by Takehaya
“You’re good, Shizuka-chan!” the Scarab King whispered to Shizuka as he quickly got into position.
“Ahaha, thank you very much!” Shizuka happily thanked him as she waited for the smoke to clear and the show to go on.
“C-Curses... Well done, Kabutonga No. 1... But you didn’t win using your own power! I lost to Stag-man! No, I lost to our own technology!”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Scarab King!”
Shizuka swung her right arm around in a wide circle and put her hand on her chest.
“You simply lost to the justice budding inside of Stag-man’s heart!”
“A just heart? I won’t accept it, and I won’t accept this... That kind of thing is...”
Scarab King slowly collapsed.
“You haven’t seen the last of us...”
The hand he held out towards Kabutonga No. 1 collapsed to the ground before it could reach him. They were final moments of a great evil, and it was some splendid acting from a veteran that had played villains for several decades.
“We will return... as many times as it takes! Kabutonga, all you’ve done... was for nothing... Wahahahahaha... haha... ha...”
Scarab King’s laughter grew weaker and eventually faded away as with his last breath. The women were saved by the antidote, and the story was going to have a happy ending. At least, it was supposed to.
“Uwaaah!”
“Wh-What’s with this girl?!”
The actors for Hercules and Atlas were suddenly screaming. Since a voiceover was used for the dialogue, the actual actors talking was forbidden. Surprised at the sound, Shizuka turned around, and when she did, she saw Kabutonga Atlas flying through the air.
Atlas’s actor was a large man, and the costume he wore was big and weighty. He slammed into the floor with a resounding, heavy thud that worried even the children. Atlas didn’t move a muscle after that.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding, Hercules-chan...”
A lone girl carrying a large flyswatter appeared on stage. She was the one that sent Atlas flying.
“Is that...?!”
“I was getting worried since I hadn’t seen you for so long...”
“R-Ruth-san!”
It was Ruthkania Nye Pardomshiha, the very same one Shizuka got along well with at school and at Corona House.
“I was worried that you might be out breeding somewhere!”
An ominous light gleamed in Ruth’s eyes. It was the look of a dangerous predator. Holding the large flyswatter with both hands, she’d spotted her prey. Her next target was Kabutonga Hercules. Ruth had made her way on stage to rid the world of these evil(?) beetles.
“As I thought, your numbers have increased, Hercules-chan! And look how big you’ve gotten!”
“Wh-What?!”
Unsure of how to react, Kabutonga Hercules simply stood still. He thought that Ruth was just an extra and that he’d somehow gotten the script wrong. He looked out towards the stage director as if asking for help.
“Now’s my chance!”
Not missing that opportunity, Ruth rushed forward.
“How foolish of you to leave yourself open for me!”
“Oh no!”
Quick on her feet, Shizuka dashed towards them. She was planning on stopping Ruth.
I knew this would happen if I told them the details about this new gig, which is exactly why I didn’t! How did Ruth end up here anyway?!
When it came to beetles, the normally peaceful and calm Ruth turned into an unstoppable force of violence and hatred. It was the result of deep-seated trauma over a certain incident involving beetles. It had scarred her so badly that she completely lost control of herself at the mere mention of the bugs.
That was why Shizuka had intentionally kept the details of her new job from Koutarou and the others. She knew exactly what Ruth would do if she told her that the show was about beetles. The safest option seemed to be making sure she never found out.
But in spite of everything, Ruth was now here anyway, and Hercules was her next victim. Regardless of how it’d happened, Shizuka knew she needed to do something now or else Hercules’s life would be in danger.
“Move!”
“Whoa!”
Shizuka pushed Hercules aside and confronted Ruth on her own. Hercules’s actor had no idea how dangerous Ruth really was in this state. He would’ve been done for before he even realized what hit him. The only real way to protect him in this situation was for Shizuka to face Ruth herself.
“Heh... Heh heh... Another new beetle appears... Heh heh, to think you’d come out on your own...”
“Ruth-san, snap out of it! It’s me, Shizuka!”
“Oh, I’m only doing what the Pardomshihas’ honor and tradition compels me to do.”
Ruth swung down the flyswatter.
“And it compels me to destroy you beetles!”
“She’s fast!”
Shizuka caught the handle of the flyswatter with her left forearm. She was lucky it wasn’t the top of the flyswatter, and that her thick costume dispersed some of the blow’s power. But even then, Ruth’s strike had tremendous force behind it.
“This is bad, No. 1! It seems like the antidote isn’t working on that girl! You need to somehow defeat her without hurting her!” Hercules’s voice rang out from the speakers.
The antidote hadn’t worked on Ruth, so she was obeying the Scarab King’s orders and attacking the Kabutongas. The stage director had decided to spin the whole ordeal in a way to keep the show going in order to survive the situation. He was asking Shizuka to win.
“You make it sound so easy!” Shizuka complained as she continued to block Ruth’s attacks.
Using her flyswatter, elbows, heels, and even the backs of her hands, Ruth was attacking Shizuka with astoundingly sharp moves. Her berserk mind had gained complete control of her body and turned her into a battle machine.
Shizuka was just barely able to defend herself against the onslaught. Ruth’s attacks were all based on instinct. They were unpredictable and flew at her with overwhelming speed. Because of that, just blocking them was hard enough. But to add to the difficulty, Shizuka was wearing Kabutonga’s costume, which was hard to move in. With things as they were, it would take a miracle to defeat Ruth without hurting her.
“Please stop moving. I’ll make it easy for you!”
“Kyaaah!”
Ruth’s flyswatter grazed Shizuka’s nose. She’d almost been hit dead on, and the thought sent a chill down her spine.
“I just can’t hold back at a time like this! I’m going to go all out, Ruth-san! Don’t hate me for this, okay?!”
“Hate you?! Of course I do! My chest is filled with burning hatred for you!”
Ruth continued with her sharp attacks. Shizuka dodged them and changed her fighting stance. It was no longer Kabutonga’s, but one of her own.
“Quit moving around!”
“Satomi-kun, you better buy me something nice later!”
Shizuka exhaled and closed the distance to Ruth in an instant.
“Do you want to seduce my Satomi-sama that badly?!”
Hearing Koutarou’s name conjured up bitter memories for Ruth. She recalled how she’d felt when Koutarou had embraced her, and worse, how she’d felt when he then whispered that beetle’s name instead of hers. It sent her spiraling into a deep depression not unlike despair.
I won’t allow Satomi-sama to choose a beetle over me again! I won’t stand for it!
Ruth couldn’t process the oddity of Kabutonga No. 1 uttering Koutarou’s name. She just desperately wanted to protect what was precious to her and keep that from being stolen away from her.
“Nooooooooooo!”
Ruth shouted with all her might as she brought down the flyswatter. It cut through the air with a whistle. It was the most powerful attack she’d unleashed today.
“This is...?! But...!”
However, Shizuka deflected the blow to the left at the very last second, then used the momentu
m of her move to tackle Ruth with her right shoulder.
“Agh!”
The blow hit Ruth in the pit of her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and causing her body to stiffen up.
“All right!”
She could feel the effects of the blow on Ruth. Convinced of her victory, Shizuka stopped attacking and stood up. As she did, Ruth began slumping over.
“C-Curse you, b-beetles...”
Shortly thereafter, Ruth fainted. It was her vendetta against beetles that had kept her in the fight until the bitter end. After confirming Ruth was out cold, Shizuka finally relaxed.
“Phew... Even with a cake or two from Satomi-kun, this wasn’t worth it...”
Holding on to Ruth, Shizuka smiled wryly inside her helmet.
Koutarou and Kiriha ate lunch after they finished their movie, then went to visit the attractions at the park. The merry-go-round and the tea cups, the haunted house and the house of mirrors. The attractions Kiriha insisted they go to were all more suited for children. However, now that he vaguely began to understand her intentions, Koutarou didn’t voice a single complaint.
I think it might be better to treat her like a child than as a girl my age...
That was how Koutarou saw Kiriha today, and he wasn’t wrong. Kiriha had a rather childlike smile on her face as they went from attraction to attraction. It had given him pause yesterday, but today he just laughed loudly with her. That’s because he knew that behind that smile of hers, this was something near and dear to Kiriha’s heart.
“Koutarou, let’s ride that next!”
“The ferris wheel, huh? All right, let’s go.”
“Yeah!”
By the time Kiriha pointed out the ferris wheel, Koutarou had already begun running. Today’s Koutarou wasn’t losing to Kiriha in terms of being childish. Kiriha quickly followed after him, and the two of them raced towards the ride. By the time they reached the platform, the line had just emptied.
“Koutarou!”
“Yeah!”
They smiled and nodded at each other as they passed under the gate and approached the ride. The ferris wheel in this amusement park was big. It was even the largest in the prefecture when it was constructed ten years ago. By the time Koutarou and Kiriha reached the gondolas, just looking up at it required them to crane their necks.
“I’ve certainly gotten much bigger...”
Kiriha had a nostalgic look on her face as she stared up at the structure. In her memories of this place, she was unable to see the top when she stood there and looked up as a child. But after ten years of growing, that was different now.
“Kiriha-san?”
Hearing Koutarou’s voice, Kiriha looked back down and saw him calling for her in front of the slowly moving gondola. Behind him was the attendant in charge of holding the door open and waiting for them.
“Yes, excuse me.”
Kiriha ran towards Koutarou and the attendant as she apologized.
Now that I think about it, the same thing happened back then.
Kiriha recalled how her younger self had looked up at the ferris wheel with sparkling eyes as the boy she was with called for her.
“Kii-chan?”
“Sorry, I’m coming!”
The boy was about the same age Kiriha was now. She was so young at the time, she couldn’t remember his face after all these years. But there was one thing she remembered clearly above all else even now, and that was how much she loved him.
“Hup!”
As Kiriha approached, she’d taken the boy’s hand and gleefully hopped into the gondola. With the memory fresh in her mind, Kiriha smiled like a mischievous child as she looked at Koutarou.
“Hup!”
“Ah, hey...”
Spurred on by her nostalgic desires, Kiriha grabbed Koutarou’s hand and hopped into the gondola.
“That’s dangerous.”
“That’s dangerous.”
In that moment, the voices of Koutarou and the boy from her past overlapped. They both had scolded her the exact same way.
Onii-chan...
The decade-old memories all came flooding back to her, escaping her eyes as tears.
“Heh... I’m sorry...”
The attendant outside closed the door and locked it. The well-maintained gondola then rose into the air without making a sound. But Koutarou was too distracted by Kiriha to notice any of that.
“Kiriha-san...?”
Tears trickled down Kiriha’s cheeks. They sparkled in the light of the gentle winter sun shining through the window. For a moment, Koutarou was rendered speechless by the beauty of those tears.
“Koutarou...”
Kiriha grabbed at her chest with both hands. It wasn’t just tears now; there was a steady stream of emotion was flowing up from the bottom of her heart too.
I really do still love him...
After spending two days reliving her memories, Kiriha finally reached a conclusion. And she felt that she needed to tell Koutarou about it.
“Koutarou, there’s something I want to tell you.”
Still holding on to her chest with her left hand, she wiped her tears away with her right. But it was no use. They just kept coming. Kiriha gave up on wiping them away and smiled at Koutarou.
“It’s fine. You don’t need to tell me.”
Kiriha was about to give Koutarou the answer he’d been wondering about all week. However, having tagged along with Kiriha over the weekend, Koutarou no longer felt like he needed to hear her say it. Over the past two days, Koutarou had become convinced that Kiriha would never do something terrible.
“I feel like it doesn’t matter so much anymore.”
Koutarou was smiling. He already understood. Even though Kiriha might invade the surface, he knew that she wouldn’t do it in a violent or cruel way.
And the reason for that seemed to be buried in her past. He could tell it probably had something to do with the spots they’d been visiting, but since they were special, precious memories to Kiriha, Koutarou didn’t want to pry.
“No, please listen. You have a right to know.”
However, Kiriha shook her head and looked him right in the eye.
“And more than anything, I want you to know. As my only friend on the surface, I want you to know my true wish.”
Kiriha’s words had a certain weight to them. It seemed to be coming from the light shining deep within her eyes. For the first time, they were aglow with the warm light of trust and friendship. The sight shook Koutarou, but he could feel the small place in his heart for her growing.
“If you’re willing to call me a friend, of course I’ll listen.”
“...Thank you, Koutarou...”
It had been eight months since Koutarou first met Kiriha. And after all of this time, the two of them finally became friends.
“Where should I start...?”
As she said that, Kiriha lifted her hand to her cheek to wipe away the last traces of her tears.
“Anywhere’s fine, isn’t it? It’s not like we’re in a hurry.”
“That’s true. Then let’s start from the beginning.”
Looking straight at Koutarou, Kiriha unhurriedly began telling her story. Koutarou sat up straight and faced her as he listened. The gondola was slowly rising, and had now reached the halfway point to the top. At this height, they could see past the buildings of the park, and the distant scenery came into view. With the day winding to its end, the vista illuminated by the setting sun was particular striking.
“Ten years ago, I got into a fight with my father and ran away to the surface.”
“Really? I can’t imagine you getting into a fight with anyone.”
He knew it was normal for kids to fight with their parents, but Koutarou just couldn’t imagine Kiriha getting emotional in a fight like that. He hadn’t seen it happen even once over the past months.
“Ten years ago, I was still a child. It’s not like I had the mind of an adult at that age.”
“I guess
that’s fair.”
Although she was very mature now, Kiriha too had once been a child. Although that much was common sense, it was still almost unbelievable to Koutarou. As Koutarou laughed, a smile formed on Kiriha’s lips, and the stiff atmosphere in the gondola quickly lightened up.
“At that age, my mother had just passed away, so it was an unstable time for me. I got into a fight with my father over something trivial and ran away from home.”
“I understand how you must have felt.”
“That’s right... You lost your mother too.”
Both Koutarou and Kiriha had lost their mothers when they were younger, so they had an easier time understanding each other in that regard—especially now that they thought of each other as friends.
“...Anyway, when I ran away from home, I went to the place I’d always been forbidden to go: the surface.”
Though Kiriha was looking at Koutarou, there was a distant look in her eyes now. She was watching her past unfold, starting with running away ten years ago.
“And that’s when I met him.”
“Who?”
“A boy around the same age we are now. I don’t remember his name. I’m sure he told me, but all I can remember is calling him Onii-chan.”
The most precious of all her treasured memories was meeting a boy on the surface.
“Ahaha, so you had a cute side to you too.”
Koutarou couldn’t imagine Kiriha calling anyone “Onii-chan” nowadays. The thought was funny enough that he burst out laughing.
“You say that like I’m not cute now.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought up until yesterday.”
“And what about today?”
“You have a surprisingly cute side to you.”
“The ‘surprisingly’ part was unnecessary.”
Kiriha pouted, slightly dissatisfied. It was surprisingly cute in its own way, which only made Koutarou laugh harder.
“Anyway...”
Kiriha exhaled slightly, composed herself, and continued her story.
“He was a bit childish, but he was gentle and had a good sense of humor. He carefully listened to what I had to say, even though I was just a child.”
“I see...”
