Part Four: Hot on the Trail

"Fuck," Anemachi said, clutching her leg, "That thing did a number on me."

"Here," Suisei said, putting her hand towards the wound as a strange light began to emanate from it.

"Healing magic?" Anemachi questioned, wincing, "I thought you preferred weaponry over magic…"

"You never know when it'll come in handy," Suisei said, not breaking her focus, "An ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure. In this case, it's quite literal."

Anemachi chuckled, "I'm glad to see you've matured. If only just a little bit."

...

"Rise and shine, Nozomi," Tamashi tried to wake Nozomi up, "We've got a Mirror to investigate."

'Ugh,' Nozomi thought, yawning, 'Fine. Let's go.'

Walking towards the Cover Corporation offices, he overheard two boys talking to each other.

"Now that you mention it, yeah," the first one said, "I wonder why they haven't been streaming recently."

"Cover Corp. will probably make an official statement soon," the second one said, pushing up his glasses, "I've missed them."

"I hear ya," the first one said, "Let's hope they're alright."

...

Nozomi walked into the meeting room, finding YAGOO in the center, as always, as well as Roboco, Ayame, Risu, and the wolf girl from yesterday. She had quite a pained expression on her face.

"Go up to her, man," Tamashi told Nozomi.

'Huh? Why?' Nozomi asked.

"Can you not read women? Just do it," Tamashi commanded.

'If you say so,' Nozomi agreed, walking up to her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Nozomi asked.

"Fine, but, uh," she stammered before bowing, "I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

"Uh, it's fine, really!" Nozomi assured her, waving his hands.

"But I hurt you, and the rest of my friends…" the wolf girl explained, "Can I really call them my friends anymore after all I've done to them?"

"Don't say things like that," Nozomi said sternly, "You weren't yourself. You had no control over your body. It's okay, I promise."

"I…" she said, looking around at the other three girls and noticing their nodding heads, "Alright."

"Good," Nozomi said, "I'm Ito Nozomi. You?"

"O-oh, we haven't formally met," she said, bowing, "I'm Ookami Mio. It's nice to meet you, Nozomi-kun."

"Yeah, as to you," Nozomi smiled.

"Oh yeah!" Mio said, putting her hand on her palm as if remembering something, "Would it be okay if I went with you today?"

"That's okay with me, but only if you're feeling up to it," Nozomi said.

Mio nodded, and the party of five looked at YAGOO for confirmation. He grinned, prompting Nozomi to unsheathe his sword, opening a wormhole. The four walked in, while YAGOO looked away.

"I know you mean well, Thanatos," YAGOO said to himself, "But could you act with your brain rather than your heart for once?"

...

The four found themselves atop the snowy peaks where they fought Mio. She appeared quite downcast, likely recalling this being the place she met her Dark Echo.

"Hey, it's okay, Mio-senpai," Risu said, hugging the wolf girl.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, smiling, "Now, let's go."

'Anywhere in mind?' Nozomi asked his Echo.

"Not really, to be honest. Just work on getting down the mountain, maybe we'll find something," he admitted.

'Works for me,' Nozomi thought, looking at his party.

"Let's climb down and check things out for today," Nozomi told them, "We don't have much of a plan for today."

They agreed, as the five made their way down the bitter cold summit. The group found themselves needing to take frequent breaks to catch their breath, but in time they found themselves at the foot. They noticed a small cabin nearby.

'Should we check it out?' Nozomi asked Tamashi.

"May as well," Tamashi said, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

'True,' Nozomi agreed, as he made his way towards the door. Right when he put his hand on the knob, however, the sounds of scurrying could be heard.

SMASH!

A massive trident came barreling through the door. Nozomi jumped back, surprised.

"Who's there?!" a female voice interrogated.

Just then, the head of a blonde girl with blue eyes and a detective's cap could be seen peeking out of a window, noticing the four girls standing behind Nozomi.

"Don't worry!" a different female voice said, "It's our senpai!"

"What, huh?!" the first voice gasped, as the door began to open. It revealed a short girl with light-blue hair wearing a sort of shark hoodie. Next to her was the girl that looked out the window, who was wearing a brown coat and a red tie. Around her neck was a stethoscope, and on her left thigh was a syringe.

"Amelia-chan! Gura-chan!" Roboco said, grinning, "I'm glad you two are okay!"

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" Gura said, smirking and closing her eyes, "More importantly, who's this guy?"

"Oh, I'm-" he was cut off by the sounds of snarling. Looking around, he noticed a group of cougar-like Malice. "Let's do this later, yeah?" he said, unsheathing his sword.

"Alright," the light blue-haired girl smiled, revealing her sharp teeth. She took the trident sticking out of the door and spun it around. "Let's get to work!"

She ran into the fray, faster than anyone else. Quickly stabbing any creatures that came too close with her trident, she dealt with a large amount of Malice. Before long, a Malice pounced toward Risu, who wasn't expecting the attack. Gura took her trident and threw it at the creature before it was able to reach the squirrel girl. Without her trident, she instead dealt with the beasts with hand-to-hand combat, something she was unexpectedly skilled at. Grinning wildly, she launched a diving kick at one of the creatures. This left her open, however, and a Malice began bounding its way towards her.

"GURA!" the blond-haired girl shouted desperately, sprinting towards the creature. She jumped onto it, as if she was about to ride it. Not wasting any breath, she took the syringe from her left thigh and stuck the needle in the beast's neck. Its progress towards the light blue-haired girl began to slow. Eventually, it passed out, allowing the blond girl to dismount safely.

"Wow…" Nozomi said, watching in awe.

"Shit, man," Tamashi said, sounding equally surprised, "They soloed that group of Malice…"

'Seriously,' Nozomi thought, 'Shit though, I'm tired from that mountain. You think we can head back now that we've found these two?'

"Yeah, probably," Tamashi said, "Let's rally everyone together."

'Sounds like a plan,' Nozomi said, motioning towards the group.

"Alright, everyone, how about we head back?" he asked the group.

"I'm down," the light blue-haired girl said, getting up, "I've been dying for some salman!"

Everyone else nodded in agreement, so Nozomi unsheathed his sword. Directing its energy to the tip, he slashed at the air, creating a rip in space. They ventured inside, leaving behind the Mirror world.

...

They exited the wormhole, arriving in Cover Corporation's offices. YAGOO smiled.

"It's good to see nobody's hurt this time," YAGOO said, "And Gura-san and Amelia-san, hello."

"Hi, YAGOO!" the light blue-haired girl waved. She then began tugging at the blond girl's coat. "Ame, can we go? I'm hungry…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll make you something nice," the blond girl smiled, "See you all tomorrow."

"Let's head back," Tamashi said to Nozomi, "I'm tired."

'How are you tired? All you do is sit around and drink tea all day,' Nozomi thought, 'But I'm tired too. Let's go.'

...

"Thanks for the Salman, Ame!" Gura smiled, holding a fork and a plate with salmon served atop it.

"Anytime, Gura," Amelia smiled, putting her coat back on.

"Hey, where are you going?" Gura asked, somewhat disappointed, "I wanted to hang out with you for a little longer."

"Don't worry, I'll be back in a bit," she said, "I promise."

"Fine," Gura said, "But you have to kiss me first."

"Haha, that's fine with me," she said. She leaned towards the small shark girl, sharing a long passionate kiss.

"I love you, Ame," she said, blushing.

"I love you too, Gura," Amelia said, walking out the door.

The moment she walked out the door, she dropped her facade. Her smile faded and her eyes began to look down. Soon, her eyes formed tears, running down her cheeks. She reached for the clock-like device on her coat. She looked at it regretfully, her grip on it becoming tighter.

"Goddamn it…" she said, her voice breaking, and her tears dropping to the ground.