2 Magical Girl Meets the Cat God

Author: Kumanano
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7313mj/2/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

“Become a magical girl.”

I’m sitting on the bed in my room, reading manga on my phone, when someone speaks to me.
This is my room on the second floor.
At this hour there’s no one else in the house.
The TV isn’t on, and neither is the computer.
I look around the room, and there’s a white cat by the window.
Did the cat talk?
No way.
I’m already a fourth grader.
When my birthday comes this year, I’ll be ten.
I’m old enough to tell reality from manga.

“Hey, become a magical girl.”

I hear it again.
I look around the room.
But there’s no one here except the white cat.

“Don’t tell me you’re the one who talked?”

I try speaking to the cat as a joke.

“Looks like you can understand me just fine. I thought you couldn’t hear me.”
“……!?”

The cat talked.

“A robot? Wait, a hidden camera!?”

I’ve heard there are even hidden-camera drones these days.
So this is a cat-shaped robot.

“I’ll call the police…”

The instant I think I’ll use the phone in my hand to call the police, the cat comes into the room and flicks the phone away with its tail.
The phone falls on the bed, and the cat puts a paw on it.

“I’m not a robot. And I’m not a hidden camera either.”

The phone is under the cat’s paw.
I can’t get my hands on it like this.
What do I do?
Jump it?
It’s a cat.
But the cat might do something.
What if it spits poison.
Okay, that’s too much manga.
But I don’t know what it might do.
I look at the door.
There’s no one in the house, so I can’t call for help.
But if I go to the living room, there’s a phone.
I break into a run and reach for the door.

“I-it won’t open.”
“I put a spell on it, so it won’t open.”

It won’t open, as if someone is holding it shut.
The cat gets down from the bed and walks toward me.

“Stay away.”
“Won’t you listen to what I have to say? If you don’t, even mild-mannered me will get angry.”

I sink down and try to back away, but the door is there, and I can’t go any farther.

“Dad!”
“I’ve put a spell on it, so no one outside can hear you.”

I’m scared.

“Monster cat.”
“That’s mean. I’m not a monster cat.”

Cats don’t talk.

“I’ll say it again. Become a magical girl.”
“Coming into someone’s house without asking is a crime!”
“You’re not listening. Look at this.”

The cat floats.

“A cat-shaped drone.”

Drones can float and fly around freely in the air.

“Wrong. There aren’t any propellers anywhere, see?”

There really aren’t.
I’ve never heard of a cat-shaped drone.
There’s nothing about a cat that would make it float.
But maybe I just don’t know, and it can fly even without propellers.

“What are you?”
“From your point of view, I suppose I’m a god.”
“…A god.”
“To be precise, a cat god.”

I can’t believe it.
But in reality, a cat is talking to me.
The white cat shows me proof that he’s a god.
His body floats, and he makes water and fire appear out of nowhere.

“If that’s all, a lighter and some water would—”

I start to say it would be possible, and my body floats.

“Wha—”

I try to keep my balance in the air, but I hit the wall and fall onto the bed.

“Will you believe me now?”

It’s unbelievable, but my body floated.
Even as an elementary schooler, I know a person’s body doesn’t float.
A person’s body only floats in outer space, or in unreal worlds.
But my body floated.
No tricks, no gimmicks.

“Well then, I’ll say it again. Become a magical girl.”
“Magical girls are just a thing in manga and anime, aren’t they?”

I can tell reality from manga.
You can only become a magical girl in manga and anime worlds.

“That’s not true. The name is different, but there have been magical girls all over the world since long ago. In Europe there’s the phrase ‘witch hunts,’ isn’t there?”

I’ve heard of that.
That witches were killed.
But I heard that was just innocent women being killed.

“Those witches were girls who could use magic. The people in power at the time were afraid of that power, so they killed them.”
“…”
“In Japan, it would be onmyoji, I suppose.”
“Onmyoji are only men, aren’t they?”
“There are women too. And an easy one would be kunoichi as well.”
“Kunoichi are female ninja, right?”
“That’s how the world tells it, but those were girls with the power of magic too.”

I can’t believe it.

“That isn’t in any book—”
“That’s because I’ve been hiding it.”
“Then male ninja too?”
“Those are real physical ability.”

I can’t believe it, but the fact that a cat is talking is real.

“So, will you become a magical girl?”
“Why me?”

I don’t understand why I was chosen.

“Because you have mana. And a lot of it. It’s on the high side even among the generations, I think.”
“I do?”

I have something called mana?
Mana is a thing in manga and anime.
But I remember my body floating a moment ago.

“What do magical girls do?”
“Youma, youkai, ghosts—there are different names, but you defeat enemies of that sort.”

Youma? Youkai? Ghosts?
Those are only things in manga and anime too.

“There’s no way those exist—”
“But there have been stories of youkai and ghosts since long ago, haven’t there? That’s because they really happened. It’s just that there are people who can see youkai and ghosts, and people who can’t. And more people can’t. That’s why people say youkai and ghosts don’t exist. But there are people who can see them, so the stories remain.”

I can’t believe it, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

“I can’t fight youkai and ghosts.”
“That’s why you become a magical girl and fight. You have the makings of a magical girl. So you can fight.”
“No. Why do I have to become a magical girl and fight youkai and ghosts?”
“Are you sure? Even if your dad dies.”
“…!?”
“Your dad has been resented by all kinds of people. At this rate, he’ll die.”

Dad is a police officer with a strong sense of justice who catches bad people.

“Dad will die?”
“A lot of people resent your dad. That grudge is attacking him.”

Come to think of it, Dad has been saying he’s tired lately.

“If you don’t become a magical girl and defeat that grudge, your dad will die. Is that all right with you?”

Dad will die.
I don’t want that.

“You’re a god, aren’t you? You help him.”
“I can’t. All I can do is give power to magical girls. So you have to become a magical girl and fight.”
“Will Dad really die?”
“Not right away, but his soul will wear down little by little, and he’ll die.”

It is true that Dad is suffering.
I’ve seen him tired, drinking energy drinks.
If what this cat is saying is true, Dad will die.

“…If I become a magical girl, I can save Dad?”
“Of course.”
“…I’ll do it. I’ll become a magical girl.”

If I was told Dad would die, I couldn’t refuse. He’s my only family.
I formed a contract with the white cat.