The Amphisbaena by Gakuto Mikumo Page A

for takeoff. Yukina’s entire body froze at the increasingly forceful engine sounds and the shaking of the fuselage.
    Seeing how Yukina had already lost her senses, Kojou silently grasped her shaking hands.
    “…S-senpai?”
    “Ahh, sorry. I thought you might relax more if I was holding your hands. You didn’t want me to?”
    “I have said no such thing…!”
    Yukina spoke in a hasty-seeming tone as her quivering hands grasped Kojou’s hand back. Kojou sighed an exasperated sigh as he gazed out the window.
    The plane immediately left Itogami Island; it was blue ocean as far as the eye could see. He could very roughly tell their direction by the angle of the sun, but he no longer had any way to know where they actually were whatsoever. The aircraft itself seemed to be running smoothly enough, but the fuselage of the old-style propeller plane was more rickety than he’d expected; Kojou became concerned whether they’d ever make it back. Perhaps Yukina’s unease was contagious.
    “…I wonder if the research project Kanase’s dad is working on is really related to the Masked…” Kojou murmured to himself as if trying to distract his own mind. He wasn’t all that worried about Kirishima overhearing them from the front seat inside such a noisy aircraft.
    “Yes…I think it is highly likely,” Yukina replied with a grave look.
    It was a natural conclusion. With those runes of light rising from all over Kanon’s monstrous form, it was extremely likely Kanon had undergone some kind of ritual to transform her flesh and blood.
    High-level ritual sorcery like that required an organization, plus someone who could actually perform the ritual on Kanon herself. Kensei Kanase, a sorcerous engineer for a major corporation, as well as Kanon’s adoptive father, definitely fit the profile.
    “So he altered his own daughter into a monster like that and made her kill her own kind…?”
    Kojou made a rude click of his tongue as he muttered. However, Yukina made an even more austere face as she shook her head.
    “You probably have the order backward.”
    “Ah?”
    “Kensei Kanase didn’t alter his own daughter, but rather…”
    “…You mean…he adopted Kanase so he could do this to her…!” The altogether horrible hypothesis colored Kojou’s field of vision with rage.
    If that orphaned girl, having finally found a family of her own, knew that her father saw her only as raw material for an experiment…
    Kojou could no longer even imagine the despair Kanon would face in that moment.
    Then, Yukina made what seemed like a frail, self-deprecating smile as she lowered her eyes.
    “I might well have a lot in common with Kanase. That’s why…” The few words that Yukina spoke finally made Kojou realize the truth of how she felt.
    Certainly, there was a lot of overlap between Kanon now and when he’d first met Yukina, raised as a Sword Shaman. As far as Yukina was concerned, one wrong step and it could have been her being used as a guinea pig in Kanon’s place. That was why Yukina had invoked the name of the Lion King Agency at Magus Craft Incorporated so they could meet Kensei Kanase: She was desperate in her own way to save Kanon.
    “Last night…Kanase saved us, didn’t she…?”
    Recalling the taste of deadly combat he’d tasted on top of the cell tower, Kojou sought affirmation in a subdued voice. Yukina made a small gasp, lifted her face, and squeezed Kojou’s hand more strongly.
    “Yes.”
    As she nodded firmly, Yukina’s eyes said:
And that’s why this time, I want to save her
. Kojou felt the same way about that. In the end, that was reason enough for Kojou to save Kanon.
    But as if mocking their mutual resolve, the airplane suddenly shook hard and began heading down.
    “Hey, newlyweds. Sorry to interrupt your lovey-dovey chitchat, but we’re landing.”
    As he spoke, Kirishima pointed to a small island floating in the middle of the sea.
    It was an island shaped like a half-moon with green forest all