Chapter 2: The Unveiling of the Silver Cross Star

During the second period math class in the afternoon, sunlight streamed lazily through the windowpanes, casting warm, square patches upon the open textbooks. From the podium, the teacher’s voice rose and fell, explaining the solutions to exercises, yet to Xiaojin, it was nothing more than a soporific lullaby.

She rested her chin on one hand, her fingertips unconsciously twirling a wisp of pale purple hair. Her gaze, vacant and distant, settled upon the two familiar heads in the row ahead.

The one by the window sat ramrod straight, her figure slender and well-proportioned, adorned with delicate wire-frame glasses. Her blue ponytail was meticulously tied, even the hair tie a simple dark blue. This was none other than the class president, Xia Yue. Occasionally, she would subtly turn her head, revealing the graceful curve of her jaw as she diligently jotted down notes in her notebook.

Beside her sat Lin Wan, whose head occasionally bobbed with drowsiness, her flaxen short hair swaying gently in sync. Her physique was healthy and shapely. That one, she had undoubtedly pulled another all-nighter gaming. At this very moment, she was valiantly battling the Sandman with sheer willpower.

How wonderful it was.

Xiaojin sighed silently to herself. This mundane, almost boring routine was precisely the treasure she had painstakingly safeguarded.

On the surface, Xiaojin was an ordinary second-year student at St. Sakura High School – perhaps a bit of a slacker academically. In reality, however, she was a reincarnated witch.

While she wasn’t the traditional type who rode brooms, brewed bizarre potions, and constantly threatened to destroy the world, she was undoubtedly classified as a ‘dark entity requiring purification’. At least, that was how she was perceived by those radiant Magical Girls, champions of love and justice.

In her previous life, she had been relentlessly hounded across realms by a particularly ruthless Magical Girl squad. Ultimately, her magic depleted, she met a mortifying end to her brief witch’s existence. To her astonishment, she awoke, carrying residual memories and a pathetically meager amount of magic, reborn in this peaceful modern city devoid of any supernatural powers.

Initially, she was terrified, dreading that those persistent specters might have followed her through. She meticulously suppressed all magical fluctuations, transforming herself into an utter ‘weakling’. She invariably finished last in 800-meter runs during P.E., became breathless just carrying books, and flawlessly played the role of a frail, ordinary high school girl.

This charade she maintained for two long years.

Over those two years, she forged friendships with Xia Yue and Lin Wan, the two girls who sat in front of her. Xia Yue was the quintessential ‘child of another family’ – academically brilliant and dependable. Though her seriousness could sometimes make her seem a little stern, she was unexpectedly nurturing. Lin Wan, on the other hand, was a lively and cheerful esports enthusiast, with an eccentric way of thinking, serving as the class’s ray of sunshine. In their company, Xiaojin had almost truly forgotten her shadowy past.

Until—

The dismissal bell rang, and no sooner had the teacher announced the end of class than the classroom instantly filled with a cacophony of chatter, all centered around a single, highly consistent topic.

“Hey, have you heard? The ‘Silver Cross Star’ is actually disbanding!”

“No way! That super famous… uh, urban legend? Online idol group?” A boy scratched his head, struggling to find the right words.

“Idol group? What are you talking about! They’re Magical Girls! Magical Girls!” The girl next to him corrected excitedly, waving her phone screen, which displayed a lavishly designed official website. At its center, bold characters proclaimed: ‘Silver Cross Star Disbandment Announcement (Pre-release)’. “The official website even put out a pre-announcement! It says their ‘mission to maintain world peace has been phased out,’ and the official disbandment statement will be released next week!”

“Huh? World peace? Didn’t they primarily combat those rogue ‘witches’ and ‘shadow beasts’? Does this mean…”

“Exactly! The announcement states it’s complete, which must mean the threats have been largely eliminated! So they’re retiring on a high note!”

“Wow… so our city will be even safer from now on?”

“I’ll miss them so much. I even bought their merchandise…”

The discussions surged like a tide, crashing against Xiaojin’s eardrums. She maintained the motion of packing her bag, yet her fingers stiffened imperceptibly.

‘Silver Cross Star’… disbanding?

The city’s strongest and most active Magical Girl squad, the one that had almost dragged her out of the city sewers based on a mere flicker of her nascent magic during her early days of reincarnation, and subsequently haunted her nightmares for days… were they truly disbanding?

‘Because threats were cleared’?

A colossal, almost surreal euphoria, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, began as a faint ripple. It then violently erupted, transforming into a surging torrent that instantly demolished all her mental barriers of reason.

‘It’s over? Is it really over? Those bothersome individuals, constantly brandishing their wands and shouting “Purify you in the name of love,” are finally leaving?’

‘No longer will I have to live in constant fear, no longer suppress my pitiful magic, no longer pretend to be a delicate little flower?!’

A searing, almost trembling power surged uncontrollably from deep within her body, coursing through her limbs and veins. Her fingertips warmed slightly, and a wisp of faint, almost imperceptible purple light, visible only to her, drifted out. It settled upon her open textbook, instantly scorching a small, blackened curl along the paper’s edge.

‘!’ Xiaojin snapped back to reality, instinctively pressing her finger over the small hole, her heart pounding.

‘No, I must calm down! The announcement is just a pre-release, it hasn’t been officially published yet…’

‘But where there’s smoke, there’s fire! If the official source said it, how could it be false?’

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in her heart. Yet, the flame that had been suppressed for too long in her eyes now reignited, inextinguishable.

After school, for the first time ever, she didn’t join Xia Yue and Lin Wan at the milk tea shop or the library. Xia Yue apparently had to go to the student council to handle some… ‘fan emotional appeasement work’ triggered by the disbandment announcement? Lin Wan, meanwhile, mysteriously claimed to have received ‘orders from above’ and needed to rush back.

Xiaojin bid them a distracted farewell before making her way alone to the seldom-trodden grove behind the school.

The setting sun stretched the tree shadows long. Silence enveloped the surroundings, broken only by the rustling of leaves in the wind.

She walked to the center of the forest clearing, closing her eyes, and attempted to rouse the magic core that had lain dormant for two long years.

It felt unfamiliar, sluggish, like rusty gears grinding back into motion. Yet, her magic was indeed responding! Though it was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, less than a ten-thousandth of her full power, it undeniably flowed through her meridians.

She extended her index finger, cautiously, attempting to conjure a rudimentary orb of light.

“Poof…”

A small, flickering, dim yellow halo appeared at her fingertip, its size and brightness even less than that of a malnourished firefly. The halo pulsed erratically, stubbornly persisting for about three seconds before extinguishing with a soft ‘pop’.

“…As weak as can be, indeed,” Xiaojin murmured, gazing at the faint warmth lingering on her fingertip. Yet, the corners of her lips curled upward in an irrepressible smile.

‘But this is a start! As long as those accursed Magical Girls are gone, I can slowly train, slowly recover! Someday…’

Unable to contain herself, she spread her arms wide and spun in a circle like a fool, her skirt swirling around her. The forest’s silence was shattered by her soft, slightly foolish laughter.

“I’m free—!!”

Her faint cry echoed through the trees, startling a few roosting birds.

For the rest of the afternoon, Xiaojin remained in a buoyant, almost giddy state of excitement. After returning home that evening and hastily finishing dinner, she locked herself in her room, facing the mirror, and repeatedly attempted the simplest of spells. She failed, tried again, failed once more, yet she reveled in the process.

This joy, akin to a rebirth, persisted until past nine o’clock that night, when it was abruptly broken by the crisp chime of the doorbell.

“Who could that be, at this hour?” Xiaojin muttered, suppressing the slightly active magical fluctuations within her, stirred by her repeated practice, and shuffled in her slippers to the entrance.

Peering through the peephole, the expression on her face instantly froze.

Standing outside her door were Xia Yue and Lin Wan.

Xia Yue was still in her school uniform jacket, her tie impeccably fastened, her face bearing her usual gentle, slightly apologetic smile. Lin Wan, on the other hand, had changed into a cute cartoon pajama set with a jacket thrown over it. She clutched a half-human-sized Rilakkuma plushie, her flaxen short hair slightly disheveled, and was grinning with vibrant, almost mischievous energy directly at the peephole.

‘Why are they here? And at this hour?’

A strange, cold premonition silently crept up her spine.

Xiaojin took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

“Good evening, Xiaojin!” Lin Wan was the first to wave a paw, holding the Rilakkuma, her smile blindingly bright. “Sorry to bother you so late~”

Xia Yue nodded slightly, her voice as gentle as ever: “Xiaojin, there are some things we felt… we couldn’t keep from you any longer.”

‘Keep from me?’ Xiaojin’s heart skipped a beat. She looked at her two friends’ faces, devoid of any shadow, even more intimate than usual, and that ominous premonition grew stronger.

“We’re truly sorry for keeping it from you all this time—” Xia Yue stepped forward, her tone sincere.

Lin Wan immediately chimed in with a grin, hopping forward with her Rilakkuma: “Actually, we are—”

Their voices overlapped, like a clap of thunder, striking directly at Xiaojin’s skull.

“—Magical Girls~”

****

Time, it seemed, had frozen at this moment.

Xiaojin stood rigid, her pupils contracting to pinpricks. Her mind was a blank, her ears buzzed, leaving only those two words, echoing with destructive force, replaying madly in her skull.

‘Magical Girls… Magical Girls… Magical Girls…’

‘Xia Yue? Lin Wan?’

‘Her best friends, the people she had opened her heart to and trusted in this peaceful world… were Magical Girls?!’

‘The very Magical Girls who had chased her head over heels in her previous life, forced her to live incognito and fearfully for two years in this one, and whose ‘disbandment’ news she had been ecstatic about today?!’

‘Luring the snake out of its hole… a trap…’

‘So, that disbandment announcement was fake? It was meant to draw out her, the last, hidden ‘threat’? And she, the fool, actually believed it, even eagerly reactivating her magic, like an idiot willingly leaping into a snare!’

A massive sense of absurdity and the chilling grip of utter betrayal instantly engulfed her like a tsunami. The two sweet, familiar faces before her now seemed utterly alien, even… sinister.

She gazed at Xia Yue’s still gentle eyes, at Lin Wan’s carefree smile. Her throat felt as if an invisible hand was clamped tightly around it, preventing even a whisper from escaping.

The world shattered beneath her feet.

She was finished.