The Unbalanced Party
"Is that so? I'll be sure to leave the radio on."
It was meant as genuine support, in its own way. But the fingers Hiyori had been toying with her glass stopped dead. The blue eyes that had been resting so calmly began to tremble in fine ripples, then gave way to a look in which disbelief and pure exasperation were hopelessly tangled.
"A... radio...? Are you actually being serious?"
Hiyori's voice climbed a full tone.
"What era do you think this is, broadcasting a match over the radio..."
"Haah. Forget it. I expected too much. Just turn your phone on and install the app."
She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a long, deep sigh.
I knew perfectly well that the world of magical girls turned on broadcasts and fandom, and yet the media instincts in my head were apparently still stranded in the last century.
Just then, the café door flew open.
The one who stepped through was none other than Shinano — and yet it wasn't the Shinano I knew. The neat, upright stride was gone without a trace. Her steps dragged heavy across the floor, like a zombie's. Dark circles had sunk all the way to her jaw, and the apron of the jersey maid uniform that ought to have been immaculately set was faintly creased. The dignity of a ten-year veteran, the sharp gaze that wrung her juniors dry — every bit of it lay buried under a mountain of paperwork.
Shinano swept a single glance over Hiyori, seated at the counter. On any other day she would have unloaded a full scolding on a junior magical girl, but she didn't seem to have even that much strength left. She blinked her heavy lids and offered nothing more than the barest flick of a wave.
Hiyori, for her part, straightened from the chair back and returned a quiet nod, plainly taking care not to provoke this senior on the eve of a storm.
Shinano scooped up the cherry-blossom cookies and the cake boxes I had packed in advance and left waiting at one end of the counter, gathering them in a clumsy bundle.
"Nyang's... off to replenish her sugar now, nyang... The paperwork... the paperwork is multiplying, nyang..."
Muttering into empty air with her eyes half out of focus, she carried the snacks outside before I had so much as a chance to speak. Even the sound of the door closing sank heavier than usual.
I stared blankly at the shut door, then murmured toward Hiyori across the counter.
"All that preparation for the Exchange Tournament... She must be incredibly on edge."
On any other day that tail would have swayed soft and easy. Just now it had stood rigid and straight as a lightning rod.
"Shinano stops by often. She's my direct superior, as well."
As I cleared the glass Hiyori had emptied, I slid the secret bar display — left just a little open — back shut.
Rattle. Clack.
The case returned to its proper place, and the glittering liquor bottles vanished without a trace behind an ordinary café wall.
"She's so busy she walked out without even noticing I'd left the bar display open on the sly — or that the table over there has been smashed to pieces."
At that, Hiyori snorted softly, chin still resting on her hand.
"Admin failed to catch an illegal program running."
I turned my gaze out the window beyond the counter. Along the lakeshore, Shinano's back trudged away, and past the figure disappearing down the forest path — tail held stiff and straight — a familiar shape split the blue sky and touched down, light as a feather.
A girl in a cute sleeveless dress, pink twin-tails swaying.
"Ah. Yui's coming, too."
The moment Yui's eyes met mine through the glass, she waved with bright, easy affection and broke into a run toward the café. Whether yesterday's accident with Sister Clara, and the commotion under the moonlight, had settled in her as nothing but a delightful memory, a mischievous smile had spread all the way across her lips.
The instant she heard Yui's name, Hiyori lowered the hand propping her chin and let out a deep sigh.
"Haah... I just finished topping off my stamina. Here comes the one who leads with a party invite, no questions asked."
She shook her head as if she'd had more than enough, but she made no move to flee.
Light footsteps drew nearer and nearer, and then Yui flung the door wide and bounded into the sanctuary.
"Yahoo~! Yui's here! Oppa, yesterday was seriously the best! The beer by the lake, and the or— ah! The milk, too, was a real grown-up flavor Yui will never forget!"
Yui rattled on without pause about last night's mishap as she pressed right up to the counter, and at once her gaze swung to Hiyori in the seat beside her.
"Huh? Hiyori-unnie was drinking something here too? Did Oppa make you something super amazing again? Yui wants just one sip!"
"You really pull aggro the second you walk in, don't you? Mine's already gone. And back up. It's hot."
With an air of pure annoyance, Hiyori extended a finger and lightly pushed Yui's forehead away. Yui paid the gesture no mind at all. She burrowed into the crook of Hiyori's arm and burst into a bright, clear laugh.
For all the cold, grumbling tone, Hiyori's shoulder made no effort to shake off the warmth winding around her arm. She simply let it stay.
I set the dry towel I'd been using on the still-damp glass down on the counter and greeted the new arrival.
"Welcome, Yui. Are you entering the Exchange Tournament, too?"
At the question, Yui's eyes sparkled, and she nodded hard enough to set her pink twin-tails swaying in bright, easy arcs.
"Of course! It's a huge festival, right? Yui's gonna party up with Hiyori-unnie, sweep the ranked matches, and make lo~ts of good memories!"
"Who said we're partying. I told you already — the Exchange Tournament is solo. I'm not running duo with you."
Hiyori turned her gaze aside and snapped it back, blunt as ever. Far from taking any damage from that dry refusal, Yui laughed as if she were enjoying herself even more, rubbing her cheek against Hiyori's arm.
"Aww~ Our party leader's playing hard to get again! Things are gonna get super annoying without Yui, you know~?"
"You just charge in like a brute... Not for the Exchange Tournament."
Yui puffed out her cheeks and nuzzled her forehead into Hiyori's shoulder.
"No fair! Yui wants to eat yummy things with Hiyori-unnie, look at pretty flowers, hunt Aberrations, and make tons of fun memories. Wanting to do it all by yourself is way too greedy, isn't it?"
"You play a game to win. It's not a field trip for collecting memories."
Watching the two of them bicker, I let a question slip out, light with curiosity.
"Then what weapon do you fight with, Hiyori? Yui seems to use a magical girl wand, and Hina and Miru, who stopped by earlier today, were both using ranged firearms."
Yui seized on the question as if it were her own business, lighting up and giving Hiyori's arm a light shake.
"That's right, Yui uses a pink magical girl wand! And Hiyori-unnie is super amazing! It's a greatsword, but it goes swish-swish so fast you can't even see it!"
"Hey. Don't explain the skill tree and weapon options that sloppily. You'll confuse the person listening."
Hiyori clicked her tongue lightly at the fuss, and yet — as if Yui's bragging on her behalf wasn't entirely unwelcome — she propped her chin and let the corner of her mouth lift, just a little.
"Hey, stop shaking my arm. And what's wrong with a greatsword. The heart of an action game has always been melee physical DPS — the kind with impact you can actually feel. Chipping away from the back with ranged skills isn't my style."
She answered with an easy confidence, as if she took no small pride in the weapon she'd chosen. A girl so pale and thin she looked almost translucent, swinging a greatsword the size of her own body and driving it down into an Aberration's crown — it was a picture so outrageous my meager imagination simply couldn't join the pieces.
"Hina just sprays that minigun like a brute and drags aggro in every direction. Miru's the type who hops all over the place with her handguns. Pack a party with nothing but ranged DPS and the front line collapses in a heartbeat. Someone has to drive one massive hit in from the front and push the line all the way through."
Hiyori went on as if she were briefing a raid clear. At her words, Yui nodded so hard her pink twin-tails swayed.
"Right! When Yui goes hyah-hyah up front with her magical girl wand and yanks all the Aberrations' eyes onto her, Hiyori-unnie finishes them from behind with her greatsword — boom! Our party balance is totally the best, right?"
In front of the counter, Yui mimed swinging an invisible wand at the empty air. Bouncing with an energy she couldn't contain, she would be the one to draw every eye with her wand, while Hiyori, cool and settled, would take the dealer role of cutting the enemy down with her greatsword.
"Well. No matter how good the DPS is, if the tank up front holding aggro goes down, the whole run is dead."
Still grumbling, Hiyori slid the credit along so subtly it might have been an accident. Yui didn't miss that faint scrap of praise. She snatched it up at once.
"Hehe, you heard that, right, Oppa? When the Exchange Tournament comes, you absolutely have to watch the broadcast and see how prettily Yui's wand shoots its beams!"
"Right... Though when I picture a typical magical girl, I always assumed they'd use a wand, like Yui. Everyone's certainly got a personality of their own."
At that honest impression, the two of them split cleanly in two.
First, Yui's eyes lit up, bright and sparkling. She seemed immensely proud of the fact that she wielded the most classic magical girl weapon of all.
"Right, right?! Oppa thinks so too!"
Beaming, she leaned so far over the counter she looked ready to vault it. Her pink twin-tails swayed and brushed lightly across the wooden tabletop. She looked about one breath away from hanging off my neck.
Hiyori's reaction, by contrast, was ice.
"Haah... You really do have an old man's brain."
Chin propped on her hand, she clicked her tongue.
"Who in this day and age is a mage standing in the back, shooting magic off a sparkly little wand. All they do is eat cast time, and they're so squishy they get deleted in a second. If you're a magical girl these days, the meta is to settle it properly — melee physical DPS, heavy greatsword."
She went on, flicking her fingers one by one, as if she were walking me through a basic tutorial.
"Besides, that wand Yui's holding looks pretty enough, but in practice it's just for pulling Aberration aggro."
At the biting remark, Yui let out a bright giggle and chimed right in.
"Right! The Aberrations get super mad and all look only at Yui! Then Hiyori-unnie cuts them down from behind with a huge greatsword — boom!"
"That's nothing for you to brag about, either. You don't watch your HP and you open with a charge, so every time I have to overextend just to get my damage in."
Hiyori flicked Yui's forehead lightly with a finger. Yui let out a tiny whine, and yet, cheeks still puffed, she clung even tighter to Hiyori's arm.