In the warm glow of the evening sunset, the principal’s office of the Magical Girl Academy came alive.
When the lively school day of the girls ended at the academy—set in an open space in Elysion—the calm would settle in, accompanied by a sea breeze that tickled the nose.
“…….”
Flap
With a soft sound, another page of memories turned.
So many memories had formed that Yuki now had to jot down notes on the side to remember all the situations. That way, when ‘she’ returned, Yuki could explain everything in detail.
[Overview of Kang Dorim's Mars Exploration Plan.]
[Hong Na-yeon's White Wing Unit Captain Inauguration.]
[Laura's Olympic Opening Ceremony Declaration.]
[Hecate's Fighting Game Tournament Victory.]
Ten years had passed.
The memories of Hikari, who left as suddenly as she had arrived, were fading gently into nostalgia amidst countless other memories. It wasn’t forgetting but transforming into a wistfulness that pressed gently on Yuki’s heart.
“…….”
The girl had become an adult.
Though she could not be certain of what had changed, everyone around her said she had grown up.
Adult and child
Future and past
The flow of time defined by human language merely glided by, a breeze tickling Yuki’s heart.
Memories
Moments that felt intensely burning like the sea breeze caressing her cheeks and the evening glow. Before long, these moments would seem like the blurry past that existed only vaguely.
The warmth of the hands they had held at the lakeside that day,
The warmth of the hands they had held in that small room on that day,
The warmth of the hands they had held on the surface of the moon that day.
They had turned into a lingering warmth remaining deep within her heart.
“Phew.”
Yuki paused her gaze at the photos and started moving her pen again.
It wasn’t a letter to show someone.
She was writing a letter to show herself.
For when she met her again in the distant future.
To convey this feeling just as it was.
[…And so, we who have sent even the Age of Destruction into the past are now living in a new era. The times of stars, of goddesses, of miracles are flowing, and the era of humans, demons, and magical girls has arrived.]
“The era of Magical Girls.”
The dark night sky was passing as the morning dawn painted the sky brilliantly.
Not an unreasonable curse of gods nor a twisted fate of stars, but only the era of those who live in this moment.
Yuki carefully scratched out the part that mentioned the era of Magical Girls with a knife.
“Our era is…”
The Age of Gold, the Age of Death, the Age of War, the Age of Plague, the Age of Greed, the Age of Nihility.
Unlike the era defined solely by the conclusions set by the gods, from now on, time flowing forward had no conclusions at all.
In Yuki’s thoughts, even Magical Girls were nothing but a trace of the flowing times.
“…Hope.”
Scratch
Scratch
[…The era of Hope has arrived. I am waiting for a single person in that place.]
[Herein, I confess that I still don’t know how to define that person.]
[My witness, my companion, my love, my friend, my idol, my goddess.]
[Her existence cannot be defined in a single word for me.]
[So, I will wait, simply calling her ‘Hope.’]
[I wait for hope today as well.]
[Shikishima Yuki is still living in the era of Hope.]
Thud
Finally, Yuki closed the memoir and her letter with the last sentence she had written.
After ten years of writing whenever she could, it had transformed into a grand record of over 1000 pages.
“Should I write a title?”
After all, she had no intention of showing it to anyone.
Still, if she were to name this book…
Sure.
[I'll call it Magical Girl HAZARD.]
Scratch
Scratch
“Phew.”
Yuki placed the completed memoir in a corner of her desk and tried to leave the principal’s office.
“Principal.”
“President.”
“Pfft, sorry, Yuki.”
“Sumire, how long did you think I would be flustered by that title?”
“I thought you would always have that girl-like sensitivity.”
Sumire playfully continued to tease, calling her ‘Principal’ even though work hours had ended. After seeing Yuki’s face turn red the first few times she responded, Sumire had kept it up, and Yuki had become completely accustomed to it.
While walking silently along the corridor, Sumire and Yuki turned to glance at a sound that caught their attention.
A lively experiment conducted by enthusiastic witches and magical girls floated in through the open window.
“Okay! Let’s try it once more!”
“No, please don’t send us anymore, oh great witch of [Transmission]!”
“What are you talking about?! This is an interdimensional gate! An interdimensional gate!! Other dimensions!!”
“We’re on the 324th failure, aren’t we?”
“Success is built upon failures, you know!”
“Yeah, but there’s a limit to that!”
Thud
Other dimensions
Hearing that, Yuki came to a halt.
Her heart felt a twinge.
“…….”
Sumire, unaware of Yuki’s reaction, closed the window.
She herself felt a similar pang in her heart, as memories of a certain girl flickered.
Remembering the time of miracles from another world made her nostalgic.
She felt sorry that the person wasn’t in the happiness of today and tomorrow.
Creak
“…….”
“…….”
“Are you okay?”
“Is that so?”
“By the way, I heard Hana’s little sister is a candidate for Nabi’s training?”
“Yes, it’s the first time that such a picky Nabi wants to teach a child in the elementary class. All the teachers are watching Noah. Above all, she’s Sato Hana’s little sister.”
“Haha, what will happen if the colorless Magical Girl blooms to three stars or more?”
“Probably… it’ll be amazing.”
The girl who had led them also had a colorless glass star.
A great magical girl who manipulated the infinite starlight.
She would likely chase after an even more amazing future than they did.
As Yuki and Sumire walked on, the pang in their hearts faded, reminiscing about the hopes of tomorrow, the training of Magical Girls, and the intense memories of the past ten years as they exited the Academy’s front gate.
Zoom!!
A flash of light flickered in the corridor window, where Yuki and Sumire had just stepped out. Enthusiastic reactions erupted from the magical girls who had been feeling down from their earlier experiment failures.
“Huh?! It activated!! It connected to another dimension!!”
“What’s happening? What changed?!”
“Something has vanished into another dimension! Let’s find out what disappeared from this open space!”
“No! How do we find something that’s not here anymore?!”
Ultimately, the magical girls conducting the experiment could not find what had moved to another dimension.
Only a single book that had existed in the principal’s office had mysteriously vanished.
＊
After returning home, Yuki—now in her mid-20s—changed into her favorite rabbit pajamas and read messages from the academy teachers and students in her room.
“Phew.”
Having been lying in one position for too long, she felt a slight strain in her shoulder, and just then, she moved.
Thud
Clatter
“Hmm?”
As she instinctively picked up the object that rolled, she found the snow globe she had once given to ‘her.’
A Christmas gift
The last present she had given to her.
It was an item Hikari had forgotten to take when she hastily stayed on the moon after their fight that day.
“…….”
Seeing it brought a wave of nostalgia.
The Christmas spent with the silver-haired girl.
Memories in a small apartment.
The last memory of her middle school days.
‘In the first year, I hugged it and cried a lot.’
Now, ten years later, it was merely an item that produced warm memories.
According to Hikari, it was a symbol of the connection the Goddess of Start had woven for them, and it was said that no further blessings on their connection would be found after this item.
“…….”
Yuki quietly placed the snow globe in a corner of her bed and fell asleep.
And in the depth of her slumber, the last blessing left by the Goddess of Start was activated.
The blessing of connections
A miracle that allows the heir and the witness to meet.
The heir longed for the witness from the will of the stars, and the witness longed for the heir from the surface of the stars, and the remnants of the goddess that had never been used activated the miracle.
Not by the stars, the goddess, or the magical girls.
A miracle created by the will and chance of two girls was set into motion.
That night, Yuki dreamt of the one she longed for so deeply.
＊
In a white space
In a dreamlike realm
“Hikari?”
“Yuki?”
The two bewildered girls stood in the white space, just as they had once met.
Not having aged into adults or transformed into goddesses.
Just two girls who discovered each other in that moment.
The red coat
The chin-length hair
The black winter coat
The silver hair
Memories of the two girls meeting by the lakeside at 16.
It was where they met again.
Hikari stepped closer to Yuki, her face slightly flushed.
Whether this was a dream or reality was hard to tell.
“Yuki, have you… been well?”
“Yeah.”
“How was it?”
“I was happy.”
“Good to hear.”
“I missed you not being there.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
The two girls reached out and held hands.
The warmth of their clasped hands was gentle.
It felt so nostalgic that tears began to flow.
Crying
Laughing
They talked about the events of the past ten years.
Hikari, who had stayed on the moon, mostly listened to Yuki’s stories.
“So, you see…”
“Yeah, yeah.”
In that moment, both girls felt as if they had returned to that day ten years ago.
They talked about so many things that were impossible to measure.
There were too many things they couldn’t share over the past decade.
“Hikari.”
“Yeah?”
“I want to see you.”
“Yeah, I feel the same.”
“When can we meet again?”
“I don’t know either.”
But
We will definitely meet.
“Because you said so.”
That we would definitely be happy.
So just like how we crossed paths in the past and future.
“We will definitely meet.”
“Really…?”
Hikari too was gathering her strength to come closer.
Yuki was so happy about it.
So she hugged Hikari tightly.
“Let’s make sure to meet again.”
“Yeah, we can definitely meet.”
Warm white
Her hair danced and tickled her.
It was a very warm dream.
＊
“Hikari?”
Yuki opened her eyes.
The white space had vanished, and she was back in her familiar, worn room.
“…….”
Creak
Yuki opened the window and looked at the sky.
The morning sunlight shone dazzlingly, and the ‘today’ she had hoped for yesterday had arrived again.
Like the promise they made in the dream, would that day come when she would meet that girl again?
She felt a surge of anticipation.
Hope
Shikishima Yuki was living through the time of hope.
“What will happen tomorrow?”
“Will I be able to see you again someday?”
“I can’t wait.”
Tomorrow is something to look forward to.
– The End –
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