Recognition

This new arrival, Liu Rui, was Pink Huali.

Magical girls often addressed each other by their code names, much like people addressed one another by their titles at work.

Clearly, Huali had not recognized his identity.

That was only natural. After all, Fu You had never appeared before him as a man. Nor did he intend to appear before him as one.

Fu You was a magical girl senior, while Huali was a magical girl junior. It was enough for their relationship to remain limited to both being magical girls.

Fu You had a code name as well, but it had been sealed away for ten years, and he was unlikely to use it again.

Quite a few people still remembered that code name, but no one would associate him with it.

Canary.

--No one who heard it would connect it to him, right?

A code name like that sounded more suited to some dainty, adorable little girl who leaned on others for support. It was nothing like him.

Many magical girl code names were not chosen by the magical girls themselves, but assigned by the Magical Girl Division according to certain rules.

But ever since Fu You had fallen into corruption, he had lost the code name Canary. Presumably, someone else had claimed Canary by now.

And since he had not given himself a new code name, he had continued acting under his own name.

Thinking of the name Canary, he gave a silent, self-mocking smile.

Times had changed. Even that name felt like it belonged to another lifetime.

During the break, the whispers behind him never ceased.

Meng Yu was like a census taker. In the span of two classes, she had practically questioned Liu Rui about every detail of his background.

Even though Fu You had no desire to listen, Meng Yu's constant exclamations forced him to learn about Liu Rui's circumstances.

Liu Rui's parents were both alive, but they lived abroad and rarely returned. He also had an older sister, who had just graduated from university and was in her first year as a corporate drone.

His sister lived in Jiangyang City, but her workplace was in Jiangyin District, more than twenty kilometers from here. He had previously lived with her, far from the school, but now that he lived in the Magical Girls' Apartment, he was much closer to campus.

However, due to her work, his sister had no intention of moving in with him.

Upon learning that Liu Rui was a magical girl, Meng Yu's eyes widened as she repeatedly exclaimed in surprise.

"You're actually a magical girl?! And a pink-type one?!"

"That's right. Couldn't tell, could you~?"

"Not at all! If you get the chance, you have to let me see you after you transform!"

"Sure. My magic power's low these past couple of days, so I'll show you in a few days. But don't tell anyone else about this secret yet."

"Mhm, mhm! I'll definitely keep it secret for you!"

Fu You rubbed his head.

Brother, if this is really a secret, why are you telling a girl you just met? Do you even know what kind of person Meng Yu is, just telling her everything like that?

Still, fortunately, it was Meng Yu. That girl truly could be trusted when it came to keeping secrets.

Fu You had not meant to eavesdrop, but their whispers were not all that quiet, so he kept catching what they said by accident.

"Xiaoyu, what's the name of that boy sitting in front?"

Not long after meeting her, Liu Rui had already begun calling Meng Yu by an affectionate nickname.

"You're interested in him?" Meng Yu did not seem to mind.

Maybe Liu Rui simply talked so much that girls could not bring themselves to be wary of him? Or perhaps his overly effeminate manner made it easy for him to get along with girls?

When the topic truly shifted to himself, Fu You continued propping up his head and pretending to listen to class, but all his attention moved to them.

"His name's Fu You. Don't be fooled by how unapproachable he looks, he's actually really nice! A while ago, a group of thugs started bothering me. He went over and said a few words to them, and they scattered. They never came looking for me again!"

"He's that impressive? Wait, what did you say his name was?"

"Fu You. Fu as in talisman, You as in blessing."

"...Fu You?"

Hearing the confusion in Liu Rui's voice, Fu You suddenly had a bad feeling.

Why did Liu Rui find that name familiar?

After thinking back carefully...

A bead of sweat appeared on Fu You's forehead.

"Fu You, one day, you will die by my hand."

Huang Xing had said that in front of Huali.

When he had heard those words, Fu You had vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but he had not thought much of it at the time. Looking back now, perhaps Huali had remembered his name then?

Whatever. Having the same name was not impossible. If Liu Rui asked, he would just pretend he knew nothing.

After that, their conversation returned to trivial daily matters and had nothing more to do with him. That let him breathe a sigh of relief.

But when the bell rang for class to end, Liu Rui suddenly came over and stopped beside him.

Fu You turned his head and looked at him.

Fu You was much shorter than him.

Clearly, Liu Rui was nervous. His hands clenched into fists as he softly tested the waters.

"Senior...?"

"You've got the wrong person," Fu You said quietly.

Liu Rui bent down and leaned close to his ear.

Fu You wanted to dodge away, but his seat was against the wall. There was nowhere for him to go.

"Director Sun showed me your photo."

Fu You fell silent.

Liu Rui said nothing further, merely watching him quietly.

Fu You clenched his fists.

Then he silently stood up.

Just when he had still wanted to preserve the mystery of being a "senior," Sun Feiliu, lurking in the shadows, had already mercilessly stripped away his last shred of cover and left him naked before his junior.

This was practically an insult.

Damn it...

"Fine," Fu You said.

His tone still sounded as though he were about to die.

He truly did not understand Sun Feiliu. It was one thing to assign a junior to him, but why make that junior get so close to him? What exactly was his purpose?

"It really is you! Senior!!" Liu Rui was extremely excited.

...Why was he so excited? Was he bluffing just now? Fu You muttered inwardly.

"What did Sun Feiliu tell you?"

"He showed me photos of you from before. I wasn't sure whether it was really you."

"Photos from before?" Fu You murmured, his expression darkening. "How long ago?"

"From when you had just become..." Liu Rui glanced around. Once he saw that no one was paying attention, he continued in a low voice, "...a magical girl."

Fu You relaxed slightly.

"Don't expose anything about me in front of outsiders."

"I know. Director Sun said you like to keep things mysterious."

"Don't stay too close to me normally."

"Okay!"

Fu You swept his red eyes over him, then pushed past him. With both hands in his pockets, he headed for the door.

He did not like people getting close to him.

It was not simply because he disliked other people.

He disliked almost everyone equally.

More importantly...

If Dark Witch found out that he was getting too close to others, something bad might happen.

Jiang Ke'an...

did not like other people around him.