Chapter 151

"… I haven't decided yet."

Hinata subconsciously tightened her grip on her schoolbag strap, her eyes drifting toward the window.

"If you don't decide now, how are you going to choose a university? You're not a genius, you know."

Her mother's tone was devoid of inflection.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a job these days? Let alone the fact that you're a girl. For a woman to be competitive in the workplace, she must plan earlier than everyone else."

Is it a money problem?

Hinata had never worried about money. Even if she stopped being a Magical Girl in the future, she had secretly saved up two hundred million yen.

Although it probably wouldn't last a lifetime—two hundred million yen wasn't exactly a huge sum—it was still a considerable fortune for now.

"I… don't really want to go to university."

Subconsciously, she blurted out this thought.

But the only response she got, naturally, was her mother's look of astonishment: "Then what do you want to do? You're not planning to start working immediately, are you? Do you have any goals?"

Hinata probably didn't know how to answer this barrage of questions either.

She just gazed out the window, looking at the lights quietly flickering in the night—like fragments of the moon and the sun.

Volume 4: Evil Magic City Tokyo: 143: Firing a light cannon in the city center feels just right.

"I'm telling you, if you don't go to a prestigious university now, how are you going to get into a good company in the future?"

Sitting at the table, her mother [patiently] tried to reason with her daughter, speaking with earnest sincerity.

"It's already hard for girls to find jobs these days. Even if you just want to be a secretary, big companies only want graduates from Todai or Keio. Society is very realistic."

"That classmate of yours, Haruka, isn't she very good at talking? She would be very suitable for HR. What about you? You don't like to talk, and you don't like socializing."

"I know your grades, and it's impossible for you to get into a particularly good university. If you don't have a clear plan for your future, you might as well consider taking the civil service exam sooner. At the very least, it's stable, worry-free, and the pension is good—it's at least suitable for someone with your personality who doesn't like dealing with people."

Nagging on and on, every word of Hinata's mother probably had its own logic.

Hinata Haruna—the solar Magical Girl Soleia—sat across the table listening silently, her face expressionless.

In any case, it went in one ear and out the other. The words were like smooth water droplets, sliding roundly over her brain without leaving a single trace behind.

How tacky.

Really so tacky.

Mom is completely a tacky person.

Why is my mother so tacky, only ever talking about "further education," "prestigious schools," "stability"… these kinds of words?

She only felt that the way her mother spoke was just like those marketing videos on the internet about workplace survival skills, even the wording was the same.

Vulgar, [success], boring, meaningless—completely meaningless.

Mom is completely a vulgar person.

"Hinata."

But Mom is Mom after all.

As she kept talking, it didn't take long for her to notice that her daughter was daydreaming, and her tone involuntarily became stern:

"You need to think about this seriously. This is your life, it concerns your future."

"If there is something you want to do, then say it. Mom will listen to you."

Silence.

The silence lasted for quite a while.

Finally, Hinata said dryly: "…I want to become sparkling (kirakira)."

"Huh??"

Hinata's mother never expected her daughter to blurt out such a thing and was stunned for a moment.

"What did you say? Want to 'become sparkling'?"

Hinata didn't speak, just nodded silently.

—She hadn't expected that she would actually voice the thought hidden in her heart.

"That is not a future career plan!"

So this answer just about made Hinata's mother laugh in anger. With a twitching mouth, she couldn't help but cover her forehead with one hand.

"What do you mean by 'sparkling'? Do you want to be an idol?"

"If you really want to be an idol, it's not out of the question—but Hinata, do you 'really' want to be an idol?"

"You're at this age now, you should know how to think about practical issues."

Of course, Hinata didn't speak; after all, she didn't actually want to be an idol.

She also knew it was impossible for her—tacky, introverted, doesn't know how to dress up, it was impossible to be an idol, impossible to be an entertainer.

If she weren't transformed, she would probably stutter from nervousness if she said two words in front of a camera.

However, that was never the point.

The point was—why didn't Mom understand what I was trying to say at all?

Why could Mom only think in such a vulgar way, that "wanting to be sparkling means joining the entertainment industry"? And then dismiss it so lightly?

Ultimately, she didn't really want to listen to me at all…

Ah.

Damn it.

Although she hadn't transformed into a Magical Girl for half a month,

Although the fear of a "genuine" battle between good and evil had prevented her from participating in any hero activities for the past half a month or so,

…but at this moment, a feeling of near-resentment couldn't help but well up in Hinata's heart—

—If a villain appeared right now to attack my house, so Mom could see how sparkling [the real me] is, that would be great.

She said to herself in her heart.

—But what happened next was probably not what she wanted.

"BOOM!!!"

No sooner said than done!

Before Hinata could recover from her delusions,

the next instant, a loud noise exploded, like a bolt from the blue!

A shocking force had already shattered the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Hinata family's living room. Large swaths of glass shards flew in with a sharp whistling sound, like hail smashing into this ordinary daily life.

It was a huge metal tentacle, suddenly reaching in from outside the window, swinging like an angry octopus, overturning the dining table and smashing the wall.

Hinata's mother didn't even have time to react before she was swept to the other side of the room by the titanium alloy tentacle, her body crashing into a bookshelf.

"Mom?!"

Hinata screamed, wanting to grab her.

But it was too late. The bookshelf collapsed with a roar, books and wood fragments splattering, pinning Hinata's mother underneath.

At the same time, a terrifying thing had crawled in from outside the window, into her living room, and landed heavily on the Hinata family's expensive solid wood floor.

It was not human.

It was a combat machine made purely of steel alloy, titanium black all over, with blue and white electric sparks spraying slightly from the seams.

Six retractable mechanical tentacles unfurled from its back like spider legs, suspended and ostentatious, making a sharp "clack clack" sound.

Four scarlet sensor eyes flashed with mechanical light, scanning slowly across the room, and finally locked precisely onto Hinata.

A series of flippant and harsh electronically synthesized sounds came from the mechanical chest:

"Hello! I am [Super Moruo BOT No. 18]!"

"Now beginning the capture operation for Magical Girl Soleia, please treat me well!"

"You may still voluntarily surrender! Please do so!"

—What?

What's going on?

Although she had been a Magical Girl for several months, Hinata had never encountered—never even thought—that a villain would [actually] come to attack her home.

Let alone in such a sudden, surprise-attack manner, breaking directly through the window, attacking her family, and knocking her mother to the ground with the first strike!

"Mom!!"

What should she do?

She wanted to rush over to save her mother, but her limbs were stiff from violent trembling, unable to move.

This was a real-deal evil villain attack, not a delusion born from boredom.

In an instant, even though the transformation makeup mirror was right in her pocket, Hinata's mind went blank, her hands and feet cold. Fear poured into every nerve like mercury.

For the first time, she clearly realized that enemies could attack directly like this, rushing into the home she usually felt was safe and isolated from the "extraordinary" as if they were two different worlds.

Her "ordinary life" could be destroyed by the enemy in an instant, and they could even hurt her family.

Transform quickly.

Amidst the rigidity of fear, only her instinct remained screaming—transform quickly!

"—Magical Girl, Dress Change!"

Thus, in this cold air, she finally raised her right hand. The transformation makeup mirror embedded with the solar crest bloomed with golden light in her hand!

The next instant, the world was ignited by the golden light. A circle of flame magic array, like the surface of the sun, unfolded beneath her feet.

In the swirling flames, gorgeous golden light particles exploded and danced around her body!

Her clothes were torn apart by the light, replaced by a gold and white magical outfit, as scorching and gorgeous as the midsummer sun, a magnificent Magical Girl battle suit with a white base and gold trim, wrapped in flames.

Her hair changed from tacky black to brilliantly shining gold, and her eyes were like burning, sparkling brightly!

"The golden dawn that dispels the darkness, shedding the blessings of the morning light!"

Straightening her back, she was no longer the cowardly and insecure Hinata, her gaze having become arrogant and firm,

"Spear of the Sun God, Magical Girl Soleia!"

Don't be afraid!

It's just a battle like usual!

Magical Girl Soleia will never lose!

…However, before Soleia could rush forward, the next instant, she saw the [Super Moruo BOT] transform.

One of its "tails" clicked, joints popping out, rapidly extending, rotating, folding, and then with a "thud," it was steadily mounted on its head.

Looking at this, it was clearly… a cannon. A cannon with six legs.

Seeing the cannon barrel light up with deep red lights, it just turned slightly toward her.

In an instant, for no reason, in an instant, a baseless fear, purely stemming from biological instinct, shot from her spine straight to her brain.

Without needing any rational judgment, Soleia knew—if she couldn't block this shot, she would die.

The intuition of terror made her immediately and reflexively concentrate her magic, unfolding a dual defensive shield with maximum energy in front of her.

"—[Sunshine Barrier]!"

The next split second, a flash of light pierced into her shield.