This time, the mission photos didn’t include any selfies—just a shot of the sealed vending machine for the records…
After all, Shui Hua’s sorry state was really not fit for the camera.
The Magical Girl uniform had decent self-cleaning abilities against dust and stains, but when it came to the sticky mixture of sugars, coloring, and carbonated drinks, that was clearly beyond its design specs.
Xing Li stubbornly tried several rounds of Cleaning Magic on Shui Hua, sweeping her magic from top to bottom, but those stubborn sugar stains didn’t budge at all.
Instead, they just got spread out even more evenly.
“Senior, what are you going to do like this…”
Fei Xing cautiously poked Shui Hua’s arm with her finger.
Instantly, her fingertip stuck, pulling out a few shimmering strands.
Shui Hua looked at his own sorry state, completely at a loss.
“Looks like I’ll just have to find a place to take a proper bath.”
“So where do you plan to go? The women’s bathhouse?”
Xing Li stroked her chin, a subtle look in her eyes as if she was looking at some kind of pervert.
“Of course, I’ll just find a chance to Transform back, then book a room at a hotel by the hour…”
Shui Hua hadn’t finished his plan when Xing Li interrupted him.
“That’s such a hassle. Why don’t you just wash up at my place?”
“At your place?”
Shui Hua was a little surprised.
“Yeah, my home is close by. Flying over would take less than ten minutes—close and saves money.”
Shui Hua hesitated.
“Um… is that really okay? Won’t I bother your family?”
“No worries, my parents are still at work at this hour. I’m home alone. Come on, don’t dawdle.”
Xing Li waved her hand, then pulled Shui Hua and the still-confused Fei Xing along toward her house.
Xing Li’s home was in an ordinary apartment building—not very big, but cozy and kept immaculately clean.
Leading the two inside, Xing Li brought Shui Hua to the bathroom, pointing out a bunch of bottles and jars, telling her which ones were the regular shampoo and body wash.
“Oh, right. Shui Hua, what about your Magic Costume?”
Xing Li pointed at Shui Hua’s blue-and-gold dress, which had lost all trace of its original color.
Shui Hua looked down at the disaster that was now her Magical Girl uniform—streaked with cola’s brown-black, orange juice’s bright yellow, mung bean soup’s green…
She immediately gave up any hope of salvaging it.
“Forget it. Once my magic recovers enough tonight, I’ll just use it to weave a brand-new one.”
A Magical Girl’s Magic Costume was a materialization of magic; in essence, it wasn’t any different from real fabric.
Instead of laboriously washing something that was practically pickled, it was more realistic to reconstruct a new set with magic.
“So what are you going to wear after you wash up?”
Xing Li thought of the crucial problem.
“I can just use Transformation Release,” Shui Hua replied as if it was obvious, “If I return to my original form, it’s fine.”
“Nope,” Xing Li shot her down immediately, a scheming smile appearing on her face, “I’ve already decided—Fei Xing and I will go buy you some normal clothes nearby. Besides, you can wear it when you go on your Sunday Date with Liu Jin senior. Take it as your reward for heroic sacrifice this time.”
“Why drag Liu Jin into this again?”
Shui Hua facepalmed, “Didn’t I say already? She was just coming by to say thank you.”
“That’s exactly why you should seize the chance,” Xing Li said, enunciating each word, and without further discussion shoved Shui Hua into the bathroom, “Go on, go on! Get yourself all fresh and fragrant. Fei Xing and I will be right back.”
With that, before Shui Hua could retort, she grabbed Fei Xing and bustled out the door.
“Sigh, she never listens to a word I say.”
Carefully peeling off the Magic Costume stuck to her skin, Shui Hua also slipped out of the blue-and-white bowl.
She turned on the water, stood under the warm stream, and gradually the sticky feeling was washed away.
Her skin regained its natural smoothness.
But the real challenge was her long blue hair.
Undoing the now-hardened twin tails, she soaked them, but the sticky syrup tangled the strands tightly together.
Washing them apart was a struggle.
She squeezed out a copious amount of shampoo and kneaded away for ages before barely managing to untangle her hair.
Still, Shui Hua was experienced in this—this wasn’t too hard.
After all, her worst time was when the Awakened Entity from the blender had slammed her into wet concrete…
Xing Li was back in no time.
Just as Shui Hua was still battling with her hair, she returned.
“Shui Hua, I bought your clothes and left them at the door for you.”
The bathroom door opened a crack, and a shopping bag was pushed inside.
Shui Hua opened the bag.
On top were a towel and underwear.
Beneath were the clothes Xing Li had chosen—a white shirt with a blazer, a black plaid skirt, a pair of black socks, and small leather shoes.
It was basically a JK-style outfit.
Shui Hua changed into the whole set, including the little leather shoes.
Her damp long hair wasn’t tied up into twin tails again but left draped over her shoulders.
When she pushed open the bathroom door, Xing Li and Fei Xing, who were sitting on the living room sofa, immediately turned to look at her.
Xing Li looked her up and down, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
She snapped her fingers smugly.
“Looks like my taste is spot-on. This really suits you.”
Fei Xing chimed in earnestly, “Yeah, senior, you look both cute and charming now. You’ll totally win over Liu Jin senior in no time.”
Shui Hua didn’t even bother to retort to the two anymore, choosing not to talk about that at all.
“So, are we going back to the Department now?”
“Nope, no need,” Xing Li waved her hand and shook her phone, “I already submitted the mission on my phone, so now it’s our glorious after-work time.”
The moment she finished speaking, a familiar glow shimmered around her.
The Magical Girl form faded, and she returned to the slightly tired short-haired high school girl in an ordinary blue-and-white uniform.
She let out a long breath, flopping limply onto the sofa, eyes closing contentedly.
“Nothing beats the feeling of finally relaxing.”
“Then Fei Xing and I will just…”
Now that it was after work, Shui Hua was eager to leave.
“Hey, what’s the rush?”
Xing Li sat up from the sofa, walked barefoot over to the fridge, and took out a big bottle of milk and three glass cups.
“Since you’re here, let’s just hang out for a while. Fei Xing, you too, Transformation Release! After a Magical Girl battle, we ought to have this kind of heart-to-heart tea party, don’t you think?”
“Okay, Head.”
Fei Xing nodded obediently.
A faint red glow flashed, and the Magical Girl dress vanished.
In her place was a junior high student in school uniform, ponytail neat, cheeks still round with a bit of baby fat.
“Do I need to do Transformation Release too?”
Shui Hua pointed to herself.
“You’re fine as is,” Xing Li dismissed the idea without a thought, “This is a beautiful girls’ tea party, so you just stay like that.”