Uncomfortable Cohabitation (3)
It was a night when everyone had fallen asleep.
I was in the middle of a blissful deep sleep, happily drinking in the despair of the two magical girls beside me, when—
Screee, screeeee—
...It's here again.
At the faint cry of a monster, I cracked my eyes open and turned my gaze toward the window.
What met me was a crimson moon—
No. More precisely, it was a monster's eye.
What the hell is wrong with this city that monsters are wandering around every single night?
Part of me wanted to storm up to whoever ran this place and grab them by the collar.
Anyway, the thing hadn't noticed me—probably because my despair circuit wasn't running—and it was straining with all its might to force its way through the window.
It kept pecking at the glass with a beak like a bird's, searching for a way inside. The sight of it was honestly...
Like a cockroach hunting for food.
Scratch that about magical girls looking like cockroaches.
Seeing it like this, the monster looked far more like a cockroach than any of them ever had.
Even among monsters, that grotesque, twisted pelican-like form was enough to turn my stomach. And here I was, happily feeding on despair—
Tch.
"Hey."
Scree?
"You gonna get lost or what?"
I almost missed the monster I'd first met at the shelter. That one had been pretty easy to talk to.
If the others felt like cockroaches, that one had felt more like a giant puppy. Yeah.
Anyway, I poured as much threat as I could into the monster stuck to the window.
Shoo, shoo. All the despair here is mine. Don't even think about touching it.
Scree, scree, screegigig
...Is it laughing at me?
The monster started snickering as if my display were utterly ridiculous. Even mid-meal of despair, my face twisted on its own.
What the hell was it banking on to act this cocky?
Were modern monsters raised without any manners? Wait—did they even have families to raise them in the first place...
Rattle—
Scree?
I casually stepped closer and opened the window. The thing tilted its head as if it couldn't comprehend what I was doing.
Wouldn't a normal beast instinctively sense the threat and bolt?
Yet here it was, just sitting there like an idiot, completely unaware of what was about to happen to it.
Screeeeeee?!??!!?!
"I told you to get lost."
Seeing the open window, it lunged inside like it had been waiting for the chance. My hand shot out on reflex.
And clamped down hard around its neck.
It looked exactly like a chicken right before its neck got wrung.
Wings flapped wildly; short legs kicked and thrashed as it tried to break free of my grip. Too bad for it—I wasn't the kind of monster that let go that easily.
"You should listen when a monster gives you a warning."
Screeeeee...!!!
I was just trying to offer some life advice and it starts kicking?
Its sharp talons tore a long gash through the shoulder of my clothes.
I was already in a foul mood, and now the only clothes I owned were ruined. I don't know how to put it...
"That's it."
You're going to pay for this.
Slowly—very, very slowly—I began to squeeze.
The monster froze once it realized something had gone terribly wrong, but the ship had already sailed.
Scree, screee, scree...
Should've listened when I told you.
With a fading death cry, its neck snapped and the body went limp.
I tossed the clearly lifeless corpse aside. Sticky black liquid clung to my hand.
Still better than eating hope, I guess.
My shadow rippled and began to devour the monster's remains.
It didn't give me that same rush I got from a magical girl's despair, but the despair stored inside a monster's body still felt like at least a few humans' worth.
Snack-level, at least. Hmm.
If I'd been an ordinary monster I probably would have found this delicious. That part was a little disappointing.
"[Akari...]"
"Jesus—make some noise when you move, will you?"
"[S-sorry...]"
Why had this one suddenly turned so timid?
May shuffled closer, looking up at me with a thoroughly unpleasant expression.
Tch. I hadn't even noticed a hope-lump approaching. I'd almost swatted it like a fruit fly.
"So? How much did you see?"
"[F-from the part where you said, 'Hey. You gonna get lost or what?'...]"
So basically the whole thing.
Pretty sneaky for a magical girl's partner, aren't you?
You just stood there watching the entire time without making a sound?
"What, never seen a monster kill a monster before?"
"[N-no, it's just...]"
I dusted my hands off with deliberate carelessness; the residue clinging to them vanished straight into my shadow.
May's eyes darted back and forth as she watched. I narrowed mine.
Don't tell me this thing was thinking something like, Maybe I can use her as a monster disposal unit?
"[Thank you. For protecting Emerald.]"
"Huh?"
What the hell was it even talking about.
Who protected whom? Me? Emerald?
The sheer horror of those words sent goosebumps racing up my arms.
Ugh... my stomach...
"Look, I don't know what kind of misunderstanding you're under, but that's not what happened."
"[I-is that so?]"
"That's exactly so. Ugh, the things you say... uuugh...!"
It felt almost exactly like when I'd inhaled hope.
My body temperature dropped, my head rang like it'd been struck by a hammer, and my stomach churned.
To purify my contaminated heart I scraped up every last bit of the monster residue on the floor and licked it clean.
With my shadow, of course. Not my mouth.
"[Aren't you overreacting a little? Gratitude is supposed to feel better the more you receive it.]"
"Blergh."
"[You threw up?! You just casually threw up like a cat hacking up a hairball?!]"
Did it really think praise from a hope-lump would make me happy?
The rising disgust triggered a retch, and half-digested lumps of despair spattered onto the floor.
May recoiled in horror—yet still managed to keep talking while she dodged.
"Get away from me, hope-lump. My stomach's turning."
"[That's so mean! Your words are so harsh!]"
"Scram, magical girl minion. You're disgusting."
"[It got even worse?!]"
How much nicer did it want me to be?
Just looking at the thing made me sick—wait, was it even a living creature? Whatever.
Having something like that keep chatting with me like we were friends made self-control impossible no matter how hard I tried.
"[Anyway, thank you! For protecting Emerald!]"
"No..."
It said what it wanted and left.
With a little pororong sound effect, May fluttered off toward Emerald. I let out a long sigh.
As long as there was despair, I didn't need sleep. Maybe I'd stay awake a little longer.
The moon sure is bright tonight...
It was a night that kept reminding me of the eye of the bird-type monster I'd just killed.
"Mmm..."
Hummmm—
"[How are you feeling, Emerald?]"
"A lot better."
My hope circuit still creaked a little, but it was slowly beginning to turn. I let out a long, unhurried breath.
Until just recently my whole body had been burning with fever, yet a solid night's sleep seemed to have brought a surprisingly quick recovery.
Being nursed all day probably helped too.
Akari looks... like she's in a bad mood.
She must have suffered quite a bit while I was down; her expression was dark.
She hadn't eaten properly and had stayed up late looking after me, so of course she would be.
Why did I ever doubt someone like her...
She was unpredictable, yes, but she was never a bad person.
If Akari had truly been on the monsters' side, she would have had more than enough time to do something while I was unconscious.
From now on I would treat her better.
"[Emerald, what do you think of Akari?]"
"Akari? Why do you ask?"
"[No reason... I was just wondering if you still felt the same as before.]"
The me who first met Akari and the me now were as different as heaven and earth.
These days, even when I thought of Apocalypse, Akari no longer came to mind.
And the reverse was true as well.
"I'm fine now. She feels like a completely different person from the one I thought I knew."
"[...I see.]"
A faint sheen of moisture gathered in May's eyes.
Honestly—getting emotional over something this small. What a partner.
Feeling awkward for having put her through so much worry, I gently ruffled May's head with a finger.
There, there. Don't cry, okay?
"You're finally awake, Midori."
"Yes. Thank you for everything. If it hadn't been for you, Akari, I might have been sick much longer."
"Of course you would have."
Akari turned her head away with a little hmph.
Was she sulking?
Well, given how much trouble I'd caused her, it would be stranger if she weren't.
And she had to take care of Tamako at the same time...
When only one of us was sick, two people could look after one. But once both of us went down, she had been left to care for two people all by herself.
Maybe I should buy her something delicious.
She didn't look it, but Akari had quite the appetite.
I'd never met anyone whose stomach clock went off that often. Yeah.
"Akari."
"Yes, Midori?"
"Is there anything you want? Just say the word—anything at all."
This was about the only way I could repay her.
I had more than enough money; I could buy almost anything she asked for.
I'd never had time to spend it anyway, running around fighting monsters every day. Using it like this might actually be better.
Watching Akari fidget and hesitate over my offer was genuinely adorable.