Chapter 5 📖 Magical Diary (1)

"Here! This is it!"

"Ah, you really got one?"

Hanako presented a small notebook that looked similar to a pocket calendar to Kouhei. It had a light pink and yellow cover and could be closed with a strap. It had a repeating heart pattern. The design was very girly. On the front, Hanako had written her own name.

"Yes! This is my very own magical girl progress diary!"

Kouhei suggested she should start keeping track of her efforts to become a magical girl. It was good advice for once. Even if she is struggling with something, she could write down her problems and sometime later look back on it. Seeing how much she improved would result in a feeling of achievement.

Kouhei flipped through the pages slowly and read the entries one by one. Everything that happened to her was written down in a really neat and small handwriting.

"I notice a pattern here..." Kouhei remarked, "it seems you are still struggling heavily with being the center of attention."

"...Yeah..."

"Don't you think that's pretty important? I mean. When you fight as a magical girl there will be many onlookers, right?"

"I know. But it's just not for me"

"Maybe we should target your weak points first, so that the progress will be more noticable?"

"No..."

"You mean yes?"

"Maybe. But I don't want to. Also I wouldn't even know where to start."

"You should be lucky that you got me as a mentor! I already thought about this actually" he proudly proclaimed while giving her a small thumbs up.

"What do you suggest then?"

"Well. Let me start like this: The average male fan of magical girls is not interested in the romance, in the fights, or in the story."

"WHAT!?"

"Now, keep calm and listen. Somewhere out there are men that are watching magical girls for the outfits they are wearing. Especially because they are hoping to get a glimpse of their bare skin. Of course I am not one of them. But I heard those people exist."

Kouhei is totally one of them.

"Eeh! But the stories are so good!"

"Yeah, I believe you... You see, I think you should consider this group of fans as well. So in order to do so, you have to become more comfortable if people are taking a look at your bare skin as well."

"I am not a big fan of the idea so far. But let's see... Continue."

"Maybe you should try to intentionally draw attention to your legs", he added jokingly.

"One second", Hanako opened her bag, got hold of a pocket calculator and started punching in some numbers. "After careful calculation you are a 8.7 on the baka-scale." No calculation was involved, she just hit the keys for 8, dot and seven in order to display the score.

"8.7!? Lucky! Then I have roughly 91 more points as a buffer!"

"The scale is out of 10! And you just increased by 0.1!!"

"So, what do you think? Are you still planning on becoming a magical girl or not?"

His proposal was audacious and unreasonable. It was also pretty vague what was even meant and how to fulfill this task.

"...Okay. But you will pay bigtime if I don't get contracted." Hanako's desire to reach her goal outweighed the awful idea of Kouhei. "I can't just go around asking people to stare, though. How should I even start?"

"That's up to you to figure out! As your mentor, I could tell you everything you need to know, but leaving some things up to the apprentice themself is sometimes much more valuable than the mentor giving the answers all the time." He had no idea himself, even after this bold statement.

Hanako was still uncertain if this would be a good idea and how it should work out. But she was willing to give it a try and figure out a way on the fly.

They left the school a bit after classes ended and got on the local train line without having a clear destination in mind.

It was late afternoon and the commuter rush would begin in a moment when all the officer workers finished their shift and hopped on the train on their way home. The train wasn't very crowded yet, so Hanako and Kouhei were able to grab two of the remaining seats.

With their back to the window of the train car, they sat down on the soft cushion. Kouhei was situated on the outside seat next to the entrance and exit door. Next to him was Hanako. Next to Hanako was a roughly 20 year old man wearing a suit.

Hanako noticed him acting nervously and constantly checking his watch and readjusting the position of his necktie and glasses. He also regularly checked the board that displayed what stop will be next.

"Mister, are you worried about something?"

Not expecting to be talked to, the man looked at her. "A-, Well. My job interview is about to take place. And I am not really good on time..."

"Ehh. That's bad! Where did you apply?"

"Tanaka Shinbun."

"Tanaka Shinbun!?" Hanako was amazed.

It was a newspaper publisher that basically every person living in the area knew about. Even though their office is not one of the high-rise skyscrapers, it's still a well-known landmark in town. "Then you have to get off after the next stop, right?"

"Exactly, but being late for an interview is terrible! Especially for someone applying to be a journalist. My interview is to take place in... twelve minutes from now!" he said after once again checking the time.

Hanako came up with a plan on the spot, which let her complete the task Kouhei gave her. She couldn't be happier to get this out of the way as quickly as possible. And this job applicant didn't look like a bad person.

"But isn't there big construction work being done at your stop at the moment? I heard about it from one of my friends who was late for class because of this." She was talking about Saya who always took this train line and who got to class more than five minutes late, not seeing the need to hurry while doing so.

"Construction!? I didn't know!"

"Yeah, they are basically renovating the whole station and also some of the plaza in front"

Like a real magical girl, Hanako felt the need to help this man out of his miserable state because of her own goodwill. If she could finish her challenge at the same time then she would have hit two birds with a single stone.

"Look. This is your station", she was pointing at a position on her leg, "and this is Tanaka Shinbun. Normally you would take this path". She pointed to a different spot on her leg and then connected the two by drawing a line with her finger, following an imaginary road.

"But you will lose at least five minutes like this. Take a turn here instead and follow this path", she mapped the area around the station on her leg for the young man to show him which way to take to be on time. Kouhei also followed her explanation closely, with big interest.

"Do you understand?"

"Uhm. Sorry, I wasn't able to follow quite well. Could you please explain it once more?"

"Okay, once more!" And she repeated the whole mapping and routing process anew, this time slower with more detailed explanations.

"Wouldn't it be possible if he took this route instead?" Kouhei intervened and drew a different path on her leg. The sudden tingling sensation made Hanako shudder. Finally he was able to make up for the missed opportunity on the MagiFair date, even though just a fingertip wasn't the real deal he was aiming for.

"Yeah! You can also take that way! Both ways will get you there in time because you avoid the densely frequented construction roads."

But he was still acting a bit dumbfounded by this cumbersome explanation.

"Um. Can I take a picture?"

"Sure!" Hanako replied with a bright smile, thinking it would help him. So he carefully aimed his phone at the full length of her naked thigh and after holding still for a second the shutter sound played. Needless to say, this picture wouldn't help him in finding his way at all. No map was visible.

Kouhei was amazed how smooth this person was acting and pretty envious about the image that he just got.

The person courteously thanked her for the help and got off at his stop, leaving the station in the exact opposite direction he was told about.

"I hope he will be alright...." Hanako watched him go while looking after him from the window behind her.

Kouhei was staring at her silently for a moment before opening his mouth.

"Damn. That was quick thinking!!"

"Thank you. I think I did it!?"

"Actually, I wouldn't have expected this at all", still amazed Kouhei was praising Hanako but then added "but I think you should do it once more to get used to it."

"Again!?"

"It wasn't that horrible, was it?"

"Hehe, after this I think I might be able to do it", she announced with a cheerful tone.