"WHY DO I LOOK LIKE THIS?!!" I'm showing my stomach to Sauriel in my room, I barely got out of the shower so I'm still dripping water, he looks at me and slowly smiles.
"I think you look good".
"I DIDNT ASK YOUR OPINION, I DEMANDED AN EXPLANATION" I grab Sauriel by his shoulders and start shaking him to see if he drops an answer.
"Ok OK OK, I will answer, just stop shaking me so aggressively!!!" I continue shaking him, but more gently.
"Scratch that, just put me down" I put Sauriel down, he takes a second to get rid of his dizziness.
"EXPLAIN, NOW!" I demand ominously.
"You've been doing a lot of exercises while being a magical girl" He said in complete confidence.
"I DIDN'T LOOK LIKE THIS YESTERDAY THOUGH" I reproach him, he jumps a little from surprise, but he starts thinking profusely for a few seconds.
"MMM oh I know!!, you got promoted to a 2-star magical girl recently, so maybe your body only acclimatized to your strength between yesterday and today!!" he explained.
"I see, how do I revert my ranking?" I asked completely seriously.
"You can't unless you either die or commit a crime against an angel" he declared.
"I understand, What's the worse crime I can inflict on you right now?" I looked at him in the eyes.
"I think I'm not gonna answer that" he avoided my death glare.
"Coward" I said coldly.
[I don't think I would do it anyway, but I guess he does have a sense of self-preservation in that head of his].
I already had calmed down after lightly threatening Sauriel, I looked at the rest of my body to see if there were more distasteful surprises, my arms, specifically my biceps, we a bit meatier, it was difficult to discern even while unclothed but touching them made me confirm that they were in fact, real.
[So this is how it feels?].
I touched a bit more of my newfound muscles, the skin was still soft, but pressing into them made clear that they were a lot more robust than the rest of my body, I put on clothes and checked in the mirror again, it was a relief that they were not at all visible, I went on bed tried to sleep, the image of Mary just passing her fingers along my abdomen kept popping up in my mind.
[I'm absolutely mentally destroyed, I can't take it anymore].
I knew that it was better to feel embarrassed than to feel down because I lost against Lark, I needed to get better at using my magic but I couldn't think of ways on how to use it more effectively, I never was really imaginative with anything so I was completely lost this time, moreover, my head was getting hotter every time I looked over at my new muscles, I decided to just ditch my purity for tonight and relieve myself so I could at least sleep soundly.
The next day I got up, thankfully my bruises were a lot better and barely noticeable even in my transformed state, I felt satisfied with how good aether really is at healing wounds over time, I did my morning routine as normal.
"Well, I'm going Mom!!" I started walking to the door, but my mom stopped me by grabbing my shoulder.
"Where are you going?" My mom asked confusedly.
"To school?" I answered, questioning why she stopped me, she smiled playfully at my answer.
"I see, take care!!!" she let me go, I stepped out of the door.
"I didn't know you had school today but have fun" She said teasingly, I froze on the spot.
[F*ck I forgot, this is the first day of summer vacation].
"Why didn't you remind me about that?" I said while angrily walking towards her.
"Well, that's what I should be asking you, I didn't know you had a class on Saturday, on the first day of summer vacation!! hehe" she couldn't contain her chuckle so she covered her mouth.
"MOM" I went inside my house again pissed off.
"Did you forget something for school? I could get it for you!" she said jokingly while closing the door.
"Hmpf" My mom laughed a bit, and she continued doing house chores while I put on normal clothes.
[Can't believe I forgot something I looked forward to, and why do you have to tease me about it].
And so, 5 days passed, now it is Thursday, tomorrow I had some plans with Mary so I decided to mentally prepare for our meeting, after the PE incident we didn't really see each other, so I would try and not make it awkward, I also had to be careful and not let my mom see me without my shirt, but I started giving her the idea that I was 'working out' so that the catastrophe that will eventually happen would not surprise her as much, she seemed quite happy about that.
*BRRRRR.
My phone vibrated, I picked it up and saw that it was a message from... Vera.
"What?".
I opened it and read the message, apparently, she wanted some help with some devils in her area.
[Umm, well I already don't have anything to do, so guess I could].
I texted her "Of course, but you will have to give a two ride on your broom ;) " I really wanted to ride the broom again.
She responded, "If you say so!!" I smiled at the thought, 5 minutes later Vera was already knocking at my door.
"You really are fast," I say, Vera proudly nods.
"Indeed I am, speed is something I normally excel at, you are ready to go, right?" Vera is visibly impatient to go.
"Yeah, just don-" before I could get my words out I got thrown up the broom.
"Wait please! just cal-".
"Kerosene combustion!" We lifted off the ground immediately, I tried to get her to slow down a bit, but she refused to hear, after a while I didn't mind being basically kidnapped since the view of the city made up for it, our ride comes to an end when we land.
During the next few hours, we began 'hunting' devils around the area, because it was quite far away from my home I didn't know the layout of this part of the city so Vera told me where to go and what to do when I got lost or confused, I got to practice a bit with actually talking to people that needed help, I had too many 1 vs 1 encounters, so I needed the experience, it felt refreshing since most devils would only require me to hit them slightly hard for me to defeat them, eventually Vera got tired.
"Hey Amy, wanna take a break?" Vera said while panting slightly.
[I guess I have more stamina than her now?].
"Yeah, What do you have in mind" I replied as I swiped some of my sweat from my forehead, the summer heat was beginning to take its place in the city.
"There is a cafe nearby, we could get lunch there!!" Vera said happily, I nodded in agreement while walking to the cafe I realized something.
"Wait... will we go in these clothes?" I said, Vera realized that she actually needed to unstrasform for her and me to go to the restaurant, she got embarrassed at the thought of having forgotten something so obvious.
"Um~ yeah we can stop hunting, I didn't want to go anyway!" She said while trying to sound as if that was her plan all along.
"I don't mind you seeing me in my untransformed state since it's you Vera" I shyly replied, I intentionally used a classic line to see how would she react, her ears became red, and look away for a bit.
[You already saw me untransformed you dummy].
"A ha ha, I see, then I will also allow you to see me untransformed" She said while trying not to stumble in her words, we get to a secluded place and untransform, she goes first apparently because 'she is my superior' i don't really care so I let her do it first.
Once she comes into view again I see her, her hair was flowing all the way to her back, it was a bit more curly than usual, the shade of red changed from a lightish one to a darker one, it was like seeing red wine, her clothes changed into formal ones, a pretty white dress with a floral pattern in them.
[She looks prettier in her normal state].
The shade of red in her hair is actually pretty rare, I go in and untransformed, my clothes are a bit baggy, but she didn't seem to mind.
"That black hair suits your eyes better" Vera said while looking at me, she already was used to seeing me untransformed but this was the first time she paid close attention to it.
"But your hair is prettier though" I replied without thinking, Vera looks at me and smiles proudly.
"Of course, I'm pretty dazzling myself" she makes her hair wave, we begin walking to the cafe.
"So this is your favorite place?" I said as we entered the cafe.
"Indeed it has a cozy look, don't you think" Vera said, I look at her incredulously.
"Yeah, sure" I lied without hesitation.
[It's just a normal cafe, there's nothing here to distinguish it from the rest].
I ordered a grilled cheese while Vera had an 'ice cream cake', we chatted while we ate the food, Vera seem to really like sweets and was basically savoring every ounce of that cake as if it's last, I just chomped on my sandwich while looking at her deleted face, i never got to see he like this normally so I just engraved it into my memory.
*Brrrr.
"My phone again?" I said while grabbing my phone, I had gotten a text message and was reading it, Mary texted me by warning me that she would bring another friend to my house at tomorrow's meet-up.
"What is it?" Vera asked me once she had gulped down her piece of cake.
"It seems we have some news on my tomorrow's plan" I said, Vera looked pretty interested but was unwilling to actually ask more about it, so I make a plan on the spot.
"Would you like to come to my house and hang out in my house tomorrow?" I asked her about it, vera looked surprised and happy at the thought, she nodded in agreement because she didn't want to show her excitement in her voice, I texted Mary that I would also bring a friend.
"Well it's settled then, a warning though, my friend doesn't know that I'm a magical girl so don't bring it up" I said, vera nodded in again but stopped midway.
"There will be other people!!!" She exclaimed while slightly slamming her hands on the table.
[If she was a bit louder the whole cafe would have heard that.].
"Umm, Yes there will be, 2 in fact, so have that in mind" Vera finally calmed down, she looked a bit disappointed.
"Sorry to disappoint you" I said jokingly.
"I'M NOT, I'm just surprised to hear that you have friends willing to go to your house" she tried to steer the conversation onto other topics.
"Is that so rare?" I replied.
We talked for an extra half hour, she got me a ride home and left me in my house before dinner time, I got into my house and began preparing for the next day, I cleaned the house, bought some groceries, and most importantly, made sure that my Mom wasn't gonna be in my house since I didn't want to get humiliated by her jokes.
The very next day I sat on the couch and started to sink in it, by every passing minute I get more nervous and anxious at the realization that I technically invited 3 people to my house, my brain kept making hypothetical scenarios where everything went wrong, and every time it happened I tried to think of a way to prevent it, eventually, I got tired from overthinking everything but it was a too late.
*ding dong
The doorbell rang, I approached the door and open it.
"Hiii~" Vera greets me with a cheerful smile, I look at the time on my phone.
"You're awfully early" I said with a deviant smile.
"That's not how you treat your guest, you need to be a little more kind since I took the time to be here" she exclaimed loudly while looking trying not to see me directly in the eyes.
"I'll keep that in mind for future guests" I said following her line of reasoning, Vera just walked into my house without asking.
"Good thing that I was the first" she said with a proud smile.
[Was the whole conversation to evade my question about why was she early?].
"So this is your house" she says, she is gazing into the corners of the room.
"Impressive right?" I said sarcastically with a wide smile.
"It is quite cozy!" she doesn't sound too confident in that statement.
"Answer the question" I want her to actually answer the question, since I don't know how my house compares to hers.
"The decoration is also lovely!" she evaded by changing the topic, but I'm not falling for that one.
"You really can't lie about it" I keep pressuring her, I thought that maybe attacking her pride could make her answer.
"I'm a very factual correct person" she reversed my critique into a good thing, I sighed.
"Well, I don't mind it as long as you're somewhat honest" I'm not lying, I appreciate the indirect honesty coming from her.
We sit down and awkwardly try to chat, is not really working out so I divert the topic to Magical girls, because of my enthusiasm I can actually talk normally to Vera, she is hesitant but eventually does get along my weird topics like how I did 'Tier lists' of magical girls based on how adorable I found them.
*ding dong
Vera gets startled by the doorbell, I get up and open the door.
"What's up Amy!!!" Mary greets me with a playful smile, Akari is by her side.
[So the friend she talked about is Akari?].
"Hello Amy" Akari greeted me, she bowed a little and stared into my face expecting some kind of reaction.
"The ceiling" I say, then I turned to see Akari "Hi Class rep!" I say kindly, Akari was polite when greeting so I couldn't actually get a dumb answer for her, she looked a bit disappointed.
"Well, you can g-" before I finish speaking both of them enter my house, I reluctantly close the door.
[Why does everyone just waltz straight into my house].
"Well let me introduce you, Vera this is my friend Mary" I pointed at Mary.
"Yo!" she says while waving.
"And this my other friend, Akari, sh is our class representative in our school, oh I also go to school with Mary!" I say, I point at Akari, she stops gazing into my face and looks at Vera.
"Hello, it is nice to meet you" she did a thumbs up at Vera.
"Hello, my name is Vera Brand, it is very nice to get to know you!!!" Vera bowed deeply with a polite smile, she was a bit nervous still since she didn't expect me to introduce my friends like that, Mary and Akari smiled back at Vera.
"You're unfair Amy" Akari said while leaning on the kitchen counter
"On what aspect?" I ask because Akari didn't specify.
"You introduced Maria first!!!" Akari was slightly mad, but only I could notice.
"Heyy, she said more about you, she only declared me as her friend" Mary reproached angrily at Akari, they were playful but still mad at each other.
"I felt more comfortable presenting Mary first" I make the excuse to calm both of them, Mary cools down on them though that I felt more comfortable with her while Akari does because I probably felt embarrassed to introduce her first, both of them were wrong.
"Umm your name is Mary or Maria?" Vera asked while looking at Mary.
"Both, but my real name is Mary" Mary said clearly.
[She still likes Mary more than Maria, hehe, how childish].
Mary once told me that she liked my nickname 'Mary' because I had given it to her, I didn't think much of it till recently, I guessed it was because she hated her parents and therefore the name they gave her, at least that was the most likely explanation in my head.
"I see, well then is nice to get to know Amy other friends since she talks about you a lot" Vera winked at me for making me look good, she was still nervous, I sit on the couch, and immediately Akari sits beside me followed by Mary since the couch got a bit crowded I got up and instead sat down in a kitchen chair I dragged into the living room, the 3 of them pouted at me sitting away from them.
"You could have told me that Akari was the friend you were bringing along!" I said to Mary she just shrugged it off and pat Akari's back to get her to talk.
"I said I had a surprise for you, this what it" Akari explained, I tried to remember when did she said that, showing my thinking face, I suddenly remembered that she did say that when I was trying to kill time 3 days after I met David, I looked at Akari and gave her a smile.
"Anyway, Vera how did you meet lovely Amy over there" Mary pointed at me, I got a bit nervous over the question.
[Oh f*ck, what is she going to say].
"Oh, I and Amy kept coincidentally seeing each other in a cafe! so I eventually asked what was her deal and became friends!!" Vera somehow was an actual genius at lying to other people that weren't me.
"I see, so it's only casual friendship, right?" Akari added, she was looking into Vera's soul while almost threatening.
"Uhh.. yes definitely only casual friendship" Vera said it scared.
"Akari doesn't scare her!! excuse her she only had like 10 social interactions before meeting us" Mary said to alleviate Vera's fear.
"That's not true actually I had a lot of social interactions before meeting you" Akari said to Mary in her characteristic monotonous tone.
"Your family doesn't count!" Mary added.
"Well even in tho-".
"Forced School interaction also doesn't count" I said before she could finish her sentence.
"Mpfff" Akari just looked at the sofa in shame that she didn't have a counterargument.
"Don't worry about it Vera, this is just the group dynamic!" Mary exclaimed while puffing her chest.
"I see, I knew Akari liked to tease and annoy people but actually seeing it is amusing" Vera said while looking judge fully at me.
"I don't like to tease people, I tease people I like!" I exclaimed, the 3 of them looked at me as if suddenly my behavior made complete sense.
[Yo that quotable, I gotta write that down!!!].
And so the conversation began, jumping from topic to topic, Me, Akari, and Mary tried to ease Vera into being talkative, it worked enough to actually have a loud conversation since everyone got along well enough I felt comfortable just adding to the conversation, letting it follow it course without much of a problem, Mary and I did have to stop Akari from bombarding Vera with questions since she still wasn't fully accustomed to us.
And so, hours passed by in an instant, the extra 2 people made our plans to actually watch a movie way more fun, Akari would ask about every new little thing that appeared in the movie, and either I or Mary would shut her up or answer her, Vera was awfully interested in how the plot involved while I just mocked the bad acting since I intentionally picked movies so bad that they were 'good', we eventually finished our snacks and movies, and the night filled upon us.
"Well I'll be going".
"let me accompany you to the door Class rep!" I got up while Akari started to open the door, but she stumbled onto someone.
"Oh my~ are you okay?" My mom was at the door, she was about to ring the bell but Akari bumped into her, burying her face into her breast.
"Mom, why are you so early?" I asked my mom, she was supposed to come a bit later in the night.
"Well I got off early, since I didn't have anywhere to go I went home, is that bad?" she said with a cheeky smile, she grabbed Akari's shoulders and pulled her out off her breast, Akari gasped for air.
"I'm sorry, but I'm happy that you brought home your friends Amy" she said, Akari was sweating profusely while looking at my mom's boobs.
[Oh no that's bad].
"Hi, Ms. Rochelle!" Mary greeted my mom, she was a usual guest so she didn't mind her.
"Umm it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rochelle" Vera presented herself to my mom, she was extremely polite but she was equally flustered at Akari's predicament.
"Likewise, I see that Amy you made a lot of friends!!" My mom gave me a genuine smile, "Don't mind me, continue with your reunion!!" she quickly went to her bedroom to pass the time, Akari was frozen in place and was completely fixated on my mom's chest.
"Class rep?" I waved my hand in front of Akari to make her react, she reacts with 5 seconds of delay.
"I think I would like to stay a bit longer" Akari look at me, then lowered her gaze to my chest.
"You're gonna burn a hole in my chest, just go, everyone will go in a few minutes anyway!!" I was annoyed because Akari acted exactly as I thought, kinda shamelessly.
[Don't remind me of it].
"Well then, I'll see you another day" Akari politely bowed and went to her home, I closed the door and sighed, Mary laughed at my reaction while Vera looked at us.
"Well then, I'll get going home!!" Vera said as she got up and grabbed her things.
"It was nice to meet you Vera!!" Mary said, we both waved her goodbye, it was kinda weird seeing Vera just walking instead of flying in her broom.
Now there were only 2 of us, Mary will get going after dinner since she got permission from her parents, so we sat on the couch, Mary smiled at me and saw me sink on the couch relaxing, now that everyone unexpected had gone to their homes I could finally relax, Mary's presence never bothered me or made me put up any kind of front so I could truly be myself.
"So Amy, your relationship with Vera is... ?" Mary said to me while attentively looking at me.
"Casual friends, I have nothing more Mary" I replied, Mary wanted to confirm the situation since people imposing their vies onto me wasn't anything new.
"It's surprising that you haven't given her a nickname yet! " Mary expected me to call her with a nickname since we did seem to get along well.
"I can't shorten neither Vera nor Brand, at most I could call her redhaired" I was totally defeated, I actually wanted to give her a nickname but couldn't come up with one.
"I see, that is logical with your personality!" Mary said, we passed the rest of the night talking about our plans for Comicket, which was only a week from now.
And so, Mary finally left, and a long day had come to an end.