Chapter 214

"Haihara, I'm very sorry about last night. Please don't take my words to heart."

Turning her head, Haihara saw Tachibana's apologetic face.

What happened last night was quite inexplicable to most people, and Haihara was no exception.

However, apart from that, Ms. Tachibana has been very warm towards them these past two days, and since they're leaving tomorrow anyway, Haihara didn't take it to heart.

Hmm, thinking about it carefully, this trip will end tomorrow.

As a long-awaited private trip, the experience was quite good.

"Miss Tachibana, may I ask you something?"

Haihara raised her head.

On the other side, Ms. Tachibana had just lifted Haihara's leg and was gently and meticulously massaging Haihara's foot. Although Haihara felt a little strange, she didn't react.

Tachibana, while gently stroking Haihara's feet, said softly:

"What is it?"

She completely ignored the Magical Girl Silver Feather beside her, and didn't even notice Silver Feather's clenched fist.

Until Haihara asked a question:

Are there fireworks going on here tonight?

After Haihara finished speaking, Silver Feather blinked.

As a Magic girl, her hearing is naturally excellent; even if she's a bit far from Teacher Haihara and the others, she can still hear them clearly.

Silver Feather remembered the Maple Plain Festival at the beginning of this semester. There were also very beautiful fireworks that time, but she couldn't watch them with Teacher Haihara.

That time was quite a regret.

"Yes, there's a square nearby where there's a fireworks display every week on this day."

Miss Tachibana smiled.

Upon hearing Tachibana's words, Silver Feather seemed to understand something.

After that, Haihara asked Tachibana for directions to the plaza, and after their yoga session, Haihara and Silver Feather stayed in their room for the time being.

Naturally, they planned to go to the square that evening.

Before that, Silver Feather had been idly staying in her room.

However, she wasn't entirely without anything to do.

She took out her phone and scrolled through her photo album.

Kirishima Ai doesn't really like taking photos, since even if she did, she has no one to share them with. So, apart from some pictures she saved online, most of the photos in her album are of her sister.

In addition, there are photos of the Magical Girl Silver Feather.

For the Magical Girl Silver Feather, having so many beautiful photos of herself is quite a source of joy.

Recently, Kirishima Ai has taken many photos with Teacher Haihara.

Although the two of them looked a little awkward in the photo together.

It's hard to say what the relationship was between the two of them that led them to take photos together. Even Teacher Haihara occasionally showed a slightly embarrassed look, which Silver Feather found rather cute.

However, as she flipped through the photos, she came across one that was rather unusual.

The person in the photo is the Magical Girl Silver Feather.

The image isn't very clear, or is it a pity? In a sense, this is a photo of Silver Feather on her first day of life, because it was taken by a passerby on the day the Magical Girl Silver Feather made her debut.

"..."

Silver Feather looked at the photo, her gaze unconsciously becoming silent, but a slight smile appeared on her lips.

Thinking about it carefully, it really has been a long time.

Fighting as Magic girl feels like yesterday to Kirishima Ai —both fleeting and seemingly endless—and has become an everyday occurrence without her even realizing it.

In reality, along the way, they defeated many Monsters, suffered many injuries together, and had times when they were so sad they couldn't hold on any longer, but they still made it to where they are today.

Despite having gone through so much, Silver Feather felt that everything around her was slowly getting better.

Especially this trip.

Let's bring it to a perfect close tonight.

Night fell as expected.

The snow that fell in the early morning stopped around dusk, and the night sky is exceptionally clear tonight. It would be beautiful if fireworks were to rise into the sky.

Because of the fireworks display tonight, they saw more people than they would in the park.

Silver Feather held Teacher Haihara's hand and strolled around the park before the fireworks display began.

This was a very special experience for the Magical Girl Silver Feather.

Because you don't have to fight Monster.

Although she doesn't dislike fighting, especially protecting others from Monster, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she enjoys fighting if you disregard the pain.

But I don't want to tonight.

Occasionally, she also wished she could exist in this world for ordinary reasons, just like everyone else.

Such thoughts are probably strange for a Magic girl.

Moreover, she wants to watch fireworks with Teacher Haihara tonight.

If there's another Monster incident, we'll miss today's opportunity again.

With this thought in mind, Silver Feather unconsciously wanted to hold her teacher's hand a little tighter, but in the end she didn't.

As a Magic girl, she possesses great strength.

Just as these complicated thoughts were churning within her, Silver Feather suddenly felt her body begin to lose strength, and without realizing it, her head also felt heavy.

This feeling was not unfamiliar to her.

In the past, she liked to work beyond her limits and exhausted herself several times, which is when she had similar feelings.

However, this time, it was clearly not for that reason.

After walking for a while, Silver Feather realized that something seemed wrong with her body, so she had to stop and tug at Teacher Haihara's hand again.

After Haihara noticed this, she led Silver Feather to sit on a bench by the roadside.

The same thing happened as during the day.

The woman touched Silver Feather's forehead, feeling her body temperature, and after a while, said with some helplessness:

"His body temperature is indeed a bit high."

During the day, Kirishima Ai seemed a little off, but later, her Kirishima Ai made Haihara think it was just her imagination.

At this moment, a faint trace of illness had appeared on Silver Feather's face.

Although the body temperature was only slightly higher than usual, it would be terrible if it worsened.

"In that case, after you've had a good rest tonight, I'll take you back tomorrow morning."

Haihara touched Silver Feather's face, her voice much gentler than usual.

At this point, Silver Feather roughly understood.

I think I have a fever.

Although she couldn't understand why a Magic girl would have a fever.

Even if I was covered in bruises before, I would recover quickly after a night's rest. But now I'm still troubled by this low-grade fever.

Then, she heard Teacher Haihara ask:

"Shall we go back to the hotel now?"

Although Silver Feather felt very uncomfortable, she still resolutely shook her head.

"I want to watch fireworks with my teacher."

At this moment, Silver Feather was a little scared, because adults would always say things like health is more important in such situations.

However, after looking at her for a while, Haihara's expression didn't change; she simply said calmly:

"Go back after you're done watching."

There was hardly anyone around them.

Most people gathered in the square because it offered a more open view.

After hearing Haihara's words, Silver Feather felt his face turn even redder, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

Considering that Silver Feather might be cold, Haihara waved to Silver Feather, but Silver Feather was still confused and didn't understand what Haihara meant.

Then, Silver Feather heard:

"Come here and let me hug you, it'll warm you up."

Haihara's words were concise and to the point.

"..."

Silver Feather blushed and leaned into Haihara's arms. The older woman then stretched out her arms to embrace Silver Feather, using the wide sleeves of her coat to cover the young girl as much as possible.

Both Haihara and Silver Feather had the same thought after the hug: the other person was quite soft and warm.

When Haihara held Silver Feather in her arms, she felt like she was raising a small animal, especially the ticklish sensation of his hair gently brushing against her neck and chin.

Without thinking, she nuzzled Silver Feather's head with her face, just like she used to coax Kazama Kiriori when she was little.

Silver Feather, however, felt that staying here like this might not be so bad.

This tranquility continued until a commotion arose in the distance, with faint shouts and unusual noises heard.

Both Silver Feather and Haihara were drawn to the commotion.

Silver Feather, in particular, is very sensitive to this kind of chaos as a Magic girl.

Could it be... another case of Monster?

Silver Feather slightly raised her head.

Her health isn't very good right now.

If two Perfect Form Monster appeared again, like yesterday, she really wouldn't know what to do.

--She could only use one of her techniques, "Magical Girl Signature," which she hadn't used before, to summon her sisters from faraway Maple Plain City.

With Phantom Wind's sprint time of 0.3 seconds per 100 meters, she should be able to wait for them to arrive in less than ten minutes.

So, Silver Feather tugged at Teacher Haihara's hand:

"Teacher, it might be... Monster incident. Let's leave here first."

She planned to take Teacher Haihara away from her, and then quickly find an excuse to go to the plaza.

However, she thought that Haihara would, like everyone else, naturally agree to her request and give her a chance to run away.

Silver Feather forgot one thing.

The person who always stops her from fighting Monster as Magic girl is Teacher Haihara.

She only heard Teacher Haihara say with great interest:

Don't you want to go to the restroom?

Silver Feather didn't understand the meaning of Teacher Haihara's words for a moment.

However, due to a low-grade fever, she felt her mind was getting worse and worse, and she couldn't even process this simple sentence.

She instinctively wanted to hug Teacher Haihara, but it felt as if Haihara gently picked her up and placed her on the bench.

"You rest here for a while, I'll check on the situation."

Haihara said something that wasn't like her.

In this situation, Silver Feather couldn't recall anything strange about Teacher Haihara's current appearance; she simply instinctively wanted to grab Haihara's hand.

"It's dangerous... and besides, the Magic girl didn't come..."