She was Otomo.
Although she wasn't as obsessed with magical girls as she'd been when she was little, she still watched every new season.
"...Look."
Once they arrived at the campsite, the students had to get everything ready for the evening's activities before dark.
They had to gather firewood and put up the tents themselves.
Sakaki Chika gathered firewood absentmindedly.
After a long-awaited work trip last night, she'd received a sponsorship payment from an earlier job. She could support herself now and wouldn't have to stay at Teacher Haihara's place anymore.
But instead of making her happy, the thought left her feeling a little depressed and anxious.
After the camping trip ended tomorrow, she'd probably have to move out on her own. Then she'd be alone again.
She was glad she wouldn't have to trouble Teacher Haihara anymore, but when she thought about how she wouldn't be able to live with her or have any special connection with her, she didn't know what to do.
It meant that, from now on, she and Teacher Haihara would have to be nothing more than an ordinary teacher and student.
Sakaki Chika certainly didn't want that.
But what could she do?
Teacher already had a daughter, and she was such an excellent, adorable student council president, too. There was nothing about herself that could compare to Kazama Kiriori...
If she had to name one thing...
After receiving that sponsorship payment yesterday, Sakaki Chika had suddenly realized that, as a high school student, she actually earned more than many adults.
The salary Teacher had to work so hard to earn for months was probably about the same as what she could make from a few performances.
Yes, that was her advantage.
She'd earned more in the past, but all that money had gone toward paying off her debts. It wasn't until she no longer had to keep plugging the holes in her debt that she realized just how much money she made as an idol.
Teacher worked so hard, and she lived alone at home. She must get lonely.
If Chika earned money to support her, then Teacher wouldn't have to work so hard, right?
"...Huh?"
Sakaki Chika felt as if she'd found a way forward.
Right... Someone like Teacher should stay home and let an idol earn money to support her.
And when she imagined coming home exhausted after each performance, only to find Teacher waiting for her with dinner made and the bath ready, she felt...
So happy.
Lost in her daydream, Sakaki Chika blushed and felt a little embarrassed by how shameless she was being.
"Are you okay, Sakaki? Do you have heatstroke? Would you like some water?"
A girl beside her asked.
Sakaki Chika came back to her senses and saw a girl standing in front of her, slightly taller than she was.
She was slender, with a black braid. She was pretty, but seemed a little timid and awkward—the type who looked like a model student.
The girl was Class Four's class representative, Kageyama Tsubaki.
She was gentle and conscientious about her studies, and always kind to everyone. She was the sort of traditional Japanese beauty you rarely came across.
There were two students with the surname Kageyama in their class, and they were cousins. The younger one was also an excellent student and popular with his classmates—a typical extrovert.
"N-no, I'm fine."
Sakaki Chika stammered.
Once she'd come back to herself, another question occurred to her.
How was she supposed to tell Teacher how she felt?
There was such a big age gap between them... and they were both women. If she confessed to Teacher, would she think Chika was... disgusting?
Teacher had saved her, and yet Chika kept harboring such ugly thoughts.
At times like this, she was still as timid as ever.
She wished she were magical girl Star Flower.
If she were magical girl Star Flower, she'd surely be able to work up the courage to confess to Teacher Haihara.
As for whether she'd do anything even bolder, she didn't know...
Wait, she could transform into magical girl Star Flower?
Just as that thought crossed her mind, Kageyama Tsubaki checked the time and reminded her:
"It's almost lunchtime. Let's head back."
"Oh, right. Okay..."
Picnic
After watching magical girls for a while, the morning had slipped away, and it was lunchtime before they knew it.
At lunchtime, Kirishima Hina went to eat with her sister. Haihara didn't need to bring a child along at a time like this. After all, being with a teacher all the time would make a trip like this boring.
Since they were in the mountains, they could call it a picnic.
In previous years, she'd made do with store-bought bread. Even when she was hungry, she could scrounge some food from the students. But today, Sakaki Chika had made her lunch.
Haihara opened the lunchbox and took a look.
There were takoyaki, chicken drumsticks, and a fried egg. It was quite a feast.
She wasn't fond of vegetables.
There were a few bean sprouts, but those were fine.
The fried egg was drizzled with ketchup in the shape of a heart. It was pretty cute.
Come to think of it, the girl had come back very late last night, yet she'd still gotten up early to make breakfast. Was she all right?
She'd looked half-asleep on the bus that morning, too.
Haihara would check on her later.
But Haihara wasn't the only one having lunch today.
Her very devoted daughter was sitting right beside her.
"This lunch doesn't look like something Mom made. Did Sakaki make it?"
"Yeah."
"She did a great job. But I'm a little jealous."
"Who stays this attached to their mom at eighteen?"
And she was her daughter, too.
They chatted as they ate.
It was a little cooler than it had been in the morning, maybe because of the mountain breeze. Haihara was in better spirits, too. This year seemed cooler than the previous two. On their last camping trip, she'd barely had an appetite.
Though she didn't think she'd eaten lunch with Kiriori that time.
Kiriori had still had friends back then, apparently.
Haihara gazed at the students chatting as they ate in the distance, remembering the past.
"Come to think of it, a Monster showed up on your first-year camping trip."
"That did happen."
"And the magical girl who showed up was Phantom Wind."
"...Yeah."
"She looked a lot like my senpai. It startled me." Haihara said this without changing her expression.
She'd forgotten how she'd felt at the time, but it had certainly been surprising.
"...You mean Mom?"
Kazama Kiriori was talking about her birth mother... and the senpai Haihara had once had a crush on.
"Yeah."
Haihara nodded.
"I look a lot like Mom, too..." Kazama Kiriori lowered her head.
Looking so much like her mother should have made her happy. But now, when she thought that maybe her mother had favored her for that reason, she felt a little sad.
It was only a fleeting expression, but Haihara still noticed.
She reached out and gently pinched Kazama Kiriori's soft cheek—
"You did look a little like her before."
Kazama Kiriori froze for a moment with her cheek pinched. Then she saw Haihara's deep, dark eyes behind her glasses. They were gentler than usual.
Haihara spoke calmly.
"But I think you look a little like me now, so I like you even more."
She wasn't Haihara's biological daughter, but Haihara still felt that her daughter was a lot like her.
Kazama Kiriori's cheek was still pinched, and her fair face had turned red. She spoke haltingly:
"...Really?"
"Come here and let me kiss you."
Haihara beckoned with a finger.
Though she'd usually been the one to take the initiative, Kazama Kiriori now shyly leaned closer. Her gaze drifted to the side, and she didn't look at Haihara.
Haihara lowered her head and casually kissed Kazama Kiriori's cheek.
Her daughter really was adorable. Teasing her every now and then was fun, too.
"You don't seem to be in a very good mood today. What's wrong?"
Actually, ever since Haihara had seen Kazama Kiriori that morning, she'd thought she seemed a little down. She was still as well-behaved as a puppy, as always, but Haihara could tell when something was on her daughter's mind.
Kazama Kiriori touched the cheek Haihara had kissed and spoke softly.
"I was thinking about some things that happened in my first year..."
Back then, some unpleasant things had happened in her class, and they'd caused trouble for Haihara.
"Yeah, that wasn't much fun."
But Haihara hadn't taken it all that seriously.
Haihara picked up her chopsticks, lifted a takoyaki, and held it to Kazama Kiriori's mouth.
"Ah."
They rarely got a chance to have a mother-daughter picnic like this. It was nice to dote on her adorable daughter a little.
She'd heard that most daughters weren't very close to their mothers once they grew up. So while her daughter was still a high school girl, it was nice to spend time with her.
Kazama Kiriori obediently ate it.
"Good girl, good girl."
Haihara offered her another bite, as if she were coaxing a child. Her tone was as flat as ever, and her expression remained unchanged as she said:
"Make sure you earn money to support me when you grow up."
Meanwhile, the magical girl group was having lunch, too.
But since Kirishima Ai had to take care of her younger sister, only Takanashi Shiori and Sakaki Chika were left together.
Sakaki Chika wasn't very familiar with Takanashi Shiori, so the two of them felt a little awkward when Kirishima Ai wasn't around.
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