That Thing About Becoming a Magical Girl

"That was different..."

"Alright, alright, I won't say any more. Anyway, the show was about to start. Were you ready?"

"Yeah... I was ready..."

"..."

There was a slight pause on the other end.

"You didn't sound very motivated... Were you still thinking about Saori and Rin?"

"Yeah..."

Efnir did not deny it.

The gift Saori had sent was still lying on the coffee table in the dressing room.

"If you can... open it after the performance..."

Saori had left those words behind when she departed, but Efnir had not responded.

There was probably... nothing left to say... Efnir was not a talkative person. Rather than stubbornly trying to make her stay, it was better to let her go gracefully.

Saori's words lingered in Efnir's mind.

Uzuki Saori—Efnir had always admired that endearing junior. Beneath her gentle appearance lay a forceful side. She was exceptionally earnest when she worked, to the point where calling her stubborn would not be an exaggeration.

Her relationship with Rin was very good, good enough to make others envy them.

Though they were both orphans who had survived disasters and come from the same welfare home, they had not actually known each other before becoming agents.

Yet in just one month, they had become inseparable. Perhaps... this was what people called meeting too late?

Efnir had never experienced that kind of "encounter," but if Shiomi Yukina was the most important person in Efnir's life, then Rin was probably the same for Uzuki Saori. So Efnir could probably understand—understand Saori's feelings, understand the despair behind her tears that day.

But conversely, Efnir could understand Shiina Rin's thoughts as well—just as Uzuki Saori fought for Shiina Rin, how could Shiina Rin not be fighting for Saori? That was precisely why Shiina Rin refused to withdraw, no matter what.

"If I leave, what will happen to Saori?" Shiina Rin always said that with a smile, but without a doubt, it was her truest thought. Both Efnir and Uzuki Saori knew it well.

If... only if.

If Rin died in this battle, Saori would undoubtedly break down. Rin was that important to Saori. They were both children from the welfare home; they had become each other's support and only one, fighting while holding each other up.

Perhaps they should be allowed to withdraw...

Efnir pressed her lips together, her lip gloss squeezed between them and gleaming beneath the clear lights.

But if that happened...

"Well... I suppose so..."

Shinomiyami Nami sighed through the earpiece.

"What did you say?"

"I meant, the performance was about to begin. Were you really okay? If you weren't in good shape, I could shift a little time over to you."

"I was fine, so don't worry... Even if it was only work of this level, I would take it seriously."

"Was that so."

The other end fell silent for a while, then fervent cheers crowded into her mind.

Familiar music drifted down from overhead.

"Efnir."

"Yeah..."

"Then... good luck. May your dance fortune flourish."

"Yeah."

A sense of crushing weight pressed against the soles of her feet. The lift platform slowly rose, her vision dropping away as the view suddenly opened up without end.

The performance stage had been deliberately built very high, allowing her to take in the entire vast venue at a glance.

There was a click beneath her feet. Efnir stepped forward and appeared onstage. The cheers abruptly swelled, columns of heated air blasting from the fog machines. The dazzling sunlight became a beautiful rainbow, pouring down as her image appeared on the enormous multicolored screen.

Standing on a stage made her heart race.

But Efnir's reason for standing here was not something so simple.

Every day in this city, people were hurt and died. To shamelessly sing of happiness was an utterly vile thing.

Fifina.

Furan.

Or Saori.

It was not Efnir's place to judge their choices.

Only, if...

If...

Such a wish was like a mirage beyond the desert, distant and fragile.

The music gradually faded, and the lights converged in one place.

Efnir took a deep breath and buried her countless thoughts in her heart.

The first performance began.

After the show, she would go to the hospital.

She would visit Fengling Shiyin and Shiina Rin.

Her persuasion would probably be useless, but perhaps it was better to step forward without caring about the consequences than to stand still and hesitate. Perhaps that was the only way to walk out of the fog.

Efnir's singing was flawless, and her dancing was incredible as well.

But that was not why Shiomi Yukina had become Efnir's fan.

She stared blankly at the figure dancing and singing atop the high stage.

She was exceptionally dazzling.

Beautiful enough to stir the soul.

Whether as Xijing City's strongest chief agent, as the spokesperson for the Orderkeepers Organization, or as the idol in people's hearts, Efnir was always so radiant and captivating. She always gave everything she had, infecting everyone present with heat that nearly seemed to burn.

In this era, there was a reason Efnir had been adored as a national idol in the image of a hero.

And Yukina's affection for Efnir was not merely simple admiration. It came from worship, longing... and perhaps a trace of deeply hidden infatuation.

Yukina still remembered first seeing Efnir on television. Back then, she had happened upon news about the newly appointed agent "Ephnel," and had merely given it an extra glance.

—She was pretty. Beyond that, Yukina had no further thoughts.

At the time, Efnir had merely been one of more than a dozen agents. Her beautiful appearance made her the kind of person one could not forget after seeing once, and that made Efnir seem somewhat special, but that was all.

No one would deliberately pay attention to news about this newly appointed agent.

"Agents" protected the city, yet there was a sense of distance separating them from it—perhaps that sounded strange, but it was true. At first, "agents" and ordinary people's lives had been completely disconnected.

Under the threat of Corruption, ordinary people could die, and so could agents.

Since everyone died anyway, perhaps there was no difference?

The status of agents did not come from their sacrifices, but from people's need for them.

It was the same for Yukina.

Until that day.

When she had been helpless and desperate, Efnir had saved her. She had pulled her from beneath the water, protected her from the threat of an Erosion Entity, and given her artificial respiration when she was drowning.

Even now, Yukina still remembered the warmth of that small palm, that petite figure, those soft shoulders, and those warm lips that had pressed against hers with some force, though she could no longer quite recall their taste.

And that gaze from then—complicated, filled with inscrutable hesitation and determination.

For some reason, leaning against that person's shoulder made Yukina feel safe. It was like holding her brother's hand as a child; no matter where she went, her brother had been her eternal support. But after growing up, she had never experienced that feeling again.

She liked it. She was deeply immersed in that feeling.

As if possessed, she began following news about "agents."

Later, Efnir was suddenly made the Orderkeepers' spokesperson, becoming a public figure in the city.

Gradually, some things began to change.

If... she had been a little more honest, what would have happened?

"Sorry, coming through!"

"Huh?"

While she was distracted, someone suddenly bumped her shoulder hard, making Yukina stagger.

"Yukina! Are you okay?"

Her friend beside her promptly reached out and steadied her.

Yukina instinctively looked back, but only saw a slender figure disappearing into the crowd.

A girl?

"I'm fine... Someone just bumped into me..."

"Huh? Was that person blind or something?"

"It's fine, it was nothing..."

Yukina did not think much of it and turned her gaze back to the stage.

"Tch, seriously. There was such a wide path, so why did she have to squeeze past us?"

"No manners at all."

Her friends began to complain.

"Hey, hey, what if she was a pervert?"

"Eek? Even though she was a girl?"

"There are girls like that too! Don't underestimate girls!"

"Honestly, I'd find it more believable if you said she was a pickpocket!"

"That's right! Yukina, check your pockets. What if she stole your phone?"

"Huh?"

Yukina nodded and felt around in her pocket.

"Eek?"

"Huh? What's wrong? Don't tell me, don't tell me she really stole something!?"

"No, she didn't... It's just..."

Yukina blinked in confusion.

She had not lost anything. If anything, there was something extra... a cold, hard object.

She pulled her hand out and opened her palm.

It was a hair clip.

A cute bow-shaped hair clip with an exquisite design, glinting with an obscure, cold light beneath the sun.

"Huh? What a cute hair clip..."

"It's so pretty. I've never seen that style before."

"How could that be? Even you, the fashion expert, haven't seen it?"

"Hmm... Maybe... it was brand new?"

"I think it might be custom-made."

Her friends all chimed in at once. Yukina merely frowned at the clip in her palm. She was certain she did not own it.