Ch.252IF Side Story: From the Beginning (20)

Hmm.

This is nice.

I thought this while lying spread-eagle on the floor.

That final collision was good. The magical explosion was good too, and even being thrown across the floor was good.

I pondered for a moment why it felt so good, and realized it was refreshing to have gone toe-to-toe with Hayun like that.

At this rate, wouldn’t it be okay to actually make her my goal?

As I was staring at the ceiling with a strange sense of satisfaction, a face suddenly entered my field of vision.

But that gaze wasn’t directed at my face.

It was aimed below my chin, or rather… if I had to specify, below my neck.

Seo-hee was staring at that area.

“Whew.”

She let out an impressive whistle. It would be hard to find a clearer way to express admiration for what she was seeing.

“…What are you staring at so intently?”

“Nothing, just. With an outfit like that, I thought it would be polite to stare. I mean… that’s the function of cleavage, right?”

“That’s sexual harassment.”

If I had a pillow in my hand, I would have thrown it right at her face.

I sat up.

The circuit was still active. Once hope is created, it’s surprisingly persistent and doesn’t fade easily. Especially since I was currently very satisfied with the results of my match with Hayun.

It made sense that my transformation hadn’t worn off.

And my outfit—

“…Huh?”

Was this really my outfit?

Well, during the fight, I didn’t have time to look at my clothes. Our exchanges were too fast. We both had close-combat fighting styles anyway.

I had long white gloves on my hands, so I assumed the rest of my outfit would match that vibe. You know, the typical magical girl outfit. The kind that looks ridiculous on adults but cute on kids.

Like the outfit Hayun was wearing right now.

But somehow, my outfit wasn’t like that at all.

Below the waist was still okay. The white skirt wasn’t that strange of an outfit, and it covered my stomach and waist well enough.

The problem was above that.

The middle wasn’t just “cut out,” it was… how should I put it.

Anyway, it showed way too much.

“This isn’t going to work,” Yeonwoo said seriously.

“Will she be okay fighting like that? She’s still in middle school. Won’t she get blurred out if she appears on the news?”

“Wouldn’t the blurring just make it look worse?”

Seo-hee cackled at Yeonwoo’s comment.

“B-but it looks pretty! It suits your figure perfectly!”

Ju-a said this while covering her face—hey, I can clearly see your eyes through the gaps between your fingers. If you’re going to pretend to cover your eyes, at least do it properly.

And you too, Hayun. You were just fighting with me looking like this. What’s the point of covering up now?

I ran my hand down my face.

I know the setting for magical girl outfits—they replace your regular clothes with magical ones.

In other words, once the input is set like this, the design won’t change easily. Even if I tried to wear something underneath to cover up, it would probably just transform along with everything else.

…So, was I swinging around that huge hammer in this outfit?

“Should I paint your hammer white for you?”

“Uh… no, that’s not really—”

“Excellent idea, junior. Personal color is important.”

As I was about to object to Ju-a’s suggestion, Yeonwoo cut in.

“That’s right, junior. Image has a huge impact on the public.”

Before I could say anything, Hayun quickly approached me and extended her hand.

After staring at it for a moment, I took it, and she pulled me up. Though Hayun was smaller than me, her magical power was greater, which clearly affected her physical strength as well.

“Here.”

Hayun put the outer coat she was somehow already holding onto my shoulders.

“Oh, thanks.”

I responded, feeling a bit dazed.

The problem was that my shoulders were slightly broader than Hayun’s, so I could only button the top part. As a result, the gap was still visible beneath the coat.

…Can this really be considered covered up?

I glared at Seo-hee and Yeonwoo, who were trying to hold back their laughter at my appearance.

“So, how do I undo this transformation?”

“Just shout ‘Transform Release!'”

“Transform Release!”

I immediately followed the instruction, but nothing changed. Seo-hee and Yeonwoo laughed even harder. These two used to be on such bad terms, but now they were slapping each other’s shoulders, thoroughly enjoying the joke.

Should I kill them?

I started looking for the hammer I had dropped on the floor, then put my hand to my forehead.

Then I ran my hand through my hair, pushing it back.

“…”

That motion made Seo-hee and Yeonwoo’s laughter stop abruptly. Ju-a and Hayun also stared at me with their mouths hanging open.

“What?”

When I asked in an irritated voice, they all quickly shook their heads. Ah, I was feeling so refreshed just a moment ago.

Somehow, thinking that my refreshed feeling was the result of wearing less fabric made me feel strange.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ju-a running her hand through her hair. Seeing this, Seo-hee and Yeonwoo shook their heads again as if to say “no, that’s not it.”

Seriously, what’s going on?

“Jieun.”

Hayun spoke to me quietly and pointed at the circuit on her wrist. Only then did I realize how stupid I’d been and quickly removed the circuit from my wrist.

Silently, my outfit returned to normal. I really don’t understand how this works. Well, that’s magic for you.

“Jieun.”

After seeing my transformation undone, Hayun called me again.

“Yeah?”

“I’ll definitely help you change that outfit.”

“Oh, okay.”

I could see something like fighting spirit in her eyes.

It’s nice that she wants to help me change it, but is the outfit really that bad that it absolutely must be changed?

…

Oh, come to think of it, magical girls are half-idol figures.

Seo-hee, Yeonwoo, and Delphinium all have their own fan bases. Seo-hee and Yeonwoo’s fans seem to be mostly boys and girls their age, but I’ve heard rumors that Delphinium has admirers for various reasons.

But if there’s someone among them who’s distinctively running around half-naked—

“Hey, Hayun.”

I asked with a serious expression.

“How did my back look when I transformed?”

My shoulders were exposed.

Which means…?

Instead of answering, Hayun’s face turned red.

I see.

So it wasn’t just my shoulders that were exposed.

I put my hand to my forehead again.

Right.

Before going into actual combat, I absolutely need to change my outfit.

Ju-a was already copying my hairstyle, and I couldn’t let her copy my outfit too.

…And obviously because it’s embarrassing.

*

Now that we had transformed, we were essentially magical girls in all but name, despite technically being trainees.

Of course, Seo-hee and Yeonwoo had already been treating us as magical girls. They said there weren’t many people who could fight like we did while wearing circuits.

But what was different now was that we needed to decide on our “names.”

In this country, magical girls were all named after flowers. Flowers that matched their personal colors.

Seo-hee was red, so Rose; Yeonwoo was yellow, so Dalia. Delphinium was blue, so Delphinium.

Hayun’s color was practically decided even before her transformation. Her weapon was already pink.

Blossom.

Even I thought it was a perfect name for her. This incident just confirmed it.

And then, there was me.

To be honest, I thought white was just a colorless color. That it was white only because nothing had been decided yet.

But my goodness, who would have thought it would be my color?

Ah, right. Thinking about it again, it wasn’t that strange. In works where “colors” are assigned like this, both white and black are considered colors.

But still, white?

And that name—

“Lily.”

When Hayun called my magical girl name, I covered my face.

Hayun seemed to really like the name. After all, she was the one who gave it to me.

Yes, Magical Girl Happy Lily. That was my official nickname. Good grief.

“…I was hoping for black at least.”

Couldn’t I have had a cooler name? What black flowers are there?

…

On second thought, Lily might be better than Black Rose or something like that. Well, since Rose already exists, it would have overlapped, so maybe it would have been something else.

But there’s no use regretting it now.

I’m not even sure if this is something I should regret. It’s not like I chose it myself. Regretting that my magical power is white is like regretting being born tall.

“Lily, Lily!”

Hayun seemed to enjoy my reaction and called me that while openly teasing me:

“It’s such a cute name!”

And it wasn’t just Hayun—Seo-hee and Yeonwoo also called me Lily several times.

I finally couldn’t take it anymore and threw a cushion from the sofa at Seo-hee.

Seo-hee, of course, dodged it elegantly.

Damn it.

But strangely enough.

Even in the midst of all that embarrassment, having everyone call me that name—it felt oddly good, in a ticklish sort of way.

Alright.

This is something I should never, ever tell anyone.

Because if someone heard about it, they’d tease me for at least three years.