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By all accounts, it was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining brightly over the city, and the distant sounds of chatter could be heard all around. It seemed like the perfect time to go out and have fun.
Naturally, Ruri Yoneda wasn’t taking any of that in.
Instead, the young high schooler lay still on her bed, staring at the ceiling, hoping that the day would just pass by already. Yet she also knew her father would worry if she stayed in bed all day, and she especially didn’t want him to feel that way. So begrudgingly, Ruri sat up and walked over to her family’s dining room. Unsurprisingly, some breakfast was already set up for her. Her father was always on top of things like that. When he noticed his daughter, he gave a quick greeting.
“Ah, good morning Ruri. I made breakfast for you. I understand that what happened yesterday was tragic, so it’s alright if you’re not fully okay yet. Still, I do hope you feel better soon.”
“…Thanks, daddy.”
Ruri stared at her father’s sad smile as she sat down and ate her breakfast. He was genuine in his desire to help. She wanted nothing more than to return that earnestness, and tell her father what was going on right now, but that would be against the rules of the game she was in.
A few days ago, Ruri, as the magical girl Lapis Lazuline, found herself in a virtual game called Magical Girl Raising Project. At first, it was fun to partake in something that seemed to be a training simulator for magical girls, a good way for her to better her skills. But soon, people began dying, and from what the mascot Fal was saying, they were dead in reality as well. Despite it all, Lazuline tried keeping a positive attitude throughout, but then Bellsie…
…
Ruri shook her head to clear her thoughts. She didn’t want to think about this any longer than she should. Noticing that her dad was at the door, speaking to someone outside, she turned her attention over to him. Her dad then turns to her. “Hey, Ruri, this person here says that she wants to speak with you. Do you know her?”
She had no idea who would want to meet her at this moment. Silently walking over to the door to see, Ruri nearly forgot everything that transpired earlier as her eyes widened in shock. Right in front of her was her mentor, the old Lapis Lazuline. Chuckling slightly at Ruri’s reaction, her mentor began to speak. “Glad to see that you haven’t completely forgotten about your mentor.”
Ah, that’s probably the reason why she was here. Ruri hadn’t been reading any of her messages lately. Any reminders of magical girls was… difficult to deal with at the moment. She was hoping that her mentor would just not push the topic, but knowing her Ruri should’ve probably seen this coming. The old Lapis Lazuline could be a bit cruel at times, so even though she didn’t want to, Ruri should try and maintain a reasonable attitude for now. “Well, haha… I—“
“We should chat somewhere a little more privately, don’t you think?” Her mentor quickly cut her off, slightly motioning over to her father. The man, understanding the message, excused himself. Though before doing so, he made sure to smile at Ruri. “Hope you have fun with your mentor here, I think you really need it.”
Ruri watched as her father walked back into the house, shutting the door. After a moment of silence, the old Lapis Lazuline spoke up again “You have a honest and kind father, I’m surprised at how easily he accepted what was happening.”
Realizing that her mentor was waiting on a response, Ruri laughed, slightly awkwardly. “Yeah… daddy’s understanding like that. A-Anyways, sorry I haven’t been responding to any calls or messages, I’m not in the mood to do any errands.”
Her mentor looked a little surprised at that statement, though given Ruri’s intuition, her demeanor still seemed almost teasing, in a way. “Oh? Whatever do you mean, Lazuline? I haven’t been the one sending anything.”
“Wha—“ To confirm this, Ruri took out her phone and checked for any messages or missed calls. Sure enough, they were either from Bluebell Candy or Ranyi. Seeing the look of surprise on her face, The First Lapis Lazuline continued, “Those two have been quite worried about you, had they known where you lived, I’m certain they’d march right over to check on you themselves.” Considering the experiences Ruri had with them, that sounded about right. In retrospect, she probably at least should have said something before not responding to anyone for two days. “So I guess you want to bring me over then?”
The old Lapis Lazuline smiled. “Maybe another time. I wanted to spend some more time with you, in person. I haven’t been around here often, so I was wondering if you’d show me around. Your father did want us to have some fun, after all.”
“Oh.. uh, alright then. Let’s do that.” Ruri couldn’t help but feel a little upset at herself. She still felt very awkward around everything, when usually she’d be peppy. She supposed that a little moment to relax might be good to get her mood up before talking to her friends. Internally, she was glad that the old Lapis Lazuline suggested this. Seemingly hearing her thoughts, her mentor smiled. “By the way, just call me Old Blue, alright?”
“Oh, alright, Old Blue!”
“Aren’t you going to transform?”
“Eh? Should I? I mean, I thought us magical girls shouldn’t be seen by humans.”
“It’s not like you to follow the rules.”, Old Blue commented, leading to an awkward laugh coming from Ruri. Her mentor continued, “My human form isn’t very presentable, so I’d rather not go around like that. Besides, while a lot of magical girls have extravagant designs, we don’t look too different from humans. If anything, others will simply think of us as beautiful passersby.”
Without giving Ruri a chance to respond, Old Blue began running over to the city. In a panic, Ruri transformed into the magical girl Lapis Lazuline in order to follow behind. It was surprisingly easy to transform in the moment, despite what happened. The magical girl shoved that thought away from her mind, as she chased after her mentor into the city.
Running through, Old Blue seemed to be interested in the sights of the city, looking around everywhere. “I’m always busy, so I rarely get an opportunity like this. In a way, I envy how you can jump along this city at all times. It’s a nice place.”
Surprisingly, Lazuline couldn’t help but smile at that comment. “Yeah, this place is pretty cool! I really love hanging around here!”
The master and apprentice continued to run around the city. Lazuline found that her mentor was a lot more talkative than she was expecting. Usually she’d be concise and only talk about the errands Lazuline had to do, or any tips regarding training.
When Lazuline commented on this behavior, Old Blue simply stated, “Well, it’s clear that you’re not going to be doing any talking about what’s bothering you, so I might as well fill up the silence. It could help take your mind off of things.” Ironically, this statement got Lazuline to quiet down for a moment. Old Blue continued, seemingly aware that Lazuline was busy thinking, “Besides, I feel like I should do more than just leave you with the occasional nudge in a certain direction. I want to be a good mentor for you, at least once.”
Lazuline stared in a fair bit of surprise at Old Blue. Her mentor seemed to have a little bit of wistfulness in her eyes, before quickly changing back to her usual collected persona. Lazuline decided that for today, she should try to keep her spirits up. Old Blue would be happy about it, and it would probably be good for her as well. Grinning wide for the first time in a while, she spoke, “Oh, mentor, you don’t need to worry about that, you help me a lot already!”
Old Blue simply smiled. She didn’t show it on her face, but Lazuline’s intuition was telling her that she was surprised, yet glad for the kind words. “I appreciate it. I’m glad that you seem more happy as well.” A pause. Old Blue seemed to briefly be contemplating something for a moment. “Perhaps I should gather up the other apprentices to meet up with them. I’m satisfied with the sights of the city now, and… the others do really want to see you. So we could just see them right now. I’m sure they won’t mind a sudden meeting if they were to see you.”
Lazuline smiled brightly upon hearing that. To be honest, she was really hoping to be able to see her friends. “Sure! …But how about we get something to eat first?”
“Oh? Don’t us magical girls not need to eat!”
“Yeah, but I heard from a friend once that we’ll be able to savor food better with our enhanced senses! And I could do with some ramen anyways!”
“Ramen…? Oh, you must have gotten that from Panas. I don’t really like those Archfiend Cram students. When did you meet up with her anyways?”
“Oh, that’s a long story! You see…”
Somehow, this led to Lazuline and Old Blue eating at a ramen place, but Lazuline could tell that her mentor didn’t mind this detour.
◇◇◇
“Blue Comet! Where have you been?” “Lapis Lazuline! Are you okay? Do you need anything? If you need anything, I’ll try my best to deliver!”
Arriving at the meetup place where Old Blue’s other students were, Bluebell Candy and Ranyi immediately ran up to Lazuline, with the latter in particular getting really close. Lazuline quickly waved her arms to drive Ranyi back “I’m fine! I’m fine! Just needed some time to myself as a human, that’s all.”
Bluebell Candy smiled at the interaction, “Still, you could’ve at least sent a message. Everyone was pretty worried about you, even if Diko won’t admit it.” Bluebell gestured over to Diko Narakunoin. The magical girl in question was standing off to the side, pretending that she wasn’t interested. “I’m sure she wants to talk with you too, so let’s go over there.” Bluebell continued, with Ranyi already excitedly dragging Lazuline over to her friend.
Lazuline quickly exclaimed, “Woah, hold on a moment! What about—” though when she looked over to her mentor, she seemed content with simply watching her students. “As I’ve said, we’ve spent enough time together.” Old Blue stated, “You should go along and have fun with the others now.”
After a moment of consideration, Lazuline nodded, and continued walking with Ranyi and Bluebell Candy. She’s spent enough time worrying about stuff that she can no longer change. If all that’s left to do is wait until she enters the game world again, then she’ll spend the time she has now with her good friends. With a smile, Lapis Lazuline vowed to remember to hang out with her friends more once the game is over, to make up for the time lost.
◇◇◇
Watching as her students run off together, Old Blue couldn’t help but sigh, briefly reflecting on how this all ended up happening.
Her magic, ‘To see the true nature of things’ has already allowed her to know in advance of Lapis Lazuline’s current situation… as well as what her true fate will end up being.
Old Blue was prepared for the possibility of her student’s death when set her up to take the fall for that retest. Therefore, she would’ve preferred if the others did distance themselves from Lazuline. After all, they would be hanging out with someone who would probably die of a ‘heart attack’ in just a day from now. Ranyi and perhaps even Bluebell would be heartbroken, similarly to…
Old Blue shook that thought away for the moment. It was not important to think about at the moment. What was important was thinking about why she allowed this to happen. Was Ranyi’s and Bluebell’s constant begging for Old Blue to check up on Lazuline that difficult to ignore?
No, it wasn’t just them that affected her judgement. She simply didn’t want Lazuline to feel depressed anymore. It’s surprising, she also hoped that she wouldn’t get attached like this, but the young girl seemed to be able to positively affect those around her with her demeanor, Old Blue was almost jealous.
And so here she was, making a decision that she’ll likely regret later on, all because she cared deeply for a student she knew would die very soon. The human mind was truly fascinating. Well, this decision can’t be undone now anyways, so she might as well accept what consequences this might follow.
With a future already set in stone, Old Blue could do nothing more but pray for Lapis Lazuline’s safety.