Mia looked blankly at the boy’s face.

His eyes seemed to be staring at something.

“It was certainly the same as the ‘Past’, for some reason. I always felt that I haven’t grown stronger at all… I’m pitifully weak.”

He has wholeheartedly accepted and admitted his weakness.

“… That is why I won’t stop. I want to become stronger than anyone else. Stronger than any existence in this world.”

A heart that will never succumb to anything else.

His tone of voice was calm, but his words were heavy. This was the first time in his life that Allen earnestly desired so.

Mia, who had stopped thinking, was surprised. She never expected for him to say that.

Allen… but that goes to show he possesses another kind of strength…

Not everyone in the world would admit that they are weak…

And mostly, not everyone in the world would accept and acknowledge that weakness…

And so,

“——stop spouting crap, idiot.”

Allen, surprised by her unexpected words, looked up at the beautiful sky blue pupils that displayed an exuberant expression. He then found out that despite her harsh words, Mia had a huge smile plastered on her face.

“Ah, geez... what are you being sentimental for? I’m so upset my head’s gotten weird! It’s all your fault. What kind of crazy nonsense are you talking about?”

Mia stood up and slowly walks towards Allen.

“No, but——”

However, the fire in Mia’s heart was still burning.

“Shut up.”

She first tried to calm her madly beating heart. Composing herself, she said, “You’re weak? Then what about me? I’m weaker than you… Besides, I’m also responsible for the fact that things turned out like this as well!”

“… …”

“Scratch that… I will take those words back, it’s no one’s responsibility. Did you want to become stronger? Did you call yourself weak just because of being utterly defeated by that monster? Don’t become full of yourself, Allen!”

Both his cheeks were pinched by Mia, and her face approached his.

The beautiful sky blue eyes looked as if they were to suck him in, and she conveyed her thoughts to him straight.

“You are not a hero! You never were.”

“!?”

“What’s wrong with being weak? You don’t have any obligations to save everyone. You don’t need to save every people! Just being able to survive is good enough… those are monsters. That insect queen is monsters among monsters… being defeated is normal. You’re not Superman! Remember that! At this moment, we are just ordinary people…nothing more!”

“… …”

“I don’t know what strange things are floating in that brain of yours. However, to me it seems like ‘No matter what happens, I’ll shoulder it by myself’ hero syndrome... and that is annoying me a lot, it angers me to the point I can’t take it.”

“...ngh.”

His heart bounced at these words. It was a lucky guess.

The famous [ Beast King ] Allen, was a person who wasn’t protected, but the one who did the protecting, he was a human who stood at the top. Depending on his actions, people’s life and death were decided. He had no choice but to shoulder everything by himself.

Mia conveyed her thoughts further.

“I’ll say it clearly. This is not the ‘Past’. In this time, you are nothing but a mere ordinary human.”

Know your place.

“Also, understand one more thing; even though we don’t have any other comrades from the ‘Past’, I’m still here.”

Even when he was blessed with strong comrades, Allen was always alone. He would laugh and talk from time to time, but anyone could feel that there’s an invisible wall around him.

He had no people whom he could truly cry and laugh together with.

He only needed the strength everyone requested from him. On this fact, not only Mia, even the other kings already realized this long ago.

“You are mine! No matter how far you go, I will always stand next to you—— please don’t forget that.”

——For some reason. When she said she will always stand by his side, he was incredibly happy.

He finally could whisper the words, “I’m not alone”.

No matter where he ends up, with this he could still believe.

“...Mia.”

“Yes. What is it?”

Mia smiled gently.

He wanted to convey something to her, but he couldn’t find appropriate words.

“...thank you, I think I’m starting to fall for you.”

He put all his thoughts in such mundane words.

“You!?” Mia was shock silly. Her bright face froze up instantly, petrified.

With a plop, Allen put his hand on her forehead. With a teasing smile, he said, “You really love me, don’t you?”

Mia’s face turned bright red and her whole body started trembling.

“Bastard!” with a bright red face,

Slap!

… a loud sound came out as his cheek was hit.

--- ---

Allen looked at the door where Mia run away through while fuming with a helpless smile. He could not help but shake his head. “A woman’s heart is as unfathomable as the ocean floor. I really cannot see through it.”

I must have worried her with my incessant whining.

“Is that so…” suddenly a very cold voice rang out beside him. Turning his gaze, Allen found Ms. Grace who was sleeping just now look at him as if he was a complete trash.

“Eh…teacher?”

“Anyway, it’s good that you are fine Allen.” Ms. Grace smiled as she reached her hands out and caressed Allen’s hair. On the surface, it looked like Ms. Grace was caring for her student, but the sour smell that she emitted could even be smelled ten kilometers away.

“...but—...”

In fact, Ms. Grace woke up just before Mia begun her scolding but she didn’t try to stand up because she thought that they were talking about something important.

Although she didn’t understand most of it, she still knows that Allen was depressed on something and maybe Mia could comfort him…and so she continue pretending to be sleeping.

But she still finds something unpleasant.

——Not fair.

The two of them had a special atmosphere between them, and she was so envious she couldn’t stand it.

She wondered if that was why she the hand used on caressing Allen’s hair fell on his ear and grabbed it unconsciously.

“Eh? Ms… Ms. Grace——Ow, it hurts it hurts it hurts!”

She grabbed it tightly and pulled.

“Mu—!!”

“Wa-wait a second, it hurts! Did I do anything?!”

Allen was confused because he was punished not knowing the reason.

Ms. Grace ignored his pleas and just kept pulling and twisting his ear like a child without telling why.

“Haaaa…” Ms. Grace let out a huge sigh.

She stopped pulling Allen’s ear and wrapped her arms around his head like it was a pillow.

“Ms. Grace!?” Allen didn’t try to avoid her hands, like a normal high school boy.

At least, for the teacher, I respected the most…

I wanted to be a normal boy.

She must have felt weird about Allen who had suddenly changed. But even then, she never questioned him.

“You idiot…I warned you not to die and yet… you nearly broke your promise.”

“I…” Allen thought of apologizing but immediately stops himself.

Allen thought for a bit.

What if their situations had been reversed?

What if Ms. Grace had been doing such absurd things without him knowing and she had ended up in the hospital? How much would he blame himself for remaining peacefully carefree without her discussing any of it with him?

‘I’m sorry’ won’t cut it…

“Now now… I made it, didn’t I!?” That’s right. She doesn’t need an apology but assurance.

Ms. Grace knows that this won’t be the last time he would do this that is why an apology isn’t enough. She knows that he won’t stop just because she wanted it to. She wasn’t that important to him, to begin with. And so her opinion won’t change a thing.

In this kind of crazy world, Allen would continue doing dangerous things to survive. That is why what she wanted wasn’t an apology but something that could assure her.

He was her important student… after all.

“I never break any promises I made, you know…”

“You’re just saying that after the fact…” Ms. Grace said as she let go of his head and smiled.

“Tch tch tch, you don’t get it. Fate is always on my side, you know~ I won’t die just because of some minor thing like being killed~” Allen boasted shamelessly while trying to lighten up the mood.

“Wanting me to die is not that easy.”

As expected, hearing him bragging like a child, Ms. Grace started laughing nonchalantly.

There was a definite difference between Allen and Ms. Grace.

She was the kind of person who did not simply get angry. She was also able to smile.

“Well, whatever, why don’t you keep sleeping? You’re still feeling faint, right?” She scanned him from top to bottom, fearful that Allen was missing a body part.

There’s no hint of anger from before could be seen on her expression right now.

Just how can a woman change their mood as if they were only flipping pages on the book? Allen couldn’t understand it, the mystery regarding a certain creature called ‘Woman’

Allen only smiled bitterly and then looked through the red colored sky through the window. “I sense monsters somewhere afar…and it’s not just several but tens of monsters were gathered.”

“Allen… it happens quite often. Just like what you said, it’s really like an apocalypse; the outside right now is a total mess. There are many monsters wandering around, well if not for the armed people outside protecting this hospital, we would have been attacked already.”

--- ---

And so, the first day of the end of the world finally ended.

The former [ Beast King ] who once lost the world came back and once again walked down the path of carnage without turning back.

Will he save his world this time? No one knows…

If the dream of the future he had dreamt ended up actually happening, that was great. And if it didn’t, that was fine, too.

… All that mattered was to continue walking and never stopping.

--- ---