Chapter 165

During that period, Sakaki Chika's heart would often suddenly beat very fast, and there were several times when she could hardly breathe.

This hopeless life did not change even after she started working as an idol and earned enough money to support herself.

All the money I earned was poured into a bottomless pit.

During the day, she has to maintain a smiling and cute appearance on stage to bring happiness to the audience, but at night she returns to her home full of IOUs and is sometimes beaten.

When she dragged herself back to her room late at night, covered in bruises, she would always think of her grandmother's words.

A smile appeared on his face...

One day, she will find her own happiness and smile from the bottom of her heart.

Because smiles are the power of Magic girls.

Sakaki Chika always believed in her grandmother's words, kept working hard, kept smiling, and persevered day after day.

But those days of despair seemed to have no end.

Even after transforming into the Magic girl Star Flower, she could no longer force a smile. In that despair, Sakaki Chika's heart gradually darkened, and everything in the world was slowly filled with black emotions. For her, reality was like a nightmare from which she could never wake up.

Just then, that person appeared.

"Teacher Haihara..."

The nightmare seems to have ended here.

Her teacher, like the morning light shining into this gloomy world, suddenly broke into this nightmare, knocked down the nightmare that had imprisoned her, and then took her hand and led her out of this cage.

At that moment, Sakaki Chika seemed to finally understand her grandmother's words.

To Teacher Haihara, she was like a hero... like Magic girl.

The teacher performed a miraculous Magic on her, bringing a smile to her face amidst despair.

Looking back on this nightmare, Sakaki Chika unconsciously smiled, her unease subsiding slightly.

However, soon, images that terrified her began to appear.

Even though Teacher Haihara was like a gentle Magic to her, she was just an awkward, lonely, and ordinary student to Teacher Haihara.

So far, Teacher Haihara has done so much for her.

But after that, no matter how she sent her holiday gifts, invited her teacher on dates, or even tried to make physical contact with her teacher, she didn't feel that she had established a deeper connection with her teacher.

That fact left her incredibly frustrated.

What is a teacher's self?

If you can't take your relationship with your teacher further, one day your teacher will also have a happier life of their own, and that life will drift further and further away from yours...

In her nightmare, Sakaki Chika saw Teacher Haihara holding someone's arm, leaving her with a happy and beautiful silhouette, a side she had never shown when she was with her.

A bittersweet feeling, a deep sadness, had filled my heart without me even realizing it.

Even though she was no longer in physical pain, and she no longer had to face the home that had only brought her nightmares, why did she still feel so sad?

Sakaki Chika hates her own greed.

"Don't want..."

Wait for me a little longer... Please don't drift so far away from me...

That's something that will probably happen someday.

Now, a shadow inevitably falls over Sakaki Chika's heart.

When she woke up again and saw the gray world before her, the oppressive and gloomy mood still enveloped Sakaki Chika, filling her with unease and making it difficult for her to calm down.

Sakaki Chika quickly realized that she had deactivated her transformation.

Of all the Magic girls, she is the most sensitive to the state before and after her transformation.

Because after she lost her transformation, she was just a timid, insecure, and gloomy woman.

After a moment of confusion, she realized that what had just happened was a nightmare.

She wasn't the only one who woke up.

Beside her were Kirishima Ai and Takanashi Shiori, who had been awake for a while.

They looked at Sakaki Chika with worried expressions.

"Star Flower, you look terrible, and you haven't woken up for so long. Are you having a nightmare?"

Sakaki Chika blinked sleepily.

The one who calls her "Star Flower" is Shiori.

She looked around.

Everywhere was a gray and white expanse, devoid of any other color, which made people feel very depressed.

Moreover, although it was a classroom at Kaedehara High School, it wasn't the classroom where they usually had their Year Four, Class Four sessions.

What kind of illusion magic did they fall for during the battle?

Just as she was feeling confused, she heard a very soft and melodious girl's voice:

"Perhaps it's because Little Star Flower has some deep-seated fear that she's been suppressing, and because of the influence of this world, she's been trapped in a nightmare."

It was a completely unfamiliar voice that Sakaki Chika had never heard before.

Because she suddenly appeared in their conversation, Sakaki Chika looked up with curiosity and saw a girl wearing the same Kaedehara High School uniform as them.

She was a girl with black hair and black eyes, wearing a butterfly-shaped hair clip.

She had a beautiful and well-proportioned figure, possessing the perfect beauty of a young girl. Although the world was gray and white, her hair and clothes still seemed to be bathed in the morning light, exuding a pure charm that made Sakaki Chika unconsciously sigh.

Just like the girls who often appear in shoujo manga.

But then, Sakaki Chika sensed something was off, because the other person addressed her as... Star Flower?

Seeing Sakaki Chika's confused look, the black-haired girl in front of her smiled gently:

"By the way, Star Flower just woke up recently, so I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Kurosaki Asuka, and I'm a student at Kaedehara High School, just like you."

"However, if I continue my studies, I'll probably be in the third year, so you can call me 'senior' if you like."

To Sakaki Chika, the voice of the girl named Kurosaki Asuka was also very pleasant.

Even among her many idol colleagues, none of them have such a sweet and pure voice.

But Sakaki Chika soon felt that the name seemed somewhat familiar.

For some time now, they've been investigating the identity of the Magic girl Color Feather, whose real name is that.

"Are you... Magic Girl Color Feather?"

Sakaki Chika raised her head and looked at Kurosaki Asuka in front of her, as well as Kirishima Ai and Takanashi Shiori beside her. It seemed that they had already communicated and accepted this fact before she woke up.

Kurosaki Asuka smiled and nodded.

"That's right, I'm the cutest, invincible beauty in Maple Plain City, who fought alongside Little Phantom Wind against the Black Death Cult, a perfect angel descended from R'lyeh ~"

She made a scissor gesture with one hand, placing it near her beautiful eyes, just like a star confidently flashing a lovely smile in front of the camera.

Unexpectedly, these were rather frivolous words coming from the mouth of this pure and lovely senior.

The girl quickly winked playfully again:

"Just kidding."

Upon their first formal meeting, Sakaki Chika had no idea that her Magic girl senior would be like this.

It's somewhat like my personality after I transformed into Star Flower.

In this respect, Sakaki Chika admires this senior a bit, because she gives off a cute and very confident vibe, which is completely different from herself.

In other words, the missing Magic girl they had been searching for for so long had just appeared before them?

Where is this place?

At this moment, Takanashi Shiori crossed her arms and calmly explained:

"It seems that we've all been drawn into this strange world because of the power of the unidentified Magic Crystal used by Chameleon and Dark Feather..."

"According to Kurosaki- senpai, this is a world of nightmares?"

As she spoke, Takanashi looked at Kurosaki Asuka.

Kurosaki Asuka nodded, then looked at the students in the same classroom who were dressed in gray and white. These students were unfamiliar faces to Sakaki Chika and the others; they must have been in the same class as the Student Council and the others two years ago.

But the students were chatting and laughing amongst themselves, and no one noticed that there were three unfamiliar classmates in the class, who were still discussing Magic girls.

What's even stranger is that among these students are the Student Council, who was also a Magic girl, and Kurosaki Asuka, who looks a bit younger.

"As you've noticed, our presence in this world is very low. Others barely notice us and treat us like classmates they don't know well but seem to recognize."

"Because this is a nightmare world created by the power of the Magic Crystal."

"What appears here are fragments of past memories, so there will be memories of me and Xiao Phantom Wind. We can hardly influence the facts that have already happened in those memories."

Upon hearing Kurosaki Asuka's words, Sakaki Chika showed an expression that seemed to understand but not quite.

Nightmares from the past?

Who does this belong to?

Judging from these fragments, they are definitely not related to the three of them, because they have no recollection of these events. Therefore, it must be related to someone who was in this class a few years ago.

But it might not be Kurosaki- senpai's either, because Kurosaki- senpai, like them, wasn't noticed by these people and wasn't affected by the nightmares.

While Kirishima Ai and Sakaki Chika were both deep in thought, Takanashi Shiori looked up at her Magic girl senior:

"Before we figure out how to leave this strange place, could you explain to us what happened during the two years you were missing?"

"Why not go back to R'lyeh, and why is your Magic Wand in Dark Feather's hands again?"

Takanashi's words caught the attention of the other two.

Yes, what bothered them even more than the strangeness of this gray and white world was why Magic girl Phantom Wind and Magic girl Color Feather had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared two years ago.

It wasn't until the Chameleon Monster reappeared that the Student Council transformed once more, revealing Phantom Wind's true identity to them.

All of this seems to be connected.

However, due to the mysterious disappearance of the Magic girl Color Feather, who was supposed to return to R'lyeh to report everything, they knew almost nothing about what happened two years ago.

Faced with Takanashi Shiori's questioning, Kurosaki Asuka did not tense up, but instead showed an expression of having known this all along, and she still maintained her smile.

"As you all know, in the final battle two years ago, Phantom Wind and I fought against the Chameleon that had evolved into the Black Death Cult, and ultimately achieved victory."

Next, Kurosaki Asuka recounted what happened two years ago at the very end.

Kurosaki Asuka's tone was calm and gentle, but what happened at that time was probably quite turbulent.

"Because of our Phantom Wind at the time, many misunderstandings occurred between us, and... we hurt some people who shouldn't have been involved in the Monster incident. As a result, little Phantom Wind even refused to talk to me anymore."

"So, after defeating the Chameleon Monster and the Black Death Cult's executives at the time, we chose to retire."

"Then, an unexpected change occurred."

At this point, Kurosaki Asuka's originally cheerful tone turned slightly melancholic.

"The Chameleon Monster has not been completely defeated."

"Its weakened form attacked me before I could transform, and stole my Magic Armament and Transformation Magic Crystal."

"But perhaps it was afraid that killing me would attract R'lyeh's attention, so I fell into a deep sleep and have been imprisoned by the Chameleon ever since."

This passage describes a very tragic experience.

For a Magic girl who once protected the city, this ending and what happened afterward were far too heavy.

But instead of immediately showing sympathy, Takanashi continued to press for answers:

"Why didn't the other Magic girls notice?"

At the time, Kurosaki Asuka's disappearance must have aroused suspicion not only in R'lyeh, but also in Kurosaki companions.

Kurosaki Asuka shook her head at this:

Do you know where the name "Chameleon" comes from?

Although the Chameleon Monster is often perceived as having a body covered in colorful scales, flamboyant like a Peacock with colorful feathers, the Chameleon itself has more obvious characteristics.