If math was boring, Phys Ed was hell. If there was one thing about her sister Kiku envied, it was her athletic talent. Phys Ed was one of the few classes Akane got consistently excellent grades is... and the class which Kiku consistently did terrible in, in spite of all her manic energy. By the end of it, her whole body ached.
And after that, there was still English to suffer through before lunch. Kiku stared at her paper, still exhausted from PE. At least Ms. Iketomi was understanding, so she probably wouldn't fail PE, but being so tired made it hard to pay attention in English. Words words words. Math might be boring, but at least it makes sense. What kind of crazy person would invent a language like this? Exceptions to every rule, except for the exceptions to the exceptions...
The Maid
"I see... Thank you for your explanation, Rei-san. I don't think I have anything to ask that you did not cover" Akane transmitted as she sat without paying any attention to the class she was supposed to be studying. To say the truth at this moment she didn't even remember which subject the class was about. And so, submerged in thoughts of this mysterious new world that had just been revealed to her, time flew by until the bell signaling the end of the period rang.
Akane stood up from her seat and made her way to buy some lunch, briefly glancing in the direction of Rei's classroom in hopes of catching a glance at her. However, none of the girls seemed more... Magical Girly than the others, so it was an impossible task to find her with a single glance.
edited 3rd Apr '11 7:41:06 PM by daltar
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Snowy
"And here is class 1B," the principal said, finishing Aoi and Miki's tour of the school. She opened the door and said, "Everyone, this is Toru Miki and Toru Aoi. They've transferred to the school and are joining this class." The girls went up to the board and wrote their names. "Girls, find a seat." The teachers said. Aoi sat in an empty chair where some girls were talking, and Miki sat near the window. She took out her sketchbook and started drawing the view. That's so pretty..I might like it here, Miki thought as she drew. She looked over at Aoi, who had gotten into a conversation with the girls near her desk. I'm sure Aoi will too.
As homeroom and morning classes ended, and lunch started, Aoi went off to eat with the girls she was talking to earlier, and Miki sat down outside to eat.
edited 3rd Apr '11 4:06:31 PM by stargirl93
Newbie Drifter
"You're welcome," replied Rei simply, and fell silent. Soon, the second period bell came to life, and the Mathematics teacher (Rei had neglected to actually remember his name) strode in. From that point, class for Rei resumed as normal, as if nothing had happened at all.
After what seemed like an eternity to her, the shrill cry of the lunch break bell broke through Rei's daydreaming. Slowly but surely, about half the class began streaming out the doors. Stuffing her notes and writing implements back into her bag before rising from her seat, Rei silently followed the last group of students out of the classroom; her blue eyes rapidly surveyed the students of class 2-C in an attempt to seek Akane out, but with no physical data to go on the search was unsuccessful... until the last moment, catching a glimpse of an auburn-haired girl, about her height, glancing in her general direction.
Is that you, I wonder? Unfazed, Rei quietly proceeded to the cafeteria.
Kitakou High's cafeteria was large and spacious, one of the prides of the school, and a veritable army of cleaners ensured that the clinical white tiles, tables and chairs remained bright and shiny, and the food was rather good (although certainly by no means perfect: Rei reserved that classification only for her father's cooking). Even so, not all the students spent their lunch break at the cafeteria, and although it was still very lively nonetheless Rei nonetheless managed to find a small, empty table for four. She quietly took one of the seats, setting the tray in her hands in front of her - on it was a simple plate of fried rice and a glass of iced white coffee - and began eating. As she did, however, she began another survey of the area around her, hoping to find the other girl again.
edited 4th Apr '11 11:52:54 AM by Midreus
That is all she needed. That is all... Her dreams of seeing the world have become her strength, and lifts her wings.
"Don't worry, Akane, you can have all the time you need," Kyubey said, standing up as the class began to bustle around, rifling through bags for bentou and switching their desks into different configurations to talk to each other. "Just tell Rei or Ysanne when you're ready, and I'll be right over to help. I have to go now, though; there are other candidates in the city I need to talk to." He padded over to the door, pausing just before the threshold, and turned to look over his shoulder.
"If you ever feel like fighting to save the city, just let me know, okay?" And with that, he was gone, vanishing into the hall with a group of male students; try though she might, Akane couldn't catch so much as a glimpse of him among the milling students in the hall.
In a small thicket outside Chuusaka Junior High, Kyubey yawned, stretched, and opened his eyes. "Today is already a good day," he commented to himself, picking through the trees. He perched on a branch near the edge of the treeline, peering into the window of a certain classroom on the second floor. "Hanami Kiku!" he called, stretching his neck and shoulders up to try to get a better look into the room. The motion caused the branch to start to bounce, and he held on with some difficulty, lacking claws or in fact any pointy ends at all. "Hanami Kiku! Can you hear me?"
edited 3rd Apr '11 7:21:01 PM by RedSavant
It's been fun.
Kiku was getting her things together, just about to leave for lunch, when she spotted Kyubey.
"Oh great. English is so dull that I have finally completely lost it. I am hearing voices and hallucinating now."
edited 3rd Apr '11 7:25:44 PM by Zudak
"You're hearing my voice," Kyubey pointed out reasonably, wedging himself between the branch and an offshoot in an attempt to stay on. "You can call me Kyubey. I want to talk to you about making a contract with me and becoming a Magical Girl. Is now a bad time? Oops." There was a dull thud sound from outside.
edited 3rd Apr '11 7:46:34 PM by RedSavant
It's been fun.
Kiku just sort of stared for a moment... and finally went over and opened the window. That weird furry animal was down there, and definitely not a hallucination.
"What are you? Animals don't talk. If you're intelligent, does that mean you're from another dimension or outer space or something? What do you mean about magical girls and contracts?"
Kiku realized halfway through projecting this that she was communicating with her thoughts somehow.
"...whoa, telepathy? How come I can do that all of a sudden? Are you doing that? It's some kind of science or something, right? It has to be. There's no such thing as magic, so you're an alien and this is science. How does it work?"
"You're right! This is science," Kyubey replied cheerfully, shaking bits of dirt out of his tail. He didn't appear to be limping or hurt at all despite having just taken a two-story fall. He tilted his head up at Kiku. "You're very smart, Kiku. No one else has understood that yet! Anyway, if you activate someone's psuedo-conscious refraction index and beam high-enough density quanta of information at it, it's possible to achieve a resonance complex that can then be used for the purpose of propagating one's own quanta through sub-perceptual spacetime," he explained. "No one has understood that yet either."
Yes, the technobabble comes down to 'I made your brain reflective and then thought at it hard enough to make you able to think data at people yourself'. Sue me.
edited 3rd Apr '11 7:51:43 PM by RedSavant
It's been fun.
"So... what's your saying is... you made my brain reflective and then thought at it hard enough to make my able to think at people too? Uh, wow. That's quite a trick. Okay, magical girls, then. I guess I might as well call them that. 'Scientific Girls' isn't as catchy. Why young girls? What is it about us? Why do you want us to make this contract? Are there bad guys that need fighting? What do we get out of it?"
Kiku's thoughts rattled out of her head like machine-gun fire. Her lessons had been completely forgotten. She was entranced. Aliens. Stuff like that really does exist! I knew it.
The Maid
After buying a nice selection of three different kinds of bread, Akane was ready to go and meet the two Magical Girls that had just counseled her. Since her friends where the kind of people that brought bentos with them it was quite easy to slip out of their sight. She just had to skip going back to eat with them and make sure to apologize afterwards.
"Rei-san? Ysanne-senpai? May I eat lunch with you?"
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Even Kyubey looked like he might have a bit of trouble with this one. "Young girls make the best Magical Girls because they have the most innate power," he explained. "The contract is the means by which you can harness that power to spread hope by defeating Witches, which are evil creatures born of humanity's despair. Fighting Witches is hard and dangerous work, so as compensation you get any single wish you want granted - no matter how big or how small!" He licked a patch of fur on his tail that looked just as immaculate as the rest of it. "So what do you say? Want to make a contract with me and become a Magical Girl?"
It's been fun.
"...Witches? But there's no such things... right, right. That's just the easy explanation. Science. Right. Uh, is that really all I have to do? Just fight those monsters for you, or whatever? You'll give me the power to do that, right? And all I have to do is make a wish? Can you really give me anything I ask for? What's the catch? There's gotta be a catch. There's always a catch. How does this contract work?"
Newbie Drifter
"I have yet to see Taihou-senpai around the area (perhaps she's still in her classroom), but I am over at one of the empty four-seater tables somewhere to your... right. I have a plate of fried rice and a glass of coffee here, if that helps," replied Rei. Taking another spoonful of rice into her mouth, Rei waved in Akane's general direction to catch her attention.
edited 4th Apr '11 11:53:36 AM by Midreus
That is all she needed. That is all... Her dreams of seeing the world have become her strength, and lifts her wings.
"When we make the contract, you'll receive your Soul Gem, which is the source of your powers, and your wish will be granted, no matter what it is," Kyubey said. "The catch is the battles you'll be required to fight against the Witches. Death is a very real possibility, after all; even the weakest Witch is more than a match for a careless Magical Girl."
Kiku opened her mouth, but Kyubey spoke again - maybe hurrying just a little bit. "Defeated Witches will drop their Grief Seeds, which you must use to purify your Soul Gem, as it will darken when you use magic."
It's been fun.
"...ah, I get it. Okay, then, if you really can grant wishes, then all I have to do is wish for something that will make it easy for me to win. I bet most people wish for silly things like money or good looks, right? Hah! Okay, prove it to me, right here and now. Give me unlimited knowledge, and I'll fight for you."
"That's your wish?" Kyubey asked, standing up and padding in a circle before settling down again. "That's a fine wish. Just come down here, and we can make the contract straightaway. Most girls prefer it to be someplace private," he added.
It's been fun.
"Be riiiight there..." heh. This oughta be good.
Kiku dashed downstairs, out of the building, and over to where Kyubey was waiting.
"Anytime you're ready, little guy. Hit me with the nanomachines or whatever it is you people use."
"That won't work," Kyubey said, in a tone of voice that all but added the 'silly' to the end of the sentence. "You have to say the right words." He stood up and took a few steps back from Kiku.
"Hanami Kiku, will you make a contract with me and become a Magical Girl?"
It's been fun.
"Yeah. I'll do it."
"Right!"
As the words left Kiku's lips, a bright light began to shine from her chest...
"Now, Hanami Kiku, make your wish!"
edited 3rd Apr '11 8:59:31 PM by RedSavant
It's been fun.
"Give me unlimited knowledge, then."
The light drifted out of Kiku's chest, and resolved itself into a silvery egg-shaped jewel, elaborately decorated with black metal, a tiny icon resembling a stylized eye atop it.
"Reach out now, Kiku. Take a hold of the gem, and of your new destiny as a magical girl," said Kyubey.
Kiku obeyed.
"That felt... really strange. Why'd it... come out of me like that... it's really pretty."
edited 3rd Apr '11 9:25:26 PM by Zudak
"You're now a Magical Girl, Kiku," Kyubey exclaimed, winding around her ankles excitedly. "Congratulations!"
edited 3rd Apr '11 9:07:32 PM by RedSavant
It's been fun.
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
Nazuna strolled the streets of the town, piece of bread in mouth, soul gem in hand. It was a standard everyday patrol, something she could not neglect to do, especially in a witch-ridden city like Yamanaka. She hadn't seen Kyubey lately and was working generally alone.
The problem was that there were quite a few other magical girls in the city. That alone wasn't a problem but they hunted familiars as well as normal witches. It was getting harder and harder to purify her soul gem as she went.
"Cmon, witchy witchy witchy. Come out."
"That's a very good way to put it, Rei," said Kyubey, as Rei fell silent. "The life of a Magical Girl isn't an easy one, but they do work that no one else can. It's up to you if you, too, would like to take that path - just remember that Rei and Ysanne will be around to help you if you decide to fight!"
It's been fun.