At last

…What?

No, really… What?

I felt as if I had been smashed in the head by a hammer.

I looked at Mishima's face, trying to see whether she was playing a prank on me or something… However, her eyes were completely serious.

"I see," I nodded and then went silent. I was about to turn away and walk out of the building. However, while I was standing on the stairs, I heard a voice behind me:

"Wait…"

I turned and gazed at Mishima. For some reason, she was looking at me but avoiding my gaze:

"What's your name, Gaijin?" her voice was rough.

"Kyle, or Kiryu. Whatever," I answered and walked outside.

It was deep into the night by that time. I took a breath of fresh night air and then heard a worried, childish voice call me from the side.

"Sir Kiryu!" I turned in the direction of the voice and saw a little girl, who was staring at me with anxiety in her large black eyes:

"Are… Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm alright."

Just a terrible headache, but otherwise I'm completely healthy…

"That's good," the girl sighed and made an awkward smile. Then, after a moment, she turned toward her brother who had still been standing a little further away. Shirogane shivered, feeling the gaze of his sister. He approached me and said:

"About that… Sorry…"

"We are very sorry!" said Yuki and bowed to me.

"No problems, we are teammates, after all. We have to help each other," I said while trying to lit a bright smile on my face.

Shirogane winced.

I really want to punch that bastard.

After that, Shirogane told us what exactly was the deal with his betrayal.

Mishima's gang really was a nationalistic one; however, they weren't as harsh as you would expect them to be. Most of the time, they were simply showering the people that angered them with rotten eggs. Still a crime, but not a terrible one.

However, on the evening when they decided to assault Aoi's place, something went wrong.

They decided to attack that restaurant because they felt that the owner was mocking their culture.

...Ha.

Anyway, they were going to simply dirty the place and leave a note, however, at some point, Shirogane's team on that mission went wild. They decided to burglarize the place. The guy himself was against it. They fought; Shirogane lost and was taken to the headquarters of his gang and proclaimed a traitor.

Therefore, he was ordered to be executed.

After Shirogane told us all that stuff, Yuki started talking. She asked us to forgive her brother because there was a reason for his nationalism… Turns about, many years ago the father of that family cheated on the mother and run away from home with a foreign… Man.

"Man?.."

"Yes, it… It seems dad was found of men also…" asked the girl in an awkward voice.

"Well," I said. "Can happen to everyone."

Shirogane became pale...

After that, the girl forced a promise out of her brother to confess everything to Aoi's grandfather and ask for his forgiveness. The guy, though reluctantly, agreed.

Now I could only hope that this kind old man won't turn this idiot to the police.

After we talked over all that stuff, we started walking toward the exit of this place. Along the way, I suddenly saw the familiar girl, Ringo. She was sitting by the steel cross, tied by a rope.

Seems like it was the punishment she had received for cheating during the fight, however, her hands were free and she was playing with her phone….

It was very quiet on the construction site. Many people were staring at Murakami and me, but no one was saying anything, simply following us with their gazes. I saw Ryunosuke among the crowd. His stare was especially confused, but it wasn't me who he had been looking at.

It was Yuki.

Suddenly, with a jolt, I remembered that he saw her in the appearance of a grown-up man.

That's bad…

I gulped.

At least I hope that he wasn't staring at her when she took off her glasses.

A few moments later, we left the construction site and entered the desolate streets.

I sighed. At last, we reached the end of this Ark. I could start counting my points, but before that, there was one thing that I still needed to do.

I gazed at Murakami who was carrying her bike, which was twisted in several places.

"Thanks. For help, I mean."

"He-he. We are friends after all," she answered me with a smile.

"Yeah," that's true.

"By the way… I have a birthday soon!" said Murakami while looking at the stars.

"Congratulations."

"In just two months!"

…That isn't soon.

"What are you gonna give me?" she asked with a sly smile.

"What do you want?"

"A large strawberry cheesecake."

"Okay," surprisingly it wasn't too unreasonable.

"And a bike!"

"…"

If I can afford one…