Rishi Squad

Iroha's Origins, Part 2

Dad began bombarding me with questions.

"Why are you home early?"

"I took Mai out of my bag in the break room."

"Why do you even bring Mai to your job?"

"She's my comfort item. I think you already knew that."

"Yeah, sorry. I forgot."

"It's ok, Dad."

"And lastly, was Mai talking to you?"

Oh crap. He noticed.

"Yes." I mumbled, with my head hanging down in shame.

"I think you have way too much imagination." Dad chided me, patting my head. "Remember, you're almost 23 years old, and you need to mature." "Yeah, but..." I tried to say, but at that very moment, Mai decided to come to life and cut me off.

"She's hated her job since graduation." Mai shouted, unaware of my Dad's shocked face. "She wants to be a magical girl!"

"But... there's... no such... thing as...." Dad stuttered. He tried to point at Mai, but his finger was trembling. His lip quibbled as he called for my Mom. "Honey! My daughter wants to chase her childhood dream!" Mom immediately rushed in the room, and Mai hopped up onto her own two legs as a shining aura surrounded her. "I thought I already told you..." Mom began, but Mai cut her off. "The portal to the Hex Dimension has opened up, and we need a hero to close it, or it will unleash the most evil monsters onto this planet!"

Mom and Dad looked at each other, as if to say, "everything we know is wrong".

"You wanna be a magical girl? For real, this time?" Mom finally asked after a moment of silence. "How are you going to do it?" Dad added. "Do what?" I wondered. Mai handed me the gacha wand necklace. "What do you want me to do with this? Come up with a catchphrase and transform or something?!" I shouted, exasperated.

Mai nodded. I struck a look that screamed "help me". Dad hugged me. Mom kissed me on my cheek. And for a second, my childhood flashed before my eyes.

I envisioned myself at about seven years old, playing with my friends. I vaguely remembered something about our play dates... I was waving around a magic wand, and calling myself a queen...

"I got it!" I screamed. "Got what?" Mom and Dad said in unison.

I put on my necklace and exclaimed, "QUEEN IRO! START AND CHARGE!"

In an instant, a cute little dress was magically put onto my body. A crown was placed on my head, and my feet were decked in high heeled thigh highs. Lastly, my hair color changed to pink.

Ho-ly crap. I really was a magical girl!

I whipped out my phone and texted my bestie, Akari Chō. "Please, come over to my house. My dream has been fulfilled!"

"Not only is it fulfilled," Mai continued, "but you're 100 percent ready to leave your current job and start anew!" The instant I heard those words, I squealed.

Thirty minutes later, my job at Warugashi was history! No more harassment from the boss, no more starvation, no more teasing about gaining weight... my new job as a magical girl was about to begin!