"Alright," I began as I walked the girl to the police station, now back to my regular self. "You need to keep my transformation a secret, okay?"
"Mhm!" She nodded vigorously, "Don't worry mister! Your secret is safe with me!"
You know, for someone who was just kidnapped she's surprisingly cheerful.
Still, we were kidnapped for longer than I thought. The sun's already going down…
I can't believe I just thought that.
"Aya!" a woman's voice yelled as we rounded the corner.
"Mommy!" the girl yelled, running up to her mother with open arms.
The two embraced each other in front of the police station while an officer just kind of stood nearby with a smile on his face.
A sigh of relief escaped my lips. What a heartwarming scene…
"Hm?" the mother let out as she looked up from her daughter. "Oh! You're the young man I asked earlier! Thank you so much for finding Aya!"
"Oh no! It was no problem!" I let out a small laugh, "I had to do something after all."
"Still!" She stopped hugging her daughter and ran up to me, grasping my hands. "Thank you so so much!"
"Ahaha…" It was at that moment I realized exactly what time it was, "Oh shoot! Sorry but I need to get going home now."
"Oh!" She let go of my hands, "Wait, before you go, what's your name? I couldn't possibly let you leave without giving proper thanks!"
"Ah, Hong. My name's Hong Liang." I gave the mother daughter pair a thumbs up before turning around to walk away.
It was around the moment I turned the corner that I heard Aya's voice again.
"Mommy, what's transgender?"
Grk!
I bailed from that conversation as fast as I could.
It was dark out by the time I got home.
"I'm back!" I cried as I walked into the cafe portion of my house.
"Welcome home," my mom greeted me from behind the counter. A woman in her 30s who still managed to look like she was in her 20s, she smiled as I walked in the door. "You were in quite the rush when you left, did something interesting happen?"
"Ah, something like that." I scratched my head, "I'll tell you later. Do you know where Twirl is?"
"Down in the lab as always." She walked over to the fridge, "I'll get started on making dinner, what do you want to eat?"
"Curry and rice!" I shouted, walking into the section that was actually my home.
Mmm, I should probably explain shouldn't I?
For about as long as I could remember, my mom had run a cafe from our house that served primarily to uh, weirdos. Not to say it was directly advertised as that, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that was the case, but that didn't stop oddballs and fanatics from flocking to the cafe like flies.
Some even claimed they were practitioners, and I would usually take such claim with a grain of salt if it wasn't for…
This.
The goddamn elevator built into my house.
I sighed as the metallic doors closed behind me and I began to descend. Yeah, the reason why I'm so used to the odd and out of the ordinary even more than the average citizen was because of one girl.
The doors opened and long white hair greeted my eyes, sadly not in the Twintails style but that didn't mean she wasn't still beautiful in her own way. Just slightly disappointing.
Than you get into her personality and any charm she did have is completely destroyed.
"Hey Hong!" She exclaimed cheerfully, "What brings you down here so suddenly? I could've probably prepared something special if you told me you were coming down."
"No, please. We don't need another Christmas cake incident." I shivered, "It's part of my house anyways, why do I even need to tell you I'm coming."
"Oh my, barging in to a girl's sanctuary so suddenly. Maybe you want to take me and-"
"Stopping you right there!" I exclaimed, "I know exactly what you're thinking!"
"So we can skip the-"
"Goddammit Twirl," I sighed as she let out a sly laugh.
Yeah, by all accounts she was the weirdest out of all the oddballs who come to my house. The genius scientist who had lived with me for as long as I could remember, Twirl.
Also known by her other title, The Lady Molester Who Lived In My Basement.
Not that I've seen her do anything to anyone but me, but she rarely leaves my house anyways.
"Anyways, ignoring my lonely self." Lonely? As if, "What's up with you?"
"Right, I became a magical girl."
"Oh I see you became a- What."
"Yeah…" I laughed awkwardly, "Alright so I was kidnapped by a lizard after searching for a little girl-"
"What." She paused, "Wait! No! Explain everything from the very beginning!"
"-And that's what happened," I summarized with a nod, "The Lizard was defeated, Aya was returned to her mom, and the day was saved."
"Hmm…" She let out a deep breath before sighing, "Lizard Guildy huh…"
"That's what he called himself." My shoulders lifted up in a shrug, "He was a good guy in a… way, I guess. Shame's he's dead."
"Yeah, shame." Twirl mumbled before perking up, "Speaking of! You must show me your MG form! I need to see this!"
I shivered, "Oi, oi, you're drooling there!"
"Ah but Hong, I can't handle the thought of ever living the rest of my life without ever seeing your MG form." I gulped. "Hehehe, I bet it's just the cutest…"
I sighed, "I'm most definitely going to regret this…. Tail On!"
Unlike the first time I transformed, the all consuming burning feeling in my chest didn't feel like it was going to devour me whole, no it felt more… comforting as my body changed into that of a little girl's. "I am Magical Girl Tail Red!"
There was a pause.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" The women practically squealed, jumping on me. "You're soooo cute!"
"H-Hey let go!" I struggled in her grasp, "How are you this strong?!"
"I spend my time training in case the chance ever appears before me!"
"What chance?! And how does shitposting on that MG Board even count as training?!"
"Training for the soul of course!"
"How does that even make any sense?!" It was just than that the doors to the Lab opened and the familiar scent of food wafted into my nose. I turned around to meet the eyes of my mom who was staring at us in shock, "Mom! Help!"
The curry fell out of her hands with a loud clang, spilling on the floor.
So we ordered pizza that night.
"My my, I didn't ever expecting my little boy to become a hero." She sighed after hearing the tale, "You'd make your father so proud."
"Yeah…"
Truth be told, I don't actually remember my father. We don't even keep photos of him around the house so all I know of the man is whatever mom tells me.
"So, what are you going to do now?" She smiled, "Are you going to patrol the streets at night? Or maybe go off and join the Counter Force, fight the good fight?"
"Maybe." I nommed on the pizza, Mmm so good… "Don't really know though, it's all so new to me. Ah, I need to get testing at the Counter Force right?"
"Ha!" Twirl laughed, puffing her chest out proudly, "Who needs those guys when you have me! I can guarantee that I can do everything they can, but better!"
"I'm like 50% sure your better is just some illegal modification to the equipment."
"You have so little faith in me, Hong!" The scientist flinched back, "The police haven't caught me yet you know?!"
"That implies they've tried before!"
"Now now settle down you two." My mom waved, "Hong, just know I fully support any path you decide to go on, alright?"
I sighed before smiling, "Yes Mom."
"As long as you know that. Now, finish your meal and go to bed. We can talk about this more tomorrow."
"Yes…"
Mmm, these blankets. So soft…
Twintials…
Ugh some shut off that beeping sound.
Yeah, that's much better. Just a little longer….
The sound of the door to my deck opening vaguely reached my ears but I didn't bother with it until my blankets were rudely pulled off, "Hah?!"
"Hong what the fuck, it's already 9 am why are you still asleep?!" A feminine voice reached my ears, I blearly opened my eyes in order to come face to face with glorious blue twintails, and even angrier blue eyes. "Come on, get up!"
"I'm up I'm up!" I shouted out defensively pushing myself into awakeness. Geh… "Ugh, Lan do you have to be so pushy?"
Right yeah, this was my neighbor and the girl whose family ran the martial arts dojo right next to mine, Lan Yu. My oldest and only friend who had stuck with me throughout the years.
"Hmph!" She puffed out her chest. "If I don't wake you up you probably will sleep in till noon!"
Of course, I knew the perfect comeback. After all, if there was one weakness Lan had, the one complex that defined her very soul!
"You know even if your puff out your chest there's nothing there so there's no incentive for me to- Hmghgmghgmgh!"
"Dumbass!" she roared, as she pulled her fist out of my stomach. "I'll be downstairs!"
And with that she opened the door of my room before slamming it behind her.
Yep, just your typical morning.
Now… What to do?
You have (4) Actions
[] Social
-[] Hang out with Lan
-{] Hang out with Twirl
-[] Hang out with your Mom (Loser)
[] Martial
-[] Spar with Lan in her Dojo
-[] Experiment with your MG abilities in Twirl's lab
[] Informational
-[] Waste time crawling through shitposts Read threads on ToHO
-[] Man the cafe and keep an ear out on what the customers have to say
+3 EXP Mom's approval
+1 EXP Piss off the flatie
4 EXP gained = 14 EXP
