Magical Girl Pure Summer (2)
The light seeping through the window tickled her eyelids. When she fully opened her eyes, the room was filled with soft morning sunlight.
...Huh?
The light slipping through the gap in the curtains stretched long across the floor, and the dust floating in the air sparkled gold as it drifted lazily.
She stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment.
I slept? Like, all the way through without waking up once?
It had been years since she'd woken up feeling this refreshed. Not since high school, when she'd overslept and been late for the first time.
...Wait, late?
"Waaah!"
She bolted upright from the bed as if launched. With trembling hands, she snatched her phone from beside the pillow where she'd shoved it.
The moment the screen lit up, a flood of notifications made her heart pound.
"I'm screwed... totally screwed...."
A-grade for this quarter was a lost cause. She swallowed hard and called her manager. The call connected before the second ring.
"Pure Summer! Where are you? At home right now?"
"M-M-Manager... I'm sorry. Yesterday, I... I passed out...."
"Haa... Forget it. Don't even explain. You got knocked out by a monster's shockwave, right? Got an emergency report from the Disaster Response Office. The field investigator checked on you personally, gave first aid, and sent you home. They filed a detailed report—nothing that'll ding your record."
"......Huh? A report?"
"Yeah! Be grateful. Those government guys are usually sticklers—too lazy to write more than a word. But this one was thorough. Let me process it as sick leave. Should cover your eval this month, so rest up for now."
The call ended.
Sick leave...? So I don't have to deploy today?
She stared blankly at her phone screen. One person came to mind: the nameless field investigator who'd shielded her career with a single report.
The man who'd turned away indifferently, saying good's good, without even giving his name.
...He said it was a hassle, but he helped anyway.
She flopped back onto the bed.
The good sleep after so long must be thanks to him too, right?
The spot near her ribs where he'd touched yesterday felt hot again. His mysterious power that banished her chronic insomnia, the consideration that protected her meager career, and even recognition of her efforts to minimize the destruction.
It was a warmth far clearer than the fake love she'd received as a magical girl.
...Weird guy.
She gazed at her outstretched fingers toward the ceiling. The hand that had suffered severe tremors until yesterday no longer shook.
Facing grotesque monsters, worrying about people's stares, pulling all-nighters on emergency dispatches every day.
But if she hadn't become a magical girl, she'd never have met him in her lifetime. For the first time since transforming, she was certain this was the best choice she'd ever made.
I wonder what his name is...?
Arriving an hour early had its sweet rewards. For once, no tasks came my way even as lunch approached.
Unrelated to my early arrival, but hey, good mood means everything's good. I glanced around cautiously and popped open a small window in the corner of my monitor.
Hm? She doesn't usually stream at this hour.
The woman on screen was Song Ha-rin, the Hako streamer I'd been watching for a while. She always had sunken eyes with deep dark circles from insomnia.
...Huh?
Today's Song Ha-rin had an unusual glow to her skin. Her tired eyes brimmed with vitality, and she was even humming a tune while greeting viewers.
"Hey, what's so funny, punk?"
Senior Joo Seo-ha suddenly poked her head over my cubicle.
Alt+Tab! Alt+Tab!!!
I slammed the window shut at light speed and stared straight ahead with a blank expression.
"...Just looking at the desktop."
"Desktop? Wow, Sang-woo. Staring at the default Windows wallpaper with such loving eyes? Total madness."
Senior peered at my monitor in disbelief.
"The design is so... minimalist, perfect for deep contemplation."
"Contemplation my ass. You were watching a camgirl stream, weren't you? I saw everything, dude."
"No, I wasn't."
"Thought you weren't into girls, but guess not?"
She slapped my shoulder and cackled.
"I said no."
"Tch."
She swatted my hand away, stole my mouse, and switched screens herself. Song Ha-rin was lounging deep in her chair, and at the worst possible timing, she'd propped her pale bare soles on the desk while chatting with viewers.
"Little pervert..."
Senior gave me a look of utter disgust.
"No, listen—Ha-rin is an adult first off, and she doesn't do that kind of stream. She's a casual gamer who does late-night streams."
"Ha-rinnie? Haaa-rinnieeee??? Quite the explanation, Sang-woo...?"
She scanned me with eyes full of contempt.
"So... you like 'em young and petite...?"
"No, I said that's not it!"
I'm not a lolicon! The injustice boiled up to the top of my head. I couldn't stand being treated like a potential criminal.
"I like women who are grown where it counts and still tight where it matters!"
Ah. Shit. Too loud. The bustling office fell deathly silent in an instant. The female staffer brewing coffee in the break room, the section chief flipping papers, even the copier seemed to halt. Dozens of gazes stabbed at me like arrows.
Feeling the heat burning to my earlobes, I meekly sat back down.
"Damn... Senior, mind if I take half-day leave?"
"Say it one more time, and maybe."
She crossed her arms and smirked.
"So, what kind of woman do you like?"
"...Get lost."
I bowed my head as if to smash it into the desk.
The giggling from the break room stabbed like daggers. That's about me, right? No clue how I'd show my face tomorrow.
"Sang-woo. Come on, one more time. What kind of woman?"
At her persistent prodding, I finally slammed my forehead onto the keyboard.
"Please... stop."
"Man, I had no idea you had such firm tastes. Our Sang-woo's cool on the outside but burning hot inside...!"
What would normally sound like a curse rang like divine salvation right then. I sprang from my seat like a coiled spring.
"Heading to the scene!"
"Hey, hey! You haven't even grabbed your gear...!"
"Already got it! Be back!"
Ignoring her calls, I burst out the office door like a rocket. "Hey! Answer me first—!" trailed behind, but whatever. A monster's maw felt safer and more peaceful than this office right now.
But exactly five minutes after arriving on site, I realized I was wrong.
A groan escaped my lips unbidden. My patrol area, B-3 District's shopping alley, was utterly devastated. Sidewalk blocks were upturned like plowed fields, streetlights twisted into surreal art jammed into building walls.
"Who the hell did this?"
"Me, you punk. What, first time seeing a mess like this?"
A silhouette stood crooked amid the dust cloud. The investigators' nightmare: magical girl Bloody Mary. Flashy battle scenes and her rough speech had won her a hardcore fanbase. But to us, she was a natural disaster squaring the paperwork load.
She slung her staff—smeared with blood and monster fluids—over her shoulder and spat lazily.
"No, Mary—"
"Bloody. Mary. Punk. Say it right."
"Bloody. Mary. Ma'am. These shops..."
"So what? I killed the monster, didn't I? Chatty government drone. Hey, what's with the tone? Wanna chat inside that thing's gut?"
She jerked her chin at a monster corpse with its head pulped.
As the notoriously foul-mouthed Bloody Mary lit up a cigarette (magical☆stick candy lookalike), my mind swirled with dozens of damage reports and angry complainant calls ahead.
Hoo... Gotta endure. I'm the adult here. Not because that staff dripping blue blood scared me.
"Quit standing around and approve the clear. I got plans after work. Why does the Association send investigators for every little thing when management handles it? Thinking of switching agencies."
I sighed deeply and activated my terminal to log it instead of replying.
"Punk. Answer me. No sighing."
The Association should improve public servant conditions...!