Redemption of the Plains: The Berserker Earns Her Gold with Sweat and a Mascot Suit
With their hair a mess and legs still trembling, Sora and Airi reached the stall.
Still, they decided to rest for a moment before going in, trying to process what had just happened.
"Sora... I think I need to go to the bathroom first," Airi exclaimed, pointing toward the ladies' restroom nearby.
"Okay, Airi, I'll wait here for you while you're out," Sora said. Airi simply stood up and began walking toward the restroom.
Sora leaned back on the bench, letting out a long sigh as he gazed up at the sky.
“Just five centimeters, huh…? I guess that’s always been the closest we’ve ever gotten,” Sora thought with a faint smile.
However, thanks to all the excitement of the moment, Sora was starting to feel hungry.
Without thinking, Sora headed to a vending machine in a nearby alley. That’s when something by the trash bins caught his eye and left him completely confused.
“A… cow mascot costume?” Sora blurted, looking over. But the surprising part wasn’t the suit—it was the person inside. The head lay on the ground, revealing… Mika Tamaki.
Mika was red from the heat, with some strands of her blonde hair stuck to her forehead from sweat as she drank water from a bottle.
“Ahh… what an exhausting day. Why is it always so crowded on weekends?” the girl said, completely ignoring Sora.
“Wait… Mika?” Sora blinked a few times, unable to process seeing the great Mika dressed like that.
The girl nearly choked on her water, her eyes widening in panic at the sound of a familiar voice.
“Y-y-you?!” she shouted, dropping her water bottle in panic. “What are you doing here? How much did you see?!”
“Are you really the Mika I know? You… work here in a cow costume?” Sora couldn’t help but chuckle. The school’s queen—the Berserker who humiliated him yesterday—was dressed like an adorable cow.
"Don't laugh, idiot!" Mika shouted as she approached where Sora was to confront him. "I'm going to have to erase this memory with punches!" Mika declared, clenching her fist that was still inside the mascot suit.
However, Mika went into total panic upon seeing some children approaching in the distance.
In a panic, she grabbed the cow head and shoved it on. “If anyone sees me, I swear I’ll hit you so hard you’ll forget your own name!”
But in her haste, Mika put the cow head on backward, causing the children who had approached to play with her to run away scared.
Mika, realizing her error, entered an uncontrollable rage—so much so that Sora could witness the aura of hatred emanating from her from where he stood.
"Soooooora Yamamotoooo..." Mika whispered from inside the suit. However, Sora couldn't fully understand the reason for her anger. "I-I'm sorry, Mika, I didn't mean to—" Sora said but was interrupted by Mika.
"Shut up and die!" Mika's voice shouted from inside the plush.
Completely blinded and furious, Mika started running toward Sora, but with her face pointing backward, she ran in reverse. It looked like a glitched-out cutscene from a game full of bugs.
"Come here, you red-haired idiot!" she shouted while colliding with a trash bin.
Sora didn't know whether to run for his life or call a responsible adult for this situation. Mika, despite having her head facing the opposite direction, had activated some kind of detection instinct that allowed her to chase him erratically.
"Mika, wait! You're going to cause a problem in the park!" Sora shouted while dodging a couple who watched in horror as a cow ran backward at full speed.
"I don't care about the park! I'm going to erase your memories so you don't tell anyone anything!" Mika's voice came out erratically, making her sound like a final boss with a broken microphone.
Sora ran as fast as he could, weaving past benches while Mika, barely watching where she was going, kept crashing into trash cans and balloon stalls. It looked like a high-level duel: a mobile Tank versus a Berserker under max confusion.
Finally, after a few intense minutes of pursuit that left several children traumatized and a security guard scratching his head in confusion, both collapsed from exhaustion in a secluded corner.
Mika slumped against the wall, panting. Sora, leaning on his knees, tried to catch his breath while holding back laughter.
“Alright… you win,” Mika panted, pulling off the cow head to reveal her sweat-soaked face. “One more step… and I swear I’ll rip your head off.”
"No need... —Sora sat on the ground, surrendering to exhaustion. "My stamina stats are in the red."
Mika fell silent, hugging the enormous plush head like a shield. The aura of hatred began to dissipate, revealing the tired girl who just wanted to finish her shift.
"So... why?" Sora asked after a while. "You're the most popular girl. You could literally be anywhere else."
Mika simply looked away.
“Being popular and living in luxury isn’t easy, Yamamoto,” she murmured. “I don’t have my parents, and I won’t let my grandmother pay for everything. If I want nice clothes—or hair like this—I have to earn it myself to stay on top. No one at school knows the ‘queen’ works to afford it.”
Sora didn't say a single word for several seconds. Behind the Berserker attitude, there was a girl who gave her maximum effort for her passion, just like him.
Mika flushed as she realized how much she’d told him. Still in the cow suit, she got up and pinned Sora against the wall, her violet eyes blazing with anger and embarrassment.
“Listen, idiot!” she snapped, leaning in until their breaths mixed. “About yesterday… all of it—I was an idiot, okay? I was frustrated over the café and some things my friends said. It’s not that I think you’re losers… it’s just… seeing you all so close made me jealous…”
Mika clenched her fists inside the suit and looked away, her tone reminding Sora of a certain yandere on the verge of snapping.
“So forget about yesterday, got it?! I’ll apologize to your friends—to the kitty and the otter too… But if you tell anyone, I swear I’ll break into your house while you sleep and punch your memories out of you. You hear me? I will!”
Sora swallowed hard. The apology had been aggressive, clumsy, and slightly terrifying, but it was the most sincere thing he'd ever heard from her.
"U-understood, Mika. The secret is safe with me," Sora said, raising his hands in a peace sign.
Mika sighed, put the costume back on properly, and stepped away, making a “I’m watching you” gesture with her plush fingers. Sora stayed there, wondering if he’d really just made a new friend.