Chapter 89

“Gasp, gasp, gasp…”

“…Haa, huu.”

It didn’t matter if they came at me violently.

The only way to stop me was to kill me.

At first, Topaz was swinging her fists excitedly, but once I started spitting blood and still kept coming, she seemed completely fed up.

“Anyone can see… ugh… you’re at your limit. Why don’t you just… stop now?”

“…I have no limits.”

I wanted to exhale roughly right then, but I pretended like nothing was wrong.

Held my breath, exhaled slowly.

As I took a step forward with my back straight, the opponent took a step back.

“Jade, still no contact? If this keeps up, we’re going to break through.”

“…Wait—”

Bzz, bzz, bzzzz—

As soon as I spoke, my phone rang, and I sighed inwardly.

The fact that the call came meant that, at least, there was no immediate danger to my life.

So, did that mean Akari was defeated?

…No, that couldn’t be.

There was no Magical Girl in this world who could defeat Akari.

“…Alright. Got it.”

“What happened?”

“It failed.”

I knew it.

I let out a sigh of relief and glared at the Magical Girls blocking the path.

“If it’s over, would you mind stepping aside?”

“…Jade.”

“We’re leaving. I never thought we’d succeed in the first place.”

Tsk, the Magical Girl—Jade—clicked her tongue and opened the door.

A gesture that she was retreating for today.

I kept glaring at the three of them until they disappeared from sight, and only then could I finally relax.

“Phew…”

[You pushed yourself too hard, Emerald.]

“…Yeah.”

If Akari was the type who didn’t worry, I was the type who worried too much.

I imagined things that could never happen and got unnecessarily anxious.

Maybe it was because I had experienced the impossible—returning to the past—that all sorts of thoughts flooded my mind.

Yeah, there’s no way anything could happen to Akari.

“Let’s go back, May.”

[She’s probably sprawled on the living room couch, just moving her hands, right? It’s a waste of energy worrying about someone like that.]

“Haha… Still, I guess…”

Akari just has this precarious vibe, you know?

She doesn’t seem to care deeply about anything, and she acts like she could disappear at any moment—no, like it wouldn’t matter if she did.

Maybe she thinks she’s the kind of person who *should* disappear.

Her attitude was so transparent that it made me worry like that.

Though, to be precise, it was more like she was blurry or faint.

“I hope she’s not hurt.”

[…’Hope she’s not hurt’? Not ‘Hope she didn’t hurt them too much’?]

“…With Akari, that might be the right thing to worry about.”

After all, Akari had faced Sapphire and Ruby at the same time and came out without a scratch—well, she did get hurt, but she healed right back up.

It was hard to imagine someone like Akari losing to another Magical Girl.

That’s probably why May reacted like she couldn’t understand me.

My worry was like worrying about a tiger being attacked by cats.

“Sigh…”

After leaving the Association and walking for a while, I sighed as I looked at the front door, still closed as it had been in the morning, as if nothing had happened.

Would Akari be there?

When I opened the door, I felt like Akari would be lying on the couch, moving her hands.

“Akari, I’m home…”

“Welcome back?”

Akari’s face popped up from behind the couch.

It was like a mole popping out in a whack-a-mole game.

“Are you hurt? No, did you hurt anyone?”

“Not really.”

With that answer, Akari’s head slid back down behind the couch.

Looking at that, my first thought was, “Yep, Akari is still Akari.”

The vibe was exactly the same as usual.

Yeah, just the vibe.

[The house…]

“…It’s fine, it’s just this much.”

It was a relief that the house was still standing, even if the windows were shattered and it had been forcibly remodeled from a two-room to a one-room.

Yeah, as long as Akari is safe, that’s all that matters.

We can always get another house.

“Akari.”

“…What now?”

“Thank you for not hurting anyone.”

“…”

I smiled faintly at the silence coming from behind the couch.

Was she embarrassed?

No, maybe not.

Akari hated being thanked by Magical Girls.

“Akari!”

“Ugh…”

I reached under Akari’s armpit as she lay on the couch and lifted her up.

It was surprisingly fun to see her react like this, since she usually didn’t show much emotion.

I should’ve been used to it by now, but her reactions were always the same, which made me want to do it more often.

Anyway.

“…Akari.”

“What now? Suddenly checking my weight?”

Akari tilted her head, looking like she didn’t understand.

…Do you know? That I only get this serious when it’s about you.

“Should we run away to a place where no one is?”

Would it have been easier if you had acted like the original Apocalypse?

The image of you spitting blood because of hope was still vivid in my mind.

I couldn’t imagine Akari losing, but it was easy to imagine her getting hurt.

Because wounds, when they pile up, eventually fester.

“What, are you suggesting we elope? A monster and a Magical Girl. Ha, that’s not even funny. It’s not like we’re Romeo and Juliet.”

“Romeo and Juliet, I like that. It’s romantic.”

“You know they both die in the end, right?”

With that, Akari slipped out of my grasp and tilted her body, looking displeased.

Honestly, it wasn’t really about eloping.

It was more about running away from responsibility than running away for love.

‘I’m tired of stopping people from fighting, tired of fighting other Magical Girls…’

I bit my lip as I thought of Ruby and Sapphire’s faces.

I wanted to make fighting Magical Girls a thing of the past, with them as the last.

Even though that resolve was broken today, if Akari nodded, I could make today the last.

“You’ve gotten weak, Emerald.”

“…”

“You can’t carry everything, and you can’t cut anything off, so you’re choosing to run away?”

The lips near my ear began to whisper about my weakness.

They stirred the hidden anxiety in my heart, breaking through the thick shell of hope and pulling out the despair inside.

But even though Akari took away my despair, the despair inside me remained the same size as before.

“…Running away isn’t a bad thing.”

“But you’re Emerald. The unbreakable Magical Girl.”

Akari’s black eyes held no doubt.

Emerald would never break. Because she’s Emerald.

Akari had that kind of faith in me, the kind I couldn’t even have in myself.

“I’m human too, Akari. I have moments of weakness.”

I didn’t want to see someone precious in danger, or lose someone precious again.

In the previous world, maybe, but this world was one without Apocalypse—no, a world where Apocalypse had disappeared.

If I had to go through that in a world without Apocalypse, then there was no reason to have come back in time.

“In this world, there’s no Apocalypse, so Magical Girl Emerald isn’t needed that much.”

“…”

Akari said I was an unbreakable Magical Girl, but the reality was different.

To be precise, I was a Magical Girl who would get back up even after being broken.

And getting back up after being broken meant that if there was no reason to get back up, I’d stay broken.

“My role ends here.”

The goal of creating a world without Apocalypse had already been achieved long ago.

In such a world, do I—does Emerald—need to exist?

The answer was “No.”

“Do you really think so?”

“…”

“Even if you scream that you’re not Emerald, who in this world would believe you’re not?”

“If I don’t transform—”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Akari whispered softly.

It was as if she was saying that even if you wanted to give up the name Emerald, you couldn’t.

“You, do you think you could kill a human—a Magical Girl—and not care?”

“That’s…”

“See? You can’t help but be Emerald. If I were to hurt someone, you would inevitably stand before me as Emerald.”

Akari’s words carried the certainty that one day she would harm a human, or a Magical Girl.

And that stopping her was my role—no, Emerald’s role.

“But, if that happens—”

—It’ll be just like the previous world.

At my weak utterance, Akari raised one corner of her mouth.

As if to say, “You’re only realizing that now?”