Chapter 179: Studies First, Then Saving the World.

"How long do the training sessions last?"

Noah blinked at Hikari’s question, since he didn’t really have an answer.

"There’s no fixed duration."

Hikari frowned.

"I need an approximation."

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On what we practice."

"Average."

Noah thought.

"An hour."

Hikari waited.

"Or two."

She narrowed her eyes.

"That’s a considerable difference."

"Sometimes less."

"How much less?"

"Thirty minutes."

Hikari closed her eyes.

"So they can last anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours."

"Not always."

"More?"

Noah hesitated.

"Yeah, sometimes."

Hikari opened her eyes.

"When?"

"I don’t know."

"I need to know."

"I can’t give you an exact answer!"

Hikari looked at him, and Noah took a breath.

"It depends on the day."

"That complicates planning."

Noah blinked.

"Planning?"

Hikari turned back to the table, opened her bag, and pulled out a planner. Noah felt like something wasn’t right as Hikari flipped through several pages.

"On Mondays I finish classes at three-thirty."

Noah watched her.

"What are you doing?"

"Organizing the training sessions."

"You just transformed."

"Exactly."

She took out a pen.

"On Mondays I can do from four to five-fifteen."

Noah looked at the planner. There were blocks marked in different colors.

Classes, studying, homework, exercise, reading, rest, everything.

"You have everything scheduled?"

"Yes."

"Even rest?"

"Especially rest."

Noah stayed quiet while Hikari continued.

"On Tuesdays I have less availability."

She turned a page.

"From five-twenty to six."

"That’s forty minutes."

"Yes."

"Might be too little."

"So not Tuesdays."

She crossed it out.

"Wednesday."

She checked.

"Four to six."

Noah raised a hand.

"Wait."

Hikari kept going.

"Thursdays I have study time from four to six-thirty."

"Yeah."

"I could move it."

Noah’s eyes widened.

"Move your studying?"

Hikari looked up.

"Not eliminate it."

"Of course."

"I can study an hour earlier on Wednesday and another hour on Friday."

She started writing while Noah watched, not knowing what to say, and Hikari muttered as she did the math.

"So Thursday’s free from five to six."

"And Friday?"

"Impossible."

"Why?"

"Review."

"All day?"

"No."

"Then..."

"Not Friday."

Noah decided not to argue, and Hikari moved on to the weekend.

"Saturday morning could work."

"We usually train after classes, and on weekends..."

"That doesn’t answer whether I can train on Saturday."

"Yes, you can."

"Perfect."

She marked another block, and Noah looked at her calendar.

"How much do you study?"

Hikari looked at him like the question was strange.

"As much as necessary."

"That’s not a quantity either."

"It depends on the subject."

Noah smiled.

"You used my answer."

"Because in this case it’s correct."

"It was also correct when I talked about training."

"No, because I need to plan that."

Noah let out a laugh, and Hikari kept writing.

"Sunday afternoon could work too."

"We usually try to rest one day."

"So Sunday’s free."

She marked it.

Noah watched her. Hikari was transformed.

She had just acquired magical powers, confirmed that both monsters and magical girls were real, discovered she now had the responsibility of helping protect the city, and her first reaction had been to check her planner.

Noah started laughing. Hikari looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You’re laughing."

"I am."

"Why?"

Noah pointed at the planner.

"It’s just that what I’m seeing is really surreal."

Hikari frowned.

"I can’t abandon my other responsibilities."

"I know."

"Besides, if I have clear schedules, I’ll perform better."

"Probably."

"Constantly improvising would be inefficient."

Noah started laughing again, so Hikari looked at him.

"I don’t understand what’s funny."

"I’m not making fun of you."

"Then explain."

Noah tried to stop laughing.

"The others reacted differently."

"How?"

Noah thought.

"Yume almost destroyed things."

"That doesn’t surprise me."

Noah raised an eyebrow.

"You know her?"

"I’ve seen her."

"Right."

"Luna probably tried to understand her powers."

"Yeah."

"And Iris..."

Hikari thought.

"I don’t know, I don’t usually interact with her much."

"She tested them and then wanted to go back to playing."

"That doesn’t surprise me either."

Noah smiled.

"And Aria accepted it pretty quickly."

Hikari closed the planner.

"Then my reaction shouldn’t be strange either."

"It’s the first time someone’s asked me if they can fit saving the world in between study sessions."

Hikari stayed serious.

"If I don’t study, my grades will drop."

"I know."

"If my grades drop, I could lose academic opportunities."

"Yeah."

"And that would affect my future."

Noah nodded.

"Correct."

"So it’s logical to organize both things."

Noah thought for a few seconds and couldn’t argue with that.

"When you put it like that..."

Hikari smiled slightly.

"Exactly."

Noah looked at the magical outfit.

"By the way, try thinking about going back to normal."

Hikari did, and the light appeared again.

A few seconds later she was wearing her high school uniform again. She put on her glasses and checked the brooch.

"Do I have to wear it all the time?"

"Yes."

"Can it break?"

"It shouldn’t."

"Is it waterproof?"

Noah thought.

"I guess."

Hikari looked at him.

"I need better answers."

"Ask the goddess."

"What goddess?"

Noah went still.

’Ah.’

He still needed to explain that. Hikari narrowed her eyes.

"There’s a goddess?"

Noah sighed.

"Yes."

"Did she create the objects?"

"Probably."

"Probably?"

She opened the planner again. Noah tensed.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to add time for this explanation."

Noah closed his eyes.

"Of course."

Hikari checked the schedules.

"I have forty minutes today."

"I don’t need forty minutes."

"Thirty?"

"Fifteen is fine."

"Perfect."

She marked another block, and Noah watched her.

"You’re going to schedule my explanations too?"

"Only the important ones."

"That doesn’t make me feel better."

Hikari put the pen away.

"Alright then."

She looked at her planner and went over the entire schedule while Noah nodded.

Hikari closed the planner for good.

"That’s enough."

Noah smiled.

"Welcome to the group."

Hikari looked at him, and for the first time since everything had started, she seemed a little nervous.

"Thank you."

Noah held out a hand. Hikari looked at it, then took it.

"I hope I’ll be useful."

"You will."

"Are you sure?"

"You just learned to control two magical spheres in less than five minutes."

Hikari thought.

"I could improve."

Noah let out a laugh.

"You’ll fit right in."

She let go of his hand and picked up her bag. Noah did the same.

When they left the room, Hikari checked the planner again, and Noah glanced at her sideways.

"Again?"

"I’m checking something."

"What?"

"I’m seeing how much time I have to read tonight."

Noah smiled.

"Your BL stories?"

Hikari looked at him immediately.

"Keep your voice down."

Noah started laughing while she sped up a little, and Noah followed her.

The first part of the mission was finally complete, Hikari Amatsuki had become a magical girl, and only Stella Lumina was left.

But as he walked behind Hikari and watched her adjust her schedule once more to fit in training sessions, Noah understood something.

Hikari was the first magical girl who wanted to schedule defending the world between her study sessions.

Noah smiled.

’At least she’ll be on time.’