"You are all evil... I must eliminate you...!"
The magical girl's hysterical scream tore through the air. The pink energy at the tip of her magic staff swirled and expanded like a whirlpool, condensing into a rotating halo in the air, its surface crawling with flickering spell runes.
Her lace skirt danced wildly without wind, her hair tangled and flew in the violent magical turbulence. She was like a broken doll, abandoning all principles of justice... preparing to pour destructive magical power onto everything around her.
The onlooking crowd still cheered wildly for what they saw as a righteous hero, completely unaware that catastrophe was brewing...
"Stop this instant!"
A voice synthesized from electronic sounds erupted from a bouncing camera. Using its tripod, it hopped with a "pat-pat-pat" to stand before the magical girl who was relievedly and skillfully applying cleansing magic to herself.
"What kind of garbage are you filming?! How could a magical girl harm civilians? This is blasphemy! Blasphemy! Which third-rate director wrote this fourth-rate script? I'll make him and the T-Rex..."
The increasingly shrill synthesized voice was cut off by the magical girl who could no longer stand it—she nimbly removed the battery and stuffed it along with the camera back into the arms of the dumbfounded cameraman nearby.
"So much nonsense! How else could I lure you out without performing this terrible act! Movie Monster!"
Like a dueling declaration, the magical girl revealed the monster's name.
As if to respond to this 'reciprocity'—or simply to recreate classic scenes from movies—the studio lights overhead began flashing violently, flickering on and off.
The huge green screen behind the magical girl instantly became a bizarre stage. The fierce dragon that carried off the princess, the brave knight sworn to slay it... several classic images that had been passed down for decades flashed rapidly across the gray-white backdrop, moving and causing thunderous applause from the watching film creators.
Perhaps the applause worked, or perhaps worried about audience fatigue, when the spotlight suddenly stabilized, the Movie Monster finally made her sparkling debut at the center of the screen!
This time, she had transformed into the elegant image of a fairy tale princess—also her usual daily appearance.
"Magical Girl Azure Star!"
Completely contrary to her image, she passionately accused Azure Star, this magical girl.
"Such terrible taste! Actually performing earnestly for such garbage script! It simply disgusts me! Enough nonsense!"
Azure Star impatiently interrupted it, but her tone carried a strange turn.
"I still have... something to ask of you. Please, pull me into the movie, thank you!"
That crisp "thank you" made the 'princess' tilt her head in surprise. She had thought Azure Star was here to pick another fight. To avoid the possible one-sided physical exchange that might occur in a few seconds, she unhesitatingly activated her ability, instantly drawing Azure Star into the movie space.
Then she closed the lens, cutting off the curious gazes from outside—after all, getting beaten up in someone else's body was also quite embarrassing...
The princess looked at the magical girl in front of her who was crouching on the ground, pulling hard at a giant mushroom, and sighed helplessly. She gracefully sat on the mushroom cap, indicating it was a stool.
Incidentally, she asked with full confidence:
"I've been well-behaved lately, what do you want with me?"
As long as she hadn't done anything bad, she was fearless.
"This... I... am moving."
Azure Star looked up, and for the first time, those beautiful golden pupils clearly reflected concern for the enemy before her.
"And I'll be staying at a friend's house for a while."
"Huh?"
The princess was stunned for a moment, then became even more righteous:
"Wouldn't it be great news for me if you left?"
The magical girl shook her head, her azure hair tied in twin tails drawing arcs in the air.
"Precisely because I'm leaving, so next... a magical girl senior will come to replace my position."
This time, the Movie Monster caught undisguised sympathy from the depths of those golden pupils. This strange feeling made her think of villains' dying words in movies—usually clues for new villains in sequels.
But at the end of the day, aren't all magical girls the same?
"So what?"
She pouted.
"If I don't do bad things, won't everything be fine?"
Azure Star reached out, her fingertips extremely gently brushing through the princess's lustrous long hair, then looked at her deeply.
"I hope when we meet next time, you can still say those words so easily."
The deathbed gift-like prophecy left the Movie Monster completely confused. However, she would soon understand its deeper meaning...
Azure Star's figure disappeared from before the screen. After nodding to the crowd who had voluntarily helped lure out the monster, the magical light scattered. Immediately after, she reappeared in her untransformed state—middle school student Hoshino Amane.
Thanks to magical protection, no one could connect this slightly immature girl with the radiant warrior from just moments ago.
Even though they looked exactly the same.
She opened the memo she carried with her, her fingertip sliding across the name at the bottom of the list—Movie Monster.
The last one... finally... she could pack with peace of mind and go find Amber.
According to the rules, magical girls' identities should be kept secret from each other... but that fool Amber...
She had directly revealed everything to other magical girls at the time! The result was... not just me, probably Luna and the others also exchanged real identities with her, right?
Hoshino Amane wiped away the thin sweat on her forehead. While looking for drinks in the convenience store freezer's cold air, her gaze was attracted by Amber's favorite ice cream brand. Though that girl seemed to welcome any ice cream.
However, in midsummer... having one wouldn't hurt.
The cool, sweet flavor melted on her tongue, evoking distant memories. She seemed to see Amber-chan from childhood again, like an excited big dog, dragging her to run through streets and alleys.
Hoshino Amane licked the refreshing ice cream, her thoughts drifting far away, with a hint of helplessness in her soft whisper:
"I hope you haven't caused too much trouble for Luna..."
And the girl she was silently worried about was currently tightly holding her new friend Tsuan's hand, energetically pulling her toward her own home.
Tsuan, who had spent most of the time from last night to this morning sobbing, was finally somewhat comforted by the ice cream her companion had handed her.
After all, no matter how she evaluated Megumi internally, at least... when being gently held in Megumi's arms, when she only needed to tilt her head slightly to bury herself in Megumi's smooth hair and nuzzle affectionately...
That sense of security and dependence was real.
Real enough to make her temporarily compromise and allow... returning to yesterday's intimate way of addressing each other.
"Why did Tsuan-chan take leave today? Are you feeling unwell?" Megumi's voice carried concern.
Tsuan looked at the street scenery that had become familiar yesterday, feeling the reassuring warmth and strength from Amber's palm, and listlessly made up an excuse.
"I overslept."
Having not slept all night, in a way it could be considered oversleeping.
She wasn't slow-witted. Megumi's matter-of-fact attitude had already made her guess how her disappearance and reappearance was explained in Megumi and Reiko's eyes—she had 'taken leave.'
This could be considered... saving the trouble of explaining why she disappeared and reappeared. After all, she had personally heard these two discussing that...
'Magical girl who pranked people and made them cry'
"Good thing Tsuan-chan took leave and didn't come today~ Otherwise you would have definitely been scared by that bad guy too!"
Megumi patted Tsuan's head with lingering fear, completely unaware that the person in front of her was...
Tsuan forced out a smile and nodded in agreement.
Absolutely must not expose her identity.
Otherwise... probably...
She'd be treated as an enemy, right?
But! But but but! Didn't Ruby see me that day? What if it tells...?!
Tsuan had wanted to secretly glance at Megumi's profile, but her gaze unexpectedly collided with Ruby, who was poking its head out of Megumi's bag and silently observing her.
Although she immediately put on a 'saw nothing' bewildered expression on her face, the tension in her heart still made her stumble, nearly knocking Megumi to the ground.
'How strange…'
Ruby clung to the edge of the bag, turning to look at the thoughtful Yoko.
'Her magic power recovery speed is ridiculously fast... two or three times faster than Megumi and Amber, right?'
Yoko didn't answer, just silently retreated deeper into the bag. Its keen nose once again caught that faint tomato fragrance, exactly the same as at school.
Just like this, Tsuan, caught between two magical girls without knowing it, walked with her head slightly lowered, her gaze drifting to fall on the constantly retreating gaps between floor tiles beneath her feet, as if concentrating on counting squares as she walked.
The continuous warmth and vitality from Amber's palm flowed like a warm current, temporarily dispelling her fear of identity exposure.
However, that heavy secret still pressed on her chest like an invisible boulder, making it hard to breathe.
If... I'd be treated as an enemy...
I'd rather never... be seen by you.
Tsuan looked at Amber taking out keys to open the door ahead, then unconsciously, with a hint of dependence, gently tugged at Megumi's hand, who was showing her a brilliant smile.
"Dad, Mom~ I'm home~" Amber called out cheerfully.
Tsuan imitated Megumi, politely bowing to Amber's parents and saying she was intruding... putting on slippers and carefully stepping onto the clean floor, following Amber into her room.
Then...
She fell into brief silence, watching Amber and Megumi cheer and almost simultaneously pounce onto the soft big bed, rolling together without any image.
"Tsuan-chan come too~ My bed is super—big!"
Amber poked her head out from the blankets, her smile pure and innocent like soft candy.
Looking at that smile without any shadow, Tsuan couldn't help but curve her lips into a small arc, but still waved her hand in refusal, quietly sitting on a chair nearby, watching these two girls who seemed... exhausted from her morning heroics, contentedly rolling with the blankets.
"Ahh... this morning's incident was really exhausting..."
Megumi buried her face in the pillow and complained in a muffled voice.
"Cleaning up all those glass shards and sticky tomato sauce was simply deadly..."
I'm so sorry.
Tsuan sincerely apologized in her heart.
Just then, because she was distracted, her wrist was nimbly grabbed by Megumi. When she came to her senses, she had already been pressed down on the bed by an irresistible force.
Did I get exposed?!
Alarms rang in Tsuan's mind! She instinctively swallowed and looked up resignedly at Megumi's towering... eyes that carried a hint of mischievous smile, then tightly closed her eyes.
The expected questioning or attack didn't come. The next second, she only felt her body sink into an embrace full of soft fragrance.
Before she could open her eyes, Megumi had already tightened her arms around her waist and started rolling on the bed with her. The warm sensation from her waist and the dizzying feeling of being spun reminded her of her current situation.
But the little selfish thought deep in her heart that craved the soft sensation of Megumi's embrace took over. Tsuan gave up struggling, and in Megumi's clear, bell-like joyful laughter, dizzily spun several times before they both tumbled into the fluffy mattress together.
"Ha... ah..."
On the other side, Amber hugged her pillow, drowsiness rising. She was already starting to doze off in a daze, completely not noticing the two people here. She even... seemed to have forgotten Tsuan was still in the room.
"Megumi-chan~"
Amber's sweet... voice heavy with sleepiness rang out without warning right by Tsuan's ear, making the girl's jade-white earlobes instantly blush with a faint pink.
"So troublesome... super troublesome..."
Amber mumbled with her eyes closed.
"That magical girl this morning... is really a big bad guy..."
Megumi's pupils suddenly contracted! She looked at the bewildered Tsuan in her arms, trying to change the subject:
"Amber! You..."
But Amber didn't hear at all, continuing to complain on her own:
"I'd rather fight ten monsters! Than clean up so much glass... I'm exhausted!"
Perhaps because repairing shattered glass required far more magical power than other items, or perhaps simply because Amber was confused from sleepiness, she completely didn't care about the need to keep magical girl identities secret.
In any case, she had clearly and unmistakably exposed her secret. And moreover, she said it to her companion Megumi, who was also a magical girl, and Tsuan, who knew but was trying to pretend she didn't!
This almost open-book hint made Megumi's smile freeze instantly, and also made Ruby look in shock at the still-invisible Yoko—it just watched Amber blow her own cover like that?!
"...Ahaha, that..."
Megumi's forehead broke out in cold sweat as she awkwardly scratched her head and smiled at Tsuan:
"Tsuan-chan... can you pretend you didn't hear what Amber just said?"
The black-haired girl obediently nodded.
Snap!
At that instant, Yoko dispelled its invisibility technique.
It lightly bounded a few times onto Tsuan's lap, its fluffy fox tail carrying a hint of probing and undeniable meaning as it gently swept across Tsuan's delicate chin.
Megumi immediately held her breath—she could clearly sense that Yoko had dispelled its invisibility! But Tsuan knew nothing about this; she had no familiar, so naturally lacked this perception.
Thus, she crashed headfirst into Yoko's carefully designed trap.
Yoko's tail continued with a certain coercive meaning, constantly sweeping across Tsuan's sensitive, delicate collarbone area.
Tsuan felt somewhat uncomfortable from this sudden... invisible harassment, instinctively raising her hand to touch her neck.
Megumi's expression instantly changed from embarrassment to extreme shock!
Tsuan, seeing the dramatic change in Megumi's expression, belatedly realized—all her efforts to pretend she couldn't see Yoko had completely collapsed at this moment! She was exposed!
Yoko jumped into its master's arms, forcefully pushing her awake, then turned to Tsuan, its voice carrying unprecedented seriousness and scrutiny:
"So, Nakana Tsuan-san,"
It asked word by word.
"Who exactly are you?"
The air seemed to freeze instantly! Both Megumi and Amber clearly knew that only two types of beings could see through Yoko's invisibility magic: magical girls, or... monsters!
There was no third possibility!
If Tsuan's abnormally fast magic power recovery had only aroused Yoko's vigilance before, then her deliberate act of pretending not to see Yoko now was irrefutable evidence!
"I..."
Tsuan opened her mouth, her voice somewhat trembling.
I'm also a magical girl...
How much she wanted to frankly tell these two magical girls this secret she had hidden for who knows how long. She had fantasized about this moment countless times:
Perhaps meeting after fighting side by side in fierce battle, perhaps encountering by chance at some coincidental location... but definitely not, absolutely not like this...
"You're the magical girl we encountered today, aren't you?"
Yoko's voice was decisive, carrying thick hostility.
"That bad guy who likes pranks and made many people cry?"
Megumi widened her eyes, looking at Tsuan in disbelief:
"Yoko, what are you saying? How could Tsuan-chan..."
"Like pranks so much?"
Yoko ignored Megumi's questioning and continued pressing Tsuan:
"You scared so many innocent people and caused such big trouble... owu?!"
Before she could finish, Amber suddenly pushed away the chattering Yoko! Her sleepy body burst with unexpected strength, directly approaching Tsuan whose eyes had already turned red with tears swirling in them.
Then, under Megumi and Yoko's astonished gaze...
Then, she opened her mouth and bit down on what seemed to her like a tomato fruit filled with magical power, lightly biting to tear open the skin and exploring the flesh to suck the sweet and sour magical juice overflowing with power.
At least now, Amber could put Amane at ease.
After all, she really hadn't caused any trouble.