I Would Rather Die Than Kiss You – Part 06

The arcade was a wreck. It looked like a massive quake had hit it directly. Sparks crackled.

There was no one around. Not Haruna, not even a single civilian.

“A…yumu? Ayumu!”

I turned, and Haruna, dressed in soot-stained clothes, threw her arms around me.

Thank god. I’d made it in time.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Tons of Megalo showed up out of nowhere… and she was with them.”

“Kyouko?”

“Probably her. But forget that. He’s the scary one. That weird guy is almost as strong as Big Teach.”

“Where’s Big Teach?”

“Over there!” Haruna grabbed my hand and pulled me across two lanes from the arcade.

The clang of metal rang from ahead.

A pigtailed girl in a lab coat—Big Teach—was facing off against both Kyouko and the man. Beneath her lab coat, she wore a lovely cosplay outfit reminiscent of a Magiclad Girl.

That was Big Teach for you, holding her own against two opponents without giving an inch. Which meant if I pinned Kyouko down, we could manage this.

I left Haruna there and provided backup. I went straight for Kyouko from behind, but she sprang back. I stood back-to-back with Big Teach.

“Oh, Ayumu. Hello,” she greeted in her signature laidback voice.

She looked like she had things under control, but the cuts on her skin caught my attention.

“It’s nighttime,” I said. “Want me to take Kyouko?”

“Yes, please.”

We both closed in on our targets at the same moment.

“You really are annoying, Aikawa,” Kyouko said with a smile. She slipped past my right straight, and her whirlwind sword lopped my arm off.

“I don’t wanna hear that from you.”

I kicked her, and she staggered. But she kept her stance and extended her whirlwind again.

“Why are you going after Big Teach? You know how strong she is.”

“I told him it was a bad idea. But he said it’d be better to have her make a new weapon than try to steal one, so here I… am!”

Air twisted upward from my feet. I dodged, but my severed arm spiraled into the sky.

Right. Big Teach had made the Magiclad Weapon. Which meant she could make more. Their mistake was not knowing that this Magiclad Girl was ridiculously strong.

I got too lost in my thoughts and Kyouko’s whirlwind blew me away. It was a bad habit of mine. Big Teach caught me.

Coming to help and ending up dead weight. Real smooth, Ayumu.

“Sorry, Big Teach.”

“Oh, don’t say that. I’m really glad you came.”

We stood with the building at our backs, waiting for Kyouko and the man to make their move.

“About the Magiclad Weapon… what exactly is your connection to her?” I asked.

“Oh, you met her? That’s good. Ah, did she maybe lost control of it?”

“Yeah. But I managed to stop her somehow.”

“Ah, I see, I see,” Big Teach muttered. “I knew I could count on you. Anyone else, once they realized that girl was a weapon, would’ve used her to fight Megalo. If she goes berserk again, please stop her for me, okay?”

“Please have mercy. It was pure luck I pulled it off.”

“It’s fine. Same as with Haruna, you are one terrific mage.”

“I don’t use magic. What do you even think I did to stop her?”

Big Teach chuckled a little longer than usual before answering, half teasing, “You used the magic of love, obviously.”

Right, magic of love.

Big Teach ran off in the opposite direction from the enemy, presumably to change locations.

“What’s your relationship with Tomonori, anyway?” I asked, keeping pace. “She’s not a Magiclad Girl. She’s a Vampire Ninja. No connection to you. Wait… is she connected to Villiers or something?”

Kyouko and the man were keeping their distance, watching.

“Nope. She’s 100% from this world. As for my relationship with her, she’s the daughter of a dear friend. For certain reasons, I chose her as the hiding place for a weapon I couldn’t keep in Villiers any longer.”

“You altered her body without her consent?” I gave Big Teach a look with a touch of contempt.

“I did. If I hadn’t, she would have died.”

“What do you mean by that?”

I had a mountain of questions—about Tomonori’s past, and how Big Teach fit into it.

“Leeeet meee gooo!”

But Haruna had been caught. So much for asking now. Maybe later.

“You’re such an idiot,” Kyouko said with a laugh. “You charge in knowing you can’t win. It’s hilarious. Oh, maybe you’re just trying to impress Ayumu since he’s here?”

Haruna clenched her teeth hard.

“Ha, nailed it.”

“Let her go.”

I fixed Kyouko with a glare, and she looked a little disappointed. The man had his arm locked around Haruna’s neck as she thrashed.

I closed the distance in a full sprint and drove my fist straight into his face.

“Two hundred,” the man said. A nasty sensation rattled my brain, and I frowned.

Such power. This guy’s a monster.

A tornado blade shattered my leg. My knee buckled, and I collapsed onto the asphalt. If I hadn’t taken that dragon’s flames earlier, I could have healed from something like this in no time.

“Ever hear the saying that no one can use one hundred percent of their strength?” the man said.

I recognized that line. No, more than recognized. I’d said it before.

“If you use a hundred percent, the body can’t handle it.”

I finished the thought for him. “But a zombie can.”

That’s right. He was a zombie like me. Just like me, he could push past human limits.

“Simple and easy to understand, the word zombie. They call me the King of the Night, but the word zombie has a rather sweet ring to it.”

The man tightened his grip. Haruna let out a choked sound, unable to breathe. Even thirty percent of his strength would be enough to kill her.

Fuck!

“So, um… what exactly is it you want?” Big Teach asked, letting go of her Magigear.

She undid her transformation, leaving her in a pleated skirt, blouse, and necktie. She slid her hands into the pockets of her lab coat.

“There’s something I want you to create.” The man loosened his grip.

Haruna’s mouth opened and closed, gasping for air.

“No, Big Teach. Don’t talk to him.”

Ignoring me, Big Teach walked slowly toward Kyouko. “You’ll guarantee Ayumu and Haruna’s safety, right?”

“If that’s what you want.”

The man released Haruna, who immediately tried to hit him. But Kyouko caught her arm.

“Fine.” Big Teach let out a reluctant sigh.

“Big Teach! Why? Why would you do this?”

Haruna grabbed for her coat, but Big Teach tossed her aside.

“Because you are a dear friend,” she said lazily, cheeks pink with embarrassment.

Move! I’m not letting you just leave! Hit Kyouko and that motherfucker! Stop Big Teach!

The urge roared inside me, but my body refused to obey.

Dark mist closed in, and once again, I let Kyouko escape.

Haruna hugged Big Teach’s katana-like Magigear and wept. I wanted to cry too. Why was I so bad at closing things out?

I thought Haruna would keep crying and sink into despair, but she stood straight, wiping her tears away.

“Ayumu! Let’s go save Big Teach!”

“It’s impossible right now.”

“Not right now. We’ll make a plan and crush them!”

Her eyes held a trace of regret, but they burned brightly with hope.

Haruna was a strong girl.