Healing Begins
"Ha. No wonder. All that damn talk about hope... so that's why..."
Lee Harin slumped into the chair the moment she heard the name Lunafall, as if everything had finally clicked into place.
Even I, who'd never particularly cared about magical girls, remembered hearing that name. Ten years ago, maybe nine. Part of it was the era itself — the whole world had been singing the praises of magical girls and their miraculous power. But the feats of the magical girl called Lunafall that lingered in my memory weren't the kind of thing you could dismiss as mere hype.
Those weren't things you could simply write off with a word like praise. Back then, she had been pure, unblemished light — everyone's idol, and their last hope.
"Well... she's missing now, though..."
The class president said it with an awkward smile, but there was nothing light about those words.
The strongest magical girl — missing. Was that why Seoyeon had become a magical girl herself? To find her sister again? I was starting to understand, just a little, why she had such a fierce heart. Why she burned herself down to help other people. She'd even reached out to Harin.
"Tsk. Fine. If you're Lunafall's little sister, I can trust you."
"What?"
Did Harin just say what I think she said? She could trust her? Because she was Lunafall's sister?
If even Harin could say something like that so readily — if she could accept it that easily — just how trustworthy had Lunafall been? Former magical girl or not, Harin's mind still ran on Demon King's Army logic. And even from that perspective, Lunafall had been someone she could accept without hesitation. She must have been a magical girl with far more to her than the news ever showed.
"Thank you, Harin."
"Don't. I... I got a lot of help from her too. And that news... I was sorry to hear it. That Lady Lunafall would..."
"Lady?!"
"I swear to god, I'm going to kill you."
Harin shot me a look of pure irritation, her face crumpling back into its usual scowl — apparently my running commentary was getting on her nerves. But I couldn't help it. Maybe in the old days, sure. But the Lee Harin of now acting like this? I couldn't even imagine it.
Brainwashed or not, she'd always shown nothing but hostility toward magical girls. Every now and then she'd slip back into her old self, or talk about wanting to leave the Demon King's Army — only to turn on a dime and change her attitude in an instant. And yet that same Harin had, at the mere mention of a name, immediately chosen to accept the class president's help. She'd even used an honorific she never, ever used.
Just how...
"How strong was she...?"
"It wasn't just that she was strong, you idiot."
Harin spoke before the class president could even open her mouth.
"Everyone respected her. The best, and the strongest. That's the kind of magical girl she was. Lady Lunafall."
"R-really?"
"Yeah. Honestly? I don't think there was a single magical girl who didn't love her. Me included."
A faint, almost nostalgic look crossed Harin's face as she said it.
Okay. Fine. All of that was good. I wasn't the only one who knew Harin's secret anymore. And the magical girl offering to help was the strongest magical girl's little sister — someone even Harin could trust. If the class president was going to help, both Harin and I would be able to breathe a little easier. That much was certain.
Harin, I get that she was incredible — you're getting all misty-eyed and even using honorifics — but...
There's just one thing.
"But you're... you're with the Demon King's Army..."
"...Ah."
Harin let out a short, dawning sigh, then scowled and pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Fuck... identity crisis, round two..."
"It's okay, Harin. You were a magical girl too, once."
The class president offered a smile, doing her best to look reassuring. She spent a moment comforting Harin, then continued.
"Anyway, the reason I came today is to see if there's a way to treat you, Harin."
"Treat me? Fuck, if there was a way like that I would've already—!"
"You've never actually received treatment, though. And it's not like Siwoo can use magic."
"Y-you're definitely going to pretend to treat me and then fry my brain—"
"I'm not. Proof: when we fought yesterday, did I leave a single wound on you?"
"Kh... khh..."
As each of her suspicions was dismantled one by one, Harin's face flushed red with something she couldn't quite contain. Honestly, I'd be scared too. From her perspective, this was the same as taking help — taking treatment — from an enemy.
"Class president — just curious, but how are you planning to treat her?"
"I'm going to gently channel the same power I used yesterday into her body. It won't be a complete cure, of course... but I think it might at least ease the symptoms."
"Ease them?"
I echoed.
"Yeah. Siwoo, has Harin's attitude been a little... off since yesterday? Gentler, maybe? Softer?"
"Ah — now that you mention it...!"
It had been a little strange. Even when I'd grabbed her wrist today, even when I'd told her to open her mouth and sprayed propolis in it — she'd just scrunched up her face. She hadn't actually sworn at me, or hit me the way she used to. And when the class president showed up, she'd even thrown her arms around me, telling me not to open the door...
"She suddenly started acting like her old self. I was wondering what was going on."
"That might be because my power eased the brainwashing. I won't know for sure until I use the magic again, but..."
The class president glanced at Harin as she said it. Harin scratched at her head, then let out a long, resigned sigh.
"I'll take it. Undoing the brainwashing is the whole point for me too. If this can suppress it even a little..."
"Then you'll definitely be able to go back to being a magical girl!"
"...That's something we'll have to see. And I don't even want to go back right now, but whatever."
Harin sighed again, then looked at the class president with a glint of resolve in her eyes.
"So. What now?"
"First, Harin."
The class president grinned.
"Lie down."
"What?"
"Do I seriously have to lie down?"
Jung Siwoo's room. Lee Harin lay on the bed, looking up at Yoo Seoyeon sitting beside her with a complaint in her voice. Then she flicked a glance sideways, to Jung Siwoo, who was looking down at her with open worry.
Honestly, she still didn't want to go through with the treatment. It irritated her that they'd learned her ugly secret, and it irritated her even more that of all people, it had been Yoo Seoyeon — the girl she'd fought.
But the reason she'd changed her mind was simple.
That day, watching Siwoo through the café window as he talked with the two of them. Watching him smile so brightly at Yoo Seoyeon and Kim Min-ah. Seeing those two, who always wore the kind of bright smiles she never could, she'd felt just how different they were from her.
And if things kept going this way — would he stop caring about someone like her? Someone rude, someone with a rotten personality, someone who was even part of the Demon King's Army?
She was afraid of being abandoned. Darkness like hers couldn't exist without light. It couldn't even be seen. If a person walked toward the light, the only thing a shadow could do was trail behind, always a step too late.
"Shall we start the treatment, then?"
"...Yeah."
Yoo Seoyeon let out a careful breath, steeled her resolve, and settled into the stance she always used to transform.
"Innocent Heart, Transform!"
⟨ Innocent Heart ⟩
Pink light flooded the room, and in an instant a magical girl in a radiant pink dress stood at its center. And she didn't stop there.
Knight Form
Mana swept through the room like an explosion, then concentrated in Innocent Heart's right hand. A blade erupted from the tip of her wand, and a gleaming silver gauntlet coiled around Yoo Seoyeon's arm.
"Uh, class president."
Siwoo, watching from the side, spoke up with a worried look. Harin scowled all over again at the sight of him.
"How exactly are you going to channel the power into her...?"
"Ah, I didn't mention that, did I?"
Yoo Seoyeon offered a bright, sunny smile as she carefully wiped the tip of the blade with her white glove.
"Just like yesterday. I'm going to drive the point of the sword into Harin."
"The fuck?"
Harin bolted upright.
"D-don't worry! I'll be as careful as I can — I'll try not to hurt you!"
"D-don't give me that bullshit! Yesterday I just didn't moan, that's all — it hurt like hell...!"
Harin's sharp retort sent the whole arrangement veering off course again. In the middle of it, Siwoo slowly approached Harin and took her hand. With both of his, very carefully.
"It'll be okay, Harin."
He smiled at her, warm and steady, trying to put her at ease.
Harin felt the warmth of his hands and steeled herself once more. If she received the treatment, if the brainwashing weakened — if she could be a little more honest with Siwoo. If she could share that same warm gentleness the other girls could.
"Hah..."
Was this what Yoo Seoyeon had meant yesterday, when she talked about hope? Harin felt a faint warmth bloom in a corner of her heart, and slowly lay back down on the bed.
"If you make it hurt, that's it. No next time."
"I'll try."
"...Fuck."
Harin clenched her teeth and gripped Siwoo's hand — the one resting over hers — as hard as she could. Feeling his warmth. The warmth he'd offered her before she'd even grabbed this new lifeline.
"...Here I go."
The tip of the blade carefully found the area over Harin's heart, and slowly began to sink in. No wound. The blade slid in as if pressing into jelly. Pink mana spread through Harin's body, and the room began to swirl with power.
"Kh... nngh...!"
A moan she couldn't hold back slipped through her clenched teeth. So Harin gripped Siwoo's hand even harder, because she had no other choice. Desperately hoping that his warmth would ease the pain. Hoping that, as much as it hurt, she might someday be able to tell him the truth. Yearning, just as Yoo Seoyeon had said, to take back her hope.