Academy Midterm Test: Facing Class 1's Magical Girl Prodigy?! (5)
"Uh… Jiah. Why are you here?"
Even with her dazed expression, Kim Jihye showed a sharp emotional shift the moment she saw Jiah. It was an incredibly subtle change in her face, almost impossible to notice, but Jiah already knew every habit her older brother displayed when he was flustered.
Jiah's reason for being at the academy was nothing special. She had come as the deputy chairperson of the Education Committee to offer congratulations and conduct an inspection for the midterm test opening ceremony. She had spent the early morning networking with the principal and other high-ranking academy officials, then stayed on as an external guest after the opening event. Her plan had been to watch the fresh new students' duels for a little while before returning to her office in the afternoon. But a variable had appeared.
The brother who was supposed to be asleep had shown up at the duel arena.
The duel itself held nothing remarkable. Jihye had simply displayed skills impressive enough to draw admiration even from the eyes of a professional magical girl like Jiah. Her victory was the natural outcome. Yet the sight left Jiah's heart burning with anxiety and worry.
He just woke up from sleeping, and that period lasted a full three weeks.
Her concern grew so intense that the moment the duel ended, she ran straight to where Jihye was. On the way, she ran into Seyeol rushing from the control room. The sight of her hurrying with such urgency made Jiah fear something serious had happened, but fortunately, from Jiah's perspective, her brother's condition wasn't the absolute worst she had imagined. Still, his hazier-than-usual eyes, slurred speech, and behavior all warned her that it was too early to feel relieved.
"Uh… Jiah, why did you get so big? I'm proud of you… hehe."
Her sleep-drunk, drawn-out tone mashed the words together as she approached and patted Jiah's head, just like she used to do when Jiah was little. This was not a sight people—at least not Seyeol and Miju—should witness. Jiah had clearly introduced her as a cousin, yet right now Jihye was treating her exactly like a little sister.
When she glanced sideways, sure enough, Seyeol and Miju wore expressions that showed they didn't quite understand the situation. They needed to change locations. Jiah made up her mind.
"Kids. Our Jihye's a little drunk on sleep, so I'll take her to the infirmary and be right back."
"Ah… yes! That seems like a good idea, sis."
"R-right… Jihye does look a bit out of it today…."
But Jihye, completely unaware of this urgent mood, firmly rejected Jiah's hand.
"I'm not going."
"Why not?"
"You're here, so where would I go?"
"I'll go with you. So let's hurry to the infirmary, okay?"
She tried her best to soothe the anxious Jihye, but—
"No. Don't go."
Poof.
The sudden sensation froze her thoughts. A soft feeling pressed against her waist, and cherry-blossom pink hair brushed her collar.
"Don't go anymore. No, I won't go. Stay here. I'll stay right here too."
Jiah had already thought her brother seemed very strange today, but she couldn't have predicted a single word or action. The hand she had raised to support her dropped back down. There was simply no way to handle her brother as he clung tightly in a desperate hug.
Then Jihye spoke in a gentle, languid voice.
"…You've really grown so much. So much. While I was gone…."
"…."
"You must have been really lonely all by yourself. How hard it must have been. I'm sorry as your older brother for not being by your side all that time. I'm truly sorry…."
It was as if he were finally pouring out feelings he had hidden until now. In the four months since Jihye returned to Earth, she had only ever said meaningless things about being sleepy. She had never revealed her inner thoughts so directly like this. Whenever a difficult topic came up, she would dodge it and retreat to her room to pretend to sleep. And when she actually did fall asleep, Jiah's desire to ask questions would vanish, leaving her feeling utterly hollow.
She had seemed to open up a little during the recent cherry blossom viewing, but Jiah never expected a confession this sudden—and this unexpected.
The arms holding her tightly showed no sign of letting go even as time passed. Jiah, Seyeol, and Miju all stood there in silence. It felt good to finally understand her brother's true feelings, but it was also genuinely embarrassing. Even Jiah, with her considerable social experience, couldn't easily think of a way to resolve the current situation.
And then, as if to pile on more trouble—
"Hey. Isn't that the magical girl Blossom?"
"Whoa! It's really Blossom! I'm a total fan, sis!"
They had drawn the attention of the entire class. Even though she had stepped back from field work and stayed out of the media lately, the recognition she had built up over the years didn't vanish overnight. Attracting this much attention here was incredibly awkward.
"So Jihye and Blossom knew each other!"
"Blossom, do you know our Jihye?"
"Uh… yeah. Hello, everyone. Nice to meet you."
"Please give me an autograph!"
"Me too, me too!"
"Can we take a picture?"
This was a disaster. The excited children blocked her from the front with Jihye and from behind with their fan enthusiasm for Blossom. She was truly trapped with nowhere to advance or retreat.
But they say that even if the sky falls, there will be a hole to crawl out through. Just when Seyeol and Miju also looked completely lost for a solution, a savior appeared from afar.
"Stop making such a fuss."
The tall woman walking toward their area spoke.
"You're making Blossom uncomfortable. I'll introduce you properly later, so for now everyone please return to your seats."
It was Cha Seoyeon, Jihye's homeroom teacher.
"Thank you. I didn't expect things to turn out like that."
"I was quite surprised myself, but it looks like everything's fine."
In a makeshift infirmary set up on one side of the outdoor duel arena, only three people were present: Cha Seoyeon, Kim Jiah, and Kim Jihye.
"Did she just wake up?"
"Probably… from the circumstances, yes. Until right before leaving the house this morning, there was no sign of her waking up. It seems she came straight to the academy the moment she opened her eyes… without even telling me."
Even before reaching the infirmary, Kim Jihye had been clinging tightly to her sister as if she never wanted to let go, fast asleep. Jiah wore a troubled expression, yet the corners of her mouth were lifted in clear contentment. To anyone looking, they were obviously family. It was a heartwarming sight that naturally brought a gentle smile.
Seoyeon slowly opened her mouth.
"Blossom… you seem to cherish Jihye very much."
"She's my one and only family, after all."
"The one you mentioned before?"
At Cha Seoyeon's words, Kim Jiah hesitated for a moment, then continued as if she had given up on hiding anything.
"Yes… That's right. By the way, you remember everything, Iron Fist. It was such a long time ago."
"Jihye is… Blossom's 'older brother'?"
"Yes. I suppose I can't hide it any longer. I have no confidence in escaping your thorough interrogation, Iron Fist."
Jiah raised both arms in a gesture of surrender. Perhaps because the reaction was so over-the-top, Seoyeon let out a small sigh.
"…By the way, I'd prefer if you called me something other than Iron Fist."
"You're Iron Fist, though. Your magical girl name is literally 'Iron Fist.' The direct Korean translation is Cheolkwon—what else would I call you?"
"It embarrasses me. That nickname brings back memories of my immature younger days."
Cha Seoyeon scratched the back of her head shyly. Any students or fellow instructors who had only seen her usual cold demeanor would have been shocked senseless, but Jiah simply laughed as if the reaction was familiar.
"But why… setting aside how your brother ended up like this, why did you enroll him in the academy? The committee must have pushed back quite a bit. Special admission isn't easy."
It was potentially an awkward question, but after a brief hesitation Jiah answered as if she had made up her mind.
"…I wanted my brother to be happy."
"Pardon?"
Cha Seoyeon asked again, momentarily unable to understand.
"He looked like he was barely hanging on. At least in my eyes."
Jiah carefully stroked Jihye's hair strand by strand, as if handling incredibly precious silk.
"After returning to Earth, he spent every single day just sleeping. During the few hours he was awake, he never went outside. It was like he had lost all will to live. I wanted to give him something. A chance to meet people other than me. It might mean nothing. But I judged that mingling among the children might help him regain whatever he had lost."
Sometimes indifferent. Sometimes affectionate. That was how Jiah organized her answer.
To which Seoyeon replied, "I see."
That short phrase was all she could manage. It was the greatest comfort and affirmation she could offer right now.
Then, from an unexpected place, another answer came.
"…I knew."
At some point Jihye had woken up and was gently looking up at Jiah. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep, though.
"I roughly expected something like that. You wouldn't send me to the academy for no reason. Not if it was my little sister."
"…Since when?"
"From the beginning. Ever since you shoved the admission application in my face."
"As expected, oppa's senses are way too sharp. You've always been like that."
Jihye, who had been yawning and stretching, slipped out of Jiah's arms.
"Are you all right, Jihye…?"
"Teacher. Don't make it awkward and just call me like you usually do. Whatever the past was, right now I'm an academy freshman. Huuuuaaaam."
At Jihye's words, Seoyeon cleared her throat a few times before immediately returning to her usual cold-blooded demeanor.
"I see. Then is your current condition okay?"
"Mm… I'm tired, but it's better than before. I was still half-asleep earlier, so I don't really remember what I did."
At Jihye's explanation, Jiah asked, "What do you mean?"
"Meaning I wasn't fully awake yet. …Probably?"
Right after waking, still drunk on sleep and in a half-dreaming state—that was how she described it. Her body had woken up, but her mind hadn't caught up, so reality felt like a dream and she couldn't properly distinguish between the two. Even now that she had come to her senses, she wasn't sure whether it had really happened or if it was just an illusion from a dream.
But there were too many uncomfortable aspects to simply brush it off as that. Many questions rose up, but Jiah swallowed her doubts for now.
"Iron Fist. Since my brother's schedule ended with this morning's duel, I'd like to take her home early."
"Early leave… there's no real need for that. Huam."
"She slept for three whole weeks without eating a single bite—how could her body possibly be fine? Plus, now that I think about it, what do you mean running straight to the academy the moment you woke up? You should have called me first, oppa."
"Fine… I'll do it since I'm sorry. Early leave works, right?"
The two bickered back and forth until Jihye finally yielded. While quietly watching from the side, Seoyeon noticed a notification on her phone.
"Unfortunately, early leave won't be possible."
"Pardon…?"
"A schedule has come up for the afternoon duel as well."
Cha Seoyeon spoke and showed her phone. But the one showing interest wasn't the person in question, Jihye. Instead, Jihye was yawning so widely her mouth looked ready to split, as if it had nothing to do with her.
"Yun Yuri from Class 1? That name sounds familiar."
The Education Committee would lightly review outstanding students among each year's new admissions. It was literally light—just a quick skim of the documents and nothing more. Yet this name felt far too familiar. Almost like she had seen it in the news.
"Ah… no way."
"Yes. That child. The magical girl prodigy who entered the academy early at age fourteen."
Seoyeon fully confirmed Jiah's guess.
"Jihye's afternoon opponent is the first-year top student who was introduced as a prodigy on the news—Yun Yuri."