“Well, what are we going to do about it?” asks Kazumi as she continues having her coffee – but this time, for justice. “We know where Hikari’s parents’ place is, but you can’t just go all stalker-like, you know?”

“Leave it to me!” says Uzume. “You two see if you can get in touch with the other magical girls so we can purify Hikari and her sister! Meanwhile, I’ll go grab Shiori and keep her under close watch to make sure Maledicta doesn’t do anything to her!”

“But you’ve never met Shiori before, right?” says Na-ri. “How are you going to make sure Maledicta doesn’t get to her without her getting suspicious of you?”

“It’s okay. I know just the thing.”

A-ah, welcome back! Today is Monday, May 4! Golden Week has come! I’ve got three days all to myself!

Oh, but this is kind of a problem. My parents have gone on vacation for their anniversary very early in the morning, but I’m under strict orders to stay home! Well, I snuck out yesterday, but this time, it might be trickier…

Maybe I should stay home? Then I won’t be tempted to do such horrible things to my beloved magical girls! Such horrible, delicious things! Like filling them with ink! And binding them together in my tentacles! Yes, those things definitely should not happen!

(…I’m not wet, you’re wet!)

(Or hard, I guess? Either works, rea–)

Ding-dong!

Oh. Oh dear, who could possibly be ringing the door? Could it be a solicitor?! Have they started using humanoid UGVs to deliver packages? Wait, I didn’t even order a package!

Knowing that I’d be in big trouble if I missed something important, I rapidly hop out of bed and nyoom over to the door! Once I pop it open…

O-oh. Oh my.

Oh, gosh. W-who could this super cute girl possibly be?! Super, ultra cute! She’s got short blonde hair, and she looks like…ah, is she Brazilian, perhaps? The way the rising sun frames her makes her look like she’s almost made of gold…

A-and she looks super sporty! She’s wearing a cute tank top, and…and showing off her muscles! She’s a super strong, super cute girl!

“Hey there, Shiori! I’m your sister’s friend, Uzume!” She’s got this big, gigantic grin, and oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…“I’m here to take care of you for today! Wanna go to the aquarium in Fujisaki together?”

S-s-s-s-Shiori Panic!

Meanwhile, in the Fujisaki district of Kagoshima…

Today is a big day for Uchikoshi Mie. Finally, she convinced her parents to let her have at least one day where she isn’t either at home or school! It’s been so annoying getting cooped up like that, just because of all those kaiju attacks she was involved with! Now Mie can go shopping a bit, maybe relax, have some boba or something –

“Uchikoshi Mie.”

Huh?

That’s weird. In just a single blink, a girl walked into Mie’s eyeline. A black-haired girl…isn’t that Horii Asuka? The girl who had a huge image change over spring break? She was the talk of the town for all of five minutes before everyone just got used to it. Actually, wasn’t she friends with Shiori? Mie hadn’t seen them together in a while though.

“Oh, hey Asuka. Funny coincidence seeing you here!” Mie waves and giggles. “You wanna hang out together for a bit?”

“That won’t be necessary,” says Asuka, as she flips her hair back. “I’ve come to you with a warning.”

“Eeh? A warning?” Mie blinks. This is gettin’ kinda spooky.

“Yes, a warning. I’m warning you to stay away from Nabeshima Shiori.”

…wait, what?

“Eeh? This is gettin’ kinda weird, you know? Walking up to me and trying to warn me about something! And then it’s something…like that?”

“I’m quite serious.”

“I’m sure you’re very serious, Shirley.” Mie sighs and scratches her head. Seriously, what a space case. “Listen, me and Shiori barely know each other. I was friends with her when I was like, five, but we don’t hang out together much these days. You know?”

Really, with the kinds of things Shiori seems to be into, Mie doesn’t think they’d get along very well. Honestly. But really…

Oh, no, Mie sees how this is. She sees the blush on Asuka’s cheeks. She might try to keep it all cool, but it couldn’t be more obvious if Asuka were wearing a shirt with Shiori’s face and a big heart on it.

“Oh, I get it!” Mie gets a huge grin on her face. “You’ve got a crush on her don’t you?”

“T-that has nothing to do with it.” Another hairflip from Asuka. It looks cool, but is that like, a nervous tic or something?

“Seriously!” Mie grins and points at Asuka. “You’re being all threatening, but you just wanna ask her out, don’t you? Well, honestly, I’m not interested in Shiori that way at all, so like, I’ll stay out of your way if you want.”

“…good. Make sure of it.”

And then, Asuka just walks right off. One of God’s own prototypes, surely. Aah, to be young and in love. There’s only one person Mie has a thing for right now, and she’s definitely not telling Asuka about that –

“Oh, and don’t call me Shirley.”

Asuka really can’t take a joke, huh.

Ordinarily, Mie would love to gossip about this, but even if Asuka is acting more cool and fashionable, she clearly hasn’t changed as much as people think. So for the sake of her nerves, she’ll keep away from Shiori as best she can. It’s Golden Week, anyway, and Mie has much more important things on her mind than a so-called ‘childhood friend’.

Yes! The first stop on Mie’s happy funtime out-of-the-house journey: the aquarium!