Side Story: Reflecting on Resolve

The after-school hours I’d been eagerly waiting for had finally arrived.

Of course, I hadn’t skipped class or anything.
I attended properly, like a good student.

Why? Well, there were two reasons.

First, to ease Haruto’s worries.
Maybe he was anxious because I’m usually so careless.
Besides, the idea of falling behind on attendance and not being in the same grade as Haruto was unbearable.

The second reason? Surveillance.
I had to make sure no other girls were getting close to Haruto.
That guy’s got a decent face, so some airheaded girl might latch onto him.

And I knew one girl in particular who might.

Lost in thought, I walked with Haruto toward the station as promised.
Our destination was a department store one stop away.

My excitement nearly made me skip—but I stopped myself, remembering the stares I’d get.

Ignoring Haruto’s puzzled look, I walked ahead when—

"Ahhh! It’s Big Sister Luna!"

A group of little kids passing by shouted.

…I remembered them.
They were from the daycare I’d visited as a volunteer last year—back when I was still me.

They must’ve moved up a grade, because they looked a little bigger now.

"See? You are with Haruto-niichan! Are you two a couple? Huh? Huh?"

The girls giggled and pressed.
Probably at that age where they’re obsessed with romance.

"N-no way!"

My face burned as I denied it.
Even if they were little kids, it was still embarrassing.

"Youta."

"Ah, w-well, it’s not like I hate the idea or anything!"

Haruto leaned in, peering at me.
Hearing my name, I stumbled over my words in response.

"Does ‘couple’ not simply mean a pair? Why be ashamed?"

"……Hah?"

Oh, right.
This guy always says the weirdest things out of nowhere.
His common sense is missing in the strangest places.
Hell, even his Japanese is shaky.

Yeah, thinking too hard about it would just make me the idiot.
Obviously.

---

That day, I’d come to the daycare as a volunteer.
The reason was… honestly random.

It was supposed to be Mom’s turn, but she had a scheduling conflict with the neighborhood association, so the duty fell to me.

…I get that, but why just me?
Hoshiko had—

"Ehh? I wanna hang out with friends, so no way!"

—flat-out refused with that one line.
But since I didn’t argue much and just went along with it, maybe I’m too soft on my sister.

"So, what are we supposed to do?"

Haruto-kun, standing beside me, asked.
As expected, it had been about two months since he’d transferred here.

Maybe because he knew my secret, we’d ended up interacting a lot.
When I mentioned I was volunteering this time, he said—

"I just moved here and don’t know the area well. This might be a good chance to meet locals."

—and decided to help out.
But since he’d never volunteered before, he seemed unsure of what to do.

"Right. Today, the neighborhood group is putting on a play."

"…I have no acting experience."

"Ah, no, no! They wouldn’t throw something that crazy at last-minute helpers like us."

Seeing Haruto-kun uncharacteristically uneasy, I couldn’t help but laugh.

"Our job is to play with the kids while they set up for the play and do quick rehearsals."

"I see. A stalling tactic. I’m accustomed to holding the rear."

"Uhh… not quite…? Or maybe kinda…?"

Somehow, Haruto-kun always uses these overly dramatic analogies.
Come to think of it, he’s never told me where he moved from…

"You’re overthinking it, Haruto!"

Yoshihiro-kun was with us today too.
Like me, he’d been forced into this by his mom.

"I’m great with kids! See? They already love me!"

Yoshihiro-kun was getting kicked by a bunch of boys from behind.

"Yoshihiroooo! Fetch!"

"Bwahaha, leave it to me!"

Not just that—he was sprinting full speed to retrieve the ball they’d thrown.

"…What a dog."

"Y-yeah."

Rude as it was, I agreed with Haruto-kun’s assessment.
Less "playing with them," more "being played with."

Still, Yoshihiro-kun was reliable in his own way.
If you ignored how his well-intentioned actions often backfired spectacularly.

"Well, the boys can handle themselves with Yoshihiro-kun around."

"I agree. The real issue is the girls."

"Y-yeah."

Times like these made me wish Minami-chan were here.

"…What about Akashi?"

"Whoa!? Did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah."

Not noticing the curiosity on Haruto-kun’s face, I panicked and spilled everything.

"N-no, it’s just that Minami-chan’s good with kids and reliable! Not like I like her or anything—!"

"Hoh. Is that so?"

…He nodded, looking genuinely surprised.
Yeah. I’d dug my own grave. Knowing Yoshihiro-kun, he’d probably spun some ridiculous love story about me to Haruto-kun…

But really, that wasn’t what I meant right now.

I figured I could handle girls this age, since I had Hoshiko at home.
My plan was to just kill time playing house or something, but—

"I am the Silver Witch, Luna!"

"Me too! I wanna play Luna too!"

...Well, this was the situation now.

"In the name of the moon, I'll punish you—!"

Having catchphrases shouted right at me was beyond embarrassing. I really didn’t want to say stuff like that either, okay…?

"You’re quite popular, aren’t you?"
"I-it’s complicated..."

Haruto-kun was grinning—a rare sight. Sure, the outfit looked like something from an anime Hoshiko used to watch, so I got why the kids were into it.

But did they have to do this in front of me...?

"It’s not like I like dressing like this, you know."

I muttered, feeling vaguely dissatisfied. Then—

"...Youta."
"Huh?"
"Then why do you fight?"

Haruto-kun’s expression had shifted entirely. No trace of humor—just blunt seriousness. This wasn’t a joke. He was asking for real.

"Why? Because the Sacred Beasts asked me to."
"So what? You don’t have to risk your life alone. Don’t you think that’s unfair?"
"But—"

I choked on my words. The air between us grew tense, a stark contrast to the cheerful kids playing nearby.

"Fact is, you haven’t beaten a single one of the new commanders since they appeared."

"...You knew?"

He wasn’t wrong. Over a month had passed since my crushing defeat by Amrutat, a boy who’d dismantled me effortlessly. And yet, I hadn’t landed a single counterattack.

Just escaping his assaults took everything I had.

"Stop fighting out of obligation. You’ll die. There’s no point challenging someone you can’t beat. Especially if you care about Akashi. Those guys won’t take your life. You two should just run."

The same words someone else had once told me. Probably Haruto-kun’s way of showing concern.

Running away together? Impossible for students—not to mention I had no idea how Minami-chan would even respond—but the fact he’d suggest it meant he cared.

And I appreciated that.

But—

Just as I opened my mouth, one of the girls playing "Luna" tripped and fell.

"W-waaah...!"

Her wails echoed through the daycare. She couldn’t have been more than three or four. What felt trivial to us was probably agony to her.

"Stop crying. Pain that minor is meaningless."

...Haruto-kun’s words, of course, didn’t reach her. She kept sobbing, face crumpled.

"...What do we do?"

Ignoring his confusion, I rushed over and scooped her up.

"Shh, shh, no more owies. You’re okay. Luna’ll laugh if you cry over something this small, right?"

No visible scrapes, thankfully. I soothed her with exaggerated reassurance, ending with a pat on the head.

"Yeah, you’re a tough kid."

I smiled.

"Thank you, mister..."

Her tears stopped. She even bowed politely. ...What a well-mannered girl.

Soon, she was back to playing with her friends.

With the crisis averted, I returned to Haruto-kun.

"That’s how you handle crying kids. Makes ’em feel safe."

"...I know nothing about this."

"Ahaha. I’m just used to it ’cause of my sister."

He looked genuinely lost. Maybe it’s natural to freeze up when you’ve got zero experience.

"I think... I fight because I can’t ignore things like what just happened. I want to help people who are suffering—to do something about the cause. Even if I can’t take their place, maybe I can share the burden. Guess it’s just how I’m wired. No matter how much you worry, I’ll probably keep charging in..."

"I see..."

"Sorry. You were just trying to look out for me."

"No. If that’s your resolve, I won’t say another word."

Soon, we got word the play was ready, ending our shift. The three of us watched it, received our reward (canned juice), and headed home.

...I’d worried things might be awkward, but Haruto-kun looked oddly pleased as we parted.