Uncomfortable Cohabitation (2)
Despair Rank Omega. Despair Rank Omega. Despair Rank Omega.
I've never seen anything like this before...
May swallowed hard at the beast standing before her—no, at the pure blackness itself. She had thought the girl was just some pitiful person captured and experimented on by the Monster Doctor. Never in her wildest nightmares had she imagined something like this.
She was putting every ounce of effort into looking calm, but inside she was already burnt black.
I'm going to be annihilated...
Any further exposure to despair this dense would kill her. Not metaphorically. She might literally cease to exist. If the other party hadn't listened and quieted her despair energy, May really would have been forced into a permanent goodbye with Emerald.
"I'll be in your care from now on, May."
"Hic..."
That single line had sent such a chill down her spine that even after the despair energy vanished, the trembling wouldn't stop.
Is... is it over...?
Watching Akari rise quietly from her seat and head into the room, May finally let out a breath of relief. That dark-red halo declaring it would turn all hope into despair. And those eyes the exact same color. The moment she recalled that gaze—something that could never belong to a human—her core prickled and shuddered.
What kind of monster did you bring home, Emerald...
At this rate they were hostages with their lives as collateral. Even if Emerald grew stronger from here, May doubted she could ever truly face something this horrifying. Especially when Emerald's hope circuit was already damaged from taking on a Delta-class monster alone.
"No... Ruby... Sapphire..."
"Emerald..."
Looking at Emerald, who had started having nightmares at some point, made May's core ache. Can't you tell your partner what kind of burden you're carrying?
A dejected May gently stroked the cheek of the deeply sleeping Emerald.
Irritating. Irritating. Irritating. Irritating...
That May creature stuck right next to Emerald was so damn irritating I was about to lose my mind. The second I got anywhere near Emerald she would pop out and glare daggers at me, and the moment that gaze hit me my appetite for despair vanished completely.
"I'm sorry, Akari. I've caused you so much unnecessary trouble because of me..."
"Don't worry about me. Just get better soon, Midori."
That wasn't how I actually felt, but I said it anyway. Deep down I hoped she'd stay flat on her back until the day I died.
A monster nursing a magical girl... seriously.
I clicked my tongue inwardly. Changing the wet towels had already become so routine I was starting to think I could do this professionally. If any other magical girls who knew about Apocalypse saw this scene, they'd probably faint on the spot.
Come to think of it, do the other magical girls even remember Apocalypse?
Of course it was better for me if they didn't, but since I hadn't confirmed it with my own eyes the uncertainty still gnawed at me. Even if I somehow managed to win Emerald over completely, there was no guarantee the others would follow. Especially Ruby. If Ruby still had her memories of Apocalypse, she would come straight for me without a second thought and try to skewer me on the spot.
"I think... I'm being punished..."
"Punished for what?"
"For all the bad things I did to you, Akari..."
What is wrong with this girl. Being sick must have scrambled her head too. Or maybe this was just Emerald going back to her original self. In the original work Emerald had been a soft, radiant beauty, after all.
Well... better than being suspected, I guess...?
If I could just keep May's mouth shut properly, we might get away with this. The problem was that May was no ordinary creature. She spent the entire day glued to Emerald's side, lips moving like she was about to say something, and every time she did my heart lurched so hard I couldn't look away.
"Akari, you're not stuck here because of me, are you?"
"Someone's lying there sick, so even if I wanted to go out I couldn't."
"...I'm sorry."
She apologized for everything. And the people she should actually be apologizing to were the humans she hadn't saved in the previous world, not me.
"You're a complete failure of a magical girl, you know that?"
Hmm~
Today's my lucky day.
So Emerald was the type who generated despair energy when she was beating herself up. May's glare was sharp enough to cut, but I wasn't stupid enough to let perfectly good despair go to waste. Besides, you can't even sense despair this mild, can you? If you could, you would have noticed the moment I ate Tamako's.
"By the way, Midori, aren't you hungry?"
"I'm fi—"
Grrrk—
I knew it. I wanted to make her feel my own hunger for once, but humans were fragile things that risked their lives if they didn't eat on schedule. Looks like I had no choice but to feed her myself. Come to think of it, Tamako had woken up earlier complaining she was hungry too...
"...I'm hungry."
"Should I order something for you?"
"...Please."
I shook my head at Emerald, who was saying it with a red face. See? Trying to tough out hunger while you're already sick is exactly why you're running a fever.
I clicked my tongue and shot a pointed look at May floating beside Emerald.
If you make any weird noises while I'm on the phone, I won't let it slide.
"...I'll stay quiet."
"...Huh?"
You don't answer out loud, you idiot. The fact that I could see May was supposed to be a secret from Emerald. Was she trying to tip her off like that on purpose? Not a chance.
"I'm borrowing your phone for a second, Midori."
"...Okay."
Handing her phone over to a monster without a second thought. My heart pounded with curiosity about what might be inside as I turned on the screen, only to be greeted by a completely bland wallpaper with neither password nor pattern lock. It looked exactly like a work phone bought for pure utility.
So... yeah, looks like this world has delivery apps too.
Both of them were sick humans, so ordering something soft like porridge should be enough. I didn't need anything for myself—I already had two servings of despair. Even if I ordered food I'd just pretend to eat and throw it all away.
Oh, they've got iTube here too.
A little too realistic, don't you think? This was actually my first time connecting to this world's internet. The Doctor had been an extremely Confucian monster and never once let a phone near my hands. Tsk tsk. If he'd just given me a phone I might have stayed quiet. This is why monsters are hopeless.
...The world really is the same no matter where you go.
Monster footage, magical girl footage... A battle video between a monster and a magical girl with ten million views even managed to stir emotions the anime never could.
...Huh?
One video in particular caught my eye. It was about Magical Girl Ruby announcing she was leaving the Association to operate independently. Come to think of it, she did quit around this time, didn't she?
I know she left because she was sick of the Association's corruption, but still...
The bounty money from taking down monsters was pretty decent. Throwing that away just to quit... No matter how I looked at it, Ruby was an idiot. This is why kids who don't know how the world works are hopeless. And the people who send those same clueless kids out to fight monsters are just as bad. Tsk tsk.
"You look upset."
"Ah, well... More importantly, could you not talk to me?"
"...With a face like that, how am I supposed to stay quiet?"
Thank god Emerald had fallen back asleep. If she'd been awake, this would have been a disaster in more ways than one. And what's wrong with my face, anyway?
I opened the camera app on the phone and switched to selfie mode.
Yeah... I can see why someone would be scared.
Thinking about magical girls had left my expression completely rotten. So whose fault is it that I started thinking about them in the first place? Clearly the responsibility should fall on May, partner of Emerald, the owner of the phone that showed me those iTube videos. Accept your punishment for ruining my mood!
Squish—
"W-Wah?! Y-You touched me?!"
"Huh..."
Why can I touch her? Weren't partners only supposed to be tangible to their magical girls? May, her cheek still pressed under my finger, recoiled like she'd been thrown into a pile of radioactive waste.
Who do you think you are making that face at, tsk.
A lifeform made of pure hope was more disgusting to me than a cockroach. Well, there had been signs. She'd charged in with a body slam even when I was elegantly devouring Emerald's despair.
Which means there's a chance she'll keep touching me in the future.
Should I just erase her right here?
The moment my gaze landed on her, May's shoulders flinched hard.
Aww, why so jumpy~ I was only joking. Just kidding!