Since my Useless Working Sister and Other Troublemakers Became Magical Girls, I have no Choice but to Support Them. - Chapter 1-21: Haruka Sees Through

Chapter 1-21: Haruka Sees Through

“Let’s start with the big stores. Like the department store.”

“Will we find what you’re looking for in a bigger store?”

“That’s part of it, but mostly because bigger stores are more likely to be wheelchair accessible.”

“Makes sense.”

“Alright, Yuuma, push my wheelchair!”

“You can move on your own, right?”

“Hmph. It’s nice to have someone else do something I can do myself!”

“What do you mean by that?”

It wasn’t just a simple matter of laziness.

“When someone does something for me, I feel a sense of love or care from them. I really like that… especially when it’s you, Yuuma.”

“What did you say?”

The words she added at the end were too quiet for me to catch clearly.

“Nothing important! It’s just easier to let someone else push my wheelchair. That’s one reason why I prefer the wheelchair over a prosthetic leg!”

“Hey.”

Haruka laughed cheerfully. I guess the ‘easier’ part was true.

Understanding her reasons, I began to push Haruka’s wheelchair.

“I want a skirt. A short one for summer.”

“A skirt, huh?”

“Yeah. It makes it clear I have one leg.”

“You prefer it to be obvious?”

Again, I couldn’t understand her feelings.

“I think it depends on the person, but I want to show off this leg! Plus, long pants look weird with just one leg flattened, and long skirts look odd with one leg out. So, I thought I’d go for a bold style and show it off.”

“Got it.”

“It’s easier for people to understand my disability and offer help if needed. Besides, my legs are pretty, right?”

She moved her leg, the one that ended partway down, up and down from under her short skirt. I couldn’t help but look.

“Oh, Yuuma, you’re checking out my leg? Oh my, such a boy!”

“You said you wanted to show it. I’ll stop pushing.”

“Wait, wait! I’m sorry!”

Haruka laughed happily as she apologized. I wasn’t actually mad.

It was just a peaceful exchange with a normal girl missing one leg.

But that peace was always suddenly disrupted.

“Yuuma. A Fear-Eater. It’s close.”

Rafio pulled at my sleeve from my bag after managing to open it himself.

“Can you tell?”

“By instinct. I can sense when it appears and roughly where it is.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Suspicious.”

Haruka stared at me intently. Rafio had hurried back into the bag, so she hadn’t seen him.

“Just now, you were talking to someone other than me, weren’t you?”

“Of course not.”

“Really?”

Haruka kept questioning me, turning around in her wheelchair, and I was trying to figure out how to deal with the monster.

Just then, an announcement played over the loudspeakers. A female voice, in a panicked tone, announced that a monster had appeared in the building and instructed everyone to evacuate.

Despite the suddenness of the situation, the large store had clearly developed a protocol for such events within the past few days.

“Let’s get out of here, Haruka.”

“Aren’t you going to fight, Yuuma?”

“…”

I stopped pushing the wheelchair.

“The monster seems to be rampaging on this floor. Let’s go.”

“Hey, wait!”

Haruka checked her smartphone and started moving her wheelchair on her own, heading in the opposite direction of the evacuating customers.

If you checked the internet, you could get a general idea of where the Fear-Eater was. Someone probably took a photo of it before fleeing.

Haruka knew this department store well, so she could locate the monster from those photos.

“Wait, Haruka! It’s dangerous! Rafio, contact my sister!”

“Already on it.”

Rafio was using my phone to send a message to Aina. As I prepared for battle, I grabbed a hand towel from my bag and ran after Haruka.

“Stop! It’s dangerous!”

“But you and the magical girl will protect us, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know! I saw the video of you fighting alongside the magical girl!”

Haruka stopped her wheelchair and turned to face me, her expression serious.

“How did you know?”

I unintentionally asked, acknowledging her claim. I genuinely didn’t understand how she knew.

Haruka smiled brightly.

“I saw a video of the magical girl and a boy from our school uniform fighting. I recognized you right away.”

Someone had filmed that battle. Others besides that dead man. It wasn’t hard to imagine that video being shared online.

But I was wearing a mask.

“How did you recognize me?”

“I just knew. I’ve been watching you for a long time. Your walk, your movements when you’re in a hurry.”

“Fear-Eater!”

At the same moment Haruka answered, I heard a voice I didn’t want to hear.

There was no one around us. Everyone had evacuated. So, the Fear-Eater chose us as its targets.

The Fear-Eater took the form of a child. To be precise, it was a mannequin dressed in girls’ clothing.

The mannequin, dressed in a branded shirt and skirt, originally had a blank face, but it had transformed into a Fiery Eater with a terrifying face.

The outfit was cute, but the monstrous presence was unmistakable. And despite its small size, it charged at us with terrifying speed.

“Yuuma. The rest is up to you.”

Rafio jumped out of my bag, threw his bag to me, and then enlarged himself.