Chapter 3

“What in the world is wrong with you two…!”

After leaving the director’s office, Koharu had accompanied Kisaragi and Usami to the student council room.

The moment they entered the room, Koharu began to interrogate them.

She assailed the two for not backing her up in the director’s office just moments before.

“Why didn’t you help me!? You both should want to avoid having this academy’s unity and morals disrupted by a boy’s enrollment!!”

“W-Well, that’s true, but…”

“I-It’s not that we betrayed you, President… It’s just, there are… circumstances…”

“Circumstances? What kind of circumstances…!”

Koharu narrowed her eyes at the rare sight of her student council officers acting so suspiciously—averting their gazes and fidgeting with their uniforms.

“I want you to tell me everything. There are no secrets between us…!”

“W-What do we do…?”

“We-We have to tell her… I’m worried about what that monster said, too…”

The two glanced at each other, then began to speak, bit by bit.

How they had been on patrol in the city this morning when a monster alert went out, and they had to fight it.

How that monster was far stronger than any they had faced before, and they had been on the verge of losing.

How, in their moment of absolute crisis, someone had saved them with magic.

And how they had seen Toujou Reiya at the scene.

“Is that… really true…?”

Koharu’s eyes widened in shock as she listened to their story.

The tale that spilled from Kisaragi and Usami’s lips was utterly staggering.

First, the appearance of a monster that Kisaragi and Usami couldn’t defeat together.

Kisaragi and Usami were among the most skilled, top-class magical girls.

The emergence of a monster that could overwhelm both of them at once was, until now, unthinkable.

What’s more, the monster had insinuated that it was a “created being.”

That meant, if they so chose, whoever created this monster could create more with similar, or even greater, strength and unleash them upon the city.

“We have to become stronger, too… as magical girls…”

“W-We’re sorry… It’s our fault…”

“We should have been able to defeat that monster by ourselves…”

The fact that the magical girls, humanity’s hope, had suffered a practical defeat at the hands of a monster was significant.

As Kisaragi and Usami’s shoulders slumped in shame, Koharu’s expression softened, and she placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

“You have nothing to apologize for. And there’s no need to be discouraged. You both fought well. The most important thing is that you returned safely.”

“President…”

“Student Council President…”

“However… regarding this Toujou Reiya matter, I’d like to hear the details a little more clearly…?”

“—!?”

Koharu’s expression instantly turned severe, and the two girls jumped with a jolt, straightening their backs.

Koharu grilled them about Toujou Reiya, her eyes locked on them in an interrogating stare.

“Is what you saw true? Did Toujou Reiya really save you?”

“Y-Yes… probably…”

“We can’t be certain… but there’s a high probability…”

“So you didn’t see the moment Toujou Reiya activated his magic? Which means there’s still a chance that Toujou Reiya doesn’t actually possess magical powers?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“But… there was no one else around at that time besides Toujou-kun…”

“Toujou-kun? That’s a rather friendly way to refer to him, isn’t it?”

“Eek!?”

Koharu glared at Usami Chiyo.

Chiyo let out a strangled shriek.

“You two are being awfully defensive of that boy… Don’t tell me… you haven’t taken a liking to this Toujou Reiya fellow, have you!?”

“—!?”

The two girls flinched, then immediately began shaking their hands and heads in vigorous denial of Koharu’s words.

“N-N-N-No way, of course not, President~”

“D-Don’t be silly~… That’s impossible~…”

“…Hmph. We’ll leave it at that for now.”

Though Koharu shot them a suspicious look, noting their obviously flustered behavior, she didn’t press them any further.

“Fine. Regardless… I will not simply accept that boy… I will see for myself if he truly possesses magical power… And if I find that he has none, or that it’s insufficient… I will use all my power to drive him out of this academy.”

Koharu’s eyes burned with fighting spirit.

She would never be one to easily accept an exception like Toujou Reiya, no matter what the director or even the country had to say about it.

◆　

Ugh… how did it come to this…

Homeroom had ended, and as I spent the time alone at my desk waiting for first period to begin, I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles.

Normally, when a transfer student arrives, they become the center of attention for a couple of days, bombarded with a ceaseless barrage of questions from their classmates.

But for me, right now, there wasn’t the slightest hope of such a development.

Far from asking me questions or talking to me, the surrounding magical girls wouldn’t even come near me.

They kept glancing my way, whispering amongst themselves while shooting me looks of undisguised hostility.

I just want class to start already, I prayed, forcing myself into a staring contest with my desk.

“Hey, did you know…? I heard that boys only take a bath once a week…”

“Filthy… What is that…?”

No way that’s true.

I couldn’t help but retort in my head to the rumor I’d just overheard.

It seemed the magical girls, having grown up in a garden of women, were rather lacking in their knowledge of the opposite sex.

“I’ve also heard that they get excited when they see a woman’s underwear.”

“…? What does that mean? Why would underwear excite someone?”

“I don’t know… Why indeed?”

“That makes no sense.”

Sure, there are perverts like that, but that’s only some of them…!

Apparently, their knowledge of men was considerably skewed.

“I heard their weak spot is between their legs.”

“Their weak spot is between their legs? Why? What’s between their legs?”

“Who knows? I have no idea. But I heard that if you attack them between the legs, you don’t have to worry about a counterattack.”

“…That’s good to know. In that case, if that boy ever attacks us, we should all hit his weak spot between the legs with our full-power magic.”

“I agree.”

No, seriously, please don’t.

At their conversation, the other me cowering in my pants shriveled up.

Please, just let class start already… for real…

Clatter, clatter, clatter…!

“—!”

As if my prayers had been answered, the classroom door slid open, and the teacher for first period appeared—or so I thought. But that wasn’t it. The ones who appeared were a group of female students I recognized.

Them…

The ones who entered the classroom were the two magical girls who had been fighting the monster at the fountain plaza in front of the station this morning.