To think that copying her homework took me longer than her doing it from scratch. You can’t convince me that no supernatural powers were involved. The only plausible explanation would be that she had already prepared a large part of it earlier.

Well, I guess that didn’t really matter anymore. I didn’t have to think about school until the end of summer break now, and instead of three days like I had estimated earlier, I lost merely an hour on this. Her handwriting was difficult to read at times, but I somehow worked it out without asking her for help.

“…” sighing, I closed the last book and set it aside. It was a summer afternoon, and I was currently at her house. Moreover, the only people in that house were me and her.

I found the situation quite intimidating. While I was working hard—well, maybe copying wasn’t that hard of a work—she was lying on the couch, grinning at the portable console she held in her hands without the slightest care in the world. I couldn’t say that I didn’t want to change places with her. Now that I was finally finished, I guess it was time for me to leave, and so, I had to call out to her. She was immersed in whatever game she was playing there, so she wouldn’t notice me unless I approached her directly… and it was something that took a bit too much courage in my current situation.

But I had to do it. I slowly stood up from the chair and gradually took steps towards the couch. Lying in that pink magical girl suit, she looked quite hilarious. She couldn’t hear me since she had headphones on, so I stared at her, hoping that she would notice me with the corner of her eye as soon as possible…

“H-human…?”

Thankfully, she finally noticed me and took the headphones off. Her single blue eye took a brief look at me.

“I finished… already…”

“Good. Then…” she turned the console off and stood up. Her pink dress and skirt fluttered. She raised a glove-covered hand to cover her face that she lowered. “Since you’re already here, I have an offer for you, human.”

She switched to her condescending-speech mode. What was she going to offer me?

“Yes?”

“S-since you’re already here, I may as well show you around the base. I know that you’re curious about that…” she repeated herself and made a suggestion, clumsily disguising its real meaning by her proud speech that grew unsteady. Her face remained covered by her hand.

I guess that she wanted to show me around the house. It didn’t seem particularly big, but I didn’t mind. Actually, the only place I was interested in was her room, but it was only because I wanted to see how an alien’s room looked. Only that.

“O-okay.”

“Then, you may not touch anything without my permission. Understood?” she sounded like a teacher on a museum trip.

“Yes…”

“B-but remember, this base belongs to me and only me. And there are items brought from another world stored here… all information is classified, so you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone. There is no time to prepare a formal contract, but in case you leak out the information, I reserve the right to end your life…” saying that, she was looking at the floor.

Hearing that from the funnily dressed girl standing before me was at most hilarious, because she seemed like the last person in the world to do harm to anyone. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to tell anyone even that I went to her house.

“You should know that you can trust me, Lumi… Lumiya…”

“I know. I can see through you, after all… kaka.”

So why did she ask me? She had told me already that she was going to kill me if I did something wrong… but of course she wasn’t. Or what if she actually was capable of doing that? No, no. That’s even more impossible than me ever getting married.

“Let’s go, then” she finally let go of her head and started leading me outside the room.

“Sure.”

•

Wearing a magical girl suit, she led me upstairs. None of the doors particularly stood out, but I could guess that one of them belonged to her.

She was going to show me her room, the place she called her “base”. There was nothing wrong in it, but no matter how you looked at it, it was a girl’s room.

It wouldn’t be my first time stepping into a girl’s room, since I had been to my sister’s a few times, but I guess that didn’t really count, so it would be my first time, after all. That’s why I felt anxious as basically always, eased only by the fact that she was leading me there on her own.

“It’s for your eyes only. Remember”, she said as if inside there was a secret experimentation site.

“I know.”

I don’t know why she was so afraid of me sharing information about her with someone—she should know well that I had no reason to at all. She could read my mind after all, or that’s what she said.

What was I expecting to see inside? I would have said that an occult-themed room painted in black (that didn’t go well with an alien identity by the way) and filled with random items she thought were cool, but since I saw her in that magical girl suit, I had no idea anymore.

Having approached one of the doors, she hesitated to open it. I couldn’t be surprised—despite her clumsily tough act, she actually was just as anxious as me.

“No. You shall forget it all the moment you leave the base”, she changed her mind, paying no heed to that I had no convenient ability to remove things from my memory at ease.

“I won’t laugh, L-Lumiya…”

Grabbing the knob with her both covered by white gloves hands, she directed her gaze at the door and said timidly:

“I-I know. You are merely a human, so I’m more powerful than you…”

There was something cute in this shy voice that was supposed to be condescending.

Finally, she slowly opened the door. Naturally, I tried to look inside the moment I became able to, but I couldn’t see anything. The room was dark as a basement.

“That’s right, I forgot. Your humanly eyes can’t see anything, kaka!” she stated, brimming with enthusiasm so much that I found it impossible to believe that she had been acting so shyly just before. Moreover, she laughed at me, but it wasn’t like she could see the room perfectly as if she had night vision. Well, if she was used to that darkness, maybe she could see something more than me.

Despite being located on the second floor, the thick shutters were shut, which made the room extremely dim.

“Very well. I shall show it to you”, she stated proudly before she entered the room and revealed the windows.

“…”

With that, I became able to see the room clearly. Obviously, she had cleaned it earlier, so there were no stray items scattered on the floor.

It was way normal than I had expected. A blue carpet covered the floor, whereas a gray blanket and pink pillow were arranged on the bed. There was also a wardrobe and desk, but they didn’t differ from what I had in my own room at all.

There was one part of the room that particularly stood out. A shelf stood behind her bed, filled with books and whatnot. I could also notice a few anime figurines.

Her collection of manga was incomparable with mine, but still, there was nothing I would expect of an alien or magical girl.

“Fufu. Looks normal, right?” standing with her back to the window, funnily dressed Lumiya spoke.

“Y-yeah…”

I took a step inside hesitantly—I couldn’t forget that I was entering a girl’s room. No matter how oddly she acted, she was actually a human and this was the place she slept at and done other various things.

“That’s right. Everything concerning my real identity is concealed from human eyes”, she stated as she pressed a hand against her face again. “Including yours.”

“Okay. So, there is nothing to see in this room… your base?”

She said that my eyes couldn’t see it, so I assumed that the room worked as her base only in her imagination, therefore there was no physical possibility of her showing it to anyone.

“Wrong. Have I said that I won’t let you take a peek?”

“Huh?”

Come to think of it, the black clothes she had worn, so-called “battle attire”, it had to be stored somewhere, right?

She walked to the wardrobe on the other side of the room and crouched down before opening it. Without turning around, she spoke:

“C-close your eyes for a moment.”

“Sure…”

As she told me, I closed my eyes. Worth noting was that she wasn’t looking at me, so she didn’t have a way of confirming that I had really done so… Had she finally begun to trust me?

“…” I heard sounds of rummaging around, but I kept my eyes closed.

“Y-you may look.”

As I opened by eyes again, I saw Lumiya dressed as a magical girl standing before me. In her hands, she was holding a purely black dress… no, a coat. I most likely recognized it from somewhere—it could have been the same one she had worn when she went out with me earlier, but since she didn’t put it on, I couldn’t be sure of that.

“That’s right, this is the Battle Attire. Naturally, I have quite a few of these”, she explained proudly.

She held it forth toward me as if intending to hand it over to me.

“Want to touch it?” she went ahead with a totally unexpected suggestion.

“M-may I?” I stammered not because of anxiety, but surprise.

I hadn’t expected that she would show me her unusual clothes, let alone allow me to touch them. Since she already offered it to me, I didn’t refuse.

“Thanks…”

I used the tips of my fingers to hold it, just as if it was something extremely fragile (which made no point, because it was easier to accidentally drop it that way—but that didn’t matter now, since it was only some clothing).

It was light and surprisingly thin, but I wasn’t sure if it made it proper to wear in such hot summer weather. Holding it made me troubled.

She displayed a slightly embarrassed expression, but to be honest, she was almost always like that. Her cheeks were flushed, but the only eye of hers watched me closely as I privily fiddled with the cloth she had given me.

On the coat, I felt something unusual. It soon turned out to be a pair of cat ears. Unlike the rest of the cloth, they weren’t light. Their fluffiness made me try to squeeze one, and I found that act oddly satisfying. I repeated it a few times awkwardly as I was stared at by the girl that didn’t display any specific expression.

“Well… it’s soft.”

“Remember that as a human, there are things you cannot perceive.”

“I see. Thanks…” as I was satisfied having felt the odd cat ears, I held the coat out to her to return it.

But it didn’t seem like she was going to take it from me. Instead, she looked away from me, embarrassed, and having placed her hand on her face as usual, made an offer I would never expect:

“Y-you may put it on, if you want. You won’t feel it, but… I may make an exception for you…”

“Huh…?”

I took a look at the coat again. It certainly looked similar to the ones she wore—she had said that she had a few of them, so technically there was a possibility that she had never worn it before or something.

She just allowed me to put her clothes on. It wasn’t anything sensitive that touched her skin directly and wasn’t meant to be lent to anyone, like socks or even a shirt, but a more or less normal coat, so it wasn’t that unthought of, but still…

“A-are you sure about that…?”

That didn’t change the fact that it belonged to her, a girl. That made the entire situation embarrassing enough. How could a timid girl like Lumiya come out with such a bold suggestion?

“T-this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I don’t mind if you don’t want…” she spoke as if she actually wanted me to put it on, or at least so it sounded to me.

“O-okay… T-then…” faltering, I proceeded to get into her coat.

Firstly, the baggy sleeves embraced my arms. I didn’t feel particularly stifling inside… at least for now. Despite being completely black and non-translucent, the cloth was really thin. That said, I doubted there was anything supernatural about it.

Soon, it embraced my entire upper body. Wearing it made me feel restless, mainly because it belonged to the girl that was now peeking at me.

“A-and…?”

She turned to me and slightly laughed, which was again unexpected.

“Fufu, sorry. I just wanted to see how you would look in this, human.”

“Huh? So you were making fun of me all along?”

“No, no. It doesn’t look bad on you.”

“You don’t say…”

Well, it couldn’t look on me as good as it looked on her, because unlike her, I wasn’t cute at all. The coat being slightly oversized on her made me fit into it almost perfectly, but it was actually meant to be baggy.

“Hmm… er, is there a mirror somewhere?” I looked around the room, but I didn’t notice one, so I asked her. A girl’s room should have one, right? Or was it only a stereotype… my sister had one, by the way. I thought that I might as well take a look at myself since I had a chance to wear those weird clothes that I doubt would happen ever again.

“There is a mirror downstairs.”

“Oh…”

It was a difficult decision to make. Was seeing myself in those clothes worth it to bother going downstairs again? I think not.

“Then, never mind.”

The magical girl only nodded to respond. Soon, only silence remained between us as both of us refused to talk. Timidly, she looked down as her cheeks reddened and she pinched the pink detached sleeve. How cute, I would have thought if something similar hadn’t happened to me.

“…” “…”

Being not only in her house, but in her room intensified the feeling of anxiety. Embarrassedly, I looked through the window that she had opened earlier. Just as expected, all I saw were similar boring neighborhood streets below the bright, blue sky.

As an attempt to strike up a conversation again, I decided to make a comment about the variety shelf behind her.

“I see you’ve got a nice collection there…”

“W-wrong! Those aren’t mine, they belong to… the previous me…” Lumiya hid her face behind a gloved hand.

“R-right…” and so, I failed.

Her “previous self” was, as I guessed, basically she before coming up with all the weird act—including the eyepatch she wore at all times for some reason.

“M-may I take this off now…?”

“S-sure… very well.”

I didn’t really have to ask her for permission, but I took the clothes that began to make me sweaty and additionally intimidated me off. Without even looking at each other, I returned the robe to her.

“T-thanks…”

Stuttering every time was annoying, but I couldn’t help it. Her eye peeked at me covertly, but neither of us could move.

“…”

“…”

Maybe it was time for me to go home? To be honest, I felt an odd feeling—I wanted to both leave and stay there as long as possible.

“L-Lumiya…”

“H-human…?”

“Is there something you want to show me?”

“N-no, but if you ask me, I may show you what you are curious about…”

“Ah. Not really…”

“Then… no, that’s all…”

“I see.”

Subdued by anxiety, it seemed that the best course of action for now would be to leave. It wasn’t like I regretted anything—if everything went well, I would most likely still have a few more chances to visit her, perhaps not so embarrassed as now. In fact, doing homework together with her was enough to satisfy me, and taking a look at her room was only a pleasant bonus.

“Then… I shall take my leave now”, I talked a bit like her.

“Very well.”

With that, I turned around, approached the door, and left to the corridor as the magical girl followed me. I was walking down the stairs when she said to me from behind:

“Don’t forget your books…”

“Oh, thanks.”

Having picked the books up from the table in the living room, I returned to the corridor where she was waiting for me, always covering her cast down face with a hand, most likely from embarrassment.

“Human…”

“Hmm?”

“For today, uh… thanks…”

“Huh…?” I didn’t expect to her those words from Lumiya. “Ah… no, it’s me who should say that…”

“S-sorry…” she apologized pointlessly.

“Ah, it’s not like that… I’m sorry. Well then”, I put my shoes on.

“Y-yes, till we meet again, human”, she bowed before I left.

“Sure. See you.”

That conversation was more awkward than it should have been, but then again, I couldn’t help it.

Standing in the door, the magical girl shyly waved at me—there was something charming about it, something that made me enjoy the day like never before.

Noticing it, I waved back, which made her covertly hide the hand and backing down, close the door.

Not only had I spent the day to the fullest, but I had also finally had my summer homework done, which meant that I no longer had to worry about school until the last day of summer vacation. There were merely two weeks of it left, though… but I could already say for sure, it was my best summer break ever.