The Pink Rose
Do you know the word serendipity? I learned it back in high school English class.
It means an unexpected meeting, a chance discovery—something like that.
"..."
Maybe this situation counts as serendipity.
A magical girl lying on a park bench at two in the morning. Pink hair, wearing a dress.
I stared straight at Pink Rose.
I blinked hard, but nothing changed. It wasn't a hallucination.
"That's not... what I meant..."
"...Do you not have a home?"
At my question, Pink Rose shot upright, her voice sharp.
"N-no, that's not it!"
Her thin voice echoed through the quiet park.
"It's not like that! I just fought with my mom...!"
Then, as if realizing her mistake—
"...Hup."
She clamped a hand over her mouth.
Her face said she'd made a slip.
The way her eyes darted around made it clear she'd said something she shouldn't have.
It was a ridiculous gesture, but on a pretty girl it looked like a scene from a movie.
Probably because she was a magical girl spilling her personal life to a civilian.
"..."
If I were the type who obsessed over magical girls, I might have lost my mind.
But right now I had urgent business to take care of.
I just gave a long "Hmm," nodded a few times, and turned back toward the mart.
Getting tangled up with a magical girl wouldn't do me any good.
I'd taken maybe five steps when—
"...Um, excuse me! Mister!"
Pink Rose's voice called from behind.
I turned around.
"Aren't you... curious why?"
She added, "I mean, I'm pretty popular in Seoul as a magical girl..."
What the hell.
Honestly, I wasn't curious. What was so interesting about a magical girl running away after fighting with her mom?
Right now, buying Yuna's present and getting home before she woke up mattered more.
"..."
Pink Rose looked at me with a faintly hurt expression.
Was it the loneliness that heroes feel?
Was it even allowed for magical girls to talk to ordinary people like this?
"...Hah."
I sighed quietly so she wouldn't hear. Maybe she did.
Truthfully, I wasn't that interested in a magical girl's circumstances.
But if she'd run away after fighting with her mom, she was probably just a kid—high school age at most.
Turning my back when she was clearly hoping someone would listen felt wrong.
"..."
In the end, I turned around.
As I approached Pink Rose, she finally let out a relieved sigh and spoke.
"Mister, you're the one who got chased by that weird guy at the elementary school yesterday, right?"
She had a good memory.
"Yeah, I guess so..."
When I shrugged awkwardly, Pink Rose brightened and clapped once.
"I knew it. I thought you looked familiar."
"The world's really small, isn't it?" she added.
"...Yeah, it is."
I looked at her.
Were all magical girls this friendly?
She seemed so cheerful despite running away from home and sitting in a park at dawn.
"So... why did you fight with your mother?"
Yuna kept crossing my mind, so I tried to move the conversation along.
A cold dawn breeze brushed past me. I shivered once.
Pink Rose tapped the bench beside her with her fingers.
She wanted me to sit.
I didn't really want the story to drag on that long...
—Flop.
Not wanting to reject her kindness outright, I perched awkwardly on the edge of the bench.
"...I, um..."
She kicked at the ground with her toes, hesitating.
She looked like she couldn't decide whether to speak or not.
What could possibly be so hard to say?
"...I'm actually a little younger than most people think. No, I mean, I'm a normal age for what I do, but..."
Her hands twisted the hem of her dress. They looked pale.
"I have to do both studying and... this."
"This?"
"Being a magical girl. I balance magical girl work with school..."
Ah.
"But because of magical girl stuff, I keep skipping cram school. And I bombed my exams..."
She sniffled. The weather was cold.
"Then today my mom found my report card."
"Mm."
"She said, 'How are you going to get into college with grades like these?' 'You call this a report card?' She really laid into me."
Her tone carried that distinctive mix of teenage sulking and whining.
Pink Rose was probably somewhere between middle and high school.
"College entrance exams don't even look at middle school grades yet..."
So she was a middle schooler.
I was genuinely surprised. A middle schooler risking her life fighting monsters.
What the hell was the Magical Girl Association even doing?
Anyway.
She trailed off, looking glum.
"...So I stormed out in a fit of anger."
But once she was outside, she had nowhere to go, and going back would hurt her pride.
That was why she'd been lying on a park bench at this hour.
I stayed quiet and nodded slowly.
A classic teenage rebellion story.
"..."
Not sure what to say, I just nodded awkwardly.
It wasn't my place to comment on someone else's mother-daughter fight.
"Well, still..."
I added one line anyway.
"Your mom probably said all that because she wants the best for you."
"...Yeah, right."
She pouted.
"You sound just like everyone else. All adults are the same."
Damn. Was that true?
When I made an awkward face, she giggled.
"I'm kidding."
Talking to a teenage girl was never easy.
"...Right. Well, it's cold out, so... you should head home anyway."
"Ehh."
Pink Rose stomped her feet in protest.
"I want to stay a little longer. If I go back now, I'll get in huge trouble."
"Still, being out this late is dangerous..."
Pink Rose burst out laughing.
Fair point. A civilian who could die at the hands of a monster had no business lecturing a magical girl who hunted them.
My face grew hot with embarrassment.
Still, I'd said what an adult should say.
"Your mom might be worried..."
I stood up, trying to sound as mature as possible.
I'd done enough.
"Well then, I'll be going now..."
"Ah, where are you headed, Mister?"
She called out again as I started back toward the mart.
"Where are you going at this hour?"
She really didn't want to go home.
I gave a casual gesture.
"Just picking up a present for my daughter."
"Your daughter?"
If she meant that time, then...
I nodded at her follow-up question.
Yuna had cried herself to sleep, so I wanted to bring something back to cheer her up.
When I gave a vague explanation—
"Wow..."
She looked at me with something like admiration.
"You're a really good dad."
I was at a loss for words.
Did she know I was only pretending to be someone else's father?
* * *
"...I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong...?"
After the brief silence, she glanced at me nervously.
Had she made the atmosphere awkward?
"Ah, no. I just... remembered something for a second."
I brushed it off.
"Anyway, I should get going. My daughter might wake up soon."
"Ah, okay...!"
Pink Rose nodded, finally seeming ready to let me leave—
"...Um, Mister!"
She called me back just as I turned away.
What now?
"Thanks for listening to me."
She fidgeted as she said it.
"You probably weren't even interested..."
The way she scratched the back of her head looked embarrassed.
Suddenly she seemed far too young to be playing the hero.
"...Ahem. The flower language of the pink rose is a vow of love!"
"I am Pink Rose...!"
After shouting that out of nowhere, she dashed off in the opposite direction and disappeared.
She must have felt a little better after having someone listen.
At her age, how many places did she even have to vent?
I felt oddly proud, like I'd become a school counselor.
* * *
5, 2, 0, 0.
I punched the door lock with frozen fingers.
The dolls had been ridiculously expensive, and the weather was freezing.
But I'd managed to buy one, so that was enough.
I'd picked up a Star Luminous doll with the Association's official seal.
—Beep!
Star Luminous dolls were strangely cheap.
Did a dead magical girl's merchandise lose its value?
Wondering vaguely where the Association spent all the money it made from dolls, I stepped inside.
"Hoo..."
If I'd been wearing glasses, they would've fogged up.
I wondered if Yuna was still asleep.
Rubbing my hands together, I crossed the living room and headed for the master bedroom.
"..."
The dark bedroom.
Through the doorway I could see...
"..."
Yuna, still wandering through dreamland.
I smiled in relief.
* * *
Like a father leaving presents by his child's pillow on Christmas.
I crept into the bedroom so Yuna wouldn't wake.
She was curled up in the blanket, her face still a little swollen.
Faint traces of dried tears remained on her pillow.
"...Hoo."
What had made her so sad?
I took the doll out of the bag and gently placed it beside her head.
"..."
When she opened her eyes in the morning and saw the doll right there...
She'd probably forget all about crying last night and be overjoyed.
...Or would she?
She'd cried after hearing Star Luminous had died. Wouldn't seeing the doll just make her cry again?
Nah. No way.
"Sleep well."
Smiling with satisfaction, I left the bedroom.
For a moment I thought I'd felt some presence in the room, but I decided it was just Yuna's sleeping habits.