In the original story, Junpei had been thoroughly deceived by Mahito.
But that wasn't because Junpei was stupid.
It was because Mahito had genuinely, truly pulled Junpei out of the abyss he'd been drowning in.
A male high schooler bullied every single day. A lonely, miserable kid whom no one understood, whom no one had ever shown a shred of kindness. In the depths of his despair — at the moment when life felt most hopeless — a figure from beyond the world he knew suddenly appeared. Someone who affirmed him. Encouraged him. Taught him how to use his own power.
Mahito's intentions had been rotten to the core, but there was no denying it: in that moment, Junpei had genuinely been saved by him. That was precisely why he'd been deceived. Anyone standing in Junpei's shoes would have fallen for it. Anyone would have seen Mahito as a savior.
And now, Junpei felt exactly the same way about Mahiko.
He'd cast her in that same role — the savior who had reached into the dark abyss of his despair and pulled him free.
He'd even come to think of her, sincerely and literally, as an angel.
"Miss Angel... she'll be okay, right...?"
The fight was still ongoing, but Junpei had already carried the hostages to safety. Once he'd set them down, though, he couldn't stop worrying about the blue-haired girl still fighting that monster inside the fire station.
He'd read enough manga to have a rough idea of what he'd stumbled into — gods, ghosts, demons, things like that. He knew that whatever came next was way beyond the reach of an ordinary person like him. But he still couldn't help it. He couldn't stop worrying about Mahiko.
He couldn't hold himself back. He turned around and headed back toward the Curtain, stepping through its boundary, and the sounds of battle reached his ears.
Then, after one final thunderous crash — the fire station in the distance went silent.
Was it over?
Junpei moved forward, drawing closer — and saw the fire station floor drenched in blood. He saw a silhouette walking out, heading toward the tree line.
The Curtain overhead was dissolving, which meant the fight was finished.
It looked like Miss Angel had won.
Miss Angel was leaving.
Junpei watched her go.
Angels were angels, and people were people. Fairy tales and shounen manga alike all said the same thing: the divine and the mortal didn't mix.
Junpei told himself that an ordinary person like him — just getting to see an angel once, just getting to be saved by her — was already more than enough luck for one lifetime. He should be grateful. He should leave it at that.
But...
His feet moved faster than his brain.
By the time he realized what he was doing, he was already running after her.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Mahiko turned around. She saw the breathless boy who'd come sprinting up behind her, and raised an eyebrow — then smiled. "What's up? Something on your mind?"
The boy gulped for air, head tilting up to look at her.
"M-Miss Angel..." he said. "Thank you... for saving me..."
"I'm not an angel." The girl smiled pleasantly. "Actually, I'm kind of a villain."
"A... villain?" The boy blinked, thrown completely off balance.
What did that mean? Miss Angel... was a villain?
"That's right. If this world were a shounen manga, I'd be the exact kind of bad guy that all the righteous heroes band together to take down." The girl tilted her head. "So — what does someone come to find a villain for?"
The boy was left completely speechless.
He stared into her bright, clear eyes, and he genuinely couldn't tell whether she was telling the truth or not.
She had saved him.
She had saved everyone.
She had killed every last one of the murderous kidnappers, and then wiped out that monster too.
And yet she was standing here calling herself the villain.
If Miss Angel was the villain — then what did that make the kidnappers who'd been slaughtering people? What did that make the creature that had been eating humans alive? What did that make the people who'd been bullying him for years? What did that make all the ones who'd looked the other way while he suffered?
Junpei's thoughts were spinning.
Mahiko raised an eyebrow.
"Still — since you chose to come find me, let me meet your courage halfway." She said, "Do you want power, kid?"
"Power...?"
"Yeah. Power like a superpower. The power of an evil monster." Mahiko extended her hand, flashing a villainous grin. "Do you have the resolve?"
Mahiko did genuinely feel for Junpei — for what he'd been through. She wanted to help him. But no matter what, his life was still his own. The right to choose had to be handed back to him.
She'd deliberately left the fire station without going to find him, and sure enough, Junpei had chased after her — just like in the original story. She had warned him that she wasn't a good person, because she wanted him to understand exactly what he'd be walking into before he made his choice.
And now the boy was standing there in a daze.
He had a premonition — a powerful, bone-deep premonition — that the choice he was about to make in this very moment might redirect the entire trajectory of his life.
A monster...
Is it the kind of monster I'm imagining? The kind that shows up in kids' shows and hero stories — existing somewhere between ordinary human and ordinary beast?
Can Miss Angel... actually turn me into one of those?
The boy stood there in a daze. He wavered.
But the next second, he thought of the people who'd bullied him at school. He thought of the kidnappers Mahiko had just killed.
"I... want to have power." That was his answer.
The next day. Early morning. The time when students were still making their way to school, classes not yet started.
Students were filing in, laughing and chatting as they walked.
Junpei was among them.
On the outside, he looked exactly the same as always — a slight frame, bangs grown just a little too long, an air that was somehow both sullen and lacking in confidence.
He turned his head and glanced at an open space behind the school building. That was where his classmates had beaten him up just a few days ago.
Into his mind drifted the question Mahiko had asked him yesterday, after she'd "granted him the power of a monster."
"So — what are you going to do now? You have power. Are you going to take revenge on the people who bullied you? Are you going to turn all that pain and humiliation around and bully them back, the same way they did it to you?"
No.
I understand, Miss Angel.
You're a good person. So there's no way you'd want me to become a bully.
So I won't do that.
Even if yesterday you said things like, "Ugh, why are you so easygoing, can't you just go punch them, I want to watch—" and "Honestly? For those bullies, you could literally just walk up and deck them, that's totally fine—" — I know. I know you were testing me.
I won't betray the power Miss Angel gave me.
Even as a monster, I'm going to be a monster that doesn't disappoint her.
The boy walked on, eyes lowered, and stepped into the classroom.
Then he stopped cold — because he saw it. A scene of bullying.
Inside the classroom. Someone else. Being bullied.
In that instant, the boy clenched his fist, and Cursed Energy began rising from his body.
This is exactly that moment, isn't it, Miss Angel. You gave me this power so that I could stand up when it counts — so I could save other people who are going through what I went through.
I won't let you down.
____
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