Teacher, I'm Actually a Villainous Magical Girl

The gray-haired woman gave a drunken laugh, then suddenly smacked her forehead.

"Oh right... you're underage."

She quickly took back the bottle and gulped down the rest herself.

This woman really was strange.

She was clearly a teacher, yet she was drinking alone in a place like this, and she had gotten this drunk.

"If you can't drink, how am I supposed to comfort you... Oh, right. Come here for a moment."

She set the empty bottle aside and looked at Kirishima Ai.

What was this woman going to do now...?

Kirishima Ai hesitated, then cautiously moved a little closer.

Soon, a cold, slender hand wrapped around her and pulled her into the other woman's arms. Her chin rested against the woman's exposed shoulder, and she could smell alcohol mixed with the indescribable scent of a mature woman.

She couldn't say whether it smelled good or not, but somehow, it left her a little intoxicated.

The woman held her gently and said:

"Do you feel comforted now? Do you feel a little better?"

The gray-haired woman's embrace was somewhat cold, but after being held for a while, it began to feel warm.

Kirishima Ai leaned against her neck and sat there blankly for a moment, yet she did not pull away.

Being held by a strange woman like this was honestly a little absurd.

But she was drunk right now, so it should be fine if Kirishima Ai allowed herself to be a little willful too... right?

The hug swept away some of her earlier gloom.

"..."

Kirishima Ai's face reddened slightly as she silently nodded.

This gray-haired teacher was a little strange, but she was so gentle.

She was practically an angel...

In the quiet Materials Room, the two embraced for a while before the gray-haired woman suddenly said softly:

"I think the buzz is wearing off..."

For some reason, this was the first time the gray-haired woman showed a sorrowful expression.

Kirishima Ai found it strange, but she still slipped out of the embrace first and looked at the gray-haired woman.

"The feeling of being drunk always fades so quickly... What a pain."

The woman seemed a little more sober than before.

She brushed her messy gray hair, then stood and looked toward the door.

"It's late now. You should leave too."

Kirishima Ai blinked and thought about how long they had been talking.

It should already be quite late outside. Though she was the only one at home, walking alone at night was not particularly safe, so she really should head back first.

After talking with this gray-haired teacher for so long, her originally heavy mood had improved considerably.

They should say goodbye for now.

"Um... excuse me..."

Kirishima Ai wanted to ask the gray-haired woman whether she could come see her again the next time she felt upset.

But when she raised her head, the gray-haired woman was already gone.

The dim Materials Room was empty and silent, filled only with all kinds of clutter. The half-open door swayed back and forth, but the gray-haired woman had disappeared without leaving behind a sound or trace.

Kirishima Ai was still sitting on the floor, her legs drawn uneasily against her chest, faint creases from their embrace still remaining on her clothes.

"..."

Kirishima Ai sat blankly for a while.

Everything that had just happened felt like a dream. That gentle angel of a teacher seemed as though she had never existed at all.

Had she just hallucinated?

But...

Her gaze returned to where the gray-haired woman had first appeared.

The bottle was still on the floor, and the empty alcohol lamp bottle was still on the table.

She touched her lips.

It was as if she could still feel that softness and warmth.

It probably... hadn't been a dream, right?

The woman had been the one drinking, yet Kirishima Ai felt as though she were the drunk one.

Still somewhat confused, she stood from the floor, slowly walked to the table, and picked up the alcohol lamp.

Kirishima Ai lightly stroked it, then left the Materials Room.

She hoped... she could see that teacher again next time.

Carrying the alcohol lamp, she walked out of the Materials Room and gently shut the door. However, not long after stepping outside, she heard footsteps.

Kirishima Ai turned her head slightly and saw a figure in the corridor.

At first, she felt a little delighted, thinking it might be the angelic lady who had not gone far. But when she looked carefully, she realized it was someone she did not want to see.

It was a bespectacled woman with a somewhat gloomy appearance, a pale face, and an indifferent expression.

It was her homeroom teacher, Teacher Haihara.

"..."

Kirishima Ai stopped where she was and looked at Teacher Haihara from afar.

Her clothes seemed slightly disheveled, so she was fastening the buttons at her chest. After straightening her clothes, she looked at Kirishima Ai and said flatly:

"Student Kirishima, you're not home at this hour?"

Her tone was as cold as ever.

"Yes... I came to get the alcohol lamp needed for tomorrow's chemistry class."

Kirishima Ai lowered her head and explained.

"Is that so? Then take it and hurry home."

Teacher Haihara glanced casually at the darkened sky outside the window, then took out her keys, preparing to lock the Materials Room.

Kirishima Ai did not want to stay with Teacher Haihara for too long either. After a brief farewell, she prepared to leave.

She did not know whether it was an illusion, but when Teacher Haihara came closer, she caught a faint scent of alcohol.

But Teacher Haihara did not look as though she had been drinking.

It was probably because Kirishima Ai had spent too long with that gray-haired teacher, so she kept smelling alcohol everywhere.

Kirishima Ai did not pay it any mind and simply left.

As she thought:

Next time...

When would she be able to see that person again?

The sun finally sank below the horizon. Dark clouds shrouded the dusk-stained sky above the city, hiding the moonlight as well. On the empty streets, only the streetlamps remained, waiting to light the way for passersby.

Kirishima Ai pushed her bicycle alone through the city streets, leaving behind a long, lonely shadow.

Traditional Craft

In a dim corner of Maple Plain City, thorns quietly spread like a stain dispersing through water, unknowingly extending onto bustling streets like the tip of an iceberg emerging above the surface.

A bespectacled, inconspicuous-looking gloomy woman stepped out from the crowd and quietly entered an alley. She walked deeper and deeper, and at the end of the alley, several thick thorns could be seen extending from an open door.

She casually lifted her foot over the thorns and slowly entered the empty room covered in them.

At the center of the dim room stood a Monster completely shrouded in thorns.

Compared to before, its mask was even more shattered. Its face was covered by countless slender thorny vines, while innumerable thorns on its body writhed uncontrollably like snakes.

The ends of the thorns split open, revealing densely packed sharp teeth as they let out cold hissing sounds.

"Looks like the fusion is nearly complete."

Haihara pushed up her glasses with one finger and spoke flatly.

The Thorn Monster's originally rigid body twisted slightly as it said in a hollow, pained voice:

"What... exactly was that crystal you gave me? It wasn't a flower-type crystal at all..."

There were four types of Mature Form Monsters in total.

Flower, bird, wind, and moon.

The Thorn Monster belonged to the flower type, and its crystal was rose-red.

But the crystal this woman had given it a few days ago had been dark green.

Yet it had clearly sensed the element of "flower" within that crystal and had been drawn to it, unable to stop itself from absorbing the crystal's power.

Now, after absorbing that crystal, the power within its body had run wild. The thorns covering its entire body seemed to have gained consciousness and life of their own, turning into snake-like Monsters that were gradually transforming it into a zombie-like puppet.

"Oh, you mean that crystal?"

Haihara casually extended one slender finger and teased one of the awakened thorns.

That thorn snake immediately closed its tooth-filled mouth and gently rubbed against her fingertip like an obedient little snake.

"This is a crystal called 'Snake.' It's magic that belongs only to me. Interesting, isn't it?"

This was also knowledge she had acquired from that Magical Girl's memories.

A fifth type of magical crystal beyond flower, bird, wind, and moon had been named "Snake" by that Magical Girl.

Though it was the fifth type, this kind of crystal could be absorbed by any other kind of Monster and transform it into a special Monster of an entirely new type.

As for whether that transformation was something the Monster wanted, that had nothing to do with her.

The Thorn Monster was still trembling, as though it wanted to say something more, but its pale mask was soon completely covered by thorns, turning it into a writhing mass of green snakes.

From then on, this Monster would have nothing left but its instinctive desires.

The weekend was when Kirishima Ai worked part-time. This week, she was working as a clerk at a convenience store, skillfully demagnetizing the items customers handed over when she heard a disturbance outside.

A young man burst through the store door and shouted that a Monster had appeared. The citizens inside quickly realized what was happening and, without caring about the goods they had been choosing, hurriedly ran out of the convenience store.

Kirishima Ai was already used to it.

She took off her cap, unzipped her bag, slipped her hand inside, and followed the fleeing crowd out of the convenience store.

But instead of following the crowd away, she headed alone in the opposite direction.

One person after another brushed past her, but she simply kept walking forward before taking a silvery-white, wand-like object from her bag.

It was an intricate object that resembled a sculpture, a wand with only half a wing. There was a slot in both the wing and the tip of the wand.

This was the magical tool she used to transform: Broken Wing.

First, she reached for the wing and gently snapped it off—

"Which one should I choose? Which one should I choose? Which one should I choose..."

A strange, enchanted girl's voice emerged.

This was the strange sound effect that played when using a magical tool to transform. According to Shiori, it was the voice of the power of spirits in nature.

At first, it had been awkward enough to make her want to die, but she had gotten used to it by now.

She then took out a pure white crystal, Silver Feather.