Chapter 52: 52

New Friends

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

Tsugumi cleaned up his room in preparation for his discharge in the evening. The hospital had provided him with new clothes, so as long as he packed his baggage, he could leave the hospital as it was.

His clothes were covered in blood, so he decided to get rid of them. It wasn’t worth much, and he didn’t think he’d be able to wear the clothes again now that they’d been shown on TV. It was such a shame, he liked them a lot.

Chidori left the hospital right after Tsugumi’s interview was over and apparently went home after stopping by the government with Inaba. She was probably going to finalize the details of the contract, but he was still a little worried.

By the way, when Tsugumi left, he would be carried out in a type of car that wasn’t visible from the outside. Apparently, it was to prevent media exposure. According to the story, even after a day had passed, there was still a crowd of reporters in front of the hospital, and it was impossible to get out of the hospital in a normal cab. It was beyond annoying.

…Surely, the most conspicuous thing about this incident was the fact that Tsugumi had directly defeated the Demonic Beast. The media would definitely want to cover the fact that a man, who was not a Magical Girl, had defeated a Demonic Beast. Perhaps the government had taken this situation into consideration.

He didn’t know how they were going to treat a man whose face looked like “Hagakure Sakura” but he could only hope that it hadn’t been talked about. Whatever the case, it was still troublesome.

As Tsugumi sat on the side of his bed, he heard a knocking sound. Someone had come.

“Come in.”

–Asakura must have come to kill time again. When Tsugumi opened the door with this thought in mind, he found an unexpected person there.

“Hehe, I’ve come.”

“Is your injury okay?”

While saying that, Suzushiro and Mibu walked into the hospital room without waiting for his reply. Tsugumi stared at them with his mouth gaping open.

“Wh-why are you here?”

“What, am I not allowed to come?”

When Tsugumi asked, Mibu sat down next to him, her mouth pursed with dissatisfaction.

“That’s not it… I just didn’t expect the two Rikka to come.”

Now that the case was over, there was no reason for them to get involved with Tsugumi. Even just for the sake of it, they had just been chosen as Rikka again. Tsugumi didn’t think they had time to have a conversation with him.

“Hmmm? You’re so cold, even though we fought together. –So, you don’t have to wear sunglasses anymore?”

“…Ah”

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Tsugumi held his face down, but it was already too late. Thinking about it, he had never shown his true face in front of these two people. This was mainly because it was too troublesome to explain, but he wondered what they thought of the face that resembled Hagakure Sakura.

While he was at loss for words, Mibu, who was sitting next to him, suddenly reached out and began to touch his face. Then, she moved her face so close to his that his breath came in contact with it, and stared at him intently.

“I see. Chidori says you guys are not related, but if you look so much alike, you might want to hide it.”

Satisfied with herself, Mibu continued to speak. On the other hand, Tsugumi didn’t feel comfortable. The sudden approach of the opposite sex made him so dizzy that he couldn’t get a word out. Even so, a cute girl was in front of him. Tsugumi didn’t know what to do.

As Tsugumi froze in place at Mibu’s mercy, Suzushiro called out to stop her.

“Ah, Yuri-chan. You should leave it at that. Tsugumi-kun is turning red.”

“Hmm? Why? Yesterday he didn’t seem to mind seeing me in my underwear, so it’s strange that he would be embarrassed by something like this.”

“No, you see, it was an emergency then. I feel sorry for him, so stop it. He’s about to cry.”

When Suzushiro said this, Mibu reluctantly removed her hand from Tsugumi. Exhaling a breath of relief, he covered his face with his hands. He hated his cheeks which felt hot.

…He didn’t cry, but he was certainly in trouble. Tsugumi thanked Suzushiro for her help and turned to them with a cough. His ears that still turned red were a pleasure to see.

“So, what’s your business…?”

When Tsugumi asked, Suzushiro slowly opened her mouth.

“I just wanted to thank you. As it turns out, I’ve been saved by you and Chidori. –Thank you very much.”

“Yeah, we’d be dead without you two. Thanks for your help.”

The two bowed their heads, and Tsugumi called out to them with a wry smile.

“Oh, please raise your heads. Rather, we’re the ones who should be grateful. If it weren’t for the two Rikka, we might all be dead. It’s only natural that we should cooperate together. …I was able to defeat the Ogre only because you weakened it.”

-Tsugumi alone could not have defeated that Demonic Beast. Thinking about it, that was not Tsugumi’s accomplishment alone, but definitely a team effort. This was why they had no reason to be grateful in this way.

The two looked at each other and began to laugh.

“Haha! You say the same thing as Chidori-chan. I guess you guys are sister and brother after all.”

“Did you talk to Chidori?”

“Yeah. It’s a little surprising that she became a Magical Girl. She didn’t seem that aggressive. Well, if something happens in the government, we’ll follow up on it, so don’t worry.”

Suzushiro laughed a bit and held out a folded piece of paper in front of him. He tilted his head as he accepted the paper.

“What’s this?”

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“Yuri-chan’s personal contact information and mine. Whatever the case may be, it’s true that you helped us out. –If anything happens to Tsugumi-kun, we will help!”

I’ve been re-elected to Rikka, so I have a certain amount of power, said Suzushiro with a laugh. Tsugumi opened his mouth in a shaky voice, alternately staring at the note in his hand and at the two of them.

“Is it okay for me to have such an important thing?”

He had no idea how valuable Rikka’s private contact information is.

Normally, these women would be above the clouds that Tsugumi would never have to deal with them in his life. He didn’t expect them to care so much just because he helped them once.

“You don’t have to take it so seriously, you know? No matter how coincidental it is, with your appearance, you’re going to get into all kinds of trouble. Besides, there is also the matter of Chidori. Think of it as having someone you can rely on in case of an emergency. –You see.”

Mibu patted Tsugumi on the back, and then quickly held out her empty right hand in front of him. When he stared at Mibu’s face, not understanding why, she laughed exasperatedly.

“We gave you our contact information. I think it would be polite for you to write yours down as well.”

“Is it necessary…?”

“Of course it is! We fought for our lives together. Aren’t we friends now?”

When Tsugumi asked this question with a puzzled look on his face, Mibu replied with a clear expression.

He glanced at Suzushiro, and she nodded, as if to say, “That’s right!” Apparently, there was no escape.

Tsugumi wrote his contact information on a notepad on the table and quietly handed it to them. Somehow, he felt a tinge of trepidation.

They carefully put away the note they had received and took out their cell phones to check the time.

“Now that we’ve taken care of our business, we should get going.”

“There’s a press conference in the evening. It’s always a hassle.”

The two women let out a melancholy sigh. The press conference probably referred to Rikka’s inauguration ceremony. Tsugumi had never seen the live broadcast, so he didn’t know all the details.

“By the way, two of you are re-elected as Rikka. Congratulations.”

When Tsugumi congratulated them, Suzushiro cowered her shoulders a bit in dissatisfaction.

“I lost to Yuri-chan. I’m a little shocked.”

“Is that so? I don’t really care.”

“This kind of thing isn’t logical!”

“See you later, Tsugumi-kun. Call me soon.”

“See you later!”

Tsugumi smiled cheerfully at their words. –It sounded like a conversation between friends.

“Yeah. –See you again.”

Tsugumi said with a light wave of his hand. He didn’t know if they’d see each other again, but he thought it would be a little regrettable if this was the end of their relationship.

It wasn’t because they were Rikka, or because they were pretty girls, or for any other cheap reason. –It was because they were human beings worthy of respect. Their straightforward nature dazzled Tsugumi more than anything else.

As they walked out of the hospital room, Tsugumi smiled.

–It was like a storm.

The victims of the same accident and “comrades-in-arms” who fought alongside each other against the Demonic Beast. Tsugumi thought it was an overrated assessment, but he didn’t feel bad about it.

Lying back on the bed, Tsugumi stared blankly at the note with their contact information on it. The distinctive rounded handwriting and the rough, slightly rightward letters. Both of these handwriting styles show their individuality.

“Friends, huh?”

–When’s the last time I heard someone say that to my face? Just remembering it made him feel embarasses and happy at the same time.

“…But I can’t tell anyone else…”

There was no way he could tell his classmates, especially his best friend Yukitaka. He didn’t know what they would say. There would be no problem if Mebuki knew, but there was no need to tell her. If she asked, he would just answer.

With that in mind, Tsugumi stared at the clock. The time was five minutes before fourteen o’clock. After confirming it, he raised his upper body with a flip.

“Oh no. –I promised to visit Itadori.”

–This morning, Asakura told him about Itadori’s condition. She had badly sprained her ankle and was told to take a week’s rest at home after being discharged from the hospital.

Her discharge was this evening, the same time as Tsugumi. Asakura asked him to visit her before she left the hospital because she wanted to see Tsugumi.

And the time that Tsugumi was allowed to visit was at 14:00 today. — in other words, there was no time to lose.

He got off the bed, tucked the note he was holding into his notebook, and left his hospital room at a quick pace.

–What is the young girl who had faced the Ogre thinking right now? Tsugumi didn’t know.

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