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With my six friends, I secretly entered the government-controlled site to steal a massive spaceship that was left in complete disarray inside. Surprisingly, I felt quite calm.

Having experienced so much, it could be said that I had reached a state of enlightenment. After all, up until now, I had barged into other people’s buildings, smashed things up, fought off aliens who had morphed into monsters, and spoken casually in front of government officials, ignored the police when running away, and even smashed police supplies. It was no wonder I felt unfazed by this.

But still, my lack of concern wasn’t solely due to that.

“W-well, you must have had something to do… right?”

That was what one police officer said upon encountering us.

Naturally, the spaceship was huge. It was impossible for one or two people to confirm everything inside just by lurking around for a few days.

The technology involved wasn’t Earth technology but alien tech, and it was totally different from ordinary technology. Even when considering the entire galaxy, it was basically a matter of ‘substantial companies’ or the very technology of the federation that made it hard to interpret.

However, we couldn’t just stand back and do nothing; naturally, the government, having seized the ship, seemed to have stuffed multiple people inside to investigate.

The broken parts that had fallen were all cleared away, and for safety, it appeared they had also neatly removed any shards of glass that could harm the workers inside.

Instead, various other equipment had been brought in, and there were several guards roaming around.

“You had a reason to sneak into this spaceship, didn’t you?”

The guard who encountered us asked.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected. Numerous guards were already surrounding the ship, some were police or military, and there were those armed and on alert. It would be utterly foolish to think there wouldn’t be anyone stationed inside 24/7.

However, I hadn’t anticipated that the guard would respond in such a manner.

I had even transformed in case I had to fight.

“U-uhh…”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I pondered for a moment.

“Um… well…”

In front of my friends, I managed to get some words out, but honestly, even now, talking to someone I was seeing for the first time made me a bit uneasy.

If it were a blatant enemy, I could just spew whatever came to mind, but instead, here I was delivering lines like a regular citizen helping a persecuted hero in a comic book. The kind of speech where later you could get in trouble with some high up by saying, ‘I was just doing what I had to do.’

…Had I truly forgotten how to converse politely?

While I was lost in thought, Ha-yoon stepped forward.

“Yes.”

Ha-yoon’s reply was refreshingly simple.

“We need this ship. I can’t tell you why right now, but we have something to do beyond the universe.”

“Is that matter related to people’s safety?”

“Of course.”

And Ha-yoon’s attitude was surprisingly confident.

“Is that so…”

The guard paused in thought for a moment and then nodded.

“Then… I’ll inform the others.”

“Ah, excuse me.”

Seeing the guard ready to move right away, I finally realized what had been bothering me and held him back.

“If you let us go like this, there’s a good chance problems will arise in various ways.”

I wouldn’t verbalize it, but mainly about work… right?

If I were still labeled the villain, I would have boldly tied up this officer and fled with the spaceship. After all, whatever I did would lead to that treatment, and if the spaceship was essential for me to survive, I had no alternative.

…I probably would have acted under such an excuse, driven by a sense of justification.

But if the other party was trying to help me, the story changed. If they actively offered assistance instead of just pretending not to see me…

If this person later suffered repercussions from this incident, what would I need to do?

“…”

The officer seemed to be contemplating something and bowed his head, falling deep into thought.

Indeed, hearing this could change one’s mind. Perhaps he had children to care for at home, or at the very least, had to feed himself.

“I’ve seen your activities. Especially Lili, you chose to fight against evil, even in difficult situations.”

Uh…

No, I was just trying to survive by rolling around. At least I never acted out of any principled sense of justice.

It just happened that the conditions of my targets were quite severe.

“Moreover, my wife received help from the magical girls about a year ago.”

“…”

I couldn’t quite respond to that remark.

“I’m one of the civilians rescued from a monster rampage. If you hadn’t been there, I don’t know how much worse the damage would have gotten.”

The officer looked up and spoke to us.

“So this time, I want to help. If it’s something urgent, it cannot be helped. We know you’re not a threat to regular people’s safety because we’ve seen it multiple times.”

That was trust.

Stories about the magical girls had already spread widely in the news. Not just for praise but there were also those who tried to demonize the magical girls for profit by making associations with me or snapping photos of another girl kissing me to create a scandal.

However, the respect the magical girls had earned didn’t just vanish. Those they had helped remembered that assistance.

Under normal circumstances, we had planned to subdue everyone inside here and simply take them out. Regardless of what was said, we’d make sure they couldn’t move and throw them out, then everything happening inside would solely be our fault.

However, could we really bind someone who speaks up this way and forcibly take them out?

“We don’t need to worry too much,” the officer continued.

“If we go back having saved Earth, who could possibly criticize our actions?”

That’s true, but…

“Conversely, if we fail to save it… well, that’s something we’ll have to live with.”

As he said that with a confident smile, I ended up not being able to respond at all.

*

In the end, that was how we managed to take over the ship.

Aside from the officer, there was no one really willing to fight us. Whether that was because the majority ruled or they thought they couldn’t win against us, whatever the reason, the result was favorable.

I don’t know exactly what’s going on near Jupiter. I have no idea how much time we have left.

But the fact that James sent out a signal means the situation is urgent.

It could even be a trap — who knows?

Can I trust James? At the very least, Cherry and the other magical girls seem to trust him.

Did James think we would find our way here after receiving that signal?

I still have no clue.

If that’s the case, we’ll have to go check it out.

Whatever happens, I just want to wrap this up.

“Alright, let’s go.”

We reconvened at the place where we had grabbed the pang-pang.

Around us, the scratches and damages were clearly visible. But in a place this important, I wondered if things could be in such disarray.

“Can you fix it?”

At my question, Cherry nodded with a serious expression.

“I’ll do my best. Ji-eun, can you wait over there?”

Cherry pointed to where we had seen the energy mass last time.

That’s where my hammer, more specifically, the generator within it, would serve its purpose.

As Cherry instructed, I went over there to stand by, while Cherry found and fiddled with the control panel in a corner of space. Jua was there beside her.

Just a few minutes later, lights flickered on around us.

My hammer, or rather, the generator inside, slowly began to glow.

“Alright. It hasn’t gotten too badly damaged. It seems we avoided any catastrophic failures,” she said.

“Can it operate normally?”

“Yes. Using all functions perfectly may not be possible, but it can get us to the coordinates.”

And then Cherry looked at us seriously.

“The coordinates are in an area where Jupiter’s radiation is overwhelmingly present. Do you understand what that means?”

Hearing that, the other kids and I exchanged glances, except for Jua.

“It means there’s an insane amount of radiation outside,” Jua completed.

“Exactly,” Cherry said, her expression intense.

“We don’t know how much radiation your energy can block. So, whatever you do, don’t go outside. You must absolutely stay inside the ship. If not, then stay in that facility the chairman made.”

We nodded solemnly.

After hearing Cherry’s words, I felt a little scared. Not that I was going to back down or anything, though.

And that slight fear couldn’t stop the Hope Circuit from turning.

Because—

“Alright. Then, we have to go now, don’t we?”

Ha-yoon said, her face reddening.

Uh, it would be nice if we could omit this part, though. Simply saying ‘let’s go’ just makes everything feel awkward.

As Ha-yoon slowly approached me, Ji-hye suddenly shouted.

“Wait!”

“Huh?”

“You haven’t even decided who to kiss yet! Why are you letting Ha-yoon come up to you like that?”

Coming from Rose, who was whistling, I shot her a glare. Rose continued to observe without shifting her gaze even a bit.

Dahlia and Delphinium looked a bit embarrassed too, but were overall unfazed.

Pang-pang, on the other hand, was gazing over here with eyes shining brightly.

Seems like she has no concept of prejudice whatsoever. Well, it’s rather strange to hold any bias in a world where aliens are overflowing on Earth.

“That’s right.”

Jua casually interjected.

“We haven’t set anything yet.”

Ji-hye and Ha-yoon looked over, bewildered, but Jua, being a magical girl, confidently met their gaze.

“So how do you plan to decide?” I asked a little incredulously.

Honestly, if I were in a relationship with someone or just had a single crush, I would probably feel shy. You know that… slightly sweet-sensation, right?

But right now, this whole ordeal feels more like watching carnivorous animals fighting over food.

Not that I’m a herbivore—

But gauging the many eyes fixated on me makes me want to recoil.

“…So, what I’m trying to say is, um, time is short.”

Despite my tone, the others nodded in agreement.

“Alright then…”

Ha-yoon paused briefly, then said, “Anyway, the more energy we have, the better. And Ji-eun is… I feel it’s a little awkward to say this, but she’s affected by the number of times…”

No, don’t make it so awkward!

And putting the word “kiss” in there doesn’t make it sound normal either, but still, you’re making it stranger while trying to avoid sounding off!

“That can’t be,” Jua said.

“Plus, considering the current situation, I don’t think anyone would back down.”

“Okay.”

Jua’s comment opened Ji-hye’s lips.

“Then let’s just set the order.”

That’s also a bit odd.

I figured it was best to keep quiet. Somehow, with events unfolding like this, I’ve started to feel it doesn’t matter anymore.

…Not that I’m against it. I do have enough intelligence to avoid outright verbal denial.

*

In the end, the order was decided as Ha-yoon, Jua, then Ji-hye.

They determined the order through rock-paper-scissors.

While I blankly watched the kids call out “rock-paper-scissors,” Rose tried to provoke me, but I shrugged it off.

And then—

“…”

Three people gathered around me.

Ha-yoon stood in front of me first.

“I’ve done this several times already, but it still feels awkward when we’re facing like this.”

“…Talking about it just makes it more embarrassing.”

I pouted slightly while pulling Ha-yoon, who leaned into me, into a hug.

The warmth of a person’s body is like this. But even after experiencing it several times, it never gets quite familiar. In a good way.

The soft feel of her lips too.

“…”

Next was Jua, who didn’t utter a word.

Seeing the expression on her face, which seemed either amused or angry while she squeezed her eyes closed and slightly puckered her lips, I thought she was cute, but…

I felt a strange guilt embracing us.

It was regarding the kiss I just had with Ha-yoon. I started to become frightened at the thought of looking at both Ha-yoon and Jua’s faces.

…

Her lips were soft and her body warm, yet it was distinctly different from Ha-yoon’s. On top of that, Jua was slightly shorter than Ha-yoon, which amplified the contrast even more. It felt fuller to kiss back to back without being in a combat situation.

Finally, Ji-hye.

Ji-hye wrapped herself around me eagerly, almost pushing her lips onto mine.

Almost reflexively, I embraced Ji-hye, but then felt her lips shift slightly, which caught me off guard.

Ji-hye was different from Ha-yoon and Jua. Especially her movements were drastically different, making it impossible to consciously overlook.

Despite receiving kisses from all three of them, I still don’t feel at ease. If those three had no feelings for me at all, it wouldn’t feel great either, but now—

Well, it’s fine.

After all, we’re doing this because of the mission. Right now.

“….”

Staring at my Hope Circuit, sparkling brightly, I couldn’t come up with any excuse.

I looked at Cherry.

Cherry nodded and gave me a thumbs up.

I took a deep breath, looking at the hovering hammer in front of me.

“…Alright, then let’s go.”

I grabbed the hammer in my hand.

The white light, spreading from my wrist to my body, flowed along my arm towards the hammer’s handle.

Then it connected to the head of the hammer. The light gathered, and the back of the hammerhead split open.

What emerged was a white light that could only be described as a pearl of light.

I closed my eyes and opened them again, saying, “Let’s go save the universe.”

I spoke those somewhat embarrassing words to blow away the turmoil in my heart.

At that moment, the kids who had been looking at me with serious expressions burst into laughter.

“Yeah, that’s the kind of rallying cry we need!” Rose said.

“Cherry!” Ha-yoon called out.

“Got it!” Cherry shouted in response, pressing a button.

Slowly, I felt the ship rising upward.

“…”

Pang-pang looked at us, seemingly moved.

“Pang-pang, do you want to shout something?”

As I turned to Pang-pang and said this, she looked a bit flustered, an unusual sight for her.

“Shout? Me?”

“You’ve got an important role too.”

Smiling, I encouraged her, and Pang-pang glanced around.

Rose seemed willing to yield her chance to Pang-pang while Dahlia and Delphinium didn’t have the demeanor to shout such a thing from the start.

Ji-hye was smiling, and Jua shrugged her shoulders.

Ha-yoon nodded.

“U, um…”

Seeing Pang-pang’s flustered state made me somewhat ponder.

As I called her ‘Earth Buddy’, Pang-pang truly has a sincere affection for Earth. Enthusiastic about Voyager, she loves discussing all sorts of Earth culture.

After all, she held the position equivalent to that of the chairman and came to Earth to live day by day.

One of the beings she cherishes most is the magical girl.

And now, she was about to embark on an adventure into outer space with those magical girls.

…Honestly, I can’t quite empathize with her given I’ve never loved anything so much, but—

Pang-pang took a deep breath.

And then she shouted with all her might.

“Let’s go!”

—Well, I can relate to that sentiment just a little.

After all, what could possibly fit this situation better than that statement?

“Let’s go!” I echoed her words, and the others shouted along.

Their faces displayed no hint of fear regarding the dangers ahead.

Magical girls are always entities that look towards hope. Sure, there are other forces now, but I preferred the idea that they represent hope.

No matter how despairing the situation, the reason I couldn’t give up was due to hope.

I could see Ha-yoon’s back slightly ahead of me. The backs of the other magical girls nearby too.

The ones I had always longed to be part of and had despaired over.

“…”

Ji-hye held my hand.

I couldn’t help but smile at her warmth.

I have all the reasons not to give up, all the reasons to fight. Although I realized that a little late.

Yeah. I’m here, right now. With the kids.

Finally, I’ve caught up.

 

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