Deep within Kudou’s mind, there was a memory of his true nadir, the depths of his weakness. It was the day the Demon King was born. Inside the dark forest, the boy was in a stupor. There was a girl in front of him. She’d collapsed on the ground and was horribly wounded. The cut in her waist was fatal, her innards spilling from it. Her blood had long dried up and changed color. There was no point trying to put pressure on the wound.
Even if that weren’t the case, the boy couldn’t do anything. There was nothing at all. But the girl was different. Even on the verge of death, she’d made it all the way here through the forest and had even thrown herself into battle. Here, she finally ran out of strength.
As a result, the boy survived, and she was dying. Despite being alive, the boy was sure to die not too long after. Having been trampled underfoot, he no longer had the will to live. Her death was meaningless. That thought hurt the boy more than anything else.
“Why...am I...?”
Just then, the girl groaned. It must’ve been painful. It must’ve been heartbreaking. She must’ve felt such burning hatred.
“This world...should just be destroyed.”
The girl cursed the world, and the boy listened. This was how the Demon King was born. They had met before, one fateful day.
✦ ✦ ✦
To the girl, it was probably a day like any other. However, to the boy, this meeting changed his fate.
“What are you doing?”
The moment a gentle voice struck his ear, he thought he was having a dream. He tasted dirt in his mouth. His tired, weakened limbs felt the pain of having taken a beating. Some time had passed since being teleported to another world. The Colony was steadily taking shape. Despite being in a state of emergency after being torn away from a familiar world—or perhaps precisely because of that—there were those who vented their resentment and anxieties against the weak. Unfortunately, this boy had been singled out by one such group.
The true misfortune was that this group included one of the warriors of the exploration team. Many in the exploration team had a strong sense of justice, but there were those who didn’t. For those people, the only thing they had to be careful of when venting their resentment against the weak was keeping their sadistic amusements hidden from the rest of the exploration team. Even if the powerless were to come across what was happening by coincidence, it was difficult for them to warn against such behavior. Events that could sometimes happen in the closed system of a school, combined with the abnormality of the current situation, had driven the boy to the end of his rope.
The world was steeped in darkness. He’d given up. Resisting was absurd. Nobody would ever save him. He crawled his way through miserable and painful days. That was when the girl appeared like a miracle.
“Let me ask again. What are you doing?”
The girl looked older than the boy. She stood there with a cheerful smile. Her expression was one that seemed fitting for someone who was chatting about sweets among girls. However, she used that smile while facing the group of five who were tormenting the boy. That made her gentle expression seem all the more bizarre.
“N-Nothing.”
The only exploration team member among them answered her with a trembling voice. One reason he was panicking was because he’d been discovered despite having done his best to avoid any crowds. Another reason was that he knew very well who this girl was.
“Is that so? Hmm, that’s fine, then.”
The girl slowly cocked her head. Her hand stroked the dog sitting next to her. It had the shape of a German Shepherd, but one glance was all it took to tell that it was no normal animal. Its entire body was pitch-black, as if it was made of solidified darkness.
The beast growled, and everyone except the girl started. The boy was no exception. He was so helplessly weak at the time. He even feared the person who was trying to save him.
“Sorry, but I have business with him,” the girl said flatly. “So can the rest of you leave?”
This was obviously a complete lie. Everyone knew that. However, she had enough power that nobody would question her. The group ran away, leaving the boy and girl alone.
The boy remained in a daze for a while. The ones who’d been beating him just moments ago had been so easily driven away from her. She was so gallant. It lacked a sense of reality. The boy was captivated by the girl as if he were dreaming.
“Ah...”
After a good ten seconds, the boy came back to his senses. He staggered to his feet in a fluster. He tried to thank the girl for saving him, but the dirt in his mouth got in the way. He pathetically coughed to clear it out, nearly making him miss what she said.
“How stupid...”
Her voice was so cold. It was as if the cheerful atmosphere around her had all been a lie. The boy raised his head, thinking he’d misheard, but was met with her emotionless profile. Was this a display of anger and indignation at fools who wielded violence against the weak? Or was there another reason for it? The boy couldn’t tell, but if there was one thing he was certain of, it was that the gaze she directed at their victim was just as cold. He started once more, then somehow managed to speak up.
“U-Um... Senpai. Thank you...very much...”
“I don’t need your thanks. I’m just acting as Yu’s replacement.”
Only when she spoke the name Yu did her expression soften. After that, the girl’s cheerful expression returned. At the time, the boy still didn’t know who Yu was. He was sure this person was important to the girl, though. Now that the tension in the air was gone, he lowered his head in relief.
“Still, you saved me. Thank you. You’re really strong, huh?”
“Am I?” The girl cocked her head and stared back at the boy. “And you’re rather weak, huh?”
Was she the type to say things without thinking? She was unexpectedly direct as she spoke in a gentle tone. This didn’t irritate the boy. There was no malice in her tone. The boy was in fact weak, so she was simply stating the truth. He’d given up on that already. He had no value. Having that pointed out to him wasn’t going to frustrate him at this point. However, the girl continued.
“But are you fine with that?”
“Huh...?”
“Are you fine with being weak?”
The girl was nonchalant about it. She was so casual when she spoke words that could change the boy’s future.
This was how these two—Kudou Riku and Todoroki Miya—met. To the girl, it must’ve been no different from any other day. But to the boy, it was special. He’d been saved. He’d been acknowledged. And he’d been questioned.
In a sense, that was all there was to it, but that was more than enough for him. Before he knew it, he found himself looking for the girl every now and then.
Whenever they met, he greeted her. She did at least remember him. Sometimes they even chatted a little. Naturally, as a nicknamed cheater of the exploration team, she probably saw him as no more than one among a large crowd. But that was fine.
He owed this girl his life. He looked up to her. She truly was strong, after all. Precisely because he saw no worth in himself, he saw true value in this girl. Oddly enough, these emotions within him changed the boy’s fate the day the Colony fell.