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Chapter 127
Chapter 4 — Sleep, until your life is over • Episode 4–2 — Hypnotism ③
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Time had moved back a bit from where Succubus was being accosted by the suspicious duo, and as the sun began to set and the sky took on a sunset pattern, the five Magical Girls were about to disperse after their afternoon social gathering.
「Thank you all for your time today! Please invite me again!」
「We had fun too. Now you can convince Shadow-san to be here, too, right?」
「Yes! I’ll do my best! See you then!」
She seriously replies to Blade’s light joke, and the dreamy-cute Magical Girl Succubus runs off with a big wave of her hand.
「Well, I’m going home too. Bye-bye!」
「Yes, see you. What about you, Elephant and Sylph-san?」
「I’m going to stay a little while longer because I have to take care of something with Sylph-chan.」
「Eh!?」
「Okay, keep it in moderation. Well, I’ll leave you to it.」
「See you!」
Press left in transition one step ahead of Succubus, leaving Succubus behind with a dusty feeling, and Blade also left after a few small words.
Elephant said she had something to do with Sylph, but Sylph had never heard of that and was completely ready to go home herself. Blade seemed to have guessed Elephant’s purpose from Sylph’s reaction, but perhaps because she had decided to trust her, she said no more than was necessary and implicitly advised her to maintain moderation.
「Sylph-chan, will you please hang out with me for a little while from this moment?」
「…I understand.」
What was Elephant’s intention and what was her intention to be alone with her? Sylph is not so stupid that she can’t guess that. Elephant usually acts as usual when Blade and Press are present, as if the confession of the victory celebration had never happened, but when they are alone at Sylph’s home, she acts even more distant than before. Sylph sensed that Elephant was seriously trying to get her to fall in love with her, or to put it more colloquially, to capture her, and she could guess that her errand was related to that.
She wasn’t directly asked to be in a relationship, but rather was unilaterally told of her feelings and unilaterally declared that she would make her fall in love with her, but even Sylph doesn’t think that this means she can leave the matter unanswered. So she maturely followed Elephant’s invitation.
「I’d like somewhere we can relax… oh yeah, I know a good place!」
As if she had come up with a great idea, Elephant took Sylph’s hand and started walking toward the Ferris wheel that they had ridden together sometime ago.
「Here, at that time…」
「Yeah, I think the sunset is beautiful and it’s a nice view.」
Before Sylph and Elephant became friends, that day when they were swept away as temporary friends for a day. Their relationship changed after that day. It wasn’t until a little later that they truly became friends, but without the events of that day, they would never have walked side by side like this.
Appropriate, naturally, Sylph thought so.
After Elephant’s confession, Sylph thought over and over again how she would respond to it and what she thought of Elephant. The conclusion that she finally decided to convey to Elephant was something that Sylph herself would have mocked herself for being the worst,
So she felt that even if she told Sylph how she honestly felt and that ended this relationship, she could still feel that she had been dreaming a long, long dream since that moment and that today she would wake up from that happy dream.
「I’m sorry for coming out of nowhere. Futaba-san was there the other day, so it was a little difficult for me to talk to you.」
As the gondola carrying them slowly begins to move, Elephant scratches her cheeks in embarrassment and says something unrelated to the topic to cover her embarrassment.
「Oh yeah, yeah, I’m going to Okinawa for a school trip on Saturday and Sunday of the week after next. Where did you go on your school trip, Sylph-chan?」
「School trip? When I was in high school, I went to Kyoto and Nara. I gave rice crackers to deer and had a lot of fun, even though I was alone.」
「Kyoto, huh? I imagine there are temples, shrines, and many other tourist attractions. I might have liked it better there, too. It’s getting pretty cool already, but it’s a little late for that.」
「Yes, it would have been just fine if it had been a little earlier.」
Sylph talked about her high school days because when she was in middle school, she didn’t go on school trips because Futaba was still small. Since that time, Sylph’s house had a housekeeper, but that didn’t matter to Ryōichi at that time. She couldn’t imagine leaving young Futaba at home and going on a trip by herself, even if it was a school event. The school also allowed her not to participate in the school trip in consideration of her family’s circumstances.
After all, Elephant knows that she had a falling out with her sister once and was unable to mend their relationship until recently, and she didn’t dare talk about middle school because such talk would only darken the atmosphere.
「Hey, Sylph-chan. Come over here like you did before. I won’t be able to see you for a while, so I’d like to replenish my supply of Sylph-chan from now on.」
Elephant lightly tapped the seat next to hers and urged Sylph, who was sitting opposite her, to move. But Sylph shook her head lightly and didn’t move.
「Please be patient for a little bit. It’s only a couple of days. There have been times when we haven’t seen each other that long. I mean, what is that Sylph-chan supply? I don’t serve that kind of weird stuff.」
「You don’t realize it, Sylph-chan, but there is a supernatural energy emanating from you, like negative ions that heal me immensely.」
「Supernatural energy, is it a stale mail-order program…?」
While the two were talking such useless talk without touching on the important subject, the gondola had somehow come up to the highest point.
「Nice view, isn’t it?」
「Yes. Really, it’s very beautiful.」
Elephant, noticing this, looks up at the glowing sky and expresses her thoughts, and Sylph agrees, looking at the view of the Magical World illuminated by the setting sun.
「But you’re much more beautiful than that, Sylph-chan.」
「…I’ve never heard anyone really say that to me before.」
「Ahaha, is that so.」
Sylph couldn’t help but giggle at the pick-up line, which is so racy even in stories and is not used nowadays. Elephant responded jokingly to Sylph’s words and fell silent for a moment. Then, as if determined to open her mouth with a serious expression, Sylph began to speak, as if to control her.
「Thank you, Elephant-san. You made me your friend, took me out to various places, and taught me various games. I would have never thought before I met Elephant-san that someone would like me. I am sure that even now, I wouldn’t believe it if someone else told me. But Elephant-san, your words are the only ones I can believe. So I am sure that there was a small part of me that could have liked someone just a little bit more. I never thought I would see the day when I would feel that way about myself. So, thank you.」
Without looking away, looking straight into Elephant’s eyes, Sylph speaks to her, not too fast, but at the same time not too slow, putting strong emotion into each word.
「But I am sorry. I cannot respond to your feelings, Elephant-san. This feeling I have for you is friendship, Elephant-san.」
In a complete change from her previous strength, Sylph continues, her voice trembling with anxiety and her eyes downcast, as if to express her lack of confidence.
「Elephant-san, I think what I am about to say may disgust you. I know that myself. But even though I know that, I can’t give up, so I’m going to be honest with you.」
「I wanted to be a man again and start over with my family. That’s why I entered Witch Cup and got the medicine.」
「The battle against Diests will be over in the not-too-distant future. That’s when I decided it was time to say goodbye.」
「But from that day on, after Elephant-san did that to me, I wanted to stay with you as a girl, I didn’t want to leave you, and I wanted to stay friends with you forever.」
「I still don’t have an answer as to whether I should return to my original form when the fight with the Diests are over, or whether I should stay in this form. I am sure that I will not be able to make a decision until the time really comes. So, Elephant-san.」
「I know it’s a selfish thing to say that I can’t reciprocate your feelings, but until that time comes, will you remain my friend?」
She can’t decide now which end she will choose, so she hope they can remain friends until then.
It was not even a reservation to a confession, but a request so selfish and brazen that it took no account of Elephant’s feelings after she confessed and was rejected.
In any love story, everyone is afraid to confess. That’s because once you step out, you can never go back to the same place again, no matter what the outcome. How many of them would be able to continue their friendship in the same way if they refused to be friends? Even if they could behave as they had on the surface, they could never be the same deep down inside. Sylph’s wish wasn’t only selfish, it was also bankrupt from the start.
Sylph herself understands how insane, selfish, arrogant, and cruel she is to Elephant. It’s not that she didn’t think about refusing the confession and saying goodbye without telling her this. She thought it would be better to let the memories remain beautiful and end them. But she couldn’t. No matter who was in charge, if Elephant would accept her, that was all she needed. Even if it was unacceptable, it is much more satisfying than being self-contained and giving up on oneself. She can’t be her friend anymore because she can’t respond to her feelings by pretending that “I’m trying not to hurt Elephant-san,” she can’t believe this is the end of it, she couldn’t allow herself to choose such an ending.
「If you forgive me for being such a lousy and selfish person, if we can be friends, will you hold my hand again?」
Sylph’s pleading words with a tearful face didn’t convey any sense that it would be okay if she were to end up here without acceptance. There was no way it would be okay. It was only a strength to get herself going. She really wants her to take her hand, of course. The thought of saying something so self-centered and without regard for others and having Elephant hate her makes Sylph’s heart ache so much that she thinks her heart might have been crushed in her hands. Still, she had to say it. Even though her thoughts unnaturally chose to part with Elephant, something still cried out in Sylph. She doesn’t want to be separated from Elephant. She wants her to take her by the hand and take her somewhere, as she always do. To a place she didn’t know existed, a place that was fun, happy and warm, a place she would never have been able to reach on her own.
「…I’m sorry, Sylph-chan. I’m just not convinced that we are friends until the right time.」
「I see, I get it. It’s impossible, you decided——」
Hearing Elephant’s answer, Sylph muttered weakly as she lowered her gaze.
She was aware that she was asking for the impossible, but at the same time, she was hoping that Elephant would forgive her, saying, “It can’t be helped.” Realizing this now, she feel self-loathing at such shallowness, and at the same time, she understand after a beat that it is over, that the relationship between herself and Elephant is over, and the proffered Sylph’s arm gradually falls off.
The first friend I made in my life.
The most important friend of all.
My dearest, precious friend.
She was the one who didn’t respond to Elephant’s feelings. When she made that choice, she could have predicted this would happen in the end. Elephant did nothing wrong. So as not to cry, and to prevent the atmosphere from deteriorating further, Sylph raised her face, which had been turned down to prevent the tears from forming in the corners of her eyes.
「Because I haven’t given up on you yet.」
「——Eh…」
At that moment, she takes Sylph’s hand, which was about to be lowered without effort, and pulls Sylph by force at the same time Elephant rises. Then, stunned by Elephant’s words and actions, she hugged Sylph around the waist and forcefully took her lips.
「～～～～!?」
Sylph’s eyes go black and white as she tries to pull Elephant’s body away from her, but as she knew from previous visits to the aquarium and when she was on her knees, Sylph is no match for Elephant in terms of simple arm strength. Even if she could, she wouldn’t use magic against Elephant, but in any case, she cannot use magic because her lips are sealed. Until Elephant is satisfied, Sylph has no choice but to present herself maturely.
Perhaps because she realized this, or perhaps unconsciously, the strength gradually drained from Sylph’s arms, which had been trying to push Elephant away, and she grabbed hold of her costume as if she were hanging on to it, although she should’ve been forcefully holding her body due to the height difference, she had started to stand on her own tiptoes to maintain that position.
After slowly enjoying the kiss with Sylph for more than a few dozen seconds in this way, Elephant parted her lips with a satisfied look on her face and said,
「I told you, I’ll make you crazy about me.」
Sylph, who had somehow forgotten her resistance and accepted Elephant’s outburst with her eyes closed, huffs at the words and begins popping Elephant’s arms with her eyes black and white.
「——Wha–w–w–w–what are you doing!? I rejected you, didn’t I!? This kind of forceful approach is a crime!?」
「But you didn’t hate it, did you?」
「Whaaa!? T–That is, not true…!」
Mesmerized by the bewitchingly smiling Elephant holding Sylph’s waist, Sylph turned red in the face and tried to argue with Elephant, but in the end, she was unable to come up with a clear denial and her voice was slurring, and she was making no clear sense in her gurgling.
「Mostly because it was wrong of you, Sylph-chan, to say such a terrible thing. It’s foul of you to dump me and then seduce me like that. Then it wouldn’t hurt me to be a little selfish, either.」
「I apologize for the selfishness of my request, but please don’t say seduction is a bad thing for people to hear!」
「You know I like you, Sylph-chan, and you offered yourself to me with a face like that, so I think it’s like a set meal.」
「Not at all! I just, I just wanted to continue to be friends with you, Elephant-san…」
「It’s alright, don’t worry, we will continue to be friends. There’s a saying that everything starts from being friends.」
「…The conclusion seems odd to me.」
「It’s not odd. We will always be friends as we have always been until Sylph-chan falls in love with me. Just like Sylph-chan asked for, right?」
「Are you speaking under the assumption that I am in love with you, Elephant-san?」
「Yeah! Because Sylph-chan is going to be in love with me for sure! I mean, Sylph-chan, you really like me, don’t you? I think you’re already in love with me.」
「W–Wha——, I’m not! I just like you as a friend!!」
「Eh— is it really? Sylph-chan, you’ve never had a friend, have you? You just don’t know if it’s friendship or love, do you?」
「Eh, p–probably not, but when you put it that way…」
The flirtation, which at first glance appeared to be a fight, continued until they discovered Succubus through the gondola glass that she was being accosted by two strange people.