Little Chan and the Magical Girl Café

“Little Chan.”

Hearing Qin An’s voice from afar, Little Chan ran out bouncing, her limited-edition magical girl backpack on her back.

Once outside, she shouted, “Brother, carry me on your back!”

Qin An gently tapped her head. “You haven’t said goodbye to your teacher yet!”

“Oh…”

She pouted, reluctantly turned around, but still gave a bright smile to her teacher and friends. “Goodbye, Miss Jiang. Goodbye, Lulu-chan, Sayo-chan, Rin-chan.”

She waved her chubby little hand. They waved back.

Then she climbed onto Qin An’s shoulders, satisfied.

“Brother is so annoying! Making me say goodbye every time.”

“Does Little Chan not like her teacher and friends?”

“I like Miss Jiang, Lulu-chan, Sayo-chan, and Rin-chan a lot, but I like brother the most. So I have to be with brother first.”

Qin An smiled helplessly. “Hold tight.”

“Brother vehicle, depart!” She commanded like a general.

“Yes, yes.”

The streets of Shenchuan were clean. In other words, obsessively tidy.

“Brother, brother, Little Chan wants a magic wand today.” She tugged on his collar, her voice soft and milky.

“Aren’t there already many at home?”

She tapped his head. “No! The juice from these plants keeps mosquitoes away—wait, no, I mean, the wand keeps bad guys away! I want a new one!”

Qin An chuckled. “Alright, we’ll see.”

To Qin Yage, discovering gum was as exciting as Columbus discovering the New World.

Qin An spread his hands. “None.”

“Really?”

She looked dubiously at her brother.

But now, it seemed novel and tempting. Her slightly red lips pouted as she stared at him. A bold plan formed in her mind.

“Open your mouth. I want to check if it’s really gum!”

Qin An opened his mouth with an “ah,” thinking this girl was truly obsessed with sugar. It was a good thing she hadn’t reached the age to lose her baby teeth yet; otherwise, he couldn’t let her eat so much.

Just as he was about to retract his tongue, Qin Yage leaned in and snatched the sweet gum right out of his mouth with a swift, childish movement.

The brief contact left him stunned, but she simply chewed happily, her eyes curving in satisfaction.

“It really is gum…”

So sweet. How could gum be this sweet? It defied science… Qin Yage’s thoughts wandered.

The little girl didn’t know that it wasn’t the gum that was sweet, but the warmth of having her brother by her side.

“Ryoko, we’re here again!”

“Welcome back, master. Meow~”

The girl with cat ears, a cat tail, and a pink magical girl outfit with twin tails was the owner: Kazama Ryoko.

“Qin-kun, now I’m Ilya Meow, not Ryoko, meow.”

“Okay, Ilya. Little Chan…”

Little Chan slapped Qin An’s head again. “Brother, you big idiot. Not Little Chan. Now I’m Magical Girl Little Chan.”

Qin An was speechless. Magical girls were truly something else.

“Yage-chan is inside changing. She’ll give Qin-kun a surprise later.”

“Doesn’t she hate magical girls the most?”

“Well, there’s a reason for that.”

Ryoko, no, Ilya showed a devilish grin and waved her rainbow lollipop.

“Ilya, is this okay?” Qin Yage walked out timidly, one hand holding down her skirt, which seemed too short for her.

A pink magical girl outfit with a big heart on the chest, bare arms, a lotus-headed wand, and twin tails swinging because of her shyness. Her cheeks were flushed. She looked very cute.

A large man with thick glasses that hid his eyes had already taken out his phone. But the moment he pressed the shutter, the photo came out pitch black.

“Sorry, no photography here. If you want to take photos, you can take pictures of the scenery outside.”

“I understand, I understand.” He tried to pull back his phone, but found it clamped like a rock. No matter how hard he pulled, it wouldn’t budge.

“Don’t you think you should apologize first?”

The voice was like the cold of winter, making one shiver even in April.

“Sorry, sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“Next time, remember what to do where. Otherwise, it won’t end like this.”

Qin An patted his shoulder, but the man kept trembling, terrified. Qin An had already broken his phone’s camera to prevent further stealth photography.

“You are truly our magical girl’s knight, Qin-kun. You’re amazing, meow.”

“Hmph, so what? I’m not happy at all.” Qin Yage turned away disdainfully, but the smile at the corner of her mouth betrayed her.

“To thank you for protecting our staff, I’ll give you a free meal, meow~” Ilya placed the menu in front of Qin An.

The first part was a regular menu: iced coffee, black tea, etc. But below that were rows of “Healing Magic,” “Light Magic,” “Love Magic,” “Moe Magic.” What on earth were those? And they had prices listed, even more expensive than the food!

“I’ll take an iced coffee.”

“And which magic, meow~”

“I don’t need magic!”

“Impossible. Must have magic, meow~”

“Then I’ll take Moe Magic.”

Qin An picked at random. Though he was a regular here, he usually grabbed his drinks from the back himself. This formal ordering was a first.

Ilya winked playfully: “Yage-chan, one iced coffee, one omelette rice. Please, meow~”

“Ilya, that’s not what we agreed. You said I just had to wear this outfit!”

“That was then. Conditions have changed, meow~”

She waved her rainbow lollipop again, showing a devilish grin. Qin Yage snorted and went to the back.

Watching her leave, Ilya smiled: “That girl is not honest with her feelings at all, meow.”

“Um, Ilya, I didn’t order omelette rice.”

“That’s a special benefit for our brave knight, meow~”

Little Chan had already gone to the changing room to put on her own magical girl costume.

After a while, Qin Yage came walking slowly with the iced coffee and omelette rice. Her steps were unsteady, since it was her first time doing this. She was very nervous, and her palms were sweaty.

She set the things on the table. “Eat, brother.”

“No, no, Yage-chan. At this time, you should say ‘Please enjoy, master,’ meow~”

“It doesn’t have to be so formal!” Qin An was afraid she’d lose her temper.

“It’s a must. It’s a basic rule for magical girl maids, meow~”

“P-p-please… e-enjoy… m-master…” She forced out each word as if using all her courage. Her face was as red as steam, and even her ears were burning.

“And you have to cast Moe Magic on the omelette rice, meow~”

“Do I really have to say that? It’s too embarrassing!”

“Really, meow~” Ilya swung her lollipop again.

“Fine… though… I am… cute… and… charming… but…” Too embarrassing. Was it worth doing this for a lollipop? And her brother was just watching like he was enjoying a show. So mean! I don’t like brother at all!

Little Chan, now changed, saw Qin Yage trembling with shame and awkwardness. She said: “Big sister is so useless. Watch me.”

She raised her wand and spun in place: “Though I am cute and charming, I bring death. Become delicious! Moe, moe…”

Her left hand finally pointed at her own cheek, striking a pose that was super adorable.

“Brother, Little Chan is amazing, right? Little Chan wants a reward.” She lifted her forehead.

Qin An gently kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. “Little Chan, no, Magical Girl Little Chan is the best.”

“Hehe.” Little Chan looked delighted.

“Hmph, stupid brother. You have Little Chan, so that’s enough.”

Qin Yage threw down her wand and ran out the door. A cold, shining teardrop flew back, brushing against Qin An’s cheek—leaving a trace of quiet sadness.