Murder Machine and the Catastrophic Athletic Festival

by Mizuki Mizushiro

  “!”

  With a roar, Renji jumped up and fired off two magnificent roundhouse kicks as he sailed through the air.

  “Ugyah?!”

  Unable to react to the sudden change of motion, Renko, who had been about to spring at him, took a leg to the head and was sent sprawling.

  “……?! Ren—”

  Kyousuke was about to rush over to her when Renji turned him aside with another roundhouse kick. No sooner had Renji’s feet touched the ground than he put both hands down and flipped up into a handstand.

  “Owaaah?!”

  Renji spun and—still holding himself up on his hands—lashed out with both legs. Kyousuke was forced to retreat in the face of Renji’s fierce assault. Rotation after rotation, kick after kick, he leaped at him like a dancer. Going from a roundhouse kick to a dropkick, a dropkick to a cartwheel, a cartwheel to a flying backspin kick—

  “Wha—?!”

  —A feint. A somersault appeared instead. Renji twisted his body around nimbly in the air, and the tips of his toes struck down at Kyousuke, who had stooped low in order to avoid the roundhouse kick.

  “Tch!”

  Although he was able to narrowly avoid the attack by rolling away, cold sweat welled up on Kyousuke’s back.

  He had thought that Renji was a brute who fought with simple strength, but apparently he was capable of much more. He had a lightness that one would not imagine from his slow-witted exterior—with movements that seemed to combine break dancing and capoeira martial arts, Renji was a literal whirlwind of fury.

  His left foot cut through the air on a follow-through.

  “Guh?!”

  His right heel grazed Kyousuke’s cheek. But that was enough to tear away at Kyousuke’s flesh, sending up a spray of blood. The roundhouse kicks and dropkicks of Renji’s acrobatic assault were not as powerful as one of his titanic punches, but taking even one direct hit was still certain to lay Kyousuke out for good.

  Kyousuke jumped back to evade the assault, and Renji pursued him with a flurry of consecutive tornado kicks.

  “…………!”

  Breaking from his boisterous dance, Renji struck out with a deadly right-hand blow. His spinning fist crashed into the ground under Kyousuke’s feet. A cloud of dirt and dust was thrown into the air, momentarily obscuring Kyousuke’s vision.

  “!”

  Instantly, pushing through the curtain of flying earth, Renji’s left leg swooped in for an attack. Before Kyousuke could make a noise, it was already too late. Renji’s toes caught Kyousuke in the side. The terrific impact reverberated through his body, and he was blown away, overcome by the immense power. He couldn’t even scream.

  “……~~~~~~?!”

  After soaring through space for over ten yards, Kyousuke crashed to the ground. The upper and lower halves of his body were still connected—he had not been torn apart, though the force of the blow had been enough to make him wonder.

  —He could not stand.

  Kyousuke’s vision swayed with the tempest of pain that now rushed over him, and he felt himself losing consciousness. Fresh blood oozed from his side, and his white tracksuit was dyed red. Nausea welled up inside him.

  He might have been able to endure the shattered rib cage, but it seemed likely that Kyousuke’s internal organs had been damaged as well. When he tried to put forth even the smallest effort, a strange agony shot through the left side of his body, and he nearly fainted.

  Although he had survived the attack, the wound was more than enough to rob him of any power to resist. Given the circumstances, that still probably meant the end of him. Paralyzed and helpless, Kyousuke was sure that he would be quickly eliminated.

  “…Really… Ha-ha-ha… This is…bad…” As he lay feebly on the ground, his laughter was born of deep despair.

  Renji advanced on him slowly. In the corner of Kyousuke’s vision, he could see Renko, similarly prostrate on the ground. Perhaps unconscious, she did not so much as twitch. It had taken only a single kick each to leave them in this condition.

  Their hopes for victory had been demolished in a single assault, and they had been thrown into the depths of despair.

  “…Good grief,” Reiko huffed. “So you finally shut up, huh…? That’s cooled you off a little, now hasn’t it? But too bad, it’s not going to be that easy! He may be a newborn baby, but Renji is the latest creation from Murderers’ Murderers and my greatest masterpiece. To be honest, you never stood a chance against him, even combining Renko’s power with your insignificant abilities. Heh-heh.”

  “Big brother?! Big brotheeeeeeeeeeeer!” Ayaka’s shrill cries cut through Reiko’s laughter. “L-let go of me! Let me go, Crafty Cat! Let me gooooooooo!”

  “I-I can’t! If you go over there now, you’ll also be… Oh no. Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what should I…what should I do, Eiri?! …Huh? Eiri—”

  “Don’t move.”

  No one was sure when exactly, but Eiri had snuck around behind Reiko and was pressing the shortsword against her carotid artery. “If you don’t want to die, stop him right now,” she ordered. “And same to you, Renko’s little brother… If you value your mother’s life, stop moving!”

  “…………?”

  Renji halted his advance and turned to look at the broadcasting booth.

  Reiko stiffened and, with her eyes open wide, gave a strained laugh, “My, my,” and shrugged her shoulders. “You’re acting awfully violent, aren’t you, Eiri Akabane dear? But listen, I know. I know that Rusty Nail can’t kill. Even if you play at threatening me, you won’t—”

  “Okay, want to try me?”

  “……?!”

  “Can I kill, or can’t I?” As she spoke, Eiri pressed down with the shortsword. Her tone was subdued and matter-of-fact. “I truly do not want to kill, and maybe I can’t…but if you were to kill Kyousuke, right before my eyes, I might just impulsively draw this blade back across your throat. Without even thinking about it, my body might just happen to move all on its own. Are you still laughing?”

  “”

  Reiko’s smile disappeared.

  Eiri narrowed her rust-red eyes. “So what will you do… Will you risk your own life? Or play it safe?” she demanded. “Hurry up and decide—”

  “Apologies,” someone said, as a light blue snake sank its venomous fangs into the nape of Eiri’s neck.

  “—Eh?” Eiri turned to look behind her.

  Busujima, from whose jersey sleeve the noxious reptile had crawled, held his other hand to his cheek, looking self-conscious. “Oh my… I truly am sorry, Miss Eiri. But this lady is an important person in the organization. She must not be treated so roughly. So why don’t you sleep for just a little while?”

  “……?! Y-you—” Eiri’s eyes, full of bloodlust, glared at Busujima, but her eyelids drooped drowsily. As the strength left her body, the shortsword slipped from her hands, and she collapsed.

  “…Oof!” Propping up Eiri’s body, Busujima let out a sigh. “Ahhh, I’m going to be even more hated after this, for sure…”

  “No, no, that’s not the case! You saved me, Mr. Busujima. Thank you.” Reiko pressed a hand on Busujima’s shoulder as she flattered him.

  She ran a finger over the shallow cut across her throat. “Oh, it hurts… You cut my soft skin… You’ll regret that,” she muttered bitterly. Then, returning her attention to the competition grounds, she called out to Renji, who was still staring at the broadcast booth. “Sorry, I’m fine! Everything’s all right up here, so go ahead and deal with that death dodger lying over there!”

  “…………”

  Renji nodded and resumed his advance—

  “Who’re you calling a death…dodger…bitch…!”

  —Or he was about to. Renji paused again as, before his eyes, Kyousuke gritted his teeth and, digging all ten fingers into the ground, slowly pushed himself back up.

  “Eh?!” Reiko dropped the microphone. “He got uuuppp! That little brat got back up? I can’t believe it! What the hell…?! He too
k a beating from Renji with his limiter off, but he’s still standing! Is he really human? I don’t think there’s any way, but you weren’t going easy on him, were you, Renji?!”

  “…………”

  Renji did not answer. His ivory eyes were open slightly wider, in an expression of surprise.

  Staring back at Renji with wavering vision, Kyousuke pushed himself back to his feet. Dripping with greasy sweat, his face warped into a twitching smile even as waves of pain washed over him—Kyousuke spat out words along with bubbles of blood. “…Not…yet… An injury like this…is…no big deal…so my bones are broken, smashed…at worst, you wrecked my insides, right…? I can still…do it…still……”

  “…………?!”

  As though rebuffed by Kyousuke’s unbreakable spirit, Renji took one step backward.

  “Wh-why—?” Reiko muttered. “Why is he able to get up?! Even Renko hasn’t gotten up yet!”

  “…Ha-ha… Why…indeed…?” Kyousuke laughed sarcastically. Shifting his focus to Renko, who was still lying where she had fallen, he turned Reiko’s question over in his mind.

  —Honestly, he didn’t understand it himself.

  He’d met Renko in a place full of strange and scary people, and they had formed a bond of friendship. He’d been perplexed by her ridiculous appearance, wearing a gas mask all day, and her odd speech and conduct… Even after she revealed her true nature and nearly killed him, they had hung out together as though nothing had changed, and she had always acted like a playful idiot. She may have been crazy, a psycho killer created to brutally murder people as surely as she breathed, but she was innocent and cheerful and pure and earnest, and as scary as she was, she was honest with her feelings.

  Those qualities of Renko, Kyousuke—

  “……I love…her.”

  He confessed the feelings that until now he had been desperately holding back, desperately trying to stifle. In a voice that no one else could hear, he admitted it, just to himself.

  And yet, he did not have the courage to say it plainly. He did not hold the resolve to face death. His feelings seemed trivial and weak compared to Renko’s passion.

  Even so, Kyousuke loved her. She was more devoted and more dazzling than anyone he knew, and he felt more love for Renko than for anyone else.

  “I won’t be killed…as if I would die like this! If you’re gonna do it, give the task to Renko. You two…as if I’d give you the satisfaction!”

  ““…………?!””

  Reiko and Renji gawked at Kyousuke, who sprayed bloody phlegm as he shouted.

  “Big brother…” “Kyo-Kyousuke…” “Kyousuke dear…” “”

  Ayaka and Maina and Shamaya were stunned. Eiri, unconscious, was unresponsive. Renko, still lying on the ground, twitched.

  Reiko ground her teeth in vexation. She clenched her fists and her voice trembled. “Ahhh, is that so…? Is that so, Kyousuke…? Heh, heh-heh-heh-heh…hee-heh, heh-heh-heh—Renjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii?!”

  “…………?!”

  The boy, who had been looking back and forth between his mistress and Kyousuke as if he was lost, immediately leaped to attention.

  Reiko continued shouting, allowing her anger and hatred to show through. “Don’t flinch! He’s just acting brave on the verge of death; there’s no way he can actually do anything… Kill him. Kill him, and shut him up! Going on about giving something to Renko and something being taken… We won’t fall for your tricks, Kyousuke Kamiya! How convenient that as soon as Renko’s out of the picture, you can babble on about nonsense like that. If you really feel that way about her, show us by surviving!! Kill him, Renjiii!”

  “……~~~~~~?!”

  Renji, his face locked in a dreadful grimace, stopped hesitating and launched into action with a terrible roar. He charged straight at Kyousuke, who was barely standing, and drew back his massive right fist to deliver a deadly finishing blow.

  Kyousuke dropped into a guarded stance, protecting the right side of his body. Drawing back his own left fist, he grimly prepared to meet the attack.

  “I said I won’t let you. I said I would protect you, right, Kyousuke?

  “—Even if it costs me my life!”

  The moment before the two crashed into each other, Renko, who was supposed to be unconscious, leaped between them.

  ““…………?!””

  Kyousuke, the original target, was no longer in the line of fire, but Renji’s fist did not stop. His tremendous punch, as powerful as a howitzer cannon, tore through the air.

  “Ren—”

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Renko wore a faint smile as she looked back over her shoulder at Kyousuke, showing her sparkling canines. Her long silver-white hair flowed like a river. Her ice-blue eyes were narrowed affectionately. In the depths of her wide eyes shone a dazzling blaze of emotion.

  And then, in her last moment—

  “I’m in love with you.”

  —as her peach-colored lips parted…

  Renji’s fist barreled directly toward Renko’s chest.

  “…………Ren…ko……?”

  The sound of flesh and bone being pulverized. A breeze that smelled of rust. Reverberations left quivering through the air.

  Kyousuke could not understand the spectacle that had just happened before his own eyes. He could not take it in. He could not believe it.

  The pain that had filled him just moments before—the dizziness, the nausea, the fury—evaporated without a trace, and he simply stood stock-still.

  Time was frozen.

  “………Big…sis…………?”

  Renji, who had delivered the blow, looked shocked. His ivory-white eyes were open as wide as possible. Fresh blood and bits of flesh painted his cheek.

  The competition grounds were deathly silent. The only sound came from Reiko, who stumbled, staggered, and grabbed on to her chair with one hand to keep from falling. She was ghastly pale, and her voice trembled. “…Ren…ko……s-such a… No way…it can’t…be true? H-how come… Why…why, it…why—”

  Everyone’s gaze was fixed on Renji, whose whole upper body was stained red. Blood dripped from his arm, along with small bits of gore.

  * * *

  Horribly mutilated, so badly that it was practically unrecognizable, completely and utterly destroyed—was Renji’s right arm.

  Deflecting his fist with her own right hand, Renko stood unmoving. Not a single wound marred her beauty, even though it looked as if some unknown force had devastated the area around her.

  “……Phewww,” Renko exhaled. “Ah, thank goodness… This time, for sure, I really thought I was going to be outdone.”

  Renko, who had stopped Renji’s punch with one hand and completely demolished his arm, was visibly relieved. It was an unbelievable scene. Just one of Renji’s kicks had incapacitated Renko before, and yet she had parried his titanic punch without so much as flinching—

  …………What…happened?

  “Uh-oh, heh-heh-heh! I guess that’s the power of love, huh, Kyousuke? My feelings for you can’t be defeated by anyone!”

  “Renko.” A stern voice interrupted Renko’s easygoing banter. Coming out of her daze, Reiko bit her lip and glared at her daughter. “Renko? I know I shouldn’t have to ask this, but did you—”

  “Yep. I used Over Drive, Mama.”

  Renko raised her hand to her neck and answered indifferently.

  “What…did you…say?” Reiko was at a loss for words.

  The leather choker at the base of Renko’s neck—the key accessory that she wore even when she removed her limiter, that she didn’t take off even in the bath, had come undone and was lying discarded on the ground where Renko had fallen a moment before.

  Renko looked at Reiko and narrowed her clear eyes.

  “…Sorry. No matter how much you oppose it, Mama, in the end I love Kyousuke. I love him so much that nothing else matters… I might be broken, or crazy, or wrong. The people at the organization might want to di
spose of me now that I’m acting strangely, and I may not have much time left, and I may face a gruesome end. But, you know…I don’t give a damn about any of that!! I’m going to stick to my feelings! Until the last of the last of my very last moments, I’m going to stick to them until I die! And so—”

  Shouting, Renko drew back her left arm. She took aim at Renji’s stomach, even as he still stood unmoving. “Don’t you trample on my feelings anymooooooooooooooooooooooooooore!!”

  She struck with the palm of her hand, with all her strength.

  “…………?!”

  Renji’s huge body was sent soaring through the air and bounced and tumbled across the ground.

  Just one blow. With just a single blow, the monstrous Slaughter Maid, who had not so much as twitched while taking dozens of attacks from Renko and Kyousuke combined, was defeated.

  Renji, stretched out spread eagle, did not move. A river of fresh blood ran from his mouth. He was absolutely out.

  “““……………………”””

  Silence. And then—“““Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”””

  Cheering. Even though they didn’t really understand the situation, the other students, who had been holding their breath in suspense as they watched the fight, stood up in unison, clapping and cheering.

  The digital timer keeping track of the All-Out Knock-Down Brawl had stopped counting down long ago. Now a much-belated gunshot rang out over the field. At the broadcasting booth, Reiko sank down hard to the floor and hung her head.

  Their respective classmates ran over to where Kyousuke and Renko were standing on the battlefield. Renko raised a blood-covered hand, her powerful voice resounding from the bottom of her lungs.

  “Thank you, this was the best show ever! Thank you, everyone… Thank you, Kyousuke—”

  Renko beamed with satisfaction and then immediately collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.