Magical Girl? I Got Scammed Into It!

The pre-school-festival mobilization event was not some speech or anything else. Instead, it was being turned into half a sports meet. The principal really had some ideas.

And for convenience, the lottery system would mix students from different classes.

"The drawing results are out. Class Ten will be competing together with Class Two."

Ms. Ci held up the card in her hand, with a large "2" written on it that everyone present could see clearly.

"It's Class Two. Meiko, let me tell you, the Nakajima Rei that Koichi likes is in the Class Two next door."

You bastard. Even if my confession failed three times, you didn't have to broadcast it everywhere, did you? What good did that do you? I hadn't offended you before, had I? And why were you acting so familiar, calling me by my current name?

She gritted her teeth inwardly, but had no choice but to put on an ignorant, surprised expression. "Really? Koichi hasn't told me yet. I'd like to know what kind of person the girl Koichi likes is."

The lottery box was brought before her. She pulled out a slip of paper, unfolded it, and saw an "18" written on it in blue watercolor pen.

This represented her number. Whether they were assigned events or working with Class Two, this number would be used.

After everyone had been assigned a number, it was time to draw events. She casually drew a slip from the lottery box in front of Ms. Ci, then returned to her seat.

"Huh? Why is a three-legged race considered a sport?" She covered her face and complained.

As a shut-in, exercise was her greatest enemy. Aside from going to school, forget going out shopping—if she was not starving, she could not even be bothered to leave her room.

And now someone like her was being forced to take part in sports. It was simply a disaster.

What she wanted to know most now was who in Class Two had drawn number 18.

That person would be her partner for the upcoming three-legged race, so she hoped it would not be someone who looked especially creepy.

It would have been one thing when she had still been Koichi, but now she attended school as his cousin Meiko. Her mind might be Koichi's, but Meiko's body absolutely could not be sullied—not even by someone copping a feel!

A slip of paper passed down by Ms. Ci instructed them to write their names beside the numbers they had drawn.

"Ando... Meiko... Okay, that should do it."

After writing it down, she passed the slip onward.

Once everyone had finished writing, the form was collected. Ms. Ci left the classroom, then returned less than a minute later and passed down a second form.

"Check your numbers carefully, then remember who your partner is."

Only when the form reached her hands did she realize that most of the names on it were strangers. She skipped over the names she did not know and let her gaze fall on number 18.

At that moment, she froze.

Her eyes and mind held only one name: Nakajima Rei.

Were they going to be partners? Was she going to do a three-legged race with the girl she liked most...?

Her heart was filled with unease. When she passed the form to the student behind her, her hand was even trembling. She could not believe it was real, yet she was also afraid it was not.

What a contradictory feeling.

"What's wrong, Meiko? You look really nervous."

"Am I? No, I'm not. You're probably overthinking it." She took a deep breath and steadied her emotions.

What was there to be afraid of? I confessed three times. If I'm still scared, do I even deserve to like her?

"If you've all memorized it, then when you return after the holiday the day after tomorrow, go find your partners and form your teams. All right, that's it for this afternoon. Club activities on campus will be temporarily suspended. Those with scheduled commitments may remain; everyone else may leave first."

After Ms. Ci finished speaking, she gathered the materials in her hands and left.

Once they were dismissed, the other students also poured out of the classroom. Everyone wanted to leave school as soon as possible—whether to go home or go on a date.

She looked around. The only people still sitting here were those scheduled to participate in work or activities before the school festival.

Once the rush after school had finally passed, she picked up her packed backpack and left the classroom.

Just as she passed Class Two's doorway, she happened to see Rei leaving the classroom.

Rei did not have any club activities, so by all rights she was not someone who would stay behind. At this time, she should have been planning to go home too.

"If she's heading home after school, then it wouldn't hurt to follow behind her for a little while, right?" Ando Meiko thought.

She followed Rei's back all the way, but things did not go as she had imagined. Rei did not head toward the school gate. Instead, she turned into an empty corner and took a secluded path.

She had never walked this road before. The school was not small, and as someone always in a hurry to get home and play games, how could she have had time to explore the entire campus?

While wondering whether she should improve that lifestyle a little in the future, she suddenly realized that Rei, whom she had been following, had disappeared.

An old-fashioned dojo suddenly appeared before her eyes.

I lost her here... Did Rei go inside? But since when was there a dojo like this at school?

She was certain she had never seen it when she first entered the school. It seemed that because she had never come to this area and never spoken with anyone about it, she had ended up with this gap in information.

It did not look like much from the outside, but once she entered, she discovered it was a completely different world. It was huge, incredibly huge. After entering, there were only two corridors to the left and right, and every room was screened off by folding partitions.

She could only search the rooms one by one.

But after checking two rooms, she suddenly came to her senses. Following someone was already perverted behavior. Losing track of them was one thing, but now that she had trespassed into someone else's place, was that not making her crime even worse?

Once she considered that, she decided to retrace her steps. The path she had taken in was already winding and confusing, but when she wanted to return, she actually forgot how she had come.

What should she do? What if someone found her?

Everything that could serve as a landmark looked exactly the same. Even after wandering around inside for a long time, she had not encountered anyone. The entire dojo was silent as death.

A few minutes later, she saw a place that looked just like the entrance from before, and felt happy, thinking she had found her way.

Strange. There definitely had not been a door when she came in, so why had it become a pair of sliding doors now? Whatever. Since it had a similar layout to the front entrance, this must be the back door.

In her haste, she pulled open the door and walked in, but...

"Eek!"

"Huh?" The sudden sight startled Ando Meiko.

A kotatsu sat in the middle of the room, and a cute brown-haired little girl was sitting beneath it, staring at her in surprise.

"Waaaah..." For some reason, the brown-haired little girl suddenly sat down and began sobbing.

Thinking that her sudden intrusion had frightened the girl, Meiko stepped forward to comfort her, only to hear something utterly baffling.

"I've been seen... I'll never be able to get married now... Waaaah..."

Huh? What did she mean, she had been seen? What did she mean, she could not get married? Little girl, what nonsense are you talking about?

She stared at the little girl in shock. Could it be some kind of family tradition? But she had not seen anything she should not have.

At that moment, she realized the little girl was looking up at her. Her large eyes were filled with utter despair. Huh? Had she really done something wrong?

Ando Meiko was completely bewildered. The little girl's words and actions made her feel as though she had done something wrong, yet she had no idea what exactly she had done.

"Why did you come in here, big sister?"

"I don't know either. I saw this dojo and wanted to come in for a look, but I got lost while wandering around and ended up here. I thought this was the back door..."

Ando Meiko answered honestly. After hearing her, the little girl seemed to make up her mind about something. "Big sister, can you keep this a secret? Pretend you never saw me?"

"Sure. I wasn't planning to tell everyone there's a really cute little girl in the dojo or anything. I just want to find the way out." Besides, she was not that bored.

"Would you like something to eat, big sister?" The brown-haired little girl pushed the plate of snacks before her toward Ando Meiko.

Naturally, she did not refuse. She grabbed a square snack and put it in her mouth. It had a soft, chewy texture, fragrant and sweet, perfectly suited to her tastes.

"Delicious. Did you make these?"

"Mm, thank you..." The brown-haired little girl turned away with a blush. How should she put it? She seemed rather shy, yet there was something indescribably strange about her.

"What's your name?"

"Edogawa... Edogawa Marugō. What about you, big sister?"

"Ando Meiko."

"Big Sister Meiko... Ah, sorry, calling you by your name so directly..."

"It's fine. Then I'll just call you Marugō." The little girl named Marugō nodded and gave her a sweet smile.

But why did the name Edogawa Marugō sound so familiar?

She searched through her sparse memories of the school.

Edogawa Marugō... Wasn't that the captain of the kendo club who had dominated every nearby high school kendo club in her first year and won the regional league championship?

Only after looking around did she realize that her memory was not confused.

[High School Kendo Tournament Champion—Edogawa Marugō] That was indeed what was written on the trophy.

"Big sister? Can you promise me something?"

"Hm? As long as it's within my ability, consider it repayment for the snacks you gave me."

Marugō stood up from beneath the kotatsu. She was not wearing casual clothes, nor was she wearing the uniform used for kendo club practice. Instead, she wore a shrine maiden outfit.

The shrine maiden outfit had no sleeves, and its skirt was extremely short—short enough that even a light breeze could expose her underwear.

Her expression struggled for a moment, then suddenly became firm, as though she had made some major decision in life.

"Big sister, when I grow up... can you marry me?"

Pfft, what was this? Even games followed a gradual progression, okay? She had been seen once, then immediately claimed she could not get married and wanted Meiko to marry her? This was way too sudden, though this little girl really was cute.

"I..."

Suddenly, a strange sensation came from Marugō.

A flash of pink passed through Ando Meiko's eyes. An invisible force seemed to drive her body, causing her actions to completely slip beyond her brain's control.

She had only wanted to answer Marugō's question, yet her body moved on its own and shoved the little girl before her against the wall.

She stretched out both arms against the wall on either side of Marugō, then lifted one leg and inserted it between the little girl's legs. Just like that, an utterly inexplicable kabedon was complete.

"Eeeeeeh?!"

She was very curious why she had done something so perverted, but more shocking than that was the sensation against her thigh. It clearly was not something an ordinary little girl should have.

Good grief, Edogawa Marugō was not a proper little girl at all. She was a feminine boy!

Although she used to cross-dress regularly when she was still a boy, could she have made that kind of expression after being discovered? Ando Meiko could not imagine it at all.

She even felt a little sympathy for Marugō now. Not only had Marugō been discovered cross-dressing, but she had also been pinned against a wall by a boy—oh, no, a girl now—whom she had just met.

No wonder this kid had suddenly said she had been seen and would not be able to get married...

But why did she say she could not get married rather than she could not find someone to marry? Could it be that this kid was in the same situation as her, a girl transformed into a boy? Was that why she still retained a girl's feelings inside?

"Big Sister Meiko..."

Gradually realizing that things were about to spiral out of control, Ando Meiko stepped back a few paces and took several deep breaths as she watched Marugō slide down from the wall to sit on the floor.

Then, as though fleeing, she turned and rushed out through the door she had entered from.

"S-Sorry!!!"

"Big sister, turn right, go to the end, then turn left, and you'll be able to get out..."

Having stumbled and staggered her way out of the dojo at last, she did not see Rei emerge from behind the folding screen in Marugō's room.

"Big sister... Why did you cast charm magic on me?"

Ignoring Marugō's question, Nakajima Rei merely looked in the direction Ando Meiko had left. She held her cheek in her right hand, the corner of her mouth curling into a somewhat sickly smile.

"This girl is so cute. I really want to turn her into a doll that belongs only to me. Then you'll have company, Marugō."

As she ran toward the school gate, a familiar voice came from behind her. "Isn't that Meiko? Hey, Meiko!"

"Hm? Yuya, what's wrong?"

"Are you going back to Koichi's place later?"

"Yeah, I'll be staying at Koichi's house for the time being."

"Then that's perfect. We're on the same way. Want to go home together?"

Brother, how can you lie without even drafting a script and still not blush or skip a beat? Our homes are in completely opposite directions, okay?

Though she thought that, she still decided to refuse tactfully. "Sorry, I don't have time today, so sorry, Yuya."