Chapter 37: 37

It had been two weeks since he went to visit Itadori.

The voting for Rikka, which took place earlier this week, went well, and the government would probably announce the results tomorrow. This time, Tsugumi voted for Hitsugi Airi, who came in fifth in the ranking, but it seemed that half of his class voted for Hagakure Sakura. He wondered if it was some kind of harassment.

When he asked why, they said after looking at his face, “No, because I feel some kind of kinship.”

…Please don’t decide such an important thing on that basis. Well, he supposed the votes of a few classmates were insignificant.

And now, Tsugumi was on the train with Chidori. They were on their way to the Amusement Park they had agreed to go to.

He asked Bell if she wanted to go as well, but she refused, saying she didn’t want to go to a crowded place. Well, he expected her to say so.

“Hmmm, it’s kind of funny when you dress like that. Isn’t it hard to see what’s ahead?”

“Surprisingly, the vision isn’t that bad. But it looks good, doesn’t it? I’ve got Mebuki-senpai’s blessing on this one.”

With that said, Tsugumi pointed to the pair of thin tinted glasses he currently wore on his face. A few days ago, he went out of his way to ask Mebuki-senpai to go out and help him find a pair of glasses that would look good on him.

“Hmm. I like the usual Tsugumi better.”

“You can always see the usual me at home. …Well, I wouldn’t use it unless it’s an occasion like this.”

–But then again, how much of an impression can be changed just by wearing glasses?

Tsugumi gazed at his reflection in the train’s glass. At a quick glance, it couldn’t connect with the usual him. The glasses were very effective, and no one had yet approached him today. In that respect, it could be said that Mebuki’s choice was accurate.

He put one cold hand in his jacket pocket. But then Tsugumi remembered the thing that touched his fingertips and let out a small sigh.

–I appreciate Senpai’s good attention, but I don’t want to get something like this.

When shopping for glasses with Mebuki, she handed some of her handmade self-defense items, saying, “Things are so dangerous these days.” Each item was about the size of a marble and easy to carry around, but the contents were all useless, such as bird traps and smoke screens, and honestly, it felt like he was forced to buy something unnecessary. It said the material had no effect on the human body, but using it might cause other problems.

Today, too, he had originally intended to leave it at home, but when he noticed it, the whole sachet had been twisted into his jacket pocket. Perhaps Chidori had secretly slipped it in there. She might have heard about it from Mebuki beforehand.

“I think this might be the first time I’ve ever been alone with Tsugumi at an Amusement Park. It’s kind of weird.”

Chidori laughed happily as Tsugumi gazed absent-mindedly outside.

–It might be true if anyone asked. Although they had gone out shopping together, they had never been to this kind of leisure facility.

When he was younger, he couldn’t go out far because he wasn’t accompanied by a parent or guardian, and even when he entered Middle School and his range of activities expanded, puberty and the eyes of those around him meant that they didn’t go out to play together as much as they used to. In fact, he was so bothered by the comparison of their performances that he avoided going out with Chidori himself.

-When he was little, Chidori was the center of his world.

Tsugumi chuckled at the thought. Thinking about it, maybe it wasn’t so different now.

“I’m looking forward to it, the Amusement Park.”

“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it!”

–Tenma Amusement Park. It was an up-and-coming facility that planned to attract about two million visitors a year.

According to the pamphlet given at the entrance, it aimed to be a theme park that offered a new sensory experience, combining fancy elements based on fairy tales with mystery-solving elements that even adults could enjoy.

…It might be a bit overstuffed.

“Looks like there’s going to be a ceremony in the central plaza. Well, it’s a pre-opening, so it can’t be helped.”

Tsugumi muttered to himself as he looked at the schedule he had received with the pamphlet. The ceremony started fifteen minutes from now. After about 30 minutes of speeches and parades, the attractions would finally be unleashed.

“I don’t mind waiting, but it’s a little hard when it’s so cold. …I wish the ceremony isn’t outside, at least.”

Chidori rubbed her hands together in the cold and exhaled a white breath.

…No wonder. The temperature from January to the beginning of February was the coldest time of the year. The cold weather didn’t bother Tsugumi that much, but for women, this cold could be quite painful.

“You can use my scarf.”

With that said, he took off the scarf he was wearing and wrapped it around Chidori’s neck without waiting for a reply. Asking her normally would just make her feel reserved. In that case, it would be easier to just put it on without permission.

Chidori smiled apologetically and thanked him while touching the scarf he had wrapped around her

“…Yeah, I’m sorry, I’ll return it properly later.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not that cold.”

Even if it got cold, he could at least buy a scarf at the store. The actual price might be higher, but naturally, everything was expensive in such facilities, he just had to accept it.

“By the way, it seems that an acquaintance is coming here today.”

“Someone from your class?”

“No, it’s someone I met when I was in the hospital the other day. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to find her in the crowd.”

When Tsugumi replied, Chidori opened her mouth with a tense look.

“Is it a girl?”

“Oh, yeah. She said she is a student of Asuka Academy. I heard it’s part of a field trip, so she’s probably still in uniform, and I’ll recognize her right away when I see her. …What’s wrong?”

For some reason, Tsugumi felt a strange pressure from Chidori and faltered. …He wondered if he had said something strange. There was nothing out of ordinary from his words, though.

When Tsugumi asked, Chidori shook her head.

“Um. I am kind of surprised…”

“Eh, what’s so surprising about it?”

–Did Chidori really think that Tsugumi had no acquaintances other than school friends? She wasn’t wrong, but it stung to hear such an assessment from his own family.

Although inwardly depressed, Tsugumi laughed to regain his temper.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to go out of my way to talk to an elementary school kid. I might wave at her or something, though.”

At this Tsugumi’s words, Chidori opened her eyes wide with a puzzled look.

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“…Um, is she an elementary school student?’

“Yeah? That’s right”

“Yes, that’s why she’s outside of school… So, it’s all my misunderstanding…”

Chidori was mumbling something in a small voice, but Tsugumi couldn’t hear it. And then, with a subtle look that could be taken either as joy or sadness, Chidori let out a loud sigh. Just what happened to her, really?

After that, Chidori acted as if nothing was wrong, but apparently, she did not want to touch on the topic anymore. As for Tsugumi, he didn’t feel like talking about Itadori, so he was thankful that she didn’t pursue the matter in depth.

–The ceremonial greeting began, and just as he was about to move to the parade, a shrill alarm rang out from the cell phones of the people gathered in the plaza.

“Wh-What is it?!”

“No way, a Demonic Beast? With this timing, it has to be a lie, right?!”

Such voices could be heard from all around. With a bitter look on his face, Tsugumi took out his cell phone and checked the alarm screen.

“–An hour from now, a D-class Demonic Beast is going to attack. …Why isn’t it tacked on like this?”

“That’s true. …Do you want to go with me sometime to get rid of the bad luck?”

“That might be a better idea.”

Tsugumi and Chidori looked at each other and let their shoulders drop. Following the last one in Hakone, a Demonic Beast would appear in this Amusement Park. Since the opponent was a D-class, it wasn’t so bad, but until the beast was properly exterminated, they wouldn’t be able to set foot in this area.

At the very least, it would be two hours from now before they could play in the attractions.

“What are you going to do? We have to get out of here, should we have lunch somewhere else and come back again?”

“That might be better… I don’t want to wait at the entrance for two hours.”

Chidori said sadly and turned her eyes down. Seeing this, Tsugumi felt bad. He didn’t invite her here to make her sad.

Even so, he wondered why the Demonic Beast decide to come down here today. There were plenty of other places where people gather.

According to the follow-up report that arrived on his cell phone, it seemed that the Magical Girl who would be dispatched had been decided. Apparently, the girl was not a government-affiliated Magical Girl, but a stray.

Her activity started at the same time as Tsugumi – Hagakure Sakura, and the number of subjugation cases was two E-class and one D-class. The government would probably send a backup Magical Girl just in case, so there was no need to worry about it.

With that decision made, the staff guided Tsugumi and Chidori toward the east, where the gate was located. On the way, he could see a group of people in Asuka Academy uniforms headed toward the gate to the south, but he couldn’t find Itadori.

Some of these girls were probably genuinely looking forward to today’s event. It was truly a pity, but he could only hope that the Magical Girls would defeat the Demonic Beasts as soon as possible.

◆◆◆

“…The line doesn’t seem to be moving very fast.”

Tsugumi muttered as he stared at the gate in the distance. It was good to get near the gate, but the line was hardly moving forward at all.

“Maybe it’s difficult to prepare the procedure for re-entry. You know, with this many people.”

“That’s right. I think everyone lacks a sense of crisis.”

–Even if they didn’t make it in time to move before the appearance of the Demonic Beast, ordinary people would be repelled from the barrier, so there wouldn’t be that much of a problem. However, he didn’t think it was right to sit on and neglect the evacuation.

No matter how much trust people had in Magical Girls, there were still times when precautions had to be taken. At the very least, they should manage the crisis properly. Tsugumi strongly believed this because of the troubles he had to deal with in the past.

“I’m more worried about Tsugumi. Don’t worry so much, we have thirty minutes to go.”

–Just as Chidori answered, a child next to her pointed to the sky and shouted.

“Hey, Mama! Look at that–there’s a big rainbow!”

“…Rainbow? Even though it’s not even raining?”

Triggered by the words, Tsugumi looked up at the sky. There, he saw something incredible.

–It wasn’t a rainbow floating in the sky. It was a distortion of the boundary, like a messed-up aurora. The scene disgusted him.

“…Huh? My vision is kind of wobbly.”

Then, Chidori, who was next to him, held her forehead and wobbled, clinging to Tsugumi’s arm. She blinked his eyes painfully and looked in anguish.

The blood drained from his body. Such a thing couldn’t be right. And yet, Tsugumi could not deny the thought that came to him.

–Chidori was acting similarly to the way a Magical Girl in the middle of setting up a barrier would act.

“–Chidori!!”

He shouted, grabbing Chidori’s hand and hugging it to his chest. There was a small scream and a slight flinch of resistance, but he couldn’t care less about that.

“Huh, what? What’s wrong?”

Chidori blushed and tried to push Tsugumi’s body back, but he couldn’t leave. If he let go of this hand now, Tsugumi would surely regret it for the rest of his life. Then, following Chidori, with relief at his vision, which was beginning to distort dizzily, he said as if to spit it out.

“I will protect you.”

As if making a vow, Tsugumi said so.

Perhaps things were heading for a worst-case scenario. Suppressing the urge to scream out, ‘Why, why us?’, Tsugumi strengthened his hug on Chidori.

Before Bell saved him – Tsugumi still remembered the despair when the Gargoyle tried to kill him as if it were only yesterday. He couldn’t let Chidori experience that feeling.

–Even if the opponent was a Demonic Beast, he would definitely let Chidori escape.

“I’ll definitely save you…!”

–With those words, Tsugumi and Chidori vanished on the spot.

Due to the appearance of the Demonic Beast much earlier than expected, the number of people caught in the hastily deployed barrier is currently six. It was a wonder if they would be able to survive.

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