CH 27

Chapter 27

Chapter 1 — Blow all of heaven and earth to smithereens! • Episode 1-7 • Friend ④

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「Elephant-san is mistaken about one thing.」

After hearing the whole talk, Sylph said.

「I am not kind. I am selfish and arrogant. I don’t have such a noble idea of fighting for anyone.」

「If that’s the case, then why…」

「Elephant-san, I will fight for your sake.」

「…Eh?」

For a moment, Elephant could not understand what Sylph was saying.

「I still think that there is no way I would ever fight for anyone. But only Elephant-san is different. I can overcome my fear for you. I can truly believe that I don’t want you to die, that I want you to live.」

「Why…?」

「Because you are the kindest and most trustworthy person I know.」

「Erm, then, does that mean you’ll be my friend, Sylph-chan?」

「No, I can’t do that.」

「…? I’m sorry, I don’t understand…?」

Elephant herself became a Magical Girl because she wanted to protect her family and friends, that’s why she could understand if Sylph thought of her as a friend and said she was fighting because she wanted to protect such a person.

But if she asked if they can be friends, her answer is no.

（I’m not saying that Sylph-chan wants to protect me because she opened her heart to me and we got along so well…?）

「I am not qualified to be friends with a magical girl. So, I respect and trust Elephant-san, but I can’t be friends with you. But don’t worry, I’ll be there if you were in a pinch, Elephant-san.」

「You don’t need qualifications to be a friend. I want to be friends with Sylph-chan and if you liked me too, then I guess we are friends now, right?」

Elephant blushes slightly as she says it. She was embarrassed to hear herself say that Sylph-chan likes her, because it sounded like an overconfident line.

「The truth is, even respecting and favoring Elephant-san was something I was not supposed to do. The more I get involved with Magical Girls, the less I forgive myself. So please give it up for my sake. Don’t step inside over me any more.」

「That, that’s crazy! You need to be kinder to yourself, Sylph-chan!」

「I am incredibly kind to myself. But I am sure that words alone cannot convey that… Okay, let’s not hide anything from each other. If this makes you hate me, then I’ll give up too.」

Sylph let out a small sigh as if in contemplation.

「I’m not going to hate you, Sylph-chan.」

「You may be right.」

Elephant thought Sylph was being bullied.

However, after listening to today’s story, she was beginning to wonder if that was really the case.

Sylph’s attitude was stubborn. Elephant did not know why she was so determined to keep her distance from the Magical Girls.

Even if she was being bullied at school and made to feel bad about herself, she would never come to the conclusion that she could not forgive herself for befriending a Magical Girl.

She had no intention of revealing Sylph’s secret.

She just hoped that they could gradually get to know each other and heal the wounds.

No matter how much you trust them, it must take a lot of courage to tell them a secret you have been trying to hide. She can’t even imagine the pressure it must be to make people give up even if they don’t like it.

That’s why Elephant was prepared to do it. No matter what kind of problems Sylph might have, she would definitely accept them.

「This is a bit of a side note, but what do you think this room is?」

「Eh? This is Sylph-chan’s room, am I right?」

「You’re right. But, this is just a little bit of a misnomer. This is my house.」

「Okay?」

Elephant could not tell the difference between the phrases. She wondered if it was some kind of word play, but could not come up with an answer. It is natural that one’s room is in one’s own house.

「Let’s look outside the room for a moment.」

As Sylph led Elephant out of the room, she looked at the kitchen, bathroom, and lavatory at the end of the hallway, and almost thought there was nothing strange about them, but then she realized that there was nothing wrong.

「Only one room?」

「Yes, it is. Except for bathroom and toilet, there’s only this one room.」

Sylph returns to the room and modestly claps her hands, saying that she is correct.

「Don’t you have a father or mother?」

「I live alone. I haven’t seen my parents in a while.」

「No way…!」

As an eighth grader, there is not a single person around Elephant who lives alone away from their parents. She knows from fiction and other information that such things happen when you are a high school or college student, but Elephant had never heard of one having elementary school students living alone.

She can understand if the parents are so busy that they are practically living alone at home, but they rent a room for a single person and go to the trouble of having the child live there. Moreover, Sylph said she hadn’t seen hers in a while. It was no surprise that the possibility of abuse came to the forefront of Elephant’s mind.

「Please don’t get me wrong. This is not that important. It’s just one factor.」

「How can you tell me that this is not a serious story…!」

「Listen to me first, then make your decision.」

She chided Elephant for her anger on behalf of Sylph and continues her story.

「I live here alone, and don’t you think this room is pretty bleak? It doesn’t seem like a girl’s room at my age, does it?」

「Eh, no, that’s, well…」

Sylph, coincidentally, expressed the same impression that she herself had, and Elephant was slightly surprised, but replied in the affirmative. She wondered if she was aware of it.

「You’re right. And also,」

Sylph, with her thumb and forefinger on her chin, walks around with her head tilted back.

Suddenly, as if noticing something, she stops in front of a chest and pulls out some clothes from inside.

「There is very little clothing for girls here. Or, at least, that’s about what Elephant-san gave me the other day. Everything else is adult male clothing.」

「Eh!?」

Looking at some of the garments Sylph picked up, it was clear that they were men’s clothes, large enough for a girl to wear.

「Hey, can I take a look inside?」

「Go ahead, take your time.」

Elephant checks the contents of the chest with Sylph’s permission.

T-shirts, polo shirts, coats, parkas, sweaters, and other summer and winter items are stored somewhat separately. Other items found included chinos, g-pants, and even men’s underwear, and as Sylph said, very little clothing for girls.

「What does this mean?」

「The man who originally lived here was a 30-year-old man named Mizukami Ryōichi.」

There are three possibilities that Elephant thought of on the spur of the moment when she heard those words.

One was the possibility that this was the home of a relative. It means that she was allowed to live in the house of a man who is her older brother, or uncle, or whatever.

She had too little clothing for that, but she doesn’t know the reason for that.

Two is the possibility that she was kidnapped. But if that’s the case, she should be able to escape quickly with the help of being a Magical Girl. She doesn’t want to think about it, but maybe she was being threatened with something she can’t talk about.

It was only a possibility, but Elephant’s gut was churning.

Three is the possibility that they broke into their lover’s house. This is a crime, but if the parties involved love each other, is this a problem? It’s not hard to see why she had so little clothing if she had to barge in suddenly.

But none of these possibilities fit with why Tyrant Sylph live alone.

「Probably not what Elephant-san is thinking.」

Seeing Elephant, who began to worry with a difficult look on her face, Sylph gives a small laugh.

「Let’s go over the answers, shall we?」

The tone of her voice drops a little.

That’s how hard it is to say, and how much she don’t want to say it.

「It’s simple. It all adds up. It’s a simple answer.」

Tyrant Sylph spuns her words as if stalling for the time to come.

But the later she turn it around, the more she will hate what she hate.

Sylph understands this, and as if in contemplation, smiled self-depreciating smile and said,

「In other words, Ryōichi Mizukami was me.」

•

「In other words, Ryōichi Mizukami was me.」

Ahh, I said it. I finally said it.

A secret I had no intention of telling anyone.

It is a secret that I never intended to tell anyone for the rest of my life, even if I could quit being a Magical Girl and return to my original form, which I could not.

And now I’ve told it.

「…Ehh!?」

Unconsciously, I clenched my fists and turned my head down.

What would she look like?

I don’t want to know. I don’t want to look up.

I had to say it.

She was the most wonderful person I have ever met in my life, full of integrity and kindness.

I thought that everyone lived their lives thinking only of themselves. I thought that such a thing for someone was just a superficial idea, and that there was no one in the world who truly thought like that.

I know I was narrow-minded. Looking back on my life, I guess I was a helpless person, and that’s why there were only people like that around me.

So when I met her and knew her kindness and her beliefs, I thought she was more important and valuable than anything else in the world.

I thought I could fight for this girl with my life.

That’s why I didn’t want to betray her.

To befriend her without telling her this secret is a betrayal.

It is sickening that a 30 year old man pretends to be an innocent little girl and pretends to be her friend.

Then it’s better to just be there to shake off her danger.

Not just her.

Any Magical Girl is the same.

There is no way I can accept this.

As long as I keep this secret, I will always be betraying these girls. It was impossible from the beginning to get along with Magical Girls in the true sense of the word.

…Besides, I don’t want to hate myself any more than I already do.

It’s crazy to think that a tired old man in his thirties would be among those glittering girls. I’m abnormal.

I know that, but I still want to reach out, and I hate myself for that, I can’t forgive myself, I want to be normal…

So I can’t be friends with a Magical Girl.

I can’t get along with Magical Girls.

A lonely sky with no wind blowing may be boring, but it is peaceful.

I will live there, alone, in silence.

That was the plan.

I have tried to do so, and I have acted to be so.

And yet, she was forceful.

The sky, which should have been calm, was caught in the storm that was her.

She told me she wanted to be my friend.

For just one day, she became my friend for the first time in my life.

I… I wanted to be her friend.

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I wasn’t going to tell anyone.

I should have known that no one would accept it.

Still, I wanted her to accept it, and she did.

So I told her a secret I hadn’t intended to tell.

How arrogant and foolish I was.

But maybe this was for the best.

The worse I leave hope behind, the more I will continue to suffer for a long time to come.

Then it’s better to just end it here.

She can give up if she called me sick and disown me and tell me I’ve been deceiving her for a long time.

「Nhn? Eh? Hmm…? Uhm…? So you’re saying that Sylph-chan is the person Mizukami Ryōichi-san, and Mizukami Ryōichi-san is Sylph-chan?」

「…Yes.」

「But Sylph-chan, you’re untransformed right now, right?」

「While I was sleeping, Jack used strange drugs on me. He said it was a sex change drug and a rejuvenation drug. This tone of voice is also forced by some kind of manipulation.」

I answered the question in a matter-of-fact way, killing my emotions.

If I think about anything else, I’m going to cry.

「Th–That’s right. Ahh, that’s what Jack was talking about when he said that…」

Did she have any idea what was going on?

It was as if she was convinced of something.

「Uuh…! I’m really, really confused! I can understand it in my head, but there’s such an adorable Sylph-chan in front of me! I can’t really grasp it.」

I feel eyes all over my body.

「Huh, is it really better to use honorifics if you are older?」

「Either way I don’t care.」

「So much for the same then! So, now that I know your secret, Sylph-chan, why can’t we be friends?」

「………Ha?」

I looked up at the words, which I had not expected at all.

There was Elephant-san, seriously and sincerely wondering, trying to look into my face at a very close distance.

「Because it’s weird, isn’t it? I’m really a man, you know? I’m already 30 years old. I am more than one decade older than Elephant-san and your friends. How can I be your friend?」

「Ah–, you say that different ages don’t talk to each other. Was it called a generation gap? Yes, it may be tough. But I don’t understand what you mean by “weird”. Sylph-chan, you’re cute you know?」

「It’s the reason why, this is not who I really am…! Ah, yes, here’s a picture of who I was! This should give you an idea.」

Too confused to know what I was doing, I just took out my driver’s license and showed it to her on the spur of the moment.

「Heh, This is the original Sylph-chan. You looks so kind. The eyes, the face…」

「C–Can you still call me pretty after all this! Here! This man is me, you know!?」

「Because what I see in front of me is Sylph-chan and pretty things are pretty. Plus, it’s probably kind of cute to see a grown man trying so hard to be so cute.」

「Nhnaah!?」

What is this?

What is the meaning of this?

I don’t know. I really don’t know.

Perhaps this is what they call a generation gap?

Is there such a gap between my thinking and the young people’s thinking?

Or is she lying to me for my own good?

「Sylph-chan, I won’t change my mind. If you, Sylph-chan, feel guilty about the fact that you were a man, don’t let that bother you.」

Her eyes are straight as she asserts emphatically.

「Yes, at first I was attracted to Sylph-chan’s cuteness, but now it’s not just that. I know Sylph-chan is vulnerable and yet gentle, and I know that you can work so hard that it’s difficult to watch.」

So pure that I am ashamed that I doubted it even for a moment.

「I love you, Sylph-chan. Age or gender has nothing to do with this feeling. So I’m going to ask you again. I’d like you to be my friend, Sylph-chan.」

She held my hand as she approached me gingerly. It was so hot that I could tell my face was probably red.

The closer we got to each other, the less room I had to think about anything else.

「Ah, awh, ah, p–please go home! Please go home today!」

「Ahaha, a little too much has happened today. Yeah, I know, I’m going home. For “today”, okay?」

Elephant-san laughed happily as she emphasized today in a meaningful way.

It was as if she could see through all of my inner thoughts, and I was even more embarrassed.

After activating the transfer magic, Elephant-san’s body begins to be enveloped in light.

「Let’s play again, Sylph-chan.」

「…I’ll think it over.」

I was happy to hear those words, and they had the power to easily blow away all my worries, but I was still a little embarrassed, so all I could do was turn away and reply curtly.