....
....

　There was an awkwardness in the air.

　The rats were leading me to the deepest part of the ruins...
　On the way out, I went out to a large room.
　There I found Axe.

　After exchanging a very simple greeting, "Yo," nothing has been exchanged since.

　Cell didn't show what happened before, he talked to me normally, but.....
　Axe can be clumsy at times.
　He's probably awkward because he still has a lot on his mind.

　But it's the same for me, and I don't know what to say to him.
　But it can't be like this forever, can it?

"Well what is Axe doing here?
Yeah?　Uh.........I'm an examiner. I'm the judge of the strength of an examinee like Rayne, or an obstacle, or... well... something like that.
I see.

　In short, it's called the Gatekeeper.
　It's standard, but I guess the development is that you can't advance to the back without defeating Axe.

"Ahhh........well, you don't have to defeat me to advance.

　Axe says something like that, as if he's read my thoughts.

'You have two choices in the test here. You can either fight me and take the shortest course or you can avoid me and take the longest route. It's one of two things.
I see.
The shortest course would be one minute from here to the finish line, and the longest course would be an hour. If we take the longest route, it'll take us one minute to get to the finish line, and if we take the longest route, it'll take us an hour. If you've got plenty of time to spare.....　Why are you holding a weapon at the ready?
'We'll have to beat Axe to get to the shortest course, won't we?
You're not even going to get lost, right? Oh, boy.

　I remember the incident the other day.
　Me and Axe were confronting each other like this........

　I never regretted the choice I made then.
　So I can make the same choice now.

　I pulled out my Kamui.
　But ... Axe is not going to draw his sword.

"Ax?
Uh ... what can I say?

　Axe says, sounding like a bad rule.

''Well why don't we do it another way?''
What?
'My role is to test the strength of the candidates. Normally, I'd fight them normally, but well, Rain wouldn't have to, would she?　And what's more...I don't want to have to deal with you again, even if it's a test.
It's...
'For the record, I don't regret the choice I made then. I still think it was the right thing to do. But ... that's the same with Rain, isn't it?
'Yes. I have no regrets.
Then let's get our story straight that we were right about each other. I don't want to get into a fight with Rayne, but I'm not comfortable with it. We've been partying together, even if it's just for a while.......oh my god!

　Thoroughly, Axe scratched his head.

'Anyway, duh!　I don't want to cross blades with you again. That's all!
Haha.....

　What an axe to grind.
　Clumsy, but straightforward...
　I was happy to see that nothing had changed.

I'm with you. I don't want to fight Axe again.
I'm glad you said that.
Well, if you fight, you know the consequences.
Hey!　What does that mean?
'Because I won last time. It hasn't been that long since, and if we did it now, we'd just get the same result, right?
You tell me, bastard. I mean, I didn't lose to Rain that time. It wasn't defeated by your people. There is no way I could take on the strongest species. If Rayne was the only one, I would've beaten you.
How about that?

　They sneer at each other.

　Of course, they don't mean these words.
　It's kind of like playing with words...
　It's like a little kid insisting that I'm more awesome than him.

　I hope you'll see it as clumsy male communication.

'But how is it okay not to fight?　Axe is an examiner, right?
'As I said before, I already know what Rain is capable of. I don't need to try it to pass.
Then why don't you just let me through here?
'There's no way I can. Even though you know your powers, you can't let it pass for free. You have to do the test.
I'm a bit of a stickler for flexibility.
It's in my nature.

　Is it typical of Axe to say that it's Axe?
　I'm pretty serious about my job.

　When it comes to things other than work....
　I'll take no comment on that one.

'But what do you do when it's not about fighting?　You want to play a game of wits?
Is Lane going to kill me?

　Why are we talking about this?
　Are you trying to tell me that if you compare wits, you're going to get a short-circuit in your head from wisdom fever?

Let's settle this one right here.

　Axe moved to the front of the appropriate step and put his elbow on it.

'Arm wrestling, huh?'
'This will allow us to measure our strength and ... well, it's a good match between men, isn't it?
It's easy to understand.

　I can't help but laugh.
　Then ... I move in front of Axe and grab his hand, also on my elbow.

''I'm ... sorry about that.''
'Axe doesn't have anything to apologize for, does he?　You said you didn't do anything wrong.
'That feeling doesn't change. There isn't one but I still have a lot of feelings about not being able to honestly support the path my friends have chosen.
Okay.

　It's like you can feel Axe's feelings...
　I felt the various ramifications I had been holding in my chest dissolving.

'Thank you,'
Yeah?
Well it's nice to hear that from your people.
Rain, you....

　Axe's eyes widened in response to the word "friends".
　Then a small smile.

'Can you count me as a mate?'
It's okay?
You're the questioning type.
Okay, fine.

　We had to break up like that, but....
　But there may be an opportunity to go down the same path again.
　Now it's been shown that it's not zero.

　That's why I call Axe my friend.
　Maybe we'll all agree on that.

"f*ck...you're right, Rain is a straight shooter. It's so dazzling to watch.
Really?
So you don't know what you're doing. Well, that's more like Rain.
'I feel like a fool there...'
Don't sulk, don't sulk. I'm just giving you a compliment.
I'm afraid "just in case" is a bit much, don't you think?

　A lot of words come out of my mouth as we've been passing each other by.
　It's fun and comforting.

　I'd love to do this for a while longer, but...
　As you can imagine, that's not going to happen.
　We have time for exams, and we need to move on now.
　We can warm up our companionship later.

''Then.........''
Let's go!

　Taking that word as a cue, me and Axe strained our arms.



----------



Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

　Kanade was fidgeting, pacing back and forth in the hall.
　Tania sat in a random spot and stayed put.
　Sola and Luna had gotten into a fight of some sort and were chasing each other.
　Seeing the two of them, Nina gasped and panicked, and Tina looked like she was seeing something smiling.

''You guys are so calm.......aren't you worried about Rain?''
Of course I'm worried.

　Tania replied.

'But I trust you at the same time. 'I know Rain will get here in time. He'll pass the test. I'm sure you'll be fine.
'Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I don't see it that way....
You don't trust Lane?
I do, okay?　I'm trying to, but the feeling of worrying hasn't gone away either............................nyah.
'Well, isn't that what Kanade is all about?'
Really?
'There's no such thing as right for either of us so I think we can each think about Rain in our own way, or rather, our own thoughts.
Tania is a big girl.
Kanade is a child.

　While we were talking about this, the other adventuring parties began to show up.
　They showed their faces from the corridors here and there, and one by one, the people who passed the test were decided.

　And the last one to show his face was........

Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Guys!

　Without realizing that he had reached the finish line, Rain was happy to see his friends again.
　It was the same for Kanade and the others...

Oh, man.

　Seeing Rain and the others smiling and happy to see each other again, Cell let out a small smile.