Teacher, I Am Actually a Villainous Magical Girl

She is Otomo.

Although she is not as obsessed with Magical Girl shows as she was when she was a child, she still follows every new season that comes out.

"...Look."

After arriving at the campsite, the students have to prepare for the evening's activities before it gets dark.

For instance, gathering firewood and setting up tents are tasks the students must do themselves.

Sakaki Chika is gathering firewood with a distracted look on her face.

Ever since that long-awaited job she did last night, she has received a previous endorsement fee, meaning she can support herself and no longer needs to stay at Teacher Haihara's house.

However, this fact does not make her feel happy; instead, she feels a bit depressed and anxious.

Once the camping trip ends tomorrow, she will likely have to move out on her own, and at that point, she will return to being all by herself.

Although she is glad she no longer has to trouble Teacher Haihara, the thought that she won't be able to live with her anymore, nor have any special connection to her, leaves her at a loss for what to do.

This means that from now on, she and Teacher Haihara can only have a normal teacher-student relationship.

Sakaki Chika certainly does not want that.

But what can she do?

The teacher already has a daughter, and she is such an excellent and adorable student council president; she herself has absolutely nothing that compares to President Kazama...

If she had to say...

After receiving that endorsement fee yesterday, Sakaki Chika suddenly realized that as a high school student, she actually has more income than many adults.

The salary that the teacher probably has to work very hard for a long time to earn is roughly the same amount she can get from just a few performances.

Hmm, this is her advantage.

Although she had higher incomes before, all that money went toward paying off debts. It wasn't until now, with no more debt holes to fill, that she realized just how much money she earns as an idol.

The teacher works so hard and lives alone at home; she must feel lonely, right?

If she were to earn money to support the teacher, then the teacher wouldn't have to work so hard, would she?

"...Huh?"

Sakaki Chika feels like she has found a way forward.

Yes... a teacher like that should just stay at home and let an idol earn the money to support her.

Moreover, just thinking about how she would be exhausted after every performance, but as soon as she got home, she would see the teacher waiting for her with a meal cooked and bathwater drawn, she...

It's so blissful.

Immersed in her own fantasies, Sakaki Chika blushes, feeling a bit shameless.

"Sakaki-san? Are you suffering from heatstroke? Would you like some water?"

Beside her, a girl's voice asks her.

Sakaki Chika snaps back to reality and sees a girl slightly taller than her standing in front of her.

She is a thin girl with black braided hair, beautiful in appearance, though a bit timid and dull—the type who looks like a model student.

The girl is the class representative of Class Four, Kageyama Tsubaki.

She has a very gentle personality, studies hard, and is friendly to everyone; she is the rare Yamato Nadeshiko type.

However, there are two people with the surname Kageyama in their class who are cousins; the younger brother is also a good student and very popular in class, a standard extrovert.

"I... I'm fine."

Sakaki Chika stammers.

After waking up from her fantasy, Sakaki Chika thinks of another problem.

How should she explain her feelings to the teacher?

The age gap between her and the teacher is so large... and they are the same sex. If she really confessed to the teacher, would the teacher find it... disgusting?

The teacher saved her, yet she has been harboring these ugly thoughts all along.

At times like this, she is still as cowardly as before.

In moments like these, she wishes she were the Magical Girl Star Flower.

If she were the Magical Girl Star Flower, she would surely be able to muster the courage to confess to Teacher Haihara.

As for whether she would do anything bolder, she doesn't know...

Wait, can she transform into the Magical Girl Star Flower?

Just as she thinks this, Kageyama Tsubaki checks her watch and reminds her:

"It's almost time for lunch, let's head back."

"Oh, oh, okay..."

Chapter 55 Picnic

After watching the Magical Girl for a while, time had slipped away until noon.

When lunchtime arrived, Kirishima Hina went off to eat with her sister. At times like this, there was no need for Haihara to keep looking after the child; after all, these kinds of activities would become boring if one stayed with a teacher the whole time.

Since they were in the mountains, this could also be called a picnic.

In previous years, she would have just made do with some bread, or if she were hungry, she would have mooched a meal off the students, but today's bento was made by Sakaki Chika.

Haihara opened the lunch box and took a look.

It looked like octopus balls, along with chicken drumsticks and a fried egg; it was quite a hearty meal.

She was the type of person who didn't like eating vegetables.

There were a few bean sprouts, but they were still acceptable.

Besides that, there was ketchup drizzled over the fried egg, and it was poured into a heart shape, which was quite cute.

Come to think of it, this child seemed to have returned very late yesterday, yet she still got up early to make breakfast. Was she alright?

She had looked sleepy on the bus this morning, too.

She would go and check on her in a little while.

However, Haihara wasn't the only one eating lunch today.

Sitting right next to her was her devoted daughter.

"Today's bento doesn't look like it was made by Mom. Was it made by Sakaki?"

"Mm."

"She did a really good job, though I'm a little jealous."

"Who is still this clingy to their mother at eighteen?"

And a daughter, at that.

The two of them began to eat while chatting.

It was cooler at noon than it had been in the morning, perhaps because of the breeze in the mountains. Haihara's mood was also a bit brighter than before, and the temperature this year seemed lower than the previous two years; during that camping trip before, she had almost no appetite to eat.

However, she didn't seem to have eaten lunch with Kiriori during that last camping trip.

Back then, Kiriori seemed to have had friends.

Haihara looked toward the students in the distance who were eating and chatting, recalling some things from the past.

"Come to think of it, during your freshman year camping trip, a Monster even appeared."

"That did happen."

"And the one who appeared back then was the Magical Girl Phantom Wind."

"...Mm."

"She looked a bit like my senior, which gave me quite a start," Haihara said expressionlessly.

She had already forgotten what her psychological reaction was at the time, but it had indeed been a bit shocking.

"...Are you talking about Mom?"

Kazama Kiriori was referring to her biological mother... who was also the senior Haihara had once had a crush on.

"Mm."

Haihara nodded.

"I am too, I look a lot like Mom..." Kazama Kiriori lowered her head.

Although looking a lot like her mother was a happy thing, now, sometimes when she thought that her mother favored her for such reasons, she felt a little sad.

Even though it was only a fleeting expression, Haihara still noticed it.

She gently reached out her hand and pinched Kazama Kiriori's soft cheek—

"You used to look a bit like her."

Kazama Kiriori, with her cheek being pinched, was stunned for a moment, then saw Haihara's deep black eyes behind her glasses, which were gentler than usual.

She said calmly:

"But I think you look a bit like me now, so I like you even more."

Although they weren't related by blood, Haihara just felt that her daughter was very much like her.

With her cheek being pinched, Kazama Kiriori's originally fair face was dyed red, and her speech became a bit stuttered:

"...Really?"

"Come here and let me kiss you."

Haihara beckoned with her finger.

Although she had always been the proactive one before, Kazama Kiriori now shyly leaned in, her gaze falling to the side without looking at Haihara's face.

Haihara lowered her head and gave Kazama Kiriori's cheek a very casual kiss.

Hmm, her daughter was still quite cute, and teasing her occasionally was also quite interesting.

"You seem to be in a bad mood today. Is something the matter?"

In truth, ever since she saw Kazama Kiriori this morning, Haihara had felt that she seemed a bit down. Although she was still acting like a well-behaved puppy just as usual, Haihara could still tell when her daughter was harboring such little thoughts.

Kazama Kiriori touched the cheek that had been kissed and said in a low voice:

"I was reminded of some things from my first year of high school..."

Back then, some unpleasant events had occurred in her class, which had caused trouble for Haihara.

"Hmm, that doesn't sound like a very happy memory."

However, Haihara didn't really mind it that much.

Haihara picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a takoyaki, and held it out to Kazama Kiriori's lips:

"Ah."

It was a rare opportunity for a mother-daughter picnic like this, so taking extra care of her cute daughter wasn't a bad idea.

She had heard that most daughters didn't get along as well with their mothers once they grew up, so while her daughter was still a high schooler, getting closer to her was a good thing.

Kazama Kiriori obediently ate it.

"Good, very good."

Haihara held out another piece, as if she were coaxing a small child, though her tone remained as flat as ever, and she said with an expressionless face:

"In the future, you'll have to earn money to take good care of your mother, okay?"

Meanwhile, the Magical Girl group was also eating lunch.

However, because Kirishima Ai had to look after her younger sister, it was actually just Takanashi Shiori and Sakaki Chika left.

Sakaki Chika and Takanashi Shiori were not very familiar with each other, so with Kirishima Ai away, the two of them found it a bit awkward to be together.