Chapter 530
She herself didn't realize that her gaze had become somewhat dim and filled with a childlike unease.
"Um?"
Haihara looked puzzled:
What do you mean?
"Please change back to how you used to be, and then restore everyone's memories to normal, all of them..."
Yue,$)+Yi Yi Qiu Qi Ba Si Qi is Wu Liu Wu Kirishima Ai's fingers gripped the cuff of her clothes.
These words, which sounded like a child throwing a tantrum, naturally did not elicit any understanding or sympathy from Haihara.
Instead, Haihara quickly adopted a relaxed and nonchalant demeanor, casually asking in return:
Why must I revert to that cursed form, Kirishima?
"---It's not like I'm cursed."
Kirishima Ai retorted vehemently.
Haihara still didn't seem to understand, but she opened another bag of chocolate sticks, and while Kirishima Ai's breathing was very uneven, she stood up, picked up a chocolate stick, and stuffed it into the girl's mouth.
The girl had no choice but to bite into the chocolate stick with a blank expression.
Then, she felt her cheek being pinched, followed immediately by Teacher Haihara's indifferent and clear voice beside her.
"Don't act like a child and throw a tantrum at me. I don't want to hear it, so leave me alone."
The next moment, Kirishima Ai felt her face, which was biting a chocolate stick, being pinched out of shape.
The woman pinched Kirishima Ai's face hard, like a child, until the little girl's face turned red.
Kirishima Ai let out a muffled purr, like an angry cat, and stared up at Haihara with dead fish eyes:
"... The teacher is the one who's really throwing a tantrum." (Shan Siming Qier'er hNI Ba Shi)
However, at this moment, Kirishima Ai also realized it.
The teacher has now become a rather strange and incomprehensible adult.
No, it's also possible that she was just being willful.
However, there must be something wrong with this.
She had to figure out what had happened and then get everything back on track.
Volume Four Does This Count as a Magical Girl??: Chapter 48 The Composure of the Older Generation of Magic Girls
Before leaving, Kirishima Ai wanted to ask Teacher Haihara what her true purpose was in doing all this.
The result, of course, was that the response was not very helpful.
The only clue that can serve as a clue is what Takanashi said when he questioned the teacher: that he wanted to start another rebellion against R'lyeh.
She found it hard to imagine a teacher doing such a thing, but she also didn't rule out the possibility.
Now, we can only take it one step at a time.
What we now understand is that Kuroki Yuka and Sakaki Chika have both had their perceptions changed and no longer find anything strange about Teacher Haihara.
While being honest with them directly is one way, Kirishima Ai wants to first see if there are any others who haven't been infected like her.
Ultimately, Kirishima Ai was genuinely puzzled as to why, up until now, she was the only one who had retained her memories.
What's so special about her?
The word "special" Kirishima Ai brought to mind a person, making her want to quickly ascertain their situation.
So she patiently waited until noon.
During the midday break, compared to the lively atmosphere of the First-Year Classroom Building, the Third-Year Classroom Building is much quieter and more orderly, although this is only relatively speaking.
The students here are all nearing graduation and moving on to higher education. They will soon be leaving this school. Some look expectant and happy, while others are worried. Kirishima Ai a little curious about how she will feel when the time comes.
Kirishima Ai rarely comes to the senior high school building, but she has come here to look for people before.
So, following her memory, she soon arrived at the class where the person she was looking for was.
After seeing someone come out of the door, she asked a question:
"Hello, is Senpai Kazama in the classroom? I need to talk to her."
That's right, she's looking for President Kazama.
If we're talking about all the Magic girls, the most reliable one, and the one most likely to persuade Teacher Haihara President Kazama.
The senior high school girl was somewhat surprised to hear these words:
"Huh, a high school freshman at this age still comes to confess to the student council president?"
"Confession?"
Kirishima Ai paused for a moment, then quickly shook her head:
"No, no, no, it's just that I know President Kazama and I have something I'd like to ask him."
Ultimately, why did I immediately assume she was there to confess her feelings?
Does Kazama have a lot of women confessing their feelings to him?
No, I think there were quite a lot.
Fortunately, this senior was quite easy to talk to, and soon after, she Kazama Kiriori met in a slightly quieter place.
Since the student council president noticed it was Kirishima Ai, she didn't seem to care much about her image as she ate an apple, appearing no different from usual.
"Kirishima, what brings you here alone?"
She didn't seem to find anything particularly strange about what had happened recently.
Since the lunch break was relatively long, and the events that had occurred were indeed important, Kirishima Ai decided to sit down and explain slowly.
Kazama Kiriori seemed to have a similar premonition, so she also found a place to sit down and listened patiently.
"President, do you remember what happened on the day of the School Festival?"
"School Festival?"
This term is quite far removed from Kazama Kiriori.
She remembered that the school had indeed held School Festival a few days ago.
However, because their school's School Festival is held at a very special time, it generally has nothing to do with senior high school students.
"Was anything that happened that day that I should be paying attention to?"
As expected, Kazama Kiriori also appeared completely unaware of the situation.
This is a real headache.
After considering her words for a moment, Kirishima Ai described:
"On the second night of the School Festival, Princess R'lyeh and her close retainers clashed with us because they intended to seize 'Lost Paradise Twilight' in order to gain the power of the Overlord and carry out some evil schemes."
That evening, because President Kazama was a senior high school student, he went home early after school.
So, perhaps, there was never any chance of finding out what happened that night?
"Oh dear, that's another big problem. Do you need my help? I don't have any suitable Crystal on hand, though."
Kazama Kiriori remained calm and composed, listening attentively while pulling out a packet of Sweet Milk Powder from somewhere, preparing and stirring it.
The warm aroma of Sweet Milk filled the chilly winter corridor, Kazama Kiriori blew on the rim of his cup, creating a comforting atmosphere.
So, it seems that President Kazama's Crystal "Gale" and "Fang" were shattered in the previous battle.
Although there are other alternative Crystal, none of them can unleash their full potential.
"No, that problem is solved in a sense... but the important thing is something else."
"President, don't you feel there's anything wrong with your memory?"
Considering that the fact might be quite a shock to the president, Kirishima Ai decided to guide the president's thinking first.
Kazama Kiriori was blowing hot steam from the Sweet Milk.
"You mean?"
"For example, Teacher Haihara... shouldn't she have looked like this? Look at her striking appearance, her silver-gray hair, and her eye color... in every sense, the Teacher Haihara you remember shouldn't be like this, right?"
Kirishima Ai was trying to use this simple logic to make the chairman realize the strangeness in the situation.
Kazama Kiriori smiled, then decisively shook her head in denial.
"That's always been how I remember it, I don't find anything strange about it."
She thought for a moment, then brought up a more fundamental and unsettling question that should have been buried deep in her heart, and asked Kazama Kiriori about it, also seeking confirmation:
"Uh, there are some other odd things."
"Think about it carefully, haven't we Magic girl users all unknowingly become involved with Teacher Haihara, and our relationship has actually become quite good?"
"Doesn't the president find it... strange?"
Perhaps Teacher Haihara discovered all of this long ago and used it to achieve her goal.
Teacher Haihara herself seems to have said the same thing...
Even now, Kirishima Ai herself can't be sure, so this morning, when she thought about it, she felt rather depressed.
"That's because my mother is very charming; she's an incredibly beautiful and outstanding woman."
Kazama Kiriori Kirori said matter-of-factly that she didn't find it strange at all.
Instead, he seemed to think that Kirishima Ai was overthinking things.
Although Kirishima Ai admitted that she did think Teacher Haihara's face was very beautiful in the past.
"No, no, no... Come to think of it, why does Teacher Haihara have such a striking and bizarre appearance with silver hair and purple eyes?"
"So, Takanashi's appearance is also quite striking and strange, but didn't everyone eventually accept it?"
As the top student in her grade, Kazama Kiriori always speaks with reason and evidence.
"That's another, even more incredible story..."
Why did President Kazama predict everything so accurately without any apparent reason?
Kirishima Ai couldn't help but cover her forehead.
She tried to think in reverse and described what Teacher Haihara should look like:
"But, but, the original Teacher Haihara should have had black hair and black eyes, giving off a cold and gloomy impression. She would also have worn thick black-rimmed glasses, and her face would have been quite different from now. Sometimes... she would have been considered unremarkable."
The last paragraph is other people's evaluations and descriptions, Kirishima Ai now finds strange in retrospect.
To everyone's surprise, upon hearing this, Kazama Kiriori tilted her head and thought about it seriously for a moment.
"Oh, let me think."
"That kind of mother sounds very charming, or rather, incredibly wonderful?"
She spoke with utmost sincerity and without the slightest hesitation.
"... You simply really like Teacher Haihara, right?"
Kirishima Ai was speechless.
I just can't stand mama's girls anymore.
It was only at times like this that President Kazama completely lost his usual cleverness and wit.
With a sigh, she decided to be frank and tell everyone what she knew.
"Actually, something else happened on the night of the School Festival."
Continuing the previous topic, she continued.
Then, she told the president everything that happened that night, including Teacher Haihara appearing in front of them and transforming into the Overlord through the Four Devil King Crystals and the Lost Paradise Twilight:
"... In other words, Teacher Haihara has always been a Magic girl, and the legendary strongest Magic girl at that."
"After that, we were all defeated, and then Teacher Haihara used Magic to change all of our perceptions..."
Sure enough, this time, the president did show a surprised expression.