Fumika Noda, Pt. 2

“Are you seriously planning on leaving us and going to rescue Section Eight?”

The three members of “Uzattoki” nodded in reply.

“But why?! It’s too dangerous to go back now! Even if you manage to meet up with them, no one in their group’s capable of fighting! That’s basically a suicide mission!”

I couldn’t help raising my voice.

“It’s the same even if we stay here, Fumika.”

“Huh?”

Shoko addressed me while looking at Mirai.

“Mirai’s skill is clairvoyance. That’s how we found out. Even if we stay here, the three of us will die.”

“Everything that lives is designed to end. Oh, how the beautiful die young.”

Mirai clasped her hands as though in prayer and gazed up at the sky.

I wasn’t sure how reliable her predictions were, but it didn’t seem like they were lying.

“I-in that case, will you survive if you join up with Section Eight?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not really.”

Itsuko wagged her finger and butted in.

Ugh. Even in this situation, she still manages to be annoying. I was once again reminded of how much I disliked Itsuko.

“There are more important things than whether we make it out alive or not! We just decided to change our priorities!”

“Booom!”

Mirai tacked on another random sound effect to Itsuko’s impassioned speech.

“Wh-what do you mean by that?”

“It simply means that we wanna be with the person we love when we die-...wah! Mmm, nghhh!”

Shoko cut Itsuko off by clamping a hand over her mouth.

I noticed with bewilderment that Shoko’s face had turned bright red.

“You and your big mouth!”

“Indeed.”

Even Mirai, who usually wasn’t expressive, was blushing furiously.

“Th-that’s the reason you’re leaving?!”

“Could there be any better reason?! Don’t underestimate the power of love!”

Itsuko, who’d managed to free herself from Shoko’s grasp, started jabbering away again.

“I refuse to die a virgin and without confessing my love! I wanna declare my love to my crush and have sex with them before I die! Agh!”

“Bloody hell, Itsuko, shut your mouth.”

Itsuko curled up into a ball upon receiving a swift kick from Shoko.

“You each have a crush in Section Eight?”

“Y-yeah. Although it really isn’t funny that we all ended up falling for the same person.”

Shoko said, before staring off into the distance.

They’re serious. They’ve decided to prioritize their love life at a time like this.

I tried to recall the guys in Section Eight.

Which one was their crush, I wondered: Ryo or Saburo? I guess there was also a one-in-a-million chance that it could be Futoshi.

“Right. We’ll be going then. Let us know if you change your mind, Fumika.”

“Wait, you’re leaving already?”

The three of them had already packed their stuff.

“Here, hold on to this.”

Itsuko handed me a tiny insect robot shaped like a firefly.

“If ya feel like joining us, just pass your message on to it. We’ll come and pick you up.”

“But you can’t just come and go...”

That easily. The rest of my sentence died in my throat.

Shoko’s body was levitating, and she was holding Itsuko and Mirai on each side.

“My skill allows me to get rid of gravity. I can easily carry up to two people while flying. I might be able to carry up to four people if I try hard enough, but I’d rather not push my luck.”

Having said that, Shoko started floating higher and higher.

“See ya! Take care of yourself, Fumika!”

By the time Itsuko bid farewell, the three of them were already out of reach.

“H-hey! Wait up!”

I’m the same as you guys. My crush is in Section Eight, too. So is my best friend.

Even as my thoughts churned in anguish, I was unable to ask them to take me with them.

“No time to wait. Once we’ve made up our minds, we act.”

Leaving me with those words, Shoko shot off into the sky.

Just like that, Yayoi and I were left behind in this grassy plain surrounded by walls.

All I could do was see off the members of “Uzattoki” as they disappeared into the night.