I Like… Penguins – Part 06

“Ayumu! Are you even listening to me?!” Haruna barked.

“Ah, sorry. How did you figure out I was here?”

“Haruna thought you’d be here,” Sera said. “I was half skeptical, though.”

“I told you I could read you like a book.”

“Of course you can, Master Haruna.”

I laughed while suppressing my emotions. Sera frowned. I really couldn’t hide anything from her.

“But you really did well,” Haruna said.

“You get a lot of the credit for that.”

“Wuh? R-Really? I-I’ll take it.” After all that fretting, she chose to bask in the praise.

I glanced at the King of the Night. He had turned into white particles, like a dying Megalo.

Eu had made up her mind… to kill the King of the Night. It was as bright as a star.

She spread her gauntlet-covered hands, reaching for the sparkling white particles, then slowly lowered them. She then came over, emotionless as ever, and handed me something that looked like a round alarm clock.

“The weapon’s detonator.”

A remote control for detonation. It looked like an alarm clock, though.

“Let me see that.” Haruna snatched it from Eu and nodded thoughtfully. “So this is the detonate button, and this one is the cancel.”

She grasped everything instantly. A genius indeed.

Click. Haruna pressed a button.

“Huh? Why?” I blurted out, completely baffled.

“Even if you press the detonate button like this, you can just press this one,” Haruna explained.

So she could cancel it. Smart as ever.

“It’s broken,” she muttered.

“What?”

“The cancel button’s broken.”

“…“

“Yeah, this might be bad.”

“This might be bad?!”

“I-It’s okay! We know where the bomb is!” Haruna said, pointing outside the window. “Over there.”

“Over where exactly?”

“Ah, geez! You’ll see if we go!”

“That area… is where the conservative Vampire Ninjas are fighting yokai,” Sera said.

It was too far. Even if I flew there with Haruna right now, it would still take us around five minutes, and then longer to disarm the weapon.

“God damn it. Sera! Carry Haruna and go ahead!”

“Understood. Let’s go.”

I smashed the glass with all my strength. From there, Sera spread her green wings and took off.

“Eu, come on!” I reached out my hand to Eu.

She shook her head, but I still kept my hand out toward her. “Can you really just leave Haruna and Sera?”

“I can’t.”

Eu glanced at where the King of the Night had been, then clung to me.

I leapt out the window and rose into the air. Sera’s figure had already shrunk into the distance. She was way too fast. At this rate, everything would probably be over by the time I got there.

“How was it?” Eu held out a note to me. As always, she had her ballpoint pen but I didn’t see her write a thing.

“How was what?”

“It must have been peaceful without me, wasn’t it?”

So, that was it. The reason I couldn’t find any Megalo, real or fake, no matter how hard I searched was because Eu had left us. My fate had changed, and I’d basically been living like an ordinary person.

A simple, wholesome twist of fate. Like bumping into a friend at the mall and seeing a side of them you normally couldn’t imagine.

“Yeah, it was peaceful,” I said. “But something was missing.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying. Because you weren’t there. Listen, I’ve realized something. This girl named Eucliwood Hellscythe is just as stubborn as a Magiclad Girl, seems like she can do anything but is only about average, isn’t supposed to let her emotions stir but gets depressed easily, eats way too much, and is such an unbelievable idiot.”

“I see.”

“I doubt there’s anyone else like you in any world.”

Eu lowered her gaze sadly.

“So, I want you by my side. It has to be you, and no one else.”

Eu’s breath caught. I smiled straight into those blue eyes.

“Eu, just forget about all that fate stuff. I’ll deal with it myself. So, stay with me.”

“I’ve heard those words before.”

“Yeah. Back then, I was still weak. I only said it because I wanted to cheer you up. But now it’s different. I’ll make it work. Trust me.”

“I do trust you, but I’d still just be a burden.”

Still no? Even after I got strong enough to take down the King of the Night?

“Shut up! I’m telling you to stay with me!”

Eu’s eyes went wide. Then, she smiled just a little. “You sound just like Haruna.”

“You put me through hell. So let me be demanding for once. Yeah, this is just my own ego talking. I’m not thinking about how you feel. But I still don’t want to give up.”

“That sounds very much like Haruna indeed.”

“The King of the Night said living is harder than dying. And I almost believed him. But I think he’s wrong.”

“I think he’s right.”

“But living is way more fun than dying. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I know. You all made me realize it.” Eu nodded firmly. “Even so, I don’t want to bring sorrow to you.”

Ah, damn it! I pulled Eu into a tight embrace.

“That hurts.”

“I’ve got you now, and I’m never letting go. You’re my hard-won treasure.”

“Ayumu.”

“No matter how much you cry or struggle, I won’t let go unless you promise to stay by my side. Haruna would say the same, and so would Sera.”

“You’re all so pushy.”

“Yeah, we are. We are absolutely pushy. And you’re gonna have to put up with me. There’s a mountain of things I want you to do.”

“I got it.”

“You don’t get it!”

“I said… I got it.”

“Huh?”

I almost let go of her out of pure shock. Eu had actually spoken out loud.

“I’ll stay by your side no matter what happens.”

She wasn’t wearing her usual blank face. She was smiling, beautiful as a goddess. And the sight of it made my eyes water.

“That’s… more like it.” I smiled through my tears.

Eu held up a note. “But in return, misfortune will fall upon you.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I’m getting a headache.”

“My bad. If I remember right, your words always come true.”

“I will handle any misfortune that comes to you. In return, I want you to take care of me… and my fate. Is that pushy of me?”

“It is. Just like Haruna.”

“Ayumu.”

“Yeah?”

“Hug me tight… one more time.”

The note blurred in my vision from my tears, but I wrapped her in my arms, holding her close enough for our cheeks to touch.

“I think I’d been waiting for someone to be as pushy as you.”

Because we were pressed so close, Eu let go of the note in her hand and wrapped her arms around my back.

The scattered scraps of paper fluttered away in the wind like confetti. Whoever picked those up would probably blush.

---

By the time we landed, only Haruna was left.

“Where’s Sera?” I asked.

“No time left to disarm it.”

Haruna pointed up at the sky. No way. She took the same approach I did?

“If only I could use a lightning spell,” Haruna said.

“What did you just say?”

“If you hit the circuit with lightning, you can disable it.”

“Did you tell Sera that?”

“Wuh? Yeah. If she messed up, it would explode, but the spell barrier on that bomb is weak against lightning.”

I looked up. Right. Sera could use lightning.

“Dragon Fang Thunder God Strike!”

Her voice rang from the sky. A thunderclap followed.

Stooop! It was humiliating hearing her shout that out loud when I was the one who named it.

Sure, it felt nice she used the name, but having it screamed like that was mortifying. What even was this feeling? I covered my face with both hands and shook my head.

“What are you doing?” Haruna gave me a look full of annoyance.

“I’m just… embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed? In that outfit?” said a familiar voice.

I turned to see Tomonori standing there.

The clouds parted. Moonlight poured down, and green wings descended. She looked as beautiful as…

“An angel,” someone muttered.

The Magiclad Girls, the Megalo, the Vampire Ninjas—everyone was staring up at Sera. No, not just staring. They were captivated.

Even Haruna and I, who saw her every day, were entranced.

Eu raised her gauntleted hand, and the Megalo all shot up into the sky. The others snapped back to their senses and tried to pursue them.

“No need to chase them!”

“Let’s just leave them be.”

A firm voice and a lazy one overlapped almost perfectly. The Vampire Ninjas and Magiclad Girls froze, still glaring at the Megalo.

“Fall back,” said the lazy voice, and this time the Magiclad Girls began glowing with dazzling light.

The Vampire Ninjas, unwilling to let them escape, raised their weapons.

“Stand down,” a stern voice stopped them. A woman with a confident and authoritative look on her face. “Who are they? They’re far stronger than us.”

It was Saras, a Vampire Ninja from my school. It looked like she was some kind of commanding officer here. I guess I was tied to her by fate, too.

“Why are you asking me?” I said.

“Because you’re dressed like them.”

Don’t look at me like I’m garbage.

“They’re the same as you guys—monster hunters.”

“You think you can brush it off with nonsense? Fine. Seraphim!” she called out without even looking toward Sera.

“So, that’s the traitor.”
“How dare she show her face here?”

Whispers of insults spread through the crowd.

Saras dropped her water sword. Tossing her long hair, she dropped to one knee and a fist before Sera.

“Thank you. You saved us.”

A commander kneeling.

Tomonori broke into a wide grin at the sight. “Seraphim, seriously, thanks!” She gave a thumbs-up, then followed Saras’s lead and knelt.

Was this how Vampire Ninjas showed respect? The rest of them hesitated, then one by one, they knelt as well.

The one most shocked by it all was Sera.

“Please raise your heads!” she said. “I broke the code of the Vampire Ninjas.”

Saras rose to her feet, then looked at Sera with cold eyes. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t kneel to a Vampire Ninja. I knelt to the angel who saved my life.”

“Great. Another tsundere,” I said.

“Shut up! Do you want to die? Troops, withdraw! Move it!”

The Vampire Ninjas scattered in all directions.

“Later, Aikawa!” Tomonori waved wildly.

I raised a hand back, and she took off.

“One last thing, Seraphim. Answer me this.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you help us? Some of us wanted you dead.”

“I didn’t expect a foolish question coming from you. Because you’re my comrades, of course.”

“It’s not foolish. Before, you would’ve said it was because the code of the Vampire Ninjas demanded we protect civilians.”

“Would I?”

“Yes. I almost envy you. You’re able to act for your friends instead of your mission or the code.” Then she suddenly snapped her head toward me. “You’re mocking me, aren’t you?”

“No, I was just thinking you’re actually kinda charming, Saras.”

A water shuriken stabbed into me.

“Don’t you dare call me by my nickname!”

Ah, tsunderes hurt. Stop grinding it in!

“Then, what should I call you? What’s your name at school?” I asked.

Saras scowled, her cheeks a little red. “Kirara… Hoshikawa.”

“Kirara?! What a very cute name. What are you, a manga artist?”

“I said stop mocking me! I’ll kill you, right now! All units, return immediately! Priorities have changed!”

Wait, hold on. She wasn’t actually planning to sic all the Vampire Ninjas here on me, was she?

Yeah, I’m screwed.