"Ooof... ow! Get off!" Kiku wriggled out of Akane's grasp. She looked a little battered — her outfit was singed and her skin was lightly burned in places. As close as I was standing when that thing went off, I'm lucky I didn't suffer worse...
"Uh... yeah, I- we did it. Erm, thanks, I guess."
She regarded Rei and Ysanne with reluctant admiration, but eyed Nazuna suspiciously.
"Dunno what you're so happy about. You didn't even do anything."
edited 10th Apr '11 9:28:04 AM by Zudak
And you don't seem to understand...
Ignored. Completely. Noa made a face when the girl didn't react. She liked to believe she wasn't "that" irrelevant. So what if most of her teachers regularly forgot her name/very existence? It helped for days when she wanted to play truant. Just like-
Annnnd those girls just appeared out of nowhere before her very eyes. Freaky. Raising a brow she then took in what they were wearing. Those certainly weren't the uniforms of any school she personally knew of. Seemed more like what one would wear to a cosplay convention for their favorite anime.
"Cool threads." She snarked, unable to keep the humor out of her voice.
"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
Nazuna laughed. This same laugh was the one her former schoolmates had labelled 'The Doom Chuckle', since whenever they heard it, Nazuna was bound to be planning some sort of havoc upon the school. Now out of school, Nazuna still utilized the laugh frequently, such as on this occassion.
"Yes, I'm afraid I arrived a bit too late to help out. It was quite unfortunate. At any rate, I'll have to go now. I'm sure I'll see you soon since we're in the same town."
Nazuna changed her clothes to the regular Haninawa uniform, and strolled out, briefly stopping in front of Noa.
"Oh, and by the way... We're magical girls. Ciao."
And Nazuna disappeared around the corner.
"Aggh, that was weird! I swear we're not all like her!" Minori sighed.
And you don't seem to understand...
The departing girl's words struck a cord within Noa. "Magical girls...?" She repeated, the sarcasm she'd planned to direct to the oddly dressed girls fading immediately with the admission. Well, that certainly explained things. Turning to Minori she stepped a bit closer, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Are you guys aliens?"
"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"
"What! NO! Of course we aren't! Why would you say that! We're normal girls with extraordinary abilities! That's all!" Minori's eyes went wide as she spoke, but she quickly calmed down. "Sorry, didn't mean to come off so strange! I'm making a bad impression..."
Kiku does a handstand. "Jeez, everybody's crawling out of the woodwork now. Where were all these other girls when we were fighting that witch, anyway? Ah, forget it."
The girl flips right side up again, the bells on her hat jingling, and approaches Noa, gesturing dramatically.
"My name is Darth Vader, and I have come to conquer your puny planet!"
edited 10th Apr '11 12:21:48 PM by Zudak
And you don't seem to understand...
"Alright. Not aliens. Gotcha." Noa held up her hands and shook her head, smiling the whole time. This girl certainly was excitable. Then one of the costumed girls came up to her, spouting off about being Darth Vader and conquering planets or something. Noa merely laughed.
"If only. I bet that would living things up around here... But what's "really" going on? Were you guys like... fighting something? That's what I've always thought magical girls did in mangas and TV anyway..."
"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"
Hmm, she's remarkably calm about this, Kiku thought. Here's somebody who gets it. Good. If she becomes a magical girl too, maybe we can work together. I'd rather have somebody rational like her than that Ysanne girl. Even sis seems kind of hysterical about all this.
Kiku felt a little guilty for thinking that. Akane was her sister, after all, and she loved her, regardless of whether or not she'd make a good magical girl.
It is kind of dangerous. Maybe since I've become one, she won't have to. I wasn't really thinking about it at the time, but I really can use this to protect people I care about...
And you don't seem to understand...
Kiku was obviously doing some thinking. Noa shifted to one foot and placed her hands on her hips, squinting her eyes a bit at her. Boy, being able to read thoughts sure would come in handy right about now. She had to wonder now if telepathy really existed like magical girls apparently did. And what about other super powers? Like telekinesis? Or being able to hurl fireballs? Oh the possibilities!
"How'd you all end up in this line of work? A special summer seminar?" She joked. "Let me guess. The final exam is fending off and defeating some unspeakable horror that wants to consume the pure hearts of the Earth's people?"
"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"
"To tell you the truth, I'm new at this. I just contracted with Kyubey today."
Kiku decided to transform back into her normal clothes. Her Soul Gem changed back from a fancy fountain pen to the plain silver ballpoint, which she tucked into her shirt's breast pocket.
"...where is Kyubey, anyway? I thought for sure that with this many magical girls around, he'd be here somewhere."
"There's really no need for me to be around all the time, Kiku," Kyubey explained cheerfully, popping his head over the edge of the roof nearby. He made his way carefully down to ground level, stepping down the building's waterspout and along the fence before hopping down to the bricked path. "Unless you have a Grief Seed to dispose of - which would be quite impressive!"
It's been fun.
"Grief Seed...? Oh right! I remember you talking about those. When the witch blew up, I saw it drop something... but I didn't see where it went."
And you don't seem to understand...
"Q... B? What the heck is a QB?" The only QB she was really familiar with was the kind in American football. The guy who gave commands and said 'HIKE!' and was pretty much the head cheese on the field. But she knew a guy in full football gear couldn't have been responsible for dishing out amazing magical girl abilities... Right?
The answer to the enigma of what or who "QB" was ended up being solved when a weird, white weasel-like creature scurried over to Kiku. "Oh. You guys have a mascot too? This is too much."
"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"
"Mascot? ...yeah, I guess he kinda is! Heh. Yep, he's the one who made us into magical girls. Kyubey, do you think Noa would make a good magical girl?"
edited 10th Apr '11 2:22:05 PM by Zudak
Kyubey tilted his head up at Noa, padding in a circle around her for a few seconds. Then he sat down in front of her, licked a paw, and idly swiped at one of his ears. "Definitely," he concluded, taking care to speak to Noa as well. "Fujimiya Noa, you definitely have some potential to be a Magical Girl if you want to be! All you have to do is make a contract with me. In return, you get any one wish you want granted!"
It's been fun.
"Kyubey, you really have been busy today!" Minori smiled, and patted the creature on the head. "Just how many of there are you all of a sudden?"
"Oh, there's only one of me," Kyubey replied, closing his eyes and leaning in to her hand. "And the more Magical Girls there are, the safer the city will be, after all!"
It's been fun.
I was asking how many new magical girls there are, but that response works fine. It's odd foreshadowing. :P
"Just as long as all these other magical girls don't keep stealing my kills," Kiku said grumpily.
Newbie Drifter
"... I'll be right back."
The moment those words left her mouth, Rei disappeared around the same corner Nazuna used to make her exit, still in her Magical Girl costume. No one else had noticed, had they? A Witch drops Grief Seeds; there was no exception to this rule, especially when the Witch is question was specifically born from a matured Grief Seed! Yet, this one dropped nothing at all; instead, another Magical Girl had shown herself, and she immediately began lavishing praise and compliments upon the victorious team to distract them. There was no doubt in Rei's mind.
Her parents ran the grocery store near the park where Ysanne, Akane and herself were supposed to meet. And there was one thing all grocery store owners and their children disliked.
Hateshinai Rei highly disliked thieves.
Silently (not having armor helped a lot in this regard), so as to not be noticed by the other girl, Rei closed the distance between herself and Nazuna with great speed; there was only about two meters of ground between the two girls when Rei decided to speak:
"You have the Grief Seed, don't you? I'll be taking it back now."
Rei's tone of voice and her expression were completely deadpan and void of emotion. There were no weapons in her hands, nor was she in any form of combat stance; the only hint that Rei was prepared for sudden combat was that she was still in her Magical Girl costume.
That is all she needed. That is all... Her dreams of seeing the world have become her strength, and lifts her wings.
"Oh, I wonder where she's going!" Minori looked a little sad that a new person she had yet to meet was leaving. "Well, the rest of you are still here... Is there anything I can do for you?"
... I'll be right back.
"...hey, suit yourself."
She and the loud girl can fight, Kiku thought, but I'm not so sure that Minori girl was totally correct when she said that not all magical girls are weird.
"So, Noa. What do you say? Wanna become a magical girl and fight alongside us?"
edited 10th Apr '11 3:05:11 PM by Zudak
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
Nazuna had almost made it out of school grounds and into public streets but the other magical girl had caught up. It was misfortunate that she had to get found out.
Without turning around, Nazuna explained. "I'm sorry. You'll have to understand. I can't explain right now but I need them... Far more than you and your company do."
My bad
edited 10th Apr '11 4:20:32 PM by neobowman
Finally it was over...
With the death of the monstrous telescope the bizarre space vanished like the memory of a dream when waking up and all the girls were promptly dropped on the real world.
Akane had not been able to do much more than look in awe and fear through the entire fight. Seeing the other girls fighting... her very own little sister risking her life was both terrifying and inspiring.
Once everything was over Akane couldn't help but to jump in excitement and relief. In her emotion she hugged her little sister as she exclaimed "You did it! Dam, you girls really did it!"