Chapter 20

I had always longed for a normal life.

Having awakened to my talents as a magical girl at an early age, I wasn’t allowed to attend a normal school.

By national law, I was forced to enroll in an all-girls magical girl training academy, where I took classes and underwent training.

It’s not that my life at the magical girl training academy was entirely unpleasant.

All the girls around me were nice, and my days as a student council member were fulfilling in their own way.

But in the end, we were just birds in a cage.

Beings allowed to venture into the outside world only once a month.

People say some out there admire magical girls, but as a magical girl myself, I was the one who admired normal people.

A normal school life, a normal romance, normal fun.

Longing for such things, I would always gaze out at the world from the school rooftop, dreaming of a life as a normal human being, not a magical girl.

Then one day, a boy came to our school.

They said this boy possessed magical powers, just like us.

It was hard to believe at first, but from the various rumors I heard, it seemed to be true that he could use magic.

I was immediately interested in him.

A boy who could use magic like a magical girl.

What kind of person could he be?

Just as I was thinking that I’d like to talk to him once, we had a miraculous encounter on the rooftop during our lunch break.

My first impression of Reiya Toujou was that he was a nice person—though I couldn’t say why—who was bewildered at being suddenly thrown into an all-girls magical girl training academy.

Experiencing a conversation with a member of the opposite sex, something I had always dreamed of, made my heart pound a little.

Toujou had apparently attended a normal school before coming here, so I asked him all about it.

His stories were fresh and so much fun to listen to.

That first lunch break I spent with Toujou was over in an instant, but it left me wanting to talk with him again.

A few days later, Toujou joined the student council.

I don’t know the details, but apparently, some things happened with the President, and he ended up joining.

I was thrilled.

As fellow student council members, we would see each other after school without fail, and I could hear more stories about the outside world.

Just as I was getting excited about that, the President confided something unbelievable in me.

“Lately, when I think about a certain person, my heart starts pounding, and my chest feels tight…”

No matter how you look at it, that’s love!!

The moment I heard her story, that’s what I thought.

The symptoms the President was suffering from were exactly the same as the symptoms of being in love that I’d read about in romance manga.

The President was in love.

And the object of her affection was most likely Reiya Toujou.

The moment I realized that, I decided to support her.

I wouldn’t tell her directly about the nature of her feelings, but I decided I would help her realize it was her first crush.

In romance manga, there’s often a friend character who supports the protagonist or heroine, using all sorts of tricks to help their love succeed.

I decided I would become that character.

Because then, I could see the kind of romance I’d always dreamed of up close.

I suggested to the President that she go on a date with Toujou.

And I gave her all sorts of advice on how to get him to notice her.

Following my advice, the President got all dressed up and met him before their date.

Then she enjoyed a date with just the two of them at the shopping mall.

It was fun to watch their romance from so close.

It was thrilling to think that the kind of love I’d always longed for was happening right in front of me.

For a moment, I wished I was in the President’s shoes, but I knew that was a luxury I couldn’t ask for.

At the time, I was content just to watch the romance between the President and Toujou unfold.

After that, while I was tailing them, I was found by my fellow student council members, Mikan-chan and Chiyo-chan, and the three of us decided to tail them together.

Apparently, Mikan-chan and Chiyo-chan were also hungry for a little romance, and they decided to join me in shadowing the President and Toujou.

After the arcade, the two of them were just as lovey-dovey at the clothing store.

Watching them, it looked like the President had Toujou pick out some clothes for her, and she bought them.

I was so excited to be able to see a classic romance manga scene play out right before my eyes.

For some reason, though, Mikan-chan and Chiyo-chan seemed to be in a bad mood.

What would happen next?

What did Toujou think of the President?

Had the President realized her own feelings yet?

It happened just as I was thinking about these things, continuing to shadow the two of them with excitement.

Suddenly, a monster alert blared throughout the shopping mall.

A monster had appeared and was attacking the mall.

It was no longer a situation where we could hide and follow them, so we joined up with the President and Toujou.

And so, we ended up fighting the monsters that appeared in the shopping mall.

On the President’s orders, I transformed into a magical girl and used my specialty, detection magic, to pinpoint the number and location of the monsters.

And I found out that the strongest monster was on the very floor we were on.

The presence of the monster I sensed with my detection magic was far more malevolent than any monster we had ever fought before.

I couldn’t let the other magical girls fight this thing.

I decided to sacrifice myself.

I would buy time by dying.

In that time, reinforcements would arrive, and the other four would be saved.

I lied to the President and told her the strong monster was on the upper floors.

Then I sent the other four to different floors and faced the vicious monster alone.

The strongest monster in our history was unbelievably powerful.

I was no match for it and was quickly cornered.

In the moments before the monster was about to kill me, my entire life flashed before my eyes.

It was a boring, tedious life, I thought.

I wanted to do so many more fun things.

I wanted to experience a normal school life, normal fun, a normal romance.

Just like the President… I wanted to meet the boy I would have my first crush on.

I became terribly envious of the President, who had experienced her first love, and I felt that my own life, ending without ever knowing that feeling, was so sad and lonely.

I just wanted to fall in love, the way I’d always dreamed, just once. Holding that impossible wish in my heart, I sensed my death and closed my eyes.

In that instant, there was an explosion.

I heard the monster scream, and I was thrown into the air just moments from death.

Gasping for air, I looked up, and standing there, unbelievably, was Reiya Toujou.

He had apparently defeated the monster upstairs and had come to save me.

Why, I thought.

Why had he come for me, and not the President, or Mikan-chan, or Chiyo-chan?

Without answering my silent question, Toujou fought the monster Orochi alone.

And he defeated the monster Orochi all by himself.

I never knew Toujou was so strong.

His power far surpassed mine, Mikan-chan’s, Chiyo-chan’s, the other magical girls’, and even the President’s.

I found myself staring, speechless at his overwhelming power.

After defeating Orochi, Toujou scolded me.

Because I had selfishly decided to sacrifice myself.

Toujou made me promise that I would never, ever do something like that again.

He even said those wonderful words to me—that he would be sad if I died.

All my emotions mixed together, and I burst into tears.

Toujou gently wrapped me in his arms and stroked my back.

I finally understood why the President had fallen for him.

Afterward, reinforcements arrived, and all the monsters in the shopping mall were defeated.

The student council members, who had split up to fight the monsters, had somehow succeeded in buying time, and all of them survived the crisis.

After it was all over, I told the President, Mikan-chan, and Chiyo-chan that I had lied, and I apologized.

The three of them scolded me, asking why I hadn’t consulted them, just like Toujou had, before they hugged me, crying, and forgave me.

I swore to myself that I would never again do anything to betray the people in the student council.

In the end, the monster attack made a mess of everything, and it seemed the President was never able to realize her own feelings.

But I knew I could no longer help the President’s love come to fruition.

“Haaah… I’m sorry, President… I can’t help you with your crush anymore…”

That’s because I myself had developed the same feelings for the same person.

“I never knew… I could be such a terrible person…”

Because I’ve fallen in love with Reiya Toujou.