Chapter 2: "The Beast Within"

• Mita Santaro

Episode 1: "A Toast!"

Yo Kuronaka
"I was worried for a moment there that we wouldn't make it, but I'm glad we got to take Kazuma down."

Minami Oi
"Not just that, but we also freed the members of the Shinagawa Tribe... I almost feel like I'm dreaming, I'm so happy."

Yutaka Gotanda
"Likewise."

Having their fight with Kazuma Ichinose come to a successful end, the group returned to the Shinagawa Princess Hotel and decided to have a small victory celebration.
They lined a table in the lounge with various delicacies, declaring a toast to their victory—with carbonated juice, of course. That was something everyone had been clear about.

Tsuki Iroha
"We avenged you, Manager!"

Yo Kuronaka
"We were only able to take down Kazuma because of you... Thank you so much. For everything."

Tsuruko Semba
"I will never forget your kindness. We wouldn't have had somewhere to sleep if you hadn't allowed us to stay in these beautifully furnished rooms..."

They all voiced their gratitude toward the hotel's manager, who'd fallen in her opposition to Kazuma, goal yet unachieved.
A smiling picture of the manager was then set up in her honor.
Perhaps she was celebrating their victory alongside them from all the way up in heaven.

Hyakuichitaro Senju
"Kazuma was one tough bastard. He refused to give up even at the very end."

Hyakuichitaro looked on solemnly as he spoke.
Kazuma has not only been tough, but terrifying.
He'd even escaped death from the governing rules by being turned into a robot.
He's pushed everyone to their limits during their XB match, and even himself, to the point he finally ran out of battery and lay immobile.

Tsuki Iroha
"""But he's all donezo now! So we can just sit back and relax
*yawn* ...I'm even getting a lil' sleepy from the relief."""

Tsuki's big yawn was a surprise to no one.
The group had had very little repose, engaged in fights back to back since they'd arrived. But now...

Q
"While Shinagawa City is now free, I wouldn't let ourselves let our guards down. It's not just us out here on the battlefield.
I believe the NINE network is back online now. Perhaps we should reach out to the other members to confirm their situation?"

Yo Kuronaka
"Right. Let me do it."

Much as they wanted, they couldn't bask in the afterglow of victory forever.
Who knew just what the other half of their team was going through right now? Were they engaged in battle, perhaps?
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Yo quickly typed a message to their NINE group chat.

NINE (Yo Kuronaka)
"Hey, guys. We took down one of the Numbers on an XB match here in Shinagawa City.
What's the status on you guys' end? What's the situation in the other cities?"

Right as Yo hit send, the 'Message Read' notification appeared right beneath his message.

His phone beeped, a swift response appearing right on his screen.

NINE (Kazuki Aoyama)
"Congratulations on taking Shinagawa City back. I'd love to tell you all to get some much deserved rest...
...but I'm afraid we might not be awarded that luxury."

Kazuki's message was rather unsettling.
Tensions rose among the group once they read it.

NINE (Q)
"Did something happen? Where are you now?"

NINE (Kazuki Aoyama)
"In Minato City, with Koishi.
We found Sui."

Yo Kuronaka
"Huh?!"

Yo's heart began to race upon seeing Sui's name.
Though his gaze laid upon his phone, his mind could only recall back that horrible moment.
The image of Sui, bloodied after being hit by a laser on the chest, was seared into his mind. Scalding.

Yo Kuronaka
"He... He's alive?"

Sui was alive.
They'd see each other again.
Much as Yo always believed in that, he didn't expect for that day to come so soon.

NINE (Tsuki Iroha)
"Give us the deets!!! Now!!!!!!"

Tsuki was the first to answer the text, the amount of exclamation marks correlating to her personal investment in the matter.
Both her and Yo held their breaths as they waited for Kazuki's response.

NINE (Kazuki Aoyama)
"To summarize, first we got to Minato City, and then we ��������..."

Some portions of Kazuki's message were blocked out, looking corrupted.
Had he made a mistake when typing it out?

NINE (Yo Kuronaka)
"Kazuki? Is something wrong? Where's Sui?"

Yo's follow-up message was quick, and perhaps a little desperate.
But instead of getting an answer back from Kazuki, what they got was...

NINE (System Message)
"The previous message was flagged and as such some of its content was hidden."

Tsuki Iroha
"F-Flagged?"

After the system message popped up on their screens, the group was locked out, no longer being able to send messages through NINE.

Minami Oi
"I've never seen such a message before..."

Yutaka Gotanda
"NINE is supposed to have state of the art message encryption. It shouldn't be possible for the system itself to be able to censor messages like this..."

Both Minami and Yutaka looked at each other, confused.
Then...

Zero
"Spoiler patrol here! No spoilers allowed!"

A creepy dog plush appeared right before them.
It was none other than the mascot of Yo's bitter enemy—Zero.

Zero
"Geez, that was a close one! I mean, who wants to go through a story if they already know how it's gonna go?! Thankfully, I caught it in time! Now you get to actually experience it all yourselves instead of getting spoiled! Now, git!"

Zero appeared there only briefly, a thoroughly anti-spoiler proclamation being given before he swiftly removed himself from the situation yet again.
Everyone was speechless.
It made sense now, realizing that Zero was the one behind that system message.
As omniscient and omnipotent as Zero was, being the game master, it'd be easy for him to inspect and censor messages.

Eiji Todoroki
"Hmph. Censorship is, after all, an effective method for a ruler to control its population, thus effectively prohibiting free speech. And I don't particularly enjoy people intruding on my privacy."

While he whispered, the look on Eiji's face was deeply unpleasant.
And Yo was inclined to agree with him.
He'd been so, so close to getting more information on Sui...
The silver lining, however, was that if Zero saw it necessary to censor the message, then that meant that the information was highly valuable.

Yo Kuronaka
"There's no way Zero would've censored Kazuki's message if his information was wrong. So then...Sui HAS to be alive, right?"

Tsuki Iroha
"Yeah! Yeah, you've gotta be right! *sigh* ...What a relief.
He's alive. Sui's alive, just like me!"

Tsuki exploded with joy, jumping up and down triumphantly, a light trace of tears clouding her eyes.
The rest of the group seemed much more wary, however. They didn't share in Tsuki's mirth, clear worry etched in their faces.

Q
"Now, let's not get carried away. Zero could still be toying with us."

Tsuruko Semba
"Much as I hate to rain on your parade, I agree. We need to proceed carefully."

Tsuruko and Q both urged Tsuki to be careful.

Tsuki Iroha
"Yaaay! Sui's alive! Woohoo!!!"

Yet the warning fell on deaf ears, her joy too strong to be dampened by anyone's words of warning.
Perhaps it would be for the best to let her enjoy the moment, at least, and let some relief wash over her.

Minami Oi
"Mr. Sui Yakumo is Mr. Kuronaka and Ms. Iroha's childhood friend, correct?"

Yutaka Gotanda
"He was attacked by Space Envoy 3. But...he was seen in Minato City?"

Tsuki Iroha
"Yeah! Isn't that weird? But we've got to get to Minato City ASAP!"

Tsuki seemed ready to bolt all the way to Minato City at the drop of a hat, already warming up by running in place, preparing herself for a long sprint.

Minami Oi
"Zero has banned travel between cities, though."

Yo Kuronaka
"Wait, what?! He did?"

Minami Oi
"I've heard that you're attacked by Space Envoy 3's laser the moment you step outside the city."

That was rather surprising information.
Hard as it was to believe that moving between cities was impossible, it made sense the more they thought about it.
These death games would be impossible to conduct without blocking the citizens' escape routes by preventing travel.

Yo Kuronaka
"Hang on a second. Everyone here has been traveling between cities, right? Otherwise this resistance couldn't be happening. There has to be another way, then."

Tsuruko Semba
"Right you are! Smart observation there."

Q
"There's an underground passage that Zero doesn't know about. We've been using it to get around."

Yutaka Gotanda
"An underground path? It might also be the perfect path for business..."

Yutaka and Minami's glasses shone in unison.
Regardless of their objective, now they knew there should be no hesitation to travel.

Yo Kuronaka
"What are we waiting for, then? Let's head to Minato City and find Sui!"

Yo knew there was no time to lose, and if he was to leave for Minato City, he had to do it now.

Hyakuichitaro Senju
"I'm comin' with ya! Not like I wanted to stay in Shinagawa City anyway."

Tsuruko Semba
"Please allow me to accompany you as well!"

Q
"Allow me as well. We need to meet up with Kazuki."

Eiji Todoroki
"I suppose I could join you."

Tsuki Iroha
"Thank you, everyone! Now let's go rescue Sui!"

Everyone's readiness to join Yo made him feel a beautiful warmth within.
The battle with Kazuma had strengthened and steeled the Trash Tribe's bonds.

Yo Kuronaka
"By the way, what's Minato City like? I still can't remember much, so..."

Tsuki Iroha
"I don't really know myself. But I've heard a little about the Minato Tribe."

Tsuruko Semba
"I'd love to tell you more about them! ...But I don't really know enough about them to give you much of use..."

If Tsuruko, the wealth of information that she was, knew nothing about it, then it was safe to say that the information on Minato City was scarce.
They were wary about heading there without much information. However...

Yutaka Gotanda
"Oi and I have traveled to Minato City on business before. Several times, in fact."

Minami Oi
"I don't imagine its layout has changed much, so we're confident what information we have remains accurate."

Yutaka Gotanda
"Would you like us to serve as your guides?
This offer is our way to thank you all for helping us save Shinagawa City."

That was a surprise. Yo had expected Yutaka and Minami to want to stay in Shinagawa City.

Minami Oi
"Of course, we don't mean to impose. We'd rather stay behind than get in your way."

Tsuki Iroha
"No way! It'd be a relief, actually, if you came with us! Right, Yo?"

Yo Kuronaka
"You took the words out of my mouth. There's no one else I'd rather rely on."

They'd chosen to come with them despite their positions as company heads and the possibility of lost profits. That fact alone brought Yo more happiness than he thought it would. And still...

Yo Kuronaka
"But what about Shinagawa City?"

Now with Kazuma gone, there was never more work to be done in Shinagawa City, a vacuum being left behind meant confusion and panic could abound.
Would it really be okay for them to leave? The two people that Shinagawa City needed most?

Minami Oi
"We appreciate your concern, but do not worry.
We will entrust the city to those members who came to their senses during our earlier XB match."

Yutaka Gotanda
"Shinagawa Tribe's future is in the hands of the next generation.
I know that, even without Oi and myself here, they are all more than capable of overseeing things."

Yo Kuronaka
"That's a relief. We really appreciate you coming with us."

Q
"Well, if everything is settled, then let's go."

Yo Kuronaka
"Right. Where do we find the underground path?"

Tsuruko Semba
"Onward to Shinagawa's subway ticket gate! Oh, and by the by, I have a very interesting story about Shinagawa's underground. You guys want to hear?"

Tsuki Iroha
"Save it for later! Let's go, go, GO!"

Tsuki swiftly interrupted Tsuruko's display of knowledge in an eager announcement of their departure.
She blasted right out of the hotel's entrance, running off into the city.

Yutaka Gotanda
"Wait! There's no need to leave! You can access the subway from the hotel's tenth floor basement!"

Minami Oi
"Ms. Iroha, please wait! Where are you going?!"

Yutaka and Minami left the hotel as well in hot pursuit.

Hyakuichitaro Senju
"Hey, Yo? Do you think Tsuki's gonna be okay?"

Yo Kuronaka
"We can talk later! We need to go after her!"

Once they caught Tsuki and brought her back to the hotel, they headed down to the hotel's tenth floor basement through the elevator and onto Shinagawa's subway station.