“…S-so huge.”
Standing in front of Yukina was a sturdy beastman girl.
Deep brown bear ears stood upright on her head, her sailor uniform nearly bursting from the hard muscles, sleeves rolled up to the elbows to reveal several light-colored old scars.
“Crap, a special event triggered. It’s the ‘Berserk Athlete’!”
Yukina’s heart skipped a beat as she hunched her shoulders.
Just like in most ACG works, Blood-Colored Return Gift also had those particularly exaggerated athletes.
Even though they were set as high school students, they wore faces that looked thirty or forty years old, with resolute eyes as if they had fought in World War II.
In the game, these athletes rarely appeared and belonged to special events, but once you ran into them and triggered combat, even Mashiro as the female protagonist would lose a large chunk of HP.
“What, cat got your tongue? You bump into someone and don’t say anything?”
The muscular bear girl lowered her head, the two pitch-black shadows cast by her bear ears falling over Yukina.
She tightened her grip on the coffee can, fingers pressed together, the aluminum can making a crackling sound as it shrank smaller and smaller, until finally when she opened her palm only a round iron disk the size of a bottle cap remained.
The purity is way too high.
Yukina swallowed hard, staring at the other’s wrist that was thicker than her own thigh, and trembled.
“S-sor—”
Just as she was about to apologize, a petite figure suddenly blocked in front of her, the tanuki ears atop the light-blue hair twitching.
“…Ningning!”
Yukina blinked in surprise.
“Hmph.”
Ningning planted both hands on her hips, raised her chin toward the bear girl who stood nearly two heads taller, and looked thoroughly imposing.
The combat-power gap between the two was still far too large, roughly on the level of Tyson versus Ultraman Seven.
“Grrr? You planning to stand up for her?”
The muscular bear girl’s throat rumbled with a low growl as she bent forward and flexed her lats in threat.
Ningning gave a faint smile, flashing two tiger teeth, and pointed straight at the other’s face.
“You’ve got guts! Do you even know who the two of us are?”
“Huh?”
The muscular bear girl looked down at Ningning, then at the soft pink creature behind her, and couldn’t help sneering.
“Who cares who you two shorties are!”
Before the words were finished, a hand grabbed her sleeve from behind.
It was her companion, a cow beast girl whose muscles were less exaggerated, with a chunk missing from the edge of one ear as if it had been sliced by something sharp not long ago.
“Stop talking.” The cow beast girl lowered her voice and leaned close to the muscular bear girl’s ear to whisper.
“They’re… that Feilin Corporation young lady’s…”
The muscular bear girl froze in place.
The iron disk slipped from her hand and rumbled across the corridor floor until it hit the wall and stopped.
“…Ah, ah, so you’re Miss Yumiko’s… Sorry, sir, I didn’t recognize you just now.”
The mountain of muscle collapsed. She took a step back, bent straight over at the waist, and assumed a perfect bowing posture.
Sweat slid down her cheeks, gathered at the tip of her nose, and finally dripped to the floor amid faint trembling.
Yukina had not even finished processing what had happened when Ningning coldly snorted, crossed her arms, and put on the full aura of a villain organization’s underling, her tail held high.
“Good that you know. Next time remember to bring your eyes when you walk, or else ‘Blue Lightning’ and ‘Pink Tall Person’ will have to take action… Let’s go, Little Yukina.”
She grabbed Yukina’s wrist and walked straight between the two bowing athletes.
Yukina was dragged along, her steps growing faster and faster until they became almost abnormal; her schoolbag nearly slipped from her arms and she had to trot just to keep up.
The two of them rounded the corridor corner and finally left the athletes’ line of sight.
Dong.
Ningning’s legs gave out and she plopped down hard on the floor.
“…Ningning?!” Yukina jumped in fright and quickly squatted beside her. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”
“My legs… my legs went soft…”
She looked like a deflated balloon, her whole body almost melting into a puddle, voice still shaking.
“I was so scared! What kind of creature was that just now? Why does our school even have something like that?! I haven’t learned the highest-level force dispersion yet—if that thing punched me I’d really turn into raccoon-dog paste! And I’ve already decided I want to die in the hands of a beautiful girl, not some muscle monster…”
As she spoke she shuddered hard, both ears pressed flat against the top of her head.
Yukina pressed her lips together and gently stroked the other’s back; even through the uniform she could feel the slight trembling.
This idiot tanuki acted so convincingly earlier, but she was just forcing herself the whole time.
“…Why did you step in front of me just now?”
“Huh?” Ningning looked up with an expression that clearly said what nonsense are you talking about.
“Little Yukina promised to treat me to snacks. If you got taken out, what happens to my snacks?”
“…Just for the snacks?”
“What else?”
Yukina was speechless.
This idiot tanuki can actually go that far just for snacks.
But was it only her imagination?
Yukina noticed a faint flush on Ningning’s face and that her gaze was slightly evasive, not daring to meet her eyes for more than a second.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Ningning raised her face and met Yukina’s blank stare; her tanuki ears twitched.
“What what—did you suddenly realize how cool Ningning-chan is and fall for me?”
“A little bit, yeah.”
“Ahahaha, I knew—eh?”
Ningning’s attempt to stand froze halfway, her tail stiffening with her. The next second her cheeks flushed red at a visible speed, transforming from blue tanuki form into red tanuki form.
“Y-y-y-y-y-you suddenly saying what?! Why answer me so seriously all of a sudden?! I was just joking! Wow wow wow… this is so awkward! Now I don’t know what to do!”
“But the Ningning just now really was cool.”
“…”
Ningning fell silent. She avoided Yukina’s eyes, looked around with a red face, and after holding it in for a long moment finally squeezed out a muffled line.
“…Little Yukina, you’re so lewd.”
“Where am I lewd?”
Yukina puffed her cheeks a little and reached out to support Ningning’s arm, helping her stand.
“Can you still walk?”
“O-of course I can. Don’t underestimate me.”
Ningning used the support to get up. Her knees still trembled slightly, but her tail had already risen again.
The two of them supported each other as they walked toward the classroom. After a few steps Ningning spoke again, her voice softer than before, almost as if talking to herself.
“…Good thing Boss Yumiko’s status still works, otherwise it would’ve been troublesome.”
Yukina did not answer directly; she only gave a light nod of agreement.
Although she really did not want to admit it, under this game’s worldview—at least in the early stages—simply holding the identity of “Yumiko’s follower” was like carrying a VIP pass through the entire school; anything became possible without obstruction.
For small-fry characters like them who wanted to survive in a world ruled by bullying and power, relying on methods like this might be the only way.
Now Yukina understood a little of the original owner’s choice.
Yet she still could not fully accept it.
***
At the far end of the corridor, in a corner where light never reached.
A pair of blood-red eyes quietly watched everything.
The moment Yukina’s hand wrapped around Ningning’s waist, those pupils trembled violently once.
Only after the two figures completely disappeared did those eyes, together with the silver-white hair, quietly withdraw into deeper darkness.