Ch.16Chapter 4. Restraint (1)

I’ve never really liked school.

Even in my past life, I didn’t have many friends. If I’m being honest, I had more friends then than I do now, but the end result was the same—I wasn’t popular with the other kids at school.

Having to wake up early and sit through classes I had no interest in was bad enough.

And when relationships went even slightly wrong, I’d have to deal with those nasty kids who would periodically bully me since we had to see each other every day.

The teachers didn’t show much enthusiasm either. Well, honestly, having been an adult before, I understand. Whether it’s teaching students or working at a convenience store, “work” is work, and sometimes you just don’t want to do it.

But couldn’t they have shown a little understanding for us too? We had to sit facing these people who clearly hated their jobs, unable to move for at least 50 minutes at a time.

Tok.

Something flew from behind and hit my head.

It wasn’t a hard hit. Probably a small piece of eraser someone had torn off.

Whoever threw it wasn’t someone I was close with. I don’t have anyone I’d call “close” in this class except for Hayun. Somehow the class assignments got all messed up, and everyone else in my class lived “across the line.”

The Galactic Federation has been entrenched in this world for five years now. Though it hasn’t been that long, in that short time, the Galactic Federation has changed much of Earth.

Naturally, there are people who try to curry favor with them.

And most of those people are the “well-off” ones. They’re the ones who have connections long enough to reach that far in the first place.

High school students might not be old enough to fully understand all of this. But they are influenced by their parents.

Be friends with this person. Don’t be friends with that person. Children who grow up hearing such things from their parents categorize their peers accordingly.

Hayun, from a wealthy family affiliated with the Galactic Federation, is someone they “should be friends with.”

Me, with nothing behind me, am someone they “don’t need to be friends with.”

If they thought about it a little, bullying someone close to Hayun too much wouldn’t be a good idea. But people who live for their own self-importance usually don’t think that far ahead.

Tuk.

“……”

My silence and inaction probably contributed to this too.

I’ve thought about why they do this, and I think it’s because I, who have nothing to my name, am too close to Hayun.

Hayun maintains a subtle distance from everyone else and treats everyone equally, but she’s friendly with me. Whether they’re jealous or see me as an obstacle isn’t clear, but I’m definitely the “cause of their negative emotions.”

They can’t openly bully me, but they give me these subtle disadvantages.

As if they wouldn’t bully me even if I distanced myself from Hayun.

I made eye contact with the teacher at the front.

The teacher seemed to have seen what happened but quickly looked away.

Well, that makes sense. Rather than taking the side of an orphan like me, it’s easier to just ignore it.

Kids with parents might have those parents come to school to complain. And if those parents are the self-important type, who knows what they might say to the teacher.

So, well.

That’s just how it is.

Tuk.

I didn’t even brush off the eraser dust with my hand. Reacting would only make the bullying worse.

I didn’t tell Hayun either.

It wasn’t logical, but I didn’t want to get help for something like this. To be honest, I can’t really explain why.

Maybe it’s because of that damn jealousy too.

…

Eventually, they must have gotten bored with my lack of reaction, because the eraser dust stopped flying.

I focused solely on taking notes without looking back even once.

I made eye contact with the teacher again.

The teacher avoided my gaze. Or was that just my imagination? I’m not sure.

We didn’t make eye contact again for the rest of the class.

*

I eat lunch with Hayun.

In my past life, I didn’t have many friends either, but at least I had acquaintances I could eat with, even if the group members changed. But since coming to this school, I really don’t have anyone to eat with except Hayun.

The kids from across the boundary don’t approach me, and the others don’t try to approach Hayun. There’s a strange tension between these two groups, and I happen to stick with Hayun.

And quite coincidentally, both sides see me as someone who’s “clinging to Hayun.”

Hayun does buy me things often, but I’ve never asked her to.

I buy her things too when needed. Though in absolute terms, I definitely receive much more than I give.

We usually get our food and find a quiet corner in the cafeteria to sit.

Normally, we eat just the two of us. We don’t think about inviting others, so it’s natural.

But today was a bit different.

“Hi, Hayun.”

“……”

An unfamiliar voice greeted Hayun.

At the beginning of each school year, there are always kids like this. People who try to befriend Hayun just because they’re in the same class.

They don’t bother greeting me even though I’m sitting right across from Hayun; they only speak to her.

Honestly, it’s amazing every time I see it. Anyone would have a bad impression of someone who ignores their friend.

Or do these types have their own special rules?

“Oh, hi.”

Hayun responded with surprise as the girl casually put her tray down and sat next to her. Her voice was almost a mumble.

That means she doesn’t like this. Hayun is shy and hides her emotions around people she’s not close with. When her voice gets quieter, it means she’s hiding that much more of her feelings.

I calmly ate my meal, regardless of who sat down.

The girl who sat next to Hayun glanced at me repeatedly as the rest of her group sat around us. They seemed to be telling me to move away quickly, but I ignored those looks too.

“This is our first time talking, right?”

“Yeah……”

Hayun glanced at me.

She seems uncomfortable.

I might not tell her about the kids who bully me, but Hayun has at least some awareness. They all miss it because she doesn’t outright tell them to leave, but the reason Hayun is uncomfortable is because she’s concerned about me.

Sensing that Hayun was looking at me, the girl’s gaze turned to me as well.

I could almost see calculator buttons being pressed in those eyes.

She doesn’t like me. In the long run, she probably wants to get rid of me. Because I’m not useful.

But she seems to have realized that ignoring me too much right now would backfire.

Actually, shouldn’t she have taken the hint if we were eating alone? There are always other girls (and sometimes boys) trying to talk to Hayun, yet she came to the cafeteria with just me.

“Hello.”

Having finished her calculations, she greeted me with a friendly voice.

I stared right back at her.

I think I know where she sits in the classroom. She’s behind me.

I don’t know if she was the one who directly threw the eraser dust at me. But she was definitely in a position to see it happening.

I also remembered hearing small laughs from behind.

“Hello.”

I just answered that way and went back to focusing on my meal.

Seeing me do this, Hayun also carefully moved her chopsticks again.

“So, we’re in the same class now. I thought it would be good if we could get along well.”

“Oh, yes… I see.”

I carefully observed Hayun’s tray, which had more vegetables than meat. Fortunately, Hayun hadn’t completely stopped eating, so the food on her tray was steadily decreasing.

The other kids, on the other hand, weren’t eating much. They were focusing more on the conversation than on eating, which was natural.

I slowed down my chopstick movements to match Hayun’s eating pace.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say this, but I looked you up. Hayun, we live in the same neighborhood.”

“Oh, really?”

Hearing what the girl said, I almost snorted. I barely managed to stop myself from sending food up my nose.

“Actually, I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time.”

That kind of talk has the opposite effect on Hayun.

Hayun is kind to everyone, so at first glance, she seems like someone who would be easy to befriend, but in reality, her standards are quite strict and rigorous.

Though she probably doesn’t realize it herself.

For Hayun, a friend is someone who can treat her normally, regardless of whether she’s a magical girl or not.

Naturally, not many kids she’s met since becoming a magical girl have met that standard.

Friends don’t ask friends for autographs. There’s no reason to get an autograph from someone who’s your friend in the first place. You might fulfill such requests from other acquaintances, but that’s different.

And they don’t show off by introducing others to her because she’s a magical girl, and they know not to bring up her parents when Hayun hasn’t brought it up first.

The moment you call yourself a “fan” from the first word, a thick invisible wall is already formed between the two of you.

“Yeah… I see.”

I feel like the highlighting in Hayun’s eyes is fading a bit. Of course, there’s no actual change since the ambient light is the same.

Maybe that’s why this clueless girl didn’t seem to realize that her words didn’t sit well with Hayun.

“Ever since I heard we were attending the same school, I’ve wanted to be in the same class.”

She just keeps stepping on landmines.

I guess when people around her praise her, they do it in a similar way.

This is like something out of a cartoon. Well, I guess that’s natural since this world is based on a webtoon.

“Yeah……”

It’s hopeless.

Hayun was extremely uncomfortable.

I stuffed the remaining food from my tray into my mouth, chewed it quickly, and gulped it down.

Then I stood up abruptly.

“Hayun, are you done eating?”

“Huh?”

Hayun looked up at me in surprise as I suddenly stood up, then immediately smiled brightly and got up from her seat.

“Yes!”

Of course, Hayun hadn’t finished her meal because she’d been picking at her food since the conversation started.

“Huh? What?”

The girl—what was her name again? Anyway, that rich girl whose name I don’t need to remember—looked back and forth between Hayun and me in confusion.

“Goodbye. It was nice chatting. Glad to be in the same class. Let’s get along well in the future.”

After rattling off those words, I quickly turned and left.

The three kids sitting at the table seemed confused about what had just happened.

They probably couldn’t understand why someone like Hayun would follow me, or why she was smiling so brightly when she hadn’t even finished her meal.

They probably never will.

After putting our trays in the return area, I grabbed Hayun’s wrist and pulled her along.

“Let’s go to the school store, the school store.”

Since she didn’t finish her meal, I should at least fill her stomach. Of course, I had stuffed all my food into my mouth because I didn’t want to waste it, but Hayun hadn’t.

“Are you hungry?”

Ironically, that’s what Hayun asked me.

“I’m at an age where I eat a lot.”

That was my only answer as I bought two sausage buns at the school store and managed to stuff one into Hayun’s mouth.

*

In this way, there have always been kids who approach Hayun because of her background at the beginning of each school year.

And one thing these kids have in common is that they’re surprisingly persistent.

Moreover, this persistence doesn’t just manifest in the way they talk to Hayun.

They can’t directly ask Hayun why she doesn’t respond properly to their words. Not only because of her background, but mainly because saying such things would make them feel too pathetic.

So, usually, their arrows are aimed at me, who seems relatively easy to pick on and who “interferes” with their access to Hayun.

Throughout the classes after lunch, I felt sticky emotions on the back of my head. I thought it might just be my imagination, but then eraser dust would fly at me, making it clear that emotions were involved.

And then—

Tak.

I slightly lowered my head forward at the pain I felt on the back of my head.

I couldn’t help but look back at this.

“Oh, sorry.”

The girl who had spoken to us during lunch, sitting diagonally behind me, raised her hand slightly and said.

“Could you pick up my eraser for me?”

Looking down, I saw an eraser on the floor. It was an eraser with pieces torn off. What a waste.

I picked up the eraser and put it in my pencil case.

It’s a new eraser, but it’s sad that it’s been torn in various places. It would be happier living as a proper eraser in my pencil case.

“Hey.”

Her voice got a bit lower.

But she didn’t raise her voice too much. It seems the teacher still concerns her somewhat.

Plus, Hayun was nearby.

Because Hayun was already glancing over and paying attention, the girl didn’t say anything else until the end of class.

I thought she might come and pick a fight before going home after class, but with Hayun sticking by my side, she couldn’t do that either.

Yeah, I’m an easy target, right?

I pondered a bit about what to do with those kids.

*

“Today… are you going straight home?”

Maybe because it was just the day after school started, Hayun asked this at the bus stop, as if she was sad about parting ways.

“Next time.”

I answered.

“I have something to do today.”

“I see.”

Hayun always believes what I say.

We’ll see each other here tomorrow morning anyway, so Hayun wasn’t too disappointed.

We waved goodbye to each other. I watched as Hayun headed in the direction of her home for a moment, then turned and headed toward mine.

Well, not directly. I walked in a slightly different direction from the way to my house.

“……”

There were kids following me.

Based on their personalities, they didn’t seem like the type to take the bus, but they did.

I was paying attention just in case, and sure enough, they were following me.

Was that eraser so important to them?

Actually, it’s probably not the eraser but me that bothers them.

And it seems they want to resolve that annoyance right away.

Hayun is a bit oblivious to these things. She doesn’t even think I’m being bullied.

She’s good at noticing malice in others, but because of that, she can’t imagine it going further. She can’t conceive of a form of bullying that’s much more barbaric than what she’s experienced.

“Hey.”

Having noticed that I was just walking in circles, a voice called out to me in a lowered tone.

“What?”

I turned around and said.

“My eraser.”

“You look rich enough to just buy a new one.”

When I said that, the girl snorted.

Hmm, is she someone who knows how to fight?

I tilted my head slightly.

Well, she doesn’t look like it.

Sometimes, you see people with extremely thin legs, right? People who look like they might actually break if you bump into them wrong.

The legs of the girl in front of me were like that.

Honestly, I wonder if there’s even a need to fight.

I could probably just run away, and she’d collapse from exhaustion midway. Then I could stomp on her all I want.

That’s right.

Maybe because they have numbers on their side, they don’t even consider the possibility that they might lose.

It was probably like that until now. Not just me, but many other kids must have been targeted. I wonder who they bullied last year.

But here’s the thing.

I had no intention of taking this lying down.

At school, I just pretend not to notice. I didn’t want to get help from Hayun for something like this.

Telling the teacher wouldn’t do much good, and there’s no one else who would help me.

So the only conclusion is to solve the problem myself.

I carefully examined the physical specs of the three people and decided on a plan.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Do I look easy to you?”

“Yes.”

I nodded lightly as I answered.

You do look easy.

Very much so.

So fragile that I’m afraid you might break if I hit you wrong.

Maybe it was because I answered so confidently, but a hint of bewilderment crossed her face.

Until now, probably no one had spoken to her like this. In fact, for a normal person, that would be expected.

That is, if the bullied kid wasn’t someone who regularly battles with magical girls.

“So, what are you going to do? Want to hit first? I’m willing to let you make the first move.”

Of course, I have no intention of getting hit.

As I took a step forward, the kids flinched.

“Or should I go first?”

“Are you in your right mind?”

“Yes, I am.”

Of course I’m in my right mind.

From middle school until now.

How many kids do they think I’ve met who disliked me hanging out with Hayun?

Not once have I let it slide. They always tried to bully me, and each time, I went ballistic.

The kids from the same middle school don’t mess with me anymore.

That’s also why there aren’t many people who interrupt when Hayun and I are eating in the cafeteria.

Because I’ve been “fighting” long before Hayun did.

I’m confident I won’t lose a fight against ordinary people.