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Chapter 85
Chapter 3 — Dry scrape, burn and perforate! • Episode 3–2 — Dependency ④
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Elephant herself understood that Sylph had a special trust in her, and she knew that she didn’t get along with other Magical Girls as well as she did, but she was skeptical as to whether this was a feeling that could be called dependence.
Sylph had a situation that prevented her from befriending other Magical Girls, and she thought that if she could resolve it, that is, if only Blade and Press would accept her secret, the story would be solved.
But seeing Sylph, who without hesitation said that all she needed was Chisaki-san, Elephant understood that Blade’s concern was correct.
Once, before the turf war had yet to begin, she went to visit the Magical World with Sylph, Blade, and Press, where Sylph fell asleep. Elephant was then kneeling down and stroking Sylph’s head, and Sylph was having nightmares and calling out the names of her father, mother, and Futaba.
Although she hadn’t heard directly from Sylph, Elephant had guessed from her conversations that her family environment wasn’t so good, and in light of her sleep talk, she thought that Sylph might want to redo her relationship with her family. Elephant wonders if that’s one of the reasons why Sylph became a Magical Girl in order to become a man again.
Elephant doesn’t know to what extent family is important to Sylph. But still, it shouldn’t be that the person you’re talking to doesn’t care enough to mutter in their sleep while blotting out tears.
Nevertheless, Sylph said she didn’t care, not deceptively, but definitely seriously. This means that it has deepened her dependence on Elephant, which has diminished her desire to start over with her family.
It was all just Elephant’s speculation, but she didn’t think it was far-fetched. At the very least, the presence of Elephant had distorted Sylph’s perception of relationships.
The idea that only Elephant was needed is not a healthy one. As in terms of ethics, but more than that, she didn’t know what will happen when she lose her dependent. As Blade said, if she have the best interest of Sylph in mind, she need a friend, family member, whatever, but she need someone other than Elephant to whom she can trust her heart.
Sylph, the party involved, would probably just recoil at being told such a thing, but anyone can see it from an objective third party’s point of view. Elephant is no exception to this rule. She know that it isn’t enough to lean on just one person, as Blade did, who depended on Dryad and stood there without a goal. With Blade’s persuasion, she’s also convinced to temporarily distance herself from Sylph. That is why she was able to push her feelings aside and encourage her to get back together with her family.
Ever since that first day at the aquarium with Sylph, Elephant has been plagued by unknown emotions that she cannot control. It’s the same even now, understanding that it’s not good that Sylph depends only on her, but at the same time, she feels an implied pleasure in the fact that Sylph’s feelings are directed only toward her.
It was nice when she was involved in the Territory War and didn’t have time to think about anything else. But once that was over and she had time to think about Sylph, all she could think about was Sylph, whether she was asleep or awake.
I want you to turn that pretty smile only on me.
I want you to speak only to me in that lovely voice of yours.
I want you to accept only me with that broken heart of yours.
「——!」
Without thinking, Elephant shook off her murky desire by shaking her head and hugging Sylph on her lap tightly from behind.
No, she said, she didn’t mean to do that.
The reason she became Sylph’s friend, the reason she reached out to her so forcefully, was not to make her her own.
「What’s the matter, Chisaki-san?」
At first, Sylph showed some resistance, but as usual, she was persuaded by the argument that this is normal for girl friends to do so, and she quietly sat on Elephant’s lap to watch the movie, Sylph, who had been quietly watching a movie on Elephant’s lap, was a little startled by Elephant’s sudden embrace.
The good times pass quickly, and it was around noon on Saturday when Elephant visited Sylph’s house, but now it is around five o’clock on Sunday evening.
Originally, she was not planning to stay over, but Elephant couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye to Sylph, thinking that if she said goodbye to her here, she wouldn’t see her again for a while. It was getting dark as they played on the sly, and Sylph asked if she would like to stay the night.
She asked Sylph to play games with her, which she usually does, and they played various games together, watched TV shows they had never seen before, read manga together and shared their impressions, all of which were new and interesting for Elephant, as there were many cultures she had never been exposed to before.
The more Elephant learned about Sylph, the more time passed, the more she wanted to know more and more about Sylph and to be with her, but she could not put it off any longer. Even though she had called, Elephant could not return home too late because she was worried about her parents because of the unscheduled overnight stay, and most importantly, she has school starting tomorrow. There’s no way she would skip school and extend the sleepover.
No matter how much she hate it, no matter how much she don’t want to leave Sylph, the clock never stops ticking.
「You know, Sylph-chan, there’s something I want talk about with you.」
「Talk about with me?」
Elephant finally got her stomach in knots and put her arm around Sylph’s body with one hand and hugged her while stroking her head with the other hand and broached the future plans that she had originally intended to talk about yesterday.
「I’m thinking of leaving the team for a while.」
「Eh, is that so? Why?」
「Shadow-san is a new Magical Girl of Sakira Town, right? It’s dangerous to be alone, and I’m trying to convince her that we should all fight together, so I’ll be working with Shadow-san for a while.」
「Is that so? I’m sure you could leave that selfish Magical Girl alone.」
Despite her disgruntled tone, Sylph’s voice sounded somewhat cheerful. She was smiling happily while saying, “That’s just like you, Chisaki-san.”
Sylph’s reaction was something Elephant had not expected at all, and it simultaneously aroused a hopeful feeling that she wasn’t dependent on her and a dim feeling that is hard to put into words.
「But will Blade-san and Press-san be okay? Aren’t you a little worried if it’s just the two of them?」
「…」
Elephant immediately understood that this was a mistake.
Sylph intends to follow Elephant as if it were a matter of course.
She talks about Elephant leaving the team, and even though Sylph’s name is never mentioned, she thinks of herself as a set of Elephant and herself as if it were a given.
「Yes, and that is why, Sylph-chan. I’d like to ask Ryō-chan to take care of them both.」
「Eh……?」
Thinking that it would be easier to convince Sylph that she actually wanted to go with them, rather than deny that she did not, Elephant affirmed Sylph’s words and told her that they would split up into different teams.
It’s obvious that if she talk to Sylph herself about her dependence, she will cut her off and say that it’s none of her business. She will not complain outwardly against Elephant, but she will no doubt be inwardly rebellious against Blade and Press. If that happens, there would be no point in Elephant going to the trouble of leaving the team.
「B–But that would put you, Chisaki-san in danger, wouldn’t it? I’m going to protect you…」
「I’ll be alright. I could’ve been in Phase 2, and besides, Shadow-san is also in Phase 2. We won last time, but she have more experience as a Phase 2 Magical Girl than I do, and it’s more dangerous for Blade and Press.」
In fact, there is no reason to believe that either the Shadow and Elephant team or the Blade and Press team is significantly inferior to the other in terms of strength.
Except under certain conditions, Shadow is about as good as any Phase 2 Magical Girl, at best. Elephant and the other two had just entered Phase 2 and weren’t yet able to use their power to its fullest, while Blade, who usually trains whenever she has time, was a head and shoulders above the rest.
If the teams were divided into Shadow and Blade, Elephant and Press, there would be a clear difference in strength, but the current distribution is about even.
However, Sylph has no idea what Shadow is capable of, nor does she fully understand that Blade is better than Press and Elephant. So when Elephant says this, she’s convinced that’s how it is.
「Ah, then I’ll fight with either of you! I’m not busy, so I’ll be fine!」
「You can’t. You’ve been busy lately, haven’t you, Sylph-chan?」
「Uhh, t–that’s…」
Although Sylph hasn’t explained about the competition because of the gag order, Elephant is aware that the success of the training and Sylph’s training with Extend have spread to the extent of rumors through SNS, and that she’s not doing it in her spare time.
「Besides, Shadow-san seemed a little scared of Sylph-chan, and I think it’s better if it’s just me at first.」
It was Sylph’s own fault for blasting out magic at the first encounter.
「But, but…」
「I’m sorry, Sylph-chan. My personal life will get busy, so we probably won’t see each other for a while. But you know, even if we don’t see each other, we will still be friends. I want you to believe in me.」
Theoretically, she may have already been convinced. However, her emotions aren’t able to swallow this fact, and Sylph, with tears in her eyes, is mumbling as she tries to find the words to deny the fact.
Holding Sylph gently in her arms, Elephant slowly stroked her head as if she was soothing a small child.
Elephant blamed herself for trying to keep Sylph away from her by lying, and then being so bland as to want her to believe her. Even though she understand that it’s a lie for Sylph’s sake, it makes no difference that she was deceiving and hurting Sylph. She feels unworthy of herself who can only do it this way.
「Can you protect them both for me until I can convince Shadow-san to let us all fight together?」
「I, understand… Leave the two of them to me…」
Sylph, broken off as if she was sobbing, replied as she turned around with a smile, forcing herself not to worry Elephant.
Seeing Sylph like this, Elephant had a small doubt whether this was really the right thing to do, but she gave Sylph an awkward smile, telling her that even though it was painful now, it should be for Sylph’s sake.