I’ll Live as a Villain Obsessed Over by a Magical Girl

“…Are you serious?”

No, Noah is like a younger sibling, so I shouldn’t have any strange thoughts.

Of course, even though she’s become a high school student and her body has developed more to the point where she’s starting to look like a young woman, a younger sibling is still a younger sibling.

Such a shameless act as lying in the same bed together…

“I really am sick, you know.”

Teary-eyed.

Noah begins to whimper.
If this is calculated, she’s quite the fox.

But that can’t be the case. Noah isn’t that kind of cunning child.

Strangely, whenever I look at this kid, my heart softens. Is it because I’m reminded of my lonely past?

“…Sigh.”

I don’t even know anymore.

I turned off the light and laid down on the bed.
Seeing this, Noah turned her head and mumbled.

“No… that… I didn’t mean for you to lie down… I mean…”
“Really? Should I get up then?”
“No… I think it’s okay if you stay.”

Going back and forth like this.
Truly, the hearts of girls are difficult to understand.

‘…It’s narrow.’

My small bed was too cramped for two people to lie down. Because of that, we naturally had to press our bodies close together.

Swoosh. When our hands brushed against each other, Noah was startled.

“Eek!?”
“Oops, careful.”

As I grabbed her to prevent her from falling, she was even more surprised.
“Uh… uh… ah?”
She seemed almost broken.
Well, I guess there’s no helping it.

I stretched my arm out to the side to support Noah’s head. The common “arm pillow” position.

“Mister?”
“I’ll lend you my arm, so lie down and rest.”
“…Okay.”

Noah seemed to like this position quite a bit, as she remained still for a while. Maybe because the lights were off, I found myself focusing on every single one of her breaths.

Then, as if something suddenly came to mind, she spoke.
“…Have you ever experienced it, Mister?”
“What?”
“Someone who was really close to you… but betrayed you.”
“…Yes, I have.”
“Who was it?”
“The first person I ever liked in my life.”
After maintaining silence for a moment, Noah opened her mouth.
“Can I… ask about it?”
“You won’t answer my questions but you want me to tell you?”
“…I’ll tell you too.”

Noah proposed a deal to me. If I shared my past, she would share hers.
It was a deal with nothing to lose.

It’s not like it’s such a remarkable story anyway.

I told her the same story I had once told Kkomul-i.

“I didn’t have parents. I was always alone and lonely.”
“…”
“In the midst of that, I made a friend. She was a girl, and she treated me really well.”

My expression slightly frowned. I was reminded of that damned woman’s smiling face.
To borrow Noah’s expression, she was a thorn to me.

A thorn that remained painful because it had lodged deep in my heart.

I caught my breath and continued.

“That became my first love… my first relationship. It was only later when I saw her rolling around with another guy that I realized.”

I was just.

“Just one of many guys to her.”
“…Mister, are you okay?”
“Of course. I’ve almost forgotten it all now.”
“Then I’ll also…”

Noah seemed about to say something, but then closed her mouth. It felt like she was hesitating.
I pinched her cheek slightly and made a laughing sound.

“Actually, it’s quite difficult to forget completely.”
“What?”
“Either way, it remains in your memory. Whether in a good sense or a bad one.”

I heard the sound of her turning to face me.
She seemed to be concentrating more on my words.

“What about you? That Taehwa girl.”
“…I don’t know. Clearly, I really hate her… she hurt me…”
“It’s not easy to forget, is it?”
“…No, it’s really foolish.”
Noah’s small body entered my embrace.

“Mister.”
“Yes?”
“Can we stay like this for a little while?”
“Of course.”

After a while of listening to Noah’s pounding heart.

“It… happened when I was in 8th grade.”

Noah began her story.
Noah had one precious friend.
The friend’s name was Lee Taehwa. She was a unique girl with eyes as blue as the sky and as brilliant as gold.

They first met at the local children’s center.
One with only a father. One with parents who were both busy.

They spent a long time together and soon became irreplaceable friends.

“Noah!”
“What is it, Taehwa?”
“Let’s stay friends forever!”
“Yes! I’d like that!”

A childhood promise sealed with pinky fingers. That promise was broken when the girls became 8th graders.

‘Taehwa… I wonder if she’s okay?’

Noah was worried about Taehwa.
Her heart kept feeling anxious. Ever since Taehwa became a member of the disciplinary committee, she’d been receiving more and more disparaging looks.

People said she was too diligent and rigid. Because of that, she was often openly ostracized.

Look at that scene.

“Hey, you ready?”
“Of course, fuckin’ A. Lee Taehwa is dead.”
“We asked you to cut us some slack, but you had to be a hard-ass, you bitch.”

Those kids talking as if they were about to kill Taehwa.
They were all delinquents who had been punished after Taehwa caught them breaking rules.

The fact that such kids were trying to bully Taehwa.
This couldn’t happen.

After gulping down her saliva, Noah didn’t hesitate for a moment and reported the matter to the teacher.
Their disgusting plan failed, but soon they found another target.

“Hey, Na Noah.”
“…What?”
“What? Ha, look at this bitch’s face not changing expression at all. Don’t you feel guilty about anything?”
“…Not really.”

That target was Noah.
It was because someone had overheard Noah talking about them.

A female student grabbed Noah’s hair.
Even so, Noah maintained her expressionless face without showing any reaction.

“You don’t feel guilty?”
“…No.”

Noah just gave a slight smile to the furious girl.

“It’s natural for the person who sees trash to clean it up.”
“You!”

Slap!
Noah was struck on the cheek and fell to the ground.

As the gang slowly approached, Noah steeled herself.
No matter what happened, she wouldn’t show any sign of pain. Just as she made up her mind.

“Hey!! What are you doing there!”

Taehwa’s voice was heard.
Taehwa had rushed to the scene leading other disciplinary committee members.

The disciplinary members chased away the gang.
Only Taehwa stayed behind to look at Noah who had fallen to the ground.

“Th-thank you, Taehwa.”

Her legs were trembling.

“Hehehe… I was just pretending to be tough.”

Noah’s face turned into a sad expression as she continued speaking.
As her fearful inner feelings showed on her face, her heart pounded heavily.

What came to mind was the wish for Taehwa to take her hand.
But what came back was a voice that was far too cold.

“…Who asked you for help?”
“Taehwa?”
“Needlessly interfering. You’ve only made things worse… like an idiot.”
“Taehwa… why are you talking like that? I was trying to help you-”
“That’s exactly it! I never asked for your help, not once, so why did you do that? Why!”

Thump-.
Noah felt a pain as if her heart had been pierced.

There was some hesitation in Taehwa’s expression, but it soon turned into firmness.

“…Don’t butt in for no reason.”
“Taehwa…”
“Getting yourself hurt like an idiot.”

A thorn.
Noah felt like a thorn had been lodged in her heart. The name of that thorn was her memories with Taehwa.
Joy, happiness, pleasure. Those things.

They had now become sharp thorns that tormented Noah.

“…Then.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll get lost.”
“…That’s…”
“Figure it out yourself. I won’t care anymore.”

It was a voice so cold it surprised even herself.
She couldn’t believe it. To have spoken such words to her precious friend.

Thick tears rolled down Noah’s cheeks.

“…I’ll go.”

+++++
“I was just… trying to help…”

Noah continued speaking with a whimper.

“Why was Taehwa so angry…? If I at least knew the reason, I might feel a bit better…”

I had a slight feeling about it.
Perhaps she felt something when she saw Noah being bullied.

But whatever that something was, I would have to ask her directly.

“…Alright.”
“What…?”
“I’ll help you.”

At my words, Noah wiped away her tears.

“Really?”
“Yes. If you can reconcile, then fine. If not… at least you should lighten the burden on your heart.”

Noah now chuckles.

“That’s a relief.”
“Because I’m helping?”
“Yes. My heart has been so heavy all this time. Because of this, other things also started bothering me…”
“Other things?”
“Ah! No, it’s nothing!”

After making a panicked sound, Noah nestled closer to me.

“Mister, do the grandma’s healing hand thing.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“My chest. Preferably in a clockwise direction.”
“I’ll end up in jail, you brat.”

Noah chuckled at that.
It was a weak, falling laugh.

I flicked her forehead lightly.

“I told you not to pretend to be cheerful.”
“Woo~ You beast, hitting a girl.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
“A little bit.”

Really.
I stroked the head of the chuckling kid.

“I’ll do something about it somehow. Understand?”
“…Yes…”
“You seem sleepy, go to sleep now.”
“Good night…”

Noah gradually fell asleep. After watching her for a long time, I tried to get up from my-

‘How can this kid be so strong?’

…but I couldn’t.

Even if she’s a magical girl, to be physically overpowered by a high school girl.
Was it true that you need three tanks to handle three high school girls?

I inevitably became Noah’s dakimakura (body pillow).

“…As long as you’re happy.”
“Hehe…”

Leaving Noah to her sleep-talking, I organized my plan.

Listening to both sides of the story. It’s the basic duty of an adult mediating children’s quarrels.

And as time passed to the next day.
I was sitting in a cafe idly passing time.

Until a girl approached me.
It was Lee Taehwa. When I saw her, I greeted her warmly.

“Hello, you really came?”
“…Dad told me. That the mister who came yesterday was looking for me.”
“That’s right. I have something to talk about.”
“What about Noah? Didn’t you come with Noah-”
“Good grief. You want me to put you two together and see that situation again?”
“That… is…”
“Calm down and order something to drink. It’s a cafe. It’s inconsiderate not to order one drink per person.”

Making a groaning sound, Taehwa sat down.
As she decided on her drink and I was about to pay.

“I’ll pay for mine myself.”
“Really?”
“I don’t like freeloading off adults.”
“…You’ve got good principles. Alright, this is a gift for such a smart kid.”

I gave her a drink as a gift.
Her expression became sullen.

“…Mister.”
“Yes?”
“You’re Noah’s boyfriend, right? Is this okay?”

Ah, was that the setup?

“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s not like I’m trying to hit on you or anything.”
“…”
“I’m giving this to you so you can get along well with Noah.”
“…Then you’ve already wasted your money.”
“That’s something we’ll have to see from now on.”
“What?”
“I heard everything from Noah yesterday. About what happened between you two in the past.”
“…So you heard.”
“She told me yesterday while sobbing loudly.”

Of course, that’s a lie. Noah did cry, but it was just shedding tears.

But Taehwa, who had no way of knowing this, had a bitter expression on her face.

“…She’s always been like that.”
“Always been like what?”
“Yes. She’d get angry and yell at people to their faces, but when she turned around, she’d be in so much pain. She has a personality that can’t easily say harsh things to others.”

To be honest, stories like that didn’t matter much to me.

“What I want to know is why you acted that way.”
“…Is this it? Helping Noah and me reconcile?”

I nodded.
After contemplating for a while, Taehwa soon opened her mouth.

Just as Taehwa was about to begin her story in earnest.

Beep-

Ring ring…ring ring…click!

I used my phone from my pocket to make a call.

So that someone could hear this conversation.