"..."
Yoshikage Kira was panicking.
He'd been bracing for Rohan Kishibe's Stand ability just a moment ago, and in the blink of an eye Rohan's hand had already been blown to pieces. Killer Queen's Primary Bomb had activated without him even noticing.
"A time skip... Has that woman closed in already?"
Kira brushed aside the lock of stylishly tousled blond hair falling over his forehead and sighed.
—At least the experience of multiple loops had given him a far more practiced command of Killer Queen's abilities. The man standing here now didn't merely carry a desire to live a quiet life forever—he carried the resolve to fight to the death for that ideal.
Kira gazed down at the mangled, blood-soaked form of Rohan Kishibe. He was quietly grateful that he hadn't killed the manga artist during that blank interval when time had vanished. The memories accumulated across multiple loops had taught him not to make rash moves like that.
Killing Rohan would have been satisfying, certainly. But Kira understood the consequences better than anyone. The moment that woman arrived and found a dead comrade, she'd erupt into a fury beyond anything he was prepared to face. He hadn't had enough time to prepare—this was only her third day in Morioh. Acting on impulse now would be suicidal.
On the other hand, leaving Rohan barely alive but still breathing... With her personality, she would absolutely choose saving a comrade over killing him. That bought Kira the time he needed to escape.
The humiliation of it—sparing a man within arm's reach because he was afraid of the reprisal—burned like acid.
"To think you've pushed me, Yoshikage Kira, this far... Damn you, Inori!"
Killer Queen's Primary Bomb: the ability to turn any object—including a living being—into a bomb. Unlike Sheer Heart Attack, that toy car-like bomb, this one detonated in perfect silence. No smoke, no flame, no evidence left behind. That was precisely why Yoshikage Kira had been able to murder and harvest hands for all these years without leaving a single trace.
"Someday, I will make your hands into specimens and keep them in my bedroom forever... Heh heh heh. I, Yoshikage Kira, will be the one who wins in the end. Just you wait!"
Kira imagined the day Killer Queen would reduce that woman to ash, leaving behind only her two lovely, delicate hands. He'd use them to do all manner of unspeakable things—repayment for every ounce of suffering she'd caused him.
The mere thought of it filled him with a sense of supreme bliss. A deviant expression crept across his face, and he very nearly got excited right there among the gravestones.
"You... just said 'Yoshikage Kira,' didn't you?"
The cold voice from behind hit him like a physical blow. His whole body seized up—as though he'd developed some kind of Inori-induced PTSD—and he spun around in raw terror.
The evening wind caught her long coat and set it snapping. Fading golden light fell across her hair, painting it with a faint cherry-blossom sheen. She stood beside a headstone, expression severe, face utterly blank—but the killing intent in her eyes had already driven itself into Kira's heart like a blade.
Pink. Cherry blossom. Red. Those three colors had become Yoshikage Kira's most hated palette, because they always reminded him of things he'd rather not think about.
"How... how is this possible..."
Kira stared at the girl who'd materialized before him, his face bone-white, words tripping over themselves in panic.
"So you already know who I am."
Inori raised an eyebrow, unsurprised.
"Which means... you've activated Bites the Dust, haven't you? Yoshikage Kira!"
His first reaction to seeing her wasn't Who is this woman? or How does she know my name? He wasn't even focused on his own hand. Instead, he looked at her like he'd seen a ghost. As far as Inori's own memory was concerned, this was supposed to be their first meeting—but no further explanation was needed. Her suspicion was confirmed: Yoshikage Kira had obtained some power that let him retain his memories across temporal reversals.
"Hmph... Ha ha ha."
The fear and bewilderment drained from Kira's eyes with unsettling speed. He carried himself like a man who'd rehearsed this scene a hundred times. Even facing a woman with invincible practically stamped on her forehead, he didn't bolt. He straightened his crooked collar with deliberate calm and smiled.
"I know your name, your abilities, and that intelligence network of yours that might as well be the word of God... But too bad for you. Killer Queen's third bomb—Bites the Dust—has already helped me conquer the foresight of destiny! You no longer know its true power! Inori!"
"Hmm~ What a strange man."
Inori picked at her ear.
It was a peculiar feeling, really. From the look of things, she'd apparently been in Morioh for quite a long time—it was just that each day's worth of time kept getting rewound by this man, so she had no memory of however many repeated days she'd already lived through.
But none of it mattered now. Whatever abilities he had were irrelevant. He was standing right here, and it would take Inori less than three seconds to kill him.
"Don't move!"
Kira saw Inori's intent to close the distance and scrambled backward until he stood over Rohan's fallen body. The words ripped out of him through clenched teeth.
"He's still breathing—but I've already turned him into a bomb! If you kill me, the trigger activates and he's dead!"
—Rohan-sensei...
Inori's gaze locked onto Rohan's unconscious form. He looked like someone who'd been fished out of a pool of blood. His left arm was completely destroyed, pieces of it still scattered on the ground. But as long as the body wasn't totally obliterated, Josuke's ability could heal him.
"Judging by the look of you, you've activated Bites the Dust quite a few times already."
Inori didn't move. She crossed her arms and smiled with open contempt.
"Then you should know exactly what kind of person I am. Do you really think a hostage is going to work on me?"
"Hmph." Kira snorted. Killer Queen—the pink humanoid Stand with its big cat-like head—materialized at his side, poised and ready. "Of course it won't. I couldn't even press the trigger before your fist broke my hand. Am I right?"
"Ha ha—so you've been through this scenario at least three times. No, five times or more?"
—Five?
Kira listened to her words and scoffed inwardly. Five? Try fifty, at least... Fifty rounds of experience fighting King Crimson.
"Then what do you plan to do? I'm very curious—now that you know me so well, what's your play for this situation? Activate Bites the Dust again?"
"Inori... Do you know what destiny is?"
He answered her question with a question—and a non sequitur at that, veering into something entirely unexpected.
"Destiny is predetermined. Even when Bites the Dust rewinds time, certain facts that have already occurred are nearly impossible to change. I know that no matter what I do today, I cannot walk away from you unscathed... So every activation of Bites the Dust has carried all of my resolve!"
Kira's voice shook with emotion. Tears spilled from his eyes. He bit down on his lip—and did something that left Inori stunned speechless.
He had Killer Queen sever his left hand clean off.
The bloody hand hit the ground with a wet splat, and the moment it did, blue light enveloped it. It transformed into the tank-treaded toy car.
"Sheer Heart Attack... you're free."
Blood gushed from the stump. Kira bit through his lip, tears streaming freely, but the only thing in his eyes was iron determination. He wore the expression of a man who had endured every conceivable suffering and still refused to surrender hope—as though he were the righteous protagonist, and she were the villain who'd come to destroy his life.
"See this? This is my resolve, Inori... I, Yoshikage Kira, will survive. No matter how many times I have to start over—I will survive. Someday, I will defeat you. I will defeat destiny!"