Mahou Shoujo Troper Magica - Yamanaka City -

Ayaka noticed Sora entering the school building, and sped up her steps to catch up to her. Maybe she could help me find my class!

It was a rather nice thought, though she couldn't know how effective it would be, or if they were even in the same class. Oh well, it was worth a try. With all her manners in check, she patted Sora on the shoulder, and greeted her with a bow.

"Gomenesai! Umm...Do you know where my classroom is? It's...ummm...." Oh no! I forgot what the number is! Oh noooooo.....

Sora jumped and turned around. "No, I'm not interested in joining any clubs, sorry!

"..."

After going quiet and actually listening to what the girl had to say, Sora scratched her head. "I, um... wouldn't know... not without a number... Wouldn't it be better if you go to the teacher's offices and ask there? Oh, and sorry about the outburst; people try to recruit me all the time..."

After some time running finally the sisters made it to their respective schools. At the very least today Akane wouldn't be late... well, not to late in any case. She still had to walk all the way to her classroom but fortunately they still haven't closed the gates on her.

Noa had been walking along at a nice pace on her way to homeroom. So when she heard the loud exclamation announcing the incoming attack by Sora, she was rightfully startled. Oh, and the headbutt didn't really help matters much either.

"Gah!" She nearly fell over, stumbling against the wall and now nursing a headache. But she was all smiles, grinning broadly at the girl. "Good one Sora-chan! I'll have to come up with a headbutt of my own to match yours, now."

Then her attention turned to the other girl who appeared, asking for directions to her classroom. "Ah, do you know who your homeroom teacher is?"

Minori tried to remember why she didn't go to school anymore. She wanted to believe that she had left so she could dedicate her life to hunting witches, but something about that didn't seem true. Her mind went to her old school, and the few friends she had. They were never really close, but she never felt lonely or uncared for... suddenly something felt wrong and Minori made her mind think of something else. The wrongness disappeared, the memory of that wrongness vanished as well.

"Umm....I....I forgot...again...." she muttered. This happened to her every single year at the beginning of school, so she really should've learned by now, but she hadn't, sadly.

"I don't know anything about this school, really...Uuuuugh, I'm going to be late....."

"Are you a new student?" Sora asked. "I think most of the teachers are still in the teacher's... offices? Lounge? That place. So just ask who's got a transferee with your name while there's still a few minutes before class."

One step. Two steps. Three steps.

Aimlessly, the young girl walked through the park. Why was she here? The park was familiar to her, no doubt; she had come here many times in the past, after all. But she didn't live here anymore. She moved away. Ever since then, she hadn't come back. So why was she here? She tried her best to remember how she got here, to no avail. Her mind was clouded. Just like the sky above her.

A relentless storm bore down onto the park, drenching every part of the young girl, but she didn't notice it. She didn't care. Her mind was blank. She didn't know why she was here or how she got here. Aimlessly, she walked on.

Until she saw her.

In the middle of the park there stood another girl, a couple of years older than the young girl. Her blue eyes and long, red hair stood out in a sea of muted greys and greens, untouched by the raging storm around her. For a moment, the two girls shared the same look of surprise on their faces.

The elder girl's expression turned into disgust.

She turned and walked away. Immediately, the young girl ran after her. There were only about fifty metres between the two, and the elder girl wasn't walking particularly fast. The young girl would catch up to her in seconds.

And yet, the figure of the elder girl shrank into the distance, slowly but surely.

The young girl redoubled her efforts. She was fast, very fast; faster than any normal human. Faster than any sprinter in the Olympics. She might even be able to outrun a cheetah, if she put her mind to it (but of course there were no cheetahs around for her to outrun, this being Japan, so she honestly had no idea whether she could do so). But that came as no surprise to her.

She was a Magical Girl, after all. Of course she was faster than anyone else.

A blue aura began surrounding her as she pumped more and more energy into her limbs in a desperate bid to reach the elder girl. She valued speed above all else; she was virtually unmatched, even among fellow Magical Girls. None could pursue her. None would escape her.

And yet, the elder girl was doing exactly that. At a walking pace.

Her figure disappeared into the storm, despite the young girl's best efforts. The park continued to roll away under her feet at incredible speeds, yet there was always more grass to run across. At last, she realized the source of her earlier unease; this was supposed to be a small park, with a playground off the the side of it. So why did it extend into the horizon in every direction? She should have crossed the park ten- no, twenty times over by now. But that wasn't so important right now. The elder girl was. So she continued running and running and running. All for the elder girl.

And then she tripped over her own feet.

The young girl tumbled face-first into the muddy turf before rolling to a stop; she tried to pull herself up, but to no avail. She was exhausted, her limbs were screaming in pain, her lungs were burning; but worst of all was the state of her Soul Gem. With the last of her strength, the young girl brought the egg-shaped jewel to her eyes and stared into its murky depths; where once there was a soft azure glow, there now was a sickly mix of opaque purples and greens. Even now, however, there was a faint light shining weakly from the very core of the gem.

The young girl chuckled to herself bitterly. How foolish. 'None would escape her'? Someone already did that! 'Faster than any normal human'? She couldn't even keep up with the elder girl! And now she was at her limit. So tired. Why did she even bother? Even if she did catch up to the elder girl, nothing would have changed anyways. Tired. She had so much power, and yet she was powerless. Useless. So tired. There was no point holding on to a hope that never existed. She was tired. She should just go to sleep and let it go. There's nothing she could do anyways. So tired....

As the young girl closed her eyes, the last rays of light from her Soul Gem flickered and faded.

Let it go.

crack

"Rei-san! Rei-san, wake up!"

Rei woke up to find a male classmate quietly calling out to her while shaking her back and forth. She had fallen asleep on the bento her mother had made, apparently; still half asleep, she murmured: "... Ikuji-san? What happened...?"

Ikuji Akihiko frowned at the sleepy girl. "That's what I should be asking you. Are you okay? You seemed to be having some sort of nightmare."

"... was I?"

"I wouldn't know what it was about exactly, but you were crying. Look, you still have tears on your face."

"Ah-" Rei's finger poked at her face curiously; sure enough, there was an excess of moisture around her eyes. "... did I...?"

"No, you didn't make any noise; I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't come over... by the way, you look utterly terrible. How much sleep did you get?"

"Umm..." Rei stifled a yawn. "... no more than two hours?"

Akihiko frowned some more. "You should go to the infirmary and take a nap there. Seriously. You could store adult kangaroos in your eye bags."

Against all odds, Rei chuckled a little. "No, I'll be fine," she said, drying her tears and shaking the sleepiness out of her head. "I'll go to the toilet and freshen up there. Be right back," and with that she rose from her seat and made her way to the door.

Watching his classmate wobble her way out of the class, Akihiko sighed. While Rei was certainly quiet, coldly so, and operated on a talk-and-I'll-respond basis, there was always a hint in her voice that told him that she did not dislike company (even though all conversations with her ground to a halt within a minute or two), and so he considered her a friend. This was the first time he'd seen her like this, though.

"You sure you'll be all right...?" he muttered under his breath- and then.

At the back of the class. Three boys were looking straight at Akihiko, with a sinister grin plastered across their collective faces; a grin that more or less screamed 'Soooooooooooooooooooooooo~.'

Akihiko stared back at them with the blankest, most deadpan expression he could possibly muster. "What?"

After finishing breakfast, the girls headed to school. As she walked, Miki glanced around, trying to get her bearings in the new town.

After about 10 minutes they made it to the school .

edited 5th Jul '11 9:12:02 AM by stargirl93

"Ah, yeah I think that would be your best bet." Noa shrugged, throwing her hands up slightly. "Just make sure to bow and be courteous so they don't bite your head off. A few of them are pretty bitter and jaded from having to teach us snot-nosed brats." She then winked and laughed, clapping Sora on the back as if for emphasis.

"Thank you very much!" She bowed politely, then ran off to find the destination, making sure to remember the advice she had been given. Make sure to bow, make sure to bow, make sure to bow...

-Revives thread-

Entering the gate, Aoi and Miki headed straight to homeroom. As they waited, Miki began to draw again, an image of their teacher sitting at her desk.