Unlimited Ambition

Damn it, all he can do is play the violin?! I... well, I can't play any musical instruments, I'm a complete art idiot—but hey, I can wield a three-foot sword and achieve unparalleled fame—can that kid handle it?

Watching Sayaka's current state from the sidelines, I felt a little envious.

"Even if... even if there's no result in the end, just hearing that voice is enough, isn't it? As a reward, I've already received it..." Sayaka muttered to herself, though it sounded like she was trying to comfort herself. In any case, she was ready to leave.

Meanwhile, I, who was already very unhappy, breathed a sigh of relief—while on the other side, Kyoko, who had also breathed a sigh of relief, became nervous again.

Besides me, there was another person spying here, another magical girl who had signed a contract with me, Kyoko, who was originally supposed to take the place of my senior and live happily with me.

After being instigated by a certain girl with long, straight black hair, Kyoko's affection for Sayaka instantly plummeted from zero to negative. She was determined to teach this arrogant brat a lesson.

Of course, because Sayaka and I have spent a little more time together, Kyoko hasn't been able to find an opportunity until now, when Kyoko discovered Sayaka had sneaked out alone and followed her. But she didn't rush into anything, wanting to see what Sayaka was up to by not doing what she wanted with me at night (Kyoko's perspective) and instead running away.

"Could it be that we don't have enough condoms? But wait, that guy never wears condoms. Anyway, it's not like I'll get pregnant..." So, Kyoko, out of curiosity, followed him.

Then I saw this scene.

Although Kyoko was a bit domineering, she wasn't unreasonable. Seeing that Sayaka didn't actually like her, she relaxed—until just now, when Sayaka, as if trying to comfort herself, made a declaration like, "I'm actually a good person." Kyoko finally couldn't hold back anymore and ran out.

"Hey, little girl. Is the reason you signed the contract with him because of this young master?" Kyoko has a very direct personality, so she speaks very directly as well.

"Who are you?" Sayaka became alert when she saw someone dressed like a slightly delinquent girl who was talking about "contracts".

However, Kyoko showed no intention of answering her, and continued to offer her own suggestions: "If you want him to like you, it's actually a very simple thing. Just break all his arms and legs, make him completely dependent on you, or just use the power of a magical girl to steal him away. Isn't that enough? Why make it so complicated?"

"Shut up!" However, Sayaka completely rejected these perfectly reasonable suggestions that Kyoko took for granted. Suddenly, the atmosphere between the two magical girls became tense, and a battle seemed imminent...

perhaps.

Chapter Twenty: A fight broke out inexplicably.

"You ungrateful wretch! I was clearly thinking of you!" Kyoko said, angrily pulling out a large bag of potato chips and crunching them down. It seemed she was channeling her anger into her appetite, crushing Sayaka like a bag of chips to vent her frustration.

"How could I possibly do something like that—I'm not like you, I'm on the side of justice!" Sayaka said in a very childish way, making Kyoko frown.

"Huh? Justice? Are you kidding me? We magical girls specialize in fighting evil. That so-called justice... are you a child?"

Kyoko's repeated provocations finally enraged Sayaka. She instantly transformed—and then swung her sword. However, Sayaka still had some limits; the sword only struck a spot in front of Kyoko, not targeting her directly.

However, this was enough for Apricot.

"That Kyubey guy... taught you that?" Kyoko's voice suddenly dropped to a very low hue, as if she were on the verge of exploding. Sayaka also realized something slightly. She knew that she had indeed unintentionally used the technique I had taught her.

But what does this prove? It proves nothing, doesn't it?

Although, based on her woman's intuition, Sayaka felt she should clarify things at this point—the girl opposite her had clearly misunderstood her relationship with Wright.

"Kyubi? Come to think of it, that's what the blonde girl (senior) called him the first time I met him. Does it have any special meaning?" Although she knew this wasn't the right time to think about these things, Sayaka couldn't help but wonder.

"Hmph... I knew it. Well then, it seems we have no choice but to have a showdown. Let's go find a quiet place. Then I'll give you a good beating." Kyoko said, brandishing her spear and resting it on her back.

“Um… I think you’ve misunderstood. Light—who you call Kyubey—and I are just ordinary friends,” Sayaka said.

"Just friends?" Kyoko looked at him with a mocking expression, as if she had heard a joke. "You're a magical girl who made a contract with him, right?"

“Yes. Is there anything strange about that?” Sayaka asked, puzzled.

"That's enough, you bastard! I'll go back and ask him myself after this, but before that, come with me, or I'll cause a huge scene here and take care of that young master you like." Kyoko threatened. She looked extremely serious, not at all like she was bluffing.

"If that's the case, then there's nothing I can do. Don't blame me if you die."

In comparison, Sayaka's words seemed more outwardly fierce but inwardly restrained.

After that, the two magical girls moved quickly. The scene soon changed to a pedestrian overpass in the suburbs, completely deserted, with only the occasional truck and long-distance bus passing by—hopefully they didn't fall into the ditch.

Then the battle began.

Although I've praised Sayaka's talent before, and like me, she uses a sword as her weapon, Sayaka is actually my second apprentice (the first being a certain Youmu, who is currently sleeping soundly in my alternate dimension). Just now, it was precisely because of a starting sword move I taught her that Kyoko became jealous.

However—Sayaka's fighting ability is really much weaker than Kyoko's.

In terms of experience and mindset, Kyoko has actually killed people. And from what I've observed, eliminating a potential rival who has offended her would pose absolutely no psychological burden for her. That's it.

"What?! 'Oh, sorry, I studied kendo, I really don't know anything about spears or anything like that.' Using that as an excuse to shirk responsibility. It's like they don't want to teach me at all. They only gave me some basic books on various spear techniques—and there was even a book on introductory spear fighting! What the hell?! I'm using a 2.3-meter spear, not a shotgun that fires bullets, you bastard!"

And so, Kyoko became incredibly jealous. Jealous of Sayaka, jealous of the relationship between her and me. That's how it is.

"Be careful, or you'll get killed!"

You'd better watch yourself out!

Sayaka shouted this.

Then, guns and swords clashed, creating a dazzling halo of light. Red and blue clashed fiercely, sparking brilliant flashes—but that's not the point. The point is: two beautifully dressed girls, acting like fierce demons, are fighting each other. That's far more exciting than the fight itself.

As for their moves and techniques, I wasn't really impressed. In other words, I didn't come here to watch the fights, but to see the girls.

Even so—a contest between two idiots—at least one slightly smarter can be chosen. In the end, Sayaka and Kyoko were chosen as the slightly stronger one.

The obvious choice is apricot; there can't be any other option. As for the reasons, I've already explained them enough. That's it.

From the moment just now—around the fifty-first move—Sayaka's footwork and techniques became chaotic. Around the sixty-seventh move, Sayaka was only able to defend—and she was flustered and confused. She made even more mistakes—then Kyoko knocked her sword out of her hand with a spear, and then the spear tip was pressed against her throat.

Sayaka was stunned—after all, she had only ever been an ordinary high school girl, and now she was facing life and death so quickly. It was all too heavy a burden—and, incidentally, she had just been stabbed in the calf by Kyoko's gun, and it hurt terribly. Sayaka had also lost some of her mobility because of it. This was one of the reasons why she was defeated so quickly.

However, Kyoko didn't know what to do next. If she had accidentally killed Sayaka during the previous battle, that would have been one thing. She could explain it to me later. After all, it wasn't intentional. But now, if she insisted on killing Sayaka, what would happen when I found out?

"No, I'll be hated if I do that—but why should I care about that guy's feelings?! He already has me...that damn bastard." Kyoko gritted her teeth, inexplicably feeling proud—and then thrust the spear towards Sayaka's neck...

Chapter Twenty-One: Competitive Spirit and Such

"Stop it right now! You two—" So, in these awkward situations, someone should step in to smooth things over and give the girls a way out.

For example, someone who was running out of breath, exhausted, with sweat all over his forehead, looking very anxious, very distressed, and very troubled—Wright Baldwin.

Seeing her actions witnessed by the person she least wanted to see, Kyoko muttered something under her breath. Then she sheathed her spear. She looked at me, unsure what to say.

So I ran a few more steps and ran to Sayaka's side, asking with a hint of concern, "How are you? Are you alright?!"

"No, thank you." Seeing that I ran over and Kyoko actually stopped when I called her to stop, Sayaka was surprised, and at the same time had a lot of questions she wanted to ask. However, it seemed inappropriate to say anything in this situation.

There was something slightly off about it. It was as if there really was something between her and me.

"We're both magical girls, so we should get along well," I said to Kyoko in a slightly lecturing tone. Kyoko snorted, like a child caught doing something wrong by their parent. She turned her head away without a word, looking like a stubborn brat who wouldn't admit anything.

"Really," I muttered under my breath, then gave Sayaka an apologetic smile. I then grabbed Kyoko's hand and ran to the side.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" I complained to Kyoko. "I'm already busy enough, don't add to my troubles, okay?"

"So, in your eyes, I'm just a nuisance?! Fine, you forget the old one as soon as you have the new one. I saw through you a long time ago!" Kyoko shouted at me, taking things out of context.

"Stop being so unreasonable, okay? Sayaka and I are really just ordinary friends—or even that's a bit of a stretch. Can you trust me a little bit?!"

“After you said ‘I don’t have a girlfriend’ when you signed the contract with me, your credit with me has already become negative!” Kyoko said.

"That was an accident—Mami confessed her feelings to me after I signed the contract with you."

“I don’t care—it’s your fault!” That’s how Kyoko acted.

"Okay, okay... I was wrong, I was wrong. I was wrong, alright? Okay, Kyoko, stop making a fuss, okay?"

"What did I do wrong..." Kyoko said softly. She seemed much calmer now.

Did I finally manage to fool them? I breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"But—why are you teaching that girl so diligently?! She's only been signed with you for a few days, hasn't she?! Also, each region only needs one magical girl. What am I going to do now that East Asia has her? Go back to that disgusting place in North America?!"

“I’ll go with you,” I said, taking her hand.

"Huh?!" Kyoko was slightly surprised, even though being hugged by me was quite common. But Sayaka was watching from the side.

"I can leave once I've trained Sayaka to be a proper magical girl," I said.

"You want to leave... Well, this isn't so bad." After hearing that I was leaving, Kyoko's attitude changed instantly: "Then this run-down place can be left to that blue-haired one—as long as you successfully train her, you can leave, right?"

"Uh, the word 'training' is a little... "

"Okay, I understand. How long will it take exactly?" To be honest, Kyoko is really easy to fool. Just a little lie was enough to make her smile.

I calculated when Witch's Night would arrive. Then I replied, "About two months."

"Okay, that's fine then. Remember me, okay?" After getting a definite answer, Kyoko hugged my neck, kissed me on the cheek, and then disappeared from sight in a few leaps.

"Phew..." I breathed a slight sigh of relief, then turned around and said to Sayaka, "It's alright now, let's go back."

"Hmm." Sayaka deactivated her transformation and followed behind me, her head bowed like a little kid who had done something wrong.

“…Well, that…I came out this time…” Sayaka felt a little uneasy thinking about how she had sneaked out and caused me trouble—of course, when she thought about Kyoko’s attitude towards me, she couldn’t help but feel that she was innocent and had been shot in the knee while lying down.

“Kyoko. She’s a magical girl who’s based in North America. I think she heard about Mami a few days ago, so she came here to try her luck,” I explained to her.

"Huh? North America?!" Sayaka was slightly surprised. "Are there many magical girls?"

"No, not many. There are only five in the whole world combined," I said. "We are often short-handed."

“So, what is her purpose in coming here?” Sayaka asked.

"I just asked around, and it seems they find North America too boring. So they want to switch to East Asia," I said.

"Huh? Is that so?" Sayaka was a little skeptical. Is it true that girls only have such a strong perception in this area?

I gave a wry smile: "But she's already given up on the idea. I tried to dissuade her. Also... I'll be leaving here in a while."

"Where to? North America?" Sayaka asked.

“…That’s right,” I replied.

"I knew it! Wright, you're really popular." Sayaka remarked with a hint of感慨.

"Actually, being too popular isn't a good thing... Sometimes, if you don't do things well, it's easy to get hurt," I said.

Although I was talking about my own situation, Sayaka quickly connected what I said with a certain Kamijou boy number two, and immediately felt a sense of empathy.

“That’s absolutely right,” Sayaka agreed.

"But speaking of which, what are you doing out so late instead of sleeping?" I asked. "If I hadn't sensed danger and rushed over, things would have been really bad."

“…Um, that…” Sayaka was a little unsure how to phrase it. She couldn’t very well say that she’d seen the beautiful moonlight and, quite pleased with herself, decided to go for a walk outside, could she?

"Is it that boy?" I asked.

Sayaka didn't answer, but I heard her clearly: she stopped and didn't go any further.

"So there really was a problem?" I sighed softly, then turned around and asked.