Inside the Association

"Xingxing~"

Zhou Xingxing, who was getting ready for work, suddenly heard someone calling from behind her.

She turned and saw two youthful girls walking toward her.

The one in front was familiar: Chen Qianqian.

As for the girl behind her...

Zhou Xingxing narrowed her eyes slightly.

Long black hair, a mature figure... but none of the air to match. She looked a little lazy, yet still girlish, with a fair bit of energy.

Chen Qianqian was holding her hand...

Someone close enough to Qianqian for that, yet unfamiliar to Xingxing... Could it be...

That was right!

She was Magical Girl Celestial Star, out of her transformed form! A sixteen-year-old girl whose real name was Yang Cheng.

Zhou Xingxing pushed up her round glasses.

"Only you could be this energetic first thing in the morning."

"And... Yang Cheng? Weren't you supposed to have a few transformations left before the change became complete?"

Yang Cheng scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"I miscalculated..."

"But I think my mindset might have played a part. Before, I subconsciously resisted the change, so each transformation only changed me a little. Yesterday, I'd finally made peace with becoming a girl and accepted it completely. So the change happened all at once."

Zhou Xingxing nodded in understanding.

"That sounds reasonable... Come on, let's head up together."

The middle floors of the Association building were where the Magical Girls and their support staff spent their time.

Compared with employees in other departments, the staff here had it much easier.

For one thing, they got to see Magical Girls every day.

For another, their main job was to keep the Magical Girls happy. Most were pastry chefs or worked in similar service roles, providing the girls with a pleasant place to rest.

Magical Girls were kindhearted, and most wouldn't make trouble for the staff. Except...

A burst of rousing electronic music rang out for no apparent reason.

At some point, an exuberant punk girl with smoky eye makeup and an electric guitar had appeared in the middle of the room.

"Yo~ Looks like everyone's here! Let's get started!"

Crash!

A bass guitar came hurtling at her from behind and smashed against the back of her head, shattering on impact.

"Get started, my ass!"

"This isn't our own Branch! Manners! Where are your damn manners?"

Their lead singer and lead guitarist scratched her head as if nothing had happened.

"Aww~ I just wanted everyone to feel our enthusiasm..."

"I'll show you enthusiasm, you *∪∮々..."

Chinese not recognized.

The two girls tumbled to the floor and began a warm, friendly exchange between teammates.

Yang Cheng couldn't help exclaiming in admiration.

"Now that's rock and roll... Wait, aren't they Magical Girls from the neighboring province? Why are they here?"

Celestial Star pushed up her glasses again.

She'd made up her mind to buy a new pair. These kept sliding down, and the slightest movement meant she had to push them back up.

"Because of you, of course."

"You're the Dawn Rank Magical Girl getting the most attention lately."

"Most of the other Dawn Rank Magical Girls have been famous for years. They each have their own responsibilities, rarely appear in public, and tend to act with restraint. They're not quite as... flashy as you."

"They're in the neighboring province. When they heard you were about to join the Association, they got curious and wanted to come see you."

"And they happened to be free."

The lead singer pinned to the floor was Magical Girl Electric Sound—a remarkably straightforward title.

The one who had knocked Electric Sound down was Magical Girl Beautiful Sound.

Beautiful Sound? More like Beautiful Silence.

Another daily bass joke, and a hard one not to laugh at.

As for the other band members... They couldn't leave their own Branch completely unattended, so their captain, Electric Sound, had come with one other member chosen by lot. The rest had stayed behind.

Electric Sound's shout had also drawn the Association staff's attention to the three people by the elevator.

They naturally recognized Zhou Xingxing and Chen Qianqian.

As for the girl they didn't recognize... They didn't need to guess. She was today's guest of honor, Magical Girl Love.

In Yang Cheng's sight, tiny points of light born from love gradually gathered in midair.

"Oh~ What pure-hearted people~"

Tap...

Yang Cheng stepped forward. Light gathered around her, warm but not dazzling.

The next moment, Magical Girl Love appeared before everyone.

"Everyone! Are you having a good day?"

"Yeah!"

At the sight of Love, the Association staff burst into cheers.

Love drifted straight into the crowd, gently greeting every member of the staff.

"Whoa! To have Love care about me like this—even dying would be worth it!"

"Hey... Don't say that. I want all of you to stay safe and well!"

Watching Love slip into her public persona so quickly, Chen Qianqian's mouth visibly twitched.

Was she really cold and aloof after becoming Thousand Blades?

Not at all. She was simply terrified of socializing.

She could never greet and chat with everyone as freely as Love did now, let alone say such embarrassing things.

Love floated through the crowd, praising the Association staff until they were dazed with delight. One of them even managed to call her "Mom," drawing shocked looks from everyone else.

After floating around for a full ten minutes, Love finally returned to Chen Qianqian and Zhou Xingxing.

"Oh my~ Such irresistible enthusiasm."

"Qianqian, you should try returning everyone's love too~"

Love took Chen Qianqian's hand and gently rubbed her cheek against hers.

Chen Qianqian: !

As Chen Qianqian's face turned visibly red, Celestial Star thought she might finally see her lose her composure. Instead, Chen Qianqian suddenly transformed, forcing herself to calm down.

At least, that was how it looked on the surface.

"All right, Love. We have business to attend to."

Thousand Blades coughed twice, then marched forward, pulling Love along with her.

Celestial Star followed behind them.

At the mention of business, the two rock Magical Girls stopped their affectionate exchange and scrambled up from the floor.

"Wait for us!"

The bass and guitar dissolved back into Magic Power and rejoined their bodies. The two followed the other three closely into the Magical Girl Association's Local City Branch Testing Center.

Inside the Testing Center, Old Wei, Knight, and Masked Heroine were already waiting.

As for Ranger?

She was still asleep.

"You're finally here. We've been waiting quite a while."

"So? The atmosphere at the Association is pretty nice, isn't it?"

Masked Heroine smiled at Love.

Knight also showed Love her goodwill. She didn't say a word, but it was unmistakable.

"Of course~"

Love blinked.

"Everyone's love is so passionate!"