Daughter? What does that mean?
Su Mo was only a few years older than Madoka and much younger than him. How could he possibly have a daughter around Madoka's age?
It couldn't be that Su Mo had a child when he was only a few years old, could it? Wasn't that a crime against a minor?
For a moment, Tomohisa Kaname's mind was in such chaos that he didn't even know how he reacted or how he said goodbye to Su Mo.
It wasn't until he was back in the kitchen, starting to fry another portion of eggs, that he gradually sorted out his thoughts and came to his senses.
"Without a doubt, this was a violation against the young Su Mo-kun. As an adult, I must encourage him to bravely report the crime and use the law as a weapon to bring that pervert who threatened a child to justice!"
Having concocted a melodramatic backstory in his mind, he clenched his fists, determined to protect Su Mo's legal rights. The young man he had watched grow up had suffered such a terrible experience, and he hadn't even noticed. This was a true failure as a neighbor!
After mentally preparing himself in multiple ways, his conviction was only strengthened when he saw Su Mo and Homura walk in together.
Both had black hair and black eyes, and both were top-tier beauties. It wasn't out of place to call them father and daughter.
"Rest assured, Su Mo-kun. Our whole family will be your shield and support you!" he said, standing before Su Mo and gripping his hand with an incredibly firm tone.
"?"
"Dad, what are you talking about?" Madoka and Homura both looked at him with confusion.
"That's adult business, Madoka. You don't need to worry about it," Tomohisa said, looking at his daughter and shaking his head. He never thought his daughter would become a stepmother to someone her own age so young... he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Looking at his inexplicable behavior, Su Mo was probably the only one present who could guess the reason.
And so, a minute later, Tomohisa was sitting at the dining table, scratching his head and apologizing awkwardly. "So, there's no blood relation between you and Miss Homura? I'm sorry, I misunderstood."
"Dad, your misunderstanding was way off!" Madoka couldn't help but retort. What kind of family tragedy had he been imagining?
"It's fine, as long as it's cleared up," Su Mo said, naturally unconcerned about such a small matter.
"So, do I look a lot like Big Brother Su Mo?" Homura wasn't angry either. In fact, she seemed inexplicably happy.
"You do look a bit alike, otherwise I wouldn't have made that mistake," Tomohisa apologized again, then asked with a puzzled look, "But, have I met Miss Homura before? You look a little familiar."
"Eh? Dad, have you forgotten? We met Homura-chan at the hospital three days ago!" Madoka finally remembered they had met, her tone even more surprised. Her father couldn't even remember someone he'd met once?
Hearing her, Tomohisa thought hard for a dozen seconds before slapping his forehead. "Wait! You mean that kid who was hospitalized?" He stared wide-eyed at the young but clearly beautiful girl before him, then recalled the plain-looking girl with braids and thick red-framed glasses from his memory. He found it unbelievable. "They're the same person?"
It wasn't his fault for not recognizing her at first glance. Homura's transformation was just too drastic. Her appearance and her aura were like the difference between a princess and a beggar. In just three days, the change was simply too great.
Hearing this, Homura nodded, her eyes shining like stars as she looked at Su Mo. "It's all thanks to Big Brother Su Mo and Madoka's help!"
"Madoka helped too?" Recalling the information he had gathered, Tomohisa nodded with some surprise. It wasn't hard for him to guess what Su Mo had done, nor was it hard to guess why he had chosen to adopt Homura. "As expected of Su Mo-kun! As expected of the man my Madoka has her eyes on!"
For him, character was everything. Su Mo's actions once again proved his choice was right. This was a young man worthy of being entrusted with his daughter.
He was ashamed to admit that even he had flinched at the situation, but in the end, it was Su Mo who had stepped up.
"Dad, what nonsense are you talking about!" Faced with her father's wingman-ing, Madoka was clearly still a bit dazed and became embarrassed.
"N-Nothing." Seeing his daughter was clearly not catching on, Tomohisa shook his head in disappointment and said no more.
In any case, with Su Mo's character, he wouldn't mistreat his daughter. And this girl, Homura, seemed to have a good impression of Madoka as well. Not to mention, her status as a "daughter" completely eliminated any possibility of her taking the main spot. How could she lose with such an overwhelming advantage?
After the meal, Tomohisa, the stay-at-home dad, looked at the time. As he loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, he said, "By the way, Su Mo-kun, you're going with them this time to handle Miss Homura's school enrollment, right?"
"Something like that."
"The school's paperwork is already done. Now all that's needed is the guardian's and her own signature. This step could actually be skipped, but being taken to transfer schools by a parent is a kind of life experience for a child, so it's probably better to make the trip."
Homura might have transferred schools a hundred times by herself during her loops, but this was likely the first time she had been taken by a family member.
"..."
Hearing this, Homura subconsciously squeezed Su Mo's hand. She never thought Su Mo would be so considerate. This was a level of care even her biological father had never given her.
Moved, she also felt a little worried. Was Su Mo really planning on raising her as his daughter?
Tomohisa, on the other hand, hadn't noticed the threat posed by Su Mo's "daughter." Hearing Su Mo's words, he nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. It's better to have an elder with you in an unfamiliar environment. But if you're driving to school, be careful. There seem to have been a lot of car accidents near the school these past few days." He offered a word of caution, remembering what the neighbors had been talking about. Madoka usually walked to school, so there was no need to remind her.
"Okay, thanks for the warning. I'll be careful," Su Mo nodded slightly.
---||---
After saying goodbye to Tomohisa, he left with Madoka and Homura, driving towards Mitakihara Middle School. A school that was a ten to twenty-minute walk away was naturally a much shorter drive.
In just a few minutes, the black sedan smoothly arrived at the last intersection before the school. The light was red, and the car stopped. Just then, the roar of a powerful engine sounded from the right.
A sports car, going at least a hundred kilometers per hour, came careening towards them, swerving almost out of control. It looked like it was about to plow into the sidewalk and, if nothing changed, would crash right near Su Mo.
The car accident risk Tomohisa had just warned about had arrived.
"That's..."
Faced with this development, Su Mo remained perfectly still, looking at the out-of-control sports car with interest. To an ordinary person, it was just a regular car, but in his eyes, he could clearly see a lollipop-shaped black shadow.
"...That's a familiar!" Homura unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the rear right door. "A witch's familiar spreads despair. The car accidents Madoka's father mentioned are probably its doing."
As she spoke, a small, round shield had already materialized on her arm. Homura reached inside and pulled out a rocket launcher.
With her extensive combat experience, she could be fully armed at a moment's notice. Although the familiar before her was a piece of cake, something she could eliminate with a single long-range attack, the fact that it dared to threaten Su Mo and Madoka in the car had crossed her bottom line.
If she didn't follow the trail and destroy both this familiar and the witch behind it, her many loops would have been for nothing.
Just as she was about to give a word of instruction and step out to protect Su Mo...
"Wait!" Su Mo stopped her.
"Wait for what?" Homura was taken aback. Seeing the sports car was just a second away from impact, she was ready to stop time at any moment. She had to listen to Su Mo, but wasn't it a bit too dangerous to hesitate at a time like this?
"Someone has already made a move," Su Mo said before Homura could stop time.
Just then, Homura also noticed several golden ribbons appear in her field of vision. Recalling a certain magical girl from Mitakihara, she immediately relaxed and retracted her move.
As the roaring sports car closed to within ten meters of them, a clear and elegant girlish voice rang out.
"Witch! I won't allow you to cause trouble in my territory again! Stop!"
Golden ribbons shot out, wrapping around the roaring sports car like a bedsheet and pinning it firmly to the ground. The black, candy-shaped familiar attached to the car leaped to the ground, intending to escape through the sewer.
However, another bright yellow ribbon wrapped tightly around the familiar's body, giving it no chance to escape.
*CRACK!*
As the yellow ribbon twisted, the familiar was torn to pieces in the blink of an eye, completely annihilated.
Just then, a girl with a nimble figure and a more developed body than her peers descended to the ground on a golden ribbon and looked at the occupants of the car with a gentle smile.
"Good day, sir, and you, my dear kouhai! I am Mami Tomoe, a third-year student at Mitakihara Middle School. I trust you two... and this rather unwelcoming peer, are all unharmed?" The girl gave an elegant curtsy, her attitude towards Su Mo and Madoka quite polite. Only when facing Homura was there a clear hint of apprehension.
"Mami-senpai... is also a magical girl?" Looking at the magical girl before her, Madoka was exceptionally surprised.
She never thought a senior from her school would be a magical girl. In that case, Rin had been right. There had always been a hidden world here; she just hadn't had the chance to encounter it.