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Love, Mud, and Blood
‘Slap!’
The sound reverberated throughout the entire apartment as I tried to maintain my balance. I can’t fall in front of Mom.
“Why can’t you just do what I tell you?! Why don’t you listen to your mother?! Do you hate me?!” Mom was starting to cry, deeply hurt by my actions. It hurt, seeing her cry like that because of me. It hurt more than anything else.
I- I can’t make Mom cry!
I’m a big girl now; I’m already 9 years old. I can’t make Mom cry!
“I-I’ll try harder... I’ll not fail next time...” Next time, I have to get a perfect score!
“Then you weren’t trying hard already?!” ‘Slap!’ My brain shook, disorienting me for a moment as my feet disconnected from the ground and I fell backward.
‘Crash!’ ‘Thump!’
A sharp pain hit my head as I hit the corner of the desk. I loudly fell to the ground, many things falling alongside me, spreading through the floor.
“Look at what you did! You'd better pick this all up and put it back into place!” Mom shouted angrily. I had made her angry.
I’m really a bad daughter...
“I’m... Sorry, mom...” My head hurt, and it felt wet, but I had to ignore it. I slowly got up and started to pick up stuff. “I’ll put it back...”
The drawer had turned a bit red, so I would have to clean it soon.
“Hum! At least you can do SOMETHING...!” Mom looked down at me as I put everything in place. It took a few moments, since my body twitching was slowing me down, but I was already learning not to let that get in the way.
Once everything was back in place, I turned back towards Mom, making sure I looked her in the eyes, but more to the right than the left. I had to always pay close attention to her, but I shouldn’t look at the scars on her left side; she doesn’t like that, even if they are completely covered by makeup.
“Good, but this wouldn’t have happened in the first place if you had listened to me!” ‘Slap!’ I clenched my teeth, feeling an irony taste in my mouth, and steadied my feet to keep in place. I was a big girl; I couldn’t just stumble and fall in front of Mom.
“Randa...” Mom knelt in front of me, and slowly wrapped her arms around me. “I love you. You know that, right? I only do this because I love you. So it hurts me when I see you ruining your own future by being a bad girl.”
“I know, Mom...” Of course, I know. I’m a big girl. I understand these things. “I love you too, Mom.”
It may hurt, but it hurts because she loves me.
It just shows how much Mom loves me.
If she didn’t care about me, she wouldn’t worry enough to hurt me for my own good.
This pain is love.
...
I slumped over my desk, tired. I had spent most of last night studying, so I was struggling to remain awake. But I had to, I’m a good girl after all.
“Greetings~.” My eyes slowly moved towards the classroom door as a familiar girl entered and started greeting everyone she came across.
Just looking at her got on my nerves.
She greeted everyone with a smile, her big, long, dark green braid swinging behind her as she happily and elegantly waltzed across the classroom. It looked as effortless as it truly was for her.
She was smart, proper, and friendly, all of that by nature. She didn’t have to put any effort into it; this was just how she was.
And somehow, that was enough for people not to realize how much of a weirdo she actually is.
“Greetings, Randa-chan~. Feeling tired today?” She brightly smiled as she stood over me. She only took a moment to straighten her skirt, which was for some reason longer than school required, before sitting down on the desk beside mine.
That wasn’t her desk. She just made it hers, and nobody, not even the teachers, would question her about that. Its original owner just accepted the exchange.
“...Go away, Momo.” I told her to leave me alone, like I always do. I couldn’t stand her presence; I hated her. She was everything I wanted to be and more. She was everything I didn’t want to be and more. And above all, she was a happy-go-lucky idiot, living in her own little cloud.
“Ahahaha, good morning to you too!” She happily laughed, as always. My words not getting through to her.
Though I didn’t want them to get through her.
She was my best friend.
...
“You forgot your lunchbox?” Momo looked at me, a worried expression on her face, as I looked at her lunchbox, not moving to take out mine.
“No, Mom couldn’t make it today.” I had been a bad girl, so I didn’t deserve food today. If I wanted food, then I needed to bring a good score with the scores that the Teacher would give out today.
Though Math was my biggest weakness, so I probably wouldn’t be eating tomorrow either.
I'd better use that time to study, so I don’t let down Mom next time.
“That’s not good, she should make at least a bit of time for something simple!” Momo grabbed me by the shoulder, a slightly worried expression on her face. “Want some of mine? We can split it up.”
“It’s fine, really. I’m not going to die for skipping lunch.” I can go a few days or a week without eating. Water is more than enough. And I would be a bad girl if I ate when Mom told me not to.
“It’s not fine...” Her expression grew more worried while she started patting my hair. “You also have unusual bed hair today; it’s looking bumpy in the back. Did you two have no time this morning? Did you even have breakfa...?”
She slowly stopped, as her hand touched the back of my head. Her face turned into one of confusion, or maybe incredulity, as I felt her fingers slowly dig through my hair.
Reaching the small parchment covering the injury I got yesterday.
I had to get her away. Mom said I would be a bad girl if I let people know I slipped while she showed me her love.
“I-It’s fine, really. Why don’t you start your lunch and I-” I tried to pull away, the light touching being increasingly painful, but her hold on my shoulder was too firm. And eventually, she pressed a bit too hard in her prodding. “Agh!”
I winced at a spike of pain, unable to endure it anymore. And then, Momo showed me a face I had never seen before.
It was not her usual relaxed smile, or her sort of unusual worried one. I didn’t know what this face was. Her eyes were open wider than ever before, and her pupils dilated. Her mouth turned small but agape, trembling slightly.
I don’t know what that face means, but I don’t like seeing her like that.
“J-Just don’t touch that, and-” I didn’t get the chance to finish speaking. Before I knew it, Momo was hugging me, her head buried in my chest.
“I’m never...” Her voice was muffled, almost unintelligible. Her very voice was trembling. “I’m never letting anyone hurt you again...”
...Uh? W-What is going on? Why is Momo...? “It... It’s not a bad thing. It’s because Mom loves me...”
Her hug tightened even further, her hands grasping at my uniform. “Never...”
She didn’t end eating her lunch. No matter what I said to calm her down, all I managed was to get her to hug me tighter, though never enough to hurt.
It took until lunch time to end, and the teacher to tell her to let me go for her to finally release me.
...
Momo acted very weird today since lunch time, but I always knew she was a weirdo inside, so it didn’t surprise me too much. Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about it on my way back from school.
Something about her eyes felt... Strange. The way she looked at me was unlike anything I had ever seen before, not from here, and not from anyone else.
The scene repeated again and again in my head for the next half an hour, until I finally arrived home. Before entering, I picked up the exams the teacher handed us back today so I could present them to Mom. A quick look at them confirmed to me that I would get punished, but that was fine.
I’m a big girl, I can take a bit of punishment. It’s just Mom’s love after all. And there is nothing more important in this world than love.
Mentally preparing myself, I opened the door and walked inside. Mom should be watching TV and drinking wine right now, so I should...
“Mhmhmhm~.” As I entered, I froze in place as I heard Mom’s voice, happily humming. But not from the living room, it was coming from the kitchen.
That’s... Unusual. She rarely gets up from the couch at this time, and she sounds in a strangely good mood.
Carefully closing the door behind me, I walk to the kitchen, exams in hand. But what I saw took me aback.
Mom was happily humming in front of the counter, cutting vegetables even though it’s still a fair bit away from dinner time. And since I was not going to eat today, she should be going out to eat today, so there was no reason for her to be cooking.
But things just looked stranger and stranger the more I looked at her.
Her clothes were... She always wears pants, be them jeans, yoga pants, or anything else besides what she was wearing now. She wore a long, flowy, floral dress with an apron. Her normally loose and slightly unkempt hair was now tied in a perfect ponytail with a big ribbon. And she was wearing the heels she hated so much.
“M-Mom...?” What is going on...?
“Oh, Randa!” She turned back to me. Her face was perfectly made-up, her makeup slight but colorful, and for some reason, not covering her scars, displaying them to the world. “Welcome back! Sorry, I wasn’t able to pick you up from school before, but I’ll do it from now on!”
“...Eh?” But... Mom always said she was too tired to come pick me up... “D- Did something happen?”
S-Something is wrong. Mom is being weird, very weird. Even weirder than Momo!
“Of course something happened! You came back home, that’s something to be happy about!” She gave me a wide smile. It was natural, gentle, and affectionate. It sent shivers down my spine. My mind was sending alarm signals the more I looked at her. “Oh, are those the exams we have been waiting for?”
“Ah... Yes...” I slowly handed them to her, my hand trembled as my mind desperately tried to understand what was going on.
Mom’s being weird. She has never acted like this. She’s in too good a mood. She never dresses like this. She’s not hiding her scars. A new girlfriend? Did Grandma die? Did she-
“Let’s see~.” Mom patiently waited for me to raise the exams rather than rip them off my hands, and looked into them, humming softly all the time.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t get perfect marks this time, too...” R-Right, Mom’s being weird, but that’s not important now. I was a bad girl, so now-.
“Oh, these are excellent scores!” I was stunned, my mind turned white at her words. And before I recovered, she crouched and extended her hand to me, softly caressing my cheek. “I’m so proud of you, Randa~.”
It was cold. Her hand was unbelievably cold. There was not a hint of warmth in this hand, not even a bit.
W-What is this?!
What’s going on?!
“I love you, Randa.” Her words left her mouth, but my brain rejected them. This is not love. There is no warmth in the hand caressing my cheek, unlike the one striking it.
These are all lies. Everything here is a lie!
And then, I noticed it. Something that I could only see now, with us being face-to-face. Something that sent shivers down my spine.
The interior of her mouth was completely dry, and on its back... There was no hole.
“...Ahhhh...” My whole body started to tremble, and I took a step back. “AHHHHHHH!!!”
W-What is this thing?!
This is not Mom!!!
I ran away from her. But not to the door, nor even towards my room to hide below my bed, like I did when I was little. My instincts took me to the kitchen counter, where I took the large knife this thing was just using, and raised it between us.
“R-Randa, that’s dangerous! You’ll get hurt!” The thing tried to take a step forward, hand slowly reaching towards the knife. “Please, listen to Mom...”
“S-Step back! You’re not my Mom!” My heart was beating hard in my chest, a level of fear running through my veins that I had never experienced before, not even when Mom was drunk.
The thing stepped forward.
“What’re you saying, Randa? Of course it’s me, I-” The thing reached towards the knife, disgustingly real worry in her voice. It terrified me to my core.
Not knowing what would happen if the thing took away the knife, my body moved on its own.
The thing froze. The knife digging halfway through her stomach. It was too tough for the knife to pierce through all the way.
And there was no blood coming out, only small pebbles and sand falling off from the wound.
The thing just looked at me, surprised.
“Ah... Ahhhhhhhhh!!!” I ran towards the door, terror guiding the entirety of my actions. I was moving out of pure survival instinct.
“Wait, Randa!” The thing called from behind me, and I heard it starting to follow.
This thing is not human! A knife is not going to protect me!
Mom... Mom, where are you?!
What did this thing do to Mom?!
I reached the door, opened it, and ran. I couldn’t think of being a good girl and closing the door behind me; I just ran.
I ran until my lungs started to hurt.
I ran until my feet were hurting.
I ran until my entire being was agonizing.
I must have loved life way too much, because everything hurt so much.
...
I don’t know when it turned night. I hadn’t stopped running, fearing that if I did, the thing would catch up.
At some point, I had collapsed near a dumpster, which took no time in catching the attention of a passerby. Seen after, I found myself in a patrol car, being guided towards the police station.
I didn’t listen to what the officer said, one word entering an ear and coming out the other. I was just too tired to listen.
But I was in safe hands now. The police are heroes, Mom told me that if a stranger followed me, I should approach the closest police officer I could find.
They will protect me from strangers. They will protect me from that thing.
Arriving at the police station, the officer carried me into the station in her arms. It felt safe. Like they would take care of everything now.
I’m sure they will find Mom, and then...
“Randa!” I froze in place as I saw the thing stand up from a chair the moment she noticed me enter the room, and ran towards me.
I tried to run away, but my exhausted body rejected fighting against the hold of the officer, and moments later, I could only look terrified as the thing took me into her arms.
“Randa, I was so worried!” The thing held me carefully in its arms, tight enough that it felt impossible to escape, but never tight enough to hurt. “Please, never do something like this again! Something bad could have happened to you!”
A shiver ran down my spine at what sounded to me like a threat. And it was made worse when I looked down and saw there was no injury from where I stabbed her. Even her dress looked as good as new.
It was as if the stabbing had never happened.
In a last desperate attempt, I looked at the police officer who was holding me just moments ago. “No... She’s not my Mom...”
But my words fell on deaf ears. The heroes decided to believe that thing over me.
And in no time, I found myself being taken home by the thing mimicking Mom.
...
I lay in bed, too terrified to sleep.
My belly was full, having eaten better than I had in months. Having been delicately forced to take a bath with the thing. And then, tucked into bed, given a kiss in the forehead by a pair of cold, dry lips.
Hours passed, with me keeping my eyes focused on the door, awaiting for the thing to enter my room in the middle of the night, to do whatever it was preparing me for. Hours in which my heart didn’t stop beating wildly for even a moment.
But the thing never came into my room.
No matter how much I waited, the only thing I got to see was the sun rise, and the unusual smell of food reaching my room.
“Randa, lunch’s ready~.” The thing’s voice came from below, sweet and kind.
“Eh... Eheheheh...” This nightmare is not going to end any time soon, is it?
I sprayed myself over the classroom’s desk, still feeling a bit uncomfortable at my now growing breasts, lightly fiddling with my new piercing.
As expected, the Thing at home fawned over it, and went on and on about how good it looked on me. Loveless words, from a cold, inhuman Thing, that just became better and better at imitating the human form over time.
“Greetings, Randa-chan~.” I look up, catching sight of my daily annoyance and her ever-present careless smile.
“Go kill yourself, Mom.” My words got a kick laugh out of her before she sat down. No matter how much time passes, our daily routine remains the same.
“Do you think you’ll manage in the exams of next week? I can help tutor you if you need it.” She started taking out her things while starting a casual conversation.
“It’s fine, I don’t really care. I just need to get an average score to pass.” Being a good girl will not bring Mom back.
It didn’t bring Mom back, no matter how much I tried.
So, now I don’t have anyone to show a good score to.
“Tada Randa!” An annoying, familiar voice sounded from the classroom door.
Looking up, I saw the familiar face of the school council’s president, a tall girl with a black hime cut and not even a hint of grace or kindness in her voice or face. A ruthless tyrant of the rules that wouldn’t stop nagging to everyone.
I liked her. She was fun to annoy, and never stopped going after me. It felt as if I pushed her buttons just a bit more, she was going to outright attack me one of these days.
Wouldn’t that be fun?
“I knew I didn’t see things... Is that a piercing?!” She walked into the classroom, furious eyes set on me. “Not only you modify your uniform and wear makeup to school, but now this?! How much are you going to disregard the rules?!”
“Ehehehehe... Sorry~. I just like it too much, Nagisa~.” I could almost see a vein pop in her head at my words. It was kinda exciting.
“You...!!!” “President!” She took a step forward, but a girl suddenly appearing through the door shouted at her, getting her to stop. “We gotta hurry! You can deal with this later!”
The irritation was clear on her face, but eventually Nagisa turned her back to us, and followed the other girls out of the classroom. “We’re not done with this, Tada Randa! The teachers will hear about this!”
“Good luck~.” I happily waved at her, irritating her even more before she left.
She would really need good luck with this, since I don’t know which teachers remain that haven’t already been replaced by those Things.
“She has been bothering you a lot lately, hasn’t she?” My blood froze as I heard those words, guiding my eyes towards Momo.
Her eyes were set in the door, wide open and with her pupils dilated. A look that I had come acquainted with through the years.
One that always came before something terrible happened.
“...Momo, stop.” I let out, almost as a plea, and her eyes came back to me. “Don’t do it.”
“Do what?” She closed her eyes, letting a pleasant and natural smile come to her face.
There was no point in answering that question. All I had was a gut feeling; there was nothing I could prove. Even I myself doubted it, and she would deny it so naturally that I would have no argument I could use.
All I could do, was plead to her.
“Please... Don’t.” Those words were everything I could use. The only option I had left.
...
I walked back to school, my body and mind heavy as I hadn’t been able to sleep all night, the worry too heavy on my shoulders.
As I came through the school’s doors, I saw Nagisa running her usual morning inspection on uniforms, as it was her turn to do it this week.
We crossed eyes for a moment, and then, she said words that shook my soul.
“Good morning, Randa. Hope you have a wonderful day.” There was no hint of hate, resentment, or aggression in her voice. It was a voice full of kindness.
“...Eh... Eheheheeh...!” What else could I do but laugh, while a tear ran down my cheek.
“You’re so weak. So weak, with not even a shred of will to live.” The woman who had killed my entire team, the girls I had been fighting alongside as a Magical Girl for the last 3 years, stood over my broken body. The corpses of my allies spread all around us, some in multiple pieces. “So weak of body and spirit, that you aren’t even worth killing.”
With words that felt like a dagger to my heart, she turned around, walking towards the swirling black portal she came out of.
I tried to reach towards the murderer, but my body refused to. It hurt so, so much. It hurt more than anything I had ever felt before. I didn’t know how many of my bones were broken. I didn’t know which of my organs was the one leaving me in agony.
This was a pain that surpassed anything I had ever felt before.
And it brought back a nostalgic feeling back to me. One accompanied by a treasured memory.
The memory of Mom hitting me. The memory of Mom hugging me. The memory of the days before the Thing came into my life, and took Mom away from me.
The memory of a love I haven’t felt in almost a decade.
“...Wa... it...!” I dragged my pained body towards the woman, as she slowly disappeared into the darkness. “Don’t... Leave... Me...”
But my words never reached her ears, and once again, I was left alone. Surrounded by the corpses of people I never got to really know well, and would never truly love me.
...
Walking back home from school, I couldn’t get my mind out of the memory of that woman. It had been months since we fought, my injuries long gone and not hurting anymore.
Momo was furious when she heard what happened, but eventually relented when I saw how happy I was about it, and also because she could do nothing about it.
It was a precious memory, of someone who cared enough about me to try to kill me. Of someone who cared enough about me to be let down by my lack of will and let me live. Of someone who cared enough about me to cause me extreme pain.
An encounter full of love, with someone I would never see again.
It was sad, but at the same time, it filled me with joy and hope. Hope that if I persevere, I may be able to find someone who loves me again.
Also, that woman is still out there. Now that I’m fully recovered, maybe I can...
‘Swoooooorl’
I froze in place as I heard it. The sound I heard months ago.
Quickly turning towards the alleyway from where it came, I ran straight into it. And there, I saw it. A swirling black portal, just like last time. And from there, a figure emerged.
My heart grew in hope and expectation, knowing what this meant. But it was quickly shattered once the figure fell harshly to the floor.
It was the same woman as last time. But she was... Broken.
Her elegant white kimono was gone; all that remained of her clothes were a few rags of her cape. And her body, it was completely and utterly destroyed. Her limbs looked like they had acquired new articulations, twisting and turning in the wrong ways, and she was covered in blood pouring from her injuries.
She looked mangled almost beyond recognition. The shock was intense enough to freeze me in place while I saw her being enveloped in a bright light, her Transformation coming undone.
The power of a Magical Girl that may have been able to keep her alive even in that state fading away.
She... She’s dea...?!
Her yes drilled into mine. Even with her injuries, her eyes looked brimming with pure and raw determination.
She started dragging her wrecked body forward, fueled by what I could only describe as a bottomless will to live.
E-Even in that state... She’s is...?!
Unfortunately, she didn’t get very far before she collapsed back onto the floor, her eyes finally closing. She either passed out, or...
N-No... No!
I have to save her!!!
After all of this, she can’t... She can’t!!!
I rushed forward, reaching my hand towards her collapsed and broken body, but I stopped myself right before I touched her.
H-How do I help her?!
She was on the brink of death. If I did anything wrong, she could die. If I moved her, she could die. If I didn’t move her, she could die.
Her life depended on me making the right decision now.
A-An hospital?!
No, they’ll take too long to get here! And with these injuries, they may not be able to do anything!
Vatz?!
No, she’s not good at healing, and she doesn’t have any Magical Girl with Healing Magic in her charge; she couldn’t get someone to heal me faster either! And if she learns who this woman is, she’ll kill her!
Then... Who?!
How do I save her?!
I have to save her!
This can’t be a coincidence; this is destiny!
She appeared in front of me for me to save her!
So how do I do it?!
Who do I have to-?!
“Randa?” A shiver ran down my spine, as the most dangerous person I know spoke from the entrance of the alleyway. “Is that woman... Did you...?”
She was the person I trusted the least in the world. She was the person who took everything from me. She was the person I feared the most, even after I acquired the powers of a Magical Girl.
And she was the only person I had left, who could do what I couldn’t.
“Momo...” I turned to her, barely being able to bring out my voice. I couldn’t even worry about her seeing the tears streaming down my face. “Help me... Please, save her...”
Momo’s face showed a level of shock I had never seen before. She looked completely stunned, dropping her schoolbag to the floor.
She tried to speak, but it took her a few attempts before words finally managed to leave her mouth. “This... Is the first time you ask me for help...”
She took a step forward, then another, and another, until she ran towards me as fast as possible. In no time, she had me in her arms, burying my face in her soft chest.
“Of course... Of course I’ll do it! I have been waiting for you to ask for my help all my life!” Her voice cracked for a moment, a tear falling on top of my head while her embrace became tighter. “Leave the rest to me. For now, rest, Randa...”
Suddenly, thinking became hard, and my body grew heavier and heavier. Slowly, I closed my eyes, and soon I found myself falling asleep in her arms.
...
I carefully finished setting up the new bandages, the old ones set aside until I find a good use for them.
Looking down, I see the sleeping face of the woman who changed my life. Her injuries were terrible, and she spent various days on the brink of crossing to the other side. But now, she was stable, and her body was recovering.
My heart felt calm. Calmer than it had been in years.
Now, there was someone who actually cared about me. Someone who would actually hurt me.
I have to continue treating her until she wakes up, and I would have to continue tearing apart and throwing away the Thing living under my roof, but it’ll be worth it.
“Ehehehehe...~.” I can’t wait until you wake up.
The entire battlefield trembled at the Spell about to be released. The person who had provoked her into going this far was covering herself in as many barriers as possible while everyone else, including us, ran to take cover.
Even her own allies had given up trying to stop her and were portalling to safety.
“Fucking die already...!!!” The supremely pissed off cat raised her claws high, the normal dark orb generating at their gathering now replaced by dozens upon dozens of highly unstable ones gathering between the claws. And her next words carried enough vitriol and power to shake space itself. “OBLITERATION VERNICHTUNG STORM!!!”
A torrent of dark beams raised to the sky, and the last thing I could see was a flash blacker than darkness before the rain started.
...
‘Oh, fuck’ ‘Leo-chan, let’s run, now!’ ‘This idiot pushed it too far!’
“...Ugh...!” My body was in pain, with one of those rays hitting me in full and burying me deep into the earth. I must have at least two broken bones and some burns.
It took me a bit to dig up and reach the surface. And the scene in front of my eyes made me glad that I had been hit directly and buried so deeply.
I couldn’t even say that this looked like a battlefield; they at least leave something. This was more akin to the aftermath of a nuclear bomb thrown in the middle of the city, minus the radiation. Well, hopefully minus the radiation.
The Tres Magia were treating their injuries, Fallen Medic considerably injured herself, but the other two clearly took most of the damage for her. But they weren’t the ones that mattered.
I looked around, desperately, for them.
“Micchan! Micchan, where are you!” We were together when the bombardment started. I got hit first, so they should have gone a bit further, but not too far.
Setting my sights on the route we were taking, I flew in that direction.
It was hard to see with all the carbonized rubble around, so I had to fly slowly, but it didn’t take long until a familiar figure and green braid came into sight. She was digging into the rubble, her dress reduced to tatters and blood flowing down her legs, and having her mud golems dig around.
I descended near her, looking around for Micchan. “Pesca, do you know where Imitatio is?!” S-She can’t be buried under the rubble, right?!
She shook when she heard my voice, and suddenly turned her head around.
I saw a new expression on her face, one that I had never seen before. One that I couldn’t describe as anything but sheer panic.
“...Momo?” When she heard me calling her name, she grit her teeth, picked up something from the ground, and flew away. “W-Wait, where are you-?!”
I flew after her, my instincts pushing me to. A very heavy feeling of dread growing in my chest.
I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all. It feels that if I lose them... If I lose them, Micchan...!
She was gaining space between us. She was faster than me. I was going to be left behind.
“...Stop, Momo!!!” I raised my hand, and then, I did it. I did something that I had been wishing and dreading doing all my life. Something that maybe I should have done a long time ago.
Gathering the blood fleeing from my body into my hand, I formed three large knives and threw them.
‘Stab!’ ‘Stab!’
She shook, two of the three knives digging themselves deep into her back, and then she fell, clashing loudly against the ground, still clutching firmly at what she held between her arms.
I had just backstabbed Pesca.
I had just backstabbed Momo.
A feeling of euphoria and fear filled my heart in equal parts. The feeling was overwhelming, but I had to keep focused, so I tried to push those feelings down.
I failed, but still I had to continue forward, regardless of the state my heart was in.
Landing beside Momo, I looked down into her eyes while the knives in her back dissolved back into blood and magic. But I couldn’t see her expression, as something else instantly caught my attention.
The long, silver hair, blood-soaked hair of a little girl.
“Gah!” Pesca shouted in pain as I kicked her away, sending her flying against a pile of debris, separating the two before something terrible could happen.
“Micchan! Are you alright, Mich-?!” I knelt by her side, holding Micchan by the shoulders to get a good look at her. But my mind went blank... The moment her shoulder fell off.
The world went silent. The smell of burning debris disappearing alongside the noise of sirens and screams in the distance. The only things I could perceive were what was right in front of me.
Micchan’s inert body was almost torn apart, blood pouring down everywhere. This was way beyond what one could ever recover from.
But that was not what took away my ability to breathe.
Inside her body, revealed through her large injuries... Was clay.
Her entire skeleton had been replaced by clay. And surrounding it, clay and mud mixed and disappeared into flesh, blood, and guts, turning into one and the same.
Micchan is... This Thing is...!
The strength in my legs disappeared, and I almost fainted the moment tears started to pour down my face.
But I didn’t fall.
Moved by something stronger than pain or exhaustion, I turned away from Micchan. Towards Momo.
One step. Two steps. Three Steps. Each step felt like the last of my life, as I approached my best and worst friend. Until I loomed over her.
“What have you done...?” My words carried more bloodlust than the actual blood I spilled trying to talk.
Momo didn’t answer. She just looked up at me while she lay on the ground, giving me a sad smile.
I pounced at her, my hands wrapping around her neck with all the strength I could muster. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!?!”
“Guh...!” She winced in pain as my fingers crushed her throat, but the smile never left her face. “I... Promised I would help you... Right?”
“AND HOW IS THIS HELPING?!?!?” How is doing this to Micchan...!
“Because... Before that... I promised to never... Ever... Let someone hurt you again... Didn’t I?” Her smile only grew more serene, happier than I had ever seen her. I made my fingers weaken. “So I couldn’t let... That woman hurt you again. But I couldn’t replace her, since I also promised to save her... So instead, I went halfway. Replaced what wasn’t needed, and fused everything with my clay... To give you both the woman you wanted, and one that would never hurt you.”
Her smile was pure, serene, and satisfied. One that showed pride in what she did. And that, combined with her words, did something to me.
Whatever I was holding back, whatever was keeping me in one piece all these years, everything just broke all at once.
“How could you...” I took my hands back, and started gathering my magic, blood, and tears in them, until a knife formed between them. “...HOW COULD YOU?!?!?!?!”
‘Stab!’
The knife went into Momo’s chest. It pierced deeply, fiercely, cutting and breaking bone like it was made of cardboard. But it didn’t stop there, as I ripped it out and raised the knife again.
“HOW DARE YOU?!?!?! HOW DARE YOU HOW DARE YOU HOW DARE YOU HOW DARE YOU HOWDAREYOU HOWDAREYOU HOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOUHOWDAREYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The knife went in and out of Momo’s body, time and time again, blood splattering everywhere each time. And during the entire time, she kept her smile.
“Randa... I’m never... Letting anyone...” She extended her bloodied hand towards me. Her warm fingers caressing my face, as she spoke with her smile never leaving her face. “Hurt you again... Because I love you...”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The knife then descended towards her face.
...
I didn’t know how much time had passed since I stopped, nor when both of us dropped our Transformations. It was as if I had just woken up from a long dream.
Only to wake up over a disfigured body, so cut and torn apart that the only thing that could identify it, was the large curtain of dark green hair behind it.
I stared at it for what could have been a minute or an hour. I had no way of knowing, as my mind was trying to process what had happened.
Micchan is dead. She has been dead since long ago, turned into a Thing made of flesh. And Momo...
I killed Momo.
“...Eh... Ehehehe...” I killed Momo. I killed Momo. I killed Momo.
I killed the person who took everything and everyone from me.
I killed the person who decided to become my best and worst friend regardless of my opinion.
I killed the person who hurt me more deeply than anyone else.
I killed the person who loved me the most in the world.
I killed the person that I hated more than anything and anyone else in the world.
“Ehehehe... Ehehehe... Ehe...” I slowly got up, took a look at my bloody hands, and started walking away.
I didn’t know where I was going. There was no place left for me in the world, with everyone that has ever cared for me now gone.
“Ehehehe...” I just walked forward, guided by muscle memory, not wanting to think or feel or exist anymore.
Leaving the corpses of Momo and Micchan behind.
...
I waited in my seat for classes to start, clothes tattered and body covered in blood. After walking for who knows how long, I had found myself at school.
I guess that’s what muscle memory is about. And it’s just right in the end. I must be a good girl for Mom, and good girls don’t skip school.
So, I waited for classes to start. Classes that weren’t going to start.
Even putting aside the catastrophe of the previous day that happened in the city, there was probably nobody left to come to class.
After all, all my classmates and teachers weren’t people, they were Things. And now, there won’t be any Things anymore.
“Ehe... Ehehehe...” Yes, the Thing is gone, so Mom can come back. So I must study hard and bring her good scores. I must be a good girl for Mom.
And then, the door opened.
Steps came closer and closer, until they were right beside me.
When I looked at it, a hand picked up my bloody ones, holding them gently and affectionately as she smiled at me.
“I’ll never let anyone hurt you again. Never.”
Her hands were so cold.