Magical Girl? I Got Scammed Into It!

"If eating could replenish my energy, that would be great." She sighed softly and slowly pushed herself upright despite the pain.

Ruby appeared in her humanoid form at just the right moment, helped her up, and found a pillow nearby to prop behind her back.

"Thank you."

"If you're going to thank me, then treat me better. Honestly, Master, these are things I should be doing anyway. There's nothing to thank me for."

That made a faint trace of emotion stir in Ando Meiko's heart... but if Ruby usually weren't such an idiot, she might have gladly accepted that walking cane.

"Sorry." Some time had already passed, and she felt she couldn't keep holding onto the matter of Ruby forcing her into a contract forever.

Besides, judging by how Void Beasts could affect the real world through Aether, perhaps gaining the powers of a magical girl had been arranged by fate.

While she was thinking, an itch on the back of her hand made her raise it unconsciously. Lowering her head, she looked at the little cat slowly walking across the bed.

"You really do love climbing onto my bed." She smiled and gently stroked Moon's head.

The bed in the living room that Ando Meiko had bought for Moon had cost a fortune, and it even had a fluffy cushion. No matter how she thought about it, it couldn't possibly be less comfortable than this bed.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't understand why this little one always liked burrowing into her blankets.

Still, it was fine. The little cat hardly shed, and she wasn't allergic to cat fur. As long as it didn't disturb her, she could do as she pleased.

She looked toward the mirror beside her and immediately saw her current appearance.

Her clothes had all been taken off, replaced by tightly wrapped bandages that had flattened her two basketballs as though they had been stepped on.

Although quite a bit of pain still lingered, it didn't affect her ability to move.

"Where are Fuko and Nanako?"

"Fuko took Nanako out to buy some things."

"Meow~"

"Moon, I'm fine. Don't worry." Ando Meiko smiled and patted Moon's head. As she walked to the door and opened it, the little white cat jumped down and darted out ahead of her, vanishing around the stairwell corner.

"Don't push yourself, Master. Your magic power will be converted into Aether to repair your body, but the process will take some time."

Not healing, but repairing...

Ando Meiko shook her head. "It's fine. I'm not forcing myself. My body has mostly recovered already."

Still, this incident had made her realize something: she was desperately lacking exercise. Perhaps that was a lingering consequence of spending too much time cooped up at home before.

Her body was different from an ordinary magical girl's. She still retained a physical body, so damage sustained after transforming would be reflected onto her flesh.

Without a strong body, if she suffered injuries worse than today's, they might be more than she could bear.

Supported by Ruby, she walked downstairs. Hearing a knock at the door, Ando Meiko slowly made her way toward the entrance.

"Ruby."

"Got it." Ruby obediently turned back into a necklace and hung herself around her neck.

"I'm coming. I wonder who it is?" She was about to open the door when she suddenly remembered she was only wearing a thin shirt loosely over herself, without even a skirt on.

Just as she was about to return to her room to get properly dressed, a familiar voice made her stop.

"Meiko?"

"It's Rin. Then it should be fine, right?" she muttered to herself as she opened the door.

"Huh? Meiko? Why are you dressed like that?!" Startled by Ando Meiko's outfit, Rin quickly ran into the entrance and shut the door behind her.

"Honestly, you're way too careless! What if someone else saw you?"

"I thought it was a little inappropriate too, but when I heard your voice, I opened the door."

That answer left Rin speechless. She took off her shoes and walked straight into the living room as if she had returned to her own home.

"Seriously, it's been so long since you came over, and yet you're acting like you're not a guest."

"Meiko, what did you say?"

"N-Nothing." Realizing she had voiced her complaint aloud, Ando Meiko hurriedly covered her mouth.

"Honestly, even if you live alone, you should still pay attention to your appearance."

Rin seemed to have mistaken Ando Meiko's outfit for loungewear, but she had only thrown it on because she hadn't been wearing anything else.

"Koichi's room hasn't changed much, but it's a lot cleaner than before. That's thanks to you too, isn't it, Meiko?"

If it had been before, Rin would probably have lectured Ando Koichi while helping him clean his messy room. But now that Fuko was around, she didn't need to worry about the cleaning anymore.

"Why did you suddenly come over today?"

"Oh, well, my family just received a lot of fruit, so I brought some over."

"That's too kind. This stuff is expensive, isn't it?"

Rin set down what she was carrying, and plump pieces of fruit rolled out one after another, looking incredibly appetizing.

"It's not expensive. My grandfather grows them. He sends us a lot whenever it's harvest season. But there's something I've been wondering about since earlier..."

"What is it?"

"What exactly is this?! It's swaying around so openly, it's making my eyes dizzy." Taking advantage of Ando Meiko's lack of guard, Rin darted behind her and grabbed those two magnificent jade peaks.

"Huh?"

No, why did you have to care about that pile of useless fat? Rin, your own shape is great too! You're clearly the petite and cute type, so could you please stop worrying about it so much?!

D-Don't keep kneading them! This is way too embarrassing... ngh...

"I never expected Rin to have this side to her."

Come to think of it, ever since becoming a girl, Ando Meiko felt like she had seen many things she could never have seen while she was still a boy.

It wasn't enough to make her thank Ruby, but it was pretty interesting.

Still, when Rin had ambushed her just now, she had noticed that her back did not hurt as much anymore. It looked like she had mostly recovered.

Not long after seeing Rin off, Fuko and Nanako returned from their outing.

"Huh? Meiko, why are you out here? Is your body okay?"

"I'm fine. Look."

To prove it, she moved her body around a few times in front of Fuko. But she got a little too carried away and pulled the muscles in her back, twisting her face in pain.

"And you say you're fine."

"Hehe, I just can't make any big movements yet."

Grumble...

Ando Meiko blushed and embarrassedly covered her protesting stomach.

She hadn't felt hungry just moments ago, but seeing Fuko return was like seeing dinner float before her eyes. Her long-neglected stomach immediately began to complain on its own.

"It's getting late. Let's eat dinner first. Afterward, I still need to put medicine on you."

"Eat up, Meiko. You need to be full before your body can recover properly."

Ando Meiko reached out and patted the bouncing Nanako's head. "So the two of you went out to buy medicine together. Thanks for your hard work."

After dinner, Fuko applied medicine to her back, and Ando Meiko collapsed into bed and fell asleep.

The first thing she did after waking was stretch her body like she was doing yoga. Only after she could no longer feel even a trace of pain did Ando Meiko stand before the mirror, take off her pajamas, and carefully inspect her injuries.

The abrasions and bruises reflected onto her body from crashing into the utility pole had all vanished. The skin on her back had returned to its smooth, delicate state.

"Everything's completely fine now. Let's go, Ruby."

"Huh?"

"Hmm? What's wrong? You don't plan on getting up?"

"N-No, no, no, no! Right away, Master! I'm coming right away!" The moment Ando Meiko said she was taking her out, Ruby, who had still been sleeping, instantly sprang up from the floor full of energy.

Nanako and Fuko had already gotten familiar with each other. Even without Ruby watching over them, Fuko should be able to take care of the little evil goddess without letting her turn into a house-wrecking husky.

This constitution of mine is still too troublesome. If only I could figure out the conditions for being dragged into the Void World.

Ando Meiko had given serious thought to taking Ruby out with her.

Although the hairpin Ruby had given her allowed them to communicate anytime and anywhere like a phone, and Ruby could learn about her current situation through it, the problem was that Ruby needed quite a bit of time to teleport over.

If she were ambushed by a Void Beast and dragged into the Void World again someday, then if her luck ran out, it would be a matter of life and death.

So, until she fully understood the situation, she felt it would be safer to keep Ruby by her side at all times.

After Ando Meiko got dressed, Ruby obediently turned into a necklace and dropped against her chest.

"Hehe, Master's chest is warm and soft. It wraps all around my body. Staying here really is so reassuring."

Having grown accustomed to Ruby's nonsense, Ando Meiko had built up quite a resistance to her verbal attacks. While Ruby entertained herself, she simply ignored her.

"Huh, Master is really cold. Did converting your body into Aether also get rid of all your emotions and desires? I'm already being this direct, yet Master isn't reacting at all."

"If Master is sexually frustrated, you can use my body however you like."

As she spoke, Ruby turned into a point of light and changed from a necklace into a magic wand.

Under Ruby's deliberate control, its tip emitted a buzzing sound from vibrating at an extremely high frequency.

What kind of weird toy was this?

"Only a ghost would react to that. If you could talk a little less nonsense, maybe I'd agree to take you out more often." For the sake of her physical and mental health, she felt it was best to ignore whatever Ruby was trying to imply.

"No way. If you don't let me talk, how am I supposed to express my love anytime and anywhere?"

"Then take your time expressing it."

"Hey, Master, wait for me!"

After washing up and eating breakfast, she grabbed the loving bento Fuko had gotten up early to make for her and hurried out the door.

"I'm heading out." After leaving the house, Ando Meiko looked around. Perhaps because there were still many things to handle at school, Rin was not waiting outside for her today.

But today was the school festival. There were no classes, so she could stroll over at her leisure.

Although she had gone through a hard battle just yesterday, Ando Meiko was very much looking forward to today.

Because today was the day of her three-legged race with Rei. Even during practice, she had barely been able to contain her excitement, and just thinking about it now made her a little thrilled.

She had gotten up a little earlier than usual today and had thought she would arrive early. Yet when she returned to the classroom, she found that she was practically the last to arrive.

Almost all her classmates were already there, and the decorations needed for the school festival had all been set up.

The beautifully decorated Class One had completely changed its appearance, and she had nearly thought she had entered the wrong classroom.

The other students had already formed their own little groups to discuss what they would do next. With few friends, Ando Meiko found herself with nothing to do after returning to her seat.

But the wait did not last long. At last, the long-awaited announcement echoed throughout the campus. "All students, please gather in the auditorium."

The school festival was about to begin.

Ando Meiko, who had been looking out the window all this time, turned back excitedly and discovered that Yuya was staring at her without blinking. His gaze made her feel awkwardly uncomfortable all over.

"What is it, Yuya? Is there something on my face?"

"N-No..." Yuya shook his head, then waved his hands. "I was just wondering what Koichi would think if he found out you got paired with Nakajima Rei. Hahaha, he's wanted to hold her hand for who knows how long, but he's never had any hope of it."

That jab left Ando Meiko speechless.

Bro, do you really want to see me make a fool of myself that badly?

Of course, he could never possibly know that the real Ando Koichi was standing right in front of him—and had even become a petite, adorable girl.

So Ando Meiko smiled, stood up, and walked out of the classroom.

"That guy Koichi... he's been gone for days and hasn't sent me a single message... Where the hell did he go...?"

Yuya's worried tone made her pause. She wanted to say something to him, but in the end, she could only sigh softly and quicken her pace as she left.