It's a Story About a Friend I Know...
Meanwhile, as Sea was speculating about English Lavender's "ideal," Seoyeon—who had bolted to the bathroom—
Slap!
"Why am I like this...?"
She was slapping her cheeks while splashing cold water on her face in the bathroom.
Her cheeks bore clear red handprints from how hard she'd hit them, but she showed no sign of pain as she paced restlessly around the empty restroom.
Luckily, no one else was there, making her bizarre behavior possible.
Thump thump thump.
With her heart pounding like it was about to burst, she had no spare mental energy to worry about such things.
"It was like this with Pronesis last time too... Why does my heart keep racing like crazy...?"
Two weeks ago.
"Ugh... What is this...?"
Back in her dorm after breaking down in tears from sheer embarrassment in front of Pronesis, she lay on her bed replaying their conversation.
At that moment, one particular line from Pronesis floated into her mind.
'I like you—'
Thump.
"Eek!?"
The instant that phrase resurfaced, she felt her heart leap dramatically.
Sensing her heart pounding so fiercely, she grew confused, realizing something was off.
'It must've just meant she likes me as a magical girl—'
Thump.
"Eek!?"
This was a feeling she'd never experienced before, leaving her utterly defenseless against it.
It happened even when she was trying to sleep.
'I won't leave you.'
Thump.
"Eek!?"
Even when she stood in front of the mirror at her vanity to do her makeup.
'The expression I like—'
Thump.
"Eek!?"
Even when chatting with her newly assigned personal manager.
"So, someone like Pronesis..."
Thump.
"Eek!?"
"...? Is something wrong?"
"S-Sorry...!"
Her heart started racing at the mere mention of Pronesis's name, so she tried her best not to think about her consciously.
'I just have to not think about it...'
'My favorite magical girl...'
Thump.
"Eek!?"
Of course, it wasn't that easy.
The more she tried to ignore it, the more she fixated—human nature at its finest. She ended up spending most of her time at Association HQ just trying to calm her heart.
Finally managing to settle it enough to head to school, she ran into...
"Had a good break?"
Thump.
'Pronesis...?'
For a split second, Sea's face overlapped with Pronesis's in a hallucination. Those ocean-blue eyes, the similar petite build—it even made her wonder if Sea was Pronesis in disguise.
But she knew better than anyone that such fantasies were ridiculous.
Magical girls weren't the sort you saw casually, and you couldn't guess their identities from build or looks. Even she had a height difference of over 10cm between her transformed and civilian forms, so she dismissed it as mere delusion and answered Sea's question.
"Y-Yeah... It was so relaxing I was wondering if I should've even taken a break this long."
Thump thump thump.
Every time Sea drew closer, her heart felt like it was dropping out of her chest, but she somehow kept her composure.
'Please... Please stop, heart...!'
For some reason, she desperately didn't want these feelings exposed, silently begging her heart to quit it.
Perhaps her prayers reached the heavens—her heart soon calmed, allowing her to carry on a normal conversation.
"You've been studying alone this whole time while we hung out...?"
She'd tried to tease Sea lightly, pretending to be miffed about her absurdly perfect grades.
"Wanna pat my head?"
"!?"
Sea’s words made her doubt her own ears for a moment.
And then, going even further...
"I don't mind if you do whatever with my body."
That nearly snapped her last thread of reason.
'Does that mean I could hug her too...?'
Her knowledge of anything sexual was near zero, so hugging was the extent of her imagination.
And that lack of sexual knowledge? Entirely the fault of the kaijin.
Having learned "love" wrong from a young age, she'd come to despise the word. As a result, she'd strictly limited all love-related info in her life—rejecting friends' dating advice and peers' confessions with looks of disgust, even avoiding all media involving romance.
Naturally, her idea of "naughty" things didn't extend to how men and women made love; her max skinship was a childhood cheek kiss from her parents.
Now, Pronesis had unleashed those repressed emotions in one go, leaving her...
Thump thump thump thump thump.
At a total loss whenever thoughts of Pronesis made her heart go wild.
"Should I really go see a doctor...?"
The problem was, she'd never felt anything like this before.
As she seriously pondered a hospital visit...
"Um..."
"Eek!?"
Another girl's voice snapped her out of it, and she reacted like a kid caught playing with fire.
"If you're done, could you move...? I need to wash my hands too."
The weird look from the girl brought her back to reality.
"Oh, sorry sorry!"
'Maybe I should ask at the nurse's office...'
Pondering that, Seoyeon headed to the health room.
"This isn't a counseling office—go somewhere else."
Those were the words she heard the moment she opened the door to step inside.
It was outright dismissal, and with the teacher looking ready to swing a chainsaw at any moment, Seoyeon had no choice but to back off.
Thankfully, her heart had calmed on the walk over, but the health teacher's words felt oddly pointed.
"Did she mean I should go to the counseling office...?"
But before she could dwell on it...
♪~
"It's already this late!?"
The bell rang out, forcing her to sprint back to class.
"Shit, late again!"
"Our homeroom teacher makes you stay and clean if you're late!"
Luckily, her homeroom teacher let tardiness slide without much fuss.
'P-Please don't be late next time...'
...Or maybe he just didn't feel like talking.
A few other students were dashing to class too, but the one who stood out most was...
Thud thud thud thud thud thud.
"I'm late, late!!!!"
Yena, barreling along at flash-like speed, her silky sky-blue hair streaming behind her. Seoyeon followed at a more leisurely pace.
"Ah! Seoyeon, you going to school starting now? Hi!"
Arriving just a bit after her, she found Yena already greeting the others and waving her over cheerfully.
"Yeah... hi..."
She mumbled a dazed greeting back, and Yena grinned brightly before heading to her seat. Only then did Seoyeon notice their homeroom teacher staring at her.
"Y-Yes... Seoyeon, you have something to discuss, so after roll call, p-please come to the faculty office..."
"Got it."
She gave a short reply and returned to her seat—
"You okay?"
"Eek!?"
Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump.
The unexpected voice from the seat next to her set her briefly stilled heart racing fiercely again.
Naturally, the teacher and other students turned to look.
"I-I just slipped...!"
Her face burning red, she sat back down.
Sea asked again, concerned.
"You're really okay, right?"
Realizing the usually expressionless girl was looking at her with genuine worry made her heart...
Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump.
...pound even harder.
Her breath caught, hands trembling uncontrollably.
But she forced herself to stay calm and answer.
"I-I'm fine..."
She tried to play it off, but Sea still looked worried and offered her some fever meds.
"If you're hurting, wanna go to the health room?"
"No... I just came from there..."
Rustle rustle.
"Yun Seoyeon."
"Yes..."
In the end, despite not even having a fever, she spent roll call choking down the fever reducers.
'I'm really okay, right...?'
Of course, Sea kept fretting over her condition, trying to look after her in every way, but that only made Seoyeon's state deteriorate further.
"Yes... In Seoyeon's case, as an Association-certified magical girl..."
"..."
"Your practical evaluations can actually count as your activities there..."
"..."
"But for fairness, this part still gets graded basically low..."
"..."
"...Seoyeon, are you listening?"
"Eek!? Yes!?"
Even during her post-roll-call chat with the homeroom teacher in the faculty office, she couldn't focus. She'd decided to seek counseling from someone.
"...It's a story about a friend I know..."
'Hmm. It's obviously about herself.'
And so, without a second thought, she spilled her own story to Sea as "a friend's tale."