Kanna—that was the name of that adorable little creature.
The reason her name came up was that she blurted it out after being frightened by Yukino.
Though she was criminally cute, running away from home and refusing to say where she lived made her seem a bit too spoiled and mischievous.
In the end, Yukino got a little angry, exuding such a strong aura that she forced the little moe blob to at least reveal her name. How adorable.
Since it was already late at night, it wasn't appropriate to let such a cute little girl wander outside.
So, under Yukino's intimidation, the little one ended up staying at her place for the night. The next day, they'd contact the police to help find her family.
The sight of the moe blob, tears the size of beans welling up in her eyes, casting a pitiful and helpless look at him, made Yazuki's heart ache so much he almost took her back to his place for the night.
But in the end, he hardened his heart and looked away.
After all, she was a little girl, and if a woman could take care of her, it'd be much more convenient than leaving her with a man.
Come to think of it, Yazuki felt like he had once raised an equally moe little girl—a dragon girl, wasn't it?
Ah, whatever. No point dwelling on it.
"Haah—"
A wave of drowsiness hit him.
Yazuki glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of his laptop screen—it was already past 1 a.m. School tomorrow.
Time to sleep.
He lifted his head slightly and saw the angel across from him, as usual, diligently shading his work for him.
Her expressionless yet delicate face gave off a vibe of extreme focus and meticulousness.
Even now, if he hadn't seen her with his own eyes, touched her soft limbs, or felt her breathing, he'd still feel like this was all some kind of dream.
Come to think of it, if he was going to school, he couldn't just leave Ikaros alone at home all day, right? That'd be boring.
Tomorrow, he'd ask old hag Hiratsuka to help enroll her.
If she refused, he'd just threaten to expose how she forcibly kissed her student. That settled it.
Also, he couldn't keep having Ikaros do everything he asked.
She should find something she wanted to do herself. He didn't want an Ikaros who just blindly followed his orders—it'd be best if she had her own aspirations.
His gaze returned to the part of his healing (traumatizing) magical girl series he'd just finished.
The story had reached that point, so it was time to release it.
He logged into the largest doujin manga website.
Just as he was about to access his account, he reconsidered and decided to use a new throwaway account instead. He scanned the completed portion and uploaded it to his computer, organizing it along with last night's work before publishing it.
Tap tap tap—
This wasn't the kind of sound that would get people's blood pumping in certain special doujinshi. No, it was just him typing on his keyboard.
After making sure everything was correct, he prepared to upload.
[Puppy, asleep yet?]
The recipient of his message was a certain girl who, in public, was a petite, golden-haired beauty with trademark twin tails, clear blue eyes, and porcelain-like skin—a certified real-life beauty who could instantly captivate any man at first sight: Eriri.
[Who the hell are you calling a puppy, you dumb mutt? You wanna die?]
The reply came in less than ten seconds. Clearly, that girl wasn't asleep yet either and was probably browsing the web or something.
One could easily imagine the other side of the screen: the same girl who was seen as a refined beauty by the public now glaring at her monitor with dead-fish eyes, probably gripping her computer so hard it looked like she was about to crawl through the screen and beat him up through the internet.
[Recommend you a new magical girl series…]
He sent the title over and let her search for it herself.
He couldn't hold on any longer—he was dead tired. He hadn't slept much last night either.
"Ikaros… no more shading… go to… sleep—"
Mumbling words even he couldn't understand, he drifted off.
"Hmm?"
The pink-haired girl stopped her pen and tilted her head slightly, noticing her master had already fallen asleep on the desk.
Quietly, she stood up, walked over, and gently lifted her master in her slender, seemingly fragile arms, carrying him to his room—just like the artificial girl from the movie she'd watched earlier that day, tending to her master's needs.
After glancing around her master's room, she was about to leave when she noticed a shelf filled with small figurines of young girls and several peculiar books.
"The Etiquette of a Maid?"
One of the books caught her attention, causing her emerald-green eyes to widen ever so slightly.
She reached out and picked it up, carefully examining the so-called "etiquette of a maid."
"Beginning recording."
Her originally green eyes gradually turned gold as data-like light flowed through her irises, altering their color.
If one could zoom in on that light, they'd find it wasn't just composed of magical symbols—it also intertwined with the digital code symbols of Earth's modern technology.
If the sleeping boy had seen this, he would've been shocked.
After all, in his eyes, Ikaros was a purely magical creation. There should've been no trace of scientific elements in her.
At this hour, most people were already deep in dreamland—especially young girls, who rarely stayed up too late to avoid looking haggard the next day.
A certain girl who, at school, was the picture of a radiant beauty—acting with the grace and poise of a noble young lady, appearing kind and refined to outsiders—was currently a disheveled mess with no intention of sleeping anytime soon.
"Something about this feels malicious…"
The beauty—Eriri—stared at the seemingly normal reply on her screen, but through the text, she could almost sense a sinister undertone, as if the sender was plotting something against her.
She'd been tricked by him before.
Like that time she borrowed a DVD from him—it started off normal, but halfway through, it suddenly spliced in horror scenes, scaring her so badly she almost wet herself.
But since this was posted on a legitimate website, there shouldn't be any issues. Probably just another trash recommendation to make her suffer alongside him.
"Hmm? A newbie? Puella Magi Madoka Magica?"
The title was way too straightforward. Nothing particularly unique about it.
"Oh? Hmm—!"
She checked the cover art—a full-color illustration.
The refined, detailed art style gave Eriri a slight shock. It depicted four magical girls, each with distinct personalities that were immediately apparent at a glance.
The pink-haired one was clearly the kind, gentle protagonist type—fitting for most magical girl stories.
The blue-haired one seemed more cool and tomboyish.
The golden, wavy ponytail gave off an older-sisterly, gentle vibe.
And the last one, the black-haired beauty with long straight hair, was the aloof, untouchable type.
Though it was a magical girl story, the girls were wielding swords, bows, and muskets?
Interesting.
Well then, let the great Eriri properly critique this work.