Vol.3 Ch.5: Duality of Self and Desire ①

-Chapter 5-

All it took was a single moment; a single moment for the delicate situation to snap, and for everything to come to light at once. On one side stood Yuko, bewildered by the situation she’d found herself in, where her trusted ally Kanna had activated her Magic Zone ‘Ice Planet’ in the presence of both a regular student, Tanabe Murakami, and the amnesiac girl they cared for, Eli. On the other side stood Kanna Kawague, true name Canah Crygahl, a magic knight from another world called Alviquan, who had a rough week tracking down a perpetrator that she now knows is a vampire, and sure enough the small girl standing by Yuko and Tanabe’s side seems to be the person she’d been trying to find this whole time.

It was a moment of confusion on both sides as they stood across from one another. But considering Kanna had already activated Ice Planet to prevent the girl’s escape, she decided to fully commit to the situation and held out her hand, demanding the girl be handed over.

“Kanna, what are you thinking? Why activate the Magic Zone? Now Murakami knows about magic! I thought you wanted to keep this a secret from the regular students, right?” Yuko pleaded with her friend, trying to gain an understanding of the situation.

“I sincerely apologize… I will not deny that I acted rather recklessly just now. But I cannot change my actions now. So please, Yuko Maeda, hand the girl over to me. You are in danger.” Kanna, troubled by the situation in her own way, also pleaded with Yuko.

“But… but, why?” Yuko glanced back behind her.

In the midst of their exchange stood both an utterly confused Tanabe Murakami, as well as Eli, who timidly hid behind his back and desperately clung to his shirt.

“Listen, this girl Eli… She has amnesia! She doesn’t remember anything, so Murakami and I have been taking care of her until she can remember something so we can help her return to her normal life.” Yuko explained, trying to convey her intentions.

A moment of silence passed as Kanna quietly considered Yuko’s words.

“… Is this true?” Kanna asked, narrowing her eyes.

“O-of course! I don’t have any reason to lie to you, you should know that!” Yuko placed a hand to her chest as she earnestly tried to reason with Kanna.

“I ask of you: how long have you watched over this girl?” Kanna questioned, still firmly gripping her ice staff.

“I-I think we met on Monday. It’s only been a few days, right Murakami?” Yuko turned and asked.

“Uh, y-yeah… We found her after work on Monday evening…” Tanabe stuttered, still reeling from the situation, but trying to follow along with the conversation.

“I see… Yes, that lines up.” Kanna muttered, trying to sort out the information in her head.

“Kanna, listen….” Yuko had finally built up the courage to ask what she’d been thinking the whole time. “Do you… do you know who Eli is?”

“… If this question can only be answered with a yes or a no, then the answer is yes.” Kanna finally relaxed her guard.

“Rather, I do not know who this girl is personally, but I am confident I can tell you what she is, as well as what she had been doing before you met her.” Kanna added, giving Yuko a serious look.

“Wait, really…?!” Yuko exclaimed with excitement, before pausing to consider Kanna’s words more carefully. “Hold on, what do you mean by what Eli is? I don’t understand…”

At that, Kanna lifted her free hand and pointed directly at the girl hiding behind Tanabe.

“That girl whom you refer to as Eli… She is a type of monster known as a vampire; one of the most infamous and dangerous creatures that roam my home world of Alviquan.”

“H-huh? A vampire…?!” Yuko was in disbelief.

Up to this point, Yuko had encountered plenty of bizarre otherworldly phenomenon. In fact, one could say she’d already begun to take on the mindset that there’s much more out there that she doesn’t know about, and to be prepared for anything. The incident where she learned about Alviquan and the incident with the dreams in Central both taught her that.

Despite this, hearing a term like “vampire” come up all of a sudden had definitely thrown her for a loop. Of course, she knows what vampires are. She’d heard about them in any number of fictional tales and such. Anyone would hear the term and think “ah, like Count Dracula!” It was that kind of famous tale.

However, it was because she had that background, that hearing such a thing come up now instinctively gave her a sense of disbelief.

“Vampires… Alviquan has vampires?” Yuko hesitantly asked.

“Yes.” Kanna nodded. “I shall not bore you with a history lesson, but to briefly explain: Alviquan is a nation where a variety of dangerous monsters exist and cause trouble. They are a danger to the populace. Vampires are considered the most human-like out of all species of monsters, to the point that they have even begun forming their own civilizations in the southern wastelands of the continent. Our country has clashed with them for centuries, and one could say the primary duty of magic knights like myself is to quell incidents caused by rogue vampires.”

“I… I see…” Yuko struggled to wrap her head around all of this sudden information.

“This is for your safety as well, Yuko Maeda.” once more, Kanna reached her hand out to Yuko. “I understand this situation may not be what you had hoped for. But please hand the vampire over to me.”

“I-I…” Yuko glanced back. Eli still clung to Tanabe, hiding behind him in fear.

“A-are you sure? Are you sure Eli isn’t just a normal girl?” tightening her fist, Yuko tried to find any way out of the situation that she could.

“…” Kanna glared at the girl, staring intently at her face. Sure enough, it’s the same faced she’d glimpsed Sunday night. “I am certain.” she answered, quietly.

“A-and… if we give her to you… What are you planning to do?” Yuko nervously asked, frightened of what the answer could be.

“… She will be eliminated.” Kanna answered solemnly, closing her eyes.

“N-no…” Yuko muttered, faced with the answer she least wanted to hear.

“Nngh…!” suddenly Eli grunted. Letting go of Tanabe’s shirt, she knelt down to the ground and clutched her head. “No… no…!”

“Eli…!” concerned, Tanabe knelt down and tried to comfort the frightened girl.

Seeing this, Yuko could only stand there, stuck in place, a sense of dread filling up her entire being. Many conflicting emotions clashed within her as she tried to rationalize the absurd situation she’d found herself in. Her time with Eli and Tanabe was precious. A happy memory of bonding with the boy she admired most, as they worked together for a lost girl in need of help. After her experiences in Central, Yuko had grown more aware of her own inherent desire to help others, especially younger kids troubled by difficult situations. In a sense, her desire to help Eli was as much for herself as it was for Eli.

And yet, Yuko and Kanna’s prior experience together in the spring had cemented a separate, contradicting emotion: The fact that Yuko Maeda trusts Kanna Kawagoe as an indispensable ally.

Up until April, Yuko had just been an ordinary girl living as ordinary a life as anyone could in Starlight Academy. She was a complete novice when it came to the likes of magic and other supernatural phenomenon that came from the world of Alviquan. Once the two had met and become acquainted, Yuko relied heavily on Kanna, and together the two overcame that initial struggle. Ever since then, Yuko had always seen Kanna as a reliable partner she could count on if any otherworldly issues were to arise again.

But this… this situation… is far too cruel.

Gritting her teeth, Yuko lifted her arms slowly, until both were pointed out straight to each of her sides. Like a wall, she stood, blocking Kanna from Eli and Tanabe behind her.

“I’m sorry Kanna… I can’t let you…” she spoke, her voice quivering.

“Please, Yuko Maeda, be reasonable. You do not understand the dire situation we are in right now…!” Kanna knitted her brow, in both frustration and remorse that the situation was moving in the direction that it was.

“I can’t…!” Yuko shouted. “What did Eli do…? What did she do to deserve something like that? Just because she’s a vampire?!”

Taking one step back, Kanna was thrown off by Yuko’s words. But she firmed up her stance once more and responded.

“Please understand: that girl is a type of monster! She is not human like you or I!” Kanna explained. “Furthermore, she has already attacked students! The cases of anemia from the end of last week, those are her doing!”

“E-even so, it’s not like she killed anyone!” Yuko countered. “I don’t know much about vampires, but so what if she sucked a little blood? Everyone’s all better now, right?”

Yuko had already expected to be hit with this revelation as soon as she heard that Eli was a vampire. Still, Yuko knew that the victims of the sudden anemia cases had already recovered and started returning to classes. Even if Eli was responsible, Yuko couldn’t help but feel that putting her to death was too harsh a punishment.

“E-even so, you do not understand the severity of this situation! Vampires are merciless, deceitful creatures! For all we know, her tale of amnesia could be a lie as well!”

“I refuse to believe that!” Yuko retorted. “You don’t know what we’ve been through! The happy memories Murakami and I have shared taking care of her!”

As Tanabe held the trembling Eli close, he glanced up at the two girls. Surrounding the two of them were the large pillars of ice, a staple feature of the magic zone Ice Planet. As Yuko and Kanna pleaded with one another, Tanabe could see their faces reflecting off of the various surfaces of glassy ice around them at differing angles. The desperation on the faces of both girls was apparent to him.

It was clear from the start that he was the outsider in this situation. Just being here was a surreal experience unlike anything he’d ever dealt with before. The girls’ talk of vampires and other worlds was all unbelievable to him, even as he stood in the middle of an impossible space like this. The reflective ice and floating stars that felt a bit too large and detached from the sky only nailed home that sense of surrealism.

“I realize this may appear cruel, but please understand that I am a Magic Knight! It is my sworn duty to eliminate threats of this sort!” Kanna shouted with conviction.

“I understand, but even though she’s a vampire, she’s just an innocent girl with amnesia!” Yuko could feel tears forming in her eyes.

“Even if that may be true, once her memories return she shall return to her true nature and your life will be in danger!”

“Can you really say for sure that all vampires are evil?!”

“By their very nature, we humans are their prey!”

The girls’ heated argument continued with no end in sight. The strain in their voices gave the whole situation an atmosphere of dread. Tanabe glanced back to the trembling girl by his side; she knelt down to the ground in a fetal position, continuing to clutch at her head, as if the argument happening in front of her was unbearable. If Tanabe understood one thing, it was that this argument was hurting Eli.

“I’m telling you, Eli’s different! I can’t let you hurt her, Kanna!!” Yuko screamed.

“Yuko Maeda, do not stand in my way! This is for your own good!” Kanna also shouted, with fierce resolve.

Until finally…

“Both of you, just shut up!”

At the sound of Tanabe’s piercing voice cutting through their argument, Yuko and Kanna both went silent, as though snapping back to reality.

With a gentle pat to Eli’s head, Tanabe rose to his feet and faced the two girls, who had both turned his way.

“Enough. Arguing like this won’t get us anywhere.” he spoke calmly.

“M-Murakami…” Yuko lowered her head.

“I do apologize for involving you in such an unbelievable situation, Tanabe Murakami. But please, this is something Yuko Maeda and I must resolve.” Kanna began to slowly explain after calming down.

“And I’m saying there’s no point in doing that now!” Tanabe sternly replied.

“What…?” Kanna blinked in surprise.

“I feel like you both have gotten so wrapped up in your own situations that you’re forgetting the one person this is all about: Eli!” Tanabe shouted, motioning his hand out toward the girl.

Even now, Eli was on the ground, clutching her head in apparent pain. Quiet breathy grunts could be clearly heard now that Yuko and Kanna’s argument had ceased.

“E-Eli…! Are you okay?” Yuko quickly moved to the girl’s side, concerned.

“Do you see now, President?” Tanabe looked toward Kanna.

“I… But…” Kanna knitted her brow, uncertain how to respond.

“Listen, I don’t know anything about that other world you two mentioned, or any of this vampire stuff. I’m just a guy who’s been helping take care of this unfortunate girl.” Tanabe explained, folding his arms. “I don’t know what you’ve experienced, but there’s gotta be nuance to things like this, right? Eli has amnesia. Even if she’s a ‘vampire’ or whatever, I don’t think it makes her inherently evil or bad, right?”

“Yuko Maeda was trying to claim the same thing…” Kanna clenched her fist. “But you two do not understand…”

Kanna glanced at the crouching girl clutching her head.

It’s not as though Kanna was a heartless person. Rather, it’s because she has compassion that she had ‘learned’ to behave so ruthlessly in situations like this. After all, in the world of Alviquan, vampires were the mortal enemies of humans. Being deceived by emotion was just one trick in the tool box they used to take advantage of humans and steal their blood and life energy. Kanna had experiences of her own that lead to her hardening her heart when the topic comes to vampires. Even now, she knows not to question that experience. But here in Starlight Academy, an isolated school in a world totally separate from her home… perhaps here she could find one impossibly rare exception. Even if it’s only due to the amnesia, this girl did form a bond with two humans after all.

“I know. And I get it.” Tanabe conceded. “The two of us probably don’t have an understanding of this stuff like you do. But when you look around, it’s obvious who’s suffering the most right now, yeah?”

“Perhaps… you make a point.” Kanna, with no other recourse, had finally decided to relent, despite her best judgment.

“Thank you. I knew you’d understand.” Tanabe smiled gently. He was still shaken from all of the unbelievable supernatural things he’d just bore witness to and heard about, but to do what he felt was right and say what he wanted to say, he buried that feeling as much as he could for the sake of the girl depending on him.

“Kanna… Thank you. And sorry… Sorry for not coming to you about this sooner.” Yuko finally gave a heavy sigh of relief as she embraced Eli.

“No, there is no need to apologize, Yuko Maeda…” Kanna spoke, apologetically. “After all, I…”

… Eh?

Kanna’s guard was totally relaxed. In the end, she’d chosen the naïve sentiments Yuko and Tanabe had expressed over her own gut instincts. After all, if it were true that the vampire girl had amnesia, the lack of memories could lead to the girl behaving with a more docile nature than she otherwise would. Heck, for all she knew, the amnesia could have set in even after the attacks on Tsutomu and the other students.

This was the rationalization Kanna was using to try to convince herself, at least for the time being.

And yet, she saw it.

Still standing in place, Kanna was looking straight ahead. Just off to the right in front of her was Tanabe, and a short distance behind him, toward the center of Kanna’s vision was Yuko, who had knelt to the ground to give the vampire girl Eli a hug. Yuko had just turned her head toward Kanna, to face her while expressing her thanks. Kanna had naturally begun to respond, but had stopped herself.

Why? Because at that moment, she saw Eli’s face. She was moving her head slowly, as if to avoid drawing any attention. At that moment, Kanna witnessed fangs extend from Eli’s mouth as she closed in on Yuko’s exposed neck.

In that single moment, it was as if time had stopped. In that single moment, Kanna remembered her few, frightening encounters with vampires during her youth back in Alviquan. She remembered her training as a magic knight, and the type of merciless mindset one had to take when dealing with a vampire.

And so, as if moving on instinct, Kanna immediately shifted into action.

Swoosh!

“… Eh?” Yuko didn’t realize what just happened.

She slowly turned her head, and what she saw was Eli being knocked back, a blade of ice being the object pushing her away, as if stabbed into her forehead, causing a small amount of blood to spurt out.

“E… li…?” Yuko froze up, the sight of blood causing her mind to go completely blank.

Tanabe hadn’t even finished turning in their direction to see what happened. In this absolutely miniscule amount of time, it was as if so many feelings came together, boiled over, and froze.

But once the seemingly endless moment passed, those frozen feelings shattered, and Yuko Maeda’s mind became immediately alert: Kanna attacked Eli. Kanna didn’t understand after all. Eli is hurt. She’s bleeding from the head. Why would Kanna do this? Would she hurt me too? Am I in danger? Is Kanna going to hurt me?

With all of those feelings and questions hitting her at once, Yuko Maeda’s consciousness immediately got cut off, replaced by the other personality dwelling within: The Guardian.

The very next moment, Eli’s back finally hit the ground, and Tanabe had finished turning around to see what had happened.

“Wha-?”

Before he could get a word in, The Guardian launched off of the ground, zooming towards Kanna with a claw-like fist.

All it took was one glance at the cruel, lifeless eyes expressed in Yuko’s face for Kanna to realize what had happened, and that the situation had just become even more complicated.