A Villainous Organization, More or Less

Later that night.

On the rooftop of an office building.

"Want some ice cream?" Su Tianqing held out the cone in her hand.

"...Thanks."

Hellcat thanked her softly. Her cat tail hooked the ice cream away from Su Tianqing beside her, and she held it in her hand as she stared blankly ahead.

Su Tianqing casually licked her own ice cream, and together they turned their gazes toward Rongcheng's nightscape in the distance.

Hellcat—or rather, Nan Jiayu—had a deep impression of the office building beneath her feet.

This was where Heartmoon Fox held her regular nightly livestreams.

She had thought Heartmoon Fox had simply picked a rooftop at random, but after sitting here herself, she realized this was practically the best place to admire Rongcheng at night.

Every street lay in full view, giving her the feeling of overlooking a city that never slept.

"The view's pretty nice from here, isn't it?"

Tilting her head to glance at the catgirl lost in thought, Su Tianqing said with a smile.

The petite catgirl nodded gently, her tail curling behind her as she wondered about something unknown.

Su Tianqing faced forward again and continued.

"Phew... Back when you were in Shencheng, did you also replenish your magic power by finding ordinary girls like you did today?"

"They weren't exactly ordinary. Not everyone has the talent for magic power."

The catgirl answered honestly, finally sticking out her tongue to lick the ice cream.

Then she frowned slightly.

"This ice cream... is way too sweet."

"Mhm~ I just like sweet things!"

Su Tianqing chuckled, her tail wagging hard twice.

Whatever. Ice cream desserts were supposed to be sweet, weren't they? Or rather, wasn't sweetness the whole point of eating ice cream?

Thinking that, Nan Jiayu stopped worrying about how sweet it was and began licking it in small bites.

It was actually pretty good.

The rooftop fell silent for a moment.

"Hellcat."

Suddenly, Fox Fox spoke, breaking the brief silence.

"Hmm?"

"How do you replenish your magic power? Can you tell me?" Fox Fox asked.

"Secret."

The catgirl answered without hesitation.

Su Tianqing had not expected such a firm refusal.

She had thought there would at least be some coy back-and-forth. Why had the answer been a flat no right away?

"Hehe... Don't tell me it's some naughty method?" The golden-furred Fox Fox grinned mischievously and scooted closer to the catgirl.

"Come on, tell me. I won't tell anyone else."

"What are you thinking? I'm very serious."

Hellcat rolled her eyes.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then tell me quietly. What if I run low on magic power someday too?"

"...I'm not telling you."

Nan Jiayu replied sullenly and licked away a large chunk of ice cream in one bite.

Thinking back on it, there did not seem to be anything particularly noteworthy about her own experiences.

While taking a walk on the street, she had found a Guardian Star and accidentally transformed into a magical girl.

She had thought she was about to join the Hero Association's ranks, only to immediately discover that she was designated as a villain.

Villain Magical Girls had neither the Blessing of the Stars nor a stable supply of magic power from the Star Realm, which often left Nan Jiayu in the awkward predicament of being drained of magic power.

It was not until one day, when she learned of the existence of "magic power" through Detection Magic, that she embarked on this irreversible path of replenishing it.

As for how she replenished it...

On second thought, it really was a little naughty. Better not talk about it.

"Hellcat."

"Hmm?"

Called by Golden Fox once again, Nan Jiayu snapped out of her daze and turned to look at her.

The little fox was tilting her head at her. Her emerald fox eyes were bright and sparkling, full of curiosity and delight.

"Why did you come help me at the train station yesterday?"

Su Tianqing asked.

The catgirl said nothing and took two more licks of her ice cream.

The reason was actually simple:

She had happened to go out looking for food yesterday—planning to find a suitable girl to replenish her magic power.

Then she had spotted Hyacinth and Iris flying through the sky at full speed. Curious, she had quietly followed them.

She had not expected to witness such an exciting scene.

Originally, she had only planned to watch the show, but then she saw Heartmoon Fox get caught in a close-range combo from Hyacinth.

Since she was already there, Nan Jiayu had thought she might as well lend a hand, so she smashed through the ceiling and leaped down.

And then things had become what they were now.

"...I was just passing by."

A thousand words condensed into four, slipping from the catgirl's mouth.

"Hm~ Really? You weren't actually keeping an eye on Fox Fox, were you?"

...This little fox was way too sharp!

Nan Jiayu did not answer, but that silence was enough to explain everything.

Su Tianqing did not press further. Instead, she happily stood up, straightened her tail, and stretched lazily.

Then she spun around lightly, her skirt fluttering as she looked lively and adorable.

"Since you helped me yesterday, and we're both villains, we're friends from now on!"

"What do you think? Do you want to be friends with me?"

Nan Jiayu froze, forgetting even to lick her ice cream as her heart skipped hard.

In Nan Jiayu's mind, Foxfolk came in three kinds:

One was unfamiliar passersby.

One was little angel Su Tianqing.

And one was little devil Heartmoon Fox.

Tianqing was a petite, cute, sunny, cheerful angel fox.

But the magical girl Heartmoon Fox before her had publicly attacked crowded places many times and had even repeatedly toyed with active magical girls from the Hero Association. She was absolutely a devil!

Not to mention the wicked grin she wore whenever she discussed plans for mischief during her livestreams.

Heartmoon Fox's wicked smile had practically become this little fox's standard public image.

Yet the little devil-like golden fox before her was clearly wearing a bright, sunny smile.

It was dazzling.

It made her completely unable to think of refusing.

Come to think of it, she had never encountered a companion since becoming a magical girl.

Becoming companions with this cute little fox... did not seem so bad.

"Okay."

With that thought, Nan Jiayu nodded almost involuntarily.

Su Tianqing paused, then an even brighter smile quickly bloomed across her face.

"That's great!"

"From now on, we're a Villain Magical Girl duo!"

"Should we give our duo a name? Like some kind of organization... or something?"

The little fox muttered excitedly to herself beside her.

Nan Jiayu watched quietly, like a calm cat sitting on a sofa watching an unhinged fox.

Then she licked the ice cream that was nearly melted.

Yep, still very sweet.

"I've got it! We'll call ourselves the Fox Fox Cat-Cat Organization! What do you think?"

"...What kind of name is that? It's so dumb."

"Eh... Then, then how about the Cat-Cat Fox Fox Organization?"

"Is there even the slightest difference between those two names?"

"Let me think some more... Hmm..."

Nan Jiayu hurriedly interrupted the unhinged fox's wild thoughts.

"Stop, stop. We should think about that later. You can't come up with anything right now anyway."

"That makes sense! Let's do that!" Fox Fox clapped her hands together and nodded lightly.

She was pretty easy to coax, Nan Jiayu thought.

"By the way, Cat-Cat, are you free tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night?... I should be." Nan Jiayu nodded.

She had no elective classes, no study session planned, and none of her roommates had asked her to go shopping.

The only variable was probably Tianqing... She would ask her during class tomorrow.

"Then tomorrow night, we'll start operating as a villain duo!"

The golden-furred Fox Fox was incredibly excited, her eyes practically shining.

"Tomorrow, the two of us will go pick a fight with Hyacinth!"