Chapter 14: Remember The Ending (7)

It’s so tantalizing, so tantalizing…

I wanted to suck up all of Tamako’s despair, but I couldn’t because I knew that if I did that, Halo would just pop up again.

“How long does she plan on staying here?”

She’s a magical girl, after all.

It’s time to go catch some monsters, huh?

Even though I gave her hints while thinking that, Emerald remained unmoved.

It was as if she was waiting for me to turn into Apocalypse.

“…Should I just make her despair by putting her in twintails?”

From what I felt at the clothing store, it seemed like it would work one or two more times.

If I added Tamako’s despair, who was lying in the same level of despair as last time, I might be able to get out of here.

“Akari.”

“…”

“Akari?”

“Oh, you called me?”

“Is there anyone else here besides you?”

No, there isn’t.

But I’m not a human; I’m a monster.

I wanted to accept it, but for a powerless monster like me, surrendering to power was the best option.

Life—no, for a monster, it’s a blessing in disguise.

If something bad is happening now, something good will happen someday.

“Let me talk to you for a moment.”

“I’m such a boring person; I don’t know if we can have a proper conversation.”

It was a roundabout way of saying that I didn’t want to talk to you.

Of course, the other person didn’t care at all.

“…Aren’t you getting too close?”

Emerald slowly approached the bed I was sitting on, and it was burdensome.

The only good thing was that she wasn’t giving me any hope.

“It’s okay. I just wanted to know about Akari.”

“Do you have that kind of taste?”

Wanting to know about me was obviously a plot device.

Could this be a confession?

Was Emerald actually a masochistic character who confessed to her enemies?

Or maybe, if I keep saying it, it would be like, “What, ah, ah, no!? I just want to know about Akari!”

“That sounds weirder. So please don’t talk to me anymore.”

Emerald’s expressionless face was so flustered that it was pretty gourmet, but right now, I just wanted to be alone.

To be exact, I wanted to be alone with Tamako, who was lying there.

Damn it, don’t ruin my and Tamako’s sweet, desperate time together!

On a magical girl topic.

On a magical girl topic!

“I like fish!”

“I hate it. I actually didn’t know I hated it, but I’ve come to hate it.”

Anyone would do that if they ate that kind of tasteless grilled salmon.

I wonder if I’ll ever eat human food again.

No.

If I don’t, won’t they suspect me?

“That’s, I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. I really didn’t know. I couldn’t eat anything while I was being held there.”

Now that it’s come to this, I’m going to strike first.

Emerald must have thought that I was captured by the doctor’s lab and transformed into Apocalypse.

If not, she wouldn’t have gone this far and done this.

“What was it like there?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask Tamako about that?”

Well, I came to the city right after it was created, so I didn’t know much about the lab.

It’s kind of funny to ask what happened to the person who destroyed the Maporo Lab in the first place.

Usually, they dig up information before destroying it, right?

How short-sighted is that?

“I’m sorry for making you recall painful memories.”

“It’s okay. If you keep bringing up painful memories, they’ll eventually become dull.

I don’t know if they’ll become dull, though.”

The doctor who took my despair essence and ate it.

And when Emerald showed up, the doctor abandoned me and ran away alone!

No matter how much I think about it, that scene makes me angry every time I recall it.

“I see.”

“That’s right.”

Emerald seemed to have realized something with my answer and was lost in thought.

The hospital room became quiet again because of that, but thinking about it, I thought it was better now than when I was talking to Emerald.

Of course, it would have been best to just leave the hospital room, but…

People are most flustered when someone shows the exact opposite of what they remember.

However, the current situation couldn’t be explained with words like the exact opposite.

An expression that looked like it would disappear at any moment.

I don’t know what he was thinking, but it was clear that he had recalled the memories of being held captive in the doctor’s lab.

Otherwise, there was no way he would have made such an empty expression.

I knew how much of a monster the doctor was…

I was short-sighted.

The sight he saw when he raided the doctor’s lab was so horrifying that words couldn’t even describe it.

Magical girls with their limbs cut off and floating in test tubes.

Magical girls making sounds like animals and having their despair sucked out through tubes connected to their heads.

Some of them seemed to be mixed with monsters.

[Emerald, are you okay?]

“It’s okay, May.”

As if she had read my emotional turmoil, Mei looked at me with eyes full of concern.

It’s okay, really.

It’s just that she’s come to know my shortcomings.

‘Akari hasn’t become Apocalypse yet.’

Didn’t the physical examination result say that she was no different from a normal person?

I could understand that her body temperature was lower than that of a normal person, and her heart rate was slow.

Among the people who had been held captive in the doctor’s lab, those symptoms were enough to be considered healthy.

“I’ll be out for a bit.”

“Please let me know if you need anything, Akari.”

I sighed inwardly at the unanswered question.

Even though I promised myself to treat her normally, I couldn’t do that.

The disgust and suspicion that boiled over every time I saw that face.

No matter how hard I tried to suppress it, the emotions that had once boiled over didn’t easily subside.

[Emerald, are you really suspicious of that child?]

“No, that… nothing. I was just anxious.”

[That kid, I don’t feel any hope at all. Even the kid who lost consciousness and collapsed had a faint hope…]

[Did something bad happen there?]

May was right.

Even though he seemed absurd, he suddenly changed into a cynical attitude when he tried to have a serious conversation.

As if his usual appearance was to hide that kind of demeanor, that’s how it was.

If he had just stayed silent and not said anything, he could have hated him as he pleased.

It was you, Apocalypse.

You were no different from back then, he thought.

“May. What do you think about hating someone who looks exactly like a bad person just because of their appearance?”

“It’s not a good thing. Of course, Emerald has her own circumstances, but I think it’s bad to judge someone based on their appearance. You judge people based on their insides, not their appearances.”

They were all correct.

[Still, I believe in it. Emerald will definitely see that child’s true self someday!]

“I’ll try.”

How much effort would it take to cover up the memories stained with blood?

Even now, whenever I think of Akari’s face, the horrible times keep coming back to me.

However, I didn’t know if I could do it.

I had finally found Akari, who I wouldn’t have been able to find, so I should be able to do something like that.

“Thank you, Mei. You were a great help.”

[Ahem, of course! I’m Emerald’s partner!]

I smiled as I looked at Mei, who was puffing out her chest.

Yes, I can learn slowly.

And I can erase it from now on.

A spark of hope slowly bloomed in my heart.

“First, let’s apologize.”

It’s not too late.

I’m sorry for all the rudeness I’ve been through.

The deep-rooted rejection in my heart still gripped my throat, but I didn’t want to change my mind since I’d already made up my mind.

Okay.

Now that I’ve gotten my bearings, let’s go back in.

Kkuruk.

“Akari, have something to say—”

“Ugh… ugh, gulp… gulp gulp…..”

“Akari!?!!”

The moment I opened the door to the hospital room and went in, all I could see was Akari coughing up crimson blood.

Maybe it was because her pale face looked like it could disappear at any moment, but the clots of blood that filled her surroundings looked even clearer.

“Akari, are you okay?! Akari, Akari?!”

“Ugh, ugh, ugh…”

“Excuse me! Is anyone there! Anyone, please! The patient is coughing up blood!!”

There’s no way she’d be okay.

Why on earth did you think she’d be okay?

Did you really think that the other person was Apocalypse just because he looked like him?

Even if he really was Apocalypse, what you saw in front of you right now was just an ordinary girl.

“You said you’d save everyone! Am I not included in that everyone?”

Akari’s lifeless eyes began to stare at me, filled with resentment.

Then, Apocalypse, who was in those black eyes, smiled bitterly at me.

The final enemy of magical girls, Apocalypse, still existed.

In my memories—in the form of a nightmare that I could never shake off.

Until this moment, always.