Under cover of night, the two of them walked toward Sakaki Chika's home.
After walking for a while, they reached Sakaki Chika's front door. Sakaki Chika stopped and immediately spotted the note stuck to it.
Her body stiffened for a moment, and she didn't know what to do. She could only tear down the IOU as if nothing had happened.
She'd had a key made herself a couple of days ago, so she didn't need to knock anymore.
She turned around and saw Teacher Haihara standing some distance from the door.
"Teacher... I'll talk to my family first. Could you wait outside for a little while?"
Haihara nodded in agreement.
Sakaki Chika unlocked the door, opened it less than halfway, and slipped inside as quietly as she could. But not long after entering, she smelled a very strong stench of alcohol.
Her heart sank.
Who knew how much that man had drunk this time?
In fact, she'd come home late because she hoped he might be a little more sober by then.
Not long after stepping inside, Sakaki Chika saw the man sprawled there, dead drunk.
The man looked especially sullen today. He seemed to have been beaten, too; there were bruises on his face. And on top of that, he'd been drinking heavily...
"...Where's the money for today?"
The man quickly noticed Sakaki Chika and slurred the words.
"..."
Sakaki Chika was silent for a moment, anxiously clasping her hands in front of her skirt, her fingers twisting together.
"The money... I'll give it to you soon. Today... my teacher's coming over. Could you... I mean... please..."
At her words, the man stood up and came closer. Sakaki Chika instinctively backed away, but the door was right behind her.
"So... hic... what about now?"
He reached out and demanded money from her again.
Sakaki Chika opened her shoulder bag and fished out her wallet—a soft white one shaped like a rabbit.
But when she opened it, it was empty. All she could find were a few small bills and some coins.
She was afraid he'd take her living expenses, so she'd left most of her money at school...
Seeing the limp rabbit, the man's expression turned even more frightening.
Sakaki Chika said helplessly, "I... I only have this much left right now, but I can borrow some from a friend tomorrow..."
If she asked her manager or one of her groupmates, she should be able to borrow something...
But that only infuriated the already drunk man. He reached out and slapped the hand holding Sakaki Chika's wallet.
"—Don't look down on me! You've definitely got more money. Hand it over!"
The man roared.
Sakaki Chika's rabbit wallet was knocked to the floor, where it lay pitifully.
She covered her hand and nodded numbly.
"I'm... I'm sorry, but I really don't have any right now. I... I'll borrow some in a bit..."
"Don't try to fool me. Aren't you an idol? You've got so many fans. Go ask them for money!"
The man grabbed Sakaki Chika's arm. He caught one of the wounds she'd already had, and pain twisted her face.
"I really used all my money to pay off what I owed..." Sakaki Chika said, aggrieved.
"Don't people give you gifts? Hand all that stuff over to me. Some of it's got to be worth something!"
Sakaki Chika's expression immediately turned frantic.
"Y-you can't have those... I won't give them to you..."
The man's expression twisted with anger.
He glared viciously at Sakaki Chika, then grabbed her by the hair. Tears sprang to her eyes as he yanked her head from side to side.
"Don't think I don't know how you got famous. You really think you're some popular idol?"
There was nothing she could do to fight back.
She saw the man raise his fist again.
Sakaki Chika quickly realized what he was about to do.
Terrified, she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the man to beat her.
But the pain she expected never came.
Sakaki Chika opened her eyes in confusion...
A slender, elegant hand had caught the fist the man had been about to swing at her.
Beside her stood Teacher Haihara, usually so cool and laid-back.
Haihara had caught the man's hand.
The man seemed confused by the woman's sudden appearance, and the hand that had been gripping Sakaki Chika's hair loosened.
Haihara said coldly—
"You scum. Don't touch my student."
Her voice was icy this time, and for once, she sounded genuinely angry.
After catching the man's hand, she punched him in the face, sending him crashing into the wall.
"Teacher..."
Sakaki Chika stared, stunned. She hadn't imagined things would turn out this way.
Haihara didn't look at Sakaki Chika. She simply looked at the drunken man in front of her with disgust.
The man was dazed from the blow, holding his reddened, swollen face.
"Were you the one who gave her those injuries, too?"
Haihara's tone toward Sakaki Chika was harsh, even colder than before.
Sakaki Chika was a little frightened. She nodded, uncertainly.
"I see."
Haihara said it simply, then walked over to the man lying on the ground.
She grabbed him by the collar with one hand and hauled him up.
Then she drove her other fist into his face. The impact sounded almost bone-shattering, and the blow reopened the wounds on his face, making them bleed.
Sakaki Chika heard the man scream.
Then Haihara drove her knee into his stomach and grabbed his head—
"—Bang!"
"—Bang!"
"—Bang..."
She slammed his head against the wall several times. Only after he was battered and bleeding did Haihara finally seem satisfied enough to stop.
She dusted off her hands and looked at Sakaki Chika, who was still staring in shock.
"What are you standing there for? The home visit's over."
Haihara adjusted her glasses and spoke calmly.
At night, Haihara and Sakaki Chika sat on a bench by the park-side street. Haihara gently lifted Sakaki Chika's collar to examine her injuries.
They were mostly on her arms and shoulders. There weren't many elsewhere, but for a girl, injuries like these were still devastating.
"You're an idol, aren't you? Scars would be a terrible thing to have. Did you treat all of these yourself?"
Haihara let go and looked at Sakaki Chika, who had been watching her the whole time.
"...Yeah. I didn't dare go to the hospital," Sakaki Chika said quietly, lowering her head.
"Make sure you go to the hospital afterward," Haihara said coolly.
Still, this was something her magical-girl side could take care of. Star Flower was good at magic, after all.
She'd only meant to scare the girl a little with a home visit. She hadn't expected something like this to happen...
Haihara wasn't exactly a good person, but she still had a decent sense of right and wrong. Of course she'd be angry when she saw something like this.
So she'd become an idol because her family was in debt?
"Then why are you paying off that man's debts?"
That was what puzzled her most.
From what she'd just seen, the two of them didn't seem to have any sort of bond. And Sakaki Chika was a successful idol in her own right; her income should've been enough to live independently.
Sakaki Chika wrapped one arm around the other and opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know how to answer.
After a while, she seemed to think of something.
"There are... things he can use against me because I'm an idol..."
She couldn't tell Teacher Haihara about being a magical girl, so this was all she could say.
Haihara pushed up her glasses and thought for a while before looking at Sakaki Chika and asking curiously,
"Is he planning to post it online? Or does he know someone in the industry? Could a drunken, incoherent gambler really do anything to hurt your career? And what does he get out of it?"
Sakaki Chika froze, suddenly at a loss for words.
Seeing her reaction, Haihara was briefly speechless.
She'd used magic to look into some of the man's memories just now, so she had a rough idea of what this so-called "leverage" was.
Honestly, Haihara couldn't see how that sort of thing could be used as leverage.
Haihara put a hand on Sakaki Chika's face and gently stroked it, comforting her.
"Listen. The things you think are problems aren't problems for adults. Don't you have a manager? Tell her. She should be able to handle something like this."
"Even if there's something you can't tell your manager, I can help you deal with it."
After all, the man was a useless gambler.
This was a world with magical girls, and even a Villain Organization.
It was ridiculous for a magical girl who saved the world to be threatened by a scumbag and live every day in fear of debt.
After saying that, Haihara's expression turned cold again. Her caressing hand became a pinch as she grabbed Sakaki Chika's cheek and tugged at her soft, pale face.
"And you need to understand that you're not a child anymore. If your parents can't help you, then as someone who can support herself financially, you should learn how to be an adult."
Her own parents had left her when she was very young.
She'd made it through most of high school while working part-time, and college had been no different.
As far as Haihara was concerned, Sakaki Chika was unbelievably foolish.
That was why she disliked minors. They were so immature that they couldn't even protect themselves.
After Haihara finished speaking, Sakaki Chika lowered her head and didn't say anything for a long time.
After a while, Haihara heard a quiet sob.
Sakaki Chika's eyes reddened. She reached up and wiped the corner of one eye, but tears soon fell again.
She kept wiping at her eyes with both hands, but soon she was crying helplessly, wiping her tears as she sobbed pitifully.
"Th-thank you, Teacher... But I'm really... scared..."
Before you continue