Let Me Show You Something Good

The internet erupted again.

[Pure Love Warrior Love] hit number one on the trending list. The topic exploded.

[The Adorable Girl with the Ultimate Contrast] reached number three.

[Knight's Concert] hit number five and was still climbing. Thanks to a certain pink-haired girl shouting into the camera, the concert ticket reservation page crashed twice at three in the morning.

Fans built a dedicated page for her overnight.

In short, nearly everyone in the city became a supporter of the mysterious magical girl overnight.

Naturally, the matter landed on the conference table at Magical Girl Association Headquarters.

"We've all seen the video." The voice from the head of the table betrayed no emotion. "One punch with an extremely high power output. Healing ability unverified, but very likely real. No registration record. Refuses contact, but is friendly toward the Association. Calls herself 'Love.'"

"The branch suspects she's a Dawn."

"But based on multiple sources of data, Headquarters believes she's at least a Dawn."

The meeting room fell silent.

"We've confirmed three signs of Liberation Faction activity in that city."

Someone else flipped through a file.

And that city was hardly the only place where the Liberation Faction had been active lately. Signs were appearing everywhere.

No one knew what had gotten into them. Recently, Liberation Faction members had been stirring up trouble all over the world like they'd gone mad.

The person at the head of the table rubbed their chin.

"That city's been peaceful for so long. I doubt it can handle all this at once."

"There is a Dawn there, but she seems to value her freedom and dislike being told what to do. I suggest we send some magical girls to assist."

"Agreed."

At the same time, in the Local City Branch's underground training ground.

Yes, the city really was called Local City.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!!

Alloy training dummies lay scattered across the floor. The chests of the first three had caved in completely, while the last had been driven straight into the crash mat.

It was a familiar sight.

Knight stood in the middle of the training ground, her silver armor slick with sweat. The hand gripping her sword trembled.

"Knight, you've been training for six hours." At the edge of the grounds, Old Wei finally spoke up. "Take a break."

"Again."

"Your hand's bleeding!"

"Again!"

Old Wei and Lin Guo exchanged a glance. Neither could hide their helplessness.

She'd been like this since she returned last night. After dealing with the scene and filing her report, she'd gone straight into the Training Ground and hadn't stopped since.

No one could talk her out of it.

"Brother Wei..." Lin Guo said quietly. "What's wrong with Knight? Didn't we win last night? Love showed up, no civilians were hurt, and the whole internet's praising them..."

"That's exactly the problem." Old Wei sighed. "The whole internet's praising Love. But as far as our Miss Knight is concerned, last night's report says only one thing: she's Local City's resident magical girl, and two Second-Tier Fallen Beasts beat her to her knees. In the end, someone else had to save the day."

"But there was obviously something wrong with those two Fallen Beasts. Anyone would've gone down against them..."

"You're right about that." Old Wei watched the stubborn figure in the arena. "But that girl's never been one for reason. When she loses, she just pushes herself harder."

In the Training Ground, Knight took up her stance again.

She stared at the last dummy before her, but scenes from last night kept flashing through her mind—

She knelt amid broken glass, gasping like a fish stranded on shore.

Then that pink figure stepped into the light. One minute. Two punches. Effortless.

The whole city was cheering for those two punches.

But no one knew that as she knelt among the shards of the shop window, only one thought filled her mind:

Knight, you're too weak.

Too weak to protect this street. Too weak to keep the citizens from seeing you like this. Too weak to... live up to everyone's expectations.

"Hah—!"

Her sword swept out, cutting the last dummy in half at the waist.

"Hah... hah..."

She leaned on her sword, sweat dripping from her chin onto the floor.

Again. If I could just get a little stronger, a little faster—

"Wow."

A voice suddenly sounded behind her.

"That was amazing! Poor Mr. Dummy died on the spot!"

Every hair on Knight's body stood on end.

She spun around, sword point aimed straight at—

A pink skirt. Long pink hair.

Pink, starry eyes.

Love was crouched on the crash mat behind her, resting her cheek in one hand and cheering her on with utter sincerity.

With just two fingers of her other hand, she held Knight's sword tip fast. Knight couldn't move it another inch.

"You—you, you—" Knight nearly dropped her sword. "How did you get in?! This is the third basement level! A restricted Association facility!"

"Through the window."

Love pointed overhead.

"There are no windows on the third basement level!"

"Nothing can stand in Love's way!"

Love sounded entirely sure of herself.

Knight: "..."

At the edge of the grounds, Old Wei and Lin Guo had turned to stone. The branch's security system had infrared sensors, access controls, and magical-power detection—three layers of protection. Yet not a single alarm had sounded when this girl came in.

Still, now that Old Wei finally had a chance to meet Love, how could he let her get away? He immediately reached for his phone.

It wasn't there.

"Looking for these?"

Love turned around and waved two phones in her hand.

Lin Guo froze, then looked down.

At some point, the phone she'd been holding had vanished too.

Ahead of them.

Love looked at Old Wei with a solemn expression.

"Did you know I once made a vow..."

"Anyone who tries to make me get a job will be my most hated enemy for the rest of my life."

Old Wei's mouth twitched.

She'd looked so serious that he thought she was about to say something profound. But that was it?

Since Love was so strongly opposed, Old Wei couldn't very well press the matter. He tucked his hands into his pockets.

He gave up.

"What are you doing here?"

When Love finally turned back, Knight sheathed her sword. Her expression was complicated.

"Do I need a reason? Can't I just come see you?"

Love took two steps forward.

Knight felt that Love seemed a little different from when they'd first met.

Wait... Had her wish affected her personality?

Didn't that only happen to new magical girls? Their personalities could change a little when they first transformed, then gradually return to normal.

Actually, hadn't she seemed like this the last few times too?

Knight remembered what had happened in the hospital room.

Was the Association right to suspect she was a newly awakened magical girl?

"I don't believe you."

Knight shook her head.

"Believe me or don't."

Love pulled out her own phone from somewhere and began tapping away.

She didn't look up, but she kept talking.

"I saw that your concert's coming up, so I came to cheer you on!"

"I'm really looking forward to it!"

"A dazzling girl shining her brightest onstage!"

Then Love found what she was looking for and held it up to Knight like a treasure.

Knight looked down and froze.

On the screen was the comment section from last night's livestream.

[Knight held off two of them by herself for a whole ten minutes! Ten minutes! Seeing her injuries broke my heart...]

[Am I the only one worried about Knight? Even after she got hurt, she stayed right at the front. She didn't take a single step back.]

[Thank goodness Love stepped in when she did! Knight couldn't afford to get hurt any worse!]

[Those damn Fallen Beasts ganged up on Knight! That's just dirty!]

One comment. Then another. And another.

The screen was full of them, all for her.

No one said she was weak. No one said she'd failed to protect the people there.

They were worried about her. They were encouraging her...

"Why..." Knight's throat tightened. "Why are you showing me this...?"

"Because I knew you hadn't looked." Love sounded certain. "You're the kind of person who wins a battle and only thinks about what you could've done better. When people praise you, you just think, 'I don't deserve it.' Since last night, all you've been thinking is 'I'm too weak' and 'I let everyone down,' right?"

Knight opened her mouth, but couldn't find a single word to argue with.

"See now?" Love held the phone a little closer. "When you were on your knees, you thought you looked pathetic. But everyone else saw a Knight who refused to retreat even after she was hurt... a brave, strong fighter!"

"You think you let them down. But they never expected 'Knight must never lose.' What they wanted was 'Please be safe, Knight.'"

The girl lifted her face, her pink, starry eyes meeting Knight's earnestly.

"Miss Knight, people don't love you because you're invincible."

"They love you because you've always been there."

The Training Ground stayed quiet for a long time.

At the edge of the grounds, Lin Guo covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.

Old Wei turned away and pretended to study the fire hydrant on the wall.

Knight lowered her head. Slowly, her grip on the sword loosened.

"...Thank you," she said hoarsely. "For coming all this way to tell me."

"No need to thank me." Love waved it off, then suddenly stepped closer, her eyes sparkling. "But you do have to promise me one thing!"

"What?"

"The concert!" Love enunciated each word. "You have to make it wonderful!"

"Not for the Association, and not to complete a mission. Think about it—so many people want to come see you in person. They want to give back, with their own hands, the love you've given them this year and all the years before. Chances like that don't come along often."

"And besides—" She gave Knight a playful wink. "Someone will be waiting for you in the front row."

Knight's breath caught.

Mom.

The front row.

"...Okay."

She heard herself say it. Her voice was soft, but the resolve in it was firmer than in any swing of her sword.

"I promise."

"I'll make it wonderful."