Magical Girl? I Got Scammed Into It!

"Clearly, that last thing was unnecessary, okay?"

"How could it be? If I hadn't come here, how would I have gotten to see such a wonderful scene?"

Seeing Fuko's bright smile, Ando Meiko had nothing to say. She could only let Fuko do as she pleased. As long as she was happy, that was fine.

"Come to think of it, whose child is this? Why did you bring her home?"

"She's..."

Just as she was about to explain why she had become like this and introduce Nanako's identity, Ruby's consciousness interrupted Ando Meiko at just the right moment.

[Master, it would be best not to reveal your identity so casually. Otherwise, even if that person does not live in this kind of world, fate may still interfere with them to some extent.]

Ruby's meaning was already clear. If Fuko learned that she was a magical girl, Fuko's life might be affected by her and fall apart as well.

Since she knew that, she had to keep it hidden.

Ando Meiko hurriedly changed her words and made up an identity for Nanako as well.

"She's a friend's little sister. A lot of things happened to my friend's family, so Nanako is staying at my place for the time being."

"I see. Meizi, you really have it rough too."

"Mei... Why are you calling me that too?"

"So I can get used to it. What if I accidentally call you that at an inappropriate time?"

"That makes sense."

After dinner, Ando Meiko had originally planned to clean up, but Fuko took care of all the chores herself, saying it was rent for staying here.

Since someone wanted to do it, Ando Meiko was naturally happy to take it easy.

As for the sleeping arrangements, she planned to have Nanako sleep with her for a while.

Before Nanako had fully adjusted to life here, letting her leave her side was simply too dangerous.

"I'm so tired..." Standing before the wardrobe and looking at herself in the mirror, Ando Meiko let out a deep sigh.

So much had already happened on the first day. How was she supposed to get through the days ahead?

"Meow..."

After changing into her pajamas, Ando Meiko turned around and found Yue already lying on the bed.

Normally, she would not have minded letting it sleep with her, but there was one more person now. If Yue slept here too, there would not be enough room.

Ando Meiko reached out to move Yue off the bed, but the little cat actually turned around and smacked her hand away with its paw.

"Huh? What's wrong, Yue?"

"You idiot. Don't disturb my rest."

Nanako's affected voice sounded by her ear.

"Huh? Nanako, what are you saying?"

"It wasn't Nanako talking. It was Yue."

Seeing Nanako point at Yue, Ando Meiko was inwardly shocked. Could this little Evil God actually understand animals?

"Nanako, can you understand what Yue is saying?"

"Mm."

"Meow..." After letting out a cry, Yue rolled over and continued sleeping.

"Ugh... Nanako didn't even do anything. Why does it hate me?"

"Yue said it hates you?"

Nanako nodded. Tears welled up in her large eyes, and Ando Meiko could tell she was about to cry. Naturally, she could not refuse to help her.

Maybe it was an animal's instinct. Perhaps that instinct told it Nanako was not an Earth species, so it disliked her?

Ignoring Yue's resistance, she picked it up and held it in front of her. "Yue, that's not okay. Nanako is my little sister. You need to treat her nicely."

After meowing impatiently a few times, it broke free from her hands and returned to the bed, where it lay down quietly. It seemed it had no intention of leaving.

"Forget it, Nanako. Go sleep with Yue."

She had originally planned to sleep together with Nanako, but since the bed had already been occupied by a little cat, the remaining space could only fit one person.

She took out a bedding set for sleeping on the floor from the cabinet where miscellaneous items were stored. Only after painstakingly setting it up did she finally get the chance to sleep peacefully.

After going through so much all day, I still have to sleep on the floor when I get home at night? When will this miserable life ever end?

Because she was so exhausted, even though she was sleeping on a hard floor, Ando Meiko quickly fell asleep and did not wake until daylight.

"Wahahaha! Today, today is the second day!"

The first thing she did upon opening her eyes was throw back her head and shout to the heavens. The long and difficult first day after becoming a girl had finally passed.

"Mm, Meizi, you're so noisy." A tentacle swept over and wrapped around Ando Meiko's mouth, preventing her from making any more sound.

Helplessly pulling away Nanako's tentacle, she looked at Nanako, who was sleeping soundly in her arms, and at the other one sleeping comfortably beside her hand... Ruby?

Never mind how Nanako had clearly slept on the bed but somehow came down here. Ruby, who had returned to human form, had somehow ended up lying beside her too.

Still, compared to what had happened yesterday, these were trivial matters.

After gently pushing Ruby and Nanako aside, she crawled out from behind the bedding and covered them with the blanket again.

Just as Ando Meiko was about to change clothes, she noticed a girls' school uniform from her school hanging on the wardrobe.

"What's going on? Didn't it get torn apart?" While she was still wondering, she spotted a note beside it. The handwriting on it was very neat.

Master, I already repaired the school uniform that was damaged before the battle. So, isn't Ruby useful? You can praise me more if you want.

Even though it was only text, she could vividly imagine that unreliable magic wand's smug expression and pose as it begged for praise.

She gave a silent chuckle, took the uniform off its hanger, then helplessly shook her head as she looked at Ruby's terrible sleeping posture.

For the magic wand that had forcibly tricked her into signing a contract and becoming a magical girl, forget thanking it—she was already being kind by not cracking its skull open.

But what could she do? What had happened had happened, and nothing she said could undo it now.

That saying online was cliché, but at this moment, it suited her perfectly. Something like: "If life screws you and you can't resist, you might as well learn to enjoy it."

She had already decided not to fight as a magical girl anymore. In that case, experiencing life as a girl for a while was not necessarily a bad thing, right?

After getting dressed and washing up, she arrived in the kitchen to find that Fuko had already made breakfast and was now preparing a lunchbox. It made Ando Meiko, who had rarely gotten up early, feel a little grateful.

"Meizi, why are you up?"

"Hmm? What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"Do you remember when we were kids? At this time, you used to sleep like a log. No matter how hard people called you, you wouldn't wake up."

"Yeah, yeah. I only just found out that some childhood friends wake people up by pouring ice cubes into their clothes."

Seeing that Fuko wanted to continue, Ando Meiko waved a hand and interrupted her.

"Don't talk about childhood stuff. I got up this early because my parents are traveling. I was planning to make lunch too while I was at it."

Since starting at this school, she had basically never gone to the cafeteria. She did not like crowded places, so if she did not get up to make food in the morning, she would have to go hungry at noon.

"It's fine. Since Uncle and Auntie aren't home, leave breakfast to me."

Fuko smiled and gave a thumbs-up, wearing an expression that said, 'Leave it to big sis and everything will be fine.' At least for a moment, Ando Meiko felt that she looked very dependable.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave it all to you. That means I can sleep a little later too."

The moment sleep was mentioned, drowsiness immediately washed over her. Forcing herself to stay awake, she simply sat at the table and ate her breakfast.

This tasted much better than before. The seasoning was completely tailored to her preferences.

Fuko placed the last piece of rolled omelet into a pink lunchbox, closed and packed it, then clapped her hands. "All right. Now that the lunch is done, it's time to enjoy breakfast with Meizi, just the two of us."

She shot Fuko, who was sitting beside her, a glance. She did not understand why eating breakfast with her counted as enjoyment. Girls really were impossible to understand.

She quietly finished the food on her plate. Since Fuko seemed to be eating happily, she did not interrupt her, not until she finished the last sip of milk.

"I'm full."

"Mm. Meizi, just focus on school. Leave all the housework to me."

Before leaving, Ando Meiko deliberately returned to her room.

The most troublesome issue right now was what to do with Nanako. She could not bring her to school, but if she left her with Fuko, who knew whether Nanako would casually lash out at strangers with her tentacles?

"Don't worry, Master. I'll take good care of Nanako." Ruby, still rubbing her eyes, spoke to her in a sleepy voice.

If that was the case, that would be great.

Since she had no other choice, she was leaving Nanako with this trashy magic wand she did not even trust herself. Honestly, Ando Meiko was not very reassured, but once Fuko and Nanako became familiar with each other, things should get much better.

"Nanako, stay home and listen carefully to Sister Ruby and Sister Fuko, okay?"

"Okay, Sister."

"Meow..."

"I'm counting on you to watch the house too, Yue. Don't run off to play during this time. I don't have time to look after so many people at once."

"I'll take care of Yue too."

Ruby rarely patted her chest and made a promise. Ando Meiko felt as though her burden had suddenly become much lighter. Since Ruby had repaired her uniform and agreed to take care of Nanako and the kitten, she would tentatively believe it was a good magic wand capable of sharing its master's burdens.

By the time she left the house, Sawamura Rin was already waiting at the entrance.

"Rin? Why are you here?"

"Didn't we agree to go to school together?"

Did we?

She did not remember making any such arrangement with Rin yesterday.

But after thinking about it, she decided to let it go. Going to school together might help her avoid the trouble of getting hit on while walking alone.

So she went along with Rin as they walked down the steps. "I guess that did happen. We're heading the same way anyway, so going to school together is fine."

"Come to think of it, we have the day off tomorrow. Do you have any plans, Meizi?"

"Huh? We're off tomorrow?"

Seeing her surprise, Rin tilted her head in confusion. "Yeah, the school festival is around this time."

If Rin had not reminded her, she would have completely forgotten that the day was coming in two days. Students assigned to stay behind would be responsible for preparing matters related to the school festival, while those without assignments could take the day off.

In fact, a few days ago, when she had still been Ando Koichi, she had attended the class meeting about preparations for the school festival.

Since she was fairly invisible, she was almost never involved in any activities, so she would definitely be among those without assignments tomorrow.

Of course, even so, as a girl who had only attended school for one day, she probably would not be forced to stay behind.

After saying goodbye to Rin, she returned to her classroom. Not everyone had arrived at this time, so she had instead become one of the earliest people there.

"Morning, Meizi. Your hair clip is really pretty. It suits you."

"Morning to you too, Hirata." After exchanging a simple greeting, she found it strange that he had arrived so early.

After all, Yuya was usually the type who would not enter the classroom until the very last moment.

According to him, the protagonist always made their entrance last.

A hair clip? What hair clip?

Although she had briefly tidied her hair before leaving her room, she had no memory or habit of putting accessories in her hair.

After Yuya returned to his seat, she reached up to touch her bangs and both sides of her head. As expected, there was nothing there. There was no hair clip like Yuya had described.

Maybe he had seen wrong. Or perhaps he simply wanted an excuse to strike up a conversation?

The bell rang, and the morning class became a homeroom period. Since tomorrow was the eve of the school festival, their homeroom teacher, Chihaya Ji, gave the class another detailed explanation of the arrangements.

Yuya was the first person Teacher Ji called on. Although he usually acted carefree, his drawing skills ranked among the best in the entire class.

Bored, she looked around aimlessly. When her gaze drifted outside the classroom, she unexpectedly spotted Nakajima Rei, the girl who had rejected her three confessions.

She was probably about to be late. She hurried down the hallway looking flustered, but Ando Meiko did not pay much attention to it.

The morning classes felt rather boring. She did not know whether the teachers had no interest in teaching or she had no interest in listening. In any case, once afternoon came, things started getting lively.