An Uncomfortable Cohabitation (1)
Emerald's apartment still smelled like a brand-new home.
Well, coming straight from central housing, a new-house smell was probably unavoidable.
I figured since it was Emerald, she would've gone for a green-themed design or something...
Green? The place barely had any furniture at all. It was dry and barren to a depressing degree.
And there was only one bedroom, on top of that.
Wait—so that means all three of us have to share the same room?
...Yeah, not a fan of that.
"Tamako's already asleep again."
"So she is."
Tamako had passed out the moment we got through the door.
Her condition had already been poor, so this was only natural.
For me, her being asleep is actually way better...
When Tamako slept, she poured out despair energy like a fountain. Longer sleep, more fuel—perfect.
The only real problem was that it left me with no good window to actually feed on it.
Why did it have to be the same room, though?
As the homeowner, she could've taken the big room for herself and shoved tenants like us into a tiny one.
My plan to share a room with just Tamako and suck her despair dry...!
Maybe I should knock Emerald out just once?
Normal Emerald would be a pain, but the way she was now, I could probably drop her without much trouble.
Look—she was already staggering a little just walking around.
"You go to sleep first, Akari. I'll tidy up a bit and join you soon."
"Riiight, sure..."
...So that was how she was going to slip out of it.
This was exactly why I didn't like sharp-eyed magical girls.
I sighed inwardly at Emerald telling me to sleep first.
Ah, whatever. Might as well lie down and sleep for now.
When I wake up, let there be a world overflowing with despair...
I muttered an impossible wish and closed my eyes.
Hunger must have helped; sleep came surprisingly easily.
And so, the next morning.
I woke up, stepped out of the room, and found Emerald collapsed on the living-room floor.
I rubbed my eyes at the unbelievable sight.
Emerald was still sprawled out on the floor.
...Huh?
"Midori, are you okay? Midori?"
"Ugh... uuugh..."
Anyone could tell she was not okay, but I asked out of basic courtesy.
Her face looked flushed. She seemed feverish...
I reached out carefully and laid a hand on her forehead. A fierce heat flowed straight into my palm.
Whoa, burning hot. Almost scorched my hand.
"This is what you get for overdoing it..."
"...Aka...ri."
"Don't talk. Just stay still. I'll move you to the bed."
I said it as I gently lifted her up.
Hm. She was ridiculously light.
For a magical girl who dished out iron-fist justice to monsters, her weight was almost nothing.
Does she just not eat properly?
This was the same human who force-fed me so aggressively, yet she herself skipped meals...
I felt a strangely pure kind of malice from Emerald.
"Put me... down... Akari..."
"Ah-ah, if you keep pushing yourself like this, you're really going to be in trouble, you know? Humans are the kind of creatures that only work efficiently when they rest properly."
Even after I got her onto the bed, she kept trying to sit up, so I pinned her down with sheer force.
You finally collapse and still want to force yourself to move? Cut it out already.
Just when I finally had a chance to gorge myself on Tamako's despair, she had to go and throw dirt on it...!
Magical girls really are magical girls to the end, huh...
Even unconscious, she was instinctively trying to stop a monster from doing this or that.
If I'd been a magical girl myself, I might've been moved by her behavior.
"There, there. I'll cool you down."
"Uuuugh..."
Having Emerald's sweat on my hand wasn't ideal, but fetching a wet towel sounded like a hassle, so I just left my palm there.
How's that, magical girl? Monster body heat for you.
And a magical girl being nursed by a monster—feel the humiliation!
I snickered and gently rubbed her forehead.
If not now, when else am I ever going to get to put my hand on her head?
The coolness must have felt good; Emerald's soft groans gradually quieted.
Hm. Did she actually fall asleep?
I tilted my head and listened. Steady, soft breathing tickled my ear.
...She really did.
Would be nice if she had a nightmare or something.
Even back at the hospital, Emerald almost never had nightmares.
How was that even possible for a human?
It was a superhuman mental fortitude that left even a monster like me clicking my tongue in disbelief.
After everything she'd been through, she still didn't leak despair unconsciously in her sleep. Tch.
Ah. Right.
I seemed to remember hearing somewhere that if you whisper certain words to a sleeping person, they start dreaming about related things.
I stared at Emerald lying completely motionless, then slowly leaned in closer.
Uh, okay... maybe start light.
"Apocalypse."
"Ugh..."
Mmmph—
Oh, that worked well?
Just saying the word "Apocalypse" produced this much despair.
Opportunities like this didn't come often, so I decided to drink my fill while I could.
Alright then, what should I say next—
Ah. Perfect.
"Did you really think that just by coming back, you'd be able to eliminate me?"
"...Aah."
Mmmmmph—
Yes! This is it!
Thick, sticky despair poured in through my despair circuit, and I exhaled a hot breath.
Ugh, no matter how many times I feel this, I never get used to it.
My body temperature spiked all at once.
Because it was a magical girl's despair, my despair circuit started racing with pure delight.
"Heh, heheheheh, heh-heh... *slurp*, hnn..."
If anyone saw me right now, they'd probably think I'd taken some drug I absolutely shouldn't have.
For example, that two-head-tall little character standing right beside Emerald, staring at me with a dumb look on its face.
...
Huh.
"Y-y-you...! Wh-what the hell even are you?! Get away from Emerald right now!!"
"W-whoa...!"
Whoosh—something flew at me and body-slammed me. I yelped and landed hard on my butt.
What was that?
No. Wait. You know what that is, you idiot!
Sudden realization hit so hard I wanted to slap myself.
Magical girls always have a partner stuck to them, you moron!
At this point it was basically a voluntary confession.
Like waving a sign that said "There's a monster over here, please arrest me~."
With my despair circuit already spinning at full throttle, I wasn't dumb enough to just sit there and get caught.
What do I need right now?
Persuasion?
Would a magical girl's partner fall for a monster's persuasion?
Reasoning?
Would a magical girl's partner listen to a monster's reasoning?
Begging?
Would a magical girl's partner grant a monster's request?
Threats?
Would a magical girl's partner fold under a monster's thr—
—maybe they would?
I curled the corners of my mouth into a sharp grin.
I'd promised myself I'd restrain monster-like behavior as much as possible, but a situation like this left me no choice.
I spun the already-active despair circuit even harder and locked eyes with the SD character.
"Y-you can see me...? How...?"
"How, I wonder?"
I put on the most threatening expression I could manage.
The kind that said if it tried anything funny, Emerald's safety might suddenly become... uncertain.
"Please keep this a secret from Emerald."
"..."
"Otherwise, something bad might happen, you know?"
With my halo already floating above my head, there was no way to hide that I was Apocalypse.
Until now it had only been suspicion. From this moment on, it would be certainty.
But there was still a sliver of hope.
If I can just shut this one's mouth, I might be able to keep fooling them a little longer...
Emerald was unconscious. As long as the two-head-tall character in front of me didn't talk to her, I was fine.
...Which meant I would have no choice but to stick close to Emerald from now on.
That was a troublesome option in its own right, but after pulling a stunt this stupid, I had to live with it.
"You're... a monster, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's right. A monster created by the Doctor."
"...First, tone down that despair energy. If an alarm goes off, there's no going back."
"..."
It... worked?
If I reined in the despair energy, Emerald wouldn't suddenly sit up and start blasting magic at me... right?
All kinds of conflicting thoughts raced through my head. I chewed my lip hard, then finally followed the two-head character's instructions and began suppressing the despair.
Haa... Just when it was getting good, there had to be a trap waiting.
Even unconscious she still managed to lure a monster into a pitfall. What a disgustingly magical-girl-like magical girl!
Mmmmmph...
"Good. Let's start with introductions, then. I'm May."
"...Please call me Akari."
What a life. Introducing myself to a monster.
I forced the corners of my mouth upward to hide how bleak I felt.
Ahh, if I'd known it would turn out like this, I would've held back a little longer.
Tamako's despair alone would've been plenty. Why did I have to get greedy?
"It's a bit early to say this, but I can't trust a monster."
Well, yeah.
Of course. Someone from the magical-girl side would never swallow a monster's words at face value.
"You're talking to me like this because you want things to stay quiet too, right? If you'd planned to devour Emerald, you would've done it already."
"...That's... true."
I hated this feeling of having the initiative ripped away from me.
But every single thing the two-head character—May—said was correct, so I had no real counter.
I wanted to stick a straw into Emerald's spine and sip, not start a full-blown incident.
Why is my monster life like this...
The unluckiest monster in the entire world was standing right here.