((

"You're the first ever Magical Beast Girl. How is that possible, and where did you truly come from?"

On hearing this question, Shihon paused, and then gave her a piercing glare.

"W-Woah, I'm sorry! I don't mean to throw you off like that! I'm just genuinely curious!"

"Even if you are, it's none of your business, Margaret," she muttered. "What you should know is that my existence should be kept under wraps at all costs. This does not concern not only my safety, but the safety of my beloved Master. I need you to know this."

She then held her left arm out and clenched her fist, pondering on the admirable man who she had been acquainted with for the past month.

I can't get my Master into more trouble, she determined. He's already going through so much. I can't mess things up.

Margaret stared at her and then averted her gaze, as a warm smile began to appear.

"I understand. It must be hard to keep the peace with people you cherish when things like this happen. I know that I said this before, but I'm truly sorry, and thank you."

"Yeah, yeah- wait, thank you?"

"Yeah, for saving me, of course."

As Shihon furrowed her brows, Margaret reminded her of her saving acts.

"You saved me from a harsh predicament not once, but twice. I am truly grateful. Thanks to you, I am able to enjoy another day without most troubles coming my way. I'll remember this for the rest of my life."

"The…rest of your…life?"

In Shihon's mind, what she didn't wasn't truly special by all means. After all, her actions were merely based on instinct.

But now that she thought about it, between Liohime's comforting words to her after the most recent incident and Margaret's declaration of gratitude here, she had done something incredibly important twice.

She had saved a life, the life of a person whom she had deemed innocent.

Thus, she had to cast aside her apprehensiveness for a bit and accept the woman's words while truly listening to what she had to say.

Shihon reached out and held Margaret's two hands with her own, and a faint grin was plastered on her face.

"I'm Shihon."

".....Shi…hon…"

She announced her true name to her, and Margaret had realized that until that point, Shihon had not revealed her name to her.

"Shihon is my name, the name of the Magical Beast Girl."

"I'm…Margaret. It's nice to meet you, Shihon."

"It's nice to meet you too, Margaret. I'd love to ask if we could get to go out and get more acquainted with each other, but I gotta lay low for a while."

"That's completely understandable."

Margaret finally stood up, and prepared to make her exit, but she stopped.

"Oh, I didn't get a chance to say this, but your concern for your Master is admirable. You really care for them, huh?

Oh, you have no idea.

"Of course. He may be a closeted pervert who is also a maid outfit fanatic and likes to smoke, but I love him just the way he is."

That was weirdly specific.

"O-Oh, that's..nice. Anyway, I guess that I should get going. I have a cosplay convention to attend in the evening, so-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, though, she could feel a light tug on her frills, and turned to face the figure that kept her in place, halting her movement.

"Um, is something wrong, Shihon?"

"A cosplay convention…?"

"Uh, yeah. It's a bit embarrassing to mention but I cosplay a lot of stuff, you know? Police officers, bunny costumes, maid outfits…oh."

She could feel an illuminated, glamorous aura that shone out of Shihon, and quickly shielded her eyes with her hands.

What the fuck is happening right about now? she thought, as she could see yellow sparkles light up in the Magical Beast Girl's eyes while peeking at her through the small gaps of her fingers.

As if a light switch went off, Shihon's mood changed completely, and the jubilant young woman danced around in glee before leaning straight into her face.

"You're a cosplayer!!"

"Y-Yeah, yes I am-"

"YOU'RE A COSPLAYER!!!"

"YES I AM!!!"

Shihon screamed out in delight, and Margaret matched her energy, still extremely confused.

Then, it finally struck her as Shihon made the following declaration:

"TEACH ME THE WAYS OF COSPLAY SO THAT I CAN SEDUCE MY MASTER!"

"...Excuse me?"

))

***

"....Excuse me?"

After hearing the story, Liohime palmed his face and muttered the question, and then quickly followed up with another.

"Wait, where the fuck is the correlation between learning tips on cosplaying and what you're doing now!? You're playing racing games!"

Shihon groaned and shot an irritated glance at him.

"Maaaaster, she's already given me good starter tips, ya know! We also talked a lot and bonded over some stuff, and now we're playing games together! Pretty cool, right!?"

".....All of that in just about an hour?"

Utterly perplexed, he tilted his head and sighed.

I don't understand women.

Margaret had introduced herself to him, but sensing a bit of tension in the air, she decided to finally make a move for the exit.

"Well, I should really get going now, Shihon."

Shihon, who was initially hesitant when it came to conversing with her, was now becoming a bit sad at her potentially leaving.

"Aww, alright."

"Maybe someday we'll meet again. Thanks for everything."

Margaret flashed a smile and headed towards the door, but just as she passed by the stiffened figure of Liohime Kitagami…

…She opened her mouth to speak, but declined to talk and closed her lips.

After the door was silently opened and then closed, Shihon leaped straight into Liohime's arms.

"Woah, Shihon, chill out!"

"NOW I CAN HAVE YOU ALL TO MYSELF AGAIN!!!"

"Geez…you shouldn't really be inviting people in here, you know, even if it's her," he instructed her. "We're still not one hundred percent sure that she could be working undercover in order to expose us."

"Relax, Master, just relax," she replied while rubbing her head against his chest. "Ahhhhhh, I missed this."

Liohime could only smile weakly as he held onto the figure that had been longing for him, and patted her head with a loving expression.

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Master....HEY, WHY IS THERE A PERFUME AROMA ON YOU?"

Damn it, Jolene.

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