The S-Rank Magical Girls from My Favorite Yuri Want Me!?

Yume had a problem, a fairly serious one, since she couldn’t simply knock on Noah’s door and say,

"Hi, I’m your son’s girlfriend."

Well, technically she could, but she didn’t want to because that would be too direct, too simple, and according to Yume, a first official introduction needed preparation.

A lot of preparation.

That was why, for almost an hour now, she had been sitting at her desk with several sheets of paper, her phone, a notebook, and a photograph of Noah that had nothing to do with what she was doing, yet she had still placed it right in front of her.

Yume rested both arms on the table.

’I need a natural entrance.’

In her head a large conference room appeared, a long table occupying the center, and seated around it were several versions of Yume.

Responsible Yume adjusted her glasses.

"We must make a good impression."

Romantic Yume raised both hands.

"We have to prove we’re worthy of marrying Noah!"

Perverted Yume smiled.

"We can also ask Emma what Noah liked when he was a kid and get information out of her like photos, tastes, habits, weak points..."

Responsible Yume slammed the table.

"Not that last part."

"Why not?"

"Because we’re trying to meet our future mother-in-law, not gather compromising material."

Perverted Yume crossed her arms.

"One thing can serve the other."

Real Yume shook her head.

’Focus.’

She looked at her phone again, where she had started with something simple: finding out which places Emma normally visited.

Noah had told her a few things over the course of their relationship.

His mother Emma did the shopping, so she sometimes went to a nearby bakery, visited a market on weekends, and also stopped by a certain pharmacy.

That didn’t seem enough, so Yume investigated a little more until the point where she realized she had probably crossed a line.

She looked at a sheet.

[PROBABLE ROUTINE OF EMMA REED.]

Below were notes.

[Monday: supermarket after 5:00 p.m. Estimated probability: 60%.]

[Tuesday: bakery between 4:30 and 5:20 p.m.]

[Wednesday: pharmacy, possible.]

[Thursday: no reliable information.]

[Friday: big shopping.]

Yume stared at the sheet.

’This looks like a surveillance report.’

Inside her head, Responsible Yume raised a hand.

"I’d say it looks more like stalking."

Romantic Yume answered.

"It’s not stalking if we do it for love!"

"That’s exactly what a stalker would say."

Perverted Yume nodded.

"I agree with Romantic."

"That doesn’t help."

Yume dropped her forehead onto the table.

"I’m not stalking my future mother-in-law."

She stayed like that for a few seconds and then lifted her head.

"I’m just trying to run into her casually."

She looked at the schedule again.

"...in a planned way."

She fell silent.

"That sounded worse."

The first opportunity came the next day.

According to her calculations, Emma was supposed to visit a small bakery near her house, so Yume arrived twenty minutes early.

She chose twenty because thirty would have been too suspicious.

She stayed inside a nearby store, discreetly watching the street.

She was wearing simple clothes that had taken her forty minutes to choose, since she wanted to look pretty but not too dressed up.

Elegant, but casual.

Responsible, but young.

Friendly, but not desperate.

She had changed clothes six times, but finally settled on a light skirt, a simple blouse, and a light coat.

She also carried a small bag of sweets, just in case.

’I’m not going to give them to her.’

She told herself.

’It would be too obvious.’

She waited five minutes, ten, fifteen, and Emma didn’t appear, so Yume checked her phone.

’Maybe she’s running late.’

She waited another ten minutes, but nothing, so she finally went into the bakery to buy something and not completely waste the trip.

The clerk recognized her.

"You again?"

Yume froze.

"Again?"

"You came yesterday."

Yume swallowed.

"I really like the bread."

The woman looked at the bag Yume was carrying.

"You also bought quite a bit yesterday."

"I really like it."

She bought two loaves and left, but Emma never showed up, so the first operation was a failure.

The next day, Yume tried at a pharmacy.

She arrived early, waited, and saw a woman who looked like Emma from behind.

She followed her for half a minute until the woman turned, revealing she wasn’t Emma, so Yume apologized and fled.

Second operation failed.

On Friday she tried at a small market and this time she was convinced.

Noah had mentioned in a conversation that Emma bought vegetables there because they were cheaper.

Yume arrived, waited, and at last Emma appeared.

Yume’s eyes lit up while inside her mind, all the Yumes stood up.

Romantic Yume pointed forward.

"TARGET ACQUIRED!"

Responsible Yume raised a folder.

"Procedure one is a casual approach."

Perverted Yume smiled.

"Let’s ask about Noah’s childhood photos."

"No."

Yume took a deep breath and started walking.

Emma was only a few meters away and Yume prepared her surprised expression.

’Oh, Mrs. Reed, what a coincidence.’

No, too formal.

’Emma, what a surprise to see you here.’

No, maybe she still shouldn’t call her Emma directly.

’Mrs. Reed, I didn’t expect to see you.’

Perfect.

Yume advanced, but a van parked in front of the market where several boxes were unloaded and a worker placed herself exactly between them.

Yume tried to go around, but another worker passed, then another, and when she finally managed to move forward, Emma had already boarded a bus.

Yume stood frozen on the sidewalk while inside her mind, the conference room remained completely silent.

Perverted Yume raised a hand.

"Can we chase the bus?"

Responsible Yume answered.

"No."

"But we can catch it."

"No."

Real Yume sighed.

’This is turning out to be much harder than I expected.’

Still, she didn’t give up, since she still had one last option: the supermarket.

According to Noah, Emma almost always did the big shopping there, so Yume prepared everything the night before.

This time she wanted to be ready, so she chose her clothes with extreme care, then prepared a small gift and then another.

She discarded one because it was too expensive, changed the second because it was too cheap, and finally decided to bring a box of tea along with some sweets.

She also prepared homemade food that she had cooked with Mirai’s help, although she refused to tell her who it was for.

Mirai had suspected immediately.

"Is this for our Noah?"

"No, and he’s my Noah."

"Then it’ll be for his family."

Yume froze, at which Mirai smiled.

"I knew it."

"Don’t say anything!"

"Are you going to bribe our mothers-in-law?"

"It’s not a bribe and stop including yourself!"

"Sure."

Yume decided to ignore her.

Besides the gifts, she prepared possible conversation topics, like studies, work, the family, Noah, especially Noah, and rehearsed answers in front of the mirror.

"Yes, Noah is very responsible."

Pause.

"No, I don’t mind helping him."

Pause.

"Of course I worry a lot about him."

Another pause.

"I love him so much."

Yume turned red and shook her head.

"No, that’s too direct."

She looked at the mirror again.

"We’re very close."

She frowned.

"That sounds suspicious."

Inside her head, Romantic Yume raised both hands.

"Just say directly that you want to marry him!"

Responsible Yume refused.

"That could scare her."

Perverted Yume smiled.

"We can tell her we’ve already checked physical compatibility."

Yume’s eyes went wide.

’Shut up!’

Yume had to be very careful about what she would say to her mother-in-law.