CH 83

Chapter 3 — Dry scrape, burn and perforate! • Episode 3–2 — Dependency ②

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

One Saturday, a few days after the end of August. The heat in the world has yet to subside, and if I go outside, I may want to raise my eyebrows at the humid heat, but fortunately I don’t have a regular job and basically never go out except to exterminate Diests. I was working hard cleaning my room in a cool, air-conditioned room.

Towards the end of August, when the territory war had been settled, I used to appeal to Elephant-san in the Magical World as a check to prevent them from meddling in my business, but the end of August meant the start of a new semester, and the frequency of my visits with the Elephant-san decreased drastically. Or, to put it another way, it is almost gone.

Unlike me, who is half a NEET, Elephant-san and her friends have school on weekdays, club activities after school and during vacations, and socializing with their friends. Because of the territory war, I’ve been focusing on my Magical Girl business during the summer vacation, but we won’t be able to see each other so often in the future.

It’s a little disappointing that we will not have many opportunities to see Elephant-san, let alone Blade-san and Press-san. No, let’s be honest, a little is nothing. I’m super, super disappointed. I made a friend for the first time in my life.

But that’s not to say that only Elephant-san and the others are busy and I’m always free.

As I had a deal with some stinky fairy called Earth right before the Tea Party the other day, I need to win or get MVP in some kind of competition in order to get the medicine to make myself a man again.

I don’t have the same obsessive desire to become a man again at all costs as I did when I first became a Magical Girl, but I’m also not so divided that I’m willing to live as a woman for the rest of my life. That’s I would like to secure the drugs, but if I don’t get the sex change drugs at this convention, I don’t know when I will be able to get the drugs in the future. Worst case scenario, I may not get it until I graduate as a Magical Girl. If I decide to retire as a Magical Girl, I will have no more chances. Modern science cannot completely change gender on a genetic level.

In other words, for me, this is a battle that I absolutely cannot lose.

In preparation for special rivalries, when I am not on a mission or defeating Diests, I basically watched videos of past rivalries that have been released to the public, or watched videos of Witches I will be fighting in the main competition, to study and develop strategies for how to get around. The actual Witch-only competition seems to have different regulations from the regular ones, and the detailed rules are not disclosed until after the preliminary rounds are over, so watching past matches may not be that meaningful, but it would be somewhat better than not knowing anything. I also tried to watch videos of promising Phase 2 Magical Girls who might hit the qualifiers at some point, and there is no such thing as too much preparation.

Other times, I fight virtual distros at the training facility or ask Extend-san to be my training partner for interpersonal battles. That girl is supposed to be a student, but when I ask her for a favor, she seems strangely happy to oblige…

So, my days are quite hectic, but only today, I am absent from both research and combat training for the rivalry. The reason I am cleaning my room more meticulously than usual is not to escape from the reality of homework or job hunting or anything else I don’t want to do.

It is because Elephant-san is coming to visit my house today. Unlike when she attached herself to my transition before, she’ll visit me normally in her pre-transformation state, so I guess I should call her Chisaki.

We had agreed to visit my house once around the time we went to the aquarium together before we got busy with the territory war and so on, but we were busy with other things and it had been postponed until today.

I was too shy to ask Chisaki to go all the way to her place, and I couldn’t offer her any hospitality, so I suggested that we go where she wanted to go anyway, but she said she wanted to go to Sylph-chan’s house. She is as pushy as ever. That’s part of her charm, though.

There was no way I could sit still in front of the first big event in my life, inviting my friends to my house, and there was no way I could be rude in welcoming Chisaki-san to my home, so I am busy cleaning more carefully than usual and checking the snacks and juices to be served to Chisaki-san.

If you were to invite friends over to your house, you would probably have a game night for the boys, or a candy party for the girls. I have no experience, so I only have knowledge from fiction, but I bought a lot of snacks and prepared two controllers so that I can respond to either of Chisaki-san’s wishes. Plus, I’m in the film-related subs, so I should be okay in the unlikely event that I run out of time. On the other hand, I have prepared bedding for both of us in case we get too excited and it gets late at night, so everything is ready. I’ve made sure of it.

And then there’s the clothing. Since I still have some time before my appointment with Chisaki-san, I am currently wearing my usual T-shirt only style for ease of movement, but in a little while I should change into the loungewear that Chisaki-san picked out for me before. I’m not good at wearing clothes that make me feel too girly, but it makes Chisaki-san happy, so I have no choice but not to wear it.

While I was nervously choosing loungewear, I heard a light chime. It was earlier than the appointed time, but I am sure she came early so as not to be late. When I went to visit her before, she arrived at the station earlier than me and waited for me. That’s just the way Chisaki-san does.

If I could, I would have changed my clothes before picking her up, but I couldn’t keep her waiting outside in this damn hot temperature forever. This style has been seen once before anyway, and we should have them go up to our cool home first.

I suppress my feelings of anxiety and make a short run to the front door, opening it with a smile and a sense of excitement that I can’t hide.

「You’re early, Chi—」

「Eh, a child?」

「—Saki–san…」

Standing in front of the entrance was a strange woman who looked nothing like Chisaki-san. At a glance, she appeared to be in her 20s. She has semi-long, brightly dyed hair and is roughly dressed.

I close the door vigorously and pull into the house while the woman looks down at the small me and tilts her head curiously.

I did it. Normally, I would check the intercom to see who was on the other end of the line, and then use my voicemail or call out that my father is not here to repel various solicitors and salespeople, but I completely assumed that Chisaki-san had arrived and opened the front door with a floating mind. I should have checked properly.

In case you are wondering, this house is supposed to be occupied by a 30-year-old man named Mizukami Ryōichi, so strange religions or telecommunication equipment solicitations sometimes come to the house. Maybe the current woman is of that ilk. She didn’t have any fancy machines or tablets, and she was not in suits, so I wonder if she was the religious type? The little girl was obviously suspicious about the little girl coming out, and I’m pretty sure she was a customer for Mizukami Ryōichi.

Once the front door has been opened, it would be a hassle to go all the way back to the room and answer the intercom.

I put the door chain on just in case and opened the door a little, but the woman I saw earlier was still standing outside. Tch, she should have gone home…

I didn’t feel anything earlier because I did it on the spur of the moment, but this woman looks familiar… Was it a sale or something that came before…? I think it’s coming up to my throat, but I can’t remember.

「Errm, I’m sorry, I’d like to know a little bit about this place, is this the right place for Mizukami Ryōichi’s house?」

「My father haven’t come home yet.」

The woman who crouched down and looked at me said this with an affectionate smile.

As expected, she seemed to be looking for me as an adult, so I decided to turn her away as usual with my special words. There is no fool who would not go home after being told this. At least not until now.

Chisaki-san will be coming to visit soon, and I need her to leave before then. It would be a disaster if word got out that an active middle schooler was visiting a 30-year-old man’s house. Worst case scenario, it’s fine with me, but I can’t let it tarnish Chisaki-san’s reputation.

「Hah? Father?」

However, contrary to my expectations, the woman looked surprised as if she had been hit by a peashooter and started staring at me with an expression of surprise on her face, as if she had been hit by a pigeon. Could this woman be a pervert? Chisaki-san said earlier that just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean I’m safe, and there’s also the possibility that she’s a pedophile…

For a moment I thought it might be better to call the police, but then it would expose the fact that a person named Mizukami Ryōichi does not live here. Maybe the cognitive inhibition will help, or maybe the Magical World will follow up, but first of all, the response to the police will definitely blow up the day’s schedule. That’s the only thing I can’t stand. If push comes to shove, let’s do our best to drive them back with a view to using the power of Magical Girls.

「Are you joking… He never told me he had a child. How long had he been there in the first place…? Does it mean you were already there when he left home…? I mean, who was the other partner? I can’t believe he didn’t call me about all this…」

「Uhh, my father is not here now, so you’re good to go.」

「Wait! My name is Mizukami Futaba. Your father, Mizukami Ryōichi’s sister, which makes me an aunt to you, has your father ever told you about me?」

「Eh…? Futaba…?」

As I was about to forcefully break off the conversation and close the front door, the woman forcibly slid her foot through the doorway and said, a little impatiently. That’s when I first noticed it. It’s no surprise that I recognize her from somewhere. The last time I saw her was eight years ago, when she was still in middle school, and unlike then, I don’t recognize her right away because she wear makeup now. But there is definitely a resemblance. If you ask me, it certainly is.

This woman’s name is Mizukami Futaba. She’s my sister, for real.