“Really? I gotta go by myself?”

  “That’s right… You know it’s not gonna work otherwise.” Miyuki stood near the exit of the alley with her hands behind her back. “It’s okay, I’ll be waiting here for you to return.”

  “Is the lead here?” I looked at her over my shoulder. She was sending me off on my own. Down this empty alley… It’s pretty suspicious…

  “I can’t tell you that. Sorry…”

  Deep breaths… I don’t need to be wary of her… I knew what I was getting myself into… Both Katja and Carol were attacked… I have to do whatever it takes to stop that. “Alright… See you soon…”

  I turned my back on her and walked away. Just me, by myself… Tiny me… Between tall buildings… *Vooosh…* I could hear the sound of something cutting through the air, but I ignored it and kept walking. Is that what’s gonna lead me to my clue? If I’m aware of it, I won’t find anything, right? *Voooooosh!* The sound kept getting closer and closer. From above…?

  *VOOOOOOSH!* Now! When the sound was at its loudest, I took a quick step forward. A sharp wind hit the back of my clothes. *Craaack~*

  “What was that?!” I turned around and saw a stake stabbing into the concrete. No… That’s not a stake… It’s some kind of giant mosquito! A monster?! “Miyuki?”

  Before I decided what I should do, I had to confirm she was safe. I can see her peeking out from behind some boxes. That’s good… I can fight without worrying…

  The mosquito monster pulled back its stinger and flew in place. I reached for my waist and extended my sword. “My heart’s still pumping from the encounter with Ayumu… This will be a breeze.”

  From the looks of it, I think the mosquito will die in a single strike… What a shame… It won’t even make for a good warm-up. “That’s too bad!”

  Burst Dash! The gap closed in an instant, and I casually swung my sword upwards. *Wooosh…* “Oh…” The sword cut through nothing but air. The mosquito nimbly flew back and avoided my blade before lunging forward in retaliation.

  I shifted my torso sideway, and the mosquito flew right by. “Well… When it comes to dodging, I’m pretty good myself.”

  I doubt the mosquito could comprehend me, but it immediately followed up with another attack. And I dodged. Did I strike a nerve? Either way, I should stop messing around. Slash Flurry! A barrage of slashes quickly made work of it. “Or not…” The monster actually managed to dodge every single swing. “No way… It’s that fast?”

  The momentum from all the dodges carried over to the next lunge, forcing me into a narrow dodge. Its huge stinger passed close to my neck and made my heart pound harder. I- I’m not wearing my dress today… If I get hit, it’s really gonna hurt…

  “I take back what I said… Looks like this won’t be as easy as I thought…” How am I gonna deal with this creature?

  I took slow steps forward, but the mosquito quickly put distance between us… Is it creating space for another attack? What if I were to meet its attack head-on? How would it dodge then?

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  The monsters picked up more and more speed and lunged straight at me yet again. That’s it… “Come…” Any moment now… “Parrying Strike!” I swung my sword to meet the stinger, but… “It’s faster?!” I couldn’t move my sword in time, and it was by pure luck that attack barely scraped me. The stinger stabbed into a nearby building, and the mosquito quickly pulled it back.

  “Damn… That was even faster than before…” I’m not completely outclassed, but letting it build up speed is a mistake…

  Agility Burst! Slash Flurry! I chased it around while constantly swinging my sword, forcing the monster into slower, less dangerous attacks. If I keep this up, I might get lucky and land a hit. Probably not. I’ll have to figure out something else soon…

  But swinging so wildly left me exposed, and after a while… “Guhh!” Even though its movements were slowing down, a moment of carelessness allowed it to sting me. “Eeeeekk! Gross! Get off!”

  The stinger was buried in the forearm holding the sword. It was painful and gross, and I could feel my blood being sucked. Gross gross gross gross! I frantically shook my arm, and it finally let go… “Ughh… What now? Am I gonna get some weird disease? Is it going to itch?”

  VISS Driver, help me out here… A few windows quickly opened in front of me. In terms of HP, it didn’t do that much damage. Status effects…? Whew… Nothing. I’m just stuck with this gross feeling. Great… “You’ll pay for this…”

  Slash Flurry! While nothing had really happened to me, the same couldn’t be said for this disgusting creature. Dodge dodge dodge, lunge! Even though the monster was slowing down before, sucking my blood reinvigorated it and brought back its original speed. “No… It’s even faster now!”

  Makes things more complicated… But at least I’ve learned one thing… I can actually tire it out if I try, so all I need to do is… Agility Burst! Slash Flurry! Burst Dash! Butterfly’s Wings! All I have to do is tire it out. And give chase!

  I ran around the alley chasing the mosquito left and right, dodging its attacks while missing hundreds of my own. It was rough at first while it was still invigorated. I held nothing back and dodged everything this time. If I get stung again, it’s back to square one. I can’t let that happen.

  “There!” After some minutes of this, his speed dropped to a manageable level. My attacks were getting closer and closer until… “Dammit! That still missed!?” The mosquito dodged upwards to escape my reach. Nice try… “Wall Artist!”

  Dodged. Again. It’s retreating up even more… “That’s not gonna save you!”

  I jumped from wall to wall, chasing the mosquito with slash after slash. It kept escaping up and up and up until it reached the open sky. “No more walls…”

  What now? Isn’t it going to escape if I can’t finish it? It slowed down so much… Just a little more and I’ll reach… “Heart Piercer!”

  I thrust my sword so fast that I got the extra lift needed. The sword pierced the mosquito, and it went limp after squirming. “Finally… As annoying as a real mosquito…”

  The entire city was visible around me before I quickly started falling. “And… *tap* All done.” A height of 5 or 6 stories was nothing to me at this point.

  “You did it.” Miyuki joined me as the body fell to the floor. “Ughh… Gross! It’s even grosser up close! No wonder you were acting like that…”

  “Right? The worst was when I got stung and my blood got-”

  The body of the monster started glowing, then disappeared. I see… It was one of those…

  “Did the monster turn into this?” Miyuki crouched and picked a makeup brush off the floor.

  “Yeah… It’s the other way around, but I think so…” I crouched next to her. “Was this the clue you had for me?”

  “It was… If I told you, you would have kept your guard up, and the mosquito wouldn’t have attacked.” She extended her hand and passed me the brush. “Does this help?”

  “Thanks.” I looked at the brush. “I’m not sure…”

  “Sorry, I thought it’d be more useful.” Miyuki and I stood up. “Hmmm… I’m trying to remember anything else that could help, but… Nope… This was the only vision about this.”

  “Ahahaha… It’s okay… It’s not your fault.” I tapped her shoulder. “It’s another clue. Whether it’s helpful or not, I’ll have to check with the others later. We might notice something once we look at it together.”

  “That’s nice then. I’m glad I could help.”

  Miyuki showed me a smile, and we decided to call it a day.

  …

  Next morning, I stopped by the House early to discuss things with others. Everyone was there for a change, and we sat at the dining table while the morning news played on the television in the background.

  “Three Records authorities still baffled over the sculpture which disappeared four days ago. While authorities immediately discarded the possibility of a heist, so many days without a lead are giving rise to theories about a so-called perfect crime. To clear the confusion, we’re here at the mall with a representative to ask about…”

  “Sit down, Narumi! Seriously, can’t you stay still for five minutes?”

  “Oww, I get it, Carol! you can stop pinching me now…” Narumi yawned. “I actually love staying still. You know that, right? But you can’t lie down after eating. You’ll get fat. Did no one ever tell you that?”

  “Shut up, all the fat goes to your tits, why the fuck do you care?”

  “Perhaps that’s what it means for a girl to be favored by the gods.” Hecate looked at me as if waiting for me to agree. “I’d make more pastries if I had her fortune.”

  “You like sweets that much? Now I know what to get you if I ever want to give you a gift…” Then again, goth-loli dresses and cake go surprisingly well together. “I could have figured that out on my own, though.”

  “Hey!” Hecate covered her belly in a hurry, uncharacteristically flustered. “What’s that supposed to mean? I- it’s not that bad… Is it…?”

  “Wait wait wait! You look perfectly fine! I didn’t mean it like that at all! How do I say it…”

  “You’re all so energetic first thing in the morning…” Katja shook her head with an amused smile. “Don’t get distracted, Iroha. Didn’t you want to show us something?”

  “Right… I want you to see this.”