Jougasaki has one memory she can’t recall.
Mid-April.
The school Dungeon assault incident that led to the Kamase Aneki’s assault, which occurred midway through the new semester.
At the time, Jougasaki, along with the Kamase Sisters and their friends, had gone to the Dungeon behind the school.
She knew it was a restricted area, but the sisters invited her, saying they had something difficult to discuss outside, and then…
It’s not a lie that her memory is hazy.
When she came to, she was in a hospital bed… It seemed she had suddenly warped from the school, which she found strange.
According to the doctor, memory loss sometimes happens even to people who have been in traffic accidents.
He told her it was a brain function to protect her from unpleasant memories, so she didn’t need to worry, and her mother stopped mentioning the Dungeon.
But.
…Ever since the incident, it occasionally appears in her dreams.
An upper body clad in armor, a bright red skirt on the lower half.
The figure of the Monstrosity that stood before her, clad in armor with “Friends” written on it in hiragana, emitting a grating mechanical sound—
That was just a Monster… Yes, just a Monstrosity.
Every time she woke up, she told herself this countless times, sealing it deep within her heart, so much so that she had forgotten about its existence—that weapon she had sealed away, insisting it wasn’t a Monstrosity disguised as a friend…
Why is it being held in the hands of my best “friend”?
“――――”
Kiraboshi Yoshiko slowly rises.
She looks down at Jougasaki Kawai, lowering the blade as if taking aim.
It’s a lie, she tells herself.
A lie. A lie. This is a lie to test me.
Or maybe it’s a coincidence.
Kiraboshi-san obtained that Chainsaw for another reason.
A Hunter who defeated the Armored Monstrosity resold the Chainsaw obtained as a drop item, or perhaps gave it to her.
Surely Kiraboshi-san heard that I and the Kamase-san were attacked by the Chainsaw Monstrosity, and she put it in her Inventory for a prank, intending to surprise me at some point.
So, it’s a lie that she would hurt me with that blade.
A lie, a lie, a lie, that’s all I need to believe,
But why—why is my instinct so afraid of her—
Bruooooooom!
“I’ve decided. Let’s start with the biggest part.”
The woman smiles like a devil, aiming for Jougasaki’s left arm.
The Chainsaw, its engine roaring louder than ever, descends more slowly than a guillotine on a scaffold.
Her right eye, the only one with clear vision left after the left one was crushed, catches the blade, and Jougasaki is too terrified to even move her head.
But.
Even then, in the end.
In the end, she’ll definitely say it was a joke, laugh, and forgive me, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, nooooooo—!
“Ahhhhhhh!”
What came out of her mouth wasn’t even a scream.
Her reason screamed that it was impossible for her to really cut, but maybe she was crying and screaming, or maybe she was just thrashing around.
…But.
Still,
“H-hic…”
One thing she can say is.
She lost something.
Even so, she never opened her mouth—that’s the truth.
“K-Kiraboshi-san… That’s enough, right…?”
Jougasaki distorts her face, her lips pale and trembling, but still, she retorts.
She has lost something, but still… she didn’t say she wanted to stop being friends.
So.
So please—
“What are you saying? Jougasaki-san. It’s just getting started.”
Eh?
Before Jougasaki, who rolls her one eye around in confusion, Kiraboshi lifts the Chainsaw again with a heave.
There’s no blood splatter due to the Magical Power damage, but Kiraboshi-san firmly grips the handle, stained bright red, and as if it were the most natural thing in the world—smiles sweetly,
“Jougasaki-san, you make funny jokes sometimes.”
“J-jokes?”
“Eh? Because,”
Tap.
She points to the opposite side of the arm she just cut off—and giggles.
“Arms come in pairs, don’t they?”
“…”
“And if you include legs, that’s four. We’ve only finished one.”
“…T-that’s, that’s, not…”
“After that’s done, I’ll heal you and carve you up again.”
“What?!”
“By then, the effect of the Guts Potion will probably have worn off, so I’ll give you the best Potion I have and carve you up again. The Dungeon is about to collapse, and the Labyrinth Agency will be here soon, so we can’t take our time.”
Kiraboshi looks up at the “Seabed” stage wall, which has begun to crack.
Faint cracks run across the blue wall, and when Kiraboshi looks up at it and checks the time on her Smartphone—
Something collapses with a sound in Jougasaki’s heart.
She was measuring it properly.
While wielding a mad blade and gleefully carving up her classmate’s body, she was calmly grasping the situation.
That fact corrects Jougasaki’s perception.
…She wasn’t driven to violence because she was consumed by the Dungeon and went mad.
She analyzed the situation correctly, just like in a battle with a Monster, and then gleefully carved up the girl.
…In other words.
For Kiraboshi Yoshiko, dismembering a classmate and friend is not an “abnormality” but an extension of “everyday life”—
“…”
Can she really be called a human?
Is she really a suitable person to be Jougasaki’s friend?
That is. Such an existence can no longer be…
Not the “human” Jougasaki knows.
Not the “JK” Jougasaki knows, nor the “friend” Jougasaki knows.
A Monstrosity that rarely exists in this world, that can never be understood, that must not be understood. Or a Monster.
With such, such an opponent—
There’s no way I can be… friends.
“A-ah…”
She had believed in her mother’s teachings.
People can always understand each other if they exchange words.
No matter how thick the walls of family environment, economy, or culture may be, if people can exchange words, they can understand each other after discussion. She felt that if that wasn’t possible, it was because she wasn’t trying hard enough.
But, that’s not true.
In this world, even if they are classmates in the same school, in the same class, sitting next to her, using the same language—there are opponents who she can’t understand at all.
No, not just understanding…
There are Monstrosities with values that are so appalling to even look at or touch, that they can never be compatible.
“…No, no… I’m, I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
Instinctual understanding is conveyed to reason.
Jougasaki wants to be friends with humans, but she doesn’t want to be friends with Monsters.
…The person who reached out their hand to be friends was actually a hungry carnivore.
That what she was seeking was not friendship but food for a beast, now, finally—
“…I was… w-wrong…”
“Hmm?”
“…Please… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
I don’t need any more friends.
At least, I can’t be friends with this girl—no, even those words are too mild.
Please.
Disappear.
Get lost.
Don’t get involved with me anymore—
Never show your face again, you Monstrosity!!!
“Kiraboshi-san… Please… Please… D-don’t… with me…”
“Yeah.”
“…Don’t be friends with me…!”
The moment she said it, something collapsed inside Jougasaki.
She didn’t really hear it.
But it was like the sound of her own pitiful self, who had only sought the illusionary friend she had been seeking—a mere pretense called friendship—collapsing…
Bruon, the blade stops with a braking sound.
Kiraboshi lowers the Chainsaw, which she had stopped driving, and stares down at her with emotionless eyes.
“It’s okay if you lose, Jougasaki-san?”
“…Yes… I was really, stupid… I was wrong. —There are incomprehensible Creatures like you in this world…!”
“Thank you for understanding. It seems my feelings have finally gotten through.”
Kiraboshi smiles sweetly.
Even that smile looks like a Monster smiling to Jougasaki now.
Why was I trying to be friends with such a Creature?
Her smile is so distorted that she can clearly think so now.
…But, with this.
With this, at least my life will be, s-s-saved—
“Then it’s my turn, right?”
“…Huh???”
“Hey, Shirogasaki-san. I can’t be your friend, but… I’ve thought of something else.”
Vroom.
For some reason, the Chainsaw, which should have been stopped, started up again, and the Monstrosity swayed as it stood.
Shirogasaki’s right arm, which hadn’t been cut off yet.
Kiraboshi, while preparing to carefully carve it by placing the tip of the blade on it, said, “Well, you see,” as if talking to a real friend…
In a friendly, gentle manner.
“I can’t be your friend, but instead, I want you to be my friend.”
“…Huh?”
“My idea of, my friend.”
The woman laughs.
The Creature wielding the blade while talking about becoming friends deepens the smile on its lips.
“A friend who rushes to my side immediately when I’m in trouble.
A friend who pays for me when I’m short on money.
A friend who comes to my house right away when I call, and if my crimes are about to be exposed, gets caught in my place… such a kind friend.”
“Wh…what are you, saying…”
“Because. Isn’t it unfair?”
That line was as if it were a natural Mercy to her.
With the biggest smile I’d seen today, she slowly… spun her words.
“Only you unilaterally force a friendship on me—and then you won’t accept the kind of friendship I want. As friends, that’s not equal, is it?”
“……Huh?”
“So, this time I’m going to force it on you. As payback for everything so far, okay?”
Now then. Let’s become true friends this time.
She raised both hands with a smile and swung them down on Shirogasaki’s remaining right arm.
Amidst screams of intense pain, she smiled in front of Shirogasaki.
“Now it’s your turn to choose, Jougasaki Kawai. —Will you become true friends with me?”