After talking to Ophelia and registering as a magical girl, I went back home to get some sleep and prepare for the school day. Of course, sleeping in the cold is what happened since I still don't have any money just because I registered as a magical girl.
This reminds me that there was an area to set up a bank account, which I ended up not doing, and I'll need to report that later, so I need to go to a bank to open an account for myself during my free time.
I also unfortunately need to ask a favor from Hexael, I need to ask him to somehow make me "invisible" to ordinary civilians just like the magical girls, and I can already feel how expensive that will be.
But it's okay, I think I made good progress overall, so it wasn't all bad. Now that I'm registered as a magical girl, I can receive payments and improve my situation.
After waking up and eating canned food, I went to school. Hexael didn't show up during this time, which isn't too surprising, just a bit strange since I never know when he'll appear or disappear.
Since Hexael didn't show up, the walk to school was relatively peaceful and calm, and I arrived in the classroom without many problems, seeing Ayane who had come to class very early.
"Oh, Setsuna! We have a lot to talk about!" Ayane says, noticing me and coming up to me excitedly with a big smile.
"We can't talk about that here, I know, but during the lunch break, we can talk about 'magical girls', it'll be fun!" Ayane whispers the part about magical girls, barely containing her excitement.
'If she already knows, it means that angel must have met with Ayane at some point, probably in the morning before Ayane came to school,' I think momentarily before nodding to Ayane.
"The class will start soon, I believe we don't have much time, and I need to do something, so we could talk later, is that okay?" I speak politely to her, and she nods and goes to her seat with an almost contagious excitement.
Following her lead, I go to my spot, put my materials on the desk correctly, and get everything ready for the class to start. Of course, one thing immediately catches my attention.
I see the girl with a bandage on her head and go to her, stopping in front of her desk as her friends stop talking.
"H-Hello... do you need something?" The girl speaks nervously, avoiding eye contact.
"Yes, could you come with me outside the classroom for a moment?" I try to speak without sounding too cold. She probably thinks I'm going to hurt her, but I'm just going to apologize.
First, as a way to follow the moral compass I've thought of, and second, to perhaps thus irritate Hexael, who is trying to make me become evil against what I desire.
"S-Sure," the girl looks at her friends as if asking for help, but they end up not noticing as I lead her out of the classroom, noting that there aren't many students yet, as most have already entered the classroom.
We move a little away from the classroom as she follows me nervously until we stop, not too far, so that we don't get too late for class.
"W-W-What do you want with me?" She gathers the courage to ask.
"... Hinata Nanami," I say her name. She's an 18-year-old girl with blonde hair, brown eyes, and large breasts, wearing a school uniform in black and light brown, which suits her well.
"H-How do you know my name?" She asks, more frightened that I know her name.
"We're in the same class, that's not something difficult to find out, but that doesn't matter. I have something to tell you," I prepare to apologize as honestly as possible, even though I don't feel anything for her.
"I'm sorry... I apologize for threatening you and for throwing a bucket and hurting you. I don't have much sense of limits and realized I went too far," I bow a little to her.
"I won't tell anyone about how you make money selling your body, and although it was a threat, I really recommend you stop before you get pregnant."
"I don't want enmity; I'm just a little different and have difficulty setting clear boundaries. Throwing a bucket at you was a mistake."
"I see you were seriously injured, and I should have realized this was something serious. Unfortunately, I don't have money to buy a reconciliation gift, but I hope we can forget this and become friends," my tone is almost mechanical.
But I can't help it, this is the most honest I can be, and there's no way I can change that.
"Y-You... are you apologizing?" She asks in disbelief, probably not expecting this.
"Yes, I'm really sorry," I repeat to her, so she can see that it's serious and not a joke or something like that.
Although I still have to do evil things at school, there are many targets for that, and I prefer to do it with people from a different class instead of someone from my own.
"...W-Won't you tell my secret to anyone?"
"No, I understand if you don't want to get close to me. I'm just apologizing for being too cruel to you without any reason for it," I tell her, confirming this fact.
As long as she doesn't mess with me, I don't see any reason to reveal that she's practically a prostitute at school.
"...I...I...I can accept your apologies..." She speaks in a somewhat strange way, probably not knowing how to judge the situation.
"You s-should go see the counselor and tell them about this, you know she's there precisely for this problem... if you want, I'll go with you... unless your apologies are just empty words."
"..."
'Will I really have to go see that nymphomaniac?' Trying to fix mistakes seems much harder than making them.
"Okay..." I'll prove to the demon and myself that I'm not just a puppet that will be used. I'll follow through with these apologies to the end.
"We can go together..." I know that things said to the counselor have a policy of confidentiality, so only I, Hinata, the counselor, and the school administration will know about this.
And as someone with previously proven mental health issues, but with genius-level grades, nothing will be done to me other than extra attention that won't make much difference.
"G-Great, after class we can go... if you keep your word, I'll think about friendship," she practically runs back to the classroom, probably still afraid and not trusting me.
'I can practically hear Hexael laughing at me...' This scene would undoubtedly be seen as a joke by Hexael, since in addition to having to apologize, I'll also have to go see the counselor.
I decide not to think too much about it for now and go back to the classroom because the teacher will be arriving soon, so I enter and go to my seat.
Ayane tries to talk to me, but the teacher arrives, and everyone falls silent, paying attention as the teacher starts talking and writing the content on the board.
The hours pass as we copy the content and answer the questions. The teacher asks questions to different students and questions for anyone who wants to answer.
And to maintain the image of a genius that I have, I always answer the questions when I'm absolutely certain of them, trying to always answer the most difficult ones that I already know.
And finally, the first break at 10 a.m. came, and Ayane and I went to a more secluded area to talk alone.
Or rather, Ayane excitedly pulled me to talk to me about magical girls. I don't know why that angel decided to talk to Ayane about me, but I don't think it's a problem.
The two of us end up stopping on a bench under a tree. Ayane doesn't have anything to eat at the moment, and I don't either, so we have time to talk.
"So you're also a magical girl, Setsuna, this is so amazing! Septarion told me this morning that you registered at the magical girl base shortly after I left."
"We almost didn't meet!" Ayane speaks excitedly about the topic. I guess she wanted someone to talk to about this "fun" duty we have.
"Yes... very close indeed..." We would never have met if I hadn't been waiting, and it wasn't really chance that I was there at that moment, but I'm not going to just say that, so I say it was very close.
"Setsuna, since we're both magical girls, we could be a team! We just need one more, and tonight I decided to register as one in the records!"
She speaks excitedly about the idea.
"Yes, it's a great idea. I'd love to be on a team with you. I'm sure if we ask someone, we can make this little arrangement. I'm a support-type magical girl."
"Me too! If we're both support, we just need someone to be the attacker on our team! It'll be amazing to patrol the city at night and defeat monsters," she speaks as if it's a dream.
But for me, who knows the truth, this is just a nightmare waiting to shatter her hopes, but I won't let that happen.
"You're right, it'll be amazing to do this together as friends," I agree with her, emphasizing our friendship with an animated tone as we continue talking.