Found a Doomsday Girl 6

It is now mid-September of '23, and the time I awakened my superpower was in early April of '19.

It has been about four and a half years; at the time, I was in the second semester of my third year of junior high, an age still filled with fantasies.

Although people around me still call me a dreamer, I was even more naive back then than I am now. Therefore, after I awakened my superpower, I no longer had any doubts about the authenticity of supernatural forces, allowing me to focus wholeheartedly on searching for those mysterious things that people around me deemed impossible to exist.

Legendary fairies, demons, and gods might all exist, and superpowered individuals like me undoubtedly exist in some corners of this world as well.

I have never considered myself the only superpowered person in this world. If there is one, there must be two; it is a very simple logic. Although I don't know what kind of absurd luck I stumbled upon to accidentally awaken my superpower, even if it were a one-in-a-billion chance, the world has a population of eight billion, so there should at least be a few dozen superpowered people. If I were to expand the search term from "superpowered person" to "supernatural power," there would be no telling how many there are. My reasoning should be correct.

However, a full four years have passed, and my search progress remains at zero.

Only my power has been advancing by leaps and bounds on the track of evolution.

-

This time, Maza did not fall into a deep sleep for an entire night as she did before.

Only a few minutes had passed when she groggily opened her eyes, looking at me as if she were still in a dream.

I took the initiative to show goodwill.

"You must still be very exhausted. It's fine, you can rest for a while longer."

Upon hearing this, she didn't speak, only silently observing me while her eyes grew clearer. A moment later, she pushed off the blanket, stepped off the bed, and staggered toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I reached the door before her.

"Move." She glared at me like an injured wolf cub.

"You want to leave just like this?"

"I said, I don't need your help anymore."

"But I have business with you. I risked being arrested by the police to harbor you, so I can't just sit back and watch you act recklessly." I provided a valid reason.

She turned a deaf ear and tried to quickly skirt around me.

However, after taking only one step, her body swayed involuntarily, and her knees buckled, nearly causing her to collapse to the floor.

I hurriedly stepped forward to support her, but she stubbornly shook me off and immediately retreated two steps in alert, maintaining a relatively safe distance from me.

"What can you even do in your current state?" I pressed my advantage. "You can't even walk properly, and you could pass out at any moment. Not to mention you're covered in blood and wearing this flimsy hospital gown; you'd be caught by the police the moment you stepped outside."

"I won't tell anyone about you, is that enough?" She frowned as she replied.

"What I mean is... don't you want to take a shower first?" I racked my brain to buy time, trying to figure out how to persuade her to stay. "You can throw away these clothes, you can wear mine, and I'll get you new underwear."

"A shower?" She was puzzled at first, then, as if realizing something, she retreated two more steps and looked at me with even more vigilance. "Are you..."

"Don't misunderstand." I immediately dispelled her suspicions. "If I had those kinds of intentions, I would have already done something."

"That's true..." Even so, she checked her body again and then reluctantly admitted, "A shower... what you said just now makes sense, I really can't go outside like this..."

After much persuasion, she finally listened and headed into the bathroom, looking back every few steps.

I brought her spare slippers, took my own clothes, new underwear, and a towel from the nightstand, and followed her to the bathroom door, watching as she closed the frosted glass door.

From behind the door came the sound of plastic packaging being torn open, followed by the sound of her undressing. A blurry, petite shadow was cast onto the frosted glass; she seemed to be examining the toiletries, and I could hear the faint sound of bottles being picked up and set back down.

The shower turned on, and the sound of water splashing against the floor echoed through the door. The water that came out first was definitely cold, and she let out a short, cute cry like a startled little animal.

Soon, the water must have turned hot, as she finally quieted down and let out a sound of comfort.

With only a door between us, there was a living, naked beautiful girl. I realized belatedly that I shouldn't be standing so close, so I went to the sofa in the living room to sit down, pondering my next move while taking out my phone to ask for leave from university.

Just then, I noticed several text notifications on my phone, sent by the only friend I had at university. The time was last night, and he asked if I was free. I had been busy with Maza at that time and hadn't noticed the message at all.

Why would he suddenly want to find me? Was there something urgent?

I replied to him with a text asking what was up, added that I wouldn't be going to school today, and then requested leave from the university.

Only a short while later, the water in the bathroom stopped.

Perhaps survivors of the Doomsday era have an inseparable habit of conserving water. I had assumed that since she was a girl, she would spend a lot of time showering. That way, I would have plenty of time to weave a narrative to keep her here. But Maza's speed was no slower than mine, a rough guy; before long, she put on my clothes and staggered out of the bathroom, leaning against the wall.

The clothes I prepared for her were a gray long-sleeved T-shirt and long pants, and the underwear was black boxer briefs. Unfortunately, I didn't have a bra for a girl, and I didn't know if that would have a negative impact on a girl her age.

The top, originally meant for me, was clearly too loose on her; the sleeves were long enough to cover her hands, and the hem was long enough to look like a short dress. She simply rolled up the sleeves and pant legs, revealing her fair, thin forearms and calves.

I led her back to the bedroom. I had already removed the dirty sheets and quilt. She sat on the bed, her body still lingering with warm steam and the fragrance of lemon shampoo.

It was truly incredible; the lemon scent on her was the smell of the shampoo I used most often, but now that it was drifting from her, it gave me a completely different, hazy atmosphere.

The clothes, too—such mundane clothes—now that they were draped over her, inexplicably radiated a strange charm.

This must be what the internet calls a "boyfriend shirt," even though she and I aren't in that kind of relationship. Just having that thought cross my mind felt like wishful thinking.

"Thank you. I can't remember the last time I had such a comfortable shower."

Perhaps the hot water had temporarily softened the quills of this "hedgehog," as Maza's attitude had become softer.

Then, she asked me to return her handgun.

I refused without a second thought.

"Speaking of which, why do you have a handgun? Did you bring it with you when you crossed over?"

"...That has nothing to do with you." She was still uncooperative, though her tone was gentler. "Since you won't return the gun, keep it yourself. I'm leaving."

"Are you trying to investigate the cause of the apocalypse? But do you even have any leads?"

"No. However, the apocalypse didn't just descend suddenly; it had signs and preludes, it's just that people today haven't given them enough attention. Bizarre phenomena, or strange, misshapen monsters... things like that must have already appeared in this era in plain sight." She became slightly more patient, then issued a warning, "You must also be careful. Once you encounter suspected signs, do not hesitate—get as far away as you can. And also..."

"And what else?"

"...Don't come near me anymore." She seemed to be consciously speaking in a flat tone, "I... am not like you. I am a jinx."

"People who stay with me, people who get involved with me... always end up getting dragged into weird events that defy common sense far more easily than others, until they die a miserable death."

"If you value your life, stop pestering me."

Huh? There's such a good thing?

My spirits lifted.

"How could that be?" I immediately said righteously, "I told you from the start that the reason I saved you was because I couldn't just sit by and watch you—a girl lying in tatters in the night. And now you want me to put you out of my mind? Isn't that killing me mentally? If I did that, would I still be me?"

"Anyone can say high-sounding words. When death is at your doorstep, you will definitely regret your decision." Her tone grew heavier.

"Don't underestimate me. I said I won't regret it, so I won't. Besides, you're the one who should re-examine yourself." I said, "Right now, you can't use your superpowers, you can't move around freely, and you still need to rest. Yet you want to run around outside—isn't that just adding injury to injury?"

"Instead of that, why not recuperate here with me? That way, you can better serve the mission of stopping the apocalypse, right? Or is satisfying your own stubbornness more important to you?"

"Besides, even if you really are an incredible jinx who brings unpredictable disaster to those around you, it wouldn't be so bad that trouble arrives the moment it's mentioned, right? You can't even wait a few short days?"

"This..." She seemed to be moved by what I said, "If it's only for a few days..."

"How about it?" I probed.

"..." She fell silent.

I waited for her reply with my heart in my throat.

If...

If I couldn't persuade her no matter what, then to put it bluntly, even if I had to break her legs and chain her up, I would imprison her in my home.

Although illegally imprisoning an underage girl is both criminal and perverted, it was necessary even just to avoid the official authorities discovering my past misdeeds. I was already in illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and hiding a Serial Killer, so one more charge wouldn't make a difference.

I didn't want to use such extreme measures until the very last moment. For me, that was something I would only be able to do after overcoming a massive psychological hurdle.

After a long while, she finally let out a breath and nodded reluctantly.

"...I understand." She looked as if she had been defeated, "But just in case, I won't stay here for many days. No matter how my recovery goes, five days at most... no, three days at most, and I will leave."

"And... thank you."

By the end, her voice became very, very small.

My hanging heart finally settled for the time being.

Knock, knock, knock.

Suddenly, there was another knock at the entrance.

We both fell silent and looked at each other.

The police again? Was it that same officer from before, returning?

Why would he return? Did he finally realize something was wrong here? How many police officers were outside the door right now?

"Coming, coming," I shouted toward the entrance, while simultaneously making a 'quiet' gesture to Maza.

She nodded and curled up on the bed.

I walked to the entrance. Instead of peeking through the peephole, I raised my guard and slowly turned the doorknob.

The door wasn't suddenly yanked open from the outside.

I pushed the door open and saw clearly who was standing there.

"It's you?" I was surprised.

Standing outside the door was, unexpectedly, my only friend from university.

However, his complexion was terrible, and traces of lingering terror were vaguely visible, as if he had just experienced some bizarre and inconceivable event.