“…Mom!”
Running all the way from the sealed-off Commercial Street, Xinyu, with the joy of reunion and the lingering fear of escape, threw herself into her mother’s arms.
“L-Little Yu!”
The woman also broke free from the onlookers and pushed her way toward her daughter.
In the end, under the gaze of the people around them, mother and daughter hugged each other tightly.
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over them, and a gentle breeze brushed their faces.
“You okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Maybe we should go to the hospital after all.”
Xinyu’s mother first let go of her, then nervously checked every inch of her—
Afraid of seeing wounds that would break her heart, yet also afraid of missing any possible injuries.
“Mhm… I’m fine, Mom. The Magical Girls saved me. They’re just as beautiful and kind as they are on TV.”
Xinyu’s face wore a smile of satisfaction, along with a hint of apology for worrying her mother.
“…Magical Girls?”
Xinyu’s mother looked up in confusion, only to see several young girls slowly appearing and approaching from behind Xinyu.
—
“It’s the Magical Girls!”
“They’re here! I knew they’d come!”
“That pink-and-white outfit—could it be Cat Garden…”
“You’ve saved this city again!”
“Over here! Please look at our camera!”
“C-Can I get your autograph?”
Seeing Lianying and the others following behind, the rescued mother and daughter no longer seemed to be the main attraction.
In an instant, the crowd that had been watching the scene swarmed forward, surrounding the three Magical Girls in the middle, clogging the narrow passage until it was completely blocked.
The phones that had been filming, planning to later pair the footage with some touching narration, immediately turned their lenses toward the real stars.
The emergency rescue site turned into a so-called fan meeting.
“So many people.”
Lianying forced a stiff smile onto her face and waved at the adoring citizens.
Magical Girls, besides being surface-level guardians of the city and its citizens’ safety, also played a role similar to idols to some extent.
Whenever they were in a public place, every move they made was watched and monitored.
Especially in the current Information Society, the power of public opinion and information could even influence the seemingly all-powerful girls.
Therefore, even Qinglan, who was the least good at dealing with such situations and hated trouble, had to put on a business face.
“…Leave this to me and Cheng. You take the child somewhere safe first, then we’ll regroup.”
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qinglan leaned close to Lianying’s ear and whispered.
“Ch-Child and all that. Our relationship hasn’t progressed that far yet…”
Lianying covered her face with both hands out of shyness.
“Now’s not the time to play word games. Hurry up.”
Qinglan was worried that if Wuhua stayed with them, she would inevitably be exposed unnecessarily.
After all, they couldn’t just introduce her as Lianying’s adopted daughter outright.
In this situation, saying nothing was the best.
“I know. Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Lianying had also realized this problem, and had already prepared herself before Qinglan even spoke.
“Well everyone, I have some urgent business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave. If you have any questions or things to say, you can chat with my two teammates.”
After leaving such a remark that sounded like she was washing her hands of the matter, Lianying, the team leader, bowed to apologize to the gathered citizens—
Having been a Magical Girl for some time now, both she and her teammates had more or less learned how to deal with fans.
“Then, little— ahem, Sister Wuhua, let’s go.”
She took the initiative to hold Wuhua’s hand beside her, then hugged her tightly in her arms.
“W-Wait.”
A foreboding feeling rose in Wuhua’s heart.
But before she could protest—
“Um!”
Suddenly, a clear voice rang out from the crowd, and the surrounding noise fell silent in unison.
Then, a small figure squeezed through the packed crowd.
Walking toward Wuhua was Xinyu, her face showing a determined and serious expression.
“I still haven’t expressed my gratitude to Sister Wuhua. My mom said we should actively show kindness to those who help us.”
Xinyu said this as she reached the center of the group.
In front of the puzzled onlookers, she gently brought her cheek close to Wuhua’s head.
“Thank you, Sister Wuhua.”
Like a dragonfly lightly touching water, she gave a quick kiss on her head, then stepped back obediently and smiled at Wuhua.
“Oh, and of course, thank you to the three Magical Girl sisters as well. Without you, Sister Wuhua and I might still be trapped.”
Although Xinyu said that, her gaze never left Wuhua—
She too protected others, was beautiful and kind.
In her eyes, Wuhua was no different from the Magical Girls she knew.
“You’re welcome.”
Unexpectedly, the one being thanked was not Lianying or Qinglan, but herself.
Wuhua rarely showed a shy expression on her face as well.
“I’ll see Sister Wuhua again, right?”
Xinyu, reluctant to part, said somewhat sadly.
“Mhm, of course. I promise.”
Wuhua, as if comforting a child, extended her right little finger.
“This is our promise.”
“…Okay!”
Xinyu also extended her little finger.
The two little girls thus formed a precious friendship.
After that, Lianying used her levitation ability and flew into the sky with Wuhua, gradually disappearing from everyone’s sight.
Although many unexpected situations had occurred, throwing off the original progress and plans to some extent,
Fortunately, things finally came to a happy ending.
The respective battles of the girls thus came to a temporary close.
……
Close to evening, after being taken to a safe spot where they wouldn’t be discovered, the separated Wuhua and Lianying
successfully met up with Lianying and Qinglan, who had de-transformed from their Magical Girl forms, at the exit of Commercial Street half an hour later, and they all headed home together.
From Wuhua’s knowing perspective, Lianying had separated from her only to meet again immediately, yet had to pretend they had been apart for a long time.
Also, she deliberately checked again whether Wuhua was injured.
She recounted what had happened inside Commercial Street and asked knowingly about where Wuhua had been.
Everything seemed to be a logically consistent mutual pretense, yet full of holes at every turn.
“By the way, I just saw the Magical Girls, Sister Lianying.”
“I-Is that so. Mhm. I’m so jealous of you, Wuhua.”
Wuhua knew that Lianying knew where she had been, yet had to pretend she hadn’t gone anywhere.
Lianying knew that Wuhua knew she knew where she had been, yet had to pretend she knew nothing.
Anyway, the unfamiliar mother and daughter chatted about such topics for a long time on the bus ride home.
This warm daily routine of hiding their true identities from each other might have only just begun.
—
“Ah, I’m so exhausted today. I wish I could go back, take a hot bath, and then get a good night’s sleep.”
Qinglan collapsed into her seat, as if she might fall over at any moment.
“I might as well just call in sick tomorrow.”
“That would get your parents’ complaints, wouldn’t it? But I feel the same way.”
Lianying imitated her posture, on the bus where there was no one else besides them.
“Oh, speaking of baths.”
Suddenly remembering something, Lianying opened her eyes, her head leaning against the headrest.
“Xiao Hua hasn’t taken a bath since she came to my place.”
Then, she looked meaningfully at Wuhua in the next seat.
“Could it be…”
Maybe it was mother-daughter intuition, but Wuhua already guessed what was coming.