Chapter 2

I was being bathed in stares from every corner of the classroom, the kind you’d give a bizarre creature.

I felt like an animal in a zoo.

Curiosity.

Fear.

Hostility.

A mix of gazes, each tinged with a different emotion, converged on me as I stood on the classroom podium, making me all the more nervous.

“And now, let’s have a self-introduction from Toujou Reiya-san, who starting today will be a new student in Class 2-B of this Magical Girl Training Academy!!”

The homeroom teacher flashed me a beaming smile.

I swallowed hard and managed to squeeze out an introduction.

“I-I’m Toujou Reiya… Starting today, I’ll be taking classes here with all of you as a magical girl… It’s a p-pleasure to meet you…”

“…?!”

A stir spread through the room.

The more than thirty beautiful girls sitting in neat rows—the magical girls, allies of justice who protect humanity from monsters—were clearly bewildered.

Not a single one offered a round of applause to welcome the sudden transfer student.

The only things that surfaced on their faces were suspicion and doubt directed at me.

Why is a boy here?

It was as if their expressions screamed it.

“Alllright, thank you, Toujou Reiya-san. We’re looking forward to having you. Everyone, let’s have a round of applause~”

The teacher clapped alone.

clap… clap…

No one followed.

After a few moments of lonely silence, the teacher prompted me to go to my seat.

“Toujou Reiya-san, your seat is the empty one over there. We change seats once every three months. If your eyesight is bad and you’d prefer a seat up front, just let me know, okay~?”

“Ah, I’m good.”

“Is that so? Well then, we’ll have you in that seat for the time being~”

“Yes…”

I sat down in a seat in the second-to-last row.

I was positive that the magical girls on either side of me were glaring daggers.

Like a frog being stared down by a snake, I shrank into myself, trying to take up as little space as possible.

“Everyone~. Toujou-kun is new here and doesn’t know his way around yet, so please be sure to show him the ropes~”

“…”

Not a single student replied to the teacher’s call.

And with that, morning homeroom concluded in a deeply awkward atmosphere.

“What is the meaning of this, Director!!”

An angry shout echoed through the Magical Girl Training Academy’s director’s office.

The one on the receiving end of this tirade—a glamorous beauty in a black suit and black tights, seated in the chair reserved for the director—was being furiously confronted by yet another stunning, black-haired beauty.

Her name was Saionji Koharu.

She was the Student Council President of the Magical Girl Training Academy, and the biological daughter of the very person she was confronting… Director Saionji Makiko.

Saionji Koharu wasn’t normally the type to show her emotions, but today was different.

As the student council president of this academy, she was letting her anger show before her own mother, determined to remove the “foreign element” that had somehow slipped in.

“Why is there a boy in this academy!? This is a school for magical girls!”

“Calm down, Koharu. I understand how you feel.”

In contrast to Koharu’s livid expression, Makiko’s calm demeanor didn’t crack.

She looked at her furious daughter with cool eyes and spoke.

“It’s true that since the founding of this Magical Girl Training Academy, a boy has never once become a student. That’s only natural. This is, after all, a school for magical girls. However… that boy… Toujou Reiya is an exception.”

“And why is that!? Are you saying that man possesses the same power we do!?”

“That is precisely correct.”

“…!?”

Koharu’s eyes widened in shock.

Of course they did.

Magical girls, as the name implies, are girls who can use magic.

There has never been a single recorded case—not just in Japan, but in the entire world—of a male manifesting the magical power of a magical girl.

Magical power was a special power that could only be wielded by girls between the ages of ten and twenty.

“That boy… Toujou Reiya, despite being male, can use magic just like you magical girls. The law stipulates that anyone who can use magic must receive education and training at a Magical Girl Training Academy. Therefore… this is a matter that is out of my hands.”

“I-I can’t believe it, not even if the words come from you, Mother…! For a boy to be able to use magic…”

Koharu was lost.

She simply couldn’t believe that Toujou Reiya truly possessed magical powers.

Having lived her entire life in a garden of women with absolutely no contact with men, she couldn’t help but have an instinctive rejection, unable to accept the existence of Toujou Reiya as a member of this academy.

“It has to be a lie that a boy can use magic… Come on, you two, say something to her!!”

Deciding she couldn’t persuade the director alone, Koharu sought help from the students standing on either side of her.

The girls to her left and right were fellow student council officers and were like her right-hand women.

Kisaragi Mikan and Usami Chiyo.

They were popular among the students and their skills as magical girls were beyond reproach. Koharu believed that with their help, she could convince the director.

“Kisaragi! Usami! You two hate this too, don’t you? Having a boy in our school.”

“Uh… w-well, about that…”

“I-If he can really use magic… then I think we have to accept him…”

“…!?”

Koharu’s eyes flew open at this unforeseen betrayal.

Kisaragi Mikan and Usami Chiyo, their cheeks faintly blushing, averted their gazes as if to hide something, fidgeting with their hair and scratching at their cheeks.

As Koharu’s mouth flapped open and closed at this unexpected treachery, Director Makiko let out a sigh.

“Koharu. You seem to be a little too hard-headed. Accepting Toujou Reiya as a student of this academy is a final decision. There will undoubtedly be friction… but resolving that is your duty. If you understand, then leave and cool your head for a while.”

“…Hmph.”

Koharu shot Makiko a sharp glare, then snorted and turned away, storming out of the director’s office with brisk, irritated steps.

Flustered, Kisaragi and Usami hurried after her.

“Hah…”

Left alone, Makiko let out a deep sigh as she thought about the future of her stubborn daughter.