Chapter 231

"Ai, do you know this classmate?"

Shiratori Aoi noticed that her daughter kept staring at the rather refined-looking girl, and became somewhat curious.

"... Yes, we know each other."

In reality, Kirishima Ai was looking at Kuroki Yuka with a rather cold and questioning gaze, while Kuroki Yuka out in a cold sweat and avoided Kirishima Ai's gaze.

Suzuki was quite puzzled by this.

How did her reclusive niece come to know her student?

However, although he didn't quite understand, Suzuki was still quite happy:

"What a coincidence! It's still early, how about we go for a walk together?"

Teacher Suzuki's enthusiasm made Kirishima Ai's mother accept the offer with pleasure.

Kirishima Ai had a feeling that her mother probably wanted to talk to Teacher Haihara about her own affairs, which was why she agreed, making her feel a little nervous.

But more than that, she wanted to talk to Kuroki Yuka right now.

Like a delinquent girl, she gently tugged at Kuroki Yuka's sleeve, walked to a corner where the teachers wouldn't notice, and then whispered:

So, what exactly happened?

It's not that Kirishima Ai is targeting Kuroki Yuka.

But suddenly seeing the former Black Magical Girl with her teachers, I couldn't rest easy without asking her what was going on.

"Uh, I was out with my Aunt and Aunt... friend this time. You mean, the Teacher Suzuki you mentioned?"

Compared to Kirishima Ai, Kuroki Yuka seemed much calmer, since she already knew about it, but she didn't expect that her Aunt was also Kirishima Ai's teacher.

Kirishima Ai lowered her eyes slightly.

"Is it really such a coincidence?"

"Um."

Kuroki Yuka nodded quite readily.

After a moment of silence, Kirishima Ai looked at Kuroki Yuka and could probably tell that she wasn't lying. However, when she glanced at Teacher Haihara and her mother not far away, Kirishima Ai opened her mouth.

She touched her arm and asked casually:

"So... you're going to spend the whole day with Teacher Haihara and the others?"

Kuroki Yuka looked at her and felt something was off.

"Yes."

Thinking about it carefully, she seemed to have heard from Haihara, who was Witch, a few times that Kirishima Ai and her group, as Magic girls, often skipped class to defeat Monster and save the city.

So when she heard Haihara mention this group of people, she had the impression that Haihara probably didn't like them very much.

As Black Magical Girl, skipping school to save the city is not uncommon.

Therefore, she can understand Kirishima Ai.

Is Haihara really that scary in Kirishima Ai's eyes?

"Well then, I hope you have a great time with Teacher Haihara and the others today."

For some reason, after that, Kirishima Ai suddenly said something like that.

I always felt that Kirishima Ai was somewhat forced.

Kuroki Yuka carefully examined Kirishima Ai...

What does this guy mean?

However, while the adults were chatting, Kuroki Yuka and Kirishima Ai didn't really have anything to do, so they decided to just wander around.

Undoubtedly, both of them noticed one thing.

That is, there are many things here that are related to Magic girls.

Although it's a bit of a concern, R'lyeh has existed for so long, and it's not incomprehensible that Magic girl left behind some ruins somewhere on Earth hundreds of years ago.

This situation only turned into genuine confusion when they saw a portrait in the exhibition.

It wasn't just them; many other tourists also murmured the same thing when they saw the portrait.

"Hey, look at the person in that painting, doesn't he look a bit like the Magical Girl Silver Feather?"

"Really... but looking closely, it's a little different, isn't it?"

Because the painting was somewhat old, and perhaps intentionally so, it was not fully restored; much of the color had faded, so people could only make out the girl's appearance from the blurry outline.

She was a young and beautiful girl, her black hair had faded with time, and her exposed neck was slightly slender. The style of her clothing was of unknown origin.

When people in Maple Plain City see this painting, the first thought that comes to mind is the same.

That is, this girl looks like Silver Feather.

"Maybe all beautiful people look alike? Besides, it's so blurry, you can't really tell anything..."

The tourists were chattering amongst themselves.

Ai Kirishima Ai instinctively moved closer, looking at the portrait with great confusion.

Why... does the person in this painting look so much like her?

The reason why many people think the person in this painting is Silver Feather is because Silver Feather's appearance is similar to Kirishima Ai in many ways.

However, this painting is a cultural relic buried three hundred years ago.

Only Kuroki Yuka, after seeing the painting, looked thoughtful as she compared it to Kirishima Ai.

She had seen similar paintings before.

I saw this girl in a photograph and a portrait in the old house of the Witch Lilith during my time in R'lyeh.

Since it's placed in a very private spot in the house, it must belong to someone important, right?

However, that girl probably died later.

Thinking of this, Kuroki Yuka subconsciously looked at Kirishima Ai.

At the time, she couldn't be sure, but now, her intuition tells her that the girl in the painting, Ai Kirishima Ai, and the Magical Girl Silver Feather should indeed have some kind of connection.

Then... who is this person who appeared beside me?

Chapter Thirty-Six: Go Find Your Mother

This was the first time Haihara had met Kirishima Ai's mother.

As a homeroom teacher who has taught for a semester, she has held parent-teacher meetings.

Unfortunately, she never met the parents of these Magic girls at parent-teacher meetings, so there was no way she could ask them to educate their children.

If she heard correctly, the woman's name should be Shiratori Aoi, just like her daughter's, a name that Haihara would find very pleasant to hear.

And so is his appearance.

In terms of physique, she is taller than the still young Kirishima Ai, which is perhaps the ideal height for many women. In addition, Ms. Shiratori also has all the advantages that women should have.

"So, Ai's Chinese grades aren't very good right now, is that right?"

To put it simply, Shiratori Aoi's words can be summarized as "Haihara's type".

Beautiful, intelligent, mature, and reliable.

He's the kind of person Haihara would find herself wanting to chat with for a while longer.

However, today, Haihara found herself lacking interest in chatting with Shiratori Aoi.

On the contrary, when Haihara hears about Kirishima Ai from Shiratori Aoi, she gets bored and wants to hear something else.

"Chinese is indeed a subject where it's relatively difficult to improve scores; one needs to be quite perceptive in understanding the text..."

It's probably normal to feel bored, perhaps because this is a conversation between a teacher and a parent.

On the other hand, Haihara also found it strange.

Why is this woman, who is usually so quiet, suddenly showing such concern for Kirishima Ai after seeing me?

Shiratori Aoi listened attentively to what Haihara said, seemingly wanting to remember it all.

Haihara didn't think it would make any difference.

After a while, Ms. Shiratori Aoi suddenly asked another question:

"Teacher Haihara, may I Ai what Ai is like at school? Does she have any friends? Does she ever make you angry?"

I didn't expect you to ask this kind of question.

Haihara wasn't unfamiliar with this question from her parents.

However, upon closer reflection, she realized that the question wasn't so easy to answer.

What's it like at school?

She skips class every day, or she just stays quietly in a corner. If no one approaches her, she won't initiate a conversation with anyone.

If I had to say, the only time Kirishima Ai would occasionally talk to her was when Haihara arranged for her to sit in the front row.

As for whether or not I have friends.

I wonder if the other Magic girls count.

However, compared to friends, Haihara could probably tell that they rarely talked about friendship; at most, they were just acquaintances. As for the things that friends would do, they wouldn't do those things.

Because they're all a bunch of Problem Child.

And whether I made her angry...

"Have you never asked her about these things before?"

Haihara looked towards Kirishima Ai in the distance.

Ai Kirishima Ai looked over cautiously, as if afraid that Haihara would tell her mother about her.

"... To be honest, I'm ashamed to say that because of my family situation, I've been a terrible mother in many ways, and I know very little about her."

Shiratori Aoi lowered her head.

Too.

After thinking about it carefully, Haihara suddenly realized that she seemed to be the person who spent the most time with Kirishima Ai.

"Kirishima has excellent grades and is respected by many classmates. Although she occasionally worries me because of her personality, she always becomes much more cheerful and outgoing after we talk in my office."

As she walked, Haihara spoke, her face expressionless, but everything she said was true.

Ms. Shiratori Aoi seemed completely unaware of the problem with Haihara's words. She simply felt that this homeroom teacher, although she looked very young, seemed to be very good at guiding and communicating with students' inner feelings.

After all, the fact that someone as aloof and awkward as her daughter would open her heart and soul to a teacher who is not much older than her, and that she would feel better after each conversation, shows that Teacher Haihara is indeed a teacher loved by her students.

I really want to ask Teacher Haihara how she gets along with her daughter and what methods she uses to communicate with her.

Shiratori Aoi didn't bother us for too long.

After all, it's quite obvious that Haihara and Suzuki came out together, and it would be very inconsiderate for an outsider like her to take up too much of their time.

Meanwhile, her daughter, having finished catching up with another person her age, quickly ran back.

Kirishima Ai then strolled through the museum with her mother like any other parent-child activity, chatting as they went, occasionally bringing up topics they had discussed with Teacher Haihara earlier.

Kirishima Ai always felt a little strange whenever her mother mentioned Teacher Haihara.

Especially now, she's spending the weekend here with her mother, just like any other ordinary mother and daughter.

But not long ago, Kirishima Ai remembered that Teacher Haihara had also spent time with her.

At that time, she wondered if she was somewhat special to Teacher Haihara.

However, today, she saw Teacher Haihara come out with Teacher Suzuki and Kuroki Yuka.

Kuroki Yuka...

"They sell ice cream over there, want to try some?"