Lin Yun drove Hong Siyu's red car to her apartment, and then returned to his own home by tram. By the time he entered the foyer, the clock was already pointing to ten o'clock.
Subconsciously, he glanced at the shoe cabinet by the door and noticed his daughter's shoes were carelessly left on the ground. Lin Yun straightened them out and then headed towards the living room.
If what Hong Siyu had said was correct, there should have been a TV interview with the new Magical Girl tonight.
He turned on the TV, looked at the content on the city channel, saw a cheap idol drama airing during the night slot, and realized that the news segment might have already passed. Lin Yun then opened his communicator and searched online for the city channel's broadcast that evening.
Soon, he found the replay of the evening news on the official website.
One item was the news from this morning about a Remnant Beast attacking the downtown area.
The news report covered the damage and casualties caused by the Remnant Beast in that block, and then, with a turn of phrase, stated that the new Magical Girl had taken down the creature. Although she was a novice, she had already made a remarkable contribution to public safety.
Next, the screen switched to the scene, where the reporter stated that they had seen the new Magical Girl and were about to interview her on-site.
Before long, this previously mysterious Magical Girl made her first appearance on the news interview.
What came into view was a girl giving the impression of a fairy tale.
Golden pigtails, a pale blue dress, a bright yellow belt wrapped around her waist, tied into an exaggerated bow at the back, a round gem pinned to her chest, and a small top hat on her head.
"Hello everyone, uh, I am the new Magical Girl, my name is Bai Mei..."
Merely from the costume, one would not get the impression of a "combatant," but rather, wonder which ball the little girl had run out from.
But such attire is typical for a Magical Girl.
Most Magical Girls fight in such outfits and, more paradoxically, no matter how much their clothes seem to limit movement, their actions are never affected by such glamorous outfits.
Naturally, the first impression such Magical Girls give is not "powerful" but "cute".
However, watching the Magical Girl in the news video, Lin Yun felt that something was off.
This "off" feeling wasn't based on anything particular, but was so intense that he quickly realized the nature of this feeling—it was familiarity.
He felt familiar with the Magical Girl on the screen.
Where had he seen this girl before? This thought emerged in his mind, and he subconsciously compared the Magical Girl in front of him with his memories.
Deep down, he already had a hunch but kept refusing to consider the possibility he least wanted to accept.
Yet without considering that direction, there was no explanation for the familiarity, no answer.
So, when he hesitantly brought the least desired possibility to the forefront, Lin Yun froze.
Because he couldn't accept it.
How could it be her? Why would it be her? How could it be her?
Countless questions formed in his mind, questions led to confusion, confusion turned to restlessness, and then transformed into anger.
Approaching midlife, Lin Yun seldom felt such intense rage in his daily life, as if it would burst forth from his chest, leaving his brain blank.
He couldn't understand.
Why was the Magical Girl Lin Xiaolu? His daughter?
With no mood to continue watching the news, Lin Yun put down the communicator, feeling only turmoil in his thoughts, his emotions far from calm.
——He needed to have a good talk with her.
Such an idea surfaced in his heart.
Even though he and his daughter, Lin Xiaolu, had been in a cold war for a long time, barely exchanging a few words daily, he still needed to fulfill his duty as a father and have a proper talk with her.
If she became a Magical Girl of her own volition, he needed to tell her about the pros and cons and let her weigh them again.
With this in mind, Lin Yun suddenly stood up and headed straight for his daughter's room.
[Knock first].
Such a note was pasted on the door.
The familiar handwriting—when had this note first been stuck to the door of his daughter's room?
In the two years since his wife passed away, too many conflicts had arisen between father and daughter, and he had always been bad at expressing himself, resulting in their relationship reaching this current state.
The two of them were clearly relatives who depended on each other in this world, yet they barely spoke a few words throughout the day. Even if they did, it was only the most basic daily arrangements, without any heart-to-heart conversations.
Lin Yun's fingers paused on the door, then he took a deep breath and knocked:
"Are you asleep, Lulu?"
There was no response from inside the room.
Feeling slightly heavy-hearted, Lin Yun waited a little longer, quickly settled his emotions, and knocked again.
Still, there was no response.
The light tapping on the door disappeared without a trace, like a stone sinking into a deep pool.
Lin Yun hung his head with a somber expression.
If it were any other day, he would probably have decided to give up by now. He would feel that the situation was irreparable and that it was best to give each other space and let time heal the gap.
But not this time. Even if what followed made the relationship with his child worse, he had to convey what he wanted to say.
So he wouldn't stop.
Click.
Just as he was about to knock for the third time, the door in front of him was suddenly pulled open.
A girl, not very old and clad in pajamas, stared at him with an annoyed expression, greeting him with a retort:
"I'm awake, what do you want?"
Her wary look was like that of a cat with its fur standing on end.
Seeing his daughter like this again, uncooperative, and thinking how he had come to talk to her out of concern, Lin Yun felt a wave of frustration and anger. He felt that this girl was so irritating, he really should scold her.
But the words stopped at his lips.
He suddenly didn't know what to say.
Should he directly ask his daughter if she had become a Magical Girl? And then scold her for doing what is seen as a good deed in anyone's eyes?
Or start off by bluntly telling her about the dangers of being a Magical Girl and urge her to quit immediately?
Not to mention how he could support his own statements with evidence, but wouldn't such a direct approach touch the fragile and sensitive nerves of the child?
Backtracking a bit—was it appropriate for him, as a father, to start this rare conversation by negating his child's actions? He wanted to understand his daughter's true thoughts, but was she really willing to open up to him? Could he really achieve his goal with such stern dialogue?
How could he, as he was now, make his child believe in him?
However I thought about it, the answer was the same: impossibility.
Lin Yun couldn't help but start thinking, what exactly were the words he truly wanted to tell her? Stripping away these external conflicts, not discussing the estrangement that had accumulated before, he wanted to know his daughter's true thoughts, but what about his own sincerity?
As his thoughts raced in his daughter's gaze, he felt as if in the end, every thought turned into nothingness, leaving only one voice:
"It's been several days since we've seen each other, Daddy misses you a bit."
This was, after stripping away anger, anxiety, worry, and guilt, the only sincerity he had left.
He might not be able to make his daughter happy, he might also not be able to resolve the issues between them, but at least for now, he wanted to see her.
Learning that his daughter had become a Magical Girl, he now wanted to see if the child was all right, if she was afraid, if her emotions were stable.
The girl standing at the door heard this sentence, her furrowed brow raising slightly, then relaxing, the expression on her face also becoming complicated.
"Now? Just for this sort of thing?"
"Yes, because I was afraid you'd be angry if I called you this morning."
Lin Yun's somewhat wooden face cracked into a smile: "Now that I've seen you, I feel much more at ease."
The girl with black hair raised her nose and sniffed, pursed her lips, paused for a long while, and then hesitantly began to speak:
"Are you drunk?"
"Maybe? After all, I did drink quite a bit tonight."
Lin Yun, following his heart's feelings, spoke candidly: "I'm really happy you're willing to open the door."
"…So now that you've seen me, what next?" His daughter still looked troubled.
"Nothing much, just wanted to ask how you've been recently, if you're happy at school."
Lin Yun stood in place, waving his hand: "I won't ask about your studies, you can handle that yourself, and I'm not in a position to lecture you."
The conversation between the two paused once again.
Seemingly surprised that her father would ask such a question, the daughter eyed him strangely, but soon, with an air of nonchalance, replied:
"Oh, it's pretty ordinary, nothing's happening."
"There seems to have been a dangerous incident near your school, are you alright?"
"Danger… it's nothing, I can handle it well."
"Do you need me to pick you up?"
"You do your thing."
"How's the phone I bought for your birthday last month?"
"It's good."
"No problem with the dinner that the hourly worker cooks?"
"No problem, Aunt Liu is a good cook."
"Has anything good happened recently?"
"Good things?"
The daughter raised her eyebrows upon hearing this, seeming a bit puzzled, but quickly, as if thinking of something, her expression became hesitant.
"Don't know, but anyway, there hasn't been anything bad."
Nothing bad…
A stir went through Lin Yun's heart.
"Is that so, then there's nothing more I can ask."
Listening to his daughter's somewhat ambiguous answer, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, taking a step back: "Lulu, Daddy is sorry."
His statement was met with a brief silence.
"…It's too late to be saying these things now."
The girl behind the door spoke softly, glanced at him once more, and started to push the door closed:
"Go to sleep, don't bother me anymore."
Click.
The door in front of him closed.
Lin Yun, standing outside the door, seemed lost in thought and remained there for quite some time before heading to his own bedroom.
In the end, he still hadn't broached the topic of the "Magical Girl."
He couldn't say it; he couldn't ask; whenever he thought of the term, his throat would become unbearably dry.
But not saying it now didn't mean he had given up.
In the course of the conversation just now, Lin Yun had already come up with another way in his mind. Perhaps, using that method, he could tell his daughter some information about the Magical Girl and be confident that she would take his words seriously.
Opening the door to his bedroom, he loosened his formal attire, set down his briefcase, and with a determined look, walked towards the wardrobe in the corner of the room.
The master bedroom had two wardrobes for the two owners' clothing, one large, placed against the wall, and the other small, tucked into the corner.
Lin Yun's clothing wasn't plentiful, apart from a few sets of casual attire he commonly wore, he only had suits for official occasions.
He opened one of the drawers, which contained some old clothes, many of which he wore when he was young, styles that no longer fit his age or the trends.
After removing the clothes stacked on top, he slowly reached in, and pulled out a palm-sized gift box.
"…19 years."
He exclaimed in a trance.
He, who had once ignored his wife's objections and tucked away this box, had never thought there would come a day when he would take it out again. Back then, he only felt that life was already satisfying, everything was settled, and there was no reason to bring out the contents of the box anymore.
However, as the years passed, until today, learning that his daughter had become a Magical Girl, he realized that running away would never solve any problem.
Gently unlocking the clasp of the box, prying open its somewhat stiff lid, he looked at the object inside, silent for a long time.
It was a gemstone flower with a broken pattern.
A gemstone covered in fine lines, already tainted with dust.
It had another name; people always called it "Heart Flower."
And in this world, there was only one kind of person who would have such a peculiar treasure.
—A Magical Girl.