valerie.

Something rises up within him, but it’s not that.

Something else rises up within him: a spirit of can-do aggression that pushes him to take point. It’s gotten him in trouble before, but for some reason he can’t help himself. All he can feel is this seemingly endless optimism about their situation.

“So, want to try an ambush this time?” Masaru asks.

Valerie, now at the back, hums. “So I think we should first ask what are they?” she says as they begin sneaking along the third floor hall.

“What, can’t even come up with a plan beforehand?” a voice asks from the dark room on the opposite side of the hall to the lit board room.