Is This How You Use a Self-Destruct Switch?!-Chapter 9 : New Classmate?

Yoko flicked her fox tail and showed her master a brilliant smile.
Then she directly burrowed back into the backpack.
"Amber is right, meow. I was wrong, meow. Sorry, meow~"
However, just when she thought Amber was about to let her off, several fingers reached into the backpack, found Yoko's fox tail, and gave it a thorough kneading.
"When did Yoko become a kitty! So cute!"
This ultimately ended with a shallow bite mark suddenly appearing on Amber's index finger.
Megumi, who had run back to the classroom to look for her backpack, witnessed the entire interaction between Yoko and Amber through the window sill. She sincerely sighed about how good their relationship was, then... suddenly felt like she had forgotten something...?!
"Ruby?!"
Megumi's panicked shout startled the backpack that had been placed in the corner of the classroom by someone unknown. Her companion, who was more important to Megumi than the backpack, struggled to poke her head out of the bag.
"I'm here..."
Ruby, who couldn't maintain invisibility magic because her magic power had been completely exhausted, chose to burrow back into Megumi's backpack to sleep and rest to avoid being seen by others.
As for why the backpack was on the ground...
Probably because the little rabbit who had lost her magic power couldn't jump onto the chair.
"Thank goodness you're okay~"
Otherwise I really wouldn't know what to do...
Megumi bent down to pick up the backpack from the ground, then held Ruby in her arms and habitually reached out to smooth her gray-white fur.
The gem bracelet that served as Magical Girl Luna's transformation device glowed with a gentle light, and soft magic power nourished the fur inch by inch.
Accompanied by Ruby's comfortable purring, the gray fur on her body visibly turned into beautiful blue-white bit by bit.
"Hah... wuu~"
The rabbit's ears curved slightly, supporting an arc in the air, then feeling the abundant magic power in her body, she used invisibility magic again.
"Ruby really won't go back into the backpack? Didn't you say that constantly using magic like this would be very tiring..."
A rabbit paw blocked Megumi's mouth.
"It's okay, just keep holding me, Megumi! Invisibility magic doesn't have such high consumption..."
The blue-haired girl nodded somewhat puzzledly. Although she instinctively wanted to ask more questions, since Ruby didn't say directly... then she might as well not pursue it further!
Ah, right!
"Thanks to Ruby, I was rescued~ So I'll buy carrots for Ruby for dinner~"
Rabbits don't actually like eating carrots, but Ruby isn't a rabbit, so she loves them.
"Yay!"
Although she wasn't sure how she had rescued Megumi, if there were carrots to eat, then everything was fine~
"I want to eat steamed carrots, roasted carrots, stewed carrots, boiled carrots..."
Megumi listened to the familiar beside her ear starting to list dishes and helplessly gave a few perfunctory "okays," since every time in the end...
"So hard to choose... might as well just eat raw carrots!"
She would always end up sneaking bites while cooking, causing Megumi to eventually just skip the kitchen step after repeatedly only being able to cook air.
Megumi shouldered her backpack and held Ruby, preparing to hurry home to finish her homework and avoid being lectured by the teacher tomorrow.
When she reached the classroom door, she discovered that because the alarm had gone off while they were in class today, so... the blackboard was covered with the teacher's chalk writing.
"If we clean it up tomorrow, there might not be enough time..."
Megumi picked up the blackboard eraser she found on the podium and began carefully cleaning the blackboard.
As for why not use cleaning magic?
Because... the Magical Girl Code of Conduct clearly stipulated power precepts: Magic is the torch of hope and must not be misused. Even when facing countless difficulties, courage and wisdom must come first.
So helping others should be done through personal action first! Using magic directly wouldn't let you experience the joy of being thanked after helping others!
However...
Ruby, whose mind was focused on how to eat carrots, looked up at the blackboard covered in colorful chalk dust that Luna was wiping. Her rabbit paw lifted slightly, and after a flash of white light, the blackboard had already been magically cleaned.
Megumi had finally found a wet towel and was preparing to wipe the blackboard again when she looked up and discovered Ruby had used magic without permission again.
"That's a code that regulates magical girls, not a code that constrains us familiars..."
Megumi knew she just didn't want to wait longer, and moreover... what Ruby said did make sense, so she could only accept this reality.
After all, Amber and Yoko were still waiting for her at the gate...
The blue-haired girl, worried that her companion would get lost, returned to the window to look toward the school gate once more.
Sure enough, Amber was still there, looking around waiting for her.
"Let's go quickly~ otherwise they'll get anxious!"
The little rabbit whose mind was full of carrots began urging again. Megumi looked at the windows in the classroom that hadn't been closed properly, as well as her homework that she wasn't sure if she had put in her backpack, and shrugged helplessly.
"If Ruby really can't wait, go find Amber first!"
Before she finished speaking, Ruby had already floated out the window.
After Megumi watched her land safely, she closed the window and returned to her seat, searching through the books in her backpack while reaching into her desk to look for her unfinished homework...
But she only felt one piece of paper.
Megumi looked up in surprise and only then realized she had sat in the wrong place, sitting at her deskmate's spot.
But what made her even more curious than that was... when did she get a deskmate?
Maybe it was a transfer student who just arrived today?
Thinking of this, Megumi quickly pulled her hand out.
She couldn't just go through other people's things, and moreover... if it was a transfer student, she didn't know what their personality was like! If they were going to be deskmates, maybe they could become very good friends!
But that piece of paper still followed Megumi's palm and popped out of the desk, falling to the ground.
"Sorry! I... I didn't mean to..."
Megumi put her hands together to apologize to her 'never-met' deskmate, then bent down to pick up that... drawing?
The blue-haired girl tilted her head slightly, looking at the smiling girl in the center of the picture.
Short skirt and top... long hair and long boots... these were all secondary.
Her blue eyes stared intently at the magic staff held in the girl's palm in the picture... the five-pointed star at the tip.
That was the highly distinctive magic staff that belonged exclusively to Magical Girl Luna.
In other words... just based on this, one could determine that this drawing...
"So it's a drawing of me?! Thank you! I love it very much~!"
Megumi held up the gift from her deskmate and spun around in the classroom. All her previous worries about whether this new classmate would be difficult to get along with completely disappeared and transformed into anticipation of having another good friend in the future.
"The new classmate is really wonderful!"
She put the drawing directly into her backpack, then returned to her own seat, took all her homework, and left the classroom.
She even remembered to close the door when leaving, bouncing down the stairs and joining Amber, who was watching Ruby and Yoko argue.
"I dare to lie in Megumi's arms and sleep, do you dare?"
Ruby directly pounced into Megumi's arms, nuzzling while provocatively shaking her head at Yoko.
The little fox, who naturally understood what this guy meant, deliberately pretended not to understand, tilted her head in confusion, then also pounced toward Megumi's chest.
"Why wouldn't I dare?"
But having said that, to avoid being kicked down by Ruby, she still gave in and gave Ruby a look.
Megumi had no choice but to use one arm to hold both familiars while using her other hand to hold Amber's hand so she wouldn't run around.
"Hmph~ Why don't you go let Amber hold you?"
Ruby smugly kicked Yoko's tail, earning a glance begging her to keep it down.
"Amber's strength is too great, I'm afraid it'll hurt... and if Amber heard, she'd be sad again..."
Ruby contentedly adjusted to a comfortable position in Megumi's arms.
"How unfortunate then~ Yoko~"
Although her tone carried some schadenfreude, she did indeed control her volume according to Yoko's request.
Although Amber, who was being led by the hand behind Megumi, didn't hear a single word, Megumi, who had been holding both of them, heard everything clearly and could only show a somewhat awkward smile while continuing to walk Amber home.
And Ruby kept showing off to Yoko how good Megumi was to her, making the little fox bare her teeth in anger.
"Speaking of which, didn't you used to especially like flying around the village?"
Yoko finally found a pause in Ruby's chatter and immediately seized the opportunity to ask seemingly casually, then patted Megumi's arm with her tail to signal her to let go.
"It's okay, Megumi! We'll just fly in the sky for a bit, otherwise you'll probably get very tired, right?"
Yoko deliberately emphasized the words "very tired," forcing Ruby to notice the crystalline sweat on Megumi's tender white arms...
"No... no problem!"
So they each returned to their master's shoulders, floating along following their masters through levitation magic.
But as time passed... Ruby gradually felt she couldn't keep up.
She started trying to sit on Megumi's shoulder to rest, but how could Yoko give her that opportunity.
"Oh my, oh my? Ruby couldn't be tired, could she? Didn't you used to float around the village all day?"
Amber followed Yoko's gaze to look at the already panting little rabbit and patted Megumi's shoulder with some concern.
"Who said I'm tired! I'm not tired at all... rather, hah... if Yoko is tired, beg me to rest a bit..."
The rabbit who was only stubborn all over was worriedly gathered into Megumi's arms after her abnormality was discovered.
"Why is Ruby so tired? Did you run out of magic power? I'll give you some more..."
Yoko looked somewhat enviously at Megumi, who cared so much about Ruby, then continued to add insult to injury.
"Oh my, Megumi! This is a serious problem. Ruby used to fly in the sky all day and never get tired!"
Before...
Megumi suddenly remembered when she first met Ruby... that rabbit who had run around her bedroom ceiling for eight hours and was still energetic... now she was already exhausted after floating for less than eight minutes...!
"Ruby really could float for a long time before! Now how..."
Yoko smugly flicked her tail and looked up to nuzzle Amber's cheek.
"Ruby~ Do you need me to help hide your condition?"
So, under the worried gazes of Megumi and Amber, Ruby lay back in her master's arms listlessly like a wilted carrot.
Yoko was also worried she had taken the joke too far, so she simply explained for Ruby.
"This guy is purely because she's been eating too well at Megumi's house, compared to when she was in the village~"
Two rabbit paws covered the rabbit's ears.
"She's gained several pounds~ so she can't float anymore!"
Yoko looked at Ruby's attitude of escaping reality, then remembered her smug expression just now, and couldn't help but snicker.
Megumi blinked, then reached out to tug Amber's sleeve.
"Maybe... Ruby should eat fewer carrots from now on..."
Amber reached out to hold Ruby and weighed her.
"Ruby is almost heavier than a backpack!"
Megumi made up her mind.
"Indeed, today's carrots should be cancelled!"
The little rabbit who had been looking forward to it for so long hung listlessly in her master's arms like an abandoned stuffed toy, making Yoko laugh continuously.
But... after laughing...
Who exactly saved Luna?
The little fox narrowed her eyes and looked at Ruby, who didn't care about this matter at all.
If this guy had made a contract with another girl, she shouldn't be so indifferent...
Maybe it was a passing magical girl.
However, at this very moment, that 'passing magical girl' was facing an unprecedented predicament.
She was currently leading Reiko around the block where her house was located, going in circles continuously.
This wasn't because Tsuan wanted to extend the time with her friend and deliberately pretended she couldn't find her house, nor was it because Tsuan was deliberately playing with Reiko... although it certainly looked that way.
When Reiko saw the building at the street corner for the third time, she suddenly stopped. This caused Tsuan to stop as well, turning back with a ingratiating smile, trembling with fear...
The reason was simple, only because...
"Do you actually hate magical girls?!"
The silver-haired girl openly nodded in acknowledgment.
"If it weren't because you like them, I would never visit that shop in my lifetime!"
Then Reiko began oral gymnastics targeting various problems like magical girls abusing magic making themselves lazy, attacking bad people indiscriminately causing panic, and so on.
On one hand, Tsuan wanted to defend her beloved magical girls, on the other hand, she thought from her good friend's perspective... ultimately, aside from awkward nodding and smiling... she could only continue going in circles with Reiko.
Just wait a bit longer, until it gets completely dark... Reiko's family will definitely come looking for her! Just drag it out until then...
The black-haired girl swallowed lightly.
Her house was full of... things related to magical girls, from posters covering her bedroom walls, to photos stuffing her drawers... and various collectible merchandise...
If it weren't because she didn't have much money left... she would probably buy even more.
No, that's not the point!
Tsuan shook her head.
The point is how to avoid Reiko coming home with me and seeing those... things. Reiko would definitely get angry, right?
Crimson eyes secretly looked at Reiko's delicate profile.
That won't do, of course she can't... make her friend angry...
"So, Tsuan-san."
Reiko moved close to Tsuan's side and found that small ear hidden in the black hair.
"Can you explain to me."
Warm breath hit her ear, but Tsuan only felt a chill rising from her spine.
"What exactly is the situation now?"
Inviting me to your house for a meal... is this kind of thing very difficult?!