"I'm in!" Haruko answered.
For such a stupid reason…
Now, on this day, this afternoon, this moment, everything depended on what happened in the match between him and his father. After Kamon's strongly worded challenge, they had decided upon a survival game.
A survival game… otherwise known as Airsoft or a BB gun war. Surely, everyone knows what a survival game is—a game that came to Japan in the early '80s from America, wherein the participants armed themselves with toy air guns and split into two teams to battle it out.
Kamon had been really into the sport when it first came over to Japan, and he was the reason everyone was fully dressed up in goggles, boots, and gloves today. He himself was completely covered from head to toe in camouflage clothing.
Apparently, Kamon held a very strict aesthetic with regards to toys. For example, he had a fair collection of air guns, but he made fun of those who collected model guns. (By way of explanation to those not in the know: The difference between air guns and model guns is the ability to fire bullets. Air guns have the capability to shoot out little plastic balls called BBs, whereas model guns are things that exist only to be looked at; though very realistic-looking, they have no working parts.)
According to Kamon, an air gun was a "real toy," but a model gun was a "fake gun." It was his policy that function was more important than appearance when it came to the toys.
Naota thought this was idiotic. Whether a real toy or a fake gun, they both were toys when it came down to it, and not something an adult should be into.
He thought of himself as grown up, but Naota eventually had agreed to participate in this survival game per Kamon's conditions because Naota didn't entirely dislike this kind of game himself.
It would be helpful to note that the rules of a survival game are not totally fixed; rather, the rules of combat are dependent on the participant and the region. The ones that Kamon had selected that day were standard rules used in a match up called Center Flag, a simple game wherein the participants divided into two teams, and the first team to capture the flag in the center of the field would win.
Naota and Haruko were the blue team, and Canti and Kamon were the opposing red team.
Kamon had objected to the pairing, but Haruko wasn't going to concede. It seemed she had wanted it to be dramatic, with Naota protecting her from being reclaimed by Kamon.
And so, Haruko and Naota wore blue headbands, Canti and Kamon wore red ones, and they fought. Only, Naota was covering his head with the hood of his parka, considering that as of the day before, a horn was growing there—one much different from all the others. Even when Naota pushed on it, it wouldn't go back in.
The horn this time very much resembled the hammer of a pistol.
"Hurry and go!" Haruko shouted, kicking Naota in the back.
"Stop it!"
Pushed into the open, Naota quickly tried to hide himself in the grass again, but Haruko wasn't going to allow that. She pushed him out again.
"Don't use me as a human shield."
"Then, was that kiss just a game?"
Mouth to mouth… Haruko's lips…
"What's the matter, Naota?" Kamon called from somewhere. "Be a man! Come out and fight me face-to-face!"
Bullets came flying at Naota, narrowly missing him.
In a survival game, there is a strict rule whereupon if an enemy bullet hits you, you have to declare it out loud and then sit out for the rest of the game as a "corpse." In other words, you say, "dead," and then fall to the ground without another word. It is a terrifying game.
"Come on, what's the matter, son?" Kamon called again. "If you run away scared, then your dad is going to take Haruko from you."
"Oh no, Takkun." Her voice very helpless, Haruko clung to Naota.
"Cut it out, already!" But even as Naota said that, he looked kind of happy.
Their bodies close, he was surrounded by the scent of Haruko again—the scent of Haruko, who was in love with him.
Nothing I can do, I guess, I'll have to protect her.
"Wait here."
"Oh, you're so amazing, Takkun."
Gripping the gun, he carefully and quickly scuttled toward the clump of grass where Kamon's voice was coming from, keeping his upper body down low. He felt pretty confident Naota had this one in the bag.
Kamon had lost by calling out and revealing his position. If Naota could use the element of surprise, he would win. He already had the big advantage of stealth thanks to his smaller body, but he couldn't let his guard down, as Canti could be waiting somewhere to ambush him.
He saw a shadow coming from the other side of the tuft of grass—camouflage gear. It was Kamon, and it didn't look like he had noticed Naota yet.
I've got you! Naota leapt into the grass to catch his father from behind. Without a moment's hesitation, he pulled the trigger of his Ingram. Four shots, five shots, bullets that would hit their target without fail…
However, what Naota had shot was a decoy. It was a log dummy dressed in camouflage gear.
"Too easy!" A speaker from next to the dummy suddenly screamed. "You're just too easy, Naota."
Sensing the danger, Naota tried to flee—but suddenly, the ground underneath his feet disappeared. A hole! It was a trap that Kamon had set. He'd probably prepared it the night before.
Naota was barely able to cling to the edge of the pit and heave himself out from the deep, well-like, which even an adult would find difficult to get out of. The bottom of the hole was dark, the sun unable to reach it.
He went this far…?
Kamon loved survival games, and he was obsessed with Haruko. For these two reasons, he was not treating this game as a laughing matter.
Right then, enemy bullets came flying toward Naota, who jumped feverishly back into the thicket.
Unbeknownst to the players, there was someone secretly watching the entire survival game through a scope from a car parked on top of the bridge… a young woman.
When the woman finally caught Canti in her scope, she took out a large military transceiver and flicked the switch.
"Target sight confirmed," she reported. "It's blue. Repeat: blue."
"So, it isn't red," confirmed a male voice that sounded as if it could be her superior. It was the voice of Commander Amarao.
The woman who was watching Canti through the scope was an officer of the Department of Interstellar Immigration. She was one of the operators who'd been in the monitor room beside Amarao at the time of the falling satellite bomb incident.
She had a childlike face, but she was in her twenties. The dark, freckled woman was called Kitsurubami.
"They're just playing a game. Looks pretty stupid. I think I can do this myself." Having given that report to her superior, Kitsurubami got down off the car and pulled out some equipment. She looked pretty happy to do so.
The truth was that Kitsurubami had long wished for this kind of front-line work. This was her ideal job. What she removed from her car was an oversized, long-barreled, black firearm—a Degtyaryov sniper rifle, which made a perfect addition to this battle.
Hers, however, was no toy.
Chapter 2
Situated on the top of the hill, Medical Mechanica had decided to show its true form and take action.
Canti's escape combined with the intervention of the brotherhood had MM more alarmed than it had ever been before. Recently, there had even been signs that MM was going to ignore the treaty and try to capture Canti, because the robot threatened planetary security. Under normal circumstances, MM facilities—the resident factory—would just observe, but to MM, Canti's capture was more important than observing a treaty.