Monika was shocked by Aki’s assent. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but it’s really not that impressive. Magic sight generally doesn’t let you see stuff about yourself, so you wouldn’t be able to see who you’re tied to...”
“I’m telling you, I don’t mind. Go ahead and hand it over.” Aki held out her hand expectantly.
“Huh?” Monika said. “Don’t you want to hear what kind of game it is, or what the conditions are? Accepting the magic sight means you’re participating in the game...”
Despite the woman’s enthusiasm, Monika found herself balking. Was it really okay to take this woman as her ally? Could she really trust her? If she couldn’t, could she find a way to make use of her?
That’s right. There’s no point in having someone innocent on my side.
Monika had to get all the Divine Vessels and have her wish granted, no matter what. She steeled herself and handed the Evil God’s right eye to Aki. “Just push it into your eye.”
Without hesitation, Aki took possession of the Evil God’s right eye.
“I’m surprised by how easily you took it... I mean, you believe the whole story?”
“I can’t see anything,” Aki said, looking at Monika while failing to answer her question.
“Of course you can’t. You can’t see your own red cords, and since I exist outside of destiny, I don’t have any.”
Upon hearing that, Aki looked past Monika to the corridor. “I see. The barkeeper does have them.” The old man who manned the bar had just arrived at their table with coffee, which Aki must have ordered before Monika arrived. “Hey, barkeep. Could you stay right there a moment?”
The barkeeper faithfully did as he was told. Aki whipped her scissors forward.
Snip.
The scissors sliced through thin air.
“What did you do?”
“Hmm? Oh, I just wanted to try something. It seems I can cut the red cords.”
“Hey! What are you trying to—” But her next movement was once again too swift for Monika’s eyes to follow.
There was another snip, and then pain.
Monika clamped a hand to her ear. The slimy sensation sent a chill down her spine.
Her ear had been cut open. Monika sat where she was, dumbfounded.
There was blood dripping down her neck.
Chapter 4: Let’s Finally Talk About Yuichi’s Spring Vacation
“How...” Monika cut off.
Aki shouldn’t have been able to hurt her, yet she clearly had.
The scissors were next to her ear, trembling from effort. Normally a weapon like that would break when used against an Outer, but these held their form.
“I’m sorry, Monika dear. I’m the type to lie for no good reason... I actually knew all about Outers and the Evil God and the Divine Vessel War.”
Monika’s eyes opened wide. So she really had been lured into a trap.
“Oh, and don’t think I missed the first time on purpose. It’s just that I need to try a few times before I finally hit. What did you think a God Killer was? Oh, or are you wondering why my scissors are still intact? That’s simple. I’m extremely good at wielding my scissors. They’re like an extension of my body.”
Monika sat there, dumbstruck. It was true that Outers were generally thought of as gods... so she was an Outer Killer, then? And that meant she could harm Monika...
Monika sprung out of her seat and went running.
The scissors whisked against her shoulder.
It wasn’t enough to kill her yet, but enough scratches like these would eventually take a toll.
The barkeeper — the old “Serial Killer” — moved to block her path.
“Forget!”
Monika invoked her Outer ability “Distant Memories,” the power to make others forget that they had met.
The ability had a number of restrictions, but it worked in this case. She had only just met the barkeeper today, in this cafe, which meant he would lose all memory of Monika ever arriving there.
The barkeeper stopped, confused by the sight of an unknown girl suddenly appearing before him. With him standing stock still, Monika could slip past him and run for the exit.
She climbed up the stairs and looked back. Aki wasn’t pursuing.
Monika took off into a run, trying to escape the back streets, but she suddenly tripped and fell onto her backside.
For a moment, she thought she’d just lost her balance in her haste, but then she felt a tug on her right arm and went pale.
“So sorry,” the woman said tauntingly. “I fastened a red cord to you before...”
It should have been impossible. The magical sight shouldn’t have that ability. Yet Aki was slowly climbing the stairway, her hand winding coquettishly as if playing with something.
“Wh-Who are you?! Why are you doing this?” Monika stammered.
“I’m just your average, garden variety killer... or God Killer, perhaps? But these eyes you gave me are just so useful. Originally I’d just thought they would help me to find flirting couples, but they seem to have so many other uses...”
Aki could cut the red cords, tie them, and pull on them. It was unbelievable, yet it was clearly true. Monika would have to take that into account with anything else she tried.
That meant she couldn’t just run away. As long as Aki had her hands on that cord, Monika was stuck.
That meant she had to create an opening. She had to make her forget, like she had done to the man in the coffee shop.
Without any time to concentrate, Monika could only steal a few minutes’ worth of memories from her — but that would be enough. A few minutes’ worth of memories would be enough to disorient her, at least.
“Forget!” She turned her bound right arm towards Aki and shouted.
Snip.
Aki sliced the scissors through the air once more.
“Oh, so sorry... I saw that before, you see.”
“Huh?” Monika stared in disbelief. All she could think was that she had cut “Distant Memories” itself.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions right now, but we can finish that discussion in the coffee shop,” the woman smiled. “These alleys are my hunting grounds, so I could finish you off easily enough right here, but the disposal can be such a pain. Inside, I can break or spill whatever I want, without causing any trouble at all...” Aki laughed merrily.
Monika was slowly being dragged toward her by the invisible cord. She tried desperately to pull herself away, but she couldn’t. “I don’t understand! What’s going on here?”
“I thought, if I could see them, then naturally I could cut them. And if I could cut them, it was rational to imagine I could tie them, right? It’s so important to have common sense, you see...”
Monika grabbed onto an outdoor air conditioning unit affixed to the ground. Aki wasn’t especially strong, so she couldn’t pull her like this, but that didn’t actually solve the problem.
“You know that won’t do you any good, don’t you?” Aki walked closer.
Monika decided to use her last resort.
“Help me!” she screamed.
Monika’s scream echoed throughout the alleyways. But that was all.
The alleys were usually deserted anyway, and they were deep inside them... No matter how loudly she screamed here, it was certain that no one would hear her.
“Oh, I love it... the desperate screams of a brat who believed in her absolute superiority, and tried to hustle me into an uneven deal!” Aki shouted rapturously. “Still, it isn’t quite perfect... Not really my specialty. You’re not particularly happy, are you? You seem quite frazzled and miserable, in fact... which means that killing you will be no more than a minor diversion. Oh, and I’ve cleared everyone from the area, so no one will come save you. Scream as much as you like, all right?”
Aki continued talking as she slowly approached, perhaps hoping to fan the flames of her terror.
Aki could act this way because of her certainty that no help was
coming. It was this leisurely overconfidence that would be Monika’s salvation.
As if Monika’s prayers had been answered, she heard a girl’s voice coming from around the corner. “Huh? I was sure this would take us all the way through...”
It was followed by a boy’s. “Yori, I told you there was no way we could get to the station area from here.”
“You think? But at least this way we can be all alone—”
A girl and boy, arm in arm, came around the corner. Above the girl’s head was the label “Yori,” and above the boy’s head was the label “Yu.”
“Tsk!” The girl clicked her tongue as she laid eyes on the two of them.
“What’s going on here?” the boy asked in surprise.
“Did you do something, dearie?” Aki asked, looking at Monika in suspicion. She must have been sure that no one would be here.
“‘Save Me, My Prince.’ It’s my most powerful ability!” Monika told her. It twisted their surroundings as well as fate to make sure that someone would conveniently arrive to save her in time. It was a true last resort.
She’d heard it came with a high price, but Monika wasn’t worried. Whatever happened would surely be better than dying.
“Hmm, well, the interruption is irrelevant... and she does look quite happy.” Aki looked at the newly arriving girl and licked her lips, seeming to forget about Monika entirely. “Yes, yes... perhaps I’ll smash up her boyfriend a little bit first. Yes, that sounds just wonderful!”
Aki laughed merrily, and Monika didn’t want to know what she was thinking. But their reaction to hearing the God Killer’s wicked intentions was contrary to what she would expect.
“See? She called you my boyfriend! I wonder if we really look like a couple!” Yori cried.
“I’m sure we don’t,” Yu responded.
The girl was smiling happily, while the boy seemed to be wincing.
Aki seemed to interpret their reactions as a simple inability to grasp the situation they were in. She disappeared.
The next instant, she was hanging in midair, the boy’s foot planted smack in her jaw.
Monika had no idea what had just happened.
He’d shown no signs of preparation for the kick; the next thing she knew, his leg was over his head. It was like time-lapse photography.
Later, Monika would sort out events as such:
Aki had charged at the boy faster than the eye could see, just as she had done with Monika. She arrived in front of him at supernatural speed, then leaped to the side, kicked off the wall of a building, and thrust her scissors at him from midair. Then, the boy had counterattacked.
“Who’s this lady?” the boy asked in puzzlement as he watched Aki topple over, unconscious.
✽✽✽✽✽
Now that Yuichi had finally appeared in the story, Monika took a brief pause in the telling.
“Sakaki... even without Soul Reader, you still beat up a Serial Killer?” Aiko said with a sigh.
“Well, sure... but she attacked me out of nowhere,” Yuichi responded. “Was I not supposed to fight back?”
“I could barely believe my eyes, too,” Monika said. “I had no idea what had just happened. Yuichi, could you really see her move?”
“Look, there’s no way I’m not gonna see someone charging at me at full tilt...” he said.
“I couldn’t see it,” Monika cried. “There was no way you could!”
Yuichi shrugged. Since she was a woman, he’d held back just a bit, using just enough power to jostle her brainpan rather than breaking her jaw outright. He could only have done that if he’d been able to predict her every movement.
“But that can’t be the end of the story, right?” he said. “I remember coming there with Yori, kicking a strange woman out of the air, then carrying you away. But I don’t see how that leads to me ending up with Soul Reader.”
“It’s because Monika tried to do something underhanded, and she doesn’t want to say it outright,” the daifuku spoke up.
Monika glared at the interrupting daifuku. It had been chiming in here and there since the story started.
“I’ll tell, okay?” she said. “I’ll tell... just don’t get mad at me.”
“Did you do something that would get me mad?” he asked. “Fine, though. I won’t get mad about anything you say... I don’t think. I’ll try not to get mad, at least.”
“It’s okay, Monika,” Aiko assured her. “Sakaki’s not the kind of person to get really mad at a little girl.”
Monika seemed to take Aiko at her word, and continued the story grudgingly.
✽✽✽✽✽
The boy and girl ran up to the fallen Monika.
The boy crouched down and peered into her face, while the girl watched with slightly peevish expression.
“Are you okay?” the boy asked.
When Monika heard the boy’s voice, her first thought was to run away. Even though he was the one who had saved her, she didn’t want to bother explaining what was going on.
“Yeah, I’m just fine. Um, I ought to be going...” Monika stood up and was about to take her leave, when she suddenly staggered, dizzy on her feet. Her head was aching. At first she thought it was just the result of coming down from the adrenaline, but then she heard a voice.
Hey, are you trying to run off?
“Huh?” Monika looked at the boy and the girl. Neither showed any signs of having spoken; Aki was unconscious, too. She kept looking around, but nobody else was there.
Please don’t speak aloud. They’ll think you’re crazy. I live inside you, so if you want to speak with me, do it in your mind.
The boy and the girl were looking at Monika in concern. They didn’t seem to hear the voice. It was all completely in her own head.
Who...? What the heck are you? she asked in her mind, without speaking aloud.
It’s hard to describe it exactly. I’m basically a side effect of your “Save Me, My Prince” power. Use of this ability requires paying a price, and I’m the one who makes sure that happens.
What do you mean, a price? she demanded.
Um, look... you really should have died back there. The power to twist fate like that isn’t something that can be used without consequences. You’re basically just putting off the problem into the future.
Huh? Monika asked.
Using her abilities typically made her tired, so she had thought that it would this time, too. She’d thought that was all it would be. Since it was a major ability, she’d thought it might knock her unconsciousness at most; she’d never thought she would have to offer up anything more than that.
So what kind of price am I supposed to pay?
Well, he saved your life, so you should give up something just as valuable, the voice told her. Oh, and you’ll pay it to him, since he saved you.
But what should that be, exactly? And how do I pay it? And if you yelling at me is the worst that’ll happen, can’t I just skip it?
The voice was certainly irritating, but nothing more. The moment she thought that, though, the headache grew worse. It was intense pain, like someone grabbing her brain in a vise. It soon grew bad enough that she could no longer stay on her feet.
You can ignore it if you want, but the headaches will grow worse. Eventually, your head will explode and you’ll die, the voice said, mercilessly, as Monika fell to her knees.
“She doesn’t look okay... She’s gone really pale.” The boy walked up beside her and spoke as he touched her. “The wound to her shoulder doesn’t look that bad, but her ear’s in bad shape. Yori, have you got anything?”
“I’m not our big sis, so I don’t just happen to have a first-aid kit on me, no.”
It hurts! It hurts! What should I do? I can’t do anything at all like this, you know! The pain in her head was so intense that Monika couldn’t even move. There was no way she could pay any price like this.
...Monika, really. What should you say when someone saves you? the voice prodded. Use your common sense. You k
now what it is, right?
“Oh, um, th-thank you for saving me...” Urged by the voice, Monika thanked the boy.
The pain subsided just a little. Apparently the thanks had sufficed as a part of the price.
“Did I really save you?” the boy asked. “I don’t know what was going on, but... well, we’d better get you to a hospital, anyway. Can you stand?” The boy offered his hand.
While she was vacillating over whether or not to take it, the pain in Monika’s head turned severe once again. But I thanked him!
A simple thank you isn’t sufficient payment for saving your life. Try to offer him the biggest reward you can think of. Of course, if you don’t have it on hand right now, the promise to pay it later is enough.
This was getting ridiculous. She cried at the boy as if to struggle against the splitting pain in her head. “Wait a minute! Let me... let me reward you!”
“Don’t worry about that now,” he said. “We need to get you to the hospital.”
“I’m telling you to wait! I need to reward you, or else... or else my head will explode!” Monika begged him, her face pale.
She didn’t have time to think about anything else. Her head was actually starting to creak.
“Are you being serious?” The boy looked at her dubiously. It was only natural; most people would have their doubts when someone said their head was going to explode.
The boy seemed rather exasperated, but the girl was looking at Monika with calmer eyes. “Big Brother, I think she’s serious...”
“You can decide if you want to accept it later!” Monika cried. “Just let me offer it!”
“You look like you’re really in trouble... I don’t really get it, but okay. Say it.”
“My life savings.”
“That’s a big offer.”
“Three hundred sixty million yen.”
“That’s too much!”
It was the result of things she’d done on a whim since becoming an Outer. She’d realized that a girl with no family or friends would need a lot of money to live on, and while she felt like she might have overdone it, she now had a comfortable nest egg.
The boy didn’t seem like he was going to accept the offer, but just making it had relieved her headache. Apparently it was the gesture that mattered more than the result.
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