“Do you want to eat the tangerines first? I’ll start boiling water for the noodles.”
“…Is that okay?”
“Well, you look like you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. You probably don’t have any money, right? Do you remember what happened yesterday?”
I shook my head.
“There was a loud thud, so I opened the door, and you were collapsed in front of it, blocking the way. Your clothes were all torn-up patient gowns.”
It’s natural that magical girl outfits are made with magic.
I hadn’t properly remembered what it was like for a magical girl to return to her original form, since I’d never seen it directly, but in webcomics, when the transformation wore off, the clothes would return to their original state.
Well, even in a satire, it would be too much to end up naked.
If that happened, the whole idea of being a magical girl would seem odd.
“So, what you’re saying is that yesterday, I came all the way to this house, and my transformation wore off and I collapsed here.”
While I was lost in thought, Jiguppa reached out nearby and pulled a kettle pot toward her.
She opened the lid, looked inside, smelled it, and then shook it to hear the sound of water sloshing.
Nodding to himself, she closed the lid again, pressed the button, and the light on the button turned on, followed by a loud bubbling sound.
Noticing that I still hadn’t grabbed the tangerine in my hand, Jiguppa took one and placed it in my palm.
Only then did I start peeling the tangerine.
It wasn’t until I felt its texture that I started to feel a bit anxious.
I quickly peeled it and popped a piece in my mouth. It tasted good.
I wasn’t sure if the tangerine itself was good or if I was just so hungry that even a mediocre one tasted amazing, but either way, it was delicious.
Tears pricked at my eyes.
“…”
Jiguppa, on her end, was deep in thought.
She was staring intently at the kettle, as if wishing the water would heat up quickly.
It wasn’t until I finished the tangerine that my mind started to work again.
And then I realized that my being here was causing an enormous inconvenience.
“Um…”
“Yeah?”
“Is it okay for me to be here?”
I asked cautiously.
I had ended up here after struggling to find a place to escape to.
If I had gone to some remote mountain where no one knew me, I might have avoided being found, but I probably would have frozen to death before I even had the chance to wake up.
What that meant was that, in the end, I had instinctively sought a place where I could remain unnoticed for survival, not out of goodwill or trust in the person, but simply because it was the only viable option.
It must have been a burden for Jiguppa.
“Ah, whatever.”
But Jiguppa just shrugged.
“You’ve never left me lying on the floor, so.”
Well, that seemed like a different kind of weight altogether.
But I couldn’t argue further with Jiguppa, who said it with such an indifferent expression.
After all, the clothes I was wearing now were probably Jiguppa’s.
Tap.
Just then, it seemed the water had boiled, and the coffee pot made a sound as it returned to its original state.
Steam rose from the kettle, and Jiguppa tore open the ramen packaging.
I quickly opened one too.
Then, I remembered too late that I hadn’t actually said it was okay to eat, but Jiguppa didn’t comment on it.
Water was poured into the ramen, and for about three minutes, we said nothing.
The room filled with the delicious smell.
One tangerine wasn’t enough to fill me up.
I wanted to peel another one in the meantime, but for some reason, I felt a little self-conscious, so I held myself back.
Looking around again, I realized that where I had been lying was on an electric blanket. It was probably the only heating device in the room.
From the looks of it, the boiler didn’t seem to be used much.
The clothes I was wearing weren’t just a T-shirt; they were practically clothes for going out, and Jiguppa hadn’t bothered changing either.
She even tossed her socks aside and put on some sleep socks instead.
The only thing she had really removed was her outer jacket.
Sitting on the blanket probably meant it was the warmest spot in the room.
Jiguppa, meanwhile, had already moved over to a small desk nearby…
She placed the ramen down, then took out the wooden chopsticks from the bag and handed them to me.
“…Thanks for the meal.”
“Yeah.”
Even though Jiguppa was doing all this, she didn’t ask any questions.
It made me feel uneasy, yet grateful at the same time.
I quickly snapped the chopsticks apart and looked at the ramen.
The smell was familiar, yet it was also overwhelmingly delicious.
Almost losing my sense of reason, I hurriedly shoved some into my mouth.
It was a miracle I didn’t spill any on my clothes.
*
“…Aren’t you suspicious?”
“What do you mean?”
After finishing the ramen, Jiguppa boldly sat down in the blanket at the foot of my bed, leaning against the wall.
Our legs, positioned on the electric blanket, formed a T-shape.
Well, since it was her house, I guess she had the right to do that.
But if that was the case, she could have just told me to move over.
As I wondered whether it might be less shameless for me to leave this house, I ended up asking the question without even thinking.
“You must’ve seen the news, right?”
I glanced at the smartphone Jiguppa was holding.
I wasn’t sure how much interest Jiguppa had in the news about Earth, but it must have been hard to ignore, considering how sensational it likely was.
Even though the Federation, the government, and corporations usually control information, once so many people have seen something, hiding it becomes pointless.
Before that, videos would probably already be online.
In that case, it would be more advantageous to preemptively spread negative information about me.
“Oh, that.”
Jiguppa laughed as if it was absurd.
“You mean the one about you being a terrorist?”
“…Yeah.”
“I was there too.”
Jiguppa shrugged her shoulders and spoke.
“After that explosion, you were the one who saved me, weren’t you?”
“Oh…”
That was true.
“Before that, we were just hanging out chatting, and before that, I was on a school field trip with the others.”
“…”
Indeed, Jiguppa was someone who knew my alibi for that day.
But that didn’t make me feel any sense of hope.
After all, if you wanted to fabricate evidence, it was entirely possible.
Gyeonggi Province is only two hours away from Seoul at most.
Especially, the road to that complex is well-maintained, so commuting between Seoul and there is possible, though it would be a hassle.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say someone spent time preparing a terror attack…
Well, if Jiguppa knows about it, that means such news must have already been out.
Whether conspiracy theories are floating around or not, the announcements directly from the government and articles from major media outlets carry a different level of credibility.
“Well, for now, just stay calm. As long as you don’t go outside, they probably won’t know, right?”
Jiguppa said that after seeing my expression.
I wiped my face with my hand.
“Thanks.”
There was nothing else to say.
Jiguppa opened her mouth as if she was going to say something to me.
Thud.
Thud.
But before that, I heard a sound from the front door.
I hurriedly got up from my seat.
As soon as I strapped the circuit to my left wrist, I immediately heard the hum of the circuit activating.
However, it was difficult to gather enough strength.
Even though I surrounded my body with energy, my legs still wobbled.
Jiguppa, too, approached the door with a tense expression on her face.
She looked outside through the small lens attached to the door.
“…What!?”
But as soon as Jiguppa saw beyond the door, she shouted and immediately threw it wide open.
I nearly screamed when I saw what was beyond the door.
What was there was a person whose head was almost blown off.
The upper part of the right eye was gone. Red blood was flowing out of their head.
What was there was-
“James?”
I muttered, and James collapsed forward.
Jiguppa quickly shut the door.
I staggered toward where James was.
There was a pool of red liquid on the floor, and she was dead— dead?
The liquid coming from her head was definitely red, but strangely, it smelled like oil.
And then, as I approached, her head popped open with a small “bang,” as if the broken top was a lid.
And what crawled out from inside was— an animal that looked exactly like a hamster.
“A Squeak Squeakian!?”
“Squeak?”
“Oh, I’m talking about this person.”
It was incredibly animal-like in appearance, but then again, some of those ‘aliens’ looked like nothing more than rocks.
“They can only make squeaking sounds, so to us, their language just sounds like nothing but squeaks.”
Jiguppa said this while carefully lifting the fainted hamster.
“But to think James was a Squeakian… Well, I guess that explains how he could make the circuit.”
“…Well, yeah, she did look like a hamster.”
“Ah, right.”
Looking at it again, I understand.
A hamster with big ears and a fluffy tail.
It looks exactly like the mascot I saw in the webtoon.
Though the color was completely different.
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