Takeshi kept running as the sound of the confrontation came from behind, intermittent, mixed with the normal noise of the city at that time of the afternoon.

’I’d like to check how far away they are, but I feel like if I look back I’m going to get a fatal cut.’

He turned a corner and saw a building with an unfinished concrete structure, still without windows on most floors, with scaffolding on the outside and a construction fence around the perimeter. A section of the fence was separated from its support, leaving a space wide enough to slip through.

Takeshi entered.

The interior was silent. Natural light came in through the gaps where windows had no glass yet and through the open spaces between floors.

Takeshi moved toward the center of the first floor and stopped to listen.

He heard footsteps outside, coming from different directions, converging toward the fence.

He shifted toward the staircase and went up to the second floor.

Yuki entered first through the gap in the fence. Aoi entered half a second later through the same spot.

The two looked at each other inside the building and then upward.

Takeshi pressed himself against the wall on the second floor, out of their direct line of sight.

The confrontation resumed downstairs. The sound was different inside the building, since there was no open park space for it to disperse. Every impact of metal against metal reached clearly up to where Takeshi was.

He moved slowly along the perimeter of the second floor, using the window gaps to orient himself without leaning out too much. He could see fragments of the lower floor from certain angles.

Yuki moved faster inside the building than she had in the park. The enclosed space gave Aoi fewer options to use Eclipse’s reach efficiently. Yuki knew it and attacked at close range, pulling back before Aoi could respond with the full length of the blade.

Aoi adjusted, but the adjustment cost her.

Takeshi checked their stats.

[AOI MIZUHARA]

[Life: 79%]

[Sanity: 5%]

[Confidence: 100%]

[YUKI TACHIBANA]

[Life: 91%]

[Sanity: 4%]

[Confidence: 70%]

The difference wasn’t big yet, but the trend was clear.

’Aoi is taking more damage. If this keeps up, Yuki will win.’

Takeshi tried to summon Eclipse, but the god’s voice warned him immediately.

"You can’t summon a weapon that has already been summoned by someone else. It’s obvious."

Faced with that, Takeshi looked for something usable on the second floor. He found a piece of pipe about forty centimeters long and several hand-sized fragments of concrete.

He picked up two concrete fragments and the pipe.

He moved toward the staircase and went down to the first step of the flight that connected to the first floor, positioning himself where he could see the central area of the lower floor without being inside it.

Yuki and Aoi were still moving. Yuki had pushed the fight toward the sector with columns at the back, using the columns as reference points to cut off Aoi’s angles.

[AOI MIZUHARA]

[Life: 71%]

[Sanity: 5%]

[Confidence: 100%]

[YUKI TACHIBANA]

[Life: 88%]

[Sanity: 4%]

[Confidence: 70%]

Takeshi waited.

’I just need one moment when she doesn’t see me.’

That moment came when Aoi attempted a direct advance and Yuki spun to dodge to the left, ending up with her back at a forty-five-degree angle toward the staircase.

Takeshi threw the first concrete fragment toward the right side of the floor, far from both of them.

The impact against the concrete floor was dry and clear.

Yuki turned her head toward the sound.

It was instinct. An unexpected noise in a combat environment triggers a verification response, even if only for a fraction of a second. Yuki compensated quickly, but the fraction of a second existed.

Aoi used it.

She didn’t wait for Yuki to finish turning back. She advanced with Eclipse from the flank that had been left open and put the full weight of her body behind the blade.

Yuki blocked with one dagger, but the angle was bad. The impact pushed her backward and the second dagger lost its guard position for a moment.

Aoi didn’t retreat; she kept advancing.

Takeshi threw the second fragment, this time toward the back of the floor, creating another point of noise.

Yuki didn’t turn this time.

’She’s not falling for that trick anymore, but...’

Takeshi couldn’t see clearly what followed from the staircase.

The two had moved toward the back of the floor, where natural light reached less. He could hear the confrontation, which was more intense than before, faster, without the repositioning intervals it had at the start.

’She isn’t expecting this.’

Takeshi calculated where Yuki was positioned by the glint of the daggers and threw the pipe like a thrown weapon straight at Yuki, who used one of her daggers to deflect the supposed weapon. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Immediately afterward came a heavy impact and then total silence.

Takeshi waited on the staircase without moving.

The silence lasted several seconds until he heard slow, steady footsteps from the back of the floor toward the center.

Aoi emerged from the shadowed area.

Her uniform was covered in blood across her torso and right arm. She was still holding Eclipse. She looked without visible agitation and her breathing was barely elevated.

She looked at Takeshi with a smile.

"Yuki won’t bother us anymore."

Takeshi didn’t know what to say.

He checked Aoi’s stats.

[Life: 44%]

[Sanity: 2%]

[Confidence: 100%]

’If I hadn’t intervened, Yuki would have won and my fate would probably have repeated itself, but...’

Aoi stored Eclipse, crossed the floor toward the staircase where Takeshi stood, and climbed the two steps that separated them.

She stopped in front of him and then hugged him.

It was direct, with her arms around him and her head against his shoulder, without saying anything else.

Takeshi didn’t move.

The building was silent while outside the city continued with its normal noise.

The chat appeared floating near the ceiling of the second floor.

[End of Yuki’s problem]

[Takeshi is traumatized]

[Aoi’s sanity almost at zero]

Takeshi read the messages and said nothing.

Aoi kept her arms around him, with no visible intention of moving.

Takeshi reached a conclusion.

’Did I do the right thing?’