Rei smiled and looped her arm around Ando Meiko's, pressing her whole body against Meiko. "Now that you're wearing a maid outfit too, how about it? Want to come help out in our class?"
"Um..." She had wanted to refuse, but when she saw Rei looking at her with such expectant eyes, she couldn't bring herself to say it outright. "If I have time, I'll think about it."
"Great."
"What's great about it? You two, separate already!" Fuko shoved herself between me and Rei, pushing us apart. "I really can't let my guard down for even a second."
"What are you worried about? We're both girls, aren't we?"
"That may be true, but girls should still be reserved!" Fuko glanced at Ando Meiko, seemingly casually. "And Meiko too. If you'd just refused a little, no one would have had the chance to take advantage."
What did this have to do with me? Rei was the one who came over, and I was clearly the victim here.
That was what she thought, but she couldn't say it in front of Fuko. Though she felt like she'd been caught in the crossfire while lying down, she still answered perfunctorily, "Okay, okay, I get it."
"Nanako, is there anywhere you want to go?"
"Eat something tasty!"
Well, she'd wanted to use Nanako as an excuse to change the subject, but Ando Meiko realized that asking was pointless anyway.
This little Evil God was clearly tiny, yet she ate so much. Her mouth hadn't stopped moving since earlier, and she had already eaten more than four times as much as Ando Meiko, yet she still wasn't full and wanted more.
Maybe she could store energy like a camel... If that were true, her stomach would need to be connected to at least a four-dimensional space to hold it all.
Volume One: How I Got Tricked Into Becoming a Magical Girl: Chapter Thirty-Five: Under Repair
"Nanako, you need to watch your nutritional balance too. Don't just eat meat all the time."
Whenever they ate, Nanako would pick out the carrots and green peppers Fuko made and pile them to one side. So when it came to taking care of Nanako, the most troublesome part for her was figuring out how to trick her into eating vegetables.
"No. They're bitter, I don't like them, they taste bad."
"Meiko, you should at least try to persuade her!"
Vegetables weren't bitter, especially not when Fuko had made them.
So Ando Meiko boldly guessed that perhaps the reason Nanako disliked vegetables was simply because this little Evil God was a carnivore.
Of course, she knew what Nanako's true form was, so she wasn't worried at all that this little Evil God would suffer from nutritional imbalance due to picky eating.
But Ando Meiko couldn't explain that to Fuko, nor could she say something like, "If she doesn't want to eat it, just let her be," since that might upset Fuko.
So, in order not to offend either side, she could only remain silent.
"By the way, Fuko, Meiko, who is this child?"
Hearing Rei directly bring up the question she had been wondering about all this time, Rin nodded and asked, "I've wanted to ask since earlier too, but I felt a little embarrassed."
"I'm Big Sister Meiko's little sister!"
Ruby had taught her to say that when she was bored at home while Ando Meiko was at school. Who would have thought it would come in handy so quickly?
"My cousin, my cousin. Her relatives asked me to look after her, and she lives with me now too."
"Huh? I see. Koichi's house is really lively. It makes me want to come stay for a few days."
Hearing that, Fuko smiled. "Doesn't Rin live right next door to us? Even if you came over for dinner every night, that would be fine."
"What a cozy little family. Maybe I should move next door to Meiko's house too. It'd be so lively."
"Rei, don't join in on this nonsense."
The area around Ando Meiko's house was basically all private residences. There wasn't anywhere available for rent. Putting aside how Rei would move there or whether she could afford it, wouldn't a high school student get scolded by her family for moving out on a whim?
"I'm not joking." Seeing the serious look on her face, Ando Meiko almost believed her.
"Let's go. There's still plenty of time, but we shouldn't just stand here chatting."
As they headed together toward the lower-grade classrooms, Rei reached out and tugged on Ando Meiko's sleeve.
"What is it? Don't tell me Rei needs to use the bathroom?"
"No! I suddenly remembered something I need to deal with. I'll leave for a while, then I'll meet up with you later."
"I see. In that case, taking care of your own business comes first."
"Thanks, Meiko. You really are considerate."
Rin, who was at the front, secretly looked back. When she saw that only Ando Meiko was following behind, she stopped and asked in confusion, "Big Sister Meiko, why are you alone? Where's Big Sister Rei?"
"She said she had something to take care of. She told us to look around first, and she'll come meet up with us later."
"Okay, then let's ignore her for now and go in here first!" Rin pointed at the classroom beside her, standing with her hands on her hips somewhat proudly.
The classroom Rin pointed to was her own, and Ando Meiko had spent a year there as well, so the place wasn't unfamiliar to her.
A girl in plain clothes stepped out from behind the door. Seeing Rin standing at the entrance, she came over to greet her. "Rin, you brought friends to watch?"
"Yeah."
"But unfortunately, it just ended."
Rin's class had put on a stage play, but they had arrived too late. The performance had just ended, and there wouldn't be another one for a while.
"What a shame. It would've been nice if we'd come earlier."
"Don't worry. We have plenty of time, so we can keep looking around. We can wait for Rei to come back and watch it together too."
"Big Sister Meiko is right. There are two more shows this afternoon. We'll come back after meeting up with Big Sister Rei."
"Want to go take a look at Big Sister Meiko's class?"
"Yeah, Meiko, what activity is your class doing?"
"Ah, um..." The expectant gazes of the two girls made Ando Meiko awkward. "S-Sorry, I don't know either."
The activity had actually been decided a month ago, back when she had still been practically invisible.
After becoming a girl, her status in class had clearly improved quite a bit, but she still hadn't been assigned any work. It could be said that she knew nothing at all about her own class.
"It's the school festival, but it feels like it has nothing to do with me. They never asked me to help, so I don't know what activity they're doing either."
"I see." Rin thought for a moment, then suggested, "In that case, let's go take a look at Big Sister Meiko's class."
"Sure, I want to see Meiko's class too." Naturally, Nanako, who had obediently been following along, had no opinion about the decision of the two girls.
However, the closer they got to her class, the more Ando Meiko could hear strange music.
Only when they got closer did she realize that the music was coming from her classroom. The three girls leaned over to look, and the source was a set of audio equipment placed in the corner.
And everyone in the class was actually dancing.
"How should I put this? Meiko's classmates are really... an interesting bunch."
"Really? Isn't it a little strange for the upperclassmen to be doing this... And did they properly apply to the school for the audio equipment?"
What she saw had already exceeded what her heart could bear. Without another word, she turned around and led the other three girls away. Right now, she only wanted to get away from this troublesome place as quickly as possible.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible. The boys were one thing, but why were all the girls dancing too? What was this? Were my classmates really all people like this?
There was no need to ask whose sound equipment it was. It had definitely been brought by Yuya, that guy whose thought process was a little abnormal. But after seeing this scene, it was basically impossible to get Ando Meiko to go back.
"Mm..."
"What's wrong, Fuko?"
"I'm going to pick a little flower..."
"Pick flowers? There aren't any around here. You'd have to go outside, and what are you picking flowers for?"
"Mm! I mean I'm going to the bathroom! Meiko, you're a girl now, so you should pay more attention to things like that!" Fuko puffed out her cheeks and deliberately emphasized the point to Ando Meiko.
Even without Fuko telling her, Ando Meiko knew that much herself. But she had only become a girl recently, so she still hadn't gotten used to it, especially certain special expressions women used.
Fuko was right. When she got back, she needed to study them properly.
"I'll come too. I drank so much just now that I'm getting a little desperate."
"Then I'll go with you." Rin, who had come to visit Ando Meiko's class with anticipation, was resisting too. Like the other two girls, she wanted to escape this place.
But when Ando Meiko and the others reached the restroom, they saw that the restroom on that floor had been cordoned off by scaffolding.
Seeing the large words "Under Repair" on the notice, Fuko looked inside. "Everything in there seems to have been destroyed. Who was so lacking in public decency that they wrecked the restroom?"
"W-Who knows." Faced with the condemnation of her conscience, Ando Meiko could only cover her face and play dumb.
Volume One: How I Got Tricked Into Becoming a Magical Girl: Chapter Thirty-Six: Singularity
"It says it's under repair, Big Sister Fuko. How about we go downstairs?"
"Sure."
Under repair, huh...
This was the restroom Ando Meiko had destroyed during the battle. The reason it was under repair was also because it had been affected by her magic.
In the Void World, she had blown up the entire restroom. Ando Meiko was curious just how much of that destruction had manifested in the Reality World.
Of course, curiosity was one thing, but she couldn't exactly ignore the sign and barge in.
When she turned to catch up with the other three, who had already left ahead of her, and reached the stairs beneath the corner, an inexplicable stifling sensation suddenly rose in her chest.
[Ruby?]
[What is it, Master?]
[Do you feel anything?]
[Feel anything?]
With Ruby releasing a faint trace of magic, the necklace gave off a dim red glow. It only lasted a few seconds before Ruby's voice reached Ando Meiko's mind.
[No, Master, I don't feel anything. But if you want to investigate further, I'm afraid we'll have to enter the Void World.]
[Then forget it if we have to enter the Void World.]
Even Ruby couldn't sense it. What was this feeling?
Ando Meiko subconsciously looked back, fixing her gaze in one direction. She felt as though something indescribable was drawing her there, making her want to go take a look no matter what.
After glancing back at Fuko and the other two, who had already disappeared from sight, Ando Meiko left the stairs and followed her instincts toward that direction.
[Master, what is it? Is there something in that direction?]
Ando Meiko shook her head. She wasn't sure either, but she continued down the path until she reached a windowsill at the end of the corridor.
She opened the window and looked outside. A retro-looking building entered her sight—the Kendo Club she had once accidentally entered while following Rei.
"Strange. That building feels pretty big, but I haven't seen it at all until now. What's going on?"
She had thought there was something strange about it even back then. Even if all the rooms inside had the same layout, the Kendo Club wasn't that large. It shouldn't have been possible to get so lost inside.
Thinking about it now, though, she felt a little sorry for the child inside named Edogawa Marugō.
"But what is this feeling that's guiding me there?"
[Why not go take a look? Don't worry, Master. If anything happens, just use me.]
[You're so reliable, Ruby.]
She had no intention of finding Fuko and Rin first. If she went to tell them, she probably wouldn't be able to leave.
After making up her mind, she immediately went down the stairs, avoided the crowded areas based on her memories from not long ago, and made her way to the entrance of the Kendo Club.
Even though it was the school festival, there wasn't a single person around this especially conspicuous Kendo Club. No matter how she thought about it, that wasn't normal.
"So this is where Master came before?"
"Ruby, what's going on here?"
"This is a Singularity. I never expected such a place to be hidden in Master's school."
"A Singularity?"
"To be more specific, it's like the Interlayer Space where Nanako was before: a Subspace sandwiched between the Void World and the Reality World."
She hadn't expected this space to be exactly like the one where she had encountered Nanako.
Looking at it that way, the reason she could see the Kendo Club was most likely because of her Half-Aether Body again.
Perhaps in other people's eyes, this Kendo Club was actually nothing more than an empty lot. Not only could they not see it, they would simply pass straight through it when walking by.
"Does Master want to go inside and take a look?"
Before you continue