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And then, for the next two days, a lot of things happened.

Oddly enough, those things were a bit strange for me to be experiencing right now.

So, um.

In various ways, we could be called a group of runaway teens, but the bizarre arguments popping up here and there seemed a bit funny to watch from the sidelines.

For example, Ha-yoon and Pang-pang got into a fight over who would take a bath with me.

Actually, before that, Ha-yoon seemed to be in shock about the fact that I had bathed with someone else.

Is there even a reason to be shocked about that?

I’ve never bathed with anyone else. Even when I shared a room with Ji-hye, there was only one shower, and of course, we took turns. Even between the same genders, sharing a small shower entirely alone is just asking for misunderstandings.

In that sense, it was a bit questionable that I had shared a bathtub with Pang-pang… but isn’t that just how things turned out?

We were both clean, after all. I had no problem, it was just that Pang-pang found a better method.

Right now, we had managed to create something like a shower, but just before that, we had no choice but to fetch water ourselves. Sharing heated water after fetching it together is quite efficient.

No, it’s still the case even now. Even if we are taking turns fetching water, there’s still the factor of time.

“…Me too.”

Upon hearing that, Ha-yoon puffed up her cheeks for some reason and said.

“I’ll do it too.”

“…”

I was left speechless after hearing that.

So, Ha-yoon wanted to bathe with me. Why?

Ah, maybe that’s how it is. Going to the bath together means we’ve gotten close enough to do that. It implies a relationship where there’s no hesitation even if we see each other, something like that.

Was Ha-yoon thinking along those lines?

…In a way, that meant I was that close with Ha-yoon.

My feelings hadn’t completely faded away. Ha-yoon strangely seemed to have no ill feelings towards me even after learning my identity, but seeing her made me feel guilty.

I was dragging these kids into this place.

“…”

In the end, while silently listening to the conversation, I raised one hand lightly and said.

“Can’t we just take turns?”

“Uh?”

Both Ha-yoon and Pang-pang looked at me simultaneously. Their faces were a mix of shock, and then they quickly gathered themselves.

What was that situation just now?

I felt a strange discomfort, but for now, I decided to just stay quiet.

Eventually, the conversation flowed smoothly from there.

Bathing could… be handled that way, but it turned out to be a vaguely strange order.

Somehow, even though I was close with Ha-yoon and Pang-pang, I couldn’t say the same about the other magical girls.

The only one who recognized me in any meaningful way was Iris. Rose remembered me too, but well, it didn’t seem like she particularly wanted to bathe with me.

Time could be reduced, but that doesn’t mean personal dignity could be violated. While I could have been a tyrant here, the situation with Pang-pang, who had done nothing wrong, prevented me from letting go of my sanity.

Ah, but still, the tent was basically mine and Pang-pang’s space. It seemed like the kids accepted that we were the ones who set it up.

We had opened another tent so the kids could use it, so for now, that was settled.

The weather wasn’t so cold that it could freeze us to death. I managed to create something like blankets too.

“…”

However, strangely, I had no feeling that this was settled at all.

After all, things were still not over.

*

And then time flowed again.

I wasn’t doing nothing. We kept fighting.

We fought against the aliens that kept appearing and explained to the people the reasons behind our battles.

We decorated the place we lived in a bit more and became a little closer to each other.

Ha-yoon and Pang-pang regularly stuck close to me, as if they didn’t want to lose me again. Strangely, at some point, Iris began to do the same.

…But that sense of security didn’t last long.

“…”

Ha-yoon was almost killed.

Trying to help me.

There was a bomb in the Chairman’s house, which they tried to break into to find him.

We could somehow remove that bomb, but in the end, we were caught in an explosion.

In such a scenario, Ha-yoon protected me by taking the hit.

I managed to regain my senses and, though the wounds could be healed by magic…

…

When I returned, I didn’t know what to do.

Thinking that everyone here could end up like that because of me was hard to bear.

Ha-yoon too, and the other magical girls.

Pang-pang and Ji-hye. They all could end up like that.

Especially Pang-pang and Ji-hye, who weren’t even magical girls…

“Ji-eun.”

The one who found me wandering around the outskirts of the deserted village was Pang-pang.

Ha-yoon was resting inside the tent. I figured it was healthy for her to get some good rest for a while, and I practically forced her to do so.

“…Pang-pang.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Pang-pang said.

“…Really?”

In response to Pang-pang’s words, I found myself reflexively asking back.

I quickly shut my mouth, but I couldn’t help but catch the sharpness that had unconsciously slipped out. The water had already been spilled.

But strangely enough, Pang-pang’s expression didn’t show any injury at all.

Pang-pang… yeah, that’s how she always was.

I had tried to be a bit careful, but I had often been blunt with Pang-pang. It had happened many times from when we were combatants until now.

I had thought of her as an oddball, just a mere Earth Buddy inside.

Of course, she wouldn’t have known that much, but still, it should have been impossible to ignore all the emotions seeping through my voice during our conversations not long after we first met.

But Pang-pang became my friend, helping me when my life was truly at risk.

Even at the cost of her own safety.

With someone like Pang-pang, there was no reason for me to get irritated now. That was just the way a person should think.

“…It’s my fault…”

“Why?”

“All of this happened because of me.”

The kids didn’t know.

The influence I had on this world.

The character Ji-eun didn’t originally exist. Even if she appeared in a webtoon, it would’ve been a background character with no name, just a faceless extra.

Overflowing around Ha-yoon were her extra friends. I was probably fitting in among them.

Even the most important role, like speaking up, wouldn’t be something I had.

…

No, if I think back, maybe I wasn’t a friend at all. I wasn’t even included in that panel, merely a setting that was hardly existent—a being that needed no acknowledgment in the story.

It was only in this world that my existence had manifested: a real original character.

The story having twisted was my fault. I was at the center of that distortion.

Pang-pang also wouldn’t have held an important role in the story. Just another combatant without even a name. That was all there was to it.

It was because of me.

Because of me.

“…”

Pang-pang quietly gazed at me.

For some reason, that expression seemed like she had decided on something.

Realizing that fact made me tremble a little.

I was the one who kept telling Pang-pang to run away so many times. If I faced any troubles, or if I didn’t return, to run. Saying I would come to find her if she was nearby.

But somehow, if Pang-pang said that now, it scared me. I felt like I wanted to tell her not to go.

Among the people staying in this place, Pang-pang was genuinely a kid without any connection to me.

…That was a very selfish thought. I should have let her go first.

“It’s not your fault.”

But Pang-pang just said that, denying my thoughts.

Her face even held some strange tension.

As if she thought I might get angry after hearing the next story—

Pang-pang slowly opened her mouth but, after a moment of hesitation, closed it again.

“Pang-pang?”

When I asked again, Pang-pang shook her head, looking a bit pained.

“Later.”

Pang-pang said.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“…”

I stared at Pang-pang, astounded.

Instead, she took my hand and led me back.

“…Let’s go back for now. The kids are waiting.”

“…Okay.”

Since Pang-pang’s face looked so distressed saying that, I couldn’t refuse.

So, I was once again led back by Pang-pang’s hand.

And today, I slept outside the tent with the kids.

Although all the kids were quiet without a word.

At least, there wasn’t a single child to blame me.

 

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