Rainy Comfort and Heroic Headlines
Rain was falling.
I'd been right to wear a shawl.
On the way back to the hotel, I slipped it from my own shoulders and draped it around Dusick.
"U-Unni, I'm fine."
"Fine, nothing. What if you catch a cold?"
"But Unni…"
"Would it look better if I caught a cold and you had to nurse me, or if you caught one and I nursed you?"
Dusick had no answer. Once the shawl was around her shoulders, I realized I was a little cold myself. Early October — autumn, and the air had a genuine bite to it.
"Sheesh, it's really coming down. Dusick's hair is going to be soaked through."
Good. With rain like this, no one will be able to tell she's crying. Dusick.
Cry all you want.
Karin and Keru looked like they had a great deal to say to Dusick, who had come back a complete wreck, but I caught their eyes and gave them a discreet little shh — a gesture that said not a word — and sent them out.
While Dusick pulled herself together, I gave Kabe a quick wash and tucked her into bed. By the time I was done, Dusick had finished her shower and come back out.
"Want a beer?"
Offering alcohol to a minor was hardly model adult behavior, but one can couldn't hurt, could it?
"Ah — no. I'm underage. I'll have a cola."
We sat across from each other with two cans of cola on the table between us, and neither of us opened them. Neither of us said a word.
"How are you going to handle the aftermath?"
"Beats me."
I couldn't dump this one on Eve. Not this time.
Then again, I had never planned to handle any aftermath in the first place.
Should I have gotten on my knees and begged? There was no reason to. Dusick was the victim. She had exercised legitimate self-defense. Which meant it was my job to protect her now.
That was why I drew a bigger salary than these kids. If something happened to a subordinate, you solved it. That was the entire point.
"You don't need to worry. I'll handle it."
Not that I have anything resembling a plan.
"Dusick, it's late. Go to bed. You taking tomorrow off school?"
"Ah, no. I'll go to school."
Kind of a model student, huh.
I put the two unopened colas back in the fridge and headed for the shower. By the time I came out, Dusick had gone back to her room. In her place, a single scrap of paper sat on the table.
Unni, thank you.
It was a short, simple sentence, but the eraser marks still ghosting the paper — written and rewritten, over and over — felt like they were showing me Dusick's real heart. I smiled. It put me in a good mood.
"So. What are you going to do?"
"Do about what."
I glanced over the internet news printouts Eve had handed me along with the newspaper, then tossed the whole stack onto the table. The papers slapped down and fluttered apart.
"How are you planning to handle this?"
"Handle what, exactly."
Nothing on those pages was anything but the obvious.
And somehow — how had anyone even gotten this shot? — there was a photograph taken through a window of me tearing the inside of the station apart.
Wow. I was smiling. Beating people and smashing things… and I was smiling. I'd lost it too, huh.
"Hey. This is actually great."
"Have you lost your mind?"
No, think about it. The more vicious and rotten I looked — the more I came off as malice incarnate — the better the magical girls would shine in this month-end fight. Wasn't that a win for them?
I swallowed the words.
"Eve, I think you keep misunderstanding something. I'm a villain. That's my basic position. We have a balance to keep, remember? The cozier you and I get, the worse it is for everybody. You following me?"
"You're right. You are. But the more you pull this kind of thing, the harder it gets for me to look after you."
Look after?
Well. Look at this girl.
"Want to rephrase that? Am I your kid? Look after, my ass."
"You do need looking after, that's a fact. The organization's about to go under, and the so-called boss can't keep her temper in check and just keeps causing incidents. How is that any different from a little brat?"
"Excuse me? Your mouth is getting a little too free."
"Waaaaah! Mama, Papa, don't fiiiight…!"
Ah. Right. I'd been holding Kabe. She was crying, patting at my chest with both little hands. I stood up still holding her and bounced her gently.
"No, no no. Kabe, Mama and Papa aren't fighting. Right, Papa~?"
"Uh — uhh… Yeah, Kabe. Papa isn't fighting with Mama either…"
Look at that awkward smile. She cannot act. Tsk.
Kabe started stomping her feet, so I set her down. She grabbed my hand, grabbed Eve's hand, and tugged at both of us with little straining grunts.
"Then… you two shake hands."
"…"
A handshake. In this atmosphere. But Kabe had the look of a child about to burst into tears if we refused, so I held my hand out to Eve.
"There. We shook hands. Happy, Kabe?"
Honestly, it was an awkward handshake even from the side — the kind you offer because the alternative is dying.
"Nooo. It's weeeird. You two hug."
No, Kabe. That one's really not happening. Kabe.
"Kabe, that one's really not happening."
Eve seemed to be of the exact same mind. She said it to Kabe word for word the way I'd been thinking it, and I offered her my most vehement silent agreement.
"Don't wanna…?"
Kabe's eyes were already welling up again. I grabbed Eve's hand and yanked her in.
Fine. Whatever. What's one hug going to do. My daughter asked.
Eve stumbled forward with a startled uh, uh, and before she could get a word out I pulled her into a tight hug. A clean mint scent lifted off the silver hair that brushed my nose. And the warm weight of her settling into my arms was, surprisingly, not half bad.
We stayed like that for a moment, and then Eve's hands came up around my waist. The height difference was enough that I was looking straight down at the crown of her head.
"No bald spots, I see."
"Oh my god. Are you serious."
The second we let go, Eve snorted a laugh at me. I laughed back. Yeah, well. What was the worst that could happen. It would work out somehow.
"Waaah, Mama and Papa hugging looks so niiice. Now kiss!"
No.
That one was really not happening.
Even for the cutest daughter in the world, that one could not happen.
"Uh, no… Kabe, a kiss is — no. A kiss is really not happening."
"Papa, you hate it…?"
"I-it's not that Papa hates it… it's just, well."
"Kabe, it's not that Mama hates Papa either. We just do it a lot when Kabe isn't looking."
"Does Mama hate kissing Kabe too…?"
Huh? What's this now.
"Ah — you want Mama and Papa to kiss Kabe?"
"Mhm."
"Now that is not difficult at all!"
Eve scooped Kabe up in both arms. Our mouths each pressed a little peck to one of her cheeks.
"Hehe. Mama and Papa are the bestest."
"That's right. Mama and Papa love Kabe so much too!"
"Anyway. Let's go with that concept at tomorrow's press conference. I did snap at you a bit because I was pissed, but like you said — a villain being villainous. What's the problem, I guess."
And then… Eve hesitated, glancing at my face.
"What Dusick did. I already found out who those people are. I'll deal with them on my end, so don't get too worked up."
"Why are you handling my subordinate's business?"
"It's not someone else's business. She used to be mine too. She switched sides because I couldn't look after her. I want to do at least this much. Cut me some slack."
Well. It wasn't as if I couldn't understand.
"Fine. Do it. And because of yesterday I didn't get to learn a thing from Karin. Can I keep her another day?"
"Sure. Two days, three days, keep her as long as you like. Karin doesn't have any talent left except making money anyway."
"Must be nice. Our house cat doesn't even have that much."
"Anyway, I'm heading out. I'll be here by four tomorrow, so wait for me. Makeup, all kinds of prep. I already sent the script by email, so check it."
"Got it."
After Eve left, I opened my mail. Sure enough, one new message was waiting.
"The sender is… M.P.E.? What is that even supposed to…"
Then I looked at the address, and I understood. The second I saw it started with MiraclePrincessEve, I burst out laughing.
Wow. Unbelievable. Twenty-seven years old, and her email was Miracle Princess Eve. It was enough to make you wonder if she'd actually wanted to stay in a woman's body.
The script ran to about seven pages. My lines, and the questions the reporters were expected to ask. Most of those expected questions would be useless now, though. After the stunt I'd pulled yesterday, nearly everything they threw at me would be about that.
I flipped through it, confirmed the general shape of the thing, and closed it.
"I'm home."
"Oh, Dusick's back. Anything happen?"
"No, Unni. Those kids were all absent today."
Well, if they'd shown up at school the day after a beating like that, that itself would have been impressive. We'd have had to scout them into the organization. With that kind of durability.
"What did the teachers say?"
"They didn't say much. But…"
"Hm?"
"Unni, you don't really go on the internet, right?"
"I don't. Why?"
"Well."
Dusick started grinning. What? What was with that face?
"That thing you did yesterday, Unni. It went viral. Your popularity actually went up."
"I beat people half to death and demolished a building, and my popularity went up?"
What kind of sense did that make.
"Well, those kids didn't just do that to me. Their parents have so much clout that they were… really awful to the teachers and the other kids, too."
Ah.
"And since you beat them half to death, there are so many kids who are actually happy about it. Especially that photo through the window."
"Oh, that. I saw that too. This one, right?"
I dug through the printouts still scattered across the floor and found it easily enough.
Even then, I'd been smashing things with my right hand, not my left. So I'd had some reason left, at least.
"That's the one. They're saying you look so cool in that photo. The girls especially love it. So they kept asking me what kind of person you are."
"Yeah? What did you tell them?"
"Just that you're a good Unni…?"
No. You should have said I was cool.
Good grief. This dense kid, I swear.
"Well, whatever about that. As long as nothing happened to you, that's what matters. Go wash up and rest. Do your homework."
"Yes, Unni. You rest too."
Dusick turned away with a bright little smile.
That wasn't a put-on smile. Today had been a genuinely good day for Dusick.
And thanks to that, my mood improved too.