"Uesugiyama Mikuru Does Not Hesitate" Episode 3 [Creative Award 2024 - Manga Original Work Category Entry]

"O-oh, am I doing it?"
"Who else is there? By the way, the power of the ayakashi is enhanced in the Narrow World. That said, if you're struggling against such a low-level one, you have no future."
"I-I got it... b-but, what should I do?"
Yuji turns to face the swarm of spiders, but asks as if he just remembered.
"You can crush them with your fists, or stomp them with your feet... just imagine channeling your power into your limbs."
Mikuru answers with her arms crossed.
"C-crush them? That's a bit gross..."
"Are you going to say something cute like you're not good with bugs?"
"That's not what I meant, but..."
"Things in the Narrow World don't affect the real world even if you break them. You don't need to hold back, even inside the store."
"Got it! Alright, here I go!"
Yuji heads toward the swarm of spiders, first crushing a spider climbing a pillar with a full-force right straight, then kicking a spider at his feet like a soccer ball with all his might. The spiders that take the hits burst as if they had exploded. Yuji is surprised.
"Whoa!?"
"Ayakashi are like living creatures, but a little different... In this case, it might be better to understand them as spider-type ayakashi rather than just spiders."
"I-I see... wait, what!?"
Yuji dodges the thread shot by a spider and immediately moves to counterattack, stomping on the spider. Seeing this, Mikuru is impressed.
"Hmm... quite the reflexes and fighting sense."
"Heh, I was undefeated back home after all!"
"Keep it up, I'm going to step away for a moment."
"Huh!? Damn it!"
Yuji is surprised by Mikuru's statement, but literally kicks away the swarming spiders.
"Haa... haa..."
"Are you finished?"
A few minutes later, Mikuru calls out to Yuji, who is hunched over with his hands on his knees.
"Y-yeah, I'm finished, huh!?"
Mikuru stabs her sword into the face of a mannequin behind Yuji.
"W-what are you... wait, what!?"
"...There was one left. Don't let your guard down until the very end."
At the tip of the sword, a spider that had been hiding behind the mannequin and trying to attack Yuji was skewered.
"O-oh, I see..."
"This is the last one."
"No, aren't there still more on the upper floors!? Let's hurry!"
Yuji runs up the escalator, but sees a surprising sight there.
"What!? The ayakashi are all wiped out...!?"
"I finished them off while you were playing around. Was it about a minute and a half?"
Mikuru, who came up from behind, says nonchalantly.
"S-seriously..."
"What's wrong, are you out of breath from just that?"
"You kept us waiting..."
"O-you guys too... you already finished?"
Chikage and Maya are standing there looking tired of waiting. Maya asks Mikuru.
"Sister, does this person really have potential?"
"He's not bad... though it's still at the pending stage."
"Uesugiyama Squad, respond, nya!"
Suddenly, Mataza's voice rings out from the communicator. Mikuru answers calmly.
"This is Mikuru, what's wrong?"
"Ayakashi reaction confirmed in the shopping district of Joetsu City! Okuba is heading there, nya!"
"What's the scale?"
"About twenty! However, it seems there are a few Shin-class mixed in with the Jin-class and Kei-class, nya!"
"...It's not that I don't trust Okuba, but Chikage, Maya, please head over as backup just in case."
"Understood!"
"What will you do, Sister?"
"I'll check the rooftop here as well. There's something I want to test."
"? ...Understood. We're heading to back up Okuba."
"I'm counting on you."
Watching the two run off, Mikuru tells Yuji.
"We're heading to the rooftop."
"Yeah, I-I mean, understood!"
Yuji and the others go out to the rooftop parking lot. Yuji looks up at the sky and mutters.
"Is it already dusk..."
"The space is perfect... I guess I'll test it here after all."
"Test?"
"I have preparations to make. Go look around that area for a bit."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Yuji moves away from Mikuru, who has started muttering something while looking down, and as he looks around the parking lot, he spots a high school girl between the parked cars.
(A shopper? Standing there like that... is she waiting for her family or something?)
The moment Yuji looks away, the high school girl lunges at him with ferocity.
"!? What the!?"
"T-you dodged it..."
"! T-that hand, no, is it a leg? W-what are you!?"
Yuji is surprised. Besides her hands and feet, four long legs were growing from the high school girl's torso.
"This smell... you, how dare you do that to my cute children...!"
"!"
The strange-looking high school girl extends a sharp leg and tries to pierce Yuji, but Mikuru, who rushed over just in time, blocks the attack with her sword. As she deflects the attack, Mikuru shouts.
"Onigashima, get some distance! This one is a spider ayakashi! It's the ringleader of those ones from earlier!"
"Huh!?"
"So you turned this building itself into a Narrow World, I was too slow to notice!"
"Wait a minute, ayakashi can create Narrow Worlds too!?"
"Ha, you don't even know that? It's to drag you humans in!"
"That's exactly it!"
While retreating, Mikuru nods at the ayakashi's words.
"She's in human form! Isn't she a half-ayakashi!?"
"Don't lump me in with something as half-baked as a half-ayakashi! I am a complete ayakashi!"
The spider ayakashi shouts this and spits out thread from her mouth. Mikuru yells.
"Dodge! Your limbs will be bound!"
Mikuru and Yuji jump to the left and right, dodging the thread. Yuji shouts.
"Why is she in human form!?"
"Mimicking a human form is convenient for hunting in many ways..."
"That's what she says!"
"That's not what I meant! Isn't she telling us everything that matters!?"
Yuji can't help but shout loudly.
"Now, how shall I finish you off... that's right, I'll use this."
"!"
"W-what is it!?"
Four cars parked in the parking lot head toward Mikuru at high speed from their respective directions.
"The cars moved on their own!? Look out!"
"She must be controlling them with spider thread!"
Saying that, Mikuru nimbly dodges the attacking cars. Yuji is impressed.
"A-amazing!"
"Hmph, this much is easy..."
"...Well, that's because I lured you into doing that."
"!? Damn..."
Mikuru's limbs are entangled in spider thread, and her body floats into the air.
"You had thin threads laid out separately from the ones controlling the cars... Ugh!"
"Why don't you stop? If you pull too hard, your limbs will be severed."
The spider ayakashi laughs and turns to Yuji.
"I've caught the troublesome one... I'll hunt you first."
"Ugh..."
Mikuru calls out to Yuji, who is getting cold feet.
"Onigashima, calm down! She's a Ding-class! The seventh lowest ayakashi!"
"Ding-class is the fourth from the top! Don't stir up my anxiety!"
"You're calmer than I thought, good!"
"Nothing about this is good!"
"You're noisy with all your chatter..."
"Ugh!"
The spider ayakashi closes the distance to Yuji in an instant and swings her leg.
"Whoa!"
Yuji falls backward.
"I intended to cut your head off... but you dodged it at the last second. How cheeky."
"Tch! Whoa!?"
Yuji quickly stood up and tried to turn his back and run, but he was entangled in the thread spat out by the spider ayakashi and fell backward again. The spider ayakashi stands looking down at Yuji, whose limbs are completely immobilized, and asks.
"Now, do you have any last words?"
"...You're wearing tasteless underwear, as expected of a complete ayakashi-sama."
"...I'll kill you."
The spider ayakashi raises her right front leg high. Mikuru shouts.
"Mataza――!!"
"!?"
The spider ayakashi is surprised and confused. This is because Yuji caught her swung-down right hand with the iron club he was holding in his mouth. The spider ayakashi asks Yuji involuntarily.
"What... is that?"
"Foffgafiffitai!"
"...I see, you sent a weapon from that so-called squad building through the car mirror. But it's a pity, if you can't use your limbs properly, you've reached your limit, right?"
The spider ayakashi raises her right front leg again. Mikuru shouts again.
"Onigashima, get angry! Judging from our exchange just now, you are still keeping your cool! You shouldn't be letting your ayakashi power run wild needlessly!"
"Fo, fonnako-to-wo-fiwaretemo!"
"You're going to find out where your sister is, aren't you! Is it okay to die in a place like this!?"
"!!"
"That's why you're so noisy with all your chatter! !?"
The spider ayakashi's swung-down right front leg cuts through the air. Yuji, having cut the thread, dodged the attack. The spider ayakashi looks at Yuji's face and is surprised.
"Y, you!? That head!"
"Huh? Whoa! W-what is this!"
Yuji is astonished to see his own head reflected in the body of a nearby car.Two short horns were growing around his forehead. Mikuru asks Yuji.
"What is your name!?"
"O-Onigashima Yuji!"
"Age!?"
"Almost seventeen!"
"Hobbies!?"
"Uh... smartphone games!"
"Favorite sexy actress!?"
"Sh... wait, what are you trying to make me say!"
"You're calm! Fight with that! '"Oni Half-Ayakashi'! It's the perfect weapon for you!"
"This is... an iron club?"
"Yes, when you think of an Oni, you think of an iron club! '"An iron club for an Oni'! You have no enemies now!"
"! Don't underestimate me! !?"
The spider ayakashi attacked Yuji, but with one swing from Yuji, she lost four of her eight limbs in an instant. Having lost what was supporting her all at once, she puts her lower body on the ground. Yuji tries to swing the iron club again. The spider ayakashi begins to beg for her life.
"W-wait a second! Oni-san! It's smarter to keep me alive here, you know? You can study my body and blood and use them as research material for the future. I don't think that's a bad deal, right? Besides, can you really kill me when I have a human face?"
Yuji silently lowers the iron club. The spider ayakashi grins.
"As expected, you're reasonable. You really do inherit the Oni race known for their nobility. Now, first, please treat my four legs. Once that's done, I'll tell you everything I know. Please conduct the interrogation based on ayakashi-path principles—okay? Oh?"
Mikuru, who regained the freedom of her limbs, cut off the spider ayakashi's head without hesitation.
"There have been reports from other districts of numerous victims caused by the spider ayakashi. There is no reason to keep you alive."
As Mikuru sheathes her sword, Yuji, his tension broken, collapses.