Like a Comet Into Your Heart (1)
Like a Comet Into Your Heart (1)
“Aagh!”
“Ah! You mustn’t! Weaver Girl is still a patient!”
“Patient my ass, you sugar-guzzling brats!”
Pink Deneb clicked her tongue.
Even in the middle of all this, Red Vega was somehow unwrapping a little candy and popping it into her mouth.
The sheer tenacity of her sugar addiction was almost unsettling, but Pink Deneb figured it was a relief that she was at least managing her stress somehow.
“You’re mean! The bad one is that monster, not the sweets I brought! And my Weaver Girl isn’t bad either!”
White Dabih wrapped her arms around Red Vega’s neck and protested. Pink Deneb couldn’t parse every word immediately, but she got the gist: something along the lines of ‘we’re the good ones, so why are you yelling at us.’
She dismissed the protest lightly and answered with indifference.
“You sure pronounce ‘Weaver Girl’ perfectly.”
“The Cowherd’s partner is Weaver Girl! Of course I’d say it well!”
“Yeah, yeah. May your love last a thousand years.”
“Yes!”
The foreigner nodded vigorously, completely missing the sarcasm. Pink Deneb smiled bitterly.
She turned her gaze back to Red Vega.
“A-hee.”
“Y-yes?”
“Is it good?”
“...Sis, by any chance.”
“By any chance what.”
“Are you sulking because we ate without you?”
Red Vega asked, looking slightly cowed, and broke a cookie in half, offering it to Pink Deneb.
Pink Deneb took it and let out a short laugh.
“What am I gonna do, steal snacks from kids? Eat up.”
“I’m turning twenty in a few months, you know?!”
“Still a kid, then.”
Thankfully, she didn’t seem too deeply hurt.
It could’ve been an act, of course. But the fact that she could put on a front at all was proof she was still functional enough for society. If the psychological exhaustion were truly severe, that kind of performance would be impossible.
“Hey, Jap.”
“I’m the adorable and lovable White Dabih!”
“Sure you are, Nippon. Get off the patient’s bed and come here a second. You’re not the one who’s hurt, right?”
“Correct! The injured ones are Red Vega and Weaver Girl! I’m perfectly fine!”
“God, the shamelessness pisses me off... anyway, come here.”
Pink Deneb crooked her finger, beckoning White Dabih over.
White Dabih blinked vacantly, tucked one more jelly into Red Vega’s mouth, and climbed off the bed.
Pink Deneb was starting to worry she was getting too immersed in this Cowherd-and-Weaver-Girl role-play. The star names magical girls used were just borrowed from real stars—there was no deep connection. A first-magnitude star in real astronomy could easily shine dimmer in magical-girl terms than another girl’s star. That was proof enough.
White Dabih approached. Pink Deneb, who barely cleared middle-school height, had to look up at her.
“What is it! Did you call me over for one of those famous disciplinary beatdowns?! Wow! K-hazing!”
“Don’t slap a K on that, you’re from the country that invented bullying... and that’s not why I called you over.”
Pink Deneb reached up to sling an arm around her neck, but the height difference kept her from reaching.
“....”
White Dabih watched her with pity, then bent down so she could finally reach. Pink Deneb quickly looped her arm around her neck in a casual shoulder-hug.
“Oho, not hazing—shakedown, then!”
“I told you it’s not that... keep your voice down.”
She slowly backed away, putting distance between them and Red Vega.
Standing on tiptoe, Pink Deneb whispered quietly into White Dabih’s ear.
“Hey. Does she look okay to you?”
“Me? You mean me?”
“Not you. A-hee.”
“Ah.”
White Dabih lowered her voice to match.
Red Vega was busy shoving an entire deluxe giant scone into her mouth—one she’d just failed to eat because she was worried about making crumbs.
“Hmm... honestly? She was not okay.”
“...?! How so?”
White Dabih’s expression turned serious.
“Umm... I came by, gave her a few hugs... and, well... I asked.”
“Asked what.”
“How badly that monster beat the crap out of her...”
“Oh you absolute shit-for-brains.”
Pink Deneb seriously wondered if she needed to cut off this foreigner’s internet access. Her own foul mouth had certainly influenced the kid’s speech habits, but Pink Deneb didn’t suspect for a second that she’d been a bad influence.
“So... I asked how it felt to get utterly wrecked... and she cried.”
“Of course she cried.”
“I thought... she would laugh... party-people-style... a cheerful joke...”
“What world does that kind of bit work in? I’d love to know.”
It probably wouldn’t fly in her native Japan, either.
“After that, she started crying, going ‘I really am a loser, aaagh!!’... and I told her it was fine... that all magical girls are trash compared to monsters anyway... nothing to be sad about...”
“That was supposed to be comfort?”
“Yes... anyway, she cried for a while, and after I fed her the sweets I brought, she quieted down. Like a little rabbit. It was cute.”
“I’m losing my goddamn mind...”
Pink Deneb pressed her fingers to her forehead.
She’d assumed White Dabih came to offer comfort, but the girl had basically come to dig at an open wound. Irritation surged. Her junior was utterly clueless, with a trash mouth to match, and it seemed she’d only made things worse.
So that seemingly fine appearance was nothing but a sugar high—a temporary sedated state.
Then again, someone who’d nearly died couldn’t possibly be fine in the head.
Her feelings were a tangled mess.
“I’m fine.”
Red Vega suddenly spoke up from behind. Had she heard them?
“If you can hear, just say so instead of making it awkward.”
“I didn’t hear... I’m not completely oblivious either. I just figured it out from the mood.”
Red Vega energetically raised both arms and stretched them up and down over and over. The muscle wasn’t bodybuilder-level—it looked a bit scrawny—but the clean lines of her arms showed a beautiful silhouette.
“See? Nice and strong—ow ow ow.”
Then she aggravated an injury.
“Th-that’s just because I’m hurt! I’m really okay! As soon as I recover, I’m ready to deploy!”
White Dabih countered Red Vega’s protest with a solemn face.
“The thing about crazy people is, they never know they’re crazy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean.”
“It means you don’t even realize that saying you’re fine doesn’t make you fine!”
She declared it proudly. It was a fair point, and Pink Deneb nodded along.
“N-no, you can’t! Dilemma is about to make its real move—“
“A-hee. Do your seniors look like pathetic garbage to you? Huh? The way this brat put it?”
“Aagh! Why are you hitting me?!”
Pink Deneb, who’d smacked White Dabih’s shin, answered.
“Regulations give hospitalized magical girls up to a full week of rest. Hardly anyone uses it, but... anyway, A-hee, you sit this one out.”
“B-but still!”
“God. When I say rest, you rest, dumbass. Rest is part of the job. Going out when you’re not fully recovered and ending up a casualty is way more of a burden on everyone, you idiot.”
“Isn’t calling me an idiot a bit too harsh?!”
“Better than the crap you were spouting earlier.”
Pink Deneb sighed deeply and grabbed White Dabih by the back of her belt. She would’ve preferred to drag her by the neck, but the height difference made that impossible.
“Anyway, rest up. Don’t take anything this idiot said seriously. Oh, and! Don’t go searching online and doomscrolling reactions!”
Red Vega smiled bitterly and waved as White Dabih was hauled out by her belt.
“...I really am fine, though.”
Was it the tears she’d happened to shed earlier that caused the misunderstanding? Red Vega’s expression was troubled as she licked the cream off the corner of her mouth.
Sweet.
She could eat all the sweets she wanted now—things she couldn’t even dream of in the old days. It was definitely a happy thing, but it also felt so indulgent it brought on guilt.
Even now, there must be so many children in this world for whom this small happiness was impossibly far away.
And here she was, looking after herself.
A magical girl—someone who ought to be a fantasy for others—dragged into reality, taking care of her own body.
Wasn’t that the real disgrace?
“Haaah.”
And yet her body kept craving sugar without pause. The electric sweetness seeping across her tongue after so long was a fine flame for melting away temporary gloom.
Red Vega had only one real regret.
Begging for her life in front of that monster.
Simply losing to an enemy as a hero was shameful enough, but to go beyond that—to beg him to stop, and then to cry on top of it? It was disgraceful behavior that could only be called unbecoming of a magical girl.
Baek A-hee remembered yesterday and shoved more sweets into her mouth.
The cream melted, the sweetness intensified, and with the sensation that rose up, the memories of pain sharpened.
Certainly, not calling for backup immediately had been a mistake. She’d been too arrogant.
But she didn’t need fear over that act.
To gain fear of her own enemy—that was something she must never do. It would be the ultimate betrayal to the weak, who believed in heroes alone and wanted to be freed from terror.
She must not fear monsters. Must not fear being unacknowledged. Must not fear dying.
Only when you could always throw yourself away could you become a hero who truly granted everyone’s wishes.
“Mmph... next time we meet... I’ll win...”
The resolution she’d made after her first defeat was still holding.
Though her body had shrunk back a little more than it had then.
It was definitely the guilt. Baek A-hee told herself that as she finished off every last sweet escape she’d been given.
“Huff... I really am fine, so why won’t anyone believe me...?”
The armful of gifts White Dabih had brought were all reduced to trash.
The clean white hospital room was a mess now—cookie crumbs, paper boxes, wrappers everywhere. Nearly dizzying.
Baek A-hee looked at the chaos and sighed.
When was she going to clean all this up?
Looks like Deneb’s scolding wasn’t something to just let slide after all.
**
Han Jae-jung killed a nearby monster and shook the blood off himself.
Several days had passed since that horrifically long day. The fact that Red Vega still wasn’t active made it clear she’d taken a serious shock. Her suicide counseling session had even been postponed by three days.
“Goddammit...”
The guilt surged up again. How was he supposed to apologize for that? What face could he possibly wear in front of that girl? No—was even trying to make contact like this just a nuisance to her?
‘She’ll just see it as me apologizing to make myself feel better...’
It was hypocrisy.
This was something he should’ve steeled himself for from the moment he started operating as a monster without revealing his identity. He could take the hatred. Being cursed out was familiar enough from past experience—he’d manage.
‘No, actually, that experience might make the rejection response even worse.’
Other people’s stares were still unpleasant.
Sticking to killing monsters in back alleys like this actually made them rare. He heard citizens scream often enough, but that hadn’t done anything to help with the trauma. He never felt anything but the wish that it would all just stop.
The fact that he operated with his face hidden behind a helmet, unlike the magical girls, was his one breathing hole.
He tapped the Belt and had it track nearby monster positions. Fortunately, it still wasn’t handing out the kind of insane quests it used to. Setting aside a few drawbacks, it really was a convenient machine.
At his request, the Belt instantly scanned the surroundings and transmitted location data to his brain. A monster was positioned closer than he’d expected.
“Hm.”
It wasn’t just positioned there.
It was approaching.
So of course it was close. Han Jae-jung immediately readied himself for combat. The star power drew steadily nearer. He clenched his fist.
“Comrade~!!!”
And unclenched it.
“Tch.”
“Now now, clicking your tongue the moment you see someone! That’s a terribly bad habit. Your wife would be saddened.”
“I have no wife. Do you?”
“Of course I don’t either! Ha ha ha!”
“A thing that isn’t even human calling itself a person is laughable.”
“I am a mon-ster, am I not? Half of that is person, so there’s no harm in claiming it, wouldn’t you say?”
Han Jae-jung sighed and pressed his fingers to his forehead. The Pyxis Monster was noisy as ever today.
“Just because something can talk doesn’t make it human. You need to follow established rules and possess a conscience to be human.”
“Then I am all the more human! There’s no man as rich in sensibility as I am!”
“You insane monster bastard...”
“Now now! My name is not Monster Bastard!”
The Pyxis Monster bent into a bow, like a stage actor taking a curtain call.
“My name is Jason.”
“Sounds like a name that’d be good with a chainsaw. Origin?”
“I got it from a random English name generator! It has no particular meaning! Isn’t that how life is, comrade! Beginning from a trifling coincidence and becoming history!”
“What the hell...”
Wouldn’t it be better to just use the constellation as a name, then? Han Jae-jung clicked his tongue.
“Speaking of which, didn’t you deny the comrade thing before?”
“Ah, about that.”
The monster who called himself Jason squared his shoulders proudly.
“I never heard your purpose, so it’s no different from having none! To me, a comrade is still someone without a purpose! So, comrade you remain!”
“Then I’ll just tell you. My purpose is—“
“Ahh! I cannot hear you! I cannot hear a thing!”
What had he even come here for? Han Jae-jung was starting to get annoyed.
“Why did you come looking for me? I don’t particularly want to chat with you.”
“Still so cold, I see. Though, of course, simple chatter is not my purpose.”
The monster called Jason pulled some piece of machinery from inside his coat.
Han Jae-jung’s eyes went wide. His lenses seemed to glow red. A belt buckle with a design resembling a telescope. It was unmistakably a Belt.
“This, you see. Does it not resemble your belt, comrade? I asked Boötes, and she handed it over! Ha ha! What do you think? Now you and I even share an outward resemblance!”
The monster who called himself Jason affixed the buckle to his waist. Since he already had a belt, it ended up sitting closer to his stomach.
At the same moment—
“Kkuaaagh!!!”
An electric shock burst from the belt, and he collapsed.
“...What did he even come here for.”
He was genuinely curious.