Chapter 59 : Change #7

(A person wearing a horse head mask stands in the center of the screen.)

“Hello, it’s already December of 2011, a year that has had many special events.”

Sad background music

“For the past half year, I have been focused on making a 1/1 scale model of [Beginning]-chan according to my own desires.”

(Photos of numerous work records and records of the horse head person’s attempts scroll by.)

(From the prototype that tried to recreate only the chest to the high-quality full-body mannequin doll that combined with a mannequin in earnest and expressed skin texture.)

(The horse head person hugging a decent quality successful work dressed in casual clothes while watching the Magical Girl Friendly Match.)

“I stopped uploading videos of the 1/1 doll-making process that recreated [Beginning]-chan’s wonderful figure in early October.”

(The horse head mask bows politely)

“My mother caught me. The problem was that I had it out because it had become too big to fit in the closet anymore.”

Even sadder background music

“…It seems she was very sad to see her 35-year-old son living as a freeter and being absorbed in a hobby.”

(The horse head mask person stares into space, unable to continue speaking for a moment.)

“I can’t keep living as a freeter while only doing what I like forever.”

“I’ve been running towards becoming someone who makes plastic models and figure models since I was young, but all that’s left is a life with only this shabby horse head mask of desire.”

(The horse head mask person lowers their head.)

“This broadcast I started to let those who were looking forward to my videos know how I’ve been… it might be my last personal broadcast.”

Grand background music

“…Because from next year on, I will continue working as a designer for a large silicone doll manufacturing company to make your dreams come true.”

(The horse head mask person shaking hands with the president of a silicone doll company and signing a contract.)

(The horse head mask person sitting in a meeting room with related company presidents as an official designer.)

(The horse mask person quietly points at the screen.)

“…Next February. If you send your dreams and hopes on the estimate form on our homepage, I will definitely make them with all my might.”

(Close-up of the horse head mask.)

“…Your girlfriend, your favorite.”

* * *

122 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

＼(´^q^｀)/ Ah, failed again. My favorite magical girl lost again. She got eliminated without even making it to the preliminaries this time too.

123 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

122<< Just go and give her a pat on the head ww

124 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

She’s already getting pats (cash) from big companies… I wonder if she’ll look at my fan letter…

125 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

124<< Then you should have made strong ones like [Flame], [Dagger], [Penetration], [Shooting] your favorites from the start, right?

126 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

125 <<< ???????? Change my favorite???????

127 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

125 <<<<< Are you crazy???? Besides, [Flame] hasn’t appeared in friendly matches since then.

128 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

<(´･ω･`)> This is why ordinary people…

129 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

Stanning already proven strong ones is something only elementary kids who just started being magical girl fans do ww

130 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

You don’t know the fun of giving head pats when the girl you’re cheering for barely makes it through the first round by luck and type advantage, then loses in the second round?

131 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

And when you see her trying hard to ask for cheers because she doesn’t even have a corporate sponsor, doesn’t your heart burn? ww

132 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

If it’s an unbloomed lousy magical girl who can’t even participate in friendly matches and barely promotes herself on SNS, I could eat 5 bowls of rice easily wwww

133 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

After all, the fun of being a magical girl fan is in giving head pats to unbloomed lousy magical girls wwwww

134 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

Sometimes when I’m in a good mood and praise her for shyly posting her recent situation in her relief corps uniform, she uploads more than 10 photos that day wwwww

135 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

Thanks to everyone’s support, I received a gift from my star! <<< She really seems like a lousy magical girl and I love it wwwww

136 : Anonymous 2011/12/20

I think you’re all a bit crazy. (◦Д◦;;;)

* * *

[What are you doing?]

“Hmm… does this sound too demanding?”

Tick tick

[Hikari, what are you doing right now?]

“Hmm… it seems like I’m asking too persistently.”

[Hikari! Want to guess what I’m doing?]

“…Too frivolous.”

[I’m watching TV with Dad, you?]

“Hmm… will she think it’s too childish…?”

Tick tick

[I’m watching TV, you?]

“Ugh, it feels like I’m forcing her to talk…”

[I’m watching TV]

“This seems even weirder…”

If Hikari sent ‘?’ in response to this, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Flop

Yuki pulled the hood attached to her rabbit pajamas over her head and collapsed onto the kotatsu in the living room.

Her father, who had stopped drinking at some point, glanced at her and then focused back on the TV.

That day in the park, after crying together for a long time, they didn’t actually have a proper conversation.

Just that she knew about Yuki’s fight, that she came from another world, and…

“…that she wanted to… be my friend…”

Thump thump

“Uuugh…!”

“Yuki, did you make a friend?”

“Huh?! Ah… yes.”

“…I see.”

“…”

“…That’s good.”

“…Yes.”

Friend.

For the first time, I proudly told Dad that I had made a friend.

Thump thump

Even though it wasn’t a lie, Yuki’s heart pounded as if she had done something wrong.

Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, Yuki put her smartphone in her pajama pocket and pretended to watch TV.

‘…I was a bit surprised that she doesn’t even carry a smartphone.’

When Yuki asked to exchange SNS contacts with Hikari, who said she had to go back because she had work to do.

-…I, I don’t have a smartphone.

She learned for the first time that a person’s face could turn not just pale, but transparent.

So Yuki gave one of the smartphones she received as a prize from the friendly match to Hikari.

-I’ll cherish it dearly…

Hikari held that smartphone preciously close to her chest and took Yuki’s contact information with her.

And now, three weeks later, they’ve become someone who occasionally keeps in touch.

‘…I ended up using casual speech caught up in the mood, but it should be fine since we’re friends, right?’

Wasn’t Hikari the one who called me Yuki first? Yuki was confident.

More than that, now she had to think about what to say to Hikari.

“…But Yuki, aren’t you looking at your phone too much these days?”

“Huh? I’m just… looking at it occasionally to keep in touch.”

With my friend.

“Well, it might be unnecessary meddling on my part, but lately whenever I see you, you’re always looking at your phone.”

“…”

Yuki felt puzzled by those words and remembered the moments she had touched her smartphone today.

As soon as she woke up in the morning, she sent [Did you sleep well? It’s cold in Japan today.]

While changing clothes, she chatted a bit on the phone.

While eating breakfast, she suddenly wanted to show what she was eating, so she sent a photo.

She talked about foreign countries with Hikari, who sent photos of the scenery in Germany.

She made a fuss and asked if it was okay when Hikari sent [Actually, I’m illegally entering as the magical girl of Beginning right now.]

When lunchtime came, while making udon with Dad, she asked [Do you like udon?]

She asked whether she preferred to eat it with the broth or dip it, whether she liked eating it with tempura, whether she liked adding an egg.

She asked if there were any snacks she liked.

When the sun was setting, she took a photo of the beautiful sunset and sent it, and was happy when Hikari immediately replied [It’s beautiful.]

She laughed when she saw Hikari flustered after sending her a video compilation of things Hikari had said before.

“…”

Am I being too clingy?

Yuki felt her heart sink.

She wanted to send [Am I not being too annoying?] right now to check.

No, she had to check. She didn’t want to lose her first friend for such a silly reason.

Tap tap tap

[Am I not being too annoying?]

Send.

Shikishima Ryota shook his head watching his daughter’s behavior.

His daughter, whose relationship with him had recently improved, was now grinning, apparently satisfied with the response she got from the other person.

‘I’m glad you made a friend, Yuki.’

His daughter, who had unexpectedly participated in the magical girl friendly match and won, seemed to have made a magical girl friend.

The friendly matches held for 3 days every week since the first one that had caused a stir in the magical girl society worldwide were treated as a new era of sports.

Confident magical girls aimed only for the friendly matches where they could demonstrate their abilities. As the number of participants in the friendly matches grew too large, the council introduced various restrictions such as excluding repeat participants and dividing into regional leagues.

[Wow! This drink is so~ refreshing! It feels like even starlight is sparkling!]

[Ha, haha! Maybe I was able to win because I wore this brand of shoes~?]

Among such magical girls, those who received a lot of attention for their looks or abilities received ‘voluntary sponsorships’ from companies and engaged in ‘voluntary advertising’. This strange capitalistic symbiotic relationship was a hot potato topic in the council, but they decided to turn a blind eye on the premise that it was voluntary.

-However, we will take legal action against companies that use this as an excuse to oppress magical girls, and conversely, restrict participation in matches and use of abilities for magical girls who take unfair advantages.

…And so, backed by capitalistic support, magical girls honed their abilities every day to win in the battles that took place every weekend.

“The magical girl of [Penetration]!! She has finally become the winner of the born 1-star division!!”

While participation mostly took place in Japan, where the magical girl population was overwhelmingly large, there were also many strong contenders coming from abroad with special determination.

“They really fight well, though.”

Ryota muttered as he watched the magical girls battling with movie-like movements on the screen.

“Yuki, how on earth did you win in a place like that?”

“…”

“Hm?”

Once again, his daughter was grinning while looking at her phone.

“Geez…”

That friend of hers must be tired too.