Chapter 431

"Then, sister, didn't you say back then that you were taking turns taking care of Teacher Haihara? You also said you might bring her to stay with us."

Why haven't we had our turn yet?

Her younger sister's innocent question silenced Kirishima Ai.

"Coo coo!"

Silver Feather echoed in agreement.

For once, Kirishima Ai revealed a somewhat depressed and bittersweet expression, though she did so subtly and well concealed it.

I'm sorry, your sister is a useless woman.

Just as she was about to explain something, a sudden, fierce gust of cold wind slammed against their window. Chu Weiwei was startled and instinctively grabbed her sister's arm.

Kirishima Ai was startled herself, but thankfully she didn't have any embarrassing reactions.

Similarly, Silver Feather was also startled, but she reacted a beat too slowly, and only after a long while did she timidly let out a "coo".

The fierce wind and snow outside had almost completely obscured the buildings outside the window, leaving only a hazy gray expanse where nothing could be seen clearly.

"The snow is so heavy..."

At this moment, Kirishima Ai became somewhat worried about her mother.

I'll call my mom later and ask when she's coming back.

If it's still snowing by then, she might as well transform and go catch it.

Just then, Kirishima Ai felt Hina nudge her.

"Elder sister."

"What's wrong?"

It seemed that Hina had something to say to her.

"Lately, there seem to be a lot of strange Monster appearing in the city. I saw on TV that you've been frequently involved in battles lately."

The chick asked with concern.

Since Magic girls' appearances are basically broadcast accurately on television, just like the daily weather, it's almost impossible for their families not to know.

"Hmm? They're alright, just a bunch of harmless guys."

Kirishima Ai feigned a calm and natural tone.

However, it seems that she still couldn't completely convince her perceptive younger sister.

"I remember... the time the Demon King appeared, the number of Monster in the city suddenly increased as well."

Hina was referring to being chosen as the vessel for the Demon King.

As a former vessel, she witnessed firsthand how easily a Demon King could create Monster.

After a moment of silence, Kirishima Ai let out a dry "ha!"

"Um..."

Kirishima Ai realized that her sister had noticed something was wrong, and that the situation had become somewhat dangerous recently.

However, even if she knew these things, it wouldn't do her any good; it would only remind her of the shadows of the past, which is why she always kept quiet about it.

"It's my sister who doesn't need to worry about me."

Suddenly, Chu looked very serious:

"If you encounter any trouble, please let me know. Silver Feather and I will do our best to help you, sisters."

Kirishima Ai blinked.

Help, Hina and Silver Feather?

What does this mean?

Ah... I guess it means offering her emotional support and encouragement, right?

"Thank you very much, I'll be looking forward to it."

Kirishima Ai rarely showed a warm smile as she comforted her younger sister.

As for why she felt that Hina and Silver Feather were hiding something from her, she probably just had a bad feeling.

It must be... just my imagination, right?

Chapter 188 Countdown

Haihara Lily Chou's eyes were fixed on the glowing phone screen, which displayed her chat history with Kirishima Ai.

She's already quite used to chatting with people online using her phone like this.

At this time, Haihara was still very innocent and did not have the bad habit of not replying to text messages she was not interested in.

She would carefully read all the text messages that Takanashi and the others sent her and then think of appropriate words to reply.

For example, the one sent by Sakaki Chika--

[Teacher, this is the new home that Takanashi and her classmates helped me find! I'm planning to try living here. Would you like to come visit sometime? It's a bit deserted here right now.]

After Sakaki Chika announced her graduation from idol school, Takanashi seems to have helped her contact the R'lyeh Kingdom Sakaki Chika.

Because Sakaki Chika is actually Sakaki Chika descendant of the Magic girl R'lyeh, and Magic girl operating on Earth, R'lyeh is willing to arrange accommodation and provide for her living expenses.

Haihara sent a cartoon goose smiley face emoji.

She may not have said it, but besides snakes, her favorite animal was all kinds of birds.

[I would go if I had the chance.]

Sakaki Chika seemed very happy: [Then it's settled.]

There were also text messages between Kuroki Yuka and Takanashi.

Kuroki Yuka checks on her every day and recommends various videos or comics that she likes.

Takanashi isn't the type of person who texts her frequently, but whenever I do reach out to her for a chat, we end up talking for a long time.

This time too.

Magic Cat Flying and Crashing [You don't seem to be in a good mood today.]

This was sent suddenly by Takanashi during our chat.

This kid's ID is really strange.

[Why?]

Haihara felt that she was no different from usual.

It's not available online, at least not online.

[Feel.]

The other party explained it with a simple reason.

"No." Haihara replied simply.

The Magic cat flies and crashes [This sounds like it's being stubborn.]

What can we do?

Haihara sometimes doesn't quite like Takanashi's seemingly knowing-it-all attitude towards her.

Magic Cat Flying Crash [Don't be angry with me, it will make me sad.]

I'm sorry.

The good news is that both of them can be surprisingly straightforward at times.

Magic Cat Flying Crash [Will you miss me even a little?]

Haihara thought for a moment.

She simply typed "Yes".

Magic cat flying and crashing [happy cat. jpg]

After that, Takanashi didn't send any more text messages, Haihara tilted her head in confusion.

After confirming that no more text messages were being sent to her, she turned off her phone.

The room returned to darkness.

Now, she is in her own bedroom, but unlike before, there is now a sleeping beauty lying quietly and docilely beside her.

Even when she was asleep, that person was quite captivating, with long eyelashes, a handsome and refined face, and slightly thin lips when she wasn't making any expression. It was hard to connect that to her usual warm smile.

It's afternoon now, Kazama seems very tired, so they plan to take a nap.

As for why they slept together, Kazama said that recently, Haihara couldn't be out of her sight.

Haihara had no objections.

She wasn't sleepy at all; she just felt it was nice to stay by Kazama's side, and it was cold even indoors in winter.

Let's just wait patiently until Kazama wakes up.

While waiting, Haihara's gaze would occasionally drift to Kazama's sleeping face, and several times she would quietly and cautiously try to approach him, like a cat.

However, each time she approached, she stopped halfway through, as some incomprehensible thought arose deep within her, only to be quickly abandoned.

In the darkness, nothing can actually be seen by others.

Kazama always sleeps very soundly and well, and he doesn't wake up easily.

But what's the point of all this?

The faint glimmer in Haihara's eyes reflected the silhouette of the sleeping girl.

One last time, she lay down on her side and shared a pillow with Kazama.

She, still awake, gazed at the sleeping girl's face.

Her dark hair, hanging on the pillow, rose and fell with her breath, emitting a pleasant scent, just like Haihara's own.

This Kazama, Kazama finally got some peaceful sleep, something he hadn't done in a long time.

At first, she was still restless in her sleep, and only when she vaguely felt that she was sleeping with Haihara did she feel a little at ease.

But I don't know if it was just a figment of my imagination in a dream.

She felt as if something soft had gently touched her closed eyes.

It's really gentle, and a little moist.

But it's only for a moment; perhaps it will be quickly forgotten in this hazy dream, or maybe it was just an illusion.

When she woke up, Haihara was still beside her.

Their lives seemed unchanged until nightfall.

Both of them seemed to be waiting for something.

While waiting for what to be done remains stagnant, time seems to stand still. They can do nothing and don't know what to do, like terminally ill patients counting down their last drops of blood.

It doesn't seem to be that date yet.

"Kazama, although this is quite sudden, let's get to know each other."

"Haihara said suddenly."

When Kazama looked back at her, she leaned naturally against the headboard, gazing at Kazama with eyes as dark as the night outside the window, neither gentle nor indifferent.

Get to know each other?

She didn't understand why her mother suddenly wanted to play this, and to be honest, she knew her mother pretty well, right?

They are each other's other half of life, and will continue to occupy more and more space in the future.

For example?

Kazama quickly accepted the suggestion and started thinking about what questions he wanted to ask his mother.

"I want to know what you like and dislike, and even what makes you sad or unhappy."