Hey guys! This is my second fanfic ever written! In case you didn't know, these characters and settings are not mine. They belong to their respective creators and owners. Heck, the only thing I can claim credit for is this story!

…Was that my disclaimer? Oh well! Enjoy the story!

"Kazuma! Let's go do something!"

Megumin was bored. She really wanted to go and use her explosion magic on some random monster, but Kazuma was just persistently staying under his kotatsu, like the lazy dog he was.

She would have asked Darkness and Aqua to join her, but they were currently unavailable. Darkness had to go for some diplomatic meeting in the stead of her father, who was ill. As such, she would be away for the day.

Meanwhile, Aqua was working overtime to pay off her debts she accumulated from her constant frivolous spending. Normally, Kazuma would begrudgingly lend her some money to pay for them, but this time, he was especially spiteful, refusing to give her a single Eris.

"You have to take responsibility for your actions someday! I won't lend you any money until you settle your debts!" Kazu-trash screamed at Aqua. Aqua whined and begged but he refused to give in. She pouted angrily and stormed out of the house.

After that, Aqua decided to actually start working overtime to earn enough money to cover all her debts. She currently juggles six different jobs, so she hardly ever returns to the mansion these days.

"Not now, Megumin…I'm tired. You weren't any help carrying yourself back home after your explosion magic yesterday."

"But Kazuma … there's nothing to do at home! Why not get up and do something for a change? Like, say completing a quest!"

"You just want to blow something up again, don't you?"

"…No," Megumin said unconvincingly while looking in every other direction. "I want to help the town!"

Kazuma stared at her, then sighed. He got out from under the kotatsu, stood up and made his way towards the door, grabbing Chunchunmaru on the way. Startled at his sudden actions, Megumin just stood there watching him, frozen in place.

"Oi, Megumin! Do you want to go fight a monster or not? Hurry up, or all the easy quests will be taken!"

"O-Of course, Kazuma! But we should find something hard to fight! There's no satisfaction in blowing up a mere giant frog, right?"

"Didn't you almost get swallowed by those things multiple times? Are you inheriting Darkness' masochism? Honestly…" Kazuma shook his head at me. "One day you'll regret your decision…"

"That won't happen, Kazuma!" said Megumin confidently. What's the worst that could happen if they fought a strong enemy?

When they reached the guild, there was a surprise in store for them.

"What do you mean only easy quests are available?!"

Megumin banged her hands on the quest counter. The lady there jumped back, a bit startled to be shouted at by a little girl. She motioned at her to quiet down, but Megumin kept putting up a fuss. After receiving death glare after death glare by the crimson demon, she started to explain.

"Well," she said, "no strong monsters are appearing in the area much lately. Most of them had already been destroyed by your party. So I'm sorry, but there are no especially difficult quests available."

Megumin scowled. She stomped her foot impertinently. She really wanted to blow something else up. Something like the Fenrir Wolf she blasted yesterday, or the Stone Golem she destroyed the day before that.

"We are very grateful for your help since the town is now very safe and rather peaceful, but that means nothing especially deadly has turned up."

"Megumin,"said Kazuma, with the usual snark in his voice," why not we just do an easy quest today and take a bit of a breather? This also helps the town, right? Isn't that the reason you came here in the first place?"

Megumin scowled at him. "If there isn't a difficult quest, then I'll wait here until one appears!" With that, she sat down on the floor with a huff.

"Megumin! Stop being so stubborn, you spoiled loli princess!"

"What did you call me, Kazuma?! Care to repeat that?!"

"P-P-Please stop arguing, you two! T-T-There is one possible quest that might fit your interest, little girl, b-b-but it is very very dangerous."

"I don't care. And who are you calling little?! I'll have you know I'm the strongest of the crimson demons!"

Kazuma held Megumin back from attacking the quest lady. He tried to reason with her. "Please, Megumin, you know if the quest lady herself says it is dangerous, it is probably not worth the risk. Just accept an easier one, okay?"

"I already said I don't care. What is the quest? A pack of hellhounds? A resurrected demon?"

"Well, no. Recently an unknown monster has appeared in the outskirts of Baste Dungeon. Our monitors are saying it is a very dangerous enemy, but they are unable to identify it. Normally, several parties will have to work together to scout its abilities without casualties. If you are plan to take this quest, please identify it and kill it."

"All right! Sounds like a plan! Let's go Kazuma!"

"Were you even listening to what she said?!"

Megumin ignored him. She bolted upright and skipped merrily towards the dungeon. She barely even noticed Kazuma following her hesitantly as if worried for their safety.

Baste Dungeon.

The last time they were there, they were just grinding monsters. Megumin remembered becoming bored of being stuck outside and begging Kazuma to erach her how to wield some weapon to be of use when they visited dungeons.

Due to that, she was moderately proficient at wielding her staff as a melee weapon. Thus, she was prepared to explore the dungeon for the first time of…

"Megumin… You do realize we aren't entering the dungeon, right?"

She skidded to a halt.

"O-O-Of course, Kazuma! I was just checking to see if the monster had entered the dungeon or not!"

Kazuma gave her a look.

"Well at any rate, be on guard. We don't know what kind of monster we will be facing."

Megumin wasn't listening. She was skipping around the dungeon yelling at the top of her lungs, hoping to draw out the monster.

"Monster! Come out, come out, wherever you are! I want to blow you to smithereens!"

"Megumin! That's a very bad idea! We should-"

He suddenly stopped talking. Confused, Megumin turned around to see what had happened. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but Kazuma was motioning frantically at her to stay quiet.

Then, Megumin heard a loud rumble. She started and stumbled over a tree branch, falling to the ground with the sound of rustling leaves. Cursing, she turned around to see what made that noise. When she did so, she understood why Kazuma was panicking.

The 'dangerous enemy' they were looking for appeared to be some form of ogre. It was completely blood red, standing at a height of eight feet. It was carrying a thick club embedded with spikes. If it were an ordinary ogre, they should be able to handle it easily. Yet, something felt off about it.

Ogres normally have poor eyesight, but an excellent sense of hearing. That was why Kazuma wanted her to back off quietly. Unfortunately, her tripping meant that the ogre could identify her location easily. She got to her feet shakily.

"Megumin, run!" shouted Kazuma, distracting the ogre temporarily. "Create Water!"

His spell would have knocked any enemy off its feet. However, directly before the jet of water hit the ogre, something strange happened. The water stream suddenly reversed its direction and aimed itself straight back at Kazuma. Megumin, who was in between the two, got the full brunt of the impact.

"Kazuma! Your aim is awful!"

"It's not my fault! The ogre can reflect magic!"

It was a strange affinity for the ogre to have, yet it was definitely true. Nothing else could have done what it had done just now. Fortunately for Megumin, the force of impact knocked her towards Kazuma. Unfortunately for Kazuma, that meant the ogre would be moving towards both of them at the same time.

"Megumin!" whispered Kazuma, "Ogres are slow! We should take this time to run away! Do you understand..."

"Darkness, blacker than black, darker than dark…" Megumin began chanting the first line of her infamous exploision magic. Kazuma's eyes widened.

"No, Megumin! Don't do it! The ogre can reflect magic!"

Megumin frowned mid-chant. So what? she thought, I can definitely kill it with my explosion m-a-g—i-c… She realized what was going to happen a fraction too late.

When the burst of power left her staff, it rushed at full speed towards the ogre. Due to its strange power, the powerful magic reversed its direction and went back the way it came from. Megumin, exhausted from using the explosion magic, collapsed. As usual, after using it, she could not move an inch.

She cursed. Due to her own stupidity, she was probably going to die here. Her only

source of comfort was that she didn't use her full power on that ogre, minimalising the power of the explosion at the very last second, which would probably reduce her pain.

Megumin heard the explosion making its way towards her. She braced herself, expecting to be full of pain. She knew there were very little chances of survival for anyone taking a direct explosion to the body. Even less so since her frame is so petite. Damn it, she thought dryly, another disadvantage of having this loli body.

After several seconds, she heard the explosion finalize. However, she felt no pain whatsoever. She also had full control of her bodily functions, which in turn meant she probably wasn't dead, since she couldn't move her body. Confused, she forced herself to get up to see what the explosion actually hit. She painfully shifted her body to see what on earth had happened. Hazily, she looked up

The last thing she saw before collapsing from exhaustion was Kazuma's broken body.

"She's awake!"

Megumin woke up groggily. Yawning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Blearily, she made out the concerned faces of Aqua and Darkness staring at her, as well as the local healer tending to someone in the other bed.

"Hey, guys," she said, sleepily. "Why are you here in my room?"

Darkness gave her a hesitant smile while Aqua stared at her disbelievingly.

"Do you not realize what's going on?!" Aqua half-yelled.

"…This isn't your room, Megumin," whispered Darkness, "We are in the local infirmary."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Megumin, still half-asleep.

As those two tried to explain what had happened to her in the roundabout manner that they do things in, she turned towards the other occupant of the room. Who is he? she wondered, And where is Kazuma?

"Can you two be clearer? What happe…" Megumin started.

Realization suddenly hit her. As the memories from that morning returned, her heart stopped beating. She jolted upright with a horrified expression, shocking Aqua and Darkness. Jumping off her bed, she ran towards Kazuma's bedside.

"Kazuma?! Kazuma!"

She furiously shook him, trying to get him to return to consciousness, but he remained still. Panicking, she turned to face the healer, her gaze demanding a summary of his condition.

"Well," said the healer, clearing his throat, "he has numerous broken bones at a variety of places, including his patella and sternum. The latter has also led to a punctured lung. He has second-degree burns all over his body, and half his organs have ruptured. If that doesn't kill him, blood-loss will. It would take a miracle to survive this."

Megumin went to face Aqua pleadingly, "Aqua, you can revive him, right? If he dies, he will come back, right?"

Aqua hesitated before answering, "I would revive him, but the type of injuries he experienced probably means he would be resurrected immediately upon death. I don't even know if revival is possible or not. There's probably a 10% chance of it working, only if I remain by his side all this time and perform the revival immediately once he dies."

Darkness cleared her throat, "Speaking of which, how did Kazuma receive these injuries? When we arrived, the ogre-creature-thing ran off, but we still don't know how Kazuma could have been hurt so badly. "

Trembling, Megumin raised her hand and pointed it at herself. She didn't trust her voice anymore. If she said anything, she probable would break down crying (not that she wasn't already crying).

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the other two members of Kazuma party understood what she was saying.

"You…blew him up?" questioned Darkness gently. Megumin nodded, tears flowing down her face.

"I-I-It w-w-was an a-a-accident. T-T-The ogre c-c-could reflect m-m-magic and di-di-didn't realize…" She could say no more. Her wretched sobs filled the room.

"It isn't your fault, Megumin," said Aqua, "It was probably Kazuma's, knowing him."

No, she thought. It was definitely my fault. Kazuma warned me and tried to get us to escape. Heck, if I didn't stubbornly want o fight a tough enemy, we would probably be fine! I was very selfish, wasn't I?

Her head felt dizzy. She was still very tired. Yawning, she cursed her lack of stamina. How ironic, she thought. The most resourceful and reliable member of the group being the first one to perish. She unexpectedly burst into crazed laughter, alarming everyone else in the room.

"Megumin, calm down!" yelled Darkness, disturbed.

However, she wouldn't stop laughing, already in complete hysterics. Suddenly, she felt a stabbing pain in her arm. Stopping her hysterical fit, she looked down to see a tranquilizer dart piercing her skin.

Ah, she thought, That explains my sudden calmness. Thank you, whoever it was.

She crumpled on the floor.

It was midnight. Megumin walked out of the mansion tiredly, staff in hand. She had a specific destination in mind, and she would prefer if she weren't interrupted on the way there. She did spike the food with a drowsiness potion, so Darkness and Aqua definitely won't be up and running.

Kazuma…did not survive his injuries. No one expected him to, of course, but Megumin's heart still shattered into a million pieces when it happened. Aqua, being the goddess of bad luck as well apparently, was unable to revive Kazuma. Eris did inform them that Kazuma was living a happy life now, though obviously without his old memories.

Megumin sighed unhappily. She really wished Kazuma were still with them. Laughing with everyone, joking as usual, teasing them with his usual sarcasm. But alas, that was not to be. She spent several days after his funeral crying her eyes out, locking herself in her room. It was incredibly disheartening.

She didn't blame anyone though. She knew it was all her fault. If she weren't so stupid, Kazuma would still be with them. The others tried to comfort her, telling her it wasn't her fault. Aqua even offered her some alcohol to drink, which Darkness promptly took away and she politely declined. Although she appreciated their attempts, she didn't believe them in the slightest. Of course it was her fault! It was her, after all that caused his death.

She knew they didn't trust her anymore. She could hardly go anywhere without them monitoring her. She caught sight of them tailing her more than once. They obviously don't want her blowing anyone else up. She didn't believe them when they said they were worried about her mental state. Trying to let her guard down wouldn't work. She did want some privacy, after all.

But they stubbornly observed her daily. Due to that, she could hardly use Chunchunmaru as her cutting dagger anymore, ever since they caught her that one time bleeding out on the floor. There was no lasting damage, but their supervision skyrocketed since then, and it was confisticated. Honestly, she didn't get why they couldn't just leave her alone. It's not like it's a big deal to be hurting after someone's death.

Scowling, she stomped on. Her hands were littered in self-inflicted scars. She didn't understand why they stopped her from hurting herself, anyway. Everyone knew she deserved it! She was a menace! She blew up the most proficient adventurer of the town! So why…?

Megumin shook her head. Now was not the time to think of such things. She had plenty of time in the future to do that. Humming her and Kazuma's favourite tune, she continued her journey. The moon was almost at its peak when she arrived at her destination.

Baste Dungeon. The place Kazuma had took the reversed explosion for her, and died as a result.

Megumin stopped walking. She breathed in the scent of damp grass from the surroundings. She sat down to take a break for a moment. She remembered all the good times they had. What she wouldn't give for him to call her a self-centred loli again.

She got up. Looking back, she knew she didn't appreciate Kazuma nearly enough. Heck, none of them did, and now they really regretted it. But now was not the time for melancholy. Smiling bitterly, she began her chant.

Darkness, blacker than black and darker than dark,

She recalled Kazuma reluctant to take her in to his party, but, knowing him, would still have taken her in, even without her blackmailing him. She still remembered his panicked expression when she started yelling out loud her willingness to do all sorts of lewd things with him. Those were the good times.

I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson

Together, they were whole. Many people had said that they could hardly imagine them without the other. They had a friendly camaraderie that was envied by many. People who had never met them before naturally assumed they were a couple. Although she had vehemently denied it before, now she wouldn't mind it one bit.

The time of awakening cometh.

And now was the time she returned the favour to Kazuma, avenging his killer. The red ogre from before slowly roused from its resting spot, growling in annoyance.

Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, appear now as an intangible distortions!

She wondered whether she was a good companion to Kazuma. Probably not, so she needed to get her act together and at least do one thing for him in her short lifespan.

I desire for my torrent of power, a destructive force: a destructive force without equal!

Tears leaked from her eyes. She knew Kazuma would probably be really pissed at her for doing something so stupid. If he were alive, he would have come running at her yelling his head off, pretending very badly not to be scared for her life. But this was the only chance for her to possibly reunite with him.

Return all creation to cinders, and come from the abyss!

The last words that left her mouth were filled with so much self-loathing and venom Darkness would be jealous. She pushed all of her magic into this explosion, wishing for that creature not to exist anymore. It would be the most powerful explosion in her career. At the very last moment, she rotated her staff 180 degrees. The burst of magic began to left her staff, slowly enveloping her. She smiled through all the pain.

Goodbye, everyone… I hope no one will miss me all that much…

EXPLOSION!