VOLUME 2

Chapter 3 – … I Want to Go to the Bathroom

Chapter 3: Part 1

After the bunny Megalo ran off, we finally began to walk back home. I carried bags in both of my hands that were way too stuffed with the stuffed animals we had won from the UFO catcher games. Also, why the h.e.l.l was I the only one carrying these? But before I could voice that objection, Yuu took one of the bags from me.

Ahh, Yuu’s kindness was just seeping deep into me.

Haruna skipped ahead of us casually. She didn’t even notice that the traffic light was red… or maybe she just didn’t know what that meant.

Sera grabbed Haruna by the hand the moment before she was about to head into the crosswalk. Ahh, that was close.

“Haruna, the traffic light is red.”

“I forgot… and oh right, those lights are dyed red with blood, aren’t they?!”

Yeah sure… so please be aware of the danger here.

“Well, anyways. Red means stop.”

“A-Ah, okay.”

Sera wiped the saliva that had started to leak from the corner of her lips. It seemed that the phrase “dyed red with blood” sounded pretty delicious to vampire ninjas.

The light turned green, and we headed into the hustle and bustle.

People pa.s.sed us by, and I accidentally b.u.mped the bag I was holding into a salaryman in the middle of the crosswalk.

“Sorry,” I told the salaryman. At that moment, I saw Yuu out of the corner of my eye.

Next to Yuu was a tall man with his hands thrust in his pockets. He looked around high-school aged. His face was close enough to Yuu’s to kiss her if he wanted. Was there a molester in the middle of the crosswalk?

I set down the big bags I had just gotten a moment ago onto the white lines of the crosswalk.

The moment I tried to call out to Yuu, I saw her take out the ballpoint pen she always used, held it aloft and pointed it backwards. After she did that, the ballpoint pen transformed into a huge scythe.

… Is that a weapon?

The crosswalk erupted into an uproar at the sudden appearance of the scythe.

The normal people next to Yuu panicked and tried to get away from the crosswalk. Not paying any heed to the people around her, Yuu brought the scythe down. The molester didn’t show any signs of wanting to dodge, and the scythe bit into his shoulder. However, that man… he just smiled. He didn’t seem bothered in the least by the fresh blood flying from his shoulder, and didn’t even take his hands out of his pockets.

“Is it really alright for you to be getting that worked up?”

The man gave a suggestive smile. That voice… I remembered that voice.

It was the same voice that I had heard coming from Kyouko that time I had driven her into a corner.

“You sure look like you want to know why I’ve appeared here, don’t you Eucliwood?”

When the man said that, Yuu gave a firm nod. By the way, I was giving him the exact same look like Yuu was. He was being showered by distrustful looks, but he didn’t seem to care about any other than Yuu’s.

Yuu looked different from usual. She always had this mysterious atmosphere about her… but today she felt even more mysterious than usual.

Her silver hair gently fluttered outwards. It wasn’t because a wind was blowing, but rather because of a blue light that was spiraling upwards from beneath her feat.

“What a coincidence. Yes, I just happened to walk through here. Eucliwood, that was your fault, wasn’t it?”

The man laughed, and Yuu looked sadder than usual.

How the h.e.l.l was it Yuu’s fault if it was a coincidence?

“You sure have a lot of stuffed animals there. It looks like you had lots of fun. That’s not good. You’re always the cause, Eucliwood.”

Yuu’s aura billowed out from her body. It was a clear-blue aura, reminiscent of the sky or of water. A faint, ruby-colored light was mixed in the middle of that blaze. That color was the same color I was used to when I used the chainsaw. In other words, Haruna’s magical power.

“That scythe…” When I muttered that, Sera responded.

“That’s a hug pillow, Ayumu.”

Huh?

“Did you not know? When h.e.l.lscythe-dono sleeps, she sleeps hugging that scythe.”

h.e.l.lscythe… ah, I see. Yuu’s name even had “scythe” in it.

So was that Yuu’s original form? If she hugged that, wouldn’t that make it hard to sleep? Wait, what the h.e.l.l am I getting all confused for?! Calm down, calm down…

In any case, I really had to do something about the people panicking around us.

“Everyone! That’s a hug pillow! Don’t panic please! It’s a hug pillow!!”

Honestly, even I didn’t know what the h.e.l.l I was saying.

Considering how much this scene was starting to look like a murder scene, how could a normal zombie like me keep from panicking?

People around us continued to run away. Yuu tore the scythe back up and swung it again, but the man jumped back with such force I thought he was using a trampoline.

“At a time when you are trembling with joy, the one whom you least wanted to meet appears. Did you really not want to meet me so badly, Eucliwood?”

“Yaaaahh!!”

Yuu cried out and strongly held her scythe aloft, launching into a kamikaze shoulder charge. The man just shook his head, and a minute later, took a step forward and instantly closed the gap between him and Yuu. He punched Yuu in the face and sent her flying.

“Yuu! Sera, stop Yuu!”

Yuu re-gripped her scythe, and with an intense magical aura wrapped around her, Yuu kicked off the ground.

The scythe’s tip dug into the man’s eye.

“Don’t stab me so much. It’s still too soon. There is still not enough firewood for the flame. Yes… there is still more firewood to burn before I can burn through your heart.”

A smile appeared on the man’s face and he stroked Yuu’s cheek. Yuu ground her teeth and began to put strength in the hand that held the scythe.

It was a bizarre sight. The man whose eyes were being gouged out just smiled kindly, while the person bringing the scythe down looked incredibly frustrated.

Although those two had stopped their motions, blue-colored magical energy violently collided all around them.

It was plain even for me to see that Yuu’s magical energy was running wild.

“Also, because you’re here getting excited… all the humans who are here have had their destinies changed. Everything that happens from this point is your fault.”

As if he had finished saying everything he had wanted to say, a dark blue fog the color of deep night scattered about, and the man disappeared. When the fog cleared, in the man’s place there was…

A huge crowd of Megalo. There was enough that it was almost like seeing the start line at the beginning of a marathon.

Megalo again? There really seemed to be a huge number that showed up here. Ah, this was probably because Yuu’s magical energy had run wild. When the man from before said that “all the humans who are here have had their destinies changed,” could he have meant that a lot of Megalo would appear?

… Stop being an idiot, Ayumu. Yuu isn’t the bad guy here.

… This is just a coincidence.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES