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The situation was settled faster than I expected.

It seems like people are surprisingly considerate of us. Well, considering we jumped in recklessly yet ended up saving the world, it’s only natural, I guess.

But that doesn’t mean everything went over smoothly without any issues. We had certainly caused a ruckus, and we needed to provide a bit more detail about it.

What I mean is… we aren’t treated as fugitives or villains anymore, that’s the gist of it.

To summarize what happened that day—

When we returned that night, it was pretty late, but the government had already been waiting for us since they knew our spaceship had been hijacked.

If we had been missing for a few days or weeks, they might have kept the people waiting even longer.

When the ship came back, there were plenty of people outside, all tense and clustered nearby.

Almost all of them were police, and I think there were some soldiers further back. Well, considering we had just stolen a military cruiser, that’s only to be expected.

No one shot at us, though.

But as we were landing, the people who had been anxiously looking up at us let out cheers as soon as we stepped down.

I was a bit taken aback by that noise.

Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium waved their hands like it was nothing, and Jua didn’t look too awkward either.

Was it just me and Ji-hye who were flustered?

Ha-yoon patted us on the back lightly.

When I turned back with a confused expression, Ha-yoon smiled and said,

“Wave your hand. You’re a hero, after all.”

A hero.

That word tickled me in a strange way.

Do I think I’m a hero? I’m not so sure about that. I don’t even know if it’s okay to think so.

I mean, I did say I saved the day, but really, I acted out of a desire to survive.

Still, I raised one hand and waved it, just like Ha-yoon did.

The cheers grew louder. Most were the police, but hey, that’s definitely better than being outright antagonistic.

Seeing this, Ji-hye also lifted both her hands and waved them. A bright smile was on her face.

“……”

A little.

Just a tiny bit, but still—

It didn’t feel bad at all.

“Is this how magical girls are usually treated?”

“Eh? Yeah, that’s right. There might be people who dislike the Federation, but not many despise magical girls…”

Hmm. I guess some people would likely dislike them.

I’m sure there are others who think like me.

Like, I’m really not in the mood to point that out now, anyway.

Is that so?

Have I genuinely become a magical girl?

It feels somewhat silly to be pondering this at this point, but whatever.

I glanced back at the crowd again.

“By the way, I gave a heads-up discreetly on the way back.”

Cherry, who had flown near us, spoke with a slightly proud face. She looked like she had just cleared her throat.

“That way, people could understand things a bit better.”

“Oh, I see.”

Should I say it was a good move, or be a little surprised by her quick thinking?

I was stuck on what to feel when Ha-yoon lightly wrapped her arms around my waist, pushing me forward.

Of all times! My magical girl outfit was quite revealing at the back… No, to be precise, it was almost non-existent. I pondered for a moment why my Lily form looked like this, but I couldn’t quite come up with an answer. It seems that my mind’s idea of ‘Magical Girl Second Form’ took this shape.

“I suppose I’ll have a lot to deal with when we go back.”

Rose slowed her pace to match mine and spoke.

“Admin-wise? Legally?”

“No, that’s a matter for the bureaucrats to sort out. Well, at least, it was up until now.”

Rose replied with a smile.

“I mean, not that… your circuit.”

She purposely glanced at my left wrist while speaking.

“It’s not a hope circuit anymore, is it? Shouldn’t it convert to a love circuit? Like when you transform—”

I reflexively swatted at Rose’s face, but it seemed I couldn’t completely catch up to her in close combat. She easily dodged my hand.

Or did she tease me knowing I would swing at her? Either way, she’s someone I can’t let my guard down around.

“Still, it’s true that you’re planning to change it, right?”

With that teasing remark, I let out a long sigh.

Well… it’s not entirely wrong, I suppose.

Good grief, a magical girl who fights for love.

That thought oddly stirs up a mix of emotions inside me.

Feeling somewhat deflated, I lowered the arm I had raised to wave, but Ji-hye quickly seized it and locked it around herself.

As if it were only natural, Ha-yoon grabbed my other arm.

As we stepped through the throng of police and soldiers, I couldn’t help but think it would look a bit odd.

No matter how natural it may seem for women to link arms here, it would be quite the misunderstanding if we, who let our kisses be seen in the papers, were doing this to each other—

“……”

At this point, I can hardly call it a misunderstanding.

As I felt the two girls leaning against my shoulders, those thoughts crossed my mind.

Ha-yoon, Ji-hye, Jua, all of them confessed to me. I’m the only one who hasn’t responded.

…Honestly, it’s an overwhelming amount of affection.

And strangely enough, I feel something for all three of them.

I can’t deny that at all. After all, my circuit goes haywire every time we kiss.

What should I do about these feelings?

Stuck in indecision, I ended up getting carried home with my arms tied behind my back, just like Ha-yoon and Ji-hye.

And don’t even get me started on Jua’s piercing gaze.

*

So, we returned home that day like that.

I expected bureaucrats or someone else would be waiting to take us away, but nothing of the sort happened. They probably worried about our condition. Asking someone who’s already irritated with dirt all over them for explanations wouldn’t really get us anywhere.

Exhausted, we quickly washed up one after the other, changed into clean clothes, and laid down in our rooms just as we typically did.

And only then did I realize.

“Wait, why are you all here?”

That’s right.

In this room, it wasn’t just me, Ji-hye, and Ha-yoon. Other magical girls were also present!

Ji-hye and I had originally used this room, and since it’s been little since Ha-yoon made it theirs, her being here is perfectly normal. But Rose, Dalia, Delphinium, and Jua had no reason to be here at all.

Of course, they must be trying to stay out of their parents’ sights as well, but it doesn’t seem like they would be in a situation like Ha-yoon’s.

“Hey, we came out for a runaway today too.”

But I had to concede immediately to Rose’s remark.

Oh, I get it. They probably also decided to leave home quietly, then suddenly ditched to steal a government spaceship and flew all the way to Jupiter.

While the outcome was good, there’s no way any sane parent would easily allow that. Whether it was something to do with the Federation or not.

…Like the orphanage teachers who exclaimed “why you!” when they saw us earlier.

“And don’t forget her.”

“Ha ha…”

Rose pointed to Pang-pang, who was also here.

“Right, she’s in the same boat as us in this situation.”

“That’s right. My place got wrecked too. I figured I needed to have a place to stay for a while.”

As I defended my point and Pang-pang responded, for some reason, I could see Ji-hye, Ha-yoon, and Jua knitting their brows, but I pretended I didn’t notice.

No, there’s no way I’d try to woo a magical girl.

Besides, Pang-pang doesn’t have any feelings for me at all. If she did, I’m certain there would have been some incident while I was staying at her place.

“I’ve hidden at their place before, so I can help out like this sometimes.”

Rose couldn’t argue with that point.

“Well, alright. So, it’s okay if we stay here for a day or so?”

“…Sigh, I suppose so.”

I said that and threw myself down.

In that case, I should have just gone straight to the Magical Girl Headquarters. There would have been plenty of empty spaces since people were likely transferring out anyway.

…..

To be honest, it was a bit cramped.

But at the same time, being able to snuggle up to Ha-yoon and Ji-hye was a good enough reason to not mind the space.

I really am shameless.

Not long ago, I was all worked up about Rose lying down with me, but considering I haven’t had a break at all since the fight, I fell asleep pretty quickly.

That frustrating softness was certainly too good to resist.

*

It was settled that the act of ‘stealing’ the government-owned—though awkwardly, I should say—spaceship was essentially overlooked.

In exchange, we decided to say we had given them ‘advance notice.’

It was far too vague to say that the bureaucrats, who had displayed nothing but incompetence till now, suddenly gained enlightenment, rapidly gathered the situation of the area near Jupiter, and informed us.

Instead, we played it off like we had received permission from the government before leaving… or something along those lines.

There might have been other witnesses, but they didn’t seem like the type to refuse us if we asked for their help.

If I had my way, I would rather cut ties with the government and Federation entirely, but what could I do? For now, I had to live in this country anyway. Either way, going to another country wouldn’t make much difference.

The moment they start to look for legal loopholes, it would get annoying for us too, so for now, let’s just settle with the fact that ‘the greatest contribution belongs to us.’

After this, the government promised they wouldn’t hinder our activities as long as we didn’t excessively grab for power or declare ourselves as outright villains.

As for the Federation… they didn’t pull back for now.

They’d need the Federation’s technology to assess that massive facility. James’s expertise was also required to interpret the designs. With Cherry also joining in as the supervisor, our magical girl tech expert Cherry would continue to stay in the country.

James’s treatment would be postponed until then.

The chairman seems to be gearing up for a formal trial, while Pang-pang returned to her fixed room.

Suddenly becoming a wealthy disaster, we also took on the burden of that wealth. While our magical girls promised to help as much as they could, truthfully, it felt a bit pitiful.

And so, we magical girls returned to school.

“……”

Lunchtime.

“Do you have something to say?”

I asked Ha-yoon, but she was hesitating to respond.

No way, does she shrink when she wears her school uniform?

Biting into a cream bread, I stared at her, and Ha-yoon reddened while looking down.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um, that’s…”

“That?”

“…Sorry.”

“Sorry? Why?”

When I asked in disbelief, Ha-yoon shrugged her shoulders and started fidgeting with her fingers.

The shape of the bread in her hand bounced as her fingers twitched.

“I… because your article turned out like that.”

“Oh, that.”

The article said there were ‘rumors’ regarding us.

That I had magical girls under my control. It stated that I had openly been with numerous girls without them saying a single word.

But why is that?

Isn’t that somewhat true?

……

Wait, saying that makes me sound terrible, doesn’t it?

Just like how Ha-yoon shrinks when wearing a uniform, I seem to be popping out of my shell whenever I put mine on.

“Hey, Ha-yoon.”

“Uh?”

When I purposely lowered my voice to sound angry, Ha-yoon looked up, startled.

Peck.

I pressed my lips against hers.

I could hear the sounds of people around us inhaling sharply.

It seemed the kids were shocked to witness such behavior in class, doing it right in front of each other.

But so what?

Now?

White cream smeared on Ha-yoon’s lips.

I stared at that cream, then smiled.

Ha-yoon had a faint smile on her lips as she bowed her head.

What I’m saying is—

Now?

No matter what anyone else says, it hardly matters, right?

The love circuit is a medium that confirms our love for each other. We can’t operate properly if those feelings aren’t clear.

And because of that—hmm.

It seems that we still have a bit of a complicated love story left to unravel.

But that’s our story.

It’s not something anyone else should concern themselves about.

So it’s all good.

As long as Ha-yoon is smiling, and as long as those girls can smile too.

No matter how it manifests, it shouldn’t be an issue.

I bit into the cream bread again.

Whether it was the slightly sweet cream or the kiss earlier, I wasn’t sure.

 

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