Later, at the school's rooftop.

"WHAT?!" Yoshino shouted in surprise upon hearing about how Rea and Jean had the potential to be magical girls from Seiza.

Upon seeing how Nozomi and Seiza had visibly recoiled from her sudden outburst, Yoshino rephrased her question. Calmer this time, she asked, "I mean...are you sure Seiza?"

Seiza nodded. "As sure as I can be. Their zodiac signs were glowing just like Nozomi's. So, by all means, yeah, they should have the potential to become magical girls."

"I see..." As Yoshino stopped to think about this revelation, she couldn't help but feel conflicted. The news of potential reinforcements in their efforts to get rid of the Grand Master SHOULD objectively be a good thing. But the thought of involving innocents who had nothing to do with their fight felt wrong to Yoshino.

Even if Rea and Jean looked like they got into random fights, on purpose or not, Yoshino still thought it was wrong to involve them.

"Oh, Seiza, you almost forgot about Hagurama-san's lack of a sign!" Nozomi remembered.

"Wait, what?!" Yoshino's eyes grew even wider upon hearing that.

Seiza sighed. "I was getting there, Nozomi. Didn't want to overwhelm Yoshino. But yeah, Hagurama-san didn't have a zodiac sign floating above their head."

"But...how? From what you said, even if she didn't have potential, you should have been able to see her sign, right?" Yoshino tilted her head.

Seiza slowly nodded. "Yes...by all accounts it doesn't make sense. From what I've seen, all living things besides darkspawns should have a zodiac sign. But she can't be a darkspawn, otherwise I would have smelled her already."

"Then...what IS she?" Nozomi asked with a hint of worry and soon enough a little bit of shame over referring to one of her classmates as a 'What' instead of a 'Who,' even if there's the likelihood it wasn't entirely wrong.

Seiza shrugged. "I don't know, but since they aren't a darkspawn...it should be fine for now, I think?" Seiza's unsure tone didn't fill anyone with confidence.

"I guess? She doesn't seem hostile to anyone, and I'm pretty sure Uncle Henry would have warned me if my mom had sent any darkspawns to look out for us. So I guess she isn't a threat?" Yoshino spoke unsurely.

"So then...what? Are we going to approach them or...?" Nozomi trailed off.

Yoshino crossed her arms. "I think... it's probably for the best to wait. Even if ANY assistance would be welcome at this point, they are still complete strangers who have no obligation to help us or even believe us for that matter." She let out a sigh. "In the best-case scenario, they laugh it off, thinking it's just a joke and we become friends. But I wouldn't be surprised if they were to think we were crazy and avoid us like the plague."

Seiza reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Couldn't we...reveal Seiza or that I'm a magical girl for them to believe us?" Nozomi suggested.

Yoshino shot that idea down in an instant. "Nuh-uh, if we did, what's stopping them from spreading it to the whole school, or worse, they blackmail us to do who knows what!"

Nozomi's eyes widened in surprise at that. "H-how can you say that Yoshino?! Do you...really think any of them would do something like that?!"

Yoshino sighed. "Honestly? Probably not. But that's the thing. It's a 'Probably' instead of a 'Surely.' We would be taking a MASSIVE and UNNECESSARY gamble telling any of those strangers about Seiza or your powers. And let's not forget...my brother studies in this school. The same brother who, if what my uncle said was correct, is being watched twenty-four-seven by the grand master. Who I'm going to assume would know about us the moment our secrets reached my brother's ears. So no, I'd rather if we did not take this much of an unnecessary risk."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Nozomi lowered her head, dejected. Yoshino felt slightly bad for bursting Nozomi's bubble but not enough to backpedal as Yoshino thought her point was valid. "I see...so, we wait?" Nozomi asked.

"We wait. At least for now," Yoshino answered, with no room for discussion.

And that was the end of the conversation as both girls finally decided to eat their respective lunches until...

"Oh, Yoshino! Have you decided you're gonna call him?" Nozomi remembered.

Yoshino raised an eyebrow at Nozomi as she munched on her food, wondering who she was referring to. "Who?" Yoshino finally asked after she finished swallowing her food.

"Outsider. I mean, you guys haven't decided on the time and place to meet, right?" Nozomi clarified to Yoshino.

Yoshino's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah...I honestly had completely forgotten about it...I probably should call him, after all..." She took a pair of pink gloves out of her school bag. "He still needs to tell me how these things work." Yoshino said before soon frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?" Nozomi asked, noticing the look her friend gave to the gloves.

Yoshino sighed. "Nothing..." Yoshino shook her head. "I'm probably overthinking it."

Nozomi tilted her head at Yoshino. "I mean...I will not know if you are until you tell me. And besides, we both know that would probably gnaw at you for the rest of the day." Nozomi teased Yoshino a little.

Yoshino opened her mouth to argue back, but soon closed it before slowly nodding. "Yeah, you're probably right..." Yoshino sighed. "Well, how should I put it...I'm not sure if I should call him? I mean, I have come to trust him enough not to be suspicious of his help...but I still don't think we are at a point where I trust him enough to meet and train. Like, is it weird for me to think he's still kind of shady after everything?"

After Nozomi gave it some thought, she slowly shook her head. "No...I guess that's reasonable. It HAS been only a week since we met him."

"Right? And I mean, that mask of his and...whatever is tampering with his voice doesn't really do him any favors..." Yoshino crossed her arms.

"Hmmm...maybe he feels similar?" Seiza spoke for the first time throughout this conversation inside Nozomi's schoolbag.

Yoshino raised an eyebrow at the talking dog. "How so?"

"I mean...he also barely knows you. I wouldn't be surprised if he also had his own doubts about trusting you with one of his inventions. Maybe his offer to train you was to personally see if his worries had any merit or not?" Seiza guessed.

Yoshino raised a hand to her chin as she considered what Seiza said. "That's...actually a good point. If I had created an invention like Outsider's, I guess I too would think twice about who should I trust it to."

Yoshino nodded. "Alright then, I've decided..." Yoshino put her gloves back in the school bag before she pulled out her cell phone and the small note that contained Outsider's phone number. "I'm gonna call him!" Yoshino said with determination in an attempt to motivate herself to go through with it before she changed her mind.

As the phone rang close to her ear, Yoshino patiently waited for Outsider to pick up while Nozomi and Seiza had, not so subtly, gotten closer to Yoshino so they could also hear the call.

"Hello?" said the familiar, tampered voice of Outsider from the other side.

Yoshino took a deep breath before continuing. "Hey, it's me, Yoshino. I...just wanted to know the time of day and place we can meet today." A thought soon crossed Yoshino's mind. "Unless today is no good. I would rather start learning how to use these gloves as soon as possible, but like, if you're too occupied..."

"No, I don't have any important compromises for today. We can meet at 3:45 PM. As for the place of meeting...would near that abandoned building where we first met be good enough?" Outsider asked, direct and to the point.

Yoshino pushed down how Outsider's modified voice near her ear slightly creeped her out before nodding. The abandoned building was a good place to meet if they didn't want to risk anyone uninvited interrupting their meeting, and the meeting time was just enough for them to get there after school. "Yes...the place and time are perfect. We'll meet you there...have a nice day."

As Yoshino finished the call, she breathed a sigh of relief, happy everything worked out.

"Well...that could have gone worse...I think?" Nozomi said, not knowing what to say about Yoshino's call with Outsider.

Yoshino rolled her eyes. "Well, excuse me if I get uncomfortable talking with strangers with creepy voices over the phone," Yoshino said, before grumbling unintelligibly under her breath, clearly flustered.

Before Nozomi could argue back, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch break. After both of them finished eating the rest of their lunch, they soon got up and left the rooftop.