Magical Girl? I Got Tricked into It!

"Isn't today a day off? There are so many people here. If it's just preparations for the school festival, there shouldn't be this many, right?"

"Did you forget about tomorrow's event?"

"Oh!" Only then did she remember. Tomorrow was the so-called pre-school-festival rally. No wonder there were so many people over by the stadium—they had all come to practice.

"So, Ando, want to give it a try?"

No wonder Rei had come looking for her. She wanted to practice the three-legged race together.

Ando Meiko finally understood.

Come to think of it, the students only had a day and a half to practice in the first place, and she had left half a day early yesterday.

In other words, if she missed these few hours in the afternoon, she might have to compete tomorrow completely unprepared.

It did not matter if she embarrassed herself, but she could not possibly make Rei embarrass herself along with her.

Maybe because she had overlooked this, her body had brought her and her not-so-functional brain all the way to school.

In any case, it was a good thing she had come over out of curiosity.

"Hurry up, Meizi. We might even be able to grab a good spot... Uh, sorry... I suddenly called you by your name."

"It's fine. We're partners now, so there's nothing wrong with calling each other by name, right?"

What Ando Meiko said was actually a test. Perhaps being able to call Rei by her name, and have Rei call her by hers, had always been her dream.

After hearing the suggestion, Rei took Ando Meiko's hand and answered with a playful smile. "Let's go, Meizi!"

If the person before her had still been Ando Koichi, there was no way he would have received such treatment. Yet now, Rei had taken the initiative, even if she might not have meant anything by it.

Rei's hand was bonelessly soft and cool, pleasant to hold. To Ando Meiko, such a tiny hand gave her an incredible sense of security, as though Rei herself was the one best suited to have a boyfriend.

Still, she felt that Rei's personality differed somewhat from her impression of her. But she did not want to dwell on such details. As long as Rei was holding her hand properly, nothing else seemed to matter.

If she could receive Rei's affection like this, perhaps continuing to live as Meizi would not be so bad...

She let out a soft sigh and shook her head, throwing off that dangerous thought.

From the school gate to the field, Rei talked the entire way. Still immersed in the soft jade in her hand, she had completely forgotten who she was. Even when asked something, she merely smiled and went along with it.

She had never known that Rei could have such an enthusiastic side. She was completely different from the cold way she had looked when rejecting her back then.

"At first, I was worried I might get paired with some creepy guy. But thankfully, I got a cute little girl like you, Meizi."

"Haha, really? I was worried about that at first too."

But Rei, if I hadn't turned into Meizi, your partner would be Koichi right now. Is Koichi a creepy guy? Probably not, right?

She felt that her behavior at school had always been quite proper.

After borrowing a rope for the three-legged race from the equipment room, the two made their way to an empty patch of ground on the field.

Many competitors believed a children's game like this did not need practice, but that was undoubtedly wrong.

The three-legged race tested the understanding between two people. After all, their heights and leg lengths differed, so the distance and speed of every step could hardly be exactly the same.

"Here should be fine, Meizi. Come on, bring your foot over."

Under Rei's instructions, Ando Meiko extended her right foot forward. Rei crouched down and tied it together with her own left foot.

This felt strangely nostalgic.

She had often played games like this with Fuko and the others before. After growing up, she had never had a chance to touch them again. Looking at Rei's back now, Ando Meiko seemed to have found that old feeling again.

"Okay, this should do it." Rei stood and tested it a little. Ando Meiko's foot was pulled up along with Rei's.

Was it a little too tight? It felt like she could barely move properly.

"Then shall we try walking first?" she asked weakly. Unexpectedly, Rei happily patted her shoulder upon hearing that.

But for someone with such a frail body, those few pats felt rather heavy.

"Haha, exactly. That was what I was thinking too."

She seemed so happy. Should I cooperate or agree with her at a time like this? Damn it, if I knew something like this would happen, I should have prepared myself mentally beforehand.

Why were the male leads in games so amazing? They could actually laugh and chat naturally in front of the girls they liked. Unlike her, who started panicking whenever she saw someone she liked.

She was truly annoyed at how hopeless she was.

"Meizi, you know how to walk, right?"

"Although I don't exercise much normally, I can at least handle a three-legged race." After all, she had played it plenty as a child. It counted as one of the joys of her childhood.

"One, eep... ah..." Sure enough, flags should not be raised carelessly. The moment she finished saying that, something went wrong on this side.

Rei's foot landed before hers did, and she immediately faced the awkward situation of being unable to keep up with Rei's rhythm. With her center of gravity and coordination suddenly thrown off balance, she fell straight forward.

"Watch out... ah..."

Rei tried to grab her, but because their feet were tied together, the rescue attempt only made things worse. Not only did she fail to help, she was tripped and brought down too.

Ando Meiko's reactions were fairly quick. She hurriedly rolled over, not caring whether she herself would get hurt. Her first thought was to make sure Rei did not fall badly.

So, just as she stretched out her hand to catch Rei... her hand unexpectedly landed on Rei's mountains... The soft sensation made her squeeze twice more before she could stop herself.

At that moment, there was only one thought in her mind.

This feels incredible.

"Meizi, um, while I don't really mind this sort of thing, wouldn't it be better to let go first at a time like this...?"

"Y-Yes, sorry, I didn't do it on purpose..." Rei's voice made her release her hand at once. Her body unconsciously retreated two steps, but that movement pulled Rei along again.

Without Ando Meiko's support, Rei pressed herself against her once more.

Though that let her experience a face full of the girl she liked, Rei's impoverished chest, worlds apart from Fuko's, hit her so hard that her vision went dark and she nearly fainted.

Rei pushed herself up. When she looked at Ando Meiko, there was actually a hint of doting warmth in her eyes.

The two stared at each other like that until Rei smiled first, and Ando Meiko smiled along with her.

"Meizi, you did that on purpose."

"N-No, I'm just not used to it yet. Sorry..."

After all, it had been many years since the last time she had done a three-legged race, and she truly was not used to exercising in this body.

"You don't need to apologize for that. Let me properly take responsibility and teach you."

"Okay."

When she focused on doing something, time passed especially quickly.

The afternoon was gone in the blink of an eye, and the coordination between Ando Meiko and Nakajima Rei had become much smoother.

"I'm a little tired. How about getting something to drink? My treat."

"Okay."

There was still quite a while before dinner. Thinking that spending a little more time with Rei would not be bad, she did not refuse. Nor did she have any reason to.

"Be careful on your way home." The security guard who remembered them smiled and reminded them.

"Thanks for your hard work, sir." After giving the guard a perfunctory greeting, she left the school with Rei.

"Did Meizi just transfer here? I don't remember having such a cute girl in my year."

"Something like that. I'm actually filling in for Ando Koichi."

"Ando Koichi? Who's that?"

"Huh?"

She never remembered me at all? I confessed three times and got rejected three times, but she never even remembered my name?

Rei's words made Ando Meiko's heart sink.

"What's wrong, Meizi? You suddenly look unhappy."

That made sense. If someone had no interest in you at all, then no matter what you did, they would not remember your name or anything you had done.

"But since you transferred here, we're friends now. If there's anything you don't understand or any trouble you run into, you can come find me."

"Okay, then thanks in advance. But where are we going now?"

Rei gave her a mysterious smile. "You'll know when you get there."

Led by Rei, Ando Meiko walked down a road that led neither home nor school, nor belonged to the person she once was.

The shopping street.

After living on the outskirts of Tokyo for so long, this was her first time visiting this shopping street. It was also the first time she had seen how bustling it was, as lively as the center of the city.

She had once wondered why those classmates disappeared whenever there was a holiday. She had thought most of the school's students were shut-ins, but now it seemed to be exactly the opposite. They were all normies.

Come to think of it, was it not strange for an otaku like her to come to a place like this alone? Everyone she saw shopping here came in groups, which meant this was probably a place only normies were qualified to visit.

Who would have thought that one day, she herself would be sitting here too?

"Meizi, here's the milk tea you ordered."

"Come to think of it, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't come to a place like this very often either."

"Why?"

"Because coming here alone feels kind of strange, doesn't it?"

Strange? Was Rei alone too? That should not be the case. She often saw Rei walking with friends. Could it be that Rei was actually lonely?

"If you want to come next time, you can invite me too."

After all, she was alone too. Now that she had become this way, Ando Meiko no longer had much desire to play games. If someone invited her out, perhaps she could experience the so-called normie lifestyle.

"Hehe, then let's exchange contact information first."

After taking out her phone and entering Rei's contact information, Ando Meiko casually checked the time. "It's already this late."

"What's wrong? In a hurry to get back?"

"Yeah. I promised my family before leaving that I'd be home before dinner."

"Then let's each head home today. Let's do our best together tomorrow." Rei smiled at her and gave a thumbs-up.

"Let's do our best!"

"My house is that way, so I won't walk you home. Be careful going back by yourself, Meizi."

"You too. Be careful on the way."

Though parting with Rei felt a little regrettable, she finished the rest of her milk tea, threw the cup into a trash can, and headed home.

But...

Just as Ando Meiko was about to leave the shopping street, a hateful sensation suddenly crawled up her spine and surged into her brain.

[Master, something's happening.] Ruby called out somewhat urgently.

[I won't ask when you started following me, but are you some kind of alarm? Do you have to tell me there's something here... I don't want to hear it at all!]

[But if Master is feeling sick, that means its Demonic Aether can already affect the Material World.]

[Tch.]

[Master, don't be so willful. They're already bullying us right under our noses. Do we still have to take a detour?]

[Yes.]

A monster that could affect the Material World through Demonic Aether—what if it was another Void Beast on the level of the Void King Serpent? How could I possibly handle that? Wouldn't I just be walking to my death if I went in so casually?

[Master's worries are unnecessary. If it were on the Void King Serpent's level, this area would probably have already been destroyed.]

[That's way too scary.]

[So, Master, stop running away and go fight! I'll support you properly too... Besides, constantly avoiding battle will only put you in an even worse position.]

Fight? What a joke. I did not want to fight.

[It can't affect the Material World anyway, so it should be fine to just leave it alone, right?]

[That's true, but aren't you afraid... Ah, it's here...]

Though she intended to simply go home, before she could take more than a few steps, a wave of dizziness struck her. The sky gradually darkened, and the surroundings suddenly changed.