Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 5 Chapter 2 Part 3

2—3

Atsushi looked at what he tripped over, and his eyes opened wide. “Kunikida?!”
A tall, bespectacled man was crouched at the intersection, perhaps from being knocked over when Atsushi smacked into him. His ponytail shook as he grimaced. There was no doubt about it. It was Kunikida. Atsushi and Kyouka had finally met someone in this empty city, and it was their dependable senior agent, to boot.
“…Atsushi?” Kunikida painfully muttered. His clothes were stained with blood, and his right arm and left side were injured. The wound seemed especially severe on his left side, where his clothes were darkened with blood. He clutched his ribs as if in pain.
“You’re hurt…!” Atsushi rushed over and knelt down next to Kunikida the moment he saw he was injured. “Were you shot?!”
“The bullets passed through me. I’m fine. More importantly…” Kunikida wore a serious expression and continued, “…I figured out the mystery behind the serial suicides.”
“…!”
Atsushi’s eyes widened. He sensed Kyouka’s body tense up as well. But before he could even question Kunikida about it, there was an explosion close by. The mysterious beast had already caught up with them.
Bam! With a powerful thud, the beast landed on the hood of a nearby car. But it was hidden within the fog, and only its silhouette could be seen. It was nimble despite its massive frame, and its four sturdy legs and arched tail were prominently visible even behind the curtain of mist.
“…!”
Kunikida grimaced as if he had been backed into a corner. He seemed to somehow have known that Atsushi and Kyouka were being chased by the beast. His eyes fixed on the thing in front of them, Kunikida observed the creature atop the car’s hood. The broken traffic light next to it had short- circuited, sparking intermittently. Kunikida promptly drew his pistol and pulled the trigger. Three bullets fired, piercing the car’s gas tank to leak gasoline onto the road.
Gasoline has a flash point of approximately negative forty degrees Celsius. Even a spark from static electricity can easily cause it to catch fire. Furthermore, volatilized gasoline vapor has a broad combustion range. Even a weak concentration will burn. If the vapor and sparks are so much as a foot apart, the former’s weight will cause it to sink, thus bringing it into contact with the sparks. And inevitably, this leads to a rapid combustion within the vapor’s range.
In other words—an explosion.
Right as Atsushi realized what Kunikida was doing, a spark from the traffic light ignited the gasoline, causing a massive blast. The deafening roar was instantly followed by a bright-orange light and fiery winds. The orange flames and white smoke began spreading.
“Run!” demanded Kunikida as he dashed off with Kyouka in tow.
Recoiling from the blast, Atsushi quickly followed them.

A grimy duct curled up the wall and over their heads in the narrow alleyway. The dusty air was stagnant, and there was hardly any light. It was a very gloomy, unwelcoming place. They noisily dashed across the metal floor in order to reach the side door in the back of the alley. Kunikida had Kyouka and Atsushi go first while he kept guard.
“Kunikida, hurry!” urged Atsushi. After all three of them made it inside, they began lowering the steel-bar gate. The passageway was far too narrow for the beast to fit, and the gate’s metal bars were too strong for any human to break through. Surely the beast wouldn’t be able to catch up with them easily now. Atsushi, probably relieved after hearing the gate click closed, suddenly noticed that Kunikida, who was running behind him, had lost his balance.
“Kunikida!”
He was probably in so much pain that it was hard to even stand. Atsushi immediately ran over and crouched down to meet his eye.
“…” Kyouka, however, ran ahead without saying a word. She appeared to have noticed something.
“Kyouka?”
Atsushi couldn’t fathom why she would go on ahead alone, nor did he have any idea what she was thinking. He considered going after her, but he heard Kunikida painfully moan and stopped. She knew what she was doing. Besides, Atsushi trusted her. He knew she would be okay. He was more worried about Kunikida right now.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
It was bizarre to see Kunikida, one of the most gifted members in the agency, injured so severely. Exhausted, Kunikida looked up at Atsushi.

“My skill got me…”

What?
Atsushi’s eyes bulged. He couldn’t immediately process what he just heard. “Your skill…did that to you?” he whispered, his voice cracking.
All of a sudden, the sealed door behind Kunikida burst to pieces. When Atsushi saw the gleam of a blade, he realized a sword had sliced through the gate.
“…!”
“Kunikida!” gasped Atsushi—not because of what happened to the metal door, which they thought would protect them from any intruder, but because he saw a familiar face on the other side.
…Demon Snow.
It was the masked swordswoman with black hair and dressed in a white kimono. Kyouka’s skill was attacking them, and on its forehead was a strange red jewel. Atsushi didn’t even have time to scream. Right as Demon Snow appeared, he heard a car slamming on the brakes. When Atsushi looked over, he noticed the last gate up ahead was already open, and there was a car on the other side. A young girl was in the driver’s seat, and the door to the passenger side was open.
“Get in!” yelled Kyouka from the driver’s seat.
“Atsushi, run!!” screamed Kunikida. There wasn’t going to be a second chance.
“…!”
Atsushi reflexively sprinted forward. Kunikida then fired a few more shots at Demon Snow to cover him. Bullets echoed throughout the alley along with the sound of Demon Snow cutting them down. There were so many things to worry about, but Atsushi focused everything he had on running, and he jumped into the car with Kunikida. The instant they shut the car door, Kyouka took off.
And just like that, they sped into the fog at the mercy of the engine. After they disappeared into the distance, Demon Snow merely stared silently in their direction as the red crystal on her forehead glowed eerily.