While listening to Kaburagi wail at his feet like it was the end of the world, Yasui slowly lowered his still smoking gun, terrified to his core. He had not actually intended to shoot. But his finger had indeed pulled the trigger. Did the bullet land? Did it not?
Baba-Nyan looked like a ragged doll that some child had finished playing with. Clinging to a tiny sliver of hope, Yasui tried to feel for a pulse, but got nothing. “She’s...... dead......?”
Yasui slowly lurched backward. Was the blood staining Baba-Nyan’s front her own blood that she had vomited out, or was it from a bullet wound that he himself had inflicted? He was too scared to check.
At the same time, Kaburagi scrambled toward Sago’s limp body. She was beyond herself, and crying in great heaving sobs.
Takahashi and Hasumi also made their way over. The former took Sago’s wrist to also feel for a pulse. “Not good, I can’t feel anything! We need Ig—no, she’s not here right now! Shit! Why isn’t she here today of all days!”
“Move over, Shouta. We still don’t know for sure. Let me try his neck, sometimes you can get wrong readings from the wrist.”
Pushing Takahashi aside, Hasumi placed a hand at Sago’s neck. However, she then immediately hung her head.
“You’re right, there’s no pulse. Oh right! Even though Ig isn’t here, we have the healing fuel PSI drives—”
“No we don’t, they were all among the ones that Baba switched out, and we haven’t gotten them back yet!”
“Then an ambulance!”
“Y-Yeah, all right. But......” Takahashi gnashed his teeth while staring at the pool of blood spreading on the ground. Let alone the aorta, Sago’s heart would have to be punctured for him to have lost so much blood in such a short amount of time. Even in the eyes of a layperson, it was clear that the wound was fatal.
As Hasumi continued desperately fumbling around for a solution, Kaburagi suddenly shoved her away with eyes red and puffy from crying as she screamed, “Stop touching him! What more are you doing to Sago-san?! How much do you think he......! Just... get out! Get out already! All of you! Every single one of you!
Murderers!
You’re all murderers!!
Get out, all you murderers!!!”
“A-All right, we’ll take our leave. Come you two, let’s leave her be for a while.”
Already in the middle of backing toward the door, Yasui took advantage of this timing to grab the two students’ hands and drag them toward the door. Thing was, if an ambulance got called over, then everything that had just happened would get blown wide open. Therefore, Yasui was betting on the chance that, as this was a secret organization, with enough time everyone involved would calm down and this incident would also remain a secret. If not, Yasui himself would be doomed, charged with the discharge of his pistol and for homicide. And during the subsequent investigation, his other crimes might get exposed as well. For all these reasons, his most important goal at the moment was to convince the two schoolkids not to call an ambulance.
“What are you doi—let go of me!”
“Touka, calm down. I think everybody’s just really confused right now. We’ve got to regain our composure. Dammit, I can’t think straight.”
With the two students in tow, Yasui tried his best to push his paralyzed mind into action while quickly making his escape.
After the three had left, heart-wrenching wailing alone filled the air. There, in the scene of a tragic end highlighted by a spreading pool of blood, the sound of lamentation continued on and on and on and on————
⚔
————For all of three minutes, that was.
Abruptly, the elven ears of the fallen Baba-Nyan twitched repeatedly, confirming that the cast had truly existed the stage. Her bent and twisted limbs slowly rotated back to their normal positions, and her head pivoted 180 degrees back to the front like an owl. She slowly got up, checking her own physical condition. “They’re gone,” she said while spitting out the leftovers of the blood transfusion pack that she had been keeping in her mouth.
Immediately, Kaburagi stopped her fake crying, then stopped time to quickly clean up the clotted blood all over the floor before it got stained. “I’ve finished cleaning. Sago-san, are you all right?”
“Hmm? I can move now?” asked Sago while getting up and pulling out the toy PSI drive that was digging into his chest. Even as it was coming out, the sword’s plastic blade that had been pressed against a spring protracted back out.
“But damn, talk about a close shave. I totally thought I was going to get busted when they mentioned checking the pulse in my neck. Props to Touka-chan for having the presence of mind to check my neck after my wrist.”
“I agree completely. How did you actually pull it off though? I also thought that we were absolutely done for.” Kaburagi placed “The Entertainer” into the record player while tilting her head curiously.
Sago ripped off the large blood transfusion pack stuck to his chest and chucked it into the sink. “I stopped my heart with telekinesis and restarted it again immediately after Touka-chan stopped checking. So that was actually pretty close to a near-death experience for me back there.”
“You actually went that far?!”
“Didn’t Baba stop hers altogether?”
“We Alvu possess from birth the natural ability to stop our own hearts at will. In brief, the construct of our bodies differ greatly from that of humans, and that includes a greater range of motion for our limbs as well. But leaving that topic for another day, here you go. It’s your birthday present.”
So saying, Baba-Nyan went to the spot where she had kicked up the toy PSI drive, then removed a fake layer in the hole to reveal the real Demon Lord Slayer kept inside the secondary compartment. When she handed it over to Sago, his eyes widened. Unlike the plastic sword that had been made just for looks, this real one exuded graceful artistry in concert with fine relief and detailed craftsmanship. The sense of weight and dignity it emanated was thoroughly overwhelming.
Sago was delighted, while Kaburagi was astounded.
“Whoooaaahhh! This is fricking awesome! Like, seriously awesome! Ohhh......! Thank you, Baba!!”
“Well I’ll be...... when did you find the time to make something this incredible? I didn’t notice you working on it at all.”
“Fufufu, bow before the wisdom of an elder. When a surprise present ceases to be a surprise, does that not take the joy out of it? Pretending to not know about a surprise despite knowing about it, and proceeding with preparing a surprise while unaware that the surprise has already been leaked—both make fools out of those involved. Incidentally, Sago. Be aware that the dial on the guard can be turned to adjust the strength of the feedback damage. It is my wish that you would find this helpful for your training.”
“For real, Baba? You’re the fricking best! This is like the best weapons of both demon lord and hero fused together into the ultimate weapon!”
“What about me? Do you not have something for me? Where’s my wonderful and cute magical wand?”
“Oh, patience. Your birthday is still a ways off, is it not?”
In the middle of excitedly swinging his brand new sword about, Sago suddenly calmed down and turned to Baba, asking, “Making this took a lot of work, didn’t it? But are you sure about this? Aren’t you still quite angry at me?”
“......So you have noticed.”
“Every once in a while, you look at me with really pained eyes.”
Baba-Nyan smiled bitterly. “Yes, I am angry still. There is hatred within me as well. However, in equal portion is there also gratefulness and respect. Respect does not negate hatred. Opposing emotions can exist in tandem. However, giving form to respect and gratefulness like this is a way to water and nurture the good in my heart while waiting for the evil to wither and shrivel away. This, too, is a piece of wisdom from an elder.” At that moment, Baba-Nyan’s eyes were filled with an unfathomable amount of affection attainable only after living out an unfathomable number of years.
“Well, regardless, now is the time for a feast. Shouta and Touka had failed to discern my second betrayal, but there is a lesson to be learned there, too.” Baba-Nyan went over to take a seat at the table where Kaburagi had finished making preparations for the set-up team only afterparty, and grabbed a can of apple juice for herself. Similarly, Kaburagi also sat down, and opened a special bottle of wine that she had been saving for special occasions. Upon catching eye contact from the both of them, Sago opened his can of low-malt beer and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Actually, though there’s still our resurrection event coming up, but for now, I officially announce the conclusion of our traitor event! Thank you both for all your hard work! Cheers!”
““Cheers!””