Chapter 82

It felt like I had just woken up from a dream.

A dream from a very long time ago.

“Mom, I want to become a Magical Girl too!”

Aya, I still remember the time when you said that with a smile.

A Magical Girl who flies through the sky, scattering hope.

You, smiling and saying you wanted to become such a being—

How terrifying it was.

“…I see.”

“Wouldn’t it be cool? If I became a Magical Girl!”

“…”

There was a reason I couldn’t answer easily.

Because being a Magical Girl wasn’t such a beautiful existence.

Contrary to the common belief that they are born from hope, most are born from despair.

Rather than going through such misfortune to become a Magical Girl, it would be better to live an ordinary life.

“Ah, it hurts… it hurts…!”

“…”

“Please, I was wrong… I’ll become a Magical Girl… I’ll definitely become one, please…!”

Aya’s voice changed to that of a child being experimented on.

The sight of her screaming at me.

The desperation as she clung to my clothes.

Tears.

Blood.

Pain.

And despair.

“Everything is proceeding smoothly.”

A soft, yet emotionless voice pierced my heart.

I couldn’t tell what was inside that man.

But one thing was certain—I must never defy him.

No matter what happens, keep my mouth shut, my ears closed, and my eyes shut.

To survive, to protect Aya, that’s what I had to do.

“The Director has gone missing.”

“…Ah.”

A deep sense of relief.

With those words, it felt like all the strength drained from my body.

The life I had lived trembling in anxiety seemed like it would change from that point on.

If only that man were gone. Just that man.

“…Aya. Should we move?”

“Huh? Suddenly? Of course, I’m fine with it!”

Leaving the underground Laboratory wasn’t too difficult.

With the Director missing, many researchers were leaving, so I just had to blend in with them.

I wanted to go somewhere quiet, away from everyone.

Both my body and mind were exhausted, and all I could think about was leaving to a place where only Aya and I would be.

“…Aya, no! Aya!!”

But it was all in vain.

The cry of the Monster that kidnapped Aya, as if mocking me, was clear.

Using Monsters to kidnap children was a method often used by that man—the Director.

Which meant that the missing Director had returned.

“How, how can I…?”

No one who defied that man had ever survived.

There was no way to survive a man who could control Monsters.

Even one of the only two Magical Girls in the city was his hunting dog, so hoping for help was nearly impossible.

What should I do?

How can I save Aya?

What on earth should I do—

“That person—”

That “Monster” might be able to save Aya.

I suddenly thought of that existence and hurriedly moved.

The one who caused the Director to go missing.

A being more mysterious and dangerous than the Director.

“Thank you, really, thank you…”

Surprisingly, that being easily accepted my request.

A Monster in human form.

A Monster traveling with a human girl.

And the Monster who protected Aya in the Shelter.

“Long time no see, Lina.”

Honestly, I was flustered when I met that being again in the underground Laboratory.

Déjà vu, I guess.

I was so caught off guard that I felt like I had committed a sin.

Maybe that’s why. Everything I learned after that was unexpected.

That the one ruling the Laboratory wasn’t the original Director but a newly appointed one.

And that the one who kidnapped Aya wasn’t that man.

“I knew you’d come to save me, Mom.”

After that, I managed to save Aya.

Contrary to my worries, Aya was unharmed.

Yes, as long as she’s safe.

If I can just take Aya and move to a quiet place—

“Do you really think so?”

“…Ah.”

Was it realization? Or the final cry of despair?

What I believed to be memories were nothing but illusions.

All that remained was the reality that I couldn’t save Aya.

“Ah, ahhh…”

Despair flowed through my throat.

What had I been striving for all this time?

Why did I continue the experiments even after seeing the children suffer?

I should have stopped when Aya was born.

I should have crawled out of the underground Laboratory, begging desperately.

“Dr. Lina is really something. How can she do these experiments when she has a child of her own?”

“Well, she probably doesn’t see the test subjects as human. It’s not amazing, it’s just professionalism.”

No, that’s not it. It’s not that I didn’t see those children as human.

I—

“P-please, save me…! Save me! Please, save me!!”

“What did I do wrong! I didn’t do anything wrong!!”

“Teacher… it hurts so much…”

I…

“Ahhhhhhhh?!?!?!!”

“Please, let me go home… I won’t say I want to be a Magical Girl anymore… please…”

I…!

“Someday, I hope your own child suffers the same fate as us.”

This isn’t what I wanted.

***

Lick—

“Ugh…”

Feeling something lick my cheek, Lina slowly opened her eyes.

Wet, sticky, but not hot.

After the nightmare, my eyelids felt heavy, but I managed to lift them, and a familiar face came into view.

A face I never wanted to see again.

Growl, growl—

“Ahhhhhhhh?!?!?!!”

I frantically threw myself off the bed to escape.

No, can this even be called an escape?

Even though my whole body screamed in pain from hitting the floor, I didn’t have time to think about it.

Death.

What was in front of me was literally death.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

“It’s dangerous!”

And then a voice followed.

A small shadow next to the Monster made Lina shout urgently.

It’s dangerous here. You need to run away! There’s a Monster!

“Dangerous? What do you mean?”

“The Monster—”

“Ah, I see… Humans tend to believe only what they see.”

Growl, growl, growl—

The child’s voice was calm.

The child was petting the Monster like a pet, and Lina’s eyes widened.

Uh, so… just now…

It was an unbelievable sight.

I thought it might be a dream, so I pinched my cheek, but all that remained was a sharp pain.

“Hmm, so a timid-looking human like you researched Magical Girls? And under that guy?”

“…Kid, what are you—”

“Don’t call me a kid! Tch, that guy and this guy, everyone from that underground Laboratory has no manners!”

Clicking her tongue, the child spoke, and Lina swallowed dryly.

I thought she wasn’t an ordinary child, but I didn’t expect her to bring up Magical Girl research.

What is she?

The non-human aspects of the child’s appearance made my head spin.

And then, another child came into Lina’s view.

The child she had been searching for so desperately.

“What do you think, Aya? You’re the one who said to bring her, right?”

“…I don’t know, that kind of human.”

The child standing next to her was clearly Aya.

Seeing the daughter she had been searching for, Lina moved quickly.

The memory of trembling in fear of the Monster was already long gone from her mind.

Now, all she could see was her daughter.

“Aya!!”

“…”

“Mom is sorry for being late…”

The child in her arms was cold.

As if not human.

“It’s okay. It’s actually more certain now.”

“…Aya?”

“Humans like you shouldn’t exist anymore.”

She looked like Aya, but she wasn’t Aya.

She had Aya’s voice, but it wasn’t Aya speaking.

But even seeing the child like that, Lina couldn’t deny it.

No, she didn’t want to deny it.

Because denying it would mean Aya was really no longer Aya.

“I’m sorry. Mom is really sorry.”

“It’s too late now. And you should apologize to ‘us,’ not me. Everyone is really angry with you.”

“…’Us’?”

With a foolish expression, Lina asked, and Aya’s gaze changed rapidly.

Sadness, hatred, anger, mockery, pain, disgust—

Emotions too varied and extreme for one person.

Seeing Aya like that, Lina couldn’t help but realize.

The child in front of her was Aya, yet at the same time, not Aya.

“The collective of all the children you pushed into test tubes, does that answer your question?”

“…”

“Don’t worry. As long as I’m the dominant personality, the others won’t harm you.”

At Aya’s words, Lina nodded weakly.

A person who cherished her own child but used others as test subjects.

A fitting end for such a contradictory, ambiguous human.