Gray Days and Jealous Glares
For English Lavender, the past two weeks had been a true march through hell.
Not only did she have to endure all sorts of tests for her B-grade promotion, but she was constantly dragged out of school classes for interviews.
Of course, she'd applied for the promotion herself, but even accounting for that, she couldn't help thinking they could cut her some slack.
In any case, the one consolation amid all that was her meetings with Pronesis.
She'd sometimes get summoned midway through Association errands under the pretext of picking up her periodic doll delivery, and she genuinely enjoyed those encounters.
"Honey... But no matter how I think about it, same gender aside, she's not a kid, right...?"
"...Huh? What're you talking about?"
"No... Never mind...."
Even as her father muttered something like that, she just brushed it off, not quite catching his drift.
Anyway, after those grueling two weeks finally passed, she logged into the site to meet Pronesis—and that's when she saw it.
[The call button will be deactivated for a while.]
The message appeared alongside the red call button grayed out.
"...?"
Sensing something off, she tapped the grayed-out button a few times.
[This is a deactivated button.]
[This is a deactivated button.]
[This is a deactivated button.]
That was all that popped up in her smartphone's alert window.
Afterward, her daily life started to take on a gray tint, just like the deactivated button.
"Haa...."
She hugged her favorite stuffed doll tight, but it brought no comfort.
"Hey."
"Hey...."
"...? Something wrong?"
Even hanging out with Sea-a, whom she hadn't properly seen in ages, felt joyless.
"So, now that you've been promoted to B-grade, let me walk you through a few things... English Lavender?"
"Yeah...."
Even her meeting with her dedicated manager held no interest.
By the time she finished her day and returned to the dorms, the only thing she did was check Pronesis's review site.
Scrolling past the call button revealed reviews from other magical girls, including her own.
[Next time, I'm definitely winning...! You have to come, okay!?]
[Loved going to that two-person restaurant. But it'd be even better if you could untransform while hanging out. Minus one star for that ㅠㅠ]
[Fuck, everything else was great, but what the hell was that victory lap teabagging?]
[Love the call service! Thanks to you, I made it to school on time! But everyone stared, so minus one star for that ㅠㅠ]
[It was okay, I guess.]
[Thanks for helping with the fan meet! You're not even Association staff, but you know everything...! 5 stars!]
[Saw the review below and thought you'd go to a motel too. Why not?]
[You only pay your share, great food spots, super fun—wanted to extend!]
Every time she read reviews from others—excluding her own—she felt a sharp ache in her chest.
A stuffy, sticky emotion clogged her heart.
But she hadn't yet recognized what it was.
What if I'd given a 1-star instead of 5? Would no one have called me then? As that thought crept into her mind—
"D-grade monster detected nearby. English Lavender, please proceed to the site immediately."
———!!!!!———
The irritating siren blared.
A sound she'd normally just shrug off now grated on her more than usual.
"Haa...."
At least she didn't refuse the call.
"Guess I'll treat it like a workout...."
Figuring some movement might help, she stepped out of the dorms.
"Transform."
.....
By the time she raced to the scene, she planned to dispatch the monster with a bored expression and head back.
But spotting an enormous burst of light nearby made her sense something was off.
"Lumina Betaris...?"
"Kyao!!!!"
The monster's dying screech followed.
Probably taken down by one of the recent wild magical girls, she figured.
Reporting the subjugators was part of the job, so she headed to the site anyway.
"Still, I didn't think you'd fail."
Then a familiar voice made her drop her apathy.
This voice...!
Her face brightening with delight, she dashed toward Pronesis.
"Pronesis...?"
But then she spotted the other magical girl beside Pronesis.
The ache in her chest grew sharper.
"Ah, English Lavender. Long time no see."
Pronesis smiled casually, warmly, as if nothing was amiss—but she barely registered it.
Her focus locked solely on the magical girl next to Pronesis.
"Who's that next to you...?"
That explained the murderous glare she shot at Snow White.
***
I knew this would happen.
Why's she like this again.
This time I seriously didn't do anything wrong.
For some reason, she was glaring at Snow White like she wanted to kill her.
"Eek, eek...."
Snow White yelped in fear and hid behind me.
But given my petite size, there was no way her smaller frame could fully conceal her.
Unable to withstand English Lavender's spear-like stare, I finally introduced the girl hiding behind me.
"This is Snow White. She's been asking me to teach her magical girl stuff for the past three days or so, so we've been hanging out."
"Hmmm...."
At my introduction, she let out a groan, eyeing Snow White behind me with keen interest.
"English Lavender doesn't make expressions like that."
"Eek!?"
Heh.
Yeah, that's the one.
Delightful.
You little shit.
What?
Figuring the tension had eased a bit, I had Snow White introduce herself to English Lavender.
"This is English Lavender. We got to know each other recently through some work stuff."
Peeking out from behind me, she bowed her head in greeting.
"H-Hello...."
She'd just soloed a D-grade monster, so she could afford some confidence.
Though anyone might shrink under that glare—still, she seemed especially timid.
Anyway, I started piecing together why Lavender was here.
Probably the call button.
She just needed to know who subjugated it....
"I didn't intervene this time—Snow White took it down solo."
"Wh-What!?"
I snapped Lavender out of her thoughts and continued with the subjugation summary.
"Civilian casualties... Probably none; I evacuated everyone nearby. Monster was D-grade with fire-breathing abilities. Check nearby CCTV for visuals. Notable point: it had some resistance to its own ability, but high enough heat melted it fine."
"Uh... Thanks...?"
That should cover it.
Paperwork's a pain, so I summarized for her.
Oh right.
"Congrats on the B-grade promotion, by the way."
Probably why I hadn't seen her much lately.
"Wanna go hang out somewhere tomorrow to celebrate?"
"What!?"
She reacted with startling speed.
"Uh... If you don't want to, no big—"
"What time tomorrow?"
Light returned to her previously dull eyes.
Good, she wasn't against it.
I pondered briefly before replying.
"Hmm... I'll reactivate the call button around 11 tomorrow. Summon me then."
"...Got it."
With that, she left, and I bid Snow White farewell too.
"Yes. Great work today, Snow White. You had your debut, so rest up tomorrow."
It wasn't just for Lavender.
I'd planned a short break after her debut anyway, so I invited Lavender along.
"Yeah...! Thanks for today!"
She seemed pretty satisfied with the day herself, smiling gratefully.
"Did you enjoy Magical Girl Pronesis's service? If it helped, please give me 5 stars."
I gave her my farewell too, then warped home.
What a fun day.