Teacher, I'm Actually a Villainous Magical Girl — Chapter 3

Faced with her dangerously poor performance record and Ms. Suzuki constantly being pressured by her family to go on blind dates lately, Haihara found herself in the greatest crisis of her corporate drudge life.

—She had to get these JK girls who spent all day neglecting their studies and thinking only about saving the world back on track.

Moral Decay

As school let out, most of Kaedehara High School's students had already gone off to club activities. Kirishima Ai did not belong to any club, but it was her turn to be on duty today. So, amid the bustling hallway, the girl stood alone with a broom, waiting to clean up later.

Though nobody said it aloud, anyone could tell that Kirishima Ai was in a very bad mood today.

The reason was probably that Teacher Haihara had called her to the office and severely reprimanded her.

Teacher Haihara never cursed or lost her temper, but she always spoke to students in an icy manner and never spared their feelings. Even toward an outstanding student like Kirishima, she remained just as cold and heartless.

Every student in Class Four could tell that Teacher Haihara disliked Kirishima.

Sunlight streamed through the windows at an angle, illuminating dust floating in the hallway. Kirishima Ai was alone, mopping the floor.

Although her grades were excellent and she was not unattractive, she had no real friends. Her relationship with her classmates could only be called not terrible, and she usually did not even have anyone to talk to.

Except for one person...

"Kirishima, you look awful."

A foot stepped onto the floor she had just mopped. Kirishima raised her head and saw someone she did not particularly want to see.

From her long, straight calves upward, she was a slender girl who seemed suited for a youth drama with an artsy tone.

Her bearing was like sunlight tinged with cool hues. Ash-gold hair trailed from her pale neck down her slight back, reflecting a faint silvery white in the evening light and making one wonder what it would feel like to touch.

Takanashi Shiori was a transfer student who had recently joined their class.

"Don't step on the floor I just mopped."

Kirishima Ai said coldly.

"Sure, sure."

Shiori answered casually, then sat on the windowsill beside her and simply watched Kirishima Ai continue cleaning, like a young lady watching a servant work.

"...You're on duty with me today. Why are you just watching?"

Kirishima Ai quickly stopped working and looked at Shiori.

"I've never done this kind of work before."

Shiori played with her sleeve as she spoke naturally.

"Are all Magical Girls spoiled young ladies like you...?"

Kirishima Ai could not be bothered to look at her anymore.

Though she was ostensibly a transfer student, Takanashi Shiori was not from anywhere on Earth.

She came from a kingdom called R'lyeh.

It was also the homeland of Magical Girls.

Takanashi Shiori was a native Magical Girl from R'lyeh. Apparently, she was the kind of genius Magical Girl with outstanding grades and exceptional talent.

As for why an ordinary person like Kirishima had been chosen to become a Magical Girl, that had been an accident.

"What? Are you in a bad mood?"

At times like this, only Shiori would ask something like that without reading the room.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Because that ordinary teacher lectured you?"

"...Something like that."

Kirishima Ai answered casually.

"You don't like that teacher?"

When asked that question, Kirishima Ai stopped mopping and raised her head, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

The summer weather was hot, so even a little movement made her sweat.

"She's terrible."

Kirishima Ai suddenly said coldly.

Aside from her frequent absences, she was a polite and obedient student. Teachers had all kinds of personalities—some she liked and some she disliked—but she respected them all.

Only Teacher Haihara was someone she could not bring herself to respect.

Lazy, cold, irresponsible—she was nothing like a proper teacher should be. She wore a listless expression all day and could not serve as an example to her students.

And she smoked by the outdoor stairs, where other students often saw her.

Compared with the other serious and responsible teachers, Haihara was a terrible teacher in Kirishima's eyes.

Of course... there were quite a few teachers like that in high school. Teacher Haihara was merely one example. At the very least, she taught her classes properly, and the academic performance of the classes she handled was fairly good.

"I don't really get it..."

Before this, Takanashi Shiori had never attended school on Earth, so she lacked that sort of common sense.

"But lately, the monsters from the Black Death Cult seem to be getting stronger and stronger. Will you be okay?"

The Black Death Cult was the name of the evil organization they were fighting.

They continuously created monsters in this city, threatening the safety of its residents. Their goal was to revive their leader, the Black Devil Kings.

Mature Form monsters possessed the power to easily destroy a city and cause massive disasters. The firepower and weaponry normally available to the city police could not threaten them. Only Magical Girls could truly destroy them.

Silver Feather, Kirishima Ai's transformed form, was the most active Magical Girl in this city.

"No problem. No matter what kind of monster it is, I'll destroy it."

Kirishima Ai answered.

So far, there had never been a monster she could not easily defeat.

Hearing that answer, Shiori nodded, climbed down from the windowsill, and left just like that.

Leaving Kirishima Ai alone to continue cleaning.

After finishing the mopping, Kirishima Ai returned to the empty classroom and stood there for a while.

She was on duty today. In the morning, the chemistry teacher had instructed her to fetch a spare alcohol lamp from the Materials Room for use the next morning.

So, she had to go to the Materials Room in a little while to get the alcohol lamp.

If she remembered correctly, the key to the Materials Room should have been with Teacher Haihara. But because Teacher Haihara had reprimanded her today, she had forgotten to ask for the key.

Hopefully, the room was not locked today.

"..."

Kirishima Ai picked up the blackboard eraser, her gaze dimming slightly.

Lately, she had been a little tired.

And a little lonely.

Although she had become a Magical Girl and was doing things that saved the world, with many people acknowledging and liking her, it still felt somewhat different from what she had imagined.

She had dreamed of becoming a hero, and she had become the hero she had envisioned, yet nobody knew her identity as a hero.

Though she did not care whether anyone knew, she was still all alone at school.

She was clearly protecting this city, yet while at school, she still occasionally heard people talking about her.

They said she was cold, that she looked down on others, that she acted superior.

She simply was not very good at communicating with people.

But she did not even have a friend she could confide in.

Confiding in a teacher was obviously out of the question too.

Actually, that was probably related to why she disliked Teacher Haihara.

She had not taken leave to do anything bad, yet Teacher Haihara had still criticized her so coldly.

If only someone could comfort me...

"I should stop fantasizing..."

Kirishima Ai sighed and prepared to try her luck at the Materials Room.

Given how irresponsible Teacher Haihara was, perhaps the Materials Room had not been locked at all.

After locking the classroom door, Kirishima Ai headed alone toward the Materials Room. By now, the sunset outside was nearly gone.

The hallway was empty. She was the only one walking through it, and her footsteps sounded especially clear in the silence.

When she saw the door to the Materials Room, whether it was unexpected or exactly as expected, it was not locked. It even stood half open.

Then she seemed to hear clattering sounds coming from inside, like glass equipment knocking against something.

Was someone in there...?

Kirishima Ai frowned.

At that moment, she suddenly remembered a rumor.

Apparently, students would occasionally see Teacher Haihara carrying a bottle of alcohol into the Materials Room.

But no matter how much she disliked Teacher Haihara, she did not think that could be true.

After all, an adult had no reason to drink in a place like this.

It was probably something made up by students who disliked Teacher Haihara.

Still, she became cautious.

Kirishima Ai placed her hand on the doorknob and quietly pulled the door open.

Then she looked inside the Materials Room.

She did not seem to see anyone. She pulled the door fully open and stepped inside, her footsteps still light. But just then, she heard the sound of glass striking something again.

"—Clink..."

She froze for a moment, then slowly turned her head toward the source of the sound.

A liquor bottle rolled across the floor, its crisp sound strangely eerie and awkward in the silence.

Then Kirishima Ai saw it.

It was...

A person?

There was a slender, long figure there, somewhat blurry in the dim light. Yet she could vaguely make out the beautiful, icy outline. The person seemed to be sitting crouched on the floor.

It was a woman obscured by shadows, with unmistakably long hair cascading dreamily over her shoulders and lightly trailing all the way to the floor, a dull silver-gray.

In the dim light, the woman's stunningly beautiful face and deep violet eyes stood out sharply, drawing the eye like lamps.

Kirishima Ai stood there in a daze.

She's so beautiful...

It was the first time she had seen such a beautiful woman.

She was even more beautiful than Kirishima was after transforming into a Magical Girl. It was hard to imagine that someone so beautiful could exist in the world.

But who was this person? Why was she here...?

"Sorry to disturb you..."

She spoke in such a tiny voice that she could barely hear it herself.

Then she noticed something.

The other person seemed to be wearing a black business suit, the kind all teachers at the school wore.

Was she a teacher?

But she seemed somewhat disheveled. A few buttons had been undone, and her hair was a little messy.