Chapter 23: Explosion Villain – D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.③

I was sure I had blown up and died, but my consciousness still lingered.

The situation changed in a flash.

Just when it seemed reconciliation might be possible, D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. suddenly self-destructed. But before the explosion could finish, he was enveloped in water.

The blast went off inside a sphere of water, just large enough to hold a person.

A muffled boom echoed through the water, bubbles bursting like spray.

The shockwave couldn’t break through the water sphere. Inside, it churned into a violent current, scattering and mixing the shredded fragments of D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.’s body.

Soon the sphere dissolved, water spilling out into the surroundings. The fragments of D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. flowed out along with it—those pieces had to be gathered up.

I’d been knocked on my ass by D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.’s shove, but I slowly stood back up.

I’d been through plenty of near-death wounds, but never death by explosion. I wasn’t used to it. It scared the hell out of me. That’s why it’s a trauma. It made me remember my dead mother.

The scattered bits of D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. looked like my mother. Even though he’d been a scrawny man with no resemblance at all.

But once you’re reduced to fragments, everyone looks the same. Maybe those bits I saw back then weren’t even my mother. I hope they weren’t.

I stood in a daze for a while. Get a grip, me.

Swallowing down the stomach acid rising in my throat, I took a step forward.

A tap on my shoulder from behind made my heart leap.

Turning around, I saw a tall man in glasses, waving casually.

"That was close, huh~? Without me, you’d have been blown to smithereens."

"…Huh!? Mio!?"

A familiar voice came from an unfamiliar face.

I’d already suspected when the water appeared, but it was Mio who saved me from D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.’s explosion.

"Hi there, how are you? Sorry, I was actually tailing you a little. I figured just like I got a request, there’d be other villains coming after you, Inori."

Taking off the glasses with a wink, he looked striking.

"So hero-like."

"Ufufu. And already getting compliments♡"

He wasn’t the slime-girl liquid form I was used to, but an ordinary human.

Actually, he looked like he could be a model—tall, striking. Long lashes, even the lowers were lush.

"So that’s your real face?"

I’d seen him return to human form when Raiden defeated him, but only from behind while he was lying face down, so I hadn’t realized he was this tall man.

Mio touched his cheek lightly and smiled gracefully. His gestures were still feminine, even in male form.

"I’m only showing you, Inori, because you’re special~. I don’t really like this form."

"I think you’re well within the bounds of handsome, though."

"Thanks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all."

…Wait, does that mean I’m into non-mainstream looks? Was my sense of beauty always messed up? Maybe even Yukiya isn’t actually that good-looking? Does that mean I’m not that much of a beauty either? Huh?

Mio shrugged.

"Flux was more artistic, don’t you think?"

"Ahh. If that’s the comparison, then yeah. One of a kind, nothing humans can surpass."

"Ufufu! That’s why I like you, Inori."

Gender ambiguous, morals ambiguous—Mio and I. Apparently our aesthetic sense was similar too. Monsters over humans. Yeah, I can get behind that.

"Still, I really didn’t expect him to blow himself up, so that gave me a scare."

My negotiations with D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. ended in failure.

I thought I was doing a pretty good job of begging for my life, too.

But in that last moment before the blast, it felt like it hadn’t been his will to explode.

Mio lowered his brows with sympathy. "Poor thing."

"Getting tangled up with D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. is the worst. Number one villain I wouldn’t want as a friend."

"He was pretty messed up, yeah."

The way he talked alone made it clear. Communication wasn’t really possible.

This was Japan, and not many people here could even speak English. Even if you caught some of it, the phrasing was practically poetic.

Holding conversations through acronyms? Too much. And how many people would even realize that was what he was doing?

"His ability’s the worst too. He’s always self-destructing."

"Always?"

So he wasn’t dead after all. If he did that regularly, it meant he could survive it. Immortal?

"He’s different from you, Inori. I think his body can be disassembled like puzzle pieces, into specific parts. If there’s a cut, he can split apart from there. Does that make sense?"

"So you’re saying, yeah, he blew into pieces, but he’ll just reassemble himself later?"

"Exactly. Gross, right?"

"Think it hurts, when he blows apart like that?"

"Who knows. I’ve never seen him wear any face but that blank one."

Guess I was lucky to be the one who got to see D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. shocked.

"Explosion and disassembly are two separate abilities, so I think disassembly is his real power. He just hides bombs inside himself, blows them up, and lets himself get torn apart. A guy who can only pull himself back together afterwards."

I did see those lines running across his body at that time. Something inside glowing, spilling out through the cracks.

If it was bombs inside him going off, then yeah, that made sense.

"He didn’t become a bomber because he can control explosions. He became a bomber because he can withstand them. Which makes him even creepier. Like a pervert who loves getting blown up—a streaker with a different fetish."

"…Wow, yeah, that’s a take."

If D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.’s superior was Delta, the one organizing the villains, then… I had a really nasty hunch.

Turning people into walking time bombs.

Just a theory so far. Maybe he wanted it.

But if that blast hadn’t been D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.’s will, then the one with the detonator was Delta, not him. Meaning the responsibility lay there.

Though if you’re a courier, you’re complicit anyway. Still, the conflict he showed at the end felt real.

The way he slapped my hand away to clutch his chest—he was remembering the bomb inside him. And that last shove, it was because he didn’t want to kill me.

Not exactly an irredeemable monster, in my book. No need to tell Mio that, though. At least not now. I still couldn’t quite measure D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. myself.

Even though Mio minimized the damage, that blast was still huge.

Plenty of sound and vibration. Yet the only damage was that the square got a little wet—that said enough about Mio’s skill.

Seems like D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. got away, but Mio never liked him, so he probably didn’t bother to stop him.

Where there are villains, heroes show up.

Raiden sprints in a flash, Yukiko slides on frozen ground, Inferna flies, Flux rides the water pipes. So they almost always arrive before police or fire.

I hadn’t recognized Mio—Flux—at first, but Raiden clearly had.

If he’d been caught once, they probably had his mugshot. And Raiden was the one who forced him back into human form during capture.

With lightning speed, Raiden dashed in. Seeing no injuries, he came right over to me.

"Step away from Inori, Flux."

Hostile.

What was this, a civilian being captured by a villain? Sorry, this was just a chat with my roommate.

Guess the problem was my roommate being a villain.

Mio held his glasses by the arm, slipping the tip lightly between his lips, lowering his brows.

"Jealous, huh? Raiden, you like Inori more than me."

"Sorry, but I don’t really have time to chat today. Or maybe it’s not time I don’t have, but the composure to. If you want conversation, should I call you a lawyer? Might come in handy for questioning. Heroes strive to be calm and fair, but if I didn’t waver when a friend was in danger, I wouldn’t be a hero at all."

"Ufufu, what a wonderful friendship. But Inori seems to like me better than you."

Don’t drag me into this.

"Don’t go deciding how I feel. Ah… well, it’s complicated, but…"

Mio had just saved my life.

Raiden had saved me plenty of times too, but this time was a death-by-explosion I absolutely didn’t want. So yeah, maybe this favor weighed heavier.

"Inori, seriously!? You’re telling me a random villain just waltzed in and beat me, a long-time hero, in the friendship department!? Please at least say you’re brainwashed!?"

"Getting brainwashed by the enemy’s officer is way too hentai-doujin."

"Oh my. But I could do either gender, you know? I fall in love easily, got plenty of life experience♡ With that setup, I could totally play the seme role, since I’ve got both perspectives covered. The convenient role you see in those doujins. I could even use my liquid manipulation for pseudo-tentacles. Or manipulate fluids to make you produce ones you normally wouldn’t."

"…You’re well-versed."

Not only deeply knowledgeable in hentai doujins, but also with insane ability versatility.

Mio lowered his eyes slightly, his face turning serious.

"Or we could play with the idea of someone who talks dirty but is actually innocent inside, and have Flux in the uke role. Raiden × Flux. The event name could be… ‘Short-Circuit Lovers’?"

"Your self-awareness and grasp of doujin culture is impressive."

"There was a time when my dream was to be a mangaka~. Though I only ever published doujinshi."

"You can draw too, not just read? Multi-talented."

"Kh…! Fine, I can’t draw, but…"

Where are you trying to compete, Raiden?

You were completely lost during the hentai doujin talk, don’t force yourself.