Railgun Online, Book 5. Alicization Running

Temporal Confusion

"How long does she have?" Sinon asked, with a raspy whisper that suggested she had spent the length of the journey to the village crying.

"Around 6 days." said the nun from the Axiom church. "It's a 3 day journey to the mountains, so if you run, you might barely make it there and back in time.."

"I can't fly in that air." said Yuuki, stroking Mikoto's head gently. "The air is dense and flattens my wings."

"Yuuki." said Kirito. "You can stay with Mikoto, I think a party of 3 would get there quicker."

"You really think so?" said Eugeo. "I don't know if we can keep a steady pace if we're doing three at a time.. and if one of us is faster then the other, we might tire the other two in the party right out."

"WHO FREAKING CARES!?" Yuniko roared, slamming her fist down on the bedside table. "Wh-who freaking cares...?"

Yuniko turned her head, and shocked everyone with massive amount of tears that were pouring out of her eyes.

"Y-Yuniko!?" Tempo stammered from where he was sitting atop a shelf, his snail eyes seemed to wiggle a little in shock. "Y-you're crying!!"

"C-cry!? I never cry!" said Yuniko. "Th-those bastards think they can take a master's sist- I mean student!!! THEN I'LL TAKE EM ALL TO HELL!!!"

"Yuniko." said Kirito. "Sorry.. but you can't come.."

"WHAT!?"

"Look at yourself.. you're a wreck!" said Kirito sternly. "Plus whenever you're not Scarlet Rain you can't do a thing to defend yourself!"

"So!? I'll use Symbiont Half form and I'll be good for a few hours!!"

"This is a 3 day journey on which we could get attacked any time." said Kirito. "And both your half and assault forms take time to recharge, I'm sorry, we don't have time to argue, but you're stay-"

"No! She's coming.." said Sinon firmly. She picked up the surprise Yuniko and sat her on her shoulders. "I'll look after her.. I'm a long range type anyways.. as long as I keep my distance, we're safe!"

"Sinon.." Eugeo murmured. "She'll slow you down.. I'm sorry, but.."

"It doesn't matter if she slows me down!!" Sinon pulled a bag to her and zipped it open.. pulling out the Silent Assassin Rifle that had once belonged to the infamous Death Gun. "That's right, the super gun that can fire from a mile away.. if you think anybody will get within a mile of us without getting  a smacking to... then get ready.."

"Y-you don't have to.." Yuniko began.

"Just be quiet and accept it when somebody's trying to help you!" Sinon growled. "We've both got a stake in this.. Mikoto's your student and she's my cousin! No, she's more then that, she's a sister to me!! Kirito.. either you take us both, or we go off on our own!!"

Kirito looked like he was half exasperated and yet half in admiration. "Fine.. we don't have time to debate.. come on.. we pack only our weapons, we'll kill what we need to eat along the way."

"I hope that doesn't mean you're considering eating things raw." Eugeo said. "I'm taking the tinderboxes."

"In any case, our steaks are mostly going to be rare." said Kirito. "We only stop when we need to.. we're going to save Mikoto.. whatever the cost."

___________________________

"Tokyo is a bit different then I remember it.."

Mikoto's voice spoke out from the laptop as Haru plugged it into an electrical outlet to charge on a table at an outdoor café.