[Win-Wing Production]
Sumimi's agency.
After a twenty-minute ride and another five minutes on foot, three girls and one cat arrived at their destination.
The agency was larger than expected.
From scouting amateurs to training, performance planning, and personal IP management—Kiyono Inori took a quick glance at the fire evacuation map in the lobby and counted nearly twenty departments of various sizes.
Recording studios, rehearsal rooms—everything was there.
"My dear Elysia, could you stop craning your head around everywhere? Are pretty girls really that irresistible to you~?!"
Ever since they entered the agency, Elysia had been poking her cat head out, using her glassy marble-like eyes to size up managers and idol girls alike. To be fair, the density of beautiful girls here really was impressive.
"Meow wow!"
[What do you mean! I'm just curious, okay? Inori, haven't you noticed? The girls here are amazing at makeup! Look, look—that black-haired girl has sparkly stuff at the corner of her eyes! It's so pretty. What kind of makeup is that?]
Elysia Cat's priorities were completely different from Inori's.
She was far more interested in the idols' earth-shaking makeup looks. Makeup techniques in the Far East were a skill no less powerful than photo editing.
Normally, a pretty girl's eyes only seemed to sparkle because they were beautiful—but here, the girls genuinely sparkled, physically. All kinds of makeup designs left the pink pig-cat clicking her tongue in amazement.
"Sorry, I have no idea."
Elysia herself was already bad at makeup.
And as a former boy, Kiyono Inori's understanding of this area was practically zero.
Just taking care of her long, straight hair already took a lot of time. If she didn't happen to like that style, she probably wouldn't have kept it long at all.
Cat System:
[I checked. The makeup that girl just used is likely Far Eastern eyeshadow. There are models A, B, C… more than ten possible versions.]
Kiyono Inori:
[Impressive, you really know your stuff. But why are there so many results? Can't you be more precise?]
The pink pig-cat seemed particularly fond of the sparkly eye-corner eyeshadow. She was already planning to bring one back for her the next time they went to the Previous Era.
Cat System:
[So sorry, I can't. I took a photo and used the shopping app's image recognition feature.]
Kiyono Inori:
[…]
Kiyono Inori:
[Don't just take photos of people without permission! That's already illegal in the Far East!]
This Cat System pulled out some extremely powerful stuff—everything was authentic. Even the Blessing of Destruction was sourced from Nanook, to the point that Inori sometimes felt it was Nanook disguised as a Cat System.
But its perfectly timed moments of embarrassment somehow balanced that out.
"Ta-da! Idol-mode Uika makes her shining debut! Inori, did I scare you~~?!"
Misumi Uika, now changed into a new outfit, popped out from the idols' fitting rooms and makeup studio.
"You're cuter than usual, I guess. Where's Mana?"
"What kind of perfunctory reaction is that?! Mana's still inside getting skincare treatment. The vocalist is the face of the band, you know—that's common sense! Someone who's never played in a band like you definitely wouldn't understand how important the lead singer is!"
Uika proudly showed off her instrument.
"I went through so much trouble to reserve this guitar. Top-tier craftsmanship and materials! Inori, how about this—I let you touch my guitar, and you let me touch your cat. Deal?"
"You're way too interested in her, aren't you?"
Kiyono Inori carried out Elysia Cat, who was extra round after eating tons of cake. "Perfect timing, my arms are sore anyway. She's yours now."
"Meow, meow meow!"
[What the heck! You're just handing such a cute kitty over to another girl like that—Inori, doesn't your conscience hurt?!]
The pink pig-cat struggled and meowed after leaving her beautiful owner's arms.
"Meow."
[But my arms really are sore, my dear Elysia. Even if overeating here doesn't affect the other world, you've already gained quite a few pounds in this one! You'll turn into a big fat cat sooner or later~~!]
Kiyono Inori's stamina was down seventy percent. Without the boost from Fairy Magic, she probably wouldn't have been able to hold the pink pig-cat for so long.
"Meow wow…"
[Tch… how is it fair? I already turned into a cat, so why is it still so easy for me to gain weight?!]
With a pained expression, Elysia Cat ended up in Uika's arms, while Kiyono Inori took Uika's guitar instead.
Ah, so much lighter—Inori finally relaxed.
"Wow!" Uika instinctively weighed Elysia Cat in her arms. "She's way heavier than she was at the hospital."
"Yeah~ maybe she's still digesting all the cake?" Inori came up with an excuse for Elysia Cat.
"Meow, meow meow~~"
[Inori-chan, hug me, hug me, meow.]
Elysia Cat let out soft, fluffy meows. For some reason, even though Uika was also a pretty girl, she still felt that her beautiful owner's arms were softer.
Well… maybe it was because she was her beautiful owner.
…
[Somewhere inside the agency]
In a dark corner.
Monster Executive Rooster was observing everything in secret.
No one among idols understood monster executives better than him, and no one among monster executives understood idols better than him. Rooster had every right to say that.
Rooster had once been known in the idol world as Brother Chicken, an internet top-tier idol. At his peak, his traffic had swept across half of Ratty's website.
In a negative sense.
Looking back on those glorious days—
Back then, Ratty was Rooster's sworn enemy. Rooster even sent Ratty a lawyer's letter, and Ratty responded in kind. They were truly evenly matched opponents.
By all rational standards.
With Ratty, the leader of the antis, dead, Rooster should have popped champagne and celebrated for seven days and seven nights.
But… for some reason.
When he received Ratty's obituary, Rooster felt not the slightest joy—only a heavy, aching pain.
[Ohhhhh… Ratty!]
[You pushed traffic to the haters every day. You were supposed to be my enemy—yes, that should have been the case! And yet, I—I believe this Ratty was nine, even ten out of ten handsome!]
[Approximately one hundred words of Sakurai Hikaru-style literature omitted]
In other words.
Though Rooster and Ratty were mortal enemies, this time Rooster had come specifically to investigate the cause of Ratty's death. Rumor had it that the magical girl found by that magical familiar was an active idol…
There was no one more suited for this investigation than Rooster.
And now, after days and nights of investigation, Rooster had finally grasped the clue to the magical familiar—
The cat in the girl's arms.
Pure white fur, beautiful whiskers, transparent oversized eyes… every feature was cute beyond redemption. There was no doubt—this was a magical familiar in disguise!
A round body, staring nonstop at beautiful idol girls, constantly eating strawberry shortcake… such gluttony and lustful tendencies were proof enough of the magical familiar's brutal nature!
[Ahhh, magical familiar!]
[Even though you've hidden your aura well, the baby base color of a magical familiar cannot be concealed! I, Monster Executive Rooster, have completely grasped your whereabouts!]
Monster Executive Rooster retreated to a safe place to make a call.
"Similar melancholy, hiding you and me, drawn together by attraction despite different personalities…"
The call connected. A forget-everything tune came from Auntie's side.
"Hello, Auntie Phosphor Dust? My investigation has made progress. If you want to hear it, turn off that music first…"
Rooster frowned deeply.
"Didn't I tell you that chasing idols only fuels the arrogance of magical familiars? Every penny you spend on albums becomes another slice of strawberry shortcake on a magical familiar's plate.
As an outsider to the idol economy, can't you listen to the advice of a professional like me?"
Three seconds later, the music stopped.
"Heh, you don't get it. This is camouflage," Auntie replied calmly. "If I were discovered, wouldn't this kind of background music make the other side lower their guard?"
"Hmph. You know that's impossible."
Rooster excelled at singing, dancing, rap, and basketball. Among monster executives, he was considered highly agile. With nimble movement and precise projectile attacks, he was extremely strong.
"Pure White's magical familiar has appeared. Even though it hides its aura well, I could tell at a glance—it's the true culprit behind Ratty's death. It's time for revenge!"
"Oh? You're that certain?"
"Of course. My instincts are always accurate."
"Alright, alright. I'll handle the planning. You just keep following that magical familiar and make sure it doesn't disappear again."
Auntie smiled in a room filled with Sumimi merchandise, waved her hand, and unilaterally hung up the call.
Heh, Monster Executive Rooster.
What a useful chess piece.
Auntie had long since seen through the love-hate relationship between Ratty and Rooster. With a small push, she lured Rooster out to help her search for the hidden magical familiar.
[The Rooster who once sent Ratty a lawyer's letter, raging in fury for Ratty's sake, defeating the magical familiar who plotted against Ratty.]
That sounded like a topic guaranteed to generate buzz. Wasn't that exactly what modern netizens loved? Twisted emotions, gravity fields, love and hate—once marketed properly, it would absolutely rake in money.
While other monsters were still on the first layer—"avenging Ratty to suppress the magical familiar's arrogance"—
Auntie's scheme had already reached the fifth layer. She was planning how to profit from Ratty's death.
…
[Chisato Anon's Home]
"Ahhh—why is no one replying to my messages?!"
"This is totally different from the sparkly, heart-pounding girl band I imagined! My feelings are such a mess, wuwuwu… Did I do something wrong and get disliked?!"
Lying on her bed and staring at her phone's band group chat, Chisato Anon muttered her complaints softly.
Not long ago—
She had just finished serving her sentence studying abroad in the UK. During classes, her Japanese-accented English made communication difficult, and after school, she was chased all over London by local monsters because of her identity as a magical girl.
And now… she had that prison feeling again.
In short, band culture at Haneoka Girls' Academy was extremely popular. To quickly blend in, she planned to form a band and take the role of guitar plus vocalist.
The result?
She didn't become the flashy guitar-vocalist.
And the atmosphere in this band was clearly off. It was full of tension and awkwardness. When she tried to understand what was going on, she got rejected instead!
Anon: (T_T)
"Hmm… Hiyori, looks like things aren't going well on your side either. Is this what they mean by every family having its own difficult scripture?"
A dazed-looking pink little creature appeared out of thin air. This magical familiar looked somewhat like a lop-eared rabbit.
"I think they dislike you because you only know the C chord… but don't lose heart! As long as you keep practicing, your teammates will accept you sooner or later."
The magical familiar, Fleuris, was the companion Anon had met while studying in London.
"Ugh, but being ignored still feels awful…! We said we'd form a band for life, and yet it's all like this."
Complaining, Anon grabbed her guitar.
She played a few slightly chaotic notes and was instantly discouraged. Speedrunning mastery really was hard!
"Wow, guitar is so hard~~"
She turned to the magical familiar. "By the way, have you found your companions yet? We agreed we'd meet other magical girl partners once we got back to Tokyo, but there's been no movement at all!"
"Mm… look."
The lop-eared rabbit familiar tapped away on Anon's phone, logged into its Line account, and showed her the Magical Familiar Group Chat.
The vibe inside was very similar to the chat of Anon's still-unnamed temporary band.
Pink avatars chatting noisily, ignored by everyone else. Days of messages with no replies!
"From this perspective, Hiyori, the two of us really are kindred spirits," said the magical familiar, sighing as it suspected it was being isolated.
"Wow… even though I don't really want to be kindred spirits in such a weird way!" said the magical girl, now certain she was being isolated, sighing as well.
The phone was taken away by the magical familiar. With outside distractions gone, Chisato Anon focused awkwardly but intently on practicing Guitar Technique Exercises.
"Hiyori! I've decided!"
"Huh?"
The sudden declaration made the mechanically practicing pink-haired girl look up, a question mark appearing on her face.
"If my magical familiar companions are isolating me, then I'll work hard and shock them! Make them regret it!"
Staring at the promotional image on the phone, the magical familiar showed a determined expression.
"I'm quitting this magical familiar group chat and forming a new one centered around myself! I'll go find a batch of new magical girl candidates! The operation starts tonight!"
"Ah-oh~ let me see…"
Anon leaned her head over next to the fluffy magical familiar. When she saw the girl group in the image, she froze.
"Isn't this Sumimi?! I won tickets in a lottery a few days ago, and it even rained when I went to see them!"
"Oh? Did you feel any magical power back then? Such cute girls should have great potential to become magical girls, right?"
"I don't know! I was busy watching the live!"
Anon made a wide-eyed expression. If Sumimi's Uika and Mana became magical girls, wouldn't she be able to befriend them completely legitimately?
But—
There was still a problem. Being a magical girl was hard. Nights were peak hours for monster activity, and idol life was definitely exhausting too. Thinking this through made Anon worried.
High schooler plus magical girl was already tiring. Idol plus magical girl would be even worse, right? What if Uika and Mana got overworked?
Maybe it would be better to pick someone else as a magical girl!
She offered this suggestion to the magical familiar.
But—
[Relax, relax. We're just going to take a look~ Not everyone has the aptitude to be a magical girl.]
Her worries only earned a vague reply.
[Sumimi live tickets purchased.]
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.