by Takehaya
“Kyaaah! Wh-What?!”
Yurika, who couldn’t tell heads from tails, panicked and began struggling.
“Pervert! Molester! Why are you trying to take advantage of me when I can’t move?!”
“You’ve got the wrong idea! Stay still, Yurika! I’ll pull you out of there!”
“Oh, I wondered why someone was grabbing me like that.”
However, when she realized that Koutarou was trying to pull her out, she completely stopped moving.
“Okay, Satomi-san. Hurry up and save me.”
“You idiot. Maybe I should just bury you instead...”
Despite being irritated by Yurika’s behavior, Koutarou grabbed ahold of her legs again.
“Here I go, Yurika!”
“Okay.”
When Yurika answered, Koutarou put all of his strength into his arms.
“Ouch! Owowowow!”
Yurika began screaming right away and started kicking her legs again.
“H-Hey, Yurika, stop moving!”
“But— Ow! It hurts! Owowowow!”
“In that case...!”
Yurika kept struggling and complaining, but having determined that they wouldn’t get anywhere at this rate, Koutarou ignored her pleas and yanked as hard as he could. When he did, he pulled a snow-covered Yurika up out of the pile.
“Ow...”
“Are you okay, Yurika?”
Yurika rubbed her neck with tears in her eyes. That was what had hurt the most when Koutarou was pulling on her.
“I thought my head was going to pop off.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s just snow.”
“Show some guts.”
“You’re wrong!”
“How?”
“The deeper snow is denser and harder, and that’s where my head was stuck.”
“But in the end, it’s still just snow, right?”
“You’re wrong! Satomi-san, I think you should be more gentle with me!”
“I don’t care...”
As Koutarou, Yurika, and Sanae sat on the snow and talked, more of their classmates came skiing down the slope. Someone on a pair of skis and someone on a snowboard glided towards Koutarou and the others with great speed as they crossed each other’s trails. They then both came sliding to a stop, kicking up snow right in front of Koutarou and the girls.
“What are you doing, Kou?”
“What are you sitting down here for?”
It was Kenji on the snowboard and Shizuka on the skis. Both of them were quite skilled.
“Well, Yurika crashed into that snow pile over there and got stuck, so I had to help her out.”
Koutarou responded sourly as he wiped off the snow that had been kicked into his face by Kenji and Shizuka’s flashy stunt. Yurika, who didn’t seem to care much about the snow in her face, immediately gave them her side of the story.
“Satomi-san is just terrible! Even though I said it hurt, he just kept pulling! I thought I was going to lose my head!”
“Nijino-san, Kou’s always been reckless like that.”
Kenji saw an opportunity and took it. Yurika could be his way to get back at Koutarou for his daily little pranks.
“Just the other day, he woke me up using hot water—did you know that?! He definitely needs to be more gentle with me!”
“I know just how you feel. He’s normally way too rough.”
“So you understand, Matsudaira-san!”
“Of course!”
Yurika and Kenji firmly shook hands, both rejoicing at having found someone who understood them.
“What are those two doing...?”
Koutarou and Shizuka watched them with cold stares.
“They’ve already moved past the pain and are just complaining now... Oh, right! Satomi-kun!”
“Yes?”
“Regardless of what happened, the truth is that she fell, right? Her neck might really be injured, so I think we should take her to the hotel infirmary, just in case.”
“The infirmary?! I’ll go! I’ll go!”
The moment she heard the word “infirmary,” Yurika’s eyes began sparkling.
“...You just don’t want to ski anymore, do you?”
“You’re wrong! Oh, ouch! Ow! Oh, Satomi-san, my neck! It hurts!”
Yurika brushed aside Koutarou’s suspicions. She held her neck with both hands and wailed in pain with a big smile on her face.
This girl... She’s planning on using her neck pain as an excuse to skip out...
Not only did Yurika not like sports, she also hated the cold. It was obvious that she wasn’t planning on coming back out once she went inside.
“Fine, I got it. Let’s go to the infirmary, Yurika.”
“Really?! Thank you! I knew you were a gentle person the moment we first met!”
Yurika grabbed ahold of Koutarou’s hands and shook them up and down.
“That’s right, there are times you have been gentle with me lately! You must really love me, Satomi-san!”
Yurika was ecstatic over not having to ski for now.
“...Don’t get so full of yourself.”
“Are you sure she needs to go? She doesn’t look hurt to me.”
“What can I do? There’s still a chance that she actually is.”
Koutarou was well aware of Yurika’s underlying motives, but he still felt an obligation to take care of her. He let out a sigh and stood up, then dragged Yurika up as well.
“Let’s go, Yurika.”
“Okaaay.”
“Satomi-kun, Mackenzie-kun and I will take care of the skis.”
“Please do. Thank you, Landlord-san.”
“What? No thanks for me, Kou?”
“Koutarou, I don’t like infirmaries, so I’m gonna go play with Theia and the others.”
“Yeah. You do that.”
Theia and Ruth were in the middle of getting skiing lessons from Kiriha. Tagging along to the infirmary would just be boring, so Sanae decided she’d rather go join up with them.
“Well, I’ll leave the rest to you, Landlord-san, Mackenzie.”
“Satomi-san, Satomi-san! Can you give me a piggyback ride?”
There was a loud thud.
“I said not to get too full of yourself.”
“Okaaay...”
And so Koutarou and Yurika walked down the rest of the slope. Sanae had already flown off looking for Theia and the others, so the only ones remaining were Shizuka and Kenji. Kenji stared at Koutarou and Yurika as they walked off, his head tilted to the side.
“Kasagi-san, are those two going out?”
Shizuka’s eyes opened wide upon hearing Kenji’s most unexpected question.
“Satomi-kun and Yurika-chan?! Why do you ask?!”
“Why? Well... don’t they seem too close for just classmates? It’s like you can’t get between them...”
“Ah, they certainly do have that going for them.”
Shizuka looked up from picking up the skis and watched Koutarou and Yurika as they walked off too. Yurika was cheerfully talking to Koutarou with exaggerated gestures, while Koutarou was responding with a variety of expressions and by occasionally hitting her on the head. There was certainly a sense of intimacy between them.
“But I don’t think they’re going out. They’re both terrible at hiding things, so I’m pretty sure we’d know.”
“That’s true, but... Hmm...”
Kenji wasn’t fully convinced, but he had to agree that there was no way they could keep it a secret if they were dating. To him, the two of them had a very strange relationship.
It’s only natural for it to seem strange to you, Mackenzie-kun. In reality, the two of them are living together.
While feeling a sense of admiration for Kenji’s keen observational abilities, Shizuka smiled wryly. The reason Koutarou and Yurika were so close was because they lived together in room 106. As roommates, they got a little closer every day.
Well, the same goes through for the other girls too...
Although the residents of room 106 all had different interests, they had built up a mutual trust between one another. Shizuka, who had lost her family, was somewhat envious of that.
Yurika’s diagnosis was just what Koutarou had assumed—nothing. She was fine, but the doctor on duty had told Yurika to take it easy for the day just to be on the safe side. That was just what Yurika had hoped for.
“Really, that Yurika... This is why she’s so unreliable.”
Because of that, Koutarou would be returning to the slopes alone. Yurika had gone to sleep in the infirmary, but she stayed on Koutarou’s mind even after he left. Despite how he might act, he was always worried about her.
“What’s the matter, Satomi-kun?” someone called out to Koutarou.
When he turned around to see who it was, he spied one of his classmates.
“Oh, Aika-san.”
“That’s a gloomy expression you have there. Is something wrong?”
It was a girl named Aika Maki. She was a transfer student who had come to their school around the start of winter. Maki was supposedly one of Yurika’s acquaintances, but she hadn’t left much of an impression on Koutarou, so he didn’t have many memories of her.
“Yurika hurt her neck, so I took her to the infirmary...”
“My, Yurika-san did?”
Hearing that Yurika had been injured, Maki’s eyes opened wide.
“The doctor said she was fine, but she refuses to leave the infirmary.”
Koutarou turned to look at the door behind him with a dissatisfied expression. Yurika was sleeping in a warm bed just on the other side of that door.
“I see...”
Hearing what was going on, Maki’s expression suddenly got sharper.
Regardless of the circumstances, this is my chance to investigate...
Maki had been trying to make contact with Koutarou for the past few days. She decided this was her chance and approached him accordingly. She’d set up magical devices to gather information on room 106 while they were away on the school trip. Now she just had to question Koutarou and the majority of her goals would be complete.
This is also my chance to outsmart this man. Don’t be too rash now. Just tread carefully...
Maki calmed herself to keep from doing anything foolhardy, and then smiled at Koutarou.
“Then why don’t we talk for a moment as we take a break, Satomi-kun? I’ll buy you a soda.”
Behind that smile, however, Maki was getting more and more nervous.
When Maki left to buy soda from the vending machine, she activated two spells that had been dormant. One was a spell to allow the user to see through lies, and the other was a camouflage spell that concealed the mana. The first was because she didn’t want to be fooled by Koutarou’s slick tongue, and the second was because she didn’t want Koutarou to know she’d used any magic. Maki had specifically prepared these two spells before she made contact with Koutarou.
The rest is up to me...
Maki pulled herself together and approached Koutarou with two plastic bottles in her hands.
“Here, Satomi-kun.”
“Sorry for making you treat me.”
A green light was now surrounding Koutarou’s body, visible only to Maki. It was the effect of her first spell. Whenever Koutarou lied, the light would waver.
It doesn’t look like he’s been dishonest so far...
The light surrounding Koutarou was a steady green, proof that he hadn’t said anything untrue.
“Let’s have a seat.”
“Sure.”
Maki and Koutarou sat down side by side on a bench in the corner of the hotel lobby.
“So what did you want to talk about?” Koutarou asked.
Waiting for an answer, he removed the cap from his bottle and put it to his lips. He hadn’t told Maki what soda he wanted, but she’d brought him his favorite cola.
“Well... it’s about Yurika-san.”
“Yurika?”
Taking care to act naturally, Maki removed the cap from her bottle too and took a sip.
“Yes, that’s right. Actually, things haven’t been going well with Yurika-san lately...”
Maki despised lies, so she tried not to outright lie herself. Since she and Yurika were enemies, it was certainly true that things weren’t going well between them.
“So please tell me... Has something happened with Yurika-san lately?”
Maki appeared rather concerned. Because of that, to Koutarou, it just looked like the transfer student was worried that her old friend had changed.
“Do you mean since you transferred here?”
“Yes, I think it’s something very recent.”
The mana pool in room 106 had recently grown much larger, meaning something must have happened involving either Yurika or Koutarou. Maki decided to start her line of questioning with Yurika.
“Recently, huh?”
Koutarou began seriously thinking.
Something major happened to me, but... Yurika’s the same as ever. The only thing that’s happened with her recently was making children cry with her acting as Alunaya, right? But that probably has nothing to do with why things aren’t going well with Maki-san...
“Sorry, I can’t think of anything.”
In the end, Koutarou was stumped himself. He had no memory of anything major happening to Yurika.
The light is stable... So does that mean Satomi Koutarou is the reason for the mana pool’s growth? Or the enemy he fought during the play?
The light enveloping Koutarou was still a stable green. It was confirmation that he was telling the truth. Maki immediately began wondering about all the possibilities that could mean for her investigation.
“...No, wait.”
But then Koutarou suddenly remembered something and his expression changed.
Couldn’t you call that a substantial change?
Koutarou had no recollection of anything wrong with Yurika, but something major had happened.
“So did something happen?”
“Yeah. Actually, Yurika’s dream finally came true.”
Koutarou had given her a magical staff as a present. Thanks to that staff, she was now able to use real magic, weak though it may be. Koutarou just thought of it as a tool for self-defense, but it might have been a big deal to Yurika. In truth, Yurika had cried tears of joy when he gave it to her.
“It’s complicated, so I can’t go into detail, but something she’s wished for with all of her heart finally came true. Maybe that changed her a little.”
“Something she wished for with all her heart...?”
Maki knew what Yurika’s dream was. She wanted to become a splendid magician. A splendid magician that could fulfill the duties of her predecessor, Rainbow Nana.
If that dream has been fulfilled, that means... she’s drawn out power from the mana pool and gotten a great deal stronger? Or perhaps Yurika’s own mana has increased somehow, which is making it look like the mana pool in in room 106 is bigger now?
Either Yurika had become a powerful magician using the mana in room 106, or the mana pool only looked like it had grown because Yurika herself had gotten more powerful. Either way, the light around Koutarou was still a stable green, which meant that he wasn’t lying.
“So, if you could, just give her a chance to adjust to things.”
“I see. I understand.”
At this point, Koutarou and Maki weren’t at all on the same page. It was like they were having completely different conversations. Despite that, both of them had come to the conclusion that Yurika was now a splendid magician. And since they were both being honest, neither seemed to notice the disconnect.
Either way, the increase in mana has only made Yurika stronger... That’s problematic.
Maki took another sip of her cola. It was one of her few favorites, but no matter how much she drank, it did nothing for her parched throat.
After parting ways with Koutarou, Maki hid in the woods around the ski resort and co
ntacted her allies using a portable magical tool for communication. It was similar in shape and size to the charms sold at temples. Because of its size, however, it was only possible to talk with one person at a time. The person she chose to contact was the dark magical girl who dressed in purple, known accordingly by the other members of Darkness Rainbow as Purple.
“Purple, it’s me.”
“Navy... what is it?”
“There’s something I wanted to report to you right away.” Maki wasn’t interested in wasting any time and quickly got down to business. “It seems like that increase in mana has directly affected Yurika’s power.”
“What?!” Even the normally calm and collected Purple was shocked. “Are you sure?!”
“Yes, sadly it seems to be the case. That’s what the information I obtained from making contact with Satomi Koutarou indicates, and I was able to confirm via my magic that it was true.”
Ever since she had spoken with Koutarou, the anxiety Maki was feeling had turned her throat into a desert. If the increased mana in room 106 was all under Yurika’s control, Maki and the other evil magical girls had no chance of winning. It was obvious that they’d be sent packing if they tried.
The truth of the matter, however, was that Yurika hadn’t powered up at all. The staff Koutarou had brought home may have had a lot of mana within it, but that mana was divided among many types of magic, so it wasn’t actually very powerful. Maki was just so eager for a fight that she had misunderstood the situation. Of course, Darkness Rainbow had no way of knowing that, but it was about to lead to yet another grand misunderstanding about Koutarou and Yurika.
“That’s bad...”
“I agree. We should avoid a direct confrontation if possible. At this rate, we’ll suffer an even more crushing defeat than we did against Rainbow Nana.”
“I understand. I’ll consider out next move, you continue investigating and― Hang on, Navy. Green is saying something.”
With those words, the girl in purple fell silent. A few solid minutes passed before her voice could be heard through the magical tool once more.
“...Navy, are you there?”
“Yes, I’ve been bored to death waiting.”
“According to Green, a powerful demon has appeared at the top of the mountain near you. It arrived there at roughly the same time you did.”
