“So you want me to act as Sophia’s guardian for the three-way conference?”
It was the next day that Rabi came to me with that request.
The place was Cafe Eclipse, the same as ever.
I had been enjoying the refreshing morning air, which still held a coolness despite it being summer, when she suddenly burst in and brought it up.
“Yes! I really want to ask you, Jade!”
“Huh.”
Jewelry Academia’s three-way conference.
I’d already heard from Amber that such an event was happening in a week, but now that the arrow had come flying my way, I couldn’t help but be surprised.
‘I’ve got plenty of time anyway, so I don’t really mind, but…’
Why was Rabi, her friend, the one asking instead of Sophia herself?
And to begin with, why would an outsider like me need to present myself as her guardian? No matter how many reasons I tried to think of, I couldn’t understand it.
“This is kind of awkward to say, but her parents are around, aren’t they?”
I’d heard somewhere that her mother in particular was strict, and that Sophia suffered because of it every time. I emphasized that point as I threw the question back at Rabi, but—
“Oh, that’s a coffee grinder I haven’t seen before. Did you buy a new one?”
“You noticed? I got it as a gift, but this is actually from Brilliant— No. Don’t change the subject.”
The important conversation had nearly veered off into me boasting about the grinder. For someone asking a favor, she sure was scatterbrained.
“I owe you one, so I’d like to help if I can. So explain it properly.”
Previously, Rabi had accepted Brilliant’s cosmetics advertisement and cut off the excessive attention that had been focused on me.
Since I’d practically forced her to do something she had never done before—appear in an advertisement—it was only right that I repay her to this extent.
“The truth is, that girl—”
At my words, she took a sip of her cappuccino, smiled sadly, and began telling me about Sophia.
About the situation Sophia’s parents were in right now, and why they couldn’t come to the three-way conference.
About five minutes must have passed. After learning the whole story, I couldn’t hide the unpleasant feeling in my chest and let out a small sigh.
“Good grief. If it was something like that, you should have told me earlier.”
The magical girl Sapphire, a hero of the world, was living in a family more miserable than I had imagined.
How had she managed not to go astray with a household like that? Suddenly, I found myself respecting her.
“Still, couldn’t she just leave it to a butler or maid? There seem to be plenty of kids actually planning to do that.”
At least servants might make sense, but I had no connection to her at all. I wasn’t even sure I could qualify as Sophia’s guardian in the first place.
“They’ll probably all answer half-heartedly. The servants at Sophia’s house haven’t even been working there for three years.”
“Three years… They’re not exactly people who can hold a proper conference, then.”
“Of course, the length of time doesn’t matter that much, but if an ordinary servant comes, it won’t mean anything, right?”
Saying that, Rabi handed me the notice about the three-way conference that I’d seen at home yesterday.
“Let’s see. A servant may attend if approved by a guardian or legal representative… You want me to do this?”
“Of course!”
Even if she smiled brightly, it didn’t make me particularly happy. If anything, my worries had only grown.
‘It feels like she’s got something up her sleeve.’
From the way she spoke, Rabi wasn’t thoughtlessly forcing me to play guardian. Then the essence of the matter was probably beyond that.
Given the way she’d deliberately left a hint like this, what she wanted from me was obvious.
Under normal circumstances, I would have refused right away. Nothing good would come of getting any closer to a magical girl than necessary.
But for some reason, it bothered me. Was I feeling pointless concern over the misfortune of someone around me?
“……”
No, it felt a little off to define it as concern. This feeling was probably sympathy.
“Despite how she looks, Sophia is similar to me.”
“She is? Well, you’re both cute, I suppose.”
“That’s not what I mean…”
Rabi seemed to already know that I was someone from another world, so there should be no problem bringing it up.
Without any particular need to hide it, I calmly began to speak about my own past.
“…Before I came to this world, I mean. I did go through elementary, middle, and high school, so there were a lot of similar situations.”
Even if they weren’t three-way conferences like this, there were plenty of occasions parents were expected to attend. Elementary school sports days and talent shows, middle and high school festivals and graduations, and so on…
But ever since I was young, both my parents had worked, so they couldn’t exactly spare the time to come.
Of course, they said they would take time off work for my graduation ceremonies at least, but I was the one who declined. I didn’t want to inconvenience them during such a busy period.
But when I actually saw my friends holding bouquets and going home with their parents, I ended up feeling a slight sense of doubt.
Had I really been fine with this? Had I put on a needless show of bravado and missed something important?
“Well, I think I was lonely after all. Looking back on it now, it was just immature.”
Like Sophia now, I had desperately deceived my own feelings and acted tough. That was why I could understand how she felt, if only a little.
Rabi quietly listened to my long-winded past, then continued with a wistful expression.
“…Someone who treats Sophia sincerely, and at the same time, someone that girl can rely on completely. An adult like that is still only you, Jade.”
“That’s an overestimation, no matter how you look at it.”
Even so, if there was something I could do, I wanted to help. As someone older who had gone through the same experience.
“Leave it to me. Though in the end, it’ll probably be a bother to Sophia— Wait, don’t hug me!”
“Hehe. I don’t want to!”
The moment I accepted the request, she lunged at me and rubbed her face against me.
She really was impossible to get a read on. From her way of thinking to her behavior, all of it.
“There goes business for today. To think it’ll end with a single cappuccino.”
“…I knew you would say that, Jade.”
***
The day of Jewelry Academia’s three-way conference.
Sophia blankly watched her classmates talking with their parents as she waited for her turn.
Among them, the one who stood out the most was Brilliant Aster Diamond, accompanied by the chairman of Brilliant—
“Father! This is my friend Amber! Hurry and say hello!”
“I-I’m Amber, Dia-chan’s friend! Pleased to meet you!”
“Haha, my daughter is always troubling you, isn’t she?”
She was introducing her friends to her father one by one, tossing an outrageous bomb at each of them.
If the other party was the great man who had built up the Brilliant family, anyone would probably end up stammering.
Having barely escaped, Amber returned to the two of them with a small sigh of relief, as if all the tension had finally drained out of her.
“Wow, I’m jealous of everyone. Some kids even came with both their father and mother.”
“I’m jealous too.”
“…I know.”
Sophia smiled awkwardly and agreed with Rabi and Amber’s words.
The three gathered here were about the only ones in the class whose families hadn’t arrived.
In particular, the fact that Amber, who was always surrounded by people, was in the same position gave Sophia a certain sense of kinship and helped ease her loneliness, but—
“Huh, Sister?!”
But that lasted only a moment. Suddenly, Amber shouted those words and began running toward the end of the hallway.
There, a young woman was walking toward them with a dignified gait.
“What about work? Why did you come here? Aren’t you busy?”
“I left it to Chris. Your subordinate kept pestering me so persistently that I decided to come once.”
“Hee, Senior did…”
To anyone watching, it would have looked like a reunion between sisters that warmed the heart, but for Sophia, all that remained was the disappointment of having lost a comrade.
Amber seemed to realize that as well and lowered her head apologetically, but the two waved their hands as if to say it was all right.
‘You’re loved, Miss Amber.’
But it was fine. Rabi was by Sophia’s side.
As long as this girl stayed with her, she truly felt that she didn’t need anything like family.
Time passed like that, until eventually it was around noon.
“Next, Sophia.”
At last, the homeroom teacher called her name, but for some reason, she couldn’t easily lift herself from her seat. It was as if her body refused to head into the classroom.
“Sophia. Come in quickly.”
However, at the teacher’s languid, indifferent urging, Sophia had no choice but to take a step forward.
Rattle—
She entered the classroom and sat in the seat facing the teacher, but the chair prepared for her guardian was empty.
“Um, my guardian…”
She had already decided what she would say next. Her parents were busy with work, so they couldn’t come to the school.
Like this, the two of them would simply have a lonely, meaningless conversation. Nothing more, nothing less.
But her lonely excuse was buried beneath the commotion coming from outside—
“That guy, he was definitely at Eclipse…”
“But doesn’t he seem kind of different from when he’s at the cafe? Like, he looks cooler than usual.”
In that instant, the hallway stirred, and Sophia heard a somehow familiar word.
Cafe Eclipse. Why was that word coming up now? It should have had nothing to do with this hallway in the middle of the three-way conferences.
“Jade! What brings you here?”
Before Sophia’s question could be resolved, Diamond’s words delivered the decisive blow.
“Well, I was asked to be someone’s proxy.”
Step— step—
His footsteps gradually drew closer, and then the classroom door opened. A man dressed handsomely in a fine suit appeared and bowed his head to the homeroom teacher.
“…My name is Jade, and I will be acting as Miss Sophia’s guardian proxy. I look forward to speaking with you.”