8. How Do I Get Used to a Body Like This (End)
"You're not Peregrine?"
"N-no, I'm not! I mean, I like that Magical Girl too, but, um...."
"You're not...?"
Kid, why are you getting teary-eyed again? You're making it seem like I did something wrong.
I'm not the bright, cheerful, caring type like Peregrine.
"Peregrine..., sniff, you're not?"
"Thaaat's right, I'm not...?"
"Why not...?!"
The child started making a sorrowful face again at my words.
Why not, he asks. There are many reasons, kid. You shouldn't go prying into adult circumstances.
No matter how you look at me, everyone has their own circumstances.
If crying solved everything, why would police exist, and why would laws....
No. Explaining it all one by one to a child would be too much.
What do I do? At this rate, he's going to cry again.
I said I'd help, but I can't even get him to stop crying.
This is bad. At this rate, it might look like I made the kid cry.
[That person made the child cry!]
[Come with me for a moment. What is your name?]
[No, that person is Peregrine!]
Aaaaaah..., no. Not that. Anything but that. Whatever happens, not that!
"Why not...! Why! You are Peregrine!"
"Th-then! Hold on. I'll bring Peregrine. How about that?"
"How...?"
Stay calm.
What would Peregrine have done? If Peregrine had been here.
If the Magical Girl we know, Peregrine, had been here, she probably would have....
Here, she'd tilt her hat slightly to cover her face.
Clear her throat a couple of times, then relax her expression....
"Young master, have you been waiting long?"
I had no choice but to put on a Peregrine-like smile and way of speaking.
In this child's head, I'm already Peregrine.
The fact he'd decided was wrong, and he didn't want to accept it.
If that was what it took, I could at least keep up the act while I helped the kid.
"You really are Peregrine...?"
"Yes, young master. I'm Peregrine. I heard you crying and came to find you."
"But you said you weren't just a moment ago...."
You're a picky one, aren't you, you little brat.
If it had been young Yu Seong-woo, he would've believed it right away. This one's no pushover.
"Young master. Would you please help me?"
"Me...?"
"I'm currently borrowing this person's body. I had to hide my body from an Aberration."
"A monster is chasing you?!"
"It's not chasing me. It's having trouble finding me. But I don't have much time."
Buy it. Buy it, please....
"So, young master, you have to help me. Please keep the fact that I'm here a secret from now on."
"...."
"I'm asking you, young master...?"
It's just an act, an act. I'm not admitting that I'm a Magical Girl.
For the sake of a crying child, I'm just playing the role of Peregrine for a moment.
I tilted my head just slightly and watched the kid's reaction.
I studied the child's expression. Was it a success, or a failure....
If possible, I wanted this approach to work....
"Waaaaah...."
"Yikes."
"You really are Peregrine. Right? Right? Right...?!"
"Shh. Shhh...."
It actually worked.
"I can do it...! I'll help Peregrine!"
"Thank you, young master. Thanks to you, I haven't lost my power as a Magical Girl...."
"So I'm Peregrine's assistant?"
"Of course. You're a wonderful assistant to a Magical Girl who'll keep our secret forever, so the Aberration never finds out, right?"
"You helped me, so I'll help you too!"
"Help me so I can help," huh. The way he talks is kind of cute.
Well, whatever. If it gets things resolved quickly, I'm all for it.
"Let's go quickly! Let's find my mom fast!"
"All right. Then, shall we go give it our best, young master?"
The child grabbed my hand without any hesitation.
Kid. What if I were a kidnapper? How can you trust me so easily?
"Hehe."
For a brief moment, his smiling face struck me as amazing.
Is seeing a Magical Girl really that joyful for you?
Is the existence of a Magical Girl enough comfort to stop your tears?
Are Magical Girls... really that incredible to you?
Are other people like you? Do other people think like you?
That day, the people on the broadcast shouting for Peregrine.
If Peregrine really appeared again, would those people smile as brightly as you?
"Peregrine, you don't look so good...."
"Huh? It's nothing. I was just tense, worried the Aberration might be after you, young master."
"It's okay. If an Aberration comes, you'll beat them all. I'm here too!"
Walking with the kid, I seriously thought about Magical Girls for the first time.
My changed body, identity, emotions, mood, even my state of mind.
The child's innocent smile pushed all of it out of view, if only for a moment.
Maybe this kid really was helping me, just for a little while.
"Thank you, young master."
Smiling as I thanked the child, I headed toward the department store's broadcast room.
Maybe pretending to be a Magical Girl isn't entirely a nuisance after all.
───
"Save me...."
I'm exhausted. Completely wiped out.
It wasn't that I hated helping the kid find his parents, but it was still exhausting.
As soon as I got home, I stripped off my clothes and washed up.
I didn't end up crying in the shower, soaked and wallowing in despair like I'd planned....
Throwing on just some boxer briefs and a sleeveless cotton tee, I sprawled out on the sofa.
Sprawled out like that, I stared at the ceiling in silence for a good few minutes.
The underwear I'm wearing now isn't bad, except for the tag that says it's for women, which makes it a little uncomfortable.
Since my changed body is slimmer, wearing something like boxer briefs feels kind of comfortable.
Of course, the embarrassment is still there....
"Somehow, I feel like today ended on a pretty decent note."
The kid who found his mom at the end and thanked me as he looked at me.
As he left holding his mom's hand, he looked back, and we exchanged a shh gesture.
Gaaaah.
"That was totally a Magical Girl thing to do...! Honestly, honestly, it's so embarrassing. It's embarrassing, but I did something a real Magical Girl would do."
I completely lost my sense of direction between embarrassment and pride.
It's embarrassing. A 27-year-old man pretending to be a Magical Girl is embarrassing.
It's so embarrassing, but the fact that the kid found his parents because of me makes me proud.
It's embarrassing that the kid believes I'm a Magical Girl.
But leaving him with a memory of being helped by a Magical Girl makes me proud.
It's embarrassing but I'm proud. I'm proud but it's embarrassing...!
Ah. Aaaah.
Aaaaaah!
[Thwack!]
"Ow...! That hurts! Ah, sssss...! Gaaaah...."
Getting carried away, I was kicking my feet on the sofa by myself and stubbed my little toe.
The jolt that came with a thud, and the sharp pain that followed.
My toe. My toe....
I flopped around like a fish out of water for a while, then barely managed to look down.
Yeesh. Good thing I didn't break it. At this rate, I'm going to wreck my toe....
Ssss....
"Still, I'm glad I managed to accomplish something today."
Really.
"Really..., I'm glad."
I wrapped my hands around my throbbing toe, then quietly smiled.
Just in case someone might see. There was no one to see, but I was still uneasy.
But today, I wasn't only uneasy.
Keeping my voice down, I quietly let the corners of my mouth lift.
"That aside. I still need to knock that ex-con down a peg."
I needed to tell him: no more slacking off. Do your job properly and think about what you've done.
Once the pain in my toe subsided, I spread out the documents.
Even though I'd only helped a kid once, for a moment I felt like I'd become a real Magical Girl.
It felt like the burden of accepting and opening the documents had lightened a little.
I let out a breath, then started reading through the material on Albatross.
"A Magical Girl contracted with an albatross Aberration. Special notes: abilities are outstanding, but she is indecisive and lacks confidence. Has a somewhat severe dependency on her Partner."
Hm.
Dependency, huh. I can't get a read on it from just this.
First, I started searching for albatross birds on my terminal.
To sum it up briefly, the albatross has the nickname "fool bird."
In Japanese, the official name for the albatross is ahodori—aho means fool, and tori means bird.
More importantly, why is this one so mature-looking? We're both Magical Girls, but can the difference really be this big?
This feels a little unfair....
"It has the largest wingspan of any bird, and can fly long distances using an efficient flight method. However, its large wings are heavy and cumbersome, so it cannot fly on its own strength alone...."
A case of possessing talent greater than anyone's, but that talent ends up tripping her up.
In other words, the albatross was the kind of bird people called a genius.
Its flight method, using lift to efficiently travel long distances, is unrivaled among birds.
The problem is whether she herself realizes it.
If she were the arrogant genius type, it wouldn't matter.
You could just play along and she'd handle things on her own. Flatter her a bit, and she might easily spill the information you need.
"But this one's the opposite. And on top of that, she has a severe dependency on her Partner. Don't tell me...."
She's not the kind of mentally unstable type people usually think of, is she?
If she's the type who can't live without her Partner, that'd be a problem.
I should go through the documents carefully. Looks like I'm not getting any sleep tonight.