Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: S2.5. Does the Butterfly Dream of the Magical Girl? -2
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Shwaaaaa-!
"It's raining."
Kim Lulu looked up at the murky sky from the school entrance. Then she let her gaze drop straight down. A raindrop fell from the pitch-black thunderclouds, smashing into the dirt and scattering into pieces.
It was a rather tragic plunge, but the raindrop probably hadn't met its death. It had merely split into fragments and seeped into the soil.
A raindrop that fell onto the cold asphalt instead of dirt couldn't soak anywhere and simply flowed away. The water streamed down the slope and reached the entrance to pitch-black hell itself—the sewer.
Gurgle.
With a sound like a hungry alligator's stomach rumbling, the sewer greedily gulped down the rainwater. It just kept flowing endlessly.
There was something mysteriously human about the ways of nature. Specifically, the gurgle of a hungry stomach...
"Alright, escapism over."
Now, how to get home.
It was fine to get wet in the rain. But showing up looking like a drowned rat would bring a storm of nagging from Oh Daesoo. Oh Hyein would probably join in too.
Stuff like how she'd see right through if she got soaked, or what if she caught a cold, and so on. She needed to find something to use as an umbrella substitute.
Her bag?
It wasn't a big deal if it got wet. Yeah. The textbooks inside were all things she could leave as is. Especially the math workbook.
There was homework to finish up to page 45 by tomorrow, so if the book got soaked on the way home in the rain and she couldn't do it... that would make for a perfect day.
No homework, no nagging.
"Perfect."
Just as Kim Lulu was about to cover her head with her bag and bolt—
Splash. Splash.
A familiar face was crossing the school field, heading her way. Holding a blue umbrella, with a folded pink one tucked under her arm.
It was Oh Daesoo.
Kim Lulu narrowed her eyes as Oh Daesoo approached. Was it the rain? It felt like rain was falling on her face too. Damp and humid.
The face of someone with a week's worth of overdue homework, or... someone facing seven agonizing shots, or...
The face of someone she might never see again. Kim Lulu asked cautiously.
"...Oh Daesoo, you crying?"
"What nonsense? Here, take an umbrella."
"Your face looks rough. You even ditched school midway today."
"...It's that day."
Kim Lulu almost teased her with an oh dear, but held back. Hadn't Oh Hyein mentioned "magic days vanishing like magic" as one of the perks of being a magical girl?
She took the pink umbrella from Oh Daesoo and popped it open with a bang. The trick was imagining it as a shotgun.
Kim Lulu slung the umbrella over her shoulder and asked.
"No rain boots?"
"You ask for a lot..."
"But with boots, we could splash through puddles!"
"Do your splashing in the bathroom. And scrub those soles while you're at it. Don't beg me to wash your feet again."
Kim Lulu clung tight to Oh Daesoo, who was waving her hands like she was shooing flies.
"It's too tickly to do aloneee!"
"The umbrellas are bumping—get off...!!"
She fell.
You know, like when applying antiseptic, or pulling a knife from your gut. Kim Lulu figured it was better to borrow someone else's hands for things like that—stuff where she knew exactly how it'd go.
Feet were the same. Just brushing a shower ball over them would bring that maddening tickle and goosebumps. No way she could do it herself.
So she'd roped Oh Daesoo into it. Daesoo grabbing her ankle and scrubbing away had her laughing hysterically, thrashing so much that innocent Daesoo ended up soaked too.
She'd suggested they shower together since they were already wet, only to get scolded for saying something weird.
"Hm-hmm."
Kim Lulu hummed a tune as she splashed along. It was kinda exciting that Daesoo had come to pick her up. The rain even sounded nice. The only downside was not being able to smell Daesoo.
Thud. Thud.
Kim Lulu took a short run-up, spun three times in the air—whoosh—and landed.
Splash!
"Ta-da!"
"...You're splashing water!"
She got an earful.
As they walked side by side again, Oh Daesoo said flatly. Not a flick, but like an old man at go tossing a stone casually. Plop.
Like she wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come, so she threw out whatever.
"Oh Hyein's at club?"
"Yeah. That's why I only brought one umbrella, right?"
"Maybe. But maybe not."
"Uh-huh."
Shwaaaaa-!
The rain drumming on the umbrella grew a bit stronger. You could see it too. Heavy rain spread a pale mist-like fog across the asphalt below.
The more trivial chit-chat they made, the heavier the rain seemed on Oh Daesoo's face. Kim Lulu seriously checked if she'd done something wrong.
Then.
"...Hey, Kim Lulu."
"Yeah?"
"What if... nah. Pretend you didn't hear."
Kim Lulu grinned at that. Ah, so she wasn't sulking at me or hating me or anything.
Her brain had just had a car crash!
Catching the taboo "what if—pretend you didn't hear" combo, Kim Lulu made a patriotic decision. The elite brain of the 수도기사단장 produced the answer: a high kick.
Wham-!
With a gorgeous high kick that stretched her leg till her instep was over her head, Kim Lulu sent Oh Daesoo's umbrella flying faaaar away.
"...?????"
Oh Daesoo froze with a dumbstruck look.
Kim Lulu tossed her own umbrella onto the road too. The pouring rain soaked them both in seconds. Kim Lulu beamed.
Just as Oh Daesoo was about to snap, Kim Lulu grabbed her cheeks with a smack.
"Now, cool your head. There's one thing you need to think about. Got it? Listen well and remember."
"........."
"Catch me if you can, rascal."
"...???"
Kim Lulu bolted through the rain. Oh Daesoo took a moment to process, rubbed her stinging hand, slicked back her annoying bangs, and then—
"Stand still, you crazy bitch Kim Lulu-!!"
"Uahahahaha!!"
—chased after her at full speed, all laughter gone.
The playground, naturally empty.
Inside the hole-riddled human hideout there, two people huddled close.
They hadn't started out that way. Kim Lulu had stuck close, Daesoo pulled away. Then Lulu sneezed—atchoo—and Daesoo scooted back.
Oh Daesoo wrung out her hair, bundled in her hands, and thought. Doing something stupid had gotten the blood flowing to her head. In a good way.
She knew this was Kim Lulu's crude way of cheering her up.
It didn't feel bad. The moment the "catch Kim Lulu" mission was assigned, her head had cleared right up. And once she realized it was cheer-up afterward, she felt energized.
"Daesoo, can I hold your hand?"
"........."
So she magnanimously allowed Kim Lulu to take her hand. It had helped. Her gloomy mood had definitely flipped.
Tingle tingle.
Kim Lulu's slender fingers slipped between Oh Daesoo's and locked in. Then she hooked pinkies and gripped tight. Daesoo hadn't expected such an embarrassingly intimate hold, so she turned to say something—
But Kim Lulu had her head slightly turned, face flushed red. Ears too. So Oh Daesoo just shut her mouth.
If you're gonna get that shy, don't pull pranks like this. She thought inwardly.
Then, when the mood had ripened enough. Roderus finally spoke.
"...Hey."
"Yeah?"
"I'm actually... not Oh Daesoo."
"Oh, foreigner, right? You said before. Oh Daesoo's not your real name, Ro... Ro-something?"
"Not that. I mean, I have a side you don't know about."
Redburn Duke's right-hand hound, who killed anyone on command. A man who'd never saved anyone, never had the right to.
Hands stained blood-red, unwashed even by bone-chilling rain.
The thing called Roderus, wearing Oh Daesoo's skin, was this pathetic.
Of course, Kim Lulu couldn't hear Roderus's inner monologue and just commented simply.
"Middle school syndrome...?"
"........."
"Ah, ahh~ don't pout, okay? It just seemed like no big deal! Relieved now!"
Roderus yelped like she'd been pricked by a needle, then raised her voice a bit at Kim Lulu. She wasn't even taking it seriously.
"...How is this no big deal?!"
"Then who am I talking to right now?!"
"........."
"Not Oh Daesoo?"
But maybe the one not taking it seriously was herself. All these relationships.
Kim Lulu's eyes meeting hers held no shake. Straight, purely blazing with innocent light. Genuine affection.
"Dumb Daesoo. Getting all snappy like that? That's an illness. Fix it. But even if you act like a porcupine, I like you."
"........."
"You grumble but think of me. That's Daesoo. You're the one talking to me. Daesoo. Did an evil organization brainwash you into this? Do you hate me?"
"...No."
"Then we're good."
Kim Lulu leaned back against the wall like that was that. Roderus searched for more words, then gave up and enjoyed the silence.
Affirmed so simply. Too simply.
It hadn't sunk in yet, but something felt like it was seeping into her chest. Friend, comrade, friendship—words swirled in her head.
"And... I have a true self you can't even imagine! I've told you over and over, my real form is super badass?!"
"...Sure it is."
And so Lulu and Roderus chatted idly. Let's run ranked together later, no your tier drops with me, stuff like that.
In the natural quiet that followed, Roderus asked slyly. She wanted confirmation again.
"...What if I were a guy?"
A guy? Oh Daesoo?
...Her heart was pounding enough already—what if a guy?
Kim Lulu cautiously pictured a handsome man version of Daesoo up top. Same orange hair, slightly sharp impression. Her heart went wild.
Thump thump.
Suppressing her pounding chest, Kim Lulu smiled brightly and said.
"Eek, that'd be rough...?"
"...!!"
Rumble. Huge thunder crashed outside.
Roderus took a massive emotional hit.
The next day, PE class, indoor pool lesson.
Roderus had turned into a depressed sea otter, hugging a surfboard and drifting aimlessly across the pool.