Sweet and Sour

Shino

"Where is he?" I shouted, fearing that my best chance at taking Tyrant out may slip between my fingers.

"Chigira! Where is he?" I shouted, relying once again on the powerhouse I had taken with me and the woman who helped me get this far.

"Look for him!" I shouted, finally gazing up at the one I was asking to work for me.

What I saw once my eyes met the night sky was the full moon. It was a moon so big, it illuminated everything around us. With all that had happened in the past two days, I forgot how big the moon was, so my eyes lingered on it for a second.

There, casting a shadow on the white sphere hanging in the sky, I saw the shape of a girl. It was hard to believe that anyone could hang up in the sky, but I was the witness of a lady doing just that.

"Is she really hanging there, though?" I asked myself, noticing that her shape grew bigger and bigger as it approached me.

"Maybe she's landing..."

I was naive. Only when she got closer did I notice that her body had gone limp, and by that time, she had almost hit the ground.

"No!" 

I desperately ran to catch the free-falling Chigira, but she was falling too fast. Or so I thought, but I was already below her long before she reached my arms. 

Assessing how I got there so fast, I realized that I had used the same power as during the fight, the power to do evil. Only this time I used it to save a life. I used it to keep someone safe.

"Chigira! Open your eyes! He's getting away!"

Hear breathing was slow, yet steady.

I tried to wake her up, but she wasn't responding. Time was running out, and for every second lost here, Tyrant had more time to get away.

I had no choice but to leave her there and go in search of the man alone. I had to bet on his wounds making him weak enough for me to take him down alone, or on Chigira waking up in time to help me.

Having made my decision, I put Chigira down on a nearby patch of grass, turned around, and started looking for Tyrant.

"Oh?"

Or that was what I intended to do, but the second I tried to take my first step, my legs stopped listening to me.

"That's weird..."

I tried to get away from her again, but my legs stayed put. What's more, my knees were shaking violently, and my stomach curled up in disgust. A disgust aimed at myself.

Moving on its own, my head turned towards Chigira, and my eyes fixated on her sleeping face. She looked at peace. She looked normal, just like your average girl with green hair. What's more, she looked:

Vulnerable...

With that thought popping in my mind, I took a deep breath. I crouched down, picked the sleeping beauty back up, and walked the other way.

*****

Tyrant(?)

I ran as fast as my legs allowed me.

"I saw it! I saw it! I saw it!"

I'd seen my death, and it was a most terrifying one. Getting crushed together with the concrete around me, I was to lose my file to that assassin's fist.

""No, no, no."

Ever since He created me, I had seen all kinds of evil, but never had I seen such evil being inflicted upon me. Never had I thought that I myself could be the victim.

"I can't die here! I can't die here!"

I tried to calm myself once I was far away, slowing down my steps as I took a left into a narrow alley. Still, whenever I remembered that fight, I couldn't help but flinch, as if I was going to get hit any second.

"Letting your guard down? we can't have that~"

Before my eyes could see him, his voice reached my ears. It was that disgusting failure of a curse.

"Sezaru! What are you—no, forget that! You have to get me out of here!"

Suddenly popping up next to me, there stood my least worthy colleague. He was a crazed weirdo who had only now managed to create his own monsters. He was an outcast, but he was the outcast I needed.

"That woman is much more dangerous than we thought! The assassin also has some strange power. They almost had me! We have to regroup with the others. We have to launch a full-scale attack!"

I kept giving him instructions on what to do. After all, this crazy man could never make the right decision on his own.

"All right. Calm down for a moment, will you?"

Frankly, he deserved to be punished for the way he spoke to me, but I was kind enough to overlook it. Even if he was lesser than us, I needed him.

"Can't the mighty Mizaru see? We're all here!" Sezaru said as he spread his arms. It was another one of his bad jokes.

"We don't have time for that!" I shouted. 

It was then that I heard sharp screams from behind me. Maybe he wasn't fooling around this time.

"Iwazaru! Kikazaru!" I called out to my two brothers, but when I turned around, there was nobody there. I used my powers to look around, but the only two curses around were me and Sezaru.

No, the others were here too, but not the way they should have been. They were...

"You..."

The man who shared our creator's face grinned at me. It was a sadistic grin like no other.

"What have you done?"

"What? It's only normal that I took care of those two at once, isn't it? They were so close to one another, after all."

I took a couple of steps back, and Sezaru matched me. It was then that something flashed before my eyes.

"No... No!"

Ever since He created me, I had seen all kinds of evil, but never had I seen such evil being inflicted upon me. Never had I thought that I myself could die. 

Not long ago, I had seen my death for the first time, and it terrified me. But it was nothing compared to what I was seeing now.

"What are you doing? Stay away!"

"What? You've failed to protect Him. Now let me have a go, senpai~."

I screamed for help, but my screams didn't reach past that alley he had sealed. Soon enough, he took away my voice.

"Now... I must thank that lovely woman for draining you out this much," he said, and he stretched his hand towards me.

I looked behind the man and teleported myself out of his reach, but even though I took myself reached a hill nearby, I felt a cold breath on my shoulder.

"I think that's enough, my dear coworker," he said with a voice I had never heard before—a harsh voice dripping with hate.

The next moment, I felt him grab my head, and—