Chapter 4
Yoo Seo-ah is sobbing her heart out as she eats.
It would be embarrassing to let someone else see her like this, so I set the groceries I'd bought at the market beside the door and decided to wait until she calmed down.
There was a chance she'd finish eating, fall asleep, and never come out, but I thought that was highly unlikely.
I never thought I'd say something like this, but the Yoo Seo-ah I know is a bona fide chain smoker.
…No, that's a little harsh. Let's call her an avid smoker instead.
Anyway, that meant she'd want to smoke after eating.
There was a reason people called it a post-meal smoke.
And no matter how avid a smoker she was, she wouldn't smoke in a house she'd just cleaned.
When she'd finished eating and started craving a cigarette…
Click――
Well, this is what happens.
"You…."
Yoo Seo-ah, who had been crouching beside the door, met my eyes and frowned.
Maybe because she'd replenished her nicotine and filled her stomach, but the mood was much softer than before.
"Hello? How was your meal?"
I already knew what answer I'd get, but I asked with a bright smile anyway.
She stared at me without saying anything, then sighed and closed the door.
"It was salty. Very."
"I figured~"
It was salty even to me, so of course it was.
I gave a bitter smile and scratched my head.
"You couldn't have confused the salt and sugar, so why did you make the soup so salty?"
"Ah, ahaha…. Since I'm rather small, I couldn't really tell how much salt I was putting in…."
"…Are the wings just decorative?"
"Ah."
Right. I could float in midair, couldn't I?
"I'm still not used to this body, so it slipped my mind."
"What a stupid angel."
Yoo Seo-ah snickered, walked past me, sat down on the stairs, and put a cigarette between her lips.
She lit it with a click and drew in a deep breath.
I wondered how she smoked to leave the room in that state, but—
Half the cigarette she'd just lit burned away in a single puff.
'Even after smoking like that, her body is perfectly fine. A magical girl really is a magical girl.'
As I was thinking that, Yoo Seo-ah turned toward me and spoke.
"Still, it was delicious."
…That was delicious?
No, she'd been gagging and crying, and she called that delicious….
Ah.
She's being considerate of me.
Even with her mental state shattered, she still thinks of other people.
She can smile for someone else even while she's suffering and in pain.
'One hundred points…. One hundred points….'
I almost burst into tears, but I put on a bright smile instead.
Nothing could be more awkward than making someone cry because you praised their cooking as delicious.
"Thank you!"
As joy welled up in me, the halo floating above my head began to sparkle brightly.
…Huh? It's glowing?
"Hey, it's dazzling."
"Ah, that. This…. Uh, how do I turn it off…."
I tried pressing down on the halo with my hands to turn it off, but instead of going out, it merely changed the way it glowed every time I pressed it.
One press made it glow normally, a second made it blink, and a third gathered the light into a single point that spun around the halo.
"What are you doing?"
"Awa, awawawa…! I-I don't know how this body works either! It's my first time in it!"
"Haaaa…."
Why won't this thing turn off…!
It's not a flashlight, so why does its lighting mode keep changing every time I touch it?!
After pressing the halo over and over without pause, I finally managed to dim the light.
"Pfft…. What a fuss."
"Ehehe…. Sorry. I'm not used to it yet, so I fumbled around a little."
"I can tell. By the way, can you touch that halo over your head?"
"Uh…. I think so? Would you like to try touching it?"
It seemed like she was showing interest in me for the first time, so I immediately leaned my head toward her.
Maybe she was a little startled, because she flinched, but she didn't outright refuse.
As Yoo Seo-ah hesitated over whether to reach out, I slowly nudged my head toward her, and she cautiously extended her hand toward my halo.
But her hand passed straight through the halo and landed on my head instead.
Pooof―…
The moment her hand touched my head, it felt as if goose bumps had broken out all over my body.
I shuddered and pulled away, and Yoo Seo-ah stared at me blankly before letting out a sigh.
"Ah."
"Th-that…. I'm sorry. Petting your head out of nowhere was a little…."
At that, Yoo Seo-ah, who had been flexing and unflexing her hand, made a displeased face.
"Who was it that stuck their head in first?"
"I thought the halo would stop you…."
"Good grief…."
She let out a deep sigh and smoked in silence.
She said nothing for a while, only speaking again after putting a second cigarette between her lips.
"By the way, you. Where are you going to sleep?"
I was fixing the hair Yoo Seo-ah had touched when her question made me freeze.
Come to think of it, I'd rushed over here without giving any thought to where I would sleep.
"I can tell from your face. You don't have anywhere to sleep, do you?"
"Ahaha…. That's right. I hadn't really thought about somewhere to sleep or anything."
I'd come here with no plan, putting everything else aside at the thought of seeing a real magical girl.
I answered with an awkward smile, and Yoo Seo-ah sighed.
"Haa…."
"B-but it's okay! I can fly through the sky, after all!"
"That's just saying you'll sleep rough."
It's not like I can sleep with you, though.
I tried to laugh it off, but she sighed.
"…Stay here tonight. There's a spare room anyway."
"I-is that okay?"
"You cleaned the house and made me food. Think of it as repayment."
"Hehe, thank you!"
"But only for tonight."
The way she avoided my eyes, looking embarrassed, was noble.
Though I was a stranger to her, it was noble of her to give shelter to someone in trouble.
'One hundred points…!'
Sparkle, sparkle―…
"I told you it's dazzling."
Still, since I'd dealt with it once already, I managed to turn it off quickly this time.
"So, what are all those ingredients by the door?"
"Oh, right."
I'd completely forgotten.
I immediately got to my feet and showed her the things I'd bought at the market.
"Tofu and doenjang…. Mushrooms and onions…. You bought a lot. No, more importantly, why did you buy all this?"
"Ah, I used the ingredients in your refrigerator without asking, remember? So I bought all sorts of things to restock it!"
"…Where did you get the money?"
"Ah…. Well, that…."
Can I tell her this…?
As I hesitated without answering, Yoo Seo-ah, who had been smoking and sneaking glances at me, gradually grew more tense.
By the time half the cigarette had burned away, her expression was already badly distorted.
"You didn't steal them without paying, did you? What the hell are you doing, calling yourself an angel!?"
"N-no! Absolutely not! I may look like this, but I'm an angel! I don't do bad things like that!"
"Then why were you hesitating!?"
"Th-that was…!"
When I hesitated without answering again, suspicion began to color Yoo Seo-ah's face.
It can't be helped…. I'll just have to tell her everything honestly….
"I paid with this…."
When I carefully reached out my hand, a small piece of gold formed in my palm.
It was barely the size of my pinky nail, but considering that it was pure gold, it was worth an astronomical amount.
"What…."
"This was all I had…. It was too late to go to a jeweler, so I just paid with this…."
I hadn't actually been carrying it; I created this gold with my ability, too.
B-but don't misunderstand me! I didn't scam anyone!
It wouldn't disappear if I deactivated my ability, and it wasn't fake gold created through an illusion!
"It's real gold…."
"Yes, it's real gold."
After silently examining the gold from every angle for a while, Yoo Seo-ah sighed and handed it back.
"…Don't take something like this out carelessly. Not all humans are kind, and you could get kidnapped if you're not careful."
There wasn't the slightest hint of greed in her.
She cared about someone else more than material possessions….
"One hundred points…!!"
"Can't you do something about that? You're bothering the neighbors."
I gave an awkward smile and turned off the halo's light.
* * *
Night came.
Tonight, I was spending the night in a room that was a little different from usual.
A room cleaned until it was spotless.
The smell of food overpowered the stale cigarette odor that hadn't quite faded.
It was hard to explain, but it wasn't unpleasant.
It was just a little awkward.
"Well then, good night!"
I nodded as I watched the self-proclaimed angel bid me good night with a bright smile.
No, maybe I could drop the self-proclaimed part now.
I gave a bitter smile, turned off the light, and sat on the bed.
I put a cigarette between my lips and was about to light it as usual, but stopped for a moment.
"…."
If I smoked in here, wouldn't I ruin the room after it had finally been cleaned?
…I was sorry, but I couldn't give up smoking.
Without this cigarette, I couldn't sleep.
I had no choice but to smoke, even if only for a brief respite.
Click――…
My right hand gripped the lighter.
The hand that had touched the angel's head caught my eye.
―Thank you!
The angel's bright smile flashed through my mind.
She'd cleaned the entire room despite having a body much smaller than mine.
In my place.
For me.
"Haa…."
I stared at the flame flickering before my eyes for a long while, then set down the lighter.
'It's only for tonight.'
Right. Once today was over, everything would return to normal anyway.
I could think of it as a one-night dream. Just for tonight….
I set the cigarette down beside my pillow and lay on the bed.
How long had it been since I'd lain down like this?
'Every time, I just sat there with my eyes closed….'
This feels a little strange.
Thinking that, I closed my eyes.
"Uuugh…."
Perhaps because my sleeping arrangements had changed, I tossed and turned for a long while, but—
At some point, I felt as though I were hugging something soft.
'So soft….'
Unlike usual, it felt like I'd managed to sleep, if only briefly.