You’re Right, They’ll Expel Me if I Run into the Store with a Weapon!! - Chapter 95

“…It’s cramped…here…”

“? The ninth rank?”

“For us… this place is too cramped… don’t you think?—Shiori Himeji”

“…Huh, you—”

“Such eyes, you’ve developed.”

Please let me know if there are any specific expressions or parts you would like further assistance with!

“I’m bored…”

I was just sitting there doing nothing…

No, I just couldn’t keep up with the situation…

“Really… what the heck is going on…”

Shiori was saying.

She had been calling Suzuko “the ninth rank.”

I couldn’t tell if it was a mishearing or a slip of the tongue.

So, I had no choice but to ask again.

“Suzuko is… no, no… but”

The scene of Shiori crawling on the floor and the fact that she had kicked something inside the building.

The sight of Suzuko who caused those, looked completely like that of a strong person.

“If that’s true… is it bad?”

Until now, I had been with a girl who could turn my brain into a pomegranate state, constantly nagging and complaining.

If she decided to, she could take my life at any moment.

“No… it must be a mistake…”

There was no choice but to escape reality.

If I admitted it, I’d be forced to vomit over my past.

Even now, something is rising up to my throat.

“Something to improve the mood”

I wanted something to change my feelings.

The first thing that caught my eye was a weapon I had purchased from Haruna.

“…one shot missing?”

There was only one bullet in the case.

There should have been two originally.

But checking the weapon itself quickly cleared up that question.

“There’s a bit of dirt… was it used?”

I realized that Suzuko had used it while I was asleep.

“But, what she used it for doesn’t matter right now”

I wanted to deal with the feeling tightening in my chest.

I wanted to handle the sensation of acid rising in my throat.

So, I wanted to force myself to do something.

“It shouldn’t be a problem”

It was a weapon I brought after all.

Suzuko said she would handle everything in this event alone.

So, she shouldn’t complain about how I use my own weapon.

“Let’s go with the fireworks”

Saying that, I pointed the Stinger missile diagonally upwards, looking out to the sea illuminated by the sun.

But that alone wasn’t satisfying enough.

So, I thought I might as well sing while firing it.

A song perfect for fireworks,

“Mmm… you were…”

THUD!!

“Ah—”

Suddenly, a booming noise that shook the air sounded from behind.

And what I saw was the rooftop of a building, from which debris and smoke were scattering.

“Faraway dreams—”

Unable to keep up with the situation, my mouth kept going, weaving phrases from memory.

And then I saw it.

“In the sky—”

The figure of a girl shooting up into the sky.

Her flowing brown long hair was unmistakable.

And it was unbelievable.

“Disappearing—”

Shiori Himeji looked like she was blasted away in an uppercut stance.

“Fireworks… eh?”

Finally, words reflecting the situation slipped out.

“Shiori?”

My eyelids widened greatly at the sight of the girl, who must have flown at least thirty meters.

It was impossible.

But if anyone could create this scene, there was only one person present.

And from the smoky rooftop, a shadow leaped into the sky.

“!? Suzuko”

It was the girl I had imagined.

Suzuko closed in on the blasted Shiori in mid-air, and upon arrival,

With a resounding boom,

Her right fist, breaking the air, gouged through Shiori’s torso.

THUD!!

Once again, smoke and debris were scattered from the rooftop.

Suzuko dived in, and the sounds of continued destruction echoed.

“…………………………………………yeah”

For now, I should change how I interact with Suzuko…

Hey, a drop of water on my cheek…

It’s not supposed to be raining…

Strange…

In the corridor covered in iron, the girls were creating a thunderous noise.

Shiori was energized by the conflict.

Suzuko was the same.

“Damn!? Indeed, just as you said!”

Shiori, kicking off the wall to deliver a knee strike, versus Suzuko, swinging a stripped iron door down.

“Ah!?”

“Guh!? This place is too small for our battle!”

Both girls took a hit and rolled on the floor.

“The ranking doesn’t matter in our fight! Tactics and techniques are irrelevant! If we think about that, the surroundings will collapse first!”

Shiori, who blew up the floor, leaped towards Suzuko at high speed.

Suzuko, in response, gouged her fist into a thin iron wall, peeled it off, and threw it as a projectile.

“Right!? Isn’t that so, Suzuko Uchimoriya!?”

Shiori deflected the thrown wall with one hand and closed in on Suzuko, then delivered a side kick to her right rib, but even as she took the hit, Suzuko grabbed both of Shiori’s arms and slammed her against the wall.

“Which will come first!? The decision of our match or the collapse of this place!? Well, which will it be!!”

Shiori, bending her knees, grabbed Suzuko’s head with both hands and smashed her own skull against it.

The impact forced Suzuko to release her arms.

Both placed their hands on their foreheads and took some distance.

But for the girls who had enhanced their bodies, this distance could be closed in a blink of an eye.

“You’ve been silent since a while, what’s wrong?”

“…Shiori.”

“What is it, Suzuko?”

The two, who had stopped calling each other by their rank numbers and started using their names, were now verbally engaged.

Suzuko, who had been silent since the fight started, finally expressed her feelings.

“I regretted it… But there’s a very simple way to erase that…”

“Regret? At a time like this?”

“Yes. It’s something I can say now… because I am”

“!?”

What Shiori saw in her eyes were two pairs of guns.

Suzuko, shifting from hand-to-hand combat to gunfight, pointed the guns at Shiori.

“I’ll erase it here…!”

“I won’t let you do that!”

The next to embed her fist into the iron wall was Shiori.

While making a dull noise, she stretched the wall like a curtain, creating a barrier towards Suzuko.

“You wouldn’t want to shift your ability now, would you!?”

“”

“Once you’ve raised human enhancement to this level, it’s more convenient than abilities, right!?”

Shiori released a punch at the stretched barrier, sending sparks flying and blasting Suzuko away.

However, for Suzuko, who was displaying her human enhancement, it was easy to deflect the iron barrier.

“Honestly, enhancing the body this way is quicker! And—”

“!?”

“It gets even easier if you use weapons!!”

Shiori held a pair of black guns in both hands.

She aimed them, narrowly dodged the rebounded wall, and closed in on Suzuko, who also held a pair of guns.

“!”

“!”

THUD!!

It was a hand-to-hand combat while holding guns.

The girls, each holding two guns, fought a high-speed battle, making sure not to let the gun barrels point at themselves.

“Ugh!?—!!”

Shiori was still suffering from the damage to her arms, shoulders, and hands she had sustained earlier.

Despite that, she was almost on par with the enhanced Suzuko.

“!?—!!”

Suzuko lacked as much practical experience as Shiori, and all her actions depended on her human enhancements.

Her accelerated vision and body movements anticipated Shiori’s moves and overcame everything in an instant.

Sparks scattered across walls and floors, and stray bullets randomly traced lines along the corridor.

A whirlwind of human enhancement and gunfire.

A fight only those in the ranks could reach.

Their movements had already reached a realm beyond the comprehension and response of ordinary people.

“We’re not done yet!!”

“!!”

The girls had not yet reached their limits.

Continuous activation is essential for further enhancement of human enhancement.

Like an engine, they gradually strengthen their bodies and increase their speed.

However, there was a caveat.

“Ughhh!?”

“There’s no chance. Your bones and muscles are screaming.”

Shiori’s arms that blocked Suzuko’s high kick screamed in pain.

That pain reminded Shiori of what she had done minutes ago.

Suzuko articulated that.

“With the first bullet, you activated an emergency enhancement override. It was a suicidal act that ignored the proper sequence.”

“Damn!?”

“The body cannot withstand sudden, intense human enhancement. Without taking time and steps, the body will collapse under the strain. And your arms and… your eyesight has worsened, hasn’t it?”

Suzuko had seen through Shiori’s current condition.

As these truths unfolded, a look of urgency appeared on Shiori’s face.

“But it can’t be helped. This weapon was designed to defeat us, the high-rankers.”

Suzuko emphasized the weapon she held in her hand.

Despite engaging in superhuman combat repeatedly, no death verdict was issued from the collar chokers. This was because their brains and bodies did not recognize the injuries as fatal.

However, attacks with weapons were different.

“Even if we’re slammed against walls or thrown to the floor, our enhanced bodies can take it. But we can’t escape the verdict from the fake mass.”

In other words, even though the high-rankers possessed bodies durable enough to withstand severe impacts, if a bullet hit a vital spot and was judged as incapacitating, it meant defeat.

This was almost the only way outsiders could defeat high-rankers in events.

After the tumult quieted and they distanced themselves, they faced each other, guns aimed at their archenemies, and talked.

“I suggested you retire from the battle before… but I won’t do it anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just as I said. I will defeat you. And then, surely—”

Her breath slightly quickened,

“I will take everything of Hiroki’s.”

These words, filled with intense emotion, echoed around.

…

…

What is she saying?

Defeat me? And then what? Everything of Hiroki’s?

I don’t understand.

It doesn’t make sense.

I DON’T UNDERSTAND.

After taking everything from me, what does she plan to take from Hiroki?

With a vast lake stretching out behind him and a building full of windows visible before him, he pressed his back against the wall, sitting cross-legged and lost in thought.

“I’m bored… no, what should I even do now?”

He truly didn’t understand.

What, you ask? Everything since Shiori arrived here.

“I can’t keep up. I’m also lacking information… hey, Koalako-chan.”

He found himself talking to the stuffed koala he was holding. Watching the failed fireworks and seeing Shiori being launched into the air had left him like this.

As for why he called the stuffed toy “Koalako-chan,” well, it’s because… it somehow smells like a female-specific shampoo, so he assumed it was female… not that he sniffed it. It’s just that when he received it from Shiori, the scent just wafted into his nose.

So, he is not some weirdo who goes around smelling stuffed toys he’s been entrusted with.

“I’m not really into this kind of thing…”

But looking at it, he started to find it cute. Perhaps it was stress-induced fear? He felt an inexplicable urge to squeeze the stuffed toy tightly.

“Hey, Koalako-chan. You’re a keepsake from Shiori, but… is that okay?”

He felt pathetic for asking permission from a stuffed toy, but somehow, he could say these things when he was alone.

Let’s shout it out in his heart! He just wants to fluff and squeeze it a little!

“Hey, Koalako-chan. I think now is the chance.”

Now is the chance! With the two of them fighting on board the ship, if he missed this moment, there would be no other.

“It might hurt a bit, but if you don’t resist, it will be over quickly.”

The fabric should be fine. Even if he squeezed it a bit too firmly, it wouldn’t tear. It would be his moment of respite, just for a few seconds.

“I’ll make it quick, so don’t think about anything. Just accept it.”

He was gifting himself a moment of madness.

Maybe it’s okay to pour his fervent emotions into the stuffed toy.

Or maybe, asking the stuffed toy for permission in the first place was the wrong approach.

“Right… I never needed Koalako-chan’s permission from the start.”

It’s absurd. He was foolish to seek permission from an inanimate object. Probably just confused.

…But still, when he feels the scent and the texture of the fabric, his feelings waver a bit.

Is it really okay to do this? A sense of betrayal towards Shiori tugs at him.

…But maybe it’s okay to be swept away just this once.

Let’s change the approach a bit and let himself be carried away. Forget about the guilt.

For instance…

“Koalako-chan, do you realize what I’m pressing against your head right now? — This big, hard, black rod-shaped thing…”

…Wait? That sounded a bit lewd. No, it’s just a gun.

He was just going with a threatening vibe.

“I hope you won’t resist. That way, it won’t hurt.”

He lightly pressed the gun’s muzzle against the stuffed toy’s cheek.

Let’s shout it out inside his heart.

SO SOFT!!!

What is this squishy elasticity? Is this really what stuffed toys feel like? What kind of stuffed toys had he known before?

With the pleasant scent, this softness!

He just wants to rub his cheek against it! He wants to experience the soft and squishy sensation!

It’s okay, right?

It’s okay!

It’s just for a little while, so it’s fine!

Please let him enjoy this cute Koalako-chan’s body just a bit!

“Okay, here goes, Koalako-chan…”

Alright, let’s do this!

No need to hold back anymore!

Because of those two, his sanity is on the brink of collapse!

He can’t go on unless he ravages Koalako-chan’s body!

“Okay, here we go…”

Suddenly, the walls of the building exploded, scattering debris and smoke.

Crash! Thud! Squelch! The sounds of rumbling.

Shiori burst out of the smoke and, like a failed acrobat, tumbled and bounced across the damp floor.

Thump…

Shiori’s head landed on his crossed legs, creating an impromptu lap pillow.

Clearly, for anyone watching, it was obvious.

Somehow, he now finds himself…

Using Shiori as a lap pillow.