Chapter 243

And it's very deceptive.

It's hard for others to imagine that she would be the kind of person who stays cooped up in a room with the curtains never drawn, rotting and smelling terrible.

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?"

Haihara said it calmly.

Anyway, Kuroki Yuka fits her aesthetic perfectly; she's the kind of beauty that makes you wonder what kind of girl she'll be when she grows up.

No wonder she's related to Ms. Suzuki?

"... Yeah?"

Kuroki Yuka muttered "Oh, oh," somewhat surprised.

She never expected that a gloomy and somewhat disgusting recluse like herself would receive such a comment.

Although, in her memory, she had often been described in this way by her mother and others around her.

But at some point, she began to shrink away like a turtle shell.

This idea only lasted for a short time.

After buying the souvenirs, they texted Suzuki and arranged to meet again at an exhibition area. However, Suzuki hadn't arrived yet when they got there, so they sat down and rested for a while.

It was quieter than I had expected.

The other tourists coming and going weren't too noisy either.

Now the two of them are alone again.

Actually, recently, because they've been raising a dog together, Kuroki Yuka often goes to Haihara's house, and these moments of being alone together aren't uncommon. But for some reason, when the dog is around, it always feels like there's a third person watching.

Neither Kuroki Yuka nor Haihara- san are particularly talkative.

The two of them watched the passersby.

Upon reflection, she realized it had been a long time since she had seen so many people.

Looking at it this way, the outside world isn't so scary after all.

However, even so, seeing so many passersby, Kuroki Yuka still felt uneasy and nervous.

Actually, ever since she went outside and saw so many people, she felt a strange sadness.

At that moment, she heard Haihara say:

"Speaking of which, it seems like you haven't left the house in a long time."

Kuroki Yuka thought for a while.

It seems that ever since she stopped being Black Magical Girl, she has basically never left the house except to buy necessities.

So she nodded.

"Don't you want to live a normal life?"

Kuroki Yuka turned her head and saw Haihara idly fiddling with the Phantom Wind- themed dog tag.

What does "normal life" mean?

She was aware that her life was quite abnormal, but she wondered to what extent it would be considered normal.

"That's... kind of scary, isn't it?"

She found that terrifying.

It's not that I'll encounter strange classmates or experience bullying like before.

She simply didn't have the courage to continue interacting with people.

Haihara didn't say anything lecturing.

Although she is a teacher, she doesn't usually take her students very seriously.

Moreover, even a close relative like Ms. Suzuki didn't ask Kuroki Yuka to go to school. Although Haihara found this strange, she didn't want to disturb other people's mood when they were out having fun.

Haihara hummed in agreement for a moment.

In the bustling museum, this place was unusually quiet. Even with other people's voices around, Kuroki Yuka only hear Haihara's breathing.

After a while, Haihara suddenly spoke:

"I used to think that wanting to change myself and strive to live a better life was a terrifying thing."

Haihara looked down at the dog tag in her hand, which had a chibi version of Phantom Wind printed on it.

She thought it seemed quite appropriate for a filial daughter to wear this.

It's fine if she doesn't wear it; she just wanted to give it to her anyway.

"And then what happened?"

Kuroki Yuka asked curiously.

After all, in her eyes, Haihara- san was a mature and special adult.

She still remembered what happened in the nightmare.

When bullying occurs at school, Ms. Haihara, as a teacher, will directly slap the bullying student.

Kuroki Yuka felt she would probably never be able to do that.

Upon hearing Haihara, Haibara's eyes darkened slightly.

Why?

Even for her, this was a complex and difficult problem to understand.

She lowered her head, clutching the souvenir in her hand, occasionally touching the chain and making a "jingle" sound.

"At that time, I felt that the people around me were starting to disappear one by one."

When Haihara was in high school, she had the same feelings as Kuroki Yuka.

Neither her parents nor her trusted friends were by her side anymore.

"I don't know what the future holds, and no one expects anything from me. I always feel like it doesn't matter whether I exist or not."

Of course, people live for themselves.

But if she only lived for herself, Haihara always felt a lack of motivation.

She's the type who doesn't know where to go unless someone gives her a push.

And Kuroki Yuka seems to be the same way.

Because no one has any expectations of them, they may give up on themselves and feel lost.

She stated calmly:

"But I still feel that somewhere in the world, someone is waiting for me."

Just like the singer that Haihara really liked when she was a child.

Even if there's only a sliver of a chance, even if there's only a tiny chance of meeting her, Haihara wants to hold onto that hope.

If that's not the case, then she has no reason to exist.

"If you give up, you might miss out on the people you want to meet, and the people who want to meet you, forever."

I don't want to become like that.

This sounds like a child's ramblings.

But because of this idea, Haihara started trying to work even harder.

Even now, Haihara hasn't forgotten that thought.

So, she did eventually meet someone who was waiting for her.

It's a little embarrassing to talk about.

Her finger gently poked the chibi-style Phantom Wind in her hand, as if she were poking the face of the Magic girl herself.

"..."

Seeing Haihara's expression, Kuroki Yuka lowered her head, rubbed her face with both hands, and looked serious and a little troubled.

Those she wanted to meet, and those who wanted to meet her.

"Well, Miss Haihara, could you possibly look forward to me?"

She blurted it out without thinking.

By the time she realized what was happening, Haihara had already heard everything clearly.

Kuroki Yuka paused for a moment, turned her head, blinked, and then saw Haihara- san looking at her. When she realized what she had said, Kuroki Yuka's face turned bright red.

"Uh... no, no, what I meant was..."

She waved her hands frantically, unusually lively as she defended herself.

What exactly did she just say?

That's just too embarrassing.

However, upon hearing her words, Haihara was not embarrassed at all; instead, she simply said "Oh."

She gently propped her cheek up with one hand, her long, slender, indifferent eyes quietly watching the blushing Kuroki Yuka, as if she found the child's expression amusing.

Finally, Haihara gave a rare smile, which quickly disappeared, and then said in her usual calm tone:

"Then, next time, let's tidy up your house together."

Chapter 47 Re-debut as Black Magical Girl

In fact, since meeting Ms. Suzuki today, Haihara has been thinking about one question.

That is, when should she give the gift?

They don't usually exchange expensive gifts. For example, on Haihara's birthday not long ago, Suzuki gave her a Kuromi doll that she wanted for a while.

How should I put it?

When it comes to giving gifts, it really seems like it's hard to think of anything.

Especially when giving gifts to women.

However, after reuniting with Ms. Suzuki, Haihara quickly realized a problem.

--There's a Monster, pungent smell about this museum.

In that instant, Haihara recalled many of her past experiences, such as her dates with Ms. Suzuki, her plans to meet her youngest daughter, and the times she watched fireworks and soaked in hot springs with the Problem Child.

Every time, this group of reckless Monster would come and ruin her good time.

Why do these idiots always seem to show up at the most opportune moment to get themselves killed?

Even though Haihara is usually too lazy to think about it, on Ms. Suzuki's birthday, she couldn't help but seriously consider this question.

If nothing unexpected happens, whenever she's about to give Ms. Suzuki a gift or do something important, a Monster will appear again, chuckling inexplicably.

When the crowd disperses, her plan to celebrate Suzuki's birthday with him will be ruined again.

So, where did this Monster come from?

Generally speaking, Monster all come from the Black Death Cult.

In this situation, you should question first, and then question again.

To be honest, the current Black Death Cult has not created any decent Monster in a long time, and their plan to stir up trouble and collect negative emotions seems like they're just giving up.

So she first sent a text message to Sha Qina:

[Speaking of which, have your Monster been hanging around the museum lately?]

Recently, she has been having a good chat with Ms. Sha Qina, who is a villainous female cadre, and they have returned to the point where they can exchange memes.

Iyaha [Hmm? No? Actually, we haven't even built a new Mature Form in a long time. Recently, we've been planning a paid trip for our employees to other Black Death Cult branches to learn from their advanced experience.]

[...]

It seems we can't expect these brilliant but naive individuals to know anything.

In fact, Haihara was also very curious as to why this group of Black Death Cult could never catch up with the final boss of the season.