Ch.152Chapter 25. A Slightly Changed Daily Life (4)

Do people normally go outside wearing pajama pants? I’ve heard it happens, but I don’t think I’ve ever done that myself.

Then again, the only times I went out in the middle of the night were as a Combatant. Combatants don’t have simple transformation methods like Magical Girls do, so we have no choice but to dress properly from the start.

I’d go out in my regular clothes, change into my combat uniform from the locker, and then head out to fight.

And naturally, wearing that combat uniform, I fought against Magical Girls. Corporations trying to gain even the slightest advantage in this country, and Magical Girls trying to stop them however they could.

In the Federation, well, the goal was to prevent corporations from taking advantage, but they still established some justification for it. And the Magical Girls believed it.

“…”

Hmm.

In that sense, this situation is a bit awkward.

Among the girls who cling to me, Jihye doesn’t have any reason to clash with me. Our childhood conflicts were purely personal, and at least we never fought with punches and kicks because of work. There’s no reason for that.

As for Hayun… she was someone I unilaterally admired. The reason I became a Combatant was because I wanted to beat Hayun at least once, so I had no reason to hate her for that.

But Ju-a is, well.

I don’t understand what made her like me in the first place, so being alone with her like this is a bit uncomfortable.

It was easier when we were baring our teeth and fighting each other. At least then we knew exactly what the other was thinking.

I tried to defeat Ju-a and the other Magical Girls somehow—no, at least land a hit on them, while Ju-a saw me as a thorn in her side.

Now everything has just fizzled out.

Ju-a is like that right now too.

Just a little while ago, she was throwing all sorts of remarks at me, but now that our conversation has ended and we’re sitting alone on a bench, she’s fidgeting with her hands between her legs, unable to say anything.

“…”

There aren’t many people walking around. For a park in the middle of Seoul, it’s rather quiet. But I considered that fortunate. If there were people around, it would have been difficult to have a proper conversation.

I scratched my head while looking around, and spotted a public restroom in the distance.

There was a vending machine in front of the restroom.

…

Ah, but I don’t have any money right now.

“Sh-should I buy you something!?”

“Huh?”

I was just thinking there was nothing I could do, when Ju-a suddenly reacted like that, making me flinch.

“I-I’ll go get something!”

“Ah, hey, wait.”

Before I could stop her, Ju-a was already running toward the vending machine.

What’s going on?

I feel extremely uncomfortable about this.

For a moment, it feels like I’ve become some kind of bully. Though with my looks, it would be strange if I wasn’t mistaken for one.

Maybe Ju-a was feeling just as awkward about the current situation as I was.

After waiting a bit, Ju-a came back with canned coffee in her hands. She held one out to me, and when I took it, I found it was a warm drink. Well, it’s not extremely cold, but it’s a bit chilly, so it wasn’t a bad choice.

“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”

“S-sure, whatever.”

At my words, Ju-a’s face reddened slightly as she sat down next to me.

Then, after glancing around a bit, she moved a little closer to me.

We both drank our coffee in silence for a while.

There was a small gap between Ju-a and me, but my right arm and her left arm were touching slightly, making it somewhat uncomfortable to move.

Wait, when she’s with the other girls, she gets so close that their bodies overlap, but now she’s not doing that.

I don’t mind it, but…

“Hey, Ju-a.”

“Y-yes!?”

When I spoke to her, Ju-a’s shoulders flinched. Coffee splashed up slightly from the small hole in the can.

“About what we were talking about earlier.”

At my words, Ju-a hung her head low.

“I’m not telling you not to like me or anything. If you like someone, what can you do about it?”

It’s not really my place to say this, but that’s how it is. I don’t have the right to restrict her feelings. Even if I did, feelings aren’t something that can be controlled at will.

But even so, there’s one thing I want to make clear.

Despite how I look, I’m quite serious about emotions, so I don’t intend to take this lightly.

The words and actions of Hayun and Jihye carry weight. It would be too harsh not to respond seriously to girls who approach me with such sincerity.

So, if Ju-a’s actions are just based on a fleeting emotion, I can’t choose her.

…Though her actions don’t seem that way, I don’t feel there was any real catalyst for her feelings, which is the problem.

“So, I want to be clear about this. If your feelings for me are real, how did it happen? If I can’t understand your feelings, I can’t accept you.”

“Y-you’re considering accepting me!?”

No, why are you only hearing the parts you want to hear?

…But I’m not planning to reject her outright either, so I guess she’s not entirely wrong.

I just want a more serious reason to consider it.

“…”

Ju-a fell into thought for a moment, then let out a small sigh.

And slowly, she began to tell her story.

“You know that I recognized you in your combat uniform, right?”

“Yeah. How did you recognize me?”

“H-how could I not recognize you when it was so obvious it was you?”

“What, so you fell for me at first sight? Even though you couldn’t see my face?”

“That’s what I’m trying to explain! Who looks at someone’s butt so casually!?”

Ju-a got angry at my nitpicking, but quickly composed herself. She cleared her throat and continued.

“Anyway, that’s how it was. You were the only Combatant who was that arrogant. If you couldn’t win a fight, you could run away or retreat, but you always charged in until the end. When I saw who was left standing at the end, it could only be you, right?”

That’s true.

Pang Pang fought until the end in her own way too, but unfortunately, she wasn’t someone who used circuits.

“It wasn’t love at first sight or anything.”

Ju-a turned her gaze away and looked into the distance as she spoke.

“Somehow, as we kept fighting, I just wanted to beat Jieun decisively. Because you were always standing there whenever I went out to fight. No matter how many times I won and sent you flying, you strangely never gave up, and that bothered me.”

“…”

“But, Jieun, you felt the same way, didn’t you?”

“…I did.”

It bothered me tremendously. The other Magical Girls bothered me too, but I especially wanted to land at least one hit on Ju-a, who acted like she was looking down on me.

So I deliberately teased her and stuff.

…Ah, looking at it this way, I guess she couldn’t help but recognize me.

“But as we kept fighting, I started thinking.”

Ju-a’s fingers fidgeted.

“Have I ever been this honest with someone before? And has anyone ever been this honest with me?”

After fiddling with her canned coffee for a while, Ju-a spoke hesitantly.

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

“So I wanted to see your face. I knew you were a woman, but I didn’t know what kind of person was inside.”

“…”

“After I found out what you looked like, well.”

Ju-a closed her mouth again, choosing her words carefully before speaking.

“Well, even then, you fought battles you might not win. You just honestly did what you wanted to do. Maybe I came to admire that. As we spent more time together, I just started feeling that way.”

“I see.”

I still don’t fully understand. There’s a saying about growing fond of someone through fighting, but I don’t know Ju-a well enough to completely understand after hearing her story just once.

But it’s not like before, when I had “no idea at all.”

I just thought, I see, that could be possible.

“So, you wanted to be with me?”

“…If Jieun started dating someone else, even that small chance would disappear, right?”

Looking at Ju-a pouting her lips, I could definitely empathize with that.

That’s right. That’s how it was.

I was afraid of Hayun… leaving like that too.

If I were a man, I might not have reached this kind of relationship. I probably would have confessed halfway through and ruined the relationship.

But I still would have confessed. Because I wouldn’t want to see Hayun dating another man.

If Hayun seemed like she liked someone, yeah, I might have interfered. I’m that selfish and greedy.

Thinking that I was the object of such feelings made me feel a bit sorry for Ju-a.

“So I’ll keep sticking to you. Whether you understand me or not. Because there’s no other way.”

A relationship completely different from the others, one I only discovered later.

Whether Ju-a originally liked girls or not, whether the story she told was enough to fall for someone or not.

Whether my appearance just happened to match Ju-a’s taste or not.

In the end, Ju-a fell for me. For that reason.

Whether her story is deep or not, Ju-a’s feelings for me are real. They might not be as heavy as the feelings the other girls have for me, but I can’t treat them as “fake.”

Especially not me, the person being loved.

“…”

What was I thinking?

Someone who was manipulated and misunderstood by others is now doing the same thing to someone else.

Is the reason really the problem?

“…I see.”

I muttered.

Ju-a still couldn’t look at me directly and was just fiddling with her can, but her face seemed a bit more relaxed.

As if she was fine with being rejected right here.

I didn’t quite like that.

Because isn’t Ju-a Happy Iris?

The one who fought me however she could, determined to beat me until the end.

Somehow that irritated me a bit—

*Smooch*

I pressed my lips against Ju-a’s cheek.

No, was it really just irritation?

I’m not sure. I don’t understand my own feelings.

But somehow, I just didn’t like seeing Ju-a like that.

“Ah!?”

While Ju-a was startled, I quickly got up from my seat and ran.

“Running away!? You’re running away now!?”

Leaving Ju-a’s words behind, I quickly transformed and flew up into the sky.

“You ran away!? You really ran away!? After kissing me like that, you just run!? Stop right there!?”

I heard Ju-a taking off behind me.

My pager rang again.

I smiled slightly at the sound.

Yes, this is better. Better than her being strangely dejected, it’s better that she’s “Iris.”

I guess I might have liked that honest Iris—Ju-a—a little bit all along.

A white light drew a line across the night sky that should have been peaceful. And a purple line chased after it.

We’ll probably be on the morning news tomorrow.

I’m not sure if they’ll call it a lovers’ quarrel again, but somehow, I think I’d be more comfortable if they did.