Chapter 62 : The Great Chaotic Christmas Operation

Ding-a-ling

As I opened the cafe’s front door, the bell that Master said he brought back from Denmark in his youth rang with a dull sound.

‘I feel like I’ll never forget this bell sound.’

For me, that dull bell sound was a trace of the daily life I experienced over the past 2 years.

A sound that automatically makes you turn around when a customer comes.

A sound that made the extraordinary experience of reincarnation into another world feel ordinary.

Hearing that sound, Yuki seemed to recall something too, as a faint yet warm mental image flowed from her.

“…It’s been a while.”

“Right?”

I smiled as I looked at Yuki like that.

The night view of Yokohama Port was spread out like the Milky Way outside the cafe’s window, and the soft light of indirect lighting rising towards the ceiling warmly enveloped the prepared food.

“Wow! There’s so much delicious food, Hikari-chan!”

Hana sat down in front of the large table laden with various dishes, wagging her side ponytail like a puppy’s tail.

“Thank you for your hard work on the long journey.”

“Hoho, this much is fine for Shirogane-san’s arrival.”

Mrs. Sato and Master were exchanging greetings and talking about year-end plans, while Ichika was leisurely looking at the food with her hands in her sukajan pockets.

“Leader, Leader! I have something to show you.”

Kyoko poked me and brought out an omelet she had briefly put on the counter, with a mischievous smile.

“Wait, no way…?! You’ve already reached that level…?!”

“Fuhuhu… well, I didn’t know I had such talent for cooking.”

Kyoko flipped her orange bridge-colored hair and cut the middle of the omelet with a knife she took from the cupboard.

Drip

From the flawlessly clear yellow omelet like starlight, the slightly undercooked egg part poured out, forming a yellow flower precisely in the empty part of the plate.

Exact temperature.

Exact time.

Exact technique.

A special omelet that can only be completed when these three elements come together perfectly.

It was a cafe lunch set menu item that I had only managed to successfully make this spring.

“…I can do that too, you know? Anyone can do that much?”

“Fuhuhu, I heard everything from Master. The success rate is less than 20%.”

“…I succeed two out of five times.”

“Ah… you mean counting those slightly burnt ones as successes?”

“…”

Kyoko smiled with genuine pride. And that touched the 2-year-old pride seated within me.

‘To lose to a private in my specialty after eating the rank of sergeant.’

I have cause and effect reversal.

Just you wait, rookie.

[Deception] Magical Girl’s Unique Skill

Cause and Effect Reversal

I was about to take out the green apron while holding the frying pan, but Master called out from behind in an incredulous voice.

“What are you getting competitive for? Kyoko is better anyway.”

“No, I can really do well now.”

“Hahahahaha! That’s really funny! Truly the excuse of the weak!”

“…Hikari. Stop doing useless things and go eat.”

“…Just let me try once.”

“Puhahahahaha! You’ll probably end up overcooking it all the way through, so you might as well bring rice and make egg sushi!”

Hearing Kyoko’s words, Master’s mouth twitched as he took off his apron and headed towards the table set with food.

“Ah~ Next month when I have time, I should learn sushi too!”

Kyoko walked away with a smug smile, swishing her skirt hem. Moving her slender legs proudly and lightly.

Click click

“…”

I stood there for a while, dumbfounded, holding the frying pan and apron inside the cafe bar.

“Hikari-chan! The omelet Kyoko made is super delicious! Come eat!”

“…I can make it too.”

“Pfft.”

Hearing those words, Master finally burst out laughing.

“Hmm…? You mean the ‘rolled egg’ the Leader makes?”

“Pfft, puhahaha!”

It was rare for Master to laugh so heartily.

Master, you traitor!

“D-don’t laugh, Master! I’m still your senior, you know!”

“Heh, hehehehehehe!! What? Senior? Hahahahaha!!”

“Hmph… I don’t remember having a ‘senior’.”

Kyoko narrowed her eyes and crossed her legs with an alluring smile. Her seductive pose highlighting her healthy thighs was…

‘What’s this? Why does she look so confident? How come the slow-witted Kyoko looks like a beautiful girl?’

Kyoko, who always had a bit of a lack of confidence and seemed dimwitted with her stupid-sounding way of speaking, was now exuding a strange atmosphere with her confident smile.

‘Hmm, her stupid way of speaking is still the same though.’

The simple Kyoko’s only things to boast about would be her cooking skills and…

Ah, this girl.

“Did you bloom? No wonder you suddenly got good at cooking.”

So it was the blooming boost, this girl.

No wonder she couldn’t beat me so easily.

“Fuhuhu…! Actually, my blooming is… no, I’ll just show you!”

Wink

Kyoko winked at me and stood up, shouting.

“Trans…!”

“Do it after we eat, after we eat.”

“Ah, yes…”

And she quietly sat down again at Ichika’s words.

“Here, Hikari. I prepared some for you in advance.”

Yuki handed me a plate with small portions of food, smiling broadly.

“Thanks, Yuki.”

We ate for a while, enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the cafe.

Clink

Ichika quietly munched on a sandwich in one hand and drank some ade.

“Now, here’s a special menu we only offer to our regular customers.”

Master melted a large raclette cheese with a hot knife and scraped it onto the potatoes and meat in front of Mrs. Sato and Hana.

“Fufu, thank you.”

“Wow… thank you.”

“…”

Yuki was looking at the inside of the cafe and the still brilliantly shining night view of Yokohama with moist eyes next to me.

“Thank you for the meal!”

After eating dinner in the cafe like that, we came out for a bit and walked through the darkening Yokohama.

“We adults will enjoy some leisure time, so go for a walk or something.”

Master had somehow brought out expensive wine and beef jerky.

“Don’t go too far~”

The Sato couple, who had enjoyed the party with Mr. Sato joining after work, seemed to plan on leaving their car in front of the cafe as they started enjoying wine in earnest.

Whoosh

Yuki, Ichika, Kyoko, Hana, and I strolled along the evening sea of Yokohama where the cold winter wind was blowing.

Shimmering droplets and colorless magic above the darkening sky.

The sound of waves in the distance.

Faint streetlights illuminating the path ahead.

When I suddenly turned around while walking ahead, Ichika was snickering while grabbing the flustered Yuki, and Hana and Kyoko were chattering about something interesting they seemed to have found in the garden.

“…”

Oh right.

“By the way, Kyoko. You said you bloomed, but what ability did you get?”

“Oh right, transform!”

Whoosh!

An orange light passed by and…

Bloomed born 1-star magical girl of [Cheer]

Kyoko

Kyoko was now wearing an orange cheerleader outfit reminiscent of a cheerleader and holding a large orange flag.

“My dream was! To become a reliable support who sustains the Leader! The Boss! Everyone!”

Bang!

As she struck the flag once, orange light sparkled around and gave strength to us nearby.

It was a support-type magic reminiscent of Laura, Li Meilin, or Park Saebyeok.

“How is it! My confident appearance!”

She was wearing white boots that came up to her ankles under the orange lace-trimmed skirt that fluttered, and the top was a daring sleeveless cheerleader uniform that revealed her navel and shoulders.

In a word…

“You look really cold.”

“Yeah. Aren’t you cold, Kyoko?”

“Ugh, Kyoko you pervert! There’s too much exposure!”

“…”

Looking dejected, Kyoko eventually undid her transformation and returned to her waitress uniform.

…Huh? Wasn’t it a production-type ability?

“Wait, hold on. Then what about the cooking? The coffee? That’s not your ability?”

“…Eh? It’s not. That’s just something I’m good at.”

Liar!

“Don’t lie!! [Cheer] is a cooking ability!!”

“Hmm? What’s this? Could it be… the magical girl of [Beginning] is jealous of my talent?”

Hmph.

Kyoko provoked me, narrowing her eyes.

“Let’s have a rematch! Omelet! I can really succeed in one try this time!”

“Hehe, Leader… it’s a bit unsightly to go that far.”

“Hikari-chan… your pride is hurt, huh.”

“N-no, it’s not.”

“Well, it was shocking that Kyoko unexpectedly overflowed with talent in cooking.”

“Boss?! What do you mean by ‘unexpectedly’?!”

Pat pat

Yuki, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly patted my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

“Um, about that flag. Isn’t it the one the [Leader of FLAG] carries around?”

“…What?”

FLAG.

The magical girl rebel group led by Ichika.

Originally, it should have been born around this time after Sumire’s first blooming…

‘Ah.’

In Volume 1’s illustration of Ichika, there was an orange flag.

That’s why the group name was FLAG.

‘Right, the flag of freedom that Ichika raised wasn’t a metaphorical expression.’

…But Kyoko didn’t exist beside her.

Yet Ichika carried Kyoko’s unique weapon. While wearing an utterly brutal expression.

‘No way… originally, at this point in time, Kyoko…’

I felt a chill for a moment.

“…”

“…”

Yuki and I couldn’t say anything for a while.

“What’s wrong, Leader? Shikishima’s expression is all stiff too.”

“…It’s nothing.”

“Yeah. We just had something to say for a moment.”

“Is that so?”

Ichika spoke to Kyoko again, and we resumed our walk through Yokohama.

“Christmas is coming soon.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s right.”

“…We should do it, right?”

“Do what?”

I looked at Ichika at those sudden words. Ichika grinned and answered while waving both hands.

“A Christmas party!”

“Ooh!”

“Oooh!”

Kyoko and Hana suddenly cheered at Ichika’s words.

“Let’s all gather at our apartment and have a party again! Let’s invite everyone we can!!”

“Yeah yeah! Good! I want to go too!”

“Boss! Leave the food to me!!”

“Let’s buy a cake too!!”

“Woohooo!!”

These kids… are so lively.

Still, it was better to see them having a party at a friend’s house rather than being confined in a research facility.

“What do you want to do, Yuki?”

“Huh? Me? Can I come too?”

“Of course. Yuki is my friend.”

I fixed Yuki’s scarf that had loosened a bit from the sea breeze.

‘Oops, that’s the habit of taking care of Hana.’

I glanced at Yuki’s expression. It was a natural action that came out due to the habit of taking care of Hana, but Yuki was just quietly watching.

“…Okay.”

“Then all the magical girls here are participating, right?”

Ichika said, clenching her fist.

“I guess so.”

“Woohoo! Christmas party!”

“Oh, it’s burning up!”

“Cake, cake!”

“…It’s my first time having a Christmas party with friends.”

Watching their brightly smiling faces.

I let go of one tragedy that might have happened, beyond my heart.

Because it was a past that only Yuki and I knew in this world, and now we could just forget it.