NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18
July 18th
“Hikari-chan! I’ve become a Magical Girl!”
“Um…Hana-chan was originally a Magical Girl, right?”
“Ehh! That’s not it!”
Hana, feeling a bit hurt that her grand announcement wasn’t acknowledged, stomped her tiny feet and gestured eagerly for me to catch on.
‘Even if you gesture like that, I don’t really get it.’
Inside the quiet café, the only sound was Hana’s foot tapping away.
Ichika and Kyoko, who had been goofing off for a while, had lost interest in teasing me and were now mindlessly watching TV in a corner of the café.
In the midst of that, Hana, living nearby, suddenly ran over to brag about something.
A Magical Girl.
Something to brag about.
Since her debut…
“Uh… no way?”
“Yup!”
Thump!
As Hana cutely raised one hand, her side tail, tied up by her mother, swayed like a puppy’s tail.
“Transformation!”
Hana shouted with an excited voice, brandishing her Yellow Glass Star. The starlight born from blooming was dazzling in its brilliance.
Sparkling starlight.
Yellow flash.
The yellow starlight burst forth from the Glass Star and enveloped Hana’s body, changing her outfit completely.
Blooming Born 1-Star [Swiftness] Magical Girl
Sato Hana’s blooming.
Bright yellow fluorescent jumper.
A subtly glowing white shirt.
Black shorts with visible yellow star dust.
The shoes adorned with sparkling yellow star stickers seemed ready to dash off to somewhere far away at any moment.
A girl steeped in starlight.
A yellow shooting star.
‘Uh… her hair color?’
Yellow.
Surprisingly, after the transformation, Hana’s hair changed to the same yellow as her Glass Star.
“Oh…? Do kids these days change hair color when they transform?”
“No, you’re still a kid too.”
“Leader, don’t focus on that. You sound like an old man.”
“……”
Ichika, perhaps drawn to the ruckus, scratched her rear and slid into the seat next to us. Kyoko also followed suit, subtly scratching her back as she joined in.
‘Their behavior is too casual; they remind me of younger cousins.’
Both Ichika and Kyoko had their own sort of cute appearances, but their careless attitude made it hard to notice. Though Kyoko put in some effort in front of others, Ichika was practically wild.
“Wow~ Even this little one can bloom, and I’m still so far behind…”
“Were you worried about that?”
“I’m also somewhat of a Magical Girl, right?”
Just like she said, Kyoko still hadn’t bloomed her own star, so her orange Glass Star remained unbloomed.
Comparing herself to Ichika, who had bloomed instantly, and me, who met her in her bloomed state from the start, she seemed to be a bit envious.
“Heeheehee!”
Feeling good about receiving admiration from those around her, Hana bounced around, her yellow side tail swaying up and down.
“Look at this!”
“Oooh.”
Hana struck all sorts of poses to express her joy.
A cute pose with one foot raised.
“Yap!”
“Oooh.”
“So cute!”
An elegant figure skating-like pose with one leg raised.
“Yop!”
“Oooh, you’re flexible! Want to learn some martial arts?”
A small fist thrust out, mimicking martial arts.
“Ha!”
“Awesome!”
Hana, unable to contain her happiness, took on various poses and enjoyed the reactions, while Ichika and Kyoko continued to shower her with compliments.
‘Hana-chan isn’t usually this open with others… Is it that Ichika and Kyoko see each other often at the café, so she’s comfortable?’
The endless stream of praises.
The joy of successful blooming.
Sato Hana’s happiness value had exceeded the threshold, and she was overflowing with joy.
“Calm down, Hana-chan.”
“Heeheehee! Thank you, Hikari-chan.”
I placed a hand on Hana’s shoulder, massaging it to help her cool down.
Already high-strung, she was practically radiating excitement as her heart raced.
Ichika and Kyoko, finding her innocent demeanor adorable, patted her on the head.
“Hehe, what a really cute little one.”
“Uee! Don’t treat me like a kid!”
“Ohoho, is that so?”
Ichika then slid her hand under Hana’s armpit and gave her a “flying” ride.
Initially startled, Hana soon erupted into giggles, enjoying the game.
“Hah…”
“What’s wrong, Kyoko?”
Kyoko hesitated before speaking up.
“Last time in Odaiba, I didn’t do anything either, you know?”
“Ah… What’s the matter? As long as we all made it out safely, that’s what matters.”
“If I had just bloomed better, it would’ve been nicer… Maybe I should’ve just stayed home…”
It was refreshing to see Kyoko, who was always so lively, in a state of anxiousness.
The blooming of stars is determined by how well one understands their own dreams.
The extent to which those dreams are tied to fate varies greatly.
After the first bloom appeared back in December 2011, some, like Ichika, bloomed immediately following Fujimoto Sumire, but…
‘Ichika must have reacted particularly strongly to her fate…’
Many of the girls born 1-Star had vanished without ever displaying their bloomed forms.
Above all, the original work showcased veterans who survived the alliances and wars among 2-Star girls.
‘All of them tasted blood and lost their senses.’
Most 1-Star Magical Girls were unable to bloom due to the curse of fighting, and they fought amongst each other to build strength.
The protagonist, Shikishima Yuki, was a miraculous case who expanded her star counts in battles against monsters, so the types of blooming Magical Girls that appeared were quite limited.
‘Even in volume 1, half the story was about getting food.’
Although there was a shop window where 3-Star Magical Girls could acquire items using starlight, it was a tale to escape the territory of [War], hence the protagonist rarely made use of it.
“Ah, speaking of which, Leader…”
“Hmm? Wait, but Ichika is the captain, and I’m the leader?”
“What does it matter? More importantly, how about the Leader’s Glass Star?”
“Ah.”
Other than Haruko, no one has seen it properly.
I took out the colorless Glass Star from my pocket and showed it to Kyoko.
A massive starburst of multicolored starlight formed a triangle, radiating endless energy.
A massive power of a world that no one could witness until next year.
“Hmmm.”
“Three, huh?”
“Wow~”
As expected, the reactions from the group watching the enormous power of the world were quite bland.
After all, the blooming was only just revealed not long ago.
No one felt the difference between Born 1-Star and 2-Star.
‘It doesn’t seem like the Fujimoto Disturbance will happen…’
Having never displayed the style of full dominance over the Magical Girls like Fujimoto Sumire in battle, it would be hard to perceive the significance of the difference in star counts.
‘…Still, can’t someone admire the magical class I’m showing?’
I felt a bit disheartened, like an uncle who witnessed his nephews turn up their noses at a delicious treat. So, I put the colorless Glass Star back into my pocket.
“By the way, where does Sato live?”
“Nearby!”
“Oooh, so you live in Yokohama?”
“Yup! In that white house over there!”
“I realized during my last part-time job unloading that it’s really a nice neighborhood.”
The café settled back into a peaceful atmosphere.
Ichika returned to her corner seat, pulled out her smartphone, and began browsing the news.
I circled back to the counter, pretending to tidy up while I fiddled with the espresso machine.
If I talked too much, the neighborhood folks might see and tell the Master, making it a comfortable yet dangerous neighborhood.
Just when calm seemed to settle in, Ichika suddenly called out to me.
“Leader!”
“Huh?”
“Did we have another comrade?”
“No? What are you talking about?”
I stared at Ichika, taken aback by her sudden outburst.
“What’s this ‘salon’ then?”
“Salon?”
“Yeah, wasn’t it created by the Leader?”
“Come here and take a look.”
I set the cloth I was using to wipe the espresso machine down and took a closer look at the screen Ichika was showing me.
[A group of Magical Girls claiming to be a ‘salon’ is causing a ruckus in Kabukicho!]
[They are claiming their leader is a Magical Girl of [Start]…]
[Could this be a terror act directed by someone’s orders?]
[Meanwhile, what’s being fired from the rooftop of the department store is…]
I suddenly felt an unsettling vibe due to the familiarity of the information about a certain character.
‘Why is the [Machine Gun] Magical Girl here?’
She was a character from the original work.
But the other two were unfamiliar figures.
Motorcycles soared above the streets.
Armored Robots marched through the roads.
Machine guns fired toward the skies.
All of this was creating chaos around Kabukicho, with magical girls claiming to be part of the organization I started.
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“When?”
“I don’t know either.”
Ichika shrugged in response.
“But should we just leave it as is?”
“……”
The current situation was a peace created by near ambush.
The perception of Magical Girls had just begun changing, thanks to the performances and miracles of the Magical Girls of [Start].
If things reverted to the deadly state of the original work, filled with fierce conflicts, it could rekindle the spark of the tragedy of [Magical Girl HAZARD] that began with the territory declaration of [War].
I didn’t care about the tarnishing of the name [Magical Girl of Start].
But I had to prevent the chaos among ordinary Magical Girls, who were just barely blooming at this moment.
“Kyoko.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, but can you keep an eye on the shop for a bit?”
“Eh?!”
Kyoko looked surprised, as if she never thought what she just said would come back to bite her.
But I didn’t mind and tossed the apron at her. Then, I called out to Ichika, who seemed prepared.
“Ichika! Let’s go!”
“Okay! I was just itching for something to do!”
“Hey, wait!”
Hana shot her hand up and yelled.
“I want to go too!”
“What?”
“Now that I’m a Magical Girl, I want to do something good!”
“……”
Having Sato Hana, who was a blooming Magical Girl, would be reassuring.
If things got dangerous, she could at least help prevent the worst-case scenario.
‘…It should be fine.’
In the urgent situation, I could no longer ponder further.
“Alright. Let’s go!”
Together, Ichika, Hana, and I bolted out of the shop.