Murder Machine and the Catastrophic Athletic Festival

by Mizuki Mizushiro

  “…I…” After some time, Renko let out a faint murmur. Taking a deep breath, she turned back and looked straight at Reiko, her mother and creator.

  “No. I would not kill him.”

  Renko plainly asserted her resolve.

  “……I see.” Reiko cast her eyes downward. Her mouth pulled into a broad smile. “I understand. If that’s your answer, then there’s really nothing to be done. My goodness…”

  Putting a finger to her cheek, Renko lifted her smiling face. “Mama! That’s wonderful, Mama, thank—”

  “Then, I will kill Kyousuke.”

  Reiko’s eyes were not smiling at all.

  “…What?” her daughter froze.

  Reiko shrugged and explained, “If you won’t kill him, I’ll have Renji do it. If I don’t, then sooner or later you’ll probably wind up dead.”

  “…I will?”

  “Yes. I mean, are you surprised? If the Murder Maid, a custom-made killing machine, can’t actually kill, then there’s no reason for her to exist. Furthermore, this boy Kyousuke, to whom you are so attached, has no direct connection to the organization and seems to even hold some animosity toward it. It would be strange if we didn’t regard him as a threat. There are many reasons he’s a problem for Murderers’ Murderers… Now, of course I don’t think of you like some common tool. I treasure you as my own daughter, do you understand? And that’s why I want to protect you, no matter the cost. Even if it means I must completely disregard your feelings.”

  “M-Mama…” Renko winced at the blunt statement.

  “Hey, you bitch, Reikooooooooo!”

  Kurumiya shouted from the bleachers. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Kamiya is the favorite of the board chairman!! Do you have any idea what would happen to you if you just up and killed—”

  “Whatever.”

  “……What the hell did you say?”

  “Whatever, I don’t care about that. My standing is above his anyway… You say Kyousuke is the chairman’s favorite, but Renko is my favorite. I’m not going to toss her aside, even if she has been spoiled or broken. It’s fine, so why don’t you just try shutting up, Hijiri!”

  “Reiko—”

  Kurumiya gritted her teeth and glared at Reiko, fuming. She didn’t have the power to oppose the woman, who, though she was her friend, seemed to hold authority over the board of directors—and even though a student was about to be murdered in broad daylight, not a single one of the teachers of Purgatorium Remedial Academy moved to intervene.

  The first-year students who had not yet been told about the true nature of the academy, and even the upperclassmen, who had not known about Renko’s true nature, were bewildered, unable to fully understand the current situation.

  Ignoring the noisy students, Reiko cleared her throat. “Ahem. Sorry, the conversation got a little sidetracked. As I was saying, I have many concerns. If Renko continues to care for young Kyousuke, I worry that it will invite certain inconvenient misgivings.”

  “…Mis…givings?”

  “Yes. Renko, I’ve been told you disobeyed Hijiri’s orders in order to protect Kyousuke, isn’t that right? And on top of that, now you’re defying me… If I tell this story to the higher-ups, it will end very badly, do you understand that? You do understand, and yet you still bare your fangs at me? If that’s the case, then this is indisputable mutiny. At least it will be perceived that way by the organization. Then even I won’t be able to fully protect you… This time, at least, I’ll see to it that you follow my orders properly, okay?”

  Reiko lowered her voice. She faced her daughter, who was hanging her head. “Renko. Kill Kyousu—”

  “Nowaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!” Renko shouted.

  “……?!”

  Reiko shook, startled by the surprisingly forceful defiance. Her eyes opened so wide they looked as if they were about to roll out of her head, and she stared in blank amazement, mouth hanging half open.

  “I—” Renko’s voice wavered, and she clenched her tattoo-covered hands. “I still don’t want to kill Kyousuke. Especially now that my murderous impulse has gone away. I want to touch him, and I want him to touch me. I want to know him, and I want him to know me. I want to spend a lot more time together, and I want to laugh a lot more! And, should our feelings ever align, I want to give myself over to the melody of love that’s in my heart, until no part remains untouched, thoroughly, tenderly, and I violently, madly kill him! That’s why it’s no good. You can’t do it like this. No matter what you say, it’s still absolutely no good! And if you’re still going to try to kill Kyousuke now, despite all that—”

  Renko pressed her lips together and stared at her mother, who supposedly outranked everyone else.

  “I won’t let you. I will protect Kyousuke. I won’t let anyone kill him except me!”

  She spit the words out coldly.

  “…………”

  Reiko stared at her silently. Expressionless. Unresponsive. A long moment passed. “…Is that so? I understand. Yes, I understand perfectly well…”

  Reiko set the microphone down and, removing her glasses, wearily massaged the inner corners of her eyes. The muscles around her mouth and eyes twitched in half-hearted convulsions, as though she was trying—and failing—to smile. “I see now. You’re far more seriously ill than I first thought… Love is blind, a sickness of the mind, is it? That must be it. Heh-heh—you’ve got to be kidding me!”

  Reiko furiously threw her glasses to the ground. Stamping her feet in frustration, she crushed them underfoot. “What do you mean it’s no good, what do you mean you won’t kill, what do you mean you don’t want to kill, what do you mean you won’t let me kill?! You’ve gone crazy… Love has made you crazy, Renko! Love has broken you, Murder Maid. You’re not sane, you see? I’m not joking! Renko, you’re my precious daughter, and my valuable creation… As your mother, I have an obligation to correct my daughter’s problems. As your creator, I have a responsibility to fix the failings of my creation!”

  Gritting her molars hard, Reiko hung her head deeply. “So I’ll correct you. I’ll fix you. I’ll save you! I’ll cut out the cancer that is driving you crazy and breaking your mind, and I’ll help you! If I don’t protect you, no one else will. So it’s okay if you hate me. It’s okay if you detest me. It’s okay if you resent me. Because I’m telling you, I……”

  —I love you, Renko, she almost said.

  Muttering, Reiko gripped the microphone tightly. “Renji. It seems like your older sister is getting a little carried away, so…don’t pay her any mind if she gets in your way. Give her a slap and wake her up. Renji—”

  Reiko shifted her gaze. She glared at Kyousuke with an absolutely arctic look.

  “Kill!”

  “!”

  At her command, Renji let out a roar that rivaled Renko’s and launched into motion, the ground cratering beneath his enormous feet.

  Renko shrieked.

  “Kyousukeeeeeeeee?!”

  Renji’s assault crashed down upon his target like an artillery barrage.

  A thunderous roar. A tumultuous earthquake. A resounding explosion.

  A cloud of dust obscured the area, and fragments of pulverized earth rained down from the sky. Kyousuke had managed to leap out of the path of Renji’s attack and now lay on his backside, recoiling in alarm.

  In the ground before him were two overlapping craters, proof of the destructive power of Renji’s fists. If Kyousuke had been just a split second slower to react, the battlefield would have been showered in chunks of gore rather than clods of earth—

  “Oh gosh…oh no…oh dear, oh my…”

  On the other side of the enormous craters, Maina stood trembling in abject terror. She had narrowly avoided the destruction. Her eyes didn’t even seem to see Kyousuke, fixed as they were on the enormous monster standing with his fists still pressed into the ground.

  “……”

  She stared up at the towering, terrible man, his
big frame over six feet tall, his muscles like steel, completely covered in jet-black tribal tattoos, at the part of him that had been exposed for the first time, at his—handsome, masculine face.

  “…………”

  He had refined, delicate features, ill-suited for such a grotesquely muscled body. Light and shadow played over his chiseled countenance as though he were a sculpture cut from marble.

  Not wearing anything that could be considered an expression, it seemed less and less likely that he had any human weakness. Losing the gas mask had, in fact, only made him even more impossible to read—

  “…………Kyousuke…Kamiya.”

  Renji was utterly focused on Kyousuke. His voice, which they were hearing for the first time, was also inhuman and dispassionate. However, in his eyes, which were the same ivory white as his gas mask, murderous instincts swirled like eddies in a muddy stream.

  “Uh—”

  The instant his eyes met Renji’s, Kyousuke found himself locked in place. His whole body was sweating, and he couldn’t move a single finger. Even his breathing had stopped. He trembled with fear as he never had before—it was as if an immense pressure were bearing down on him, crushing his will and stealing the freedom from his body.

  Renji raised an arm at Kyousuke, who could not even retreat…

  “Wait a minuuuuuuteee!”

  A moment before Renji’s fist came crashing down on him, Kyousuke’s body was snatched away by a figure rushing in from the edges of his vision.

  “Wah?!”

  Carrying the surprised Kyousuke out of Renji’s reach, the mysterious figure was—

  “Heh-heh. Geez, Kyousuke, that was close, huh?”

  “R-Renko……”

  Narrowing her ice-blue eyes affectionately, Renko Hikawa smiled, flashing her sharp canines. With one arm wrapped around his neck and the other holding his knees, Renko carefully set Kyousuke down.

  “It’s all right. I won’t let him kill you. Your life belongs to me.”

  “…A-ahhh.”

  Renko’s adamant declaration left Kyousuke bewildered. Not by her behavior or her words, nor by her earnestness or her naïveté—those were all qualities with which he was very familiar. This time, Kyousuke was baffled by his own emotions.

  “Honestly, Renji is really strong, but my feelings for you are a hundred times stronger, you know. You can relax, Kyousuke—”

  “You’ll protect me…you mean?”

  “Yep. And if possible, I want you to escape together with Eiri and Maina and Ayaka… I don’t think this is much of a brawl anymore. Get as far away as you possibly can, so you don’t get wrapped up in the fight—”

  “No way.”

  “Why not?!” Renko opened her eyes wide.

  “You told me something earlier, didn’t you?” Kyousuke replied. “I said ‘I don’t want to let it end like this,’ and ‘I don’t want us to be separated.’ And in response you told me to show you that my words aren’t a lie.”

  That’s why—

  “Let me fight along with you, Renko! Let’s combine our power, both of us together, and slaughter that monstrous oaf!”

  “Kyousuke…”

  Her clear eyes wavering, Renko blinked repeatedly. And then she laughed, baring her canines in apparent glee.

  “Ah-ha-ha! You’re right, for sure, you’re right…heh-heh. Sorry, Kyousuke, it seems I underestimated you. You’re right—we can do it. Let’s perform together! We can definitely put on an amazing show! Ah-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Hey, it’s started playing again…the awesome, climactic music started playing again, from the beginning! How great, with this melody playing, I really feel like killing. This music makes me want to rage with all my strength. Come on, try to keep up with me, Kyousukeee!!”

  “Same to you!” he replied and followed after Renko, who had already started moving.

  With a thunderous growl, Renko sprang at Renji, rapidly closing the twenty-yard distance between them. Leaping forward, she twisted in the air like an action-movie star and swung her right arm downward.

  “Heeeeeeyyy, Renjiiiiiiiii!”

  “…………?!”

  Renko’s punch, which had been aimed for her brother’s neck, was turned aside by one of his brawny arms. But Renko continued spinning. Grabbing hold of Renji’s arm, she flipped up and over his body, using him as a fulcrum to nimbly control her trajectory.

  “Don’t get in the way of your big sister’s romaaaaaaaaance!” Renko roared. She smashed her right fist into the top of his head.

  Renji, unable to follow Renko’s tricky movements, took the blow full-on. His bare face, which until now had been completely expressionless, twisted slightly.

  “…………!”

  However, that was all. Even one of Renko’s attacks, which could crush a human head like a ripe piece of fruit, could not destroy Renji’s skull. With a simple sweep of his arm, as if he were brushing away a mosquito, Renji sent Renko flying.

  “Uyaa?!” Renko rolled across the ground and puckered up her face. “Owww… You’re such a jerk, geez!”

  Renji reached toward Renko—

  “Wait right there! Aren’t you supposed to be killing me?!”

  Kyousuke’s straight punch struck Renji’s side. It was as if he had punched solid steel—but he did not feel the pain. The passion roiling inside his body had burned every trace of weakness down to ash.

  Anxiety, terror, resignation, despair…the wracking dread and awful pressure that had been holding Kyousuke in place—the moment that Renko had joined him, those feelings had cleanly, completely disappeared. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Renko and facing the enemy together, Kyousuke was certain he had nothing to fear.

  “I don’t feel like losing.”

  “…………?!”

  Kyousuke avoided Renji’s fist, which was too fast to follow with the naked eye. As bits of earth scattered against his back, he followed up his right-hand punch by throwing a left short hook.

  Renji’s stomach, armored in thick abdominal muscles, was unyielding, but that was of no concern to Kyousuke. If two punches wouldn’t bring him down, then four punches; if four punches wouldn’t bring him down, then eight punches; and if eight punches wouldn’t bring him down, then sixteen punches—he just had to hit him until he fell.

  “Ooooooooohhh!” Screaming like Renko, he fired off blows like a madman.

  Renko launched another assault as Renji, who wore a gloomy grimace, tried to counter Kyousuke’s attack. “Hey, hey, Renji!! If you’re only looking at Kyousuke, you’re looking at hell!!” She smashed his defenseless head with her right fist.

  From there, she struck again at Renji’s flank with her left arm and swept her right heel around in a roundhouse kick before retreating. She avoided Renji’s clumsy counter as he turned and stumbled.

  “Hey, over here, Renko’s little brother! If you look away, you’ll get hurt!!”

  Just as Renji had turned his attention to his sister, Kyousuke’s uppercut slammed into the underside of his chin.

  “…………?!”

  Renji’s huge body swayed. It was slow—but certain—proof of his exhaustion.

  When Kyousuke entered his field of vision, Renko escaped into his blind spot. When Renko attacked, Kyousuke also launched a furious assault. Covering each other’s flanks while striking at any gap that opened up, Kyousuke and Renko, fighting together, were more than a match for Renji. Renji’s ground-smashing fists had yet to land a single direct hit.

  Among the students watching breathlessly on the sidelines, out of reach of the melee, Ayaka shouted, “Big brotheeeeeeeeeeeer, Renkoooooooooooo! Take that pain in the ass down together! Beat him up, sister-in-laaaaaaw!”

  Inspired by Ayaka’s shouts of encouragement, the other students raised their voices one after another. ““GMK! GMK!”” ““Ka-mi-ya! Ka-mi-ya!”” “Kyousuke darliiiiiing, please don’t die! …Renko, you can die, okay?!” “Eeek?! D-dangerous… Watching, it looks like our side is gonna die. Oh no.” “Tch…
Ah, geez, they’re taking their time! If they had my blades in there, that guy would be cut down in a sec—” And so on.

  When the crowd started up, Kurisu also resumed her temporarily suspended broadcast. “Hwaaaaaahhh?! Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what a battle, folks! It’s turned into monster versus monster, featuring monster-lite! I d-don’t really understand the situation, but…anyway, it’s fucking crazy! The grounds are getting all torn up!! Just one of those punches would mean instant death…but he can’t touch theeemmm! Sticking with their ‘hit and run’ strategy, the monster pair of Kyousuke Kamiya and Renko Hikawa are driving Renji Hikawa into a corner!”

  “…………”

  As Kurisu squawked away, Reiko, standing beside her, furrowed her brow. Before her very eyes, her daughter was laughing loudly in apparent glee, reinvigorated with newfound fury.

  “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! This is the best, the very best! Slow and quick, light and heavy, stillness and motion, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, all are mixed in complicated and mysterious ways—it’s like an amazingly cool mathcore track, isn’t it! It’s great, it’s great, it’s super great! I want to let everyone else hear it, too! Hey, can’t you hear it? Hey-hey-heeey?!”

  Renko’s movements, driven by the strange music playing in her mind, were truly erratic. When she seemed like she was going to speed up she slowed down, when she seemed like she was going to dodge right she rolled left, when she seemed like she was going to leap into the fray she backed off, only to then jump in anyway.

  And since only Renko could hear the music that was driving her, her attacks were utterly impossible to predict. When it came to raw physical power, Renko was no match for Renji, but her eccentric style and mercurial fury had him at a disadvantage.

  “…………!”

  Renji simply stood there, swinging his fists in straightforward blows. It probably would have been instant death if she had taken the full force of even a single punch, but as long as he didn’t hit her, there was no problem.

  We can do it! Kyousuke thought, but the next moment—