Himari arched an eyebrow at Hailey.
“You’re a strange one.
Most magical girls would get rather defensive over any attack on their faerie.
He is the source of your magic, after all.
If something happens to him, you’ll lose your abilities as a magical girl and become ordinary, no matter where you are.” Haiely wished that it didn’t sound so ominous.
She wasn’t sure if it was intended to sound like that, just that that’s how it came across.
However, she didn’t want to change how she acted about Dave, so she just let it go as if she really didn’t care.
“It’s not like you were doing anything that could actually hurt him,” she replied, wondering if this might be her chance to lead into learning more about magical girls.
“Although, I don’t really know anything about being a magical girl, so if you’d be willing to tell me anything, then I’d at least know something more.” Himari exchanged a look with Hoshi, looking almost like they were evaluating if they should actually say anything to her, which Hailey couldn’t help but feel annoyed about.
Yet, like she did in school, she kept quiet, not wanting to say anything about it.
As she was certain that if she did express her feelings, that it wouldn’t change anything.
“So, you want to know what it means to be a magical girl?” Himari asked, sounding almost like she was warning Hailey that she’d asked for it.
“First, protecting others is our first duty.
Protecting your faerie and colleagues is your second duty.
After that comes who you need to fight.” Himari paused as she glanced at Dave, almost looking at him contemptuously.
“Your faerie was correct about fighting evil spirits.
Those are our biggest enemy.
However, it’s clear that he isn’t aware that magical girls whose faerie is of a different faction are our most common enemy.” Hailey felt something grip her heart and throat, making it feel a little hard to breath just as her heart felt like it might burst with the pressure around it.
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected Himari to have said, but at the same time, she could feel the words resonating inside her, telling her that what had been said was true.
Or at least what Himari believed to be true, which was close enough as far as Hailey was concerned.
“I assume you don’t have a team, which means you’re a solo magical girl,” Himari continued, looking Hailey over, as if she was evaluating what she saw.
“That makes things simpler for you, but you’re still a magical girl in a country where faeries are forbidden from creating them.
While they’ve been discussing if they should lift the taboo simply because of the increased activity of spirits, they haven’t done so just yet.
Which means that I’m technically supposed to eliminate you and your faerie simply because he broke that taboo and made you into a magical girl.” Hailey nodded, as if she hadn’t expected anything less.
Which for some reason she found to be much like how her life typically was anyway.
Yet at that moment, something broke.
She wasn’t sure what it was, just that she felt something warm flooding her hands instead of the cold she’d become accustomed to when she felt trapped by another’s words.
“So, you’re saying that I should just roll over and let you do what you want to me?” Hailey asked, only realizing just how it sounded after the words were out of her mouth.
Himari’s eyes narrowed in disgust at her.
“Pervert,” she muttered.
Hailey merely shrugged the words off.
She knew she hadn’t meant what she’d said that way, but she didn’t care to correct the misunderstanding either.
Especially since she was used to misunderstandings about her being common.
“If you want to try and take me down, you won’t find me easy to beat,” Hailey boasted, not sure where this confidence was coming from.
Just that she was certain Himari wouldn’t find her as easy to beat as she probably thought.
Himari blinked, looking rather surprised.
“You think that you stand a chance against me?
You, a rookie who probably doesn’t even know the first thing about using your magic, think you have a chance to actually keep me from beating you when I’m a veteran?” When she put it like that, Hailey felt uneasy about what she had been suggesting.
Although, for some reason, she felt like she couldn’t back down.
Like she wasn’t going to be a punching bag anymore.
Where this determination was coming from, she couldn’t say.
Only that it was welling up inside her, making her wonder if maybe she could leave behind her past self that allowed others to walk all over her.
“Only one way to find out,” Hailey retorted, even as she felt like she was making a mistake.
Himari stared at Hailey for a minute before she laughed.
“Oh, you’re good.
You certainly know how to talk,” Himari said, sounding more delighted than Hailey had expected.
“You also don’t back down.” Then her eyes turned serious and Hailey felt the next words she was about to speak were the most important so far of this conversation.
“But at the same time, I can’t let you leave with a false impression of the differences between us.” “So, what does that mean?” Hailey asked, feeling a drop of sweat slide down between her shoulders, tickling her back.
“It means that we’re going to see just how long you can last against me,” Himari replied, looking as if she was going to smash Hailey underfoot without even noticing, like how a person steps on a bug without realizing it.
Hailey took a deep breath, feeling like she’d pretty much asked for this.
Although, she wasn’t going to let this girl treat her like she was nothing just because she was new to being a magical girl.
“So, where do you want to do this?” Himari looked around, looking as if she was trying to figure out a good place for them to settle whatever this was.
“Let’s go over to that alley,” Himari said.
“We can transform there and then I’ll show you a few tricks so we can handle this where no one will interfere.”