Chapter 171
But all she heard was Teacher Haihara coldly say:
"I can't even solve my own problems, how could I possibly help you solve yours?"
As she spoke, she put the cigarette back in her mouth, looking languid, and lowered her head against the railing.
Teacher Haihara seems to be very good at saying things that are out of place but also very reasonable.
Upon hearing her words, Kuroki Yuka also lowered her head and looked down at the ground beneath her feet, which seemed both tiny and incredibly distant.
Just as she was gazing in that direction, she heard Haihara's voice again.
"But."
A woman's languid, low voice.
Then, Kuroki Yuka felt the woman's touch, probably the other woman's arm, which wrapped around her neck and then around her shoulders.
Her other hand, holding the cigarette, rested gently on her other shoulder, the drifting smoke dissipating into the distance like a lost soul.
Kuroki Yuka was stunned for a moment. When she came to her senses, she saw the woman hugging her from behind. Behind her was the woman's warm and soft chest.
"As a teacher whose reputation is beyond repair, I can do something for you."
The woman spoke calmly, and then gave Kuroki Yuka a warm hug.
A hug from an adult, tinged with the smell of smoke.
Chapter 101 Two People from R'lyeh
In the same nightmare, different scenes are unfolding. If Kuroki Yuka's experience is a fabricated Phantasmal Dream woven by Crystal for her, then Kirishima Ai and the others are facing everything that actually happened in the past.
This is all something that happened two years ago.
And now, Kirishima Ai and Takanashi witnessed this scene.
Two years ago, after finishing a battle, Kurosaki Asuka sat exhausted on the outdoor staircase. Just as she was looking dejected, someone they knew— Kurosaki Asuka -Teacher Haihara —came to her side.
Upon seeing Teacher Haihara, Kurosaki Asuka tugged at her Teacher Haihara leg and said:
"Teacher Haihara, could you take me to the infirmary?"
In the corridor behind the open-air staircase entrance, three Magic girls are witnessing everything that is happening.
These are all things that have already happened.
When a student is feeling unwell, it is perfectly normal for a teacher to take them to the infirmary.
But both Kirishima Ai and Takanashi Shiori felt an indescribable pang of sorrow upon seeing this scene.
That bitter and uneasy feeling, that tightness in my heart.
Moreover, for some reason, I had a bad feeling, as if something terrible was about to happen.
Next, Teacher Haihara nodded and led the girl to the infirmary, which was usually deserted.
To see what happened next, Kirishima Ai and Takanashi Shiori followed along.
They are like bystanders in this world.
Even if someone passes by, overhears whispers, or watches someone warily, no one will notice them.
So they just stood there at the door of the infirmary.
Two years ago, neither Teacher Haihara nor Kurosaki Asuka noticed them standing at the door, simply regarding the infirmary as a quiet and secluded space.
What happened after that became irrelevant to them.
In the infirmary, Kurosaki Asuka lay on the bed, leaning back slightly, looking a little tired, but still raising her head as if she had seen something that concerned her, and stared at Teacher Haihara sitting by the bed.
Haihara didn't notice the girl's gaze filled with special emotion. She simply reached out and stroked the girl's forehead, feeling her body temperature.
"It doesn't seem to be a fever after all..."
The woman was talking to herself.
Kurosaki Asuka's body temperature is normal.
When Kurosaki Asuka felt her teacher's hand on her forehead, she smiled shyly and then reached out her small, delicate hand to gently grasp Teacher Haihara's hand.
The girl grasped the indifferent woman's hand.
When Teacher Haihara felt her hand being held, she was startled for a moment, thinking that Kurosaki Asuka didn't like being touched like that.
But when she saw the girl's affectionate gaze, she felt confused.
"Teacher Haihara, your hands are so beautiful. Your fingers are so long and slender, and the color is lovely too."
Kurosaki Asuka lay on the bed, looking up at the woman's hand, at the fair hand belonging to an older woman, and on the ring finger, there was a ring.
However, after a while, Haihara withdrew her hand.
This made Kurosaki Asuka show a slightly displeased expression, and she even puffed out her cheeks, making an endearing face.
To Haihara, the girl in front of him was always like this.
Lacking a normal sense of distance, she excessively enjoys physical intimacy with people, always expressing her affection without reservation, yet retaining a girlish innocence and naivety.
In her unpopular class, besides her adopted daughter and Qingchuan Lan, she was the only one who kept actively raising her hand.
After class, I would always hold her arm and ask her some Chinese literature questions that were completely unnecessary.
Lacking common sense and with an eccentric personality, she seems like a girl from another world.
Even after she was put in the infirmary, she kept talking about all sorts of strange yet interesting topics, as if she didn't want Haihara to leave.
--And all of this was observed by the two Magic girls.
They stood there, stunned, watching the scene with puzzled expressions.
Something's not right.
Everything happening before their eyes exuded a sense of incongruity, a fact they could clearly understand but refused to believe.
The girl on the bed in the infirmary was looking at Teacher Haihara with that kind of gaze.
Every move she made was an attempt to touch Teacher Haihara.
Kirishima Ai remained silent.
But Takanashi Shiori, her eyes slightly obscured by her bangs, making it impossible to see her expression, simply asked in a low voice to Kurosaki- senpai who had just walked over:
"Senior, what happened?"
A not-so-loud sound.
Just like her usual tone of voice, it was very cold and she seemed rather weak.
But it conveyed a sense of suppressed emotion.
Kurosaki Asuka, who had personally witnessed this scene, walked slowly from behind them with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the girls' emotions, gazing at the past with a touch of nostalgia and melancholy.
Then, Kurosaki Asuka readily admitted it.
"That's right, back then, I fell in love with Teacher Haihara."
The sound was very clear.
Takanashi Shiori froze for a moment, as if she were standing there motionless.
Kirishima Ai, however, lowered her head and did not make any noticeable reaction.
Ignoring the reactions of her two juniors, Kurosaki Asuka continued speaking to herself:
"Perhaps it's because at that time, I came to this unfamiliar world alone, all by myself, and unconsciously began to seek the care of people who were more mature than me."
"So, I started to actively approach Teacher Haihara, hanging around her every day, talking to her from close range, and trying to hug her from time to time."
"I hope that after I do this, Teacher Haihara will start to care about me too."
It seems like an uncomfortable idea, yet it's also quite reasonable.
These words pierced Takanashi Shiori's heart even more.
Because Kurosaki Asuka's thoughts, although terrible for her, were actually very similar to her own.
She also sought warmth from Teacher Haihara when she felt lonely in this world.
Even if you know it's wrong, you can't avoid it.
Even Magic girls can be selfish and greedy when faced with such feelings.
After a shiver, the Takanashi lowered its head.
"At that time... what happened between you and your teacher?"
Takanashi was actually a little afraid of this question.
She didn't want to know the truth at all, because she was afraid it wouldn't be the outcome she wanted.
Kurosaki Asuka didn't answer, but just smiled and looked towards the infirmary, watching what was happening there.
Following her gaze, the two Magic girls looked in that direction again.
In the infirmary, Kurosaki Asuka, a first-year high school student, sat up in bed at some point and stared at Teacher Haihara.
Haihara appeared somewhat confused and subconsciously resistant.
Then, the girl stretched out her arms, smiled shyly, and looked at Haihara with eyes full of affection and expectation.
"Teacher Haihara, can I hug you?"
She said those things.
Teacher Haihara was initially stunned, then her gaze turned cold, and she shook her head.
Upon seeing Haihara shake her head, Kurosaki Asuka's smile froze for a moment, and her expression of girlish infatuation even became somewhat distorted. However, this momentary distortion quickly disappeared as if it were an illusion.
Then, as if she hadn't seen the teacher's refusal, the girl hugged her.
Because it was so sudden, Haihara seemed to be caught off guard.
Kurosaki Asuka leaned affectionately against Haihara's neck and whispered:
"Teacher, you're so kind..."
After that, she raised her head, as if she wanted to go further and do something more intimate with Teacher Haihara.
It's obvious what Kurosaki Asuka wants to do.
Just as the girls watching held their breath, not wanting to see this scene, Teacher Haihara gently pushed away Kurosaki Asuka, who was trying to kiss her, which made them all breathe a sigh of relief.
After that, the scene in the nightmare seemed to end just like that.
All that remained was the infirmary, utterly silent, and the three Magic girls, whose atmosphere had somehow become unusually cold.
--Shiori Takanashi Shiori was the first to react.
She did almost the exact same thing as Sakaki Chika had just done, grabbing Kurosaki Asuka the collar and glaring at her with eyes full of anger.
"---Do you even know what you just did!?"
The roar of Takanashi echoed throughout almost the entire corridor.
Compared to Sakaki Chika's cold tone, Takanashi made no attempt to hide her emotions, but they all erupted at this moment.
This was the first time she had spoken in such an angry and terrified tone.
If Takanashi had remained calm when Kurosaki Asuka first spoke ill of Teacher Haihara, she was now even more agitated than Sakaki Chika had been not long ago.
Kurosaki Asuka, whose collar was being grabbed, tried to back away, but had already hit the wall, so she could only say helplessly:
"Junior, what do you want to ask...?"
She seemed to find Takanashi's anger strange.
"I liked Teacher Haihara back then, is it strange that I wanted to do that? Of course you would want to be intimate with someone you like."
Kurosaki Asuka spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, her face still bearing that emotionless smile, showing neither remorse nor any awareness of having done anything wrong.
When Takanashi heard her words, his pupils trembled for a moment, then he clenched his teeth, making a clear clicking sound, and then whispered:
"Are you kidding me...?"
It's because they're both Magic girls.
Also from R'lyeh.