Ch.95Chapter 16. Intimacy (4)

I know that I’m supposed to translate the text. Let me translate it for you.

I know that being hugged by someone is a nice thing.

Quite fortunately, I have a friend who’s very comfortable with physical affection.

Jihye.

As someone who expresses her emotions freely, even though she’s not usually clingy, she would often link arms when walking beside me, or hug me when she was happy.

When someone hugs you, it would be awkward to just stand there, so I’d hug her back. And even if I felt a bit shy about linking arms, I never pulled away.

No matter how socially awkward I am, I’m not that emotionally stunted.

But, for some reason I couldn’t explain.

Having Hayun bury her face against my chest felt somehow different.

Thinking about it carefully, I’ve never been like this with Jihye either. Even when sleeping, we’d lay out separate blankets and sleep apart. Jihye had never clung to me seeking comfort like this.

“Mmm…”

As if she was having trouble breathing, Hayun turned her face toward mine. Her legs squirmed as she gradually moved upward.

I kept my mouth tightly shut, trying not to make any sound.

The stretched-out part of my t-shirt around the chest area shifted, and Hayun’s face emerged.

Her mouth was still buried, but from her nose upward was visible.

Her eyes were closed, and with each breath, my t-shirt became a little hot and damp.

Is it any wonder it took me a while to fall back asleep?

Well, I did eventually fall back asleep. I can barely remember how I managed to drift off. Like most people.

But I clearly remember waking up.

“Eek?!”

I opened my eyes when my chest suddenly vibrated.

It seemed Hayun had screamed against it, causing the vibration.

Looking down with half-open eyes, I saw Hayun looking up at me with wide eyes.

For someone who had just screamed so loudly, her expression was surprisingly blank.

Her face was bright red. Just like I’d seen yesterday.

“…”

For a while, I just looked down at her face without letting her go.

Thinking about it now, the reason I was able to act so boldly was probably because I wasn’t fully awake.

You know how sometimes you have strange thoughts when you first wake up in the morning?

When really bizarre ideas float around in your head—I must have been in that state.

Before my brain could make a rational judgment, my central nervous system made a very strange decision.

My arms pulled Hayun closer.

Hayun stayed still for a moment with her face buried in my chest, then began to struggle with her arms and legs.

Perhaps because she knew I was right in front of her, she didn’t struggle too hard. If she had, she could have broken free much sooner.

“Phwah!”

Having finally pulled her face back and escaped from me, Hayun quickly retreated, only to realize she had nowhere to go.

Inside a tent barely big enough for two people.

Leaning against the closed entrance, Hayun sat with her face flushed crimson, mouth agape, staring at me.

“…”

And my face, still lying down and looking up at her, gradually heated up as well.

…What did I just do?

Belatedly, my brain found its reason and screamed. Fortunately, that sound didn’t escape my lips.

I also hurriedly got up and tried to back away like Hayun, but I stopped when I heard the tent creak as if it might collapse.

The air inside the tent felt strangely hot. Maybe it was because we’d slept with the entrance closed, and the weather wasn’t that cold anymore.

Add to that the breath of two people.

“…”

Without either of us saying anything, we both quickly got up and went outside.

The morning air that hit us as the tent flap opened felt exceptionally refreshing. Even though it’s spring and there’s probably a lot of fine dust.

As we exited the tent, the others looked our way.

Those gazes somehow felt meaningful. Though in reality, I was probably the only one thinking that.

Damn, now even my thoughts aren’t working properly.

*

Whether Hayun makes eye contact with me or not, the situation continues to unfold.

The timing doesn’t work for calling us to the parliamentary audit. Of course, if the controversy continues until then, we might be summoned, but we all agreed that it probably wouldn’t last for months.

If you want to see something burn, you need to throw something flammable on the embers while they’re still hot.

However, even if the timing isn’t particularly favorable to us, the government doesn’t seem interested in being our enemy.

The police have already joined forces with us before. And they can’t call in the military instead of the police. It’s not a war situation.

In that situation, it would be difficult for the government alone to capture six magical girls, and even if they did manage to arrest us, public opinion might turn against them.

Above all, while the government has been turning a blind eye for now, fundamentally both the Federation and the alien corporation are in conflict with the government.

They allowed the company to enter this land hoping that the Federation and the company would fight each other and maintain a balance of power. If instead they make deals with the Federation and harm this country, there’s no need to keep tolerating them.

Whether they can actually stop tolerating them is another matter, but still.

Anyway, the government has taken its own measures.

It seems the prosecution is making moves. They apparently plan to summon the chairman of Noir Corporation for questioning.

“He’ll probably comply with the summons,” James said matter-of-factly.

“He’ll try to pin all the incriminating evidence on the former chairman. Because he’s that kind of trash.”

“If they pin all the evidence on the former chairman, what will they live on? Wasn’t their goal to modify and sell off Earth people?”

“Well, there are beings who desire massive energy everywhere. Even on this land, it’s possible. Think about it—if one human life can generate power much more efficiently than the nuclear fusion plants that Earth people have been so eager to build. Some might think ‘the sacrifice is acceptable.'”

“…”

The faces of the magical girls listening to this story hardened.

“Moreover, the company’s ‘products’ are manufactured items. Despite dogs and wolves having nearly identical genes, Earth people treat them as different animals. So, assuming they could create Earth people with significantly reduced cognitive abilities solely for power generation, couldn’t some humans be willing to compromise?”

Human ethics have changed their standards many times throughout history.

And they continue to change even now.

So, as James said, could some people think that ‘beings without consciousness’ are ‘not Earth people’…?

“That doesn’t make sense,” Ju-a directly contradicted James.

“Hope and despair are complex emotions that form from bundles of other emotions. It’s clear from the fact that the circuits can’t run without ‘Earth people.’ If other animals on Earth could run the circuits, they would have done so long ago.”

Humans raise cattle, pigs, chickens, and all sorts of other animals for food.

If they could attach circuits to those livestock and run generators, they would have tried it long ago. They were already putting circuits in humans, after all.

“Are you sure about that? Maybe it’s just that any ‘Earth person’ will do. Perhaps it’s about the structure of the nerves, or the arrangement of genes. The principle of the circuits hasn’t been revealed beyond the fact that ‘certain emotions are necessary.’ There’s no assumption that ‘other methods’ don’t exist.”

“…But still, the possibility remains that these… people are humans created solely to feel despair.”

“That’s right. So if you want to know, the only way is to prove it directly.”

James looked at me.

“You didn’t kill those… mass-produced Earth people back then. The government took away all those who were unconscious, and they probably didn’t show them to the Federation. Given the situation.”

“And the Federation doesn’t have the right to force the issue either.”

Rose interjected.

“If they tried to force it, it would definitely become a big problem. If those people are Earth people, that is.”

Cherry nodded in agreement.

“Then we have one more objective,” I summarized.

“Somehow capturing the chairman alive. And infiltrating the government… or finding some other way to meet those surviving Earth people.”

Becoming a separate force isn’t something we can do all at once.

“The summons is next week. What we need to do… well, nothing special. Let’s just spend some time maintaining our condition at its best. It would be great if we could actually kidnap the chairman, but our real goal isn’t kidnapping per se, but rather taking a stance that ‘we’re targeting the chairman.'”

Everyone nodded at that.

Right. Our goal is to make the chairman terrified. So there’s no reason to rush out now to see those Earth person kaijin.

We’ve already come this far after rejecting the government’s proposal. If we bring up that topic now, the government might try to negotiate with it.

We decided to end the brief meeting there and go about our individual tasks.

One positive thing I felt as I left the building was that all my other worries had been blown away by thoughts of Hayun.

That’s a disaster in its own way, I suppose. An emotional disaster. Like a flood in my head.

All sorts of thoughts mixed together, coming and going like the tide. And the residue left on the ground would squirm, only to be swept away by the next downpour, over and over.

What does Hayun think of me?

To be honest, I was worried.

I mean, isn’t it obvious?

No matter what, two men don’t back-hug each other in a tent. But Hayun did. Not that Hayun thinks of me as a man, and certainly not as a lover.

Since Jihye often hugged me too, isn’t this just a sign of affection that would normally happen between women?

Damn, I’ve only met girls who are my family or those girls from this world, so I have no basis for judgment.

Statistically speaking, out of the five people here besides me, Hayun is the only one who hugs me while sleeping. But the other four aren’t as close to me, so they’re not appropriate for comparison.

I guess I’ve talked a bit more with Ju-a, if anything.

That’s why Hayun’s scream this morning bothered me so much.

Back-hugging is okay, but hugging from the front isn’t? Jihye did that, and I think Hayun did it a few times too.

Though running up and hugging someone out of emotion is different from hugging while sleeping.

Could she… hate me because of that?

I don’t want that.

Even if it’s an unrequited feeling, the sensation when she’s by my side versus when she’s not is completely different.

Look, even the circuit slowly—

Snap.

But as I was thinking about this while lingering near the village entrance, someone suddenly grabbed my arm.

Looking to the side, I saw Hayun with a bright smile, linking her arm with mine.

“What are you doing here alone?”

“Oh, nothing, just thinking…”

Several thoughts crossed my mind when I saw Hayun’s smiling face.

The first was relief.

If what I had done had crossed a line, she might have become afraid of me.

Friends can playfully push each other around, but if someone suddenly approaches you with soap while you’re showering, wouldn’t that be scary? I probably wouldn’t be scared if Hayun did that to me, but that’s just because I’m me. I’ve never actually been a woman on the inside.

But despite that, Hayun was smiling at me like this. What emotion should I feel if not relief?

…Probably elation.

Setting aside the fact that I hadn’t earned her hatred, Hayun was approaching me first.

She even linked arms with me—there’s absolutely no reason I shouldn’t be happy about this.

How could I dislike it when the girl I like does this?

“…”

But once again, we both fell silent.

Hayun quietly lowered her gaze. Her face was red. But she didn’t let go of my arm.

I also quietly shifted my gaze elsewhere. Of course, I had no intention of pulling my arm away.

Still, should I apologize for what happened this morning?

Say that the joke went too far. Or I could say I did it in my sleep. It was half done while I was still asleep, so that wouldn’t be wrong.

It felt pretty shameful to even think about making such excuses, but if I didn’t think that way, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to bring it up at all.

“Hayun.”

“Jieun.”

But strangely enough, we both opened our mouths at the same time.

Our eyes met, and we both turned away again.

What are we doing?

Despite this, Hayun was holding my arm even tighter. Does she think I might run away?

Yesterday, she said she was worried when I went off alone in a different direction. So I should apologize for that too…

“That.”

“Huh?”

At the sudden voice, I involuntarily made such a sound. Hayun’s hand also trembled.

The fact that I didn’t pull my arm away even as I turned around makes me think I’m quite something.

“…That arm-linking thing.”

The person who approached us saying that was none other than Ju-a.

“Is that something friends normally do with each other?”

Ju-a asked with a very serious expression.

We awkwardly turned our bodies. It probably looked funny from a third person’s perspective, but Ju-a’s expression remained unchanged.

“Well…”

Hayun shifted her gaze around.

Since Hayun was the one who linked arms first here.

Thinking she might not speak if I left it alone, I opened my mouth first.

“Between friends, it can happen.”

“Really?”

Ju-a’s gaze turned to me.

Since I was the one not pulling my arm away with 100% ulterior motives, my conscience hurt like crazy when I met that straightforward gaze, but I decided to brazenly push through. After all, facts are facts, right?

“Jihye and I used to walk like this often.”

Hasn’t Hayun done this with her friends… well, not friends exactly, but classmates? Though of course, Hayun probably wasn’t the one to initiate the arm-linking.

“Ah.”

For some reason, Hayun made such a sound.

Looking down, her expression seemed somewhat disappointed.

…Why?

The arm-linking we were doing now was similar to what I did with Jihye. I wasn’t pulling particularly hard or anything.

“Really?”

Ju-a asked once more.

Looking at Ju-a, who was frowning in deep thought, I suddenly remembered something and cautiously asked.

“Haven’t you done this before?”

“…No, I haven’t. Why? Is that not okay?”

Ju-a’s answer had an unnecessary addition.

“No, it’s not that it’s not okay.”

That’s kind of sad.

I don’t know what kind of friendships Rose, Dalia, or Delphinium have. Actually, I don’t really want to know. They all have their own circumstances, so why should I interfere?

But Rose seems like the type who would be popular at school, and Dalia doesn’t seem like she would be unpopular either.

Delphinium seems like the type who would voluntarily avoid such attention.

As for Ju-a…

Ju-a is similar to Delphinium in some ways, but she’s not an “ice princess.”

She’s more like an angry chihuahua.

She’s even shorter than Hayun.

So, somehow.

For no other reason, she just seems like someone who wouldn’t have friends.

This was the sense of kinship.

“You’ve never had this, have you?”

At my question, Ju-a’s eyes widened as if struck by lightning.

“Ha.”

She laughed shortly as if in disbelief. But seeing her face turn slightly red, it seemed like bravado.

“Of course not, because I deliberately chose not to form such relationships.”

If that were the case, there would be no reason for her to come to us and ask about such things.

My face, which isn’t good at hiding emotions, must have shown my sympathy.

Ju-a once again looked very angry and strode toward me.

Is she going to hit me?

But when she reached my side and stared intently at my arm for some reason, she suddenly grabbed my arm with her own.

And pulled it into her embrace.

“Huh?”

“What?”

Ju-a said with her still very angry face.

“You said friends can do this, right?”

“…Well, yes, that’s true.”

This is quite embarrassing.

Unable to hide that emotion, Ju-a’s expression became even angrier. She was like a chihuahua about to bite. Though her pretty face didn’t look that distorted.

Why on earth?

“Ju-a?”

Hayun called Ju-a’s name blankly.

“…”

Ju-a looked at Hayun’s face and, as if realizing what she was doing, her face immediately turned pale.

Releasing my arm, Ju-a glared at me again for some reason.

Then she turned and ran away.

…

What was that?

Is she more timid than a chihuahua?