It seemed to have tripped on something.
In fact, it really had tripped—tripped on a fold in the tucked-up bedding. Its entire body flipped midair, and its four paws flailed wildly before it managed to stabilize itself.
Rei's first reaction was how cute it was.
Her second reaction was, “Wait, where did this thing come from?”
She was certain there had been nothing there when she walked in just now. There were only her and Classmate Tian Gong in the nurse's office.
Lowering her hand holding the pudding, she pointed at the tiny creature floating in midair. “Classmate Tian Gong, behind you—there's something flying behind you! It's silver-white and glowing—did it just make a sound?”
“What is it?” Qiluo Tian Gong turned around, locking eyes directly with Star-trail.
“There's nothing there.”
Qiluo Tian Gong's gaze swept back and forth through the air, completely bypassing Star-trail. With a puzzled expression, she turned back to look at Rei and tilted her head slightly. “Were you just too excited in the gymnasium earlier? Sometimes, staring at flashing lights too much can leave afterimages.”
“It's not an afterimage! There really is a—” Rei's hand was still pointing in Star-trail's direction, but she choked on the second half of her sentence.
She saw the tiny silver-white creature covering its mouth with its two front paws, its ears pinned back flat against its head like airplane ears. Its entire face was puffed up as it desperately tried to hold back another sound after its slip-up.
It thought that covering its mouth would prevent it from being discovered, but it forgot that it was still glowing.
Rei reached out and pinched her own cheek.
It hurt. She wasn't dreaming, and her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. This was real.
“Can you really not see it?” Rei turned her head to look at Qiluo. Qiluo had leaned back against the headboard again, slowly sipping water from her cup, her expression as calm as usual.
She even tilted her head, returning Rei's gaze with a highly bewildered look.
“But it's right next to you! Look, it's still flying!”
Realizing it had been exposed, Star-trail slowly lowered the paws covering its mouth. It decided to stop hiding altogether and waved a paw generously at Rei.
Rei reflexively raised her hand and waved back. It took two waves before she realized what she was doing.
She was greeting a creature she couldn't even identify.
“It waved at me,” Rei said to Qiluo, her tone sounding like she was reporting a troublemaker.
Qiluo set down her cup and sighed. “You really were too excited today,” she said firmly. “Go back and rest early. Get a good night's sleep, and you won't see anything tomorrow.”
“You can see me,” Star-trail said, hovering directly in front of Rei.
Rei stared at the points of light slowly fading on the hem of her skirt, her mind going completely blank.
She could feel her heart racing, her palms starting to sweat, and a myriad of questions spinning in her head.
But what Rei wanted to know most of all was...
“Are you a Contract Spirit?”
“Yes. Ordinary people cannot see me. Only those with the aptitude to become a Magical Girl can perceive my existence.”
Star-trail flew forward half a meter, bringing itself to eye level with her.
Before she could even register what she was doing, Rei reached out. Her hand hovered in front of Star-trail, her fingers trembling slightly. She wanted to ask Star-trail if she could touch it, but by the time she snapped out of it, she couldn't bring herself to pull her hand back.
Star-trail took the initiative to lean forward, pressing its forehead against her hand. The starlight felt cool, like moonlight dampened by morning dew.
“But... but I've been to the Association. I took the aptitude test... They said I didn't have it.”
Rei's fingers paused behind Star-trail's ear. She pulled her hand back and placed it on her lap, her fingers twisting together.
She stared at her hands, recalling the cold touch of the sensing plate in the Association's testing room that day, and the expressionless face of the technician when he pronounced her "disqualified."
“Which means... Classmate Tian Gong can't see you.”
Rei slowly digested this fact, turning her head to look at Qiluo. “Does Classmate Tian Gong really not have the aptitude to be a Magical Girl?”
Star-trail turned as well, looking at Qiluo Tian Gong leaning against the headboard alongside Rei.
She was currently sipping water from her cup, completely oblivious to everything happening here.
“Yes,” Star-trail said. “She is just an ordinary person.”
“So, do you want to become a Magical Girl? Form a contract with me, obtain true power, and stop just standing below the stage.”
Rei's mouth hung open. The sheer volume of information was so overwhelming that she felt completely lightheaded.
This tiny creature, barely the size of a plush toy, was telling her that she could become a Magical Girl?
Why did it choose her? What type of aptitude did she have? What would she look like after transforming?
But she didn't care about the answers to any of those questions right now.
At this moment, only one thought remained in her mind—a thought that had been planted a very, very long time ago: I can finally become a Magical Girl.
“Classmate Tian Gong.” Rei stood before the bed, carefully scooping Star-trail down from near her shoulder. “It asked me... if I wanted to contract with it.”
She held Star-trail up in front of Qiluo. Her eyes were red, and the tip of her nose was flushed, but the smile on her face was completely unreserved.
Qiluo looked at the tiny creature in her hands, which was still playing innocent, and then at Rei's eyes—which had clearly shed tears, yet were still shining so brightly.
She set her cup down on the nightstand and sat up straight.
“Rei,” she said. “Congratulations.”
Rei stood there cradling Star-trail. Hearing Qiluo say those words, her tears finally spilled over, completely out of her control.
She wiped them with the back of her hand, but they only flowed faster. In the end, she stopped trying to wipe them at all, letting the tears stream down her cheeks and drip onto Star-trail's silver-white fur.
She thought she had let go of it long ago, but now she realized that the yearning had never truly vanished.
It turned out she didn't lack aptitude; she just hadn't met her own Contract Spirit yet.
It turned out she wasn't destined to only watch from below the stage. It turned out she could also be the one shining brightly upon it.
She looked up at Qiluo, who was leaning against the headboard, and saw her own reflection in those clear eyes—crying hysterically, completely devoid of any dignity.
Suddenly, she realized something.
If she became a Magical Girl, what about Qiluo Tian Gong?
Classmate Tian Gong couldn't see Star-trail, nor could she see any other Contract Spirits.
She didn't have the aptitude of a Magical Girl; she was just an ordinary student.
Once she became a Magical Girl, she would have new companions, new missions, and new secrets.
She would fight alongside other Magical Girls, leaping across rooftops in the dead of night.
She would drift further and further away from Classmate Tian Gong.
She would cease to be ordinary, no longer the "enthusiastic but talentless" Yano Rei.
This was supposed to be everything she had ever dreamed of, yet now that the moment was here, she found herself hesitating.
The more she thought about it, the sillier she felt. She had come all this way precisely because she wanted to be a Magical Girl, yet now that the opportunity was right in front of her, she was starting to shrink back.
“I—” Rei spoke with a trembling voice. “I want to be a Magical Girl... I've wanted to since I was very, very little. But if I really become one, what happens to my life now?”
“Will I still be able to have lunch with Classmate Tian Gong? Will I still be able to line up at the boba shop after school? Can I still... just be an ordinary high school girl, like I am now?”
Rei poured out all of her worries in a single breath.
Qiluo got out of bed, walked over to Rei, and reached out to pull her into an embrace.
With her face buried in the crook of Qiluo's shoulder, Rei caught the faint scent of laundry detergent mingled with Qiluo's own subtle scent.
The blend of these scents reminded her of how the two of them would share lunch at the same table every day during recess.
“Silly,” Qiluo's voice came from above as she gently patted Rei's back.
Rei lifted her head from Qiluo's embrace, messily wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, though more tears still welled in her eyes. She held Star-trail up before her, sniffled, and spoke.
“...I don't need to.”
Star-trail froze in midair, and Qiluo was also stunned.
Qiluo had thought Rei would agree without a moment's hesitation. After all, this was her childhood dream.
She had anticipated every possible scenario, except for Rei refusing.
Rei indeed showed no signs of having a magic circuit, but that didn't mean she couldn't use mana.
As long as Qiluo supplied her with mana, Rei could also use magic via an external magic circuit.
It sounded simple, but even in her original world, very few people could achieve such a feat.
But!
Qiluo Tian Gong was one of those who could.
The only cost was that Qiluo would have to re-plan her daily mana consumption.
Rei slowly lowered her hands, setting Star-trail down on the bed.
“I'm sorry. I really do want to be a Magical Girl. I've wanted to for a very long time.”
She glanced back at Qiluo Tian Gong.
“I'm not afraid of fighting, nor am I afraid of getting hurt. It's just... I don't want to lose everything I have right now. These ordinary, noisy, sometimes frustrating daily moments are the best magic to me.”
“Like... gushing to you every day about which Magical Girl released a new album, while you listen to me with that helpless look in your eyes.”
“And dragging you to line up at the boba shop every day to order the largest size of pearl milk tea. You always say drinking too many sweet things will make me gain weight, yet you still finish yours with me every single time.”
Rate on N.U.
