-----Chapter 1: Her Values-----

Kokoro: *breathe*

Kokoro: Haa!!

Familiar: *noises*

Kokoro: Phew...

*noises*

Kokoro: Huh...?

Familiars: *noises*

Kokoro: Geh...! There are still this many left...?

Voice: Don't worry about the ones in the back.

Kokoro: --?!

Kokoro: Masara!

Masara: I took the rest of them out.

Masara: The only ones left are likely... these familiars right here.

Kokoro: Hehe, as expected of you!

Kokoro: ...Ah! Hey, look at that!

Masara: Yes, the entrance to the inner barrier...

Masara: These familiars likely are guarding it for the time being.

Kokoro: All right!

Kokoro: Now that the goal's in sight, I've suddenly got a lot of motivation!

Kokoro: Let's finish them off right away... and then move in on the witch!

Masara: Yes.

Kokoro: Haa!!

Familiar: *noises*

Kokoro: All right!! Next!

Masara: Ha!!

Familiar: *noises*

Masara: (There are only two left...)

Familiars: *noises*

Masara: --?! ...Tch... they're planning a pincer attack?

Kokoro: Masara! I'll take care of this one!

Masara: Yes, please do. I'll handle this one...

Kokoro: Fu...! Haa!!

Masara: ...aAaah!!

Familiars: *noises*

Kokoro: Hooray! Eradication complete!

Masara: It's too soon to be pleased... now...

Masara: ...the big boss is waiting for us.

Kokoro: Yep, right!

Kokoro: Let me steel myself once again for this...

Kokoro: ...all right, let's go!

Masara: Yes.

-----

Kokoro: Good work!

Masara: You as well.

Masara: We need to go down since this place is about to close up.

Kokoro: Wha-! Is it already that time?!

Kokoro: ...Come on... there's still 15 minutes before that happens.

Masara: Only 15 minutes... right?

Kokoro: 15 minutes!

Kokoro: ...nnnn! What a great view! This is the first time I've been up here.

Kokoro: Since we're here, let's enjoy the view until we have to go!

Masara: Okay...

Kokoro: Ah! I'll go buy us something to drink!

Kokoro: What would you like, Masara?

Masara: I... don't really need...

Kokoro: Okay, I'll choose for you, then!

(The name of this cool girl is Kagami Masara.)

(A little while after we met... we became witch-exterminating partners.)

(I say that, but...)

Kokoro: Thanks for waiting!

Kokoro: You don't mind carbonation, right? I got you a ginger ale.

Masara: Yes, that's fine. Thank you.

(...It's more like a one-sided relationship.)

(Even still, when I met Masara for the first time, I never would have thought...)

(...that we'd get to the point where we would be exterminating witches together.)

Kokoro: Ah! Look, look! Isn't that our school over there?

Masara: Where?

(To be honest, my first impression of Masara wasn't a good one at all.)

Kokoro: Look, over there! Just past that big highway!

(I wonder when exactly we started being able to have nothing conversations like this...)

-----

Kokoro: There it is...! A barrier...!

Kokoro: ...I've got to go in...!

(I had only been a magical girl for a short period of time when I met "Kagami Masara".)

Kokoro: (...This far in and there's no familiars at all...)

Kokoro: (But since there's a barrier... that means there's a witch in the inner sanctum, right?)

Kokoro: (Maybe... this means someone else defeated all the familiars...?)

Kokoro: --?!

Masara: Fu...!

Witch: ...?!

Masara: Haa!!

Witch: ...?!?!

Kokoro: (This girl... she's really strong...)

Kokoro: (She... must really have been the one who defeated all the familiars...)

Witch: ...!!

Kokoro: Look out...!!

Kokoro: Huh...?!

Masara: aAAh!!

Witch: ...!!!!

Kokoro: (She dodged the witch's attack, huh...)

Kokoro: (Even though she was facing it head-on...?!)

Masara: Haa!!

Masara: Guh...!!

Kokoro: (This girl... all she's doing is attacking...)

Witch: ...!!!

Kokoro: (It's like...)

Kokoro: (...she's not afraid of dying at all...)

Kokoro: --?!

Masara: --?! Here...?!

Witch: ...!!!!!

Masara: Tch...!

Witch: ...!

Masara: --?!

Kokoro: Are you okay?!

Masara: ...I didn't realize that another magical girl had come.

Kokoro: I'll support you...!

-----

Kokoro: ...Um... I...

Masara: ......

Kokoro: I'm not good enough of a magical girl to be saying anything...

Kokoro: ...to such a strong person like you, but...

Masara: What...?

Kokoro: I think...

Kokoro: ...you should protect your own body a little more.

Masara: ......

Masara: ...Why?

Kokoro: --?! Why, you ask...! Why would...!

Masara: I... I don't really care when I die.

Masara: If I die, I die, that's... all.

Masara: So I don't need to take any steps to defend myself.

Masara: That's the simple conclusion I came to.

Kokoro: You say you're okay with dying...! No way...

Masara: ...Do you think I'm strong?

Kokoro: Huh...? That's...

Kokoro: ...Yes... I do think you're strong...

Masara: ...Then, what about this?

Kokoro: ...?

Masara: Do you think that strength has merit?

Kokoro: Well... of course...

Masara: Well then, it should mean that you agree that my conclusion is correct.

Kokoro: Huh...?

Masara: If a human being has nothing to lose... they can become invincible.

Masara: My strength is what it is...

Masara: ...exactly because I'm indifferent to death.

Kokoro: --?! ...But that's...

Kokoro: The person who leaves... doesn't understand the feelings of who they've left behind...!

-----Chapter 2: Why She Keeps Climbing-----

Masara: I don't really care when I die.

Kokoro: ...Then... what about your family...?

Masara: My family?

Kokoro: You...

Kokoro: You might not care when you die, but...

Kokoro: Your family... I bet they don't think that way.

Masara: It's fine.

Kokoro: Huh...?

Masara: If you're worried about my family's future, then...

Masara: There's absolutely no problem.

Kokoro: ...? What do you mean...?

Masara: I... wished for money.

Kokoro: Wished... for money? Are you talking about your magical girl contract?

Masara: Yes, so that means... if I die...

Masara: I've arranged for that money to be transferred over to my family.

Masara: After they've grown old and can't get around any more...

Masara: Even if there's nobody to look after them...

Masara: They'll have nothing to worry about with their living situation.

Kokoro: That's what you meant...!

Masara: And if I actually die inside a witch's barrier... that'd actually be more satisfying.

Masara: No ceremony... no formalities...

Masara: Not having to deal with any of that aftermath.

Kokoro: ...The money... and the aftermath... that's not the problem I'm talking about...

Kokoro: If you die... if you're gone...

Kokoro: Have you thought about what your family will feel like...?

Masara: ......

Masara: ...If I'm gone...

Masara: ...At the beginning, there may be a feeling of lacking, but...

Masara: It will surely be fine.

Masara: I think humans are strong creatures.

Kokoro: --?!

[flashback]

Kokoro's Mother: ...Then... Mom's going to be leaving now, okay?

Kokoro's Mother: ...It's fine... it'll surely be fine. You're a strong girl, Kokoro-chan.

Kokoro's Mother: Even if Mom isn't here, you'll be fine, won't you...?

Kokoro: Mom, I'm...

Kokoro: Not fine at all...

-----

Kokoro: ...Now listen here...

Kokoro: I don't know if you'll be able to imagine this, but...

Masara: ......

Kokoro: ...... If you wished for money, then...

Kokoro: I... I wished for "family."

Masara: Huh...?

Kokoro: I wished for my broken family to be made whole again...

Kokoro: I wished for my mother who left us to come back home...!

Kokoro: ...That was my wish...

Masara: ......

(The burden of fighting witches... the compensation of contracting as a magical girl to do that was worth the wish

based on how much I loved my family.)

(But... Mom didn't seem to think as I did.)

Kokoro's Mother: ...Then... Mom's going to be leaving now, okay?

("I'll be leaving for a little bit." ...she said, leaving my father and I behind.)

Kokoro's Mother: Ah! Look, Kokoro-chan!

Kokoro's Mother: What a pretty flower! What do you think it's called?

Kokoro's Father: That's an azalea, isn't it?

Kokoro's Mother: What? Oh, father, come now!

Kokoro's Mother: You're just saying whatever flower names come to your mind.

Kokoro's Father: Huhhh? Am I wrong?

Kokoro's Father: This is an azalea, isn't it? Right, Kokoro?

(When I was little, our family would go hiking in the mountains.)

(Together with my Mom and Dad, having silly conversations, laughing at nothing... Mom's homemade lunches that we ate

when we got to the summit were incredibly delicious.)

(That's the most fun memory I have of my family.)

(But, after that, our family stopped going hiking.)

-----

Kokoro's Father: What...? The dishes haven't been washed at all...

Kokoro: ...Ah, sorry!

Kokoro: I figured I'd do it after I finished my homework...!

Kokoro's Father: That's too late!

Kokoro's Father: Tomorrow's lunches still have to be prepared!

Kokoro: Ah...! Sorry...! Then I'll do it now...

Kokoro's Father: Forget it!

Kokoro's Father: You just be quiet and focus on your schoolwork!

Kokoro: ...... ...I'm sorry...

Kokoro: If I'd been a boy, maybe I could have talked to him a little better.

Kokoro: After Mom left, Dad had so much he had to think about, like the chores and things with me, that he would

get upset a lot.

Kokoro: (...It can't be helped, can it...)

Kokoro: (...Dad's trying his hardest...)

Kokoro: (Being suddenly left behind with just his daughter...)

Kokoro: (He probably has no idea what he's supposed to do now...)

Kokoro: (And Mom... she has her own life to live...)

Kokoro: (...There's... nobody to be blamed here...)

(Why... does Dad take it out on me?)

Kokoro: Really... I'm not doing anything wrong.

Kokoro: This is all because Mom left...

Kokoro: It's all Mom's fault why Dad and I aren't getting along.

Kokoro: Why? Why did she just selfishly leave?

Kokoro: (...It can't be helped... it just can't be helped...)

Kokoro: --?! ...Dad.

Kokoro: Ah... I finished the ironing...

Kokoro's Father: Ahhh... thanks... I'm sorry about earlier, okay?

Kokoro's Father: Your Dad's... just kinda up to his ears in everything...

Kokoro: Dad...

(Maybe it was because I had those memories of the three of us hiking up the mountain, but I made a hobby of hiking.)

(But after Mom left, whenever I went hiking, I did it alone.)

Kokoro: ...It's hot... ...I'm thirsty...

Kokoro: But... I've got to try my hardest to reach the peak...

Kokoro: ...It's fine... it's fine... I'm still fine...

Kokoro: I'm not gonna complain about anything...

Kokoro: ......

Kokoro: ...No problem, okay? Don't worry about it! It's understandable.

Kokoro: It's hard for you having to deal with work and the house stuff both, Dad.

Kokoro's Father: Kokoro...

Kokoro: I'm completely fine... totally!

-----

Kokoro: ...I wished for my broken family to be made whole again...

Kokoro: I wished for my mother who left us to come back home...!

Kokoro: ...That was my wish...

Masara: ...... ...And?

Kokoro: --?!

Kokoro: It might not be much to you, but...!

Kokoro: To many people...

Kokoro: ...becoming a magical girl is a huge decision!

Masara: ......

Kokoro: ...Of course it was to me, too, but... I still became a magical girl...

Kokoro: To me, family is...

Kokoro: ...something I would go that far to protect...

Kokoro: ...But still... but still...

Kokoro: Don't let it break apart so easily!

Masara: ......

Kokoro: Put yourself in the shoes of the people being left behind...

Masara: ...... ...That's...

Masara: Talking about "your family" though.

Kokoro: Huh...?

Masara: As the one who broke "my family"...

Masara: The only ones who have the right to criticize me for it are my family.

Masara: Whether your family is broken or not...

Masara: That's your own problem... it's not my problem.

Kokoro: --?!

Kokoro: ...I see... ...of course...

Kokoro: I don't have the right to criticize you, do I...

Kokoro: I'm sorry... I...

Masara: ......

Kokoro: I just keep thinking of my family... and I selfishly got mad...

Kokoro: Even though this is my problem... that's right, I...

Kokoro: ...even though I had to protect them...!

Masara: ...You're blaming yourself? Why?

Kokoro: --?!

Masara: You protected your family by becoming a magical girl.

Masara: So why do you still blame yourself?

Kokoro: ...That's wrong... that's wrong...! Because, I...

Kokoro: ...I couldn't protect them...!

Kokoro: My wish brought my family back together. I've got... to protect them...

-----Chapter 3: At My Own Pace-----

Kokoro's Mother: I'm sorry, Kokoro-chan...!

Kokoro's Mother: I want the three of us to start over... your mother was being selfish for her own convenience...

Kokoro's Mother: ...Will you forgive me?

Kokoro: Mom...

Kokoro: ...Yes, yes...! I forgive you...! I'll forgive you, so...!

("I want my mom to come back," is what I wished for, and that's exactly what happened. Mom came home.)

(But my family's "happy ending" that I thought I had written didn't quite happen that way.)

(Because I'm an idiot, I thought just wishing for Mom to come back would make everything go back to the way it used to be.)

[flashback]

Kokoro's Mother: Okay, Kokoro-chan, you wanted the tamagoyaki, right?

Kokoro's Father: Oh, the last one!

Kokoro's Father: Isn't that nice, Kokoro! Dad wanted to have that, too.

Kokoro's Mother: Hee hee, oh Dear, you're acting like a kid.

Kokoro's Father: Haha, I was just kidding.

[/flashback]

(I thought that everything would go back to the way it was... like that day that we all went hiking and laughed with each other.)

Kokoro's Father: Huh... where's dinner? In the fridge?

Kokoro's Mother: Er... I just made dinner for Kokoro and me today...

Kokoro's Father: What? I told you this morning that I was going to come have dinner, didn't I?

Kokoro's Mother: I'm sorry, but...

Kokoro's Mother: ...Recently you've been doing nothing but eating out...

Kokoro's Father: ...Are you trying to say that I'm out messing around?

Kokoro's Mother: Nobody's saying that...!

Kokoro: ......

---

Kokoro's Mother: Look, Kokoro-chan! What a pretty view...!

Kokoro's Father: Kokoro! Shall I give you a piggyback ride?

(If I knew that this was going to disappear one day, I wish I had never known it in the first place.)

(But since I knew what a happy family was like, I'll desire it always... for my entire life...)

---

Kokoro: ...it's hot... it hurts...

Kokoro's Mother: Look, Kokoro-chan! What a pretty flower!

(Even though that day was so much fun... why is hiking alone so painful?)

Kokoro: Ugh... pant... pant... I've got to climb... to the top...

(But... I've got to climb. I've got to scale it. I've got to hold on to my family.)

(Because that's what I wished for.)

Kokoro's Father: I don't like being out so late either, you know...!

Kokoro's Father: I'm working for the sake of my family...

Kokoro's Mother: I know that...!

Kokoro: Dad!

Kokoro's Father: Er... ah, Kokoro...

Kokoro: I'll make you something. Okay?

Kokoro's Father: Ah, okay, you will...? Thank you...

Kokoro's Mother: I'm sorry for this, Kokoro-chan...

Kokoro: It's fine! Leave it to me, okay?

---

Kokoro: ...pant... pant... I'll definitely... scale this peak...!

(However difficult it is, however painful it is, once I've decided to climb it, I can't give it until I've reached the summit.)

-----

Kokoro: In the end, I... couldn't protect anything...!

Masara: ......

Kokoro: Uu... uuu... *sniffle*...

Masara: ...Since your family ended up broken again...

Masara: Why do you blame yourself?

Kokoro: ...Because... it was my wish that brought them back together, right?

Kokoro: ...It was the family I wished for... me...

Masara: You didn't do anything wrong.

Kokoro: Huh...?

Masara: You paid a large price to try and protect your family.

Masara: And... in accordance with your wish, your family was put back together.

Masara: The result of your choice, to put your family back together, was a "success"...

Masara: ...but that's as far as it goes.

Kokoro: ......

Masara: Afterwards, whatever path your family goes down...

Masara: ...it isn't something you should feel responsible for.

Kokoro: ...... ...I...

Girl: You didn't do anything wrong, Kokoro. Isn't it your parents' problem?

Woman: Kokoro-chan, you absolutely didn't do anything wrong, okay?

Kokoro's Father: Don't worry about it. It's not your fault, Kokoro.

("It's not your fault, Kokoro." My friends... my relatives... they said that to me so many times. But...)

Masara: If I die, I die, that's... all.

Masara: The result of your choice, to put your family back together, was a "success"...

Masara: ...but that's as far as it goes.

(Specifically because they were words from this girl who didn't show any sort of pity, at that moment, I was able to

accept those words honestly for the first time.)

Masara: It hurts... and there's nothing that can be done about it...

Masara: Even so, in order to protect this social unit called family...

Masara: You kill your feelings and conduct yourself with a smile...

Masara: Having had your parents live like that...

Masara: Is that your ideal?

Kokoro: No...! Not at all...!!

Kokoro: Dad, and Mom, too...

Kokoro: I don't want them to have such painful memories...

Masara: ...So then why...

Masara: ...do you think it's okay if you're the one holding back?

Kokoro: --?!

Masara: If your ideal family isn't one that's founded on someone's pain, then...

Masara: You can't put that strain on yourself.

Kokoro: ......

Masara: You should live for your own sake.

Masara: There's no reason you should shoulder the duty of living for someone else's sake.

Kokoro: ...... .......Okay...

Masara: I'm heading this way, so.

Kokoro --?! Um, wait!

Masara: ...What?

Kokoro: Well, I...

Kokoro: Can I... continue to be with you?

Masara: Huh...?

Kokoro's Mother: Look, Kokoro-chan! What a pretty view...!

(Thinking that the flowers that bloomed on the side of the road were cute, and finding the view from from the summit beautiful...

I don't think there needs to be a reason why.)

(Even without a well-defined reason that I could explain in words, I knew that I was certainly attracted to this girl who explained

to me this mysterious theory I hadn't heard until now.)

Masara: Having just been with me...

Masara: I don't think there's any merit in it for you...

Kokoro: I want to be with you...! ...that's all.

Masara: ...I see... ...do what you want...

Kokoro: --?! Okay...!

-----

Kokoro's Father: ...What...?

Kokoro's Father: Yesterday's dishes are still there...?

Kokoro: Dad.

Kokoro's Father: We won't be able to prepare tonight's dinner like this...

Kokoro: ......

Kokoro: ...It's hot... ...I'm thirsty... pant... pant...

Kokoro's Father: ...Seriously, why does this happen...

Kokoro: Isn't it fine if you do the dishes, Dad?

Kokoro's Father: Huh...? Kokoro...?

Kokoro: Mom's at the neighborhood association meeting, right?

Kokoro's Father: Hm? Y-yeah...

Kokoro: It's not like Mom's just playing around, either...

Kokoro: The chores are for everyone in the family to do.

Kokoro: I don't think it's right to push them all on to Mom to do.

Kokoro's Father: Kokoro...

Kokoro's Father: ...Well yeah, of course...

Kokoro's Father: Okay, I'll do them today...

Kokoro: I'll help you out, okay?

Kokoro: Let's wash the dishes, make dinner, and wait for Mom!

Kokoro's Father: ...That sounds good... yeah, let's do that.

Kokoro: Yes, let's!

Kokoro: ...Haa, I'm tired! Time for a little break!

Kokoro: There's still quite a distance to the summit...

Kokoro: Little by little... while taking breaks...

Kokoro: ...There's no need to overdo it and try my hardest...

(I haven't given up the struggle to reach the summit where we all ate our lunches, but...)

(The heat, the thirst, and the pain in my legs... I've stopped trying to hold them back and scale

the mountain in that painful way.)

(The painful times are painful, and the tiring times are tiring, but I'll hike this long path at

a leisurely pace without pretending that I don't feel the pain.)

Kokoro: Welcome back, Mom!

Kokoro: Guess what? Dad and I made dinner together.

Kokoro's Mother: Huh? Really?

Kokoro's Mother: I would have done it though...! Sorry to you and your father, okay?

Kokoro's Father: Ahh... don't worry...

Kokoro's Father: I need to be doing the cooking every once in a while, too...

Kokoro: Right?! Let's hurry up and eat before it gets cold!

-----

[witch barrier disappears]

Kokoro: All right! Extermination complete!

Kokoro: Masara! Good work!

Masara: Good work.

Kokoro: It feels pretty one-sided, but...

Kokoro: Can I... continue to be with you?

(Just like I asked on that day, from then on I've continued to be with Kagami Masara.)

Kokoro: Ah! Hey, hey!

Masara: ...?

Kokoro: I heard there's a super-stylish cafe near here!

Kokoro: You wanna go take a look?

Masara: ...I'm... not hungry or thirsty at all, so...

Kokoro: Huh...?! No... for a cafe...

Kokoro: You don't need to be hungry or thirsty...

Kokoro: I just thought it'd be a nice time to go take a look...

Masara: Going to a shop in that situation... what would we do there?

Kokoro: Well~... chat, of course! Like that girls' talk stuff?

Masara: ...If you want to talk... why not just do it here?

Kokoro: Er... here? Girls' talk out on the street...?!

(Well... this is just how she always is.)

(Even still, I can't help but be interested in this girl who's cool enough not to need anyone else.)

(That and one other thing that I may be selfish for, but... you could say that I'm also with her because I worry

about the way she fights so recklessly.)

Kokoro: Okay then... the next time we go witch hunting...

Kokoro: And then when you're hungry or thirsty, we'll go then!

Masara: ...If that's the case... ...then I don't mind.

(I can't say something so big that I want her to change because of me being with her, but...)

(I just... hope she realizes someday...)

Kokoro: Then I'll see you tomorrow.

Masara: Yes... see you tomorrow...

(...That in that "tomorrow" that you don't think is important, there is a person there who finds you important.)