The Painful Loss of Golden-Hair

Huali hurriedly ran back to the dormitory, holding up his pants. Standing before the mirror, he touched his face in surprise.

This face still felt familiar to him, yet it was noticeably different.

His face should have been longer, and his eyes should not have been so large or so bright and dewy. His features, which carried a distinctly foreign style, should have had a higher nose bridge, but now it looked somewhat delicate. His already fair skin had become even smoother and softer, making his pink lips stand out all the more vividly against those tender cheeks.

He touched his face again and felt an unfamiliar softness beneath his fingers.

His original face had been rather lean, but now it had accumulated quite a bit of fat. It felt soft and springy to the touch, even a little tacky.

The line of his jaw had become rounder too. His face, which had never been particularly masculine, now carried a hint of feminine fragility.

Especially his golden hair, whose ends had turned an unnatural pink.

His hair had already been considered long for a boy, falling nearly to his neck. Because of his foreign blood, the school had been less strict with him than with others.

But now, the lower halves of both his bangs and the hair at the back of his head had clearly turned pink. Moreover, the texture of the golden hair and the pink hair felt vastly different beneath his hand.

Compared with his originally rather stiff hair, the newly grown pink hair was softer, finer, and straighter, almost identical to the pink hair he had as a Magical Girl.

A normal person's hair would never have such a soft pink color without dye. He ran his fingers through it and fell into brief confusion.

Even Huang Xing, Green Yi, and Fu You all had black hair in their ordinary human forms.

It was true that he was a Magical Girl, and he could accept the fact that he would become a girl, but why had his hair color specifically changed into the color it was in his Magical Girl form?

Was that even reasonable?

As for why his pants and clothes had become larger, that was naturally because his body had become more like a girl's and shrunk considerably, making it difficult for him to walk.

He went to the wall and used a piece of string to measure his height.

One meter seventy-five.

He had only shrunk by five centimeters, yet it felt as if his entire body had become smaller. Everything felt wrong.

His pants were empty inside, and his shirt felt uncomfortably loose as well. His shoes were especially bad—they had gone from fitting properly to feeling like slippers, making every step unusually difficult.

He sat on the sofa and pondered for a while.

Had he changed this much because he had expended too much stamina yesterday?

He knew that his body would change along with his use of Magical Girl magic. But although yesterday's battle had lasted a long time, he had not actually consumed much magic—far less than during his previous fight with the Fierce Beast and the Witch.

Or perhaps I had already changed a lot last time, and just never realized it?

Although his current appearance had gained some feminine traits and looked somewhat delicate, it did not change the fact that he was still a boy.

There was no need to verify that fact further. He knew that at the very least, his organs had not changed.

His skin had indeed become brighter and fairer, but gender was not determined by the qualities of one's skin.

His loose shirt was still wearable, and his overly long pants could be rolled up and made do with. But shoes that did not fit were truly uncomfortable.

Most of the shops outside were closed by now anyway. Even if there was a problem, he would have to think about it tomorrow.

He lay back down on the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling light.

No wonder someone had called him cute earlier. At a glance, he really did look somewhat like a girl.

He still had school tomorrow. Was he going to school with this face?

In the daytime, Fu You arrived at school as usual.

For the past few days, she had always seen Huali waiting for her at the intersection on the way to school. Yet today, Huali had not appeared.

Had she arrived early?

Fu You pondered it silently and felt that possibility was minuscule. He would not leave home even one minute early.

Without giving it further thought, she walked straight into the campus.

When she entered the classroom, she found that Huali had already arrived and was sitting in the seat behind hers.

Huali wore a hat, kept his face lowered, and used a textbook to hide his head.

His seat was already in the corner, and he was deliberately concealing himself so conspicuously that anyone could tell something was off.

Fu You walked over, pulled away the book concealing his face, and immediately saw the pink hair he had failed to hide completely, along with that face which had never been very manly and could now practically be called a girl's face.

Fu You froze slightly as well.

"Senior..." Huali said softly, sounding conflicted.

"Why are you hiding like this?" Fu You asked. "Everyone will find out sooner or later."

"But changing only halfway looks terrible too. I'm neither male nor female," Huali said quietly.

Even Huali's voice sounded somewhat girlish now.

Fu You looked at him helplessly, then shook her head.

So Huali himself knew he was neither male nor female. He had already been effeminate to begin with, and now he had become absurdly feminine. That aggrieved little look in his eyes made it seem as though he had suffered some enormous injustice.

As expected of Pink-Hair, he was already beginning to show his talent for making people pity him.

Fu You said nothing more and returned to her seat.

Not long afterward, Huali tapped her. With the book hiding his face and only his eyes exposed, he asked, "Senior, why did my hair color change too?"

Fu You fell silent for a moment before saying, "Go ask the Magical Girl Division."

"Ask them? Why? Is this very abnormal?" Huali asked.

"It is abnormal."

"Abnormal? Then what will happen to me?" Huali asked.

"You'll become a girl," Fu You said.

"I know that. I mean the other things," Huali said.

Fu You shook her head. "At worst, you'll just change faster. Did you come into contact with anything unclean?"

Huali frowned. "No. Yesterday, when I came back... I went with Senior Huang Xing to deal with a Fierce Beast, then I came back and fell asleep."

Fu You hesitated. "Did the Fierce Beast hit you?"

Huali repeatedly shook his head. "I never fought the Fierce Beast head-on."

"Go to the Magical Girl Division and get checked out. Your magic is leaking. Some force has caused your Magical Girl power to seep into your body."

"What will that do?"

"Turn you into a girl."

"I know. I mean... fine, I understand."

"I'll go with you after class," Fu You said.

"Really?! Senior, you're the best." Huali narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Fu You looked out the window, her expression turning slightly grave.

Yes... why had his hair turned pink?

If a Magical Girl's human body was assaulted by magic, such as through an attack from a Fierce Beast or a Witch, then as long as magic remained in her body, she would automatically transform into a Magical Girl to avoid being injured.

But his half-changed state was truly rare.

This sort of change was more commonly seen in fallen Magical Girls.

When fallen magic seeped into the body, a Magical Girl's power would instinctively fight it, causing her body to remain in a state that was half Magical Girl and half fallen magic, even without transforming.

But Huali's body showed no signs of corruption.

Yet Magical Girl magic was undeniably affecting his body.

What exactly had he encountered?