Magical Girl? I Got Tricked into It! Chapter 4

"Hehehe, Ando too—huh? No, wait, how did you know my name? I never told you."

Crap, crap! I said it without thinking...

The sudden question made her feel as though she had been thrown into a stampeding herd of alpacas.

"Uh, no, it's just that my brother talks about you a lot. He says you're his best friend."

"So you're Koichi's little sister. You're an Ando too... so this so-called substitute student is taking your brother's place in class."

Ando Meiko remembered explaining that the moment she came in. This guy really never listened to people.

Yuya seemed to want to say something else as he leaned his face closer toward Ando Koichi.

In the past, she probably would have slapped him across the face. But before she could do anything, a piece of chalk struck Yuya squarely on the head with the momentum of a rocket blasting through the clouds.

The principal's punishment made Yuya restrain himself somewhat.

Since the principal was the teacher, everyone quietly finished the morning class. Then the bell rang, and after the principal left...

Just like a scene copied from a game she had played, all the students gathered around at this time, bombarding the transfer student with questions.

Where are you from? Why are you temporarily filling in for someone? Questions like those came one after another.

With no interest in answering them, Ando Koichi could only smile at them, filtering out the lecherous looks and expressions from some of the boys. She only answered when one or two questions caught her interest.

With class after class passing by, enduring the curiosity of classmates she had known for two years and her buddy's constant verbal teasing, time passed much faster than she had expected.

Volume One: The Thing About Being Tricked into Becoming a Magical Girl: Chapter Five: The Magical Girl's Natural Enemy

On the way home after school, Ando Meiko was like a deflated balloon. She had thought that, since she knew everything about the school, dealing with it as a girl would be easy.

Knowing something yet having to pretend not to know it turned out to be incredibly difficult.

It made her truly appreciate just how skilled professional actors were.

"Today was exhausting." Both physically and mentally.

A sudden strange sound made the exhausted Ando Meiko perk up slightly. Instinctively, she began searching for its source.

But apart from the road and the walls around her, there was only the small public park beside them.

Maybe the sound had come from inside there. But there was nothing there. Still, at this time of day, surely there should have been at least someone around?

Ando Meiko thought as much...

Although her intuition told her something was definitely wrong, and instinct kept urging her to leave, curiosity killed the cat—and humans were no exception.

She slowly walked toward the small park, until...

"Huh? M-my foot? Why did my foot disappear?"

The foot she stepped into the park with vanished mysteriously, yet she could still feel it firmly touching the ground. She tried pulling it back, and the vanished part returned along with the motion.

"Could this little park be covered by some barrier I can't see?"

Ruby, the one who claimed to be a magic wand, had said that one of a magical girl's enemies was called a Void Creature.

Did that mean entering this place meant entering the void? Or perhaps some other invisible space?

She reached her hand forward again. The moment it crossed into the park's boundary, Ando Meiko saw her hand disappear as well. That made it obvious enough.

Should she walk in, or should she leave? Those two choices lay before her.

Going in would mean accepting her identity and fate as a magical girl. But why should she accept such a bizarre premise?

Besides, why should she take that magic wand's word for it and accept becoming a magical girl with embarrassment levels off the charts?

So Ando Meiko stopped wavering. She stopped hesitating. At that moment, her mind felt incomparably clear.

"To hell with magical girls. Once my body finishes merging with magic power and turns back into Ando Koichi, I'll start over with my ordinary li—"

Before she could finish, an impact from behind instantly plunged her into despair. The shove threw her off balance, and her entire body fell into the barrier.

"Huh? I think I just bumped into someone... Why did she disappear? Maybe I was imagining it."

That voice was not unfamiliar to Ando Meiko, but she was in no state to think about that now.

After getting back up, she tried to leave through where she had entered. But all she found where she had fallen in was a solid wall.

What was that sound now? Still driven by instinct, she slowly turned around.

In the dark space that had gone unnoticed until now, thick things like hemp ropes swayed in the shadows.

Something resembling insects also seemed to be wriggling across the ground toward where she stood.

Drip. Drip...

The unsettling sound of liquid dripping made her back away, but her back soon struck the barrier wall. Only then did Ando Meiko realize she had nowhere left to retreat.

A rope-like object shot toward her face at incredible speed. She jerked her head aside and focused her gaze, and the sight made her pupils constrict with terror.

"T-t-t-t-tentacles?! You've got to be kidding me!"

A drop of slime fell from the end of a tentacle onto her shoulder, and she finally understood what the dripping sound had been.

Yes, those strands she had mistaken for hemp ropes in the darkness were Tentacle Creatures, known as the "natural enemy of magical girls."

She swallowed hard. No matter how afraid she was, Ando Meiko did not dare let her body move—or even tremble—in the slightest.

The tentacle slowly moved toward her before finally touching her face. It slid across her skin as if caressing it, leaving behind disgusting slime.

Where was Ruby? Where was my magic wand? Come save me already!

Only after crying out in her heart did she remember that she had left Ruby at home. She had left her magic wand at home because she did not want it causing trouble!

As her thoughts ran wild, she also figured out two things.

First, she finally understood why the heroines in magical girl anime and games always froze when they encountered tentacles.

Back then, she had pointed at those heroines who were so easily captured by tentacles and laughed at them. They could obviously run, yet they refused to. Looking at herself now, she really did owe them an apology.

Second, of course, was the sensation of being touched by slimy tentacles. It was something one simply could not understand without experiencing it firsthand.

Still, she felt that things were not that simple. She did not know whether the slime was poisonous or contained some other strange substance.

Of course, it could also have been fear. Either way, Ando Meiko had felt her body trembling beyond her control ever since earlier.

Magical girls, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have laughed at you! Please bless me and help me get through this. Don't let those tentacles devour me completely!

The electric sensation faded. Perhaps because she had stayed completely still, it had decided she was not alive. Watching the tentacle slowly pull back, she finally let out a breath of relief.

Was I saved? Could my prayer just now have worked?

Her heart was still uneasy, but Ando Meiko suddenly realized that thought was basically a flag, wasn't it?

No, it shouldn't be. This wasn't some anime world. Where would all these flags come from?

She did not even dare breathe, only silently telling herself comforting words.

Whether it counted as a flag or not, the tentacle that had retreated less than two meters suddenly shot toward her like a frog's tongue striking at prey.

She knew perfectly well that this thing was serious. If she stayed where she was, she would be an idiot.

She dove to the side, and the tentacle struck the barrier wall behind where Ando Meiko had just been standing with a loud smack.

Ando Meiko did not relax after dodging the attack. Anyone familiar with this genre knew that a Tentacle Creature definitely had more than one tentacle... In the darkness alone, she had already seen dozens of "hemp ropes" waving around.

Several sharp whistles tore out of the depths of the darkness, but as Ando Meiko moved, every one of them struck the wall behind her.

She could not help feeling secretly pleased.

Tentacle Creatures had simple attack patterns and simple ways of thinking. In short, they were just plain stupid. As long as I find a way out of here, I'll...

But before she could laugh, she seemed to kick something and stumble. Her body slipped, and she lost control as she pitched forward.

Falling down while running away basically meant it was over.

Sure enough, before Ando Meiko could get back up, the tentacles chasing her had already wrapped around her ankle.

No, no, no, no, no!

She could not stop herself from screaming in both heart and voice. Her fingers desperately tried to claw into the ground, but those disgusting things still lifted her directly into the air.

"Don't!"

Volume One: The Thing About Being Tricked into Becoming a Magical Girl: Chapter Six: Invincibility During Transformation Is the First Law

Even though she desperately twisted and struggled, trying to break free from the tentacle gripping her ankle, everything she did was futile. The next moment, several more sharp whistles sounded.

Her other limbs were bound as well. The wet, slippery slime disgusted her beyond measure, yet she could not escape the tentacles' restraints at all.

Next came that... that, right? No, no, no! I don't want this! I don't want to experience tentacles like this!

But forget breaking free—she could not even move her hands and feet.

Especially after her body had become that of a girl, her strength had weakened considerably. Yet after becoming an Ether Body, she should have possessed physical abilities beyond those of ordinary people.

Then the terrible thing finally came. Slippery, greasy tentacles wriggled up along her legs. Ando Meiko lowered her head and saw those disgusting things bulging beneath her clothes, leaving moving trails.

That tingling sensation—although her body had become female, she was still a boy in spirit, and she absolutely could not accept it.

Her eyes instantly filled with despair.

This was different. Completely different from the magical girls she had imagined. Completely different from the magical girls Ruby had described.

Ruby said her mission was to defeat Void Creatures and save the world.

At that moment, although Ando Meiko had been unwilling because she only wanted an ordinary life, she really had imagined herself shouting an embarrassing transformation chant, changing into a beautiful miniskirt, wearing white stockings, swinging her magic wand to unleash powerful spells, and triggering a story event to change forms whenever she faced an enemy she could not defeat.

That was how it was supposed to be—a beautiful yet ordinary wish.

In the end, it came down to one thing: even if she really intended to live as a magical girl, she should have been a normal magical girl, not some annoying supporting girl in an anime who could do nothing but scream.

Inside this barrier, everything was futile. No matter how loudly she screamed, no one would come save her. No one would come help her.

The tentacles continued wriggling upward. The tentacles binding her ankles had already crawled onto her thighs. Closing her eyes and turning her head away, Ando Meiko shed a tear of humiliation.

She only hoped whatever might happen next would end quickly. The sensation was disgusting, yet so real... so... won... wonderful?

I actually think this feels kind of good? Has my mind broken down before my body did?

"Meiko... Meiko!"

"Who... That voice sounds familiar... Are you here to save me?"

"No. The only one who can save you is yourself."

"Myself... That's impossible. I feel like my body is about to become a breeding ground..."

"Magical girl, open your eyes."

Her only salvation was to obey that command. Ando Meiko opened her eyes, and besides the tentacles around her, she saw a lively pair of red twin tails.

"Ruby?" Ruby floated toward her through the black space and reached out both hands.

"Come, my master. Shout my name aloud!"

The despair in her eyes instantly sharpened. As though she had grasped a lifeline, she stretched out her hand with all her strength and finally clasped Ruby's.

"Blessing of Ruby! Gather the Radiant Stone Power—magical girl, transform!"

Along with a special transformation sound effect, the red gemstone necklace on Ando Meiko's chest suddenly appeared. White light burst from the gem, covering her entire body while driving away all the tentacles.

A red-and-white hair ornament tied her red hair into twin tails. Her ruined clothes completely disappeared, reforming into a combat outfit with a three-layered miniskirt, covering the girl beneath the concealment of Holy Light.

The tentacles tried to interrupt Ando Meiko before she could finish transforming, surging toward her like a tidal wave. Yet every single one was repelled by the white light enveloping her outermost layer.

"Don't worry, invincibility during transformation is the first law of magical girls!"

Ruby's reminder filled her with confidence. After all, a magical girl with invincibility during her transformation sequence could not be that bad, right?

At last came Ruby's true form: a luxurious magic wand made of pure gold and set with a red gemstone framed in gold at its tip.