The Ones Getting Overwhelmed by Each Other’s Heroine Power
(Author: She’s late, but the original protagonist appears.
Apparently even the original protagonist could feel the rust after five years since her last full-fledged original protagonist move)
“A warm singing voice filled with gentle feelings… If only the world could be as gentle as this timbre…”
Hearing the Archangel’s singing voice resounding through the quiet town at night, the fallen angel of Greysphere calmed down as though his earlier fury had been a lie, and his dull eyes trembled.
The words he muttered expressed his true feelings.
“I don’t want to fight you all… I guess… that’s how I truly feel…”
“Adyeshach…”
“…Mea, I won’t give up, you know… I’m expecting a good answer.”
Leaving those words behind, the grey boy beat his black wings and flew off into the night sky.
The current Mea could not chase after that back.
The same was true for Tsubasa.
“…I…”
Standing motionless, Tsubasa looked confused by his own actions of having stopped fighting.
When Mea and Tsubasa headed to the place where the song had come from, it was a small park in one corner of the riverside area.
Resting lightly on a bench there, a black-haired girl was playing a harp.
When the girl noticed the two arriving, she stopped her performance at a good stopping point and raised her face.
Fixing her sorrowful green-and-gold eyes on the two of them, she greeted them with a troubled smile.
“Hey, the moon is beautiful tonight too, isn’t it? Mea, Tsubasa.”
Compared to Mea, whose appearance had changed greatly over five years of growth, the appearance of her, a Primordial Archangel, had astonishingly not changed at all.
At her easygoing manner, Mea unintentionally lost her words, while Tsubasa let out an exasperated sigh and said,
“You can’t see the moon… because of the gate.”
“Oh?”
The moon that should have been floating in the night sky above was, just as he said, hidden by the interdimensional Gate opened by Greysphere.
Whether that was unexpected even for her, or whether she had intentionally made a joke to relax everyone, was unclear, but… Tsubasa and Eight unintentionally exchanged looks and let out stifled laughs.
“…Heh.”
“Fufu…”
One could visibly tell the mood between the two relaxing.
What surprised Mea especially was how the Tsubasa who had been so tense regained his usual composure in an instant.
After laughing for a while, he turned around and placed a hand on Mea’s shoulder.
“Well then, I’m heading back to where Akihiro-san is.”
“Eh?”
Even while facing T.P. Eight Olishua, whom he had chased after so obsessively that he even left the Savers──after just that brief exchange, Tsubasa tried to leave this place.
Mea looked up at his face with a discerning eye as though seeing something unbelievable, then asked him hesitantly.
“…Is that okay, Tsubasa-san? Even though you finally got to meet Eight-san…”
There should have been countless things he wanted to say, countless things he wanted to ask, and yet after exchanging only a few words, he was leaving her side.
To Mea, who could not understand his decision, Tsubasa returned a gentle gaze and said,
“I got to meet her, so that’s enough. …For now.”
For now, there was no need to exchange many words.
His completely relieved expression was something Mea had never seen before.
Even for her, who was especially sensitive to the presences people gave off, she could not understand his true intentions right now.
Faced with Mea’s confusion, he only gave a bitter smile.
“I’m a detective, you know? When the time comes that I want to meet her, no matter where she is, I’ll pin down where she is and go meet her as many times as it takes… with my own power.”
She was safe, and she was here.
He had been able to reaffirm that the woman called T.P. Eight Olishua was kinder than anyone else, unchanged from back then.
For now, that alone was enough, he said.
Besides… he added as he looked down at Mea’s face.
“Besides… the one who needs her words right now isn’t me.”
“…?”
“I’ll give this one to you. …While you can, say what you want to say.”
“Ah…”
Even without the ability to read hearts or presences like Mea and the angels, his insight, being a detective, was accurate.
Exactly, he had seen through it.
At this very moment, the heart of none other than Mitsui Mea──was more exhausted than anyone else here.
Waving his hand lightly, he left the park. To his back, the girl called out.
“You’ve grown up, Tsubasa.”
“──!”
Just those few words she threw at him were her honest impression of the current Kazaoka Tsubasa.
To her words, he replied in a slightly shrill voice.
“…Next time we meet, I might be acting like a kid.”
“Eh?”
Mea could not decipher the meaning of those meaningful words.
Apparently the same was true for the Eight who was told them, as she tilted her head in rare puzzlement.
Watching her like that from the corner of his eye, Tsubasa wore a smile that looked somewhat like he was saying “got you,” and this time he finally left the place──.
──By now, it must have already been past ten at night.
Inside the completely silent park at night, Mea sat alone facing T.P. Eight Olishua, who was sitting on a bench and tending to the harp on her lap.
Now that she was actually facing her like this, the important words would not come out.
However, unlike Tsubasa, who had been satisfied with this place even without saying much, it was not Mea’s true intention to keep spending this time in silence without saying anything.
As though unable to bear just watching any longer, it was Eight who spoke first.
“Has it been since the time we fought Adyeshach five years ago that I last talked with you alone?”
“…At that time, Chesed and Kabbalah-chan were there too.”
“Ah, that’s right. Then does that mean this is actually the first time the two of us have truly been alone together?”
“Yes, it’s the first time…”
“Fufu… it feels kind of strange. It’s been a long time… really a long time. Mea.”
“…That’s… true… Eight-san…”
There were too many things Mea wanted to say.
Even so, when she faced her, she could not express them well.
Mea felt confused by the new sensation of not being able to remain her usual self in front of Eight, and that she could not speak about Arisu.
In front of Mea like that, Eight shifted over to the right side of the bench, then patted the empty left side while calling out to her.
“Well, sit down. There’s still a little time until the decisive battle, and you should take a rest here too.”
Urged along with a “come on, come on,” Mea moved close beside her and sat down.
In the night where the chilly autumn wind blew, beside her was very warm… and she felt a sense of security like gathering with family.
──Having finally accepted the reality that Eight was here, Mea gradually regained her composure and began speaking bit by bit.
Those were the things she had not been able to say to her five years ago.
Her feelings of gratitude for having been helped so many times.
Her feelings of repentance for having known nothing.
And the feelings of regret and apology that all she could do was believe in Eight and see her off when she remained beyond the dimension in order to seal Abyss Zero──Mea revealed them all honestly in the clumsy, halting way of speaking she had as a child.
“I’m sorry…! Even though Eight-san was always fighting to protect the world… I was always only thinking about myself…”
Her voice trembling as though she were crying was clearer proof than anything that the current Mea’s mental state had become unstable.
And yet, the very first thing to spill from her mouth was her own inadequacy, someone who could be no match to a splendid existence like Eight.
“Leaving you behind in that place… making you fight Abyss Zero for five whole years… I’m truly, truly sorry!”
When Mea saw Greysphere floating alone in the world of emptiness, she felt deep sorrow from that sight.
That was a feeling of pity toward him, who had been all alone for hundreds of millions of years ever since being separated from Abyss Zero, but for Mea it was also a sight that made her keenly aware beyond measure of the sin she committed five years ago.
Of Eight, whom she had once left alone beyond the dimension.
Toward her, whom she had made go through something similar to Greysphere, Mea had regretted it all this time.
Clutching the skirt draped over her thighs, she bowed her head deeply.
To Mea like that, Eight declared,
“Don’t say such sad things.”
Putting the harp away into an interdimensional space, Eight casually placed the silk hat she removed onto her lap.
Then, placing both hands on Mea’s cheeks, she lifted Mea’s lowered head so that their gazes met.
The emotions dwelling in those clear two-colored eyes were gentle to the very end──and yet they held compassion as they looked only at the girl before them.
After accepting Mea’s apology, she spoke.
“I didn’t stay behind with Abyss Zero to make you sad. Because I wanted to do that, I pushed aside all of your opposition.”
Saying that, she──smiled happily.
With a soft pat, a gentle sensation was placed on top of Mea’s head.
Her palm gently stroked Mea’s black hair without end.
Receiving that action, Mea could only be dumbfounded.
“Ah…”
“If you think that’s a sin, then I, T.P. Eight Olishua, forgive you. You thought about me that strongly──I’m satisfied with just those feelings. Good girl, good girl.”
“…Auu…”
Toward the sensation different from being patted by her brother-in-law or adoptive older sister, Mea felt both a comfort like drowsiness and embarrassment at the same time.
Even though five years had passed since then, it made her realize that she was still still a child, and it embarrassed her.
…But still──even including that Mea felt very happy.
“Thank you… so much…!”
Apology, and gratitude.
Mea had not forgotten those unstinting feelings even once since that time.
Even if the words were clumsy, those few words were simpler than anything else──and surely, they were something that reached Eight’s heart.
“Yeah, you’re welcome.”
As though she had been waiting for those words, Eight nodded with a contented smile and removed her hand from Mea’s head.
The warm and soft sensation disappearing caused a reluctant look to unconsciously appear in Mea’s eyes, but the next moment those eyes changed to a color of surprise.
In the two hands she had removed from Mea’s head, Eight had produced a box case from somewhere.
It was a palm-sized case that looked like it might contain a ring or a gemstone.
With an embarrassed-looking smile, Eight brought it before Mea and said,
“Actually, there’s something I wanted to give you.”
“…Something you wanted to give me?”
“Yeah. I skipped things like school entrance celebrations and birthdays for five whole years… so this is at least a present from us to you.”
“A present… but, for someone like me…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine! Those three gave you ribbons, so if I don’t give you anything too, then it affects my honor as Eight-onee-san.”
“…Those three?”
“Ah… sorry, it’s nothing. Here, take it! I’ll be upset if you don’t accept it.”
“Ah… thank you very much.”
Even while thinking that it was far too much for her, Mea could not refuse what Eight held out insistently, as if pushing it onto her.
This too was probably part of being “easily swept along.” Mea gave in to Eight’s pushiness and carefully, delicately accepted the case.
And then, urged on by Eight, she opened the lid──and was captivated.
“…Beautiful…”
Inside the case was a very beautiful brooch.
Formed from a transparent material like glasswork into an elaborate shape, it imitated the form of a brightly colored butterfly.
As though being drawn in, she unconsciously picked it up and stared at it, and its color showed various changes, turning from transparent to red, then blue.
“Apparently it’s called Auroralium. Depending on the angle you look at it from and how the light hits it, it shines in all kinds of colors.”
“…Amazing… it’s amazing, Eight-san.”
The butterfly brooch she had been given by Eight was so splendid that she lost all other vocabulary.
It was a beautiful and vivid accessory, to the point that it looked beyond the reach of a normal student’s part-time job wages.
To Mea, who had received something beyond what she deserved, Eight spoke in a lively voice.
“I thought it would suit you perfectly.”
…Seeing those words and smile, which held no hidden meaning at all, Mea felt a ticklish emotion deep in her chest.
Understanding that it was joy toward the pure goodwill gifted to her by Eight, the corners of Mea’s eyes became hot as though burning.
Pestered by her to try wearing it right away, Mea could not hide that she herself had wanted to do so as well, and attached the brooch to the collar of the school uniform blazer she was currently wearing.
Thinking that something like this really was too much for her… she lowered her gaze and timidly waited for a reaction, and Eight clapped her hands and declared,
“Yep, it suits you! Just like we thought!”
“R-Really?”
“It’s perfect! I guess it’s because the person wearing it has such good features? Fufu, it was worth the effort making it.”
“Y-You made it!? Amazing…”
Like female high school classmates, they raised excited cheers with squeals of excitement.
Seeing that, Mea felt a surprising emotion almost like relief, thinking, “Eight-san makes expressions like this too…” and was astonished to hear that this brooch was not store-bought but handmade.
But certainly, if it’s Eight-san, it feels like she could make brooches and all kinds of jewelry, Mea accepted it without the slightest doubt… however, seeing Mea’s reaction, Eight scratched the tip of her nose and added a comment.
“That wasn’t made by just me; Nee-san… your mother helped with it too.”
“…!”
Eight’s older sister──in other words, Charon.
She, who claimed to be Mea’s mother, had also been involved in making this brooch.
For the sake of this one and only present in the world, just to give to Mea.
The moment she heard that, a great wave welled up in Mea’s heart──
“Thank you for being born, Mea.”
──those words that had once been said to her five years ago became the final push, and burst through.
“Mea!? Mea-chan!?”
Endlessly overflowing drops wet her knees.
But they were not tears of sadness.
Thinking about it, before this blessing, perhaps it already did not matter what she was.
Now, Mitsui Mea finally understood.
“...Thank you... Eight-onee-chan...”
“────!”
──that with just that alone, she could affirm herself.
(Author: For Mea, Eight was a mentor of the heart, another older sister, a benefactor she felt guilt toward, and a mother-like existence she thought she could never have. In other words, extremely heavy (((；ﾟДﾟ)))
For Eight, Mea was someone she had recently started becoming conscious of as her niece, someone to protect, and also the original work’s protagonist/main heroine. In other words, original-protagonist-brain (´･ω･`))