Episode 16: Stuffed Animal
Although she had once ended up embedded in the ceiling, Momotsuki Haruka’s adjustment had proceeded smoothly. Her magical cyberwear limbs had become comfortable to use, and she could no longer remember what it had felt like to have a body of flesh and blood. Even if she had been able to remember, Momotsuki Haruka probably would not have looked back on it.
[Reminiscing] was forbidden.
That was simply how things were.
The world became easier to understand when you recognised that that was simply how things were.
Nights without dreams, leisure time spent without looking back on the past: to Momotsuki Haruka, they were all simply how things were.
Which was all the more reason this was throwing her off balance.
“Sniff…! U-unh…! Sniffle… hic…!”
She could hear someone sobbing.
The lower bunk. Directly beneath Momotsuki Haruka’s bed.
[Chihuahua Yellow]’s bed.
Her sleep was being disturbed.
The effects of the sleeping medication had weakened after so many previous doses. Momotsuki Haruka could no longer rely on the help of drugs to sleep. Even so, until now, she had still been able to sleep. She still never dreamed, either. She had been trained for that.
But there was an unadjusted child.
Chihuahua Yellow.
A yellow bed, still without a stuffed animal.
A small body curled up on a large sheet.
Stuffed animals were much like medals of honour. Each time a magical girl deployed, each time she distinguished herself, the authorities rewarded her.
Cosmetics that could be used on infiltration missions.
Film recordings that could help train her for negotiation duties.
Pocket money, pudding, pretty clothes… and stuffed animals.
Momotsuki Haruka’s bed was overflowing with stuffed animals. But on Chihuahua Yellow’s bed, there was little more than the thin blanket and pillow that came as standard.
It had not always been that way.
Because that had been [Viola Purple]’s bed.
Until a few weeks ago, it had been crammed full of the books she had chosen as rewards for studying, along with stuffed animals and film recordings. On the night she died, all of them had vanished without a trace, and even the purple sheets had been taken away.
The bunk bed remained, its wooden frame the only trace of what had been there.
And there…
“Sniff… u-unh…!”
Chihuahua Yellow was trembling all alone.
“Papa…! Mama…! Yuu-kun…!”
She was trembling.
Sweating.
Her eyes were wet.
Her small hands gripped the thin blanket so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
Without thinking about anything, Momotsuki Haruka placed a stuffed animal beside her.
*
A pink teddy bear.
Soft and fluffy.
A little worn and droopy.
“Ah… uhh…?”
Chihuahua Yellow’s eyes opened slightly. Before their eyes could meet, Momotsuki Haruka climbed back into the upper bunk.
“…Th-thank you, Senior…”
Ignoring the sniffling voice, Momotsuki Haruka fell asleep.
That was simply how things were.
Unadjusted children were like that.
Future magical girls were like that.
On Momotsuki Haruka’s own bed, a purple stuffed animal lay gathering dust in the corner: a soft, slightly droopy little cat.