socalfunplaces Page 163
Page 163
Causing a disturbance would be bad, so she chose a more covert method of threat.
Losing one or two teeth is less noticeable than a part of your body suddenly exploding.
Moreover, the contestant was quite concerned about his reputation, so when he threatened to knock out his two front teeth, he covered his mouth in terror and begged for mercy.
This method of threatening the other party is highly effective.
Of course, Mayumi Haga was not the type to let her guard down just because her opponent had given up. She kept watching until her opponent voluntarily withdrew from the competition, and only let her go when the competition mark completely disappeared and the illusionary form also vanished.
Without the others in the group noticing, she efficiently resolved the crisis and returned with the things she had bought for the children.
however……
"Thank you for dispelling the bad weather, Mayumi-neechan!"
...and received thanks from the two children.
Mayumi Haga hummed in response, unsure how to reciprocate this sincere and direct gratitude, so she simply stuffed the food into her two chattering little mouths.
Then, feeling a little awkward, he walked away, but still stood where he could see the two of them.
After standing there for a while, watching the tourists happily chasing each other run past me, I felt that I looked out of place standing on the beach, so I slowly sat down.
Mayumi Haga sat cross-legged on the beach, her expression as calm as ever.
...She was still not used to saying thank you like that.
...........
At the same time, children are being introduced to the world.
As Mayumi Haga disappeared before her eyes, Rika Sugiyama pulled in Ayasa Terasaki, who was already annoyed at work and was being dragged to work overtime by her girlfriend.
There was no other way; after all, only Terasaki Ayasa could use magic with such precision to capture Haga Mayumi's signal across worlds.
In many situations, Sugiyama Rika treats his girlfriend like Aya Saemon.
She's an intuitive type, completely different from a research-oriented type like Ayasa Terasaki.
Upon being informed that Mayumi Haga had disappeared again, Hitomi Tohno was completely bewildered: "Huh? Mayumi is gone again..."
They were previously divided into three real bows, and after a lot of effort, they were finally pieced back together. Now, how come they've been reassigned again...?
Before this, wasn't I the one who received this treatment?
As the new generation of magical girl, the red-role magical girl Crimson, Hitomi Tono does indeed encounter situations where various events erupt in a short period of time, keeping her extremely busy.
But this semester seems to be Mayumi Haga's story season, and she's been playing a minor role the whole time.
It's not that being a bystander is bad, but it feels a bit awful not seeing Mayumi often.
She now understands how Mayumi Haga felt earlier.
Wait, that's not right, Mayumi doesn't seem to rely on herself that much...
Hitomi Tono sobs.
Compared to myself, who couldn't wait to stick to Mayumi, Mayumi is always independent and self-reliant, and doesn't feel the feeling of being in love at all.
Hitomi Tono even had a premonition that she might become the one who looks like a bow in the future.
But there's nothing we can do about it.
Although she longed to spend all her time with Mayumi Haga, she also knew very well that her steps would not stop for anyone else.
All I can do is cherish every moment we spend together.
To "tie her down" as Mayumi said in the future... that's too difficult!
After finally managing to calm herself down, Hitomi Tono sighed softly. Then she saw Ayasa Terasaki finish casting her spell, and a blurry image appeared on the water curtain in mid-air.
This magic can only temporarily reveal the scene where Mayumi Haga is, and cannot continuously track her movements, but it is enough for everyone to confirm Mayumi Haga's situation.
Then Hitomi Tono saw Mayumi Haga standing on the beach in a swimsuit, lost in thought.
Her tears streamed down her face instantly.
How could this be?! She also wants to go to the beach with Mayumi!!!
Text: 255. Isn't this done very well?
Long ago, Hitomi Tono asked Mayumi Haga how she viewed "magical girls".
At that time, she had only recently become the magical girl Crimson, and at the beginning, she was not able to adjust her mindset well, and was always somewhat anxious about the change of identity.
Despite her seemingly carefree nature, Hitomi Tono is far more perceptive than her appearance suggests.
Especially since she had dreamed of becoming a magical girl since she was a child, and there were many excellent magical girl predecessors before her, Hitomi Tohno was troubled by her clumsiness for a period of time when she first debuted.
After a not-so-obvious failure, she began to worry about whether she could become a qualified magical girl.
At this time, Hitomi Tono was unaware of Mayumi Haga's identity as a guardian, and simply regarded her as her best friend.
Compared to Yuri Takajo, who is a magical girl's partner and has a gentle personality but always seems a bit indirect, Mayumi Haga is more reliable, which makes Hitomi Tohno subconsciously seek answers from her.
However, it seems a bit strange to ask about Magical Girl Crimson right away, so let's start with something more general.
“Mayumi doesn’t seem interested in magical girls,” Hitomi Tono said, her gaze wandering as she sipped her strawberry milk through a straw. “Don’t you have a favorite magical girl?”
Mayumi Haga had already finished her rice ball for lunch and did not answer immediately.
Hitomi Tohno cared a lot about her answer and turned her head: "Putting aside the previous generation of the Red Girls... among this generation of magical girls, doesn't Mayumi have any favorites?"
In fact, when Hitomi Tono asked the question, she was already mentally prepared to be severely criticized.
After all, Mayumi Haga is one of the few in this world who is not interested in magical girls; she even seems to harbor resentment and disgust towards all magical girls.
Furthermore, because she and Mayumi are very close, and the latter is often involved in incidents such as monster attacks, it's already a good thing that she doesn't see magical girls as jinxes.
Therefore, before today, Hitomi Tohno's image of Mayumi Haga was that of an opponent of magical girls.
Originally, Hitomi Tono initiated this conversation simply to get some cold water poured on her and cool down her head.
Ever since she obtained the contract that allowed her to transform into the magical girl Crimson, she has been in a state of feverish excitement, so it's good for her to cool down a bit.
—That's what Hitomi Tono thought.
But Mayumi Haga's reply was unusually calm: "It's fine."
"...Huh?" What does "pretty good" mean? Does it mean the magical girl's work is going well?
Hitomi Tono received an unexpectedly gentle answer.
“I don’t know much about the previous five, so I won’t comment on them. But this generation’s magical girls, Crimson and Iris…” Mayumi Haga found a suitable adjective, “naive and reckless, with a serious lack of combat experience…”
She pointed out the biggest flaws of Tono Hitomi and the others when they first debuted, and Tono Hitomi's head slowly drooped as her comments were so incisive.
"Relying on the fact that they can't get hurt, they become slow to react, and their combat skills are terrible..."
Ugh... Even though I anticipated Mayumi wouldn't be very polite, I'm still a little hurt...
Am I really that bad?
Just as Tono Hitomi was beginning to feel discouraged, Haga Mayumi changed the subject.
"...However, it's still not bad."
"Huh? Really? But your evaluation just now was clearly 'completely useless'!"
Hitomi Tono was taken aback.
She noticed that Mayumi Haga's expression became more somber after she asked that question.
Mayumi Haga said, "From my perspective, that's certainly true, but I don't understand magical girls."
Even though she had been watching magical girls roaming the skies above the city and seeing these innocent children become energetic warriors protecting others, she still couldn't understand the rules of the magical girl profession.
How can someone achieve anything simply by wanting to? Is breaking limits really that easy? And how can someone with extraordinary power still so easily maintain a childlike heart?
For Mayumi Haga, magical girls were a completely different species from herself.
However, considering that she is from another world, she might not actually be the same kind of creature.
She cannot understand, nor will she try to understand, this way of acting that is so different from her own.
The flaws of those magical girls are from their perspective, but perhaps from the perspective of this world, the process of gradually growing from immaturity to maturity is also the charm of magical girls.
This leisurely viewing angle has never been available to Mayumi Haga.
At the moment she had that conversation with Mayumi Haga, Hitomi Tono suddenly felt a strong sense of distance between herself and the other person.
Although they were physically so close, their hearts were completely at odds.
And now...
.................................................. .................................................
Through the magical water curtain, Hitomi Tono watched Mayumi Haga, who was sitting idly on the beach supervising two children, and suddenly realized that she was indeed quite different from before.
You see, in the years she'd known Mayumi Haga, her personality was, to put it nicely, resolute, but to put it bluntly, as stubborn and unyielding as a rock in a ditch, with no hope of change whatsoever.
But now, Mayumi is actually going to disguise herself as a magical girl for a child she just met...
Compared to the lifeless Mayumi Haga at the beginning, one can see that Mayumi Haga has changed so much in the past few months.
Great.
Simply standing where she could see Mayumi Haga and quietly watching her figure was enough to fill Hitomi Tono's heart with joy, and bring a bright smile to her face.
After entering Mayumi Haga's mental space last time, Hitomi Tono finally understood the weight on Mayumi's shoulders and why she was always so sullen and depressed.
Seeing that her own and others' encouragement had a real effect, helping Mayumi Haga to change in a less terrible direction, was of great significance to Hitomi Tono.
Of course, the most fundamental reason is that Mayumi has regained hope.
A spark of hope landed in Mayumi Haga's parched heart, rekindling her desire to rebuild her homeland and gradually bringing her back to life.
Hitomi Tono was naturally pleased to see such a change.
Seeing Mayumi Haga's actions as a "magical girl" through the water curtain, Hitomi Tono laughed.
She keeps saying she could never become a magical girl, but isn't she doing a great job?
Text: 256. Disappearance
"Can you relax now?"
As she was leaving, Hitomi Tono heard Ayasa Terasaki's voice, which sounded very tired.
She was talking to Sugiyama Rikka.
Compared to the guardian lady and Hitomi Tono, who were flustered by their concern, the others—especially Ulzana and those who had known Mayumi Haga for longer—appeared remarkably calm.
Terasaki Ayasa didn't seem too worried.
Sugiyama Rika chuckled: "Because Mayumi disappeared right in front of me..."
"Oh, I forgot, you rarely encounter these kinds of frustrating situations," the doctor sneered. "You're not the one who's always had to deal with these kinds of things."
Sugiyama Rika realized the doctor's dissatisfaction and her hair stood on end.
Compared to Rika Sugiyama, whose career is full of ups and downs and who is prone to reckless injuries, Ayasa Terasaki, who often stays in the rear to provide support, is much more experienced in dealing with such situations.
Rather, the role of worrying from the rear in the past was usually played by Ayasa Terasaki.
She always had a premonition.
Those caught in the vortex of fate often have more dramatic and turbulent life experiences.
Although she doesn't believe in fate, she feels that those who are favored by so-called fate are like the protagonists in movies and TV shows, enduring hardships yet remaining incredibly resilient.
Unlike the two former and current red-role performers who made a big fuss, Terasaki Ayasa was not worried at all because she knew how outrageous Mayumi Haga's abilities were and had sensed a similar aura about her to that of the red-role performer.
I was actually quite angry at the look of panic on Sugiyama Rika's face:
This guy should pay more attention to his own affairs!
Even with her body in this state, she still has the energy to care about others...
Although Sugiyama Rika has tried her best to hide the information about Terasaki Ayasa's physical condition, who is Terasaki Ayasa?
Although she usually looks tired and lacks energy, and seems a bit distracted due to overwork, Terasaki Ayasa is still smarter than Sugiyama Rika. She has a keen eye for observation and often has close contact with her.
This guy is so stupid to think he can fool his wife.
Terasaki Ayasa was so angry she laughed.
After discovering that there was something wrong with the other party, she suppressed her anger and waited for Sugiyama Rika to obediently come over and admit it, so that if she exposed her directly, this guy would run away like a frightened bird.