Caught Between a Magical Girl and a (Former) Magical Girl
Was she back?
Yeah.
When I got home, kicked off my shoes, and opened my bedroom door, Harin stepped out and greeted me with a flat voice.
That pink blockhead was hilarious today. You were babysitting and suddenly vanished somewhere, then came back acting like you had no idea what happened, putting on some act...
She glanced me up and down, let out a long sigh, and headed straight for the sofa, dropping onto it like she always did.
How's your body?
...I'm fine.
That doesn't sound right.
—Hiss.
A thin tentacle slowly slithered up from the floor and started probing every inch of me—legs, arms, sides, neck, face, sliding under the hem of my hair to check my forehead, even reaching inside my cardigan...
What the hell are you doing inside my clothes!!!
Before I could finish, I grabbed the tentacle with both hands and hurled it back to the floor.
Tch.
Tch!?
Harin clicked her tongue at whatever was bothering her, only to stare out the window instead.
Only after I hung up my school uniform in the closet again did she speak.
...Sorry I came first today.
Why are you apologizing first? Did you get hit or something?
We used to date for ages, knew each other since childhood, and have been getting close again lately.
Of course we crossed that last friend line long ago—since the very beginning, it was always possible.
If we hadn't, I probably couldn't have done this.
...But there's no choice. I need you to understand. Being right next to me every time she uses mana would make me want to puke.
Because of the Demon King's Army abilities?
Yeah.
Even though you're a former magical girl, the Demon King's power is still stronger, huh?
Then just sticking together in the same class as the class president must be pretty tough already.
We'll figure something out later.
Anyway.
...Harin. Right now... how are you?
What do you mean?
Didn't the reason we fought last time have to do with messing up your head? Is it better now?
In the end, it's the same as a magical girl, right?
I asked her something similar before, and she immediately denied it.
But now that we've been living together for a while, maybe...
I'm the same.
Harin answered right away.
Then again, brainwashing doesn't heal that fast.
Still, it's just that someone forcibly planted loyalty in my brain. I have zero sense of obligation to protect humanity.
Ah.
She still just wanted to kill everyone because she hated it.
If you keep going like this...
You really won't go back to being human.
I almost said it out loud but forced the rest of the sentence down.
...At this point, there's nothing I can do to help or be involved anyway.
Maybe if the other magical girls help, but considering her current state, it might be better not to get involved too deeply right now.
...I should ask the class president about this later.
Still, that kind of stupid obligation...
They're risking their lives for it.
Haaaa...
That was the last long sigh from Harin.
Our conversation faded into silence.
I sat on the sofa, then kept glancing at the sharp gaze coming from the right side of the room. I headed back to the bedroom, sat on the bed, and locked the door firmly behind me.
Even with the door closed, soundproofing wasn't perfect, but if I shouted loudly enough it would be heard...
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...
I let out a deep sigh as if the world was closing in on me.
Fate being the way it is, the two people I was least supposed to get caught with ended up finding out at the same time.
That most vulnerable secret I was hiding inside.
...It wasn't completely exposed, though. Maybe the two of them would just think they were scared.
Harin might not have noticed, but the class president... she used Cure, so she probably figured it out already.
Half of it, at least.
Knngh...
My head was in a mess.
When it came to this, I had no choice but to eat.
Without food, I'd collapse on the street from using my brain too hard.
—Bang.
I opened the door and stepped into the living room.
Yo, Harin.
Why?
What do you want to eat? Got any requests?
...Chocopie.
Not that.
That's not my main food, it's a snack.
Why do you always try to turn snacks into staples?
If I ate only sweets all day, my head would hurt and my blood sugar would spike, and I'd probably collapse from hunger.
How could I possibly figure out what organ to get so that I could finish an entire box of Chocopie in an hour and still want more?
With my ordinary brain, I couldn't think of it.
...I don't know.
Harin tilted her head, then spoke up.
I'm still not sure what I like.
You like Chocopie, right?
I remember that. I just don't know what food I prefer in general.
...Just order whatever?
Yeah.
So I ordered whatever I remembered she might like, and about thirty minutes later...
Ding dong.
When I opened the door after hearing the doorbell, the smell of stir-fried pork hit me immediately. It was hanging from the doorknob, and it looked heavy—probably two servings.
Yo, let's eat.
...Yeah.
Harin answered my call briefly, walked over, and we ate together.
Luckily, while we were eating, Harin didn't bring up any useless gossip or worries out loud.
*****
Yo, wake up.
It was late at night.
When I opened my eyes, Harin—Dynamiting Red—was already shaking my body with tentacles.
She had zipped up her hoodie all the way to her neck, and her eyes looked strange, like an invasion from the Demon King's Army was imminent.
Knngh... Harin, why...
They're coming soon. We have to go together. Wake up now. There's no time.
It's three in the morning right now...?
Three in the morning.
Three o'clock!?
I jumped out of bed in surprise.
Somehow I had gone to bed pretty early because of stuff at school, but I was still exhausted.
Actually, if I counted fainting in the infirmary and waking up as part of it, maybe I'd gotten enough sleep after all.
Anyway.
Knngh... Where are we going this time?
A little far.
Even if it's a bit far, we'll get there in the blink of an eye.
I got up from the bed, roughly dressed, and stood beside Harin.
But before I could create a portal to go avenge them, the tentacle pulled me in so tightly that it pressed against her body and side.
At this rate, my shoulder might dislocate.
...The soft sensation coming from one arm, I struggled to erase from my mind.
...
You're worried about me, aren't you?
...Yeah. When I saw that look on you, how could I not be worried.
Surprisingly, she had been really stressed out all day today, and her eyes kept darting around as she watched me from the side.
I thought she didn't care whether I got hurt or not.
If you die, who will help me undo the brainwashing?
Ah.
It seemed like the worry was for herself, not me.
I almost got emotional.
...Still.
?
...You're my friend.
Harin said it carefully.
—Thud.
Huu...
I knew that wasn't what she meant, but my brain tried to connect the memories anyway.
I closed my eyes, forced my own mind into focus, pulled my gaze away from Harin, and spoke.
...Let's go.
Yeah.
We threw ourselves into the void.
A moment later, we were in a place like a vast rural field.
Still, the neatly paved asphalt road in between told me it wasn't a really remote village.
There weren't many places left unredeveloped because of Demon King's Army attacks, but the spot where Harin and I stood was the rooftop of a small building in the middle of the field.
Green waterproof paint was peeling in places, so it didn't look like anyone was living there.
Abandoned building, or maybe just a place to eat and run.
Given the current situation, it was actually a relief.
...Stay put here. Don't run around and get hurt for nothing.
What if the Demon King's Army comes running here?
Before that, I can kill them all. Don't worry.
I nodded at her confident declaration.
After all, you can tell just by the way she's been fighting.
It wasn't even a fair fight.
It was one-sided slaughter.
Most Demon King's Army members couldn't even get close to Harin's body before being torn apart by tentacles.
Plus.
—Hiss.
Looking at the tentacle wriggling right beside me right now.
In an emergency, it would protect me.
I thought that, and watched Harin leap toward the distant field from the railing.
A short while later.
—Weeeeee!
The phone in my pocket started ringing with a loud disaster alert, and soon a black-hole-like portal opened in the center of the field, and the Demon King's Army began stepping through one foot at a time.
—Boom...
But something felt off.
It was a giant monster on the scale of a big movie, slowly opening its mouth and letting out countless legs.
The pungent smell of green liquid spreading on the ground was so strong it reached even this far away.
Ugh...
Behind Harin floating in the air, black tentacles slithered out from the shadows and slowly swelled their ranks.
After preparing for the attack, once all the monsters had emerged, the portal closed.
At the same time, Harin extended her right arm, and a huge mass of tentacles shot toward the monsters.
Then.
Heart Shining Buster!!!
—Kwaaaaaaaaang!
The class president blew the monster's head off with a finishing move and appeared.
...So you're the one.
Pointing at Harin, she shouted loud enough to carry all the way here.
The unidentified person slaughtering the Demon King's Army!!!