Malice. (2)
If a hospital was a despair buffet, the National Cemetery felt far more like a despair restaurant.
Ahh. That fragrant scent of despair.
I fought down the smile threatening to tug at the corners of my mouth and drifted forward, step by quiet step.
The despair that comes from losing someone precious…
The hospital had carried a similar note, but what hung in the air here was far thicker, far richer. If anyone asked which I preferred, the answer was obvious. This side won by a mile. Magical-girl despair, of course, ran denser still—but that was another matter entirely.
"Aigoo, aigoo… Why… why did that child have to die… Why…"
Ugh. Almost laughed out loud there…
As delicious as the place was, it was also dangerous. Socially speaking, mostly. Monster or not, I had no desire to get my hair yanked or catch a raw egg to the face.
…Time to move. Hang around any longer and people will start treating me like a lunatic.
Part of me wanted to linger and watch a little longer, but I was a monster who knew restraint.
And so I wandered the graves, plucking human despair as I went. Help yourself to all the despair you desire at the Despair Restaurant—something like that.
Wmmmm—
Huh?
My Despair Circuit suddenly kicked on, and I tilted my head. Human despair was this strong? No… that wasn't it. This despair was intensely familiar.
So… over here?
I slipped past a towering headstone, and a familiar face came into view.
Magical Girl Peridot.
The mouthwatering magical girl who had first treated me to truly delicious despair.
Oh. Seeing her like this is actually kind of nice.
"Hello."
"H-hiiik…"
What was with that reaction? Shouldn't she be glad to see me, after getting captured by a monster and making it home alive? That's a magical-girl fail, you know. A person comes back alive and this is what I get?
I did tease her a little hard… but it wasn't that bad, was it?
It was the kind of simple prank anyone might imagine once in a while. Getting that kind of response over one little joke was just cruel. Monster or not, my emotions ran close enough to human that I couldn't help feeling hurt.
Hurt. Yes. Pay for my fragile monster heart.
"Are you avoiding me?"
"I-I'm not avoi—hngh… ugh…"
Peridot started dry-heaving. I cocked my head—then realization hit, and I smacked a fist into my open palm.
Don't tell me she overate yesterday?
Not long ago I'd stuffed myself on despair, then had hope shoved into my mouth and thrown up myself. I hadn't wanted to discover common ground with a magical girl in quite this way…
"I understand why you're like this."
"…"
"It's an embarrassing reason to say out loud, isn't it?"
"…"
"In a way, it might be the last scrap of pride you still have left."
I was doing everything in my power to stay calm. The last thing I wanted was a Halo floating over my head in a crowd. This, children, is what they call adult composure. Chest optional.
My words must have landed, because Peridot was listening in silence. Surprising. I'd heard kids these days weren't very good at sitting still and paying attention.
Wmmmm—
"I'm… sorry… I'm sorry… It was my fault…"
Eh?
She hadn't been listening at all?
Peridot spiraled into panic all on her own, and my Despair Circuit started spinning hard.
W-wait… at this rate it's going to come out… ngh…
I curled in on myself, trying to force down the heartbeat thudding harder and harder. Calm down. Slow breaths. Count the primes.
So first—
Wmmmmm—
"…Ah."
Despite my earnest efforts, I couldn't stop the Halo from rising above my head.
Tch. Sure, I'd thought about tasting Peridot's despair again—but I never said I wanted to eat it right now!
Once started, the Despair Circuit yawned wide and began sucking in the despair all around us.
If you'd just stop despairing for a second, I might actually manage to shut this thing off…
"…Aaaah."
I looked at Peridot crumpled on the ground, drowning in despair, and sighed. Honestly—how could magical girls be this consistently unhelpful to a monster's daily life? At least I had Tamako. Without Tamako, the sole conscience among them, magical girls would have been nothing more than a violent mob that harassed perfectly decent monsters.
…More importantly, way too many humans have gathered.
A fact I only just noticed. At some point, people had started clustering around me—every one of them staring with unfocused eyes, faces twisted, moaning under their breath.
What are they, zombies…
In the original story, Apocalypse had scenes where she dragged the humans around her into despair—but I never imagined it would look like this. A little priming of the Despair Circuit, and this is what I get?
Peridot included, they were all sitting in a circle around me, wailing. I felt like some cult leader.
"Aaaah, aaaaaah…!!"
"Aaaaaaah…!"
"Ah, uuuughaaah…!!"
The performance was excellent. The visuals were another story. One or two might have been manageable; en masse, it was genuinely hard on the eyes. If it had been pretty girls like Peridot crying their hearts out, maybe. As it stood—
My spirit is having a great time. My eyes are not.
There's a monster trapped over here. Somebody please save this poor monster!
No one came to help. Well—no one human, at least.
Grrrrrrk—
"…A monster?"
Under the shadow of a headstone, as if it had always been there, a monster appeared, thick strings of drool dripping as it fixed its gaze on us. For a second I thought it would charge and start devouring people—but it just sat there waiting, which suggested otherwise.
Well-trained on "stay," aren't you.
More importantly—could you stop despairing already and do your actual job?
I sighed at Peridot, whose eyes had gone as vacant as everyone else's. I hadn't wanted to resort to this, but I had no choice.
"Haa…"
One deep breath—
Slap—!!
"Uh, ah…?"
"Snap out of it, Peridot."
"A-aah…?"
Nothing wakes a human up like a shock. The moment my palm hit her cheek, a little focus returned; she clutched her face and stared at me, eyes wide. And what filled those eyes was me.
Uh. She's not about to jump me, is she?
A flicker of unease made me point quickly toward the monster with my index finger. Look—there's a monster over there. A magical girl should take care of that, right?
Peridot followed the tip of my finger and let out a soundless gasp. Oh. Finally coming around?
"You can do it now, Peridot."
"I… can…"
"This is another chance to protect everyone. It's come back to you."
"Everyone… I…"
Her head dropped with a soft thud.
Uh. Uhh… Why now? Weren't you waking up?
I only had a second to be confused.
Ugh… tastes like raw, fully grown potato…
Through the Despair Circuit, Peridot's hope came flooding in. Hey—close already, would you? You don't want hope in there either, right?
I all but begged, and the Circuit's spin gradually slowed.
Wmmmmm…
"Huuu…"
Thank goodness. Another second and I would have coughed up blood and ruined my clothes again. The old bloodstains still hadn't fully washed out; I was not about to add new ones.
All right then. Fighting.
I was no longer in Peridot's field of vision. Only the monster remained. Sensing her hope, it rose to its feet—and I slipped quietly into the shadow of the headstone. Excuse me, whoever you are. Borrowing your shade for a bit, headstone owner.
"Transform…!"
Whoa. First time seeing a magical girl transform in person. I watched Peridot with a grin like a kid on Christmas morning. The hope needling my skin was unpleasant, but my eyes were happy enough to make up for it.
"Magical Girl Peridot—deploying!"
Grrrrrrk—!!!
With her declaration, the monster began gorging on the surrounding humans' despair, swelling larger by the second. A classic setup. Which only made it more fun.
"Huh? Why am I here…"
"More importantly—isn't that a monster?"
"Peridot's here too!"
"W-why is there a monster here…"
As Peridot's hope scattered outward, the humans who'd been sitting like corpses began to come to, one by one. The first thing they saw was a magical girl locked in combat with a monster. How about that? Different when it's live instead of on a screen, isn't it?
Still—she's dodging every which way and still managing to protect the civilians.
Spectators never believe they're the ones who might die. Watching her keep those would-be suicide volunteers in mind even mid-fight… For a magical girl who never showed up in the original, she was pretty capable.
Would've been nice to have some popcorn…
"You can do it, Peridot! You've got this!"
"Go, Peridot!"
Actually, cancel that. If I'd had any, it would absolutely have tasted like hope.