Chapter 19: Isn't Black Good Enough?

The company that produced the ridiculously popular (and wallet-devouring) mobile game, "Magical Girl Brawl," was a corporation with an incredibly, terrifyingly powerful background. And because of the explosive, mainstream popularity of magical girls in recent years, the official content rating standards had, much to the delight of some fans and the horror of others, been lowered quite a bit. This meant they could now get away with some… rather revealing character designs and some frankly suggestive character voice lines.

Black’s promotional photo shoot, of course, had to continue, despite the recent city-wide chaos. However—at this very moment, the shocking, world-shattering news of Magical Girl Strawberry Sweetheart’s sudden retirement, through some unknown, probably highly illegal channel, had been leaked to the public.

If you were just talking about raw, destructive power, Strawberry Sweetheart was only, officially hailed as the "strongest magical girl." She wasn't necessarily the single strongest Esper in the entire, wide world. There were, perhaps, other, more powerful, more ancient Espers in existence long before her. But if you were talking about sheer, overwhelming global popularity, there was not a single Esper, not a single hero, not a single celebrity on the entire planet who could even begin to compare to the current, seemingly invincible Strawberry Sweetheart. Her popularity wasn't just confined to the predictable demographics of young people or the so-called "otaku" subculture; she was a true, almost universally beloved idol for people of all ages, all genders, all across the globe.

To be perfectly honest, most of the time, the general public couldn't even tell if Strawberry Sweetheart’s main job was actually subjugating fiends or engaging in high-profile idol activities—but regardless, her many long, hard years of dedicated, heroic struggle had accumulated a an unimaginable amount of capital for her, both financial and social.

Her sudden retirement, therefore, caused an impact that was far too great, far too chaotic, to properly measure. So much so that when Magical Girl Black was in the middle of her own, new character promotional shoot, the filming location was completely and almost instantly surrounded by a massive, riotous, and deeply distraught crowd of Strawberry Sweetheart’s most fervent, most loyal, and now most desperate fans.

“BLACK! Please, you have to tell us! Why did our beloved Strawberry Sweetheart retire?! Was it your fault?!”

“Yes! Black! Did Strawberry-chan abandon us? Or was she actually, secretly hurt in that last, terrible battle?! Tell us the truth!”

“BLACK! SPEAK TO US!”

They’re all screaming my name, Black thought with a surge of profound annoyance, but every single damn word out of their mouths is about Strawberry Sweetheart! Don’t I have any of my own die-hard, loyal fans, any true Black-stans, who will stand up and speak for me in this trying time? Where is my fan club?! Although she knew, with a certain logical certainty, that her own niche popularity couldn’t possibly compare to Strawberry Sweetheart’s global megastardom, truly, physically realizing this cold, hard fact firsthand still made her feel a little… dejected. And very, very tired.

“Black, don’t show your face for now. Stay back,” Ren’s calm, professional voice came through her comms unit. He was sitting opposite Black in their designated waiting room, looking completely unfazed by the near-riot outside. He was, as always, the picture of calm competence. “Let the other organization staff members deal with those fans. They can’t possibly linger outside forever for an answer they’ll never get. This kind of intense, hysterical fervor will only last for a short while. After that, things will get much better. Probably.”

Black leaned back on the plush, probably very expensive sofa, casually crossing her legs, her small, booted foot swinging up and down restlessly, an almost hypnotic motion that invariably, and perhaps intentionally drew the eye. “If I, Magical Girl Black, let something as trivial, as pathetic as this bother me, then how could I possibly do my goddamn job? It’s simple, kid: don’t meddle in things that have absolutely nothing to do with you. It’s a very simple, very useful principle for a long and peaceful life.”

“It’s for the best that you can think that way, Miss Black. I’m relieved,” Ren said, though a thoughtful expression was on his face. “But, seeing this incredible spectacle, this sheer outpouring of public grief, I suddenly feel like I can, perhaps, understand why Strawberry Sweetheart chose to retire. Having this many adoring, obsessive fans… the pressure must be far, far too great for any single person to bear.”

“A young girl wanting to enjoy her own youth—it’s an argument that’s almost impossible to refuse, isn’t it?” Black said, her voice surprisingly soft, almost… wistful. “Strawberry Sweetheart became a magical girl at the tender, almost unbelievable age of nine. Frankly speaking, she has already sacrificed a great, great deal for this ungrateful world. Her comrades, the other girls of her generation, they even gave their own precious lives… Our mourning, our memorials, they have no real meaning for the dead. But for the living, for her,” Black sighed, a sound of world-weary empathy, “we should, at the very least, try to understand her feelings. Her desire for a normal life.” She paused, then added, her voice sharp again, “According to what Strawberry Sweetheart herself said, what we should really be concerned about recently is the sudden birth of other, new magical girls.”

Ren agreed with this completely. “Yes. Aside from the hot-headed Magical Girl Red, according to the established, sacred conventions of the magical girl anime genre, a new ‘Blue’ should generally be born first, followed, in short order, by a ‘Yellow.’ Only after that classic, primary-color trio is established will other, more exotic colors typically begin to appear.”

“Red, blue, and yellow, huh? How… classic. How painfully predictable,” Black mused, a cynical smirk on her lips. “Speaking of which, could ‘Black’ then be considered a superposition of all colors? The ultimate color? Of course, if a ‘White’ were to exist, that would also, theoretically, seem to be a superposition of all colors. After all, a beam of pure white light, when passed through a prism, becomes a beautiful, seven-colored rainbow. But,” she added, a dark glint in her eye, “if you’re using cheap, messy paint, continuously mixing all the colors together will just, inevitably, turn it into a murky, disgusting black.”

“That’s because light itself inherently possesses color, Miss Black,” Ren, ever the pedantic straight man, explained with a completely serious, professorial air. “Whereas paint, or any other physical pigment, displays a certain color precisely because it reflects the light of that specific color that it doesn’t absorb. So, if you mix multiple, different-colored paints together, they will, in combination, absorb all wavelengths of light. And with no light being reflected back into the human eye, it naturally,l becomes black.”

Black smiled, a genuine, amused smile this time. She leaned forward, her gaze now sharp with a new, playful interest as she stared intently at Ren. “Well then, my dear, brilliant Supporter, tell me this: which one am I?”

“I don’t know, Miss Black,” Ren replied without a moment’s hesitation, his own expression unreadable.

“Hehe~” Black chuckled, a soft, pleased sound. This was one of the things she was starting to genuinely appreciate about Ren Akiyama. His honesty. His unflappable composure. “Speaking of which, kid,” she said, her tone now casual, “you went to the Esper prison with Strawberry Sweetheart before, didn’t you? Did she happen to tell you anything… interesting? For example, about her future arrangements or anything? She’s still your school kouhai, right? Your cute little underclassman?”

Why… why does she keep bringing this up? Ren was a little bewildered. Lately, Magical Girl Black was always, almost obsessively bringing this particular topic up, making it seem as if his simply, professionally accompanying Akari Natsume on an official visit to the Esper prison was some kind of heinous, unforgivable crime. But he didn’t get angry about it. He was a professional, after all.

“I’ve been so busy with my Supporter duties lately that I haven’t been to school in a very long time. It’s almost hard to believe I’m still technically a student,” Ren sighed, deftly sidestepping the question. “Speaking of which, though, Miss Black, there’s actually something that you haven’t properly explained to me yet, have you?” At this, Ren’s gaze suddenly, almost imperceptibly sharpened.

Black was taken aback. She looked at Ren’s now very serious, very intense eyes and couldn’t help but feel an unwelcome jolt of guilt. She quickly averted her gaze. “Wh-what are you talking about, kid? I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“I’m talking about Hana, Miss Black,” Ren said, his voice now dangerously quiet. “She… she called me earlier today. And she told me that she’s officially moving to A-City. And that she has asked me to go with her to help her move. About this particular matter, Miss Black, do you, by any chance, have any idea what’s going on?”

Black’s eyes darted all over the room, looking at anything and everything except for Ren’s piercing gaze. “Ah~ You mean that! Right! Yes! I… I only just found out about it myself, you know! A complete surprise! But… since it’s the organization’s official arrangement, I can’t really say much about it, can I? It’s out of my hands! And besides, Hana herself already agreed to it, didn’t she? And you know, as well as I do, that she and I… well, we don’t have a very good relationship right now. So I can’t really say anything to her about it anyway.” She was babbling. And she knew it.

“Is that really, truly how it is, Miss Black?” Ren asked, his voice still quiet, but now laced with an unmistakable, chilling skepticism.

“Well, then what do you think it is, you little smart-ass?!” Black snapped, her own defensiveness flaring up. “It can’t possibly be that I wanted to spend some quality, uninterrupted alone time with you, so I deliberately, manipulatively sent my own daughter away, now could it? Don’t be ridiculous!”

Ren’s face instantly, comically changed. He let out a loud, slightly forced laugh to cover up his sudden, overwhelming embarrassment. “Haha~ Now you’re just joking, Miss Black! That’s a good one! How could such a thing ever be possible! Of course not! I was… I was mainly just a little worried about Hana, that’s all. Magical Girl Red, from all reports, doesn’t seem to be too… mature or stable yet.”

“You’re a little too protective of her, kid,” Black said, her voice now softer, more fatherly. “Although she’s my daughter, she’s also an independent individual. She has her own thoughts, her own will. It’s about time she stood on her own two feet, don’t you think? If you’re always there, taking care of her, coddling her, how can she ever possibly achieve any real, meaningful growth for herself, hmm?”

Although Ren still had some serious, lingering doubts about this whole sudden arrangement, in the end, he had to accept Magical Girl Black’s reasoning. After all, Hana herself had already, and with great enthusiasm, agreed to it.

The massive crowd of distraught fans eventually, reluctantly dispersed. After all, everyone has their own lives, their own problems; they couldn’t just waste their entire day here, standing around, hoping to get an answer that the officials would clearly never, ever give them. After all, the now-retired Strawberry Sweetheart needed, and deserved, a peaceful, private life. Since she had already chosen to retire, leaking any further information related to her could only bring potential danger to the young girl named Akari Natsume. And that was something the organization, for all its faults, could not, and would not, allow to happen.

So, their promotional filming didn’t actually begin until late that evening, after the crowds had finally gone home. By the time they finally, mercifully finished the last take, it was already deep, deep into the night.

“…Alright, kid,” Black said with a weary sigh, her entire body aching with an exhaustion that was more mental than physical. “Let’s just rest here at the organization’s dorms tonight. It’s too much of a goddamn hassle to go all the way back home now. There are three separate bedrooms in this private suite of mine; you can just find one and get some rest. Don’t touch my stuff.”

“But… you haven’t been back at all yet, have you, sir?” Ren asked, a note of genuine confusion in his voice. “The new house… Hana personally, meticulously supervised the entire renovation, you know. Don’t you even plan to go back and take a look at it?”

Black replied with a casual, indifferent shrug. “You mean, you want to go back at this hour? Well, we can, I suppose. I can fly you back. Or the organization has official cars you can use; you can drive yourself back if you want.” Her reply was so unbelievably casual, as if she had no other, ulterior thoughts on the matter at all, that Ren just shook his head.

“No, it’s alright. Forget it. I’ll just stay here for tonight, then. After all,” he added with a yawn, “I need to catch up on some sleep myself. I need to maintain my peak physical and mental condition at all times. I have a feeling the next few days are going to be quite… troublesome.”

And so, he found an empty guest room in Magical Girl Black’s surprisingly luxurious private suite, took a quick, refreshing shower, and lay down on the comfortable bed.

He hadn’t even had a chance to fall asleep, however, when the door to his room was suddenly, and without a single, polite knock, pushed open.

The magical girl named Black, now wearing the tight, revealing, and deeply, profoundly inappropriate kung-fu girl cheongsam from the photo shoot earlier that day, coldly, and with an almost predatory grace, walked in. And then, under Ren Akiyama’s completely and catatonically shocked gaze, she lay down on the bed right next to him.

She lay down, and Ren, with a yelp of pure, unadulterated terror, immediately sat bolt upright. “Wh-what… what are you doing, Black! What is this?!”

“What am I doing…?” Black murmured, her voice a low, husky purr. “Well, there are some… things… I want to talk to you about. Hmm—like a proper, man-to-man chat, you could say.” She lay there on the bed, looking up at him, her expression one of complete, and frankly quite terrifying righteous conviction. “And at the same time,” she added, a strange, dangerous glint in her eye, “I’m… I’m testing you. Yes, that’s it. A test. To see if you’ll actually, truly be attracted to Magical Girl Black’s alluring, youthful body. Your earlier, rather flustered comments, you see, have made me very, very worried about your moral character.”

Ren, at this point, felt a profound, cosmic sense of embarrassment wash over him, so intense it was almost a physical force. “Th-this kind of test is very, very dangerous, you know, Miss Black! And highly unorthodox! As the old saying goes,” he stammered, his brain desperately trying to find a logical foothold in this sea of absolute insanity, “you can’t, you shouldn’t, ever test a person’s heart! The very moment you decide to test the hardness of a glass bottle, that bottle, by its very nature, is already destined to be shattered!”

“You say that,” Black said, a slow, playful, and deeply unsettling smirk spreading across her face. She propped her head up with one slender hand, turning on her side to look directly at Ren, her expression one of pure, unadulterated mischief. “So what you’re trying to say is, if you do happen to have some… other, less-than-professional ideas about me, that I can’t, or shouldn’t, do anything to stop you? That I should just… let you have your wicked way with me? Heh. I’m not that kind of honest, accommodating person, you know, kid.”

“I-I most certainly did not say that, Miss Black!” Ren yelped, feeling as if he were rapidly losing control of the situation. He felt he couldn’t quite figure out what in the world Magical Girl Black was thinking lately. She was… unpredictable. And very, very weird.

The infuriatingly smug smile on Black’s face did not fade. She was currently, he noted with a fresh surge of panic, wearing a ridiculously high-slit cheongsam, and in her current, side-lying position, the smooth, pale, and very distracting skin of her thigh was almost completely exposed. “You were testing me before, weren’t you, kid?” she asked, her voice a low, dangerous purr.

“…It… it wasn’t exactly a test, was it?” Ren stammered, his own cheeks flushing.

“You little brat,” she sighed, her tone now surprisingly soft, almost fond. “You have far too many tricks up your sleeve, you know that? I originally, foolishly thought you were just an honest, simple, good-hearted kid. But it turns out you fooled everyone, didn’t you? You’re far too smart for your own good. I’m… I’m really, truly starting to hesitate about this whole ‘Hana being with you’ thing now, you know. Because you’re just too damn smart.”

Ren stared at Magical Girl Black for a long, silent moment, his mind a chaotic jumble of conflicting emotions. And then, with a sigh of weary, profound resignation, he simply lay down as well.

“You see,” Black murmured, her voice now quiet, wistful as she stared up at the blank ceiling, “it’s this kind of thing. You say you don’t have any Esper abilities, and yet, it’s like… it’s like you have some kind of secret mind-reading power. Why? Why do you seem to understand me so well? It was the same when I absorbed Crystal’s power. No one else, not even Strawberry Sweetheart, knew I was in serious trouble. But you did. You knew. Sometimes… sometimes I feel like you can see right through my heart, right through all my pathetic little defenses. And it makes me think you’re very, very scary, Ren Akiyama.”

Ren also turned on his side, so they were now face to face, just inches apart on the bed. “You know the old saying, Miss Black: ‘If you do no wrong, you need not fear ghosts knocking on your door at midnight.’ So, tell me, Black,” he said, his voice now a quiet, gentle, but incredibly piercing whisper, “can you still, at this point, actually change back into Kenji Tanaka? No, wait, that description isn’t quite accurate, is it? Let me rephrase: do you, Magical Girl Black, still possess the courage to change back into Kenji Tanaka?”

“…Magical Girl Black,” she whispered back, her gaze distant, filled with a profound, heartbreaking sadness. “Isn’t she… isn’t she good enough?”