Episode 6: The Mud Mask

"—These coordinates point to the Philippine Sea."

Ter-senpai nodded while projecting a holographic map display from his ring. Apparently, that ring served as this world's equivalent of a smartphone.

"The Philippine Sea? Whereabouts?"

"A-about 1,000 kilometers east of Davao..."

Ter-senpai, still unable to make proper eye contact with Luna-san, muttered.

"Is there an island or something there? I don't really know geography that well."

"N-no... there's no island on the map. It's just open ocean."

The coordinates pointed to a spot roughly halfway between Palau and the Philippines. But what could possibly be there?

"These coordinates—they're from the vision you saw in your Apocalypse, right? Kotoyorozu?"

"Yes. That's correct."

Ter-senpai rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment.

"Hmph—let's go check it out."

"G-go? How!?"

It was the middle of the ocean with nothing around. Not the kind of place you could reach by normal means.

"Don't underestimate the Illuminati."

Ter-senpai muttered "The problem is Von Simon, though..." as he headed toward the elevator, as if the conversation was already over.

"Hahaha! My curiosity! My intellectual desires are tingling! This is the best!"

He left without explaining further, ignoring us completely as he departed the lab.

"Boo!"

"Gyah!"

Luna-san, wearing the mud mask, tapped me on the shoulder. I let out an embarrassing shriek.

"'Gyah,' she says. Wahaha. Pfft, that's hilarious."

"...Glad you got a laugh outta that."

Ter-senpai had already confirmed that simply touching or wearing the mask didn't trigger anything. I picked up the mask that had been carelessly left on the desk.

(What a strange texture.)

It felt slightly slimy yet smooth at the same time.

××××××

When I picked up the mask, I noticed it was reacting to something.

×e××××ease

A badly garbled string of meaning. I concentrated. Understanding it not as words, but as meaning itself.

Repair me please

The mask was speaking to me. Strange words. A pronunciation I'd never heard before.

"Repair... how do I do that?"

Give me information—give me blood

Blood? I lightly bit my pinky finger and let a single drop fall onto the mask.

"Wha—Kotoyorozu-kun, what are you—"

Luna-san shouted. In that instant.

"—Wha—"

A massive protrusion extended from the mask. It grabbed the back of my head and forced itself onto my face. My vision went black instantly. I immediately tried to tear the mask off my face.

"Guh... ngh... I can't... get it off!"

"Let go! I'll do it!"

Luna-san extended wire from her wrist to pry off the mask.

But before she could.

Commencing Humanity Restoration Protocol

The mask murmured. My vision flickered with light. I felt my consciousness being gripped tightly.

* * *

—The Guide taught us.

Nothing that exists can last forever.

That is why we love the present.

That is why today, too, we offer prayers to the flowers and the spring.

Apparently there will be muffins for our snack today.

Gooong—a great sound echoed.

There stood a massive Guardian.

We knew what it was. A series that had already been banned from sale.

They reached toward us with desperate expressions.

Why? No! Stay away!

Don't touch us! Don't break us! Don't add to our fears!

—Error! Error! Error!

Please halt the Humanity Restoration Protocol! Unidentified elements detected in the subject!

Our hearts are being observed! This is something that must not be touched!

This monster must not be saved! Error! Error! Error!

Halting 'Mask' activity! Report error to Mother Case! Terminating!

* * *

"...Pwah!"

"Kotoyorozu-kun!"

I felt the mask release from my face. I desperately checked my own body while gasping for breath.

(I'm... still me, right? Kotoyorozu Kotoha. ...I'm not that little girl, right?)

That little girl who learned faith from the "Guide" and looked forward to muffin snacks. I had felt my own mind being overwritten by hers. It was absolute terror.

(I... almost had my mind erased!)

The sensation of ceasing to be myself. I couldn't help but vomit my lunch all over the floor.

"A-are you okay...?"

"Cough, cough. More importantly, that mask..."

"Huh?"

"—Destroy it!!"

The moment I shouted, the mask leaped up and tried to attach itself to Luna-san's face.

"The hell!? So gross! Die!"

She pierced the mask's forehead with her steel wire. The mask ceased functioning.

"Hah... hah... phew... Nice save, Luna-san..."

I emptied the rest of my stomach's contents. Luna-san gently stroked my back.

"Hahaha! I have returned, you ignorant masses! ...Nwah! What happened here!?"

Ter-senpai had returned. I explained what I'd seen and experienced to him and Luna-san.

"...Hmm, I see. I've figured out the general situation."

Ter-senpai nodded, picking up fragments of the broken mask.

"This mask's primary property might be 'personality usurpation.' That would explain everything."

"Explain?"

"Why didn't the masks in storage display any anomalous properties? Because every one of them was broken. Then where are the intact ones? Hidden away by the personalities they'd usurped."

"But then, why wasn't I..."

"The reason your personality wasn't usurped is probably because your Whisperer Apocalypse was an incredibly powerful source of noise to them. Necromancy techniques are delicate, after all."

So if I didn't have an Apocalypse, I'd have been replaced by someone else by now? That's scary as hell though.

"...Someone is distributing these things. But for what purpose? This requires investigation."

Ter-senpai smiled. This guy was definitely enjoying this situation.

"So, how exactly are we going to get there?"

Just as Luna-san asked, the elevator doors opened.

"Finally—Von Simon."

Inside the elevator stood a tall man with a troubled expression—Von-senpai. He glared at Ter-senpai, the worry lines on his forehead deepening.

"—Are you an idiot?"

"Wha—"

"You think I can just arrange a research vessel to investigate a Stage 2 Apocalypse!? Coordinate with the Philippine government, you say? Easy for you to say! Do you have any idea how difficult that is!? The amount of groundwork and cover-up operations required!"

Ter-senpai laughed.

"Shut up. Do it."

"Nngaaah."

"Do it."

"...Fine. You want to settle this? Let's go."

Von-senpai drew a gun from his waist. Luna-san and I panicked and tried to stop him.

"It's to protect the world! I have no choice!"

"...How can you say that when your eyes are sparkling with barely concealed curiosity?"

These two apparently had some history between them.

"Haah... you're really going, aren't you?"

"I'm going!"

"Fine. Wait here. I'll figure something out."

Von-senpai sighed as he muttered—wearing a rather malicious smile.

* * *

Above the Philippine Sea. Altitude: 500 meters.

"Woohoo! The ocean is so pretty!"

Koshiba gazed outside excitedly.

"I heard there's this snack called halo-halo in the Philippines! We absolutely have to try it!"

Koito-senpai was completely in vacation mode, scrolling through her phone.

"...H-hey. C'mon, don't be mad. I said my bad, alright?"

The usually arrogant Ter-senpai wore an unusually troubled expression as he bowed his head to the girl at the controls.

This small aircraft—Sleipnir—belonged to Mehleeza Janebekova.

"—It's fine. I always knew you were like this, big brother."

"M-Mef..."

"Haah... this is so embarrassing. Causing trouble for Von-senpai and our whole team."

So Mef and Ter-senpai were siblings. Now that I saw them side by side, they really did look alike—both strikingly good-looking. And apparently Ter-senpai had a bit of a sister complex and couldn't stand up to Mef.

(He looks pretty pitiful. Let me change the subject for him.)

"B-but Mef, this Gunscar is amazing...!"

* * *

Sleipnir (Chalquiruq) [Gunscar]

A Gunscar specialized for "exploration." A massive rifle that can transform into various forms. Its exceptional durability allows it to adapt into vehicles capable of withstanding environments that would destroy ordinary matter. Highly valued within Azure Academy.

* * *

"Wahaha! You've got good eyes, lad! This one is quite formidable!"

The Gunscar could even speak, apparently. A deep male voice with a bold, gallant air.

"This one shall fulfill any role in the name of justice! Show your loyalty, lad!"

"Y-yes, sir..."

Mef sighed.

"Sleipnir—too loud. Big brother—annoying."

"How cruel!" they said in unison.

Sleipnir and Ter-senpai's voices harmonized. Still, the men around Mef were certainly... intense.

"Oh, everyone! Aren't we almost at our destination?"

Koshiba, who had been cheerfully gazing outside, was actually the most attentive one. Mef checked the map. Indeed, this area matched the coordinates the Mud Mask had indicated.

"...There's nothing here, is there?"

Luna-san was right. All around us was blue sky and blue ocean. Beautiful, but that was all.

"Hmm. Then it must be—below."

Ter-senpai murmured.

"Below? —Ah, the deep sea."

Koito-senpai responded.

"How deep is it here?"

"...The seafloor is about 2,000 meters. JAMSTEC from Japan has surveyed this area once before."

Ter-senpai muttered while looking away. Being scolded by his sister Mef while surrounded by women he was awkward around—this was apparently the harassment Von-senpai had arranged. ...A clever and terrifying man indeed.

"2,000 meters, huh. Can you do it, Sleipnir?"

At Koito-senpai's question, Sleipnir laughed heartily.

"Naturally! This one's sense of justice shall yield to no foe!"

"...However, there are complications, Captain."

Mef continued.

"To withstand the deep-sea water pressure, the armor needs to be thickened. Furthermore, the R-value is extremely low in the deep sea, so resources must be allocated to maintaining continuity."

What's an R-value? When I asked Koshiba, she cheerfully replied, "Koshiba is a middle schooler, so Koshiba doesn't know!" Well, if she didn't know, I guess it didn't matter.

"In summary—Sleipnir can only carry two passengers."

Two people. That was a small number. Since Mef had to pilot, one spot was already taken.

"Obviously, Koshiba needs to stay on the surface—"

Koito-senpai murmured. Right, Koshiba's Gunscar was for extraction. Exploration with Sleipnir, return with Shamshir. The two operated as a set.

"There's no point in the weakling Ter going. ...Actually, why did you even come?"

"Whaaat!"

Apparently Ter-senpai was a lab person who normally shouldn't be at field operations. But his insatiable intellectual curiosity couldn't be restrained, so he often showed up at sites anyway.

"Then, shall the Captain come?"

"Me...? Hmm."

Koito-senpai looked vaguely reluctant.

"Um... how long does it take to descend 2,000 meters to the seafloor?"

"At this one's speed, about twenty minutes!"

"T-twenty minutes, huh..."

"Don't tell me," Mef murmured.

"Captain—are you scared?"

"Meep! N-n-no I'm not! I'm totally fine with dark or cramped spaces!"

Koito-senpai shook her head vigorously. Each time, her cherry-blossom pink hair whipped against my face.

"It's just that I don't have any abilities useful for deep-sea exploration. And if I fought down there, I'd destroy the whole submersible, you know?"

"Well, that's true, but..."

"Besides," Koito-senpai continued.

"Besides—my luck is so terrible, I feel like I'd cause something to happen again..."

Something clicked in Mef and Koshiba's heads. They nodded desperately.

"Right! Captain should stay behind for this one!"

"Captain! Please provide support from the rear!"

What? Was Koito-senpai's luck really that bad?

"Then I'll go."

When I said that, the cabin fell silent for a moment. Koshiba spoke first.

"Oh, Koshiba actually agrees! Kotoyorozu-san's Apocalypse is good for exploration."

Apparently I'd earned some credit from the Viscera Apartments incident. That made me a little happy.

"However, are you sure about the lad? Is he not still inexperienced?"

Sleipnir's deep voice resonated.

"W-well, that's true, but... I'm the one who wanted to investigate this Apocalypse in the first place."

Ter-senpai snorted.

"That doesn't matter. Von and I discussed this—something smells off about this Apocalypse. It's about 70% intuition, but I can't shake the feeling there's something going on behind the scenes. ...Honestly, I also think it's too soon for you."

It seemed no one fully trusted me yet.

"But in an unpredictable environment, a future-sight ability would be helpful."

Mef murmured quietly. Koito-senpai said a small "Oh?" and then.

"—Then let's do that."

With just a word from the team leader, the decision was made.

"Hehe, do your best, rookie~"

"Yes!"

—Beside me, Luna-san stared out the window with cold eyes.

* * *

I—Koito Hikari—returned to my hotel around 8 PM.

"Ahhh! That was great!"

"It was!"

Nyao and I had been enjoying the night market in Davao. The hotel was, of course, a resort hotel. Von had made a sour face, but I'm a princess, so I get to be as selfish as I want.

"Fwaaah... Koshiba is getting sleepy..."

"Hehe. Go back to your room. I have something to take care of."

"Roger!" She gave an adorable salute and headed off. I took my market souvenirs to treat a certain cute junior who had definitely not left her room even once.

"Mef— Open up—"

"Captain? Come in."

I entered her room. A small single room. Whenever we went on expeditions, she always holed up alone to organize materials.

"Here, souvenirs. These are called buchi. They were selling them at the market. They're like sesame rice balls. They come in all sorts of flavors and they're delicious!"

"Thank you."

She said it curtly, but her eyes sparkled ever so slightly. Despite her cool demeanor, she had a weakness for snacks.

"Sooo?"

I sat on Mef's bed with a teasing grin.

"...So, what?"

"For someone who hates men, that was unusual. You've taken a liking to Kotoyorozu-kun, haven't you?"

Mef stabbed me with an ice-cold stare. My heart seized up a little.

"It's not like that. I simply thought it was best for the mission."

"Sure, sure. You never would have agreed to that before."

"...Well, that's true."

Oh? I'd honestly just come to tease her, but Mef herself seemed puzzled, tilting her head as if she didn't quite understand her own feelings.

"Captain. You know, I once found a stray dog."

"That's sudden."

"It was still a puppy, about six months old. It had been abused—one eye crushed, covered in wounds, its hind legs crippled. By the time I found it, it was extremely wary and would growl at everything."

Mef did love animals. She especially couldn't ignore injured ones, often nursing them back to health. Though she was also cool enough to slaughter the backyard chickens without hesitation.

"Every time that dog acted out, I thought: 'It can't be helped. Of course it can't trust people.' So I always wanted to be kind to it, but..."

"Mm-hmm."

"He was just as battered as that dog, wasn't he...?"

She meant Kotoyorozu. I still didn't know much about him, but I could tell some things. The way he occasionally limped—old injuries acting up. He couldn't sleep long because of his back pain. And that huge scar on his face! I couldn't even imagine what kind of terrible life he'd lived.

"But that person... when he fell from that ship, he was saving someone, wasn't he?"

"Now that you mention it, I did glimpse something like that. Before he got sucked into the Soul Accumulator."

"Can someone normally... do that? Normally, you'd be more..."

Kindness is like an equal exchange. You can only be kind to others because someone was kind to you first. It's the same nature as hatred, I think.

"...Unable to try to protect anyone."

I thought of Nyao back when she first arrived. She'd been battered too, and it had taken quite a while to get through to her. So I understood how Mef felt, somewhat.

"Grin grin"

—But understanding or not, I couldn't help grinning.

"What's with that vulgar face?"

"So you're saying you're interested? In him?"

"...This isn't that kind of gossip."

Ah, so cute. She genuinely believed that.

(It's not quite love, I suppose.)

But she was interested, I could tell. Like a kitten sniffing a fist extended toward it. How lovely. I shouldn't tease too much, but.

"Ahh~ Romance gossip is so fun~"

"Captain, your head really is full of flowers, isn't it."

Well, yes. Because I lived to enjoy days like this.

"...Tomorrow's operation has a lot of unknowns," she said worriedly.

The perfectionist Mef glanced at the documents scattered on her bed. She'd surely memorized them all by now, but worry kept her hands busy.

"Mef—adventures have to be fun, you know?"

"What?"

"I mean, beneath our shadows lurk countless demons and monsters, and the world might end tomorrow. No point being gloomy about it!"

I felt like someone had told me that once, long ago. I couldn't remember who, but I felt certain it had been someone very important.

"So let's think about fun things. Once we're done tomorrow, we're going full tourist mode. And at night, we'll gossip about romance~ Don't you want to know what kind of guys Nyao likes? It's a mystery!"

"...Hehe."

"What?"

"Just thought—maybe that's why you're so strong, Captain."

Had I relaxed her a bit? I offered Mef a snack, and after a slight frown, she took it and popped it in her mouth.

"Oh, yummy."

"Right~?"

I wished this girl could fall in love without a single doubt about the future someday, but that was already impossible. The universe would definitely end soon.

"Hey, Mef."

"Yes?"

"—I'm invincible. Just believe that. And never forget it, okay?"

So I wished, at least, to protect these days until she noticed her own faint stirrings of love.

* * *

I noticed the weight on my stomach late at night.

"Oh, you're awake?"

The moment I woke up, I was startled. Luna-san was straddling me with a carefree grin.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing!?"

"Mm. Well. Let's see... a little midnight crawl?"

"Nwah!"

Watching me panic so obviously, Luna-san laughed with amusement.

"Wahaha, just kidding. You're really fun to tease, y'know? So innocent it makes big sis worry sometimes. Whoa, being all protective is kinda gross lol."

Luna-san sat on the edge of the bed. She showed me a cigarette pack and asked, "Mind if I...?" When I nodded, she lit it with an antique lighter.

"...So, what's up? This late at night?"

"Mm... well, how should I start."

With a motion that suited her surprisingly well, she drew the cigarette smoke deep into her lungs.

"Okay, strip. Clothes off."

"...Huh?"

"C'mon! Off!"

"Gyaah!"

Luna-san forcibly stripped off my clothes. This situation felt familiar.

"Ah!"

"What?"

"...Kotoyorozu-kun, your nipples are kinda small and cute."

"Don't look!"

Luna-san laughed as she turned my uniform inside out and fiddled with it.

"—Knew it. There it is."

She murmured. In her hand was a cheap-looking sticker.

"That's from Shamshir!"

"The ability to swap a target with a bullet. Right? I saw her use it at the goddess's temple too."

Why was Koshiba's ability target on my uniform? No—if I thought about it, it was obvious.

"So this sticker was put on me... so they could capture me anytime I tried to run."

"Ding ding~ Smart boy. There, there."

If I fled far away, they could just use Shamshir to bring me back. For extraction. For combat. And apparently, for tracking too. What a convenient Gunscar!

"...Honestly, I thought it was weird. We're supposedly Apocalypses, but they gave us complete freedom with no surveillance at all. So there was insurance after all."

"But now the conditions are met. 'We can't be tracked.' 'We're on the ground.' Koito's team doesn't know we've found this target. A once-in-a-lifetime chance."

"What do you mean?"

I pretended not to understand. Even though her meaning was clear.

"...Phew. Fine. I'll just say it."

Luna-san intertwined her fingers with mine.

"—Wanna run away together? From here."

Languid eyes. An empty smile. She peered into my eyes.

~♪ ~♪ ~♪

I instinctively read her mind, but she was singing "Scarborough Fair" in her head. Such a clever person. I couldn't read her specific intentions.

"What you want is 'youth,' right, Kotoyorozu-kun?"

"Y-yes... that's right."

"Not fighting some dumb monsters and dying."

That was true. I didn't want that.

"So let's run away together. Let's go home. I'll take you."

"...Luna-san."

"We can live normal lives there. Be a normal high school student. Make friends. Join clubs. Maybe get lucky and find a girlfriend. Worry about exams, worry about the future—just muddle through until you're an adult."

Luna-san opened the window. The night breeze carried the sounds of Davao's frogs and insects to my ears.

"I want you to be happy, y'know."

The cigarette smoke swayed in the wind.

"...It's impossible. We definitely can't escape the Apocalypse Stagnation Committee. I mean, you saw it too, right, Luna-san? Their technology. They control the world from the shadows."

"Yeah. It'd be really hard. But wouldn't that be better than being used as their pawns?"

She had a point. The Apocalypse Stagnation Committee was insane. They clearly had no intention of treating human lives or rights properly.

They'd thrown away every other rule to protect the world.

"So let's run! This is crazy. Why do you have to be involved in any of this? Y-you're... just a kid... This is... wrong..."

She was beautiful, I thought. Her voice sounded like she was about to cry, yet she kept that hollow smile. She must have been forcing herself to smile for days now.

"Hey, let's go. Kotoyorozu-kun. If you'll come with me, I'll..."

The moonlight illuminated her sad smile.

"—I'll spend my whole life protecting you."

This person. This beautiful, kind person. She really would do it.

(Running from the Apocalypse Stagnation Committee with Luna-san. Traveling to the ends of the earth.)

That sounded so fun. It would be happiness.

That's why it wasn't for me.

"...I'm sorry... Luna-san... I..."

"Yeah."

"I... my mouth... my mouth has... always... this taste of blood..."

I sometimes almost forgot, but whenever I was alone, it was always there.

"Honestly, I was... kind of relieved."

"..."

"There are people risking their lives to protect everyone."

"...Don't. Don't say it."

"If I could become like them—"

Then maybe, finally.

"Maybe this taste of blood will finally go away."

I'd hurt a hundred, maybe two hundred people.

So now I'd save ten thousand, twenty thousand.

Without doing at least that much, I couldn't even get to the starting line.

There's no way I could ever become a good person... not even if I died...

"That's your delusion. There's no end to that atonement."

"E-even so... I have to, don't I? Otherwise—"

"There's no one who doesn't deserve to be happy!"

Luna-san shouted, looking like she might cry. It was as if she was telling herself too. Right. She and I were cut from the same cloth.

I forced a hollow grin. Just like Luna-san always did.

"Sorry. I think I'll try a little longer here."

"...You'll die."

"..."

"You... you'd probably even welcome that..."

If I could die for someone, I'd probably cry tears of happiness.

"But this isn't just negativity, you know. I feel like my 'youth' is somewhere up ahead. I'm walking toward hope, in my own way."

Luna-san laughed and touched my cheek.

"You're an idiot."

She stroked me gently, gave me a light forehead flick, and swung her legs up onto the windowsill.

"Bye-bye."

"Yeah. Take care of yourself too."

Her hair danced in the darkness of night. I wanted to never forget this sight.

"Instead of 'I'll protect you'—"

She smiled. It was a beautiful smile.

"—If I'd asked you to 'protect me' instead, you would've come with me, wouldn't you?"

But I like that about you. That you can't be that cunning.

(Time to sleep.)

She melted into the darkness and moonlight.

Tomorrow, assembly was at 5 AM. I couldn't be late—I was the newbie, after all.