Ch.245IF Side Story: From the Beginning (13)

Still, it’s good that Jihye and Hayun have joined forces in their own way.

I don’t plan to tell them yet, but someday when I become a Magical Girl and stand beside Hayun, it won’t matter whether I tell them or not.

“A signature.”

Jihye looked at me, now somewhat more relaxed, and after being lost in thought for a moment, she spoke.

“Then, wouldn’t it be good to create a signature from now?”

“Huh?”

I blinked.

“I mean, once you become a Magical Girl, it might be too late. A signature is something you need to practice until it becomes natural.”

Is that so?

I looked at Hayun, but she just tilted her head in confusion.

“Here, look.”

Jihye rummaged through her handbag and pulled out a notepad and a pen.

Then she casually scribbled something and passed it to me.

I looked at what was written on the memo.

It said Jihye♡…

Well, she wrote it quite stylishly. It was drawn like a picture with a single flowing line, and the heart was elegantly connected to the tail end of “hye.”

“…Do you practice this kind of thing regularly?”

When I asked, Jihye’s face instantly turned red.

“N-no, it’s not particularly like that.”

Jihye said that while snatching the notepad and pen back from my hand.

“It’s pretty, why?”

Hayun poked my arm from beside me. Judging by her slight glare, she seemed to think I went too far.

But we always tease each other like this.

Still, seeing Jihye’s reddened face made me feel a bit sorry, so I scratched my cheek and said,

“Later, when you become famous, you’ll definitely be able to use it.”

I said that while thinking it wasn’t a signature you could use for official documents, and Jihye looked up at me slightly.

“R-really?”

“Yeah. Hayun said so too. You wrote it beautifully.”

“Heh.”

At my compliment, though her face was still a bit red, Jihye seemed pleased. The way she scratched the back of her head while smiling was kind of cute.

I see. If Jihye becomes famous…

What kind of fame would suit her best? She could do well as a celebrity. Of course, this wasn’t a serious assessment, just a thought about what might suit her.

Jihye is pretty, right?

I know being pretty isn’t enough, but at least I can imagine it.

Or else, Jihye could become a Magical Girl too.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just because.”

I must have been staring too intensely, as Jihye glared back at me with a slightly wary expression. I just shrugged at her.

A Magical Girl.

I thought it wouldn’t be bad if Jihye became a Magical Girl. It would be nice to fight together, right?

With that thought, I put the straw back to my lips and drank the rest of my beverage.

Some might say there would be too many Magical Girls once Iris joins, but Magical Girls typically multiply as a series progresses. It shouldn’t be a problem if a few more are added to the original work.

*

A few days later.

Finally, the last member, Iris, arrived.

Actually, calling her the “last member” felt a bit strange. Strictly speaking, shouldn’t I be the last member since I wasn’t in the original work? Well, by this world’s standards, I came first, so the order isn’t exactly wrong.

Iris wasn’t called “Iris” right away.

Just as Hayun and I aren’t yet called by our Magical Girl names, Iris didn’t receive the name Iris from the beginning. After all, we weren’t officially Magical Girls yet.

Iris’s name was Ju-a.

Like other Magical Girls, Ju-a is pretty. Though she seems a bit strong-willed.

“I look forward to working with you all from today.”

Ju-a said very stiffly.

Ah, right. In the original work, Ju-a was a character who used formal speech. Actually, in Korea, it’s unusual to use formal speech with students of the same age who aren’t workplace colleagues.

“Now that I’m here, I have no intention of taking this lightly.”

Ju-a said.

Her eyes were burning with determination.

Hayun didn’t come here wanting to be a Magical Girl from the start. She somehow caught Cherry’s eye and was selected.

The other girls too, each had their own things they wanted to do but ended up becoming Magical Girls regardless.

But Ju-a is different.

Ju-a was serious about being a Magical Girl. In the original comic, Ju-a admired Hayun while also considering her a rival, even copying her hairstyle.

“I will do my best to become a person worthy of being a Magical Girl. Once again, I look forward to working with you all.”

Seeing Ju-a bow at a perfect right angle with some strangely determined resolve, Seo-hee and Yeonwoo had stunned expressions. Delphinium, of course, rarely showed any change in expression.

I was actually nervous.

What if Yeonwoo openly showed a dismissive expression, or Seo-hee mocked her?

Neither of them were bad kids, but in the comic, they had teased the overly serious Iris a lot. Just as Yeonwoo couldn’t understand Seo-hee’s ways, and Seo-hee couldn’t understand Yeonwoo’s, Iris didn’t particularly like the two who weren’t completely serious.

And that was also why Iris couldn’t easily mix with the other Magical Girls and fought from a distance.

But.

For some reason, Seo-hee glanced at me. Then she nodded to herself and extended her hand to Ju-a.

“Alright. Since we’re on the same team now. Let’s work hard together.”

Ju-a looked up with sparkling eyes and took Seo-hee’s hand.

“Yes, I will work hard, senior!”

“Senior, huh…”

Seo-hee looked at me with a somewhat emotional expression. What. Why. What. Surely she doesn’t want me to call her senior?

“Yeah, well. The other kids are working really hard too.”

For some reason, Yeonwoo also looked at me once before saying that and patting Ju-a’s back. Ju-a smiled brightly once more.

A girl who admires Magical Girls.

In the original work, she might have been ignored at this point. Neither Seo-hee nor Yeonwoo were particularly pleased about having to be Magical Girls.

I don’t want to think this way, but if this atmosphere is because of me, then I’m glad. I still don’t want to walk on thin ice.

At least Delphinium was still showing a somewhat cold attitude, but that was better than being openly mocked.

People say it’s better to show negative emotions than indifference, but I don’t see it that way.

After all, it doesn’t really affect me if someone who doesn’t have a good relationship with me is indifferent. Rather, it just makes the good people around me stand out more clearly.

…

But that doesn’t mean I plan to leave Delphinium like that forever. Someday, I intend to definitely pull her to our side.

Aren’t we Magical Girls?

It’s meaningless if we don’t all fight together.

*

Apart from the lessons received from Cherry, Magical Girl training is mostly self-directed. Since the senior line is all experienced in actual combat and they’re diligently teaching the juniors in their own way, there’s no need for Cherry to interfere too much.

Still, in the original work, she seemed to try hard to mediate with Hayun whenever fights got intense, but these days she just sits there watching contentedly when I’m with Seo-hee, or when I’m with Yeonwoo or Hayun, without saying much.

She probably didn’t want to interfere unnecessarily and disrupt relationships that were going well.

And Ju-a, for some reason, kept following me around.

At first, I thought she was following Hayun. After all, Hayun is the very image of a Magical Girl at a glance. With her pink hair, she’s already handling a staff even though she’s not yet a Magical Girl. She still can’t transform, but she’s already learning magic much faster than the seniors.

So I thought she was a complete role model, but…

“Phew.”

“Here you go.”

As I sat down on the floor and exhaled, Ju-a handed me a water bottle.

Her eyes sparkled. Ju-a still didn’t have a ponytail.

…Why?

Shouldn’t it be time for her to start copying Hayun? Making a ponytail like Hayun, thinking Hayun is the best image for a Magical Girl.

Surely she’s not keeping her straight hair just because I wear mine straight?

“Thanks.”

I took the water bottle from Ju-a and gulped it down.

“Good work today too.”

Seo-hee extended her hand to me, and I grabbed it to stand up quickly.

“Both of you were amazing!”

Ju-a said with sparkling eyes.

“R-really? It was just like usual.”

Somehow Seo-hee openly showed embarrassment and laughed, “Hahaha.” I thought, so she can make such expressions to her junior. She was much more fierce when she was beating me up at the beginning. That’s a bit unfair.

“Senior’s magic was excellent, but—Jieun too!”

“Huh?”

“That courage to get up and fight again after falling down multiple times! I think it’s exemplary for a Magical Girl!”

“R-really?”

“Yes, yes, that’s right. As our junior, you’re excellent, yep.”

Seo-hee was openly teasing me, so I gave her shoulder a solid thump.

But Ju-a’s eyes still sparkled.

…

Hmm, what is it?

Something seems different from the original work, doesn’t it?