Time skipped ahead to the after-dinner gathering.
This time, Abby and Lyle joined them as well, and the five of them returned to the same bar they had visited before.
"Hughes, we're back!"
"You all had a rough month. Has everything settled down?"
The elderly bartender polished a glass as he greeted them.
As a former squad captain from more than twenty years ago, he had never stopped worrying about the city. The recent incident involving the current captain had weighed heavily on his mind. Only after hearing Oenone's answer did he finally seem able to relax.
"The usual? Whiskey, a random cocktail, a low-alcohol drink, and two non-alcoholic drinks?"
"That's right. Thanks."
Oenone took her usual seat without ceremony, and everyone else followed.
Everyone except Ethel.
He blinked at the seating arrangement in confusion.
Normally, Yinbing always sat beside Oenone during dinners, and even during the drinking portion she would only move after Oenone became drunk.
Tonight was different.
Abby and Lyle sat together—that was perfectly normal.
Yinbing sat beside them, which also seemed ordinary...
Except that it left a single empty seat between the three of them and Oenone.
After sitting down, Yinbing casually pointed at the vacant chair.
It was obviously meant for him.
For some reason, Ethel suddenly felt like prey willingly walking into a trap.
He even activated his Concept for a brief moment just to make sure sitting down wouldn't somehow count as being attacked.
Reluctantly, he took the seat.
He could distinctly feel two pairs of eyes fixed on him from either side.
His drink sat before him.
To his right, Yinbing chatted casually with Lyle.
To his left, Oenone sipped her whiskey.
Something was coming.
He was sure of it.
"Ethel."
"Do you know how much vacation you're allowed to take each year?"
It sounded like an ordinary work-related question.
But Oenone never called him "Ethel" when discussing official business.
That alone told him there had to be another motive.
"No idea."
"Actually, as long as you apply early enough, we never stop the Lost from taking leave."
"You can take up to a week at a time, and there's no limit on how many times you apply."
"If it's longer than two days, though, you have to arrange someone to cover your position."
"I see..."
"As vice-captain, Yinbing has a few extra restrictions, but nothing too difficult."
"Captains are the real headache."
"We're limited to five days, and we have to coordinate our schedules with the other captains first."
"Every shift someone covers for you has to be paid back later."
"Scheduling all that is a nightmare."
"Sounds rough, Captain."
"It is."
Oenone let out a dramatic sigh.
"After everything with Tia recently..."
"I've been dying for a vacation."
"But now that everything's back to normal, taking one should be fine, right?"
"Exactly."
"So I submitted my request days in advance."
"I went through absolute hell..."
"...but I finally managed to secure three days off."
"I see..."
Still completely unable to figure out where this conversation was heading, Ethel gave another vague response.
Unfortunately for him—
there was no escaping the encirclement.
Yinbing smoothly joined the conversation.
So chatting with Lyle earlier had merely been a distraction.
The real plan was finally unfolding.
"Ethel."
"You said you liked Kotoha's songs, right?"
"I did."
"Oh my!"
Oenone exclaimed with exaggerated surprise.
"So you like her too? What a coincidence!"
Her acting was painfully unconvincing.
"You also said you'd like to hear more songs I recommend."
"I think I did."
"Then..."
Yinbing smiled.
"...would you like to hear her perform live?"
"Those tickets are incredibly hard to get."
"We worked really hard to grab ours."
"It's a rare opportunity."
A concert?
That was it?
If that was all they wanted, why had they gone through such an elaborate setup?
"Oh."
"Sure."
The instant the words left his mouth—
Oenone and Yinbing exchanged a triumphant high-five behind his back.
"Contract accepted."
"It's settled then!"
"When is it?"
"At the beginning of next month."
"In four days."
"...Shouldn't I apply for leave?"
Ethel remembered what Oenone had said earlier.
Anything over two days required arranging a replacement.
"No need."
Oenone grinned.
"As captain, I've already taken leave."
"So the entire Third Squad is basically getting a vacation."
"Well then."
"Business concluded."
"Let's switch seats."
With that, Yinbing exchanged places with Ethel.
So it really had been deliberate.
"You actually agreed?"
Lyle looked at him with an expression that practically screamed this is going to be entertaining.
"...Yeah."
"Was there something wrong with that?"
"The two of them are obsessive fans."
"They buy multiple copies of every piece of merchandise just for different collections."
"But carrying all that around gets in the way."
"There are usually other events afterward."
"So they always need someone to hold everything while they run around."
"I was that someone last year."
Lyle's expression immediately darkened.
"It was hell."
"We had to arrive three hours before the concert even started."
"The amount of stuff I was carrying just kept increasing."
"The moment we finished shopping in one merchandise area, we'd immediately rush to the next."
"After the concert, they went to the meet-and-greet."
"And I..."
"...had to haul all that luggage while exchanging their tickets for raffle entries..."
"...and stand in line for the limited-edition merchandise."
"But the worst part?"
"The photos."
"They'll easily take over a hundred."
"You're the photographer."
"And they're unbelievably picky."
"The same picture often has to be retaken over and over."
"So when they came looking for me this time..."
Abby continued with a sympathetic smile.
"...I refused immediately."
"I've listened to Lyle complain about it enough times."
No wonder they had gone to such ridiculous lengths.
They had wanted to make absolutely certain Ethel wouldn't refuse.
The trap had begun the moment Yinbing casually asked whether he listened to music.
Separating him from Lyle had prevented any advance warning.
Waiting until tonight's gathering made the invitation feel spontaneous rather than carefully planned.
It also eliminated convenient excuses involving training or work.
Everything had been calculated.
"At least..."
Lyle added fairly,
"...they'll pay for every expense during the trip."
"You won't spend a single cent."
It was only a small consolation.
Everything he'd heard before that had already left cold sweat running down Ethel's back.
He found himself seriously wondering whether pretending to be sick the day before might be his best chance of escape.
"Don't even think about faking an illness."
Yinbing's gentle voice whispered beside his ear.
"If you're still breathing..."
"...we'll drag you there anyway."
She rested a hand lightly on his shoulder.
The tone was soft.
To Ethel, however...
it sounded like an unmistakable threat.
"...Alright."
"That's more like it."
Only then did Yinbing withdraw the hand that had been mere centimeters from his neck.
Sometimes Ethel genuinely couldn't tell...
whether Yinbing was naturally devious...
or simply pretending.
Across the table, Lyle looked at him with barely concealed amusement.
Abby, meanwhile, offered nothing but sympathy.
Since there was no escaping fate...
he decided he might as well try to enjoy it.
After all...
he really had liked Kotoha's singing.
Two more hours passed.
Oenone was once again sprawled unconscious across the bar.
Abby and Lyle had already gone home.
Only three sober people remained in the entire establishment.
"...Have you still been having those dreams?"
Yinbing asked quietly.
"Yeah."
"But at least the hallucinated voices aren't as frequent anymore."
"Honestly..."
"...those were worse than the dreams."
Yinbing laughed softly.
"I know."
"They always appear when you least expect them, don't they?"
"And they even change depending on the situation."
"They'll say things that person never actually said..."
"...yet you can still hear them perfectly."
"...Yeah."
She traced circles across the countertop with droplets of water from her glass.
Back then...
she had survived the shadow of her sister's death through sheer determination alone.
Because she had once walked that lonely road herself...
the night Ethel opened up about his past had resonated deeply with her.
Watching someone tortured by old wounds...
felt like looking directly at her sixteen-year-old self.
She wanted to become the one who could pull him out of that abyss.
In doing so...
perhaps she could also rescue the numb little girl still buried within her own heart.
"I never imagined..."
"...that simply saying it out loud could change so much."
"Because from that moment on..."
"...you stopped being alone."
"Maybe your heart has already grown used to loneliness."
"But that doesn't mean..."
"...it can keep functioning in loneliness forever."
Ethel stared at her for a second before grinning.
"So..."
"You can actually say serious things?"
Yinbing glared at him.
"Hey!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Am I really that unserious in your eyes?"
"You do say some pretty weird things sometimes."
"And the first time we sparred..."
"...you nearly sent me straight to the infirmary."
"What kind of normal person does that?"
"I told you."
"I treat everyone the same."
"You..."
Ethel paused.
"...You know what?"
"Never mind."
At that moment, the clock on the wall chimed.
Eleven o'clock.
"We should get going."
"See you next month, Hughes!"
"I'll be waiting."
Yinbing slipped beneath Oenone's arm and hoisted the unconscious captain onto her shoulders.
"Need a hand?"
"Just keep an eye on whether she's about to throw up."
"One time she vomited all over me."
Supporting Oenone's full weight, Yinbing and Ethel slowly made their way back toward Central Headquarters.
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