I Need to Use the Bathroom – Part 04
I knocked on Haruna’s door, and she stepped out, already changed.
“All right, let’s go.”
“Okay.”
I took the bag in hand, Haruna picked up her chainsaw, and we left the house together.
The cemetery wasn’t too far. We’d be fine.
“Let’s pick up the pace a bit,” I said.
We set off at a light jog, cutting through the shortest path. But by the time I rounded a corner and passed through a narrow alley, I noticed Haruna wasn’t behind me. I hadn’t even run that fast.
I backtracked a little and found her strolling along slowly.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Ayumu.”
I pressed my hand to Haruna’s forehead. She was definitely running a fever.
“Hey! What the heck are you doing?!”
Her face flushed bright red. Maybe she’d caught a cold?
“You feeling sick?”
“Idiot! I sense a Megalo!”
Haruna slapped my hand away. She was forcing herself.
So a Megalo did show up. That was fast. Why would they want this weird junk so badly?
“Hold this for a sec.” I handed Haruna the plastic bag and took the chainsaw from her in exchange.
“What is this?” She peeked into the bag and let out a squeal. No surprise. There was an orange and a porn mag inside. “Don’t make me carry this kind of stuff!”
Ignoring her, I took a deep breath and started the incantation. Normally, I wouldn’t want to transform until the very last second. But I couldn’t afford to hold back right now.
We might be dealing with more than just a single Megalo.
“Htaed fo regnibrah a tub gnimrahc dna ylevol!”
Familiarity is like a demon. Maybe the god who came up with the phrase “it can’t be helped” was a demon too. Even if I dressed like this, I didn’t really—no, sorry. I still wasn’t used to it. No matter how many times I went through it, I couldn’t see it as normal.
Wiping away my tears, I stepped out onto the road, aiming for a wider space.
Come get some. No sooner had I thought that than a Megalo appeared.
All right, good. If there was only one, I could finish it quick. If there was only one.
“It’s time to bail, Haruna.”
“Wuh? You’re not fighting it?”
“I’d love to, if it were just one. But with that many, we don’t have time.”
I grabbed Haruna’s hand and took off running.
The Megalo spotted us. Letting out beastly roars, they charged. A chorus of war cries—or something close to it—echoed behind us.
I didn’t have to look back. I could imagine it clearly.
A parade, maybe? No, it was more like a stampede of forest animals sensing an earthquake. So many animals—too many to count—all in school uniforms, flooding the entire four-lane road.
It felt like every creature saw everything else as an enemy. Even the Megalo were starting to fight among themselves.
Megalo fighting Megalo? Maybe some were fakes made by Kyouko, and the others were real ones from the Underworld. Maybe even the Underworld found Kyouko’s knockoffs intolerable.
If we moved now, we might still shake them off.
I could hear a lot of things running. Not cars. Not motorcycles.
Footsteps. Animals pounding the asphalt. And then came the sound of buildings collapsing.
Those Megalo were the same vicious ones we’d seen before. They weren’t targeting Magiclad Girls specifically; they were just destroying everything in sight.
“Ayumu! They’re really coming!”
“I know!”
Oncoming cars made a U-turn and sped back the way they came.
I wondered how this scene looked to normal people. A mass escape from the zoo? A costume parade? A film shoot? Probably none of those. The Megalo rampaged like furious kaiju, smashing buildings as they advanced. I didn’t blame them for turning around and fleeing.
Then the noise stopped. Maybe they weren’t chasing us after all.
I glanced back. Nope. It was way worse than I thought.
Several Megalo had leapt high into the sky, diving straight for us.
I clenched my jaw and sprinted at full speed. My Magiclad Girl costume flapped in the wind, and it felt disgusting.
“Nyah!” Haruna stumbled.
Right, getting chased by those many Megalo would make her go limp with fear. I grabbed her hand tightly and pulled her in close.
Haruna let out a small yelp.
I looked around warily. “What is it?”
“No, um… nothing. Never mind.”
She stopped briefly but quickly got moving again.
We turned right at the intersection. If we kept going, we’d reach the cemetery. That’s all we needed to do.
But we had to take a detour. Vampire Ninjas were fighting Megalo up ahead.
Seriously? It was one thing after another. Our only choice was to go straight and turn at the next corner.
I ran, scanning the area as I moved. We turned the corner to find another Megalo waiting. Great. I guess we’re going straight again.
Damn it. Maybe the next corner. Nope. A Magiclad Girl this time.
At first I thought all these Megalo were after me, but maybe this battle had started way before I got here.
Crap. There was no way forward.
“Ayumu!” Haruna looked at me, worry written all over her face.
“Don’t stop,” I said. “Keep moving and think. If we can link up with Big Teach, we’ll be able to handle their numbers.”
“Yeah, Big Teach can one-shot them all!”
One shot? Was she really that strong?
Keeping an eye on both front and back, I pressed forward. There wasn’t much time to think.
Magiclad Girl ahead, Megalo and Vampire Ninja behind. Megalo to the right. Why the hell was everyone after me?
What the hell kind of item was this?! What now? Which path do I take?
“Ayumu! To the right!”
Yeah, that seemed like the easiest path. But I kept looking, hoping for a safer one.
Vampire Ninjas, Megalo, Magiclad Girls—right, front, back. Beyond the lane to the left, just buildings.
“Right’s no good,” I said.
“Then let’s backtrack and go right.”
“No way. Straight—”
“Obviously not! What about left?”
“No good. Even if we get some distance, we can’t take them on without Big Teach.”
“Big Teach is absolutely on the right side.”
“How many things in this world are actually absolute?”
“Magiclad Girls are absolute!”
“Anyway, right’s the only option.”
No. We still had a choice. The mistake was sticking to the roads.
Up. Forget the paths. We head for the open sky. I kicked off the asphalt and leapt.
With a Magiclad Girl’s power, flying was easy. There was no such thing as a wall in the sky.
I felt like I could escape anywhere, until the Megalo and Vampire Ninjas started climbing onto the roofs too.
Yup, they were definitely after me. Still, up here, it was harder to get surrounded.
But I’d taken too long to act. And it turned out, plenty of others had the same idea. The sky was already overrun.
Damn it. It was such a great idea too.
A bird-like Megalo slammed into me, and I dropped into an alley.
A sneak attack. Yeah, nothing I could do about that.
“Ayumu! Are you okay?”
I’d landed shielding Haruna. She pulled me back up.
“Everything but the outfit’s fine,” I said.
All kinds of creatures surrounded us. I didn’t bother to count, just bolted. Straight ahead, no hesitation.
One spin dodged a Magiclad Girl’s grab. I crashed into a Vampire Ninja, almost tripped but pushed through, and dove under a giant Megalo’s legs.
The cemetery was near. And yet today, it felt impossibly far.
“Ayumu! They’re gaining on us!”
I didn’t need to look; Haruna kept me updated. I just held her hand tight and ran.
“Haruna.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Normally, she’d be scowling in fear. But for some reason, she looked like she was having fun.
Even when a wolf Megalo nearly bit her and we jumped just in time. Even when we dodged a Vampire Ninja’s blade and kicked a Megalo out of the way together.
She had the biggest smile on her face.
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