The Fragrance of Spring and a Rosy Promise
The birdsong outside the window drilled into my brain sharper than usual that morning.
I had figured a single can of beer wouldn't leave a hangover. A bartender's title, though, rang hollow when I couldn't hold my liquor, and one can of rosé beer had hit harder than I'd expected. A languid ache lay thin across the back of my skull, and the noisy afterimages Clara and Yui had left behind were still buzzing around in there: the bar table smashed to splinters by an axe, Yui in tears because her Orgasm had spilled, and the nun who had confessed that the moon was beautiful before ascending into the night sky. It felt less like a single day than like I'd burned through a whole week's worth of episodes in one night.
I dragged my heavy body downstairs. As always, I opened the café door and drew the vertical blinds, and dazzling sunlight poured through the gaps straight into my eyes. To pupils still steeped in last night's drink, even the morning sun was far too harsh. When I opened the window, though, the forest's clear air pushed its way in, and only then did my head—heavy with alcohol and the night's commotion—begin, little by little, to air itself out.
I stood behind the shattered bar table and switched on the grinder.
Whirrr.
As the nutty aroma of the beans spread through the café, my sluggish senses seemed to wake one by one. For a hangover, the scent of coffee really was the best medicine.
Hiss.
The espresso machine was just warming up and starting to pull the first shot when someone came in.
"Yahoo~! Hina has arrived! Good morning, Oppa!"
Silver twin-tails shimmered in the morning sun as she stepped through the door.
"Kyaa~! It already smells delicious all the way over here!"
Hina pattered up to the counter, propped her chin on one hand, and smiled brightly at me. Makeup as clear as morning dew lay over her pale skin, and a faint perfume threaded itself in between the coffee aromas.
"The seniors were a real handful yesterday, weren't they? Yui's always a little scatterbrained, and Senior Clara is... well, she's pretty rigid!"
Hina laid a hand on her chest with an exaggerated flourish and winked. So the nun's incident had already reached her. I couldn't tell whether they were that close, or whether her information network was simply that good. Magical girls were supposed to be friendly all around, so maybe it was both.
"Hina barely slept last night because she was worried about Oppa. Really!"
Appearing before my hangover-dazed eyes, Hina was a caffeine stronger than espresso, dyeing the peaceful morning air pink in a single breath. Chin still propped on the counter, she sparkled straight at me, locked on target. Had Clara and Yui making a scene here yesterday bothered her that much? As if to hurry an answer out of me, she fired off a question.
"Sooo~? I heard you had a cozy little drink here yesterday with Yui and Senior Clara. Between the two of them, who was more Oppa's type? Leaving Hina completely out of it!"
I could feel that persistent gaze sweeping every corner of my face. The warmth of the freshly pulled espresso cup sat in my palm as I smiled wryly.
"Haha... Yui was fun, which was nice, and Sister Clara... how should I put it? I got to see a new side of her?"
The moment the answer left my mouth, Hina's eyebrows slid up.
"Huuuh~? A new side of the nun! A side Hina doesn't know at aaall, I bet?"
Her pitch climbed half an octave.
"Oppa, are you saying that hopelessly awkward nun left a deeper impression than me? Hina couldn't even sleep because she was worried about you, and this is what I get?"
The voice was still sweet, but something strangely sticky clung inside it. I set down the towel I'd been wiping the glass with, looked straight into her glittering eyes, and spoke.
"Hmm... well... as a rule I don't talk about other customers, but since it's you, Hina, I'll tell you a little."
Hina's eyes widened by a fraction.
"Clara had a surprisingly girlish side to her."
"G-girlish...?"
Her voice jumped a tone.
"That rigid senior who swings around a heavy axe? Oppa, are you praising another woman right in front of Hina? And calling her girlish... so what, Hina's like a grandma?!"
She puffed her cheeks as if aggrieved. Even so, the fact that I'd said I'd tell her a little because it was her seemed to soothe her mood, if only a tiny bit. She leaned her face in toward me again and asked in a near whisper.
"So? What kind of girlish thing did that nun do for Oppa to talk like that? Like... did she blush and get all shy? Way cuter than Hina?"
Instead of answering, I turned back to the espresso machine. I dipped the steam wand into the milk and opened the valve, and a soft hiss filled the café. The languid hangover pressing on my head seemed to retreat a little at the sound. I poured smooth steamed milk into the fresh espresso and added a generous ribbon of rich chocolate syrup. As white foam rose and lapped against the rim, I tilted the pitcher and drew a heart in latte art across it.
I held the carefully finished cup out in front of Hina and, my voice still a little low from the hangover that hadn't quite left, said, "Less a girl like you, Hina, and more... a literary girl."
The words had barely ended before her gaze pinned itself to the heart floating on the drink. As if embarrassed, she twisted a twin-tail around her finger and drew a deep breath of the sweet chocolate scent curling around the cup. Her cheeks seemed to flush a deeper pink than the heart on the latte.
"Uh... s-so what you're saying is, Hina is... on a completely different level from some boring literary girl. Bouncy and sophisticated. Right? Right?"
She wrapped both hands preciously around the cup and took a very careful sip, afraid of ruining the heart. The way she licked a fleck of white foam from her lip with the tip of her tongue looked thoroughly satisfied.
"Hmmph... well, if Oppa goes that far, I'll let it slide just this once! Actually, Hina already has a pretty good guess what kind of mess Senior Clara made here yesterday!"
She giggled, the cup cradled in both hands.
"Just thinking about how flustered that rigid nun must've been over one little comment from Oppa about her being girlish... Kyahaha! It's kind of funny!"
Her mood improved, she smiled brightly at me. Hina's bright energy mixed into the hazy morning air, and the throbbing in my head was gradually turning into a pleasant languor. I offered her a quiet smile.
"Haha... yeah. Want to have a drink with me under the moonlight sometime? Once the pollen starts flying, it's hard to eat anything outside."
Hina set the cup down on the counter. Then she suddenly leaned forward, closing in on my face. Perfume and the latte's sweetness tangled together and reached the tip of my nose. A counter still stood between us, but the distance suddenly felt narrow.
"U-under the moonlight... just Hina and you? Really? For real?"
She blinked several times as if she couldn't believe it. Then, wearing a radiant smile like someone who owned the world, she laid her small hand over the back of mine where it rested on the counter.
"Yes! Absolutely yes! Hina could even shoot all that pollen away with her gun!"
Using a magical girl's firepower for pollen removal... that was very Hina.
"Oppa, no take-backs on what you just said, okay?"
She pressed down on the back of my hand as if branding me, demanding an answer. Wherever the earlier attitude had gone—the one that had grilled me like a cheating boyfriend—she was bright, lively Hina again.
"Yeah. But if there's work, that comes first. You know that."
From the cabinet I carefully set down flour, sugar, and a glass jar of salt-pickled cherry blossoms. Inside, pale pink petals lay pressed in layers between crystals of salt—things I had prepared in advance, before spring arrived. Hina pouted, as if my firmness had left her a little hurt.
"Ehh~? Work is more important than Hina?"
She grumbled, but her eyes sparkled again at the question I followed with.
"They say the cherry blossoms will be out soon, so today's snack is going to be spring-themed... Do magical girls have any spring plans?"
Hina propped her chin and watched closely as I prepped the ingredients, then raised her voice in excitement the moment the words cherry blossom came up.
"Spring plans? Obviously tons! There's the Spring Exchange Meet the Association hosts, and I've got piles of offers to be a promo model for local festivals!"
She started counting on her fingers.
"Oh, and Hina's scheduled to shoot special cherry-blossom limited-edition merch this spring, you know?"
Then her last finger stopped and pointed straight at me.
"The cherry-blossom snack Oppa makes—can Hina try it first and post it on social media? This place would become a total hotspot!"
Already imagining a selfie with my snack in hand, she drew a V with her fingers and looked delighted. Exchange meets, photo shoots, festivals—all of it had to be a packed schedule, and taking it in like a fun festival was truly like Hina.
"Yeah? Then today I'll make things mostly pink."
At the words I added while sorting the ingredients, Hina's eyes sparkled like a child's who had just spotted candy. She sipped her latte and tilted her head, examining the flour, sugar, and cherry blossoms I had set out one by one as if reviewing them.
"But... what do you even do at the Spring Exchange Meet?"
"Ehh?! Oppa, you really don't know the cherry-blossom exchange? Or are you pretending not to know because you want Hina to explain it?"
She laughed playfully and leaned even farther over the counter. An index finger went to her lips, and she lowered her voice as if sharing some enormous secret.
"The Spring Exchange Meet, okay~? It's a festival for magical girls held in spring! The networks broadcast it live all day, magical girls from all over the country gather to test their skills against each other, and there are events with the fans... in a word, it's like a mega-event!"
Excited now, she set down her latte and raised both hands as she went on.
"Lower-ranked magical girls issue challenges to their seniors for duels, and there are special stages for the magical girls highest in the popularity rankings. Oh! Of course Happy Trigger Hina is scheduled to make a gorgeous appearance on the main stage too!"
She mimed a finger-gun and added a wink.
"If you win there, you can even get a hot-spring trip voucher and time off, just for magical girls, you know?"
Already picturing herself under countless camera lights, she flushed and hummed a cheerful little tune. Whether magical girls or idols, big festivals were infamous for schedules like a war—but Hina was taking even that war of a schedule as something fun. For a magical girl who grew stronger on the Power of Support, maybe that was the most correct attitude of all.
"Ah. I've heard of the hot spring. A hidden rest stop just for magical girls, up in the northern region. Unlike this place, I heard they offer lodging too?"
Hina set the cup down on the counter, eyes sparkling.