Hagakure Sakura Does Not Lament

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

–For Hyuga Aoi, Hitsugi Airi was the only person worthy of respect among the many Magical Girls that existed.

Having been active in the entertainment industry as a child actress since childhood, and having seen the ugliness of human beings to the point of disgust, Hyuga longed for Magical Girls who would fight for justice.

The Magical Girls seen on the screen were always sparkling, and unlike herself, they seemed to know nothing about dirty things. This was very dazzling to Hyuga.

With such feelings in her heart, Hyuga turned 12 years old and joyfully knocked on the government’s door as a Magical Girl candidate. –But what awaited her there was a world as rotten as the one where she used to be.

The candidates pulled each other down and mocked those who were not good enough. And as the saying goes, the one who stood out got hammered, and Hyuga, who had a certain level of fame as a child actor, was hated by the older candidates. This was probably due in large part to the rumor that God preferred beautiful and pretty girls.

Feeling resentful of this unreasonable treatment, Hyuga was inspired. She studied hard and was the first of the candidates that year to qualify to meet with God.

What awaited Hyuga, who was chosen by God to become a Magical Girl, was a harsh reality.

Colleagues who looked like dead men. Jealousy and backbiting over Hyuga’s strong and useful abilities. Frequent joint funerals and girls of the same age quitting due to mental illness.

The discomfort and distrust of people slowly built up. The stress, which never dissipated, began to show itself in the form of irritability.

–She hated everything: weak Magical Girls, government people who ordered her around even though she couldn’t fight on her own, and everything else. Everything, to the point of wanting to destroy it all.

And just when Hyuga had grown tired of living a life so far removed from the ideal she had imagined, she – Hitsugi – spoke to her.

“You’ve been looking so gloomy lately, is something bothering you?”

Whenever they met in the hallway, when she was eating alone in the cafeteria, or when she was in a dispute with another Magical Girl, Hitsugi would patiently accompany Hyuga’s story. Sometimes she would scold her, sometimes she would get angry with her, but when she did the right thing, she would always praise her.

At some point, Hitsugi Airi became a symbol of “righteousness” in Hyuga’s mind.

–Hyuga believed that she was a true Magical Girl who had the right beliefs and aspirations. This belief remained unchanged even after she was chosen as a Rikka.

Suzushiro and Mibu were natural and out of touch with normal human sensibilities, and Toono was somehow mysterious and terrifying. And Yukino, who became a Magical Girl after that, must have been under more intense scrutiny than Hyuga, but she always looked cool, as if she didn’t care about anything, which annoyed her.

And Hagakure Sakura, the newest member of Jukka, seemed to have a few screws missing in her head. Among these crazy Magical Girls, Hitsugi was the only one who remained the righteous person.

I can’t dislike her. –Because she was always kind.

I respect her. –Because she couldn’t be imitated.

The first thing that came to her mind when she heard Hitsugi’s rampaging in the government was denial. That person would never do such a thing. Hyuga ran with this belief, but what she saw in the garden with the sounds of destruction was too cruel to be the truth.

Despite her confusion, Hyuga used her skill to stop Hitsugi from destroying herself and joined Yukino and Hagakure. At that point, Hyuga was still optimistic. –She thought that Hitsugi could still be saved.

Therefore, when Yukino told her that she had no choice but to kill her, Hyuga became furious.

She could not admit it. There was no way she could admit it. –It was wrong for such a righteous person to die.

However, she understood what Yukino was saying, even though it annoyed her. Hitsugi hurt people indiscriminately – that wouldn’t be what she wanted. But still, Hyuga wanted Hitsugi to live.

This was why Hagakure’s words deeply touched Hyuga’s heart. Hagakure vowed to help Hitsugi. She didn’t look down on Hyuga’s feelings like Yukino did. That alone was enough for her to believe.

“…It’s amazing. She keeps avoiding all attacks without any assistance. It’s like she’s dancing.”

While avoiding the storm-like attack created by the spinning box with the effect of the Tag, Hyuga let out a voice of admiration.

Unlike Hyuga, who was wearing a stack of [Defense] and [Evasion] skills, Hagakure was going through the storm without taking any countermeasures. The dust storm had caused some abrasions, but not a single fatal attack.

…It could be said that her physical potential as well as her predictive ability was on par with Hitsugi’s level. It was frustrating, but there was no doubt that Hagakure was excellent.

“–I see it…”

Hagakure muttered in a faint voice.

“Hyuga-san! –Please take care of me!”

With a loud cry, Hagakure disappeared from the scene. Then, in an instant, she closed the distance to stand right in front of Hitsugi and drove her bright red right hand–a hand clad in threads like a glove–into Hitsugi’s right breast.

A gurgling, flesh-gouging sound could be heard. Hyuga gently turned away from the scene and ran under Hitsugi.

–The storm had stopped.

◆◆◆

The residue of the Demonic Beast–the consciousness aggregate made up of the remnants of the magical core–watched the scene from inside Hitsugi.

The remnants of the Magical Girl, Hitsugi Airi, entered her lungs in the form of mist and settled in her right lung, and over time reconstituted the magical core. It then took control of Hitsugi’s spirit and succeeded in taking over the contract God through her.

Normally, it would have taken more time, but this individual – Hitsugi – had such a high affinity with the magic nucleus. Perhaps she had ingested other crushed magical nuclei on a daily basis. The Demonic Beast didn’t know why she did that, but it was convenient.

The only miscalculation was that the resistance from the host was stronger than it had expected. When it tried to use her skill – the Magical Girl skills- to direct the attack at people, it felt a strong rebellion from inside her body. Every time it tried to use her skill on a person, there was a resistance that made her muscles tense.

The remnants of the Demonic Beasts, unable to strike a decisive blow against the humans, were led by one Magical Girl to this uninhabited garden. And then an additional Magical Girl appeared.

The remnants of the Demonic Beast were impatient and attacked with a fury that drained the life force of its host but still failed to reap the life of its opponents.

The Magical Girls, no matter how many times they kneeled on the ground, stood up and came forward. While tasting the strong emotions directed at it, the remnants of the Demonic Beast were still trying to figure out which one would be the next host.

–The thread user seemed to be the most resistant. The white-haired woman in the back was too small to be manipulated. Then, the brown-haired tag user would be the best choice.

The remnants of the Demonic Beast thought so, and when it turned its attention away from the thread user – Hagakure Sakura, it felt a piercing gaze. The body should be gone now, but it felt a chill that gave it goosebumps.

–I know this sign.

The presence of absolute death. Golden glow like a beast and eyes filled with the flames of hell. When it saw those eyes, the remnants of the Demonic Beast felt doubt and bewilderment.

–Why. Why. Why are you on that side of the human–!

The moment it forgot itself in anger, roared and was about to attack the thread-user girl – by that time, it was already too late.

“I am sorry. But I won’t ask you to forgive me.”

The girl appeared in front of it in an instant, muttered that, and took a stance like a piercing hand. Then, she vigorously pierced the host’s right chest – the right lung where the demon nucleus was nestled.

The red threads entangled in her right hand crawled around inside the host’s body, making a messy sound. With each stroke, it felt the connection to the host was being severed.

The host spat out a drop of blood. The remnants of the Demonic Beast began to speak, borrowing words from the host’s mouth.

“Hu, human, why… –Why, using that person’s eye…”

“That person? …I have no idea what you are talking about.”

The thread-user girl replied in a disinterested manner and gripped the detached right lung. At the same time, threads flew out from the palm and wrapped around the severed part. When a film of threads was formed on the right lung, the thread-user girl cast her eyes down and muttered.

“–‘Transport’ begins.”

A moment later, the scenery changed. The remnants of the Demonic Beast did not have eyes to see things, but it could grasp the signs of the surroundings. Then it checked behind and saw the tag-user girl running up to the fallen host – Hitsugi Airi. …Apparently, they had been completely disconnected.

The thread-user girl, perhaps having used up all of her strength in pulling the remnants of the Demonic Beast away from its host, was kneeling on one knee on the ground, out of breath.

–Now is an opportunity. It’s not part of the plan, but it doesn’t matter this time.

The remnants of the Demonic Beast, thinking so, transformed the magic nucleus into mist again and tried to sneak up on the thread-user girl in order to get a new host.

“Ah. I already predicted this.”

At the same time, such a voice echoed and the movement of the mist stopped. It struggled to move in all directions, left, right, up, and down, but it could not move at all.

Looking around, it saw a sharp cold air gathering around the mass of threads from which the black fog was seeping. The cold air slowly increased in density, eventually becoming liquid and surrounding the magic nucleus.

“I knew if I separated you from Hitsugi, you would try to get a new puppet. I’m not going to let you do what you want anymore. You should freeze there.”

Saying this, the air manipulator cast a cold look toward the white water ball–the remnants in the chilled liquid nitrogen.

–Oh, it froze. Its existence was cracking. I haven’t even killed a single human being yet!!

It made a high-pitched scream like a metallic sound, but still the annihilation proceeded cruelly. Oh, it’s not supposed to be like this.

As if being scraped off, its consciousness faded away. With hazy vision, the last thing it could see was the thread-user girl sticking out her tongue and raising her middle finger behind the girl who manipulated the air.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

After confirming the disappearance of the magic nucleus through the entangled threads, Tsugumi lowered his finger and collapsed on the spot. He felt nothing while he was moving, but it seemed his body had been overworked more than he had expected. The muscles ached in various places, not to mention the knots. …He hoped he hadn’t strained his muscles.

Tsugumi managed to get his breathing under control and slowly stood up, enduring the pain.

“I’ll lend you my shoulder. Can you walk?”

“Thank you. Is Yukino-san alright? It seems you’ve been making water balls all the time.”

“Oh. I’m one step away from depleting my divine power too, but I can still manage. I’m not going to leave it on the ground as it is and I have to store it just in case. –I’m sure they will eventually be sent for autopsy and all sorts of tests will be done. …I feel a little bad for Hitsugi, but let’s give up on that.”

Yukino told him, saying that it couldn’t be helped. Organs that had been eroded by a Demonic Beast might indeed be excellent research material for the research team. He didn’t feel very good about it, but he guessed it couldn’t be helped considering future countermeasures. This tragedy should never be repeated.

After reaching Hitsugi and Hyuga with the help of Yukino’s shoulder, Tsugumi called out to the sobbing Hyuga. …She was crying so vigorously that he was getting more and more worried. He wondered if he really had made it in time.

“Hyuga-san, how is Hitsugi-san–“

When Tsugumi asked that question, before he could finish all his words, Hyuga answered in a hushed voice.

“–She’s alive! Her heart is beating properly… Oh, I’m really glad…!”

Hitsugi, lying in a pool of blood, had the tag “heal” and a newly created “purification” tag attached to her. The right chest, which was supposed to be pierced by Tsugumi, still had a thin red bruise, but the wound itself was closed.

He squinted and looked at the inside of Hitsugi’s body. The nerves that had been invaded by the magic nucleus still had a slight black flame, but it seemed to be fading away, perhaps due to the effect of the purification tag.

The missing organ – her right lung was still missing, but fortunately she had another lung. She might no longer be able to work as a Magical Girl, but she should have no trouble in her daily life.

“At this rate, unless her condition suddenly changes, she should be fine. …Haha, I didn’t think we could really manage.–That’s great, you guys.”

Yukino exhaled reassuringly and muttered in self-deprecation. Maybe she was concerned about the fact that she suggested killing Hitsugi.

“…That’s not true. And Yukino-san did nothing wrong. We were just being selfish.”

When Tsugumi told her that, she smiled bitterly. It was true that Hitsugi survived, but the fact that Tsugumi took a bad gamble was not something to be praised. If it was a legitimate upper management, the ones to be blamed for this arbitrary decision would be Tsugumi and Hyuga.

–Ah, but.

“Hitsugi-san, I’m glad she’s alive.”

“…That’s right.”

Saying this, they both looked at each other, laughed, and collapsed on the spot. He deliberately leaned on Hyuga’s back, who was clinging to the sleeping Hitsugi with a peaceful face, and laughed again, giggling as she complained that it was heavy.

In the center of the destroyed garden, four girls, covered in blood and sand and in an unbearable state to look at. The three who were awake were smiling innocently with clear faces. With a faint glow in their eyes.