Chapter 148
"What do you want to do...?"
For a moment, Kirishima Ai wondered what Teacher Haihara was referring to.
Is this a job for the future?
Or perhaps it's about what kind of life you want to live, what city you want to go to, what kind of person you want to date... etc.
"You're a good student, aren't you? If you continue to work hard like this, you'll have the opportunity to go to a place like Eastern University in the future. Do you want to go to university after graduating from high school?"
To put it simply, Haihara is very curious about what Kirishima Ai wants to do in the future.
Should I continue being Magic girl and saving the city?
Or will it be like in the anime, where after defeating the main villain who is the source of some disaster, you retire gracefully and live a normal, happy life?
In fact, Haihara knew about Kirishima Ai's wish.
When she was Lily, she had heard Kirishima Ai's wish many times: to become a hero.
Miss Lily could certainly understand Kirishima Ai and could offer her words of support and encouragement.
But Haihara, as an adult, cannot.
A bored adult could never imagine that being Magic girl would continue indefinitely.
"Yes, I want to go to university."
Kirishima Ai nodded.
At this moment, Haihara lowered her head:
"Speaking at this time might be a bit long-winded."
"Maple Plain's school rules are very strict, so you'd better be careful in the future, otherwise even if you have excellent grades, you might still have to repeat a year."
Her tone was unusually unnatural.
Now that we're outside of school and not during school hours, she doesn't need to bring up such heavy topics at this time.
I don't know why, but she said some things that, from her own perspective, were expressions of concern.
Thank you, teacher.
Kirishima Ai looked up unexpectedly, unconsciously staring at Teacher Haihara's face.
After hesitating for a moment, she spoke:
"Teacher, I'm sorry."
Despite the noisy crowd around her, Kirishima Ai's words were crystal clear to Haihara at that moment, making everything else seem quiet.
At this point, there seems to be no other reason to apologize.
Instead of maintaining her usual calm demeanor, Haihara subconsciously raised her hand to touch her lips, as if worried that there might still be some mark there.
But she quickly realized that what she was doing was inappropriate, and lowered her hand as if to cover it up.
Should she sigh at this point?
Haihara remained silent for a long time.
Kirishima Ai was actually in a state of extreme panic.
Because she had no idea how the teacher would respond.
Will she sneer, be speechless with embarrassment, or... feel a little ashamed?
When she thought about these things, and then saw the Teacher Haihara in front of her, Kirishima Ai felt her mind begin to go blank.
What was the teacher thinking?
What does the teacher think of her?
What does the teacher think of her?
She almost blurted those questions out.
But if she actually asked, Ai Kirishima Ai felt that something irreversible would likely happen.
Just as she anxiously awaited a response, Teacher Haihara regained her composure and began to speak:
"If you come with me to watch the fireworks at the end, I'll forget everything that happened before."
Forget everything, okay?
Even skipping class counts.
Her tone was calm, but Kirishima Ai didn't actually understand what Haihara meant.
At first, Kirishima Ai thought that although it was a bit unlike Teacher Haihara's style, it should be a good thing.
Kirishima Ai simply looked at Teacher Haihara.
The night sky is clear tonight, without any gray evening clouds, allowing for a clear view of the early autumn moonlight.
This day is the same every year.
At the end of the celebration, fireworks will rise from the mountain, creating the most beautiful light in the night sky.
Will the teachers also look forward to tonight's fireworks?
But why... didn't she feel happy about what the teacher said?
"The night is so beautiful tonight."
Under the noisy and bustling night sky, a strange and jarring sound suddenly appeared in a corner.
The Chameleon Monster also came to the Maple Plain Festival tonight.
"Ah, those were the days when I first arrived here, hehehe..."
Behind it, the shadowy figures of several Monsters were faintly visible.
It had also visited this place a few years ago, experiencing the city's festival for the first time.
That was truly a memorable experience.
Thinking about it carefully, two years have already passed.
It touched a scar on its body, a scar that had once nearly killed it, but today, it was just an unsightly mark that no longer affected it.
But now, the city it knows is completely different.
The Magic girl Phantom Wind has disappeared, replaced by several young girls.
Come to think of it, it hasn't officially tested the strength of these adorable Magic girl juniors yet.
The Chameleon Monster's mouth slowly stretched into a terrifying and horrifying arc.
Now that we've finally regained some of our former strength and are no longer burdened by past wounds, it's time to begin.
"Tonight, let me put on the most beautiful fireworks show for you, Magic girls."
"But I'm coming in person, hehehehe..."
Chapter 84 The Blazing Fire Rekindles
After the girl disappeared, Takanashi Shiori suppressed her doubts and complicated feelings about what she had just witnessed, and came to the group of students, mainly to Kirishima Ai's side.
The itinerary for tonight's activities has been set; two young female teachers will lead the group on a tour of the entire celebration.
I heard there will be fireworks at the end of the celebration.
However, Teacher Haihara did not appear when the students gathered together again, which made them feel a little strange.
Although it's not a problem even if the teacher isn't there for this kind of activity.
Soon, someone noticed that a young woman wearing a black yukata had somehow slipped into the group of students in their class.
That person's posture was very natural.
He followed quietly at the back of the line, occasionally glancing at the other students with a cold gaze.
The woman's face wasn't exactly model-perfect; her eyes gave off a cold, ruthless feeling, and her features were more defined than those of a typical beauty, yet she was unforgettable at first glance.
A dark-skinned beauty as thin as ice—that's probably the feeling.
"Hey, who's that pretty girl?"
Some students also saw the woman and began whispering among themselves.
"They've been following us since the beginning. Could they be a relative of one of our classmates?"
"If that's the case, it does resemble Takanashi- san a bit. Could she be her older sister?"
"Both sisters are incredibly beautiful..."
Both men and women were very interested in the woman who had followed them.
The young lady had been following them from the very beginning.
I don't know why, but I always feel like the other person looks familiar.
However, most people only glanced at it briefly before looking away, since staring at someone for too long is not very polite.
Kirishima.
In the crowd, Takanashi looked at Kirishima Ai:
"Is something on your mind?"
Ever since returning to the student group, Kirishima Ai has been lost in thought, looking preoccupied.
"Yeah, right."
Kirishima Ai readily admitted it.
After that, Takanashi didn't ask any further questions, since she had no interest in prying into other people's privacy.
Perhaps it was the conversations around her that mentioned herself and Teacher Haihara, who hadn't been recognized, that reminded Takanashi of what she had witnessed not long ago, causing her to feel somewhat irritable.
What do you think of the Student Council?
Takanashi suddenly said something like that.
Kirishima Ai.
"How come I'm interested in this...? I haven't had that much contact with the Student Council, have I?"
In Kirishima Ai's view, Takanashi is almost completely out of touch with ordinary people's lives and interests, and has virtually no social life. It's hard to imagine how she would spend her days or what she would do to pass the time outside of school.
Their connection, aside from fighting Monster, is actually limited to being friends who haven't known each other for very long.
It's hard to imagine that Takanashi would suddenly ask about someone at school.
Although the Student Council is academically excellent, popular, and beautiful, she is still just an ordinary person.
"Don't you think the Student Council is a little strange?"
"Where?"
"She frequently went to Teacher Haihara's office, and each time she would stay for a long time."
"Isn't it because of our problems that the principal keeps coming to Teacher Haihara?"
Kirishima Ai said with great self-awareness.
"But why does it have to be the Student Council comes to see us? Although I don't know much about schools in this world, it's not normal for the Student Council to come to see the teacher every time, is it?"
Thinking about what she had just witnessed, Takanashi recalled how the Student Council used to frequently come to Teacher Haihara's office.
"... is abnormal."
Kirishima Ai also found it strange that the Student Council always came to their school building.
However, even though it's strange, there's no clue as to why.
The Student Council used to be a student in Teacher Haihara's class, so their relationship might be better than they imagine?
Just then, on the other side of the student group, a girl mustered up her courage, approached the woman in the black yukata, and asked somewhat excitedly.
"Um... excuse me, do you use Line? You're really beautiful!"
No one expected that it would be the girl who would be the first to muster the courage to ask for contact information.