Leaving Blue’s mansion, the two of them walked into town and began the long and occasionally bumpy road towards becoming fast friends.

  “Where are we going?” Emilia asked as they took their brisk spring wander.

  “Café?” Meg suggested. “Or maybe we could find a nice shop to look around or something? Whatever you like, really.”

  “I mostly like games,” Emilia said, stopping at a junction at the end of the road where the mansion resided. She glared at the red crossing light, willing it to change to green.

  “What, like computer games? Or sports?”

  “Computer games. I love RPGs especially,” Emilia said, nodding. “It’s amazing how fun it is to explore a new world while fighting monsters with magic.”

  “That’s what you do for a living, though, isn’t it?” Meg said as the light changed and they crossed over.

  “I know. Strange, isn’t it?” Emilia laughed.

  “Suppose it’s no different to someone in the army who plays first-person shooters.”

  “Mm, yeah, that’s true.”

  “I’ve never been into games, so I don’t know if there’s any shops for them around here, sorry,” Meg added.

  “There’s a nice little second-hand place not too far from here, but you’ll probably be bored there. It’s where I picked up most of my current collection.”

  “In that case, let’s just wander and see where we end up?”

  “I’d like that. I enjoy walking,” Emilia said. “My professional title is Galaisin, basically like a magical guardian who performs all sorts of jobs. I’d patrol town a few times a week on a rota basis. Most of the girls just fly, but I preferred to walk. I got to talk to people on the way round, then.”

  “You’re a policewoman as well as a magical girl?” Meg asked, laughing and mentally rolling the unfamiliar term around her mind a few times; Emilia had pronounced the ‘galais’ part almost the same as the city of Calais.

  “It’s not so different to what I see here in Japan,” Emilia said, nodding over the other side of the street to one of the little police stations a lot of Japanese towns and cities had dotted about them. “Sometimes I’d be helping a lost child find their mother, other times I might have to kill a monster that’s causing problems. Lots of variety.”

  “That’s a hell of a responsibility for someone who’s the same age as me,” Meg said. She let out a heavy breath. “I struggle to deal with something as safe as university sometimes.” She stopped outside a random shop frontage, a small place selling a variety of flower and plant-related goods. Something occurred to her. “Hang on, how do you buy games?”

  “With money?” Emilia said, giving her a look as though she had just asked what the colour purple smells like.

  “Sure, but how do you get money?”

  “Blue makes it for me whenever I need it,” Emilia said with a shrug.

  “What?”

  “What, what?”

  “What?”

  Emilia sighed. “I’m asking why you asked me ‘what?’.”

  “Oh!” Meg said, cheeks a little flushed. “I was questioning you using fake money, Emilia. You can’t do that! What if someone finds out? You’re technically an illegal alien here!” She paused to think about this, then giggled. “Though I suppose it’s true that you’re also an actual alien.”

  Emilia peered through the glass frontage and perused a number of ornate plant posts therein. “What’s an illegal alien?”

  “It means you’ve came into the country illegally.”

  “It’s not like I do it much, only when I need something specific, like food,” Emilia said. She stood up straight and turned to her new friend. “Am I going to get into trouble?”

  “If you’re not caught you should be fine. Though... uh... actually, how does Blue make it?”

  “Same way he fixes the damage elementals cause, by using magic.”

  “I wonder if they’d even be detectable as fake?” Meg mused. “Blue seems to be able to make things go back to their original state, good as new, so he can probably make identical copies as well...”

  “Yep.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact that you shouldn’t be doing it, Emilia,” Meg added with a stern glare.

  “What am I supposed to do, then?” Emilia asked, throwing her hands up.

  “You’d need a bank account, oh, but you can’t get one of those easily here in Japan. It’s a nightmare, to be honest.”

  “Why?”

  “There’s all kinds of things you have to do before you’re allowed to open an account, if you’re not Japanese. I had to get a guarantor, and to have proof of at least ￡10,000 in the bank in case of emergency or having to go home without warning. I also needed to have a guaranteed position here, which wasn’t a major problem because it’s a university, and they handled a lot of that stuff for me. But working full-time? I’d need a new visa and... ugh, yeah, it’s a pain. And I had it fairly easy! Some people spend months trying to get a bank account opened before they can even move here.”

  Emilia was staring at her with one of those expressions that said she had just run headfirst into an Earth-related problem that simply didn’t compute. She settled for a shrug. “Sounds tough.”

  “It wasn’t too bad for me because my dad is Japanese and well-known, so he was able to smooth things over. But I know a few people who struggled to get anywhere. Japan is... kinda strict on who they let in, and they don’t make it easy.”

  “Can’t say I have a problem with that,” Emilia said, wandering along the shop fronts looking for anything else interesting. “Can’t let just anyone in. Especially in a world like mine where you can get all sorts of magical mischief going on.”

  “Oh, burgers! Let’s get one, my treat,” Meg said, pointing at a small store sandwiched between two bigger buildings, with a bright yellow sign above it which read ‘GALAXY BURGER’. She ordered a jumbo burger extreme for each of them, paid, and led the way towards the seaboard to find a convenient bench to occupy while they ate. “What was that about magical mischief?”

  Stopping for a moment to take a bite of her burger, emitting a little ‘mmm!’ of gastronomic delight, Emilia waved her free hand around a bit, as if to say ‘it’s complicated’. “Magic users are normally found at a young age and trained so they can control their power. Sometimes they’re not found early enough and... well, can you imagine what an adult criminal could get up to with our powers?”

  Meg inhaled. “Yes... yes, I could.”

  “That’s why we keep a close eye on who comes and goes between regions. Too dangerous not to,” Emilia said, walking forward again. “Not something I was personally involved with, but I know a few girls who worked border patrol.”

  “How did we get onto this subject again?” Meg asked, looking puzzled.

  “Money?”

  “Oh right, we got distracted. Seriously, if they found you using fake money, they’d arrest you. You don’t want that, right?”

  Emilia emitted a dismissive ‘pff!’. “I’d like to see them try.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “You wouldn’t...?”

  “I’d only injure them, don’t worry,” Emilia said with a grin that was anything but reassuring.

  “What if there were a lot of them?”

  “That’s the beauty of being a gravity type. The more of something there is, the more my power affects it.”

  “Emilia...”

  “I’m joking! I wouldn’t harm anyone seriously. I stay as low-key as I can for that reason. I can’t let myself be captured or restrained while here, especially as your governments would probably be interested in me because I’m not from this world.”

  Arriving at a road running along the beach, with Starlight City just visible as a sparkling speck of light in the distance, Meg found a bench and sat. She bit down on the burger and had a similarly orgasmic reaction to her friend; Galaxy Burger, as a small concern, was well-known for the best burgers this side of Tokyo. Some of the people at Starlight City came all the way back to Kamogawa just for a Galaxy Burger meal, they were so good.

  Emilia dropped down next to her, taking another bite of her own meal. They ate in silence for a time, reaching an unspoken agreement that a good quality burger like this should be savoured, which meant no talking.

  Eating her final mouthful, Emilia thanked Meg for the lovely gift and got to her feet, still chewing. “Mm, tissue, tissue...” she murmured, unzipping her jacket and opening it so she could dig around in her pockets a bit easier.

  While her friend was so engaged, Meg noticed something. “E-Emilia!?”

  “Huh?” Emilia said, looking up from her rummaging.

  “Your... things are showing!”

  “Things?”

  “Nipples!” Meg hissed.

  Emilia looked down at her chest, where her nipples were indeed erect and poking through her top’s thin material; it was a chillier than usual day. “So?”

  “You’re not supposed to flash them in public!”

  “Is this an Earth thing again?” Emilia asked in a tone of voice that suggested she was fed up of ‘Earth things’.

  Meg grabbed Emilia’s arm and tugged her back down onto the bench as a young couple wandered by. “Yes, it’s an... an Earth thing! It’s an issue of decency, I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s just... people decided that breasts are sexual reproductive organs and you shouldn’t be waving them around in public.”

  The expression on Emilia’s face told its own story; a sort of resignation combined with minor annoyance. “You people worry about the strangest things.”

  “Don’t you have similar, er, traditions?” Meg asked, motioning for Emilia to do the jacket up again while finishing her own burger.

  “For the lower bits? Sure. You’re not supposed to see those unless you’re, um...”

  “Making babies?” Meg delicately suggested.

  “Right,” Emilia said, zipping her jacket back up once she had dug out a tissue from her jeans to wipe her mouth and hands. “But breasts? Not really, women regularly breast feed in public, it’s not a big deal.”

  “Huh, cultural differences, I guess.” Meg stiffened. “Emilia?”

  “Something else?”

  “You are wearing something down there, right?”

  “Of course I am!”

  “Just checking.”

  “The fact that we don’t get hung up over something like breasts doesn’t mean we don’t understand hygiene and changing your underwear regularly. We’re not heathens, Meg.”

  “Sorry,” Meg mumbled. She coughed. “Anyway, we can’t have you not wearing a bra. Let’s go shopping!” Getting up, she grabbed Emilia’s hand and dragged her down the beachfront path in the direction of a store she knew of, in no small part because Yasuko often shopped there.

  “If we must,” Emilia said, rolling her eyes, though she was also privately kind of happy to be spending some more time with her new friend. The last couple of years had been lonely, even taking into account the presence of Lifa and Blue. As such, she set her face into a sunnier expression and prepared to spend a little while learning more about ‘Earth Things’. “So you wear a ‘bra’ so people can’t accidentally see your nipples?” she asked as they walked.

  “Among other things,” Meg laughed, going bright red.

  “Couldn’t you just stick plasters over your nipples or something? Why do you need an entire garment for it?” Emilia asked.

  “Would you want to show a potential partner plasters? Or a really nice bra?”

  “I’m a Galaisin, we don’t have intimate relationships.”

  Meg stopped dead. “You don’t?”

  “Nope. It can happen, normally if one of us retires, in which case you’d be given the option to have your magic gland removed. Emotions affect magic, and being in love, or making love, and especially breaking up with someone... they can lead to serious problems and massive instability.”

  “That’s really sad,” Meg said, her expression dropping.

  “It’s also reality. I won’t say I understood it fully when I became a Galaisin, I was pretty young. But we were taught early on why relationships are dangerous for people like us. It’s just a sacrifice we have to make for a stable society. It’s less of an issue for magic users who can’t directly manipulate the elements, though.”

  “Well… as long as you’re happy, I suppose,” Meg said, resuming her walk.

  “Happy? Not sure that’s the word I’d use. I’m not happy I can’t have a relationship, but I’m absolutely satisfied with the way my life is.” Emilia’s brows furrowed a little as something popped into mind. “Except being stuck here, anyway.”

  “Least you’re not alone now,” Meg said, again grasping her friend’s hand and clasping.

  “Having a partner will make things easier, yeah. Thanks, Meg,” Emilia said, turning a corner into a street not far from the Grand Tower hotel where Yasuko lived. The tower was clearly visible from where they stood, a cream-coloured eyesore sticking up multiple storeys above the other buildings, but of more interest was the lone lingerie store towards the end of the street.

  “Where do you get your underwear, out of interest?” Meg said. “You’d normally buy pants with a matching bra, so...”

  “I just have Blue make things for me, but not stuff like food. Making food from magic doesn’t work so well, it comes out tasting... I can’t really describe it. Sort of like trying to eat cardboard? Basically possible, but not something you’d want to do.”

  “I did wonder about that, since you always seem to cook real food. Well... Lifa does,” Meg said.

  Emilia glared at her. “I can cook, you know.”

  “Not saying you can’t,” Meg said. “Uh... mostly not. Okay, I might’ve assumed a little bit. Maybe.”

  “Uh-huh...” Emilia said, clearly sceptical. She eyed up the store they’d arrived at, then whistled at some of the items on display in the window. “These are things you wear, are they?”

  “Honestly, it’s mostly Yacchan who shops here, but I’ve found a few nice things as well. Come on, let’s check it out,” Meg said, dragging her through the door, a small bell making a quiet and refined ringing sound, as if it didn’t want to offend or intrude.

  Immediately Emilia’s gaze was pulled down to a display stand in the centre of the shop where a number of items were prominently positioned to do just that; it was impossible to miss the pink and red colour scheme, or the clear intent behind the underwear items themselves.

  Meg coughed. “Th-This way.”

  “R-Right,” Emilia murmured, attempting to avoid looking at anything at all, which resulted in her gaze effectively being glued to the floor. Some of the merchandise on display here was enough to make her head steam. “It’s not surprising you’re all so hung up on breasts if you stuff them into things like that.” She nodded towards the central display and the sexy items there, while simultaneously doing her best not to actually look at it in any great detail.

  “Those are just for sex,” Meg said with a dismissive hand wave. “Yacchan wears things like that when she’s out looking for some fun. I prefer things like this.” She held up a set in a dark purple tone. Intricate stitching and some frilly bits gave them a certain sexy style, but without the overt suggestiveness of some of the other stock.

  Emilia’s face lit up. “Those are nice. Can I see?” She held them up against herself. “I like purple, it’s a nice colour.”

  “I noticed that in your room this morning,” Meg said, recalling that Emilia had a pair of thigh-high socks in a deep purple and green alternating striped scheme. “It’s also the colour of your magic. I’ve always liked red and orange, and I’m a fire element now, hmm...”

  “There’s a strong mental connection there, sure. Your element can determine a lot of things about your personality. Fire types tend to be passionate and creative, and like hot colours. Water types are cool and collected. That kind of thing.”

  “What about you?”

  “Gravity is tricky because it’s not exactly a normal element. But the few gravity types who are born tend to gravitate towards positions of responsibility, especially leadership roles.”

  Meg cocked her head. “That’s really interesting. Is that because you tend to pull others towards you?”

  “Huh... it might be, you know. Can’t say I’d thought about it much, but it makes sense.” Emilia chuckled at this. “There’s only three gravity types right now. I was chosen for a mission to check out your world. One of the others is the leader of an elite monster hunting team, and the third is a senior instructor at one of the temples where we train and study.”

  “You were the only one they could spare, I’m guessing? Those other two sound like positions you couldn’t just walk away from.”

  “That’s right,” Emilia said. “Um, can I try these on?”

  The shop assistant, who had been standing behind the counter, listening with a vaguely confused expression, informed them that there was a small dressing room just through another door behind them.

  Thanking her, Emilia trotted through and into the little cubicle. She swished the curtain across and began stripping while Meg loitered just outside. A few minutes of shuffling and general fabric-y noises—plus a number of barely audible curses—eventually gave way to Emilia’s voice. “These are nice, but this bra thing is kind of uncomfortable.”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Meg called through the curtain.

  “I’m no stranger to hardship,” Emilia added. Upon changing back into her regular clothes, she exited the changing cubicle and nodded at her friend. “Um, what next?”

  “You like those?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll buy this one for you, then. A gift for my new friend!”

  “I couldn’t...!”

  Meg held a hand up to silence said friend’s objection. “I insist. I don’t want you using dodgy currency.” With this, she paid and they headed back outside. “Mm, that was fun. Let’s do it again soon!”

  “I’d like that,” Emilia said, feeling an unusual sensation in her tummy; what was known as butterflies on Earth. Talk about strange. She could fight a hulking great monster with no trouble, but spending a couple of hours with Meg gave her a giddy feeling. She put it down to the excitement of exploration and discovering things about her new friend.

  “I should probably get home, I’ve still got uni stuff to prepare,” Meg continued.

  “I enjoyed today, Meg, thanks,” Emilia said, a little subdued. She went to take a step in the direction of home, but her friend stopped her with a simple question that made her face light up again.

  “Shall I walk you home?”

  “Well, if you really must,” Emilia said, taking Meg’s hand as a big and cheesy grin spread across her face. She had a new friend, a new partner, and some interesting new undergarments.

  What a perfect day.