Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 20 - Chapter 1

Episode 1: Something’s Up With Nijino

As the cultural festival crept ever closer, the various clubs of Harukaze High grew more and more lively. And the cosplay society was no exception. In fact, in their case, they were perhaps more excited about the festival than anyone. As well-mannered girls who took great care in abiding social decorum, it was rare that they had opportunities to cosplay at school. Moreover, the cosclub president had recently passed the torch to the former vice president who was anxious to prove herself as the new leader of the club.

“I’d like to get Yurika-chan a new look... She’s been wearing that outfit for some time now.”

“President, even if you say that―”

“You’re the president now, remember?”

“R-Right. Anyway, Senpai, Nijino-san has an extreme affinity for magical girls. We can’t just haphazardly change her style.”

“That’s true... I’d like to honor her preferences, but that’s going to be difficult.”

The cosplay society’s contribution to the cultural festival would be twofold; they were putting together a collage of photographs of their work as well as actually cosplaying the day of the event. The collage was an important part of their exhibition as it would serve as a record of their club activities and all the hard work that went into making the costumes that they wore. It was supposed to be rich, fun, and inviting in a way that would—ultimately and hopefully—attract new club members next year. Because the cosclub had so few chances to recruit otherwise, they were prepared to go all out on the exhibit.

But because they wanted it to have as much impact as possible, they were trying to avoid doing anything that might undercut that impact... like wearing the same costumes over and over again. If people saw that, they might think the cosplay club wasn’t all that active or perhaps wasn’t very talented. That’s why they wanted to wear all-new outfits the day of the festival, which meant Yurika was a problem. She loved her custom magical girl outfit so much that she rarely wore anything else. Practically any time they had an opportunity to cosplay, Yurika went right for her favorite costume. Saying she was devoted would be putting it nicely; alternatively, she was a bit of a one-trick pony.

“I know, Senpai! How about we just update her outfit? That way, even if she wears the same thing, it’ll look new and different. That should make everyone happy, right?”

“Ah, a brilliant idea! That’s the new president for you—I can see I made the right choice in selecting my successor after all!”

“Somehow that doesn’t actually sound like praise...”

“What? No, I’m definitely praising you! Now let’s get to work on a design! Bring me pictures of Yurika!”

“I already have a collection here.”

“See? This fastidiousness is exactly why I wanted you to become the next president.”

“I learned to be this way because you weren’t, Senpai...”

“Things sure are going to get busy around here!”

“She’s not even listening...”

Both the new and former club president worked together to come up with a new design to freshen up Yurika’s outfit. They had a great dynamic that carried over despite the change in their titles, and with their teamwork, things were going quite smoothly. Inspired by the two of them working away, the other cosclub girls began narrowing down ideas for their own costumes.

“What if we all do a magical girl theme?”

“That might be good. In the future, Nijino-san and her magical girl passion are going to be the stars of the club anyway, right?”

“Ooh, then I want to be the evil magical girl!”

“Hey, you’re always taking the good parts!”

“Heehee, the early bird gets the worm!”

And so the cosclub collectively settled on a magical girl special for their cosplay exhibition this year. While the vice president had recently taken over the reins of the club, everyone embraced Yurika as more or less the club mascot. Their long-term strategy for ensuring the success of the club was putting her and her passion at the forefront. Little did they know there was about to be a very abrupt roadblock in their plans.

The bad news came from one of the newer members that had joined the club in the spring. She was energetic and boyish by nature, but her usual lively expression was nowhere to be seen when she came bursting into the club room looking like she’d just been through hell. And then she dropped the bomb.

“Nijino says she’s quitting as a magical girl!”

That alone was enough to send the entire cosclub into a full-blown panic.

The seemingly ordinary girl known as Nijino Yurika had taken a long time to fully blossom as a magical girl. But by learning love and courage, caring for her friends, and striving her hardest to do what was right, she’d undergone a transformation and truly grown into her role. Yurika wasn’t the only one changing, however. As she matured into a proper magical girl who could hold her head high, the residents of room 106 grew to respect her. They now believed her whenever she was serious, no matter how farfetched or out-there what she said might seem. They had absolute faith in her. Indeed, as she was now, everyone believed in Magical Girl Rainbow Yurika.

“Really?! Then let’s go right now! Taiyaki, taiyaki, taiyaki!”

“No.”

“Satomi-san, why are you being so mean?!”

But as for regular old, everyday Yurika, things were pretty much business as usual. She was still a slacker through and through. She’d grown a bit more mature and responsible lately, but her bad habits still frequently got the better of her. There would probably never be any helping her clumsiness, either. As a result, bar serious emergencies, Yurika was still on thin ice with most of the group trust-wise.

“You still haven’t finished your career report, have you?”

“Ugh...”

“You can only have taiyaki after you’re done with it.”

“But that was supposed to be my reward for doing well on my last test! Can’t the report wait?!”

“Nope. You really gotta get your priorities straight. Your future is important. You can’t get distracted by every little fun thing in front of you.”

Koutarou’s study sessions with Yurika were finally starting to show some progress, commemorated by Yurika’s recent test scores. She’d actually managed to pass something. It was a low benchmark, certainly, but considering Yurika’s protracted history of miserably bombing tests, it was a remarkable achievement for her. That was why Koutarou had decided to take her out for taiyaki as a reward, but he’d had to put the celebration on hold upon realizing the deadline for the report was coming up and Yurika hadn’t made any headway on it. He wanted her to prioritize, and didn’t believe for a minute that she actually meant it when she said, “I’ll do it later.” He’d put his foot down, which was why Yurika was currently pouting... and why she turned to Harumi sitting next to her for aid.

“Help me, Sakuraba-senpai. Satomi-san is being mean.”

As it was a lovely afternoon, the knitting society was holding their activities outside today. They’d staked out the sunniest bench on the school campus and were sitting three across it, all of them working away on their knitting as they chatted. Harumi paused for a moment when Yurika asked for her intervention, then turned to Koutarou.

“Satomi-kun, you’re trying to push Yurika-san towards the future you want for her.”

“She’s right, Satomi-san! This is tyrannical!”

Yurika latched on to Harumi’s words and puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

“So? She’d end up in the gutter if I didn’t drag her out of it.”

“I have to admit... I’m envious of Yurika-san.”

However, Harumi’s point ended up being quite different from what Yurika had expected. She was hoping she would take her side and defend her against Koutarou, but what she’d said was practically the opposite.

“There’s nothing to be envious of, Sakuraba-senpai! He’s just a bully with a carrot and a stick... except the carrot is taiyaki!”

Yurika frantically tried to win Harumi over. Without her support, Yurika could already feel the taiyaki slipping away.

“Silly Yurika-san. Satomi-kun is taking responsibility for your future. That’s why he’s so harsh on you.”

Harumi flashed a gentle smile. The truth was that she wasn’t explicitly on either of their sides, which was why she had qualms about exposing Koutarou’s true intentions. It caught both Yurika and Koutarou off guard.

“What...?”

“S-Sakuraba-senpai!”

There was no doubt that Yurika would live a downtrodden life without anyone there to lift her up. And because he knew that and wanted better for her, Koutarou had resolved himself to take on that role. It was a full-time job, and he devoted a great deal of time and attention to Yurika’s betterment. Rather than letting her life fall to pieces, he was going to keep her close—and keep a close eye on her.

“I had to join a band of knights to get Satomi-kun to think that way of me. But not you, Yurika-san. You never had to. You should take some time to think about that.”

“Then Satomi-san is...”

Yurika glanced at Koutarou out of the corner of her eye and saw him flinch at Harumi’s words. Upon seeing his expression, her own gradually changed.

Does that mean this is Satomi-san’s way of treasuring me...?

Her dissatisfaction softened and faded into something sweeter. She was already red in the face from vehemently trying to defend herself, but her blushing cheeks now turned a deeper shade of crimson. She’d realized that Koutarou wasn’t doing all of this to be mean.

“U-Um, Satomi-san, I... Th-That’s right, I have to do my career report!”

Yurika awkwardly rummaged through her bag and pulled out a printed sheet of paper—the career report she was supposed to fill out with her ambitions for her life after graduating high school.

“My name! I have to write my name first! A-And then...”

With the blood rushing to her head, Yurika was blanking out, holding her pen the wrong way, misspelling her own name, and so on.

“After graduating, I want to get m-married―I mean go to university. Yeah, I want to go to Kisshouharukaze University!”

Yurika was fumbling for answers to easy questions. She already had a clear plan for her life in her head, but she was struggling to get it on paper. She knew the first step would be getting into Kisshouharukaze University, but in her current condition, just articulating that was as much a hurdle as entrance exams would be.

“Satomi-kun, you certainly have your work cut out for you.”

Seeing Yurika like this, Harumi cheerfully turned to Koutarou. Her eyes seemed to be asking him, “What will you do with yourself?”

“...Sakuraba-senpai, you really understand Yurika, don’t you?”

At times like this, there was no arguing with Harumi. Koutarou raised the white flag and shrugged with a smirk. That he treasured Yurika was indeed an undeniable fact.

“We’re both girls, you know? Besides, Yurika and I are looking forward to the same future, so I have a bit of insight there.”

Next spring, a year earlier than Koutarou and the others, Harumi would be graduating and attending Kisshouharukaze University. However, that wasn’t the future she was talking about. She had her sights set much further ahead.

“I... don’t know if I’m going to be able to live up to your expectations for the future, Sakuraba-senpai.”

Koutarou by now had realized that the girls had feelings for him, and that he treasured each and every one of them. He couldn’t pretend otherwise anymore. He knew that he had a choice ahead of him, but because the girls were precious to him, he knew that he couldn’t lead any of them on. He had to be reasonable, and that meant acknowledging that his future choice might end up hurting Harumi or the other girls.

“You’re too naive, Satomi-kun.”

However, Harumi didn’t flinch in the slightest. She extended a slender finger and poked Koutarou’s nose. Her eyes aglow with gentle determination, she looked right at him as she spoke.

“I― No, this goes for all of us. I don’t think anything will be different for us regardless of the future you choose, Satomi-kun. Thinking your choice alone would change our minds is a little too conceited.”

Harumi had long decided that she would stay by Koutarou’s side regardless of what he chose to do, and she was quite sure the other girls felt the same way. Moreover, the girls weren’t only concerned about Koutarou anymore. They deeply loved and cared about each other too, and that was something his choice wouldn’t change. And in that respect, at least in Harumi’s eyes, the future was already decided.

“You said I had my work cut out for me, but I feel my workload increasing by the minute...”

“Teehee, it just might be. But I know you’re a dependable man.”

“Please cut me some slack, Sakuraba-senpai.”

“All right, heehee. I’ll leave it at that for the day.”

Koutarou wore an embarrassed smile, but Harumi’s warm grin radiated nothing but love. It was painfully clear who was in the right. Even Koutarou himself was starting to see that, but seeing it and accepting it were two entirely different stories. That’s why Harumi was willing to relent for the time being. She knew that Koutarou’s inability to accept things right now simply meant he’d have another choice to make in the future. He’d have to come to terms with things eventually, whether he liked it or not..

While talking with Koutarou, a certain word had come up that made Harumi remember an altogether different problem. Something urgent that would need to be resolved as soon as possible.

“That’s right, Satomi-kun. Speaking of the future, there’s something we have to decide on.”

“Something we have to decide on?”

“I’m talking about the next president of the knitting society.”

Harumi currently held the title, but she was already in her third year and would be graduating soon enough. She’d have to find a successor before then. Hearing talk of this, Yurika—who was still filling out her career report—suddenly looked up.

“The next president’s gotta be Satomi-san, right?”

With a few minutes to herself to calm down, Yurika was now back to her normal self. Other than her, the rookie member, the club was just Harumi and Koutarou. She figured it was only natural that Koutarou would be stepping up to take over after Harumi was gone.

“I think so too.”

Harumi readily agreed that Koutarou should be the next president, but Koutarou seemed to have some reservations. He pensively folded his arms and began thinking.

“Hmm...”

“You don’t want to do it?”

That was how Harumi interpreted Koutarou’s reaction. It was perfectly understandable that he wasn’t interested in the position, but after he’d shouldered the club with her for over a year and a half now, she was also a little disappointed. Koutarou, however, quickly shook his head.

“That’s not what I meant... Sakuraba-senpai, to be honest, do you think anyone else would join the knitting society with me as the president?”

“What? I know I would...”

Harumi cocked her head slightly with a confused look on her face. In her mind, there was absolutely no reason anyone shouldn’t want to join the club with Koutarou running it.

“That’s because you know me personally, right?”

“Certainly.”

“But the new students won’t. With me in charge, I’m pretty sure they’ll just think the club is sketchy and avoid it at all costs.”

Koutarou was concerned about his image as club president. He was a tall, built, rough-and-tumble boy—pretty much the exact opposite of what anyone would expect from a knitting society member, much less the president. He was worried that would be off-putting enough to scare away prospective new members.

“I’m reluctant to admit that myself...”

Harumi loved Koutarou, so it was simply hard for her to imagine that anyone would be afraid of him. Nevertheless, the odds of it happening were pretty high. Despite how kindhearted Koutarou was underneath it all, people were all too inclined to judge books by their covers.

“Satomi-san’s always got a scary face, he’s always mean, and he’s quick to hit people. Of course new students would be afraid of him.”

And Yurika didn’t have any trouble calling it like she saw it. She was all too happy to list Koutarou’s faults. Since opportunities like this were rare, she wanted to get a leg up on him as best she could. But her complaining was soon interrupted when Koutarou smacked her on the head.

“Only with you,” he declared.

“See?!” shrieked Yurika. “He’s mean and hits people!”

“I’d never do that to a new student.”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire!”

Another thud rang out.

“I-I’m sowwy... I said too much.”

“That’s better.”

In the end, Yurika only got a sweet taste of being on top for a few seconds. Koutarou quickly knocked her down again and returned to the topic at hand.

“Anyways, I don’t think I should be the next president.”

“But if it’s not you, Satomi-kun, the next president would be―”

“That’s right. So we’re counting on you, Yurika.”

“Huh?”

Having been convinced that Koutarou would become the next president, Yurika’s eyes shot wide open at this unexpected development. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

“W-Wait, whaaat?! M-M-Me?!”

“Who else...?”

Yurika and Koutarou would be the only two remaining club members, and if Koutarou couldn’t take over, then process of elimination said it had to be Yurika.

“I-I-I can’t! I can’t do it! There’s no way I could be the next president!”

Finally getting her head around the situation, Yurika desperately shook her head, her twintails whipping this way and that. She’d never even considered herself president material and didn’t think for a moment she was cut out for the job. But Koutarou put a manly, supportive hand on her shoulder to steady her.

“Don’t worry. It’ll only be on paper.”

“Huh? On paper?”

“I’ll do all of the actual work. All you have to do is stand in as president for club introductions and speeches and stuff. It’ll make for a much better impression of the club.”

Even though he’d suggested Yurika for the job, Koutarou wasn’t planning on pushing all of the responsibility on her. Emergencies were one thing, but he knew what Yurika was like under ordinary circumstances. That’s why his plan was for him to take care of the heavy lifting while Yurika acted as a figurehead. That way, the club would get things done and look good doing it.

“I-If that’s all, then...”

“That said, at least work on your knitting some. You’re gonna be the president, after all.”

“I’ll do my best.”

If it was only a formality, Yurika thought she could probably handle it. But having Koutarou there to back her up made her feel much better about the whole thing. A lot was on the line here, after all. If they didn’t recruit any new members come next spring, the club would end with them. They’d have to use any means necessary to get some new blood before then.

“But still, becoming the president and participating in school events...” Yurika muttered softly.

“What?” Koutarou prodded, glancing over at the smiling Yurika.

“I was just thinking that, in that case, I won’t have to dress up as a magical girl anymore.”

Before now, Yurika had always participated in school events as a member of the cosclub. If she made a commitment to the knitting society as president, however, she wouldn’t be able to do that anymore. That said, the knitting society didn’t do too much that actually required its president’s attention, and most of the cosclub’s activities took place outside of school. In the end, there wouldn’t be much of a change for her. But...

Nijino’s not going to dress up as a magical girl anymore?! Is she serious right now?!

That wasn’t how the freshman member of the cosclub interpreted what she said. She just so happened to be passing behind the bench that Yurika and the others were sitting on. They were chatting away and looked like they were having fun, so she’d refrained from calling out to Yurika and interrupting.

But just as she was about to walk off, she overheard Yurika say something she just couldn’t ignore. Having only caught the tail end of the conversation, however, she misunderstood. She assumed that Yurika meant she was giving up cosplay, and rushed immediately off to the cosclub to report the bad news.

Hearing that Yurika wasn’t going to be a magical girl anymore was like a bomb going off in the cosclub. Everyone’s first reaction was utter shock, and then came the denial.

“That can’t be! This is a joke, right?!”

They all knew how fanatical Yurika was about magical girls. She stood out for it, even among the other passionate cosclub members. They’d all been convinced Yurika would be cosplaying her magical girl OC for life. That’s why the president couldn’t possibly believe what the new club member was saying, and the rest of the club shared her doubts.

“But it’s true! I heard her say it myself!”

Even the new member who’d overheard Yurika’s declaration doubted her own ears, which was frustrating.

“Then why?! Did she say why she was quitting?!”

“I don’t know! Maybe she got a boyfriend?!”

There was an infamous list handed down the generations of the cosclub, aptly referred to as “The Top Ten Reasons for Retiring from Cosplay.” The number one spot? Ending up in a relationship.

You see, when someone gets a significant other, they tend to invest more time and energy in their personal life—meaning they have less for cosplay. Once that happens, their enthusiasm for cosplay inevitably decreases, creating a vicious downward spiral. There’s always the initial excitement of being able to show off one’s cosplays to their new partner, but when they aren’t spending any time and effort on creating new ones, the excitement quickly wears off and their creative passion wanes. Of course, there are rare, harmonious exceptions—like a cosplayer and a photographer getting together—but by and large, getting into a relationship spells the end for cosplay as a hobby.

Because of that, the cosclub despised the idea of any of its members getting boyfriends. And upon hearing that Yurika might have one now, the temperature in the room dropped several degrees.

“Now that you mention it, Nijino’s in the same class as the school ladykiller...”

“You mean Mackenzie-senpai? No way. It can’t be him. He’s going out with someone else right now.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Men are animals.”

The conversation quickly deteriorated into gossip, largely centered on Kenji and his terrible reputation with women.

“Everyone, please calm down!”

Seeing her clubmates so stirred up, the former president intervened. She’d supported the club for years and had everyone’s respect, so they all stopped talking and turned to her when she raised her voice.

“Even if this is all true, we still don’t know the reason! We have to talk to Yurika-chan first!”

Indeed, even if Yurika was quitting cosplay, they didn’t know why. If she really was in a relationship, that would be a problem, but there were easily a hundred other reasons she might be pulling back. Maybe there was something going on at home, for example. So rather than letting their imaginations run wild, it would be better for them to go straight to the source. Everyone knew the president was right, and the room quickly quieted down.

“But Senpai, how are we supposed to confirm that?” the new president asked.

The fact that directly asking someone if they were in a relationship or not rarely got a direct answer was another piece of conventional wisdom passed down within the cosclub.

“Heh, we’re all cosplayers here. We just need to investigate what’s going on with Yurika-chan the way cosplayers do!”

The girls present were all members of the cosplay society. With their talents, coming up with disguises would be easy—and so would secretly looking into Yurika’s personal life.

Police, nurses, store clerks, waitresses, and more. The cosclub’s cosplay repertoire included lots of everyday characters and uniforms, plenty of which were kept right there in the club room. The girls didn’t hesitate to get down to action, either. They immediately picked out their outfits and began the investigation, believing they would get closer to the truth by observing her from a distance rather than cross-examining her in person. Considering they’d potentially been betrayed by the posterchild for the club, the girls were all raring to go.

“Look, Satomi-san! A bunch of beautiful flowers are blooming over there!”

“So it’s already that time of the year, huh? I guess it is autumn...”

“I wonder if any of them are edible...”

“Not everything is about eating! Is food the only thing that’s ever on your mind?!”

“But I never know when I’ll have to go back to living like a pauper...”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“U-Um, do you mean... that’s because you’ll always support me?”

“...”

“Hee... heeheehe...”

“Stop asking stupid questions already and let’s go.”

“For taiyaki, right? Heehee...”

“What part of Sakuraba-senpai’s body is so weak, anyways?”

“It’s not something specific; her body’s just weak in general. She doesn’t have any reserve strength and can’t overwork herself like we might.”

“So that’s why she collapses if she runs around...”

“Yeah. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Huh? How come?”

“Because you’re always with her now.”

“Satomi-san...”

“Am I wrong? You’re best friends, right?”

“...N-No, you’re not wrong at all! I, Nijino Yurika, will do my best!”

“Very good.”

“Say, Satomi-san...”

“Hmm?”

“You’re being awfully gentle right now.”

“That’s because all of this is very near and dear to me. It’s not the kind of thing I would joke around about.”

“Then can I hold your hand until Sakuraba-senpai is done with her checkup?”

“...Do whatever you want.”

“Okay!”

“Sakuraba-senpai, it’s time for taiyaki! Taiyaki, la la la!”

“Yurika-san, you sure are in high spirits. Did something good happen?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“It doesn’t seem that way to me...”

“She was worried about you during your checkup, Sakuraba-senpai. I told her there was nothing to be concerned about since she’d always be with you as your best friend, and she’s been like this ever since.”

“Heehee, silly Satomi-kun. That is something good happening.”

“I don’t understand girls at all...”

“Yurika-san loves you because you do what you do, whether you understand or not. If you were the kind of man that only acted after calculating everything, she never would’ve fallen for you.”

“Sakuraba-senpai...”

“Of course, that goes for me too.”

“...”

“Come on, Satomi-san! Sakuraba-senpai! Hurry! The signal is going to change!”

“Look, Satomi-kun. She’s calling for you.”

“Yeah...”

“If we don’t hurry the taiyaki will get cold!”

“It can’t get cold before we even buy it!”

“Heeheehee...”

“Okay, you guys wait here. I’ll go get the taiyaki.”

“Thank you, Satomi-kun.”

“Make sure you come back before they get cold, okay?”

“They won’t get cold immediately after buying them!”

“I never know, Satomi-san. You always bully me however and whenever you can.”

“You idiot!”

Thud!

“Ow! See?!”

“You brought that one on yourself. Anyway, I’m actually going this time.”

“Jeez... He always resorts to violence...”

“Teehee.”

“This is no laughing matter, Sakuraba-senpai!”

“But you love him right?”

“Um... W-Well, yes...”

“What about Satomi-kun do you love, Yurika-san?”

“Um... Satomi-san knows about all of my bad sides, but he still needs me... even if he doesn’t say it...”

“Satomi-kun is a boy, after all. I’m sure it’s hard for him to say it. Besides... don’t you think it’s a little extra special if he doesn’t have to say it?”

“Yeah... You’re right.”

“Hey, wait a minute, Satomi-san! Is your taiyaki bigger than mine? I think it is! Let’s trade!”

“Of course it’s not bigger! They were all made the same way!”

“No, look at it! It’s totally thicker than mine!”

“That’s because you sucked the red bean paste out of yours already!”

“I’ll know if I try yours. Mmmmm!”

“Hey, don’t suck on mine too!”

Thud!

“Ow... But see? Yours really is bigger.”

“That’s because I didn’t let you suck all the red bean paste out of it!”

“Hmm, I think I’ll try it too... Hom!”

“Wait— Sakuraba-senpai?!”

“Mmm, Satomi-kun, this place’s taiyaki really are delicious. Even the tail’s jam-packed with filling.”

“Hey, my tail’s gone...”

“Satomi-san, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll eat mine instead.”

“I bet!”

While morale started high, the excitement of uncovering the truth quickly gave way to frustration as the cosclub observed Yurika. She was practically living the dream high school life with a wonderful best friend and boyfriend on either side of her. It was sickening.

“Wh-What is this?!”

“I’ll tell you what it is—it’s betrayal! Betrayal against all cosplayers!”

“Nijino-san’s sold out! She sold her soul for love!”

“No wonder she’s giving up cosplay! Who wouldn’t under the circumstances?!”

“God, please smite Yurika-chan! Show her your divine, righteous wrath!”

Just what were they doing compared to Yurika? The source of their increasing irritation was obvious.

“C-Calm down, everyone. We still don’t know for certain yet.”

The new president pulled herself together as best she could and tried to take control of the situation by reassuring her fellow club members, but her words alone wouldn’t be enough.

“Ugh, I can’t take it anymooore!”

“What?! No, Senpai, you can’t!”

“Rrraaaaagh!”

Contrary to the new president, however, the former president—who had been liberated of her formal duties and responsibilities—felt like she had nothing to lose. She dashed off, headed straight for Yurika. She was going to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. The other cosclub girls took her lead and followed suit, completely ignoring the new president.

“GET HER!”

“Kyaaah! Wh-What is this?!”

“We have you now, Yurika!”

Suddenly surrounded, Koutarou instinctively stepped in front of Yurika. She responded by huddling close to him and clinging onto his back. This gesture, however, only fanned the flames of the girls’ irritation.

“Wh-What are you doing, you guys?!”

Though she was somewhat relieved to see it was just the girls from the cosclub, Yurika was still a little intimidated and bewildered by their apparent aggression.

“Yurika-chan, answer us honestly!”

Her eyes bloodshot and a menacing light gleaming on her glasses, the former president approached Yurika one slow step at a time. Meanwhile, the other girls gradually closed in, tightening their encirclement.

“S-Sure, I don’t mind...”

Overwhelmed by the pressure, Yurika took a step backward. As she was clinging to Koutarou’s shirt, he moved with her. And that was yet more oil on the fire.

“Is it true that you’re going to become the knitting society’s president?!”

“Y-Yes, that’s the plan.”

The former president was shouting like a banshee. Yurika knew better than to do anything to incite someone like that, so she obediently answered her question with a nod.

I see... They came all the way here because they were worried about that...

Yurika was still intimidated, but Koutarou finally relaxed when he realized the cosclub girls weren’t planning on doing anything to Yurika. In fact, it was the opposite.

“Yurika, it’s okay.”

“Satomi-san? R-Right...”

Though she had no idea what was going on, when Koutarou gently held her hand, all of Yurika’s nervousness vanished. If Koutarou said it was okay, then it was okay. She believed in him.

“So what?! You’re going to have club activities with just the two of you?!”

“If we don’t find any new members, then yes.”

Thud!

“What are you being so timid for?”

“Ow...! Do you not want to be alone with me, Satomi-san?”

Now that things were calming down, the mood between Koutarou and Yurika was returning to how it had been before the cosclub girls appeared.

“At this rate, we’ll be the end of the knitting society.”

“Oh, so it’s not that you don’t want to be alone with me?”

“L-Let it go already.”

“I’m looking forward too it, teehee!”

Thud!

“I’m sowwy, I went too far...”

“As long as you understand.”

Seeing Yurika and Koutarou’s back and forth up close, the cosclub girls’ burning fury was swiftly extinguished.

“You really are such a handful...”

“Satomi-san, could you wipe my runny nose while you’re wiping my tears too?”

“Jeez... Raise your head a little.”

“Okaaay.”

“Hahh...”

After going through the emotional ringer—surprise, confusion, and frustration—the cosclub girls were finally overcome with one emotion in particular.

“Must be nice...”

“I wonder if I’ll ever get a boy like that...”

“No way, the competition is way too fierce...”

“Life is unfair...”

It was an overwhelming sense of defeat. More accurately, they’d gotten so fired up that they ended up burning out. With Yurika and Koutarou behaving so naturally like a couple, the cosclub felt like completely ignored. But none of them were mad—they all knew that if they were in Yurika’s position, they’d be doing the same thing.

“Let’s go home...”

“Yeah...”

“Man, coming here was just a waste of time...”

Now feeling defeated, the cosclub girls began to slowly trudge home. Yurika probably wouldn’t even notice them leaving. How could she with Koutarou and the rest of her happy life right in front of her?

“You’re cute if you keep yourself straight, so put a little more effort into your appearance for crying out loud.”

“What?! Satomi-san, you think I’m cute?!”

“Huh?! Er, well, that’s... What, what’s up with the cosclub?”

“I won’t be fooled by that! Answer my question!”

“I’m not lying. Look.”

Crack!

“Kyaaah! Owowow, that hurts!”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t give me that! Jeez!”

“But I wasn’t lying, right?”

“Well... it doesn’t look like it. That really did hurt, though.”

“Sakuraba-senpai, what happened to the cosclub?

“Um... I think you’ll just have to excuse them.”

Harumi flashed a bittersweet smile and dodged the question. Having been a third party to the entire situation, she more or less understood what was going on. She had an idea of how the cosclub felt, but chose not to tell Koutarou and Yurika. If they tried to stop the cosclub girls from leaving now, it would just feel like rubbing salt in their wounds.

“Hahh...”

“Okay.”

Neither Koutarou nor Yurika questioned Harumi; they trusted her implicitly. Instead, they simply looked at each other in confusion. They had no idea why the girls from the cosplay society had shown up out of the blue, then disappeared as quickly as they came.

“But even so...”

Harumi glanced over at the girls walking away.

To normal people, I suppose we do look like a couple.

It likely wasn’t limited to just Yurika. To anyone who didn’t know any better, the invaders were all so close with Koutarou that it must look like they were dating. Knowing that made Harumi feel sorry for the cosclub girls, but at the same time, it also made her rather happy.

The cosclub girls still hadn’t recovered from the shock of it all by the next day. They were so devastated after being shown a glimpse of a life none of them had that not one of them even had the motivation to work on new costumes.

“I guess this is what they call youth...”

“Probably...”

“I mean, with Blue Knight-sama and everything...”

“She’s one lucky girl...”

“I thought this was something that only happened in anime and manga. Seeing it for yourself is pretty eye-opening...”

“Yeah, I honestly thought it was just a 2D fantasy too...”

“In the end, are we just cosplaying because we’re trying to compensate for the fantasy we can’t live...?”

“Maybe. But talk about a rude awakening...”

“Go figure she’d choose the 3D, IRL version...”

Rather than carrying on with their club activities, the cosclub girls were all lethargically laid out on their desks. The gloom in the room was palpable. After seeing how happily Yurika was living her dream life, they were all left despondently wondering what they were doing with their own lives. Little did they know someone was about to walk in the door and shake everything up.

“Hey, everybody! Sorry I’m late!”

That someone was Yurika.

“Could it be?!”

“Yurika-chan?!”

The president and former president both jumped out of their chairs in astonishment. They were the only ones to move, but the other members were just as surprised as they were.

“Huh? What’s the matter, everyone? You guys are acting strange...”

Reading the peculiar mood of the room, Yurika looked around in confusion. At least this time she had a hint something was up.

“U-Um, Yurika-chan, why...?”

The former president spoke up, asking what everyone in the room wanted to know.

“Why what?”

Yurika stared at her blankly, still not fully grasping the situation.

“Weren’t you going to focus on the knitting society because you’re going to become the president?”

Hearing the former president’s complete question, the lightbulb finally came on for Yurika. She realized what the cosclub girls were so surprised about.

“Oh!”

She realized that they must have been worried she was going to abandon the cosclub for the knitting society. And in response to that, she smiled and shook her head.

“Well, um, I’m becoming the president, but Satomi-san is going to be the real president.”

“Satomi-san is?”

This time, the cosclub girls were the ones staring at her blankly. Yurika smiled at them all and continued explaining things.

“He said that a male president would look bad for the club and wouldn’t help us attract any new members, so I’m only taking over as president for the sake of appearances.”

She wrapped up her explanation with her brightest smile yet. If she were taking over as president alone, this would be a much more dramatic ordeal. But with Koutarou by her side, she was actually kind of looking forward to it. Indeed, her smile was dazzling.

“S-So that’s what it was...”

As Yurika’s words sunk in for the cosclub girls, they realized their misunderstanding and their energy swiftly returned.

“Wait, who was it that said that Nijino-san was quitting as a magical girl in the first place?!”

“Sorry, that was me...”

“So you jumped to conclusions again?! Keep it together, Jeez!”

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean any harm.”

For the cosclub girls, Yurika quitting cosplaying would be a huge problem. Finding out they had nothing to worry about after all was a huge relief.

“Heehee...”

Satisfied that things were normalizing, Yurika walked over to a large cabinet in the corner of the room. It was filled with accessories the cosplay society shared, and members were free to use them as they saw fit.

“Oh? That’s unusual for you, Yurika-chan.”

Seeing Yurika open the cabinet and peek inside, the former president approached with a smile. As far as she knew, Yurika had always been so fixated on her magical girl-ness that she’d never bothered with accessorizing before. This was the first time she’d ever shown any interest in it.

“Heehee... I was just thinking I should make myself a little cuter.”

Yurika’s cheeks were ever so slightly pink as she browsed the accessories. She looked herself over in multiple mirrors as she started picking and choosing things that suited her.

“So you’re finally going to come up with a new style, Yurika-chan!”

Moved by Yurika’s bold step forward, the former president’s eyes and glasses were alight. She stood right next to her, eager to help her pick out something.

“I-It’s nothing big like that. It’s just... Satomi-san said I was cute, so I wanted to find something cute to wear...”

There, Yurika’s cheeks went from pink to bright red. It seemed she’d been maturing not just as a magical girl, but also as a woman. She wanted to look nice, both for herself and the boy she liked.

“...”

However, when she explained this to the cosclub, the atmosphere in the room froze over. Even if Yurika wasn’t quitting the cosplay club, she still had something over on the rest of the members.

“Huh? What’s the matter, everyone? You’re acting strange again...”

Yurika picked up on the frosty change in the room, but she had no idea that what she’d said was the cause.

“Damn it!”

“There are always going to be winners and losers, huh?”

“In the end, we still drew the short straw!”

“Why, god?! Why?!”

The girls all burst out into frenetic shouting and lamenting. Some were even slamming their fists on their desks. It looked like they were angry about something, but Yurika still didn’t know what. Today was simply a nonstop circus of confusion for her.

“Yurika, what’s going on?”

That was when Maki entered the club room. She was also a member of the cosplay society and had stopped by to join in on club activities for the day, but was quite perplexed to find the room in such a state.

“Maki-chan... everyone’s been acting strange. I don’t really know why.”

“Hmm... Well, they seem to be full of energy, so isn’t it a good thing?”

“Well, I guess so... Oh, I know, Maki-chan! Why don’t you pick out accessories together with me?”

“I’m―”

“I’m sure Satomi-san will call you cute too.”

“―really interested. Let’s get to it.”

“Yeah!”

And so Yurika and Maki began picking out accessories together. The strong bonds of friendship between them were obvious, as was their love for the same boy. The wonders of youth are multifaceted, and discovering this was utter heartbreak for everyone else in the room.

“Argh, damn it! Screw you, youth!”

The cosclub girls then began preparing for the cultural festival at a furious pace. After coming out on the other side of this ordeal with Yurika, they now realized cosplay was all they had. They were going to put their hearts and souls into it.

“What’s with them?”

“I wonder...”

The cultural festival was now less than a month away. But with this much zeal and cohesion, the cosclub exhibit would surely be a success. Indeed, the cosplay society was more motivated than ever.