Hamazura left the building while carrying Takitsubo on his back while she was as motionless as a corpse. He wasn't following Mugino Shizuri's instructions to force her to use her power. He was doing the opposite. He was trying to get as far away as he could in order to keep Takitsubo away from Item.
He was on top of a short bridge. There was a train track below it, not a river. It was one of the places where the underground line briefly came above ground. On the other side of the bridge was a sports car.
"I don't really know what's going on, but I'm going to be taking that girl?"
The one speaking was Yomikawa Aiho of Anti-Skill who had gotten out of the car and had her hands on her hips in shock.
The routes Hamazura or Takitsubo would use to escape and the places they would hide were the same as Item's, so Mugino would find them easily. He decided that meant he just had to hand her over to someone with completely different "routes".
"Hamazura, you know what my job is, right? I'm in Anti-Skill. Do you really think I'm going to let you run off after handing me an unconscious girl in this obviously suspicious situation?"
"…Shut up," said Hamazura as he gritted his teeth.
Yomikawa frowned at the impatient tone to his voice that was unusual for him.
"I'll explain it all to you later. I'll show up wherever you want me to! Just take her somewhere safe as quickly as you can!! She isn't in a good state. She's been using something called Body Crystal. I don't understand it at all, but apparently she could be destroyed at any time!!"
"Body Crystal…? Wait, Hamazura. Did you just say Body Crystal!?"
Yomikawa's expression completely changed after hearing that term, but Hamazura didn't explain further.
It was hardly the time.
"…Haaamazuraaa."
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
He spun around and saw Mugino Shizuri standing blood-covered on the other side of the bridge. Some of it was her blood, but some was from someone else. He recognized the thing that she was dragging in her right hand that looked a bit like an old rag.
"Frenda…"
Technically, it was only her upper half.
Wherever it had gone, her bottom half was gone and something dark red was dripping from the cross-section.
"That's right. It seems she was afraid of School so she betrayed Item and then hid. So I had to do a little purging. …What are you doing? You don't need any purging, do you?"
Mugino let go and Frenda fell to the ground.
She didn't even look towards Frenda.
In the end, that was all Frenda was – all a comrade was – to Mugino.
Hamazura's face stiffened upon seeing what, unlike Takitsubo, was clearly a corpse. Even so, he did not hesitate. He gave the girl on his back to Yomikawa and spoke quietly.
"…Please go."
"Hamazura. As I said, I'm in Anti-Skill. I can't have a child shielding me h-..."
"Go!!" yelled Hamazura cutting her off. "I know you can't ignore a murder case, but she's well beyond that level! I can't get into the details, but Frenda was fairly skilled herself. That woman is someone who could kill her in one blow! That's why I'm telling you to take Takitsubo and go!!"
After saying that, Hamazura looked at the unconscious Takitsubo with an expression that looked like it was about to collapse.
"Please… I don't want her to die. I could never make up my mind, but I finally know that that's what I want to do. So please go. I can't protect her alone. Without your help, I'll lose everything here!!"
"Hamazura…"
"Do you really think you can do anything on your own!? She's a Level 5. She's the terrible monster who's ranked 4th in Academy City! I'll buy you some time, so please take Takitsubo and get out of here!!"
He yelled to the point that he thought his throat would be torn to pieces. Yomikawa had her breath taken away at how desperate he was. She hesitated, but she finally nodded as if the light in Hamazura's eyes was compelling her.
"Once I get that girl to a safe place, I'll come back with a fully armed Anti-Skill team. So don't die until I'm back."
"…Sure," Hamazura responded.
Yomikawa shook off her hesitation, got in the driver's seat, and stepped on the gas. Her sports car drove off at high speed with Takitsubo on board.
Hamazura heard a whistle.
He turned to look and saw Level 5 Mugino Shizuri approaching as she crossed the small bridge.
"A battle with your life on the line. A numbing feeling, isn't it, Hamazura?"
"I…" he started to say.
As she approached, Mugino casually swung her hand to the side. It hit Hamazura and he flew to the side and the metal guardrail sunk into his gut with a dull noise. The great shock gave him the urge to vomit. It felt like strength was going to leave his arms and legs and he lay sprawled over the railing like a futon hung out to dry. He could see the railroad running below the bridge.
"Quiet. I didn't ask your opinion."
Ignoring Hamazura's groans, Mugino made it completely across the bridge.
That hadn't been her Level 5 power. It was just the strength of her arm. She had purposefully used her physical strength so that it wasn't something that could be explained as being the difference between a Level 5 and a Level 0.
Mugino still hadn't given up. Even if it destroyed Takitsubo, she was going to find out where School was.
"Ha ha," laughed Hamazura as he lay sprawled out on the railing. "Should you really be finishing me off right now?"
"Ah?"
Mugino looked over at him with just her eyes in an irritated way.
Then her eyes widened.
In Hamazura Shiage's hand was the case of Body Crystal that Takitsubo Rikou used.
"She needs this to use AIM Stalker, right?"
"You bastard, that's…!!"
As obvious rage entered Mugino's eyes, Hamazura jumped over the metal railing and off of the bridge.
A train was passing by underneath at that exact moment.
Hamazura's body struck the roof of the train. He had imagined the roof as being flat, but it actually had quite a few ups and downs from the air conditioners installed on it. His body rolled around when he landed, his skin was torn like it was being scraped off with a file, and he almost fell off because he couldn't rid his body of momentum. Even so, he finally managed to brace himself and stop.
Sprawled out on top of the train, Hamazura smiled.
(I managed to get through it. Without this Body Crystal, Takitsubo can't use her power. She doesn't have to be forced to fight now. As long as I can keep this from Mugino…)
That was when the train suddenly stopped.
Hamazura's body slid across the roof. He managed to stop himself and then looked around in surprise. He saw Mugino standing a good way back on the track. She must have jumped from the bridge just as he had. Her hand was stuck deep in the ground. The power cables for Academy City railroads ran through the ground. Mugino had used her power to sever the power cable in order to stop the train.
From a few hundred meters away, Mugino Shizuri said something.
Hamazura couldn't hear her voice, but he understood it from the movements of her mouth.
I – am – going – to – fucking – kill – you.