The Promise Kept
"Really sorry, Siwoo!"
After school, in the corner of a cafe popular among female students near the school.
From the air came a mix of sweet sugar and bitter coffee. In that one spot, the class president bowed her head to me.
—Chuuop.
I said nothing, only savoring the bitter coffee sliding through my thin straw.
I should have added two more pumps... or three.
The snowball that had started yesterday with something big had grown so enormous by today that I couldn't imagine it still rolling.
And it was heading in exactly that direction.
"You weren't supposed to hit me! I mean, at the very beginning, I didn't even know that you could...! I-I really am!"
"I get it..."
The class president, face full of fear, was pleading with me for an explanation for every reason.
Around lunchtime, there had been a Demon King's Army attack. I had lured the monsters to the empty wing of the school to help her, so that during her escape from the students, she could transform without fear.
But the problem that came after...
'Heart Shining Buster!'
'Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!!'
She had fired her ultimate move at the monster blocking us between me and her.
Of course, after that, she had rushed over with a panicked face and explained, "You weren't hurt because you weren't a Demon King's Army member!"
But from my perspective, not knowing that, it felt like she was repaying a kindness with enmity.
Thanks to that, I was eating coffee and cake here now.
"What about the class president? Is she okay?"
"Me? Of course I'm okay! Even like this..."
I asked while worrying about her comfort after she had answered that she was fine.
In an instant, she reverted to her original form and gave a light thumbs-up.
A bright smile that felt almost dazzling added to it.
"...Because I'm a magical girl!"
The class president answered cheerfully.
It carried a sense of mission and responsibility that made even the onlookers warm inside.
But there was one problem...
"...Can we even talk about that here?"
This was a pretty secluded corner, with no customers nearby, but far away there were other people in the cafe.
"Well, normally I wouldn't say anything. Magical girls' identities are secret, and this is a cafe. But you already know my identity, don't you? And..."
—Swoosh.
The class president paused for a moment and reached her arm toward the empty space.
It looked like the moment when someone in a European group might bow in history class.
—Uuuung...
A pink translucent barrier rippled like a pebble dropped into a pond, then she withdrew her hand and it vanished.
A sound as if something had resonated came with it.
"Silence Magic. If I screamed as loud as I wanted right now, no one outside would notice?"
"Oh... that's convenient."
Handy magic.
I poked at the spot where the barrier had been. Each time it rippled with wave-like waves, and it looked surprisingly pretty.
It was like bursting a bubble wrap.
No actual touch, but the effect happened, and since it was new, I kept poking like a child.
"Ah, anyway!"
The class president, seeming puzzled by my behavior, changed the subject with a cough.
"About what I said this morning..."
—Hesitation.
The instant the words left her mouth, my body froze from poking the barrier.
Here it was at last.
"Remember when I asked if you had time after school?"
It was the class president speaking in her usual soft, kind tone.
But why did her voice sound... colder than it had just seconds ago?
I immediately stopped joking and folded my hands respectfully on my lap.
Then I slowly lowered my head, glanced at her with wide eyes, and looked up at the class president.
"I-I really haven't told anyone... I mean, I won't tell anyone from now on..."
"Hmm... really?"
"T-True! I mean, I don't even have friends to talk to, and I'm not the type to share secrets..."
There had been no close friends with whom I had private conversations at school.
Even during breaks, I just fiddled with my phone alone.
So...
"P-Please don't kill me!!!"
I cupped my hands and shouted.
"...What?"
The class president asked sharply.
"In movies, people always say that when someone learns a secret... 'You've learned too much' or 'I promised to kill you at the end, but it was a lie' or something..."
"..."
"Even if I searched the internet, nothing would come up...! B-Because everyone who knew my identity was removed...!"
"..."
The class president tilted her head.
Half of her expression still smiled, so I couldn't guess what she was thinking behind it.
"I-I really have a heavy mouth! I won't tell anyone! So please...!"
"...Siwoo."
"Y-Yes?"
"...You think magical girls are some organization from a movie that controls the world from the shadows?"
"N-No, that wasn't it...?"
That wasn't the case?
"NO!!!!!"
—Kwaang!
The class president slammed the table.
How hard she had hit it, a tray in the air rose about two centimeters before dropping back with a loud clatter.
It was a relief the coffee hadn't spilled from the extra amount left in the cup.
"...Ahem."
The class president, perhaps embarrassed, coughed for a moment and took a quick sip of her strawberry smoothie.
"I don't know why you thought that, but we are the magical girls who protect the world with justice! We wouldn't just eliminate someone just because they knew our secret, would we?"
"R-Right...?"
"Of course!"
The class president had answered so decisively that any further doubt... was pointless.
...There was no helping it.
My knowledge and information about magical girls inside my head had stopped updating around six years ago.
At that time, there had been little known, and everyone had been too busy surviving.
I had been the same.
Since I had cut off interest long ago, I had no way of knowing recent news or countermeasures.
Of course, there were people who would die happy if I were a magical girl...
"Besides, you're my friend! You even helped me. And then you'd do something like that?"
"Yeah..."
Only then did I relax, reached for my coffee, and took a sip.
...Now that I had tasted it, it was too sweet.
I should have added just one pump of syrup.
"Still, Siwoo. You have to keep my identity a secret, right?"
The class president said as if cautioning me.
"This is for me, but also for the magical girls... and for your safety."
"Is it that dangerous?"
"Of course! Imagine if the Demon King's Army found out that you know a magical girl's identity! Terrible things would happen, right?"
"Um..."
I had listened to her words and, in my mind, used all my imagination to create what my appearance would have been like then.
'Krkrkrk! Tell me the magical girl's identity!'
'Puff!'
'Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!!'
I should stop thinking about it.
"Siwoo. Your expression is bad."
"Yeah, I know."
Who had said it—how sometimes imagination being too good was a flaw.
The situation right now fit perfectly.
"Huu... anyway, class president. I won't blurt out your identity anywhere, so don't worry."
"...Okay. I believe you. Promise?"
"Yes, a promise."
"If you promised, you can't break it!? Pinky swear!"
"...Okay. Pinky swear."
—Kkuuk.
After that, I crossed pinkies with the class president, thumb-to-thumb stamped the promise, and finally left the cafe.
*****
"Huu..."
I returned home, threw my school uniform on the bed, and collapsed.
Today had been a day full of so many things that my body and mind were completely exhausted.
If I closed my eyes now, I would surely sink into deep sleep within ten seconds.
—Ding!
In the middle of that, a notification sound cut through the silence and woke me.
[Siwoo, I'm really grateful you promised to keep my secret!]
I looked at the class president's KakaoTalk and tapped the screen with my finger.
[I saved you, didn't I? Twice, even. Of course I have to promise.]
Here I would take a neutral stance—no positive or negative talk about magical girls.
No matter how much I didn't want to get involved with magical girls, treating the person who saved my life sharply wouldn't sit right with me.
[Still...]
[Of course, I almost had a heart attack in many ways today.]
Perhaps because I had sent the reply a beat faster.
The class president seemed to be typing a long message instead of the next thing she had been about to say.
After about thirty seconds.
Since no more messages came, I sat up from the bed and headed to the bathroom.
I washed my face roughly with the water dripping from the shower, then quickly finished.
—Ding, ding!
When I came out of the bathroom, the phone I had roughly placed on the table started spewing notifications one after another.
[Siwoo, really, it's not that.]
[Magical girls wouldn't hurt the citizens they protect!]
[And my mana is Purification Attribute, so it doesn't work on people!!!]
[Same principle as a bug spray that doesn't work on people!!!!]
"..."
I was about to send a KakaoTalk about how there were bug sprays dangerous to people, but I held back.
[It was a joke, I wasn't serious.]
After sending that, I kept staring at the screen, and the "read" text appeared right beside it.
[Really?]
[Really.]
Only then did I send the reply, and after that, no more messages came.
Normally, I would have gone to do something else or studied...
But knowing the class president's double life, I wondered if not replying to that message for so long had a different reason.
Just a delusion... right?