Teacher, I'm Actually a Villainous Magical Girl

Haihara took the croquette from Kirishima Ai's hand and casually bit into it. It was still pretty hot.

After that, the two of them did not speak again, simply eating their own croquettes.

Haihara glanced at the message Sha Qina had sent her again. As she ate her croquette, she typed one-handed:

Magical Girl Lily-chan☆[No rush. Let her develop a little longer.]

For now, she would let the little girl beside her rest for a while.

Haihara was not particularly invested in this job anyway. Her mood was pretty good right now, at least.

Still, there seemed to be quite a lot of cheese in the croquette. It was a little too sweet for her.

A New Problem Child

That afternoon, Haihara met the student she had not seen in a long time—the Problem Child who gave her the biggest headache.

This high school idol would be coming to her office shortly. Haihara intended to have a proper talk with the girl first, though it would probably be useless.

Soon, there was a knock at the door. Haihara simply said, "Come in," and the door was pulled open. A girl with a petite, slender figure walked in.

Her figure was quickly forgotten. What drew more attention was the girl's hair.

It only reached her neck, but the rest of it was long and flipped outward, dyed dark red. It did not look out of place on her at all, and several streaks of green hair fell from the top of her head.

Her eyes were dark red as well.

How should she put it? The girl was cute, very cute, but someone nearing thirty like Haihara found it hard to understand.

Did young people these days all like this kind of thing?

She had heard it was called... the landmine style?

But honestly, Haihara thought the girl's hair looked more like a delicious tomato.

Aside from that, the girl in front of her was delicate and pretty. At first glance, she resembled a finely packaged porcelain doll, with slender limbs and neck, and skin as tender and pale as porcelain.

A Pendulum swayed in front of her delicate neck.

This little girl was Tachibana Aeruru, a female high school idol and also a Magical Girl secretly active in this city.

Her real name was, if Haihara remembered correctly...

"Sakaki Chika, right?"

Haihara called her name coldly.

Ever since entering the room, the girl had kept her head lowered without saying a word.

When Sakaki Chika heard her name, she trembled, then raised her head and looked cautiously at Haihara.

"Y-Yes..."

Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's, and she did not dare look at Haihara.

Haihara rested her cheek on one hand and continued watching her while Sakaki Chika remained as she was.

Yes, this little girl was afraid of her.

Or rather, whenever Sakaki Chika was not being an idol, she was always this nervous, fawn-like girl. She stuttered when she spoke and did not dare meet anyone's eyes.

Honestly, it was hard to imagine someone like this becoming an idol.

And apparently, Sakaki Chika's stage persona was an energetic one.

The profession of idol was truly unbelievable.

Crossing one leg over the other, Haihara picked up the list on her desk and looked over Sakaki Chika's information as she casually said, "I haven't seen you in a long time either. You've really changed a lot. Why did you suddenly decide to come back here for school?"

Haihara was very direct.

Although Sakaki Chika looked pitiful now, whenever a Monster incident occurred, she would still rise without hesitation and become a Magical Girl to save the world.

Sakaki Chika was clearly frightened by Haihara's cold tone. Her face paled slightly, and she clasped her uneasy hands in front of herself as she said softly, "Because... I want to... study."

Haihara's gaze stalled. She thought she had misheard.

She raised her head slightly and looked at Sakaki Chika.

Then her gaze shifted back to the list, and she recalled a little about this girl's family situation.

Her mother had disappeared without a trace. Her only remaining relative was her father, and their family circumstances seemed average.

She had become an idol in middle school, barely attended school afterward, and even after entering high school, she spent most of her time performing.

Haihara was not sure whether this "I want to study" was an excuse or sincere.

Sakaki Chika kept her gaze lowered and stammered, "When I was away from school, when there weren't performances or practice... I... studied too, but... I couldn't understand it. Recently, I asked my manager if I could... take a break for a while."

It sounded absurd, but she did not seem to be lying.

Haihara frowned.

Hmm... when this girl had attended school before, she seemed to have listened quite attentively in class and completed all her homework properly, though most of it had been a complete mess.

After thinking for a while, Haihara crooked a finger, signaling for the girl to come over.

The girl shrank back a little, clearly afraid of her, but she still quickly walked over and stopped in front of Haihara.

Haihara looked her up and down, then pointed at her. "Your hair. Can you dye it back? I remember it wasn't this color before."

This hair color was too conspicuous.

She did not understand the whole idol thing, but if the girl switched to a normal hair color, she probably would not attract so much attention.

"O-Okay..."

Once Sakaki Chika came close to Haihara, Haihara examined her more carefully. The girl seemed extremely thin. It was hard to imagine how little she weighed.

Though her school uniform was already a very small size, it still looked somewhat loose and ill-fitting on her.

Then, when Haihara looked at the girl's partially exposed shoulder, she saw some discordant coloring on that pale skin—faint marks that looked like bruises.

That was a little strange.

Drawing on her experience as a teacher, she looked at the girl's wrists next. On the insides, she could see marks that resembled cuts.

It seemed the problem was a little more serious than she had expected.

But Haihara's expression did not change.

"You'll start attending class this afternoon. I'll make those students quiet down. For today, try not to leave the classroom. As for anyone else who comes to see you, I'll send them away."

She gathered up the documents, intending to dismiss Sakaki Chika, but just as she was about to do so, she suddenly remembered something.

Haihara looked up and asked casually, "Before, was there anyone in the class you got along with?"

Haihara did not care much about relationships between students, but given this child's condition, it would be less troublesome if she was not left alone.

After hearing that, Sakaki Chika hesitated for a while before softly giving a name.

"...Kirishima Ai."

When Haihara showed no reaction, Sakaki Chika added uncertainly, "Kirishima Ai... taught me how to study before, so..."

Haihara said expressionlessly, "I understand. Seats will be changed in a few days. You can sit with her then."

Sakaki Chika froze for a moment and blinked those beautiful, pitiful eyes.

"Thank you, Teacher."

She seemed a little happy when she said it.

That concluded Haihara's conversation with the Problem Child.

As for reforming these Problem Children and saving her performance record... there was still a long way to go.

Total Defeat

Teacher Haihara was not particularly popular among the students, but that was not entirely true. After all, she was a young female teacher, not bad-looking, and her freewheeling attitude was quite popular with some students.

For some students, especially the girls, Teacher Haihara's cold, androgynous style was unexpectedly popular. And on closer inspection, Teacher Haihara had nice skin, a good figure, and even rather refined features.

Huh... then why did Teacher Haihara give people the impression that she looked so ordinary?

But compared to Teacher Haihara, there were others who were even more popular.

For example, Teacher Suzuki, who taught music. She was gentle and elegant, young and beautiful, and kind to her students. Some boys had even gathered the courage to confess to her.

This morning was Teacher Suzuki's music class. The music room could not be used temporarily due to some issues, so class was being held in an ordinary classroom today.

"This song should be more or less familiar to everyone after the last lesson, right? The class next door is having PE, so would anyone like to come up and sing?"

Teacher Suzuki stood at the podium. Even ordinary teacher attire looked elegant on her. She wore her hair in a high ponytail, and she was young, beautiful, and had a lovely voice.

She was basically the kind of teacher students liked best.

No one raised a hand.

Teacher Suzuki seemed a little troubled. She looked around the classroom and spotted the petite girl in the front row with chestnut-blonde hair that curled and flipped slightly.

"Sakaki, would you like to give it a try?"

The song was not difficult. It was a very basic vocal exercise, and as an idol, Sakaki Chika should have been able to sing it easily.

Once her name was called, everyone looked toward Sakaki Chika in the first row. After all, they were all still curious about this idol girl.

But when she was called on, Sakaki Chika's shoulders immediately stiffened.

"I..."

She stood up helplessly, froze where she was, and looked around uneasily.

Seeing Sakaki Chika's state, Teacher Suzuki paused, then smiled gently. "Sorry, Sakaki. Please sit down first. I'll sing it for everyone again, and you can sing along with me."

Sakaki Chika sat back down with a red face, while kind laughter rose from around her.

After sitting down, Sakaki Chika covered her face with both hands, lowered her head, and let out a tiny gurgling sound, as though bubbles were rising from her head.

Kirishima Ai, who sat beside her, glanced at her but said nothing.

Sakaki Chika looked at Kirishima Ai. "Ai, what do I do... I couldn't speak just now. Did I make things really awkward for everyone...?"

Kirishima Ai merely looked at her coldly. After watching her for a moment, she sighed softly. "Don't worry. You didn't."

There were many reasons she could not handle the idol in front of her, so her attitude was generally rather cold. If she could avoid talking to her, she would.

Soon, Sakaki Chika covered her face and looked cautiously toward Teacher Suzuki. "Teacher Suzuki... is so gentle. I like her."

The idol suddenly said something like that.

Kirishima Ai went blank for a moment too, but she quickly returned to normal. She was already used to this aspect of Sakaki Chika.

Sakaki Chika was a very strange person.

Normally, she was timid and cautious around strangers, like a rabbit.

But once she transformed into a Magical Girl, she became Star Flower, a Magical Girl full of performative desire who treated others frivolously. She was confident and self-centered. Her stage persona as an idol probably worked on a similar principle.

And this girl caught feelings for people incredibly easily.

As long as someone was even a little kind to her, she would immediately blush and start imagining things like becoming friends with them.