Hikari lay on the floor, groaning in pain. It felt like everything hurt. Was this death? Was this what it felt like to die alone and in terrible pai-

“Overdramatic, much? Don’t act like you’re not healing it already.” said the woman who’d put her in that position.

Hikari groaned again. “Can’t you go easy on me? I’m your daughter for crying out loud…” She looked up from the floor, coming face to face with a wooden sword.

“Not when you heal away any actual harm, and not until you’re at least half as good at close combat as you are at magical explosions.” Yoko Himura said. Yoko was fairly short, the same height as her daughter, and had short, straight black hair. She was in her forties, but healthy living helped her look a bit younger than she was. “When I was your age, I had to use my sword just as much as my staff.”

“Why bother with melee when you can just blow them away before they get close?” Hikari grumbled, pushing the bokken away and standing as she picked her own back up.

“Because sometimes you might not want to blow up whatever they’re standing on.” Yoko replied, “Or they might have hostages, or they might have gotten close without you noticing.”

“She’s right, you know,” Izanami chimed in, inside Hikari’s mind. “Maybe if you’d tried smacking me around instead of blasting, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Hikari rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything on account of her mom being right there. “Alright, alright…” Hikari muttered, returning to the start position.

The pair exchanged a few more blows, Hikari mostly failing to put any considerable pressure on Yoko beyond a single glancing blow to the shoulder pad. Hikari wasn’t really a melee combatant; her preferred method of dealing with opponents was high power magic the moment she recognized a threat. But it was good exercise… and her mom had a point.

“You know, Hikari…” Yoko said later, as the session wound down and they were cooling off with some water. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Hikari blinked. “Yeah, of course I can, Mom. What about it?”

“If this is going to lead to the birds and the bees, I’m taking control and making her a minion before she starts.” Izanami said.

Yoko rubbed her forehead. “Look. I know being a magical girl is tough. When I held that amulet, I didn’t have the support systems that you have, true. In some ways, it was harder. But at the same time, I didn’t live in the world capital of magical attacks and monsters. So in some ways, you’ve got it harder.”

“Ok… and this is leading… where?” Hikari said, leaning on her bokken.

Yoko sighed. “I love you, honey, but you can be a bit dense sometimes. You think we haven’t noticed you randomly going missing, or just generally acting weird?”

“Oh. I see.” Hikari said. She’d probably have to tell her parents about Izanami sooner or later… but she didn’t much feel like it this early in the morning.

“Look, I’ve been there. Magical vision quests, the odd road trip, chasing down a long term nemesis, or just a lot of villains one after another. I get that there’s a lot of things that could be keeping you from home, a lot of things piling on the stress. I’m not going to press you for what it is if you don’t want to tell me. But I do want you to know, your father and I are always here for you.”

“...Thanks…” Hikari said awkwardly. “I don’t…. Well, it’s not anything you can help with… but I’ll keep it in mind.” No sense worrying her parents over something they couldn’t really help her with, really.

“That’s all I’m asking.” Yoko said. “Now on to some nicer topics, good job with that last villain you fought.”

“I don’t think so, really,” Hikari said, grateful for the subject change, “You mean that overbearing motherly-type right? I couldn’t really do my normal blasting since she kept turning people into kids and I mean, they were in the firing line…” she paused. Yoko looked at her expectantly. “Oooooooh…”

“What was that about close combat being pointless?” Yoko said with a smirk.

“Point taken.” Hikari conceded.

At about that point, the door to the makeshift dojo slid open. “I’m hearing a lot less bashing, so I’m assuming it’s safe to come in,” said the man who entered, bearing a pair of cups. He was fairly tall, standing a head and a half over both Hikari and Yoko, and had kind brown eyes on a face etched with smile lines. “How’re my lovely ladies doing?”

“Battered and bruised.” Hikari replied, taking the proffered iced tea and starting to gulp it down.

“Morning training is nice as usual, love.” Yoko said. “We were just talking a bit about Hikari’s last fight and what could have been done better.”

“Good to hear. Sorry I couldn’t join in, you know how it is at work.” Daichi Himura said, giving Hikari an affectionate rub on the forehead and Yoko a quick kiss on the lips. “It’s a bit irritating to work from home, but you know how it is. Office is in the path of this week’s supervillain and all.”

“I don’t mind if it keeps you here.” Yoko said cheerfully.

“Your parents are sickeningly sweet.” Izanami grumbled. “It’s annoying.”

Hikari didn’t give Izanami a response to that - her parents were great, as far as she was concerned. She’d heard how they ended up together, and it kinda made sense with how they turned out. Daichi and Yoko met when the latter was still a magical girl - Daichi was always throwing himself in danger to protect others until support could arrive, and this bravery and selflessness charmed Yoko even as she had to drag his butt out of both metaphorical and literal fire. So when they had a kid, and it came time for Hikari to take her inheritance, it made sense that both decided to help her as much as they could.

For some time, the family just chatted away. It was nice to occasionally have a break from the magical girl stuff that usually kept her so occupied. Soon, they were interrupted by a doorbell. “I’ll get it. You girls rest up.” Daichi said cheerfully, heading to the front door. Hikari followed, curious what it was.

Daichi came back a minute later, carrying a package. “You order anything, Hikari?” he asked.

“No. Why?”

“It’s for you.” Daichi shrugged, and set it down on a kitchen table. Yoko came out from the dojo as well, coming to check what the fuss was about.

Hikari looked it over - no sender, no information about what was in it. She grabbed a knife from the drawer.

“Maybe you should be a bit more careful? It’s not as if you hide where you-” Izanami started, but it was too late as Hikari sliced the package open.

The content was rather more innocuous than Izanami had worried. It looked like it was… a book? Hikari picked it up. The title and blurb on the back described it as… a parenting book? “...I think we got a wrong address? I know I didn’t order this.” she said, passing it off to her mom to let her look.

“Maybe it’s for another Hikari and they made a mistake?” Yoko suggested with a shrug. “Because I think I’d know if you were in need of this sort of thing.”

“I suspect that’s the case, yes.” Daichi said. “Well, there’s no return address… might as well keep it for if there’s ever a family friend who needs it?” He took it from Yoko and went to slot it in the bookshelf.

Honestly, Hikari felt a little weird after touching it… but she chalked that up to minor confusion. “Well… I’m gonna head out, I think. Was planning to meet up with Natsuki today-”

“Hikari, what are you forgetting?”

Hikari paused. Then she caught a whiff of something that smelled sweaty and rank, and remembered that she’d just done morning training and sweated a lot in doing so. “...After I take a shower.” she corrected herself.

“Good girl.”

A few minutes later, Hikari was slipping into the shower. Izanami yawned a bit - it was weird being able to see her despite her being in Hikari’s own head. “I’m gonna be… checked out for a bit. Don’t really need to see you naked.”

Hikari sighed as she finally had a bit of privacy. In all honesty, she didn’t mind Izanami that much, periodic body snatching aside. It just wasn’t in her psychological makeup to hold a grudge. But it was nice to have some time to herself occasionally, and the shower was one of those times. She allowed the warm water to rinse over her body, taking some time to just soak and relax. Hikari was basically on autopilot, going through the motions of the shower without paying enough attention to notice how her body was changing.

As she let her body soak she grew taller. It was too gradual for her to notice but not long after the shower began she stood a good six inches higher than she had been. As she started to soap up her body, her figure changed to match. Hers had always been slim, modest, but that was changing as her hips flared out further, and her bottom blew out to match. Her breasts swelled as she rubbed soap over them and between them, unaware of the transformation.

Hikari’s mind wandered, planning out her day - she was going to meet up with Natsuki, maybe go on patrol… have a meeting with Miss Nakano about some changes to the dispatch system… probably go out and bring back some groceries… she blinked. Something seemed off about those thoughts. Since when did she have anything to do with the dispatch, or shopping? She shook her head, deciding it was probably nothing.

Not too long after, she got out of the shower, and got to work drying off. She had a busy day today, so she took her time to enjoy it. The kids could probably wait for a bit. Once she was good and dry, she brushed her hair out, letting it return to it’s natural wavyness, before slipping on the clothes she’d checked out - a simple, professional half-jacket over a nice dress. She checked herself in the mirror, smiling as she saw how nice she looked.

“...Hikari?” A voice said in her head. “I was gone for what, thirty minutes? What the hell happened to us?”

Hikari blinked. What was that voice? “Hello? Who’s ther-” her hand passed over her amulet, and she shook her head and looked at herself in the mirror again. “What the hell!? When did I turn forty four?” The number was oddly specific but when she guessed at an age, it came to her instantly. She had a rather different body than she’d entered with, mature and more than a bit attractive. She wasn’t exactly a child anymore anyway, but there was a world of difference between that and what she’d turned into.

“Looks like that package wasn’t so innocent after all,” Izanami said. “Some magic on the book… We look pretty dang good though, gotta say.”

Hikari wasn’t listening, heading downstairs to check on Daichi and Yoko. When she came into the dining room, two things struck her immediately. One: Her parents weren’t there anymore, and in their place were a pair of small kids - 7 and 10 year olds, she knew instantly. The younger, the girl, was sitting on the floor playing with a toy truck, making vroom-vroom sounds as she did so. The older, the boy, was in a chair, eyes flitting between the girl, Hikari, and the second thing that Hikari had noticed.

An older woman was sitting at the table, smiling serenely. “Miss Himura, wonderful to see you again. You’ve filled out nicely, since last we met.”

“Matron. How wonderful to see you again.” Hikari said in an icy tone. “Would you like to speak in the other room? I’m sure the kids don’t need to hear the grown up talk.” The maturity in her own voice surprised her.

“I’m sure they don’t mind.” the Matron said cheerfully. “Now, I think I’m going to take them on a trip. As thanks for what you did for me earlier.”

“Mom…” the boy said. Looking at him, it was pretty clear that it was Daichi… though unlike Hikari, who had someone else in her mind to jolt her back to reality, he’d slipped fully into the role of a small child. “I-I’m scared…”

“Don’t worry, dear,” Hikari found herself saying without a second thought, “Mommy will take care of it. You just keep your sister out of the way.” Hikari was thinking quickly. She wasn’t entirely sure if she had access to her magic or not, aged up as she was. Even if she did, her parents (or her kids, at the moment) were in the firing line.

“It’s impressive. You seem to remember how things are supposed to be.” the Matron said, eyes sliding over to the kids. “I was expecting a demure housewife when I came in. Maybe I underestimated your strength. I’m sure it’ll fade once I make a hubby for you.”

“I’m going to ask you to get out of my house, and leave us alone. If you do, maybe I won’t have you carted off to prison.” Hikari said. She noticed something leaning against the wall, and remembered a conversation that felt like it was 25 years ago but had been just an hour and a half earlier.

“Oh, like you can do much of anything this close to your kids.” The Matron said, waving off the threat. While she was busy doing that, Hikari grabbed the bokken from the morning’s practice and lunged.

The villainess had been expecting an attack, clearly - the blast of magic where Hikari had been moments before spoke of that. But she had been expecting Hikari to transform and blast her. Not for her to grab a sword and get right up close. Hikari heard Daichi and Yoko scream. It was over in seconds as she brought the wooden blade down on the Matron’s head with a loud CRACK!

It might not have carried an edge, but between it’s weight, the speed of the attack, and the immense strength of a mother (kinda) whose children (sorta) are in danger, it did more than enough - the Matron slumped, knocked right out by the blow to the head. As Hikari withdrew, and dropped the wooden sword, the two children sprang up and sprinted to her, hugging her at the hips. “There, there…” she said gently, “It’s ok, the bad lady can’t hurt you now…”

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t come get you, Mommy…” Yoko said, “S-She gave me a truck, and it was cool…”

“It’s fine, honey,” Hikari said.

“Wow, you’re really getting into this role…” Izanami muttered.

“Oh shush, they’re kids right now…” Hikari quieted the voice in her head, and got back to helping out the two young ones. “Alright, you two have to be good, and Mommy’s going to make a call, ok? Come tell me if she starts to wake up, alright?”

The children nodded, and Hikari placed a phone call. Not ten minutes later, a pair of cops came to the door. Thankfully, the cops were kept on the up and up in regards to families with magical girls; a quick explanation and they were bringing the Matron out on a stretcher and in cuffs. Hikari thanked them with hugs (which drew a blush from the younger one. Hikari was later shocked at herself to remember she winked at him), and sent them on her way, before attending to the kids.

“So, going to head out to the association and get yourselves fixed?” Izanami asked.

“As a responsible adult, I probably should, shouldn’t I…” she said, looking at Daichi and Yoko. Yoko was sniffling a bit, still not entirely comprehending what was going on, while Daichi was trying to put on a brave face. “But first… you two wanna go out for some ice cream? As a reward for being so brave!”

Curing could wait for later. First, she wanted to take a bit to dote on the two that had always taken care of her.