"Eh? Ah Da, you brought a friend home to play."
Theresa leisurely walked into the living room, approaching the chuuni girl and Ah Da. She asked the chuuni girl with a smile, "Little one, is there anything you'd like to eat... uh—!"
Halfway through her sentence, Theresa's eyes landed on the open book in the chuuni girl's hands.
On the page was a drawing of a cute girl with pink bunny ears, and below it, a few large words: TeRiRi's Secret.
Theresa's expression changed in an instant. She grabbed the chuuni girl and, with lightning speed, dragged her into her bedroom.
"My dear child, where did you get this book? Could you please give it to big sister?"
Theresa, shouldering Judah, approached the chuuni girl who was sitting on the bed, a 'friendly' smile plastered on her face.
The chuuni girl was startled. She clutched the book tightly, scrambling across Theresa's bed and shrinking into a corner.
"You-you uncivilized lout! This is the authentic work of the great Magical Girl TeRiRi, who has conquered countless battlefields! It is not for a mere mortal such as yourself to touch!"
"Urk..." Theresa's old face flushed red. Having her dark history treated like a sacred treasure by someone else was just too mortifying.
"You don't need to worry about that. Quick, give it to me!"
Persuasion having failed, Theresa decided to just snatch it by force.
Unexpectedly, though the chuuni girl looked small, she was incredibly fast. She darted all over the small room, and despite her best efforts, Theresa couldn't catch her.
"Huff... huff... you little rascal, how can you run so fast? You're going to tire me to death..."
Staring at the chuuni girl who was clinging to the corner of the wall like a spider, Theresa panted heavily. It suddenly occurred to her that she didn't need to use brute force.
While she could definitely catch the girl if she got serious, was she, a woman in her forties, really going to get serious with a child?
So, with a glint in her eye, Theresa switched to a softer approach.
"Ahem... my dear child, let me tell you a secret. Actually, big sister is very good friends with TeRiRi. If you're willing to give me that book, maybe big sister can help you get TeRiRi's personal autograph, hmm~?"
However, the chuuni girl was not so easily fooled. The little one looked at Theresa warily and declared righteously, "N-Nonsense! The great TeRiRi would never be friends with a bad auntie like you who steals things from children!"
"Bad... auntie?"
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"Hmph! The great TeRiRi is the embodiment of all that is honest, kind, elegant, and brave! Her beauty is not for mere mortals to gaze upon."
"You uncivilized person, now you shall witness the greatness of Lady TeRiRi!"
Saying this, the chuuni girl opened the book and began to recite loudly, "I am the world's number one cutest magical girl, TeRiRi! Savior of this world, light of the hyper-dimension! You demonic beasts, only destruction awaits you! O, searing magic of the stars, burn everything to ash! TeRiRi!"
"SHUT UP! DON'T READ ANYMORE!!!"
Looking as if her world was collapsing, Theresa covered her bright red face and rolled around on the floor.
---o---
Outside the vision, the group watching this scene burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha!!! I'm... I'm dying! Great Aunt, you're just incredible! Magical Girl TeRiRi, really?" Kiana was laughing so hard she was doubled over, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Pfft—" Even someone with Fu Hua's disposition couldn't help but lightly cover her mouth, a smile in her eyes. "Principal, I never expected you to have such an adorable side."
"Theresa, you really are... so young at heart. I've known you for so many years, and this is the first I've seen of this side of you. You've hidden it quite well." Himeko said, beaming. While she knew Theresa could be naive and cute at times, she never thought it would be to this... ahem, extent.
"AAAAAHHH!!!"
Watching her own social death unfold on screen, Theresa felt a deep, sympathetic horror.
Her face flushed crimson, and she pointed a trembling finger at the Theresa in the vision, a mixture of anger, shame, and frustration in her voice.
"That's not me!!! I never said any of those things!"
What a joke! Even if she had cosplayed a magical girl as a child, that was decades ago! And she had never, ever said such embarrassing lines.
"Principal, I understand that having a long-hidden secret exposed in public is awkward. You'll get used to it," Fu Hua comforted her in the tone of someone who had been through it all before.
"I'M TELLING YOU, THAT'S NOT ME!!!"
Theresa felt like crying but had no tears. Although the person in the vision looked just like her, she felt a sense of unfamiliarity. Combined with that dark history, she was even more certain that person wasn't her.
But if it wasn't her, why did they look the same and even share the same name?
Unfortunately, no one believed her. They all just assumed Theresa was too shy to admit it.
After all, if they were in her shoes, they wouldn't want to admit it either.
They were all past their chuunibyou phase. Looking back at themselves from a few years ago was enough to make them think they were complete idiots, let alone dealing with something as potent as this dark history.
---o---
In the vision, the scene of social death continued.
As the chuuni girl chanted one "sacred scripture" after another, Theresa finally couldn't take it anymore.
"That's enough! You forced my hand!"
Theresa, exasperated, pulled a magic wand from her pocket and began to chant the transformation spell.
"O, staff of the hyper-dimension that seals the power of darkness, reveal your true power here! Power of miracles, become stars! Magic of light, gather in my 💖, Dimension Sonata!"
"Ehehe~ I'm gonna Teri Teri you~~"
With a flash of mosaic-like light, the Theresa who reappeared before them was now wearing a pink princess dress, with a pair of donkey ears on her head.
"AAAAAHHH!!! It's TeRiRi!!!"
The chuuni girl was completely star-struck, her eyes shining like 180-watt light bulbs as she trembled with excitement.
But just then, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
"Big Sis Theresa, there's a white-haired big sister outside looking for you."
"Great Aunt, I'm here to get the snack box! Eh? Who are you? Where's my Great Aunt?"
Kiana and Ah Da walked in together. Seeing the magically transformed Theresa, Kiana froze.
"You... you're Magical Girl TeRiRi?"
"SHUT UP!"
It was like being caught masturbating when a family member suddenly opens the door. Theresa's face instantly felt like it was on fire. Her shame meter had completely exploded. In a fit of extreme mortification, she instinctively grabbed her magic staff and slammed it right into Kiana's face!