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Last Embryo Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 3

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Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Editor: Weasalopes

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「I see, so that’s how it is… I have to say, I wasn’t aware that there were people like that in this orphanage. I was always under the impression that you were the eldest one here, senpai.」

「I guess that is true right now. By now that guy would be an adult, so he probably lives it up however he pleases somewhere far away from here.」

「I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but have you ever considered the possibility that… that he might actually be dead?」

「O course I haven’t. Well, don’t just stand there, come on in.」

Homura urged Ayato to come inside the abandoned room that now belonged to her. Truth to be told, since it was ownerless for more than 5 years she was expecting it to be filled with dust and in a state of utter mess, but much to her surprise it looked like it was just as clean as the rest of the rooms in the orphanage.

「Uhm, senpai? You said that this room has not been used for at least 5 years, right?」

「Right, that’s what I said. Ah, if its about why is it so clean, it’s because we cleaned it out of habit along with the rest of the room on every cleanup day. After all, we didn’t want it to get all moldy, since that would be bad for our health in the long run.」

「So you kept this room clean all this time, even though the whereabouts of its previous owner are still unknown?」

「Yeah, because even though he is missing it doesn’t mean that he’s dead, since he is someone who wouldn’t allow himself to die just like that.」

Homura said, snapping his fingers.

「Now, what if he suddenly decided to return one day, even if it was purely on a whim? He is a type of person who would make a huge racket if he ever found out that even one part of his personal belongings went missing, and that would be all kinds of troublesome for us, even though he always claimed not to be bothered by something supposedly so simple. But I do have to admit, even though I said we were doing it out of habit, going out of our way to clean the room that no one used was beginning to get just a little bit tiresome, so it would be nice of him to just drop by one day to collect his stuff to truly free this apace already.」

Homura said bluntly.

Initially surprised at how seemingly annoyed he was with whoever lived here previously, a mischievous smile was now floating on Ayato’s face, as if she finally managed to put together the pieces of some especially tough puzzle.

「…. I see now. You and Suzuka must have really liked that guy a whole lot, huh?」

「And just what in the world made you arrive at such an outrageous conclusion?」

「Intuition, mostly. I mean, taking care of a room for someone who’s been missing for so long without any attempts at contacting you whatsoever? If that is not a sign of deeply caring about someone, then goodness gracious I don’t know what is! On top of that, if he’s been missing for five years, then both of you were what, 10 at that time?」

They wouldn’t be able to do something like that, if they didn’t grew attached to him when they were still children. How cute of them, Ayato thought.

Homura placed the key to the room on the desk just a little bit more forcefully than he originally intended. With all his irritation and disdain towards him for leaving them for so long, he couldn’t deny that he still cared for him, which was all the truer for Suzuka, who held the owner of this room especially close to her heart.

At that moment, he saw a pair of cat-eared headphones placed neatly on the desk. Picking them up and spinning them in his hands, he smirked wryly.

「It’s not like I outright hate him, you know? But… I would be lying if I said that not knowing where he is or what he is doing right now wasn’t frustrating. At the very least, I know that he is not dead, because he is too strong, almost ridiculously strong I would even say, to just up and die like any regular person.」

「Strong, as in mentally, to not give up no matter what?」

「No, I meant it in a purely physical-sense.」

「P-Physical? How so?」

「Yeah. Out of all of us here in this orphanage, he was the most extraordinary, so I guess it was only fitting for someone like that not to let himself be confined in one place his entire life.」

「Is… is that so?」

Ayato answered kinda absent-mindedly, but it couldn’t be helped. In the context of today’s modern society, what does it even mean to be physically strong, and what does one have to gain from being strong? Since Ayato was a girl, it was a concept that she had a particularly hard time wrapping her head around, but Homura didn’t blame her for that, because in the case of the boy they were talking about, no one could properly understand how strong he was until they met with him personally.

「That reminds me, senpai. What’s taking Suzuka so long? Is she still in the middle of preparing the countermeasures against the typhoon?」

「No, we took care of that already, but she was worried about the animals in the care of Dietary Education Department, so she went to school to check up on them.」

「Eh?」

Ayato raised a surprised voice, and directed her stern gaze towards Homura.

「Senpai, can you please repeat what you just said now? I am afraid I didn’t hear you properly.」

「Huh? Well, okay, I guess. I said that Suzuka went to school to…」

「And you let her go alone!? When there’s a storm outside!?」

Ayato yelled at Homura in a very well-justified fit of rage.

The storm outside was so strong that the water flooding the streets was reaching the ankles, and the wind was so violent that it was blowing off street signs that were placed firmly into the ground, and lighting was splitting the sky with it blindingly-bright flashes every minute, sometimes even a few times in a row. In those conditions, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if the blackout were to occur any minute now. A situation like that was the one where a girl, no matter how tough she was or how she would claim that she was going to be fine, should absolutely not be allowed to wander outside alone. But Homura was not worried about her at all, and instead just started scratching his head, trying to find the best way to explain it to Ayato.

「Look… I understand that you’re worried, but trust me, if it’s Suzuka we’re talking about, then she is going to be okay, and I think you and I both know why: because in this orphanage, everyone is different – or special if you prefer to call it like that – in some way. And among all the special ones, Suzuka is extraordinarily special. So there really is no need to be concerned about her so much…」

Suddenly, an air-splitting, ear-shattering roar could be heard across the entire orphanage. Initially both Ayato and Homura though that it was just a loud thunder coming from the heavens, but because their surroundings were still shaking even after the initial sound has passed, they realized that it must have been the sound of an explosion.

「That explosion just now… it sounded like it came from the direction where the school is!」

「Mr. Tokuteru?! Senpai, where is Mr. Tokuteru right now?!」

Overcome with the crushing feeling of uneasiness, Ayato clutched onto Homura’s hand with her own trembling hands. It caught him off guard for a moment, but he immediately managed to collect himself and took out his phone. Ayato was right, if there was someone who might have known what was going on, it would undoubtedly be the old geezer Tokuteru.

「He said that he still had some other business to take care of, but I don’t know where exactly did he went. But judging by this horrendous weather, I doubt he was able to get very far. I’ll try calling him right now, so we should have a clear image of the situation before long.」

「Oh God, oh no… Suzuka… Suzuka is in danger!」

But before the first signal could even ring in Homura’s ear, Ayato let go of his hand and ran towards the orphanage’s entrance. Still waiting for the call to connect him to Tokuteru, Homura chased after her, but Kudou Ayato was abnormally fast for her age. She reached the front door, slammed it open and dashed outside before he could even cross the corridor. Unable to get through to Tokuteru, Homura hung up the call and clicked his tongue in anger.

「For fuck’s sake, what the hell are you thinking, Lady Ayato!」

As he ran forward, Ayato’s last words rang ominously in his head.

Ever since the morning, both Ayato and Tokuteru’s behavior could only be described as strange. Both of them seemed to be on high alert regarding something strange or mysterious happening around Homura, which implied that the thing they both were talking about really must have happened to them and they tried dealing with it in different ways: Ayato dismissed it and tried to rationalize it, whereas Tokuteru probably headed to take care of it alone in his own way.

They must be hiding something from him, no doubt about it.

Hastily grabbing the raincoat from the stand near the entrance, Homura left the grounds of Canaria Family Home orphanage and made his way towards Hoei Private Academy, where both Ayato and Suzuka should be.

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