"What? So the heavily injured Tetos just need to eat a baguette and they instantly fully recover??"
"It's gotta be a *baguette*, dude. Normal bread does nothing."
"What about the Tetos that already died?"
"Did any Teto actually die?"
I was sitting next to Harry, who was still recovering from his injuries.
Gwen wasn't here, so I could finally relax a little by reading the newspaper.
"...Dude, you could just read the news on your phone, you know?" Harry twitched his eye slightly.
"Old habits die hard," I scratched my head and kept holding the newspaper.
The whole paper was filled with reports about the mass shooting. The info was pretty vague overall, but they dug deep into a few points.
There was a photo of my face after I got blown to pieces. Luckily it was blurred and my name was hidden.
Good thing Harry didn't know, so he didn't recognize it was me. Better that way.
"By the way, how's it going with you and Lee?" I asked with a teasing grin.
"...How do I even describe it? She's the first person besides you who genuinely cares about me like this."
"You didn't have to add 'besides you' just to make it little sus, man."
"I wish my dad treated me like that too..." Harry sighed.
"...Your dad hasn't come to visit you?"
"Nope. Doesn't pick up calls, doesn't read texts. Sure, he sends money, but I'd rather have some actual affection than cash..."
"...You can just rely on Lee, right? She treats you like you're her own kid."
"The heck do you mean 'like her own kid'??"
I flipped to the next page and immediately grimaced.
The faces printed on the paper... were the people who died in the shooting.
Most of them were under 18.
"...Stay calm."
I felt worse and worse. Guilt and responsibility kept creeping into me even though I logically shouldn't feel that way.
'I don't get it... I never became Spider-Man, so why...'
"You okay, Peter?" Harry noticed my face looking awful and asked.
"...It's nothing."
"Nobody looks at a newspaper, makes that face, and says 'it's nothing.' Did you see the victims' photos?"
"...You're too observant," I sighed and closed the paper.
"What should I do now?"
"Huh?"
"Emma was the one who carried out the shooting. Even though I was a victim too, this guilt keeps rising inside me—it's unbearable, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do..."
"Plus... she's our friend. I don't feel confident... facing her again."
Harry stared at the ceiling for a long time after hearing that.
"I don't know what you're planning to do, but... if you want to confront her, why not try to find out why she did it first?"
"...That's actually not a bad idea."
"But no matter what her reason is," Harry sat up and looked straight at me, "I still won't forgive her. And you shouldn't either. Forgiving a murderer just because they had a sad backstory doesn't mean they'll change. They'll just keep using that excuse to commit more crimes."
"...Got it."
I took out my phone and stared at the screen.
In my friend list, Emma was still there.
Neither of us had removed the other.
I had a feeling that if I messaged her, she would reply.
Definitely. Because I still remember those eyes...
'Eyes exactly like Gwen's.'
At first I thought that was just how someone looks at you when they're in love—like Gwen does.
But Emma had the exact same eyes, while Lee's eyes were clearly different when she looked at Harry.
That's how I finally realized.
Those were the eyes of pure madness—uncontrollable, insane obsession. Total chaos.
At least Gwen seems... more chill? She's been staring at me with those eyes forever and hasn't done anything to me.
...Actually, never mind. She did put my underwear on her head and crawl into my bed in the middle of the night.
"...Alright. I'll deal with her."
I decided to message her.
***
Drip...
The sound of a water drop hitting the floor made Emma open her eyes.
She stood up wearing only underwear, revealing many bandaged scars from that day.
Especially the missing arm—it had stopped bleeding and was already scarred over.
Her regeneration ability was terrifying, like some kind of super soldier.
[You're awake, Emma~]
She ignored the voice and opened the old fridge.
Inside were nothing but chunks of meat. Just meat and more meat.
[You're hungry again already? Good! Eat up and grow strong!]
She grabbed the meat cleaver—exactly like the one her dad used—placed a cutting board on the table, put the meat on it, and started chopping.
With every thwack, her eyes gradually became calmer.
DING DING!
A message notification rang from her phone, instantly stopping the hand holding the cleaver.
"..."
She opened the phone. Right in front of her was a message from someone she knew.
"...Peter."
[See? Told you he isn't dead. His regeneration is insane!]
She stared at the message, then narrowed her eyes.
MorriganNerd: Meet me at the abandoned school, classroom 1-B. I want to talk.
"..."
A smile slowly spread across her face.
[He still forgives you~ See? No matter how many times you try to kill him, he'll always forgive you~]
"...You're right."
She brought the cleaver down one last time, then picked up a chunk of meat and shoved it into her mouth.
[A perfect person like him... Even if you ate him, stuffed him inside your stomach, wore his skin like clothes—he'd still forgive you.]
"...Yeah, that's the Peter I know."
She quickly typed a reply.
Emma: You've got some guts. Not scared I'll do the same thing as last time?
MorriganNerd: I know what I'm doing. You coming or not?
Emma: Of course ♡ After all, we're FRIENDS, right?
***
[You sure about this? Sure, you can't die with me here, but duh—who knows what she'll do to you?]
"I prepared thoroughly before sending that message. There might be a chance I fail, but that doesn't mean I won't make things difficult for her," I said while walking down a New York street.
[Says the guy who took a whole basket of explosives to the face and turned into a corpse]
"I'm seriously gonna hire someone to get you out of my life one day."
I passed by a cemetery. Not surprised to see tons of funerals going on.
Everyone was crying their eyes out; the atmosphere was unbearably heavy.
"..."
I looked for a moment, then left.
[Feeling sad? Feeling bad for total strangers?]
"Any normal person would feel it's unfair. Not everyone's heartless and edgy."
[Really? I remember plenty of cold-hearted villains protagonist in stories. Did fiction lie to me?]
"You should read or watch something better for your brain. Like Pretty Cure."
[I'm literally inside your brain.]
I sighed and stopped at a very deserted area.
Right in front of me was the long-abandoned school.
The reason it was abandoned was simple: it was also the site of a mass shooting.
Every single victim died, so the school was completely abandoned and is now considered the creepiest place in the city.
I walked through the gate, past the statue of Jesus nailed to the cross.
Step by step, I reached classroom 1-B and immediately opened the door.
As expected, Emma was already sitting on a desk, waiting for me.
"Yo, long time no see~" Emma greeted me with a smile.
"..."
I closed the door behind me.