Nadeshiko was wrapped in a cocoon woven of white feathers.
The cocoon hung quietly in the air, and Nadeshiko lay inside it as if she were asleep.
“Nadeshiko… Nadeshiko, wake up!”
Tears had already slipped down Sakuraraku’s face.
She choked the words out, and her hand came to rest lightly on the outside of the cocoon.
Feathers burst apart in an instant, and Nadeshiko’s small body fell into her arms.
“Nn…”
The commotion seemed to have woken her.
Nadeshiko opened her eyes, still hazy with sleep.
What happened? Did I fall asleep…? she thought.
“Nadeshiko… you’re finally awake!”
Sakuraraku saw that Nadeshiko’s eyes were open and pulled her tightly into her arms.
“Are you all right?! Does anything hurt?”
Beside them, Seika ran her hands all over her, looking ready to peel her clothes open and check her from head to toe.
“I… I’m fine.”
Nadeshiko’s voice still carried the soft, drowsy cling of someone just woken.
She tried to twist out of Sakuraraku’s arms, but after two or three attempts Sakuraraku still did not seem to notice the girl in her embrace struggling.
She only breathed in Nadeshiko’s scent, greedy for it.
“Um… could you let go? This is a little uncomfortable.”
At those words, Sakuraraku finally brought herself to loosen the arms circled around Nadeshiko and ducked her head.
The tips of her ears flushed red inch by inch, from the shell all the way to the lobe.
Nadeshiko got to her feet and looked around.
The place they were in looked as if a meteor had struck it.
They stood in a deep crater, and the ground was covered in savage sword scars and broken stone.
Golden threads hung all through the surrounding trees. Some had not yet dissolved, and they dangled straight down from the branches.
Did they fight this hard…? she thought.
Nadeshiko tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Just then, Mawata finally came over, bracing herself on her broom.
She walked unsteadily up to Nadeshiko, and then, as if she could not hold herself up any longer, she collapsed weakly into Nadeshiko’s arms and released her transformation.
Mawata was much bigger than Nadeshiko.
A fall like that would have taken Nadeshiko down with her.
Fortunately Seika and Sakuraraku caught them in time, but the two of them were so drained that they staggered a few steps and sat down hard.
The four of them ended up in a miserable heap on the ground.
Nadeshiko looked down.
Mawata was clutching her waist the way a drowning person clutches a piece of wood.
She lifted her head, and her tear-bright eyes turned toward Nadeshiko.
“I’m sorry…”
Then she buried her face against Nadeshiko’s stomach, as if she truly had no strength left to raise her head.
Rakuraku and Hanaka had meant to hold on a little longer, but the magic in their bodies had already bottomed out.
Stardust flickered past.
The magical costumes on the girls shattered, and they turned back into ordinary high school girls.
Rakuraku held Nadeshiko’s right hand, rested her head on her shoulder, and whispered by her ear.
“I’m sorry… Nadeshiko. The truth is, I’m a magical girl…”
Hanaka held Nadeshiko’s left hand, leaned against her, and grumbled, barely able to get the words out.
“Idiot… You already gave yourself away the moment you said Nadeshiko’s name.”
When she finished, she brought her face close to Nadeshiko’s.
A faint sheen of tears seemed to flash in those golden eyes, but the young lady of the Harusame family would not allow herself to lose composure.
She turned her head away and said, muffled, “If you have time, come with me to the Demon Hunting Division and get checked.”
The three of them had Nadeshiko wrapped up in their arms.
It was warm, and comfortable, but something about it felt a little off.
Owl really beat them that badly…, she thought.
She could not help feeling a little sorry for the three of them, but the moment she saw the Villain Role-Playing System’s timed-quest completion prompt, delight welled up all over again.
[Timed Quest Complete]
I ought to message Owl and thank him, Nadeshiko thought, but the three girls did not seem inclined to give her a chance to take out her phone.
They only wanted to hold her forever.
Fine… I’ll let you hold on for a bit.
She did not know how long had passed.
Only when the crescent moon hung high among the branches, and the birds had cried out hundreds upon hundreds of times, did Rakuraku finally speak, small and weak.
“Don’t we still have school tomorrow…?”
Hanaka shot to her feet as if she had been shocked, and she seemed to have fully recovered.
“How long are you three going to lie on the ground?”
She looked down at the three of them and struck the young lady’s classic pose, arms crossed, gazing down from on high.
“Uu… I want to hold Nadeshiko like this for the rest of my life…”
Rakuraku nuzzled Nadeshiko’s cheek, wheedling.
“I… me too.”
Mawata finally lifted her head to say it.
Damn it, I want to wheedle at Nadeshiko like that too! Hanaka’s inner self howled, but all she did was sulk and drop one line.
“If you’re going to be like this, I’ll just go on ahead by myself.”
With that, she turned and walked off, leaving the three of them behind.
Before long, though, she came slinking back.
Nadeshiko looked at her, puzzled.
Hanaka has the tsundere attribute too?
“Th-that’s right! I just remembered. The reason I went out today was to take part in a competition…”
Hanaka said it with her whole face red.
“Ah! Me too!”
As if Hanaka had jolted her awake, Rakuraku sat up.
“I told Mom and Dad I was staying over at a friend’s tonight!”
Nadeshiko looked up at Hanaka.
Hanaka’s golden eyes wandered, not daring to meet hers.
Nadeshiko looked back at Rakuraku.
Rakuraku simply buried her head in Nadeshiko’s shoulder again, leaving only the flushed tip of an ear.
“So neither of you can go home?”
After a moment, Nadeshiko guessed.
“That’s right!”
“That’s right!”
The two of them spoke in unison. Except in a fight, this was the only time they ever fell into step like this.
“Then… let’s all go to Mawata’s house!”
Nadeshiko clapped her hands and offered it with a smile.
“Eh?”
This time it was Mawata who lifted her head, her face full of shock.
“Can’t we go to Nadeshiko’s house…?”
Rakuraku raised her hand like an elementary-schooler and asked, small and weak.
“Mm… Mawata’s place is closer, and my house is too small.”
Disappointment rose on both Rakuraku’s and Hanaka’s faces, especially Rakuraku’s.
She even let out a sigh.
“Mawata, are you all right with that?”
Without dwelling on how strangely the two of them were acting, Nadeshiko looked down and asked Mawata.
“I…”
Mawata hesitated for a moment, but the thought I get to sleep with Nadeshiko kept turning over and over in her head.
“Okay…”
In the end, she answered in a small voice.
“Yay — then it’s decided?” Nadeshiko asked Rakuraku and Hanaka.
“Yay —”
The two of them lifted their hands in feeble agreement.
And just like that, the four of them set off together on the road home.