Eiri bounded up alongside her. “…Are you okay?” she asked anxiously.
“Oh gosh. S-sowwy… No pwobwem, I’m…”
“Hey, are you really all right? If it’s too difficult, I’ll lend you a hand—”
“No pwobwem, I said!”
Maina shouted at Kyousuke, who had made a U-turn out of concern for her. However, with a small “Ah,” she immediately came to her senses and apologized in a fluster. “So-sowwy…but I’m fine! Kyousuke and Eiri, just leave me behind…please. I can’t always rely on everyone’s help, after all…when the real athletic festival happens, I don’t want to hold the rest of you back!”
“Maina…”
“…Okay, I get it.”
Eiri nodded and left Maina behind. Kyousuke, however, remained hesitant.
Blood was flowing down Maina’s forehead from a gash left by the iron pipe. And that was not all. Her eyelids, cheeks, nose, lips… Having made more mistakes than anyone else, Maina had also sustained the most injuries and been carried to the infirmary time and time again. If this continued, it was obvious that Maina wouldn’t make it through morning training.
But—
“Huph, huph…hwooooooh!”
What burned in Maina’s eyes as she shouldered her sandbag was not death. Blazing there was a persistent fighting spirit that absolutely would not break, no matter how much she was injured. And so Kyousuke—
“…Do your best.”
—with that, overtook Maina.
“Hnnngh, it’s impossible. It’s intolerable! It appears that we will meet our fates before we even reach the athletic festival. Miss Eiri, I’m exhausted…”
“…Oh really. Why not die?” They had finished morning training and were headed to the locker room. Eiri cursed nonchalantly at Shinji’s whining.
Shinji stuck out his lower lip. “What’s with that? Too cruel! It’s cruel, right, Miss Ayaka?”
“You’re right. Your incompetence is cruel. But if you’re going to die, please wait until after you do something useful at the athletic festival. Tee-hee!”
Shinji’s pleas to Ayaka had been met only by derisive rejection. “Harsher treatment than I got from Eiri?! Why, the mere implication is the height of indignity! My, my…” He shrugged his shoulders and looked behind him. “Miss Maina—”
But no one was there. “W-well, here’s the infirmary,” he continued anxiously. “So…I’m afraid I’ve got no alternative. Tomomi, it is truly atrocious, isn’t it? The way everyone treats me so cruelly! Come by now and again to say a kind word—”
“Shut up.”
“…………Huh?”
Shinji remained frozen, arms reaching out to embrace Tomomi.
“To-Tomomi…? Wh-why—?”
“Honestly, I’m getting so sick of your shit. Like, I literally cannot even believe you’d have the stones to pull out some crap like that after that exhausting morning workout. I mean, there’s being an asshole, and then there’s you, Shinji.”
“……I’m sorry, what?”
“I think she’s mad because you said you’ve ‘got no alternative,’” Kyousuke offered.
Tomomi’s face lit up enthusiastically. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s just like Kyousuke! He sooo totally gets how girls feel. He’s a total dreamboat!” She suddenly grabbed hold of said boy’s arm.
Shinji and Eiri—and of course Kyousuke, the one who had been grabbed—were all taken by surprise. “Eh?!”
Tomomi gazed up at Kyousuke, her body pressed close against his. “I’ve liked you since waaay back! For real! But you’re so seriously popular! I never thought I had a chance. You’re super cool. That’s why you’re so popular. Squeee!”
“Wait, I…”
Tomomi ignored Kyousuke’s wincing and pressed her face close to his. “Doesn’t killing just totally wear you out?” she continued passionately. “I mean, it’s not like people die from the first stab. They reeeally struggle… I used a paring knife, and I must have stabbed that girl like ten times before she stopped breathing! It took some serious work, right? And you killed twelve people in one go! Kyousuke, you’re soooooo cool!”
“Ha, ha-ha…th-thanks. Anyway, if you would just let go—”
“Get off of him, you bitch!” Just then, Eiri took hold of his opposite arm. Gripping it tight, as if she was going to pull Kyousuke away, she glared daggers at Tomomi. “A girl like you shouldn’t touch Kyousuke. You’ll get him dirty! Dirty girls should stick with dirty guys and dirty friends, and all be dirty together.”
“Huh? What do you even mean by ‘dirty’? Don’t go acting like you’re all innocent! Just look at you, pressing all up on him—even though you don’t have anything there to press, Miss Tiny Titties! I guess it’s just your attitude that’s big, huh?” Tomomi pulled at Kyousuke’s other arm, enthusiastically returning Eiri’s verbal abuse in kind.
Stuck between the two, Kyousuke desperately tried to calm the girls down. “H-hey! Eiri and, umm…T-Tomomi, stop it! I mean, let go—”
“Kyaaah! Kyousuke totally said my name! I’m, like, so freaking out right now!”
“Hang on?! Are you going to start making passes at girls like this, too…? Do you have no class at all?!”
“That’s right, that’s right—it’s cruel!” Shinji lamented. “Eiri and Maina and the rest were all taken, so I had to put up with Tomomi, but…snatching up even the leftovers, it’s too cruel!”
“Fwaaa?! What do you mean by ‘leftovers’! I absolutely cannot even stand you anymore, Shinji. That seals it—I’m switching over to Kyousuke.”
“Aaaaaah?! I’m sorry, Tomomi! That was a lie just now, a joke, a figure of speeeeeech!!” Shinji grabbed the girl’s arm, growing increasingly agitated.
“Tee-hee. You’re very popular, aren’t you, big brother?” Ayaka said, watching Kyousuke squirm with a dangerous look in her eyes.
“Yoohoo! Good work on your training, ladies and gentlemen of first-year Class A.”
A familiar, friendly voice called out to them. When they looked, they saw Reiko standing there waving, clad in athletic clothes and accompanied by a group of students. However, she was still wearing her lab coat and had not removed her glasses.
The group had probably also just finished morning training, like Kyousuke and the others, and were headed to the locker room.
And the huge man wearing the ivory-white gas mask, who was mixed in with the others in first-year Class B—Renji Hikawa—was also there. His right arm, which had been broken by Kurumiya the day before yesterday, was still in a sling…
“Ah, hello… Good morning, Miss Reiko.”
“There’s no reason for you to call me Mom!”
“I didn’t!” Kyousuke protested the baffling accusation.
Reiko’s friendly smile vanished in an instant. “Be quiet. I’m all worked up now. Since early this morning, I’ve had to meet men I didn’t want to meet and see people I didn’t want to see, and now to make matters worse, people are calling me Mom—”
“I told you, I didn’t call you that!”
“Mother!” Ayaka pushed her way past the thoroughly confused Kyousuke. She stood in front of Reiko, eyes sparkling. “Nice to meet you, good morning! I’m Kyousuke Kamiya’s little sister, Ayaka Kamiya.” Her pigtails bounced along with her cheerful greeting. “I’m much obliged to Renko! And I would definitely like to get along even better with her and treat her like a member of my own family, so…I’m not much good at anything, but on behalf of me and my brother, I look forward to working with you!”
“Nope.”
“Whaaaa—?!” Ayaka looked astonished as her extended hand was bluntly brushed away. “B-but…why?!”
“Because I don’t like Kyousuke.”
“Huh—”
Ayaka froze.
“Sorry,” Reiko said and shrugged her shoulders. “I think you’re a charming, lovely little sister, but I hate your big brother, so…I don’t want you to get along with Renko. A totally mediocre guy like him…and yet, what’s this?
He has two girls fawning over him! If he isn’t an unbelievable philanderer?! There’s no way that I would give my darling daughter to a guy like that. I plan to crush him, completely.”
“”
Ayaka’s eyes went dark. Her face twitched. “Y-you hate…my big brother… Mediocre…ph-philanderer…?”
She looked as though she was about to lose control.
“I won’t let you.”
Letting go of Kyousuke’s arm, Eiri advanced toward Reiko, glaring. “Because I will protect him. I won’t let you or Renko or anyone else hurt him. And I especially won’t let your daughter charm him and then kill him.”
“Eiri—”
“Who the hell are you?” Reiko demanded, pushing up her glasses. “What a spirited young lady you are… Would you happen to be the head of the Kyousuke Kamiya Fan Club?”
“No. I am Eiri Akabane, simply one of his classmates.”
“Akabane…” Upon hearing Eiri’s family name, Reiko clapped her hands. “Ahh…ha-ha! I see, so you’re Rusty Nail!”
Eiri’s eyebrows knit upon word of her assassin alias. “…You know about me?”
“Yep. Hijiri told me all about you. I’ve had an interest in your family for a long, long time, and I really wanted to meet you. Hmm, you’re cuter than I thought! Let me see…”
Folding her arms, Reiko carefully looked the girl over. Her gaze crawled from the top of Eiri’s head to the tips of her toes, not missing a single detail. “However, you’re not quite there. Renko is a hundred times cuter!”
Her eyes went to Eiri’s chest. “My daughter’s boobs are bigger, after all. You’re utterly outmatched, aren’t yoooooouuu?”
She grinned triumphantly.
Eiri was astonished. “…Huh? That’s just your own personal opinion, isn’t it? So what? It’s fine for you to act like an overly doting parent, but it’s irritating if you come on too strong, auntie.”
“A-auntie—”
Reiko’s face flushed. However, she quickly cleared her throat and pulled herself together. “No, no, no. I’m still in my twenties, so I’m not an auntie at all. And although I may be doting, it certainly isn’t excessive, and it’s definitely not irritating! As frustrating as it must be for you to lose to Renko, I’d like you to stop venting your anger on me. This is why children are…”
“Huh? Don’t you think you’re being much more childish, though? Going on about how you don’t like Kyousuke, and you don’t want to give your precious daughter to him, and how Renko’s so much better… You’re really immature, auntie.”
“Don’t call me auntie!” Reiko snapped. “You call me big sister. Big. Sis. Ter! You’re a surprisingly rude girl, aren’t you?! I don’t care for you… You’re neck and neck with Kyousuke. I don’t like you at all!”
“That’s so childish of you, auntie.”
“I told you to call me sister!!” Reiko shrieked and pulled at her hair with both hands. Compared to Renko, who was unflappably easygoing, Reiko certainly was childish, despite looking very mature…
“…Someone with the appearance of an adult but the mind of a child?” Eiri gracefully brushed her hair back. “So generally you’re—”
“Don’t bully my mama, Eiri!! Kksshh!”
Renko jumped out from behind Renji and spread out her arms as if to protect her mother. Apparently, she had been hiding behind her brother the whole time.
“Waaaaaahhh, Renkooo!” Reiko sobbed.
“There, there. It’s all right now, Mama. I’ll give Tiny Tits here some punishment.”
Stroking her progenitor’s head, Renko looked up and glared at her classmate. The hostility was palpable, even through her gas mask. Renko growled menacingly. “…Next time you bad-mouth Mama, I’ll kill you—get it? I won’t forgive anyone who hurts her feelings!”
“Wha—?” Eiri faltered for a moment. “…Well then, what about Kyousuke?” she asked. “If this mother of yours ordered you to kill him, would you follow that order? Are you planning to listen obediently to what your mama has to say and murder him despite your unrequited love?”
“Kksshh?!” This time it was Renko’s turn to falter. “Th-that’s—” Her eyes darted around restlessly behind her viewports. “Th, th-th-th-th, that’s beside the point, Eiri! Since Kyousuke and I will be forced to part if your class loses at the athletic festival, you’re planning to sabotage us, aren’t yooouuu?!” She pointed at her friend, conspicuously trying to change the subject.
“…Huh?” Eiri frowned and glared back at Renko. “There’s no way I would do something like that. I’m not going out of my way to lose. I’m not really going to try to win, either, but…”
“Hmm, you don’t have any motivation, eh? Get serious.”
“…Huh? But I’m your enemy. Why are you trying to get me motivated… You don’t want to win, after all? I mean, if your class wins, you and Kyousuke will be separated, so if you’re planning to ease up—”
“I would never!!” Renko shouted, cutting Eiri off.
“—Renko?” her mother muttered, light flashing off the lenses of her glasses.
“I won’t go easy on you! I’m going to take it seriously! I’ll totally defeat yooouuu!”
“…Yes, yes,” Eiri waved airily. “Do your very best.”
“I’m serious, you hear?!” Renko shouted. “…I’m serious,” she repeated, lowering her tone. “To me, Mama’s words are absolute… If she tells me ‘Don’t go easy,’ I won’t, and if she tells me to give up, I’ll give up, and if she tells me to kill, I’ll kill! Even if that person is Kyousuke, I absolutely will.” Rolling up the long sleeves of her jersey, she bared her jet-black tribal tattoos as if she were an animal baring her fangs.
And then Renko looked at Kyousuke for the first time. Her viewports were darkly tinted, obscuring her ice-blue eyes, but—“I want to know this more than anything, Kyousuke… Right now, right in this moment, how do you feel about me? How seriously are you going to try for my sake?! I believe in you… I’m counting on you to answer my feelings with whatever’s in your heart.” Her gaze bore into Kyousuke, keenly conveying the intensity of her feelings.
The buoyant atmosphere had dissipated, and Kyousuke felt a strong pressure prickling on his skin. The sudden change made him uneasy.
“Renko…”
“So listen—” She slowly leaned closer. “At the athletic festival, let’s both try with all our might to defeat each other, okay?”
The gas mask did little to hide the bawdy bloodlust as Renko laughed.
Sixteen different games were featured at the athletic festival. There would be a Hundred-Meter Slaughter Footrace, an Unhinged Obstacle Course, a Slice-and-Dice Steel Thread Leap, a Group Ball-Toss Rave, an Explosion Tug-of-War, and many others. Normal games from athletic festivals and sports days had been transformed into extremely brutal contests.
However, the scariest part wasn’t the games, but—
“Okay, you bastards, know this! There are many casualties every year at the athletic festival, and most are the result of violence between participants. This is because the rules allow almost anything, as long as you don’t seriously injure or kill another student… If you only focus on the games, you’re sure to lose before you even know it.” Looking down on her students from the podium, Kurumiya delivered an ominous warning.
It was first period, on the fifth day of practice; first-year Class A was receiving a briefing.
Kurumiya’s speech was passionate and tense, just like the game practice. It allowed no room for Kyousuke and his classmates to relax, despite their growing fatigue.
“Among the other classes, the ones you should be especially careful of are the third-years. They’ve had two more years of rigorous manual labor than you new students. I expect that their stamina, physical strength, and combat abilities are all several levels higher than yours.”
“…Combat abilities? This is a place to reform murderers, but…combat abilities?”
“You there! You dare whisssperrrr?!”
; The iron pipe, thrown in lieu of chalk, grazed Shinji’s cheek and destroyed the blackboard in the back of the classroom.
“Eee?! S-sorry!” Shinji trembled.
“—To be blunt, of all the past winners, more than eighty percent have been third-year classes. The remaining twenty percent have been second-years, and they too are formidable. Take a look at your student-directory handout.” Kurumiya picked up a sheet of A4-size paper.
The printouts, which had been distributed at the start of the lesson, listed the name, gender, age, number of people killed, threat level, and other assorted data for the students enrolled in Purgatorium Remedial Academy, ordered by class.
“Each class has about fifteen students, for a total of eighty-two. You can refer to the Red List for information on those whose threat levels rank A or above. They have more-detailed profiles there.”
Containing those further profiles was a red five-page document. Mug shots, information on their murders, aliases, radar graphs showing their abilities…these details and more were included, a testament to Kurumiya’s fervor toward the athletic festival.
In addition to height, weight, and sitting height, their chest-waist-hip measurements and body fat percentages were also listed. Privacy was apparently nonexistent at the academy. And yet, since Renko’s danger level was rated C+, her detailed profile was not included.
Shamaya’s physical data caught Kyousuke’s eyes—
…Wait, who cares about that?!
—But he forced his thoughts, which had flown off in a strange direction, back to the matter at hand. Instead of thinking about Renko, who had been remarkably scarce lately, or the measurements of certain other female students, he tried to focus on the document before him.
There were ten students on the Red List.
Murder Machine and the Catastrophic Athletic Festival Page 5