Magical Girl? I Got Scammed into It!

"The last thing was obviously unnecessary, wasn't it?"

"Not at all. If I hadn't come here, how could I have witnessed such a wonderful scene?"

Seeing Fuko's refreshing smile, Ando Meiko had nothing to say and could only let her have her way. As long as she was happy, that was enough.

"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 who Nanako was, Ruby's voice interrupted Ando Meiko at just the right moment.

[Master, it would be best not to reveal your identity carelessly. Even if that person does not live in this kind of world, fate may still interfere with her 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.

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

Ando Meiko hurriedly changed her story and fabricated an identity for Nanako as well.

"She's a friend's little sister. A lot happened at my friend's home, so Nanako will be staying at my place for the time being."

"I see. Meiko, you've really had it rough."

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

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

"That makes sense."

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

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

As for the sleeping arrangements, she planned to have Nanako sleep with her for the time being.

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

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

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

"Meow..."

After changing into her pajamas, Ando Meiko turned around and saw that Tsuki had already climbed onto the bed.

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

Ando Meiko reached out to take Tsuki down, but the little cat turned around and swatted her hand away with a paw.

"Huh? What's wrong, Tsuki?"

"You idiot, don't disturb my rest."

Nanako's affected voice came from beside her ear.

"Huh? Nanako, what are you talking about?"

"It wasn't Nanako. It was saying that."

Seeing Nanako point at Tsuki, Ando Meiko was shocked. Could this little evil god actually understand animals?

"Nanako, can you understand what Tsuki says?"

"Mm."

"Meow..." Tsuki let out a cry, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

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

"Tsuki said it hates you?"

Nanako nodded. Tears welled in her large eyes, and Ando Meiko could tell she was about to cry, so she could hardly refuse to help her.

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

Ignoring Tsuki's resistance, she picked it up and held it before her. "Tsuki, that's not okay. Nanako is my little sister, so you need to be nice to her."

It gave several irritated meows, broke free from her hands, and returned to the bed to lie down quietly. It seemed it had no intention of leaving.

"Forget it, Nanako. You sleep with Tsuki."

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

She took out the bedding used for sleeping on the floor from the storage cabinet. Only after painstakingly arranging it did she finally get to sleep peacefully.

After suffering through so much today, I still had to sleep on the floor when I got home. When was this miserable life going to end?

Because she was so exhausted, even though the floor was hard, Ando Meiko quickly fell asleep and slept straight through until dawn.

"Wahahaha! Today, today is day two!"

The first thing she did upon opening her eyes was throw back her head and howl at the sky. The long, difficult first day after becoming a girl had finally passed.

"Mm, Meiko, you're so loud." A tentacle swept over and wrapped around Ando Meiko's mouth, stopping her from making any more noise.

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

Leaving aside the fact that Nanako had clearly slept on the bed yet somehow come down here, Ruby had reverted to human form and was lying beside her without her knowing when that had happened.

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

She gently pushed Ruby and Nanako aside, crawled out from behind the bedding, and tucked the blankets back around them.

Just as Ando Meiko was about to get dressed, she noticed a girls' school uniform hanging on the wardrobe.

"What happened? Wasn't it already ruined?" As she wondered about it, she noticed a note beside it. The handwriting on it was quite elegant.

Master, I repaired the school uniform that was damaged before the battle. How about it? Isn't Ruby useful? You can praise me more if you want.

Even though it was only text, she could practically picture that unreliable magical staff's smug expression and praise-seeking gestures.

She chuckled silently, took the uniform from its hanger, and helplessly shook her head at Ruby's awful sleeping posture.

For the magical staff that had tricked her into making a contract and forced her to become a magical girl, never mind thanking her—she was already being kind by not cracking open her skull.

But what else could she do? What had happened had happened. No matter what she said, there was no taking it back.

The saying online was cliché, but it fit her perfectly right now. It was probably something like: If you can't resist life screwing you over, 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 little while was not necessarily a bad thing, right?

After getting dressed and washing up, she went to the kitchen and found that Fuko had already made breakfast and was now preparing lunch boxes. She felt a little grateful that she had gotten up early for once.

"Meiko, why are you up?"

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

"Do you remember when we were little? You used to sleep like a log at this hour. Nothing could wake you up."

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

Seeing that Fuko still wanted to continue, Ando Meiko waved a hand to stop her.

"Don't bring up childhood stuff. I got up so early because my parents are traveling, and I was planning to make lunch too."

Ever since starting at this school, she had basically never gone to the cafeteria. She did not like crowded places, and if she did not get up to cook in the morning, she would have to go hungry at noon.

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

Fuko smiled and gave her a thumbs-up, wearing an expression that said, 'Leave it to big sis and everything will be fine.' For at least a moment, Ando Meiko thought she looked quite dependable.

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

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

This tasted far better than before. The seasoning was completely tailored to her tastes.

Fuko placed the last piece of rolled omelet into a pink lunch box, put on the lid, and packed it away. Then she clapped her hands. "All right, now that the lunch is done, it's time to enjoy breakfast with Meiko, just the two of us."

She rolled her eyes at Fuko sitting beside her, unable to understand why eating breakfast with her counted as an enjoyment. Girls really were impossible to understand.

She quietly finished the food on her plate. Seeing that Fuko seemed to be enjoying herself, she did not interrupt her, not until she had drunk the last sip of milk.

"I'm full."

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

Before leaving, Ando Meiko deliberately returned to her room.

The biggest problem now was what to do with Nanako. She could not take her to school, but if she left her with Fuko, who knew whether Nanako would casually grab strangers with her tentacles.

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

If that was the case, then that was great.

Since she really had no other choice, she was entrusting Nanako to a lousy magical staff she did not even trust herself. Honestly, Ando Meiko was not at ease, but things should get better after Fuko and Nanako became more familiar with each other.

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

"Okay, Big Sister."

"Meow..."

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

"Leave Tsuki to me 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 that Ruby was a good magical staff who could share her master's burdens.

When 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 let it go. Going to school together might help her avoid the hassle of getting hit on while she was alone.

So she followed Rin's lead down the steps. "I guess that did happen. We're going the same way anyway, so it's no big deal to go together."

"Come to think of it, vacation starts tomorrow. Do you have any plans, Meiko?"

"Huh? Vacation starts tomorrow?"

Seeing her surprise, Rin tilted her head in confusion. "Yeah. The school festival is coming up."

If Rin had not reminded her, she would have completely forgotten that the day was only two days away. Students who had been assigned tasks would stay behind to prepare for the school festival, while those without assignments could take the day off.

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

Because she had been rather invisible, she was rarely included in any activities. She was definitely among those without an assignment tomorrow.

Of course, even so, as a girl who had only been attending 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 yet, so she was actually among the earliest ones there.

"Morning, Meiko. Your hairpin is really pretty. It suits you well."

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

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

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

A hairpin? What hairpin?

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

After Yuya returned to his seat, she touched her bangs and the sides of her hair. Sure enough, they were completely bare. There was no hairpin like the one Yuya had mentioned.

Maybe he had seen wrong. Or perhaps he was simply trying to strike up a conversation?

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

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

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

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

The morning classes felt rather dull. She did not know whether the teachers were not in the mood to teach or whether she was not in the mood to listen. In any case, things became lively as soon as afternoon arrived.