Magical Girl? I Got Tricked Into It!

If she could keep this form, she would not have to suffer every day.

After the bell rang, Ms. Ci did not begin class as usual. After handing out the registration forms for the test, she told the class to study on their own while waiting for notice that their class could begin testing.

Before long, a teacher at the door gestured to Ms. Ci. Seeing the signal, she led the entire class to the gymnasium.

The fitness test was divided into physical assessments and running assessments. While the girls underwent their physical assessments in the gymnasium, the boys would first head to the track for their running assessments.

So midway through, Ando Meiko and the others' PE teacher came over to take charge of the boys' group.

Come to think of it, was it really okay for me to just follow them in like this...? No... what could possibly be wrong with it! I was a bona fide girl now!

Volume One: How I Got Tricked Into Becoming a Magical Girl: Chapter Forty-Six: Fitness Test

"Next, Ando Meiko."

"Here."

The first event was sit-ups. She lay down in the designated spot, and once the teacher announced the start, a classmate helping out held down her legs as she steadily raised her score.

"Wow! That's amazing!"

"That doll-like girl is so strong. She's already hit the score limit, right? And she still looks like she has plenty left in her."

"She's incredible. Is that girl really human?"

Hearing the voices around her, she turned her head toward the other side in confusion and happened to see Kajieliena lying beside her, doing sit-ups at five times her speed.

In the brief moment she watched, Kajieliena's count had already gone up by ten.

"Is... is she human?" The terrifying amount of exercise had frightened the girls around her, and even the teacher was left staring in astonishment.

Perhaps sensing the strange looks around her, Kajieliena stopped at just the right time. "I'm out of strength. Calculate my score."

"Eh... uh, o-okay..." The student recording her score registered it with a blank look on her face.

In the following side-step jumps and vaulting-horse jumps, Kajieliena crushed everyone in the gymnasium, including the teachers, in equally astonishing fashion.

The final indoor event was the grip strength test. Ando Meiko thought that she would at least restrain herself here, right?

The result was... under her "abuse," the grip tester's needle instantly hit the maximum, and she still seemed to have strength to spare.

She realized she no longer knew how to comment on this. This was just an ordinary fitness test, so was it really necessary to stay transformed in public?

Compared to her, I'm way too weak, aren't I? I'm supposed to be a bona fide magical girl too, aren't I?

After the grip strength test, the girls moved outside for the second event, the running test. It was only then that Ando Meiko got close to Kajieliena and discreetly poked her in the back.

"Meizi?"

"Kajieliena, at least hold back a little! At this rate, you're going to become the center of attention for the whole school."

"Is that so? I was merely taking the test normally."

"You went overboard! Didn't you see the looks around you? You've become Superman in those girls' eyes."

Kajieliena nodded slightly to indicate that she would follow Ando Meiko's advice. "It is indeed troublesome. I understand. I'll pay attention later."

The result of her paying a little attention was an astonishing 6.2 seconds in the fifty-meter sprint.

The women's world record for fifty meters was 5.96 seconds. In other words, if she wanted to, she could break that so-called record anytime.

Ando Meiko's performance, meanwhile, was much more normal. With the weakness in her legs almost fully recovered, she ran for all she was worth and only managed 9.7 seconds, barely missing the passing mark.

After learning that this girl had nearly broken the fifty-meter world record and maxed out a grip strength tester, even the boys no longer dared approach her. Kajieliena thus obtained the peace and quiet she wanted most.

Yet the shock she had caused remained in Ando Meiko's heart. Even after returning home, she was still thinking about what she had asked Kajieliena before leaving.

"Kajieliena, did you transform?"

"No. Even without transforming, our bodies are made of Ether Body. Things like this are easy to do without transforming."

Things she could do easily without transforming were perhaps things Ando Meiko could not accomplish even after transforming. Compared to Kajieliena, she was absurdly weak, wasn't she?

All she could say was that there were differences even among magical girls, and this difference was far from small.

"Sigh." Ando Meiko let out a soft sigh and glanced at the calendar beside the television.

Tomorrow was the weekend. Thinking that she had nothing important to do this weekend, she decided to go borrow some books from the large library.

After all, the school library did not have everything.

"Fuko, let's go out tomorrow." She brought it up during dinner.

After all, she could not possibly just borrow a book and immediately go home with so much time available, could she?

"Eh? Sure! It's rare for Meizi to invite me out. I can't refuse such a warm invitation!"

"How are things at school? Did they notify you?"

"Yeah, they only sent the message this morning. I have to go back to school the Monday after next. I'm going to miss you so much."

Ando Meiko waved off Fuko's act and continued, "What are you talking about? Isn't going back to school a good thing? You haven't studied in so long. Be careful not to fail your grades and get held back while everyone else graduates."

"That won't happen."

It was indeed unlikely. Fuko's grades were much better than she had imagined. She could probably make up for the schoolwork she had neglected during this time in less than a day.

After dinner, Ando Meiko returned to her room and rummaged through boxes and cabinets, looking for something she did not even know where she had put.

"Master, what are you looking for?"

"My phone. I never used it before because I didn't want to expose my identity, but now I've realized that without a phone, I can't even contact home when I need to."

"Your phone is under the computer desk, pressed beneath some documents."

"How did you know?" She was somewhat surprised, but she still opened the cabinet as Ruby had said and found her phone beneath a stack of hand-drawn papers calculating game progression.

"I'm the one who cleans Master's room! Of course I know."

So that was it... I always thought Fuko cleaned my room. So Ruby had been doing things like this behind my back?

"Ruby..."

"Hmm?"

"Once Fuko goes back, you can live here in human form."

"Eh?" Ruby froze for a moment, then suddenly transformed into human form and threw herself into Ando Meiko's arms. "I've waited so long for this moment. This is wonderful, Master, truly wonderful. As expected, I love you the most..."

"Hey, hey, what do you mean you've waited a long time for this moment? Fuko won't be leaving until the Monday after next."

Pushing Ruby aside, she found a data cable. After charging her phone for a while, she turned it on. Following the familiar startup animation, the phone that had not been used for some time lit up once more.

The instant it connected to the internet, the phone began chiming with message alerts nonstop. Just as Ando Meiko wondered whether it had malfunctioned, hundreds of messages instantly filled the inbox.

Confused, she scrolled through the messages one by one, scrolling for a long time before finally reaching the end.

Aside from the few bragging messages and greetings from her parents, who were already out traveling, every other message had come from only two people.

Concern from Sawamura Rin, and Hirata Yuya's message bombardment.

Volume One: How I Got Tricked Into Becoming a Magical Girl: Chapter Forty-Seven: Going Out for a While

"Bro, where did you go? How did you disappear without saying a word?"

"Bro, if you see this, reply to me. I'm really worried about you."

"The girl who came to class in your place is your cousin? Where did you find such a cute bargain-bin cousin?"

"She called my name as soon as she saw me. Did you tell her about our relationship? If so, that really helped me out."

"I feel like I might kind of like her. Could you introduce me to her after you come back?"

"Hey, it's been two days. Where are you? No matter what, you should have time to look at your phone."

"Are you in some kind of trouble? If you are, just say the word if you need help. What kind of relationship do we have?"

"Hey, did something really happen to you? If I can't help, I can use my dad's connections."

The familiar message bombardment. Although none had received a reply, dozens still came in every day. Yuya seemed to have treated her inbox like a place to vent.

But his actions made Ando Meiko feel warm inside.

"Koichi, where did you go? Meizi said you had something to deal with, but why have you disappeared without any news at all?"

"Are you... still there? If something happened, please make sure to ask me for help. If it's you, Koichi, I won't refuse."

She had thought she and Rin had grown distant, but seeing one greeting like this every day, she realized that had only been her wishful thinking. Perhaps the days she had spent shut away at home had clouded her view for too long.

With such good friends, she felt she had nothing more to ask for in this life.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I've just been tied up with some things. Meizi is a very good person, so just treat her the way you would treat me."

This was the message she sent Rin. Although she copied and pasted it, when sending it to Yuya, she deliberately added, "By the way, Meizi has a boyfriend. You'd better think carefully before making a move, or you might end up making her dislike you."

"Huh? Koichi? Holy crap, it's you? You finally decided to show yourself? But Meizi really has a boyfriend? I don't think that matters, though. As long as she isn't married, I still have a chance, right?"

Was this brat trying to be some homewrecker? Ando Meiko cursed inwardly.

"Koichi? That's great, you finally replied. It's good that you're okay. I was worried sick when you never answered. Where are you now?"

Both of them replied instantly. Naturally, Ando Meiko merely read their messages without responding. It was best to leave things at that. If she continued chatting, it would not benefit her current situation.

The next day, before leaving, Ando Meiko used the cosmetics Fuko had given her and the makeup techniques Fuko had taught her to dress herself up a little, then put on the clothes Fuko had gifted her.

Fuko had intended to give her several outfits long ago so she would not have to keep wearing cosplay costumes, but the clothes had been too large for her back then.

It had not even been that long, yet Fuko had unexpectedly altered them to fit her body perfectly.

What kind of perfect housewife was this? She was far too skillful.

"Let's go!" Standing at the door, Fuko waved at Ando Meiko, who was locking up.

"We're just going out for a casual stroll. Is there really any need to be so dramatic?"

"Hehe, we can't take this casually. We have to properly make up for those two times at the amusement park and the school festival!"

"That's true... Nanako, let's go."

"Let's go! Time to eat something tasty!" Nanako wrapped herself around her arm and followed her and Fuko out of the house.

Ando Meiko lived in a rather remote area, and there was no large library nearby. To borrow books, she had to take the train past several stations to the city center. That was why she had invited Fuko to go out with her.

"It's been a long time since I came here. It still feels so familiar, and there are just as many people as before."

"Your school is nearby, isn't it? It only takes a few minutes by train. Isn't that much more convenient than for me?"

"Mm, there's everything for sale near my house, and I don't really have friends to go shopping with, except Meizi, of course."

Fuko blinked her large eyes at her. From that gesture, it was obvious she had not meant Meizi, but her other identity.

I appreciate the thought, but if I really did that, I'm afraid people would mistake you for this shut-in's girlfriend.

"Why did Meizi suddenly think of coming here?"

"Can't I just want to go shopping with you?"

"Of course you can. Hehe, Meizi is so sweet."

Seeing how happily Fuko smiled, she decided to swallow the latter half of her sentence: Actually, I was just planning to go to the library and take a look around while I was at it.

If she said it outright, she would be the one lacking in romance. Shopping was shopping; as for borrowing books, she could wait until they were ready to head back. It was not like she could carry several thick books around everywhere.

She asked Fuko where she wanted to go, and Fuko's answer was the arcade.

Standing at the arcade entrance and looking at all the different game machines lined up there, Ando Meiko could not help recalling the first time she had come here with Fuko.

She had loved playing games since childhood. Of course, as she had grown older, her taste in games had changed from hot-blooded action games to girl-raising games.

There were many more snack shops around than before, so before they went in to play, they bought Nanako plenty of food and had her follow obediently.

As long as she had food, she listened so well. Ando Meiko was afraid that one day Nanako would be lured away by some strange old man with a single lollipop.

"Do you remember this?"

The game on the machine was Street Fighter, another true classic. The two-player battle mode was something she and Fuko had played since childhood, except Fuko, who had no talent for games, had never beaten her even once.

"Of course. I haven't forgotten how someone cried after I beat her ten times in a row and ran to complain to her mom about me."

"Eh! That was ages ago. I'm really strong now."

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that. In that case, let's play a few rounds."

The result of becoming really strong was nine consecutive losses after all these years. Fuko's cheeks puffed up more with every match. If Ando Meiko kept winning, she might not have dinner tonight.