Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

“Where’d you get the sword?”

“It’s a family decoration piece,” Kimura claimed. “It’s just been sitting there for a while now, so I decided to take it for myself.”

“You brought a decorative sword to kill actual monsters?” Kana looked down at her own knife and then at the sizable sword in Nobuko’s hands.

“Uh…” She did the same, but probably for the opposite reason. “I sharpened it, duh. I wouldn’t walk in here with a subpar weapon that would put me at a disadvantage, after all. I’m not that dumb. Anyone who does that would be super dumb, I think.”

“God, you’re still pathetic with the comebacks.”

“Oh, wow. Now people can be made fun of for not being mean enough, I see. Sorry about that. I actually had a nice, positive, very supportive upbringing. Didn’t get time to develop a sharp tongue like you. Sue me.”

Kana looked at the horizon, hoping that she could get away from her soon. It wouldn’t be easy, given that they were the only two people there. Not to mention that the monsters were severely lacking in terms of quantity. Nobuko’s sword was still pristine, stainless. There was no place she could run to without being seen.

So much to get away from people and calm down.

At least she seemed to have gotten most of her hearing back, which was good news. The mandatory bad news that went along with it was that she could only use it to hear Nobuko Kimura. The girl had even made the decision to wear that ugly green dress to piss her off, as if she had known what was going to happen.

Which was nonsensical and impossible, but a consideration that soothed her raging soul. After all, the idea that Kimura was some mastermind who could see this far ahead was good enough to make her cringe and laugh at the same time.

“So, why are you here?” Nobuko asked, taking her first step and beginning to move.

Kana thought about turning and leaving, just for the virtue of it being funny, but then decided against it. She had come so far to get here, so losing now would be pathetic. All that considered, she just started following her.

“I think it’s pretty normal for me to be here.” Kana got right beside her, keeping up. “I’m the unhinged loose cannon who does whatever she wants and kills everyone, right? Seems like it’s perfectly in character for me. You’re the one who is being suspicious.”

A monster appeared in the distance. A little bit after that, another one. Both caught sight of the girls and stood still for a moment. They looked at each other and conversed, as if trying to come up with a plan. Kana and Nobuko watched, refusing to speak, as the two of them eventually nodded and came to a conclusion.

One that involved them screaming and running towards the girls with their weapons drawn. Small sword that had been dangling on their waists until now. In response, both Kana and Nobuko readied their own blades.

“Do you ever not think of yourself in the third person?” Nobuko sighed, and it took Kana a moment to process that she was replying to what she had said earlier. “It’s not cute. It’s certainly not embarrassing, either. It’s kind of just creepy. Woman like you seeing herself as a detached character is…”

“I aim to be disturbing. So, I guess it worked. How about that?”

The enemies got within fighting range, and their swords came down at the same time. One aimed for Nobuko’s waist, while the other went for Kana’s head. Kimura blocked hers with a precise clang, while Kana had to bend down. Avoiding the slash, she slithered forward and thrust the knife into his face, through his chin. The monster’s sword fell down right as Nobuko used the momentum of her own block to slice her opponent’s neck.

Both of them fell down, dead. Kana took her knife out and wiped it on her dress, but Kimura let the blood stay. She didn’t have to deal with her blade dulling due to the liquid, after all. The knife, on the other hand, was just repurposed kitchen equipment.

“Ugh. Disgusting.” Nobuko whispered. “There comes a point where you get tired of killing the poor guys. Mindless idiots who don’t know any better. Will never know any better. It’s…almost sad.”

“Says the girl with the strongest weapon in the game. You’ll never feel like they put up a challenge anyway.”

“Says the girl who does not even let her enemies come close, and blows them up beforehand. Don’t think that I don’t know about that cheesy landmine weapon of yours. At least I actually have to aim at the ones I am trying to kill.”

“Try as hard as you want, Kimura. You’re not gonna piss me off enough to get a reaction.” Kana started walking again, aimlessly. “So, just get the pleasantries out of the way. Why are you here, genuinely?”

“Oh, those are pleasantries?” She groaned and kept up, though she trailed behind Kana. “I guess that’s what you guys over at Sakai’s place call them. Usually, we call that trash talk that you only engage in with morons. None of us qualify back at home.”

“Can you get to the point, please?”

“I’m here for the same reason you are here. How about that?”

“I highly doubt that you’re here because you just fought your girlfriend.”

“Oh…” Kimura gasped. “Really? You and that choreographer girl fight? That’s something new, isn’t it? And sure, I guess it’s not the same. I thought you were here because your conscience was actually starting to weigh down on you after all the bullshit you’ve been pulling recently.”

“You have a conscience, Kimura? Huh. Didn’t consider that before. Surprising development.”

“And you actually don’t? I guess I’ve learned a lesson today, then. Don’t actually give anyone the benefit of the doubt. They probably are just assholes who don’t care about others.”

That helped the conversation come to an end, and silence reigned. On the horizon, probably because of the two they had just killed, appeared a small group of monsters. About ten or twenty who observed them for a minute before starting to rush in with weapons drawn.

Not the greatest situation in the world, but Kana had faced worse with the larger army on her last day here. Her blood was pumping faster than ever, and her hands twitched with anticipation. Even as she remembered Kelsey’s words and voice, she could not control herself. Maybe that girl had been right. Maybe Kana was just addicted to causing people harm.

But there was nothing she could do about it. Nobody she could blame for it. This was what life had given her, so this was what she would be good at. Knife raised, in fighting position with Nobuko by her side, she took a deep breath and then waited for the monsters to reach them.

Faster every moment, inching closer every second, their screams reached the girls before they did. The dust then announced their arrival towards inevitable death. Kana stepped forward, got close as the first of them reached out to attack her, and stabbed him in the chest.

Or was it a her? As she pulled her knife out and the monster cried in pain on the ground, she noticed that it had some obvious female features. Similar to humans, even. How far did their similarities go, then? She had never really paid attention to the fact that the monsters actually looked and behaved differently.

Regardless, she didn’t have time now either. Another reached out for her, and she kicked it in the shin, stabbing the eye with an upward tilt to reach the brain. Brainless mutts, she thought, wondering how these things were related to that Four-Armed Demon who had actually given them a fair fight.

Nobuko, to the right, twirled about the battlefield like a dancer. The way every muscle in her body moved reminded Kana of the performances that she had seen Ruby Passion Jr. put on. Each move that she had learned, she had transformed into a battling skill. Each slash, and swing, and thrust of the sword she carried had deadly grace attached. Every time blood flew from her opponents, she switched over to the next, regardless of if it killed or not.

Kana watched with caution, killing her sixth monster before barely managing to deflect another blow reaching for her waist. Pushing the attacker backwards, she jumped to the right in an effort to make some distance. Instead, she just ended up getting closer to a different enemy. This one grabbed her by the hair and wrapped its arm around her neck.

Choking, Kana clawed at his arms. Her feet thrashed the ground as two demons got closer to her position, ready to kill. She switched her attention even as her vision blurred, poking one of them in the chest before slashing through the mouth of the other. Leaving both of them groaning in pain, she then reached for the demon behind her, wildly swaying her knife around in hopes of catching it.

But her body lost all control. With one final stab, she hit the neck of one of two attackers, only to lose her knife with his falling body. Kana’s hands flailed around, trying to get the enemy’s hands off her. The second attacker got close, screeching gibberish to which the demon holding her replied with more gibberish. Were their screams just…their language?

No. She had no time to think. She kicked the demon in the thigh, but it did not budge. She kicked further up, near its groin, and that did the trick. At once, the demon fell to the ground with blood spurting out of its back.

“Wha-”

It took her forever to process that Nobuko was the one who had saved her. By the time Kana could even question if it was worth thanking the girl, she had already stepped back to cut off the head of the demon choking her. Kana fell down, coughing as her vision returned to normal and she got a moment to breathe.

“Maybe don’t use a knife the next time. Simple enough advice.”

“Oh…shut up…”

Kana spat on the ground, taking one final breath before everything returned to normal. Nobuko offered her a hand, but she ignored it. Pushing herself up with some pressure on the knees, she got to her feet and retrieved her knife from the demon’s neck. A quick swipe on her clothes, and it was back to looking mostly bloodless.

“Are you fine?”

“Of course.”

“We should get back to the gate.”

“Shut up.” Kana wanted to do the same, but she couldn’t resist one final bit of spite. Pushing past Nobuko, she started walking towards the gate.

Why had she come here? She didn’t know. Why had Nobuko come here? She didn’t care enough anymore. This had been enough of an experience to remind her why this was a dangerous place. One knife was not enough to sustain her, and the ringing in her ear had disappeared a long time ago, anyway.

Now, she just wanted to go back home and get some sleep. It was almost early morning.

“Alright, I’ll bite.”

She turned as Nobuko spoke, standing there amidst the bodies. The leader of Ruby Passion Jr. looked like her past self for a moment. The cute, preciously naïve girl Kana had once thought was worth protecting. She had the same confused expression on her face as if looking for answers from someone who had them all.

Sword dripping, her eyes twitched every time they fell on another one of the slaughtered monsters. Their bodies, piled on top of one another, had painted the ground red. That blood seeped into her shoes, probably causing some discomfort.

“How do you do it?”

“How do I do what?”

“How do you just…” She whimpered, gulping. “Accept that you did something like that?”

“What…?” Kana shook her head, unsure of what she was talking about. “What do you me-oh. The guy from the resort. I see. It’s been a month. You’re still thinking about that?”

“As I said, Minami. I’m not some psychopath like you. I was angry. It was an impulsive decision. Th-they did that to someone I was supposed to take care of. I felt responsible, so I did what I had to do. But that…”

“You did it.” She stopped her from spiraling further. “That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Someone else told me that before, so I’ll just pass on the wisdom. Nobuko Kimura? You killed a man. Live with it or die. Neither will change a fact.”

“I know! I’m aware. I killed someone. Yes, Minami. But if I accept it, then won’t it mean I lost? He took advantage of a young girl, and I killed him. Both of us are still bad people. Not…pretend bad people. Real monsters.”

“The monsters are lying around your feet. The one you killed was just a human.”

“Ah. You’re gonna give me one of those speeches, huh? We’re worse than monsters or whatever?”

“Nope.” Kana could not take any more of this pseudo-therapy session. “We’re not worse or better than any other species. We’re just humans, and that’s as complex as it gets. Turns out that humans are just capable of bad things. You punished one of them the only way you knew how. Great job, Kimura. Congratulations. Now, I’m going back. Either follow me or stay there and whine.”

“Don’t you ever feel scared? I feel scared.” She whispered. “Keep saying things like that, and I’ll become the worst of the worst. I used to think that was just how the world worked. I convinced myself. But…killing that guy? I can’t be like this, Minami. I can’t be like actual heartless monsters.”

“Yeah, yeah. Heard this before. Nobody asked you to compete with me, alright? You be a good person, and I’ll be the bad guy. I don’t care either way.”

“Not you, Minami. You’re not heartless, actually. You come here in the middle of the night to cry about how you had a fight with your girlfriend. No, that’s not even close. I’m afraid that if I keep saying things like that, then I’ll become just like Akiko.”

Kana did not know what to say. She felt a chill run down her spine. It wasn’t like she had actually talked to the woman a lot, but this was still too much. She had her own reasons to spite the leader of Ruby Passion, and yet Nobuko made it sound worse. First Shoko, and now her. Every time she came in contact with someone who had known that woman for a long time, they seemed to fear her with some intensity.

“She’s just human, too.”

Nobuko chuckled, nodded. “Yeah. Don’t, uh, don’t come tomorrow. I guess it’s tomorrow now. November 15, whatever. I happened to overhear her talking to Yuko-chan, and…just don’t. Tell your friends to stay away, too. Even that lackey of yours, yeah? Don’t come, Minami.”

The wind whistled in her ear, her body shuddering. With a concerned, devastated expression, Nobuko Kimura repeated herself.

“Stay away.”

_____________

As if she needed to be told what to do and what not to do. That was the absolute limit. She was going to show up, no matter what stupid plan Akiko had cooked up. No matter what was thrown her way, Kana would be ready for it. There was nothing that could stop her from doing what she wanted.

She opened the door to the apartment and stepped in. The dampness in her ear had returned, but it was not as bad as before. Kana closed the door and got in, only to find someone sitting on the living room couch, rocking back and forth.

“What happened?” Kana asked.

Jina turned with a jolt and stood up with a raging expression. “Where were you? What the fuck did you do now?”

“What do you mean? I did nothing.”

“Oh, you clearly did something, Kana. You obviously did something to piss Emi off. Only this time, you’re actually paying the price.”

“Don’t waste my time. What happened?”

“She’s gone. Is that what you want to hear? Are you happy about that?” Jina said, standing in the darkness like a herald of worse things. “She packed her bags…and left.”