Chapter 115

“……”

Right now, Pretty Heart is super sulky.

So, let’s find out why she’s sulking. She got punished, but disappearing from sight entirely seems to have pushed her over the edge. I don’t know why she’s sulking over that part, but it’s a pretty cute reason.

Ah, of course, she’s aware that she messed up.

But this is this, and that is that… I don’t really get it.

Her puffing up her cheeks like that is adorable, though.

“Nari, are you sulking?”

“…Totally sulking!”

“Yeah, totally sulking.”

Well, Pretty Heart is a pretty simple kid.

If I just pinch her cheeks and squish them around, she’ll cheer up on her own.

Because she really likes me, so if I tease her, she can’t help but be happy.

Just having me by her side makes her happy, so there’s no way she wouldn’t be.

Anyway, she’s easy to handle, so that’s good.

Way better than dealing with complicated kids.

Compared to those who just keep beating around the bush…

“Nari, are you really sulking?”

“…Hmph! I’m super sulking!”

“Yeah, yeah. Super sulking.”

As I keep squishing Pretty Heart’s cheeks, her expression starts to soften bit by bit.

But then she catches herself and puts on a sulky face again, which is just too cute.

My younger sister used to scream and slam the door shut, then hide in a corner when she sulked.

She probably still screams when she sulks, but I bet she still hides in a corner too.

That kind of thing doesn’t change easily.

Anyway, my younger sister has zero cuteness in her actions.

If she had even a little bit of cuteness, it wouldn’t hurt, right?

If she were even 1/100th as cute as Pretty Heart, I’d totally dote on her like a siscon, seriously.

By the way, squishing Pretty Heart’s cheeks like this feels oddly nice.

She’s not chubby, so there’s no squishiness, but her cheeks are soft and squishy, making me want to keep touching them.

Plus, it’s fun to poke her cheeks while she’s puffing them up to show she’s sulking.

Every time I do, Pretty Heart’s reactions are just too cute.

“Muu…!”

“…Well, if you don’t like it, I’ll stop.”

“Ah…”

“Why, should I keep going?”

“……”

Huh? She’s hesitating to answer, so it must be a tough decision.

It’s so cute how she’s struggling over something like this.

Makes me want to tease her even more.

With reactions this cute, how can I not mess with her?

Alright, let’s go back to squishing Pretty Heart’s cheeks…

“…I wanna touch too…”

“Huh? Sure.”

“Eh?! Ah, Ame unni…?”

While I was busy squishing Pretty Heart’s cheeks, Gravity woke up and, seeing this, stuck herself to Pretty Heart’s back and started squishing her cheeks too.

So now I’m squishing Gravity’s cheeks from behind while she’s squishing Pretty Heart’s.

I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s oddly fun, so whatever.

Pretty Heart and Gravity are both so cute.

They’re different kinds of cute, but as long as they’re cute, it’s fine.

Lately, I’ve been healing a lot thanks to these two.

Though the way they eat so much is a bit of a mood killer.

Well, that’s part of their charm too.

“…Nari, your cheeks… so squishy…”

“Yours are squishier.”

“My cheeks are… squishy too…”

By the way, Gravity’s completely clueless expression… that’s a real cheat code.

A cheat code that only works with a kid-like appearance like hers.

The problem is, she’s completely unaware of it.

You should think a little more about how you live.

…But you’re cute, so I’ll let it slide.

“Ugh.”

“I-I wanna touch too…!”

“Squishy… Triangle…”

Unable to hold back any longer, Pretty Heart finally started squishing my cheeks.

And so, the three of us ended up in this bizarre formation of squishing each other’s cheeks, which Diamond Dust watched with a weirded-out expression.

I mean, I get it, but don’t look at me like that.

I’m not seriously enjoying this or anything.

“…What are you doing?”

“I don’t know.”

By the way, being able to mess around like this with girls without any hesitation is one of the perks of being a girl.

Back in the day, I couldn’t even approach my juniors so easily.

The most interaction I had was during training or something.

Because… well, how could I even join in on the girls’ chit-chat?

And if I tried to talk about magical girl stuff, the mood would just die, and everyone would slowly start to leave.

Sigh~… And the seniors and peers I could talk to are all gone now.

More than half of the seniors are dead, and after that, I only occasionally meet one of the remaining seniors.

And my peers… they’re practically all dead too.

Well, there’s Hatred, but she’s a bit… off.

She’s already broken beyond repair… it’s actually weird that she’s still functioning.

Anyway, let’s put aside these depressing thoughts. What else is good about being a girl?

Is it easier to approach juniors now?

Hmm… Definitely, it feels like the mental barriers have lowered, making it easier to get close.

…At the same time, my behavior and mindset are gradually becoming more feminine, which is a bit… well.

But at least my speech and stuff are still the same, so that’s a relief.

If even that had changed, I’d really… ugh…

“Ah~… Double the cuteness…”

“Such a blissful expression.”

Pretty Heart, sandwiched between me and Gravity, is making an incredibly happy face.

Where did all that sulking go? Now she’s making this face…

Well, as long as the sulking’s gone, it’s fine.

And good job, Gravity.

Thanks to you, Pretty Heart cheered up faster than expected.

“Ame unni.”

“…Hmm?”

“Here, I’ll hug you again.”

What’s this? As soon as Diamond Dust calls, Gravity runs over and clings to her.

They’ve gotten way closer than I thought.

And with Gravity holding the controller, Diamond Dust is feeding her ice cream directly…

…This feels like taking care of a baby.

Sigh~… Still, I’m kind of jealous of that kind of personality.

I still can’t act like that, no matter what.

Sometimes I want to be that shameless too… but the resistance is still too strong.

No, maybe it’s just not in my nature.

“Unni! Let’s do that too!”

“I’m not playing games.”

So Pretty Heart wants to hug me and feed me too, huh?

But I’m not doing it.

I’ll just watch from the side.

“Then I’ll feed you!”

“I’ll just eat while watching.”

“Then I’ll force-feed you!”

“Hey…”

So I’m definitely getting fed ice cream, huh?

More importantly, is it really okay to spend the whole day doing this?

It feels like such a waste of time.

…Well, as long as she’s happy, I guess.

“…Ah! Add me as a friend on the game console!”

“Huh? …Ah~ I hadn’t added you yet, huh?”

“Then we can play games together anytime!”

“Alright. I’ll add you right now.”

“Hehe~.”

Come to think of it, we’ve played games together a few times, but I never added her as a friend.

Hmm~ The integrated account lets you send friend codes like this.

I didn’t know about this until now…

Well, I don’t play games much, so it’s understandable.

“…? Unni, why are your game ranks like this?”

“That’s because Chubby usually plays. Mascots are terrible at games.”

“Ah~… Tinihu is really bad too…”

What, Tinihu plays games too?

By the way, why are mascots so bad at games?

It’s hard to say for sure with only three of them, but it seems to be a general trend.

Speaking of which, does Gravity’s mascot play games?

“Ame. Does Kkui play games?”

“…Kkui doesn’t play games…”

“Figures…”

As I expected, Kkui doesn’t play games.

Well, he’s asleep for like 23 hours a day.

Sleeping is more important to him than anything else, so he probably doesn’t have time for games.

“Here, say ‘ah~’.”

“Uwaa~.”

“……”

Watching that, I think I’ve figured out why Gravity comes over to my house so often.

It’s probably because Diamond Dust treats her so well.

And she gets to try all kinds of different foods here that she doesn’t usually eat.

So my house is like paradise for Gravity.

…It’s not really a problem, so if she wants to come over often, she can.

After all, I’m not the one taking care of her; Diamond Dust is.

Plus, she’s happy doing this, so it’s a win-win.

“Unni! Say ‘ah~’.”

“…Ah~.”

“Hehe~.”

So what’s the relationship between me and Pretty Heart?

It’s definitely not a win-win… Ah, should I say it’s a one-sided love that’s being pushed hard?

But I’m not exactly rejecting it, so it’s not entirely one-sided.

Hmm… I can’t quite put it into words.

Or maybe I just haven’t thought about it enough.

“Rampage-san~!”

“Huh? Why are you rushing over all of a sudden?”

“W-Witch reaction! It’s unbelievably strong! Please go quickly!”

“…What?”

Wait, a witch reaction all of a sudden… Weren’t they supposed to wait until they’ve gathered enough power?

Or is there someone acting alone again?

…Whatever it is, killing it remains the same.

And to think they’d interrupt my time with my juniors…

“Location?”

“It’s in the Middle East, so civilian casualties shouldn’t be too high!”

“Really? That’s a small mercy. Though it’s still the worst for those nearby.”

By the way, they’ve made it so witches can be detected immediately.

They’re really diligent about developing technology without missing a beat.

Anyway, the witch is the priority now, so to the Middle East… [Gate] open.

“What’s this? Why is the wind so…”

As I moved to where the witch appeared, an incredibly strong wind was raging.

My hair was whipping around wildly, and the wind was so strong it was hard to keep my eyes open… No, it’s way worse than that.

It feels like the wind alone could tear apart most buildings with its insane speed.

“……”

In the middle of that wind, someone was standing in mid-air.

Needless to say, it’s the witch controlling this wind.

With this much murderous wind, it’d be more surprising if it weren’t a witch.

“…You’ve come.”

“And who are you?”

“I am the Witch of Wind, Magical Wind. My subordinate should have given you a warning.”

“A warning? Dunno. I killed them before they could say anything.”

“…I see. Then I’ll tell you my purpose now. I’ve come to test whether you’re worthy of opposing Pandora-sama.”

The Witch of Wind… So, this is the witch I’ll be killing this time.

And with this immense magical power… It’s been a while since I’ve had a good fight.