Volume 14, 3: The Girls’ Desires and Their Intersection - Winner’s_“APPLE”.(2/2)
Calm down, Kamijou told himself.
He had been presented with this question more than enough during his fight with full-power Othinus. He had been told again and again that, had he not saved the girls and someone else had instead, they would have followed that other person and not him. He had been told the good will turned his way was nothing more than that.
But he had overcome that.
He would not be swallowed up by a comparison like that.
Kamisato Kakeru was not Kamijou Touma.
“If I say those girls started liking me after I saved them, it makes you want to argue back at me, doesn’t it? It sounds like I’m saying I had control over a switch in their hearts, doesn’t it? But what if I put it another way?”
Kamisato continued in a disinterested voice.
“Hey, Kamijou-kun. What if you had never saved anyone in your entire life? Do you think anyone would have turned your way? Are you conceited enough to think you’re such a perfect model, inside and out, that so many people would have accepted you if you were just standing there?”
“...”
“You aren’t, are you? Everyone’s focus on the individual named Kamijou Touma truly comes from the fact that you saved someone. They’re judging your personality, physical strength, reflexes, intelligence, philanthropy, or courage based on that action. In other words, you cannot escape saving people. As a person, you are inextricably attached to the act of saving. That is what I’m talking about. After all...”
Kamisato paused for a moment.
Then he confidently spoke to the person he was comparing himself to.
“Kamijou Touma is nothing more than the kind of normal high school boy you can find anywhere.”
Kamijou’s mind was shaken.
He hated the fact that he could not deny it.
He only needed to look at it in reverse.
Kamisato was not questioning what Kamijou Touma had done.
He was saying it was strange for a normal high school boy to have continued doing that for so long. A normal high school boy should have died somewhere along the line, so he had to have something special to have continued for so long.
That something was what resided in his right hand.
If that something was taken from him, he truly would be dragged down to the level of a normal high school boy.
And the important part was not whether he had that power in his right hand or not.
The important part was what Kamisato was truly trying to say.
Yes.
“We did not gain these powers because we chose them.”
“...”
“They came from the dreams of all magicians. Or to be more specific, the Magic Gods who individually make up a large percentage of that power. Their selfish desires created these strange powers and placed them in our right hands. And that power twists the actions of the girls around us, creating this ridiculous harem army. Like with Patricia, even those who have some other important person are forcibly dragged into it until they unwaveringly obey that single path. ...Goddammit!!”
Kamisato kicked over a nearby trashcan.
Was he acting unlike himself because he was irritated or because the presence of his right hand was making him bolder?
“Can you allow that? Can you allow the world to revolve around a single person, where everything is overwritten for that one person’s convenience without a thought given to anyone else’s situation? Can you, Kamijou Touma!? I didn’t want to be the center of all these girls’ attention. I was fine not speaking with my childhood friend and not having any real connection to that shy gardening club member in my class. The normal scenery surrounded me where normal people freely used their normal hearts. I was satisfied living as a mere part of that!! But!! Those Magic Gods interfered!! They were probably grinning as they discussed it. They were probably saying they’d make me popular to make up for the complicated role they were forcing onto me. They probably thought it was a small thank you, a bit of an extra reward. That’s all. That’s all? That’s all it took to twist people’s thoughts and emotions to your will!? Those gods would be forgotten to history if no one worshiped them and they have the nerve to invade the human heart!!!!?”
Kamijou sort of understood.
Kamisato Kakeru had the power to reap Magic Gods by the dozen, but that was only the method. He had also needed a reason to take such extreme action. If he had started annihilating the Magic Gods, it meant he had a reason worth using that method.
This was where the core of his hatred lay.
He did not care about the fate of the world. He had no interest in some legendary battle.
Someone close by had been toyed with.
Even if he had no real connection to them, those “respectable people” who lived by their own free will had been remade into simple actors to win his favor. Time and again, he had seen someone with a solid will have their heart turned into something like a fried and freeze-dried pack of food. How long he had known them was irrelevant. Whether they were a childhood friend who he had known for more than decade or a girl he happened across on the road just today, they were affected equally, uniformly, identically, and indiscriminately.
Did he think the power in his hand would vanish if he defeated all of the Magic Gods who had created that twisted dream?
Or did that not matter and he simply wanted to take revenge for what they had done?
But...
“Hey, Kamisato.”
“What?”
“I can’t see into alternate realities, so I don’t entirely understand this talk of things being twisted from how they ‘should have been’. I’ve sometimes felt people expected an awful lot from a mere high school boy, but that doesn’t prove what – if anything – that had to do with the power in my right hand or the wishes of the Magic Gods. There’s no debug mode for life. You can’t add in and remove each individual factor.”
“That’s called being conceited, Kamijou Touma. You...no, we have nothing outside of our right hands.”
“Then...”
Kamijou no longer faltered at what he was being told.
He felt like he had grasped a vague outline of something from this conversation.
“What exactly do you want to tell everyone?”
...................................................................................................................................................................................................
“Eh?”
“You’re saying a lot of complicated stuff, but if you sum it up, it comes out to this: no one’s saying what you want them to, and you don’t like it. You can’t forgive the Magic Gods for twisting things in a direction you weren’t expecting. They ruined your plans, so you’re going to go punch them. ...Hey, in that case, what did you even expect of the world?”
“What...are you...?”
“How are we supposed to know what’s deep in people’s hearts? We can’t use Psychometry or some kind of magic to read residual thoughts. All of those initial conditions you mentioned are nothing but your predictions, right? You’d stopped speaking with your childhood friend? Maybe she had wanted to speak with you like this the entire time. You were happy just watching the gardening club member? Maybe she actually wanted to grow flowers with you. Hey, Kamisato, why can’t you look at things in a positive light? Maybe the Magic Gods did distort something, but they might have only given those girls the last little push they needed. How long you know someone means nothing when it comes to trust. A girl you happened across on the road just today might simply have wanted to thank you for bothering to work so hard to help a stranger.”
“What are you talking about, you moron!?”
Kamisato Kakeru shouted at him like he could not believe what he was hearing.
He placed a hand on the side of his neck.
“How conceited are you? We’re nothing but the kind of normal high school boys you can find anywhere. We’re average or below in everything. And you think someone would fall in love with a person like that? You think this ridiculous harem is a natural thing and the Magic Gods only gave the girls the last little push? What kind of convenient fantasy world do you live in? Or have they already poisoned you and tamed you this much?”
“Like I’m saying.”
This time, Kamijou cut in.
“Why can’t the girls around you look up to the kind of normal high school boy you can find anywhere?”
“...”
“There’s no rule saying they can’t. You made up that limitation yourself. You’re the one that assumed you have nothing, you’re the one that assumed no one around you would feel thankful, and you’re the one that assumed nothing like this could happen to you!! You don’t have to be an idol or a sports star. Everyone in the world thinks they’re amazing. Now, I can’t say anything about the people around me because the two of us are different. But at the very least, don’t you think the people around you who could say, or wanted to say, that they loved you would see that as enough of a reason to gather around you!?”
It was a hopeless argument.
It had no evidence or proof.
But that was normal. They were talking about the human heart, after all.
When talking about who someone looked up to, thought was amazing, or fell in love with, you did not need to take fingerprints or extract DNA data from a hair.
“Hey, did you ever actually check with this Claire, Elza, and whoever else there is? Did you go around asking each one? ‘You originally hated me, didn’t you? There’s something wrong with this cooperative relationship, isn’t there? Your good will and feelings for me are fake, aren’t they? They’re all due to this right hand the Magic Gods gave me, aren’t they?’ Hah! I’d bet my life that you’d be lucky to only get a slap in return. Of course, it still looks to me like you need a serious punch from someone at some point.”
A sound like a dry branch breaking rang through the night.
It had come from Kamisato Kakeru’s neck.
He had been unable to crack that joint before, but he had just forced it with a powerful swing of his head and the same grinding as a manual transmission’s gearstick reached his entire palm.
“...Heh.”
World Rejecter’s lips twisted up into a smile.
He had previously spoken with an overly-familiar tone like they were creepily licking each other’s wounds, but it was gone now.
The two of them were similar, but they were decisively different.
The annoyance and disgust with this similar person covered his face.
“I had thought I could lighten this burden a little if I spoke with someone in similar circumstances.”
“Sorry, but we’re completely different. No two people are the same. The fact that you judge people using something so shallow is proof that you weren’t actually looking at me as a person. You were only looking at my right hand. You only view the world through your selfish ideas of being different or being the same and you force the image and role you want for yourself onto your surroundings.”
“But it turns out we’re different. We’re fundamentally different. You have been poisoned by your gift from the Magic Gods. You see nothing wrong with receiving it and you don’t question it. It’s made you so conceited that you’re satisfied being surrounded by convenient girls. You’re nothing but scum.”
“Let me sum up what you’ve got wrong. What do you understand about others? No one understands that. Not even the Magic Gods do. Don’t get so conceited, Kamisato Kakeru.”
“Don’t look down on me while clearly trying to defend your worldly desires, harem accepter. Can’t you tell which one of us is deciding how others feel for their own convenience?”
The two boys’ gazes clashed.
They looked like they were about to lash out at each other.
“Have you forgotten?” asked Kamisato as if spitting out some cumbersome curse. “It was the Magic Gods who gave me this power. A portion of your power leaked over to me because they lost hope in you. If not for that beginning, I never would have had this power, my surroundings would not have been distorted, people like Patricia, who must have already had someone they truly cared about, would not have had their hearts overwritten. In other words, you too stand at the scene of the outbreak.”
“So you’re going to kill me too? It’s true I might be part of the cause. Maybe my own cowardice caused World Rejecter to be made. But I refuse to apologize to you. Kamisato Kakeru, you were meant to wield that power. You should thank the Magic Gods for giving you the chance to realize something you wouldn’t have realized on your own and for giving the one last push those girls needed to gather their courage and take that first step.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“Are you trying to act tough, you ungrateful bastard?”
They were talking about gods here.
If the gods went on a rampage, they might harm people, but there was something wrong if that was the only way they were being described. If they truly were gods, then this turn of events was not that strange.
A god’s role was to make people happy.
Even without some special circumstances, they would bring happiness to people.
They used their great power to make the difference between god and man known.
In Kamijou’s battle with full-power Othinus, the most frightening world had been the one of happiness. When the High Priest had talked about their “scorer”, he had mentioned the right to control destiny as a reward. Whatever the reason might have been, the Magic Gods were beings who spread happiness.
So...
Somewhere in their hearts, it was possible the Magic Gods had thought about using Kamisato Kakeru. They might have had the pathetic idea of acquiring a backup.
But at the same time, they would have felt a little bad for doing so. It may have not reached the surface of their arrogant minds, but there must have been a thorn somewhere in their hearts. So they had sent out that small push toward happiness. That was the identity of the changes around Kamisato Kakeru.
Why could he not consider that kinder possibility?
He was like a small child talented in the piano or violin who pouted his lips wishing that talent was not keeping him from playing with the others.
Where did the fault lay? With the Magic Gods? With the world? With the girls surrounding Kamisato? With the people carrying all sorts of problems who had happened across him while wandering about and had asked him for help?
No.
That was not the case.
Kamijou Touma stared straight at his enemy.
He glared at him and thought to himself.
The fault obviously lies with the weakness of his own heart.
He had been unable to rid himself of doubt because he could not trust in others.
He had settled on a pitiful definition of himself because he could not trust in himself.
He had placed a defensive line in his heart, insisted that nothing that was happening could possibly be real, and was too afraid to accept the happiness before his eyes. He had wanted to believe that they did not actually love him because he wanted to avoid the shock of finding out that: “Pfft. You actually believed it? The Magic Gods set this all up.”
In truth, he had wanted it more than anything, but he would look like a fool if he got all excited about the love letter in his shoe locker and it turned out to be nothing but a cruel prank.
So in his fear of that possibility, he had torn the letter to shreds and desperately tried to justify it with his suspicion of everything.
It was possible the girl who had sent the letter was crying somewhere, but he was afraid of even thinking of that possibility and instead desperately viewed them as a villain in his mind.
Kamijou Touma then summed up all of his thoughts.
“You idiot.”
A moment later, the world ignited.
A deafening explosive roar rang through Academy City’s night.
Kamisato Kakeru had not even swung his right arm.
A carnivorous plant large enough to swallow an elephant rushed from the darkness like a wall.
Kamijou negated the giant maw with his right hand.
Did it have no sense of pain or had it swallowed the pain behind its expressionless face?
“...”
The plant girl stood below a streetlight a short distance away with her glasses giving off an inorganic sparkle. Her white dress was blowing in the night breeze.
Kamisato placed a hand on the side of his neck as he spoke.
“I had intended to offer to spare you if you handed over the Magic Gods you’re sheltering, but I doubt you would agree to that.”
“Like hell I would.”
“Then this means war. I don’t care if this is your home. I need to settle things with the Magic Gods who did this to those girls.”
Nothing Kamijou could say now would get through to Kamisato, so he said something else instead.
“You mentioned a Patricia. Then are you familiar with the family name Birdway?”
“Of course. I know it very well.”
That was enough for Kamijou to grasp the basic situation.
That was one more point of opposition between them.
And then he continued.
“Then why did you choose to help her? I thought you disliked the saving power the Magic Gods gave you.”
“It’s true I didn’t gain this power because I wanted it. If I could rid myself of it now, I would. And I do need to pay a visit to the Magic Gods who forced it onto me.”
Kamisato spat out his response.
“But that doesn’t mean I can abandon someone who needs help.”
“...”
“That too will act as revenge against the Magic Gods who abandoned everything with a smile on their faces,” he muttered. “And if you happen to know a Leivinia Birdway, then ask her for some more details about the situation. Given your personality, I doubt you would be innocently agreeing to help her if you knew the whole story. You need to ask for all the information.”
That was all.
Kamisato Kakeru left Kamijou and the plant girl named Claire walked alongside him. As his back faded into the distance, more and more people joined him, creating a single large group. There was a girl with a large pirate hat, an eyepatch over her right eye, and a miniskirt. There was a girl in pajamas with a ton of antennae sticking out of her backpack and unnatural surgical scars on her neck. There was a ghost girl in white floating inside an artificial mist machine. There was a girl dressed exactly like Magical Powered Kanamin. There was a cheerleader girl with plastic pompoms. There was a girl in red Japanese armor with swords attached all over her body. There was a phantom thief girl dressed in full-body tights. They were all from a different world not centered on Kamijou Touma. That world existed somewhere besides Academy City and may have covered as much ground as Kamijou’s own world. Before long, the group vanished into the darkness.
After watching them leave and finding himself all alone, Kamijou spoke to himself.
“Oh.”
Hadn’t Nephthys said that Imagine Breaker had not resided in Kamijou Touma by chance? Hadn’t she said something had drawn it to him and that Kamisato Kakeru may have had something similar inside him?
And that was...
“He really is a hero loved by everyone.”
Kamisato simply had not realized it.
And ironically, even as Kamijou Touma watched that other boy leave, he had not realized the same about himself.
Today’s Hotpot Party, Ingredients List 4
Soy sauce. Miso.
Chicken breast, daikon, bok choy, cabbage, bean sprouts, shirataki, tofu.
Bouillon, salt, sugar, pepper, champon noodles
Bargain vanilla ice cream, canned yellow peaches, canned pineapple, canned mandarin oranges. (For dessert)
Fish sausage.
Cannibalization Fruit (Made by Leivinia Birdway, rare item)
(Quick Memo)
Kamijou Touma: It’s a miracle. We’re right back to square one!!”
Othinus: This is a good example of how seemingly good ideas from you rarely lead anywhere worthwhile.”
Between the Lines 3
The religion of Egyptian mythology had been lost to the long, long span of history, but it had fortunately left behind plenty of records. They had been well preserved and great progress had been made in their analysis, so their system of gods, their rituals, and their views of life and the soul had been gathered together.
It was also a geographically convenient religion.
For Western Europe and its modern Western magic, that mysterious world was only a quick trip across the Mediterranean. In fact, a trip across the sea was not necessarily needed. For a variety of reasons, many of the monuments and burial items were preserved by museums and collectors across Europe.
That was much easier to access than Tibet which required crossing the Eurasian continent using the Silk Road or South America that required crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
That may have been part of the reason that it had become a treasure trove of breakthroughs for magicians who had hit a dead end and could take a quick overseas trip.
The Aeons of Isis, Osiris, and Horus.
When was it that the man who divided the world’s chronology into those eras had crossed the sea and arrived in the desert?
When was it that he had experimented in summoning a great demon no one had ever heard of?
However, there was a certain brown goddess who would appear where she pleased, identify with people as she pleased, and weep for them as she pleased. And for once, she was laughing.
“Oh, dear. You don’t hear those three names often these days.”
It was a little too enchanting to call it a nostalgic smile.
That bewitching woman’s smile contained some thorns and venom.
“As someone who joined them as a created divinity, I can only pray that the legends he knows have not been distorted from the originals.”
Nephthys had no success or failure.
Nephthys had no fortune or misfortune.
Nephthys had no peace or trouble.
But if she ever saw someone fail before her eyes, a certain thought would reach her.
It was such a simple thought that she would forget about it as easily as it appeared in her mind.
She would want to weep for that person.
Just as she always did.
But was that enough?
Truly?