"I'm in love with you. Please go out with me!"
That's your hastily-blurted-out response to Luminous Libromancer's inquiry. A quick, jerky bow follows it on your part. The whole thing could've been lifted from some stereotypical romance anime from the early 21st century. Really, it fits the persona you're trying to maintain. You're very much the blushing, shy underclassman confessing to her gorgeous senpai right now.
Of course, it helps that your blush is real.
This is not how you wanted to confess your love! You'd wanted to do it in a more private venue. There'd be candles. The moon'd be out. Terminus City has a few great hotels that offer pretty scenic views of the city. Maybe some nice wine too; you know where to get your hands on a few good bottles of Merlot. Maybe some light fun afterward. Tentacles, aphrodisiacs, a bit of mental rejiggering, and hypnosis here and there...
The point is, you didn't want to confess like this! It's hardly the right time or the right place! It's too early! And there's a bunch of horribly injured garbage people lying around with their arms blown off. That one moron over there who got hit by the truck looks like he broke half the bones in his body. Not that he's in a state to care. Unconsciousness because traumatic injuries suffered will do that to a person.
Honestly, it might be worth tracking these nincompoops down once they get carted off to the local sawbones. You want to personally shred the worthless meat sacks into their constituent organs, to be used as fodder to feed any demons you might summon.
They ruined your date - Not even your date, the precursor to your date! They deserve to rot.
Aah! Because of those assholes, you're confessing your love like this, and this is so uncool. What'll Luminous Libromancer even think?
... Why hasn't she said anything yet?
You look up now to find that the girl you love's just... Staring at you. Every other second, her eyebrow twitches. She works her jaw, trying to find the appropriate words to respond to your... Outburst.
"... I'm sorry, what?" She manages to get out.
"... I'm in love with you, please go out wi-" You attempt to repeat, only to be cut off by your love once again.
"No, I got that part just... I mean... Do you even know who I am?"
"You're obviously a Magical Girl?" You phrase that last bit as a question. Right, there's still time to salvage this. You're playing a part right now. That last bit was just to throw off your love's suspicions. Even if it was horrifyingly genuine, but that's beside the point!
She's off-balance, time to throw her even further off the scent!
"Only a Magical Girl could've taken care of those bad guys the way you did, right? You must be super powerful and skilled!"
"Well, I guess I am, but..." Luminous Libromancer's looking at you with marked interest in her pretty purple eyes. "... Hmm. Strong emotional responses do have a significant correlation with magical potential and strength. Some form of latent resistance heightened by the strength of her emotional response? Could be good research material if everything checks out..."
You try to avoid shivering as you feel Luminous Libromancer scan you once again. A wave of her mana pulses over you, sending your nerves alight. It's all you can do to try and suppress the contended sigh you almost let out. That's almost as good as having her touch you. The best comparison... It's almost as intimate as letting her lotion your nude body up.
It's certainly an intimate combination of spells Libromancer's laid upon you in conjunction with her scan. Nothing overt, she's obviously trying to work around your 'resistances'. All the spellwork she's laying out is specifically tailored to read your reactions. A few charms to detect falsehood in your voice, one to track your body language, another to read your facial expressions. All spells that let her pick up on any falsehood and insincerity... Even in the face of a completely unexpected situation, she's maintaining her guard. Ah~!
She's so cool~!
Too bad for her, you're not lying a single bit. You're telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth right now.
You're in love with her. This is love. Love, love, love~
"Definitely not a Magical Girl, or a demon or some sort of eldritch horror..." Is Luminous Libromancer aware that she's mumbling under her breath? It's a rather adorable habit for her to have. She's like an absentminded professor in that regard. Ah, that's so cute~ "Not an ensorcelled mortal. Not a hint of magic on her... From a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your romantic attraction towards me?"
"10," you reply instantly. "10 out of 10. No, 11 out of 10!"
"Absolute sincerity? Is her resistance really just because of the strength of her emotional response?" Luminous Libromancer continues to mumble, seemingly unaware that she's now blushing about as red as you. Her voice takes on a more embarrassed, self-conscious tone. "And is she seriously..."
"I'm dead serious. Please go out with me," you reply swiftly.
"... Ah. Was I... I was talking out loud again, wasn't I?" Luminous Libromancer hems and haws. This whole thing very clearly flusters her. "Well... I... Normally... I'm flattered, but I don't have experience... Hold on. Hold on, hold on."
"You don't have to give me an answer right away?" You offer. "I can leave you my number and you can give me yours?"
"No, that's not the point. You're not the least bit concerned by what just happened? You just went through a robbery, then watched five men get brutally maimed. Then I put the entire store to sleep, and I was going to do the same to you. And you're not the least bit concerned? The first thing that comes out of your cute mouth is... That you..." Your love's blush is as luminous as her name is. "That you're in love with me, and you want to... To go out with me?"
"... Yes?"
"... You're one interesting girl... What's your name again? Evelyn Parker?" Luminous Libromancer shakes her head, looking completely thrown off. Ah~!
She looks so cool when she's calm and collected, but her self-conscious fluster is cute too!
"... Okay, if you're in love with me this strongly, why are you even in love with me? This is the first time we've met as far as I'm aware."
"How could I not be in love with someone who just saved my life like that?" You tilt your head, affecting a quizzical expression. "Those people were waving guns around. One of them pointed a gun at my head. And then you showed up and saved us all. You were so cool."
Okay, this portion's a partial truth; you were in love with her before all of this went down, but it's enough to fool the spells Luminous Libromancer put on you. This isn't your first rodeo. You're capable of lying as easily as you breathe. Sometimes though, it's more fun to tell the truth.
Especially when it makes cute girls like your love blush as prettily as she's doing right now.
"... Well..." Luminous Libromancer stammers, looking pretty lost now. It's as if she's never had someone confess to her as blatantly and sincerely as you have just now. It's kind of a surprise to you. She's practically a celebrity. Has she really not gone through that many love confessions in her life? "... You just went through a pretty scary thing... Are you sure you're not confusing love for fear?"
"Definitely not!"
"Absolute sincerity again..." Luminous Libromancer mutters underneath her breath. You only pick up on it because of your own enhanced hearing.
That's when Luminous Libromancer's phone rings. Off in the distance, you hear the thrum of an armored AirVan's jets as it touches down in the street right in front of the store. Your love looks down, checks her phone, curses wordlessly.
"Damnit, should've called Steele earlier, the TCPD typically has such an atrocious response time..." Luminous Libromancer tsks. "... Alright, I'm not going to wipe your memory. In exchange... I'll give you my phone number."
Wait, what? Is this really happening right now?
"I'll be busy, the damn rookies need training and I drew the short straw for that, but I'll... Call you. Next week. Or the week after. Whenever it's convenient. I guess," Luminous Libromancer says, awkwardly holding out her hand to give you her phone.
You don't squeal with joy and do a jig in the air, but that's not for a lack of trying. The day wasn't ruined after all! You've got a date with her! As it is, an excited squeal rises up from your throat akin to the sound of a teakettle boiling. You pull out your own phone and quickly swap with your love. Your fingers are a blur as you input all of your contact information as fast as humanly possible.
"I'm just doing this because it'd make for a decent research opportunity. Don't get any ideas," Luminous Libromancer tacks on hastily at the sight of your excitement, even as she makes to give you back your phone. "... Also, you'd better not betray my confidence. When the cops talk to you, I don't want them to know I was ever here, okay?"
"I won't tell a soul, ma'am!" You salute.
"... Just call me Luminous Libromancer, that's my Magical Girl title. I'll... See you in a bit then. Later."
And with a snap of her fingers, she disappears into a flurry of purple sparks. High-level space-time teleportation, huh? Neat trick. That's something you could only pull off with a bit of preparation.
Aaaaaah~!
She's so cool~!
This time, you do gleefully squee. It's a high-pitched, excited noise that'd shatter glass. You pump your fists in the air, do an excited jig, grin widely.
She accepted your proposal! You've got an actual date!
Well, okay, not really. You're no fool, you know what just happened. You've drawn her attention, sure, but right now she's looking at you like you're a unique research subject with peculiar tolerances towards magic. She probably has some noninvasive tests in mind that she wants to run on you at the first opportunity. That's Luminous Libromancer, Terminus City's most reclusive Magical Girl is also its most devoted research nut.
But.
She also called you cute. And her reaction... Hee. She's not nearly as logical as she'd like to think she is~!
All in all, this day went pretty well! Sure, you had to get up early to mindwhammy the sad mortal fleshbag who runs this store. And then some smelly talking garbage tried to rob the store and nearly cocked up your cover persona's first introductions with Luminous Libromancer. But you came out of this with her phone number!
And an actual date!
Although you can't help but feel like you're forgetting something now...
"TCPD!" A squad of heavily-armored police officers round the corner with weapons drawn. The lead officer pauses at the sight of the wrecked store, the five wounded idiots lying on the floor, the truck that's driven straight into the store's front door. "... Uh... What the hell happened here?"
... Right. Human police. Ugh, and you'll have to do the talking too, being the only one still conscious and all.
Oh well.
That's what some carefully applied hypnosis is for. You grin wickedly as you channel some essence, let your eyes glow a soft pink. Just a moment's work to deal with these pigs. After that?
You've got a date to look forward to.
Oh, you're so very excited! You can't wait!
--
Week 2 Actions: You have 100/100 essence. (Regens 30 each turn)