Mahou Shoujo Troper Magica ~ Imaizumi City ~

On the rooftop of the Kazebuchi Highschool, unseen by everyone, there lay a small white catlike creature, feeling the warm rays of the sun warming it's fur.

Kyubey rolled around slightly to his left, towards the edge of the roof and looked down at the gates of the school.

Pretty soon those gates would open and the students would pour into the school. Young girls of all kinds and types, each with their own dreams and ambitions.

But just a selected few... with the potential to become Magical Girls. Even with it's current protectors it wasn't enough. The city would need more defenders to remain peaceful.

And that was exactly what Kyubey was there for.

Sasaki Akira sighed somewhat absently as class 1-B's door, reading the chip in her school ID, pinged a gentle green and slid open for her. There were a few students already in the room; some had stowed their desks and turned around to talk to friends, while others leaned up against the walls, ignoring the scrolling text warning them not to exert pressure on the tempered glass. Akira took her seat, pulling Half-Baked Wonderland from her bag and flipping to the light-blue bookmark in place behind the slip of notebook paper Ayumu used as his own bookmark. He'd never finish it, the pace he read at... She sighed and pulled her glasses off, setting them carefully on the plast surface of her desk, and let herself tune the rest of the world out.

...Is how it should have gone. Around the third time she read the same paragraph over, though, it was time to admit that something was off today. Akira replaced her bookmark, resettled her glasses, and took a look around the classroom. Nothing out of the ordinary, of course; but she still felt... uneasy. As she put her finger on it, the feeling grew, until her book was (almost!) all but forgotten.

"There must be something I'm missing here," she muttered, casting a glance over at the students sitting nearby. None of them seemed concerned at all! That meant it was a personal issue, surely, and nothing that... could affect... Akira felt the blood drain from her face as she finally paid enough attention to the scanboard to read the note scribbled there in Toshiko-sensei's preferred red ink:

English test today! Hope you all studied!

That... was not good.

edited 2nd Apr '11 10:26:26 AM by RedSavant

Natsumi shuffled along on her way to school. Staying up until two in the morning to finish the latest chapter of her ongoing epic had been a bad idea. She was still a little grumpy at her sister for dragging her out of bed.

Hopefully she wouldn't be late. She hated to be the cliched girl who showed up in class disheveled with a piece of toast in her mouth. So she had had eggs for breakfast. Although the worst part of being late was getting her seat stolen. If she managed to snag one of the back corners, she would be able to scribble out ideas for upcoming chapters into her notebook rather than actually taking notes.

As she reached the school gates, a flash of movement on the roof of the school caught her eye. She squinted at the top of the building, holding her hand up to shield against the sunlight reflecting off the glass. Probably just a cat. She sighed. Nothing interesting ever happened here. They hadn't even managed to get a transfer student or anything.

Maybe today won't be like every other day... She shrugged. ...probably not. She sighed and headed into the school.

As Natsumi entered the classroom, she scowled. Half at the unfortunate note on the blackboard about an English test, and partly about the fact that that Sasaki girl had taken the seat in the back row next to the window. Natsumi couldn't blame her, per se, but it was certainly inconvenient. Not that it mattered. There were more pressing matters to worry about, namely the upcoming English test that she had spent last night not studying for.

Today is going to be one of those days... She thought to herself as she slipped into the seat in front of the one she had wanted.

edited 26th Feb '11 9:40:35 PM by JapaneseTeeth

shitshitshitimgonnabelate-

Hoshiko Yamazaki sprinted along the path to school, mentally cursing her luck. She'd spent the previous evening studying and finishing off schoolwork. She'd also wound up passing out in front of her keyboard at roughly 2:30am. And of course, she hadn't set her alarm clock. So when Hoshiko finally did wake up, she had enough time to examine her clock, momentarily freak out, throw on her school uniform and hurry out the door.

And come up with a bucketload of colourful expressions to describe her current situation, of course.

Having ran non-stop from her house, Hoshiko looked ahead and saw the familiar sight of Kazebuchi drawing near. She raced through the front gates, feeling a sense of relief.

It looked like she would make it in time. Just.

Natsumi looked up from her last minute cramming to see Hoshiko bust hurriedly through the door, gasping loudly. She would almost have been surprised if the girl had actually shown up before the bell signaled the beginning of class.

"Late as usual, huh?"

Behind Natsumi, Akira let out another gusty sigh and let her textbook close with a dull thump. What was the point, pray tell, in studying now? Like she'd grasp the difference between '[must]' and '[have to]' in five minutes' frantic reading? What a stupid idea.

Of course, whose idea had it been to stay up reading fiction instead of studying? Whose arrogance had led her to believe that reading translated works by American authors was pretty much the same thing? Who was it who had dawdled in the park until it was almost dark last night, just to avoid having to study with her college-student brother? Akira's fingers balled into fists - then all of a sudden, the anger drained out of her. It was just one test, after all. There was no reason to get so worked up over one test. After all, it wasn't like her grades were all that impressive anyway. The passing grade she would somehow manage to squeak out might even look good next to her long list of truly mediocre - low mediocre - scores; and even if she did have to repeat the grade, perhaps that extra year of school would improve her chances of actually passing an entrance exam.

"Who am I kidding?" Akira muttered, standing up. There was no way this could end well. Whatever happened would be embarrassing - a bare passing grade only underscoring her usual incompetence, or a failing mark damning her to an endless cycle of junior year with progressively younger and younger girls snickering behind their hands at her. As she stepped out from her desk, she barked her shin on the support post; Half-Baked Wonderland fell from the surface and hit the tiled floor, spilling the two bookmarks from their places. She paid it no attention. There was nothing to be done; nothing at all could—

There was an answer.

It hit her with a force like a slap. The simplest solution of them all - and such an easy trip to take. Down the hall, two rights, up five flights of stairs, through the sheetmetal door to the roof... and then...

"Sensei? I... don't feel well. May I go to the nurse's office?"\

edited 26th Feb '11 11:15:32 PM by RedSavant

Chien walks through the school gates, grimacing.

'Time for school again, I guess...'

Quickly regaining her breath, Hoshiko smiled at Natsumi's words.

"Me, late? Never! You're just always early."

It was a joke, of course; Hoshiko really was late quite often.

Straighening herself, she moved towards her desk and took her seat in the classroom. As she did so, she glanced up at the scanboard; there was an English today. Hoshiko breathed a sigh of relief; she'd forgotten about that. It was a good thing she'd studied the previous night. Even though it meant she'd wound up being late, as usual.

...it was practically a routine now. Wake up late, run to school, do the work, do whatever until an ungodly hour, lather, rinse, repeat. Frankly, Hoshiko had grown tired of it. If only there were something exciting in her life, something to shake up the routine...

"...?"

Catching a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye, Hoshiko turned her head to examine the far side of the room.

Nothing out of the ordinary, of course.

Brushing it aside as a trick of the light, she turned back and began to concentrate on what she'd studied the previous night-

"Sensei? I... don't feel well. May I go to the nurse's office?"

-and had that concentration broken by another girl's voice.

Let me guess, Akira; you forgot to study again?

Kotono Tsubasa glanced the school building standing tall behind the gates. It looked as fine and inviting as it had when she'd first seen it back when her family had just moved to Imaizumi city. They had checked out and visited a plenty of high schools, but this one had left a special impression on Tsubasa. She didn't quite know why, it just had.

So almost every time she skipped school, she came here to watch the school she hadn't been allowed to enter. ("The Aozaki Academy is much more suitable for a bright boy like you, Tsubasa-kun!") Tsubasa sat down to a bench at the park opposite of the school and sighed. She knew skipping school was bad, but... they had PE today. The brown-haired teenager shuddered. She knew she couldn't keep this up forever. Soon one of her teachers would contact her parents - perhaps for her lack of attendance, perhaps for something perfectly ordinary - and they would find out about her misdeeds. At that point, not even her high grades could save her from her parents' wrath.

But for now, she would call in sick every day there was PE (and some other days, too) and come here to imagine what it would be like to attend Kazebuchi High School. She caught a glimpse of some girls rushing towards the school gates and felt envy. Sure, they were late. Probably for oversleeping. Maybe they were even having a test today. One they hadn't studied for! Thinking that made Tsubasa feel slightly better. Even so, she was envious. Those girls got to wear the right school uniform and chat with their friends with high, clear, right voices while she was stuck here with dull ugly boy-clothes (not the school uniform, that would have made her skipping school even more obvious than it was now), mute from not even wanting to hear her wrong, wrong, wrong low boy-voice herself. Her voice was now low enough to impersonate her father over the phone. Well, at least that made skipping school easier...

edited 27th Feb '11 2:59:30 AM by Nietos

Yukino twirled her Soul Gem around her finger in its ring form. A white snow flake was printed on the finger bearing it, her right middle finger. Ignoring the lecture on Japanese, a subject she could pass with minimal effort, she passed the time by using search magic to check the attendance. She thought to herself after taking count. 14 absent, 21 tardy, 2 skipping class under the pretext of going to the nurse, on a test day no less. How shameful.

edited 27th Feb '11 6:03:49 AM by lockonlockon

((Sorry, guys, I'm busy for most of today and won't be able to post. If whoever plans to take out the Witch is okay with it, please wait; if not, Akira can be cured offscreen.))

Natsumi sprang up and settled herself into Akira's now-vacant seat. She would have felt guilty about capitalizing on the other girl's misfortune, but she had known the girl for long enough to know that she wasn't actually sick. Probably just forgot about the test. Akira would be back, perfectly healthy, before the end of the day. Probably around lunch.

At least I have my seat back... Maybe the day wouldn't be completely horrible.

edited 27th Feb '11 10:49:17 AM by JapaneseTeeth

Bleuhhh, Kiyohiko is an anal-retentive overachiever so there's not much for me to do while school's still on. Here, have a postful of self-introspection to at least get a taste of him.

Kiyohiko sat straight in his seat and diligently took his notes. Most of the material they were covering he was already familiar with from other sources, but that was no reason not to pay attention in class. School was a time and a place for studying, and study he would until the tolling bell marked the end of the day.

School was a time and a place for studying. That was still certain, even with the white creature called Kyubey wandering its halls somewhere, unseen. So little had been certain ever since it'd turned Yukino into a magical girl. Life had been easy before then: practice after school, homework after practice, sleep after homework.

But now, Yukino might go to hunt those... things after school. That meant no time for practice, no time for homework, sometimes no time for sleep. And yet, whenever Yukino went, he would come also.

Kiyohiko froze for a moment and grasped his pen harder. Focusing on the task at hand had also become slightly more difficult after Kyubey had walked into their lives.

School was still a time and a place for studying, after all.

edited 28th Feb '11 1:26:07 PM by LORd

Natsumi rested her head on her desk. The test hadn't been as horrible as she had thought. It hadn't gone well, by any stretch of the imagination, but she had no doubt that she had passed. Now the challenge would be staying awake through the rest of the day. Hopefully she could get a brief nap in before Akira returned, demanding her seat back.

Then there was that little nagging voice in her head. She was used to that, mostly. She had half a dozen ongoing stories, all of which demanded her attention. Each project constantly picked at her brain, trying to convince her to get back to work on it. But not this voice. This voice didn't seem to be coming from inside her head.

No guesses as to who the voice is supposed to be. Hopefully pretty soon we can actually get everybody in a place where they can interact more. Maybe lunch time.

Down the hall.

Akira... walked would be the wrong word. Akira proceeded down the hallway, school shoes making little hissing sounds against the immaculate white tile. There was so little sound now that class had started that she could hear her own breath, almost raspy in the silence.

Two rights.

The staircase loomed in front of her. The shaped black rubber on the steps was worn with footprints, hundreds of thousands over the years - a sharp contrast to the sleek cleanliness of the rest of Kazebuchi. Akira set one foot above the other in mechanical rhythm, wondering how many of those footprints had followed the same path she walked. She wondered how many had reached their destination.

The steel door to the roof was supposed to be locked, but a scar of slightly brighter metal against the dirt showed where some enterprising students had broken the lock years ago. It swung open easily at Akira's touch, and she squinted as sunlight and dust blew in a squall into the stairwell.

Akira stepped through the door. Gravel below pressed sharply into the soles of her feet through her shoes. Belatedly, she bent and took them off, settling them neatly by the door. That way they could give them to someone else, someone better, when she was gone. She felt a sharp bite into her right foot, but paid it no attention as she came to the edge.

Akira raised a hand to dab at her eyes. This was what she had come here for, but even so, her body shied away from it. "I can't even do this," she muttered angrily, sinking to her knees. She reached up automatically to resettle her glasses, and in a sudden motion tore them off and threw them over the edge.

Haruna... Haruna Natsumi!

The voice inside Natsumi's head went, this time more clear than ever.

Natsumi, something horrible is about to happen! There is no time, you must get to the roof!

As Yukino was performing her search, she noticed one person on the roof.... No, on the roof's ledge, she was going to jump!

She immediately stood up. "Forgive me, teacher, but I must excuse myself."

Yukino dashed out the door and made her way up to the roof. Gotta get there in time...

edited 27th Feb '11 4:58:30 PM by lockonlockon

Jolted out of her stupor by the voice, she blinked. Out of the corner of her eye, Natsumi saw something fall past the window. She leaned over and squinted through the glass. She could just barely make out an object on the outcropping a short distance below the window. A mangled pair of glasses.

Where the heck did those come from? Wait... That voice had said something about the roof. Someone must be up there... She raised her hand.

"I have to go to the bathroom." The teacher nodded absentmindedly, thoroughly engrossed in a book of dubious quality. Natsumi hurried into the hallway.

Why am I listening to this voice...? Oh well, worst case scenario I have to stay late and help clean. She pushed open the door to the stairwell and began her ascent. As she kicked open the door at the top of the stairwell, she was greeted by the sight of Akira standing on the edge of the roof.

She was on the wrong side of the railing.

edited 27th Feb '11 5:07:50 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Akira looked back as the door opened, revealing... Haruna. Haruna Natsumi, the girl who sat in front of her. She looked worried, though it couldn't possibly be on Akira's behalf. "There are more important things to worry about," Akira told the other girl, knowing she likely wouldn't hear her over the distance with this wind. "Go back downstairs and pretend you didn't see anything, okay?" She took a step backward, closer to the edge.

edited 28th Feb '11 9:54:18 AM by RedSavant

Yukino was about to burst out onto the rooftop, but she saw another girl there. Hmmm, an anomolous factor, let's see how she handles this. Yukino cracked the door to listen in on their conversation.

Natsumi stared for a moment as she examined the scene. The voice had been right. But there was no time to worry about that now. She didn't know Akira very well, and she had no idea why Akira was doing what she was doing. All she did know was that she wasn't going to let the girl fall.

"Akira, what are you doing over there!" Natsumi shouted over the wind. "Get away from that edge! You could fall off! It's dangerous!"

Just pointing out that Natsumi is the first name. Unless you already realized that, in which case, carry on.

edited 27th Feb '11 5:39:58 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Chien looks up,, glancing at the roof.

Are there... People up there?

^^ Yup, I know. Akira will continue to refer to her by last name, though, since she doesn't really know her.

Akira frowned, stepping back toward the railing for a moment. The silly girl obviously hadn't heard her. "I said go back inside," she called. "Go back to class. There's a test, you know." It felt better to be back on her feet; it would be easier to jump that way. A single step would be enough.

Have some dorm-related responsibilities to take care of. Won't take more than 20 minutes, I think. In any case, I'm just stalling here. If you've got a plan, JTeeth, go for it.

edited 27th Feb '11 5:54:51 PM by RedSavant

Chien and Yukino's Soul Gems soon started to glow in their respective colors. A witch or familiar had just now, entered the grounds of Kazebuchi High school.

Okay, just checking.

"Come on, Sasaki. What are you doing out here? It's not safe!"

Natsumi began to walk slowly towards the girl on the edge of the roof. She caught a glimpse of the girl's eyes. Tears were beginning to well up.

What is she...no...it can't be...

"Sasaki.." She was close enough that she no longer needed to shout. "Why are you out there? Come back over here. Please."

Come on...just a little closer...I just need her to hang on for a a few more seconds.

Sasaki turned away. Natsumi paused for a moment before leaping forward, grabbing hold of Sasaki's wrist.

edited 27th Feb '11 6:00:25 PM by JapaneseTeeth