Chapter 5: The Ever-Positive Angel Is in Charge of the Magical Girl's Mental Care

Magical Girl Black (Daydream)

It’s warm.

How long has it been since I've indulged in such warmth?

The softness of the bed that gently cradles my heavy body.

The cozy warmth of sunlight pouring in.

The faint sound of a knife tapping against a cutting board.

The savory smell of food tickling my nose.

A tranquility I thought I would never feel again.

If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up.

That’s what I wished, but—

They say nothing lasts forever.

I felt myself rising toward the surface of sleep, and opened my eyes.

“…”

Chirp chirp—

Birdsong trickled in through the window.

I took a deep breath and stretched my arms wide.

“Huuaaah…!”

A smile crept up my face, the kind born from a refreshment that words couldn’t express.

For me, morning was always something unpleasant.

Something I wished would never come.

But just one night of restful sleep changed everything.

Was it because the room had been cleaned?

Or because I went to bed on a full stomach?

I didn’t know the answer, and I didn’t really care.

Right now, I just wanted to enjoy this feeling.

Click—

“Are you awake?”

At the unfamiliar voice, I flinched and looked toward the open door.

But then I saw the halo spinning over her head, the wings at her back, and remembered.

‘Right… I told her she could stay the night.’

That realization hit me a moment late, and I let out a long sigh as I slowly sat up.

“…You’re still here.”

“Ehehe. You let me stay, remember? So I thought I’d repay the favor by making you breakfast!”

The angel said this with a beaming face, like everything in the world was good.

…In the first place, I let her stay because she cleaned and cooked, and now she was making me breakfast as thanks for letting her stay.

‘Guess she really is an angel.’

The thought made me laugh bitterly.

…Seriously, calling her an angel at this point…

“I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

“Th-that won’t do! Even magical girls need to eat properly to live!”

—You can’t just eat toast like some anime magical girl, you know? That’s no way to meet your destined one if you act like that. Now eat your rice properly.

Her words made my eyes widen.

Yeah… I had heard those words before.

A dull warmth spread in my chest, but no tears came.

My tear ducts had long dried up from all the tears I had shed.

So instead, I smiled.

There had been too many moments when I cried.

Not enough when I smiled.

“…Pfft. Alright.”

If I can smile, even over something this trivial, then I should.

With that thought, I stepped down from the bed.

“What’s on the menu?”

“I reboiled the leftover soybean stew from yesterday! And instant rice, and some fried eggs and kimchi!”

“Kinda a surprisingly Korean meal for an angel.”

“Ehehe. I saw you eating well yesterday, so I figured it’d be safe!”

I nodded and froze mid-motion.

She… saw me? Yesterday?

“So originally I was going to make bean sprout soup, but then I just added water to the stew from yesterda—”

“You… you saw me eating last night?”

“—Oh.”

At my words, the angel froze mid-air like she’d turned to stone, then slipped through the air like a falling feather.

Like a goat turning rigid in front of a wolf.

I grabbed the angel’s wings and yanked her to a stop.

She flinched and trembled as I turned her around.

She avoided my eyes with the expression of a puppy that just made a big mess.

Did she really think making that face would make me let it go?

“You… you peeked at me, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t mean to! I swear! I just came back to put the groceries in the fridge and poked my head in a little and, and.. then I saw you!”

“How much did you see?”

“N-not a lot! Really! Just a little bit! I saw for a moment and immediately pulled back!”

So she only saw the part where I started eating?

…If that’s all, then thank god…

“I won’t tell anyone that you cried and gagged while eating, so p-please don’t look at me with such a scary face…”

“You say you didn’t see much, but you saw everything…”

I was about to scold her, but instead, let out a long sigh.

“Haa… Forget it. Let’s just eat.”

“Ah, okay!”

The angel, thrilled to have the topic change, zipped off and started setting the table.

The food was similar to yesterday’s.

The only difference was that this time the seasoning was just right.

It didn’t taste like my mom’s cooking, but it was still good.

Because someone had made this for me.

Just that alone made it enough.

As I was quietly smiling and eating, I started to feel someone staring at me.

It was so intense I had to look up.

“Hehe… does it taste good?”

“…It’s better than yesterday.”

“Hehehehehe~”

I tried to ignore the angel’s overly giddy smile and finish my rice bowl…

My rice bowl…

“Hey. If you want to eat that badly, go grab a bowl and eat. Don’t just sit there staring at me like that. It’s distracting.”

I seriously couldn’t focus with her watching me like that.

At my words, the angel blinked a few times, then scratched her cheek.

“I’m okay. Just watching Yoo Seo-ah-ssi eat fills me up. So don’t worry about me.”

“Don’t say stuff like you’re my mom. If I tell you to eat, then eat. It’s bugging me.”

“No, it’s not that I’m holding back… I mean it. I'm really full just watching you eat.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

I paused, spoon halfway to my mouth, and looked at her.

Our eyes met, and I saw that her stomach looked… noticeably rounder.

Not by much, but enough to tell something was there.

“You seriously get full… just from watching someone else eat?”

“Well, I am an angel, after all?”

The way she said it—like it was the most obvious thing in the world—left me completely speechless.

I’d called her an angel, sure… but I never really believed she was one.

There are plenty of magical girls who look like angels.

But now, seeing her like this… somehow, it really did feel like there was a real angel sitting in front of me.

“…Right.”

If she really is an angel, then why—

I wanted to ask.

The words were on the tip of my tongue.

But I didn’t.

Because blaming others doesn’t bring anything back.

I’ve already learned that lesson the hard way.

‘Don’t think about it.’

I quickly finished off the rest of my food and stood up.

“I’ll do the dishes.”

“I can do it for you!”

“No, I’ll do it. Today’s the last day. I can’t let you handle everything.”

Yeah. This little detour ends today.

So I won’t think too much about it.

I got up from my seat and cleaned up the bowl I had used.

It had been so long since I last washed dishes.

After that day, I never had a reason to eat at home again.

Or rather, I barely ate at all.

Whatever I tried to eat, I’d just end up vomiting it out anyway.

I smiled bitterly as I rinsed the last dish and started putting things away—

Aaaeeeng―――!!

A shrill alarm blared across the entire city. I flinched instinctively.

The sound, loud enough to shatter sleep, jolted me out of that fleeting dream.

I slowly lowered the sponge I was holding.

Yeah. This is my life.

This is my reality.

What was I even expecting?

In the end, it was just a single night’s dream.

“I’m heading out.”

“Ah, I’ll come with y—”

What did you just say…?

“No!!”

“Ugh…!”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Ow, ow… okay, I got it. Could you please let go of my wings…?”

Only then did I realize I was gripping the angel’s wings like I was about to rip them off.

I let go.

She teared up from the pain, her wings trembling in my hands.

Pain pricked my chest. I bit my lip.

“…Sorry I grabbed your wings like that. But you can’t come with me. It’s too dangerous.”

Without waiting for a reply, I turned and clutched the accessory in my hand.

As always, the scent of camellia—the one that drowned out the smell of food and cigarettes—filled my nose.

A transformation I’d grown far too used to by now.

Once I finished transforming, Myoa popped out of the accessory.

“Uuurgh…! G’morning-myon! Whoa, you look kind of refreshed today-myon! Did you actually sleep well for once-myon?”

(TL: -myeong is too long so I shorten it to -myon)

As usual, Myoa immediately started yammering the moment she opened her eyes,

But then she looked around and her face twisted in shock.

“Th-th-the room’s clean-myon!! The ashtrays, the cigarette butts, even the sheets, where’d it all go-myon!? Did some kind of cleaning monster show up and tidy everything while I wasn’t looking-myon!?”

“Shut up. It's not like that. So zip it.”

“If it’s not that, then there’s no way Seo-ah-myon would’ve cleaned-myon! What on earth happene…ned…?”

Myoa, who had been chattering so loudly that it hurt my ears, trailed off mid-sentence.

That alone was enough to alarm me. Because Myoa not talking was unheard of.

I looked at her and saw her trembling, staring at the angel standing beside the dining table.

…I didn’t know why.

But I didn’t have time to think about it now.

“Let’s go. It’s already been over a minute since the alarm went off.”

I snatched the still-shaking Myoa into my hand and launched out the window.

Maybe because I was in better condition than usual, I arrived at the scene faster than normal.

“I-it’s a wolf monster!!”

“Run for it!! It’ll swallow you whole!!”

“Hwaaah!! Mommy…!! Mommyyy!!”

Once again, the location was dead center in the city.

The monster this time was a wolf that walked on two legs.

Its size was just a little larger than a dump truck.

Compared to previous monsters, this one was on the smaller side, but for civilians, that made it even more dangerous.

Big monsters cause property damage.

Small ones cause human casualties.

The only relief was that so far, there hadn’t been any casualties yet.

‘I have to end this quickly.’

But I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

“Sword Mode.”

I gripped a greatsword, which was a longer than my height, and charged straight at the monster.

As always, I aimed to slice through its neck in one clean sweep.

“Grrrrr…!!”

The monster raised its arm to block my sword.

But no flesh is tougher than steel.

It lived, but it lost its arm in the process.

I bit my lip at the sensation of flesh and bone tearing apart at my fingertips.

“Kuwaaaaah!!”

The monster howled in pain and flailed, splattering blood across my face.

I feel nauseous.

I want to fall to my knees and throw up everything inside me right now.

But I held it back.

Not because people were watching.

But because I didn’t want to lose that warmth I’d finally felt again, even if only for a moment.

I held on. Forced myself to keep going.

“Haaaaah!!”

I shouted, driving away the nausea by force, and swung my sword at its neck once more.

The monster was slower than me.

It didn’t dodge—no, it didn’t even try.

Resignation.

Yes, the monster had resigned itself.

That oddly human response made my stomach churned all over again, but I endured it, gritting my teeth and swinging down.

Because if it's not me, there's no one else to bear this burden.

Slash―!!

The wolf’s head dropped to the ground.

Blood gushed out like a fountain and soaked my whole body.

“Wooaahh! Thank you, Black!!”

“You saved us, Black!!”

Cheers erupted from every direction.

But I couldn’t smile.

Because once today ends, this will all happen again.

Once tomorrow comes, a new monster will appear.

And I’ll once again stain my hands with blood.

Then I’ll go back with those bloody hands.

Eat.

Wash up.

Smile.

And live on, just like everyone else.

—You don’t deserve happiness. You’re a murderer.

My whole body was trembling with rising nausea and guilt when—

A little child ran up to me.

“Black unnie! Thank you! This is for you! A present!!”

She held out a little doll.

I forced a smile as I looked at it.

“Thank you. But you should keep that doll. If I take it, it might get ruined when I fight the bad monsters. So please, can you protect it for me instead?”

The girl’s eyes sparkled at my words.

“Mm-hmm!! I’ll do it! I wanna be a suuuper strong magical girl just like you when I grow up!”

Please don’t.

This bloodstained path is not a place for you to come.

Live your life without ever knowing what this is.

Stay pure, stay clear.

Live a normal, ordinary life, far away from this sewer.

“…Yeah. I’ll be rooting for you, future magical girl.”

Before the monster’s blood could reach the child’s feet, I turned her around and sent her back.

“Alright! Everyone, let’s do our best today too!!”

Squelch—

Standing on top of the monster’s sticky, coagulating blood, I smiled and waved, then flew up into the sky.

Just this morning, I had felt something like happiness.

But now, it all felt like a lie.

And so, as always, I drifted toward a lonely back alley, away from people.

To let go of that happiness.

To wake up from this daydream.

Next Chapter