My alarm didn't wake me up the next morning.
The news did.
More specifically, the news anchor yelling:
"This just in: Mahō Shōjo Starlight, now identified as a new registered combatant, has successfully neutralized a Chaos-class threat in the Koganei district! Footage is circulating—view discretion advised!"
Still groggy, I reached for my phone and tapped the video.
There she was.
Rika—floating midair, ribbons of pink light spiraling around her, her hair whipping like she was posing for a shampoo commercial. The outfit was exactly as I remembered: tight, shiny, and revealing in ways my brain still hadn't recovered from.
Onscreen, she twirled and shouted:
"By the Contract of Hearts—I summon the Spiral Rod of Emotion!"
A glittering staff materialized. Then she drop-kicked a 10-foot-tall monster in the face, twirled in midair, and fired a beam of pink energy that exploded on impact.
The anchor was practically swooning.
"A stunning victory! This new Mahō Shōjo is already trending online as 'Lingerie Angel' due to her... uh, minimalist battle uniform."
"Lingerie Angel?!" I croaked.
I bolted upright, blanket tangled around my legs.
I was still in my pajamas. My phone buzzed with group chats lighting up:
"Did you see the new girl?! 🔥"
"Mahō Shōjo meta just got sexier."
"I'd let her kick my ass tbh."
I threw the phone face-down.
I kissed that girl yesterday.
Well, she kissed me. And then exploded into sparkles and saved the city.
Now she was a viral sensation.
God help me.
School was a blur. Everyone was talking about the fight. Even the teachers seemed impressed.
"I heard she took down a Class B Chaos Beast with just one attack," someone said.
"She's way hotter than Tempesta," someone else added.
I tried to shrink into my desk and disappear.
Kana noticed.
"You look like you swallowed a grenade," she said during lunch.
"No reason," I lied.
"Has to do with that new Mahō Shōjo, huh?"
I flinched.
She smirked. "Boys are so obvious."
I was about to reply when my phone buzzed again.
New message.
From a contact labeled:
[💖 ENERGY DRAINER 💖]
I didn't put that name there.
"You home yet?"
"Window unlocked?"
"I'm coming in either way 💋"
I stared.
No.
No, no, no—
Thirty minutes later, I opened the door to my room and almost screamed.
She was already inside.
Sprawled across my bed.
Still in the same battle outfit from the news report.
Still looking like she stepped out of a fantasy cosplay calendar.
I covered my eyes with one hand. "Why are you here?! And why are you dressed like—that?!"
"Emergency recharge," she said, chewing on a Pocky stick she probably stole from my shelf. "You wouldn't want the city to blow up because I forgot to touch you today, right?"
"You're insane."
She patted the bed beside her.
"Come on. We'll keep it simple today. Just a bit of hand-holding."
I hesitated.
Then sat on the edge of the bed. Like I was approaching a lioness in lace.
She reached out and gently took my hand.
Warm.
Softer than I expected.
No teasing.
Just…
Contact.
A soft hum filled the air. Glowing lines flickered across her gloves, forming hearts and rings. My skin tingled slightly, like a static shock followed by warmth.
"There," she said, after a moment. "Stabilized."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
Then, of course, she ruined the peace.
"Your hands are really nice," she said.
"Don't start."
"You're a terrible flirt, you know."
"I'm not flirting!"
"Exactly."
She flopped back onto my pillow and stared at the ceiling.
"Anyway, good job. You're adapting fast."
I looked at her. "You do realize none of this is normal, right?"
She smiled. "Of course it's not. You think I wanted to rely on some flustered schoolboy with a hyperactive heart to stay alive?"
"Yes?"
She laughed.
"You're kind of fun to tease."
"I noticed."
Once she'd drained enough energy—her words, not mine—she sat cross-legged on my floor and began adjusting her boots with a little magic spark.
I took the opportunity to ask what I'd been wondering since Day 1.
"Why do you even need me? Aren't there other ways to get this... LOVE energy?"
"There used to be," she said, frowning. "But lately, people's hearts are—how do I put it—less pure. More distracted. Less connected. We're getting weaker. My generation of Mahō Shōjo is burning out."
"That's... kind of sad."
She shrugged. "It's reality. That's why you are such a shock. You're a direct, emotional conduit. You generate LOVE without even trying."
I blinked. "So I'm... emotionally radioactive."
She smiled. "More like emotionally delicious."
"That's worse."
Then she grew serious.
"I don't know why you're like this, Yuuta. But I'm not the only one who noticed."
I paused. "Wait—what does that mean?"
"There are... others. Rivals. Parasites. People who want what you have."
"And by 'what I have,' you mean..."
"Your weird, idiot, embarrassing energy."
Great. So now I'm a target.Not because I'm powerful, or special.But because I apparently exude romantic energy like a leaking love faucet.
"So what happens now?" I asked.
She stood and stretched, arms high, and dear God did that outfit not help my focus.
"Now?" she said. "You live your life. Go to school. Be normal. And when I show up, we touch."
"That sounded better in your head, didn't it?"
"Absolutely not."
Later that evening, the news did another segment.
A close-up shot of Rika (blurry, censored for 'minority privacy') showing her mid-kick against a monster. They dubbed her "Pink Tempest."
They had interviews with civilians she saved.
One of them said:
"She was like a goddess. But also like... a really hot model?"
I changed the channel.
A documentary about frogs seemed safer.
My phone buzzed again.
From: [💖 ENERGY DRAINER 💖]
"Don't forget. 24-hour rule. I'll be back tomorrow."
I sighed.
Looked around my empty room.
And realized—
This might actually be my life now.
And I wasn't sure if I was lucky...
Or cursed.