K SIDE:RED
Chapter 4 : Anna’s favorite was spinning coffee cups to death.  She’d get into a red cup, and spin i

Anna’s favorite was spinning coffee cups to death. 

She’d get into a red cup, and spin it around to the limits of Kamamoto’s power. After getting off, the guys were all groggy, but on top of her expressionless face, even though it was extremely hard to tell, her eyes were gleaming in glee. 

Anna, who had only left the impression of being doll-like, was actually enjoying herself, it seemed. Even when riding the jet coaster, Anna didn’t move a single eyelash and only had her eyes blaze. After riding aggressive rides one after another until almost sunset, they had Anna who was tired from playing rest while Yata and Kamamoto went to buy juice. When they came back, she was sitting beside the fountain. Spreading out the sleeves of her frilly clothes, which used lots of blue cloth, she looked like a doll someone had left behind with her hands quietly in her lap. 

Totsuka, who was standing in front of Anna, wasn’t smiling for once, and seemed to be paying attention to something around them. 

“Totsuka-san?” When Yata said something to him, Totsuka looked like he was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, sorry, thanks.” Totsuka smiled and took the juice Yata handed him.

“Here ya go.” Kamamoto gave Anna some blood orange juice. It’s orange juice with a color like tomato juice.

“Huh, what about Saruhiko?” Yata looked around, since he couldn’t see his friend.

“He wasn’t with you guys?”

Apparently, he had gotten away at some point. Yata clicked his tongue in exasperation.

“That guy, he went off on his own, didn’t he.”

He had always worked at his own pace and didn’t try to match up with others ever since they had met, but it seemed like it had been getting worse recently.

“Yata and Saru-kun are also a strange combination, huh.” Totsuka said this, smiling around his juice’s straw.

“Are we?”

“Yeah. The fact that you’re mismatched is the interesting part, though. You’ve been friends since middleschool, right?" 

Yata noisily sipped his cola while remembering the time around when he met Fus.h.i.+mi.

"Ah, yeah, I guess he wasn’t the type of person in my cla.s.s I’d normally become friends with. But somehow… I guess you could say we both kinda felt irritated at nothing in particular, or felt frustrated…”

Remembering the melancholy that nothing could be done about from those days, yet not being able to explain it well, Yata suddenly raised his eyes while muttering. Totsuka had a soft expression on his face as he looked at Yata like he was watching over him.

At that expression of Totsuka’s, Yata somehow started feeling uncomfortable. 

When Totsuka was horsing around with them, he was weirdly childish, or just didn’t make them feel like there was an age gap, but sometimes he’d make a face that would made one think he were more of an adult than their real age gap. Yata had just a little bit of trouble dealing with Totsuka in those moments. 

“…what?” When he asked that with a petulant look, Totsuka went ‘hm?’ and tilted his head.

“You were making a weird face just now.”

“'Weird’, that’s mean… I just was wondering if you felt the same way now.”

Now? Yata tilted his head, then immediately shook it.

“Since I joined Homura, not at all. Everyone messes around and laughs, and if something happens we just blow it away. If Mikoto-san is close by, then I don’t have any opening to feel frustrated, anyway.”

“I wonder if it’s the same for Saru-kun?”

In response to that unexpected question, Yata blinked once or twice.

“Eh?”

“I wonder if Saru-kun, who felt the same way as you, is also letting himself be saved by us?”

It was a question he’d never even thought of. It wasn’t something he had thought of, but he tried thinking about it, and came up with a simple answer.

“I dunno, but isn’t he?”

Being beside Suou, there wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t have their hearts moved and wouldn’t have their blood boil, Yata thought simply. Totsuka didn’t comment on Yata’s answer, just said 'I see’, and then put on a face like he was looking somewhere distant again.

“Hey, Totsuka-san, hasn’t your head been above the clouds several times since earlier? What’s up?”

“Hm? No, it’s nothing… shall we get going soon?” Saying that with the same expression, Totsuka threw his empty cup into a trashcan.

“Anna-chan, Kamamoto, soon… wh, whoa!” Looking over in Anna and Kamamoto’s direction, Totsuka leaned back a bit. Yata also raised his voice in a 'haah?’.

“…what are you doing?” Asked Totsuka as he tilted his head.

Kamamoto was lying on his back on the side of the fountain, and Anna was curled up on that big, round stomach like a kitten. 

“Welll, Anna-chan showed some interest in my stomach, so.”

“Why are you looking proud!?”

“Ah, do you wanna sit on it, too, Yata-san?”

“Of course I don’t!”

While Kamamoto, who looked like a lazy walrus, was going at it with Yata, Totsuka smiled at Anna who was using that walrus’s stomach as a bed.

“How is it? Kamamoto’s stomach.”

“…soft.”

“Good for you-. What do you wanna do? Rest here for a little bit longer? Or go play again? It’s already sunset, so if you’re tired we could also go home soon…”

“…go play.” Said Anna as she got up from Kamamoto’s stomach. 

Apparently, Anna was really relaxing and having fun today. Totsuka began to discuss with her which ride to go on next while smiling. While watching that, Yata noticed that the back of her skirt was dirty. Probably, when she had sat on the fountain, something from that had gotten on her. 

“Your b.u.t.t’s dirty.”

“Hey, Yata-saaaan! There’s got to be a different way to say that!”

Anna twisted her neck to look at the back of her skirt. Pursing her lips in a way that was slightly embarra.s.sed, she patted her skirt over and over. However, the place she was thumping was off, and the sandy spot wasn’t even half erased. 

Oh, right, this kid can’t see anything but red, Yata remembered. He wouldn’t be able to see a grey stain on grey, either. Totsuka casually reached out and brushed it off instead. Yata started.

“Wha, why are you touching her behind!”

“Eh, that’s how you saw it!?”

“Yata-saan… look, now Anna-chan’s gone and hid behind Totsuka-san.”

“Eh!? Why am I the one who seems like the lolicon here!?”

Yata turned red and glared at Totsuka and Kamamoto, before scowling and looking down at Anna.

“More importantly, why’re you wearing blue clothes?”

If you can’t see anything but red you ought to wear red, Yata thought simply. If you can’t see the color of your clothes, then you can’t see what’s on them, can you. Anna looked up at Yata. In the face of the young girl’s straightforward eyes, he wavered a bit.

“…I got them at the center.”

Yata frowned without thinking at the word 'center’, which only held suspicion and negative feelings for him. Moving his gaze to Totsuka and Kamamoto, they were also making an odd face and looking at Anna.

“Was the person who gave them to you the chief?” When Totsuka asked that gently, Anna nodded.

“He said they were a present… Honami also said they were cute.” While saying that, Anna’s expression, which have been relaxing in a fun way until then, became stiff. Her expressions were lacking, so it was at a level where you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t paying a lot of attention, but perhaps because they had been together since earlier, Yata was able to notice the change.

'I see’ went Totsuka in a light voice. Yata felt frustrated, like he had something stuck between his teeth, but Totsuka didn’t show even a hint of negative feelings.

“Well then, Anna-chan, what do you want to ride next? It’s about time for the park to close, so I guess the next one will be the last, but…”

“That.”

Anna pointed towards the sky without hesitation.

“I want to see the sunset from there.”

In response to the atmosphere of the amus.e.m.e.nt park, which seemed to be forcing those in it to be bright and happy, Fus.h.i.+mi had felt such tiredness that it made him feel ill, and he found an opening to get away from Anna and company. It seemed to be about close to closing time, so the guests were beginning to head home. While he thought about whether it would be okay for him to just go home already, Fus.h.i.+mi found an empty bench and practically threw himself down on it. 

As he looked up at the madder-red sky absentmindedly while his body felt tense, suddenly someone sat heavily down next to him. Looking over, Fus.h.i.+mi started. It was Suou. Ripping the seal off of a new box of cigarettes, he took one out and lit it. Shoot, Fus.h.i.+mi thought while fidgeting in response to feeling uncomfortable to the extreme. But, if he were to get up now, it’d be even more awkward.

“…what happened to those guys.” Suou said that in a way that implied he didn’t care while not looking at Fus.h.i.+mi.

“They should be… resting somewhere, I think…” When Fus.h.i.+mi answered awkwardly, Suou went 'mm’ in a way that still sounded like he didn’t care. Without any comment or complaint about how Fus.h.i.+mi had gone off on his own (not that he wanted to hear that from Suou, who had had zero intention of going along with this from the beginning), Suou just boredly blew some cigarette smoke.

A silence fell.

…this was awkward.

Fus.h.i.+mi tried to casually come up with an excuse to leave, while feeling irritated at the park’s bright background music as if to take things out on it. Suou, without minding Fus.h.i.+mi’s situation at all, and as if Fus.h.i.+mi wasn’t there at all, just coolly leaned back on the bench alone.

“…Mikoto-san, it’s surprising that you’d go along with something like this.” When he opened his mouth desperately, Suou went 'hmph’ and smiled in response.

“You too.”

“…if it’s an order from above, then it can’t be helped, so.” After he ended up talking back like a child, Fus.h.i.+mi clicked his tongue inwardly. Gone to an amus.e.m.e.nt park on an order. There wasn’t anything more stupid. And anyway, it wasn’t like Totsuka had given an order or anything. He had just smiled like usual and said 'Saru-kun, you come too’. Not that he had let Fus.h.i.+mi get a word in, but. Fus.h.i.+mi thought he hated that part of that person.

“Fus.h.i.+mi.” Suou called while letting ash fall from his cigarette. Fus.h.i.+mi looked up and at Suou, who was sitting next to him.

“Have you noticed?”

“Eh?” What, he couldn’t ask because his pride got in the way. As usual, Suou still wasn’t looking in Fus.h.i.+mi’s direction. Fus.h.i.+mi closed his mouth and payed attention to his surroundings. Narrowing his eyes behind his gla.s.ses, he fixedly paid attention to his surroundings- and realized with a start.

“Ah, King, Saru-kun.” At the same moment, a voice spoke to them. Looking over, he could see Totsuka and company coming down the road. Anna, letting her blue clothes flutter, ran over. She came up to the bench, then stopped short. In response to Anna, who was standing right at the edge of the s.p.a.ce and looking fixedly up at Suou with a serious face, Suou made an oddly uncomfortable face.

Totsuka, who caught up, smiled and looked at Suou.

“Come with us for the last one, at least.”

It was close to closing time. If they planned to continue playing, then this would probably be the last one. When Suou got up looking like it was a pain, Yata went over with a face like a dog wagging its tail. Feeling irritated by that, Fus.h.i.+mi clicked his tongue a little and stood up. Grabbing Yata’s collar, he dragged him.

“Whoa, what, Saru!”

“C'mere for a sec.”

When Fus.h.i.+mi dragged Yata away from the others, Totsuka tilted his head and looked at them.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t 'what’s wrong’ me.”

Fus.h.i.+mi turned his face halfway to glare at Totsuka. Totsuka smiled to change the subject as if saying 'you figured it out, huh’. Kamamoto looked like he didn’t get what was going on and looked back and forth between Suou and Fus.h.i.+mi in a troubled way, but in the end, as though to follow Yata who was being dragged away, he went with Fus.h.i.+mi and company.

“Closed Today”. In front of the ferris wheel which had that sign on it, Anna’s shoulders fell a little. 

Apparently, Anna had been quietly looking forward to seeing the sunset from the ferris wheel. Totsuka scratched his cheek in a troubled way because he hadn’t been able to grant what Anna wanted even though she hardly ever said she wanted anything. 

“Hmm, what should we do.”

“…it’s okay. It’s fine.” Anna reasonably shook her head. To that manner which made her seem like she was trying to swallow her disappointment, Totsuka looked around to try and find at least a place where one could see the sunset well. 

Suou, who had been yawning boredly a little ways off, let out a little sigh. His arm picked up Anna and held her on his hip.

“King?”

When Totsuka tilted his head, Suou’s other arm reached out and lifted him up like a rice sack.

“Wha, wai…”

And then Suou’s legs kicked the ground.

Their bodies floated up. The scenery flowed down all at once like a waterfall. With sleek movements like a feline beast, hardly making any noise at all, Suou’s body flew up into the air carrying Anna and Totsuka, and he landed on top of a gondola halfway up the ferris wheel. Right away, he jumped up again.

In not even two seconds, Totsuka and company were at the tallest point of the amus.e.m.e.nt part, the top of the ferris wheel. When Suou was just about to land, he carelessly threw Totsuka down onto the roof of the gondola. 

“Owowow… whoa.” Totsuka, who had landed on his behind on the roof, had Anna lowered onto him. 

“-Ah… Anna-chan, are you okay?” Said Totsuka as he held Anna on his lap so there was no chance of her falling. Even Anna looked surprised at the sudden happening. Totsuka smiled wryly.

“Do it after you give us a warning. Look, Anna-chan’s surprised." 

After blinking several times with a surprised face, Anna slowly moved her large eyes.

High.

Even among all the large rides like jet coasters, this ferris wheel was especially high. Around it was nothing, and one could see far away. The trees that surrounded the amus.e.m.e.nt park, and the pack of buildings beyond it. The setting sun was about to sink beyond all that. The red sun way dying the town the same color. The sky was the color of melted crimson, and the ground was also filled with red light.

Anna fixedly gazed at that scenery. Anna, who was watching the sunset without moving, had her hair stroked by the wind.

"Totsuka." 

Hearing his name and looking up, Totsuka saw that Suou was standing on top of the gondola with his hands in his pockets, and looking in a different direction from the sunset. Suou’s slightly narrowed eyes were looking at various places in the park as though to confirm something.

"Is this why you brought me out?”

Totsuka understood what Suou was saying and smiled wryly.

“It was Kusanagi-san’s idea, though.”

“Seems like we’ve been followed all day.”

“Since King kept his distance, I thought they might move, but… it turns out the other guys were surprisingly cautious, too.”

Anna looked up at their conversation. Totsuka met her eyes and smiled, but he didn’t explain anything, and looked back at Suou.

“There’s a lot of them, isn’t there.”

“…yeah, if it was just you guys, then even if YataFus.h.i.+mi were here, you might’ve been beaten by numbers.”

“Yeah. That’s why I had King be our insurance. Sorry.”

Suou finally looked at Totsuka and Anna. His eyes met Anna’s.

“Those guys, they’re suspecting that I’ll turn this brat into my clansman, aren’t they.”

“Probably.”

When Totsuka nodded, Anna seemed disturbed. Her expression didn’t change much, but he could tell clearly that her eyes showed a troubled waver. 

“Meaning they’ve got a reason why it’d be a problem if someone took this one.”

Suou took a step forward on top of the gondola’s roof. Right at the edge of the roof. He stood where the tips of his toes would be stepping on air.

“What are you going to do?”

“Scatter them. You were intending to make me do that anyway, right?”

When looked at in a scolding, exasperated way, Totsuka smiled wryly. 

They could feel that the other side was hiding something in relation to Anna. It was surely becoming a seed of nervousness for them that Anna was currently amongst the red clansmen. If the other side was carried away by that nervousness and tried to go out of their way to retrieve Anna, they could unashamedly fight back. 

They hadn’t gotten enough of an excuse to go that far, but just being surrounded by this amount of people was enough of an oddity. For Homura, it was a fine situation for them to pick a fight.

“You guys stay here.” When Suou said that and was about to jump down, Anna’s hand moved. She grabbed Suou’s sleeve.

“Mikoto.”

Her tone was no different from usual, and it was quiet and thin, but there was a deep uneasiness in it. Anna looked up at Suou and shook her head. He frowned.

“…it’ll be done right away.” Unusual for Suou, he said it like he was trying to lessen that unease, but Anna’s relying eyes didn’t change.

“Honami is…” Saying her aunt’s name, Anna closed her mouth again.

“Are you worried about her? Without you worrying, those guys won’t lay a hand on a civilian. There’s an agreement.” Even when Suou said that, Anna’s expression didn’t soften. Seeing that and understanding something, he clicked his tongue loudly. 

Suou took Anna’s small hand, and in a way that implied he was having trouble controlling his strength (it looked like he was seriously unsure about how much strength to use in order to not destroy it), and made her let go. She looked up at him helplessly. Without saying anything more, Suou signaled at Totsuka just once with his eyes and jumped. 

Suou landed on the ground.

Due to his landing from a ridiculous height, the ground trembled. Straightening up, he looked around. It seemed as though while he was on top of the ferris wheel, closing time had come. There were no civilian guests around. Or perhaps the blues had evacuated them. Either way, it was convenient for Suou. 

He closed his senses. Closing his normal senses as a human being, he opened something deeper. The world’s atmosphere changed. He directly felt his power as a king, that he usually kept closed up within himself and did his best to not pay attention to. 

Deep within his chest was the presence of a smoldering, magma-like flame. It smoldered and writhed, like it wanted to go wild on the outside even now. He pushed down a melting desire to loosen the bindings and let free the blames within his body. The flames in his chest let out a voice of objection as they were forced down. His temple ached. But, Suou smiled faintly.

His pupils opened, and from his body a torrent of light spilled out. As though called by Suou’s power, far above his head the sky twisted, and a red luminous body appeared. That luminous body started off as nothing but a speck of red light. That s.h.i.+ned dazzlingly, then explosively swelled. From that burst of intense light, a gigantic sword appeared.

…Sword of Damocles.

That was proof of a king, and it held the duty of disciplining the king. 

“What, is no one going to show themselves?”

The blue clansmen who had followed Anna still hid themselves, and not a single one responded to Suou’s taunt. It was a matter of course. There were no humans who would come right out after having a king’s power shown to them. But, just their presence vividly came across. A waver in the atmosphere that was as though they were intensely disturbed, and not sure whether they should run or not. 

Suou snorted once, and let loose a torrent of red power from his body. The earth shuddered with a rumble, and waves of red light spread out with him at the center.

Anna had her mouth hanging open on top of the ferris wheel, and she stared up at the gigantic sword that had appeared in front of her eyes.

“It’s the Sword of Damocles.” Totsuka said. Anna opened her eyes wide, and continued to stare at the blade. Anna’s eyes sparkled red with the reflection of Suou’s sword’s light. 

“It’s damaged.”

In response to Anna’s words, Totsuka smiled bitterly. As she had said, Suou’s Sword of Damocles was not taking a perfect form. The energy body in the shape of a sword was cracked in places.

The state of the Sword of Damocles was said to show the state of that king’s 'Weismann Value’. A Weismann value was the stability of that king’s power. Suou’s Weismann value was constantly unstable. 

“You see, King’s always in a state like he’s keeping a starving beast inside his own body, I think.” Totsuka said this as though whispering while he felt the heat from the Sword of Damocles on his skin. 

“That beast is thras.h.i.+ng around because it wants to get out. It wants flesh and blood. But, King won’t let it do that… the damage on that Sword of Damocles might be scars from that fight, I think.”

Anna looked from the sword to Totsuka. He smiled at her, and then looked down. 

“Though even if I say something like that, someone like me can’t understand.”

It’s not something someone other than a king could possibly understand. Below, Suou had just let loose his red-colored power. A red, hot aura. That came up from Suou’s body and spread out with fearsome force. It looked showy, but it had no attack power. But, for the blue clansmen surrounding him, it had a disturbing effect. 

The blue clansmen, who had spent a long time since they lost their king, scattered and ran away when they touched a fragment of a king’s power. The ones who had been hiding themselves appeared, some fell as though their knees had gone weak when swallowed up by Suou’s red aura, and some ran from the aura as it pressed at them. 

It was as though all the enemies had fled at a single snarl from Suou, who hadn’t even attacked. Looking at that, Anna quietly said,

“Is becoming a king something painful?”

In response to Anna’s question, Totsuka looked at her face.

“Anna-chan?”

With her usual expressionless face, like a soulless doll, Anna said,

“I’m going to become the blue king.”

“We’re surrounded?”

In response to Fus.h.i.+mi’s words, Yata frowned. Quickly looking around as though to search the area for something’s presence, Yata clicked his tongue.

“The blues who are after that kid, huh.” Yata said with an annoyed face. Fus.h.i.+mi pulled his chin in slightly.

“Probably.”

“Seriously. I wonder if it’ll turn into a fight.” Kamamoto said this while rolling his arm like a warm-up exercise. 

“Who knows. But, it’s probably for this that we got dragged all the way out here.”

When Fus.h.i.+mi said that without looking at Kamamoto, Yata clenched his fists.

“Alright! Let’s get it on!”

“Don’t rush.”

While looking over in an exasperated way, Fus.h.i.+mi got ready to move at any time. Probably, the reason why Totsuka had brought them was to be Anna’s bodyguard while she was apart from Suou. Move away from Suou and show an opening, then hit back when they were attacked. 

Fus.h.i.+mi clicked his tongue inwardly, thinking he didn’t like that. If that was the case, then they should’ve said so from the beginning. Well, in the case of simple-minded Yata, there’s no way he could hear that and then pretend there was nothing, but…

(Ah, and that, too.)

Figuring out Totsuka’s thoughts, Fus.h.i.+mi snorted. Even though he had a plan, separate from that, he had probably been thinking of something sickeningly sweet like wanting to simply have Anna enjoy herself. 

It was so stupid. 

Fus.h.i.+mi felt more irritated than was necessary, and put his fingers to his temple. It was the next moment. Suddenly, his whole body trembled. He opened his eyes wide and stiffened. What had a.s.saulted him was a powerful pressure close to instinct. It was a fear that directly went to his instincts, like he was being glared at by a huge beast at a close distance. 

Right afterwards, in the sunset sky, light was born.

Along with red light, the sky twisted, and from inside came a luminous body shaped like a sword.

“The Sword of… Damocles…” Said Fus.h.i.+mi in a faint voice. At the same time, from beneath the sword, an immense energy was born. A light holding a fearsome energy became a red pillar reaching to the sky, and that became red waves of light that spread as though to lick all over the insides of the park.

A wave of red aura went in front of Fus.h.i.+mi’s eyes. He couldn’t move. He was swallowed up by the hot red light and fell to his knees. Before he had realized it, Fus.h.i.+mi was kneeling down on top of the asphalt. His body was shuddering slightly. The red wave of aura had already vanished. It had no attack power and was simple a manifestation. It was just a show-of. Even though he knew that…

Fus.h.i.+mi’s body, in contrast to those thoughts, was completely afraid. Suou had simply roared to scatter the annoying rats scampering around. Despite that, Fus.h.i.+mi was afraid of that roar along with the rats and couldn’t stand.

“Awe…some.” Said Yata in a heated voice, as he stood in shock.

“Awesome! Mikoto-san really is great! For Mikoto-san, that was just like nothing, like he was just scaring them, right? Even then… even though it was just that…” Yata searched for words to use impatiently, with his cheeks red, as he grasped at his own chest. 

“It, makes my soul s.h.i.+ver.”

Fus.h.i.+mi, on his knees, looked up at Yata. In his head that had gotten very dull, he thought that oh, come to think of it, Yata is standing up properly. Even though he himself was so pathetically kneeling down, Yata was standing up with his eyes sparkling. 

“You okay?” Kamamoto asked and offered a hand as though to pull him up. Fus.h.i.+mi felt an unbearable shame at that hand. Even though this fatty called Yata 'Yata-san’ and respected him, he’d offer his hand from above to Fus.h.i.+mi who had joined Homura along with Yata.

Even though he was the one who had always pulled along Yata, who was stupid and simple-minded and always running around getting nowhere. Why was Yata able to stand now, while he was pathetically on his knees and getting a hand offered to him. 

Fus.h.i.+mi ignored Kamamoto and got up himself. 

…I’m going to become the blue king.

In response to Anna’s confession, Totsuka opened his eyes wide.

“What?”

After Suou’s manifestation, the Sword of Damocles vanished. Now, beneath a sky that was only dyed red in the west by the nearly fallen sun, and in the east by the night’s deep blue, Totsuka faced Anna. 

Anna’s blue skirt fluttered in the high place’s wind. Blue. That was a color Anna didn’t even know. At the moment, there was no blue king. That throne was open. And Strains were an existence called 'those who couldn’t become a king’. But why would Anna wish for something like that?

“Why would you be something like a king?”

“…because I can see the 'Slate’.”

'Slate’. That was the thing that chose 'Kings’. It was an object surrounded by a veil of mystery that had been found in Dresden and then carried to j.a.pan after the war.

The system which determines a king was still mostly unknown. But, if it were Anna’s clairvoyant powers- powers that allowed her to 'See’ all things, if she were able to directly access the 'Slate’, then maybe it would not be impossible to become a king. 

But.

“Is that what you want?”

Anna didn’t reply. In Totsuka’s mind, as though he were watching a film, he saw Suou until he became a king- as he became a king. 

“…you can’t do that, Anna-chan.” Totsuka slowly shook his head.

“If you don’t want to, you shouldn’t be something like a king.” The words said with Totsuka’s own mouth quietly p.r.i.c.ked at his chest. Anna looked fixedly at him. He looked straight back at those eyes, which seemed to see through everything.

With a thudding noise, the ferris wheel began to move. Looking, Yata, Fus.h.i.+mi, and Kamamoto were down at the bottom. It seemed like Kamamoto had moved the ferris wheel. Suou, who had scattered the blue clansmen, was leaning against the rails of the boarding area and smoking. 

Sitting on top of the gondola’s roof and holding Anna, within the slowly moving and lowering scenery, Totsuka opened his mouth.

“Anna-chan, that day, you tried to run away from home, didn’t you? Didn’t you want to escape?”

Meaning the time when Yata and Kamamoto had come in contact with the blue twins. Anna had tried to leave Honami’s home alone, carrying luggage. Anna clammed up like she had been scolded.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? You were right. If you think you want to run, you should run.”

“I can’t run.”

Anna shook her head. Her small body felt as though it were wrapped in conflict. 

“Why?" 

When he asked that gently, Anna fell into silence again. It was as though the Anna who surrounded herself with high walls and hadn’t responded when spoken to the day they had met at the bar had returned. Totsuka remembered her words from earlier when she had tried to hold Suou back. He slowly opened his mouth and asked,

"If you don’t go back to the center, will something bad happen to Honami-sensei?”

Anna’s eyes wavered.

“Anna-chan.”

When he called her name a bit strongly, Anna looked up. Tightening her lips, she firmly looked at Totsuka’s eyes and said,

“I’ll protect Honami.”

The young girl who was supposed to be protected said that with a face full of decision. Anna’s small hands gripped her blue skirt. 

“Today was fun.”

Saying that, Anna very slightly, to the point that one might think they were mistaken, smiled.

“So, it’s okay.”

What do you mean by 'so’. What’s 'okay’. Even if he wanted to ask, Anna’s words were completely rejecting the hand Totsuka and company tried to offer her.

Until the gondola reached the bottom, Anna would no longer open her mouth no matter what Totsuka said.

When the gondola Totsuka and Anna were on reached the bottom, Kamamoto stopped the ferris wheel. Totsuka picked Anna up in one arm and handed her over to Kamamoto below. Kamamoto took her and lowered her to the ground as though she were precious. 

When Totsuka jumped down from the roof, Suou was just on the phone. He was responding generically with stuff like 'yeah’ and 'got it’, then hung up.

“Kusanagi-san?”

When Totsuka asked, Suou pulled his chin in a little.

“It seems like she was just leaving, so I had him go ahead and take her into his protection just in case.”

There wasn’t any indication, but he could tell they were talking about Honami.

“Was Honami-sensei okay?”

“Yeah.” As Suou said that, he looked at Anna, who was surrounded by Kamamoto and Yata. Anna was spoken to by Kamamoto and replied shortly. Between that, she looked in Suou’s direction. When their eyes met, Suou very slightly nodded. It was something too short to be called a signal, but Anna sighed as though relieved. 

“…earlier, King asked if this is why I brought you out, right?”

Totsuka said in a stifled voice while looking in Anna’s direction. Suou raised one eyebrow slightly and looked to the side at Totsuka.

“Well, that’s certainly the case, but… but even if I didn’t have a plan, I would’ve dragged King along.”

Totsuka smiled looking at Suou, who looked questioning.

“Because Anna-chan had really wanted to play with King.”

“…why. It’s fine if you’re there, isn’t it.”

“I’m not enough.” Totsuka smiled and looked down at his own hand.

The scar from when he had touched Anna still vaguely remained on his fingers.

“That child likes strong people.”

“…what, is that supposed to mean.”

“It’s because you definitely won’t get hurt because of her.”

Totsuka thought that maybe, the reason why Anna was strongly attracted to Suou’s power at the same time as trying to avoid it, was because she felt like she wanted to rely on that strength. It looked like Anna had decided that she couldn’t depend on anyone. Forcing down the thought that she wanted to run away, she held a tragic determination.

…I’m going to become the blue king.

Totsuka made a serious face as he thought of Anna’s words from the top of the ferris wheel. In a small voice that wouldn’t reach her, he said,

“King. That child intends to become a king.”