Ding-dong.
“Nn…”
The unfamiliar chime pulled my drifting consciousness back to the surface.
I slowly opened my heavy eyelids. Bright light streamed through a gap in the curtains—far stronger than morning sunlight. It was probably around noon.
“Where am I…? Oh, right.”
An unfamiliar ceiling. An unfamiliar room. For a brief moment I had no idea where I was, but as the fog of sleep lifted, the events of yesterday came rushing back.
As of yesterday, this room had become my new home.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang a second time.
I hauled my still-tired body out of bed, stifled a yawn, and headed for the door.
When I opened it, Sora was standing there.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No, it’s fine. I was just about to get up anyway, so you actually helped me out.”
I had slept a little too long and was already past the time I should have been awake. Being woken up felt more like being saved from oversleeping.
“So, what’s up?”
“Um… Do you have any plans after this?”
“Not really.”
My only plan for the day was to look for a part-time job, and even that could hardly be called a real schedule. In short, I was free.
“If it’s all right with you, Owari-kun, I’d like you to come with me for a bit. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Now that I took a proper look at Sora after her sudden invitation, I noticed she was dressed more stylishly than the casual outfit she had worn yesterday. She had clearly put some thought into her appearance.
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
“Yay! Then I’ll wait in my room. Come get me once you’re ready.”
Since her room was right next door, there was no need for her to wait awkwardly in the hallway. That was convenient. Still, there was no point in keeping her waiting, so I got ready quickly. Luckily, I didn’t have many clothing choices, so it didn’t take long.
After making myself minimally presentable, I called her on the intercom.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Not at all. Shall we go?”
The two of us left the apartment building and caught a bus at the nearby stop.
It was Saturday afternoon, but there were surprisingly few passengers. We easily found seats.
“The supermarket in this area is pretty cheap~”
While we rode the bus, Sora pointed out the scenery through the window and told me about the neighborhood.
Listening to stories about an unfamiliar town turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable, and the time flew by.
After about forty minutes, the bus reached Sora’s destination and we got off.
“This is…”
What greeted us was the largest hospital in the area.
“I got pretty badly injured a little while ago, so I’m still hospitalized.”
Sora hadn’t come for a check-up—she was here to visit someone.
We made our way slowly through the building while checking room numbers until we found the one we wanted.
Knock, knock. After a light rap on the door, a female voice answered from inside, “Come in.”
“I came to visit, Kokoro-chan.”
“Senpai!! You really came!!”
I opened the door. The room was a private one. A girl lay on the bed placed beside the window.
She had bright blonde short-cropped hair and somewhat boyish features. I shouldn’t have known her, yet something about her felt strangely familiar.
“Senpai, is this the person you mentioned…?”
“Ah, let me introduce you. This is Owari Tokoyo-kun. He’s the security guard I told you about yesterday.”
“Hello.”
I gave a small bow in response to Sora’s introduction.
“This is Kokoro Sakurano-chan. She’s my junior, one year below me.”
“My name is Kokoro Sakurano. Owari-san, thank you so much for what you did back then. I really wanted to thank you in person.”
“Um… I’m sorry, but I don’t recall…”
“The Magical Girl who was fighting the Kaijin at that hotel was her.”
“…Oh!!”
It finally clicked when Sora said it.
The Magical Girl who had battled the Kaijin inside that burning hotel.
I hadn’t recognized her because of the frilly, cute outfit and pink hair, but now that I looked closely, it really was the same face.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize.”
“Kokoro-chan’s appearance changes completely between her transformed and untransformed states, after all.”
“Ahaha… If you could just think of Boku and Magical Girl Heart as two different people, that would be helpful…”
Just as Kokoro said, the difference before and after transformation was like night and day. Right now she gave off a boyish, rather cool impression, but the version of her I had seen after she transformed had felt incredibly cute.
Most Heroes used codenames, so perhaps they truly became different people once they transformed.
“Once again, thank you, Owari-san. For everything you did back then.”
Kokoro sat up in bed and bowed her head toward me.
“No, no! I didn’t do anything!”
“I heard that afterward you carried me out of the hotel. You also got Senpai out safely. I can’t thank you enough.”
“If we’re talking about that, you were the one protecting us. We’re even.”
She had thrown herself into a fight she couldn’t possibly win in order to protect us. She could have escaped alone, yet she chose to stay. She was the one who truly deserved thanks.
“Stop, stop. If we keep this up, it’ll never end.”
Just as the two of us were about to spiral into an endless exchange of gratitude, Sora stepped in.
“Neither of you has to be the only one receiving thanks, right? It’s fine for both sides to give and receive.”
“You’re right. I was being a little stubborn.”
“Yeah. That works.”
Thanking and being thanked. It was a slightly unusual way to end the conversation, but it left both of us feeling good.
“All right! Then let’s talk about something fun!”
“Something fun?”
“Kokoro-chan is getting discharged soon, right? Let’s have a Takoyaki Party to celebrate! You said you wanted to do one before, didn’t you?”
At the words “Takoyaki Party,” Kokoro’s smile visibly brightened.
“Of course, you’re coming too, Owari-kun.”
“Eh, me too?”
“Of course. This is both a celebration for Kokoro-chan’s discharge and my way of thanking the two of you for saving me.”
Sora had been helped by both Kokoro and me.
When she framed the event as both a discharge celebration and an expression of gratitude toward the two people who had saved her, it became very difficult to refuse.
“No, wouldn’t it be better if it was just the two of you?”
I was happy to be invited, but I worried it might be awkward for a newcomer—and especially someone of the opposite sex—to suddenly join a celebration for a girl’s hospital discharge.
I tried to decline, thinking the two old friends would enjoy themselves more without me.
“Let’s do it with three people. I’d be happier that way too.”
“Events like this are more fun when there are more people.”
“…If you two are okay with it, then I’ll join.”
“Of course!”
“Please do come. Like Senpai said, it will surely be more fun with more people.”
If the people involved were fine with it, I had no reason to refuse.
And so, the three of us made plans to hold a Takoyaki Party three days later, once Kokoro was discharged, as a celebration.