Ch.266IF Side Story. From the Beginning (34)

In my teenage years, I once pondered why time seemed to pass so slowly.

School classes felt excruciatingly long. Partly because many teachers were boring, but even during interesting lessons, I’d start nodding off while reading textbooks.

Back then, I couldn’t even think about consuming caffeine like working adults do, which probably made it worse.

I later learned that time really does seem to move more slowly during childhood. It’s not that time itself moves slower, but rather how densely our thoughts process that time changes.

Certainly, after becoming a working adult, time felt surprisingly fast. Company work was just as boring, complicated, and off-putting as studying had been, and many people I encountered at work were not just boring but infuriating.

Yet simultaneously, time moved much faster than during my student days. Perhaps it was because, unlike school, workplace tasks were directly connected to my livelihood. A subtle tension, you might say.

Now I was a teenager again.

But strangely, middle school didn’t drag by in slow motion like it had in my past life.

It wasn’t exactly flying by like a blur, but before I knew it, I was attending my high school entrance ceremony.

Looking back, I suppose it was because school life was enjoyable in its own way.

I can’t say there weren’t difficult times. When I first encountered a Kaijin and took a few hits, it really hurt. Somehow, when I, who had been leading the charge, got hit and collapsed, the other Magical Girls became furious to the tips of their hair and beat the Kaijin to a pulp.

…Well, I guess that was to be expected since we went there to fight in the first place? Still, they seemed rather emotional about it.

Noir Corporation remained strong despite all our interference operations. They even sent Combatants to disrupt our activities, and lately, executives had started showing up too.

We always managed to win and drive them away, but it was still annoying and frustrating. Especially when these incidents happened during school events or when we were in the middle of having fun.

Well, such scenes appeared frequently in the original story too, and they were mainly meant to be funny points.

From a distance it’s comedy, up close it’s tragedy… or at least irritating.

Anyway.

Thanks to all that, I’d built up quite a collection of memories.

And there were still many things I hadn’t experienced yet.

Having many unexperienced things isn’t unique to me. Even well-off kids at this age still have plenty they haven’t done.

Beyond simply alcohol, cigarettes, or other things that can only be enjoyed without burden as adults, we had quite a few things we wanted to try but hadn’t yet.

For example—

*

“Should we go to the beach?”

The day before our entrance ceremony, when we had graduated from middle school but hadn’t yet started high school, leaving us with time to spare.

Seo-hee suggested this idea.

“It’s still winter though.”

“No, I mean when summer comes.”

When Yeon-woo raised an objection, Seo-hee responded as if it were obvious.

That’s right.

Despite knowing each other for so long, we had never gone on a trip together.

Perhaps that’s only natural. In my past life, I don’t remember going on summer vacation trips with friends during middle school either. If I went anywhere, it was with family.

My friends weren’t that close with my parents, and as for going by ourselves… well, could minors even book accommodations?

Seo-hee, who had become a high school student a year before us, seemed to regret this.

“Look, we’ve known each other for almost three years now. Doesn’t it seem wrong that we don’t have memories like that?”

“Do you have memories of traveling all the way to the beach with your friends?”

“Well, no.”

As I watched Seo-hee and Yeon-woo’s banter, Seo-hee looked at me as if seeking support.

“What do you think? Doesn’t it sound fun?”

“It does sound fun.”

I said.

“But don’t minors need a guardian to travel together?”

“We have Cherry. Cherry’s an adult.”

“Ah.”

Seo-hee declared with complete naturalness that we would take the Magical Girl mascot with us.

For reference, Cherry treats us quite comfortably. Nominally, Cherry is something like our superior, but Cherry doesn’t really care if we speak informally or whatever.

Plus, Cherry looks incredibly cute. A pink hamster with a fluffy fox-like tail who understands human speech and responds in an adorable voice.

I occasionally pat Cherry’s head too.

…Well, I suppose Cherry would be fine. Whether others would believe it was another question.

“Hayun, what about you?”

“Oh, me?”

Hayun responded with slight surprise.

“Yes, of course that sounds good.”

But she soon answered with quite a serious expression.

And while answering, she looked at me.

Honestly, these days it doesn’t bother me much. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten used to kids suddenly looking at me for input.

Especially when opinions need to be gathered.

This is truly strange, but I seem to have inherited Hayun’s position.

Hayun is still the best fighter. And in terms of flexible thinking and intelligence, Hayun has the most balanced abilities.

My grades were decent, but only because I somehow managed to cram textbook content into my head. Honestly, I could barely remember anything after exam periods ended.

The reason I maintained my grades was simply to have a reason to stand beside Hayun. Though there’s no need to worry about that now, I kept it up because I was concerned about what my classmates might say if my grades dropped.

In battle, I was an extremely combat-oriented fighter. My role was to approach the enemy and smash their helmet with my hammer.

A position where I didn’t have to think about tactics.

I did advise Ju-a to take a ranged position, but even that advice came from recalling the original story.

“…Well, alright.”

I answered with a light sigh.

Only after I said that did the kids’ faces brighten.

“The beach…”

Ju-a muttered with a dreamy expression. Chae-yeon, who had been quietly reading as usual, had put down her book and was lost in thought.

The beach, huh.

…

Wait, does that mean we’ll be wearing swimsuits?

“Great. We should have at least one decent memory during high school.”

Seo-hee said with a bright smile.

Come to think of it, last year Seo-hee, Yeon-woo, and Chae-yeon were first-years, so this year all three are second-years.

Next year, they’ll all be preparing for college entrance exams. Even Magical Girls care quite a bit about education. After all, we don’t know if we can be Magical Girls forever.

…I think there was an episode where someone got angry and went to fight when they heard about a Kaijin appearing during an English listening test.

Looking at the three with their bright expressions, I couldn’t help thinking they were still just kids. Even though they’re my seniors.

And once again, I recalled why time feels short for teenagers.

*

So it was decided that during the summer of our first year of high school, we would all go to the beach together. Once we take one trip, we’ll probably make other plans too.

We’ve already had Christmas parties several times. We’ve also celebrated White Day, Valentine’s Day, and November 11th. We’ve taken turns hosting birthday parties too.

Who knows? Maybe we could all travel together in winter. Or perhaps we could join the seniors on their graduation trip after next year’s college entrance exams.

Nothing was set in stone, mostly just daydreams, but time didn’t wait and flew by insanely fast.

Maybe it feels that way because grades change every year and graduation ceremonies come every three years.

“Jieun.”

“Huh? Oh.”

Hayun nudged my arm from beside me.

The entrance ceremony.

The principal’s long, drawn-out speech had finally ended.

“Let’s go to the classroom.”

Hayun and I were in the same class again this year.

Being in the same class consistently since middle school could be considered a miraculous probability.

Or perhaps the school deliberately assigned us to the same class this time?

After all, both Hayun and I are Magical Girls.

Though by that logic, Ju-a should be with us too, but she’s in a different class.

…Well, it doesn’t matter.

What’s important is that we’re in the same class again this year. Just like before, we’ll continue attending school together.

I liked that. Before, and now. Always.

Hayun somewhat shyly tugged at my sleeve, so I followed her with a slightly goofy smile, ignoring the gazes directed at us.

We went to the classroom where we would attend classes together for a year.

And naturally chose seats one behind the other.

“Looking forward to another year together.”

Hayun made a slightly awkward greeting.

“…Yeah, me too.”

And so, we became high school students.