Murder Maiden and the Fatal Final

by Mizuki Mizushiro

  “H-hey…‘pip-squeak’ is a taboo word. Don’t ever say it. If she heard you—”

  “Pip-squeak! Pip-squeak, pip-squeak, stupid pip-squeak! Miss Kurumiya the pip-squeeeaaak!”

  “Quit it!” Clapping a hand over Ayaka’s mouth, Kyousuke pulled her away from the staff room.

  “But she is tiny and annoying, isn’t she?”

  “She is, but don’t be reckless.” Kyousuke scratched the back of his head and sighed. “If you keep antagonizing her like that, it’ll blow up in your face! It’s like when thugs and criminals would zero in on me because when I went on a rampage, I didn’t care who I ended up fighting.”

  “…Hmph. Well, I always choose carefully.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But you were wrong about Kurumiya, weren’t you?” Kyousuke insisted.

  “I-it happens…”

  “And going the other way…you turned on Renko, and she ended up being a good person, didn’t she?”

  Ayaka kept silent, and Kyousuke continued: “Don’t you think you ought to decide if someone is your enemy after you get to know them, instead of attacking them right away? You might throw something away, thinking it’s garbage, and it could turn out to be treasure, right? If so, I think it’s a terrible waste.”

  “……” Hanging her head, Ayaka made a tight fist. She bit her lip. “Miss Akabonehead! Crafty Cat!” she called out in a loud voice.

  Eiri and Maina turned back to look at Ayaka.

  “…What?”

  “Wh-what is it…?”

  Eiri leaned against the wall, scowling, and Maina answered timidly.

  Ayaka lifted her face and met their gazes. “I’m sorry!” she said, and bowed her head. “I’m sorry for saying and doing lots of cruel things. Even if Miss Akabonehead aggravated me and was getting unreasonably physical, I said too much. And even if Crafty Cat was cunning and irritating, I went too far. I regret it. I’m sorry!”

  “Ummm, was that…supposed to be an apology?”

  “M-maybe… I think so.”

  Ignoring their confused looks, Ayaka continued. “…I realize it now. The reason I felt so uneasy was because I didn’t trust the people I was with. But I trust my big brother! So I’ve decided to stop being worried that someone will ‘steal’ him. And—”

  Ayaka looked up at Eiri and Maina.

  “I’m going to try to trust the people that my big brother believes in. So, ummm…Miss Akabane, Miss Igarashi! Would you please…be my friends?”

  “”

  Silence descended on the group.

  Eventually, Eiri sighed. “…Whatever, fine. But don’t call me Miss Akabane!

  “Eh. H-huh…? Akabane—Miss Akabonehead, you’re not mad?”

  “I’m not mad. I’m used to it. I’m used to dealing with my own little sister, and I’m also used to suffering through other unpleasant experiences. Just—”

  Her head still turned away, Eiri glanced over with half-lidded eyes.

  “Don’t call me ‘Miss Akabonehead,’ either, would you? It’s better than using my family name, but it’s still irritating… Eiri is fine. Get my name right, and I guess I can forgive you.”

  “Uh, ummm…Miss E-Eiri?”

  “Yeah.” Eiri smiled gently. “That’s fine.”

  Taking a long, hard look at her, Ayaka repeated, “…Miss Eiri.” She did not sound entirely sure of herself.

  “Um! I also want to be friends with you, Ayaka,” Maina said. “You were awfully scary when you tried to kill us…but I’ve been in the same situation. If you’ll accept someone as stupid and dangerous as me, I’d like to get to be your fwend! Oh…I messed it up…”

  “Miss Igarashi…you are doing that on purpose, right?”

  “Ehhh?! It-it wasn’t on purpose, I’m telling you!”

  “Hmm, you didn’t fumble it this time…very suspicious. As I thought, Crafty Cat is still crafty. My suspicions about you might be right after all.”

  “Eeehh, th-that’s…oh no…”

  “Don’t worry about it, Crafty Cat.” Eiri grinned.

  “You too, Eiri?!”

  “Tee-hee!” Ayaka laughed at the development.

  “Kksshh!” Renko laughed, too, watching the exchange. “Looks like you’ve reconciled one way or another, huh? Yep, yep…and they all lived happily ever after! By the way, Ayaka, about me—?”

  “…Hmm?”

  Ayaka listened with a serious expression as Renko told her story. She talked about how she was a professional killer who had been created as a tool for murder; about how her kill count was in the hundreds; about how every single one of her emotions urged her to kill; about how her gas mask was a limiter that restrained her irresistible murderous impulses. She told Ayaka about how right now that impulse was contained by unrequited love, and how once it became mutual love, she would feel the need to kill even Kyousuke…

  “”

  When she had finished listening to Renko’s story, Ayaka hung her head, and shut her mouth tight. Her bangs cast a shadow over her face, obscuring her expression.

  “Aah…s-sorry! My true nature is supposed to be a secret, so I couldn’t tell you until now. Um, what can I say, just…I’m sorry. I love Kyousuke, so I want him to change his mind about me, but if he does, I’ll probably kill him, so…ummm…s-sorry! I’m not trying to steal Kyousuke away from you! When I kill Kyousuke, I’ll kill you along with him! If I do that, you can be together in the next life, like you said, right?! A-and everyone lived happily ever after…”

  “No they didn’t,” Kyousuke spat.

  Renko ignored the jab. As she fidgeted awkwardly, searching for the right words to explain, Ayaka slowly lifted her face.

  “Endure it, please.”

  She spoke bluntly, wearing a wide smile.

  “Miss Renko, you said it yourself, didn’t you? You said, ‘for the sake of my love Kyousuke, I can kill even the strongest murderous impulse.’ If that’s true, please kill it properly even after it becomes mutual love. Don’t kill my big brother, kill your own killer desires.”

  “Ehh?! I mean, I did say that, but…the stronger my feelings become, the stronger my deadly desires get! If I didn’t have my mask, it would always be resounding through my head!!”

  “I don’t know. What, are you giving up…? Can’t you kill your own murderous impulses, even for my big brother’s sake? Are your feelings that strong?”

  “Kksshh?! Th-that’s…”

  “Oh, I see. In the end, you are your own most important person, aren’t you, Renko? You offer excuses, but you really only care about your own feelings, don’t you? Tee-hee!”

  “You’re wrong! Kyousuke is more important to me that anything, more precious than anyone…”

  “Of course.” Ayaka smiled. “And if that’s true, then you will endure it, won’t you?!”

  “”

  Is this her idea of revenge?

  Renko was clearly at a loss. “Uuu…th-that’s r-right. If I really love Kyousuke, I have to endure. It’s as you say, Ayaka…ohh… Wh-what’s this…if it becomes mutual love like this, I won’t be the least bit satisfied, will I?—Ah!! But, but! If Kyousuke ever wants me to kill him, you won’t mind if I do it, will you?!”

  “Alright, fine. If that’s what my big brother wants, it’s all right!”

  “…Is it?” Kyousuke asked.

  “Sure! But when it’s time, you have to kill me along with him, okay? I don’t want to be separated from my big brother. As long as Miss Renko is the one killing me, it’s okay…yay! Eee-hee-hee…”

  “Is it…?” Kyousuke repeated. He felt slightly dizzy looking at his little sister’s bright smile.

  “Kksshh!” Renko looked overjoyed, and embraced Ayaka tightly. “Ayaka! I’ll do my best… I’ll try hard! To make Kyousuke fall in love with me, and to endure my murderous impulses…I’ll try to make him fall so deeply in love that he wants to give his life to me!”

  “Sure. If that’s how you feel, there’s no helping i
t, so…I approve of your approach. I learned all kinds of things from you, Miss Renko…so this is your repayment! B-but it doesn’t really mean that I like you, or that I’m accepting you, okay?!”

  Kyousuke looked back and forth between the two of them with very mixed feelings. Frankly, there’s still one huge problem… The thought of killing someone did not seem to bother Ayaka much. Apparently her underlying way of thinking and sense of values hadn’t changed at all. Kurumiya was right—there was a danger that she might kill if something set her off.

  “Ayaka baaaby!”

  “Oww!! Your gas mask keeps hitting me! And if you’re going to hit me, only use your boobs! Speaking of which, how about taking it off already? It’s a nuisance for you to always be wearing that thing. It’s a waste. Look, it’ll probably make my big brother happy, too!”

  “Ah, yeah. You’re right, for sure! Why don’t I take it off? I’ve also been thinking I’d be better off without it. This time of year, it gets way too stuffy, so…”

  “Right, right, take it off! It should be no problem for you.”

  “Kksshh. Yeah, that’s right, they don’t hang down or lose their shape at all! Okay, I won’t hold back—”

  “Why are you taking thaaaaaaaaaat off?!”

  “Because you told me to?”

  “I was talking about your gas mask! Not your bra!”

  “Kksshh…what the…? That’s what you meant?! You’re so confusing…”

  “You’re the confusing one! Are you kinky?! Just like I suspected?! A kinky pervert?!”

  “Now, now. I’ll give you this, so don’t get mad.”

  “No thank you!”

  Ayaka brushed away the underwear and glared at Renko.

  “…Fwah,” Eiri yawned.

  “Oh goodness me…” Maina smiled enviously. “They’re really close friends, aren’t they?”

  Watching their friendly banter, Kyousuke had a feeling that they would be able to manage one way or another…

  This most recent uproar had certainly broadened Ayaka’s horizons. And it now looked like Ayaka herself was willing to broaden them even further. If so, she would surely be able to change.

  Gradual change would be good.

  It would be difficult for Kyousuke if he was on his own, but here he had friends like Eiri, Maina, and Renko to support him. Actually, Kyousuke hadn’t been the one to stop his little sister. Renko had.

  “…I completely misunderstood her…” Kyousuke groaned. He’d spent more time with his little sister than anyone else. She was more important to him than anything in the whole world…and he had failed to understand her. That fact sent a dull pang running through his heart.

  Ayaka had said, “I depended on you too much.” That goes the same for me, doesn’t it? Until now, Kyousuke had been living only for his little sister. “…I guess I have to change, too.”

  “Hm? What’s wrong, Kyousuke?” Renko asked. “You look so gloomy.

  But Kyousuke only continued muttering to himself.

  “Ah!” Renko seemed to reach some understanding on her own, and thrust out her right hand. “You wanted this, didn’t you? Here you go!”

  She held out the bra that she had removed earlier. Maybe because her cup size was too big, it wasn’t in the academy-assigned striped pattern, but instead a very grown-up-looking black lace affair.

  Pulling his eyes off the underwear, Kyousuke pushed Renko’s hand away. “I don’t want that, dummy…geez. You have a really crazy way of doing things, you know that, Renko?”

  “Hm? Kyousuke, your face is turning red for some reason.”

  “Shut up! Hurry up and put it back on.”

  Kyousuke turned his back on Renko. His chest was pounding. It wasn’t because he had seen her underwear. She had used her seductive techniques on him many times before, but the throbbing heartbeat that he was feeling now was something entirely different—

  “Big brother…” A tug on Kyousuke’s shirttail pulled him back to his senses.

  Ayaka stood on tiptoe and brought her mouth close to his ear. “…I’m rooting for you,” she whispered.

  His heart skipped a beat. Even without asking, he knew just what Ayaka had meant—and he began to panic. “Rooting for me? You…”

  “Yep! Your little sister is rooting for you, big brother. You are my family, after all, and I want you to be happy. And for that to happen, you need to get the best partner, right? As your little sister, I have a duty to help you do that. I have to keep an eye out and protect you from inferior women, let you know when you find a good one, and be your moral support…” Ayaka lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I promise not to stand in the way of your romance, big brother—I’m going to help you! Hee-hee-hee!”

  Ayaka glanced over at the black gas mask. It was very clear who Ayaka thought would make the best partner (tentatively).

  “O-oh…” A cold sweat broke out on Kyousuke’s back. “If we fall in love with each other, she’ll kill me, you know!”

  “Don’t worry. She promised to endure!”

  “…I don’t know.”

  She said a lot of other things after that. Even with Ayaka’s support, Renko might not be able to persevere… So thinking, Kyousuke galvanized himself.

  He needed to keep his mind far away from Renko and the fact that his heart quickened whenever he thought of her…

  Inhuman screams roared through the red-tinged room.

  A white arm waved like a flash, and the noise stopped.

  “…It’s me,” answered a sweetly lisping Lolita voice.

  Kurumiya sat at her office desk, illuminated by the setting sun. She had been preparing test questions before the interruption. Now she pressed her cell phone to her ear.

  The wide-eyed cat on her phone strap swung back and forth like the corpse of a hanged man.

  “……”

  Silence. She waited a little while, but there was no response.

  Kurumiya’s brow wrinkled. She drummed the desk with her fingers. “Hey, I said it’s me! Weren’t you listening?”

  “Yes,” a clear soprano voice finally answered. “I heard you, Hijiri dear.”

  “Well if you heard me, then hurry up and answer, moron.”

  “Sorry, sorry. It’s because your voice is so cute. I was simply entranced.”

  “…Shut up. I’m not letting you waste my time.”

  “Oh, are you shy?”

  “Let it go. Do you want to die?”

  “Even you can’t kill me through the phone! Heh-heh…”

  “Wanna bet?” She clicked her tongue and leaned back in her chair.

  “…At any rate, it’s been a long time, Hijiri dear. Are you well?”

  “Yeah, I’m having lots of fun. You?”

  “Uh-uh, I’m not doing too well. My target is particularly stubborn.”

  “Seems that way, huh? I heard they’re no ordinary person. It’s understandable if it’s that thing’s mother.”

  “…That thing?”

  “Yeah. The same one we talked about before. The boy who dumb idiot Renko fell for.”

  “”

  The presence on the other end of the phone seemed to change. When the voice eventually answered, it was in a somewhat lower tone. “…Ah, that one. Kyousuke Kamiya, was it? Is she still head over heels for him?”

  “Apparently. Actually, it’s getting worse. She’s madly in love.”

  The voice on the other end crackled. “Hmmm…is that so? They can’t possibly be dating… If he ever returns her feelings, her dormant murderous impulses will awaken, and she’ll kill him, isn’t that right?”

  “Should be. She keeps saying that herself.”

  “But…but?! Have they gone as far as holding hands? Skinship and so on? They haven’t…kissed yet, right? Of course they haven’t, right?! If they have…oh, what’ll we do!”

  “I dunno. Don’t ask me. But—”

  Kurumiya waited a moment for the person on the other end of the line to stop talking.

  “Renko d
isobeyed my orders.”

  “…Oh? What, did you try to have her kill Kyousuke again?”

  “No. This time it was his little sister. I ordered Renko to nearly kill the girl in front of her brother.”

  Kurumiya had given Ayaka the shotgun, and while she was learning to handle it at the shooting range—Kurumiya had also given Renko her orders:

  Turn the tables on Ayaka while Kyousuke was watching. This would make Renko truly want to kill and drive her to finally go through with the act, allowing them to assess the true value of Kyousuke’s little sister should she survive…

  If Ayaka, on the other hand, had been successful in killing Renko, it would have certainly shaken Kyousuke up. And even if Eiri or Maina had gotten killed in the process, in the end the only conversation would have been about how capable Ayaka must be.

  Also, Kyousuke would probably never forgive Renko if she laid a hand on his little sister. Renko’s love would end in a broken heart, and the whole abnormality would be resolved. No matter how it went, there would be a benefit.

  That was how she’d meant for it to go, anyway.

  “But she disobeyed my orders. I released the lock on her limiter beforehand so that it wouldn’t matter whether it unlocked itself or not…but she stifled her own murderous impulses, and, far from tormenting the little sister, she helped her. I didn’t hear her reasons for doing so, but maybe she was afraid…not of my punishment, but afraid that Kamiya might hate her. This is a serious situation! The Murder Maid—a total killing machine—resisted the urge to kill. That shouldn’t be possible.”

  “……That’s right.”

  “Like I thought, putting her in school was a mistake. Letting a tool pretend to be human was…I also understand your feelings on the matter, but—”

  “Hijiri.” The voice was gentle, yet authoritative. “What you say is quite right. You are entirely correct. However, we’ve known it all from the beginning. You didn’t think you could understand something that I didn’t, did you?”

  “……Hm.”

  Pride was audible in her voice. There was not, however, any disrespect. Her intellect was far greater than Kurumiya—or anyone else—could possibly imagine. And though she often offended people, it almost never happened because of pride.