Chapter 29: Uncomfortable Cohabitation (4)

‘What is this, a trap?’

For a moment, I almost said reflexively, ‘I want to receive your despair.’

That guy must have put a strange wind in me.

When Emerald gave me a hint without me noticing, May, who had caught my gaze, hid behind Emerald.

See, if she were confident, would she act like that?

“It’s okay. I don’t think Midori can give me what I want.”

No, even if she could, she would never give it to me willingly.

It wasn’t something I could ask for in the first place.

“So, can you please stop making that face?”

Why on earth is her face gloomy?

Was there a setting that Emerald had bipolar disorder?

Maybe she had become mentally unstable after the apocalypse.

“…I understand. Akari has her own circumstances.”

“Don’t try to find out. You’ll get hurt.”

Usually me.

See, how would Emerald react if she found out I was a monster?

Just imagining it was terrifying.

If that happens, this current life will also come to an end.

‘And then after that, I’ll be marked as the target of all magical girls in the world and will spend my whole life chasing and being chased-‘

Ugh, it’s creepy.

Even without that, since I was already in a position where I’d been abandoned by the doctor, if I let go of the lifeline called Emerald, my monster life would definitely get messed up.

I’m already on the ship called Emerald.

Even though I’m a little anxious that something big will happen the moment I get off,

“Then, if you have any requests for me, please tell me right away!”

“… Well, if it happens.”

Such a persistent person had to be shaken off like this.

By the way, this was the end of my happy life.

It seemed like I would have to go on a forced diet of despair that would make me cry for the time being….

Seriously, of all the monsters in the world, am I the one who can’t stand despair the most?

Dingdong

“It looks like we have a guest.”

“A guest?”

Emerald tilted her head at the doorbell that suddenly rang.

Judging from her expression that said, ‘I don’t think anyone will come,’ she seemed to be guessing who the person who came to the door was.

“Let me go out. You’re not going to have me greet the guest, are you?”

“Yeah, well…”

She glanced at Emerald, who had gotten up from her seat with a trembling expression, and as soon as Emerald left the room, she flew towards Tamako.

Huh… That’s right, this is it.

This despair!

She really liked the fragrant scent of despair that she hadn’t felt when she was in the same room as a magical girl.

Oh, by the way, wasn’t Tamako a magical girl too?

‘Ah, I don’t know. Let’s just enjoy the moment for now.’

He buried his face in Tamako’s arms, who was sleeping soundly, and took a deep breath.

This is it, this is it…

If this isn’t heaven, then what is it…

Clink-

“Who are you-“

“I came here because I have something to tell you. Can I come inside for a moment?”

When the doorbell suddenly rang, what he saw was a color that was so familiar that it almost felt friendly.

Red hair.

And red eyes.

Even a black hoodie to hide the striking colors.

“…Ruby?”

“Hello, Emerald.”

I blinked blankly at Ruby, who smirked at me when she saw my face.

There’s no way.

How, how?

I thought it might be a dream because of the sudden situation, so I grabbed my own cheek and felt a sharp pain.

… Well, it wasn’t a dream.

“Phew, Emerald is still Emerald even when she comes back. I’m relieved, seriously.”

“You’re back…”

No, I knew that.

I slowly took a breath, recalling the not-so-distant past.

‘But Ruby clearly had no memories of the previous world…!

After losing the decisive battle with Apocalypse, I-

We used time-rewind magic to return to the past.

To be exact, it would be more correct to say that we were planning to return.

We gathered everyone’s strength to find and eliminate the Doctor and Apocalypse before Apocalypse appeared.

We returned for that goal, but I was the only one who had memories of the previous world.

‘Hello, by any chance-‘

‘Who are you? I don’t remember any woman who would give off phytoncides like you!

Ruby and Sapphire had no memories.

Diamond’s whereabouts were unknown.

No one remembered it-

Sometimes, I held in my heart a past that I thought was just a terrible nightmare.

“I’m sorry, I pretended not to know back then. But I really didn’t remember back then. To the point where I forgot.”

“Ah, uh…”

“Phew, you haven’t changed your crying habits, have you?”

Haha, Ruby’s face was filled with joy as she spoke with a smile.

How much I had missed that face…

Tears flowed without her knowing it, perhaps because she was relieved that she had someone like me.

She’s not alone anymore.

“Let’s go inside and talk. I don’t think we should talk about this outside.”

“Okay, come in for now-“

Come to your senses.

The moment I was about to let Ruby inside the house, a small whisper came into my head.

Have you forgotten who’s inside the house?

I swallowed dry saliva at that one question.

‘No… If those two meet, it’ll be irreversible…’

I might not know if I was indecisive, but Ruby would definitely run straight to Akari.

In the worst case scenario, Ruby could have killed Akari.

‘That can’t be. That absolutely can’t be…!’

Akari was no longer the apocalypse to me.

If I let Ruby in like this and something happened to Akari, I would never be able to escape the guilt for the rest of my life.

And, another reason was that I didn’t want to see Ruby kill someone.

“I-I’m sorry, Ruby. I think it would be better for us to go back today.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with us? Emerald and I have no secrets from each other, right?”

“That’s true, but… I really can’t today. So please excuse me just this once, Ruby.”

“…”

Ruby’s expression hardened slightly at my stubborn refusal.

Her face seemed to say that she didn’t understand why I was refusing like this.

But there was no way I could say anything.

There was no way I could make an excuse.

“Okay, then I’ll come back tomorrow. Emerald has her own circumstances, after all.”

“…Thank you for understanding, Ruby.”

“What’s wrong with us?”

Then I’ll go.

I instinctively felt relief as Ruby turned around, waving her hands.

… What are you feeling relieved about, idiot.

Perhaps because of the thought of deceiving my friend, a corner of my chest began to ache.

“Whew…”

[That person, that person. The person Emerald visited in the past.]

I closed the door, leaned against it, and let out a sigh as Mei flew in and spoke.

That’s right. She didn’t recognize me back then.

“I guess she didn’t recognize me back then.”

[She’s a magical girl too, right?]

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I gently stroked Mei’s hair as she looked at me with concern.

Don’t worry too much, Mei.

I tried to ignore the lingering anxiety in my heart that was poking at my chest and walked slowly.

“Akari.”

“What’s wrong, again?”

Maybe she was taking care of Tamako.

Akari, who was sitting at the head of the bed, looked at me with a grumbling tone.

Her expression was very hurt, as if she really didn’t like it.

I wondered what had made Akari angry again, but I couldn’t help but laugh because that side of her was just like Akari.

“Why are you laughing again? Did something good happen to you?”

“I liked seeing Akari.”

“Ugh…”

I burst out laughing again at the sight of her body shaking and her shoulders shrugging.

Who on earth could possibly think that Akari was Apocalypse after seeing her like that?

If Akari felt like a self-indulgent cat, then Apocalypse must have been an indescribable monster.

It was to the point where I thought that humans who looked at the foreign gods from the Cthulhu Mythos felt something similar.

“So who was it?”

“Just an acquaintance.”

“An acquaintance?”

Akari looked at me suspiciously at the word acquaintance.

Did she really think that I didn’t have any close acquaintances?

“I used to know a friend, and I think he came to see me when he heard that I was here.”

“A friend I used to know…”

I watched Akari lose herself in thought after hearing the word friend, and slowly approached her.

Could it be that she was sensitive to the word friend?

“Even if I have friends, my best friend right now is Akari.”

“Ugh…”

“Huh?”

“… Please don’t misunderstand. Who on earth is friends with whom?”

Akari, who had retched, began to speak coldly with her eyes cold.

Ah, no, I just…

There were so many things I wanted to say, but my lips wouldn’t move.

‘I guess so… It seemed that she had momentarily lost her mind.

Or maybe she had been lost the whole time and only came to her senses now.

It seemed that she had made the wrong choice because her head was spinning because of Ruby’s visit.

…I don’t like it, really.

[Emerald…]

I held back tears at my own shame.

It was your fault that this happened, so why on earth are you crying?

As I bit my lip and held back tears, Akari let out a deep sigh.

Then, looking at me like that, she blurted out a word.

“If you treat me well, I’ll think about it. That, as a friend.”

“…Really?”

When I asked carefully, Akari turned her head with a huff.

Judging from the blush on her pale skin, she seemed embarrassed.