“All done!” Momoko sighed, falling onto her cushiony butt on the nearest table, setting down her broom with somewhat more care. After all, it didn’t have extra padding to absorb the impact. It had been her turn to clean up the classroom after school, which normally would have been fine if it wasn’t for the fact that her classmate Suzu’s bushy tail tended to shed fur all over the place around this time of year. Not one to let a job be half-done, she had made sure to scour the room thoroughly, but by the end had decided that maybe it was okay to be a little lazier next time. She’d never cut it as a maid, that was for sure.

But before she could rest for long, her phone went off and she was regaled with girly lyrics from her rotating set of magical girl theme songs. She had barely answered it when she instantly had Yui yelling in her ear, sounding out of breath and with the sound of battle around her.

“Momo, we’ve got trouble! Ring everybody for me and head to Akihabara, I’ve got my hands full!”

“I’m on it!” Momoko answered immediately, rushing out the door. “But will you be okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s just that none of these nerds ever run away whenever we fight here, and it doesn’t help that this time it’s a-”

The call cut off, but Momoko was already rushing away, dialling Aoi to relay the news, who said that she’d call Akari in turn. Momoko decided to head straight to the literature club room to notify Kuroko, only to find that the door was locked and that the group was having a day off.

“Oh, great. I don’t have her number!” Momoko moaned, but quickly came up with a backup plan. “Maybe Sakura knows it!”

She sprinted to the gardening club, finding the green-haired green-thumbed girl calmly tending to her plants as always. She was about to blurt out that she really hoped that she knew where Kuroko was or could call it for her when she noticed a certain raven-haired individual sitting near the black lilies reading a book.

“Oh, Momoko? What’s the matter?” Sakura asked while Momoko pointed at Kuroko.

“Oh, so that’s where you are! I didn’t know what I was gonna do if I couldn’t find you!” Momoko sighed in relief, Kuroko looking slightly taken aback at how dramatic the pink girl was being.

“What? It’s quiet here.” Kuroko said defensively, and Momoko was about to ask why she didn’t go to the library instead if that was the case when she was reminded exactly why she was looking for her in the first place.

“Never mind that, Yui’s in trouble!”

--

“Look, there they are! The magical girls!”

There was a round of applause as Momoko, Kuroko, and Yui arrived at the scene, Kuroko scowling at the warm reception.

“Everybody, could you please disperse?” Sakura asked politely to no avail while the crowd got even more amped up.

“Go get ‘em, girls!”

“Be my girlfriend!”

“I haven’t seen Yellow lately, what’s she up to?”

“Do you think you could do that pose? You know, that one! No, not that one, the other one!”

“Can I join? I’m a guy, but I could make it work!”

“If there’s a Kaleidoscope Black, where’s Kaleidoscope White?

“That’s Rose, idiot!”

“Black, please step on me!”

“I hate fighting here.” Kuroko grumbled as a legion of adoring fans attempted to get photos and autographs despite the immediate danger. “Pink, stop going along with it!”

“What?” Momoko asked innocently as she posed for a selfie with a group of squealing fangirls and signed a lucky guy’s statue of the previous Pink. “Oh, right, Orange needs help!”

They broke away, sprinting through the crowded streets as some of their fans helpfully pointed them in the right direction.

“So what are we looking for exactly?” Kuroko asked, still occasionally tugging her skirt down to no avail. “It’s impossible to tell who got changed into what around here. Did Orange give you any clues?”

“Hold on, she texted me a few minutes ago.” Momoko produced her phone, checking the single word that Yui had had time to send her. “Uh… rabbit?”

“It’ll have to do!” Sakura said with determination, and with this keyword in mind, they soon began to notice a particular pattern in the denizens of Akiba. The further they went in the direction the crowds seemed to be reacting to, there became a suspiciously high concentration of fluffy tails and floppy ears along with a surplus of playboy bunny costumes, to the point that they overwhelmed even the non-cosplaying streetgoers. Most appeared to be in a state of shock, clutching their ears or tails, some trying to cover themselves up to little success.

“I was supposed to be working at a cosplay cafe, but I guess this is close enough…” mumbled one of the victims in a brown bunnysuit with an orange hairband and ribbons standing in the street next to a number of other bunnysuited girls.

“Mizu, they got you too?” She asked another girl who seemed bewildered by the whole situation, wearing a bright red matching outfit.

“Actually, this was just this week’s costume…” Mizu said sheepishly as she removed her fake rabbit ears, Momoko stepping in to ask for directions.

“Um, can you tell me which way the monster went?” Momoko asked, the brown-suited girl seeming surprised.

“Are you crazy? Why would you want to- Oh, sorry, I thought you were one of the new workers.” she laughed. “Go that way and take a right, I think that orange friend of yours is already there. Say, how would you like to work here, you’re pretty cute and we’d beat all of the other cafes in authenticity-”

“Thanks but no thanks!” Momoko shut her down as the group advanced, soon finding the source of the scourge of bunnygirls, even the most enthusiastic onlookers keeping a safe distance as cars, signboards, and streetlights had been sent flying about by the chaos, enough to remind everybody that the primary threat of the monsters was typically their strength, rather than their transformative powers.

“We’ll keep them busy, you go find Orange! Blue and Rose should be here any second!” Sakura told Momoko, who had already had this as her first priority in the first place.

“Orange, where are you?” Momoko called out as the three fanned out, not seeing any magical girls mixed in with the bunnygirls who had yet to flee the scene.

“Took you long enough!” A voice yelled unexpectedly near Momoko, who waved her head about trying to find the source.

“Over here!” Called somebody from the direction of a victim in an orange bunnysuit who had hair awfully suspiciously similar to…

“Orange!?” Momoko gaped, finding a blushing Yui pulling herself to her high-heel clad feet, her uniform completely replaced with an orange leotard with fishnet stockings, keeping the long gloves of her uniform and the traditional choker resembling the top of their uniform. Her boots had been replaced with modest orange high heels, but Momoko hardly noticed, as she instead had her attention absorbed by Yui’s new pair of floppy genuine rabbit ears.

“You’re…” Momoko’s mouth continued to hang open. “...cute! Oh my gosh, those ears are adorable! Can I touch them?”

“Maybe later!” Yui grit her teeth, not looking forward to the reception the rest of the team was going to give this. Asking to have her ears fondled was probably the kindest thing she was going to hear about it. Thankfully, other than being embarrassing and being slightly disoriented by the new way she was hearing things with her large, sensitive ears, it didn’t seem to have any significant effects on her personality and more importantly fighting ability. Even the high heels topped out at two inches, which she had experience wearing.

“Oh, uh, I mean, are you okay?” Momoko seemed to regain her senses. “Did it get you anywhere?”

“Right in the costume, as you can see.” Yui said sardonically. “Now I really wish my butt wasn’t the size of a barn.”

She ruefully placed a hand on her huge ass, now emphasised by her leotard and stockings with no skirt to hide it. Not helping matters was the adorable bunny tail that helped draw more attention to it. Her big butt wobbled with each step, the leotard and stockings doing little to prevent it and her noticeable hip sway, the dark-skinned girl being perhaps the most well-suited to the look of her team.

Standing on top of a flipped over car was a monster who looked quite a bit like her victim, if they’d spent too much time on some of the… furrier parts of the internet. Clad in a vintage style black playboy bunny leotard, the monster had a curvy feminine figure paired with a toned, athletic frame. Were it not for being covered in a layer of fur, she probably could have worked as some sort of fitness model. A pair of rabbit ears extended up from a short bob of blonde hair that was the most human thing about her very rabbit-like head.

“Great, more of you.” The literal bunnygirl complained, Aoi and Akari having arrived on the scene as well. “I really thought I’d get a warmer reception around here, ya know? I thought people around here were supposed to like cartoons!”

“They like anime around here, you dumb rabbit!” Yui yelled back at it.

“What’s the difference?” The rabbit monster shrugged.

“It got you already, huh?” Akari broke the ice as the girls formed up. Aoi and Akari looked bemused by the change, Kuroko snickered, and Sakura looked excited the way one would look at a giant stuffed animal. Sakura’s hand hovered out unconsciously, having to restrain herself at the last second before she touched Yui’s ears without permission. She settled for staring at Yui’s adorable ball tail instead, wondering just how soft and fluffy it would be if she could convince her to let her touch it.

“It got me already.” Yui nodded ruefully. “Still, I broke its thingamajig it was changing people with, so it should be smooth sailing from here. Probably.”

“You’ll forgive me if I’m careful anyway.” Akari said, grimacing slightly at her botch in the past. “At least you got something easy to move in.”

“Yeah, it’ll make it easier to beat it so hard its fur falls out.” Yui grinned, stepping forward.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Aoi said, concerned about any unseen effects.

“Better than ever.” Yui bragged, facing the monster. “Hey, ugly! Remember me?”

“I do! You look fabulous, by the way!” The monster winked, causing Yui to pop a vein.

“Nobody asked! You made a big mistake thinking you could do this to me and get away with it!” Yui declared, deciding to make a big comeback and reclaim at least part of her dignity. She pointed dramatically at her opponent and grinned. “Prepare to meet your end at the hands of Kaleidoscope Carrot!”

Yui froze, as did the rest of her team save for Momoko. Even the monster took pause. Yui’s finger drooped, as did the rest of her, slowly keeling over as she put her face in her hands and nearly cried.

“I wanna die, I wanna die…” She mumbled, collapsing even further. “Momoko, get everybody to use the Sparkling Rainbow Buster on me, just end it now”

“Huh? What is it?” Momoko said obliviously. “Are you okay? Did it get you anywhere while I wasn’t looking?”

She attempted to help the despairing bunnygirl back to her feet, having to yank her upright.

“Carrot… it had to be Carrot…” Yui murmured. “At least Rose sounded elegant… This is what I get for laughing at her...”

“What’s wrong with Carrot? That’s such a cute name!” Momoko commented completely wholeheartedly. “You were already fruit-themed, right? Why not vegetable themed?”

“I wasn’t fruit-themed!” Yui snapped at her, bringing her back to her senses. She shook her head, her ears bouncing, renewing her vigor.

“I’m gonna beat you twice as hard for making me say that!” Yui yelled, charging in headfirst. She avoided summoning any weapon for fear that she’d produce something along the lines of a giant carrot, preferring to plant her high heel directly into the monster’s chest before following up with a knee to the chin. The monster weakly held its arms up to block, only to be grabbed by the wrist and flung like a ragdoll over Yui’s head and into the concrete.

“Are you sure she really needs our help?” Akari asked nervously as Yui delivered a beatdown on her own, eventually being knocked back by the monster and causing the rest of the team to charge in to assist. Yui continued to insist on doing the lion’s share of the damage, and it wasn’t long before Momoko helped launch her into a flying dive-kick that pushed the monster past its limit.

“T-that’s all, folks!” The monster cried as it burst into a fiery explosion, Yui managing to keep her balance despite her heels as she skidded to a stop on the other side.

An enormous cheer erupted from the onlookers, and it quickly became obvious who was the MVP of the fight. The members of the crowd began to yell their support as Yui turned to a very impressed Akiba.

“You’re so cool, Kaleidoscope Carrot!”

“You show ‘em, Kaleidoscope Carrot! I’m your new biggest fan!”

“You’ll be my next cosplay!”

“Carrot! Carrot! Carrot!”

Kaleidoscope Carrot turned beet-red as the reality that her new name was here to stay as the crowd chanted her name, and was distinctly off-kilter as she stomped back to her friends.

“Let’s get outta here!” She called to the rest of the group, who fled to a quiet sidestreet a couple of blocks away, hotly pursued by the crowd who had concentrated around the action, leaving space for them to change back in private.

“Guess I’m stuck with these things now.” Yui commented once they were hidden, lifting up one of her ears and letting it fall with a flop while she gingerly felt up her new tail with the other.

“Well, at least you didn’t get turned into anything weird.” Akari grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder, back in her school uniform. “Welcome to the no-team-synergy club!”

“Hopefully that club doesn’t get any bigger.” Kuroko remarked as she changed back as well, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

“Most magical girl teams tend to have at least one member with animal ears, you know!” Momoko mentioned excitedly. “Actually, now I don’t know how many had them to start with and how many got changed like you…”

“Well, it’s not like animal girls are a natural phenomenon to begin with.” Aoi commented, several members of the team immediately turning their heads in surprise.

“They’re not!?” Momoko gasped, although it seemed that Yui and Akari had already heard this trivia before. “But we learned about them in biology class!”

“Nope, they’re just what you get when you have monsters running around changing tons of people for so many years. Why do you think they’re mostly in Japan?” Akari chipped in. “Threw me for a loop when I heard that too, I’ve got dog-girl cousins.”

“That’s really weird!” Momoko felt like her world had been rocked. “Next you’re going to tell me pink hair isn’t natural either!”

Momoko intended it as a joke, but began to sweat as Aoi and Akari didn’t laugh.

“Wanna know the reason why only Japanese people have certain hair colours?” Akari offered with a cheeky smile.

“I don’t!” Momoko slapped her hands over her ears. Meanwhile, Yui was the only one in the group still transformed, seeming very reluctant to change back right now.

“Yui, hurry up!” Sakura urged. “What if somebody sees us together?”

“Yeah, get on with it!” Akari said. “What, you worried you’ll still be wearing it when you change back? Who cares, we’re in Akiba! Nobody’ll notice, and we can buy normal clothes somewhere later.”

“Alright, fine!” Yui cried, undoing her transformation. But rather than changing into another bunny costume or her school uniform, Yui was left blushing in what appeared to be a french maid outfit, short-skirted and short sleeved. Momoko remembered passing by a certain cafe with waitresses in a similar uniform, the exact same one, in fact. Despite her tan, Yui flushed until she was bright red, almost daring somebody to ask what she was doing in such an outfit. Unfortunately, Kuroko was the one to shoot first.

“Care to explain, miss Carrot?” Kuroko said with the most devilishly smug look on her face possible.

“So maybe I’ve got a part-time job around here. Got a problem with that!?” Yui said, too flustered to have any force behind her words.

“Oh, no, that’s quite reasonable.” Kuroko said, as if she had stored up the energy from every bit of teasing Yui had ever done and was ready to send it all back at her. “I was just thinking that I wouldn’t be seen dead in that outfit.”

“Personally, I think it’s a sign of maturity and responsibility to hold a job.” Aoi said, attempting to hide her smirk by raising her hand over her mouth.

“You look cute! I’m sure the customers love you.” Sakura offered unhelpfully, much to Yui’s dismay. But before any more jibes could be made, the crowd from before finally seemed to catch up with them, dashing around the corner as the leader of the pack approached them.

“You there!” He asked as the crowd showed momentary pause. “Which way did they go?”

“Which way did who go?” Aoi asked before Momoko had the chance to screw anything up, putting on an innocently vacant expression.

“The magical girls!” He practically yelled at them. “You know, rainbow coloured, defenders of love and hope, the ones that save the city every week?”

“Oh, those magical girls!” Aoi gasped and clapped her hands together as Momoko realised she was doing her best Hotaru impression. “I thought those were just cosplayers! They went that way!”

Aoi vaguely pointed in the opposite direction, the leader eying them suspiciously rather than sprint off as she had expected.

“How do we know you aren’t secretly them?” The girls froze. “You hair colours certainly match up, and magical girls do have secret identities…”

“What’re you talking about?” One of the others closest to them cut in. “They don’t look a thing like them! It’s not like they wear masks or anything!”

“Hurry up, they’re getting away!” Somebody further back yelled, and the leader wasn’t able to hold them back any longer, the crowd surging forward and brushing the group aside. Yet when the waves of bodies parted, Yui and Momoko were gone...

--

“Sorry you got caught up with me.” You apologised as they waded out of the dense crowd, many still rushing in the belief that they’d get to see the magical girls in person. “I was gonna make a break for it myself, but you were in the way, so…”

“I don’t mind.” Momoko smiled. “I was thinking I might need to get a job eventually too anyway, it’s really hard to complete my figure sets with just my allowance… why’d you decide to start working?”

“Makeup’s not cheap, you know? And my parents are stingy.” Yui said defensively. “Maybe I want to have a crepe or two now and then, or buy those shoes I wanted…”

“I get it! It’s really hard to explain to my mom why it’s so important to get the signed pre-order blu-ray box set bonus with the limited-release statue and concert tickets in it.” Momoko sighed wistfully, Yui feeling that they weren’t on the same page at all, and that Momoko would probably fit in better in Akiba than she did.

“I’m starting to wonder why you weren’t on the team earlier.” Yui laughed, relaxing a little.

“By the way, how long have you been working here?” Momoko asked.

“Oh, uh, not that long-” Yui tried to blow it off before being interrupted once again.

“Yui! Great timing!” The brown bunnygirl Momoko had met waved to her from down the street. Yui did her best to look like she didn’t know her, averting her gaze and refusing to make eye contact.

“She must be confusing me for somebody.” Yui said weakly, ineffectual in stopping reality from rushing up and literally grabbing her by the hand.

“You didn’t get caught in that attack did you? I heard the magical girls had a fight with it right outside your maid cafe!.” She looked genuinely concerned.

“Yeah, well, I was inside so I missed most of it.” Yui’s embarrassment seemed to be never-ending, and as such it continued.

“That’s good! It went past here, but luckily I didn’t get hit or anything.” The bunnygirl said, obliviously under the effects of the retroactive magic that made her believe she had always had floppy ears and a tail.

“Anyway, like I said, good timing.” The bunny got straight to business. “Do you think you could come in for a shift tomorrow? I know you don’t work here at the Usagi Cafe anymore, but the manager wants to do a magical girl theme and we’re short a colour! I was thinking you could be yellow!”

“I told you, I don’t want to do cosplay anymore, I’m sick of having to do a different gimmick every-”

“It’ll pay double!”

“What time do you need me?” Yui leaned in intensely, her ears standing upright and alert as Momoko noticed her tail visibly wagging. “And do you have it in orange?”