Obviously, they couldn’t go grocery shopping dressed as Magical Girls, or it would definitely cause trouble.
In the worst-case scenario, things might turn out like when he went out dressed as a Magical Girl.
They wouldn’t show their faces at all while shopping, and they could add the voices in post-production.
They only needed to appear on camera for the cooking part.
It might make the video feel a little disjointed, but that was still better than stopping at the first hurdle or having something unexpected happen.
As a reliable adult (?), he had to be fully prepared.
‘I’m really getting more and more fatherly. I haven’t even dated a woman before…’
Bai Qiuchen silently complained to himself.
But a lack of real-world experience didn’t mean he lacked theoretical knowledge.
He’d watched countless romance anime and played countless dating sims.
He was only one step away from becoming a romance expert: actual experience.
But how many experts got stuck at this final hurdle!?
This was an insurmountable obstacle for people like them, a trial they dreamed of overcoming their whole lives.
Bai Qiuchen asked as they neared the supermarket, “What do you plan to make, Li Ai?”
Li Ai thought for a moment, then turned her smiling red eyes toward Bai Qiuchen.
“What do you want to eat today, Teacher?”
“What do I want to eat…”
Bai Qiuchen put on a troubled expression.
“I’ve got a really bad case of indecision. If you ask me what I want to eat… I honestly can’t say right now.”
“How about we split up and meet at the checkout? We can make whatever we buy,” Li Ai suggested.
“Hm? That’s good.”
This kind of mystery-box feeling always made him look forward to what was coming.
“All right, everyone, let’s split up.”
“Oh, right. Remember to turn on video recording on your phones. You don’t need to talk, just film yourselves shopping,” Bai Qiuchen reminded them in a hurry.
“Got it.”
Watching them either push carts taller than themselves or carry baskets, Bai Qiuchen had planned to wait by the checkout, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he should keep an eye on them.
He didn’t need to worry much about Li Ai and Alice, since they were the two most mature ones.
The one he was most worried about…
Shang Mengyou walked slowly with her head lowered, pushing a cart.
She looked like she would’ve been leaning on it as she pushed if she weren’t so short.
He didn’t know how she could see where she was going, but he had a feeling something would happen if he left her to her own devices.
Bai Qiuchen caught up and walked beside her.
“Does Qiuchen-ge like me, meow?”
She hadn’t lifted her head or opened her eyes, but she still knew who it was.
Bai Qiuchen sighed helplessly.
“I’m worried about you.”
“Hehehe~ My mature charm must’ve attracted Qiuchen-ge after all, meow~”
“Where’d a little kid like you get mature charm?”
“Is Qiuchen-ge a lolicon, meow?”
“I don’t know where you got that idea. Unfortunately, I only like two-dimensional girls.”
“Liar, meow~”
They chatted as they walked, arriving at the seafood section.
‘Should he buy fish or shrimp? Maybe crab?’
Just as Bai Qiuchen was thinking—
“Yoo-hoo~ Teacher Bai Qiuchen, what a coincidence!”
Someone suddenly called out to him from behind.
“?”
Bai Qiuchen turned around.
The ones greeting him were Zhuang Zhilian and a red-haired girl around her age.
They were holding hands, their fingers intertwined, and the redhead waved at him.
“Ah? Ah, it’s you two.”
‘Who was she again?’
For a moment, Bai Qiuchen couldn’t remember the name of the girl beside Zhuang Zhilian.
She had a fiery red ponytail, scarlet eyes, and a mature bust that didn’t fit her age…
Hey, those were way too obvious.
‘Don’t treat me like I’m blind…’
Her features were so distinct that he shouldn’t have forgotten her.
He’d just pretend he recognized her and wait for her to say her name.
“What a coincidence. I can’t believe we ran into Teacher Bai here.”
Zhuang Zhilian pulled the red-haired girl’s hand and ran over enthusiastically.
“It’s not that surprising. Don’t I run into you pretty often when I’m shopping?”
“That’s true. Teacher and I are always so fated.”
“By the way, this is…”
The red-haired girl carefully looked Shang Mengyou up and down, then smiled mysteriously as if she’d figured something out.
Lowering her voice, she said, “Is this Caili?”
“You can recognize her?” Bai Qiuchen was a little surprised.
After all, Magical Girls had Recognition-Obstruction Magic after transforming, so no one could connect their normal and Magical Girl forms.
This applied to Magical Girls recognizing one another, too.
Of course, transforming or reverting right in front of someone was an exception.
“I’ve seen her transform at the Association, though only once.”
“…Huh?” Bai Qiuchen looked at Shang Mengyou.
Magical Girls at the Magical Association had to remain transformed, and even when going outside, they could only revert somewhere nobody was around.
To avoid trouble from people discovering their real identities, the Association had established many similar rules.
Aside from instructors who were authorized to view Magical Girl records, nobody else should know their real identities.
The reason Bai Qiuchen dared to transform back and forth at the Association, besides work requirements, was that he thought he was good at reconnaissance and wouldn’t be discovered.
Feeling Bai Qiuchen’s gaze, Shang Mengyou’s body trembled.
She slowly looked away and poked her index fingers together.
“S-sometimes I wasn’t fully awake, so… so I forgot I was at the Association, meow…”
Bai Qiuchen’s forehead twitched.
‘So that’s why the Chairperson kept giving me a hard time when I was teaching you.’
“She’s Caili, which means…” Zhuang Zhilian lifted her head and looked straight at Bai Qiuchen.
“The others are He Xi, Alice, Nox, and Zhen Hong? Is Bai Qiu living with you, too?”
“Ahaha, you’re so smart, Xiaolian.”
Bai Qiuchen awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
The fact that they’d formed a team had already spread around, even though they’d yet to do anything after half a month.
But since they were all Magical Girls, there was no need to hide it… right?
‘Who knew what kind of trouble she’d had with them!?’
As an adult, he had so many things to worry about.
“By the way, Teacher, were you not there when I came to see you last time?”
Zhuang Zhilian blinked, looking completely innocent.
The red-haired girl sighed as if helpless.
That question was so obvious…
Bai Qiuchen had a rough idea of what they’d told Zhuang Zhilian.
He sneaked a glance at Shang Mengyou.
As expected, she looked more flustered, sweating profusely and repeatedly signaling to him.
Bai Qiuchen smiled helplessly and replied, “Yeah, I was out taking care of something, and I didn’t have my phone with me.”
Zhuang Zhilian didn’t seem to care about his answer.
She asked outright, “Teacher, are you still renting out rooms? Do you have any available? I want to rent one.”
“Well… I do.”
“Huh?” The red-haired girl beside her exclaimed in surprise.
She grabbed Zhuang Zhilian’s shoulder with her free hand and turned her to face her.
“Xiaolian, you never told us about this.”
“Ah, I didn’t?”
“No.” The red-haired girl was certain.
“I see… Well, now you know. It’s fine, it’s fine.”
Zhuang Zhilian tried to reassure her, but the red-haired girl clearly wasn’t buying it.
She said firmly, “You have to discuss something like this with the captain and Teacher first.”
“It’s fine. The captain and Teacher will support me. Besides—”
“No.” The red-haired girl interrupted Zhuang Zhilian.
She turned back to Bai Qiuchen and bowed, forcing Zhuang Zhilian to bow with her by pressing her down.
“I’m sorry Xiaolian caused you trouble, Teacher Bai. I thought she… This is my failure. I’ll make sure to discipline her properly.”
“Ehh—” Zhuang Zhilian protested.
“N-no, it’s fine. It’s not that much trouble.” Bai Qiuchen hurriedly told them to straighten up.
It wasn’t a big deal.
Was there any need to be so serious?
“Teacher Bai said it’s nothing, so don’t worry about it, Aiyu.”
‘Aiyu?’
That name brought back some of Bai Qiuchen’s memories.
Considering how close she was to Zhuang Zhilian, they were probably on the same team.
Zhuang Zhilian, the Magical Girl Dongyue, belonged to Ever Light.
There were only three people on their team.
Since she wasn’t Xingqi, the little girl with a severe case of eighth-grader syndrome, that meant she had to be the Magical Girl Yang Deng.
True Name Release: Fei Niao Aiyu.
“I’m very sorry for causing you trouble, Teacher Bai. Please take what Xiaolian said just now as a joke. When I get back, I’ll talk to Teacher Wei Xili and ask him to discipline Xiaolian.”
Aiyu’s fingers had been interlaced with Zhuang Zhilian’s, but now Aiyu was gripping Zhuang Zhilian’s wrist and dragging her away.
“I haven’t even gotten to talk to Teacher Bai! And I wasn’t joking. I meant it!”
Zhuang Zhilian tried to resist, but she was clearly no match for Aiyu.
So she could only wave goodbye to Bai Qiuchen.
“See you next time!!”
Bai Qiuchen awkwardly waved goodbye to the two of them.
‘Were those two here to do a comedy routine?’
“They’re here to make us laugh, meow~?” Shang Mengyou had the same thought.
“That redhead seems easier to get along with than Senior Dongyue, meow~”
“All right, forget about them. Let’s hurry up and shop. Li Ai and the others have probably finished already.” Bai Qiuchen patted her head.
“I already finished shopping, meow~”
“While I was talking to them?”
“That’s right, meow~” Shang Mengyou proudly lifted her head, looking like she was waiting to be praised.
Bai Qiuchen looked at the cart—
Soft tofu, firm tofu, fried tofu, thousand-layer tofu, silken tofu.
‘Why was it all tofu!?’
“You’re a cat, not a fox, right?”
“I’m neither, meow,” Shang Mengyou immediately denied.
“Qiuchen-ge, you’re an idiot, meow. If everyone can buy whatever they want, then we’re most likely having hot pot, meow.”
She added, “Besides, tofu is delicious, meow.”
Bai Qiuchen really wanted to punch her to knock some sense into her, but that was Bai Qiu’s persona.
“How are we supposed to film a video while eating hot pot? Film the prep?”
“!!”
Bai Qiuchen’s question jolted Shang Mengyou back to her senses, but she soon returned to normal.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just trust Li Ai-chan, meow. Faith doesn’t need a reason, meow.”
“All right.” Bai Qiuchen shrugged.
He wasn’t the one cooking anyway, so Li Ai would have to deal with it.
But there was way too much tofu, so Bai Qiuchen put half of it back.
As expected, Li Ai looked a little troubled when she saw the huge pile of tofu Shang Mengyou had bought.
Incidentally, Xilalite had bought a pile of snacks and no vegetables at all, claiming she’d predicted that they wouldn’t buy any and had magnanimously bought snacks for everyone.
Although among the Magical Girls, only she and Shang Mengyou liked snacks.