My Normal Life Now Has A Girl's Day

The sun gleamed with an unfamiliar kindness when filtered through Chiho’s windows. Tama knew, logically, that nothing changed moving from her house to this one. If anything, Chiho’s neck of the woods with all the trees around felt colder than Tama’s apartment in the heart of Tokyo, but…still, the sun warmed Tama’s futon, and the spare drops of life helped her wake up easier.

First thing after getting ready, she hurried to help with breakfast, Sarine flying next to her. The sound of a kettle convinced Tama it was a normal morning.

But she thought wrong—a sudden tight squeeze choked that feeling out.

“It’s you! It’s you, it’s you!” A larger girl with hair long enough to reach past her waist squeezed Tama like she wanted to kill her. She looked so identical to Chiho, Tama almost wanted to cry time travel, until she noticed the mole on her chin, the hazel eye color, the speed in which the lady let Tama go without her needing to beg for her life.

“Um—Aoi, please, don’t kill her!” Chiho yelled, and this ‘Aoi’ dropped Tama like a dead fish left to flop until she got her bearings in fresh water—or in this case, on the cold kitchen floor.

Tama clutched her head, scrambling to her feet as Sarine perched on Tama’s shoulder. “You good?” Sarine asked, and Tama nodded.

“What the fuck…” she grumbled. “Who’s this? I thought you didn’t have any friends other than me.”

“She’s my sister,” Chiho said, beaming as she gestured to the older girl as though introducing a prized dog at the pet show. “The current shrine maiden of the anchor to the Powers of Prime—an esteemed duty carried by the oldest daughter, while the youngest daughter wields the strength to defend the world!”

“What about the sons?” Sarine said, and Chiho blanked.

“U…Uh…”

Aoi snapped her fingers, donning a smile. “They get real good with repairing old shrines. Just see Dad at work; even if that thing wants to fall over and collapse, he’s never gonna let it happen.”

“And he makes us all lunch!” Chiho said, scurrying to the fridge. “He made one for you too, T…Tama!”

“Awww, you shy about your new friend?” Aoi ruffled her sister’s hair, and though Chiho tried to resist, she melted under her sister’s affection—all under Tama’s unimpressed gaze.

Yeah, she thought, glad I’m an only child.

Though maybe—Tama shook her head, Sarine’s eyes trained on the other girl with a word hanging off her lips. But she let it dissolve, Tama hurrying to check on Chiho’s forgotten eggs. With the help of the two sisters, they rolled the eggs and arranged the plates, digging into their meals in a few moment’s time.

Chiho put down her chopsticks first. “Um, T—Tama, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Huh?” Tama choked down her food. “Oh, shit—it’s Sunday, right? I should probably go home and—”

“No, wait!”

…Chiho covered her face, taking a few deep breaths while Aoi snuffed out her own snickering. “I’m not going to kick you out. You can stay as long as you’d like—it’s safe here, and I…don’t want to think about anything bad happening to you. But—uh,” Chiho winced, “I’m not saying you can’t leave, but…before, I wanted to…since neither of us have school or any other plans, I wanted…”

Tama groaned, getting out of her seat. “Sure. We can hang.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, really. Like you said, no plans. Why not? We’ve been doing enough; we deserve a break.”

“I agree,” Sarine said. “But, like, if I’m getting an opinion here, can we go somewhere not too crowded? So I don’t have to stuff myself in Ohzora’s purse the whole time.”

Aoi clapped her hands together. “You guys should go to this new karaoke place! I know Chi loves singing, even though she’s never sung anything but—”

“AAH!” Chiho threw her hands over her sister’s mouth. “What? What!? Did I hear something!? Wow, the trees are so noisy today! That cool late spring breeze is sending a chill down my spine—should we step outside for some air? Maybe take a train and see where it leads us?”

“Uh—yeah, sure,” Tama said, pointing to the door. “We’re gonna go like, right now. See ya, Ohzora…the older one?”

Aoi shoved Chiho’s hand away while Chiho stole Tama’s opening to flee for the door. The two girls ran, though no amount of preplanned escape arts prepared them to block out Aoi’s parting words:

“Make sure to give the PreMure openings a run through! Chi’s got all of ‘em memorized!”

The two stopped to catch their breaths, the soft ruffle of the trees looming overhead and catching them in shadows. Lavi shoved the remains of her breakfast in her mouth, trailing around Chiho before stopping in front of Tama.

“Just so you know,” Lavi said, pointing, “PreMure’s the epitome of fine art! That’s because everything Magical Girl Yearning Yuriko touches becomes a work of art, a glittering justice improving the lives of everyone lucky enough to—”

Chiho waved Lavi away. “I swear, I haven’t touched it in years!”

“But, this morning—”

“I SWEAR!”

Tama covered her mouth, trying her damnest not to laugh before forcing herself into a neutral expression. “Sing whatever you want. I seriously, really, do not give a shit. I just—…I just wanna hang out and have a normal day with you guys. That cool?”

“Sounds good to me,” Sarine said, smiling. “I can use a spell to hide Lavi and I from the cameras. Just make sure you order extra snacks for us! I know we look tiny, but we eat just as much as you humans do.”

Tama rolled her eyes. “Trust me, I know. I’ve seen the seconds you sneak on your plate.”

“I don’t get seconds! It’s a little extra, Ohzora’s servings are way too tiny!”

“Are they? Ah—my apologies…”

“Nooo, wait, please don’t cry!”

Sarine fussed over a teary-eyed Chiho while Tama shook her head, disappointed. A yank of the ear replaced it with anger, leading to yet another argument about something as trivial as breakfast between Tama and Sarine.

Chiho and Lavi watched. Though they argued with such fervor, neither noticed the playful grins they bore.

“I suppose things have changed, haven’t they?” Chiho clasped her hands behind her back, Lavi yawning. “Oh—are you still tired?”

Lavi blinked. She snapped her mouth shut and blushed, sheepish. “Sorry, like, I couldn’t sleep at all. You know, I’m excited! We’re a whole group fighting against nightmares! Almost like…a magical team?”

Chiho blushed, and soon, she smiled alongside them all. “…Oh, that is quite nice, isn’t it?”