Chapter 69: Interlude

‘I want to be a magical girl who saves everyone!’

I felt like I had a dream.

A dream from a long time ago.

Yes, back then – when I was little, I used to always say that.

I want to be a magical girl who saves everyone.

Even now, that feeling hasn’t changed, but if you ask me if I really achieved that dream, I can answer ‘no.’

I couldn’t save anyone.

My childhood dream gradually faded, and in the end, I had no choice but to compromise.

How much time had passed like that?

I had become a magical girl who could only save those I could save.

‘You promised yourself that you would save everyone, but you can’t even save one friend?’

No. I will save you.

No matter what happens, I will save you.

I reached out to the illusion that had taken the form of Akari, but my hand couldn’t reach Akari.

It was as if I had already missed all my chances.

‘I will save you no matter what? It’s too late. How on earth are you going to save me?’

It’s not too late.

It wasn’t too late yet—

I somehow moved my still body, and the moment I flew towards Akari,

Akari’s face changed.

It was no longer Akari there.

‘Stupid Emerald. Poor Emerald. Foolish Emerald.’

“…”

‘If I couldn’t save her, I should have doubted her until the end.’

“…”

‘Ruby, Sapphire. I should have protected those two, right?’

The words that were shot at me became thorns and lodged in my heart.

They were right.

In the end, the choice I made saved not only Akari, but also Ruby and Sapphire.

No, it would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that I couldn’t save Ruby and Sapphire.

‘Now all your friends who shared the same past are gone?’

To be exact, it would be more accurate to say that our relationships disappeared.

I ended up closing my eyes to the illusion that was teasing me.

I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t even look at Akari’s face, let alone my own.

‘In the end, you failed, Emerald.’

With a mocking voice, my body fell.

.

.

.

Boom-!!!

“…Ah.”

When I opened my eyes, a familiar ceiling filled my vision.

The house I had saved when I transferred here.

It was the ceiling of the house where I, Tamako, and Akari lived together.

I wondered if this was an illusion, but I sat there blankly, but I suddenly jumped up at the strange sense of reality.

“Why am I here…”

I had definitely gone to pick up Akari.

I took a moment to slowly piece together the memories that were coming to me here and there.

“Akari!!”

I hurriedly called Akari’s name.

Akari, Akari, Akari!

The last thing I saw was definitely Akari, not Apocalypse.

No, it didn’t matter which.

If the memories that remained in my head were correct, then I was sure—

“Haa, haaak, huff…”

I kicked the door open and hurried to the kitchen at the thought of what had occurred to me.

It was only a few steps away, but I felt out of breath.

Of course, because the person in front of me was none other than Akari.

Not a dream or an illusion, the real Akari.

“Akari!”

“Whoa!?”

As I hugged Akari from behind, Akari flinched her shoulders.

Was she still uncomfortable?

But right now, I just wanted to be like this.

Even if it was forced, even if Akari didn’t like it, I wanted to clearly feel the fact that Akari was here.

“Aka, Lee. Heuk, Akari…”

“…”

Tears flowed as soon as I checked the body temperature of the friend I thought I had lost.

A warmth that was colder than other people’s.

And yet, it was warm enough to be recognized as warmth.

As I buried my face in Akari’s nape and sobbed quietly, Akari shook her head as if it tickled her.

“…Excuse me, Midori.”

“…”

“Isn’t it common sense that it’s dangerous to do that while cooking?”

“…Huh?”

“Get out of the way. You’re not even a kid, what the, tsk.”

I wasn’t expecting an emotional response, but this was just too Akari, even for Akari.

As if the events on the island didn’t exist—

‘Could it be that I had a dream?’

Maybe she was sick.

She had a nightmare because she was sick.

The dream was about Akari being attacked by Ruby and Sapphire and eventually becoming like Apocalypse.

“Ruby and Sapphire weren’t killed, so don’t worry.”

“Uh, ah. Thank you, uh?”

“…Looking at that stupid expression, I wonder if I should have just killed them.”

Looking at her grumbling tone, she looked like a cat yawning.

Looking at her like this, Akari was the same as always.

Was she just like her usual self to the point that all my worries seemed meaningless?

I was finally able to calm down, thanks to the relief that came from that familiarity.

“That’s perfect. While you’re up, why don’t you eat something?”

“Eat?”

“Why do you think I’m in the kitchen?”

I glanced at Akari’s words.

Akari was wearing an apron that said ‘I LOVE HOPE’ and was holding a spatula in one hand…

Huh? Am I seeing things wrong?

My eyes widened at the sight of Akari, whom I had never seen before.

“Do you know how to cook?”

“I know how to roughly put ingredients in and stir-fry them.”

Akari took off her apron and nodded her head as if telling me to hurry and sit down.

Unable to overcome the strange force, I ended up sitting down.

“Since you treated me to a meal, I thought it would be polite to treat you to a meal in return.”

“…You’re so kind, as expected.”

“Actually, it was supposed to be Garnet’s food, but you just got up and said that.”

“…”

There was absolutely no falsehood in her words.

In her first words, or in her second.

So does that mean that one of them was a lie?

Looking down at the bowl in front of me, I gulped and swallowed my saliva.

It felt good.

Right now, my priority was savoring the precious food Akari had made for me.

---

If the despair circuit hadn’t stopped after a series of events, it would have been a bit difficult, but fortunately, the despair circuit stopped operating at my will.

Now, I can say that I can turn the despair circuit on and off freely.

Although, it seemed that we would have to wait for some time to know for sure.

[You’re an idiot. Why didn’t you kill them all?]

“It’ll just be more annoying if you kill them.”

I shrugged my shoulders as I looked at the opponent who was looking at me pitifully in the mirror, Apocalypse.

As expected of a monster, he didn’t speak human language.

Even so, it seemed that he could understand human language.

[That means kill them all, right? It’s better to kill them until there’s nothing left that’s annoying.]

“The killing process itself is annoying.”

Apocalypse shut his mouth, perhaps speechless at my reasonable argument.

How could a foolish monster who only listens to the doctor spit on me?

If I could have hit him directly, I would have definitely fixed that rascal first.

No matter how much I think about it, I really don’t like the way he spoke, right?

“And, you did me a favor, Doctor, right?”

[…]

“You only shut your mouth when it’s disadvantageous. You’re not some kid, tsk.”

To me, the doctor was a damn brat who shouldn’t even be associated with me.

But would I have done a favor to a doctor who held up a flimsy sign that said, ‘I hate you, but do it again’?

Because I wanted to tease Curse?

No, that could be a reason, but I could have easily teased Curse on my own.

‘What the hell, that’s because there’s a filial son here who listens to his mother well.’

I knew from the original that the doctor’s brainwashing didn’t work on Apocalypse.