V5: Chapter 60: Squire and Chinatsu

Chapter 60: Squire and Chinatsu

The Magical Girl Association, or "Magic Association" for short.

The most powerful organization in this country, protecting and managing Magical Girls.

In her private room, nestled deep within a massive building in the city center, with top-notch security.

She sat in a chair there, slowly looking into my eyes.

"S-Squire?"

"...I see."

She murmured only that one word, placing a bookmark in the book she was holding.

No further words were needed between us... or rather, between her and me.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and slowly lowered her eyes.

"Makeup. I should have learned how to do it."

"Shall I do it for you?"

"Hmm... In this case, even if you did it, it wouldn't really make much difference, would it?"

She probably just wanted to show off her beautiful self, but she's cute enough without doing that—

"Stop. Any more than that... and things will get complicated."

"Even though you're so cute?"

"You... that side of you..."

She turned her mouth down and looked towards the corner of the room. I tried to soothe her... no, that was just her trying to hide her embarrassment.

Her ears were slightly red.

However, I couldn't move on to the main topic of today's conversation like this. I had to make an appointment before sunset.

Even if she and them weren't on good terms... I heard that neither of them were like 'that' person with a personality disorder.

That's precisely why I thought I should meet them at least once.

"I want to meet Squire's... parents, just once. If you don't mind, that is."

"...Okay."

I don't know what the outcome will be.

I understood that Squire didn't want to tell them.

"It's not that I was hiding it. But it's not like I wanted to tell them proactively either..."

Squire continued speaking, sounding a little hesitant, and her back seemed much smaller than usual.

"Just one request. Please, don't blame them."

I felt like there was a look of regret on her face...

★

The train came to a stop with a hiss, and the doors slowly opened.

[The doors will be closing shortly. Please watch your step.]

The stop was incredibly short, and I hurried off the train.

The winter chill bit into me, and I shivered involuntarily.

I put my hands in my coat pockets, exhaled a white breath, and then... began to walk.

Slowly, steadily... I continued walking.

The nearest station was an unmanned station, with only six trains a day. Beyond that station, in a village that felt like a walk away... stood a relatively new house, built in a remote location.

Even in this rural town with hardly any inhabitants, this house stood out considerably. This was the house where her parents lived.

Standing in front of the house, the nameplate clearly read "Takamiya."

I was sure this was the house, so I pressed the intercom...

"Phew..."

What am I getting scared of? It's my decision.

Even so, I felt a little scared of peeking into her past.

I must have become weaker. Much weaker than before.

But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

Kindness is sweetness... and fear comes from caring.

I pressed the intercom.

A drawn-out ding-dong sound echoed, and then, after a while, the sound of one footstep echoed inside the house.

"You're... Hoshino-san, right?"

The person who came out of the door was a woman with beautiful features and gray hair.

Her features somehow reminded me of Squire, of Chinatsu-chan.

However, there were patches of transparent white hair in her hair... and her expression was downcast, as if she were utterly exhausted.

"Yes, thank you for taking the time to see me today."

"Welcome, it's good to see you. It's not a particularly beautiful place, but..."

Her tone of voice was gentle, but I felt a clear barrier.

I could tell from her tone that I wasn't welcome, or... she was wary.

"Is that child... here now?"

"No, she's not here."

"Is that so..."

I watched the mother exhale, a sigh that seemed both complicated and relieved.

I could only watch as her white breath dissolved into the air.

"Please, come in. My husband is surely... waiting for you."

"Excuse me."

All I could do now was be as polite as possible... and not intrude.

From what I'd heard, Squire's parents were...

They were the reason.... that she's completely exhausted from interacting with people.

★

The interior was nothing special; it was just an ordinary house.

While it was clean, it was a little too modest for a house inhabited by a relative of the head of the Magical Girl Association.

Chinatsu's mother placed a steaming hot mug of cocoa on the table, looking at me with a somewhat searching gaze.

"Excuse me, but... you're a Magical Girl, aren't you? Could you tell me about the effects of your magic?"

She probably has an unusual fear of a particular type of magic.

A fear of mind-reading magic, or magic related to memory.

"It's a little difficult to explain... but think of it as something like weather manipulation."

I released the gravitational pull of the stars that was only affecting the surface of the cocoa and shook it, causing the brown liquid to float to the surface.

With her eyes wide, I brought my lips to the sphere... and drank it all in one gulp.

"Ouch!? Too hot! Umm... I'm sorry."

"No, I'm the one who should apologize for making you do such a demonstration..."

An awkward silence fell over the room.

I should have just dropped it back into the mug.

A painful silence filled the room until her mother finally spoke.

"You came here today for Chinatsu's matter, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I'll go get my husband now... please wait a moment."

With that, her mother left the room.

Looking around the now-empty room, I could see old signs of someone having run wild.

Then, a thin man with noticeable white hair appeared from the open door.

"You were talking about her..."

"Nice to meet you, Chinatsu-chan's father. What you were talking about was..."

"We occasionally communicate by email because her ability doesn't activate when we do so. But that's only been happening recently, since her seizures have calmed down..."

At first glance, they seemed like a perfectly normal family, though a little emaciated.

They didn't seem like the type to abuse or neglect a child; they were just ordinary people, like any other.

That's precisely why Squire is living alone in that room now...

"We know we have no right to say this, but..."

"Thank you for being Chinatsu's friend... for being there for her."

Even though she's been pushed to the brink, to the point of looking indifferent, their parental love still worries about her.

They are normal... because they are ordinary people.

That's the reason she's isolated; a tragedy that likely occurred precisely because they are ordinary people. 　

"We couldn't bear it, the fact that our minds were being read."

"Dear...!"

"There's no point in hiding it, it's not something that can be hidden."

His nails dug into his clenched hand, making it tremble slightly.

He still hasn't overcome that trauma.

"In fiction and stories, there are often psychics or spirit users who can read people's minds... but they don't understand the true meaning of living with them, the terror..."

It was a weighty statement, filled with genuine feeling... the feeling of more than a decade of experience.　　

"For example, a little dissatisfaction, a slight discomfort. Deception, distrust, complaints, anger. Jealousy and laziness, and so on. All those things that humans carry within themselves, those things that everyone keeps hidden deep inside, are all exposed—and recorded."　　

It was a monologue.

Rather than telling me, the words spilled from his lips as if he were trying to organize his thoughts—the facts that had already happened.

"If it were just a brief encounter, I could endure it. But it was all the time... all the time. Being with someone like that 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, I was scared... I was frightened."

"Dear, you can't go any further than that...!"

"I felt fear, I felt terror. In the end, I became afraid of my own daughter."

It was a heartbreaking confession.

Perhaps it was because he was kind-hearted, because he was normal, that he couldn't bear it.

"I... I'm actually scared, Shizuku-san. I'm terrified of my own daughter."

"Do you, and the people around you, truly have that resolve?"

"That is..."

Because of the years that had passed, I couldn't easily give an immediate answer.

There might be things that only they, who have endured for so long, can understand.

"This is merely the advice of a pathetic old man who has simply grown old and become a burden..."

That was his last wish as a parent.

"Please don't forget that if you're going to hurt her with half-hearted feelings, then leaving her... leaving Chinatsu alone is also an act of kindness."