Is This How You Use a Self-Destruct Switch?!-Chapter 21 : Terrible Magical Girl?

The edge of the rooftop was cold and hard, pressing against the soles of her shoes.
The wind was getting stronger, carrying the coolness of dawn, wildly lifting her black long hair and school uniform skirt... fluttering loudly, as if it wanted to sweep away her frail figure directly.
Several pigeons were startled by her appearance and flew up, cutting through the azure sky, leaving behind a few falling feathers. The air was filled with the unique smell of the rooftop, mixed with dust and the scent of concrete baked by sunlight... and a faint, elusive candy fragrance.
Perhaps left behind by some students who liked to eat lunch here, but it didn't matter anyway.
She reached toward the blazing sun overhead, but no matter what, she couldn't shake off the bone-deep chill.
Bright sunlight could dispel dark clouds, but it couldn't dispel the cold born from loneliness.
This place was spacious enough, high enough. The explosion's impact would spread upward and in all directions, not harming the innocent.
As for whether it would frighten people? Whether it would dirty the ground?
She walked around the rooftop and finally found a suitable spot.
Below was hard concrete ground with no pedestrians, just the edge of a designated, untrafficked green belt.
Perfect.
She opened her palm. The suicide switch lay quietly in her palm, reflecting weak light in the morning sun.
Her fingertips were no longer trembling, leaving only a numbness close to calm.
This was the torch of hope... this was the only method she could find with all her courage and wisdom.
This time, there were no neighbors, no innocents, no companions.
Only her, and this key to brief happiness.
She slowly closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth actually curving into an arc of near-liberation.
Bang!
The iron door on the rooftop that she had closed was suddenly slammed open by brute force, making a tremendous noise that instantly tore through the silence of the rooftop and interrupted Tsuan's action of pressing the button.
"Yoko! So why don't you use invisibility magic to hide both of us? That way we wouldn't keep getting chased and asked which school we're from!"
A lively voice with a hint of laziness splashed in like sunlight.
Amber, with her somewhat messy flaxen long hair, rushed onto the rooftop, casually closing the iron door she had just burst open, seemingly hiding from something.
She wore a completely different style of school uniform from Tsuan's, and one that never seemed to fit properly. Her fair cheeks were slightly flushed from running, and her orange eyes were filled with the joy of not having to attend school.
"Nonsense! You can't rely on magic for everything! And you idiot, why did you run to the wrong school today?!"
A small fox emerged from Amber's pocket, directly scolding its brilliant master in front of Tsuan. It hadn't used the invisibility magic it normally employed to avoid appearing before ordinary people, since this place seemed empty to it.
Tsuan's mind went completely blank. Her finger resting on the suicide button froze completely, forgetting to apply pressure and forgetting her original purpose.
Her gaze locked onto that speaking, intelligent little fox—Yoko. This was definitely not some high-quality toy; this was a living... familiar companion of Magical Girl Amber!
Then, the person who could be so intimate with Yoko, even being called by name and scolded without courtesy by it... this girl wearing another school's uniform who had carelessly burst onto the rooftop...
Was the Magical Girl Amber she had been searching for!
Tsuan held her breath, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, almost breaking free from its constraints.
She forgot about the cold button in her palm, forgot about the void beneath her feet, forgot about that desperate plan.
She just instinctively listened to every word, every sentence between them.
Her will, which had become like dead ashes, was ignited again. She gradually extended her arm toward Amber, trying to... ask for help.
But Amber saw nothing. Her eyes were full of righteous confidence and pride in Yoko.
'Didn't Megumi-chan say yesterday that she wanted to introduce me to a new friend…'
She stretched lazily, her ample chest swaying twice in front of Tsuan before gradually approaching.
"Besides, Megumi-chan was captured by the Cream Monster yesterday! If I had been there too, wouldn't everything have been fine?"
Every word, every syllable Amber spoke hit Tsuan's eardrums like cold stones, abnormally clear, carrying an undeniable sense of reality.
Megumi-chan... Cream Monster... capture...
These words exploded instantly in Tsuan's mind! The Megumi-chan in Amber's mouth was precisely the magical girl—Luna—who had been captured by the Cream Monster and whom she had risked her life to save!
This realization struck like thunder, splitting apart Tsuan's chaotic thoughts and bringing a dizzying blankness.
The magical girl she had admired for years... that Luna who shined with light on screen and whom she regarded as a symbol of hope...
Was actually Nagayasu Megumi?
She had always... been right beside her?!
Before Tsuan's eyes seemed to appear again the scene in the bathroom where Luna had extended her palm, inviting her to hold her hand and ask for help.
At that time, she hadn't had enough courage to grasp that hand.
But now...
It wasn't too late...!
Going now, grasping Megumi-chan's hand... it wasn't too late! There was still a way to fix everything!
Hope that had already been extinguished appeared once more in her heart. Tsuan turned around, preparing to return to the classroom, to ask for help from her blue-haired deskmate.
But she hadn't expected... her body had become somewhat sluggish from standing rigid for so long.
Her sneakers, worn for a long time and with somewhat worn soles, suddenly slipped.
Tsuan felt the entire world suddenly start spinning. She didn't even have time to cry out before her body completely lost balance.
Wind screamed shrilly in her ears, filling her mouth and nose.
The sensation of weightlessness instantly captured her, her heart seeming ready to burst from her chest.
The red button in her hand seemed to... automatically light up for a moment as it slipped from her grasp.
All that remained in her vision was that increasingly distant... increasingly small, azure yet cruel sky.
Until her vision went black and her entire body was wracked with severe pain, her arm that had been desperately trying to touch the button finally dropped.
She... had failed.
A tremendous crash instantly tore through the morning campus tranquility. Amber, whose legs went weak from the sudden violent tremor beneath her feet and who had clumsily fallen onto the cold concrete of the rooftop, hadn't yet reacted.
When she heard wave after wave of panicked shouts from below and the teeth-aching sound of glass windows gradually shattering.
A second later, fragments poured down from above like a torrential downpour, refracting countless points of blinding cold light in the sunlight, clattering as they crashed onto the flowerbeds, ground, and parked bicycles below.
"Wow, what's happening?"
Amber clung to the edge of the rooftop, looking down. But due to the height, she could only see a field of dazzling glass shards reflecting red light.
But students on relatively lower floors... weren't so lucky.
A downpour composed of viscous, warm liquid with a strange sweet-bloody scent washed over the classroom windows.
If the windows were still there, it should have looked like this.
But unfortunately...
The bloody water invaded through the broken windows, leaving spots on books and then soaking the sleeves of several students who couldn't dodge in time.
Panic spread rapidly with the girls' cries. The teacher, as an adult, tried to stabilize the situation, and at that moment, reassuring broadcasts also sounded.
"This is just a monster attack that came too suddenly to warn about!"
The broadcaster's voice calmed their panic.
"Please stay away from the windows, protect yourselves, and wait for the magical girls' rescue!"
Of course, saying just this wasn't enough.
"The principal has just issued instructions that school will end early today, and no homework will be assigned!"
The sobbing sounds noticeably decreased.
"Including the weekend starting tomorrow, there will be no homework at all!"
The panicked emotions disappeared without a trace in an instant, replaced by cheerful applause.
Megumi, who had already sensed something was wrong, had asked the teacher if she could go to the infirmary because she wasn't feeling well just as the broadcast began.
Then under the teacher's instructions to be careful, she ran out of the classroom to transform, then jumped onto the rooftop in a few steps—compared to comforting students who had already calmed down, her companion's safety was more important.
She burst onto the rooftop, confirmed Amber's safety, then stepped forward two paces to look down at the bottom of the school building together with her.
Then both gave up trying to see clearly what was happening below. Amber's small nose sniffed hard at the strange sweet-bloody scent spreading through the air.
"Mm..."
She tilted her head, her face showing pure curiosity, even with a hint of innocence.
"Luna, did you smell that? This scent... is a bit strange, but..."
She took another deep breath, like she was tasting some novel candy.
"It seems... kind of sweet too? Like... spilled strawberry syrup? It smells so good!"
Before Luna could answer, Yoko kicked its master in the face.
"So why aren't you transforming even at a time like this?!"
Amber scratched her head embarrassedly, then touched her hair clip. After a flash of light, Magical Girl Amber made her sparkling transformation.
"Ahem, Luna~ did you notice anything unusual?"
Luna habitually ignored the harmonious scene between Yoko and her companion just now, shook her head in denial, then prepared to go to the first floor with Amber to check the damage caused by this "sudden incident."
Just as the two were about to leap down directly, Ruby floating beside Luna called out to them.
"There's a large amount of magic power dispersed in the air around here, especially below... you should prepare for battle before going down."
Yoko nodded its tail in agreement, then habitually followed Amber who jumped down without listening.
Golden light cut through the air, landing precisely in the center of the chaos on the school building's first floor. Luna floated behind her, repairing windows and cleaning remaining tomato sauce while comforting students that this was just an accident.
The sense of security from two magical girls appearing simultaneously made the students forget their fear and begin cheering, cooperating with the teachers' instructions to clean the stains in the classroom.
Everything looked so harmonious, except the battle scene Amber had anticipated didn't appear.
There were no snarling monsters, no pervasive evil aura, only a shocking expanse of crimson and an intensely thick, sweet-scented bloody smell in the air.
Where she had landed was the core area ravaged by the explosion's shockwave.
The hard concrete ground had been smashed into a shallow crater, with spider-web cracks spreading in all directions.
The center and edges of the crater were covered with large patches of viscous, semi-solidified red substance, as if a giant container filled with tomato sauce had been violently smashed and splattered from a great height.
This "Tsuan sauce" glittered with blinding luster in the sunlight, clinging to shattered glass, twisted metal window frame fragments, and even some... red-stained... pieces of school uniform fabric.
"Uwaa..."
Amber let out a short exclamation, instinctively taking half a step back, but her feet felt a sticky sensation like stepping in syrup.
She looked down to see the edges of her boots had already been stained with that blinding red color.
"What... what is this? So... so sticky..."
Yoko poked out its head, sniffing the rich magic power in the air, vigilantly checking the surroundings before leaping onto Amber's shoulder.
"It's jam or something like that, and..."
"And it's filled with an enormous amount of magic power..."
Luna, having repaired all the windows, landed beside Amber. The two prepared to continue cleaning up this mess at their feet.
"Was it left by a monster?"
Luna waved her staff, freezing the viscous tomato sauce covering the ground into powder. Amber snapped her fingers at the cracked concrete road, restoring it.
"Not sure... maybe...?"
The two girls and two pets discussing in low voices simultaneously heard an extremely faint, suppressed crying sound.
Amber and Luna exchanged glances before rushing toward the source of the sound—a petite girl in middle school uniform was curled up on the floor in a corner, with her back to them, her shoulders shaking violently.
She hugged herself tightly with both arms, her head buried deep in her knees, making heart-wrenching, utterly suppressed whimpering sounds.
"Are you okay...?"
Amber spoke first, her voice carrying a hint of urgency and comfort, trying to approach and console her.
"Can you open your eyes? If you see us, maybe you won't be afraid anymore?"
Megumi tried to persuade the girl to open her tightly closed eyes, since she and Amber being present together... should be enough to comfort people.
But the crying girl still kept her eyes tightly shut, not daring to relax even a bit. Even though she wanted to respond to Luna and Amber, she could barely catch her breath from sobbing.
On the floor in front of her, illuminated by weak light, there appeared...
"Don't cry, it's just some spilled tomatoes? No one will blame you, okay?"
Amber's voice made her feel a moment of confusion.
The girl thught. Tomatoes? How could it be... tomatoes?
What she saw wasn't anything that should appear in an art classroom.
A slender... belonging to a girl, wearing half a sleeve of familiar school uniform... severed arm, lying on the cold floor in an extremely twisted... extremely unnatural position.
Its skin showed an abnormal, deathly gray-white color, yet was covered... soaked by a layer of viscous crimson.
On several slender fingers, she could even see remaining soft pink matter.
And what made her even more horrified was...
Beside this severed arm, right next to her toes, there were also scattered...
A small piece connected to several strands of red-stained black hair, covered with the same viscous red substance.
Several torn pieces of school uniform fabric, also soaked through with crimson.
And... an eye that had lost all luster, with dilated pupils... yet whose shape could still be recognized... crimson red.
It lay there alone on the floor, staring emptily at the girl.
The white part was covered with crimson sticky fluid, and the depths of the pupil seemed to still retain a trace of solidified final... bewilderment? Or relief?
These fragmented, distinctly personal "parts," like roughly dismantled doll remains, scattered around her, made the girl who had come to paint collapse in terror. If no one came to help... she would probably cry herself to sleep like this.
However, to Amber and Luna, these things were completely inexplicable. All they saw were several... tomatoes still retaining large amounts of magic power, and a ground full of tomato sauce...
Tomato sauce...
Luna's eyes suddenly brightened. She seemed to have seen this scene somewhere before.
"When I was locked up last time, there seemed to be a lot of tomato sauce too!"
And also.
"Not just tomato sauce, but... there was also a girl who got scared!"
This kind of thing had happened once before, and now it was happening a second time.
"Eh! So that's how it is?! Was it done by a monster?"
Amber, who was cleaning the floor, turned to look at her companion upon hearing this, while Yoko also brought Ruby aside for a conversation.
"No, it's not... If it were a monster, it shouldn't attack the Dark Moon Society... and!"
Luna crouched down and gently touched the crying girl's head.
"This kind of prank is really too terrible! This kind of monster should be caught and educated by us right away!"
Comforting magic power entered the girl's body through her palm, gradually giving her courage to open a small gap and look around...
Then the girl opened her eyes wide.
The hellish scene around her had been replaced with several plump, round tomatoes still covered with water droplets!
"There, there, don't be afraid~ This is just a... prank~"
Luna handed her tissues and waved to her friends waiting outside the art room, indicating they should come take her away.
"Make her feel better, okay~"
Luna waved goodbye to them. At the same time... Amber had also cleaned up all the damage caused by the "unknown monster" and was preparing to cancel her transformation when the two little ones who had been whispering finally reached a conclusion.
"So... the one who went to save Luna that day, wasn't Amber?"
"So... the one who went to save Luna that day, wasn't me?"
Two voices sounded simultaneously, but the more important part was yet to come.
"That's right, and..."
Ruby flicked its ears.
"This was probably done by a new magical girl."
Because it only now remembered that it seemed to have... indeed made a "failed" contract with some student when Luna was in need.
But if combined with Luna being mysteriously rescued soon after, and this scene now identical to the one back then...
I seem to have caused trouble... released an unmanaged bad guy as a magical girl...
"This is too bad! This kind of prank is going too far. We must find her as soon as possible!"
The two who had cancelled their transformations made plans for the next step, but before that...
Tsuan trembled as she climbed up from the ground, the bone-deep severe pain seeming to still linger in her body.
The feeling of falling to death wasn't pleasant at all.