About Becoming a Magical Girl

In her Exile Form, Efnir's height was rather regrettable. She tilted her head up and met Yukina's eyes.

She suddenly broke into a radiant smile, the corners of her eyes curving like crescents.

"Your... name is Yukina, right?"

"Y-Yes... I'm Shiomi Yukina... I'm your fan! I like you very much... and... it's... it's an honor to meet you!"

With all her attention fixed on the cake plate, Yukina blurted out every greeting she could remember in one breath, nearly biting her tongue.

She had left out so, so many lines. She simply could not remember them; her mind was a complete mess.

As though she had been spouting nonsense, Efnir seemed somewhat surprised as well.

"Um... yes... nice to meet you."

She wouldn't hate me, would she?

She looked uneasily and nervously at the idol who was a head shorter than her, feeling wave after wave of dizziness wash over her.

Yukina's entire body was tense. Though the room had originally been cool, she was covered in sweat. Efnir merely tilted her head thoughtfully, starlight once again shimmering in her eyes.

"Well... Yukina, you really are as cute as your name suggests."

Yukina choked up, having no idea how to respond.

If it were anyone else calling her cute, she might have accepted it normally, but standing beside Efnir, she immediately lost the courage to accept such praise so calmly.

She had never been particularly good at handling compliments. Now, her mind was completely filled with embarrassment, robbing her of the strength to speak.

Always looking this overwhelmed by favor was rude too, wasn't it?

Yukina suddenly felt that becoming the person in charge had been a mistake.

However, Efnir did not seem to mind. Her smile shimmered, and her cute little canine teeth were faintly visible.

"Thank you for your letter, and for the konohanas you gave me last time. Did you make them yourself?"

"H-Huh? That was... how did you know I made them myself...?"

When she had given Efnir the prayer tag last time, Yukina had included a box of handmade konohanas. It was common for fans to occasionally give their idols gifts. Yukina had merely learned how to make konohanas in her school home economics class and wanted to make some for Efnir herself.

But Yukina had never imagined that Efnir would actually receive and eat them.

"Because you used corn flour instead of mochi flour, right? They tasted different from the ones sold outside, so I guessed you might have run out of ingredients at the end..."

Efnir said.

Actually, when Yukina had been busy in the kitchen making the konohanas by herself, Yanase Naoto had been watching from the side. How could he not have known?

"But I still thought they were quite delicious."

Efnir wore an elegantly perfect smile, which became brilliant starlight in Yukina's eyes.

"Th-Thank you for the compliment..."

Yukina nodded repeatedly, overwhelmed by the favor.

If Efnir opened every gift her fans sent her and wrote a reply to every letter, there was no doubt she would never manage it all. So, the fact that Efnir had tasted the konohanas Yukina gave her and remembered her name undoubtedly meant, in another way: she was special.

She was both an idol and an agent, so whether it was letters or gifts sent to Efnir, wasn't it normal for them to vanish without a trace?

But... she had never heard of anything like this. Could it be that Efnir actually remembered her all along?

Yukina could not help thinking that way.

Ever since their first meeting, Yukina had been unable to forget everything about Efnir from that day. She had thought such feelings were one-sided, so she had never indulged in any fantasies. But now that she had received an unexpected response from Efnir, she suddenly felt like a girl receiving a letter from her lover, her heart leaping with joy.

For Yukina, this was the happiest moment possible.

"Is this your first time here, Yukina?"

"Y-Yes... it's my first time here..."

"What do you think? The venue this morning must have been hot, right?"

"It really was... hot... but! Everyone was happy too! Very happy!"

It was flat and dry, and she was so short on words that she had nothing left to say. For the first time, Yukina felt that perhaps she would be better off not speaking.

Efnir covered her mouth and chuckled.

"You're so cute, Yukina."

"Um..."

"Come to think of it, are you still a student, Yukina?"

"Actually... I'm a student at Youcheng Girls' Academy..."

"Huh? That Youcheng? It's an incredibly prestigious school. Two of my juniors go there too! You might know them."

Like an older sister naturally holding her younger sister's hands, Efnir took Yukina's hands. The intimate gesture startled Yukina, and she instinctively pulled away.

Her palms were covered in sweat.

"S-Sorry..."

She guiltily raised her eyes, only to meet Efnir's gaze.

"You don't need to be so tense, Yukina. Just relax a little."

"S-Sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize for that."

With a smile, Efnir rose onto her tiptoes, lifted a hand, and gently tousled Yukina's hair as though soothing a small animal.

Yukina quietly lowered her head.

Efnir's palm was so soft, and cool. For some reason, Yukina suddenly thought of her older brother. When she was little, he often patted her head like this too. Efnir always wore such a lovely smile as well.

"Th-Thank you... I feel much better..."

"Don't just stand here. Let's go sit over there."

Efnir was far warmer than Yukina had imagined. Pulled along by her, Yukina walked to the side and sat down by the window.

They sat side by side, Yukina on the left and Efnir on the right. Efnir held a plate of fruit, and whenever she reached out, her arm brushed against Yukina's.

Yukina shrank back tightly, yet soft touches kept coming from her arm.

Sitting this close to her idol felt unreal to Yukina. She cautiously shifted her gaze sideways.

Efnir's profile was right before her eyes.

It had to be said that Efnir was truly beautiful.

Compared to her close-up photos online, she had an overwhelmingly stronger presence in person. She was tiny, sitting there looking even shorter than Yukina. Her skin was white, an alluring white. Her lightly vermilion lips were faintly moist, translucent and smooth. Bright sunlight poured down, making her moonlight-colored silver hair gleam. Her curled white lashes lightly traced the snowy hue of summer, while what seemed like a galaxy flowed through her twilight-swaying eyes.

A faint floral fragrance lingered in the air.

Yukina had confidence in her own appearance, but even so, she seemed dull and colorless before Efnir.

"What is it? Is there something on my face?"

Before she realized it, Yukina had met Efnir's eyes.

"I-I'm very sorry... it's just... you're very beautiful, and I accidentally got lost staring at you..."

"Pfft... Nami mentioned you before. Now that I've finally met you, you really are as cute as she said."

Efnir suddenly laughed, as dazzling as a flower in bloom. Yukina's face reddened, and she felt that she had messed up again.

"By the way, did Mina tell you about this afternoon?"

"She already explained it to me in detail..."

"Then is there anything I can help you with? Being the person in charge isn't easy. If you need anything, don't hold back. Just tell me."

"N-No, it's nothing like that..."

As though deliberately keeping the conversation going, Efnir talked a great deal about Yukina. Efnir asked, and Yukina answered. Most of it had little to do with work; it was simply Efnir taking advantage of her position for personal reasons.

For example...

"It must take a long time to get here from your home, right?"

"Actually, it wasn't too bad... I came by train, so I listened to music and chatted along the way, and we arrived before I knew it..."

"Huh? Is that so... Who did you come with today?"

"With... friends from the group..."

Yukina answered honestly.

"Huh? You didn't come with your boyfriend?"

Efnir feigned surprise as she asked what she cared about most.

"Huh? M-My boyfriend?"

The topic suddenly turned ambiguous, entering the sort of girls' talk Yukina was worst at handling. Startled, Yukina immediately stiffened, her cheeks flushing bright red.

Yukina shook her head like a rattle drum.

"N-No! There's absolutely no one like that! A boyfriend or anything... I haven't even had my first love yet..."

Good.

Hearing Yukina say it herself, Efnir finally smiled in satisfaction.

Actually, there were many other things Efnir wanted to ask, but she could not bring herself to ask them directly. For instance, matters concerning "herself"—Yanase Naoto.

If she used the convenience of her identity as "Efnir" to ask, Yukina would probably say things she normally would not openly say, right?

But in the end, Efnir did not ask.

"Well then, how old are you this year?"

"I'm fifteen this year..."

"Fifteen."

Efnir nodded thoughtfully, though she had merely asked something she already knew.

"Come to think of it, one of my juniors is actually about the same age as you."

"Huh?"

"Her codename is Fifina, Gong Tianzuo · Feifina. Have you heard of her?"

"Yes! Fifina often fights alongside you. She looks very, very cool!"

"Is that so."

Efnir said nothing more. She merely looked out the window and smiled, the faint light in her eyes concealing intentions Yukina could not discern, leaving her somewhat at a loss.

The news of Fengling Shiyin's severe injuries had not been announced. Naturally, Yukina did not know.

Just then.

The door was violently pushed open. Shinomiyami Nami strode in with a grave expression. Yukina jumped in fright, while Efnir frowned slightly.

A bad premonition began to grow in her heart.

Efnir briefly reassured Yukina, then looked toward Shinomiyami Nami.

"Efnir! Emergency!"

"Go on."

"The 'Beacon'... has been stolen... and also..."

Before Shinomiyami Nami could finish, a blazing red glow ignited the sky beyond the window, and shadows suddenly swallowed the sunlight whole.

All three looked toward the sky at once.

At the far end of the horizon, an enormous Floating Island stretching beyond sight moved slowly through the air, blotting out the sky. Countless black dots drifted beside it.

Those black dots rapidly descended, and bursts of fire flared up. Piercing alarms and explosions rose one after another, and the building itself seemed ready to collapse. Without any warning, the Corruption had already invaded the skies above the venue.

It was as if it had... appeared out of nowhere.

Exactly like when it had appeared at headquarters last time.

Piercing alarm sirens filled her ears then. Efnir knew that this was a "call" for her.