"Shall we dance next?"
Other Mei's voice held a hint of teasing to it.
It was quite a stark contrast from the many bodies of the students lying on the ground.
My brows furrowed a bit as I hesitantly asked.
"Is that… a Homudara reference?"
The purple haired girl frowned. "No. What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, didn't he say the same thing when he was going around blasting a bunch of guys."
"It doesn't! Homudara said, 'Do you want to dance?'" Other Mei defended herself, a hint of a blush appearing on her cheeks.
"That's not much different…"
As I said that, I sighed a bit in relief internally. It seemed that Herrscher Mei really did share a few of Mei's… odd quirks.
"How'd you get those tattoos though?" I asked inquisitively.
"These?" She raised her arm. "They come with the package."
"Huh."
Mei raised an eyebrow. "Don't you like them?"
"Meh, tattoos aren't really my thing."
"Oh… ah shame." She sighed. "I thought you of all people would like seeing these."
I tried to answer but Kiana seemed to have had enough of our petty squabbles at this time however as she shouted out.
"Stop yapping around! What the hell did you do to Mei, you imposter! Give her back!"
Mei raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Kiana.
"Give her back? Are you going to make me?"
Kiana gritted her teeth. "Yeah! I'll beat you up until you're too sore to walk!"
Pause…
The other Mei and I both looked at Kiana with a strange look on our faces.
That seemed to make her a bit uneasy though as she looked to me. "What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
"Phrasing."/"Phrasing."
"You're ganging up on me with her, Gojo! Aren't we supposed to be a team?!"
"I dunno. You said you wanted to jump me…"
"That's a joke!!!"
"Ignoring Kiana for now." I looked at the other Mei. "Did you finally have a full awakening?"
Hearing that, the other Mei decided to put on some sass, pulling out a chair and sitting on it. "No. It still isn't. It's a bit further along, but someone isn't very helpful with that."
I assume that that someone is the goofy chuuni Mei then.
But then again, this Herrscher had undertones of chuuni-ness as well…
The main thing is though, that I didn't need to worry about a full on Honkai Eruption now. Siegfried and Ryoma told me that the mandatory Eruption for a Herrscher only happens during a full awakening.
"So Gojo…"
"Yea?"
"When were you going to tell Mei that her father was truly a criminal?"
Oh…
I guess someone in class spilled the beans.
After knowing that, I could basically extrapolate what was going on now.
But Herrscher Mei was awaiting an answer, so I put aside my thinking for later.
"Ehh, I was going to tell her tonight actually."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then I suppose I'll give you some trust then. Before we have our battle however, I need to do something."
"Weren't you going to wait before we fought?"
"No. I believe that this amount is good enough." Mei gave me a bright smile. "I'd like to thank you though. Our trip to ME Corp and staying with you helped me charge up a lot."
"I'm glad to be of service I guess?"
After that, Mei's expression became as hard as steel. "Due to that, I'll allow you to leave the premises with your two friends first…"
"Next, I shall smite this forsaken building into the ground."
"Okay."
"Oh?"/"WHAT??!!"
Both Kiana and the other Mei looked at me this time.
Herrscher Mei narrowed her eyes as she inspected me closely. It was as if she was meeting me for the first time again.
Kiana's eyes were wide open as she stared at me in shock. She tried to say something, but all that came out were babbles.
So instead, she went to action.
She grabbed the collar of my shirt with both hands as she asked furiously.
"What are you doing Gojo?! She's going to kill everyone!!"
"What does that have to do with us?" I questioned. Then, I gestured to Mei. "You're not going to destroy the whole city right?"
"I could if I wanted to. But realistically, causing a Honkai Eruption now would not be very fun."
That implies that she could cause one if she wanted to…
Did she hold back then?
Another confirmation for me.
"Gojo!" Kiana brought me back to reality. "We're supposed to help the weak and innocent!"
"These people aren't exactly innocent." I said nonchalantly. "They were trying to bully Mei."
"But not everyone! And that's not a reason to kill! Beating them up would be enough! You can't just let her-"
"Kiana."
My voice was deep yet authoritative.
But more importantly, it made her pause.
"We can't save everyone."
I told it straight to her face.
Kiana's hands weakened as she took a step back.
"W-what?"
"You should know it too, right? You've been travelling all around the world and have seen lots of disasters."
Kiana looked down and clenched her fists.
"If she wants to destroy this building, she can."
"But-"
"And no one will be able to stop her."
"You can-"
"Even if I fight with her over it, I can't spare any attention to protect the surroundings."
"..."
Kiana had no reply to that.
All our successes thus far might have gotten to her head, letting her think that we could always win.
That the best ending was always easy to obtain.
But this world was not that kind.
Kiana took a deep breath.
Her chest moved up and down as she desperately tried to calm herself down.
And when she raised her head up, her eyes were like steel.
Unbending and unbreaking.
"I know that… but still…"
"If I can just save one more life. If I can just protect one more person…"
"I'll be satisfied."
Mei cut in at this time, surprise clear in her tone. "You're willing to risk your lives for these people you don't even know?"
"I am!"
"But why?"
Kiana didn't even hesitate as she spoke.
"Because I'm Kiana Kaslana."
"And a Kaslana never turns her back on the weak."
"My blood burns to protect!"
"So I won't stop no matter what!!!"
And that sent all of us into a silence.
I…
Wow…
I didn't know that Kiana could even act like this…
And honestly?
With that speech of hers, it even made me feel a bit attracted by her heroism and charisma.
A smile appeared on my face.
That should be what the charm of the protagonist is like, isn't it?
Mei's reaction was quiet as well.
She didn't say anything, merely going back to her thoughts. She looked as if she was wondering what to do next.
In the end however, she just clicked her tongue.
"Whatever. You've ruined my mood."
Herrscher Mei got up and turned her back to us.
"I'll be waiting at the ruins of ME Corp, Gojo Satoru. Don't keep me waiting."
And she disappeared in a flash of lightning.
Then, only Kiana and I were left.
Seeing that, I patted a hand on Kiana's head.
"Hey. Good job."
"Huh?" She snapped out of her trance to return to her goofy self. "Wait, did we succeed in stopping her?"
"You succeeded in stopping her." I corrected.
"I did?" She was stunned but a huge grin engraved itself on her face again. "Oh, of course it did! Who do you think I am?"
I laughed. "Yeah yeah. You're Kiana Kaslana. Now let's go deal with Mei alright?"
"What about these guys?" She gestured to them.
"They're fine. They look like they just have concussions."
"Oh nice."
As we left the class however, Kiana pulled my sleeve.
"Gojo…"
"Yea?"
"You…" She looked away, clearly wanting to ask something, but she just sighed in the end having decided against it.
"Nevermind…"
—--------------------------------------------
On the rooftop, I stood at the edge along with Kiana and Bronya.
"Please do not forget the Bronya next time." Bronya said with a hint of annoyance.
"Sorry haha!"
Then, I did a shoo-ing motion to both girls. "Step back for a bit…"
I looked at ME Corp directly in my line of sight.
I scanned the path all the way there.
It's all clear then…
"Why?" Both of them asked.
"... I'll be a bit rough here…"
I dropped into a pose and then…
"Nine ropes."
At once the scene changed.
A huge pressure descended on the school at once as concrete cracked around us.
A blue ball appeared to my left while a red ball appeared to my right.
Kiana and Bronya let out cries of surprise as they hurriedly got back.
That didn't stop me however…
"Polarised light…"
"Crow and Declaration…"
Purple thunder formed around me as the surroundings were dyed purple.
At this time, the surrounding trees shook vigorously, a huge wind blowing outwards from my body.
The blue and red balls began to slowly attract to one another as well.
"Between front and back."
I smiled.
And then the balls were almost fully overlapping at this time.
"Gojo?" Kiana shouted at this time in uncertainty.
I looked back at them, and gave a grin.
"Watch closely alright? I'm showing off a bit here."
Then, I pointed my arm at ME Corp.
"Imaginary Technique…"
"Hollow Purple."
[A/N: Alright. A new week a new powerstone deal.
1000 powerstones per extra chapter, limited to two for this week.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter]