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Chapter 22
Chapter 1 — Blow all of heaven and earth to smithereens! • Episode 1-6 • Date ③
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Next to the karaoke was a game arcade.
It is located in a corner of a general entertainment facility, and although it is not as large as the game center in a certain nerd town, it boasts a similar level of selection as that of the gamer magical girl’s corner.
Unfortunately, however, the objective of Elephant was not the abundance of arcade games, but crane games. Elephant, who was originally unfamiliar with playing games in arcade cabinets, was happily examining the prizes of the crane game.
「Look, look, Sylph-chan! There’s a stuffed elephant! It’s so cute!」
「Cute is cute, but isn’t it usually cheaper to buy these things?」
「Mou—! You don’t get it, Sylph-chan. These things are worth a premium because of all the hard work you put into taking them, and the joy you get out of them! Take the memories with the stuffed animals!」
Elephant was so angry at Sylph for her dreamless comment that she had to coin the stuffed elephant repeatedly until she could get it.
「Uwah–! Why can’t I get it with that!」
「A little more! A little more!」
「The button did let go! Hey! You saw it too, Sylph-chan! The button did let go, right!」
「Haa, haa! That’s for 40 points, I’m spending 4,000 yen…」
「Oh, oh, ohhhhhh! Yay! I finally did it, Sylph-chan! I’ve got it!」
Elephant, noisily happy or sad with each attempts, were sometimes glanced at by unrelated Magical Girls, but she was absorbed in her play as if she didn’t care.
Sylph watched Elephant from a distance, pretending to be a stranger.
「Huh!? Where are you, Sylph-chan!?」
「I’m over here. Elephant-san was so noisy that I had to take shelter for a bit.」
「Ehh? That’s cruel, Sylph-chan!」
Elephant holds up the stuffed elephant as a prize.
Sylph ignored Elephant and touched the magiphone to the stand where the popular yellow national character was the prize.
「Oh, Sylph-chan, do you like this character?」
「I don’t particularly like it, but Elephant-san seems to enjoy it so much that I wanted to give it a little try myself. With this character, even if I don’t want it, I can at least get a buyer.」
「Ehh— It’s a reseller’s egg…」
「Muh.」
Sylph was momentarily offended by Elephant’s words, but she changed hee mind and faced the table, thinking that there was no point in arguing any further.
She observed Elephant, who was getting hotter and hotter, from a distance. She pushed the button, thinking that if she played calmly and precisely, this would be a piece of cake.
「Why?! Why did it go over there and come back!」
「It should be close! Just a little!」
「Is this table broken? I let go of the button!」
「Uhhh, I’ve already spent 40 points. I can’t back out now…」
「Ah, ah, ahhhh! I’ve finally did it! I did get it, Elephant-sa…n…」
She was in the middle of a conversation with Elephant who asked if she could take her place, but she said no, appreciating it, when Elephant asked her if she wanted to pay the points, she refused, saying that would be meaningless, she was getting more and more immersed.
Elephant had been watching Sylph closely for a long while. She was already looking at her warmly, as if it was watching something smiling.
「I–It’s different. I’m not getting all intense and bothered about it. That’s just now an imitation of Elephant-san.」
「Yes, yes, you’re right. Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?」
Realizing her disadvantage, Sylph silently packs her prizes into a bag, saying nothing more.
Elephant saw this and had an idea.
「Sylph-chan, if you’d like, I can trade this giveaway for Sylph-chan’s giveaway.」
「Eh, why?」
「Making memories, making memories. Because today is the only day I’m going out with Sylph-chan, right? Then I’d like something to remember the day by.」
「Can’t you just use that stuffed elephant?」
「I can always take the stuffed animals myself!」
「Okay then. Don’t mind if I do.」
Perhaps concerned that she had been called a reseller, Sylph agreed to the exchange in a straightforward manner.
「Well then, think of this elephant as me and take good care of it!」
「Please don’t phrase it so strangely. I’ll put it in the closet.」
「That’s cruel!」
Seeing Elephant’s reaction, Sylph laughs happily.
Elephant then got and gave up on a few prizes, and when her bags were full, he cut out of the crane game.
「Don’t you use a forwarding service?」
「It costs quite a few points. I’ll take what I can carry home with me.」
That said, it seemed like quite a lot to Sylph’s eyes, but it didn’t seem to be much of a hardship from Elephant’s perspective.
「Ah, right! We’ve come all the way to the arcade, and I want to take some purikura back home!」
「I thought you already had a full set of memorabilia.」
「That’s not the same thing as this!」
With a disappointed-looking Sylph in tow, Elephant enters the Purikura photo machine. Holding the stuffed animal she had just gotten, she chose the number of people and the frame, and the photo shoot began.
Elephant posed and smiled while holding the stuffed animals with a look of familiarity.
Sylph, on the other hand, looked nervous as she stood erect and steadfast, holding a stuffed elephant.
「Sylph-chan, You don’t have to be so defensive. Here, imitate me.」
「I–I don’t understand why you would say that…」
Elephant was able to complete one cute pose after another, such as holding a stuffed animal in one hand while making a peace under her chin, or making a heart mark with both hands holding the stuffed animal, but Sylph was limited to a scowling expression, as if to say that she could not do such cute poses.
When the shooting was over and we moved to the graffiti booth, sure enough, there was a picture of two chiggly people.
「I love the taste of those things～」
「It’s not interesting to me… Hey, what are you writing about?」
Elephant adds doodles that are all about the setting of friends, starting with doodles such as “Always-friend,” “best friend,” and others that imitate exchanges between friends on the messaging app NINE. Sylph did not know what to write, but was hesitant to erase the scribble in such a playful manner, and the time ended without anything being done.
After selecting the frame layout, etc., they waited outside for the photo to be printed, and when they looked at the printed photo, they saw that it was a strange Purikura, with a face that did not look like a Purikura between friends, but the graffiti insisted that the photo was a friendship.
「Ahahahaha! This is very amusing!」
「I am ashamed. I will never do a purikura again…」
Elephant consoled Sylph, who’s self-loathing, wondering how she got swept away. Elephant consoled her, saying that everyone is a beginner at first, so she doesn’t need to be discouraged.
It was none of her business, especially since she don’t want to look pretty in the picture.
•
When they left the arcade, it was after 3:00 P.M. Elephant said it was just fine and left Sylph waiting on a bench to go somewhere by herself.
Sylph, who had nothing to do while waiting for the restaurant, was bored, but just sitting still reminded her of unpleasant things and she sighed.
「Haaaaah.」
「Ahahaha! That’s a big sigh! You’re gonna miss out on all the happiness, you know?」
Sylph, who had been looking down, looked up and saw a girl standing there with black hair two-sided up and dressed in a robe black down to her feet. The inside of the robe is dark, making it impossible to see, and everything is pitch black except for the exposed face. At first glance, Sylph felt that she was a massive midget.
「May I ask who you are?」
「Eh—? Don’t you know who I am—?」
Eyes as beautiful as obsidian look into Sylph’s eyes, and he brings his face close to hers as if to tell her to take a closer look.
Sylph felt a slight sense of dĂŠjĂ  vu in this situation.
「Sorry, I’m new here so I don’t know much about Magical Girls. From the way you speak, does that mean you are a Witch?」
「Ping–pong, ping–pong! Absolutely correct! If you don’t know me, I won’t blame you. I’m Red Ball-chan! They call me the Witch of Gravity. Remember it well, ahaha!」
「I understand, I learned it well. Excuse me, but I’m waiting for someone right now, so if you don’t have anything else to do, could you please go now?」
「I don’t have anything to do! Bye-bye!」
「Farewell.」
Sylph stares at the back of the girl who had suddenly appeared and stormed off, and sighs again, saying that witches are all strange people. If she looked closely, she can see that Red Ball that left is now involved with a different magical girl. It must have been true that she had nothing to do. She seemed to be talking to anyone and everyone.