It wasn't that Haihara was particularly calculating. She was simply lazy.
Maybe she was in a better mood after getting drunk today?
Yes, Haihara was actually still drunk.
The reason she still looked the same as usual was that she had used magic to change her appearance.
Of course, when they said they were chatting, there wasn't really much for the two of them to talk about.
Mostly, Sakaki Chika asked Haihara how she should study, what to do about the midterms, and things like that.
Surprisingly, Sakaki Chika cared quite a bit about her studies.
As her teacher, Haihara could only give the questions some serious thought before answering.
At times like this, Sakaki Chika would pull a little notebook from somewhere and jot things down.
"Are you getting along all right with your classmates?"
Ever since Sakaki Chika had returned to her class, Haihara felt like the hallway outside the classroom had gotten much noisier every day. Lots of people gathered around Sakaki Chika to talk about all sorts of things.
Of course, students from other classes—and even older students—also came to confess their feelings to Sakaki Chika.
Whenever Sakaki Chika didn't know how to turn them down, Kirishima Ai would step forward and chase them all away.
"Everyone feels... so kind. Sometimes I don't know how to respond, but I'm grateful for how the others look after me..."
Sakaki Chika clasped her hands together, lightly interlacing her fingers. She used to paint her nails in different colors, but she hadn't done that since returning to school.
Over the past few days, Haihara had also seen Sakaki Chika perform as an idol. Apart from her appearance, it was almost impossible to tell she was the same person.
How could someone who could barely manage a complete sentence in everyday life act like that onstage?
The person onstage seemed more like the magical girl Star Flower than Sakaki Chika herself...
Just then, Haihara suddenly remembered that she was using magic to change her appearance, too.
"Are you not good at talking to people?"
As if she'd realized something, Haihara asked casually.
"Mm... Even when I want to talk to someone, I get nervous and don't know what to say."
She'd been like that since childhood, and as a result, she'd never made any friends.
"Then why did you want to become an idol?"
That question wasn't really within a teacher's purview, but they were just making conversation, anyway.
"Because..." Sakaki Chika started to answer, but her face suddenly went pale, as if she'd thought of something unpleasant. She stammered something Haihara couldn't quite make out.
"Back then... something happened... at home."
Sakaki Chika didn't go into detail.
"And... I... really like seeing other people smile."
As she said this, Sakaki Chika's expression brightened a little, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
Haihara, meanwhile, felt a little confused.
Smiles?
"My grandmother told me... smiles are wonderful."
"When other people smile, I'm not as nervous. I can work up a little courage, and I feel happy, too. So I thought, it would be nice if I could do something to make other people smile."
"So that's why I became an idol..."
Smiles were a good thing, a sign of happiness. That was why Sakaki Chika loved seeing other people smile.
Haihara watched her expressionlessly.
It didn't sound like a lie.
As she spoke with Sakaki Chika, Haihara had actually been discreetly examining her body.
Not because she had some peculiar fetish.
Once again, she'd noticed some bruises on Sakaki Chika's body that seemed out of place, as if they'd appeared over the past few days.
Just as she was about to take a closer look, the girl's voice interrupted her thoughts—
"Then what made you become a teacher?"
Sakaki Chika looked up, her expression as curious as a fawn's.
Haihara paused.
No one had ever asked her that before.
As a teacher, perhaps she should have given some inspirational answer, like saying she loved children or wanted to contribute to society.
But she didn't particularly like children, and she wasn't all that keen on contributing to society, either.
Haihara looked out the window at the darkening sky. Her eyes were as empty as she felt, dull and cold.
"...Before I knew it, I'd become a teacher."
That answer left Sakaki Chika a little puzzled.
"How should I put it..." Haihara thought for a moment. "My life has been ordinary. I've always just gone with the flow, half-heartedly letting things happen."
"My college friends were all becoming teachers, so I followed along and became one, too. There wasn't any special reason."
That was all. A very ordinary reason.
That was why she had no passion for the job and no sense of belonging.
She didn't think she had to be a teacher, either.
Although teaching was highly respected in this country, it wasn't that respectable people became teachers. It was that people became respected after they became teachers.
Back in college, she'd known plenty of people with questionable morals who were disliked by others. They'd all become teachers afterward, too.
That showed there wasn't anything special about the profession.
Maybe one day, sitting in her rented apartment, she'd suddenly realized her life had turned out this way. She was an ordinary person with an ordinary job.
Even if her soul longed to be extraordinary, in the end it had been confined to this utterly ordinary body.
Sometimes, Haihara felt like this life didn't belong to her.
But that was only an illusion.
By nightfall, Sakaki Chika was walking alone along the deserted street, her shadow the only thing beside her. Even though it was so late, she didn't want to go home.
Going home was awful, but not going home would lead to something even worse.
Still, she felt a little better than usual today.
Teacher Haihara seemed much kinder than she'd expected.
She'd thought Teacher Haihara was a little scary, but after chatting for a while, she'd realized that Teacher Haihara was a good person, too.
Kind... I like her.
And Teacher Haihara was a good teacher. Everyone might find her classes a little boring, but if you listened carefully, the material was clearly organized, and the important parts were easy to pick out.
It would be nice if she could get to know Teacher Haihara better.
But she'd actually lied to Teacher Haihara today.
She hadn't become an idol because she wanted to bring smiles to other people's faces. That noble reason was just something she told herself to feel better.
She'd had no choice.
Her family was short on money—or rather, they were in debt.
The only option her family had left back then was the agency a relative had introduced her to. If she hadn't gone, Sakaki Chika didn't know whether she might have ended up doing something even worse.
But with her personality, she'd never even had a friend she could talk to growing up. She didn't dare dance or sing in front of anyone, so she'd almost been unable to keep going.
The other members of the idol group disliked her, too, and often picked on her. They'd hide her shoes during practice or tamper with her clothes.
Just when she was about to despair, something extraordinary happened to her. Maybe it was a miracle; maybe it was good luck after so much misfortune.
She became a magical girl.
It was an heirloom her grandmother had left her.
When she was at her lowest, the Pendulum her grandmother had left her began to shine, turning her into a magical girl.
Her magical tool, the Magician, had all sorts of wondrous abilities, including the power to change her appearance.
Once she put on the disguise of "Tachibana Aeruru," she could become like the magical girl Star Flower: confident and courageous.
After that, her career as an idol began to go more smoothly.
Her family paid off their debts, she no longer had creditors hounding them every day, and more people came to like her. After she became a magical girl, it seemed like everything was getting better.
But it was only an illusion...
Haihara's Home Visit
At night, the clouds in the sky were dark and thin, and the moonlight dimmed along with them. The faint light fell over the empty street, where only the streetlamps illuminated the drifting dust.
Before she knew it, Sakaki Chika had reached her home.
She was a popular idol, but her living conditions weren't as good as people might imagine. The place was barely large enough for two people.
The idol business didn't pay much, and most of what she earned went toward paying off debts. Sakaki Chika didn't have much money of her own now, either—just enough to get by each day.
Even after reaching the door, Sakaki Chika hesitated for a long time before gently knocking.
After a while, the door opened.
A middle-aged man who looked to be in terrible shape stood in the doorway. He held a bottle of liquor and looked like a drunken, washed-up middle-aged man, barely able to stand.
"I... I'm home," Sakaki Chika said softly, her head bowed.
As soon as she stepped inside, she smelled the strong stench of alcohol.
Then, for some reason, she thought of how Teacher Haihara had smelled of alcohol today, too. She knew the scent well.
The man said nothing, simply swaying as he let her in.
As soon as she took off her shoes, Sakaki Chika felt something underfoot. She looked down and saw a pile of slips of paper covered in writing, the bits of tape that had once held them up still attached.
Her body stiffened at the sight.
She didn't need to read the writing to know. They were debt notices again.
Her voice trembled as she lowered her head.
"Why are there debt notices again...? B-but didn't we pay them all off last time?"
Fear showed in Sakaki Chika's eyes.
To her, those debt notices were like a nightmare.
Every time, they were paid off and thrown away. But afterward, as if cursed, they'd turn up in her home again before long.
That was why she didn't want to go home...
In response to Sakaki Chika's question, the drunken man seemed not to have heard her at all. He just swayed and muttered something about money.
The drunken man was her father, someone she feared and hated.
He'd stopped working around the time she started middle school. He gambled every day, drank, and stayed out all night. Pachinko was only the beginning; later, things got even worse.
Eventually, her mother had left her behind and run off somewhere because of the family's debts.
When she was in middle school, she'd come home from school to find debt notices outside the door. At night, gangsters might smash the windows.
During that time, she'd always cry in fear and pull the covers over her head as she tried to sleep, telling herself it was all a nightmare and that everything would be fine when she woke up.
But reality had always been like this.
The only person who'd ever been kind to her was her grandmother, but her grandmother had passed away long ago.
Later, with the help of a relative, she'd tried becoming an idol at an agency to deal with the family's enormous debts, and little by little, she'd filled the hole they'd left behind.
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