At night, Haibara and Sakaki Chika sat on a bench by the roadside in the park.
Haibara gently lifted the collar of Sakaki Chika’s clothes to examine the injuries on her body.
They were mostly on her arms and shoulders, with not much elsewhere—but for a girl, wounds like these were catastrophic all the same.
“You’re an idol, aren’t you?
Isn’t leaving scars on your body a pretty awful thing?
Did you treat all of these yourself?”
Haibara let go and looked at Sakaki Chika, who had been staring at her the whole time.
“…Mm.
I didn’t dare go to the hospital.”
Sakaki Chika said quietly, her head lowered.
“Go to the hospital properly afterward,” Haibara said coldly.
Still, this sort of thing could just be left to her magical girl side to deal with—Star Flower was the type who was good at magic anyway.
She’d only meant to make a home visit and scare the kid a little; she hadn’t expected something like this to happen…
Haibara wasn’t exactly a good person, but she definitely had a passing level of morality, above the failing line, and running into something like this, it was impossible not to feel angry.
So, had she become an idol in the first place because her family was in debt?
“So, why are you paying off that man’s debts?”
This was the part that puzzled her greatly.
From what she’d just seen, the two of them didn’t seem to share any affection, and Sakaki Chika herself was an idol doing quite well—her income should be more than enough to live independently.
Sakaki Chika held one arm with her other hand, opened her mouth, and for a moment didn’t know how to answer.
After a while, she seemed to think of something.
“My being an idol…
there’s some, dirt he’s got on me…”
She couldn’t tell Ms.
Haibara anything about the magical girl matter, so this was all she could say.
Haibara pushed up her glasses, pondered for a moment, then looked at Sakaki Chika and asked curiously:
“Is he planning to post it online?
Or does he know someone in the industry?
A gambling addict who’s drunk out of his mind all day long—can he really do any damage to your career?
Or is there some benefit in this for him?”
Sakaki Chika froze, instantly rendered speechless.
Seeing Sakaki Chika like this, Haibara was momentarily lost for words.
Just now, she’d also used magic to glimpse part of the man’s memories, so she could roughly guess what that so-called “dirt” was.
Honestly, Haibara really couldn’t fathom how something like that could serve as leverage.
Haibara placed her hand against Sakaki Chika’s face, stroking it lightly to soothe her:
“Listen well.
The problems you think you have aren’t problems at all to an adult.
Don’t you have a manager?
Tell her—she should be able to solve this kind of thing.”
“And even if there’s something you can’t tell your manager, I can help you solve it.”
He was a good-for-nothing gambling addict anyway.
For a magical girl who saved the world to actually be threatened by some piece of scum, living every day in fear of debt—that was simply too absurd.
After saying all this, Haibara’s expression turned cold once more.
The hand that had been stroking switched to pinching; she took hold of Sakaki Chika’s cheek and tugged at that soft, pale face:
“And you also need to understand now that you’re not a child anymore.
Since your parents can’t help you, then as someone capable of being financially independent, you should learn to be an adult.”
Take her own parents, for instance—they had left her when she was very young.
She’d basically gotten through high school working part-time on her own, and university had been the same.
In her eyes, Sakaki Chika was foolish beyond all reason.
That was exactly why she disliked minors—they were far too immature, unable even to protect themselves.
After Haibara finished, Sakaki Chika lowered her head and didn’t speak for a long time.
After a while, Haibara heard the sound of sobbing.
Sakaki Chika’s eyes had reddened.
She reached out and wiped the corner of her eye, but tears quickly welled up again.
She kept dabbing at the corners of her eyes with both hands, yet soon broke down crying in a sorry, disheveled state.
Crying and wiping at once, she let out pitiful, choked sobs:
“Th…
thank you, Sensei…
but I’m really…
so scared…”
Sakaki Chika burst into somewhat broken sobs.
This left Haibara rather at a loss.
She genuinely didn’t know what to do at a moment like this…
After all, she herself had never once cried.
After a while, Sakaki Chika hugged her on her own, wrapping her arms tightly around Haibara’s waist.
Haibara could only let herself be held, somewhat helplessly.
“There, there, there…”
Honestly, Haibara kind of wanted to go home; the home visit was over anyway.
But this little idol really could bawl her heart out.
She’d been hugging her and crying for almost five minutes now.
And she was even nuzzling against her, nuzzling until her clothes were about to get dirty.
…
After letting Sakaki Chika cling to her like this for a long while, Sakaki Chika seemed to have cried herself out.
She stopped weeping, though her back kept trembling as she lay against Haibara’s chest like a well-behaved little kitten.
After a while, Sakaki Chika finally lifted her head, nuzzled against Haibara’s chest, and said a little bashfully:
“I’m…
I’m sorry…
Sensei…”
Haibara looked at her coldly and said:
“If you feel sorry, then get off of me.”
Her balance of teacherly virtue for the day was already spent; she couldn’t overdraw any more teacher-student warmth. This story is hosted at g.com.
Once Sakaki Chika had gotten off her, Haibara glanced at her watch—it was already almost eight o’clock.
By this hour, Haibara would normally have gone home and finished dinner.
Looking at the pitiful Sakaki Chika, Haibara thought for a moment about what to do with this little rabbit next.
“Do you still have any money on you?”
Sakaki Chika definitely couldn’t stay at her old home for now; at the very least, that man had to be driven out first.
The little girl looked at Haibara innocently and shook her head.
“I’ve only…
got meal money left…”
She’d picked her old rabbit wallet back up; the money inside was barely enough to cover meals for the next few days.
Sakaki Chika thought about it, then added:
“After a while…
an endorsement fee from before will come into my account.”
But until then, she was basically penniless.
Haibara was momentarily lost for words.
A popular idol, and a magical girl no less—how had she reduced herself to looking like some pitiful stray cat…
She pinched her chin and mulled it over for a moment:
“Then I’ll give you some money.
Stay at a hotel for the next couple of days, and once your money comes in, figure out a place to live on your own.”
Having said this, Haibara nodded to herself, feeling that the radiance of her teacherly virtue today was truly far too dazzling.
In any case, aside from paying for her daughter’s schooling, she had nowhere to spend money.
She hadn’t touched a single cent of the inheritance her parents had left, so she was basically under no financial strain.
Covering a few days at a hotel for a student wasn’t something she’d feel any pang over.
But when Haibara finished speaking, Sakaki Chika looked as though she was about to cry all over again.
She hugged her once more, wrapping her arms tightly around Haibara’s waist, then said in an utterly endearing, pitiful voice:
“…Ms.
Haibara.”
Haibara’s gaze turned a shade colder.
But the girl lifted her head again, looking at Haibara with pleading eyes:
“I don’t want…
to live alone…”
Though it was subtle and roundabout, Sakaki Chika’s meaning was easy enough to grasp.
Ms.
Haibara looked at her with a hint of distaste.
“I’m not your mommy.”
“Mommy.”
Sakaki Chika gently rubbed her hair against Haibara’s fair neck.
“…What a troublesome brat.”
Haibara sighed helplessly, first gently pushing the little idol away, then said coldly:
“You can only stay a few days.
The moment you have money, you move out at once.”