Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de - Volume 2 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Awakening——Anew

Hatoko and I had a special sort of relationship. Society likes to call people like us “childhood friends,” but when I really thought about it, I wasn’t actually all that sure what sort of relationship that even is.

Hatoko had always been a bit of a space cadet, and it felt like I’d always been there to back her up when she needed me. On the other hand, I’d always had a tendency to go way overboard at times, and Hatoko had always been there to calmly watch over me, even when I was at my worst.

We were the same age, of course, but sometimes, it felt like she was my older sister, and sometimes, it felt like I was her older brother. Technically speaking, Hatoko was born just a little bit before me, and whenever her birthday rolled around, she loved to brag about how she was a year older than me for the brief period it lasted.

So, yeah, it was a weird and confusing sort of relationship—but maybe “weird and confusing” is actually the perfect way to define it. That’s why when Sagami told me that he had no idea why we hung out together, I couldn’t bring myself to argue with him. But is that really a problem?

Why did we hang out together? The answer was so obvious, I didn’t even have to think about it: we hung out together because we wanted to.

Five hours had passed since Hatoko went missing. That was hardly a long time in the grand scheme of things, but over the course of those measly five hours, a whirlwind of events had completely turned my sense of priorities on its head and set me thinking about all sorts of things I’d never considered before.

In the end, though, the answer I settled on was the same one I always did: my only move was to keep being myself. And with that decision reached, I thrust out my right hand.

“Wh-What’re you doing, Andou?” Tomoyo nervously asked, blinking with astonishment. “You’re not, like, planning on using your power, are you?”

“I sure am.”

“Wh-What’re you thinking? How could Dark and Dark possibly help us in this situation? Not that there are any situations it could help in, but you know what I mean.”

She was precisely right. Dark and Dark couldn’t help us find Hatoko. I probably don’t even have to say this, but The End wasn’t a people-finding power either.

“Don’t overthink this, Tomoyo,” I said. “I’m just doing the obvious. Using your supernatural power in a supernatural battle’s as basic as it gets. There’s no need whatsoever to think too far outside the box here. Classic plot developments, after all, are classic for a reason!”

“Okay, but what’s that supposed to—”

“Just so you know, I’m about as desperate now as I’ve ever been. The situation’s life or death, and we’ve been dealt a lousy hand. But there’s still just one move left that’ll let us break through the wall before us!”

When the protagonist of a supernatural battle story is backed into a corner, what’s always bound to happen?

“I just have to undergo an awakening!”

That’s all it takes—if I awaken to a new power, the problem’s as good as solved! Yes, the sort of hyper-specific power that makes you want to question whether or not it’ll ever be useful again after the enemy of the week is defeated! Now that’s a classic supernatural battle plot twist if I’ve ever heard one!

“I’m about to awaken to a new power that’ll let me find Hatoko, here and now! Expediency trumps all when the plot’s at stake, right?”

Tomoyo and Sayumi’s eyes widened with shock.

“W-Wait a second, Andou...” said Tomoyo. “Like...what? For real? Are you out of your mind?”

“I’m very sane.”

“B-But, you’re going to awaken? Now? The odds of an awakening being that convenient have gotta be astronomical!”

“You’re wrong there—awakenings are, by their very nature, always timed for the sake of maximum convenience!” Tomoyo’s chiding wasn’t even close to enough to shake my resolve. I was committed.

“Okay, let’s say I cut you some slack—actually, make that a lot of slack—and assume that the sort of awakening you’re talking about is even possible...though wait, I guess you already awakened once, so we sorta already know it is? Not the point! Anyway, you just had an awakening! You seriously think you’ll get another one this soon?!”

“Hmph!” I chortled, brushing her concern off with ease. “When did anyone ever say that you can only have one awakening?”

“Ugh...” Tomoyo didn’t have a comeback for that one.

I clenched my fist with all my might. Let them ridicule me for bowing to plot expediency. Let them slander me for being repetitive and predictable. None of that changes the fundamental truth that...

“When a protagonist is in trouble, they’ll awaken as many times as it takes to get them back out of it!”

That’s just how it works for the sort of protagonists I’ve always looked up to. What sort of sorry excuse for a supernatural power can’t awaken for convenience’s sake every once in a while? What sorry excuse for a supernatural battle story wouldn’t let that happen?!

“Andou...you wouldn’t,” said Sayumi with a scowl. “Surely you don’t mean you intend to use Dark and Dark of the End?”

“What?!” shouted Tomoyo.

I didn’t say a word, so Sayumi continued. “If being driven into a corner is a prerequisite to your plan working, then that power could hardly be more appropriate. Useless though it may be in virtually all conceivable circumstances, the one thing it’s perfect for is putting you in a state of crisis.”

“I mean, yeah, but...sh-she’s wrong, isn’t she, Andou?” stammered Tomoyo.

I kept my mouth firmly shut, thrusting my fist before me once more.

“Don’t! Are you crazy?!” Tomoyo yelled. “You remember what happened last time, don’t you?!”

“Don’t worry. Sayumi’s here, so it’s not like I’m gonna die or anything.” And as long as I don’t die, it’ll all work out...hopefully.

I looked over at Sayumi and found her silently returning my gaze, her eyes filled with sorrow. We had an ally with absolute, ultimate healing abilities on our team, and that left us with no choice but to put her power to practical use. We just had to steel ourselves and treat horrific injury with all the indifference of a Dragon Ball or Shaman King character. No matter how badly we were maimed, she could put us right in an instant. That meant that I could drive myself to the very brink of death while still remaining relatively safe. And if I drove myself that far, an awakening was all but inevitable.

“Th-This isn’t some manga, you know?!” shouted Tomoyo. “You know what using The End would put you through, right? For all we know, you were lucky it didn’t go any farther than just your arm last time!”

“It’s for Hatoko’s sake. I can put up with a little pain if it helps us find her. Besides—this is the punishment I deserve for making her cry.”

“But—”

“Y’know what they call putting your life on the line for the sake of a single girl?” I asked her.

Tomoyo didn’t answer; I gave her a grin. “They call it the goddamn best, that’s what. Stand back, okay?”

I began to concentrate. Tomoyo looked like she still had something to say, but one look at my face was all it took to make her jump with surprise and take a reflexive step back. Jeez, what sort of expression am I making right now?

“Some whisper fearfully of the Lord of Crime and Punishment, while others sing praise to the Sovereign of Sin and Damnation, but know ye this: I am all that, and more! Now, witness me as I bring my all to bear!”

I focused all of my senses into my right arm. I focused my very being into my right arm.

Now—let us begin the end of the beginning!

“I am he who conquers chaos!”

As if reciting a prayer, as if chanting a mantra, I began to intone the Malediction of Unleashing.

“O purgatorial flame that sways upon the brink of the Abyss, O twisted blaze of sable darkness, blighted crimson of deepest night! O howling, maddening inferno that paves the road to oblivion...”

Up to that point, I’d recited the Malediction as normal, but from then on, a slight change was in order. This wasn’t your everyday recitation. It was a Malediction meant to unleash my power’s next stage—a forbidden Malediction.

I guess you haven’t had the chance to hear this version yet, have you, Hatoko? ’Course, I bet you’d just tell me that you don’t understand the point of it all, even if you were here. Still, though, I want you to hear it. So please, hurry up and come back to us!

“...Amidst discord and ruin, we rot within a cradle of sin. Criminals in want of salvation: know ye that your misdeeds beggar atonement! Struggle in vain till you curse the fate that binds you! Raise your festering blade to your worthless throat, wallow in the depths of despair, and cut thine own life to the quick!”

“Dark and Dark of the End!”

I felt it coming. My hair stood on end all across my body, and my senses were honed to a knife’s edge in anticipation of what was to come. I felt as frozen as if I were lost in a blizzard, yet as hot as if I’d leapt into a raging conflagration. I could feel myself sinking, inch by inch, foot by foot, into a bottomless marsh; I could feel my body being carved up, bit by bit, falling to the floor in a heap of so many jigsaw pieces.

Deep within me, a gaping maw was wrenched open, revealing the unfathomable depths of darkness within. And deep within that darkness lurked someone. Someone, yet no one at all—or at the very least, not me by any stretch of the imagination. Whoever they may have been, they were not me. Never.

That someone who was not me, deep within their sea of nihility, beckoned me closer, and I answered their call without hesitation. I knew instinctively that if I were to just take them by the hand, all would come to an end. And so, I reached out, further, to grasp that forbidden power and bring it to—

“Whahuh?!”

Suddenly, the world was turned on its head. My consciousness was forcibly yanked back to reality, and I found myself sprawled out on the ground, staring up at the sky. Sayumi had my right arm firmly within her grip and thoroughly locked in place. I was completely immobilized.

The pieces quickly came together: she’d taken me down with a perfect one-armed shoulder throw. The sort of harsh but gentle throw that hurts like the devil without actually injuring its victim at all.

“Sayumi...” I growled. “Don’t try to stop me.”

“I refuse.”

“Please let me go.”

“I will not.”

“Let go.”

“Shut up.”

Sayumi shot me a glare so cold, it actually gave me chills. From her perspective, of course, I was shooting her the exact same sort of look. After a few seconds of terrifyingly potent tension, though, she loosened her grip and smiled.

“An awakening isn’t something you can approach so lightheartedly, Andou. They’re always exciting developments, certainly, but tossing them out haphazardly one after another is sure to make your readers lose interest in no time at all. You just awakened the other day, so I believe that now is the time for you to step back and exercise some restraint for once.”

“As such,” she continued, “this time, I will go through an awakening.”

☆

“First.”

“Hmm? What is it, Umeko? It’s not every day you decide to talk. If you’re asking for a Hi-Chew, sorry, but I didn’t bring any today.”

“The girl who controls the elements disappeared.”

“...She what, now?”