Chapter 08: Battle Scars
-----Kenji-----
God, my head is killing me… Yuuko did a great job of patching up the bump on my head but the painkillers must have worn off while I slept. Looks like Shiina heeded Lilly’s warning to let me get some bed rest alone since she’s not trying to hog the covers like usual.
I check the wardrobe and, to my surprise, it’s stocked with an assortment of fresh clothes. Did Yuuko buy all-- Wait, no, she would have summoned them or materialised them or whatever the term is for what she does and how she does it. Still, she got my sizes right and this stuff is pretty nice so I’ll have to thank her.
I throw on some fresh socks, black jeans and a white t-shirt with a neat geometric pattern on it before heading into the main room.
-----Lilly-----
“Good afternoon, Kenji!” Yuuko calls out cheerily as his figure comes into my field of vision.
“Good mor--
Afternoon!? How long was I sleeping for!?” His voice raises in surprise and I chuckle a little, his attention turning towards me.
“You were out like a light when I caught Shiina sneaking into your room this morning to check on you.” I say and the jump in his heart rate indicates embarrassment.
“Hi, Lilly. Where are the others now?” He asks and I look towards Yuuko as she approaches my table with both my afternoon tea and a delicious smelling mocha coffee for Kenji.
“Shin and Shiina decided to take Hanako exploring, Yuuko says we’re stopped in a relatively normal parallel world. Molly is…
training.” I say with a slight hint of disappointment in my voice.
“Is she okay? I kind of railed hard against her last night.” He admits rather guiltily.
“She’ll be fine. Our new guest seems to have thrown her a fair bit though.” I say and Yuuko claps her hands together.
“Oh! Hanako wanted me to return this to you. Once I explained what it was, and how it’s bonded to your DNA only, she wanted to give it back but you were still sleeping so…” Yuuko rambles a little but offers Kenji his bracelet back, which he slips onto his wrist.
“Thanks, Yuuko. Do you guys think I should go talk to Molly?” He asks, worry in his voice. I think he should, not only to clear the air but to make sure Molly knows we’re not siding against her.
“I think it would be a good idea, sure.” I say with a soft smile. Maybe he can also get Molly to reveal why she brought that wolfsbane flower back with her…
-----Molly-----
“Ha!” Piercing thrust and then slide up the shaft…
THUNK
“Ha!” To deliver a one-two…
FUP-FUP
“Yaaaaaah!” Finish with a spinning back kick.
WHAP
I grip the shaft of Rhongomyniad as the plush, weighted, dummy is catapulted across the training room, hitting the far wall with a soft thud. The motors in my legs whine down to their usual hum as the sound of applause fills the room.
“That was
amazing, Molly!” Kenji’s eyes move from me to the dummy as he makes his way towards me. “I don’t think I’d be able to budge that thing, let alone kick it into the next prefecture!”
“Do you want to give it a try?” I ask, holding my mystical spear out horizontally as I brush some errant hairs out of my face. He holds up his hands and shakes his head.
“N-no, thanks. Weapons training was never really my forte. That’s why I was always partnered up with Shiina. I’m purely defence while she’s offensive.” His remark makes me smirk and he realises what he said a few seconds later. “You know what I mean.”
“So what brings you to the training room if not to train, Kenji?” I ask genuinely as I prop my spear against the wall near my towel and drink. He follows me and rubs the back of his neck, sheepishly. I can guess why…
“I wanted to apologise. I made a remark last night that was unfair of me.” He says with a hangdog expression.
“It’s okay, {mate}. I was out of line myself.” I admit, taking a sip of water.
“Oh, you definitely
were but I still said a shitty thing.” He smirks and I narrow my eyes at him. “Look, how about this?”
He steps backwards into the middle of the room before erecting a dome shield around him.
“You tell me what yesterday was about and, in return, I’ll give you a target a little more durable than a practice dummy.” He crosses his arms and smirks.
“Do you really think your little barrier is a match for Rhongomyniad?” I laugh, taking up my spear again and walking around the boy in the bubble.
“You’re right… Do you have anything
stronger?” Oh, game on, you cheeky bugger!
Electricity arcs through the air as I take a few swings at the dome, my spear bouncing harmlessly off it. His smirk just makes me try harder, thrusting and swinging the spear again and again.
“So why did you want to hurt Hanako last night?” He asks, slipping his hands into his pockets.
“Because. She. Is. A. Were.
WOLF!” Every word is punctuated with another strike, every single one doing nothing to the dome.
“I got that, but why do you hate werewolves so much?” His voice is calm, like he knows I’ll never break through… We’ll see about
that.
“Because of one of my first outings as a champion.” I place the spear back into the weapon realm and open another tear. “
Dyrnwyn. A werewolf was rampaging through a local park, a feral beast with cold eyes and a burning lust for blood.”
“Hmmm. The fire sword, this is getting interesting.” He notes with an amused smirk. The blade erupts into flame and I start hacking away at the dome once more. “Go on.”
“The beast hadn’t gotten far into the park when I got there, no major injuries and I was determined to keep it that way. I failed.” I say the words aloud and Kenji’s face drops. I swing harder and faster, every knockback making me angrier.
“Marigold Jenkins! Single mother! Innocent bystander! Killed because I was a
naïve and
stupid girl.” I wheeze, stepping backwards and putting Dyrnwyn back and summoning another weapon as I move further and further away.
“
Drystan! I thought being a magical girl… Being a
champion was going to be all fun and games. Saving lives, yes. Dramatic rescues, yes. And adventures! What’s so wrong about wanting some {sodding} adventures?” I take aim, a cluster of arcane bolts grouped together as I draw the bow back. Kenji looks worried, but I doubt it’s because these will hit him.
“But that back then? With the teeth and the torn flesh and all the… All the
viscera? That’s not what I signed up for… That wasn’t part of the fucking deal!” I scream and loose the arrows, all having no effect, despite all of them striking at Kenji’s torso.
“Molly…” He begins and I throw my bow down, the weapon disappearing into a tear as I charge at the bubble and begin wailing on it with my fists.
“No! Don’t give me your god damn pity! I don’t deserve it!” Blow after blow hits and the bubble dissipates but not because of me. Kenji grips me tight around the shoulders as I flail my arms uselessly.
“At least you had the courage to fight, to keep going… When I saw my classmates, my
friends…
Yuuko… When I saw them dying, do you know what I did? I curled up into a little ball and shielded
myself.” He whispers and my arms instinctively reach around his back to hug him back.
“And you know what the worst part is? It happened
again and now me and Shiina are here and I’m terrified that even more of the people I care about are dead while I’m here…” Oh god, I didn’t even think of that before now. Their school was being attacked when they were plucked from their universe.
“{Bloody hell}…” That’s all I can manage with the intense knot forming in my stomach and Kenji doesn’t want to say anymore so we’ll just stay here for a little bit. Minutes upon minutes must pass by, our breathing synchronising and our bodies becoming warmer before I try to strike up a conversation.
“I can see why Shiina ends up climbing into bed with you now.” I say quietly, holding onto him as he does the same to me. “You’re a
very good hugger.”
He nods silently and sighs heavily.
“Wait,
what?”
-----Kenji-----
Molly and I eventually make our way back into the main room after a long chat about the nature of my relationship with Shiina, one that she already knew apparently. Speak of the devil…
“Hey! You’re awake! How are you feeling, Kenny?” Shiina calls out from the bar, where the rest of our friends sit, enjoying some food.
“Not bad, Molly just put my barrier through it’s paces and I
think I passed.” I smirk at the girl beside me and she giggles.
“Let’s hope we don’t have a mission soon because I burned through most of my arsenal trying to break that {bloody} bubble of his!” She exaggerates but she really did use all of the weapons I’ve seen her use before. Hope she’s got more tricks up her sleeves.
“Our day was quite productive too.” Shin says, sipping at his coffee.
“Yeah!” Shiina continues. “We went through town, went to the hairdressers and even took a trip up to the Yamaku of this universe and, well…” She gestures to the girl beside her who I hadn’t even noticed until now. Is that…
The girl spins her stool around and hops onto her feet, crossing her arms confidently. Her lips curl cutely and her eyes practically sparkle with energy. I can’t believe this is…
“So, guys…”
“What do you think? Pretty cute, right?”
I'm just hoping that she isn't a double agent and that those last lines were Molly being overly suspicious. Because that wouldn't be so good.
Believe me, she's going to have be 
