Today was the day Kirishima Ai went to the Doctor’s to have her body examined.
As a magical girl fighting in the human world, it was impossible to handle every situation on her own, so up until now, she and the others had been battling the monsters with the help of a mysterious Doctor.
Every piece of intelligence they received about a monster’s appearance came from this Doctor, and the crystal processing carried out after capturing a monster was likewise accomplished by relying on her.
Recently, the problem Kirishima Ai had run into was that, when she was a magical girl, she suffered from physical exhaustion and magic depletion—something that had never happened before.
Walking into the Doctor’s laboratory once more, she found it as cluttered as ever, strewn everywhere with experimental equipment she couldn’t even name.
Before long, she met the Doctor.
“You’re early today.
Sorry about this—I forgot to tidy up again.
Go ahead and lie down first.”
The Doctor was a woman in a white lab coat and glasses, just like someone out of a tokusatsu show.
Her long, salt-and-pepper hair looked somewhat messy and unkempt, hanging loosely down her back, with a few strands falling from her forehead to the corners of her mouth, giving off a languid, slovenly air.
It was only barely held in place by a single black hairpin that gathered up those long, thick locks.
Her lab coat was wrinkled too, its pockets bulging with all kinds of stuffed-in things—for a woman, this appearance was frankly catastrophic.
But even disheveled as she was, it couldn’t conceal the woman’s beauty—a tall, slender figure, a languid yet lovely face, and an enviably magnificent bust.
Probably…
a G cup?
“Okay.”
Kirishima Ai obediently lay down on the examination bed to the side, and the Doctor leaned in close.
She didn’t know much about this Doctor—only that her surname was Kounoue.
The Doctor seemed to be wearing perfume, and the scent was somewhat familiar…
Wasn’t this the same perfume Ms.
Haibara wore?
Because a little while ago, when she’d been lying in a hospital bed, she’d smelled the very same scent on Ms.
Haibara.
Was this perfume really so popular among adults?
Kirishima Ai normally had little interest in makeup or dressing up—or rather, she didn’t have any spare money to spend on making herself look nice, so she didn’t know much about it.
“Mm, your body is perfectly healthy right now.
That fainting spell probably had no lasting effect on you.”
After being examined all over with various instruments, no problem was found with Kirishima Ai’s body.
That matched more or less with how she felt.
But after she Transformed into a magical girl, she would suddenly become extraordinarily tired and weak—which was very strange.
By all rights, her physical condition should have been better on her magical-girl side.
“Takanashi says my situation is strange too.”
When it came to matters concerning magical girls, Takanashi Shiori knew more than she did, but she likewise had no idea what was going on.
“She was never an ordinary person to begin with.
There’s probably some difference between her and a magical girl like you, who became one from an ordinary person.”
Although the Doctor had never displayed any special abilities beyond her talent for research, she seemed to know a great deal about magical girls.
“For now, try Transforming into a magical girl and let’s have a look.”
She pinched her chin, sizing up Kirishima Ai.
Hearing the Doctor’s words, Kirishima Ai took out her Magic Tool and Magic Crystal and began her Transformation inside the laboratory.
After a burst of light, Kirishima Ai took on the form of the magical girl Silver Feather.
Every time she Transformed, Kirishima Ai felt a marvelous sensation—her strength grew, her body turned light, her appearance changed entirely, and courage brimmed throughout her whole body.
There was a feeling of being purified within, which made her feel very comfortable.
This time, though, she still felt a sense of weakness.
The magic within her had recovered a little more than last time, but the fatigue remained.
The examination began once more.
After this round of examination was finished, the Doctor took on a thoughtful expression:
“Just as I thought—your condition as a magical girl is very poor.”
This way of putting it struck Silver Feather as a bit odd.
Why would her condition as a magical girl be separate from her condition as an ordinary person?
“This started, I think, only after I finished fighting the Thorn Monster.”
Silver Feather thought back.
She’d never fought a battle of that intensity before.
“Mm…
perhaps you need to let your magical girl rest for a while.”
The Doctor gave Silver Feather’s shoulder a squeeze, and once squeezed, Silver Feather felt a slight soreness there.
“Fighting too frequently makes your magical-girl side very tired, you know.
And that last battle, which went beyond your normal capacity, left her utterly unable to hold on.”
“This has happened to magical girls before.
A magical girl may be stronger than an ordinary person, but she’s not a machine that never breaks down.”
The Doctor’s voice was languid and gentle.
Silver Feather lowered her head and touched her own cheek.
There was still a scar there, from when she’d been cut by the Kite Monster while she was an ordinary person.
After she canceled the Transformation, that wound had vanished—but it had remained here, on the magical girl Silver Feather.
In other words, had the magical girl Silver Feather been bearing it for her this whole time…?
“So that’s how it is…”
Transforming into a magical girl would absorb some of the injuries suffered by her ordinary-person side, like when her face had been cut by the Kite Monster earlier.
Once she’d figured it out, she canceled the Transformation and turned back into Kirishima Ai.
“But recovering magic…
is such a hassle.”
A magical girl’s wounds healed quickly, but recovering magic took a very long time.
Take Takanashi Shiori—ever since she’d come here from Ruruye, she was often in a state of having no magic, and couldn’t Transform to fight alongside her.
Most of the time, it was Kirishima Ai fighting alone.
The monsters’ power came from people’s emotions, and the same was true for magical girls.
Magical girls could draw magic from positive, upbeat emotions, and could also draw power from the breath of nature.
Likewise, absorbing purified crystals worked too.
But not every battle allowed them to successfully recover a monster’s crystal.
Many times, the crystals were carried off by the cadres of the Black Death Cult.
Last time, the Thorn Monster’s crystal had simply shattered.
“Oh, right—Doctor, could I ask you to take a look at that new type of crystal I got from the Thorn Monster last time?”
Kirishima Ai took the dark-green crystal out of her pocket.
The fact that she was too exhausted to fight this time was probably thanks to this very crystal.
The Doctor picked up the crystal curiously and examined it, a rare glint of curiosity flickering in her languid eyes.
“Just as I thought—a variety I’ve never seen before…”
she said with great interest.
“I’ve already heard about this crystal.
I’ll take a look for you, and if possible, I’ll refit it to the point where it can be used.”
The Doctor had basically no interest in anything else; only when it came to matters involving magical girls and monsters did she reveal a hint of fervor and curiosity.
She was a research fiend in the truest sense.
But just now, while the Doctor was fiddling with the crystal, Kirishima Ai noticed something.
On the ring finger of the Doctor’s left hand, there seemed to be a ring.
Only married women wore a ring there, right?
On closer inspection, though, Kirishima Ai couldn’t help feeling this ring was a bit small—the Doctor’s fingers were so slender, yet it was cinched on tightly.
And the material didn’t look like any expensive metal; the design seemed a little cheap.
It practically looked like a toy…
The Doctor might look slovenly, but she ought to be quite wealthy—so why would she wear a ring like this?
“Doctor, are you already married?”
Hearing this topic, the Doctor paused for a moment and stopped examining the crystal, turning her gaze to Kirishima Ai instead.
“I saw you were wearing a ring…
so…”
The Doctor blinked, then smiled and gently caressed the ring:
“Yes, I’m already married.”
For some reason, as she said this, the Doctor seemed very happy.
Was marriage such a happy thing?
“What sort of person is your husband…?”
Inevitably, Kirishima Ai was a little curious.
But the Doctor shook her head:
“Not a husband—my wife.”
“Huh?”
This time it was Kirishima Ai’s turn to freeze.
She hadn’t misheard, had she?
Though she’d heard that these high-IQ types were all very free about their sexual orientation, it was the first time such a thing had happened right beside her.
A lesbian, right here next to her?
“She’s a beautiful, gentle woman—perfect in every way, better than me at everything she does.
When I was little, she always took care of me, and before I knew it, I’d fallen secretly in love with her.”
“Later, when she said she was willing to marry me, it actually gave me quite a shock.”
“She’s even been learning to cook lately—I’m really looking forward to it…”
This beautiful Doctor gazed at that wedding ring with a slightly wistful expression, her usually languid eyes now much brighter.
Hearing this, Kirishima Ai nodded.
She sounded like a truly remarkable woman, and the Doctor really did seem to love her deeply…
Once this topic came up, the Doctor, rarely for her, grew talkative, going on about the story with her beloved:
“She and I were childhood sweethearts.
This ring was one she gave me when we were little, and back then she’d promised she’d be my wife someday…”
The Doctor smiled, as if immersed in some blissful fantasy.
……
“Ah-choo—”
At home, Haibara suddenly sneezed.
She was sitting in her bedroom right now, several photo frames arranged on the desk.
Among them was one photo of her as a child, together with a childhood playmate.
In the photo, she was a somewhat aloof-looking little girl with short black hair, and the other person was a small, introverted-looking girl with very long hair that even covered her eyes.
They’d once gotten along fairly well; because that person had been even more introverted and gloomy than her as a child, she’d often looked after the other girl.
But that childhood playmate had later been recommended to the University of Tokyo, and reportedly went on to achieve all sorts of results in scientific research—a brilliantly gifted research genius.
Before either of them realized it, a pitiable wall had already come between them.
She was now just an ordinary high school teacher.
They were people from completely different worlds, with nothing in common to talk about.
Rather than keep pining after someone like that, Ms.
Suzuki, who taught music, was the more realistic option.
She rubbed the tip of her nose, and once she’d recovered, she touched her forehead with a puzzled look:
“Have I caught a cold…?”
she murmured to herself.
Her temperature was perfectly normal—she shouldn’t have a cold.
So why had she suddenly sneezed?
Could it be…
Was Ms.
Suzuki thinking about her?
They said that when someone was thinking of you, you were prone to sneezing.
If there was anyone likely to be thinking of her, it had to be the kind and pretty Ms.
Suzuki.
As it happened, she’d recently been learning to cook for Ms.
Suzuki’s sake, and after a bout of diligent practice, she would surely win Ms.
Suzuki over.
At that thought, Haibara nodded in satisfaction, then took out her phone and began mulling over her next plan:
“In a few days, I’ll ask Ms.
Suzuki out to see a romance movie…”
One day, she would marry Ms.
Suzuki.