Hagakure Sakura Does Not Lament
chapter-34

-Well, now what should I do.

Tsugumi was thinking, trying not to show it on his face. Although he was careful not to use rough language during the transformation, he still felt uncomfortable.

Then, what would be the right thing to do–yes, he just had to imitate someone close to him. Fortunately, Tsugumi knew the most suitable example.

Yes, someone who was kind to people, always calm, and liked by everyone – Nanase Chidori.

Tsugumi quickly turned his palm to the press, who were throwing questions at him like a machine gun. It was a silent gesture to ask them to be quiet. Perhaps they understood his intention, the press looked at each other and then, with a hint of reluctance, fell silent. Perhaps they thought it would be unwise to upset Tsugumi at this point.

In response, Tsugumi smiled and bowed gracefully. Then, slowly looking up, he opened his mouth, conscious not to lose his smile.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Hagakure Sakura. –I’m not sure if I’ll be able to answer some of your questions. If you still don’t mind, I’ll go along with you.”

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

–Hagakure Sakura was a hot topic at the moment. That was the perception of the media.

A courageous girl who was prepared to die in the face of an A-class Demonic Beast that suddenly appeared in Hakone. –Or perhaps, a hero.

The reason why they were making such a big deal was because she successfully defeated the Demonic Beast. If she had died at that time, the evening news would have ended with a memorial service at best.

Later that day, the media all over the world broadcasted the battle of Hagakure Sakura, and the response was tremendous. The giant killing that overturned the overwhelming difference in strength enthralled those who watched the battle. It had gained the support of men and women of all ages.

And not only the fight with Radon, but past fights against C-class and D-class had recorded high viewership ratings as well. The reason for this, one expert said, was as mentioned below.

“The way she fights is captivating. The initial trial and error, the occasional belligerent expression. Her movements, which seem to be dancing gracefully, have something in common with kagura. Well, how should I put it, I am strangely attracted to it.”

The scholar who said this with a smile on his face laughed and said, “Actually, I’m a fan of hers, too.”

At first, she was in danger of retiring due to the side effects of her overexertion, but now, two weeks after the Radon battle, Hagakure Sakura was in front of the press after completing her return match.

A source had leaked the news and they had rushed to a factory in the suburbs of a rural area, but there were already people from various news organizations there. It seemed that all the stations wanted to hear the real voice of Hagakure Sakura.

At first, she looked around puzzled, but then, as if she had made up her mind, she straightened up her back. Then she said the words at the beginning.

–Sakura Hagakure smiled gracefully when she calmed down the press. It was such a perfect smile that anyone would instinctively admire her.

“Then, starting from the far right, please take your turn.”

And so the questioning of Hagakure Sakura began.

“It’s been two weeks since your last fight, how did you feel about your response? Also, please tell us why you chose D-class as your opponent.”

“Well, I think I was able to move beyond expectation. As for why I chose the D-class, it’s because I’m still not in shape, so I wanted to see how my body would do. It’s kind of like a rehabilitation program.”

“Is that because of the side effects from the Radon match? In the video it looked like you were moving smoothly, but what about in reality?”

“For the side effects, so far there are none that stand out. I can’t seem to exert as much power as I did during the Radon battle, but I am able to move around without any problems for now, so I think I can work as a Magical Girl without excesses or deficiencies.”

“You seem to get along well with your contract God. What kind of conversations do you usually have with her?”

“It’s just a casual conversation. Oh, sometimes we talk about good restaurants.”

Hagakure Sakura answered the questions posed to her with a thin smile. Sometimes she replied, “I can’t answer your questions,” but for some reason,it didn’t give a bad impression at all. This was probably due to her behavior and actions.

She smiled calmly at any question, and because her tone was gentle, her voice, which was cool and refreshing like the sound of a bell, passed pleasantly through their ears.

And what was more captivating than anything else was her gestures. She lightly crossed her arms, and thoughtfully touched her chin with a white finger. Even such a trivial gesture had a certain elegance.

–The press didn’t know Hagakure Sakura’s words and actions were an imitation of the gestures of his sister Chidori, the most familiar member of the opposite sex to him, from a male point of view. From the position of her fingers, to the center of gravity when standing, to the angle at which she tilted her head, she took great care to look like an “ideal woman”.

The reason why they were so taken by this behavior was probably the same as the reason why female actors look sexier than most women.

“I see that you have entered Rikka’s voting competition, are you confident that you will be chosen among the six?”

When the last person asked this question, here for the first time, Hagakure Sakura’s face turned clouded. Then, with a look of heartfelt apology, she bowed her head in a small gesture.

“I have something to apologize for to everyone.”

The words she uttered brought a puzzled look to the face of the person who asked the question.

“Um, what are you…”

“I have a request for those who have seen the interview. –Please don’t vote for me.”

At these words, the press went into an uproar. She entered Rikka and then she said “Don’t vote for me”. Wasn’t that a contradiction?

Hagakure Sakura kept her eyes down and spoke up sadly.

“Nominally, it’s considered an ‘entry,’ but basically every A-class Magical Girls are supposed to participate. Those whose names are not on the list must have declined in advance. The deadline for Rikka entries is at the end of the year. I was, um, stuck at the end of the year, so my declination didn’t come in time.”

“Why did you decide to withdraw? I know there are many people who would like to vote for you.”

“I don’t think I’m good enough right now. If I were to be elected to Rikka with this kind of feeling, I think that would be a problem for a lot of people… I would like to survive until next year and try again when I have more confidence in myself. So I hope you will forgo your vote for me this time.”

With that, Hagakure Sakura bowed her head once again. If you think about it as a media, it would be better to have her keep up the momentum and win the votes for a big turnout, but if she insisted on it, it was unavoidable. Apparently, the rest of the press wasn’t going to force her to do so.

“Besides, my contract God doesn’t seem to think well of my belonging to the government camp Rikka at this stage. As a matter of fact, she was quite reluctant to give me this interview before it even started. …There is a possibility that next time, even if you wait for me at the site, I won’t be able to meet you. I will let the contract God know, so in the future, I hope you will contact me in advance via the government.”

At Hagakure Sakura’s words, the press thought that the reason why she had never shaken her head, even though she had made offers through the government in the past, was nothing but the interference of her contracted God.

Unlike girls in the government, stray Magical Girls had a much more pronounced power relationship with their contract God. Moreover, it wasn’t uncommon for the contract God to be in control of everything. Some of the contracted Gods were said to be so tightly bound that they refused to appear in the media at all. Perhaps her contract God had that kind of character.

“I would like to answer all of your questions, but may I leave for today?”

“Ah, unfortunately, Hagakure-san also has her own plans. Thank you for your time today.”

For some reason, the press, who usually tried to get a lot of comments by being very pushy, was quiet today. Perhaps this was another virtue of Hagakure Sakura.

“Yes, thank you very much for this valuable experience.”

“–Wait a minute, just one last thing.”

When one of the press members held her back, Hagakure Sakura gave a small nod.

“What is it?”

“I know this is a private question, but–do you have any siblings?”

Hagakure Sakura blinked at the question, tilted her head slightly, put her index finger in front of her mouth, and laughed mischievously. Unlike her earlier behavior as a Yamato Nadeshiko, she was so cute and devilishly charming.

“Fufu, that’s a secret.”

She said so and disappeared from the press in a blink of an eye. Her Transportation skill was well-known, but this was the first time they had seen it in person. More than that, her smile burned into their eyes, and wouldn’t leave.

One of the members of the press, holding his heart beating fast, muttered to himself.

“That was a foul play…”

–This evening’s news was going to be pretty rough.