Volume 9, Ending X-01: Light the Fuse

Volume 9, Ending X-01: Light the Fuse

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(Ending X-01 Open 08/23 12:00)

1. The White Queen had gone to the trouble of using the business hotel.

2. She had used the window to escape.

3. She had not returned to the small house.

It sounded simple enough, but those facts hinted at something important. How about we figure out what that is? If the White Queen would die from lack of food or sleep, she would not be such a menace, so she had to be mimicking a human lifestyle for fun or for some other reason. The fact that she used the window to escape meant she still had some attachment to these coordinates - that is, the rural city. If she had wanted to, she could have grown wings or split the dimension to escape to the other side of the planet. And she was not interested in the small house. She had gone somewhere else.

So where in the rundown rural city had the White Queen gone while mimicking a human lifestyle?

One only had to follow the local residents.

Where most of them gathered was where the White Queen was most likely to appear.

So it was only a matter of time before Shiroyama Kyousuke showed up there.

The shopping center’s fountain plaza was surrounded by tall colosseum-like walls. It was the ultimate public stage where many other people were walking around, oblivious to the danger around them.

“The afternoon Colorful Sentai Hero Show begins at 2! An unexpected helper might just make an appearance. Do not let your guard down just because you saw the morning show. Your cheers fill the heroes with strength!!”

A cheerful announcement was playing.

How much easier would life be if good and evil were so clearly defined?

Shiroyama Kyousuke and Meinokawa Aoi.

The White Queen, Shigara Masami, and Biondetta.

“It has been too long, brother.”

“Yes.”

They finally met after her journey to learn what it means to be human.

She wore a thin casual dress with her legs bare. Her silver hair was tied in twintails by cheap hair ties. She held her hands behind her back as she spoke to him.

Meanwhile, Shiroyama Kyousuke made his response.

“It really does feel like a long time since we last met.”

Was that because he had reviewed the events in that small house and regained the blotted-out faces of his mother and little sister?

What would have happened if the White Queen had chosen his little sister instead?

Or what if no one’s wish had been answered and the summoning had failed?

His life would have ended there without him ever breaking free of the small cage built by Doctor S. He was only here now because the White Queen had protected him.

In the end, it was all the same as the Queen’s Miniature Garden.

He had been weak. His strength had not been enough. He lived his life now on the backs of so many sacrifices. And the White Queen had taken on the dirty job of protecting his young life.

[You cannot defeat the White Queen with simple hatred,] said Shigara Masami while toying with the whistle around her neck. [And, Kyousuke-kun, you must have realized by now that you are not driven by some grand objective of saving the world. This is all about that one scene in that small house. Kyousuke-kun, what did you gain by learning how it all began? Did you see a single continuous line following the long, long path you have taken from the Queen’s Miniature Garden to the Colorless Little Girl?]

“…”

Everyone was telling him to accept it.

It was okay if it was embarrassing and pathetic.

He just had to be honest about the feelings in his heart. This was not about Blood-Signs or a fight to the death with a being that existed beyond the gods. He needed to gather his courage for some other purpose.

Would he say it?

Could he say it?

Was a happy ending really an option after so many people had been hurt? Could he say “all’s well that ends well” and sweep aside the resentment and sorrow of the victims?

“How?”

Finally, he forced out the words.

“How did it all get so twisted around?”

“Boy.”

“Isn’t it because both of you were too powerful?”

Meinokawa Aoi started to say something, but Biondetta cheerfully interrupted her.

“I mean, when a teenager goes through a rebellious phase, they eventually grow out of it because it gets to be too much to bear, so they give up and compromise at some point, right? But that didn’t happen with you two. Whenever you challenged things, you actually got results. So you could keep going and going without ever hitting the wall. If you’re blindfolded and walking through the darkness, you’ll just keep walking forever if your hands never feel anything ahead of you. Even if there really are walls there and you’re breaking through them without realizing it.”

Between friends, lovers, and married couples, there was always someone who took the initiative. They might claim to be equal, but they could not actually relax without a defined position for themselves. That was what happened in the battle between Shiroyama Kyousuke and the White Queen. No, they did have defined positions. The White Queen should have held the initiative. But Kyousuke refused to accept it. And he refused to listen even when the Queen offered to let him have it. The boy could not even measure the distance between them until they had settled things once and for all in combat.

He viewed everything through the lens of combat.

He could only think in those extremely simple terms.

“Think, worry, and doubt.”

Biondetta winked at him and circled behind the White Queen.

She grabbed those slender shoulders and gave her a push toward Kyousuke.

It was all wrong.

None of them were even talking about how large the cocoon had grown.

“You might not be able to make sense of your feelings, but it actually helps a lot that you can’t reach a simple answer and freeze up. Nya ha ha ha!!”

“Ah, wait!?”

[Kyousuke-kun is showing us exactly how he feels, Queen. But are you just going to go hide in hedgehog mode again?]

“~ ~ ~”

The White Queen bit her lip and blushed.

She still had her hands behind her back, so she must have been hiding something there. Her eyes wandered nervously around, but she finally seemed to make up her mind.

She held it out.

It was a small box with red wrapping paper and a black ribbon.

She was too preoccupied to worry about the short hem of her white casual dress. She restlessly rubbed together her bright and dangerously-exposed thighs.

“Um, uh, you see, brother, I know this must be a surprise, but if…if, um, you like, could you calm down some and, um, well, try not to smash it on reflex and, uh, accept this? I would, um, very much appreciate it.”

Would this change anything?

These feelings and emotions seemed entirely removed from the Blood-Sign Summoning Ceremony, so were they really so important?

What had inspired this in her?

And.

How was he supposed to solve this mystery?

He closed his eyes once.

And he decided how he should respond to the changing times.

“I…”

He spoke from the core of his being and it felt like he was squeezing out his own blood.

This might have been far, far more difficult for him than rationally constructing the Colorless Little Girl.

The times were changing.

So the world would change too.

Shiroyama Kyousuke looked the White Queen straight in the eye and made another attempt at saying it.

“I loved…”

“Ah.”

The White Queen thought those words were going to stop her heart.

Her eyes widened.

“Um.”

Even the nape of her neck grew pink.

Her mouth flapped wordlessly like she was having trouble breathing.

She did her best to suppress the tremor in the bright thighs below her casual dress, tears welled up in her eyes, and she tried to get confirmation just like a normal ordinary girl.

“So you mean, um…I, uh, I know I started this, but what am I supposed to do now?”

And.

And.

And.

The boy raised his head and gathered all his strength.

Shiroyama Kyousuke shouted his true feeling at the top of his lungs.

“I really did!! I loved Shigara Masami!!!!!”

[Huh?]

This was so unexpected that the ponytail woman’s mind went entirely blank, her eyes widened, and she started shaking.

She could no longer remain an outsider and let the young boy and girl handle the rest.

[Huhhhhhhhh!!!???]

It was the surprise attack to end all surprise attacks.

Shigara Masami was too shaken to calm herself, but Shiroyama Kyousuke was not done yet.

“I loved Biondetta too.”

“Oh.”

Meinokawa Aoi finally figured out what was going on.

She looked like someone who had overlooked the hints and allowed some major mistake to occur.

“Same for Shiroyama Kyoumi, Alberto, Claudia, and Cain!! I loved all of them. I couldn’t protect my real mother or little sister… I wanted a family!! Doctor S had denied me that in that small house and he branded me defective, saying I could never have one!! But I thought I could redo everything in the Queen’s Miniature Garden! I was touched by the Queen’s smile and supported by Shigara Masami, so I thought I could rely on that! But godd*mn it all!! It just kept happening. I knew it wouldn’t work, but I still didn’t give up! I was such an idiot. I was driven out of that small house, the Queen’s Miniature Garden was destroyed, and then I just kept spouting nonsense about girls and Alices or whatever the hell, but I was really just living in a dream and chasing after illusions!! Yes, that’s right. When I saw Biondetta and Shigara Masami had turned against me here, I felt betrayed! Even though you’re not really my family!! Laugh if you want. I was nothing but a pathetic baby!!!!!”

Love came in different forms.

If Sinceria and Olivia had been here, they would have understood what Isabelle had meant.

My impression of Shiroyama Kyousuke? Hmm (deadpan).

A baby?

“I didn’t want some dangerous girlfriend. I only ever wanted one thing.”

He clenched his teeth.

He felt like he was facing his own weakness in the mirror.

So he did not hold anything back in what he said.

“I wanted a family that would keep me away from danger!! And weren’t you the one who always destroyed that, White Queen!? So no matter how unreasonable it might be and even if what you brought me was true love, I could never accept it! It was nothing but fear!! I didn’t want the love of some girlfriend who comes marching in and tears my family apart!!!!!!”

Meinokawa Aoi knew this was very bad.

She had not wanted to see Shiroyama Kyousuke and the White Q lash out at each other until they destroyed each other. She had hoped they would find some kind of emotional compromise.

(Are…)

But this was not at all what she had expected.

The situation must have already left Shigara Masami’s control.

There was no stopping it. Not even by Shiroyama Kyousuke or the White Queen. The situation would only deteriorate from here. Like the beginning of a nuclear war no one had wanted.

(Are you kidding me? I can’t imagine this happened by accident. What is this? It’s like a nightmare drawn on construction paper with red and black crayon. Whose scenario is this!?)

Just as Aoi was starting to dodge the issue by anthropomorphizing this disaster so she had someone to direct her hatred at, her thoughts started to grasp something.

It felt like a strange tingle down her spine.

“Bring it on.”

But before she could figure anything out, Shiroyama Kyousuke pushed it.

He pushed the switch of doom that had to be avoided at all costs.

“Bring it on, love monster!! The cocoon and Colorless Little Girl are secondary. You haven’t done anything wrong. I admit it. Your love is probably real. But I still have something to say to you. I will protect my family. How many of my loved ones do you have to kill before you’re satisfied? If you’re gonna do it, then bring it directly to me. So bring it the hell on, you utter monster!!!!!”

Silence.

Silent silence.

Silent silent silence.

How did the White Queen view this situation?

With Shigara Masami and Biondetta’s encouragement, she had revealed her weak and soft side, worked up the courage to buy a present, and even hoped he would accept it, but this was how he responded. Oh, dear. I failed again, did I? That’s too bad. But we are family and not lovers, so it works out, doesn’t it? I suppose I will enjoy watching my beloved brother struggling to escape from me yet again☆ Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

How much of that was true and how much was a fantasy?

The distinction hardly mattered anymore.

What had she gained from her journey to learn what it means to be human?

Nothing at all.

“…”

Left all alone in her own world, even the ringing in her ears was gone.

There was nothing at all there.

“………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

And.

And.

And.

The White Queen crushed and shattered the bunny mug in its gift wrapping.

“Why is it always love this and romance that with you? Is that all you’ve got in your head? Is your brain nothing but romance? Oh, I see, I see. Is that it? Yeah, it’s always fun supporting love, isn’t it? Well, screw that! Is that what all of the crap with your worshipers has been about? Some cheap pickup artist technique where you have someone cause trouble so you can swoop in and save me!? It’s so cliché even Shakespeare would steer clear! Apologize! Apologize to the world! How do you think Azalea or The Saint would feel if they heard this!? You should really learn how to feel shame! It’s always about you, isn’t it!? Is bringing a guy and girl together really that noble a goal!? Wow, and is that what the whole White Queen thing is about!? Is it supposed to give you a bridal image!? You exist beyond every last god, so why the hell are you focus on the one religion and culture when it comes to that!? It’s not fair, really. If I complain, I bet everyone else will say I’m being immature! They’ll say I shouldn’t speak to a cute girl like that! Oh, whoops. Shouldn’t have said that! Is your romance-obsessed brain jumping for joy over being called cute: ‘cute, cute, he called me cute, wa ha ha!’ Well, forget it! Why do you walk all over people as soon as you meet them!? And with a smile on your face to boot! Aren’t you afraid of what might happen!? And your very existence is like some kind of joke! How is anyone supposed to fall in love with you!? Try thinking how it feels to be on the receiving end of your advances! How many times do I have to say ‘no’ before it gets through to you!? No means no, so just give up! Can’t you start by installing the concept of ‘giving up’ in your romance brain!? I don’t want romance. Like, not at all! And you can’t try to wrap this up by saying all’s well that ends well! Don’t you know how much damage you’ve caused already!? And you claim it was all for your love!? What the hell is that!? I don’t care how much of a hit at the box office that love story is, I’m not going to let you get away with it! None of it makes any sense! It’s weird! Just fight like normal! I don’t really get it, but quit trying to mix all this extra crap in there! Take this seriously! Wasn’t the point of this to use a Blood-Sign to summon a super strong Material and see what lies beyond the limits of humanity!? But that’s all gone to waste when some idiot started going on about love and romance! Don’t you feel any responsibility at all!? You’re the strongest in the world, aren’t you!? Don’t you realize you’re in the center of it all!? I don’t want some all-knowing and all-powerful being making all her decisions because she’s horny! Even Zeus had Hera to slow him down! Is this world just completely broken or something!? I can’t explain it. What do we tell all the true heroes who died in the past incidents and wars? ‘You died because god was horny and got a little carried away’!? Can’t you just move on already!? First loves never work out! So forget about me and find someone else! I’m sure you won’t even remember my name 5 seconds later! Why do you need to think your love is so special!? That’s the problem! That’s why you’re so obsessed! All 7 billion people on this planet do this love thing! Include bugs and animals and it’s nothing but year-round sex, sex, and more sex! Is sex really that important to you, you creep!? Is sex all you ever think about!? It doesn’t matter how hard you try, a sex freak like you just isn’t going to fit with a human! So don’t try to cram those mismatched puzzle pieces together! I can’t take it anymore! It’s really going to break me!!!!!!”

“Shut up! Is it always family this and family that with you!? When are you going to take that pacifier out of your mouth!? It’s creepy, you mama’s boy! Oh, wait, no! I’m sorry! I had that wrong! It was your little sister, wasn’t it!? But that’s not much different! How long are you going to keep dragging Doctor S around with you, you gloomy creep! Eh? What, were you doing it all for attention!? Well, sorry again! Yes, yes. Look at the cute widdle baby. Is it time for you milky-wilky? How about that!? Satisfied now!? Try to be self-reliant for once! You can leave the house, you know!? Your family isn’t just going to run away while you’re out! So don’t worry! Did you think it made you look like a caring badass if you got super anxious about every little thing!? Well, think again! It’s just creepy! How do you even get to your age without knowing how to maintain a healthy distance from your family!? What is wrong with you!? I can’t take it anymore either! So you say love is unconditional and you can’t be disillusioned out of it!? You say if that was enough to break it, then it was fake to begin with!? Brother, that makes you no different from a chick opening its mouth and waiting to be fed! It’s so incredibly, incredibly, incredibly juvenile and silly! Are you sure your brain is working right!? If you have time to put on the ‘heh, I’m the strongest, so you can’t trick me’ act, then how about using that alleged intellect for some self-analysis!? No, I guess you couldn’t do that, could you? If you actually took an objective look at yourself, you would probably just kill yourself on the spot. Aren’t humans one of the few living creatures that commit suicide? Oh, how strange. How strange indeed. You claim to care about family more than anyone else, but you aren’t even aware how much of a burden you are on that precious family! That’s the thing about morons who think they’re geniuses! It’s like how people can’t smell their own body odor! Now that’s a saying worth putting on your gravestone, brother! Or how about I use my charisma to start a new religion and have it written verbatim into the scriptures!? Then you’ll be the idiot of the millennium, spoken of for a thousand years to come! Oh, dear. What’s wrong? What’s wrong, widdle baby? Are you gonna cry!? Well, are you!? But unfortunately, I’m about at the end of my patience too and I have zero interest in cheering you up or comforting you! There’s no point in attempting the impossible after all! I’m so very tired, so feel free to just ignore me and go crying to Big Sister Biondetta or Mama Shigara Masami and get them to give you some milk! Ah ha ha. Hee hee hee. Why did you ever seem so wonderful!? Maybe it was me who was broken, not you! In that case, you didn’t do anything wrong. I suppose I really was being a nuisance to you since there isn’t a single good thing about you! Yes, if I’m getting so worked up over a worm like you, I guess my love really was just an illusion in the first place! Agh, there’s no use denying how I feel, you stupid, stupid, stupid, brother!!!!!!”

A short silence followed.

The boy and girl glared at each other from close range while grinding their teeth.

Their faces were wrinkled with rage.

And for once, they actually spoke in perfect unison.

“I’ll kill you!!!!!!”

“I’ll kill you!!!!!!”

Facts:

*The White Queen’s feelings of love were real.

*But Shiroyama Kyousuke wanted the love of a family instead of that dangerous love. That may have been a longing for what he had never been given due to the harsh experiments by Doctor S and the Queen’s Miniature Garden.

*Isabelle detected this distortion early on. At the end of the fight with Biondetta during the Girl’s Backdoor incident, she voiced her disappointment when Kyousuke, the only one to truly be given love by the White Queen, insisted he had only seen the Queen’s fear.