Chapter 202: Chapter 8: No Cheating Allowed (Bonus Chapter for 50 Power Stones)
Something tasty—that phrasing reminded Mami of the child she’d helped yesterday, who had also looked up at her with that adorable little face and said she’d treat her to something delicious next time.
Come to think of it, that child’s voice sounded awfully similar to this kitten’s...
Mami’s home—another villa with floor-to-ceiling windows, tidy and clean yet somehow cavernous. Understandable, really. One person living alone in a place this big.
"In exchange for fighting Witches as a Magical Girl, you get to have one wish granted. It’s not exactly an easy career, you know? To fight Witches, I’ve barely had any time to hang out with friends."
"What are Witches?" Sayaka asked with keen curiosity. Between her and Madoka—who had actually heard Kyubey’s telepathic voice—Sayaka seemed far more interested in this world.
"If Magical Girls are born from wishes, then Witches are born from curses. They spread despair everywhere. Most of those unexplained deaths and suicides? Probably a Witch’s curse. Ordinary people can’t see them, after all."
"They mostly stay inside their barriers, never appearing before humans directly—eroding people from within. That’s what you two stumbled into earlier. Normally, no one walks out of one alive."
Mami glanced toward the kitchen. "The child who contracted with me is called Kyubey—my best friend, too. Though that kid’s never mentioned having any others of its kind. No idea where it ran off to today."
"I’m not entirely sure, but since only you could hear that child’s call for help, it probably means you were chosen, right?"
"I can become a Magical Girl?" Madoka pointed at herself, bewildered.
Sayaka threw an arm around her neck. "So unfair! I put in effort too!"
"I really can’t say for certain—it’s not my contract partner." Mami shook her head gently. "But if it turns out you can... well, I’d welcome a new comrade, of course. Still, it is a dangerous job where you might actually die. I’d rather you think it over carefully."
"Then what wish did you make, Mami-senpai?"
"’Save me.’" Mami replied. "It was a car accident. I had no time to choose."
That was what she said, but even now she regretted the wish she’d blurted out in a panic. That crash had also killed her family. She could have wished to save them all...
And so, while other Magical Girls jealously guarded their territory as a solo hunting ground, lonely Mami actually wanted someone to fight alongside.
She’d been patiently explaining everything to her two juniors, but the clattering from the kitchen finally got to her. "Do you need a hand in there?"
"No."
Mami’s kitchen was bigger than Homura’s and better equipped—all sorts of baking tools for cakes, most of which Yimi had no idea how to use.
The aroma had already drifted out. Yimi tasted a sip of the broth, satisfied.
Exquisite. Practically the fish soup of a cat’s dreams.
Using The World to overwrite Kyubey meat into something delicious worked—but since a skinned Kyubey yielded so little meat, the only way to share it among three people was to make it into soup.
"Meow~"
With an elegant gait, Yimi padded into the living room. Behind her, The World carried the serving tray, following at a steady pace.
"The tray is floating by itself?" Sayaka pointed in astonishment at the space behind Yimi.
Most Stands shared the characteristic of being invisible to ordinary people.
"That... you can’t see it?" Mami looked at Sayaka, puzzled.
Kyubey also had the property of being invisible to ordinary humans. She didn’t know what this musclebound figure was, exactly, but this cat really was one of Kyubey’s kind, wasn’t it?
"Try some. (\^\_^\)"
Yimi directed The World to set the Kyubey soup before them.
"Then I won’t hold back." Mami elegantly raised a small bowl and took a sip.
「Congratulations, Host! Achievement unlocked: [Friend, Tasty]. Reward: 5% portal energy.」
"Meow?"
Ignoring the pathetically small achievement reward, the little cat watched them drink eagerly.
"Oh, this is really good."
"It really is. I can’t quite tell what kind of meat it is, though. There’s a bit of a fishy texture, but the umami isn’t as overwhelming as actual fish."
"Is it good?" Yimi asked again.
"Very good." Mami couldn’t help reaching over to pat her head.
Yimi’s eyes crinkled into a smile. She checked the system’s quest panel.
Nothing.
The little cat’s face crumbled.
"What’s—going on?"
Did the system require the exact words "absolutely delicious" before it counted?
「In response to Host’s query: two of Host’s three tasters are not Magical Girls. Furthermore, the original flavor represents the authentic Kyubey meat. Obtaining evaluations through this kind of cheating method—how could it possibly be recognized?」
"Dumbass System!" The little cat’s tail bristled to full volume.
"It was really tasty, though. But anyway, I heard all about it from Mami-senpai—I can form a contract with you to become a Magical Girl, right?" Sayaka prodded Yimi with the blunt end of a chopstick.
"Huh?" Yimi cautiously retracted her paws.
She hadn’t even known she had that function.
"Like I said, I can’t confirm that! And stop glossing over the dangers I just emphasized!"
Mami’s expression turned serious as she looked at the tomboyish underclassman. "Fighting Witches isn’t like in a cartoon where you just talk things out or punch them away. You could actually die."
Grasping the gravity of the situation, Sayaka fell silent.
"So—can you really form contracts with people and turn them into Magical Girls?" Mami looked at Yimi.
"Can I?" The little cat was lost.
"Why are you confused about this?" Sayaka gave her a vigorous rub.
"Probably... yes?"
Their confidence was making Yimi lose her own. She didn’t know why they all thought she could do it, but if everyone thought she could, then maybe she could?
Completing the quest also required Magical Girls. Turns out, the difficulty of this mission wasn’t limited to Kyubey meat tasting awful.
"What does ’probably’ even mean?"
"Honestly." Mami pressed a hand to her forehead. "If Kyubey were here, it could explain so much. Where has that kid gone off to this late?"
She took another sip of soup.
"I feel like it’d be safer here with me, but since this child seems to have chosen you, let’s have her stay with you for now. You said the dark-haired girl took the kitten in front of you in broad daylight—she probably wouldn’t try anything like cat abuse with people around."
Yimi hesitantly lifted a paw, then stopped herself—she couldn’t just stick a finger in her mouth in cat form.
So who had she chosen exactly? These three had been talking over her head the entire time.
Mami stroked Yimi’s fur with a smile. "If anything comes up, contact me anytime. As long as I’m alive, I won’t let my friends get hurt."
...
And just like that, the cat’s custody was casually settled.
"What do I do? I don’t even know if my family will let me keep a cat."
"Hm?" Yimi trotted along at Madoka’s feet on her stubby little legs, tilting her head at Madoka’s worried expression.
Arriving home, Madoka opened the front door but didn’t step inside right away. Instead, she peeked cautiously into the house. "I’m home."
"Oh my, why are you back so late?" The tipsy beauty lounging in the living room was Madoka’s mother.
Unlike Kyubey, Yimi wasn’t invisible to ordinary people, so whether this family would accept her was a real hurdle.
Actually, Mom wasn’t the hard part. The real challenge was Dad. As the househusband, he was the one who actually ran things around here. Madoka also had a little brother who’d just reached kindergarten age—Dad might not agree to this at all.
"I just stopped by a friend’s place... Um, Mama, can I discuss something with you?"
"Hm? Of course." Her mother beckoned her over.
But Madoka didn’t go. She swung the door all the way open. "Could I... keep her?"
"Keep... ’her’?" Her mother scratched her cheek, looking past her daughter. "No."
"That was so quick!" Madoka hadn’t expected this—she’d assumed Dad would be the real obstacle.
The woman pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "How could I not be quick about it? If you’d brought home a stray kitten or puppy, fine, but you’re asking me to take in a child—that’s a whole different—"
"Child?" Madoka turned around, confused.
There stood Yimi in human form, right by the Kaname family’s garbage can, hopping up and down trying to see if she could stomp the pedal hard enough to pop the lid open.
If being a cat is the problem, then kitty will just become human!
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