Part 94: A spark of hope ignites a hopeless situation

Video: Moeka Pulls the Trigger

(I usually cut the music in videos to integrate them easier with the music links, but this is a longer video covering multiple songs, so I've kept the music enabled.)



Warm liquid splashes onto my face. Mayuri's delicate, small body falls toward me. I catch it. Mayuri's body is like a marionette with its strings cut. Her head and limbs droop, powerless. My nose is assaulted by the smell of gunpowder.

And then, the smell of blood.



Daru screams while holding his head, falling to his knees on the spot. That voice brings me to my senses. In my arms. Mayuri breathes her dying breaths...



"...Mayuri?"

"No... nooo...!"





Mayuri died.
Mayuri's face was stained red.
That stain soaks into my hands, too.
Very warm.
Mayuri's body moves not a twitch.



"You have no more warnings. If you resist, we will kill you too."

It reaches my ears.
I hear that voice.
But I don't hear those words.
What is this?
What the hell is this?
Some kind of joke?
Some kind of prank?



It's a lie, right?
Isn't it a lie?
I only... lose my words.
Lose my feelings.
I shake Mayuri's shoulder.
Mayuri?
Hey, wake up, Mayuri.
If you sleep here, you'll catch a cold.
If you're sleepy, why not stay overnight?
Or should I see you off to Ikebukuro?

Before Daru joined us, Mayuri and I would spend hours in the lab lazing around, and then take the train all the way back to Ikebukuro. All of the smiles Mayuri smiled spin round and round in my head. If I look away, it'll disappear. I'm worried I won't see it.



"Even without Mayushii as a hostage."

It's a lie, right? Say it's a lie. Give me your "Ehehe..." laugh. Give me your strange "Tutturu!" greeting. It's a lie. It has to be a lie. LieLieLieLieLieLieLieLieLieLieLieLieLieLie.



My brain is stained red.





I gently lay the motionless Mayuri to rest on the floor.

I stand up. I try to plop down and roll to approach Moeka.

"Okabe...!"

She grabs my arm from behind.

"You can't!"

"Let me go, let me go!"

"You can't, you can't... they'll kill you..."

Moeka's gun is now pointed to my brow. Her finger is already on the trigger.

"You gonna kill me too?!"

"If you resist."

"Okabe, please, for now, just obey... okay? At this rate, they'll kill you too..."

I shake off Kurisu's shaking hand.



I cannot forgive this woman.

Just like she mercilessly killed Mayuri,



"Noo!"

I see a small shadow soar. It strikes Moeka’s gun hand--



Tremendous pain from my ear. My feet shake again. But I'm not dead.

Was I saved?



At her feet, a small stone.





She plunges into yet another man's chest. She lunges forth with a sharp elbow strike. The attackers turn their guns towards her, but she hinders them by flinging the fainted man at them. She slides to the feet of the man at the rear, tripping him, and with smooth, flowing motions, she drives her knee into the man's face as he falls.

"Why that...?!"

The remaining dark-skinned crew cut guy tries to shoot his automatic rifle, but before he can, Suzuha snatches a stunned attacker's gun and shoots him. Blood spurts out of the man's hand.

Without stopping, Suzuha delivers a soaring soccer ball kick to the squatting crew cut guy's jaw.

"That's enough."



Moeka thrusts her gun at Suzuha's nose after she had instantly mowed down the five burly men. Suzuha points her gun to Moeka's neck in response.

A staredown. Silence returns.

"...Who are you?"

"42."

Suzuha murmurs a cryptic number. She glances at me.

"TV."

What's with her broken speech?



(Anime episode 12 cleared.)