Magical Girls Exposed! Chapter 18

Xiao Chun lowered her head and apologized to Fang Ming.

She knew that it had already been quite difficult for Xiao Qiu and the others to persuade their families to let her come to Rock City with them.

If her family found out about this, this "trip" would definitely end here, and she would be taken home.

Not only that, Fang Ming, who was responsible for looking after Xiao Chun, would also be held accountable. This had indeed caused him a great deal of trouble.

Xiao Chun had already prepared herself to be scolded by Fang Ming.

"Yes, I really was worried, and I really am angry. I thought you were the only one of the three who was at least somewhat less troublesome, but who would've thought..." Fang Ming sighed, making Xiao Chun lower her head even further.

She had the urge to pull the blanket over her head, but she knew that would be rude. So she could only force herself to listen as Fang Ming continued, while saying:

"I'm sorry..."

Perhaps seeing that Xiao Chun had a good attitude, Fang Ming did not say anything further. He sighed and said:

"Forget it. Get some proper rest. I've already called your family. They'll probably come pick you up this evening."

"Huh?! Pick me up and take me home?!" Xiao Chun's eyes widened as she immediately looked up at Fang Ming. "Brother Fang Ming, I..."

"What about you? You don't want to go home? That isn't up to you. Do you think your family will still feel comfortable letting you stay here after something this serious happened?"

Fang Ming's tone grew harsher as he said to Xiao Chun, "Since you came here, your safety is my responsibility. Now that something happened to you, this is my fault!

"I failed in my duty as your guardian and nearly let your life be put in danger. Do you think your family will still feel at ease letting you stay here?"

After speaking, Fang Ming turned to look at Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia, who were huddled up like ostriches nearby, and said:

"And you two! It's not like I'm completely unreasonable. If you wanted to go to a gift shop to buy something, I could've gone with you. But what did you mean by running off without even saying anything?"

"S-Sorry..." X2

Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia lowered their heads even more and apologized to Fang Ming guiltily.

Fang Ming rubbed his forehead wearily and did not scold the three girls any further. "Anyway, stay here and reflect on what you did properly! I... I have to go get scolded too..."

With a long sigh, Fang Ming left the hospital room.]

(Cousin really had it rough.)

(He was already an adult and still had to get scolded. So pitiful, www.)

(After all, he failed to look after the kids who came to visit his home.)

(Although we all know it wasn't Cousin's fault, still... anyway, Cousin really had it rough!)

(The price of living with beautiful girls!)

(Jealous bro is so annoying, www.)

No, it really had not been that hard.

With the comments putting it that way, Fang Ming felt a little embarrassed.

Back then, he had not seriously looked for Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia either. If they had to be compared, he was not much different from the three magical girls.

The only difference was probably that, as an elder, he could stand in the position of an elder and scold the three children.

[Fang Ming left the hospital room, and only then did the three little girls recover their spirits. They gathered together and chattered away as they discussed things.

Xiao Chun said worriedly:

"Am... am I going to be picked up by my family?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. You nearly died from drowning. If Brother Fang Ming hadn't pulled you out in time, we probably would never have seen you again." Yu Muqiu still looked frightened.

Xiao Chun froze. "...Brother Fang Ming? Where's Xiao Bai? Wasn't Xiao Bai the one who saved me?"

"Huh?" Yu Muqiu tilted her head in surprise. "I didn't see Xiao Bai. When we got there, we only saw Brother Fang Ming pull you out from underwater, then give you first aid... Wait, was Xiao Bai there too?"

Xiao Chun did not hear the latter half of Yu Muqiu's words.

She could only blankly think about what Yu Muqiu had said—that Fang Ming had saved her.

Brother Fang Ming saved me...

So he was the one who held me underwater?

He saved me...

As Xiao Chun thought about these things, her cheeks turned red, and the sound of her increasingly frantic heartbeat appeared in the background.

Then the ending theme began.]

(!!!!?????)

(Something's wrong! Nine parts out of ten wrong!)

(Xiao Chun... could it be...)

(Gaia---!!!)

(Holy crap! Saving someone's life really is the best way to raise affection! Could Xiao Chun really have fallen for Cousin?!)

(Calm down, it's just a favorable impression for now, not necessarily... No, I take that back! Fang Ming, you really deserve to die!)

(Oh, give it a rest. Cousin clearly didn't mean anything by it. He just saved someone. You're all overthinking it.)

The comments on the Sky Screen were in an uproar during the ending theme.

Without even thinking about it, Fang Ming could guess how spectacular the website's comment section was right now.

But in truth, he was stunned too.

Although after that, Murong Xiaochun would occasionally come to Rock City to get close to him under all sorts of excuses, Fang Ming had always thought Xiao Chun had come to deal with the Nightmare Seed.

He had never imagined that Xiao Chun harbored such special feelings for him.

Of course, it was not as if he had never fantasized about beautiful girls liking him.

But fantasies were fantasies. No one could take them seriously. At the very least, Fang Ming had never thought he was popular enough to be liked by girls.

But now... the Sky Screen had made all of this public, leaving Fang Ming unable to cling to any wishful thinking.

His expression turned grave as he began seriously considering the turmoil that might result from this being revealed.

Before Fang Ming could sort it out, his phone rang at just the right moment.

He glanced at his phone.

It was a call from the Investigation Department.

A Girl's Feelings Laid Bare

At the Magical Girls Headquarters.

Having just finished watching Episode Six, Yu Muqiu and Chen Xiaoxia simultaneously turned their gazes toward Xiao Chun, who had buried herself beneath a blanket and sat there like an utterly motionless clothes rack.

As though she had only just realized it, Chen Xiaoxia suddenly said:

"Oh, so when you went to see Brother Fang Ming yesterday, you weren't discussing bad things, you were...!"

"Shut up, Xiaoxia!"

Unable to endure it any longer, the girl beneath the blanket grabbed a pillow and hurled it with all her strength, striking Chen Xiaoxia squarely in the face.

Puni—

The pillow made a strange sound as it hit Chen Xiaoxia's cheek.

Xiao Qiu blinked at Chen Xiaoxia, who had been knocked back into her seat by the pillow, then looked at Xiao Chun again.

"Um... Xiao Chun..."

"Don't look at me! I don't know! I don't know anything! Waaah—"

Xiao Chun let out an adorable cry of despair, a sound that the usually incomparably mature Xiao Chun would never have made in front of others.

But now, Xiao Chun had already cursed the Sky Screen countless times in her heart. She even had the same thought as someone else—to take out a bow and shoot a hole right through the Sky Screen.

Seriously, why did the Sky Screen show everything?!

Could something like this... could something like this be shown too?

Couldn't it leave people even a little privacy?!

Damn it!!

Even Xiao Chun, who had always been gentle and mild-tempered, could not help wanting to curse out loud.

Xiao Qiu scratched her cheek, not knowing how to comfort her. Then an idea suddenly came to her. She clasped her hands together and struck a cheering pose toward Xiao Chun, shouting:

"Xiao Chun! I... I'll support you!"

"You shut up too!"

Overwhelmed by embarrassment and indignation, Xiao Chun threw the blanket covering her onto Xiao Qiu.

Puni—

Xiao Qiu followed in Xiaoxia's footsteps.

When Xiao Chun emerged from beneath the blanket, her face was bright red. It was impossible to tell whether it was from the heat under the blanket or from embarrassment, but she looked exactly like a ripe tomato in a field.

One could easily imagine how she felt right then.

A girl's feelings were generally not spoken aloud so casually.

They had the reserve unique to women. Unless they were especially carefree girls, most girls would not take the initiative to tell someone, "I like you."

Xiao Chun was the same.

She had special feelings for Fang Ming, but she herself had never considered voicing them.

Because she lacked the courage.

She was afraid that, after she said it, she would receive a rejection. This was also why girls did not dare voice their feelings so easily.

But now, the Sky Screen had thoroughly exposed her feelings. Not only did everyone in the world know what she thought, Fang Ming himself knew her feelings too.

So after her embarrassment faded, the color rapidly drained from Xiao Chun's face. Especially after a staff member asked her to come over, her complexion turned even paler.

"Miss Murong, please come to the Rock City branch. Sorry to trouble you."

The Rock City branch had called Xiao Chun and asked her to come over.

The reason they wanted her there was easy enough to guess.

It was to discuss the matter between Fang Ming and Xiao Chun.

The magical girl branch in Rock City... although that was only a joking name, most people called it that now.

The Investigation Department's official name was rarely used instead.

Fang Ming sat in the branch's conference room. A cup of coffee sat before him, while several officials and a psychologist were seated beside him.

A magical girl had someone she liked.

This matter had not only caused an uproar on the website, but had also sparked discussion around the world.

After all, magical girls were, in a sense, equivalent to "idols" now. Though compared with real idols, magical girls were still somewhat different.

But magical girls having someone they liked was not really much different from idols having boyfriends.

At least, it was not much different to most people.

Of course, magical girls were people too. They worked hard for world peace, so whoever they liked was their own business.

No one else could, nor did anyone have the right to, stop magical girls from liking someone.

But even so, the authorities still had to carefully assess magical girls' relationships.

After all, a magical girl's feelings came from her own Heart of Emotion. No one could guarantee that, if something went wrong with the Heart of Emotion, a magical girl could still retain her current powers.

If the person a magical girl liked turned out to be scum or a liar, causing her to lose the power of her emotions and become an ordinary person, it would be nearly a disaster for this world.

That was why Fang Ming had been called here.

Xiao Chun had also been called here.

On the one hand, they needed to assess Fang Ming's character and his views on relationships.

On the other hand, they needed to confirm that Xiao Chun's feelings for Fang Ming were genuine, rather than her mistakenly treating "gratitude" as "love" because Fang Ming had saved her life.

Xiao Chun was still young, after all. At her age, it was easy for her to mistake certain emotions for love.