110. Not the Brightest Plan and Digging Your Own Grave.
>>>>>
After Hakaze fully understands the truth behind Aika's death by listening to Kaito's conjecture (which is the actual truth), she quickly agrees with Kaito's idea to persuade Aika directly while also using her reasoning.
"The whole situation is truly nonsense, but I really believe your idea was right, Kaito."
Especially knowing that the major reason why she decided to kill herself was because Hakaze came back from the future and informed Aika what was happening in the future. She also thought of just not meeting Aika, but Kaito warned her that such a result might change the future abruptly, or even directly kill her since without Yoshino and Mahiro embarking on his quest for revenge, she probably just died alone on an uninhabitat island.
"Yes. The whole situation is like a bad joke, but it is what it is." Kaito nodded in agreement.
"When Aika will come here?"
"I have contacted her earlier. She should be arriving soon."
Using the chat group, Kaito quickly calls Aika to come, saying Hakaze already arrived here and met him. Naturally, his statement makes the chat group noisy again, and curious about what is happening.
However, for the sake of his plan, Kaito decided to not answer it yet--- and made a quick apology to the chat group.
=====
[Queen of Sekirei]: "Master, you are not doing anything to her, right?"
[Owner]: "Of course no. It's just for the sake of my plan, I can't explain what I did."
[Magician of Exodus]: "Interesting. You still dare to plan against me despite the task failure condition."
[Queen of Sekirei]: "Kaito-sama, don't be reckless again."
[God Tongue]: "You won't cut your arm again, right?"
[Railgun Girl]: "Maybe this time it would be his leg."
[Railgun Girl]: "Actually, he should be OK as long his head is still intact."
Looking at the chat group members' sarcastic comments. Kaito is really speechless. It's not like he love to sacrifice his body part, but the situation was so desperate for him back then!
[Owner]: "...Actually, I don't do anything dangerous. I admit the task made me hopeless, and if this won't work, I will not do anything further."
[Magician of Exodus]: "Is that so? Then, I will see what you are doing there."
[Owner]: "Thank you, I promise this will be the last time."
Anyway, his plan probably won't work, but he at least won't give up without giving it a try. In a way, his plan in this world was also quick and reckless but sometimes such a desperate plan worked well-- like what he did in Sekirei's plan.
Unfortunately, Kaito soon learned his plan was beyond reckless-- and even kinda stupid.
[Magician of Exodus]: "Anyway, Kaito. You are inviting us into your apartment... I know that's not your real living place, but are you sure?"
[Owner]: "Ah! I will change the location right away!
=====
...
After closing the chat group interface, following Aika's suggestion, Kaito called Hakaze out with concern.
"Uh, For a second thought, I think we should meet Aika on the outside."
"Why?"
"I am afraid if the persuasion turns into a fight, this apartment building is going to be torn apart by you two."
"Uh..."
Unable to retort Kaito since he really said the truth, Hakaze agrees to his proposal and decides to wait for Aika at the riverbank where the confrontation between Aika and Hakaze originally happened.
...
>>>>>
After Hakaze and Kaito arrive at the destination, apparently Aika is waiting for them even though Kaito not saying anything to her. As always, Aika's prediction and cleverness are really scary for him, making Kaito wonder why such a smart girl doing something based on emotion.
"Good evening, Kaito."
Aika, still wearing a student uniform like in the original, quickly greeted him and whispered, "It seems there is a slight change in the plot?"
"Yeah, it is. But not a lot."
Kaito nodded but didn't explain anything further. Aika will know the story from Hakaze soon so there is no use in explaining anything, and probably also realizes what an idea he put toward her.
"Is that so?"
Aika then turned to Hakaze who looked at her resolutely, pretending to be curious, "You are the one who wants to meet me?"
"My name is Hakaze Kusaribe, the Magician of Genesis. I am here to prevent your death as I promised with Yoshino, Magician of Exodus."
"Hmm..."
Hearing her detailed introduction, Aika immediately realizes that Kaito probably already told her identity and possibly her plan to Hakaze, otherwise there is no way she knows her identity as Magician of Exodus. Aika herself managed to deduce the cause of her death based on listening to Hakaze's story in the original plot, so it wasn't surprising for her to quickly catch the detail here.
Still, like Kaito, Aika decides to get along with the situation quickly, especially when she firmly believes nothing abrupt change to the plot itself.
...
"Very interesting, so you said that I have died a year later and then you are doing this for Yoshino-san..."
Aika pretended to be surprised and then continued to ask, "Can you tell me about your relationship with Yoshino in the future?"
???
Hearing Aika's question, both Kaito and Hakaze are surprised at the same time but then they realize Aika must care about this info considering her current status.
"Umm. I like him..." Hakaze shook her head, corrected herself, and with determined looks stated, "No, I love him and am willing to do everything for him."
"Pfft... That's quite a bold statement to say against me, Yoshino-san girlfriend."
"I am sorry, but I have come term admitting my feelings for him."
"Besides, as long Yoshino is happy, I don't mind sharing him with you, Fuwa Aika." Hakaze stated
"...??"
Hearing such a strange statement coming from Hakaze, this time Aika was surprised and opened her mouth wide, flabbergasted by the situation but then she quickly deduced where the idea came from.
"This is probably your stupid idea, Kaito?" Aika looked at him with hatred.
"Uh."
Kaito who didn't know how to respond, raised both of his hands and stated, "...I apologize?"
*Sigh*
"No wonder... We will talk about that later." Aika rolled her eyes and then added something that made Kaito terrified, "Give me a good explanation otherwise I am not gonna fulfill the part of my deal."
"What are you both talking about?"
Meanwhile, Hakaze who hears their conversation gets really confused, especially the part about 'report to the chat group' but no one but them is on this riverbank.
"Nothing."
Aika shook her head and then casually asked Hakaze, "Let me ask you, assume you agree with Kaito's idea... do you really want to share Yoshino's affection with me? Sincerely?"
"...Of course not."
"Then, I also feel the same. So forget your idea about polygamy."
Aika chuckled a little bit and then pointed at Kaito with lifeless eyes, "Unlike Yoshino, this stupid blonde is a harem protagonist. You can't take advice from him."
"..."
Although Kaito getting mocked here, he didn't dare to put any retort otherwise it would only put him in a more difficult situation. For his own safety, Kaito decided to not do anything-- besides, the task itself might risk of getting failure if he got involved.
"But... what I should do to stop you from killing yourself?" Hakaze muttered with a dark face.
"Oh... Killing myself?" Aika pretended to be surprised, "Can you tell me what happened?"
After that, Hakaze proceeded to tell her what happened in the future alongside the theory that Kaito said to her earlier. (Which is the truth)
>>>>>
"Despite all of this... You still want to kill yourself?"
After listening to all the events happening in the future, Aika is now determined to follow through with her plan like in the original. As for Kaito's entanglement in the future, she believes Kaito will do it anyway. After knowing him for more than 2 years, she knows Kaito takes the importance of his position and face as the leader of the chat group, and there is no way he would do a stupid thing to fail his task just because of his unwillingness to do the task.
Aika sighed and then looked at Hakaze resolutely, "For the better future of my Mahiro and Yoshino, I will still not hesitate to kill myself."
"It's also good for you too. After all, without me, you can meet Yoshino. Just think what happened if I was still alive a year ago. Mahiro won't out of revenge for me, and he won't meet you. Yoshino still dating me while you probably going to die on that uninhabited island without his help."
"...There is also a possibility that both of my brother and Yoshino won't survive that Tree of Genesis awakening event in the future because I am still alive. The fate I know won't be that kind to me."
"Rather than betting on an uncertain future, I choose to follow the script here. It is the time for Fuwa Aika to leave the stage beautifully."
"...But, I still can't accept it." Hakaze gritted her teeth and yelled, "Yoshino clearly loves you, you know?!"
Aika nodded and then spread her arm wide, "I know. But I also doing this because I love him too. Although I kinda mad it only takes him few weeks to move on after meeting you."
"..."
After Aika's confident declaration, for a moment, the atmosphere suddenly becomes quiet but Kaito could tell that Hakaze already giving up trying to persuade Aika with words. Kaito also knows that his reckless plan is a complete failure at this point and now he just resigned to his fate.
As for the chance of Hakaze winning against Aika? Kaito knows that would be impossible to happen-- especially with Aika who now can improve herself through the chat group.
"I see."
Hakaze who is determined to stop Aika no matter what, quickly sacrifices the ring on her hand to perform the genetic magic, "Fuwa Aika! Let's decide the outcome with a fight!"
"...You are inviting me to a fight?"
"Since my words can't reach you, I will make sure to stop you using my fist!"
"There is no way for you to win against me. Unlike you who are using magic with offering, I can unleash my ability freely as much as I want." Aika said with a tired tone, trying to stop her from wasting time like in the original. She is also concerned that Mahiro might come home soon, so she really needs to commit her suicide plan ASAP tonight.
"I won't give up."
Hakaze then released a sphere of Genesis magic to protect her and yelled, "I definitely will stop you!"
*Sigh*
"...I don't like fighting, but since you are insisting to dig your own grave." Aika then summoned her exodus sword in both hands and stated, "I am going to finish you in one move."
"Arrogant!"
"It's not arrogant..."
After that, Aika quickly rushed toward Hakaze who released a lot of 'tentacles' from Genesis magic to stop her-- but it was obviously to no avail. Aika's exodus sword easily slashed all incoming attacks from her without any suspense, which made Hakaze quickly panic and want to get away.
"What--"
Unfortunately, Aika who has experience catching criminals who wanted to get away in SAO saw Hakaze wanted to escape, swiftly slashed the ground to make the dust fly in front of Hakaze--- confused her for a split second, and proceeded to slap her face immediately.
"Aaaahhh!!"
*BAM*
The slap was so strong that Hakaze was thrown away in the air several meters away and made her pass out immediately-- hence fulfilling Aika's promise to defeat her in one hit.
"Fyuh... That feels good!"
"...Aika, that slap is really personal, right?"
Even Kaito really feels bad for what happened to Hakaze, because it's obvious Aika's physical strength right now probably got improved via the chat group. Unlike in the original, the duel only lasted for a few seconds, which shows how vast the strength difference between Aika and Hakaze is currently.
"It would be a lie if I said no." Aika nodded calmly and then looked at Kaito with playful eyes, "Now, with this girl done... Let's do the suicide like the original and after that, I want to listen to your explanation of why you propose such a plan to that girl."
"...Yes."
Hearing Aika's order, Kaito just nodded and hurried to follow Aika to her house. While Kaito may still have a chance to convince Aika and also listen to her explanation of why she still insists on doing her plan, Kaito knows the group task's main objective is much more important now.
...