A Fun Day with Lavender and Dad's Dino Awakening
After the kaijin, I warped Lavender, who was surrounded by people, to a secluded spot with me.
“Huh?”
She glanced around, surprised by the sudden change in scenery after the warp.
“Warping out of nowhere without any warning is pretty wild.”
“If you'd resisted even a little, it probably would've been tough to pull off.”
If she'd had any hostility or wariness toward me, it would've been a real struggle. Resistance works that way by nature, so it was safe to say we'd built some trust between us.
She seemed to realize that too, mid-reply.
“Then that's go—”
Her cold, composed expression vanished in an instant, her face flushing like before.
Hmm.
“English Lavender doesn't make faces like that.”
“Eep!?”
Why does she do that, seriously? She doesn't seem hurt or anything.
“But that expression suits you. Keep making it from now on?”
The gap from her usual self was hilarious.
Too much alio alio gets boring eventually—mixing in other flavors now and then isn't bad.
…
After that, I spent a great time hanging out with English Lavender.
We hit the claw machines, karaoke, and even chatted up a storm at a café sometimes.
Before I knew it, evening was rolling in as we fooled around like that.
The sweltering heat of the day cooled off as the sun dipped low.
“Feels nice and cool.”
“Ugh…”
“English La—”
“Stop, stop…!”
Whoops.
Maybe I teased her too much.
Every thirty minutes while we played, her face was now beet red like a ripe apple.
Still, it was fun.
Next time, I'll dial it back so she doesn't build up tolerance.
“Guess that's it for today, though.”
“Huh? Already?”
She looked a bit disappointed at my words.
…Wasn't she super embarrassed just a bit ago?
“Can't extend it?”
…
No matter how you look at it, total paparazzi—
“No can do.”
Not because I was turning into a pseudo-paparazzi or anything. Absolutely not.
Today was the day of Magical Girl White Lily's special live stream.
I couldn't miss her broadcasts, always beaming with that bright, hopeful smile.
“Got other plans.”
Of course, I couldn't tell her the real reason straight up.
“Oh…?”
Her eyes drooped sadly at my response.
As I racked my brain for a way to cheer her up, one idea popped up.
A guy might get hit with sexual harassment charges, but with this body? Should be fine.
“Here goes.”
“Huh?”
Like last time, I pulled her into a hug.
A sweet lavender scent wafted past my nose.
“Ah…?”
One second, two, three.
That should be enough.
I pulled away from her embrace.
“Heehee…”
She floated there in a daze, lovestruck expression and all.
Her reaction said the lip service landed well.
I lifted my skirt slightly and gave her an elegant curtsy goodbye.
“Did Magical Girl Pronesis's service please you? If it helped, please give us five stars.”
“Hee…”
…Hmm.
A bit worried, I warped her near the Magical Girl Association HQ.
Been a while since I came around here.
Not since the first time I warped her.
…Honestly, it creeps me out.
Yeah.
Put simply, something around here mimics the kaijin's otherworld way too closely.
Sofia must feel the same unease for that reason.
The effect is straightforward: it identifies friend or foe among those approaching, and if someone's got bad intentions, they get booted out without realizing.
Think of it as the Association replicating a degraded version of the otherworld using magic stones from B-rank or higher kaijin.
Not as potent as the real thing, obviously.
And why does the Association use this?
“Heehee…”
It was all about protecting the magical girls' identities.
Magical girl activities, tied to idol work, couldn't be fully controlled by the Association—where they went, when, what they did.
If privacy scandals blew up, it'd be a huge loss for them, so they cooked up this tech.
“You're at the Association now—snap out of it.”
Even live-in magical girls are encouraged to detransform at HQ.
Can't police it constantly, and complaints about overreach turned it into a mere recommendation.
Most girls follow it anyway.
Unless you want paparazzi tailing your every move 24/7.
Hard to believe, but it's happened for real.
“It's English Lavender.”
“Yes?”
“Take good care of her.”
Anyway, I handed her off to the guard near the building and warped home.
‘You sure it's okay leaving her like that?’
Right before detransforming, Sofia asked me.
Wondering if it was fine dumping English Lavender like that.
Probably questioning why I didn't go inside.
“Outsiders poking into the Association building? Nothing good comes of it.”
Breaking through the degraded otherworld barrier alone would trigger alarms inside.
They're pretty strict on security.
Meanwhile, English Lavender—still floating in a drunken haze from Pronesis's hug.
“Um… are you okay?”
“Uhih… Ah!?”
She finally snapped out of it in front of the Association building.
“S-sorry!”
“No problem.”
The guard switched to business mode once she recovered and left promptly. She headed inside, unfazed—like it was routine.
‘Phew… curfew's not up yet.’
Once inside, she could finally detransform.
Normally, Yun Seoyeon's dolled-up look would emerge, but her outer clothes hid her features.
‘Ahh… just a bit longer at the end…’
“Eep!?”
Of course, the lingering hug from Pronesis left no room for such fantasies.
‘Oh right, the review!’
Suddenly remembering Pronesis's farewell plea, she pulled out her phone.
“Hmm… kinda bland.”
She pondered, then lit up with an idea and edited the message.
“Ah!”
If she'd seen it, Pronesis might agonize for an hour over deleting it.
Innocent as she was about paparazzi, it looked fine to her.
‘Sea was right—being with her really felt amazing…’
Recalling the hug again, she stepped into the elevator when—
“Ah! You're finally back!”
Seoyeon ran into her manager.
Sweating like it was urgent, Seoyeon gave her a puzzled look.
“Your father's awake.”
Her melting expression snapped straight in an instant.
“How's his condition?”
Bracing for the worst, she questioned her manager tensely.
“Seems normal, thankfully, but…”
The manager trailed off, leading her to the isolation room.
…
Clack, clack.
“Ha—!”
Just before entering, a weird chuckle leaked from inside.
“Go on in.”
Gulp.
Tense, she swallowed and opened the door to her father's isolation room.
And there she faced it.
“Haha! Check this out! I made a T-Rex!”
“Dad!!!! I told you not to make stuff like that from the room's equipment!!!!!”
A intricately crafted T-Rex model, pieced from heart monitors and gadgets, scampering around inside.
“…”
“Lavender, it might shock you, but…”
“No way… it can't be…?”
She stared at her dedicated manager in disbelief.
But the manager just nodded bitterly.
“Probably exactly what you're thinking.”
Thud.
Her phone slipped from her hand, cracking on the floor at the entrance.
She didn't care.
“Oh! Is that Seoyeon!? Whoa, you've grown so much! What do you think of Dad's T-Rex? Pretty cool, right!?”
The model spotted her through the glass, approached, and its head popped open—revealing her father.
“English Lavender's father has…”
Wearing the smile she both feared and missed most.
“Acquired a kaijin's ability.”