Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume4 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 8===

Amaashi Marika was worried her internal groaning was going to escape as something audible.

The unruly(?) strongest girl was at a complete loss here.

“Ha ha ha. Marika-chan has grown up so much since I last saw her. Karuta is such a lucky boy. And I don’t have to worry about him when I know she’ll be by his side!” (Utagai Dad)

“I know, right? Marika, do you remember how you used to talk on and on about how you would marry Karuta when you grew up? And you would get so mad when I teasingly said I would take him for myself☆” (Amaashi Mom)

She was being attacked from all sides.

Having your parents visit school was bad enough for a teenage girl, but the neighbor boy’s parents were here too. The hellish crossfire was more than she could bear. She was tense as could be with an unnaturally stiff smile on her face while she silently cursed someone who wasn’t here.

(K-K-K-Karuta… You’re supposed to look after your own parents, so why am I stuck with them!?)

Perhaps there was still some hope in the world. Marika had traveled the world and hunted down the Problem Solvers for revenge and she was willing to assassinate an underclassman if they would harm one of her friends, but there was still something out there ''she couldn’t stand.

That aside, what did the peaceful members of the Amaashi and Utagai families think this magic tournament even was? The Utagai family in particular had been watching as their only son was bloodied and nearly killed while the crowd went wild.

“Hey, I had a question.”

After stepping aside to let a clown balanced on a ball and a bunny girl past (what club were they from?), Utagai Dad tilted his head in the decorated hallway.

“''When is your match going to be, Marika-chan? It doesn’t seem fair to give our Karuta all the attention.''”

“''I know. Or is it a team battle? Either way, this is your big chance. I just hope Karuta isn’t stealing the limelight from you.''”

“…”

They didn’t even know the basic rules.

They had to have some kind of understanding, but they were just so carefree. She had to wonder if they could even keep track of which fighter was their son when Karuta and his opponent rushed at each other at close range, constantly switching positions.

(In fact…)

Would they even understand her if she explained Karuta’s plight to them?

She felt like they would pepper her with whys and never actually come to terms with what she was saying.

They refused to actually think through the information presented to them.

They believed they could get by without understanding all the details. They believed they could get what they wanted if they just clicked the first option on the list and chose “agree” on ever TOS they came across. They truly believed the world was so kind.

Even though they lived in an age where the Threat had reduced the earth’s population to 5.5 billion.

They were still convinced that everything would ''work out'' in the end.

There was not actually a safe path through this world of malice and violence. Life was a sequence of crises where you had to make your own observations, think for yourself, and take action or you would be killed instantly.

“What are your plans for today, Marika-chan?”

“Eh? Oh, there’s a match I’m interested in, so I was thinking of watching that.”

“''Is it Karuta’s match?''”

They weren’t even aware that Karuta had already fought his match for the day. The question had so little basis in reality that Marika froze up for a second and smiled stiffly when she did answer.

“Nooo, it’s not his. It’s between a Greek mythology astrologist and an occult kunoichi.”

The world’s strongest gyaru tried her best to be polite to the neighbor boy’s parents.

That match would determine Karuta’s opponent in the third round. She didn’t know which one would win, but it couldn’t hurt to use the match for research.

But she received an unexpected response.

It came from her own parents who were so accustomed to a peaceful life they could not keep up with what was really happening here.

“Oh, then that’s too bad, Marika.”

“Eh? Why’s that, mama?”

“You didn’t see the emergency news on the screen over there earlier? Round 2 Match 3 ended in a ''win by default''.”

“…”

Something was happening.

Something decidedly different from all the past matches.

It was nothing concrete and she couldn’t find an appropriate word for it, but if she had to describe it she would say it was the density and concentration of malice rapidly increasing.

This oppressive feeling was the same thing she had felt when up against the Problem Solvers or the Threat.

“One of the contestants was in ''an accident'', so they couldn’t participate. They were injured pretty badly, so the tournament was the least of their worries,” said Marika’s mother, with a hand on her cheek. She sounded as carefree as if she were talking about vegetable prices going up again. “The poor girl. I don’t know the details, but how can the other contestants feel comfortable walking around when they won’t tell anyone what happened? Marika, will you be okay? Accidents like these are so scary.”

The battle was not restricted to the ring.

This opponent was not going to wait that long.

There was something different about this one.