"We can leave," Mercy muttered as Madoka walked out of earshot. "Eriko, come on. I said I was going to assume things were extreme, so that's what I'm doing. Let's--"
As Mercy began to walk off, Eriko dug her feet into the ground, staying put. "No."
"No?" Mercy echoed, glancing back at the girl. "Eriko. What are you thinking?"
"A lot of things," Eriko replied, eyes downcast. "We told Madoka we'd stay in case Clair came back, so we will. On the chance that something actually happened to her, then we should be there for her because she's a fellow student."
I don't care about Clair, Mercy almost blurted. She didn't have to speak, though, for Eriko to understand.
The girl gave her a look.
Mercy scowled, glancing away. It would be a lie if she said she didn't mean it.
"I do."
"You do, and that's fine," Mercy muttered, "but that doesn't mean you put everyone else above yourself. If you just told me what was going on, we could find a way to reason through this without anyone having to get hurt, I just--I need you to tell me!"
"I'm the Ultimate Puzzle Solver; I've already reasoned through it all!" Eriko cried. "Just stop already, okay?! Please! I need you to trust me when I make a decision!"
Mercy shook her head vigorously. "You--"
"I do everything I do for a reason," Eriko interrupted. "Remember that."
With that, Eriko seemed done with the conversation. Taking a deep breath, the girl secured her grip on Mercy's arm and glanced at the doors to the casino and dance hall. After a moment, she turned her gaze to the hallway, putting on a brave face.
Mercy scowled, heart still hammering in her chest.
A few moments passed. Just as Mercy began to regain what she could of her composure, someone sprung out of the casino. Eriko screamed. Without having to think, Mercy swung out of the line of fire, shoving their attacker into the wall. She paused briefly when she realized who it was--Faqir.
Something in her suddenly snapped. Grabbing him by the hair, she slammed his head into the wall again, turned him around and wrapped her hand around his throat. “You f*cking c*nt! Explain yourself or I’ll make sure you can never have sex with a girl again!”
Faqir yelped, holding up his hands in surrender. “W-whoa, whoa! O-okay, I’m sorry, bad call on my part! I-it’s just a prank, bro!”
Mercy's eyes briefly flickered to a glass bottle he'd had in his hand--it had clang'd to the floor, unbroken. He was going to attack her with it.
Voice growing oddly desperate (and terrified), he continued. “Y-you know, just testing your reflexes! Wow, that jewelry I made you must really be working, have your senses improved? That’s our Ultimate Hunter! ...Please don’t rip my balls off, I-I need those.”
Mercy stared daggers at him. "A prank? A prank? You think coming at someone with a glass bottle is funny, Faqir?"
Her eye twitched. She held out her free hand to Eriko, who had backed away from the two, trembling. "Eriko, do me a favor and hand me that bottle, huh? Let's see how funny this is."
Eriko stared at her for a moment. Warily, she crouched down and took the bottle into her hands, placing it into Mercy's own.
Without flinching, Mercy shattered the glass bottle across Faqir's face, her expression scarily dark.
I trusted you.
His hands flew to guard his face just a second too late--the shattered glass left cuts on their way down, and Faqir winced, shaking against the wall. “I-I swear, it was just--I-I figured, maybe you could use the test in reflexes? I-I didn’t actually intend to hurt you, I-I promise!”
As if suddenly aware how fine Mercy was with beating him to a pulp, he asked, “C-could you let go? I-I have no more weapons, I swear, nothing. I-I’m honestly not even strong enough to knock you out. I-I think I need to go to the nurse, a-are both my eyes still intact?”
She threw him to the side, spitting. "I sure as hell hope not. You try anything like that and I'll cut them out, you understand?!"
Faqir flinched back, squeezing his eyes shut. “I-I understand, I swear! I-it was just a misunderstanding! I-I didn’t mean to kill you or anything! God, where is Clair, she’s the one who told me--”
Clair?
Something smashed against the back of her skull, and hard. She fell into the wall, blacking out almost immediately.