A Slight Misunderstanding

"Good morning, Shasha."

The next morning.

The Eurasian eagle-owl girl finished her morning flight practice and landed lightly on the rooftop as usual, but this time someone was standing to the side, waving and greeting her.

This caught her somewhat off guard—she was used to doing a flight training session in the morning, going home afterward to make some breakfast, and then heading to school or resting at home for a bit to do some homework. It was always by herself, and she had never expected someone to suddenly be standing nearby watching.

Even after becoming a Magical Girl, this routine had not changed much; at most, the morning exercise time had decreased slightly, but the daily morning practice remained unshakable.

She just hadn't expected her morning exercise pattern to be figured out by someone else, and by a quite familiar acquaintance at that.

"G-Good morning, Hua Ling."

The Eurasian eagle-owl girl wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead, pulled a towel out of her bag, and simply wiped the sweat from her body.

The girl in spring clothes stood nearby, smiling as she looked at her, which made Shasha's movements somewhat stiff, and even the task of wiping away sweat, which she usually performed with practiced ease, was delayed for a moment.

"Sorry, I was doing some morning exercise for a bit and had no idea you were right here..."

"It's fine, I just got here too. I figured you'd be done with your workout around now, so I hurried over," Hua Ling replied.

Shasha was not prepared for the arrival of an acquaintance like Hua Ling—she was not only her Magical Girl companion and someone who had previously learned their true identities, but to her astonishment, she was even the neighbor living downstairs.

Though when she