Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 5 - Chapter 5

Sunshine and Rainbows

Wednesday, November 18th

Theia stared at Koutarou’s desk while listening to the sound of their math teacher’s chalk scribbling across the blackboard.

He hasn’t come back yet...

Fifth period had started, but there was no sign of Koutarou.

That’s right, the cellphone!

Theia pulled her cellphone out from her pocket. Since she’d already registered Koutarou’s number, she could call him with the simple press of a button.

But...

But she restrained herself. Her expression clouded over.

Fifth period only just started... and I’m in the middle of class... That’s right, I’m in the middle of class, so there’s nothing I can do about it now!

Theia made excuses to herself and put her cellphone back in her pocket. In reality, there were several ways for her to contact him. For example, she could say she was feeling ill and go to the nurse’s office to call him from there. But Theia wouldn’t do it. If she called Koutarou herself, she wouldn’t know what to say.

All right, back to work!

After putting her phone away, she turned back to the notebook on her desk. It was filled with messy scribbles, all ideas for her next play. She’d prepared a notebook for a new manuscript, but she had only just started on it. There weren’t even proper sentences in it, just notes and partial thoughts.

If I can’t get this scene right, the rest just won’t do...

The scene in question was the very last scene of the story, the Blue Knight and the Silver Princess’s farewell. At that point in the play, the fighting has drawn to a close and the Silver Princess is now empress. After seeing his mission through, the Blue Knight departs of his own accord, even though he knows that the Silver Princess loves him.

According to historians, it was said that the Blue Knight returned to his homeland because his family was waiting for him, or perhaps that he left the Silver Princess because he feared that his existence could trigger an internal power struggle. There was also a theory that he might have been assassinated. The Blue Knight’s name never again appeared in the annals of history, and so the truth was buried two thousand years in the past. So while the truth of the parting scene was a mystery, it was also the climax of a grand love story adored by the people of Forthorthe, both past and present.

It was a well known fact that the Silver Princess loved the Blue Knight... but what about the Blue Knight?

Of course, Theia was like any other Forthorthian in that sense. She loved both the story and its characters. And because of her particular affection for the Blue Knight, she was making this important scene her starting point. Everything else needed to lead up to that moment—the final scene. Pen in hand, Theia considered all kinds of ideas.

If he loved her, they would at least kiss...

Kiss. That word conjured images in Theia’s mind of a man and woman kissing. But the couple she imagined now wasn’t the Blue Knight and the Silver Princess. It was a somewhat dimwitted young boy and a girl with beautiful golden hair.

A kiss, huh?

Theia played the fantasy out in her head. Her heart was beating faster than the furious scribbling of the chalk on the blackboard.

Ah!

After a few dreamy moments, Theia returned to her senses. Her beautiful hair bobbed from side to side as she shook her head and her face turned bright red.

No, no! The Blue Knight and the Silver Princess are the ones who are supposed to kiss! Wh-Why would I k-kiss that ill-mannered boy?!

Thoroughly embarrassed, Theia went to cross the “kiss” idea off of her list, but she stayed her hand after drawing the first line.

B-But since I’m his acting instructor, we... we’d k-kiss... like lovers do. A kiss that takes your breath away... A d-deep kiss... Practicing... Practicing it over and over...

“A-Aahhh...”

“Your Highness?”

Theia collapsed onto her desk. Her face was beet red and her eyes rolled back. Her brain had overheated.

“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

“Hah... Ahh... Be... more gentle with your kisses...”

Ruth was worried now. Since she sat next to Theia, she leaned over and shook her, but she had no reaction and just kept mumbling nonsense.

“Ruth-chan, it’s okay, ho! According to my observations, she just fainted after overworking her head, ho!”

“If you wait a moment, she’ll recover, ho! So don’t worry, ho!”

Both Karama and Korama reported to Ruth while camouflaged.

“I see... Thank goodness...” Ruth let out a sigh of relief.

“But what was she thinking so hard about, ho?”

“I’d like to know, ho! We need to investigate and prevent it from happening again, ho!”

The two haniwas started climbing up Theia’s desk. The way they looked as they shimmied up the legs of her desk was rather adorable, but since they were hidden from sight, no one got to see it.

“There seem to be a lot of scribbles here, ho!”

“The notebook is completely filled, ho!”

“Her Highness has been very busy working on a manuscript for the new play.”

“Ho! This is serious, ho!”

“Ho, ho! We can’t do anything to prevent that, ho! Good luck, Theia-chan!”

The haniwas looked at Theia with admiration. Their empty eye sockets almost looked gentle.

“T-Training... That’s right, this is training... so one more time...”

“Karama, Korama, just leave her be.”

“Ho! Got it, Nee-san! Ho!”

“Goodnight, ho! Rest well, Theia-chan! Ho!”

Scolded by Kiriha, Karama and Korama obediently returned to her desk. They adorably skipped along the floor back to their master, but still, no one saw them. That included Kiriha. In her case, however, it was because she was looking out the window and not because the haniwas were invisible to the naked eye.

“But what really happened to Koutarou and Yurika? At this rate, they’ll miss fifth period altogether...”

Kiriha had been watching the front gate for a while now. But the clock kept ticking away and neither Koutarou nor Yurika had appeared.

“I just hope something strange hasn’t happened...”

Kiriha was planning on calling Koutarou once class ended. Unlike the flustered Theia, it wasn’t a big deal for Kiriha.

Around the time Theia fainted in the classroom, Koutarou was still at the construction site with the other girls. Even after Maki had vanished, Koutarou and Sanae were unable to leave since both Yurika and Harumi were unconscious. The only thing Koutarou could do was carry them to a prefab shed on the site.

“How’d the call go?”

“No good. I’m not getting a signal.”

Koutarou wanted to get in contact with Theia and the others for Yurika’s sake. When it came to medical treatment, the Blue Knight’s facilities were superior to a hospital’s. He also wanted to tell them what had happened with Maki. Both Theia and Kiriha would want to know that they had a new enemy on their hands. Yet for some reason, Koutarou wasn’t getting any cellphone service.

“In that case, should I go back to school and bring them here?”

Since Sanae was a ghost, she was able to fly straight to the school. With the phone out of the question, that would be the fastest way.

“Could you? I can’t leave them here.”

Since Koutarou refused to leave Yurika and Harumi on their own, he was glad to accept Sanae’s proposal.

“You bet. Just you wait, Koutarou. I’ll be right back with the others.”

“I’m counting on you, Sanae.”

“You got it!”

At Koutarou’s request, Sanae cheerfully nodded and went on her way, flying up and passing through the roof.

“Huh?”

As Sanae began flying towards the school, she noticed that her body felt oddly heavy.

“That’s weird. I wonder what’s up...”

It felt like she had a rubber string attached to her that was pulling her back. And the farther she traveled from the shed where Koutarou was, the stronger it tried to pull her back.

“Jeez, what is this? I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t have time for this. I’m in a hurry.”

Sanae couldn’t let it stop her. Right now she was on an important mission from Koutarou. If she completed it, he was sure to praise her. Determined to complete her job and get her reward, Sanae increased her speed to combat whatever was pulling on her.

“Let me go! Koutarou is waiting for me! Wait... Huh? It disappeared?!”

Just as the unknown force restraining her was about to become a real problem, it vanished. It was almost like an elastic cord being stretched to its limit and snapping. Accordingly, it sent Sanae spiraling through the sky.

“Whoa! What was that?”

After stopping her rotation, she cocked her head to the side as she flew upside down. Sanae had never experienced anything like that before.

“Well, I’m back to normal now, so who cares?”

With her full freedom restored, she didn’t dwell on it too long. She wasn’t really the thinking type to begin with, and she was focused on helping Koutarou now. And so she set her course once more for the school.

“I gotta hurry!”

But unbeknownst to her, what had been restraining her was her own feelings. Initially she was bound to room 106, but as time passed and things changed, she became bound to Koutarou instead. Specifically, what bound her to him were her feelings of wanting to be by his side. And it was her feelings yet again that released her from that bond. Her feelings of wanting to help Koutarou had overpowered her feelings of wanting to stay by his side.

“All right, let’s do this!”

But as she was now bound to Koutarou instead of room 106, there was no denying her attachment to him.

Harumi opened her eyes shortly after Sanae had left.

“H-Huh...? I...”

“Sakuraba-senpai, are you okay?”

“...Koutarou-sama...?”

And the person she’d longed to see for the past two thousand years—

“Ah... Um, I...”

Harumi suddenly snapped out of her dazed state and recalled what had happened before she fainted.

“Th-That’s right, Nijino-san! Is Nijino-san okay?!”

Harumi sprang up in search of Yurika, but she didn’t have to look far. The wounded Yurika was lying next to her.

“Nijino-san, Nijino-san!”

Tears welled in Harumi’s eyes as she shook Yurika. She was frantic. The thought of Yurika putting her life in danger for her was just too much

“Please calm down, Sakuraba-senpai.”

“But Satomi-kun, Nijino-san is... Nijino-san is...!”

“She’s okay. She’s just unconscious.”

Koutarou hugged Harumi to get her to stop shaking Yurika.

“Let go! Let me go!”

But Harumi resisted and tried to break free. Yurika was all she cared about right now.

“I’ve already sent for help. Yurika will be fine.”

“...Really?”

After several attempts, Koutarou was finally able to persuade Harumi. She finally relented and slowly turned towards him.

“Yes, really. She’ll get the help she needs soon.”

“Th-Thank goodness...”

Harumi let out a heavy sigh of relief and relaxed. Still leaning on Koutarou, she put her hand on her chest and took several deep breaths.

I’m sorry, Sakuraba-senpai...

The truth was that Koutarou didn’t know the extent of Yurika’s injuries. But if he admitted that, Harumi would be the one to suffer for it.

“I was so worried about Nijino-san... Thank god...”

Harumi wiped her tears away and looked up at Koutarou. There was a childish smile shining through her tears—one that indicated both reassurance and joy.

“So what about you? Are you okay, Sakuraba-senpai?”

“Me...?”

Only at Koutarou’s question did Harumi fully appreciate the situation she was in.

“Ah, I-I...”

She was leaning on Koutarou, whose face was alarming close to hers. Harumi lost her cool again, but this time for a very different reason.

“Ah, I-I-I’m fine! I-I-It’s nothing!”

“Are you sure? Your face is red though.”

Realizing something was amiss with Harumi, he was worried that she might have a fever and put his hand on her forehead.

“Hmm... Doesn’t feel like a fever.”

“I-I-I’m fine!”

Harumi thrust Koutarou away and escaped from his arms.

Ah, right...

Seeing Harumi like that, Koutarou realized that she was just embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, Sakuraba-senpai,” Koutarou apologized, starting to blush as well.

“N-No...”

Harumi shook her head as she stared down at the ground, but there was no hiding the bright red color of her cheeks.

Thank goodness Satomi-san let go... Any longer like that and I might have said something outrageous...

Harumi wouldn’t have been so shaken if it had happened with a boy she didn’t like, but this was Koutarou.

“So about before, Sakuraba-senpai...”

“Ah, th-that’s right. What happened next?”

Koutarou purposefully changed the topic. Harumi followed his lead and the awkward tension in the atmosphere dissipated.

“I can’t really remember what happened after Nijino-san collapsed...”

“What?! You don’t remember?!”

“No... Did something happen?”

Harumi could only remember Yurika protecting her from the fireball and Koutarou helping her up afterward. She wasn’t sure why Koutarou was so surprised.

“N-No, if you don’t remember, then that’s...”

Sakuraba-senpai doesn’t remember anything? Then what was...

Harumi had no memory of handing over the glowing sword to Koutarou. It was almost as if it had never happened in the first place.

Now that I think about it, that sword vanished after Maki-san disappeared... Just what is going on?

Koutarou didn’t know what to make of the strange, surreal things happening around him.

“M-Mmm...”

It was around that time that Yurika woke up.

“Yurika!”

“Nijino-san!”

When Yurika opened her eyes, she saw Koutarou and Harumi.

“Shatomi-shan... Shakuraba-shenpai...”

“Are you okay, Yurika?!”

“Thank goodness! I’m so glad...”

They were both smiling, but there were tears in their eyes.

“Why are you crying...?”

“I’m not crying, you idiot!”

“It’s because you woke up, Nijino-san.”

Koutarou shouted and Harumi cried. Hearing their voices, Yurika remembered what had happened before she collapsed. Her fight with Maki, Koutarou and Harumi appearing in the middle of it, and taking a fireball for Harumi... Her mind gradually cleared and she tried to get up.

“Yurika, don’t push yourself! Stay down!”

“I can’t... do that...”

Koutarou tried to lay Yurika back down, but she shook her head. With no other option, Koutarou supported her body as she stood up.

“Satomi-san, what about Maki-chan? What happened with Maki-chan?”

“After you passed out, we had a small skirmish with Maki-san and she vanished.”

“What about Sanae-chan? I don’t see her anywhere...”

“I’m not getting any reception, so I sent her for help.”

“I see... That must be because of our spells.”

“Really?”

Yurika was able to stand with Koutarou’s help, and she took a deep breath once upright. As expected, she had burns and bruises all over her body.

“Hahh... Ahh... Before we started fighting, we set up a ward to keep people away. Within that ward, all communication is jammed.”

The ward that Yurika and Maki had set up before the battle not only kept people away, but also prevented people inside of it from reporting what was going on to the outside. The ward blocked sound, visual information, and electromagnetic waves. That was why Koutarou couldn’t get any service on his phone.

“I don’t know anything about magic, but is your body okay, Nijino-san?”

To Harumi, Yurika’s health was more important than enemies or magic. She grabbed Yurika’s hand with both of hers and gave her a concerned look.

“I’m all right. I’m the magical girl of love and courage, after all.”

“I suppose that’s good enough for now...”

Yurika nodded with a smile, but Harumi just couldn’t relax. Yurika was visibly covered in wounds.

“So what are you going to do now, Yurika?”

But even wounded, she had gotten up. Koutarou knew that was because she had a job to do.

“I’m going after Maki-chan.”

“You can’t go after her in that state!” Harumi shook her head and objected. She didn’t want Yurika to move with her injuries.

“Even so, I have to go. There’s no time to spare.”

“Regardless, do you even know where Maki-san is?”

“Yes. She’s in room 106. I’m sure of it.”

“At our place? Why would... Ah, that’s right, you said—”

“Yes. Maki-chan is after the mana in room 106.”

Yurika had been saying the same thing since the day they met. One day the evil magical girls would appear and they would target the magical energy in room 106.

“That’s why I need to go now or something terrible will happen,” Yurika said, finally standing on her own.

“Hngh...” Her face twisted in pain and she broke out into a cold sweat at the physical effort.

This is the real Yurika... No, this is a real magical girl...

Koutarou understood the weight on Yurika’s shoulders. She was more worried about her duty than her body or her own life.

In that case...

Koutarou made up his mind.

“Yurika, I’ll take you home.”

Koutarou turned his back towards Yurika and kneeled down. He was planning on carrying Yurika all the way to room 106.

“Is that really okay, Satomi-san?”

Yurika’s eyes opened wide in surprise. Taking into account everything that had happened up until today, she could hardly believe his offer.

“What does it matter? This is the only way to protect room 106, right?”

“Th-That’s true, but...”

But Koutarou wasn’t just offering help out of goodwill. Contrary to what Yurika thought, it was exactly because of everything that had happened up until today. He felt that he had an obligation to help Yurika now since he hadn’t believed her for so long. He also wanted to help his roommate of over half a year.

“That’s absurd! If Nijino-san keeps fighting in that state, something bad really will happen to her!”

But Harumi was still set on stopping them. She wanted to stop her best friend from going down this reckless path no matter what.

“Sakuraba-senpai, if I don’t stop Maki-chan, something terrible will happen to this city or the magical kingdom.”

But Yurika had something she had to protect at any cost. She’d made a promise with her predecessor, Rainbow Nana. And then there was this city she’d called home for over half a year. With those things in her heart, Yurika couldn’t just stand down.

“Get on, Yurika.”

“Okay.”

Yurika’s face was still contorted in pain, but she didn’t hesitate to push herself to climb onto Koutarou’s back. When she did, Koutarou stood up.

“Satomi-kun, Nijino-san, you really can’t go!”

“This is dangerous, so please go back to school, Sakuraba-senpai.”

“Satomi-kun!”

Harumi was normally withdrawn and didn’t assert herself, but she couldn’t back down on this either.

“No, I won’t go back!”

“Sakuraba-senpai?”

“If you won’t stop fighting, I definitely won’t go back!”

It was the first time Harumi had ever said something selfish to Koutarou.

Meanwhile, Sanae had reached Kisshouharukaze High School. She passed through the window straight into class 1-A’s classroom and headed straight for Kiriha and the others.

“He’s not picking up for me either. So either he’s turned his phone off or he has no signal.”

“I can’t get through to Yurika either. Well, in her case, it might be because she lapsed on her cellphone bill.”

“Hmm... Just what are the two of them doing...”

“I just hope nothing happened...”

Fifth period was over and they were currently on their break between classes. Kiriha and the other girls were all sitting in a circle with their cellphones out. That is, except for Theia who was lying down on her desk.

That was how Sanae found them all when she arrived.

“Everyone, there’s trouble! Come with me! And fast!”

“Sanae? Is it just you?”

“What about Satomi-sama and Yurika-sama?”

There was a big difference in excitement between Sanae and the others as she came flying over to them. They had just assumed that Yurika had overslept or was playing around.

“That’s just it,” Sanae said, pointing at Ruth. “Koutarou and Yurika are in trouble!”

Sanae was the only one there who knew what happened, and she was determined to take everyone back to Koutarou as soon as possible.

“That doesn’t sound very peaceful.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“It’s a pain to explain, so just hurry up and follow me! It was just like Yurika said. A new enemy after our room really did show up!”

“What?!”

Hearing that Koutarou was in danger, Theia, who had been slumped over her desk, suddenly kicked her chair away and stood up.

“Is Koutarou okay?! Well?!”

Theia rushed up to Sanae and questioned her. Sanae had called room 106 theirs, and after hearing that an enemy had appeared, Theia was first and foremost worried about Koutarou’s safety. At that point, the two of them felt the same way.

“Koutarou is okay, but Yurika is hurt! So hurry up! We have to go!”

Sanae grabbed Theia’s arm and forcibly pulled her towards the door.

“All right, lead the way.”

But Theia didn’t need to be dragged far. She couldn’t admit that she wanted to go with Koutarou in the first place, but it was different if he was in trouble. It was a noble’s duty to save their vassals.

“I will accompany you, Your Highness,” said Ruth.

“I understand the situation. I can’t ignore an enemy that’s after room 106. I will come too,” said Kiriha.

“I have a bad feeling about this, so I’ll come too. I don’t want my residents getting into any trouble,” said Shizuka.

They followed after Sanae and Theia, and the five of them bumped into Kenji as he was returning to the classroom.

“Oh? Where might you ladies be off to in a hurry?”

“Just some unfinished business. Let the teacher know I’m leaving early,” Theia replied.

“I don’t mind, but... is everything okay?”

Maki and Yurika were absent, then Koutarou went home to get something and never came back. Now Theia, Ruth, Kiriha, and Shizuka were all leaving early. Even a fool could tell something was going on.

“Mackenzie-kun, according to Yurika-chan’s explanation, an evil magical girl has appeared and she’s in trouble.”

“If you say so. Have fun.”

After Shizuka’s short explanation, Kenji smiled and stepped aside. The five girls barreled out of the classroom and ran down the stairs leading to the school entrance.

“...I’ve been thinking.”

“About what?”

“Normally no one would believe that, right?”

“Probably not.”

“I mean, a magical girl...”

“Common sense has to kick in at some point.”

And so they left school and headed to Koutarou’s rescue.

It’s warm...

That thought ran through Yurika’s mind as Koutarou carried her. Her body bounced along with him as he ran. His shoulders were broad, and when she pressed her cheek against his back, she could feel his warmth.

I can understand why Sanae-chan always does this...

Ever since Yurika had become a magical girl, she had, strictly speaking, always been alone. She had no allies to fight alongside her, and there was really no one who knew her identity. While she’d spent time with Koutarou and the others, they didn’t truly understand her. At least, not until today. Koutarou had earnestly held his hand out to her today, and suddenly Yurika was no longer alone. She had found someone she could rely on.

I’m a bit jealous that Sanae-chan gets to do this all the time...

Yurika held on to Koutarou even tighter. They were still a ways off from Corona House and she didn’t want to be a burden.

“Yurika.”

“Yes?”

Noticing that Yurika was moving, he adjusted her position on his back and took the opportunity to ask about something that had been bothering him.

“Why are you a magical girl? It’s not like you were born that way, right?”

Koutarou had sort of heard her reason before. Yurika on several occasions had said that someone once saved her life, but he’d never bothered to listen to the details. This seemed like a good time to give it another shot.

Yurika hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

“...I was born to a normal family and lived as a normal girl.”

She would have been happy to tell him this story to get him to believe her, but now that he already did, she was hesitating for some reason.

I see. I wasn’t being myself...

And in that moment, Yurika finally realized how little weight her words actually carried.

“But it seemed like I had potential for magic, and one day a demon attacked.”

That was over a year ago. Yurika, who was a middle schooler at the time, had stayed after class for remedial lessons. It was in the empty schoolhouse that a large black beast attacked her. It was an absurd creature that looked like a lion had grown bat wings, but it had come to feast on her mana.

“The one who saved me back then was Nana-san. She was in charge of defending the area.”

“Nana... That’s the name of your savior, right?”

“Yes. If Nana-san hadn’t shown up, I think that beast would have eaten me alive.”

“I see.”

“So that’s what happened...”

Harumi, who was running next to Koutarou, mumbled deep in thought. If Koutarou had been running at full speed, Harumi probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up. But he was taking it easy and going slower out of concern for Yurika’s injuries. At that speed, Harumi was doing her best to stay with them.

“Back then, Nana-san’s duty was to teach me how to control my mana. If I learned how to control my leaking mana, then demons wouldn’t come attack me.”

“So she taught you how to use magic too?”

“Yes. It was all basic magic though...”

Yurika smiled nostalgically. Nana had transferred into her middle school to protect her. Then she’d taught Yurika basic magic to get her to learn how to control her mana.

“After I learned how to use magic, I began helping Nana-san. She said that she only saved me because it was her job, but to me, she was my savior. So if saving people was her job, then I wanted to help her as much as I could.

“What did you do to help?”

“Since I only knew basic magic, she never let me help with fighting.”

Nana had strongly objected when Yurika first proposed helping her. She knew that Yurika had real potential for magic and that she would surely be able to use advanced spells, but Nana was worried about Yurika’s personality. She didn’t want someone gentle at heart like Yurika to have to fight.

“I was sort of like an assistant.”

But since Yurika was so stubborn about helping, Nana allowed her to chip in under the condition that she not do anything dangerous.

“I would make food or help in investigations. Nana-san is from Folsaria. She had no papers here, so there was a lot I could help out with.”

Yurika spoke in a bright tone. Koutarou couldn’t see her face, but he imagined that she was smiling.

“Folsaria? What’s that?”

“Folsaria is the name of the magical girls’ homeland. The Magical Kingdom of Folsaria. I hear it’s a kingdom without a king.”

Folsaria existed on a different world. Of course, they had no diplomatic relations with Japan. So strictly speaking, Nana was an illegal immigrant. In that sense, having a helper like Yurika was a blessing.

“So that’s where Nana’s from?”

“Yes. Nana-san was one of the archwizards of Rainbow Heart, part of Folsaria’s army. She was a genius magical girl and the youngest to ever obtain the title of Rainbow.”

“Then why are you fighting, Nijino-san?” Harumi spoke up.

And it was a good question. Nana didn’t want Yurika to fight, but despite that, Yurika was fighting all alone now.

“That’s...”

That was where Yurika hesitated again. As she had been energetically sharing her story until that point, even Koutarou noticed the change.

“That’s because Nana-san lost her magic because of me,” Yurika said in a cold, bitter voice. “I’ll never forget that day eight months ago. Just like Sakuraba-senpai today, I was taken hostage by Darkness Rainbow.”

“Like me? Then...”

“Yes. Nana-san was seriously injured while protecting me. So in order to defeat Maki-chan and the others, she released all of the mana in her body.”

The injuries Nana had received when protecting Yurika were far worse than what Yurika had suffered today. Nana had been fighting against all of Darkness Rainbow at once. Not even a genius magical girl could defend herself from the spells of the seven leaders from Darkness Rainbow at the same time. Gravely injured and backed into a corner, Nana used her last resort. She released all of her mana to attack Darkness Rainbow.

“Once you do that, you can never use magic again. But Nana-san did it to protect me.”

It was something like a gas tank exploding. If the mana container inside a magic user’s body was detonated, they’d be left without a way to store mana. But in order to fulfill her duties and protect Yurika, Nana gave up her life as a magician.

“I see... So that’s why you succeeded her role?”

“Yes. This outfit and the staff I use originally belonged to Nana-san. I have to perform her duties in her place now.”

It wasn’t like Yurika wanted to become a magical girl. She just wanted to become like Nana.

“Nijino-san...”

Harumi respected Yurika’s strong will. Her decision to protect Harumi now seemed like a very meaningful one. Realizing that, Harumi felt even more gratitude for Yurika and what she had done. But it was a little different now. Now she wanted to do anything she could to help her.

“I understand, Nijino-san.”

“...Sakuraba-senpai?”

“I won’t tell you not to fight anymore. Instead, you just have to win. I’ll help too!”

“Sakuraba-senpai! That’s dang— I mean, thank you very much.”

Yurika could feel Harumi’s determination. It was the same as hers that fateful day. Because of that, there was no way Yurika could refuse her offer.

“I see... You really are a magical girl...”

Finally understanding everything, Koutarou looked sad for some reason. Harumi was the first to notice.

“What’s wrong, Satomi-kun?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s a bit selfish, but it’s just that realizing Yurika is a magical girl, I can’t help but feel that it’s a shame.”

“A shame?”

“What do you mean, Satomi-san?”

Normally, Yurika would cry after hearing something like that. But based on Koutarou’s tone of voice, this felt completely different. It was strange.

“Hey, Yurika, there’s all kinds of people around me, right?”

“Yes.”

Sanae, Theia, and Kiriha. Koutarou was surrounded by special people.

“But I always thought you were normal. Normal, just like me. You’d play around with your classmates and have fun. Even if the others went back to their homes, I always thought that you’d spend the next three years living a normal life.”

“Ah...”

That was something that Yurika hadn’t thought of. For several months after meeting Koutarou, she had lived like a normal girl. But today had brought an end to that. The moment Koutarou admitted that she was a magical girl, she’d no longer be living a normal life.

“It’s selfish, right? I guess I just wanted you to stay a normal classmate. Y’know, a normal classmate with an odd hobby.”

As Koutarou said that, Yurika was glad that she was being carried. It was one thing for her to cry, but she knew that she was making a pitiful expression.

“Satomi-san...”

Then what about me? What did I want to be? A normal girl or a magical girl?

Despite asking herself that, she couldn’t come up with an answer right away.

“Yurika, fighting doesn’t suit you.”

Koutarou looked up overhead. The sun was shining in the early winter sky painted with a rainbow.

Nana-san, you felt the same thing, right?

“Yeah, sunshine and rainbows suit you much better.”

Not swinging a staff and casting spells in battle, but basking in the sunshine and looking up at the sky for rainbows. That was much more like her.