Kirishima Ai said awkwardly.
Haihara looked at the girl and smiled.
Maybe it was because she'd had a little too much to drink, but the girl seemed pretty cute to her now.
"Did your teacher scold you again today?"
Haihara leaned closer to Kirishima Ai, pinched her cheek, and smiled.
Kirishima Ai only mumbled an indistinct "Mm."
She didn't say anything else. Haihara found a spot and sat down, and Kirishima Ai sat beside her.
After they'd been sitting together for a while, Kirishima Ai spoke first.
"Um, may I ask what I should call you?"
Haihara held her chin and thought for a moment.
"You can call me Lily."
It was a rather cute name, though it didn't really suit her. But in her current appearance, she didn't mind being called that.
Hearing the gray-haired woman's name, Kirishima Ai blinked, then lowered her head.
"Ms. Lily, what kind of person is Teacher Haihara?"
"Do you mean your homeroom teacher?"
Kirishima Ai nodded.
"Mm..."
Haihara hadn't expected Kirishima Ai to ask her that. After all, she was a gloomy, boring, ordinary woman teacher, and probably no one cared about her.
Was it because Haihara had been a little harsh with her today, and she wanted to hear some bad things about her?
She thought it over.
"I don't know her that well, either. I've heard she's a little boring and not very likable. Her character and professional ethics are nothing special. You'll meet plenty of people like that out in the world."
Haihara didn't mind saying bad things about herself.
It was all true, anyway.
"...She's not that bad."
Kirishima Ai lifted her head.
Why had this girl suddenly changed her opinion of her?
"Maybe."
Haihara replied casually.
Her tipsiness seemed to be fading a little. She picked up the bottle again and took several gulps.
After wiping the liquor from the corner of her mouth, Haihara thought for a moment.
"Why do you want to be a magical girl?"
This question was a little like the one she'd asked earlier, but not quite the same.
This time, she was simply curious about why Kirishima Ai wanted to become a magical girl.
It wasn't really something she needed to ask.
Haihara herself had wanted to be a magical girl when she was little. She was just an ordinary person, not some chosen girl.
Actually, Haihara was a little confused about it now, too.
Why were magical girls magical girls?
Were they just luckier than everyone else, or did they have something she didn't?
Kirishima Ai thought for a while.
"I have a younger sister. She should be about middle-school age now."
Haihara knew that.
Kirishima Ai's parents had divorced, and her father was now her guardian. But she lived alone at present, while her younger sister lived with their mother.
"But she can't actually go to middle school."
Haihara looked at her but didn't say anything.
"When she was little, she had an accident and lost the use of both her legs. She was bedridden for a long time."
The black-haired girl spoke slowly.
"During that time, I watched magical-girl shows with her. I wanted to watch them, too, of course... Back then, she told me she wished a magical girl had come to save her."
"So I thought, how wonderful it would be if I were a magical girl..."
If she'd been a magical girl, she could have saved her sister back then. Her sister could have lived a normal life and gone to school. Maybe her parents wouldn't have fought and divorced, either.
But no miracle had come back then.
When she finally became a magical girl, it all felt like a dream.
Maybe she really could become her sister's hero.
And if she had the kind of miraculous powers magical girls had in the shows, maybe she could heal her sister's legs, too.
She couldn't do it yet, but someday...
"I became a magical girl after all that. I have to keep fighting."
She wanted to become her sister's hero.
After listening, Haihara simply propped her chin on one hand and said nothing.
So that was why Kirishima Ai had become a magical girl?
Haihara thought about it carefully. She didn't seem to have any particular reason to want to be a hero.
She'd simply wanted to become someone special.
Her life had been dull and ordinary, so sometimes Haihara had wished she could be a little more special. That was why she'd wanted to become a magical girl.
But maybe that wasn't enough to become one.
Before they knew it, they'd been talking for quite a while. Kirishima Ai checked the time and looked a little disappointed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to go on for so long."
"It's okay."
Haihara smiled.
Kirishima Ai suddenly looked at Haihara, worried that she might vanish without warning like last time.
"Can I come see you again next time, Ms. Lily?"
"Hmm?" Haihara held her chin and thought for a moment.
Normally, she showed up on this day every week.
So there shouldn't be a problem.
When the gray-haired woman nodded, Kirishima Ai looked a little happy. Then she hesitated, as if unsure whether she should say something.
After a while, she lowered her head, her face turning slightly red.
"Then, about last time... could I have that comfort again?"
Haihara froze.
Comfort?
After thinking hard for a while, she remembered.
She looked at Kirishima Ai in surprise, then couldn't help smiling.
The girl was pretty cute.
Too bad she wasn't Haihara's type.
She preferred mature older women, like Ms. Suzuki.
Before long, Kirishima Ai felt the woman in front of her gently put her arms around her again. The touch was a little cool, yet somehow warm.
There was usually no one in the school infirmary. Apparently, no one had ever seen the school nurse, though there was supposedly a teacher in charge. Some students who went into the infirmary after school claimed they'd seen the shadow of a tall, slender woman.
Others said they'd actually seen the school nurse: a mysterious beauty with gray hair. But that description soon became just another strange school rumor.
Still, students who went into the infirmary after school would occasionally run into someone.
It was already after school. The sun had sunk below the horizon outside, and most of the students had left the school building. But Sakaki Chika hadn't gone home. She was alone in the infirmary.
There was nothing wrong with her. She simply didn't want to go home too early.
Sakaki Chika opened her phone. It was full of unread messages: some from her manager, some private messages from fans in her fan group, and all kinds of commercial ads from who knew where.
After sitting there for a while, she started to feel bored. She wondered if she should take a nap, but soon she heard footsteps.
Looking toward the infirmary door, Sakaki Chika saw someone walk in.
The person was wearing a teacher's outfit. She seemed to be a teacher...
Sakaki Chika felt a little nervous and prepared to explain herself first.
"Sorry, I..."
But when she saw the woman who'd entered, her whole body stiffened. She stared nervously at the woman.
The woman was tall and thin, with glasses and a cold, gloomy air. There was no doubt about it: she was her homeroom teacher, Teacher Haihara.
Why was Teacher Haihara still here so late...
Sakaki Chika felt awkward and nervous.
"Teacher Haihara... I... I didn't mean to..."
She stammered, trying to explain, but she was too scared to get anything out.
Haihara remained expressionless and pushed up her glasses.
"It's late. Aren't you going home?"
For a moment, Sakaki Chika didn't know how to answer.
She really didn't want to go home.
Even after dark, she'd wait another hour before going home. Sometimes she wanted to wait even longer. If her family didn't keep calling her nonstop, she might stay out for two or three hours.
"...Mm."
Sakaki Chika nodded.
"You don't want to go home?"
Haihara asked coolly.
This time, Sakaki Chika didn't know how to answer. She didn't know what she'd do if the teacher asked why she didn't want to go home.
"Don't be so nervous. I'm not going to force you to go home."
"Eh?"
Sakaki Chika looked at Haihara in surprise.
"But your personality does worry me a little. If you don't want to go home, would you like to talk for a while?"
Teacher Haihara looked at Sakaki Chika.
Sakaki Chika opened her mouth, then nodded in a daze.
Chapter 20: Sakaki Chika
Normally, Haihara had no interest in worrying about her students or discussing sensitive topics like their mental health and adolescence. She wasn't a particularly enthusiastic teacher, and she didn't care that much about her students.
Some teachers might have shown a special student like Sakaki Chika more concern and care, but Haihara wasn't that considerate.
Before you continue