"Thank you very much—"
I gave a perfunctory send-off to the customer leaving the store with a plastic bag in hand.
Now, the number of customers in the store was zero. Having finally cleared the unusual rush, I let out a heavy sigh and checked the clock. The store’s only analog timepiece indicated it was exactly 2:00 PM.
"Good work, Owari-kun."
"Good work, Boss-ssu."
Tanaka, the manager of this convenience store, emerged from the backroom and called out to me, Owari Tokoyo.
"We actually had quite a few customers today, didn't we?"
"Yeah-ssu. Truly a rare sight."
Even though this store was near a station, it was inexplicably unpopular. I had started to suspect the place was cursed, but today a steady stream of people had kept me busy without pause.
"I'm really glad you were on the shift today, Owari-kun."
"Then please give me a raise-ssu. Soloing a rush like that is way too much."
"Ah, well, you know how tight our margins are..."
The manager was likely telling the truth. Customers really were a rarity here; the fact that he could afford to hire a part-timer—even if it was just me—was something of a mystery.
As I engaged in our usual aimless banter within the hollowed-out silence of the shop, a new customer walked in. This really was an unusual day.
"Welcome!" we said in unison.
I glanced at the newcomer as the entry chime rang, and immediately felt a suspicious vibe.
He had a large hood pulled low over his face, obscuring his features. Looking around restlessly, he slowly shuffled toward the register where we stood.
"..."
"Um..."
One minute passed, then two, yet the man said nothing.
"Can I help you with something?" I asked.
"Hand it over..."
The manager finally stepped in to help as the silence grew awkward. The man had mumbled something, but it was so quiet I couldn't make it out.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" the manager asked.
This time, the man slammed a large bag onto the counter with a loud bang.
"Hand over the money!"
Finally, the guy’s intentions—no, his crime—became clear. It was a convenience store robbery.
Beside me, the manager froze, visibly flustered.
"Give it to me! Hurry up and hand it over!"
"Well, even if you say that..."
Since the manager was uselessly panicking, I took over. Honestly, the man in front of me was pathetic for a robber. For all his shouting, he hadn't even brandished a weapon. He was just empty-handed and screaming.
"Dammit! Everyone... everyone treats me like a joke...!"
Just as I was considering calling the police, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe filled with a crimson liquid.
The moment he jammed the needle into his arm and depressed the plunger, a wave of heat radiated from him, hot enough to sear skin.
Accompanied by a high-pitched whine of thermal energy, his body flushed deep red, his muscles bulging and warping.
He barely maintained a humanoid shape. His skin became a burning red, covered in armor that looked like machinery. His entire right arm transformed into a massive turret.
"A-A-A Kaijin!?" the manager stammered.
Kaijin.
They were the modified humans created by the evil organization Dark Matter, which was supposedly dismantled several years ago.
The man, now fully transformed into a Kaijin, aimed his right arm at the shop. Fire erupted from the turret, scorching the interior.
"Hand over the money! All of it!"
"Y-Y-Yes, sir!"
"Your wallets too! Move it!"
I stuffed all the cash from the register into the bag he’d provided, added my own and the manager’s wallets as requested, and handed it over.
Snatching the bag, the Fire Monster Hellflame smashed through the glass storefront and headed outside.
Screams erupted from the crowd that had gathered to watch the fire. As people scattered like baby spiders, a single girl stood in the monster's path.
"That’s far enough!"
Dressed in a frilly pink outfit and holding a fancy wand, a twin-tailed girl confronted the monster.
"You! A Magical Girl!?"
Magical Girls.
The heroes of humanity created to combat Dark Matter. Even after the organization's collapse, they remained active to deal with the rising tide of supernatural crime.
"Why are you here already!? You're too fast!"
"Cease your resistance and surrender quietly!"
"Like hell I will!"
The battle between the Fire Monster Hellflame and the Magical Girl began.
The Kaijin launched fireballs from his turret-arm, while the girl conjured translucent pink barriers to intercept them. The impacts scattered destruction and intense heat, yet they couldn't shatter her defense.
"Tch! Slippery brat!"
The girl danced gracefully through the air. The clumsy flames couldn't hope to catch her.
"Shot!"
"Guh!?"
The momentum shifted. Dodging a fireball, the girl fired a magical bolt from her wand.
The sluggish Kaijin took the hit directly. However, while he was slow, his durability was far beyond hers. The damage was accumulating, but it wasn't a finishing blow.
"Tch..."
Though the Kaijin showed no signs of collapsing, he was clearly being worn down. Without a decisive strike to pin her down, he had no path to victory.
But even if he couldn't win, there was a way to ensure he didn't lose.
While enduring her attacks, the Kaijin focused his energy. He aimed his right arm, now pulsing with a massive explosion of fire, not at the girl—but at the manager and me.
"Stop it!" she screamed.
"You heroes always have too many things to protect!"
He unleashed the fully charged blast directly at us.
"Boss!"
I stepped in front of the manager, putting all my strength into my right arm as I thrust it toward the incoming explosion.
The blast went off. A roar shook the earth, and heat brushed against my skin. But despite the sensation of warmth, there was no fire searing my flesh, and no destructive shockwave.
"A-Are you... okay?"
In front of me stood the girl. Her clothes were scorched to tatters, her body covered in wounds and burns.
Just before the attack hit us, she had dove into the line of fire, erecting a barrier to shield us at the cost of her own safety.
"Yeah, we're fine."
"I'm glad... then..."
The attack had been too powerful for a hasty barrier to fully block. She was a wreck.
"I have to... go after him...!"
The Kaijin had used the distraction to disappear. Supporting her broken body, the girl began to hover.
"You're going after him in that state?"
"I'll be fine. After all, I'm a hero!"
I tried to stop her, but she gave me a bright smile and a peace sign before flying off.
"...Man, Magical Girls are incredible, aren't they?"
"...Yeah-ssu."
The manager and I stared at the sky for a long time before we finally found our voices.
"What are we going to do about this?"
I looked back. The store was a disaster—the glass was gone, and the interior was a scorched ruin.
"Boss..."
"Sorry, Owari-kun."
"I thought so-ssu..."
With the store gone, I had no job. My precious livelihood had been physically snatched away.
"Hah... hah... I should be safe here...!"
There was a desolate part of town—a district that had never been rebuilt after the wars with Dark Matter. The Kaijin stumbled into it, gasping for breath.
"How did she get there so fast!? This isn't what I was told!"
He scrambled toward his destination. Having avoided the public eye, he was sure the Magical Girl wouldn't find him here. Just a little further.
"Yo."
"!?"
The Kaijin rounded a corner and found a man standing there. It was a young man with black hair and a plain face.
"Who are you!?"
"Asking that? That's harsh. We just met, didn't we?"
"Huh...? You're... that clerk from the shop!"
"Bingo."
He was facing me, Owari Tokoyo.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious? Retribution."
That shop had been an important job for me. Since he'd destroyed my workplace, I felt like getting a little revenge. Besides, he still had my wallet.
"I finally found a decent job, and you went and trashed it."
"What are you babbling about?"
"And you stole my wallet on top of that. I hope you're ready for this."
"I should be saying that to you, you moron!"
Fed up with the conversation, the Kaijin aimed his turret and fired. There were no heroes here to shield me. The flames flew straight for my head.
"Factor Release—"
I held up my right hand against the lethal heat and unlocked my power.
"—Fire Monster Hellflame."
An identical torrent of fire erupted from my hand. The two blasts collided and neutralized each other in a massive explosion.
"Factor Release: Freezing Kaijin Tundra."
While he was blinded by the dust from the blast, I swung my left hand, which was now wreathed in frost. The chill raced across the ground, sucking the heat from the air and freezing the Kaijin's lower body in a block of ice.
"Impossible! Multiple abilities!?"
He tried to melt the ice, but he was far too slow.
"Factor Release: Gale Kaijin Tatsumaki."
Using a powerful tailwind to propel myself, I closed the gap in an instant and pulled back a fist.
"Wha—!?"
"Factor Release,"
He tried to spray flames at me in desperation, but they didn't even register as a threat. The fist I threw turned to solid metal, punching right through the fire.
"—Steel Kaijin Iron."
"Gah...!"
The steel fist punched through his armor and buried itself deep in his flesh. The impact instantly extinguished his consciousness.
"Who... are you..." the Kaijin wheezed as he blacked out.
"Just a Kaijin."
Owari Tokoyo. The last Kaijin left behind by the evil organization Dark Matter.