Morning sunlight streamed through the window, landing softly on the quilt.

The room was in chaos.

Shizuku saw Yukieda straddling Mai, pressing a pillow firmly over her face while Mai thrashed wildly beneath her.

She and Mari quickly pulled Yukieda away. Yukieda kept roaring, “How dare this guy lie to me!”

Mai lay on the bed, hair disheveled, looking as if she’d just been roughed up.

“What did she lie about?” Shizuku asked curiously. She noticed Yukieda glance toward her own stomach.

“Nothing.”

Luckily, Mari stepped in. “This morning, I saw Mai whisper something into Yukieda’s ear—then Yukieda tried to smother her.”

Confused, Shizuku scratched her head. But relief washed over her when she later saw Yukieda and Mai chatting intimately over breakfast. Their bond wasn’t as strained as she’d feared.

After a full day of intense study, evening fell.

“Then I’ll leave Shizuku and Mari in your care.”

“Good luck.”

Yukieda quietly opened the door. *Click.* It shut, blocking the hallway light—and Mai’s lingering gaze.

Lately, Mai’s looks felt… off.

At that age… shouldn’t teens be curious about everything? Yet Yukieda had never caught Mai engaging in any self-exploration.

Incredible willpower? Or just extreme secrecy?

Yukieda leaned toward the latter. *Maybe Mai hid dirty magazines in her room.*

Nah. Even an old fossil like her knew—one terminal was all you needed these days. Countless apps, shady sites… who even reads dirty magazines anymore?

Mai looked sharp in boys’ clothes, but Yukieda had to admit: she was undeniably girly.

Feeling guilty for mentally gossiping about her partner, Yukieda shook her head and stopped before Master Dai’s door.

She pushed it open. Master Dai sat ready with a game console, patting the cushion beside her.

With cool aloofness, she declared, “Today, we’re playing a turn-based RPG.”

…

“Well done!”

Master Dai’s face glowed with genuine joy.

Thankfully, the game required zero skill—even Yukieda, a total gaming noob, could handle it.

*Now’s the moment,* Yukieda thought, heart fluttering like she was about to confess to a crush. A silly grin spread across her face—

—but Master Dai’s smile vanished. She turned toward the window, gaze sharp.

“Troublesome visitors have arrived.”

Before Yukieda could ask, a violent surge of magic power rippled from the hotel’s outskirts. Near the mountain base…

This terrifying pressure.

*Demons.* Yukieda’s smile faded. She stood instinctively.

Master Dai merely smiled. “Due to my position, I can’t act. Would you mind handling it?”

“Understood.”

A flash of white light filled the dim room. Master Dai’s hair fluttered slightly in the gust.

Before her eyes, Yukieda—once in winter uniform—now wore a radiant new outfit, faint glitter dusting her form.

She leaped from the window, sprinting toward the mountainside: the epicenter of the magic surge, blazingly obvious.

Wind roared in her ears; twigs brushed her cheeks.

She urgently messaged Mai to handle evacuation. *Shizuku and Mari not seeing me… not the time to worry.*

Ahead, a shadowy figure oozing dark energy staggered uphill.

No hesitation. Yukieda aimed and fired.

The demon moved sluggishly, taking the magic bullet straight to the head. It burst like a soap bubble, vanishing into the night.

*That easy?*

A *whoosh* behind her—she ducked, flipped forward. A single strand of hair severed, dissolving midair.

*A feint?* Yukieda exhaled sharply. *Close call.*

Three more demons materialized, surrounding her. Silvery blades glinted where arms should be—razor-sharp.

Intimidating? Maybe. But the word *minions* popped into her mind.

No alarm needed. She could clear them alone.

Ducking between them—too close for ranged shots—she reversed her grip, channeling magic into the stock.

*Swing!* Like a baseball bat. *Crack!* Two demons vanished.

Only one remained.

It roared, charging downhill. Yukieda braced.

*Thud.* Gone.

*I looked cool… too bad no one saw.*

Her terminal buzzed. Pulling it from under her skirt: multiple missed calls from Mai.

*Right—not an official mission. Radio off.*

Mai’s message flashed: *“Hotel under siege. Return immediately.”*

Yukieda froze. Flames now engulfed the mountaintop.

Her heart sank. Magic surged to her feet as she sprinted back.

She tried calling Mai—no signal.

*They’re fine… right?* Master Dai was there… yet unease clawed at her. *Did Mai evacuate everyone in time?*

A woman’s scream cut through the night.

Inside a stalled car, a man hunched low. He’d killed the engine the moment he spotted the monster, urging his wife and feverish daughter to duck.

The monster shuffled past. His wife trembled in the backseat, clutching their pale-lipped girl.

“Daddy?”

“Shh. Be quiet, sweetheart.”

“Okay.”

After a tense silence, the man peeked out. The monster was retreating. *Almost safe…*

*Cough.*

His daughter’s weak, apologetic eyes met his—

*CRASH!*

The car jolted. *SCREECH!* A massive scythe tore through the roof like a can opener.

The woman screamed. The man threw himself over his family.

Then—a streak of white light pierced the demon. It burst into mist.

“Are you all right?”

A girl in a white ceremonial dress sprinted toward them. *A Magical Girl.*

Yukieda questioned the man about the hotel. The woman wept thanks; the little girl pressed her face to the spiderwebbed window, eyes wide.

“When I grow up, I want to be a Magical Girl too.”

Yukieda offered a wry smile.

“The mountain’s in chaos,” the man said, voice trembling. “I left early to get my daughter to a doctor. When I left… the hotel was surrounded.”

“No shelter up here?”

“Nearest one’s downhill.”

Yukieda’s chest tightened. She nodded, turning to run—

*Sputter. Fail.* The car wouldn’t start.

“Wait! Miss—our car’s broken! Please… take our daughter downhill! She needs a doctor!”

The elegantly dressed woman, makeup smudged, pleaded desperately.

“Don’t trouble her!” the man snapped. “The mountain needs her more!”

The woman’s voice broke into hysteria. “What are you saying?! She’s *your* daughter!”