Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 10 - Chapter 1

The Lady Knight’s Lonely Battle: Director’s Cut

  La Pucelle

For about a month now, La Pucelle had been trying her best to train herself mentally.

She would exhale all the air from her lungs, then take a long breath in to fill them back up and then some. Before beginning magical-girl activities, she would use the ten minutes before Snow White’s arrival to climb the steel tower, cross her legs atop a girder, and immerse herself in her own world. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form…form is emptiness, emptiness is form, she would chant endlessly, attempting to make her mind as blank as what she saw under her eyelids.

The reason La Pucelle had taken such a keen interest in meditation: Snow White.

Snow White’s magic enabled her to hear the inner voices of people in trouble. Just as ears and eardrums will catch on sounds you didn’t mean to hear, Snow White’s magic would always hear the cries of a troubled heart. And her magic worked not only on humans, but also on magical girls.

What was worse, La Pucelle was the transformed alter ego of the teen boy Souta Kishibe. And there is no member of Homo sapiens more prurient than a middle school boy. Be he a class rep of irreproachable conduct, a charming member of the tennis team, or a straight-A student aiming for the most prestigious of educational institutions, in his heart could be found a vortex of lewd intrusive thoughts… Not like Souta had ever peeked into anyone else’s heart, but he remained convinced this was true.

If La Pucelle were to think any dubious thoughts around Snow White, even for an instant…and if Snow White were to pick up on those thoughts… Souta had to avoid such a situation at all costs.

Back when he had been into anime, Souta hadn’t seen it as much of a problem, but magical girls often revealed a lot of skin.

This was true for Snow White, La Pucelle’s usual partner. Despite all the running and jumping she did, her skirt was very short. La Pucelle would find her eyes traveling to the peach-colored sections between her boots and skirt.

And the other magical girls also were highly lacking in self-awareness. Souta had heard that students at all-girls schools were less guarded and more daring because there were no boys watching them. Magical girls, too, were surely never thinking a boy was in their midst.

Take Top Speed, for example. Flying through the air inevitably meant people would see you from below. But her skirt was short. When she flew on her broom, her skirt’s hem would flutter, and when she fired her boosters, the hem would flap up, and when she landed, the skirt would fly all over—whatever she did, it was always like you could just about get a peek, and it made La Pucelle excited and anxious. To make things worse, Top Speed was really friendly, so maybe that was why she was particularly touchy-feely. She would whack La Pucelle on the back, or pat her on the shoulder, and occasionally even smack her on the butt. Each time, she’d get very close, crossing the boundaries of personal space. And she’d even hug La Pucelle to express joy, and link arms with her in attempts to get closer, and when they were totally pressed together like that, La Pucelle’s mind would go blank.

And Ripple, who often worked with Top Speed, was pretty bad as far as exposed skin was concerned. Her shoulders, midriff, and thighs were all bared. She always seemed so on edge, though, so of course there were no opportunities to ogle her. But just the other day, Top Speed had come over with Ripple. The topic had turned to magical-girl costumes, and Top Speed had been like, “That makes me wonder, does this thing feel stuff?” and she’d grabbed La Pucelle’s tail. La Pucelle had freaked out and nearly toppled backward, and when she reflexively shot out an arm, right there had been Ripple’s stomach… La Pucelle still hadn’t forgotten what it had felt like, even now. It had been soft and smooth. Since that had been Top Speed’s fault, Ripple had gotten mad at Top Speed rather than her, but La Pucelle had felt quite bad about the whole thing.

Ruler’s group had comparatively fewer magical girls who caused La Pucelle stress in that regard. The Twin Angels were more like mascot characters than human girls. They made La Pucelle think, You guys are so busy for being so tiny! This was also true for Tama. Her actions and reactions in the chat were often reminiscent of a dog’s, and she was less a girl and closer to a smart, adorable pet. As for Ruler—La Pucelle absolutely could not say this in front of the girl herself, but compared to other magical girls, she was rather straight up and down, and her costume wasn’t too revealing. Appearancewise, she exuded a slightly charming aura, and that was all you could really tell about her. Those four magical girls were safe, nothing heart-pounding about them. That said, since La Pucelle rarely interacted with them in real life, it didn’t make much difference whether they were “safe,” but Souta was still grateful he had nothing to feel guilty about there.

Not every member of Team Ruler was harmless to him, however. There was also Swim Swim. The first time Souta had seen her avatar in the chat, he hadn’t thought anything of her school swimsuit costume. He often saw those in gym class in summer—hers being white was unusual, but it wasn’t a particularly new sight. However, some time after, when La Pucelle had been guiding a lost granny to Monzenmachi, her luck ran out. Ruler had spotted her and snapped, “Don’t barge into our territory without permission!” As Ruler had been scolding La Pucelle harshly like a finicky teacher, La Pucelle’s eyes had been locked on Swim Swim, standing beside Ruler, the whole time. They were big. Very, super big. The hugeness Souta never would be able to see at school made La Pucelle’s head spin for non-heat-related reasons, and she didn’t hear any of Ruler’s complaining at all.

Then there was Calamity Mary, who La Pucelle had heard was an enemy of Ruler’s group. She’d just seen her once from afar, when Calamity Mary apparently had some business at the port, where she was flanked by several sketchy-looking men. Wondering if Mary was going to engage in some shady deal and if she should challenge her, La Pucelle had looked over to see her in an extremely provocative outfit: a skimpy leopard-print bikini top and a thin, short miniskirt that looked like it’d flip up at the slightest breeze. Most of all, her figure—she was either as voluptuous as Swim Swim or even more so. It looked like a close competition. And because of such thoughts, by the time La Pucelle had snapped out of it, Mary and the men were already gone.

In this category, the dark horse sort of character was Nemurin. La Pucelle had never met her in real life, but Nemurin had appeared in one of Souta’s dreams. Despite her appearing in his dream, he’d found Nemurin in a deep and pleasant-looking sleep, and La Pucelle would have felt bad to wake her, and so she’d just watched her like that for a while.

However, that outfit… In the chat they all had bobbleheaded cartoonish avatars, so Souta had only ever thought of Nemurin’s getup of pajama top and socks as cute. But seeing her with realistic proportions, he realized that this combo was pretty powerful. The bare legs that extended from the hem of her pajama top were alluring, and to make it worse, Nemurin would occasionally roll over, and every time, it just about seemed like it’d be a disaster, and La Pucelle wondered, What do I do? Should I wake her up? Or should I…? and in a panic, Souta had woken up.

La Pucelle wasn’t in a position to complain about other girls’ costumes in the first place. Armor was supposed to be for protection, so then why was the armor on her lower body basically like a swimsuit, or underwear? When La Pucelle had first met Sister Nana, her mentor, she’d assumed Sister Nana would ask her why only her lower half was so exposed, and she had felt quite despondent about it. But that had never happened. Sister Nana herself was also scantily clad for some odd reason.

Sister Nana’s supposed nun outfit was sleeveless, her skirt had a long slit up it, her full chest was emphasized with a belt, and garters held up her white stockings. It was truly sacrilegious. One assumed that Sister Nana herself had picked out the costume. Just what had she been thinking…? La Pucelle could not and would not ask. However, every time La Pucelle met up with her and saw that figure-flattering costume, she got more flustered.

Weiss Winterprison, Sister Nana’s partner, was the exception to the rule: Her costume wasn’t revealing. In the wintertime she could mingle among normal people and make people think, What a beautiful person without seeming out of place.

But a costume that isn’t revealing can give rise to alluring contrast. About a month ago, Sister Nana, Weiss Winterprison, and La Pucelle had been chatting on a high-rise roof. Suddenly the sky had clouded over, and the three of them had been soaked by a pounding rain. Winterprison had taken off her coat and used it to cover Sister Nana’s head. Even through her thin sweater, La Pucelle could see the figure that was normally hidden under a coat, her balanced build—and, noticing her chest region was particularly shapely, La Pucelle had jerked her eyes away.

This was what made magical girls such dangerous creatures. They gave La Pucelle very dirty thoughts.

Though there wasn’t much point in loudly insisting that the essence of the problem was with magical girls themselves. What was important was the relationship between Snow White and La Pucelle.

Snow White’s magic was fairly imprecise. It seemed she could only grasp the general idea of what went on in the hearts of others. However, if by chance she were to pick up on wicked thoughts, that would spell the end of La Pucelle’s magical-girl activities. La Pucelle very much wanted to avoid that. And to that end, she had to empty her mind.

At this rate, even her own chest jiggling made her brain go, Ohhh. This was no good. When she stood up and patted off her bottom, she was surprised by how soft it felt to the touch, and she would thoughtlessly touch her palm to it, entranced by the nice feeling of sinking it in. She’d be completely zoned out until Snow White called out to her—that was absolutely no good.

  Snow White

Snow White was a little bit worried about La Pucelle, who was her senior magical girl and also her childhood friend. Lately, every time they met up, La Pucelle’s thoughts were so intensely focused on one thing alone:

That she would be in trouble if Snow White were to read her thoughts.

Snow White tilted her head. She had no idea what La Pucelle was so afraid of someone else knowing.

One time, Snow White had showed up at the steel tower earlier than their meetup time. La Pucelle had already been atop the tower, but she’d been sitting there with a glum, serious expression, and Snow White had felt like she couldn’t speak to her at all. A few times after that, Snow White had showed up early to watch La Pucelle from a hiding spot. Her friend would stand on her head, or strike weird poses, or make her sword giant and swing it around wildly—her behavior escalated to greater and greater heights. There was something ghastly about the sight.

Did that strange behavior have something to do with what she didn’t want known? Snow White wanted to help her out, somehow, but if she didn’t know what the problem was, then she couldn’t help. I wish she’d tell me, but it’s not like I can force it out of her… Her mind was so fixated on this conundrum that at one point her teacher scolded her for being distracted in class.

When she went to bed with these worries on her mind, she had a dream. In the dream, Nemurin cutely yawned in her sleep, and Snow White shook her by the shoulders, saying, “You’ll catch a cold if you sleep here!” and woke her up.

“Huh? Snow White… Hnnn, Nemurin needs more sleep.”

“You don’t have to sleep in your dreams, too.”

“It’s because it’s a dream that Nemurin can get a good sleep, though… You kinda look like you’re short on sleep, too, huh, Snow White? Is there something on your mind that’s keeping you up?”

“Yeah… La Pucelle’s been acting strange lately.”

“It’d be super-cool if Nemurin could solve this problem for you, but interpersonal relationship troubles are beyond Nemurin’s scope…so why not try asking someone else for help? Sometimes you can’t resolve this sort of stuff on your own, right? Someone else is bound to come up with some good ideas.”

Nemurin waved as she floated away. Koyuki woke up.

What came to her mind upon waking was Top Speed’s smile. She was always so kind and would be helpful with things, so surely Snow White could count on her. Through the chat, she set a time for them to meet, then headed over to Top Speed’s base.

“A problem she can’t tell other people, huh…?” said Top Speed.

“Yes,” Snow White replied with a nod. “And she seems off even when I’m not there with her… It’s sort of like…she’s suffering from feelings of guilt.”

“Hmm. Maybe it’s not a magical-girl thing, but actually about her private life?”

“Could be… We’re generally together when she’s a magical girl, after all.”

“Then it’s about her family, or her friends. You’ve known her from before you guys became magical girls, right? Nothin’ comes to mind?”

Snow White thought back on how Souta used to be. They spent all their time together in preschool. By elementary school, Souta had started playing with his guy friends, and the two of them had gradually drifted apart. What she knew about Souta since middle school only came from hearsay.

“I can’t quite think of anything,” said Snow White. “We haven’t really spent time together outside of when we’re magical girls, recently… I think she gets along fine with her family, but I don’t really know about her friends.”

“So then I bet that’s it. Like she’s got a bad friend or something.”

That did make sense—Souta’s having a bad friend did seem very plausible. Koyuki remembered a kid in her class who put on a bad-boy act and such with his buddies. Though he went to a different school, Souta Kishibe was also a middle school boy. Even if he wasn’t into it himself, some friends might draw him into some delinquent behavior.

Top Speed noticed Snow White’s face turn pale and then continued. “It’s common enough to go along with some nasty stuff to keep from humiliatin’ your friends. Though once you’re an independent adult and ya experience some hardships, then you’ll change some, but around middle school age, kids don’t have much flexibility in the way they think and the way they do things.”

Koyuki’s imagination ran even wilder as she listened to Top Speed. If Souta was hanging out with kids like that, then there was also the possibility that eventually, he would come to think of magical girls as childish and stupid. La Pucelle might stop working as a magical girl. Koyuki Himekawa would be left all alone again.

After growing distant from Souta and winding up watching magical-girl anime alone, Koyuki had felt such endless loneliness. She didn’t want to feel like that ever again. Just remembering it put her on the verge of tears.

“Is Sou…gonna quit being a magical girl?” Now that she’d said that out loud, she honestly felt like she would cry. Snow White willed herself not to.

“Quittin’ bein’ a magical girl…that’s a big deal.” Top Speed’s tone was unusually serious. “If I have to, I’ll lend a hand, so don’t ya worry. Anyways, La Pucelle’s mentor’s Sister Nana, right? I figure it’d be good to try askin’ her opinion, too.”

Koyuki thanked Top Speed, then hurried over to Sister Nana. “I think La Pucelle might be hanging out with a bad crowd that’s sending her down the wrong path. She might quit being a magical girl…”

Putting a hand to her mouth and looking quite stricken, Sister Nana looked over at Winterprison, who was beside her. “What do you think?” she asked.

“Huh? Me?” Winterprison narrowed her eyes slightly and gave a small sigh, then began, “When you’re thinking bad thoughts, it’s best to get your body moving. When you’re sweaty and exhausted, you stop wanting to think about anything, good or bad.” Folding her arms, she nodded. “If she likes, I wouldn’t mind showing her the ropes. I was in sports clubs for a few years.”

Winterprison looked over to Sister Nana as if asking, How’s that idea?

Sister Nana offered a little smile, then removed her hand from her mouth and firmed up her expression, turning back to Snow White. Snow White found herself straightening her posture to face Sister Nana again.

“Everyone hears the whispers of the devil from time to time,” said Sister Nana.

“The whispers of the devil…?” Snow White tilted her head.

“Saying, ‘Cheating will make it easier; being violent will feel good…’ Lending your ear to such whispers will plunge you to the deepest depths. I have the devil whispering in my ear quite often, you know…telling me to dive into a sea of desire.”

“Huh? Really?”

“When I have to be on a diet, the devil whispers, ‘These snacks are delicious.’”

Snow White burst out laughing, and Sister Nana smiled gently. Now that the tension had eased up, Sister Nana continued. “The devil is yourself, and the whisper is the voice of your own heart. When evil would sprout in your heart, you should think of the faces of those dear to you.”

“The faces…of those dear to me?”

“If you indulge in vice, it’s not only about you. It can also involve those you care about, directly or indirectly. When you commit a crime, you’re not the only one who will be subject to criticism. Those wounds borne by your family or lover may well be greater than your own. For me, I think of Winterprison.”

“You don’t do bad things, Nana,” said Winterprison.

“I’m speaking purely hypothetically. Whom do you think of, Winterprison?”

“You already know what I’m gonna say.” …And the two of them started flirting on like that. Regardless, Winterprison had a point. It was a common enough scene in fiction that someone barricaded themselves in for some crime, and then their parents were summoned to call out to them on a megaphone.

This time, it wouldn’t be a detective taking on the role of winning someone over, but Snow White. It was a big job. She had to give this her all.

Oh, and one more thing.

If she was going to be serious about convincing La Pucelle, then it would be better to do it in human form. Souta wouldn’t be as wary that way. She had to do her absolute best so that she could continue as a magical girl together with La Pucelle forever.

  La Pucelle

Completely beat from his after-school club, Souta headed home. When he opened the door of his house and greeted his mother, she met him with a wide grin. He furrowed his eyebrows in suspicion.

“Your friend is here,” she told him.

Who could it be this late in the day? Not having a clue who it was, Souta went up the stairs and slid open the door to his room to find a girl sitting there. He knew her—her petite figure kneeling daintily in front of the bed on top of a sitting cushion for guests was familiar. Souta even started saying “Snow—” and then corrected himself. “Koyuki. Why are you here?”

“Lately, um, Sou…you’re always thinking the same thing, aren’t you? It’s about that.”

Souta blanched. With such a serious expression on her face, he could tell what Koyuki was trying to say.

She knows…!

It was over. It was all over. Closing the door behind him, Souta tossed his bag on the bed, then collapsed into a seat in front of Koyuki. Prepared for a look of contempt from her, he hung his head.

“Hey, Sou. Do you want to keep being a magical girl?” There was no contempt in her tone. When Souta lifted his head, he saw there was actually compassion in her eyes. “I can get a sense of what’s going on, Sou. That sort of thing is pretty common with middle school boys, right? That’s what Top Speed said.”

So Top Speed knows, too, huh…

How far had it gotten spread around? A dark shadow fell over Souta’s heart.

“Hey, Sou. You’re not going to quit being a magical girl, right?” It was more than her expression; he could sense clear desperation in her tone, too. Now Souta figured out just what she was asking of him. She was giving him two options: to abandon his dirty thoughts, or to quit being a magical girl.

Of course, Souta didn’t have these dirty thoughts because he wanted them. This was the instinct of a middle school boy, and a biological phenomenon. But could he get Koyuki to understand that? He didn’t even feel like he could explain it in the first place.

Souta held his head in his hands and squeezed it out. “I want to keep being a magical girl. But there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Top Speed said that if needed, she’d lend a hand,” said Koyuki.

Instantly Souta envisioned Top Speed lending him a hand. In contrast with her rough and masculine manner of speech, she was of the more petite sort, among magical girls. Her reaching out one of those small, delicate hands to—

“—She also said that when it gets hard, things will soften you up.”

“Wh-what?!”

“Like when you experience hardships, it makes your thinking more flexible.”

“O-oh, that’s what you mean.”

“And Winterprison also said that when you’re worried about something, it’s a good idea to move your body.”

“Even Winterprison…?”

“She said she’d show you the ropes.”

Show me…what?!

La Pucelle sure had been shown something that time Winterprison had slung her coat over Sister Nana. Even through her sweater, those two somethings had firmly asserted their presence, and if she was offering to show him… No, no, no, that wasn’t right. “Showing someone the ropes” was a normal turn of phrase. There was room to assume he was misunderstanding things somehow here.

Koyuki was looking at Souta with concern. Maybe she was testing him. Was this a test to see if this would bring dirty thoughts to his mind? Because if so, he definitely wasn’t passing. He couldn’t use logic to restrain what his mind did.

Souta breathed a painful sigh. “Sorry, Koyuki…but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“You can’t give up! Sister Nana also said, you know, that sometimes, the devil will whisper to you.”

The image of a devil whispering lewdly into Sister Nana’s ear rose in his mind. Sister Nana would struggle, saying, “We mustn’t, stop, please”—but she wouldn’t be able to fight off the devil’s persistent whispering, and her cheeks would redden, sweat beading all over her. In the end, the long arms of the devil would reach out to her body—No! What am I thinking?! Souta shook his head violently.

“Sou?”

“Uhh, I’m okay… It’s nothing.”

“Sister Nana told me about what to do when you feel like evil will blossom in your heart.” With an ahem, Koyuki cleared her throat and laid her hands over her knees. “When you think bad thoughts, you should just think of your mother’s face.”

Urk…!

His mother’s face rose in his mind, and the storm that had been raging inside his heart instantly calmed. His ragged breathing and rapid-fire pulse all returned to normal.

“How was it? Did it work?” she asked.

Indeed, it had. He’d cooled down all at once, as if he’d swallowed a big chunk of ice. But…

Th-this is painful in another way…!

With a shaky smile on his face, Souta nodded at Koyuki, telling her, “I’m okay now.”

Tears of joy sprang to Koyuki’s eyes. “Now we can continue to be magical girls together, huh?” she said.

Souta was happy, too, but he was actually harshly judging himself.

From that day forward, La Pucelle stopped thinking, I don’t want Snow White reading my thoughts. She became bolder and more confident than before, and she said that she’d managed to adopt an attitude more befitting a noble knight. But occasionally she would stare blankly into the distance, and she never told even Snow White the reason why.