Remember to Shave Your Legs

Click.

The front door swung open.

A weary-faced boy and a cat walked into the house together.

"Ooh, not bad."

Qubi looked around, sounding like a client inspecting a newly renovated home.

"At your age, having a private combat room all to yourself already puts you ahead of ninety percent of magical girls, boy."

"This is my home, not some combat room."

Chen De casually tossed his backpack aside and dropped onto the sofa.

The springs let out a scream.

"Qubi, turn on the lights."

"Oh."

The white cat ran over to the light switch and flicked its tail.

Click.

The entire apartment was instantly illuminated by warm-colored lights.

Calling it a home was generous. It was really just a fifty-square-meter apartment.

The living room, bedroom, and kitchen were all crammed together, like Russian nesting dolls layered one inside another.

It was clean, but it still carried a dated, worn-out feeling.

This was the only asset his parents had left behind after they were gone.

Chen De casually turned on the TV, and the formal cadence of the evening news immediately filled the room.

"...At three this afternoon, a building collapse of unknown cause occurred on the commercial street west of the city. No casualties have been confirmed so far. Witnesses reported seeing an unidentified black object at the scene. The relevant departments are currently investigating..."

Chen De glanced at the screen.

"Did a Calamity do that?"

"Most likely." Qubi jumped onto the sofa and sat beside him, curling its tail into a ring.

"It was a Fierce Calamity. Another magical girl has already dealt with it."

"There are other magical girls in this city?"

"Of course. Did you think you were the only one?"

"Then why didn't you go find them? Why did you have to come ruin my life?"

"Because they aren't as talented as you."

"So being talented is a sin now, huh?"

Chen De rolled over, pressing his face into the back of the sofa as he spoke in a muffled voice.

"Qubi."

"I'm here."

"You really do make yourself at home."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"That wasn't a compliment."

Chen De rolled back over and stared at the ceiling.

His mind was filled with what had happened in the alley earlier.

Transforming.

Wearing a skirt.

Firing a gun.

Slashing apart a lump of unidentified black stuff.

Any normal high school student who went through that would probably need to see a psychiatrist.

But Chen De only had one overwhelming feeling right now—hunger.

"Do you eat cat food?"

"I don't eat cat food."

"Then what do you eat?"

"I don't need to eat."

"You don't eat?"

"I'm not a cat."

"You look like a cat."

"Looking like a cat doesn't mean I am one. You should understand that."

Qubi's emerald eyes glanced at him.

"After all, you look like a boy, but after transforming—"

"Shut up."

Chen De decisively cut off that topic.

He got up, walked into the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator.

Inside were two eggs, half a cucumber, and a bottle of milk that had expired three days ago.

"...Are you really this broke?"

Qubi had somehow followed him to the kitchen doorway.

"You're a cat that doesn't need to eat. Mind your own business."

Expressionless, Chen De tossed the expired milk into the trash and began frying the eggs.

As the cooking fumes rose, he suddenly remembered a question he had overlooked after being dazzled by money.

"Qubi."

"Hmm?"

"You said earlier that I'm highly talented. What exactly does that mean?"

Qubi jumped from the kitchen doorway onto the dining table and tilted its head.

"It means exactly what it says."

"Your talent is more than five times that of an ordinary magical girl."

"And if special circumstances are factored in, it may be even higher."

Chen De's spatula paused.

"Five times?"

"You felt it yourself, didn't you? You created two weapons during your very first transformation."

For the first time, Qubi's tone carried a hint of seriousness.

"An ordinary magical girl would be doing well if she could create even one weapon during her first transformation. Most can only make basic types, like wands."

"You started with both a gun and a blade, and both were materialized weapons."

"That shows that your magical power density is extremely high, and your conversion efficiency is equally strong."

Chen De flipped the fried egg over.

"That actually sounds pretty impressive."

"It is impressive." Qubi nodded. "Those who can become magical girls are one in a million to begin with."

"And they must also meet one important condition."

"What?"

"Age."

Qubi's tail swayed.

"Only adolescent girls can become magical girls."

"Once that period has passed, no matter how gifted someone is, they can no longer become a magical girl."

Chen De scooped the fried egg onto a plate and carried it to the dining table before sitting down.

"Why?"

"Because they lose the most important thing."

Qubi lowered its head, its emerald eyes reflecting the warm yellow light.

"You could call it a 'heart,' or emotion, love, hope."

"In short, something pure and burning."

"After adulthood, those things slowly fade until they are no longer enough to sustain magic."

Chen De took a bite of the fried egg.

"So magic draws its energy from love and hope?"

"More or less."

"Then what about me? I'm not a girl. Where would a grown man like me get love and hope?"

Qubi glanced at him.

"When that Lesser Calamity nearly pounced on your face in the alley, what was your first thought?"

Chen De thought back.

"I thought that if I had to wear a skirt, then so be it. At worst, I'd become the toughest one around."

"Yes, exactly that."

"What do you mean, exactly that?"

"No matter what ridiculous mess you run into, your first reaction is never fear or despair."

Qubi stood and paced two steps across the dining table.

"You think about how to solve it, and even in the most absurd situations, you can still cheer yourself on."

"That nearly ridiculous optimism is, at its core, an exceptionally powerful 'heart.'"

"To put it plainly, your mental state is too healthy."

Chen De chewed his egg in silence for a while.

"You really have a strange way of complimenting people."

"And I suspect you're insulting me for being heartless."

"More or less."

"Can't you at least deny it?!"

Qubi laughed.

Come on, a cat laughing was really weird.

"Anyway, you need to cherish your current state."

"The window for forming a contract is very short. Once adolescence passes, you'll never get another chance."

Chen De stuffed the last bite of egg into his mouth, stood up, and tossed the plate into the sink.

He returned to the sofa and glanced at the TV.

The news had already moved on to the next report.

"...The famous idol group 'Star Wish' announced today that it will hold a charity concert in this city next month, at which time—"

Chen De changed the channel.

"Qubi, when will that fifty thousand arrive?"

"It's already there. Check your phone."

Chen De took out his phone.

A bank message showed that forty thousand yuan had been deposited.

"...After you took your twenty percent, this really pisses me off."

"If you think it's too little, kill a few more."

"You make it sound easy."

Chen De tossed his phone aside and sprawled across the sofa.

The ceiling light made him squint a little.

"Oh, right. There's one more thing."

Qubi jumped onto the armrest.

"Tomorrow night, there may be signs of Calamity activity near the eastern industrial district."

"What level?"

"Most likely a Lesser Calamity, but there's also a very small chance it could be a Fierce Calamity."

Chen De lifted his head.

"You said a Fierce Calamity was worth one hundred and fifty thousand, right?"

"One hundred and twenty thousand after deductions."

"You're deducting more?"

"Of course."

Chen De lay back down and stared at the ceiling.

"One hundred and twenty thousand."

"Mm."

"Tomorrow night."

"Mm."

"The eastern industrial district."

"Mm."

Three seconds of silence passed.

"I'm going."

Qubi narrowed its eyes in satisfaction.

"I knew it."

"Shut up. I'm just short on money."

"Magical girls who are short on money are usually very strong fighters."

"What kind of weird theory is that?"

"The budget version of a Saiyan."

"You're a cat, and you watch Dragon Ball?"

Qubi did not answer.

It jumped off the sofa and padded lightly over to the balcony window, gazing out at the nightscape.

The city lights flickered in the distance.

"Chen De."

"What?"

"You need to prepare yourself mentally."

Qubi's voice suddenly lost its usual flippant tone.

"The Lesser Calamity is only the beginning."

"Once you chose to walk this path,"

"Normal life would only drift farther and farther away from you."

"What comes next will only get more troublesome."

Chen De turned his head to look at the white cat's back.

Moonlight from outside traced a silver rim around its body.

"When you suddenly get serious, I get even more scared."

"Then let me put it another way."

Qubi turned around, its emerald-green eyes shining like two glass beads in the moonlight.

"Remember to shave your leg hair before you go out tomorrow."

"It'll be really obvious when you wear white stockings."

Chen De grabbed a throw pillow and hurled it over.

The white cat nimbly dodged aside.

The pillow flew out onto the balcony and vanished into the night.

A dog barked somewhere behind them.

"My pillow!"

"See? That's the price of acting on impulse."