Bang!
Two bullets sliced through the smoke.
Of course, Wakamo hadn't expected a single grenade to incapacitate Yukino. She had already moved. Rather than further provoking her opponent and giving away her position, Wakamo decided it was better to escape the second bridge and wage a guerrilla war. Her eyes widened behind her mask.
Just as she spotted the cluster mine thrown on the bridge floor spitting out its submunitions, she fired through the smoke. A heavy gunshot echoed, followed by the simultaneous detonation of the bomblets, tearing the second bridge apart.
Realizing there was nothing to be gained by staying, Wakamo threw herself toward the exterior exit she had memorized.
Though the successive explosions left her ears ringing, Yukino didn't miss the distinct click-clack of Wakamo's heels. It was all she needed to pursue her without a moment's hesitation.
Bursting out onto the deck, Wakamo immediately leaped and clung to the side of a stacked container. With nimble movements, she scrambled up and perched on top of it.
"My, my. Should you really be setting off such dangerous toys on the bridge? Thanks to you, this cargo ship's auto-navigation system must be a complete wreck."
"I don't want to hear that from a criminal who threw the first grenade," Yukino retorted.
The two fox girls silently aimed their guns at each other. The battle would resume the instant one of them pulled the trigger, but Yukino knew she was at a disadvantage. Wakamo had plenty of open space to maneuver, while Yukino had little room to operate, even with cover nearby.
Most importantly, the sun had already set. If Wakamo decided to flee across the tops of the containers, Yukino could easily lose her in the darkness. If Wakamo truly had the escape route she'd mentioned earlier, this whole operation could fall apart.
Of course, if she didn't, damaging the second bridge had effectively blocked Wakamo's escape. They could simply hunt her down… but the uncertainty was the problem.
"...Hmph."
Wakamo was the first to turn her back.
Yukino's heart raced.
[This is FOX 1. The Fox of Calamity has escaped onto the stacked containers. I am in immediate pursuit. Requesting support. FOX 4, move to the bridge, retrieve FOX 3, and find a sniping position.]
Though not as agile as Wakamo, Yukino pulled herself onto the container without much difficulty. She switched on her weapon light and chased after her.
THWACK!
"Kgh…!"
Despite the blinding light, Wakamo's shot was terrifyingly accurate, striking Yukino's left shoulder. The sheer power of it made me understand how Kurumi could have been knocked out cold from a single headshot while off-guard.
[This is FOX 2, I've engaged the Fox of Calamity. FOX 4 is still en route to the bridge.]
The midnight chase had begun. A rare spectacle of foxes hunting a fox.
Kosaka Wakamo.
A student from Hyakkiyako Alliance Academy, she was a heinous criminal suspended in her first year. Known throughout Kivotos as the "Fox of Calamity," her infamy was rivaled by few.
Unlike other terrorist groups who only crossed the line when their passions were interfered with or insulted, Wakamo, with her ornate fox mask, committed terror for terror's sake. That's why I had no reason to doubt she was behind this incident. For Wakamo, one of the "Seven Prisoners" who was thoroughly incarcerated before the General Student Council President's disappearance, anything short of murder seemed plausible.
Of course, she must have her reasons. In Kivotos, there are no villains, at least among the students, without a story. They are merely products of their circumstances. After all, the main theme of Blue Archive is students being guided onto the right path by an adult—Sensei.
Though, some students remain unfixable even then…
Well, that's not what's important right now.
As Wakamo emerged into the light cast by Niko's flashlight, I fired a shot as a casual greeting. She dodged it gracefully, the bayonet on her rifle looking annoyingly sharp.
"Oh, dear. To think I'd run into the most dangerous fox of all. And you don't even look tired after dealing with all those mercenaries…"
"Hey there, Wakamo-chan! Can't say I'm happy to see you."
"?"
Not being able to see her expression behind the mask was a real pain. I felt the same way when I first faced Arius Squad.
"Just thought I'd ask, but you wouldn't consider surrendering peacefully, would you?"
"Surrendering, you say?" Wakamo murmured. In an instant, she whipped her gun around and fired.
Thwack!
"...The light?!"
"The answer is, of course, no. Surrendering without a fight is hardly my style," Wakamo declared, her choice as tactical as it was dramatic. She turned and began to run.
Her plan was clear: eliminate Niko's weapon light, our only source of illumination, and vanish into the darkness.
"Whoa. She's ridiculously fast."
"FOX 1, we've lost the Fox of Calamity."
[Continue pursuit… No, regroup at your position first. FOX 4, hold off on finding a sniping position. Once you reach the first bridge, prioritize finding the Fox of Calamity on the CCTV.]
[FOX 4, roger.]
I considered chasing after the vanished Wakamo myself, but she was a rat in a trap. Rushing things and messing up is the most frustrating mistake you can make, so it was best to follow Yukino's calm judgment.
I plopped down on a container and looked up at the night sky. Niko came and sat beside me.
"I'm suddenly craving some inarizushi."
"...Out of nowhere?"
"Well, it's past dinnertime. And it's not like I can make inarizushi in the middle of an operation."
...Ah, now I'm hungry too.
How unfair. Why did I have to miss a guaranteed-to-be-epic match just to spend a cold, hungry night out on the ocean? I took out my phone, tempted to check the results, but I stopped myself. Finding out that way was absolutely unacceptable.
"Feels like it's going to be a long night… Should we round up the others and grab a late dinner? I bet there are enough ingredients to make inarizushi."
"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea."
Of course, she was joking.
While waiting for Yukino to join us, Niko and I made small talk. We didn't chat for long, but it was enough to reaffirm my feeling that I didn't want to see kids like these get involved in a coup.
The radio crackled with a constant stream of orders even after Yukino arrived.
[This is FOX 4… I have eyes on the Fox of Calamity entering the ship's interior. Also, the useless Kurumi is awake now.]
[What? Who are you calling useless, Otogi?! How was I supposed to do anything when even the squad leader didn't see it coming?]
[FOX 3, if you've recovered, check the status of the second bridge with FOX 4. If the navigation systems are damaged from the firefight, wake the crew and have them prioritize repairs.]
Since it was Yukino who had decided there was no need to rush, it seemed her plan was to stabilize the situation before resuming the operation. Niko and Otogi had already gone around freeing the ship's students and asking them to secure the incapacitated mercenaries. If Wakamo had no way out, time was on our side. I had to believe that even backed into a corner, she wouldn't detonate the bombs she'd supposedly planted on the ship.
After Otogi reported that the captain and crew had regained consciousness, Yukino sat down in front of Niko and me. She laid out a piece of paper and shone a flashlight on it.
It was a diagram of the Nereus's interior.
"There are only two stairways leading from the interior to the deck. To push in from there and corner the Fox of Calamity without giving her an escape route to the deck, someone will have to stay in the first bridge and provide continuous positional briefings."
"Can't we just have the Nereus's captain do that?"
"...We can't rule out the possibility of betrayal. The captain must have known the Fox of Calamity planted bombs on the ship. The mere existence of those bombs means we can't blindly trust anyone on this vessel. That's my assessment."
"Hmm. Seems a bit paranoid to me, but I'll trust your judgment, Yukino-chan."
"Otogi will remain in the first bridge. The four of us will enter the ship's interior. We'll maintain two-person teams."
Having made her decision, Yukino placed her finger on the diagram.
"Ultimately, she'll be forced into the lower levels of the hull. We'll give her no room to escape and then confront her. We can't gamble with the lives of the thousand-plus people on this ship… In the end, our only option is negotiation."
Yukino bit her lip in frustration. I didn't like the situation either, but the threat of the bombs tied our hands. From Wakamo's perspective, it was a damn brilliant move.
For us, it was nothing short of checkmate.
In Kivotos, where even a single death is rare, the potential for hundreds of people to be sent to a watery grave was a weight far too heavy for anyone here to bear. I couldn't dare object to Yukino's decision based on my flimsy faith in the 'original characters'.
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