The fog had completely dissipated, but Yukino Yukinoshita was still curled up in a corner, hugging her knees, unmoving.
Just fifteen minutes ago, a strange fog had suddenly enveloped the building. As it rolled past Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes, obstructing her vision and making her squint, her older sister suddenly vanished right in front of her. Only her clothes and bag were left, falling limply to the floor. Before she could even react to the shocking event, the people around her screamed and disappeared one after another into the fog.
With trembling hands, she pulled out her phone to call her mother for help, but there was no answer. Then, the signal was cut off. Holding her sister's clothes, Yukino Yukinoshita ran around aimlessly, her mind a mess, trying to find someone to help. But as far as she could see, there was no one. Just as she reached the first floor, footsteps suddenly sounded from outside. Yukino Yukinoshita turned around, ready to run out and ask for help, but then she saw that the things walking in the fog outside the doors and windows were not human at all! She covered her mouth and hid in a corner, filled with despair.
...
"...Say, Mordred, X, a question just popped into my head," Taichi said suddenly as he jogged toward Yukino Yukinoshita's location. "Can I see the outlines of those souls now because of the environmental change caused by the fog, or did my eyes finally gain a special ability?"
"I'm afraid it's because of the environmental change," X replied. "I've been monitoring your body constantly since the fog appeared. There have been no changes to your eyes; they're still just a pair of ordinary human eyes."
"...Thanks, X," Taichi said, signifying that his dream of having a new special ability was probably shattered.
"There are three... no, six of them ahead, scattered in two locations. Taichi, you handle the close-quarters ones on the left, and I'll take care of the magic-users on the right," Mordred said, giving him instructions.
"Got it!" Taichi, who was now wearing Mordred's gauntlets, punched his hands together, twisted his body, and charged toward the headless students on the left. The headless students were incredibly agile. Although they had no heads, they would automatically sense an enemy's presence once they got within a certain range. This mindless way of sensing things was a headache, but it also served as a good form of training for Taichi. It was a good opportunity to practice his close-quarters combat skills.
Although Mordred kept saying that these things weren't worthy of being practice opponents, Taichi felt that fighting them was still beneficial to his growth. At the very least, he could learn how to dodge when they used flying kicks and whirlwind kicks. He also needed to figure out the best strategy for dealing with agile enemies... Although he hadn't found a way yet and was simply relying on the brute force of Mordred's gauntlets.
"Should I have asked for the leg armor, too?" Taichi muttered to himself, rubbing his chest which felt only a slight twinge of pain after being kicked by a headless female student who sent him flying. He had used a roundhouse kick instinctively, but it had no effect. He had asked X to only use telekinesis to slightly reduce the strength of the headless students so his body would get used to the pain. Although a precise operation like this was more troublesome than simply intercepting attacks with his telekinesis, X agreed without hesitation.
"Taichi, I have a flying kick skill," X reminded him. "And its power is quite considerable." This was a roundabout way of telling Taichi to practice his flying kicks, too.
But it wasn't just the flying kicks; X's hand chop was also very powerful. Taichi recalled how it felt to use a hand chop as Ultraman X and squatted down slightly.
"Wait! Taichi! Without my energy supply, that Ultraman X hand chop is just for show!" X quickly warned him before he moved. "Whether it's a hand chop or a flying kick, in addition to skill, it also requires more control over energy!"
Yeah, Taichi's skills were pretty rusty, too. So he was kicked away again.
"...How about I just do it? You're wasting too much time," Mordred said with a sigh and a look that said, "I can't even watch this." "If you want to practice your skills, I can train you afterward."
"Yeah, please do," Taichi said, rubbing his cheek where the kick had landed.
"Let's hurry up. Yukino's not in a good state. Although she's hiding in a corner and hasn't been found by those monsters yet, I'm worried that if we leave her alone for too long, it might cause irreparable damage to her mental state," X warned.
"No problem!" Taichi stretched his arms and legs as he watched Mordred effortlessly dismember the headless students. "Mordred, I'm going to run at full speed now. I'll leave the monster cleanup to you!"
"Annihilating all of them!" Mordred replied with a savage grin.
...
A desperate situation can trigger a variety of mental states. Some people give up and rush toward their demise. Some people have a mental breakdown and can't do anything. And then there are those whose endorphins start to rise, and their brains calmly and quickly work to find a glimmer of hope from the brink of despair.
Yukino Yukinoshita was the last kind of person. The feeling of despair gradually began to recede, and her calm mind once again took control. Yukino Yukinoshita believed that her top priority right now was to determine the scope of this bizarre situation and find a way to contact the outside world.
Find my sister... her body is gone. How do I find her? Where do I look? Are there any clues? Or should I just do nothing and kneel here praying to some god?
As she asked herself these questions, Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly remembered the giant warrior of light. But then she shook her head, abandoning that fantasy. Even an Ultraman with a "life-fixing" device couldn't bring a person with no body back to life... could they? Well, since they were Ultramen, it was only natural that humans couldn't understand the limits of what they could do. After recalling the few tokusatsu shows she had watched, Yukino Yukinoshita felt as if her limbs had regained their strength. It would be okay. Although the current situation was terrifying, as long as that Ultraman with a '×' on his chest appeared, the current situation would definitely be resolved... It had to!
Yukino Yukinoshita looked around, picked up a fire extinguisher, took a deep breath, and was about to charge...
"Naruto-san!" How does it feel to see someone you know in a time of crisis? For Yukino Yukinoshita, it was like seeing an oasis after being in the desert for a long time. Tears of relief streamed down her face.
"Yo, Yukinoshita. Looks like I'm not too late." Taichi said, giving a headless female student a final flying gauntlet punch before raising his hand to greet Yukino Yukinoshita, who was carrying a fire extinguisher and had clothes draped over her arm.