My Teacher, the Villainous Magical Girl

"My lunch hasn't been touched yet. It's probably gone a little cold. The utensils are disposable, so go ahead and eat."

This was Teacher Haihara's lunch?

"Then what about you, Teacher?"

"I'll go buy some rice balls later. It's not like I have classes this afternoon." Her voice was indifferent.

Kirishima Ai still did not quite understand, but she nodded and carefully opened the lunch box. Inside was a far more elaborate meal than she had imagined.

The golden fried meat had dried and set somewhat, but its shape and color were still enticing. Beside it were neatly arranged rolled omelets, seemingly drizzled with ketchup, as well as a teriyaki chicken leg.

It was so lavish that she almost felt embarrassed eating it.

She was a little surprised. She had thought Teacher Haihara was the sort of person who would just make do when it came to meals.

"I've been teaching myself how to cook lately. Help me taste-test it. If it tastes bad, there's nothing I can do about it."

Teacher Haihara quickly sat back down, propping her cheek up with one hand, looking utterly languid.

Kirishima Ai nodded softly, unwrapped the disposable wooden chopsticks, and began to eat.

She first took a bite of the fried meat. The coating had probably lost its crispness after cooling, but the sweetness and saltiness were just right, and the meat inside had been fried until tender.

As she ate the rice, she suddenly noticed that sesame seeds and mayonnaise had been used to make a simple design on top.

Out of curiosity, she studied it carefully.

"Teacher, is this... a snake?"

The question slipped out almost instinctively. The design on the rice was, how should she put it, rather abstract—both ugly and cute.

It was hard to imagine Teacher Haihara had arranged it.

Teacher Haihara froze, her book stopping halfway through a page turn.

"...That's Little White."

Rarely, Haihara's tone was somewhat complicated, as though she found it a little embarrassing too.

"Huh?"

Kirishima Ai looked utterly bewildered.

"It's my pet snake. What, doesn't it look like one?"

Though her tone was cold, it really made one wonder what Teacher Haihara had been thinking.

Kirishima Ai looked once more at the cute little hammerhead snake.

"Teacher, you keep a snake?"

That was quite surprising.

After all, it did not seem like the kind of pet an ordinary high school teacher would keep.

Still, Teacher Haihara gave off a gloomy, aloof impression, so perhaps keeping snakes did not seem all that unsuitable.

"I suppose I do. They're cute, and not very smart either. More or less like you lot."

"..."

Kirishima Ai did not know whether that counted as a compliment.

Still, this was the first time she had learned that Teacher Haihara liked snakes.

She took another bite of the rolled omelet. It was just as delicious, with a sweetness that suited her tastes perfectly.

Did that mean Teacher Haihara liked sweet things too?

Kirishima Ai realized that Teacher Haihara seemed a little cuter than she had imagined.

But that sort of cuteness would probably only show while she was unconscious.

With that thought, Kirishima Ai finished her lunch.

Yes, We're Going to Get Married

Today was the day Kirishima Ai was going to Doctor's place for a physical examination.

As Magical Girls who fought in the human world, they could not handle every situation on their own. Thus, up until now, they had fought Monsters with the help of a mysterious Doctor.

Every report they received about Monster sightings came from this Doctor, and the processing of captured Monsters into crystals also relied on her.

Recently, Kirishima Ai had developed a problem: whenever she became a Magical Girl, she would suffer from exhaustion and depleted magic power. This had never happened before.

When she entered Doctor's laboratory again, it was as cluttered as ever, filled everywhere with experimental equipment whose names she did not know.

Soon, she met Doctor.

"You're early today. Sorry, I forgot to tidy up again. Lie down first."

Doctor was a woman in a white lab coat and glasses, just like someone from a tokusatsu show.

Her long, dark-gray hair was messy and unkempt, hanging loosely behind her shoulders. A few strands fell from her forehead beside the corners of her mouth, giving her a lazy, disheveled air. Only a black hair clip barely held back those long, thick locks.

Her white lab coat was wrinkled too, its pockets stuffed full of things. For a woman, her appearance was practically disastrous.

Yet even in such a disheveled state, she could not conceal her beauty: tall and slender, with a languidly exquisite face and an extremely enviable, magnificent figure.

Probably... G-cup?

"Okay."

Kirishima Ai obediently lay down on the examination bed nearby, and Doctor leaned in close.

She did not know much about this Doctor. She only knew that her surname was Kougami.

Doctor seemed to be wearing perfume, and the scent was somewhat familiar...

Did Teacher Haihara wear this same perfume too?

She had caught the same scent on Teacher Haihara not long ago, while lying in the infirmary bed.

Was this perfume popular among adults?

Kirishima Ai was usually not interested in makeup or dressing up. Or rather, she did not have spare money to spend on making herself look pretty, so she knew very little about such things.

"Mm, your body is very healthy right now. That time you fainted probably didn't have much effect on you."

After being examined with all kinds of instruments, no problems were found with Kirishima Ai's body.

That matched how she felt.

But once she transformed into a Magical Girl, she would suddenly become extremely tired and weak. That was strange.

Her physical condition was clearly better when she was a Magical Girl.

"Takanashi said my situation was strange too."

Takanashi Shiori knew more than she did about Magical Girls, but she did not know what was going on either.

"She wasn't an ordinary person to begin with, was she? She's probably different from a Magical Girl who became one from an ordinary person, like you."

Aside from her talent for research, Doctor had never displayed any unusual abilities, but she seemed very knowledgeable about Magical Girls.

"For now, transform into a Magical Girl and let me take a look."

She pinched her chin and examined Kirishima Ai.

After hearing Doctor's words, Kirishima Ai took out her magical device and Magic Crystal, then began transforming in the laboratory.

After a flash of light, Kirishima Ai took on the form of Magical Girl Silver Feather.

Every time she transformed, Kirishima Ai felt something wonderful. Her strength increased, her body became lighter, her appearance changed completely, and courage flooded through her entire body.

It felt as though her heart had been purified, leaving her deeply comfortable.

But this time, she still felt weak. The magic power in her body had recovered slightly since last time, but the exhaustion remained.

The examination began again.

Once this examination was finished, Doctor looked thoughtful.

"As expected, your condition as a Magical Girl is extremely poor."

That phrasing struck Silver Feather as a little odd.

Why was her condition as a Magical Girl separate from her condition as an ordinary person?

"It seems this only started after my battle with the Thorn Monster."

Silver Feather thought back.

That time, she had used both auxiliary slots to load crystals, and one of them had even been a colored crystal. She had never fought a battle that intense before.

"Mm... Perhaps you need to let your Magical Girl rest for a while."

Doctor squeezed Silver Feather's shoulder. When it was squeezed, Silver Feather felt a little soreness there.

"Fighting too frequently will tire out your Magical Girl side. And that battle before, which exceeded your usual limits, left her completely unable to hold on."

"This has happened to Magical Girls before. Magical Girls may be stronger than ordinary people, but they aren't machines that can never collapse."

Doctor's voice was languid and gentle.

Silver Feather lowered her head and touched her cheek.

There was still a scar there, from when Kite Monster had cut her while she was an ordinary person.

After she undid her transformation, that wound vanished, but it remained on Magical Girl Silver Feather.

In other words, Magical Girl Silver Feather had been bearing it for her all this time...

"So that's how it is..."

Transforming into a Magical Girl absorbed some of the injuries suffered by her ordinary self, like when Kite Monster had slashed her face before.

After understanding this, she undid her transformation and returned to being Kirishima Ai.

"But recovering magic power... is troublesome."

Magical Girl injuries healed quickly, but restoring magic power took a long time.

Like Takanashi Shiori, after coming here from R'lyeh, she was often out of magic power and unable to transform to fight alongside her.

Most of the time, Kirishima Ai fought alone.

Monsters drew their power from people's emotions, and Magical Girls did the same.

Magical Girls could gain magic power from positive emotions, and could also draw strength from nature's aura.

Likewise, they could absorb purified crystals.

But not every battle ended with the Monster Crystal being successfully recovered. Many times, the crystals were taken away by Black Death Cult officers.

The Thorn Monster's crystal from last time had shattered outright.

"Oh, right, Doctor. Could I ask you to take a look at the new type of crystal I got from the Thorn Monster last time?"

Kirishima Ai took the dark-green crystal from her pocket.

This time, her exhaustion had left her unable to fight. This crystal was probably responsible.

Doctor curiously picked up the crystal and inspected it. For once, curiosity showed in her languid eyes.

"As expected, it's a variety I've never seen before..."

She spoke with great interest.

"I've already heard about this crystal. I'll look into it for you. If possible, I'll modify it until it can be used."

Doctor had little interest in most things. Only matters related to Magical Girls and Monsters brought out even a trace of fanaticism and curiosity in her.

She truly was a research Monster.

But while Doctor was fiddling with the crystal just now, Kirishima Ai noticed something.

There seemed to be a ring on Doctor's left ring finger.

Only married women wore rings there, right?

But on closer inspection, Kirishima Ai felt that the ring seemed a little small. Doctor's fingers were so slender, yet it was squeezing them tightly. Its material did not look like any expensive metal either, and its design was somewhat cheap.

It practically looked like a toy...

Doctor looked slovenly, but she should be quite wealthy. Why would she wear a ring like that?