That's because my fiancee is a Magical Girl (Ch.7)
2
Hello guys, this is my first time posting a story here, in fact this is also my first time writing a story which is not included in some school paper.
As writing essays come naturally in my current course I guess this is one way of training myself in English, since the said language is not my native tongue.
Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this first Chapter that I have made, of course feedback is always appreciated. Also, I'll try my best to provide at least 1 illustration per chapter but I'm not really a good artist. If you're interested you can see some of my art here: https://www.fakku.net/viewtopic.php?t=11867
Thanks for giving some of your time in reading this piece that I made, there may be a lot of non formalities in this one but it's only my way of relieving stress.
Spell 2: “I really think I’m going to enjoy it here…”
After all the ruckus, Aiko and I went home together, luckily none of those Anomalies came out on our way home. It was no use denying what happened out there, so I can at least clear things up with Aiko for now.
“So, now that’s all over, how the heck were you able to feed me such a valuable stone in the first place?” I asked Aiko with slight irritation
“Hmm, before leaving home I asked my familiar to make me a batch of jelly beans before going here, and I left my trans-synchro stone charging in the kitchen where he was working. Most likely that clumsy excuse for an assistant must have toppled over the magic charger and mixed my stone with the jelly beans… Though I think I might have been partly at fault too ahe,he,he” the girl explains with an awkward giggle.
“Don’t ahe,he, me. So you left your stone charging, knowing that you fight those things? What if they suddenly attack just like what happened a while ago?”
“Well, I can summon it even if it’s in Parallel Earth anyway… I started to panic when I summoned it after school and it didn’t come. And just when you came out from school I recognized its magic signature coming from you, which is quite amazing really, even though the stone has been ingested in your system it still had its powers…I’m sorry I got you dragged into this mess, I’ll figure something out when we get home.”
“Hmmm…since you put it that way I guess there’s no use complaining. By the way, you said you came from Parallel Earth, what do you mean by that?”
“I'm originally not from this Earth, but I lived here for almost half my life. Basically, Parallel Earth is like the Earth that you know, the only thing is magic governs there instead of science and is ruled over by Mages. It has been said that since the 1st World War took place on this side, the balance between our Earths have been disrupted and the wall between our worlds have been somehow affected by various events and exterior phenomenon…and that’s also when the Anomalies started to run around on both Earths” Aiko dumps all of these stuff to me as if I was watching an episode of Asura Cryin’
“Obviously you guys are the only ones who can go back and forth between our worlds, so does that mean there are other Magical Girls or Mages like you dwelling around here? Must be fun for you guys shifting between worlds”
“Yes there is a considerable number of my kind dwelling here, but it’s not all fun for us who can use magic since we all have to abide by our laws to defend this Earth from the Anomalies… at least until we can find a way to completely obliterate them. We really don’t know what the Anomalies are up to, but it’s very much clear that they pose a threat to those who reside on both Earths.” the girl who was cheerful a while ago suddenly had a sullen look on her face as she gave me these facts.
“…” I can’t really tell if she gave out that expression because she was sorry for dragging me into a mess like this or if she’s already tired of fighting those Anomalies. But I know that I can’t leave her alone like this, knowing the severity of the situation.
After a while we finally got home, some movers were already leaving the house, most likely they transported Aiko’s stuff. My mom afterwards came out to greet us.
“Oh, welcome home Ken. I see that you already met Aiko ... What’s the matter kids you look so tired already…*gasp*” she suddenly stopped and went over to Aiko immediately
“Don’t tell me that Ken already did this and that to you!! My goodness, Ken I don’t remember raising you to be such a pervert!” my Mom looks at me with such accusing eyes.
“Ahe,hehe actually…” Aiko blushes as my mother closes into her.
“Hey, don’t say things like that out here Mom! I can already sense the neighbors creeping out of their houses. Seriously, what do you think of your own son?” so I say as I furiously wave my fists in the air.
“Hi,hi,hi I really think I’m going to enjoy it here Ken” Aiko says while turning her head towards me.
Inside the house, Aiko went up for a while to check out her room, while I helped with prepping dinner.
“Hmm, hey Mom how are you and Dad exactly related with Aiko’s family?” I asked my mom while laying down the plates on the table.
“Aiko’s Mom and I are childhood friends. When your Dad and I went out for holidays we frequently visited the inn that Aiko’s family owns in the province…” she explains in a very nostalgic and reminiscent tone. “Aiko’s parents just recently brought up the idea about your arranged marriage. It’s a fact that one day that girl will inherit the inn as their sole daughter, they just probably want to make sure that their daughter won’t be alone in managing the inn. I and your Dad saw that as a good idea as well but of course, we wouldn’t want our children just to follow what we want…”
“So that’s why you’re giving us the chance to know each other now right? “ I added.
“That’s pretty much the gist of it. Though I don’t want you to be forcing yourself on Aiko… I mean don’t even dare go stalking on her tonight young man! Judging from *those* that I got from your bed she pretty much falls under your type” my Mom giggles as she pokes my head.
“Gaaah!! I told you to stop peeking into my room Mom!!” furious steam start to come out from my ear.
My squabble with my Mom suddenly went to a halt when our kitchen door opened. I saw Aiko in her house clothes, wearing shorts and a shirt: nothing very extraordinary, but I can’t deny that she’s still very cute even not in her uniform. For all my life Mom was the only female that I saw in this house, I do admit that Aiko’s appearance is a just like a new scenery for me.
As Aiko sat next to me, she was always looking at my Mom as if she was at a loss for words.
“What’s the matter Aiko is something bothering you?” my Mom asks with such motherly concern.
“I was wondering what to call you from now own…” Aiko replies with an obviously blushing face.
“Silly girl, you can just call me Mom too! From this day on we’re one family, though Ken’s Dad is not here most of the time due to work…Now let’s dig in shall we?”
It’s funny that a little while ago I was thinking how hard it would be having Aiko around, but it seems that Mom is really happy when there’s another head in the household. I guess this isn’t so bad after all, but I really do wonder if we will eventually do like each other.
Well, if worse comes to worst we can call the whole thing off anyway, but what does Aiko think about the situation that we are in?
After dinner, Mom offered to wash the dishes which I usually do. So instead I helped Aiko unpack her things in her room.
“Hey Ken… I already talked to my mother about what happened to my stone…” Aiko taps my shoulder as I put down her box of belongings.
“Well, what did she say?” I asked with an anxious tone
“She said that this was the first time she heard about something like this. She’ll check with the high mages to see what can be done…”
“So as of now, I’m your temporary trans-synchro stone huh? But can’t you guys just make another one?
“We can’t… that’s because when Mages or Magical girls are born they come with their own unique trans-synchro stones which can only be created when a couple from a pure lineage of magicians have a child…So you can say that every Mage’s or Magical Girl’s trans-synchro stones are one of a kind.’” Aiko says this while she sits on her newly furnished bed.
An awkward silence fills the room as I stare at her obviously sad look, her head continues to sway oh so slightly…
“I just came here and I’ve already caused you so much trouble … I’m very sorry Ken…” Aiko’s eyes were starting to water as she apologizes.
Usually one would give the crying girl a hug, but I still can’t bring myself to do that now as I feel that I wouldn’t be able to give her any sincere consolation at all…
“Don’t worry too much about it, I mean come on, this isn’t all too bad. I may be the only human from the side of THIS Earth who can fight alongside a very beautiful Magical Girl and have her as a fiancée’ to boot. I’m sure any guy would be jealous of me when they know something about this!” I boastfully proclaim as I hunch down to wipe off a tear from Aiko’s cheek. “So don’t worry…okay?”
“But…but…you’ll always be in constant danger now” she says with much weep.
“And you are too; we’re in this together now. I can’t just leave you be, knowing the dire situation that we are in…”
Then I finally I managed to see her smile again…boy what a relief.
But then she suddenly she wrapped her arms around me. http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7672.jpg
And it brought me down to the floor literally, you can already imagine the very awkward position that we’re in, I’m back flat on the floor while she lay atop of me: as if it was a scene from Love Hina.
*sob* Aiko continues to cry on my chest.
“Hey now…stop crying already…” as I patted her head, I noticed and felt something strange…very strange.”Hey, wait…were you wearing ribbons just now? No…it can’t be!”
Well it absolutely can be! She transformed into her costume or whatever you may want to call it.
“It seems that my stone’s powers have become a little more potent when it got into your system and is capable of self recharge now. It’s time to go back to basic magic control I guess… hi,hi,hi” Aiko smiles while some of her tears were still flowing down from her cheek.
“Oh good grief…” I sighed
And then suddenly there came footsteps gradually becoming louder heading to where we are, and shortly thereafter the sound of an opening door can be heard.
“Ken… I’ve been your mother for a very long time now, but I didn’t know that you had this kind of fetish going on inside that perverted head of yours…” my Mom’s eyes twitch as she stands right before us.
“No Mom, I can explain!’ well obviously I can’t. My efforts were futile as I felt the excruciating blow of a meteor crashing from space coming down to my head!
After a while, things finally calmed down, and it was time to hit the hay. As I finished prepping my things for the next school day I lay down on my bed and got set to have some sleep.
And then “Thud…thud… “I heard this knocking on the wall beside my head.
“Ken…you still awake?” it was Aiko whose room was just beside mine.
“Yeah, I still am…”
“Can I take a look at your room tomorrow?” Aiko curiously asked.
“Sure, why not?”
“Hi,hi,hi, thanks” she replies with a giggle. “And Ken…”
“Hmm…”
“I really think I’m going to enjoy it here…” Aiko said so with a content voice.
Spell 7: Maiden of the Stars
Commuting to school has never been so troublesome! Instead of enjoying a brisk walk while savoring a glorious and beautiful morning we are now fighting against a formidable Earth Mage.
I want to finish this quickly as possible but the creep uses his magic with such efficacy that Ken and I can’t even hold our own ground: literally.
“This is nuts! Every where we step on there are spikes sprouting from the ground!” Ken complains as he dodges.
We are indeed in a very tight situation and we can’t fight back as fiercely as we would have wanted because of the obstacles that we were facing.
“Dance and dance kiddies! You won’t be able to dodge all day long!” the snotty mage continues his assault on us.
“Ken is already running out of stamina, if I can just distract this mage for a while…” I thought to myself.
“Don’t worry Aiko! I can handle the Anomalies just fine, concentrate on that guy!” Ken tells me as he pushes an Anomaly aside. I can also see that he doesn’t want to destroy the Anomalies as much as possible.
“Don’t try too hard Ken…”with no time to doubt I jumped as high as I could and spun in the air Olympian style targeting my landing upon the snotty mage.
My opponent was steady and didn’t even bother to move. Is he preparing for a counterattack? Or is he planning a last minute dodge? Nevertheless I didn’t pull out from my attack, and still set my eyes on him.
“Take a load of this!” I charged up an energy filled ball upon my right hand as I thrust it upon my target full of vigorous force.
BANG! I hit my target solidly on his chest; the whole surroundings were then quickly clouded by dust upon impact. I was sure and I knew my attack hit, but…
“Nice try, but it seems you haven’t eaten your breakfast missy!” the Earth Mage remarks teasingly as the smoke clears between us
“Guuh, what the?” I immediately made a back flip getting away from him before he could manage to grab my arm. As I got the chance to look clearly at my target, it seemed like that he was covered in hard clay as pieces of them fell off from his body.
“A coat of Earth Armor huh?” I grumbled with much disdain as I dust my skirt while planting my feet squarely on the slightly cracked ground.
“It’s commendable that you have managed to even crack my armor… however that’s as far as you go!”
Clenching his fists, his right forearm suddenly turned to a sharp lance made of hardened earth! And just like a ferocious black knight mounted on his mighty steed, he immediately charges forward upon with very furious eyes.
“Gaah!! Take this!” he thrusts his lance with lightning quick agility…but it wasn’t quick enough…
Just before the mage could land his attack upon me I immediately leapt above him and twirled in the air turning toward his defenseless back. Once again charging light energy with my right palm, I prepared to snipe at his rear while in mid-air.
“Now, be a good boy and stay put!”
As I prepared to fire my charged shot, a large spike suddenly sprouted from the ground and hit me solidly on the chest, with that I lost my balance and began falling towards the earth below.
Expecting to hit hard ground, I instead felt warm strong arms that caught me from my fall. But my savior himself fell to the ground as he caught my full weight plummeting from the air.
“Ouch…Hey Aiko are you all right?” Ken: the one who broke my fall asks as he continues to hold me with arms slightly trembling.
“Thank you very much Ken. You helped me once again.” I commented while we both stand up from the earth that we fell upon. “This guy is very serious…he really does intend to get rid of us…or at the very least he intends to get rid of me…”
Before we could even get our composure, the Earth Mage quickly faces us and shouts: “Now stay still little buggers! Assault Type Earth Magic: GAIA SMASHER!”
“Damn, this guy reacts fast!” Ken remarks flustered
“Quick, hide behind me Ken!”
Upon the mage’s invocation spikes from the ground rapidly sprouted from the earth and quickly raced towards us with debris violently spreading across the ground.
As the sound of furiously smashing earth can be heard, my ears seemed to have caught a chant coming from a girl whose voice I recognize.
“Blowing through the valleys,
And rustling through the trees.
This unseen force of life,
shall put an end to all this strife!”
The speedily incoming earthen spikes were easily shattered and disintegrated as a wall of rapidly circulating wind came in front of us. The wall of wind effortlessly cut our enemy’s assault just like a shredder would do to a hapless piece of paper.
“Is it a wind barrier?” Ken asks amazed
“Seems like we’re saved again…” I said with much relief.
“For a big guy you sure pack a weak punch, maybe that barrier wasn’t necessary to protect them after all…” so says the petite silhouette coming from the dust of the shattered earthen spikes.
“Damned brat, who the hell do you think you are?” the Earth Mage asks flustered.
“Me? I’m just a Magical Girl who just happened to pass by….”
As the dust cleared, the figure of the Magical Girl who claims that she just passed by became visible to our sights.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7844.jpg
“Ah, I knew that voice was very familiar…It was Alice all along…” Ken remarks with a face painted with ease yet tainted with slight worry.
Alice gazes at Ken and I slightly irritated. It was reminiscent to how she looked at me yesterday.
Slowly turning her head towards our enemy she says hesitantly:”Come on, you better get moving if you don’t want other people or him to get hurt…”
“…right…” I replied meekly.
“Please take care of the Anomalies for us....” Alice looks at Ken rather unsure with the words she just said.
“Okay, let’s do this!” I started to rapidly shoot beams towards our tough opponent. Alice moved just as fast towards our target.
“Even if there are two of you it doesn’t matter! I’ll just take both of you down!” the Earth Mage boastfully remarks as he parries every shot that I throw at him.
“Don’t be so sure about that!” says Alice as she suddenly pops up from above our opponent with a gust of wind.
“Wow she’s fast!” Ken notices while he pins down an Anomaly to the ground.
“You can’t defend from both our attacks! Take this: Assault Type Wind Magic: Sonic Slicer!!” upon Alice’s invocation her right arm was instantly covered by magical wind creating the shape of a very sharp blade, sharp enough to cut apart anything in half.
“CHESTO!” Alice shouts just like a disciple of Kendo as she swings down her right arm to deliver a punishing strike.
When only inches were in between the edge of Alice’s blade and the Earth Mage’s shoulder an Anomaly swiftly shielded him from the devastating blow.
“Tch…” Alice grunts disappointedly as she pulls away from her target, knowing that the attack failed.
“Do it again Alice! Move while I keep him busy!” I continue to rain down upon our opponent bullets of light while Alice regains her stance in order to attack once again.
“If it comes to this then I’ll have to use that!” Alice prepares to invoke another spell with a motion similar to how an archer would prep his bow, but this was forcefully interrupted...
“Ahhhh!” Alice falls to the ground violently as a group of Anomalies warp out from the void successfully pinning her down.
“Wooah!! What the hell?” Ken soon follows as another group of Anomalies does the same as what they did to Alice.
“Ken! Alice!” I look at both of my comrades as I distress on how to pull them out from their binds.
As I get my sights back at my opponent, a warp hole appears right behind him, and amidst my continuing assault he says: “You got lucky this time! But I’ll be sure to get you the next time we meet…” and with that he rapidly steps backwards and withdraws. The Anomalies soon disappear as the mage left.
“Haaa *gasp*” I fall down on my knees as I feel exhaustion making my whole body numb.
“Aiko are you all right?” Ken approaches me as he pats my back.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What about Alice?”
“I’m fine…” Alice replies as she stands up dusting her uniform while turning her back on us.
“Hey thanks for the help.” I approach Alice as I touch her shoulder.
However she quickly brushes off my hand with much disdain saying “…it’s clear to me that merely your presence will bring more danger around him…”
“So you heard…” I spoke with words sullied by much sadness, accompanied by a feeling of uneasiness.
“…” Alice stays silent.
“…That mage says that I am the Maiden of the Stars…that’s the first I heard of it…I honestly don’t know what he meant”
A deafening void of silence continues to fill the space between me and Alice as I feel her animosity towards me growing.
“Look Alice I…”
“Just stay away from him!” Alice angrily states as she walks away from me.
“…”
“Protecting the ones that you hold dear doesn’t necessarily mean always staying by their side…” those were familiar words that just came out from Alice’s mouth with a shuddering voice.
What the little girl said was similar to what I heard from Megumi last night. Do I have to make a choice the same as Megumi’s? Leaving behind your loved ones so that you can protect them? I am the whole reason why Ken is in this danger, but I can’t do anything without him. I need his strength so that I can continue to fight…such a painful irony of thoughts swirl within my mind as I process what Alice just spoke.
Alice continues to walk away from me as she heads towards school without even turning back; casually carrying her bag just like any other student would.
“Hey Aiko…don’t mind what Alice just said, I’m sure that she’s confused just like we are….” says Ken while he looks at me with a comforting gesture. “Judging from what we saw that mage is big trouble….” Ken sighs deeply.
“I know that! Even I can understand that much!” I said so in a fairly irritated and loud voice.
“Aiko….”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you…” I apologize sincerely as Ken hands me my bag. He smiles at me with an expression saying that it’s all right.
“That guy called you the Maiden of the Stars huh? Aiko did you know that goddess Astraea was addressed in a similar way?”
“Yes. If I remember correctly she was always associated with the Goddess of Justice, and gave blessings to the people of Earth whom she dwelt with….” I replied as if I was answering a question from a game show.
“That’s right…Just like Astraea I know you can be a goddess who gives blessings to everyone around you. So please don’t think that you’re only a harbinger of trouble and danger.”
“….” As I stood in front of the boy who tried his utmost to comfort me in my troubled state, the bracelet that he gave slightly rattled as I wore it around my left wrist. With that I couldn’t help but smile.
“Hi,hi,hi so I’m a goddess now?” I laughed ever so slightly as I fixed my tangled hair. “Did you woo Megumi in the same way too?” I asked with a teasing tone.
“…ugh that’s completely irrelevant right now!” Ken replies embarrassingly. “Come on now, we better get going or we’ll be late for class…”
“Yeah let’s get going then.” I replied.
Continuing our commute to school, I tried my best not to look so troubled in front of the boy who just cheered me up. Thinking about what he told me, indeed Astraea was a goddess who blessed everyone around her. But it’s also true that she eventually left the humans whom she graced with her blessings…Am I fated to leave behind the ones I care for just like Astraea? Do I really have to part with the people around me so that I can protect them?
Even the radiant and brilliant sky wasn’t able to rid me of those troubling thoughts. But within myself I know nothing good would happen if I think about it too much. At least to that extent I understand.
“To be honest, I’m very troubled of what we just knew. And I’m really itching to get some answers as well…” Ken tilts his head slightly upward towards the same azure sky I was gazing upon.
“….” I sighed lightly as I looked at his face which is worried yet still filled with confidence.
“Kyosuke might know a thing or two about what we heard right now…So let’s just ask him when lunch time comes” he continues to narrate.
“Okay. Let’s do just that.” I replied with a smile.
“Y…you should really keep up that smile of yours 90% of the time.” Ken talks with a slight stutter as he took a glance of me. “One must go on smiling even when troubled. Just like what you did yesterday….”
“But it would be really weird if I keep on smiling even when I’m angry you know? That would make me look like a psycho or something” I slightly giggled as I softly jabbed Ken on his shoulder. “Seriously though, you do fit the role of the hot blooded main character…”
“What do you mean by that?” Ken asks puzzled.
“Well I dunno, you’re on a roll with your cheesy lines, and you’re quite impulsive. Not to mention that you’re hot headed. Yep, you really do fit the bill…” I laugh as we continue to walk on the pavement leading the way to our destination.
“Guh, cheesy lines you say?” He reacted with a slightly flustered look. “I can say the same about you. The way you shout your attack names as if you were piloting a giant super robot or something….”
“Uggh, you have a point there, but I’m not the only one who does that….”
Going on with our seemingly pointless conversation we continued to traverse the sunshine colored road as we approach our school, embracing hope that some light would be shined upon the subject that we were so puzzled about.
As writing essays come naturally in my current course I guess this is one way of training myself in English, since the said language is not my native tongue.
Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this first Chapter that I have made, of course feedback is always appreciated. Also, I'll try my best to provide at least 1 illustration per chapter but I'm not really a good artist. If you're interested you can see some of my art here: https://www.fakku.net/viewtopic.php?t=11867
Thanks for giving some of your time in reading this piece that I made, there may be a lot of non formalities in this one but it's only my way of relieving stress.
Spoiler:
That’s because my fiancée is a Magical Girl!! O_o
Spell 1: “I said hug me…”
When you look at me, I’m practically the type of person you’ll dismiss as a geek, wearing the usual glasses and knows some things that normal people won’t know. This includes geeky stuff coming into my life as well, comics, robots, pretty girls, and harems, crazy villains who always plot for world domination and of course the classic magical girl.
Even if this world that we live in is practically crazy enough as it is, there’s no way that all of those fantasies would exist, otherwise I would be on euphoria for the rest of my adolescent life. Yeah, I sure wish that something exciting would come by soon enough though, life isn’t exactly long, and I don’t think the after life offers you a chance to live a life that you didn’t get to spend on Earth.
Years have passed through my life and nothing has significantly changed really, the only new thing is I’m in High School, and then eventually I reached 2nd year. I’ve always thought that my High School days would be normal just like any other ordinary boy would have, but everything changed …err, more like went topsy-turvy when I met this ditz of a girl during the first day of class…
There I was in the cafeteria, struggling through a very long line of grumpy students. I quickly glanced at the menu while looking back at my friends old and new who were waiting for me.
After a few more minutes, I finally obtained that spaghetti I was drooling for, man was I hungry! Just when I was about to turn around and go to my seat…
BANG!
“Owww, watch it… AHHH! Sauce on my uniform dammit!” I grumpily complained.
“I’m terribly sorry” said this meek girl who bumped unto me
In this kind of situation you’d usually think that the boy will be the one who would offer the helping hand, but it was kind of different this time around.
“I’m very sorry, you got sauce all over you” the clumsy girl was about to cry just apologizing to me, while giving out her hand.
“Nah it is okay, it’s not that bad anyway…” I was suddenly interrupted when the girl tugged my hand and brought me along a corner of the canteen.
“Well, at least I can do this much…” the girl just brought out her handkerchief and started to wipe the sauce off of my uniform.
“Hey, I said it was okay…”
As I got a chance to see this girl without the distraction of grumpy and hungry students, I really noticed how cute she really is. She may look very simple in the eyes of others but her long hair, and her very humble demeanor give her an aura of cuteness that makes you want to hug her every chance you get.
“Here…this is for you” the girl said handing me a jelly bean like candy which is clear pink in color
“Uuuh, thanks…” I replied
“I’m Aiko Hanabi…sorry about the trouble” the girl shyly gave her name
“Nah, it’s okay. I’m Kenta Akito. Uuuh, it’s nice meeting you”
The name Aiko Hanabi had a very familiar tone, and it’s something that held significance, I was going to ask her about her name but I was cut short when the bell rang; we parted and went to our respective rooms…
In class, I popped that candy into my mouth, I was surprised that it turned out to be crunchy, yet it was sweet. It brought a very different sensation all through out my body, that sweetness was even more potent than 3 bottles of Red Bull. It was like a surge of energy that suddenly burst through my entire system. Whew, this must be some serious sugar!
“Whew, I gotta ask her the name of this candy when I see her again sometime” I thought to myself.
Classes were finally over and everyone was getting ready to go home. There are no club activities for now, so I also decided to go home. Making my way to the school gates, my cell phone rang: it was a message from my mom, saying that I should come home a bit early since that my prospective fiancée will be coming today.
This will be actually the first time that I’ll be meeting her, and our parents haven’t actually finished up all the arrangements yet. My parents are actually doing this for business, but I’m very grateful that they have given me a chance to refuse in the first place, but since I’m very well indebted to my parents I never really rejected the idea.
Still, I’m very lucky that our parents are very much considerate; they’ve arranged something for us to get to know one another before actually getting through with the arrangements and to see if we really are right for one another, and thus my prospective fiancée will be living with us for a whole year from now.
As I passed by the school gates, I saw that clumsy girl frantically walking around as if she was looking for something. She then suddenly turned her head to me as if she was saying” BINGO”…
“Mr.Akito!” the girl approaches me with such glittering eyes…
“Uh, Ken is fine with me…Err, what may I do for you? Errr…”I stuttered awkwardly.
“You can call me Aiko, by the way have you already eaten the candy I gave you a while ago?” She asks with a very nervous tone.
“Well yeah, I already ate it! Thanks, it was very nice! I thought it was a jelly bean at first. I really didn’t expect it to be crunchy. Can you tell me the name of that candy?”
“GAAHH! WHAATTOODO? I KNEW IT! I’m so gonna get that good for nothin’ sunnova when I get back!!” Aiko’s meek voice suddenly turned ballistic and she turned upon a nearby wall, as if she wants to slam her cute head against it!
“Uuhh, I dunno what’s the big deal but I’ll get you a new pack instead if you tell me its name. We met in a weird way, but I’m pretty sure we could be good friends.”
“I’m sure we’ll be friends Mr. Akito, but you DON”T KNOW THE GRAVITY OF THE TROUBLE I’M IN NOW” Aiko was already crying mad, dammit it’s really unsettling for me to see a girl cry.
“Hey, come on now, everyone’s watching. Why don’t we go the park to talk about this okay?” I grabbed her and proceeded to the park which was very much near our school.
“So, what’s up? What’s gotten you all so worked up?” I asked Aiko as I sat her on a nearby park bench.
“You promise not to laugh about this?” She doubtfully asks.
“Our meeting is pretty much laughable; I think I can handle anything that you say” I said so with a pretty confident endeavor.
Taking a deep breath she said in a clear voice: “You have just swallowed a magical stone…”
“Say WHAT?”
“I said you just swallowed a magical stone…”
How was I supposed to believe something that bogus! Even I know the boundaries between dreams and reality. But you really can’t deny that the poor girl really had a stern face during those moments. It took me a few moments to come up with an answer, and I knew that this was somehow an elaborate prank. Is she in cahoots with my friends or something? If it was some kind of prank this girl has gone pretty far.
As I was about to approach this clumsy turned weird yet cute girl, my body suddenly tingled just like how a Newtype from a Gundam show would. The air got suddenly clammy and goose bumps ran up through my skin, it’s as if everything in the surroundings was in a void of black and white.
“Hey, you can still move…” Aiko looks at me in a serious way…
“What’s going on here, why has everything gone eerie?” I asked her with much nervous eyes.
“They’re coming…” At that very moment, Aiko had this very serious aura, I can sense that she is nervous yet she seems prepared for these kinds of situations. I mean, GIRL WHAT ARE YOU?
I was there standing still, knowing not what to do, I was trembling as I saw a ripple resonate through the air, just like we are in water , and something suddenly jumped out of thin air like coming out from warp space.
Black, small creatures came out from the void with eerie yellow glowing eyes, they’re just like rip-offs of the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts or something.
“Uuhh, Ken you can still move right? This really is proof enough that you have been influenced by magic by swallowing that stone. Ordinary humans lay in suspended animation when the Anomalies come out” Aiko calmly explains to me these details as she grabs on to my arm.
†˜What was that stone? And WHO THE HECK ARE YOU??”
“What you just swallowed was my trans-sycnhro stone…and I’m Aiko Hanabi a Magical Girl from Parallel Earth…”
“Trans-synchro stone? MAGICAL GIRL?”
Of course, any sane human would have a hard time ingesting these kinds of bogus information in a matter of seconds, I may be a fan of such stuff, but still these kinds of things happening all of a sudden can make anyone go bonkers.
As we were dawdling around, the so-called Anomalies wasted no time and proceeded to assault us. From the looks of these creatures it was quite obvious that they are up to no good.
I grabbed Aiko’s hand and tried to run, however she pulled with such vigorous strength and said:
“No, Ken we can’t leave this area, if we do, other people will get involved. We should finish these guys here”
“I hear you loud and clear, but what can I possibly do in a situation like this? You’re the Magical Girl around here!” I complained
“Hmm, well, since you ate my stone, I guess there’s only one thing to do now…”
“What is it?” I curiously asked
“Hug me…” Aiko said
“What?”
“I said hug me…” Aiko persistently asked
Coming from the urgency of the situation I had no choice but to obey this weird girl turned into a self-proclaimed Magical Girl.
I got close to her, and hugged her just as she said. It’s a given that I’ll go red and get embarrassed in a situation like this.
“...”
“Hi,hi you’re pretty cute Ken. I think I’ll come to like you… and I’m very sorry…” Aiko whispered near to my ear, as she wrapped her arms around me too.
She was sincere, yet she also showed signs of regret. Her apology had more weight as compared to her previous ones, with that weighty apology I somehow felt that I was suddenly dragged into something serious.
Without much delay, while embracing me she chanted:
“The stars of the night sky may have fallen dim
Yet my magic will light them up no matter how grim!
Those who lead the Earth to a treacherous path,
shall know of this glorious angel’s wrath!”
As she chanted something like Nanoha would, she suddenly glowed so brilliantly, and her clothes changed from our uniform to a full blown Magical Girl outfit complete with the hair ribbons and all the girly frills with the accompanying balls of light emanating from her recently transformed state.
“Magical Girl Aiko is here to fight! ORE SANJOU!
“Gaah, quit fooling around and what’s with that Momotaros bit?’ I admit I was amused, but I think in a situation like this that wasn’t the least bit necessary.
“Hi,hi, don’t worry Ken, just joking around with you. I’ll be finished with these guys in a sec. You know we’re contracted just like Keita and Kuro now!” Aiko smiled at me while her skirt twirled with her movement. And what’s with this girl, is she like an Otaku too?
“Like Keita and Kuro huh? Gee, now that you said that I guess I’ll be going through lots of shit for now…heh, no choice then, go get †˜em Aiko!”
“No need to tell me twice” and there she charged with full speed, fearlessly taking on those creatures that she called Anomalies.
It was evident that she was very verse in fighting the little imps. She fought very gracefully even though there were 5 of them.
She easily kicked the first one that came charging her way knocking off the other one that was following behind it, tumbling down the concrete; she then blasts them with magic beams from her fingertips. The remaining three were easily obliterated as well; she fired at them effortlessly as if they were not moving at all. I for one can hardly follow their movements.
Thereafter the eerie atmosphere around has dissipated and Aiko has turned back to normal.
“I guess, it’s over for now right?” I asked the magical girl as she dusts off her uniform.
“Yeah for now…I guess you catch up to this kinds of things fast huh?” the girl wittingly remarks.
“He,he I dunno if I’ll take that as a compliment but, from the looks of it I think YOU just got me into some serious trouble missy”
“He,he,he sorry about that, don’t worry though I’m sure I can solve this little dilemma of ours if you give me some time to think…By the way Ken I’ve been meaning to ask you this, are you somehow related to Yua Akito?”
“Yua Akito is my mom. Why do you ask?”
“O golly, I guess that means we’ll be staying together from now on! I’m glad we have things in common. I’m sorry not to have noticed earlier, I thought that you having the same surname as her was just a coincidence” Aiko puts up a smile so blindingly brilliant that I can’t help but cringe
“Huh? What do you mean? No…don’t tell me you’re …” and then that’s when my doubts about her name were finally cleared up.
“Yes, I am Aiko Hanabi, please take care of me my future husband…”
In just almost half a day, a lot of things crashed unto my previously mundane life, being fed a magical stone, crazy black creatures coming from the void, a Magical Girl who fights those creatures, and said girl being my fiancée. From that moment on my life became just like Nagasumi’s from Seto no Hanayome, and I know that I’ll be in all sorts of trouble. I’m just hoping that she doesn’t have homicidal family members!
Spell 1: “I said hug me…”
When you look at me, I’m practically the type of person you’ll dismiss as a geek, wearing the usual glasses and knows some things that normal people won’t know. This includes geeky stuff coming into my life as well, comics, robots, pretty girls, and harems, crazy villains who always plot for world domination and of course the classic magical girl.
Even if this world that we live in is practically crazy enough as it is, there’s no way that all of those fantasies would exist, otherwise I would be on euphoria for the rest of my adolescent life. Yeah, I sure wish that something exciting would come by soon enough though, life isn’t exactly long, and I don’t think the after life offers you a chance to live a life that you didn’t get to spend on Earth.
Years have passed through my life and nothing has significantly changed really, the only new thing is I’m in High School, and then eventually I reached 2nd year. I’ve always thought that my High School days would be normal just like any other ordinary boy would have, but everything changed …err, more like went topsy-turvy when I met this ditz of a girl during the first day of class…
There I was in the cafeteria, struggling through a very long line of grumpy students. I quickly glanced at the menu while looking back at my friends old and new who were waiting for me.
After a few more minutes, I finally obtained that spaghetti I was drooling for, man was I hungry! Just when I was about to turn around and go to my seat…
BANG!
“Owww, watch it… AHHH! Sauce on my uniform dammit!” I grumpily complained.
“I’m terribly sorry” said this meek girl who bumped unto me
In this kind of situation you’d usually think that the boy will be the one who would offer the helping hand, but it was kind of different this time around.
“I’m very sorry, you got sauce all over you” the clumsy girl was about to cry just apologizing to me, while giving out her hand.
“Nah it is okay, it’s not that bad anyway…” I was suddenly interrupted when the girl tugged my hand and brought me along a corner of the canteen.
“Well, at least I can do this much…” the girl just brought out her handkerchief and started to wipe the sauce off of my uniform.
“Hey, I said it was okay…”
As I got a chance to see this girl without the distraction of grumpy and hungry students, I really noticed how cute she really is. She may look very simple in the eyes of others but her long hair, and her very humble demeanor give her an aura of cuteness that makes you want to hug her every chance you get.
“Here…this is for you” the girl said handing me a jelly bean like candy which is clear pink in color
“Uuuh, thanks…” I replied
“I’m Aiko Hanabi…sorry about the trouble” the girl shyly gave her name
“Nah, it’s okay. I’m Kenta Akito. Uuuh, it’s nice meeting you”
The name Aiko Hanabi had a very familiar tone, and it’s something that held significance, I was going to ask her about her name but I was cut short when the bell rang; we parted and went to our respective rooms…
In class, I popped that candy into my mouth, I was surprised that it turned out to be crunchy, yet it was sweet. It brought a very different sensation all through out my body, that sweetness was even more potent than 3 bottles of Red Bull. It was like a surge of energy that suddenly burst through my entire system. Whew, this must be some serious sugar!
“Whew, I gotta ask her the name of this candy when I see her again sometime” I thought to myself.
Classes were finally over and everyone was getting ready to go home. There are no club activities for now, so I also decided to go home. Making my way to the school gates, my cell phone rang: it was a message from my mom, saying that I should come home a bit early since that my prospective fiancée will be coming today.
This will be actually the first time that I’ll be meeting her, and our parents haven’t actually finished up all the arrangements yet. My parents are actually doing this for business, but I’m very grateful that they have given me a chance to refuse in the first place, but since I’m very well indebted to my parents I never really rejected the idea.
Still, I’m very lucky that our parents are very much considerate; they’ve arranged something for us to get to know one another before actually getting through with the arrangements and to see if we really are right for one another, and thus my prospective fiancée will be living with us for a whole year from now.
As I passed by the school gates, I saw that clumsy girl frantically walking around as if she was looking for something. She then suddenly turned her head to me as if she was saying” BINGO”…
“Mr.Akito!” the girl approaches me with such glittering eyes…
“Uh, Ken is fine with me…Err, what may I do for you? Errr…”I stuttered awkwardly.
“You can call me Aiko, by the way have you already eaten the candy I gave you a while ago?” She asks with a very nervous tone.
“Well yeah, I already ate it! Thanks, it was very nice! I thought it was a jelly bean at first. I really didn’t expect it to be crunchy. Can you tell me the name of that candy?”
“GAAHH! WHAATTOODO? I KNEW IT! I’m so gonna get that good for nothin’ sunnova when I get back!!” Aiko’s meek voice suddenly turned ballistic and she turned upon a nearby wall, as if she wants to slam her cute head against it!
“Uuhh, I dunno what’s the big deal but I’ll get you a new pack instead if you tell me its name. We met in a weird way, but I’m pretty sure we could be good friends.”
“I’m sure we’ll be friends Mr. Akito, but you DON”T KNOW THE GRAVITY OF THE TROUBLE I’M IN NOW” Aiko was already crying mad, dammit it’s really unsettling for me to see a girl cry.
“Hey, come on now, everyone’s watching. Why don’t we go the park to talk about this okay?” I grabbed her and proceeded to the park which was very much near our school.
“So, what’s up? What’s gotten you all so worked up?” I asked Aiko as I sat her on a nearby park bench.
“You promise not to laugh about this?” She doubtfully asks.
“Our meeting is pretty much laughable; I think I can handle anything that you say” I said so with a pretty confident endeavor.
Taking a deep breath she said in a clear voice: “You have just swallowed a magical stone…”
“Say WHAT?”
“I said you just swallowed a magical stone…”
How was I supposed to believe something that bogus! Even I know the boundaries between dreams and reality. But you really can’t deny that the poor girl really had a stern face during those moments. It took me a few moments to come up with an answer, and I knew that this was somehow an elaborate prank. Is she in cahoots with my friends or something? If it was some kind of prank this girl has gone pretty far.
As I was about to approach this clumsy turned weird yet cute girl, my body suddenly tingled just like how a Newtype from a Gundam show would. The air got suddenly clammy and goose bumps ran up through my skin, it’s as if everything in the surroundings was in a void of black and white.
“Hey, you can still move…” Aiko looks at me in a serious way…
“What’s going on here, why has everything gone eerie?” I asked her with much nervous eyes.
“They’re coming…” At that very moment, Aiko had this very serious aura, I can sense that she is nervous yet she seems prepared for these kinds of situations. I mean, GIRL WHAT ARE YOU?
I was there standing still, knowing not what to do, I was trembling as I saw a ripple resonate through the air, just like we are in water , and something suddenly jumped out of thin air like coming out from warp space.
Black, small creatures came out from the void with eerie yellow glowing eyes, they’re just like rip-offs of the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts or something.
“Uuhh, Ken you can still move right? This really is proof enough that you have been influenced by magic by swallowing that stone. Ordinary humans lay in suspended animation when the Anomalies come out” Aiko calmly explains to me these details as she grabs on to my arm.
†˜What was that stone? And WHO THE HECK ARE YOU??”
“What you just swallowed was my trans-sycnhro stone…and I’m Aiko Hanabi a Magical Girl from Parallel Earth…”
“Trans-synchro stone? MAGICAL GIRL?”
Of course, any sane human would have a hard time ingesting these kinds of bogus information in a matter of seconds, I may be a fan of such stuff, but still these kinds of things happening all of a sudden can make anyone go bonkers.
As we were dawdling around, the so-called Anomalies wasted no time and proceeded to assault us. From the looks of these creatures it was quite obvious that they are up to no good.
I grabbed Aiko’s hand and tried to run, however she pulled with such vigorous strength and said:
“No, Ken we can’t leave this area, if we do, other people will get involved. We should finish these guys here”
“I hear you loud and clear, but what can I possibly do in a situation like this? You’re the Magical Girl around here!” I complained
“Hmm, well, since you ate my stone, I guess there’s only one thing to do now…”
“What is it?” I curiously asked
“Hug me…” Aiko said
“What?”
“I said hug me…” Aiko persistently asked
Coming from the urgency of the situation I had no choice but to obey this weird girl turned into a self-proclaimed Magical Girl.
I got close to her, and hugged her just as she said. It’s a given that I’ll go red and get embarrassed in a situation like this.
“...”
“Hi,hi you’re pretty cute Ken. I think I’ll come to like you… and I’m very sorry…” Aiko whispered near to my ear, as she wrapped her arms around me too.
She was sincere, yet she also showed signs of regret. Her apology had more weight as compared to her previous ones, with that weighty apology I somehow felt that I was suddenly dragged into something serious.
Without much delay, while embracing me she chanted:
“The stars of the night sky may have fallen dim
Yet my magic will light them up no matter how grim!
Those who lead the Earth to a treacherous path,
shall know of this glorious angel’s wrath!”
As she chanted something like Nanoha would, she suddenly glowed so brilliantly, and her clothes changed from our uniform to a full blown Magical Girl outfit complete with the hair ribbons and all the girly frills with the accompanying balls of light emanating from her recently transformed state.
“Magical Girl Aiko is here to fight! ORE SANJOU!
“Gaah, quit fooling around and what’s with that Momotaros bit?’ I admit I was amused, but I think in a situation like this that wasn’t the least bit necessary.
“Hi,hi, don’t worry Ken, just joking around with you. I’ll be finished with these guys in a sec. You know we’re contracted just like Keita and Kuro now!” Aiko smiled at me while her skirt twirled with her movement. And what’s with this girl, is she like an Otaku too?
“Like Keita and Kuro huh? Gee, now that you said that I guess I’ll be going through lots of shit for now…heh, no choice then, go get †˜em Aiko!”
“No need to tell me twice” and there she charged with full speed, fearlessly taking on those creatures that she called Anomalies.
It was evident that she was very verse in fighting the little imps. She fought very gracefully even though there were 5 of them.
She easily kicked the first one that came charging her way knocking off the other one that was following behind it, tumbling down the concrete; she then blasts them with magic beams from her fingertips. The remaining three were easily obliterated as well; she fired at them effortlessly as if they were not moving at all. I for one can hardly follow their movements.
Thereafter the eerie atmosphere around has dissipated and Aiko has turned back to normal.
“I guess, it’s over for now right?” I asked the magical girl as she dusts off her uniform.
“Yeah for now…I guess you catch up to this kinds of things fast huh?” the girl wittingly remarks.
“He,he I dunno if I’ll take that as a compliment but, from the looks of it I think YOU just got me into some serious trouble missy”
“He,he,he sorry about that, don’t worry though I’m sure I can solve this little dilemma of ours if you give me some time to think…By the way Ken I’ve been meaning to ask you this, are you somehow related to Yua Akito?”
“Yua Akito is my mom. Why do you ask?”
“O golly, I guess that means we’ll be staying together from now on! I’m glad we have things in common. I’m sorry not to have noticed earlier, I thought that you having the same surname as her was just a coincidence” Aiko puts up a smile so blindingly brilliant that I can’t help but cringe
“Huh? What do you mean? No…don’t tell me you’re …” and then that’s when my doubts about her name were finally cleared up.
“Yes, I am Aiko Hanabi, please take care of me my future husband…”
In just almost half a day, a lot of things crashed unto my previously mundane life, being fed a magical stone, crazy black creatures coming from the void, a Magical Girl who fights those creatures, and said girl being my fiancée. From that moment on my life became just like Nagasumi’s from Seto no Hanayome, and I know that I’ll be in all sorts of trouble. I’m just hoping that she doesn’t have homicidal family members!
Spoiler:
Spell 2: “I really think I’m going to enjoy it here…”
After all the ruckus, Aiko and I went home together, luckily none of those Anomalies came out on our way home. It was no use denying what happened out there, so I can at least clear things up with Aiko for now.
“So, now that’s all over, how the heck were you able to feed me such a valuable stone in the first place?” I asked Aiko with slight irritation
“Hmm, before leaving home I asked my familiar to make me a batch of jelly beans before going here, and I left my trans-synchro stone charging in the kitchen where he was working. Most likely that clumsy excuse for an assistant must have toppled over the magic charger and mixed my stone with the jelly beans… Though I think I might have been partly at fault too ahe,he,he” the girl explains with an awkward giggle.
“Don’t ahe,he, me. So you left your stone charging, knowing that you fight those things? What if they suddenly attack just like what happened a while ago?”
“Well, I can summon it even if it’s in Parallel Earth anyway… I started to panic when I summoned it after school and it didn’t come. And just when you came out from school I recognized its magic signature coming from you, which is quite amazing really, even though the stone has been ingested in your system it still had its powers…I’m sorry I got you dragged into this mess, I’ll figure something out when we get home.”
“Hmmm…since you put it that way I guess there’s no use complaining. By the way, you said you came from Parallel Earth, what do you mean by that?”
“I'm originally not from this Earth, but I lived here for almost half my life. Basically, Parallel Earth is like the Earth that you know, the only thing is magic governs there instead of science and is ruled over by Mages. It has been said that since the 1st World War took place on this side, the balance between our Earths have been disrupted and the wall between our worlds have been somehow affected by various events and exterior phenomenon…and that’s also when the Anomalies started to run around on both Earths” Aiko dumps all of these stuff to me as if I was watching an episode of Asura Cryin’
“Obviously you guys are the only ones who can go back and forth between our worlds, so does that mean there are other Magical Girls or Mages like you dwelling around here? Must be fun for you guys shifting between worlds”
“Yes there is a considerable number of my kind dwelling here, but it’s not all fun for us who can use magic since we all have to abide by our laws to defend this Earth from the Anomalies… at least until we can find a way to completely obliterate them. We really don’t know what the Anomalies are up to, but it’s very much clear that they pose a threat to those who reside on both Earths.” the girl who was cheerful a while ago suddenly had a sullen look on her face as she gave me these facts.
“…” I can’t really tell if she gave out that expression because she was sorry for dragging me into a mess like this or if she’s already tired of fighting those Anomalies. But I know that I can’t leave her alone like this, knowing the severity of the situation.
After a while we finally got home, some movers were already leaving the house, most likely they transported Aiko’s stuff. My mom afterwards came out to greet us.
“Oh, welcome home Ken. I see that you already met Aiko ... What’s the matter kids you look so tired already…*gasp*” she suddenly stopped and went over to Aiko immediately
“Don’t tell me that Ken already did this and that to you!! My goodness, Ken I don’t remember raising you to be such a pervert!” my Mom looks at me with such accusing eyes.
“Ahe,hehe actually…” Aiko blushes as my mother closes into her.
“Hey, don’t say things like that out here Mom! I can already sense the neighbors creeping out of their houses. Seriously, what do you think of your own son?” so I say as I furiously wave my fists in the air.
“Hi,hi,hi I really think I’m going to enjoy it here Ken” Aiko says while turning her head towards me.
Inside the house, Aiko went up for a while to check out her room, while I helped with prepping dinner.
“Hmm, hey Mom how are you and Dad exactly related with Aiko’s family?” I asked my mom while laying down the plates on the table.
“Aiko’s Mom and I are childhood friends. When your Dad and I went out for holidays we frequently visited the inn that Aiko’s family owns in the province…” she explains in a very nostalgic and reminiscent tone. “Aiko’s parents just recently brought up the idea about your arranged marriage. It’s a fact that one day that girl will inherit the inn as their sole daughter, they just probably want to make sure that their daughter won’t be alone in managing the inn. I and your Dad saw that as a good idea as well but of course, we wouldn’t want our children just to follow what we want…”
“So that’s why you’re giving us the chance to know each other now right? “ I added.
“That’s pretty much the gist of it. Though I don’t want you to be forcing yourself on Aiko… I mean don’t even dare go stalking on her tonight young man! Judging from *those* that I got from your bed she pretty much falls under your type” my Mom giggles as she pokes my head.
“Gaaah!! I told you to stop peeking into my room Mom!!” furious steam start to come out from my ear.
My squabble with my Mom suddenly went to a halt when our kitchen door opened. I saw Aiko in her house clothes, wearing shorts and a shirt: nothing very extraordinary, but I can’t deny that she’s still very cute even not in her uniform. For all my life Mom was the only female that I saw in this house, I do admit that Aiko’s appearance is a just like a new scenery for me.
As Aiko sat next to me, she was always looking at my Mom as if she was at a loss for words.
“What’s the matter Aiko is something bothering you?” my Mom asks with such motherly concern.
“I was wondering what to call you from now own…” Aiko replies with an obviously blushing face.
“Silly girl, you can just call me Mom too! From this day on we’re one family, though Ken’s Dad is not here most of the time due to work…Now let’s dig in shall we?”
It’s funny that a little while ago I was thinking how hard it would be having Aiko around, but it seems that Mom is really happy when there’s another head in the household. I guess this isn’t so bad after all, but I really do wonder if we will eventually do like each other.
Well, if worse comes to worst we can call the whole thing off anyway, but what does Aiko think about the situation that we are in?
After dinner, Mom offered to wash the dishes which I usually do. So instead I helped Aiko unpack her things in her room.
“Hey Ken… I already talked to my mother about what happened to my stone…” Aiko taps my shoulder as I put down her box of belongings.
“Well, what did she say?” I asked with an anxious tone
“She said that this was the first time she heard about something like this. She’ll check with the high mages to see what can be done…”
“So as of now, I’m your temporary trans-synchro stone huh? But can’t you guys just make another one?
“We can’t… that’s because when Mages or Magical girls are born they come with their own unique trans-synchro stones which can only be created when a couple from a pure lineage of magicians have a child…So you can say that every Mage’s or Magical Girl’s trans-synchro stones are one of a kind.’” Aiko says this while she sits on her newly furnished bed.
An awkward silence fills the room as I stare at her obviously sad look, her head continues to sway oh so slightly…
“I just came here and I’ve already caused you so much trouble … I’m very sorry Ken…” Aiko’s eyes were starting to water as she apologizes.
Usually one would give the crying girl a hug, but I still can’t bring myself to do that now as I feel that I wouldn’t be able to give her any sincere consolation at all…
“Don’t worry too much about it, I mean come on, this isn’t all too bad. I may be the only human from the side of THIS Earth who can fight alongside a very beautiful Magical Girl and have her as a fiancée’ to boot. I’m sure any guy would be jealous of me when they know something about this!” I boastfully proclaim as I hunch down to wipe off a tear from Aiko’s cheek. “So don’t worry…okay?”
“But…but…you’ll always be in constant danger now” she says with much weep.
“And you are too; we’re in this together now. I can’t just leave you be, knowing the dire situation that we are in…”
Then I finally I managed to see her smile again…boy what a relief.
But then she suddenly she wrapped her arms around me. http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7672.jpg
And it brought me down to the floor literally, you can already imagine the very awkward position that we’re in, I’m back flat on the floor while she lay atop of me: as if it was a scene from Love Hina.
*sob* Aiko continues to cry on my chest.
“Hey now…stop crying already…” as I patted her head, I noticed and felt something strange…very strange.”Hey, wait…were you wearing ribbons just now? No…it can’t be!”
Well it absolutely can be! She transformed into her costume or whatever you may want to call it.
“It seems that my stone’s powers have become a little more potent when it got into your system and is capable of self recharge now. It’s time to go back to basic magic control I guess… hi,hi,hi” Aiko smiles while some of her tears were still flowing down from her cheek.
“Oh good grief…” I sighed
And then suddenly there came footsteps gradually becoming louder heading to where we are, and shortly thereafter the sound of an opening door can be heard.
“Ken… I’ve been your mother for a very long time now, but I didn’t know that you had this kind of fetish going on inside that perverted head of yours…” my Mom’s eyes twitch as she stands right before us.
“No Mom, I can explain!’ well obviously I can’t. My efforts were futile as I felt the excruciating blow of a meteor crashing from space coming down to my head!
After a while, things finally calmed down, and it was time to hit the hay. As I finished prepping my things for the next school day I lay down on my bed and got set to have some sleep.
And then “Thud…thud… “I heard this knocking on the wall beside my head.
“Ken…you still awake?” it was Aiko whose room was just beside mine.
“Yeah, I still am…”
“Can I take a look at your room tomorrow?” Aiko curiously asked.
“Sure, why not?”
“Hi,hi,hi, thanks” she replies with a giggle. “And Ken…”
“Hmm…”
“I really think I’m going to enjoy it here…” Aiko said so with a content voice.
Spoiler:
Spell 3; “I’m doing this with my own free will”
Floating as if I'm on water two familiar girls’ voices were ringing in my head, I can hear the tone of their voices yet I can’t clearly hear what they are talking about. They were visible but I couldn't see them well, I started to hear one of the girls crying as my vision goes to a complete blur, I wanted to go near but something was stopping me from doing that.
As the two girls’ voices were starting to fade, I felt warm hands gently shaking my shoulders…
“Ken…Ken, it’s time to wake up! Breakfast is ready, you better prepare before it gets cold” Aiko’s voice resonated within my ear
“grmm….good morning Aiko. Thanks for waking me up” I greeted her with a grumbling voice
“Gee, you’re boring you know, couldn’t you at least pretend that you’re hard to wake up?” Aiko complains as she scratches her head.
“Sorry about that. Were you expecting a scene from Da Capo or something?” I jokingly inquired.
“Oh Big Brother!” Aiko gently smacks me with a pillow on my head with a laugh as if she was imitating a character from the said show. I couldn’t help but giggle.
Looking around my room Aiko said “This is quite a room you got here, it clearly shows your interests. There’s quite a variety, you got your usual assorted mecha, and even figures of Sakura, Nanoha, and Madoka. You have art stuff around too.”
“I think I don’t need to get some figures of Magical Girls now, since clearly a real one is here in the house,” I snicker as I look at her.
“Hi,hi,hi I guess your right…” Aiko then stands up and heads over to my canvass which was covered by a cloth “Hey can I see what you’re working on?” she turns to me as she asks.
“I’m sorry but I’m not done with it yet. I’ll be sure to show it to you when I’m done” I replied with an assuring voice.
“I see, I’ll be looking forward to it…well, I’ll be seeing you downstairs.” And then Aiko left my room and went down.
After the morning routine, I went to the kitchen as usual and a breakfast which was a little more extravagant than usual has greeted me.
“Wow, this is quite something!’ I exclaimed
“Aiko cooked most of them, she’s such a great help in the kitchen…” my Mom says so with a very much impressed expression.
I sat down the table and picked up an omelet roll which Aiko made. †˜Yum, this is delicious the sweetness is just right! You’re amazing Aiko!” I told her with an astonished tone.
“Thanks I’m glad that you liked it. I asked your Mom about it and she said that you like your omelets a little sweet so I fiddled around with it a bit…” Aiko replies with a fairly embarrassed look.
As I eat, I see my Mom with a smile, as if she always imagined this to happen. I never saw her so happy since Dad left for his work overseas. I can also see Aiko’s glad face as I spend my breakfast with her.
After breakfast we proceeded to school, and walked upon a road illuminated with the brilliant sunlight. Students like us were likewise headed to school.
“I know that this isn’t what you talk about on your way to school but, I have to ask what happens to those who fall victims to the Anomalies.” I ask Aiko with some resentment.
“It’s fine…hmmm… All we know is that those who lay victim to the Anomalies lose their memories and go into a comatose state, and then they eventually die. Luckily we are able to suppress the casualties to a minimum, but it’s obvious that we should come up with a plan to take them out once and for all.” She says as she slightly sways her school bag. “Every one of the high mages has been studying how the Anomalies materialize or where they come from, but up until now their efforts have been in vain…”
“I guess it’s pretty taxing to fight against something so mysterious…” my conversation with Aiko was suddenly cut when that very same sensation which I felt last night started to creep upon me that moment.
“They’re coming aren’t they?” I ask Aiko
“Yes, they are”
And there they came, at least 20 Anomalies came out from thin air scurrying around just like irritating cockroaches.
“This is bad, there are too many students here, we have to act fast” Aiko looks at me with such serious eyes.
“Right… so uhhh… do we still need to do that? Aah, what am I asking?” I slightly blushed as I approached Aiko.
“Hi,hi,hi you really are cute little Ken” Aiko says so with a teasing tone while embracing me.
“Commence with Pattern OOC!” so she said with a fairly hot blooded voice
“What!?” I started to giggle.
And then and there she started to chant
“The stars of the night sky may have fallen dim
Yet my magic will light them up no matter how grim!
Those who lead the Earth to a treacherous path,
shall know of this glorious angel’s wrath!”
As she moved away from me she clenched her fist, and threw a punch to the air shouting: “The invincible Magical Girl beneath the Heavens: Aiko has arrived!”
“Gee, so now what, you’re the SRX now?” I laughed. “Hey, why did you still need to chant anyway? You were able to transform by just hugging me last night” I asked with a slightly amazed tone.
“Before my stone became a little more potent, I needed to chant to invoke my transformation: force of habit I guess” Aiko replies with a brilliant smile.
“That’s it huh? Well we can save this for later. Go get †˜em Aiko!” I shouted with much vigor.
“You don’t need to tell me twice!” wasting no time Aiko charges.
One Anomaly jumps through the air and attempts to dive bomb her, but the creature’s effort was futile as it was easily disintegrated by Aiko’s magic beams: just like hot knife through butter.
Even though that this isn’t exactly the time to have fun Aiko still had the nerve to crack a joke.
“Hey Ken look, Wing Zero style!” and with that she spun in a circle while firing two concentrated beams from each of her hands immediately decimating 10 Anomalies in a row.
I mean just wow, I really couldn’t tell that Aiko is burdened with this task at all, is she that a positive thinker or is she just a War God in a Magical Girl’s clothing?
“11 down 9 to go” Aiko quickly surveys her surroundings.
But one has escaped her sights and has managed to creep up behind her: I could do nothing but shout: †˜Aiko behind you!!”
As the Anomaly prepared to give her a devastating blow on the back, an arrow made of ice has skewered the vile creature down to the ground.
“I guess there’s a new girl on the block. It’s nice to have new company around here…and a Light Magic user to boot!” so says the mysterious girl who stood on top of a lamp post.
I immediately looked up to where the voice came from.
That voice was awfully familiar to me, and it didn’t take a second for me to recognize to whom that voice belongs “Hey, Megumi is that you?” I asked in an amazed fashion.
“Ken?! How come you are you able to…? “It’s pretty obvious that Megumi is puzzled as well. “Aggh, we’ll talk later…” she says as she jumps from the pole with her moderately long hair bouncing.
“Hey girls, this is kinda bad I think 5 more just came out” I addressed the worsening situation.
“Uhmm, we can do the introductions later right? Let’s finish these guys off shall we?” Megumi approaches Aiko.
“Yeah sure… I have a request though, can you shoot a big spiky block of ice?” asks Aiko.
“Eeh, sure. I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’ll trust you on this one. Be sure to cover me.” Megumi follows Aiko’s request and prepares to charge for a big one.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7677-1.jpg
“Thanks after you’re done please shoot it upwards. Ken, please get beside me” Aiko commands, while rapidly shooting at the other Anomalies.
“Okay” I obediently ran up to her.
“Charge completed! I’m all set here” Megumi confirms.
“All right please do it now!” Aiko affirms.
“Okay here we go! Assault Type Water Magic: Sub-zero Pierce! ” Megumi then shoots the spiky ball of ice upwards.
“This’ll take you guys out in an instant!” Aiko then shot the spiky ball of ice and at the same time deployed a barrier surrounding us.
The ball of ice shattered explosively as Aiko’s magic beam hit it. An explosive icy death of spikes from above impaled the remaining Anomalies.
“Aiko you dummy!! What about the other students?” I angrily asked.
“Ken, look around” Megumi tapped me on the shoulder.
And there I saw it: the icy spikes were bouncing off from the air as if they were being deflected by another barrier.
“Woah, then you mean that our barrier is inside another barrier? Forget that I said you’re a dummy, Aiko you’re amazing!” I looked at Aiko with much astonishment.
“Hi,hi,hi you’ve praised me too much today Ken” Aiko turns to me with a radiant smile.
As no Anomalies remained, everything turned back to normal, and the girls reverted to their uniforms.
“Hey, that was pretty good! I’m Megumi Shiina, nice to meet you” Megumi offers her hand to Aiko.
“I’m Aiko Hanabi, nice to meet you too” Aiko takes up Megumi’s hand for a hand shake.
“By the way Ken…HOW THE HECK WERE YOU ABLE TO HAVE MAGIC?’ Magumi turns to me with a very confused look.
“You see…” Aiko was just about to answer for me when I grabbed her shoulder and butted in saying: “You see, stupid me ate Aiko’s trans-synchro stone mistaking it for a jelly bean. And now I’m influenced by magic so I’m not affected by the Anomalies’ effects”
†˜’Whaaaat? That’s completely absurd Ken!” Megumi exclaims in an outraged voice.
“Well I’m telling you the truth” I retorted.
“Yeah sure, fine then…I’ll be going on ahead as I have a club meeting to attend to” Megumi said as she turned towards the direction of school
“Take care” Aiko and I bid her a momentary good bye.
Before moving on Megumi asked “Ken, can I come by at your house later?”
“Sure, come by after dinner” I replied.
“Thanks see you later” Megumi waved as she walked in a fast pace….
“Umm, hey shouldn’t we be hurrying up too? That took quite some time” I ask Aiko as I grabbed her gently by the shoulder.
“Right, I forgot to tell you that when Anomalies come out they create fields that also stop the flow of time, some say that they even distort it… So we don’t need to worry about running late.” Aiko tells me with an assuring voice.
A few minutes after Megumi left, Aiko turned upon me with a frown and asked “Why did you lie to her?”
“That’s because I know that you’re going to tell her that it’s your fault… You see Aiko, you have to stop blaming yourself for what happened. I just told you not to worry about it right?” I calmly replied as I patted her head.
“I’m sorry Ken”
“You know what; you should stop saying sorry and say you are welcome instead”
“Huh?” Aiko replies with a puzzled look.
“That’s because I’m very thankful that you gave me a chance to protect everyone against something that we normal humans virtually know nothing about. Even though I am not that much use to you for now, I’ll help you in any way I can.” I replied with a giggle.
“You’re just too kind Ken” Aiko says with very bright smile. “You know, you’re not as useless as you think. Just as I said my stone is more potent now making my magic a little more powerful. Without that boost I couldn’t have made that double barrier earlier”
“Oh yeah?” I looked at her with a relieved expression.
“And… just knowing that you’re watching me while I fight gives me confidence, and it’s a great feeling that someone knows that you’re fighting so hard.” Aiko looks at me with eyes filled with gratitude.
“That’s great to know… Though maybe I could do some training with you to learn some tricks of my own” I remarked with a blush on my face.
“That isn’t a very bad idea” Aiko concurred
We continued to discuss the details about our training as we walked to school.
I’m glad that I’m able to at least make Aiko smile, even though I’m not of much right now.
As we walked near school, I can already feel the many stares that are gazing upon us…
“Uggh, I knew this would happen…” I slightly complained
“Why? Is it too embarrassing to be with me?” Aiko commented with a slightly sad look “I knew it…you’re just nice to me because you have to…I understand if I’m just a burden to you”
“Hey, hey don’t say it like that…” I replied with a slightly shaking voice.
“…”
“Aiko…look, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…” I can already hear sniffles from her and grumbles from the other students. And just when I was about to check…
“…*smirk* Ha,ha,ha,ha. You’re just too cute Ken! He,he, I knew it, you’re weak for crying girls!” Aiko suddenly bursts laughing
“You silly girl, are you making fun of me? I’m gonna get you!!” Just when I was about to give her a smack on the head, she quickly ran away
“He,he,he catch me if you can!’ She teases me from a distance while sticking her tongue out.
“I’ll get you, you WABBIT!” I quickly followed her, while hearing the other students’ laughs and comments in the background.
And so, we finally reached the school gates, filled with students prepared to take on another day of school.
“Good morning, my dear friend. Would you mind introducing who that charming girl beside you is?” A cool and acquainted voice asks a question which was directed at me.
“Mornin'Kyosuke! Well yeah, she’s Aiko Hanabi… and Aiko he’s Kyosuke Ishida the Student Council President.”
“Hello I’m Aiko Hanabi. Nice meeting you.” Aiko greets Kyosuke with a smile.
“Like what Ken said I’m Kyosuke Ishida: Student Council President of this school of ours. You’re a new face around here; are you a relative of my dear friend or perhaps a new acquaintance?” Kyosuke inquires with much curiosity.
“She’s…” I tried to answer but, Aiko quickly butted in “I’m Ken’s fiancée. And I just moved here yesterday.” So she said with a smiling face. I’m pretty much impressed with this girl really; she can say such things without shame.
“Oh, how fortunate you are Ken my friend! You’ve been keeping such a secret from your friends…I’m rather disappointed” Kyosuke remarks.
“I was about to introduce her to all of you today…” I quickly replied.
“Liar! You won’t tell them because you’re too embarrassed, you’ll probably introduce me as your cousin or something along those lines” Aiko says so with a cute pout on her face.
“Hey, hey there you go again!” I lightly smacked her on the head with a giggle.
“You’re certainly a very lively couple. If you’ll excuse me I’ll see you two later as I have some business to attend to” the student council president’s pony tailed hair sways as he turns around to leave.
“Hey Kyosuke, what’s with today anyway? Megumi also said that she had a meeting this morning.” I inquisitively asked.
“About that, we in the Student Council are collaborating with the clubs for a major program, so we called for some selected officers, and that includes Megumi”
“Oh I see… thanks. See you in class.” I waved to Kyosuke as he walked away.
“So what club are you in Ken? Aiko asks with much curiosity.
“I belong to the school’s art club”
“You do have a canvass at home…” Aiko looked at me as if she was inspecting me. “Maybe I should go join the art club too…”
“You should go look for a club you really want to be in later this afternoon, I’ll go with you too.” I suggested.
“Thanks, but I want you to get me in the Art Club before any others” Aiko persists.
After agreeing to her request, I walked Aiko to her classroom and proceeded to mine which was just beside her own classroom. I don’t really know why but I feel a bit anxious even though I know that she’s only next door.
Time flew by and Kyosuke just came in after the 2nd subject, their meeting was rather important I suppose. After a few more subjects, it was finally time for lunch, just as I was to go out the door I saw Aiko coming out from her classroom, along with our lunch.
“So where do you want to eat?” I asked Aiko while scratching my head. And then suddenly a loud smack hit my back.
“Hell yeah, way to go Ken! I see you already got over her…” my male classmate says in a loud voice.
I quickly turned about face and tapped my classmate’s shoulder saying “Look, not now okay Suguru?”
“I’m sorry…do you mind introducing her then?” Suguru asked me with a very persistent tone.
With a stern and clear voice I said: “She’s Aiko Hanabi and she’s my fiancée. Aiko he’s Suguru Kaname, my classmate and friend”
“Oh so that’s it huh, Nice meeting you Aiko” Suguru looks at her with a smile. “I’d love to stay and chat but I should go down to the cafeteria now. You should go bring her when we hang out together sometime Ken!” And with that Suguru walked downstairs.
“Ken, is something the matter?” Aiko looks at me with such concerned eyes.
“Uh, it’s nothing. We should go to the rooftop; both of our rooms look pretty crowded. And you know too well how filled is the cafeteria now right?” So thereafter we made our way to the rooftop.
Opening the door towards the rooftop, a clear blue sky greets us as we step out; birds were flying around and the atmosphere was very relaxing and could calm down even the most nervous of persons. It’s just like a patch of paradise in a very hectic environment. I then grabbed one of the benches and moved it to a spot where there is shade.
As I put down the bench, Aiko took her sit and tapped the space besides her inviting me to take a seat.
“Uh hey Aiko, I guess there’s something that I need to tell you…” I said so while taking my seat.
“Hmm…okay” Aiko turns to me as she opens the bag containing our lunch.
“…”Aiko’s quiet look tells me that she’s intent to listen.
“You see, Megumi is my childhood friend…at one point I started looking at her as more than just a friend, when we reached the last year of middle school we started to date. But upon reaching the 1st year of high school, we didn’t get to see each other that much at all and eventually she broke up with me, I asked why but she just said that it would be better if we just stayed as friends… I knew that there was something she didn’t want to talk about… I just eventually let it go and went on with life, but I’d have to admit that it was a very lonely experience for me.” I slightly tilted my head staring at the sky while continuing my story.
“Since we were kids, she never told me what troubled her. Everytime I ask about her problems, Megumi would always say that she wouldn’t want to bother me… keeping all of her worries to herself. Basing from what I saw today, I think I now know one of her reasons why she broke up with me…” I narrated to Aiko with a slight sigh.
“…you know I once had a friend back in my old school who was a Magical Girl too. She was in love with our friend who was a normal human.” Aiko said so while unfolding the cloth wrapping our lunch box. “She was determined to confess her feelings, but the thought that she would only put him in danger once they got closer always troubled her…Megumi probably felt the same way too…”
“….” When I was just about to answer Aiko, I once again felt that ominous sensation. And I can tell that it’s very different this time around. It’s just like I can feel malice and bloodlust in the surroundings, it’s as if there are many murderous criminals surrounding us.
“This is very bizarre, the Anomalies usually attack in predictable time intervals: they don’t attack at this time of the day.” Aiko comments as she sees Anomalies starting to materialize in our school grounds.
“…Look Aiko, I just want you to know that I’m not sticking with you because of our parents’ decision or any arrangement. I’m doing this with my own free will…and besides I just can’t leave the girl who said that she’ll come to like me” I looked at her with eyes filled with determination.
“Thanks…” Aiko smiles at me
“Great...” I returned a smile to her “So do we jump from here then?” I asked in a sarcastic way.
“Well, in this situation that would be the most plausible thing to do, the Anomalies are not going to wait for us” Aiko says this while looking around the rooftop.
†˜Seriously? Man, you’re one crazy girl…Anyway I’ll trust you on this one” I commented with slight nervousness.
Aiko and I then went to one open edge of the rooftop, and stood close next to each other. I have to admit that I feel nervous about doing a stunt like this.
“Ready?” Aiko looked at me while asking for a confirmation.
“Yeah let’s go” I replied with conviction.
And then at the same time we jumped off. While in mid-air we proceeded with the usual transformation sequence, and Aiko changed in an instant.
However there was something that I can’t help but notice: she was trembling and had her arms around me tighter than before. I can really tell that she is very nervous this time around.
And with a swift motion, Aiko repositioned herself and cast a barrier around me, as I reached the ground safely, she just like a slender cat landed on the ground with her own two feet.
Upon landing, what greeted us was the school grounds filled with black and grotesque creatures.
“Uuugh, I think this is the most number of Anomalies I ever saw in a single invasion…And they look a little uglier now” Aiko comments with disgust as she sees more than 30 Anomalies scurrying around the school grounds.
“Good thing most of the students are inside now, I hope Megumi comes quick, we really could use the help” I said so with wishful thinking while approaching Aiko.
“Say what Ken; you know it isn’t very hard to use magic. You may not be able to use Assault type Light magic like I can for now, but I think you can do what I’ll tell you…” Aiko looks at me while holding my right hand.
“What is it?” I ask with much anticipation.
“Just imagine, and focus on your hands. Imagine that you have solid steel gloves, with that you’ll at least be able to ward off any Anomaly that might come at you.” Aiko explains with much stern eyes.
“Thanks…you can count on me” I nod with confidence.
“Great, now let’s go get em’ Ken!” Aiko shouts with much enthusiasm, and charges towards the Anomalies.
“Hey that’s my line! Oh well…You don’t need to tell me twice!”
As of this very moment the school that I knew suddenly turned into a battlefield tainted with this very sickening sensation that I can’t get off my chest. Faced with this much enemies, and with a feeling of asphyxiating anxiety, I can only hope we can go through this in one piece.
Floating as if I'm on water two familiar girls’ voices were ringing in my head, I can hear the tone of their voices yet I can’t clearly hear what they are talking about. They were visible but I couldn't see them well, I started to hear one of the girls crying as my vision goes to a complete blur, I wanted to go near but something was stopping me from doing that.
As the two girls’ voices were starting to fade, I felt warm hands gently shaking my shoulders…
“Ken…Ken, it’s time to wake up! Breakfast is ready, you better prepare before it gets cold” Aiko’s voice resonated within my ear
“grmm….good morning Aiko. Thanks for waking me up” I greeted her with a grumbling voice
“Gee, you’re boring you know, couldn’t you at least pretend that you’re hard to wake up?” Aiko complains as she scratches her head.
“Sorry about that. Were you expecting a scene from Da Capo or something?” I jokingly inquired.
“Oh Big Brother!” Aiko gently smacks me with a pillow on my head with a laugh as if she was imitating a character from the said show. I couldn’t help but giggle.
Looking around my room Aiko said “This is quite a room you got here, it clearly shows your interests. There’s quite a variety, you got your usual assorted mecha, and even figures of Sakura, Nanoha, and Madoka. You have art stuff around too.”
“I think I don’t need to get some figures of Magical Girls now, since clearly a real one is here in the house,” I snicker as I look at her.
“Hi,hi,hi I guess your right…” Aiko then stands up and heads over to my canvass which was covered by a cloth “Hey can I see what you’re working on?” she turns to me as she asks.
“I’m sorry but I’m not done with it yet. I’ll be sure to show it to you when I’m done” I replied with an assuring voice.
“I see, I’ll be looking forward to it…well, I’ll be seeing you downstairs.” And then Aiko left my room and went down.
After the morning routine, I went to the kitchen as usual and a breakfast which was a little more extravagant than usual has greeted me.
“Wow, this is quite something!’ I exclaimed
“Aiko cooked most of them, she’s such a great help in the kitchen…” my Mom says so with a very much impressed expression.
I sat down the table and picked up an omelet roll which Aiko made. †˜Yum, this is delicious the sweetness is just right! You’re amazing Aiko!” I told her with an astonished tone.
“Thanks I’m glad that you liked it. I asked your Mom about it and she said that you like your omelets a little sweet so I fiddled around with it a bit…” Aiko replies with a fairly embarrassed look.
As I eat, I see my Mom with a smile, as if she always imagined this to happen. I never saw her so happy since Dad left for his work overseas. I can also see Aiko’s glad face as I spend my breakfast with her.
After breakfast we proceeded to school, and walked upon a road illuminated with the brilliant sunlight. Students like us were likewise headed to school.
“I know that this isn’t what you talk about on your way to school but, I have to ask what happens to those who fall victims to the Anomalies.” I ask Aiko with some resentment.
“It’s fine…hmmm… All we know is that those who lay victim to the Anomalies lose their memories and go into a comatose state, and then they eventually die. Luckily we are able to suppress the casualties to a minimum, but it’s obvious that we should come up with a plan to take them out once and for all.” She says as she slightly sways her school bag. “Every one of the high mages has been studying how the Anomalies materialize or where they come from, but up until now their efforts have been in vain…”
“I guess it’s pretty taxing to fight against something so mysterious…” my conversation with Aiko was suddenly cut when that very same sensation which I felt last night started to creep upon me that moment.
“They’re coming aren’t they?” I ask Aiko
“Yes, they are”
And there they came, at least 20 Anomalies came out from thin air scurrying around just like irritating cockroaches.
“This is bad, there are too many students here, we have to act fast” Aiko looks at me with such serious eyes.
“Right… so uhhh… do we still need to do that? Aah, what am I asking?” I slightly blushed as I approached Aiko.
“Hi,hi,hi you really are cute little Ken” Aiko says so with a teasing tone while embracing me.
“Commence with Pattern OOC!” so she said with a fairly hot blooded voice
“What!?” I started to giggle.
And then and there she started to chant
“The stars of the night sky may have fallen dim
Yet my magic will light them up no matter how grim!
Those who lead the Earth to a treacherous path,
shall know of this glorious angel’s wrath!”
As she moved away from me she clenched her fist, and threw a punch to the air shouting: “The invincible Magical Girl beneath the Heavens: Aiko has arrived!”
“Gee, so now what, you’re the SRX now?” I laughed. “Hey, why did you still need to chant anyway? You were able to transform by just hugging me last night” I asked with a slightly amazed tone.
“Before my stone became a little more potent, I needed to chant to invoke my transformation: force of habit I guess” Aiko replies with a brilliant smile.
“That’s it huh? Well we can save this for later. Go get †˜em Aiko!” I shouted with much vigor.
“You don’t need to tell me twice!” wasting no time Aiko charges.
One Anomaly jumps through the air and attempts to dive bomb her, but the creature’s effort was futile as it was easily disintegrated by Aiko’s magic beams: just like hot knife through butter.
Even though that this isn’t exactly the time to have fun Aiko still had the nerve to crack a joke.
“Hey Ken look, Wing Zero style!” and with that she spun in a circle while firing two concentrated beams from each of her hands immediately decimating 10 Anomalies in a row.
I mean just wow, I really couldn’t tell that Aiko is burdened with this task at all, is she that a positive thinker or is she just a War God in a Magical Girl’s clothing?
“11 down 9 to go” Aiko quickly surveys her surroundings.
But one has escaped her sights and has managed to creep up behind her: I could do nothing but shout: †˜Aiko behind you!!”
As the Anomaly prepared to give her a devastating blow on the back, an arrow made of ice has skewered the vile creature down to the ground.
“I guess there’s a new girl on the block. It’s nice to have new company around here…and a Light Magic user to boot!” so says the mysterious girl who stood on top of a lamp post.
I immediately looked up to where the voice came from.
That voice was awfully familiar to me, and it didn’t take a second for me to recognize to whom that voice belongs “Hey, Megumi is that you?” I asked in an amazed fashion.
“Ken?! How come you are you able to…? “It’s pretty obvious that Megumi is puzzled as well. “Aggh, we’ll talk later…” she says as she jumps from the pole with her moderately long hair bouncing.
“Hey girls, this is kinda bad I think 5 more just came out” I addressed the worsening situation.
“Uhmm, we can do the introductions later right? Let’s finish these guys off shall we?” Megumi approaches Aiko.
“Yeah sure… I have a request though, can you shoot a big spiky block of ice?” asks Aiko.
“Eeh, sure. I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’ll trust you on this one. Be sure to cover me.” Megumi follows Aiko’s request and prepares to charge for a big one.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7677-1.jpg
“Thanks after you’re done please shoot it upwards. Ken, please get beside me” Aiko commands, while rapidly shooting at the other Anomalies.
“Okay” I obediently ran up to her.
“Charge completed! I’m all set here” Megumi confirms.
“All right please do it now!” Aiko affirms.
“Okay here we go! Assault Type Water Magic: Sub-zero Pierce! ” Megumi then shoots the spiky ball of ice upwards.
“This’ll take you guys out in an instant!” Aiko then shot the spiky ball of ice and at the same time deployed a barrier surrounding us.
The ball of ice shattered explosively as Aiko’s magic beam hit it. An explosive icy death of spikes from above impaled the remaining Anomalies.
“Aiko you dummy!! What about the other students?” I angrily asked.
“Ken, look around” Megumi tapped me on the shoulder.
And there I saw it: the icy spikes were bouncing off from the air as if they were being deflected by another barrier.
“Woah, then you mean that our barrier is inside another barrier? Forget that I said you’re a dummy, Aiko you’re amazing!” I looked at Aiko with much astonishment.
“Hi,hi,hi you’ve praised me too much today Ken” Aiko turns to me with a radiant smile.
As no Anomalies remained, everything turned back to normal, and the girls reverted to their uniforms.
“Hey, that was pretty good! I’m Megumi Shiina, nice to meet you” Megumi offers her hand to Aiko.
“I’m Aiko Hanabi, nice to meet you too” Aiko takes up Megumi’s hand for a hand shake.
“By the way Ken…HOW THE HECK WERE YOU ABLE TO HAVE MAGIC?’ Magumi turns to me with a very confused look.
“You see…” Aiko was just about to answer for me when I grabbed her shoulder and butted in saying: “You see, stupid me ate Aiko’s trans-synchro stone mistaking it for a jelly bean. And now I’m influenced by magic so I’m not affected by the Anomalies’ effects”
†˜’Whaaaat? That’s completely absurd Ken!” Megumi exclaims in an outraged voice.
“Well I’m telling you the truth” I retorted.
“Yeah sure, fine then…I’ll be going on ahead as I have a club meeting to attend to” Megumi said as she turned towards the direction of school
“Take care” Aiko and I bid her a momentary good bye.
Before moving on Megumi asked “Ken, can I come by at your house later?”
“Sure, come by after dinner” I replied.
“Thanks see you later” Megumi waved as she walked in a fast pace….
“Umm, hey shouldn’t we be hurrying up too? That took quite some time” I ask Aiko as I grabbed her gently by the shoulder.
“Right, I forgot to tell you that when Anomalies come out they create fields that also stop the flow of time, some say that they even distort it… So we don’t need to worry about running late.” Aiko tells me with an assuring voice.
A few minutes after Megumi left, Aiko turned upon me with a frown and asked “Why did you lie to her?”
“That’s because I know that you’re going to tell her that it’s your fault… You see Aiko, you have to stop blaming yourself for what happened. I just told you not to worry about it right?” I calmly replied as I patted her head.
“I’m sorry Ken”
“You know what; you should stop saying sorry and say you are welcome instead”
“Huh?” Aiko replies with a puzzled look.
“That’s because I’m very thankful that you gave me a chance to protect everyone against something that we normal humans virtually know nothing about. Even though I am not that much use to you for now, I’ll help you in any way I can.” I replied with a giggle.
“You’re just too kind Ken” Aiko says with very bright smile. “You know, you’re not as useless as you think. Just as I said my stone is more potent now making my magic a little more powerful. Without that boost I couldn’t have made that double barrier earlier”
“Oh yeah?” I looked at her with a relieved expression.
“And… just knowing that you’re watching me while I fight gives me confidence, and it’s a great feeling that someone knows that you’re fighting so hard.” Aiko looks at me with eyes filled with gratitude.
“That’s great to know… Though maybe I could do some training with you to learn some tricks of my own” I remarked with a blush on my face.
“That isn’t a very bad idea” Aiko concurred
We continued to discuss the details about our training as we walked to school.
I’m glad that I’m able to at least make Aiko smile, even though I’m not of much right now.
As we walked near school, I can already feel the many stares that are gazing upon us…
“Uggh, I knew this would happen…” I slightly complained
“Why? Is it too embarrassing to be with me?” Aiko commented with a slightly sad look “I knew it…you’re just nice to me because you have to…I understand if I’m just a burden to you”
“Hey, hey don’t say it like that…” I replied with a slightly shaking voice.
“…”
“Aiko…look, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…” I can already hear sniffles from her and grumbles from the other students. And just when I was about to check…
“…*smirk* Ha,ha,ha,ha. You’re just too cute Ken! He,he, I knew it, you’re weak for crying girls!” Aiko suddenly bursts laughing
“You silly girl, are you making fun of me? I’m gonna get you!!” Just when I was about to give her a smack on the head, she quickly ran away
“He,he,he catch me if you can!’ She teases me from a distance while sticking her tongue out.
“I’ll get you, you WABBIT!” I quickly followed her, while hearing the other students’ laughs and comments in the background.
And so, we finally reached the school gates, filled with students prepared to take on another day of school.
“Good morning, my dear friend. Would you mind introducing who that charming girl beside you is?” A cool and acquainted voice asks a question which was directed at me.
“Mornin'Kyosuke! Well yeah, she’s Aiko Hanabi… and Aiko he’s Kyosuke Ishida the Student Council President.”
“Hello I’m Aiko Hanabi. Nice meeting you.” Aiko greets Kyosuke with a smile.
“Like what Ken said I’m Kyosuke Ishida: Student Council President of this school of ours. You’re a new face around here; are you a relative of my dear friend or perhaps a new acquaintance?” Kyosuke inquires with much curiosity.
“She’s…” I tried to answer but, Aiko quickly butted in “I’m Ken’s fiancée. And I just moved here yesterday.” So she said with a smiling face. I’m pretty much impressed with this girl really; she can say such things without shame.
“Oh, how fortunate you are Ken my friend! You’ve been keeping such a secret from your friends…I’m rather disappointed” Kyosuke remarks.
“I was about to introduce her to all of you today…” I quickly replied.
“Liar! You won’t tell them because you’re too embarrassed, you’ll probably introduce me as your cousin or something along those lines” Aiko says so with a cute pout on her face.
“Hey, hey there you go again!” I lightly smacked her on the head with a giggle.
“You’re certainly a very lively couple. If you’ll excuse me I’ll see you two later as I have some business to attend to” the student council president’s pony tailed hair sways as he turns around to leave.
“Hey Kyosuke, what’s with today anyway? Megumi also said that she had a meeting this morning.” I inquisitively asked.
“About that, we in the Student Council are collaborating with the clubs for a major program, so we called for some selected officers, and that includes Megumi”
“Oh I see… thanks. See you in class.” I waved to Kyosuke as he walked away.
“So what club are you in Ken? Aiko asks with much curiosity.
“I belong to the school’s art club”
“You do have a canvass at home…” Aiko looked at me as if she was inspecting me. “Maybe I should go join the art club too…”
“You should go look for a club you really want to be in later this afternoon, I’ll go with you too.” I suggested.
“Thanks, but I want you to get me in the Art Club before any others” Aiko persists.
After agreeing to her request, I walked Aiko to her classroom and proceeded to mine which was just beside her own classroom. I don’t really know why but I feel a bit anxious even though I know that she’s only next door.
Time flew by and Kyosuke just came in after the 2nd subject, their meeting was rather important I suppose. After a few more subjects, it was finally time for lunch, just as I was to go out the door I saw Aiko coming out from her classroom, along with our lunch.
“So where do you want to eat?” I asked Aiko while scratching my head. And then suddenly a loud smack hit my back.
“Hell yeah, way to go Ken! I see you already got over her…” my male classmate says in a loud voice.
I quickly turned about face and tapped my classmate’s shoulder saying “Look, not now okay Suguru?”
“I’m sorry…do you mind introducing her then?” Suguru asked me with a very persistent tone.
With a stern and clear voice I said: “She’s Aiko Hanabi and she’s my fiancée. Aiko he’s Suguru Kaname, my classmate and friend”
“Oh so that’s it huh, Nice meeting you Aiko” Suguru looks at her with a smile. “I’d love to stay and chat but I should go down to the cafeteria now. You should go bring her when we hang out together sometime Ken!” And with that Suguru walked downstairs.
“Ken, is something the matter?” Aiko looks at me with such concerned eyes.
“Uh, it’s nothing. We should go to the rooftop; both of our rooms look pretty crowded. And you know too well how filled is the cafeteria now right?” So thereafter we made our way to the rooftop.
Opening the door towards the rooftop, a clear blue sky greets us as we step out; birds were flying around and the atmosphere was very relaxing and could calm down even the most nervous of persons. It’s just like a patch of paradise in a very hectic environment. I then grabbed one of the benches and moved it to a spot where there is shade.
As I put down the bench, Aiko took her sit and tapped the space besides her inviting me to take a seat.
“Uh hey Aiko, I guess there’s something that I need to tell you…” I said so while taking my seat.
“Hmm…okay” Aiko turns to me as she opens the bag containing our lunch.
“…”Aiko’s quiet look tells me that she’s intent to listen.
“You see, Megumi is my childhood friend…at one point I started looking at her as more than just a friend, when we reached the last year of middle school we started to date. But upon reaching the 1st year of high school, we didn’t get to see each other that much at all and eventually she broke up with me, I asked why but she just said that it would be better if we just stayed as friends… I knew that there was something she didn’t want to talk about… I just eventually let it go and went on with life, but I’d have to admit that it was a very lonely experience for me.” I slightly tilted my head staring at the sky while continuing my story.
“Since we were kids, she never told me what troubled her. Everytime I ask about her problems, Megumi would always say that she wouldn’t want to bother me… keeping all of her worries to herself. Basing from what I saw today, I think I now know one of her reasons why she broke up with me…” I narrated to Aiko with a slight sigh.
“…you know I once had a friend back in my old school who was a Magical Girl too. She was in love with our friend who was a normal human.” Aiko said so while unfolding the cloth wrapping our lunch box. “She was determined to confess her feelings, but the thought that she would only put him in danger once they got closer always troubled her…Megumi probably felt the same way too…”
“….” When I was just about to answer Aiko, I once again felt that ominous sensation. And I can tell that it’s very different this time around. It’s just like I can feel malice and bloodlust in the surroundings, it’s as if there are many murderous criminals surrounding us.
“This is very bizarre, the Anomalies usually attack in predictable time intervals: they don’t attack at this time of the day.” Aiko comments as she sees Anomalies starting to materialize in our school grounds.
“…Look Aiko, I just want you to know that I’m not sticking with you because of our parents’ decision or any arrangement. I’m doing this with my own free will…and besides I just can’t leave the girl who said that she’ll come to like me” I looked at her with eyes filled with determination.
“Thanks…” Aiko smiles at me
“Great...” I returned a smile to her “So do we jump from here then?” I asked in a sarcastic way.
“Well, in this situation that would be the most plausible thing to do, the Anomalies are not going to wait for us” Aiko says this while looking around the rooftop.
†˜Seriously? Man, you’re one crazy girl…Anyway I’ll trust you on this one” I commented with slight nervousness.
Aiko and I then went to one open edge of the rooftop, and stood close next to each other. I have to admit that I feel nervous about doing a stunt like this.
“Ready?” Aiko looked at me while asking for a confirmation.
“Yeah let’s go” I replied with conviction.
And then at the same time we jumped off. While in mid-air we proceeded with the usual transformation sequence, and Aiko changed in an instant.
However there was something that I can’t help but notice: she was trembling and had her arms around me tighter than before. I can really tell that she is very nervous this time around.
And with a swift motion, Aiko repositioned herself and cast a barrier around me, as I reached the ground safely, she just like a slender cat landed on the ground with her own two feet.
Upon landing, what greeted us was the school grounds filled with black and grotesque creatures.
“Uuugh, I think this is the most number of Anomalies I ever saw in a single invasion…And they look a little uglier now” Aiko comments with disgust as she sees more than 30 Anomalies scurrying around the school grounds.
“Good thing most of the students are inside now, I hope Megumi comes quick, we really could use the help” I said so with wishful thinking while approaching Aiko.
“Say what Ken; you know it isn’t very hard to use magic. You may not be able to use Assault type Light magic like I can for now, but I think you can do what I’ll tell you…” Aiko looks at me while holding my right hand.
“What is it?” I ask with much anticipation.
“Just imagine, and focus on your hands. Imagine that you have solid steel gloves, with that you’ll at least be able to ward off any Anomaly that might come at you.” Aiko explains with much stern eyes.
“Thanks…you can count on me” I nod with confidence.
“Great, now let’s go get em’ Ken!” Aiko shouts with much enthusiasm, and charges towards the Anomalies.
“Hey that’s my line! Oh well…You don’t need to tell me twice!”
As of this very moment the school that I knew suddenly turned into a battlefield tainted with this very sickening sensation that I can’t get off my chest. Faced with this much enemies, and with a feeling of asphyxiating anxiety, I can only hope we can go through this in one piece.
Spoiler:
Spell 4: A smile that will be forever etched in my mind’s eye
The atmosphere was heavy: everything looked bleaker than usual, and the Anomalies were not like those we fought the last time: despite all of these, Aiko still charges forward to fight.
Aiko’s beams of magic constantly flew across the school grounds destroying every Anomaly it touched, however when it seemed to us that they have finally retreated, other ones would immediately come out after the other.
Seeing the direness of the situation I tried hard to fight side by side with Aiko. Just as she said, I could fend off the creatures by doing what she taught me, but our disparity in experience became clear when I started to tire out before her, however she followed soon after while defending me.
“How come they’re not retreating? They just keep coming out one after another!” Aiko complains as she kicks an Anomaly out of her way.
“*gasp* It’s almost an hour since we’ve started fighting these bastards…” I struggle as I catch my breath.
“Ken, are you all right? You can just leave this to me and go rest somewhere safe.” Aiko looks at me with a very worried face.
“As much I want to, the situation says that I can’t…” I look around our surroundings observing the Anomalies that are trying to surround us. “I hope that none of them has managed to enter the school buildings”
As we were trying to catch our breaths, a bunch of Anomalies were well prepared to maul the two of us, Aiko charged up and prepared to fire, but a streak of blue flames came right in between us and the approaching Anomalies.
“This… this is a high level of Assault Type Fire Magic…only Mage Knights can do that” Aiko was rather surprised when she saw the blue streak of flames.
“You’re pretty well versed Ms. Hanabi, I commend you for your wisdom and being one of those rare talents who can use Light magic well. You even managed to teach Ken how to channel magic. However I haven’t reached a Mage Knight’s level as of yet” a very familiar figure comes to approach us from the doors of the main school building.
“K…Kyosuke?! You’re a Mage?” I was so surprised that I had a sudden burst of energy within me.
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“Well, doesn't this make us even? I knew about your secret fiancee and now you know that I’m a Mage” Kyosuke continues to walk to us casting fire magic around himself. “I’m very impressed and thankful that you have managed to defend this place for us, and if you’re wondering, Megumi and the others are busy fighting inside the school buildings.”
“Is everyone inside all right?” I inquired.
“I can’t assure that, but I told them that a pair should guard any occupied room, but most of our comrades are at the cafeteria…I can only hope that we were able to fend them off considering our small numbers here in school” Kyosuke continues to incinerate any Anomaly that scurries around him and near us.
“A lot of things were indeed happening behind my back huh?” I looked at Kyosuke with slightly sad eyes.
“Now that you have known the truth, will you back out?” Kyosuke asks with a rather sarcastic voice.
“Hell no! I can’t just leave things like this,and of course I also have to do my best for the one who helped me know the truth…” I looked at Aiko with such a thankful expression.
“Ha, I knew you wouldn’t” Kyosuke smiles at me.
“Ken…you’re incredible…” Aiko looks at me with very bright eyes, and after that she immediately flexes her hands and asks “So, gentlemen shall we finish this now?”
“Yeah, let’s go!” I replied
“Let’s burn them to the ground!” Kyosuke says with a fiery response.
As of that moment fiery blue flames, and brilliant beams of light scattered around the field. I was nearly at my limit as I struggled and punched through every Anomaly I can.
“Ken, come here!” Kyosuke commands
After I came over to his side he immediately took my hands and imbued them with fire magic, my hands were ablaze yet they didn’t feel scorched at all, it was warm and comforting.
“Here is a temporary power up, for now you won’t consume much magic from Aiko’s stone, knowing that it is within you now…” Kyosuke looks at me with a concerned look.
“How did you know?” I asked with a very puzzled look.
“Megumi informed me earlier…you know, she was also the one who told me to look for you guys.” Kyosuke seems to tell me in a careful way.
“Is that so” I lowered my head a little as I heard this.
“Hey guys, I need a little help here!” Aiko looks at us while a bunch of those creepy creatures come after her.
“Gaah, here I come!!” I immediately ran in front of Aiko and punched through the Anomaly that was prepared to pounce on her, I saw the creature burn within a flash. That punch was different! I really felt that boost Kyosuke gave me.
Thereafter magic beams from Aiko flew from above my head, and destroyed the other ones that were following suit.
“Hi,hi,hi, thanks for the help Ken. I think my rapid fire is running out of juice…” Aiko looks at me with her usual brilliant smile despite being very tired.
“Hey! Are you guys all right?” I heard Megumi’s voice as she came out from one of the buildings; she then immediately came to me and Aiko.
“Ken, Aiko are you okay?” she asks us with a very worried tone.
“I’m fine, just a little tired. Thank you for your concern” Aiko commented
“Me too” I answered
“Still, you were doing pretty well fighting alone until Kyosuke came…” Megumi looks at Aiko with much amazement.
“I wasn’t fighting alone though, Ken did his job too!” Aiko replies while tapping my shoulder.
“You mean, you were able to teach him some magic?” Megumi asks curiously while looking at me.
“Yeah, though I can only use slightly powered punches for now…” I answered Megumi while raising my hand which was still slightly emanating magic.
“You really are something else Aiko…” Megumi smiles
“Anyway, looks like there aren’t any more coming out…” I look around the surroundings as Kyosuke takes care of the remaining Anomalies.
“Kyosuke can handle those, you can take a breather. Don’t worry, I’ll stand by you” Megumi talks to us with an assuring voice
“And…I’m sorry I couldn’t get here earlier…I’m glad that you didn’t do anything reckless” Megumi shows a very sad expression which is reflected through her eyes that I knew for so long.
“Nah, don’t worry about it” I pat her head gently.
“…” I can see Aiko look at me with an expression that I can’t really make out, it’s as if she was worried about something.
“That finally takes care of those guys” Kyosuke comes to us while dusting off his gloves.
“But why isn’t the field turning back to normal? It still has that distorted feeling.” Megumi inquires with slight irritation.
As we all wondered about the strange situation, there came this feeling that suddenly crept up my skin, I couldn’t explain it clearly, it’s just like there were eyes all over the area wanting to kill me, it was a very choking feeling of vengeance and hate. Aiko came close to me and held unto my arm as if she never wanted to let go, I can feel her nervousness which was comparable to the time we jumped off from the rooftop.
The grounds shook horribly, as a big gaping hole from the air suddenly appeared, it was just a like a rip tearing through dimensions. And then through that hole there came a monstrosity that was very nerve wracking and terrifying...it was no ordinary Anomaly, it was very big and menacing. It was red unlike the smaller ones we fought .its body was covered with things that looked like knives and syringes, and its eyes stared at us with very malicious intent.
“What the hell is that thing?” I shouted
“That…that is a Qlipoth!” Aiko starts to charge up her magic on her palms.
“This is the first time I saw one…I hope we can take this guy out.” Kyosuke comments as he cracks his knuckles.
“But what exactly is that thing?” I look at my companions with a hysteric look.
“They say that when Anomalies combine they give birth to a stronger form known as a Qlipoth. They rarely appear though. Even our elders fought so few of them” Megumi holds my shoulder as she explains the details to me.
The said Qlipoth didn’t waste its time; it immediately shot out those knives embedded within its body right at us.
“Defense Type Light Magic: Astral Wall!” Aiko quickly reacts and forms a barrier around us. This barrier was clearly different from the one she cast this morning, it was wider and had hexagons all over.
“Hey Aiko, can you still hold out?” Megumi asks with fear evident in her eyes. “I can make an ice barrier for all of us too”
“No, don’t worry about me. You should use your magic on that thing, beat it in a flash with Kyosuke” Aiko continues to struggle putting up the barrier.
“Okay, once the attack stops and Aiko pulls out the barrier we’ll go all out on it, got that Megumi?” Kyosuke looks at Megumi with very determined eyes. “And Ken bring Aiko to a safe place so that you guys can rest”
“Right” I replied
The attack eventually stopped and Kyosuke alongside Megumi acted fast and jumped right in to fight the Qlipoth.
Aiko was so exhausted and fell to her knees, as she expended all of her efforts to put up a barrier, I can see that she couldn’t move an inch. I felt drained too, but I can still move.
As I tried to carry Aiko, Megumi shouted from quite a distance: “Aiko, Ken get out of there! There’s one coming at you!” Then and there I saw a knife flying towards Aiko, it was at an angle that made it impossible to be dodged even if she lied down.
“Dammit! Aiko!!!” and with that I mustered all my strength, but it was all in vain, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even push her away from the knife’s trajectory, there was no time for anything else. My body moved on impulse and I embraced Aiko as I shielded her from the knife… the knife hit me on the back, it plunged through my flesh and I felt its impact intensely, blood was running down my back. I was certainly in a world of pain, but that didn’t matter…
“Ken…why did you?” Aiko continues to embrace me with her watery eyes, as she carefully removed the knife stuck on my back.
“Do you even need to ask?” I replied in pain as my chin pressed down on Aiko’s shoulder.
“Megumi go help Ken and Aiko. I can handle this for a while” Kyosuke commands Megumi while casting a blazing wall of fire around the dreaded Qlipoth.
“Got it, I’ll be back shortly” Megumi heeds the command and quickly jumps to us. “Come on guys; let’s get you to the infirmary”
“No… just get us to the main building, you should go back to Kyosuke quickly” I tell Megumi with much pain.
“But Ken!” both of the girls look at me with much worried expressions.
“Quit wasting time Megumi!” I commanded her.
“Ahh, I can never go against you Ken...” Megumi picks me up and Aiko, quickly jumping to the main building.
Immediately after putting us down inside the building Megumi touched my back and cast magic.
“Aid type Water Magic: Healing Spring!” Megumi invokes a spell on me which made me feel immediately better.
“You know what Aiko, this guy’s quite a handful isn’t he?” Megumi looks at Aiko with a cheerful smile.
“…yeah, but he’s really fun to be with” Aiko replies.
“There all done! His wound should close after a while. Go to the infirmary okay?” Megumi quickly left us in order to aid Kyosuke.
A few moments passed after Megumi left: Aiko and I were sitting at the corridor, eventually my wound started to feel a lot better, I looked at Aiko leaning on my side who was taking a nap. She immediately opened her eyes as she felt my movement.
“Ken, are you okay now?” Aiko asks
“Yeah, I feel a lot better now!” I smile at her with much energy.
“Ken, don’t do anything reckless like that ever again!” Aiko looked at me with eyes so watery, and embraced me tightly but with such tenderness. “I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore because of me…I’m so helpless during the most crucial moments…”
“Hmmm…” I caressed Aiko’s hair with much care “Didn’t I tell you that we’re in this together? You don’t have to take the entire burden by yourself…We’re two halves of a whole now…”
“Ken…you’re so nice, you gave me so much trust and kindness from the very moment we met” She then showed me a smile which was the most brilliant of all she has shown me: a smile that will be forever etched in my mind’s eye.
“…I’m sorry Ken…but this is all I can do for you right now…” she then came close, gently grabbed my shoulder and slowly gave me a kiss on my cheek.
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“…” I was at a loss for words, and I can feel my heart throbbing as I received a kiss from this charming girl.
“What’s the matter Ken? Is something wrong?” Aiko asks me with a puzzled expression.
“Nothing!” I replied to her while scratching my head.
“Hi,hi,hi ” Aiko giggles.
“Okay, then shall we go back there?” I asked Aiko.
“Right!”
As we went outside the building we still saw Megumi and Kyosuke fighting the beast. Aiko stretches out her right hand as if she was aiming right at the monster.
†˜Ken, I’ll be showing you something that I don’t usually do. Up until now I have just been using generic Assault Type Light Magic…” Aiko looks at me with a very cheerful look.
“Oh yeah? It’s an original then?” I asked.
“Yep! Every Mage and Magical girl has at least one original spell in his or her sleeve. I might have gotten this from Nanoha though, ahihihi”
“Sheesh you very silly Magical Girl”
As Aiko charges up her magic, light started to gather around her right hand’s palm, as if the sun’s rays and the stars were clumping together, her hand glowed so radiant that it was blinding!
“Megumi, Kyosuke! Watch it, this is going to be a big one!” Aiko warns the two as she continues to charge.
“Aiko? Well whatever, let’s do what she says Kyosuke” Megumi asks quickly despite being surprised.
“Ha,ha,ha, Ken must have already infected her with his stubbornness ” Kyosuke wittingly remarks as he got out of the way too.
Aiko then held my right hand and said with a very confident smile “Ken, please raise your left hand as if you were aiming at the Qlipoth”
“Like this?” I asked as I obeyed.
“Yes just like that!” she replied.
As Aiko was charging up, an assault of flying syringes and knives came at us, but this was immediately put to a halt by a brilliant ice barrier which shattered upon impact.
“Thanks Megumi!” Aiko thanks Megumi
“No worries! Finish it off!” Megumi shouts with much confidence and vigor.
“These two are amazing, they’ve just rested for a while and they have already regained much magic…Aiko’s spell is very remarkable as well.” Kyosuke remarks with much amazement.
“Restrict Type Light Magic: Astral Lock!” As Aiko invoked that spell my left hand shone so brightly, and the next thing I saw was that the Qlipoth was already encased in a giant box!
“This is it! Assault Type Light Magic: ASTRAL DECIMATOR! Ready…Fire!” and with that invocation, a magic seal appeared before us as it amplified the beam which came from Aiko’s palm.
Light scattered as Aiko fired a VERY WIDE beam. It then hit the motionless Qlipoth with such intensity that everything around us seemed to shake.
“Is that it?” I looked around with uncertainty.
As the smoke cleared nothing was left of the Qlipoth, and the atmosphere has gone back to normal. Aiko and I both fell to the ground holding each other’s hands as we felt our strength being sapped away in an instant.
“Hi,hi,hi I guess I may have gone a little overboard....” Aiko looks at me with a grin.
With no more Anomalies remaining and that horrid Qlipoth destroyed I was at ease and I finally blacked out, with Aiko’s slightly dirtied yet bright face being the last thing I saw.
The atmosphere was heavy: everything looked bleaker than usual, and the Anomalies were not like those we fought the last time: despite all of these, Aiko still charges forward to fight.
Aiko’s beams of magic constantly flew across the school grounds destroying every Anomaly it touched, however when it seemed to us that they have finally retreated, other ones would immediately come out after the other.
Seeing the direness of the situation I tried hard to fight side by side with Aiko. Just as she said, I could fend off the creatures by doing what she taught me, but our disparity in experience became clear when I started to tire out before her, however she followed soon after while defending me.
“How come they’re not retreating? They just keep coming out one after another!” Aiko complains as she kicks an Anomaly out of her way.
“*gasp* It’s almost an hour since we’ve started fighting these bastards…” I struggle as I catch my breath.
“Ken, are you all right? You can just leave this to me and go rest somewhere safe.” Aiko looks at me with a very worried face.
“As much I want to, the situation says that I can’t…” I look around our surroundings observing the Anomalies that are trying to surround us. “I hope that none of them has managed to enter the school buildings”
As we were trying to catch our breaths, a bunch of Anomalies were well prepared to maul the two of us, Aiko charged up and prepared to fire, but a streak of blue flames came right in between us and the approaching Anomalies.
“This… this is a high level of Assault Type Fire Magic…only Mage Knights can do that” Aiko was rather surprised when she saw the blue streak of flames.
“You’re pretty well versed Ms. Hanabi, I commend you for your wisdom and being one of those rare talents who can use Light magic well. You even managed to teach Ken how to channel magic. However I haven’t reached a Mage Knight’s level as of yet” a very familiar figure comes to approach us from the doors of the main school building.
“K…Kyosuke?! You’re a Mage?” I was so surprised that I had a sudden burst of energy within me.
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“Well, doesn't this make us even? I knew about your secret fiancee and now you know that I’m a Mage” Kyosuke continues to walk to us casting fire magic around himself. “I’m very impressed and thankful that you have managed to defend this place for us, and if you’re wondering, Megumi and the others are busy fighting inside the school buildings.”
“Is everyone inside all right?” I inquired.
“I can’t assure that, but I told them that a pair should guard any occupied room, but most of our comrades are at the cafeteria…I can only hope that we were able to fend them off considering our small numbers here in school” Kyosuke continues to incinerate any Anomaly that scurries around him and near us.
“A lot of things were indeed happening behind my back huh?” I looked at Kyosuke with slightly sad eyes.
“Now that you have known the truth, will you back out?” Kyosuke asks with a rather sarcastic voice.
“Hell no! I can’t just leave things like this,and of course I also have to do my best for the one who helped me know the truth…” I looked at Aiko with such a thankful expression.
“Ha, I knew you wouldn’t” Kyosuke smiles at me.
“Ken…you’re incredible…” Aiko looks at me with very bright eyes, and after that she immediately flexes her hands and asks “So, gentlemen shall we finish this now?”
“Yeah, let’s go!” I replied
“Let’s burn them to the ground!” Kyosuke says with a fiery response.
As of that moment fiery blue flames, and brilliant beams of light scattered around the field. I was nearly at my limit as I struggled and punched through every Anomaly I can.
“Ken, come here!” Kyosuke commands
After I came over to his side he immediately took my hands and imbued them with fire magic, my hands were ablaze yet they didn’t feel scorched at all, it was warm and comforting.
“Here is a temporary power up, for now you won’t consume much magic from Aiko’s stone, knowing that it is within you now…” Kyosuke looks at me with a concerned look.
“How did you know?” I asked with a very puzzled look.
“Megumi informed me earlier…you know, she was also the one who told me to look for you guys.” Kyosuke seems to tell me in a careful way.
“Is that so” I lowered my head a little as I heard this.
“Hey guys, I need a little help here!” Aiko looks at us while a bunch of those creepy creatures come after her.
“Gaah, here I come!!” I immediately ran in front of Aiko and punched through the Anomaly that was prepared to pounce on her, I saw the creature burn within a flash. That punch was different! I really felt that boost Kyosuke gave me.
Thereafter magic beams from Aiko flew from above my head, and destroyed the other ones that were following suit.
“Hi,hi,hi, thanks for the help Ken. I think my rapid fire is running out of juice…” Aiko looks at me with her usual brilliant smile despite being very tired.
“Hey! Are you guys all right?” I heard Megumi’s voice as she came out from one of the buildings; she then immediately came to me and Aiko.
“Ken, Aiko are you okay?” she asks us with a very worried tone.
“I’m fine, just a little tired. Thank you for your concern” Aiko commented
“Me too” I answered
“Still, you were doing pretty well fighting alone until Kyosuke came…” Megumi looks at Aiko with much amazement.
“I wasn’t fighting alone though, Ken did his job too!” Aiko replies while tapping my shoulder.
“You mean, you were able to teach him some magic?” Megumi asks curiously while looking at me.
“Yeah, though I can only use slightly powered punches for now…” I answered Megumi while raising my hand which was still slightly emanating magic.
“You really are something else Aiko…” Megumi smiles
“Anyway, looks like there aren’t any more coming out…” I look around the surroundings as Kyosuke takes care of the remaining Anomalies.
“Kyosuke can handle those, you can take a breather. Don’t worry, I’ll stand by you” Megumi talks to us with an assuring voice
“And…I’m sorry I couldn’t get here earlier…I’m glad that you didn’t do anything reckless” Megumi shows a very sad expression which is reflected through her eyes that I knew for so long.
“Nah, don’t worry about it” I pat her head gently.
“…” I can see Aiko look at me with an expression that I can’t really make out, it’s as if she was worried about something.
“That finally takes care of those guys” Kyosuke comes to us while dusting off his gloves.
“But why isn’t the field turning back to normal? It still has that distorted feeling.” Megumi inquires with slight irritation.
As we all wondered about the strange situation, there came this feeling that suddenly crept up my skin, I couldn’t explain it clearly, it’s just like there were eyes all over the area wanting to kill me, it was a very choking feeling of vengeance and hate. Aiko came close to me and held unto my arm as if she never wanted to let go, I can feel her nervousness which was comparable to the time we jumped off from the rooftop.
The grounds shook horribly, as a big gaping hole from the air suddenly appeared, it was just a like a rip tearing through dimensions. And then through that hole there came a monstrosity that was very nerve wracking and terrifying...it was no ordinary Anomaly, it was very big and menacing. It was red unlike the smaller ones we fought .its body was covered with things that looked like knives and syringes, and its eyes stared at us with very malicious intent.
“What the hell is that thing?” I shouted
“That…that is a Qlipoth!” Aiko starts to charge up her magic on her palms.
“This is the first time I saw one…I hope we can take this guy out.” Kyosuke comments as he cracks his knuckles.
“But what exactly is that thing?” I look at my companions with a hysteric look.
“They say that when Anomalies combine they give birth to a stronger form known as a Qlipoth. They rarely appear though. Even our elders fought so few of them” Megumi holds my shoulder as she explains the details to me.
The said Qlipoth didn’t waste its time; it immediately shot out those knives embedded within its body right at us.
“Defense Type Light Magic: Astral Wall!” Aiko quickly reacts and forms a barrier around us. This barrier was clearly different from the one she cast this morning, it was wider and had hexagons all over.
“Hey Aiko, can you still hold out?” Megumi asks with fear evident in her eyes. “I can make an ice barrier for all of us too”
“No, don’t worry about me. You should use your magic on that thing, beat it in a flash with Kyosuke” Aiko continues to struggle putting up the barrier.
“Okay, once the attack stops and Aiko pulls out the barrier we’ll go all out on it, got that Megumi?” Kyosuke looks at Megumi with very determined eyes. “And Ken bring Aiko to a safe place so that you guys can rest”
“Right” I replied
The attack eventually stopped and Kyosuke alongside Megumi acted fast and jumped right in to fight the Qlipoth.
Aiko was so exhausted and fell to her knees, as she expended all of her efforts to put up a barrier, I can see that she couldn’t move an inch. I felt drained too, but I can still move.
As I tried to carry Aiko, Megumi shouted from quite a distance: “Aiko, Ken get out of there! There’s one coming at you!” Then and there I saw a knife flying towards Aiko, it was at an angle that made it impossible to be dodged even if she lied down.
“Dammit! Aiko!!!” and with that I mustered all my strength, but it was all in vain, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even push her away from the knife’s trajectory, there was no time for anything else. My body moved on impulse and I embraced Aiko as I shielded her from the knife… the knife hit me on the back, it plunged through my flesh and I felt its impact intensely, blood was running down my back. I was certainly in a world of pain, but that didn’t matter…
“Ken…why did you?” Aiko continues to embrace me with her watery eyes, as she carefully removed the knife stuck on my back.
“Do you even need to ask?” I replied in pain as my chin pressed down on Aiko’s shoulder.
“Megumi go help Ken and Aiko. I can handle this for a while” Kyosuke commands Megumi while casting a blazing wall of fire around the dreaded Qlipoth.
“Got it, I’ll be back shortly” Megumi heeds the command and quickly jumps to us. “Come on guys; let’s get you to the infirmary”
“No… just get us to the main building, you should go back to Kyosuke quickly” I tell Megumi with much pain.
“But Ken!” both of the girls look at me with much worried expressions.
“Quit wasting time Megumi!” I commanded her.
“Ahh, I can never go against you Ken...” Megumi picks me up and Aiko, quickly jumping to the main building.
Immediately after putting us down inside the building Megumi touched my back and cast magic.
“Aid type Water Magic: Healing Spring!” Megumi invokes a spell on me which made me feel immediately better.
“You know what Aiko, this guy’s quite a handful isn’t he?” Megumi looks at Aiko with a cheerful smile.
“…yeah, but he’s really fun to be with” Aiko replies.
“There all done! His wound should close after a while. Go to the infirmary okay?” Megumi quickly left us in order to aid Kyosuke.
A few moments passed after Megumi left: Aiko and I were sitting at the corridor, eventually my wound started to feel a lot better, I looked at Aiko leaning on my side who was taking a nap. She immediately opened her eyes as she felt my movement.
“Ken, are you okay now?” Aiko asks
“Yeah, I feel a lot better now!” I smile at her with much energy.
“Ken, don’t do anything reckless like that ever again!” Aiko looked at me with eyes so watery, and embraced me tightly but with such tenderness. “I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore because of me…I’m so helpless during the most crucial moments…”
“Hmmm…” I caressed Aiko’s hair with much care “Didn’t I tell you that we’re in this together? You don’t have to take the entire burden by yourself…We’re two halves of a whole now…”
“Ken…you’re so nice, you gave me so much trust and kindness from the very moment we met” She then showed me a smile which was the most brilliant of all she has shown me: a smile that will be forever etched in my mind’s eye.
“…I’m sorry Ken…but this is all I can do for you right now…” she then came close, gently grabbed my shoulder and slowly gave me a kiss on my cheek.
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“…” I was at a loss for words, and I can feel my heart throbbing as I received a kiss from this charming girl.
“What’s the matter Ken? Is something wrong?” Aiko asks me with a puzzled expression.
“Nothing!” I replied to her while scratching my head.
“Hi,hi,hi ” Aiko giggles.
“Okay, then shall we go back there?” I asked Aiko.
“Right!”
As we went outside the building we still saw Megumi and Kyosuke fighting the beast. Aiko stretches out her right hand as if she was aiming right at the monster.
†˜Ken, I’ll be showing you something that I don’t usually do. Up until now I have just been using generic Assault Type Light Magic…” Aiko looks at me with a very cheerful look.
“Oh yeah? It’s an original then?” I asked.
“Yep! Every Mage and Magical girl has at least one original spell in his or her sleeve. I might have gotten this from Nanoha though, ahihihi”
“Sheesh you very silly Magical Girl”
As Aiko charges up her magic, light started to gather around her right hand’s palm, as if the sun’s rays and the stars were clumping together, her hand glowed so radiant that it was blinding!
“Megumi, Kyosuke! Watch it, this is going to be a big one!” Aiko warns the two as she continues to charge.
“Aiko? Well whatever, let’s do what she says Kyosuke” Megumi asks quickly despite being surprised.
“Ha,ha,ha, Ken must have already infected her with his stubbornness ” Kyosuke wittingly remarks as he got out of the way too.
Aiko then held my right hand and said with a very confident smile “Ken, please raise your left hand as if you were aiming at the Qlipoth”
“Like this?” I asked as I obeyed.
“Yes just like that!” she replied.
As Aiko was charging up, an assault of flying syringes and knives came at us, but this was immediately put to a halt by a brilliant ice barrier which shattered upon impact.
“Thanks Megumi!” Aiko thanks Megumi
“No worries! Finish it off!” Megumi shouts with much confidence and vigor.
“These two are amazing, they’ve just rested for a while and they have already regained much magic…Aiko’s spell is very remarkable as well.” Kyosuke remarks with much amazement.
“Restrict Type Light Magic: Astral Lock!” As Aiko invoked that spell my left hand shone so brightly, and the next thing I saw was that the Qlipoth was already encased in a giant box!
“This is it! Assault Type Light Magic: ASTRAL DECIMATOR! Ready…Fire!” and with that invocation, a magic seal appeared before us as it amplified the beam which came from Aiko’s palm.
Light scattered as Aiko fired a VERY WIDE beam. It then hit the motionless Qlipoth with such intensity that everything around us seemed to shake.
“Is that it?” I looked around with uncertainty.
As the smoke cleared nothing was left of the Qlipoth, and the atmosphere has gone back to normal. Aiko and I both fell to the ground holding each other’s hands as we felt our strength being sapped away in an instant.
“Hi,hi,hi I guess I may have gone a little overboard....” Aiko looks at me with a grin.
With no more Anomalies remaining and that horrid Qlipoth destroyed I was at ease and I finally blacked out, with Aiko’s slightly dirtied yet bright face being the last thing I saw.
Spoiler:
Spell 5: The lives we have unconsciously taken
After that exhausting battle, Ken fainted while I was still holding his hand. I felt the slightly hot ground as I continued to look at his exhausted figure. I was too tired to stand up, and just wanted to lie there for a while.
With a gentle tug, Megumi brought me up, and said “That was stellar Aiko! You really had us surprised there!” Megumi smiles at me with much amazement.
“Thanks, but Ken is the real hero, I wouldn’t be able to pull off something like that with the power I previously had… It’s just like he continues to power up my stone…” I explained to Megumi while looking at the unconscious figure of Ken being carried by Kyosuke.
“…and Megumi… it’s my fault why Ken is in this predicament with us…I accidentally gave him the stone which he swallowed” I look at her with eyes filled with apology.
“I kind of figured that out already you know…Ken’s not exactly a good liar. And he always goes out of his way to help others…” Megumi laughs as she assists me in walking towards the main building “…though he can be too kind sometimes…too kind that it hurts…” her smile was quickly replaced by a slight frown.
“…” upon hearing what Megumi said I wandered into deep thought as I felt her soft hands helping me walk along the corridors.
“By the way, how are you related to Ken? We didn’t exactly talk much this morning…” Megumi asks me while opening the door to the infirmary.
“…I’m Ken’s fiancée…and I’m staying at their place right now.” I replied with slight hesitance.
After what Ken said about Megumi a while back, I honestly felt a little distressed and anxious. I thought that what I said was a little insensitive, but there’s this part of me saying that lying won’t do any good.
“…is that so?” Megumi helps me sit on the infirmary bed while Kyosuke and the school nurse carefully placed Ken on the other one. Megumi then turned around and waved good bye at me as she approached the door.
Before completely exiting the infirmary, I said with a slightly loud voice “Thanks a lot Megumi…”
“Nah, it’s nothing. See you later” And with that she closed the door and left.
Kyosuke shortly thereafter went to me and said “Aiko, be sure to rest up for a while before going back to class okay? I’ll be informing your teachers that you are in the infirmary right now”
“Thanks Kyosuke”
“Yeah… and Ma’am I’ll be taking my leave now” Kyosuke gives me a thumbs-up as he bids farewell to me and the school nurse. The school nurse nods likewise.
As I peered through the window, I saw some students happily eating their lunch beneath the shade of evergreen trees. Simple scenery like that can already give me a sense of relaxation after a battle, it satisfies me that I can protect people…but at whose expense?
I’ve always thought that I was destined to be alone, continuing to fight until this war comes to an end, fighting without the burden of losing someone who has nothing to do with this…people who wield magic may have the same feeling as I do…my friend…Megumi or even Kyosuke.
Now that I have dragged Ken into this mess, I can only do my best to protect him at any cost. I can’t leave him, I won’t run away, I’ll be sure to give back every ounce of trust that he has given me…that’s why Ill continue to be by his side.
“…” Lying down on the bed I eventually dosed off due to fatigue, I myself know that I have also exerted a lot in that last battle.
3:30 PM, Ken has finally woken up. I stood by his side and greeted him “Mornin’ sleepy head”
“Oh Aiko, it seems that I blacked out…” Ken greets me with a sleepy voice while raising his head. “Well, how about you?”
“I’m fine now…just a little tired” I answered
Ken stood up, took his coat and fixed up his tie.
“Hey, you’re tie is a little crooked, let me get that.” I cheerfully fix up Ken’s tie, while he grumbles with slight embarrassment. I can already hear the school nurse giggling behind us.
And after that we bid the school nurse good bye,before leaving she even gave us candies for the road.
“A pink jelly bean huh?” Ken pops in the candy to his mouth with a smirk as we walk out of the infirmary. It was just like a sick joke that someone played on me.
“Hey Ken…thanks for putting up with me” I slightly tug Ken’s sleeve. “I’ll try my hardest so something like that won’t happen to you again.”
“…I’ll do my best for you as well” Ken smiles at me.
As we went upstairs to our rooms, we heard an announcement by a feminine voice “Attention all selected students and officers of school clubs, you are all to proceed to the Student Council Office after classes. Also Kenta Akito of Class 2-B and Aiko Hanabi of Class 2-A are requested to attend…I repeat…”
“I wonder what this is all about… Aiko, looks like Kyosuke needs something from us…. I’ll pick you up later okay?” Ken taps my shoulder.
“I’ll be waiting in my room then.” I replied. ”…by the way Ken, Megumi asked how we are related, and I’ve told her that you’re my fiancé…” I said so before we parted.
“…well, there wouldn’t be anything to gain by keeping that a secret from her anyway. You don’t have to worry too much about it…See you later.” Ken replies while waving his hand at me.
As I entered my classroom, I apologized to our teacher. Seeing from him a nod that says he knows what happened, I took my seat and listened to what remains of the lesson.
It wasn’t that long until the bell rang, and our teacher eventually left. As soon as he took his exit, some of the girls came close to me and already a barrage of questions came raining down.
“Hey, hey is it true that you’re Ken Akito’s fiancée?” a girl whose name I can’t quite remember asked me.
“…well yeah…” I answered with a slight nod. “… I guess Ken’s pretty popular here”
“He’s quite known in the art club for being one of the most skillful members” one girl answers
“His test scores are top notch too!” one girl adds.
. “…I don’t know what might have happened between you two in the infirmary but, I won’t let you get way with this! You’ll have to go through me before you can get Ken, being his fiancée means nothing!’ a small girl with her hair done princess style comments
I can really sense a sadistic aura from this girl as she lays her hand on my desk…
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m pretty sure nothing could have happened with the school nurse around” I replied with a slight feeling of annoyance.
“So you’re saying that you would have made your vile and lewd moves on him when the nurse wasn’t there? I won’t let you seduce him any further!’ the small girl continues to rant.
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“Hey, hey stop bothering the new student!” A girl who has her hair in a pony tail approached me while carrying some papers. “Here you go Aiko some handouts from the previous subjects”
“Thanks Ms, President” I thanked her as I received the papers.
†˜Don’t sweat it! And you can just call me Rika just like what our other classmates do.” She slightly taps her chest as she tells me so. “…and it’s better if you don’t keep him waiting” Rika looks at our opened classroom door where Ken was already waiting.
“Thank you very much, well then I’ll see you tomorrow” I stood up and approached the door.
“Sorry for waiting!” just before I can approach Ken, that small girl just came out from nowhere and hugged him all of a sudden.
“How could you this Ken! Am I not good enough for you? You just had to go out with a girl like her!” the girl continues to bug …I mean hug him.
“Hey, don’t say that Alice, Aiko’s not a bad girl. I’m sure you’ll come to like her too!” Ken looks at me while he struggles to free himself from Alice’s grasp.
Alice finally let go, yet she still has her fiery eyes on me.
“Yeah, come on Alice, I really want to be good friends with you…” I offer my hand for a handshake but…
“…” however she just turned her back on me and went inside the room without saying anything else.
“Well at the very least she’s very energetic…” I look at Ken while seeing him sigh.
“*sigh*Alice… I don’t know what to do with that girl…I think you might have already known that she’s just 13 right?” Ken tells me as we walk towards the stairs. “That kid has great potential both as an artist and a grade A student. The first time I met her was during an art camp way back before high school, she really admired my drawings and from then on she became really close to me. I was really surprised that she entered the same high school as me.”
“…tsk,tsk Ken, I know there are a lot of things that I still haven’t uncovered about you, but the fact that you’re a Lolic…”
“DO NOT EVEN GO THERE PLEASE!” Ken fixes his glasses while speaking in a slightly irritated voice
“Hi,hi,hi just joking around Ken. You’re very cute when I tease you a little…” I grabbed his right arm while clinging slightly close to him.
Ken was blushing as I held his arm; still I can see slight hesitance in his eyes…as we walk I could sense that his thoughts are floating somewhere else; I could almost feel that I wasn’t beside him at all.
Shortly we arrived in front of the Student Council office, and I can already hear the mumbles of everyone inside. Ken knocked at the door, and we came in. Upon entering, we saw Kyosuke, Megumi and many other students; it was almost filled to the brim.
“Hey, are you guys okay now?” Megumi asks us with much concern.
“We’re all right. Thanks for everything” Ken thanks Megumi. “Anyway, why did you call for us Kyosuke? And what’s with all the people here?” Ken asks Kyosuke as he lays down his bag on the table.
“You’ll know soon enough, we are waiting for just one more person to arrive.” Kyosuke replies.
Thereafter, the door opened and I was rather surprised when I saw who came in.
“Well there you go…please take your seat Alice” Kyosuke points to an empty seat.
“Oh Alice! Are you a club officer too?” I asked.
“…” Alice just ignored me and took her seat, though I can see her face filled with surprise as she notices that Ken is with me.
“Hey, come on now Alice! Aiko’s just being nice to you” Ken scolds her.
“…never mind Ken, she may be just in a bad mood right now” I talked to him with a disappointed voice, and he let Alice go to her seat.
“Ehem, now that we are all here…First of all I would like to apologize for cramping you all in this room, this meeting is of such urgency that we didn’t have time to reserve the auditorium….and to make it clear for everyone…” Kyosuke goes into a slight pause while looking at his audience and said “…all of us gathered in this room are Mages or Magical Girls…”
Upon hearing that, Ken was rather shocked as he looks at the petite figure of Alice who was sitting next to Megumi, I can already see in his face the questions that he wants to ask the little girl.
“Just a while ago we have just experienced one of the most fearsome attacks that have befallen our school; sadly we couldn’t defend all of our precious schoolmates and teachers...”
Everyone was quiet and listened intently to Kyosuke as he spoke.
“Now is the time for us to gather all of our strength and be organized, it’s a fact that Anomaly attacks have been steadily increasing, and we have done our best to fight in each of our own ways, but acting independently won’t be enough as we all need the help of one another. Our elders who are doing their best to protect our Earth have entrusted us with the duty to protect this other Earth which we can all call our own home ” Kyosuke’s convincing voice has really started to sink in, and everyone in the room felt his determination. “That’s why I have called upon you all to help in this cause and build a new student body that is dedicated in fighting the Anomalies…”
Everyone was mumbling in the background as I could hear some complaints and concurring ideas.
“We are the only ones who can fight and see these creatures: we the ones who are both blessed and cursed with power...I understand that it’s hard to fight so earnestly without being thanked or praised,but we fight to protect and not for recognition.” Kyosuke continues with his sentiment.
“Also, there is something that I need to tell everyone, it might be hard to accept, but I request all of you to listen carefully” Kyosuke takes a deep breath as he prepares for what it seems to be a very big announcement.
“….” We were very quiet as we intend to listen.
“All this time we only knew that the Anomalies take the memories of their victims, they fall to a coma and eventually die…but this morning I just received a report from my father that memories aren’t just the things that these creatures take from their victims…It was confirmed that they take human souls… and these are made into corrupted, tangible forms which we call the Anomalies…and when we eliminate the corrupted souls the human bodies to once they belonged to die…then the cycle continues…”
It was rather evident that everyone in the room was surprised as they heard this shocking fact. I myself was lost in thought, as I felt that I’ve been fighting for nothing at all.
“Does this mean we’ve been murdering innocent people all along?” one girl asked in a panicked voice. “…this is too much already!”
“…even if we say that those souls once belonged to criminals they’re people too…are we really doing the right thing now?” another boy reacted as well
“…I do know how you feel, however we are not murderers. We don’t fight to kill, we fight to protect. We are not killers; rather we are soldiers, as long as we don’t lose our spirit and our wills to help those in need we can’t be possibly reduced to mere criminals….” Kyosuke pauses for a while as the crowd begins to go into deep thought.” As hard as it is to admit, fighting can be our only choice right now…but that doesn’t mean we can’t come up with a solution to this someday.”
“…I’m not forcing anyone to form this group…but any help that I receive from you people would be greatly appreciated.”
“…” there was silence: it was so quiet during that time it was deafening: after some time I could already hear sighs, and grumbles, as I continue to obverse my surroundings.
Amidst the silence Megumi raises her hand saying “It’s indeed very surprising to hear that, but right now we can’t do anything else…I’ll help you Kyosuke. This side of the Earth holds too much memories for me, I can’t just let it be overrun by corrupted souls…I’ll fight as long as I can for everyone and everything that I hold dear”
Alice then follows “Me too, I was born here and I can’t just sit around and let those things get their way! I do feel sorry for those who have lost their loved ones, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just have to stand idly watching other innocent people get involved….”
I did likewise “The same goes for me. I admit that I’m still scared and feel guilty after hearing the truth. But I’m willing to fight just to protect everyone in this Earth…no on both Earths…I know I can go on as I long as have my friends by my side.” I look at Ken with determined eyes. “And I’m sure that we’ll be able to find a way to stop this vicious cycle…”
Ken raises his hand just the same and says “Well Kyosuke, I just can’t leave you and these girls behind right? So I’ll be joining too”
Despite the grumblings and few complaints, the room was later filled with raised hands willing to help with the cause.
“Thank you everyone! Thank you very much” Kyosuke’s eyes were filled with content and gratitude.
“So what do we name our group then?” Megumi asks with such enthusiasm.
“Hey why don’t we call it the SOS Brigade?” I asked in a joking manner just to break the tense atmosphere.
“Gah, we are not here to appease the whims of one bored girl!” Ken smacks me lightly on the head as he laughs
“Eeh, why don’t we go with Judgment then?”
“Ummm…Aiko, we’re not exactly Espers around here.” Megumi replies with a cracking smile on her face.
“He,he,he you’re right” afterwards I can hear all the laughs and snickers within the room.
After a while, we agreed with the name: Anomaly Control Task force or A.C.T., simple but it gets the message across. It was also settled that everyone should go home in groups or at least with a partner, so that they wouldn’t be alone in case that an abnormal Anomaly attack occurs, for now that would be the plan until we can decide on the patrol routines and such. It was also revealed and explained that our very own principal is a mage and has approved of this, with his help we are now registered as this school’s newly established Public Morals and Patrol Committee.
After a while, everyone went home, but me, Ken, Alice and Megumi stayed behind along with Kyosuke.
“Alice, so you’re a Magical Girl too? What a surprise!” Ken asked a question which was obviously pent within him.
“…no you’re the real surprise! I know that you’re not a Mage of any sort! How come you’re here?” Alice asks with slight anger in her eyes.
I stepped forward and approached Alice.
“Wait, Aiko!” Ken gently grabbed me by my hand as he tried to stop me.
“..It’s alright Ken…it wouldn’t good for us to lie to her…” I release my hand from his grip as I went towards the little girl.
“Alice you see…it’s because of me…because of some circumstances Ken gained magic and I need him so that I can fight” I explained to Alice in a very calm tone
“So it’s your fault then! I really can’t trust you! It’s bad enough that you would be taking him away from me, and now…and now do you intend to get him killed too?’ Alice’s eyes were very teary already as she continued to throw her anger at me: I really can see that Ken is a very important person to this little girl.
“Shush, stop it already Alice! You can’t just shout at Aiko like that” Megumi came to her side and tried to calm her down.
“…” I couldn’t give her an answer right then and there. It’s certain that there is much that I don’t know right now, but I understand why she would hate me for doing something like this to someone who is important to her
Ken then held me by the shoulder and gave me a look that says he’ll handle it. As Alice continued to cry on her knees, Ken kneeled down and embraced her.
“So that’s it huh? Is that why you’re hostile against Aiko? Don’t be silly Alice, I’m not going anywhere…It’s true that you may see that Aiko has dragged me into a lot of danger, but I’m actually very grateful to her. Because of her I was able to know a lot of things, and fathom about the hardships that you go through along with Kyosuke, Megumi and all of our other schoolmates….besides I really can’t be your big brother if I can’t protect you right? Aiko was able to give me the opportunity to do just that…so that’s why you don’t have any reason to hate her”
“*Sob*.. I just don’t want to lose my big brother again! I don’t want to see you get hurt…” Alice continued to cry saying those words that pierced through my heart. She wept and let her tears out until she was able to sleep.
“…ooh…Big Brother eh? You really do like them young huh?” Megumi takes Alice from Ken and gently places her on the sofa.
“Oh give me a break Megumi!” Ken giggles as he fixes his uniform.
“Good grief…” Kyosuke sighs with a smile “Alice is indeed very talented as a Magical Girl, she’ll prove to be a valuable comrade, and I hope you understand Ken.”
“I know, she volunteered anyway, so I really don’t have the right to stop her from doing what she wants.” Ken replies.
“I appreciate you helping us out Ken.” Kyosuke comments.
“Hey, if it weren’t for you I may not be alive right now. There may be countless times that you saved my hide without me even knowing it. Consider this as paying back my debts…” Ken lightly jabs Kyosuke on the chest. “And besides Aiko wouldn’t be much without me right?” Ken looks at me with such a comforting expression.
“Yeah, you’re right about that. Hi,hi,hi.” I answered with a giggle.
“Thanks again you two. And of course the same goes for you as well Megumi.” Kyosuke fixes his tie while giving out his thanks.
“Don’t worry Kyosuke, I won’t leave you behind. We’ve been through a lot for the past year already.” Megumi replies cheerfully.
“Anyway, it has been a long and tiring day for all of us, let’s pack it up” Kyosuke stands up and we all leave the room with Ken carrying Alice.
As we walked upon the school grounds stained with the colors of the setting sun, I felt uneasiness as if we were walking through grounds filled with corpses. I thought of the lives that we have unconsciously taken: they were just souls of innocents who were caught in a vicious cycle of which its start we can’t even understand.
I start to wonder if fighting is the only way to prevent further casualties, however reality is harsh and it dictates that it is only thing that we can do right now. With my heart pained with such a burden, a boy whose smile and concern manages to soothe it a little.
“Don’t worry Aiko, I’m sure that we can find a way to stop all of this” Ken looks at me with a warm smile as we walk out of the school gates.
Extra: A slightly better sketch of Alice with her prototype Magical Girl outfit ^_^ http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7737.jpg
After that exhausting battle, Ken fainted while I was still holding his hand. I felt the slightly hot ground as I continued to look at his exhausted figure. I was too tired to stand up, and just wanted to lie there for a while.
With a gentle tug, Megumi brought me up, and said “That was stellar Aiko! You really had us surprised there!” Megumi smiles at me with much amazement.
“Thanks, but Ken is the real hero, I wouldn’t be able to pull off something like that with the power I previously had… It’s just like he continues to power up my stone…” I explained to Megumi while looking at the unconscious figure of Ken being carried by Kyosuke.
“…and Megumi… it’s my fault why Ken is in this predicament with us…I accidentally gave him the stone which he swallowed” I look at her with eyes filled with apology.
“I kind of figured that out already you know…Ken’s not exactly a good liar. And he always goes out of his way to help others…” Megumi laughs as she assists me in walking towards the main building “…though he can be too kind sometimes…too kind that it hurts…” her smile was quickly replaced by a slight frown.
“…” upon hearing what Megumi said I wandered into deep thought as I felt her soft hands helping me walk along the corridors.
“By the way, how are you related to Ken? We didn’t exactly talk much this morning…” Megumi asks me while opening the door to the infirmary.
“…I’m Ken’s fiancée…and I’m staying at their place right now.” I replied with slight hesitance.
After what Ken said about Megumi a while back, I honestly felt a little distressed and anxious. I thought that what I said was a little insensitive, but there’s this part of me saying that lying won’t do any good.
“…is that so?” Megumi helps me sit on the infirmary bed while Kyosuke and the school nurse carefully placed Ken on the other one. Megumi then turned around and waved good bye at me as she approached the door.
Before completely exiting the infirmary, I said with a slightly loud voice “Thanks a lot Megumi…”
“Nah, it’s nothing. See you later” And with that she closed the door and left.
Kyosuke shortly thereafter went to me and said “Aiko, be sure to rest up for a while before going back to class okay? I’ll be informing your teachers that you are in the infirmary right now”
“Thanks Kyosuke”
“Yeah… and Ma’am I’ll be taking my leave now” Kyosuke gives me a thumbs-up as he bids farewell to me and the school nurse. The school nurse nods likewise.
As I peered through the window, I saw some students happily eating their lunch beneath the shade of evergreen trees. Simple scenery like that can already give me a sense of relaxation after a battle, it satisfies me that I can protect people…but at whose expense?
I’ve always thought that I was destined to be alone, continuing to fight until this war comes to an end, fighting without the burden of losing someone who has nothing to do with this…people who wield magic may have the same feeling as I do…my friend…Megumi or even Kyosuke.
Now that I have dragged Ken into this mess, I can only do my best to protect him at any cost. I can’t leave him, I won’t run away, I’ll be sure to give back every ounce of trust that he has given me…that’s why Ill continue to be by his side.
“…” Lying down on the bed I eventually dosed off due to fatigue, I myself know that I have also exerted a lot in that last battle.
3:30 PM, Ken has finally woken up. I stood by his side and greeted him “Mornin’ sleepy head”
“Oh Aiko, it seems that I blacked out…” Ken greets me with a sleepy voice while raising his head. “Well, how about you?”
“I’m fine now…just a little tired” I answered
Ken stood up, took his coat and fixed up his tie.
“Hey, you’re tie is a little crooked, let me get that.” I cheerfully fix up Ken’s tie, while he grumbles with slight embarrassment. I can already hear the school nurse giggling behind us.
And after that we bid the school nurse good bye,before leaving she even gave us candies for the road.
“A pink jelly bean huh?” Ken pops in the candy to his mouth with a smirk as we walk out of the infirmary. It was just like a sick joke that someone played on me.
“Hey Ken…thanks for putting up with me” I slightly tug Ken’s sleeve. “I’ll try my hardest so something like that won’t happen to you again.”
“…I’ll do my best for you as well” Ken smiles at me.
As we went upstairs to our rooms, we heard an announcement by a feminine voice “Attention all selected students and officers of school clubs, you are all to proceed to the Student Council Office after classes. Also Kenta Akito of Class 2-B and Aiko Hanabi of Class 2-A are requested to attend…I repeat…”
“I wonder what this is all about… Aiko, looks like Kyosuke needs something from us…. I’ll pick you up later okay?” Ken taps my shoulder.
“I’ll be waiting in my room then.” I replied. ”…by the way Ken, Megumi asked how we are related, and I’ve told her that you’re my fiancé…” I said so before we parted.
“…well, there wouldn’t be anything to gain by keeping that a secret from her anyway. You don’t have to worry too much about it…See you later.” Ken replies while waving his hand at me.
As I entered my classroom, I apologized to our teacher. Seeing from him a nod that says he knows what happened, I took my seat and listened to what remains of the lesson.
It wasn’t that long until the bell rang, and our teacher eventually left. As soon as he took his exit, some of the girls came close to me and already a barrage of questions came raining down.
“Hey, hey is it true that you’re Ken Akito’s fiancée?” a girl whose name I can’t quite remember asked me.
“…well yeah…” I answered with a slight nod. “… I guess Ken’s pretty popular here”
“He’s quite known in the art club for being one of the most skillful members” one girl answers
“His test scores are top notch too!” one girl adds.
. “…I don’t know what might have happened between you two in the infirmary but, I won’t let you get way with this! You’ll have to go through me before you can get Ken, being his fiancée means nothing!’ a small girl with her hair done princess style comments
I can really sense a sadistic aura from this girl as she lays her hand on my desk…
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m pretty sure nothing could have happened with the school nurse around” I replied with a slight feeling of annoyance.
“So you’re saying that you would have made your vile and lewd moves on him when the nurse wasn’t there? I won’t let you seduce him any further!’ the small girl continues to rant.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7721.jpg
“Hey, hey stop bothering the new student!” A girl who has her hair in a pony tail approached me while carrying some papers. “Here you go Aiko some handouts from the previous subjects”
“Thanks Ms, President” I thanked her as I received the papers.
†˜Don’t sweat it! And you can just call me Rika just like what our other classmates do.” She slightly taps her chest as she tells me so. “…and it’s better if you don’t keep him waiting” Rika looks at our opened classroom door where Ken was already waiting.
“Thank you very much, well then I’ll see you tomorrow” I stood up and approached the door.
“Sorry for waiting!” just before I can approach Ken, that small girl just came out from nowhere and hugged him all of a sudden.
“How could you this Ken! Am I not good enough for you? You just had to go out with a girl like her!” the girl continues to bug …I mean hug him.
“Hey, don’t say that Alice, Aiko’s not a bad girl. I’m sure you’ll come to like her too!” Ken looks at me while he struggles to free himself from Alice’s grasp.
Alice finally let go, yet she still has her fiery eyes on me.
“Yeah, come on Alice, I really want to be good friends with you…” I offer my hand for a handshake but…
“…” however she just turned her back on me and went inside the room without saying anything else.
“Well at the very least she’s very energetic…” I look at Ken while seeing him sigh.
“*sigh*Alice… I don’t know what to do with that girl…I think you might have already known that she’s just 13 right?” Ken tells me as we walk towards the stairs. “That kid has great potential both as an artist and a grade A student. The first time I met her was during an art camp way back before high school, she really admired my drawings and from then on she became really close to me. I was really surprised that she entered the same high school as me.”
“…tsk,tsk Ken, I know there are a lot of things that I still haven’t uncovered about you, but the fact that you’re a Lolic…”
“DO NOT EVEN GO THERE PLEASE!” Ken fixes his glasses while speaking in a slightly irritated voice
“Hi,hi,hi just joking around Ken. You’re very cute when I tease you a little…” I grabbed his right arm while clinging slightly close to him.
Ken was blushing as I held his arm; still I can see slight hesitance in his eyes…as we walk I could sense that his thoughts are floating somewhere else; I could almost feel that I wasn’t beside him at all.
Shortly we arrived in front of the Student Council office, and I can already hear the mumbles of everyone inside. Ken knocked at the door, and we came in. Upon entering, we saw Kyosuke, Megumi and many other students; it was almost filled to the brim.
“Hey, are you guys okay now?” Megumi asks us with much concern.
“We’re all right. Thanks for everything” Ken thanks Megumi. “Anyway, why did you call for us Kyosuke? And what’s with all the people here?” Ken asks Kyosuke as he lays down his bag on the table.
“You’ll know soon enough, we are waiting for just one more person to arrive.” Kyosuke replies.
Thereafter, the door opened and I was rather surprised when I saw who came in.
“Well there you go…please take your seat Alice” Kyosuke points to an empty seat.
“Oh Alice! Are you a club officer too?” I asked.
“…” Alice just ignored me and took her seat, though I can see her face filled with surprise as she notices that Ken is with me.
“Hey, come on now Alice! Aiko’s just being nice to you” Ken scolds her.
“…never mind Ken, she may be just in a bad mood right now” I talked to him with a disappointed voice, and he let Alice go to her seat.
“Ehem, now that we are all here…First of all I would like to apologize for cramping you all in this room, this meeting is of such urgency that we didn’t have time to reserve the auditorium….and to make it clear for everyone…” Kyosuke goes into a slight pause while looking at his audience and said “…all of us gathered in this room are Mages or Magical Girls…”
Upon hearing that, Ken was rather shocked as he looks at the petite figure of Alice who was sitting next to Megumi, I can already see in his face the questions that he wants to ask the little girl.
“Just a while ago we have just experienced one of the most fearsome attacks that have befallen our school; sadly we couldn’t defend all of our precious schoolmates and teachers...”
Everyone was quiet and listened intently to Kyosuke as he spoke.
“Now is the time for us to gather all of our strength and be organized, it’s a fact that Anomaly attacks have been steadily increasing, and we have done our best to fight in each of our own ways, but acting independently won’t be enough as we all need the help of one another. Our elders who are doing their best to protect our Earth have entrusted us with the duty to protect this other Earth which we can all call our own home ” Kyosuke’s convincing voice has really started to sink in, and everyone in the room felt his determination. “That’s why I have called upon you all to help in this cause and build a new student body that is dedicated in fighting the Anomalies…”
Everyone was mumbling in the background as I could hear some complaints and concurring ideas.
“We are the only ones who can fight and see these creatures: we the ones who are both blessed and cursed with power...I understand that it’s hard to fight so earnestly without being thanked or praised,but we fight to protect and not for recognition.” Kyosuke continues with his sentiment.
“Also, there is something that I need to tell everyone, it might be hard to accept, but I request all of you to listen carefully” Kyosuke takes a deep breath as he prepares for what it seems to be a very big announcement.
“….” We were very quiet as we intend to listen.
“All this time we only knew that the Anomalies take the memories of their victims, they fall to a coma and eventually die…but this morning I just received a report from my father that memories aren’t just the things that these creatures take from their victims…It was confirmed that they take human souls… and these are made into corrupted, tangible forms which we call the Anomalies…and when we eliminate the corrupted souls the human bodies to once they belonged to die…then the cycle continues…”
It was rather evident that everyone in the room was surprised as they heard this shocking fact. I myself was lost in thought, as I felt that I’ve been fighting for nothing at all.
“Does this mean we’ve been murdering innocent people all along?” one girl asked in a panicked voice. “…this is too much already!”
“…even if we say that those souls once belonged to criminals they’re people too…are we really doing the right thing now?” another boy reacted as well
“…I do know how you feel, however we are not murderers. We don’t fight to kill, we fight to protect. We are not killers; rather we are soldiers, as long as we don’t lose our spirit and our wills to help those in need we can’t be possibly reduced to mere criminals….” Kyosuke pauses for a while as the crowd begins to go into deep thought.” As hard as it is to admit, fighting can be our only choice right now…but that doesn’t mean we can’t come up with a solution to this someday.”
“…I’m not forcing anyone to form this group…but any help that I receive from you people would be greatly appreciated.”
“…” there was silence: it was so quiet during that time it was deafening: after some time I could already hear sighs, and grumbles, as I continue to obverse my surroundings.
Amidst the silence Megumi raises her hand saying “It’s indeed very surprising to hear that, but right now we can’t do anything else…I’ll help you Kyosuke. This side of the Earth holds too much memories for me, I can’t just let it be overrun by corrupted souls…I’ll fight as long as I can for everyone and everything that I hold dear”
Alice then follows “Me too, I was born here and I can’t just sit around and let those things get their way! I do feel sorry for those who have lost their loved ones, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just have to stand idly watching other innocent people get involved….”
I did likewise “The same goes for me. I admit that I’m still scared and feel guilty after hearing the truth. But I’m willing to fight just to protect everyone in this Earth…no on both Earths…I know I can go on as I long as have my friends by my side.” I look at Ken with determined eyes. “And I’m sure that we’ll be able to find a way to stop this vicious cycle…”
Ken raises his hand just the same and says “Well Kyosuke, I just can’t leave you and these girls behind right? So I’ll be joining too”
Despite the grumblings and few complaints, the room was later filled with raised hands willing to help with the cause.
“Thank you everyone! Thank you very much” Kyosuke’s eyes were filled with content and gratitude.
“So what do we name our group then?” Megumi asks with such enthusiasm.
“Hey why don’t we call it the SOS Brigade?” I asked in a joking manner just to break the tense atmosphere.
“Gah, we are not here to appease the whims of one bored girl!” Ken smacks me lightly on the head as he laughs
“Eeh, why don’t we go with Judgment then?”
“Ummm…Aiko, we’re not exactly Espers around here.” Megumi replies with a cracking smile on her face.
“He,he,he you’re right” afterwards I can hear all the laughs and snickers within the room.
After a while, we agreed with the name: Anomaly Control Task force or A.C.T., simple but it gets the message across. It was also settled that everyone should go home in groups or at least with a partner, so that they wouldn’t be alone in case that an abnormal Anomaly attack occurs, for now that would be the plan until we can decide on the patrol routines and such. It was also revealed and explained that our very own principal is a mage and has approved of this, with his help we are now registered as this school’s newly established Public Morals and Patrol Committee.
After a while, everyone went home, but me, Ken, Alice and Megumi stayed behind along with Kyosuke.
“Alice, so you’re a Magical Girl too? What a surprise!” Ken asked a question which was obviously pent within him.
“…no you’re the real surprise! I know that you’re not a Mage of any sort! How come you’re here?” Alice asks with slight anger in her eyes.
I stepped forward and approached Alice.
“Wait, Aiko!” Ken gently grabbed me by my hand as he tried to stop me.
“..It’s alright Ken…it wouldn’t good for us to lie to her…” I release my hand from his grip as I went towards the little girl.
“Alice you see…it’s because of me…because of some circumstances Ken gained magic and I need him so that I can fight” I explained to Alice in a very calm tone
“So it’s your fault then! I really can’t trust you! It’s bad enough that you would be taking him away from me, and now…and now do you intend to get him killed too?’ Alice’s eyes were very teary already as she continued to throw her anger at me: I really can see that Ken is a very important person to this little girl.
“Shush, stop it already Alice! You can’t just shout at Aiko like that” Megumi came to her side and tried to calm her down.
“…” I couldn’t give her an answer right then and there. It’s certain that there is much that I don’t know right now, but I understand why she would hate me for doing something like this to someone who is important to her
Ken then held me by the shoulder and gave me a look that says he’ll handle it. As Alice continued to cry on her knees, Ken kneeled down and embraced her.
“So that’s it huh? Is that why you’re hostile against Aiko? Don’t be silly Alice, I’m not going anywhere…It’s true that you may see that Aiko has dragged me into a lot of danger, but I’m actually very grateful to her. Because of her I was able to know a lot of things, and fathom about the hardships that you go through along with Kyosuke, Megumi and all of our other schoolmates….besides I really can’t be your big brother if I can’t protect you right? Aiko was able to give me the opportunity to do just that…so that’s why you don’t have any reason to hate her”
“*Sob*.. I just don’t want to lose my big brother again! I don’t want to see you get hurt…” Alice continued to cry saying those words that pierced through my heart. She wept and let her tears out until she was able to sleep.
“…ooh…Big Brother eh? You really do like them young huh?” Megumi takes Alice from Ken and gently places her on the sofa.
“Oh give me a break Megumi!” Ken giggles as he fixes his uniform.
“Good grief…” Kyosuke sighs with a smile “Alice is indeed very talented as a Magical Girl, she’ll prove to be a valuable comrade, and I hope you understand Ken.”
“I know, she volunteered anyway, so I really don’t have the right to stop her from doing what she wants.” Ken replies.
“I appreciate you helping us out Ken.” Kyosuke comments.
“Hey, if it weren’t for you I may not be alive right now. There may be countless times that you saved my hide without me even knowing it. Consider this as paying back my debts…” Ken lightly jabs Kyosuke on the chest. “And besides Aiko wouldn’t be much without me right?” Ken looks at me with such a comforting expression.
“Yeah, you’re right about that. Hi,hi,hi.” I answered with a giggle.
“Thanks again you two. And of course the same goes for you as well Megumi.” Kyosuke fixes his tie while giving out his thanks.
“Don’t worry Kyosuke, I won’t leave you behind. We’ve been through a lot for the past year already.” Megumi replies cheerfully.
“Anyway, it has been a long and tiring day for all of us, let’s pack it up” Kyosuke stands up and we all leave the room with Ken carrying Alice.
As we walked upon the school grounds stained with the colors of the setting sun, I felt uneasiness as if we were walking through grounds filled with corpses. I thought of the lives that we have unconsciously taken: they were just souls of innocents who were caught in a vicious cycle of which its start we can’t even understand.
I start to wonder if fighting is the only way to prevent further casualties, however reality is harsh and it dictates that it is only thing that we can do right now. With my heart pained with such a burden, a boy whose smile and concern manages to soothe it a little.
“Don’t worry Aiko, I’m sure that we can find a way to stop all of this” Ken looks at me with a warm smile as we walk out of the school gates.
Extra: A slightly better sketch of Alice with her prototype Magical Girl outfit ^_^ http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7737.jpg
Spoiler:
Spell 6: I’m pretty relieved that you’re here for him
The sun was setting as we left school: Kyosuke was the one who offered to bring Alice home, while Megumi, Ken and I traversed the same route.
“Haaa, talk about a very long day, I can’t believe so many things happened…” Ken comments as he stretches his hand out. “I wonder what would be for dinner tonight.”
“About that…Mom just sent a message and said that she would be coming late, we could eat out or something…’ I flipped my phone as I talked to Ken.
“Hey why don’t we cook up something today, Aiko?” Megumi suggested
“Is it okay? Wouldn’t it be a bother for you?” I asked
“It’s all right; my parents are on Parallel Earth right now, so I always eat alone…” Megumi replies with slight sadness. “I’m sorry Ken I’ve been lying to you about them being abroad”
“I understand. Anyway, it’s not that you were totally lying, they really are not here.” Ken comments with a slight giggle.
“he,he,he I see your point” Megumi replies.
“It’s been a really long time since you’ve visited, Mom would have been glad to see you again.”
I look at Megumi as she slowly tilts her head to look at the sunset colored sky with a slight sigh.
“Hey Aiko why are you so glum? Getting hungry already?” Ken tapped my shoulder with a concerned look.
“Yeah, just a little hungry, we should go the grocery store before it gets too dark” I replied.
Walking a path colored pale orange by the setting sun we went to our destination.
“Ken, what would you like to eat? I really need to fill you up for working so hard today!” I said so with a brilliant smile.
“If you put it that way, I would like burger steak with some mixed vegetables” he replied just like an enthusiastic kid.
“Can’t you ask for a little more special? I mean we could make something better.” Megumi retorted.
“Nah, just the thought of you two cooking for me is already special. I couldn’t ask for anything else.” Ken replied
“…” This boy really has a way with words…I could already hear some people in the background giggling as Megumi and I were slightly embarrassed by what Ken said.
After that Ken went to the magazine aisle, while Megumi and I were busy looking for ingredients in the produce section of the grocery. Students like us were also around along with other women who are presumably mothers.
“You really are close with Ken aren’t you Megumi?” I asked while inspecting a potato.
“Hi,hi,hi you can say that. I’ve known him since I was 8 years old. He’d always stick to me everywhere…And because of him I even got to know anime’ and stuff. And I won’t deny that he helped me out with a lot of things.” Megumi continues to narrate her story as she picks up carrots. “…you know there was one time that I borrowed his DVD player…both him and I didn’t know that there was a disc left inside the player. I was really shocked when I first turned it on at home” Megumi was already snorting as she continued to talk.
“What was in it?” I curiously asked.
Megumi came close and whispered into my ear “Well you know…that stuff…Po…”
“eeh?” I was pretty embarrassed myself but I couldn’t help but laugh.
“hi,hi,hi, I couldn’t forget that. He didn’t even talk to me for a week after I told him what I accidentally got!” Megumi continues to laugh as she puts the carrots in the basket. “Good thing I was in my room when that happened too!”
Ken then came from the other aisle as he asked: “Hey, what are you girls talking about?”
“Aiko, you better lock you room at night, Ken really drools over long haired girls like you” Megumi hides behind me as she teases Ken.
†˜Yeah, yeah guilty as charged, so please sock it up already…” Ken approaches us while scratching his head. “But really, I at least know what decency is!”
After all that, we finally managed to finish shopping and proceeded to go home. The streets were already dark but they were brightly illuminated by street lamps accompanied by the stars that seemed to sparkle happily as they watch us walk.
Arriving in front of our house, I see Megumi’s eyes brighten as if she was finally able to visit the home she left a very long time ago. A smile from her face soon followed as Ken unlocked the front door.
Upon setting foot on the kitchen we started to prepare for the task at hand.
“Is there anything I can help you with ladies?” Ken asks as he lays the groceries on the table.
“You can leave everything to us. Why don’t you change and check up on your wound? We’ll call you when we are done here.” Megumi explains as she grabs an apron. “…and we don’t want any casualties in the kitchen!”
“Eh? That’s pretty cheeky for someone who burnt 10 eggs just to cook an omelet.” Ken remarked in a very teasing tone.
“Hey…th…those were just 9!” Megumi replied in a flustered voice.
“Oh yeah…the other one cracked on your hands!”
“Guuuh…you ate pretty much everything that I cooked though!” Megumi snarled.
“There are times that men have to toughen it up…And those were countless times for me…” Ken’s eyeballs roll just like he was remembering things.
“Hey that’s pretty mean Ken!” I jabbed him slightly.
“He,he,he, well I’ll have to admit that she did get better over time.” Ken smiled at us.
“See? You did like my cooking!” Megumi answers back.
“Right, right, anyway….” As he talks Ken comes to us and hands us some gum. “Here, chew on this while you chop those onions.”
“Why?” I asked with such curiosity.
“Just so you know Aiko, Megumi’s pretty sensitive to onions.”
“Really?’
I see Megumi slightly hesitating in taking the gum.
“He,he,he don’t tell me you’re embarrassed Megumi. Come on now, I don’t want to eat a salty dinner!” Ken laughs as he gives us the gum.
“…geez you don’t have to put it that way!” I see Megumi blush as she opens the packet of gum and chews on one.
“Well then, thanks in advance for the meal.” Ken then turns around and takes his leave.
Upon Ken’s exit we finally got to start.
“This kitchen hasn’t changed one bit.” Megumi comments as she takes out a knife from the kitchen counter.
“Wow, you really know your way around here.” I commented as I set up the ingredients.
“I stayed here a lot back then since my parents were always away, and there were times I would make snacks or dinner here.” Megumi narrates as she slices the onions. “But since the attacks of the Anomalies have worsened I didn’t have time to visit here…”
Observing Megumi’s earnest face while preparing the food, I sense her reminiscing from every move that she makes.
“What’s the matter Aiko? You seem pretty quiet” Megumi asks.
“He,he,he, nothing. You must have really loved it here.”
“…Yeah, I did. No doubt you’ll enjoy it here too.” Megumi replies at me wearing a smile.
After a while, we finished cooking dinner.
Thereafter we all enjoyed what has been prepared for all of us to share. After eating, Ken offered to wash the dishes as Megumi and I went to my room.
“Oh, so you had the old store room as your own huh? It looks very nice when it’s cleaned out” Megumi comments.
I took a seat on my bed, and invited her to do the same. There was an awkward silence between us; it was like that we didn’t even talk a while ago.
“So, you have the same interests as Ken?” Megumi asks breaking the silence.
“Yes, pretty much, though I don’t have a vast collection like he does.” I giggled “I was really amazed when I saw his room! He has so many cute stuffs in there too.”
“Oh, so that’s why you get along so nicely…he,he,he, I kind of envy you though, it took him quite a time before he let me see his room. Ken doesn’t exactly talk about his interests in the open. ” Megumi talks with eyes slightly stained with sadness.
“…and you know what Aiko? I’m pretty relieved that you’re here for him, even though you might say that it’s your fault for dragging him into this…”Megumi continues
“I’m glad to hear that, but I don’t think I can really do much…”
“Don’t say that, you’re quite good at using your spells, they say it’s very rare to see Magical Girls or Mages use Light magic…In fact you’re the first Light magic user I ever saw.”
“Thanks, I get that a lot, but I really can’t say that it’s always a good thing…” I replied slightly saddened as I straightened the wrinkles on my bed sheet. “I can tell that the people around me always expect a lot from my abilities…”
Megumi took a deep breath and slowly said “I guess I can understand those people, for it is said that those bestowed with the ability to use Light magic…”
“…have the potential to be the most powerful magic user of all…” I continued her cut sentiment. “But it would all be meaningless if I don’t put it to good use anyway.”
“…”
“Hey Aiko…this must be weird or something since we just met, but can I ask you a favor?”
“Yes?” I asked in a curious tone.
“This place is one of those that hold a lot of memories of mine. There wasn’t a single moment that felt dull here. And I’m not always here to protect it. Everyone living here is just like a part of my family, and I don’t want them to get hurt…As ironic as it may sound, in order to protect whom I love, I have to be away from them….but I guess it’s the same for every one of us.”
What Megumi said was right, we had to part from those we treasure in order to protect them, every one of us who were in the same situation had to make a similar decision. Yet, somehow I can sense that she felt immense pain from dong so.
“… So basically can I ask you to take care of this place too?” Megumi asks with eyes full of sincerity yet traced with slight hesitance.
“Don’t worry Megumi I would have done so even if you didn’t ask me. After all I’m a part of this family too.” I replied with confidence and assurance. ”And that includes you too Megumi.”
“Ha,ha,ha, thanks Aiko. You really are a nice person.” Megumi comments as she smiles with content and relief. “Well, I better get going now.” She then rises picking up her bag.
“Are you leaving already?”
“Yep, It’s getting pretty late, and I don’t want to bother you guys”
As she was about to go out the door, Ken came in front, carrying some drinks.
“Hey, are you leaving already?” Ken asks as Megumi passes by him.
“Tell Auntie I said hi…”
“Right…” Ken replies.
“…and be sure to take care of your future wife okay?” Megumi goes out the door as her hair sways ever so slightly. Ken looks at her with such an expression that I couldn’t really put into words…was it worry or sadness? I couldn’t really tell.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7822.jpg
Ken and I went down to see Megumi off, as she went out the front door we watched her figure go smaller as she fades away from our sights.
“Megumi’s a pretty good friend isn’t she?’ I asked Ken with a smile.
“Yeah, I’m glad that the two of you are getting along just fine…” He comments. “Hey, do you still need some unpacking to do?”
“Not much, I can handle them myself…” I replied, and then we went back in the house.
It was pretty late when Mom came back; she was very tired and went to bed.
The whole household was already quiet as it was time to get some rest. Gazing through my window while looking at the star covered night sky, someone knocks on my door.
“Hey, Aiko are you still awake?”
“Ken? Yes, come in…” I answered as I opened the door.
“Up for a little snack?” he asks with a smile.
“Sure…” I replied as I let him in.
We sat down on the floor laying the snacks on the table.
As Ken was biting on some Pocky he somewhat took a deep breath and looked at me “…hey Aiko, thanks for everything today. You had to put up with Alice a while back, and you even consoled Megumi on my behalf. I’m very grateful… and I’m sorry that I’ve eavesdropped on you two a while ago”
“No, it’s okay. I can see that they mean a lot to you…” I replied as I took a sip from a can of soda. ”Though it was kind of rude eavesdropping on two girls” I giggled.
Ken was slightly blushing as he took out something from his pocket “I know this is not much, but I hope you’ll accept this as a token of my thanks…”
He hands me a beautiful hand made bracelet, adorned with cute stars of various sizes. It was masterfully made even though it only took him a few hours to make it, it was simple but it was elegant in its own way.
“….well, since you use light magic, and associate it with stars, I thought you would like something like this…” Ken explained while scratching his head.
I immediately put the bracelet on my left hand and said “Wow this so cute! The smiling stars are adorable! Thank you very much Ken, I’ll treasure and wear it everyday!”
“You really like it?”
“Of course, what’s not to like about it? It’s very cute and is made by my dearest fiancé with all his heart. This really means a lot to me.” I smiled at Ken, as I can see his eyes reflecting relief and happiness.
“He,he,he. That makes me glad then…” Ken smiles.
I can really see now why many people are drawn to this boy right in front of me. He always tries to do his earnest to make others smile, and help everyone around him feel that they’re not alone or to be forgotten. Why I’m here right now unharmed is very much proof of that, maybe I wouldn’t be even alive right now if it wasn’t for him.
“…hey Aiko, don’t you have this feeling that we have met somewhere before?” Ken asks something from out of the blue.
“Why ask all of a sudden?” I inquired as I felt a slight throb within my chest.
“Nothing really…we do get along pretty well even though we just met…”
“I can’t recall, in all honesty. Unless I have gone completely senile, or our memories have been somewhat fried!”
“That would be pretty messed up if it were true!” Ken laughed as he scratched his forehead.
“Ahh, I’m sorry for taking up your time Aiko. It’s getting very late I should go back to my room now.” Ken stands up as he cleans my table.
“No worries Ken, thank you very much for the present.”
“You’re welcome, and goodnight.”
“Sweet dreams.” I replied while he went out the door.
As I lie on my bed and look at the bracelet on my left hand, I reflected on what was indeed a very long day, I have learned of some things and have seen the persons that are involved in Ken’s life: a beloved childhood friend who deeply cares for him, a girl who sees him as a brother and a boy who treasures him as a comrade and a dear friend.
Going through these thoughts I’ve fallen asleep deep into the night.
After a well deserved night’s sleep, a bright morning greeted us. Going through the usual morning rituals we set out for school.
“Hoo-hum…gaah, I really wish no Anomalies would come out right now, I’m so not in the mood” Ken complains as he yawns.
“Well then here’s something for you who partied too much last night!” I reach out for my bag and then said “COMMENCE RESCUE! Dan dan… MORNING RESCUE!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-_oLjmCGY&feature=related
Ken couldn’t hold it in and started laughing “Dammit, you got me there!!”
“Hi,hi,hi here, this will help you get over that drowsiness of yours…”
We continued to walk traversing our usual path to school; however, I felt a strange presence watching us from the sidelines.
“What is it Aiko? Is something the matter?” Ken asks puzzled.
“Someone is following us…” I warned Ken.
The surroundings have become suddenly tense as I try to detect our mysterious stalker.
“Oooh, you’re pretty alert for someone who’s so flirtatious in the morning…” a crooked and teasing voice echoes from the trees around us.
“Dammit! Come out you weirdo!” Ken shouts as he is angered.
“Looks like the Maiden of the Stars has found herself a very hot-headed boyfriend…” the mysterious and distorted voice continues to resonate.
“Maiden of the Stars? What are you talking about?” I asked in a very furious tone.
“…I don’t give my enemies information, besides you’re going to die here anyway!” as the mysterious voice goes on with his rambling, the surroundings have started to become distorted.
“Tch, not again…I’m sorry Ken but I guess we have an early start today as well”
“You bastard, you’re gonna need a lot more than Morning Rescue when we are done with you!” Ken cracks his fists as we prepare to engage another mysterious enemy.
Our foe didn’t waste time and came out from hiding…Ken couldn’t help but be surprised from what he saw, he was also a human. He was clad in black robes, had a very muscular build and a Mohawk for his hair.
“Wait! Your human, are you a mage too?” Ken asks in a flustered manner.
“Obviously, I am!” the mysterious man, just flicked his finger and spikes of earth came up from the ground.
Ken dodges, and once again asks “Why are you fighting against us? Don’t we have the Anomalies to fight?”
“Fight them? Why would I when I control them?” He flicks his fingers once again and then Anomalies started to come out from the void.
“Stop this! Why do you have to involve innocent souls? What do you want from us anyway?” I ask in hopes of reasoning with him.
“Didn’t I just tell you that I don’t give out information to my enemies? You better stop dawdling around if you want to live!” after he snapped his fingers the ground that we stood on shook as we struggled to stand.
“Dammit! This isn’t anime! There’s no way we can reason with this guy, Aiko let’s just knock some sense into him!” Ken looks at me with eyes determined to win “…I know that you’re adamant about fighting those souls now, so I won’t force you if you don’t want to, so we’ll just have to focus on that weirdo !”
“Thanks Ken, but I’ll do what’s necessary to protect everyone around me right now…” I replied even though there is this great feeling of doubt throbbing through my chest.
“Atta girl! Now’ let’s go get †˜em Aiko!”
“You don’t need to tell me twice!”
Early in the morning we are once again engaged in combat, this time with a mysterious enemy bearing very questionable powers and intriguing words as well: just what does he mean about the Maiden of the Stars?
The sun was setting as we left school: Kyosuke was the one who offered to bring Alice home, while Megumi, Ken and I traversed the same route.
“Haaa, talk about a very long day, I can’t believe so many things happened…” Ken comments as he stretches his hand out. “I wonder what would be for dinner tonight.”
“About that…Mom just sent a message and said that she would be coming late, we could eat out or something…’ I flipped my phone as I talked to Ken.
“Hey why don’t we cook up something today, Aiko?” Megumi suggested
“Is it okay? Wouldn’t it be a bother for you?” I asked
“It’s all right; my parents are on Parallel Earth right now, so I always eat alone…” Megumi replies with slight sadness. “I’m sorry Ken I’ve been lying to you about them being abroad”
“I understand. Anyway, it’s not that you were totally lying, they really are not here.” Ken comments with a slight giggle.
“he,he,he I see your point” Megumi replies.
“It’s been a really long time since you’ve visited, Mom would have been glad to see you again.”
I look at Megumi as she slowly tilts her head to look at the sunset colored sky with a slight sigh.
“Hey Aiko why are you so glum? Getting hungry already?” Ken tapped my shoulder with a concerned look.
“Yeah, just a little hungry, we should go the grocery store before it gets too dark” I replied.
Walking a path colored pale orange by the setting sun we went to our destination.
“Ken, what would you like to eat? I really need to fill you up for working so hard today!” I said so with a brilliant smile.
“If you put it that way, I would like burger steak with some mixed vegetables” he replied just like an enthusiastic kid.
“Can’t you ask for a little more special? I mean we could make something better.” Megumi retorted.
“Nah, just the thought of you two cooking for me is already special. I couldn’t ask for anything else.” Ken replied
“…” This boy really has a way with words…I could already hear some people in the background giggling as Megumi and I were slightly embarrassed by what Ken said.
After that Ken went to the magazine aisle, while Megumi and I were busy looking for ingredients in the produce section of the grocery. Students like us were also around along with other women who are presumably mothers.
“You really are close with Ken aren’t you Megumi?” I asked while inspecting a potato.
“Hi,hi,hi you can say that. I’ve known him since I was 8 years old. He’d always stick to me everywhere…And because of him I even got to know anime’ and stuff. And I won’t deny that he helped me out with a lot of things.” Megumi continues to narrate her story as she picks up carrots. “…you know there was one time that I borrowed his DVD player…both him and I didn’t know that there was a disc left inside the player. I was really shocked when I first turned it on at home” Megumi was already snorting as she continued to talk.
“What was in it?” I curiously asked.
Megumi came close and whispered into my ear “Well you know…that stuff…Po…”
“eeh?” I was pretty embarrassed myself but I couldn’t help but laugh.
“hi,hi,hi, I couldn’t forget that. He didn’t even talk to me for a week after I told him what I accidentally got!” Megumi continues to laugh as she puts the carrots in the basket. “Good thing I was in my room when that happened too!”
Ken then came from the other aisle as he asked: “Hey, what are you girls talking about?”
“Aiko, you better lock you room at night, Ken really drools over long haired girls like you” Megumi hides behind me as she teases Ken.
†˜Yeah, yeah guilty as charged, so please sock it up already…” Ken approaches us while scratching his head. “But really, I at least know what decency is!”
After all that, we finally managed to finish shopping and proceeded to go home. The streets were already dark but they were brightly illuminated by street lamps accompanied by the stars that seemed to sparkle happily as they watch us walk.
Arriving in front of our house, I see Megumi’s eyes brighten as if she was finally able to visit the home she left a very long time ago. A smile from her face soon followed as Ken unlocked the front door.
Upon setting foot on the kitchen we started to prepare for the task at hand.
“Is there anything I can help you with ladies?” Ken asks as he lays the groceries on the table.
“You can leave everything to us. Why don’t you change and check up on your wound? We’ll call you when we are done here.” Megumi explains as she grabs an apron. “…and we don’t want any casualties in the kitchen!”
“Eh? That’s pretty cheeky for someone who burnt 10 eggs just to cook an omelet.” Ken remarked in a very teasing tone.
“Hey…th…those were just 9!” Megumi replied in a flustered voice.
“Oh yeah…the other one cracked on your hands!”
“Guuuh…you ate pretty much everything that I cooked though!” Megumi snarled.
“There are times that men have to toughen it up…And those were countless times for me…” Ken’s eyeballs roll just like he was remembering things.
“Hey that’s pretty mean Ken!” I jabbed him slightly.
“He,he,he, well I’ll have to admit that she did get better over time.” Ken smiled at us.
“See? You did like my cooking!” Megumi answers back.
“Right, right, anyway….” As he talks Ken comes to us and hands us some gum. “Here, chew on this while you chop those onions.”
“Why?” I asked with such curiosity.
“Just so you know Aiko, Megumi’s pretty sensitive to onions.”
“Really?’
I see Megumi slightly hesitating in taking the gum.
“He,he,he don’t tell me you’re embarrassed Megumi. Come on now, I don’t want to eat a salty dinner!” Ken laughs as he gives us the gum.
“…geez you don’t have to put it that way!” I see Megumi blush as she opens the packet of gum and chews on one.
“Well then, thanks in advance for the meal.” Ken then turns around and takes his leave.
Upon Ken’s exit we finally got to start.
“This kitchen hasn’t changed one bit.” Megumi comments as she takes out a knife from the kitchen counter.
“Wow, you really know your way around here.” I commented as I set up the ingredients.
“I stayed here a lot back then since my parents were always away, and there were times I would make snacks or dinner here.” Megumi narrates as she slices the onions. “But since the attacks of the Anomalies have worsened I didn’t have time to visit here…”
Observing Megumi’s earnest face while preparing the food, I sense her reminiscing from every move that she makes.
“What’s the matter Aiko? You seem pretty quiet” Megumi asks.
“He,he,he, nothing. You must have really loved it here.”
“…Yeah, I did. No doubt you’ll enjoy it here too.” Megumi replies at me wearing a smile.
After a while, we finished cooking dinner.
Thereafter we all enjoyed what has been prepared for all of us to share. After eating, Ken offered to wash the dishes as Megumi and I went to my room.
“Oh, so you had the old store room as your own huh? It looks very nice when it’s cleaned out” Megumi comments.
I took a seat on my bed, and invited her to do the same. There was an awkward silence between us; it was like that we didn’t even talk a while ago.
“So, you have the same interests as Ken?” Megumi asks breaking the silence.
“Yes, pretty much, though I don’t have a vast collection like he does.” I giggled “I was really amazed when I saw his room! He has so many cute stuffs in there too.”
“Oh, so that’s why you get along so nicely…he,he,he, I kind of envy you though, it took him quite a time before he let me see his room. Ken doesn’t exactly talk about his interests in the open. ” Megumi talks with eyes slightly stained with sadness.
“…and you know what Aiko? I’m pretty relieved that you’re here for him, even though you might say that it’s your fault for dragging him into this…”Megumi continues
“I’m glad to hear that, but I don’t think I can really do much…”
“Don’t say that, you’re quite good at using your spells, they say it’s very rare to see Magical Girls or Mages use Light magic…In fact you’re the first Light magic user I ever saw.”
“Thanks, I get that a lot, but I really can’t say that it’s always a good thing…” I replied slightly saddened as I straightened the wrinkles on my bed sheet. “I can tell that the people around me always expect a lot from my abilities…”
Megumi took a deep breath and slowly said “I guess I can understand those people, for it is said that those bestowed with the ability to use Light magic…”
“…have the potential to be the most powerful magic user of all…” I continued her cut sentiment. “But it would all be meaningless if I don’t put it to good use anyway.”
“…”
“Hey Aiko…this must be weird or something since we just met, but can I ask you a favor?”
“Yes?” I asked in a curious tone.
“This place is one of those that hold a lot of memories of mine. There wasn’t a single moment that felt dull here. And I’m not always here to protect it. Everyone living here is just like a part of my family, and I don’t want them to get hurt…As ironic as it may sound, in order to protect whom I love, I have to be away from them….but I guess it’s the same for every one of us.”
What Megumi said was right, we had to part from those we treasure in order to protect them, every one of us who were in the same situation had to make a similar decision. Yet, somehow I can sense that she felt immense pain from dong so.
“… So basically can I ask you to take care of this place too?” Megumi asks with eyes full of sincerity yet traced with slight hesitance.
“Don’t worry Megumi I would have done so even if you didn’t ask me. After all I’m a part of this family too.” I replied with confidence and assurance. ”And that includes you too Megumi.”
“Ha,ha,ha, thanks Aiko. You really are a nice person.” Megumi comments as she smiles with content and relief. “Well, I better get going now.” She then rises picking up her bag.
“Are you leaving already?”
“Yep, It’s getting pretty late, and I don’t want to bother you guys”
As she was about to go out the door, Ken came in front, carrying some drinks.
“Hey, are you leaving already?” Ken asks as Megumi passes by him.
“Tell Auntie I said hi…”
“Right…” Ken replies.
“…and be sure to take care of your future wife okay?” Megumi goes out the door as her hair sways ever so slightly. Ken looks at her with such an expression that I couldn’t really put into words…was it worry or sadness? I couldn’t really tell.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7822.jpg
Ken and I went down to see Megumi off, as she went out the front door we watched her figure go smaller as she fades away from our sights.
“Megumi’s a pretty good friend isn’t she?’ I asked Ken with a smile.
“Yeah, I’m glad that the two of you are getting along just fine…” He comments. “Hey, do you still need some unpacking to do?”
“Not much, I can handle them myself…” I replied, and then we went back in the house.
It was pretty late when Mom came back; she was very tired and went to bed.
The whole household was already quiet as it was time to get some rest. Gazing through my window while looking at the star covered night sky, someone knocks on my door.
“Hey, Aiko are you still awake?”
“Ken? Yes, come in…” I answered as I opened the door.
“Up for a little snack?” he asks with a smile.
“Sure…” I replied as I let him in.
We sat down on the floor laying the snacks on the table.
As Ken was biting on some Pocky he somewhat took a deep breath and looked at me “…hey Aiko, thanks for everything today. You had to put up with Alice a while back, and you even consoled Megumi on my behalf. I’m very grateful… and I’m sorry that I’ve eavesdropped on you two a while ago”
“No, it’s okay. I can see that they mean a lot to you…” I replied as I took a sip from a can of soda. ”Though it was kind of rude eavesdropping on two girls” I giggled.
Ken was slightly blushing as he took out something from his pocket “I know this is not much, but I hope you’ll accept this as a token of my thanks…”
He hands me a beautiful hand made bracelet, adorned with cute stars of various sizes. It was masterfully made even though it only took him a few hours to make it, it was simple but it was elegant in its own way.
“….well, since you use light magic, and associate it with stars, I thought you would like something like this…” Ken explained while scratching his head.
I immediately put the bracelet on my left hand and said “Wow this so cute! The smiling stars are adorable! Thank you very much Ken, I’ll treasure and wear it everyday!”
“You really like it?”
“Of course, what’s not to like about it? It’s very cute and is made by my dearest fiancé with all his heart. This really means a lot to me.” I smiled at Ken, as I can see his eyes reflecting relief and happiness.
“He,he,he. That makes me glad then…” Ken smiles.
I can really see now why many people are drawn to this boy right in front of me. He always tries to do his earnest to make others smile, and help everyone around him feel that they’re not alone or to be forgotten. Why I’m here right now unharmed is very much proof of that, maybe I wouldn’t be even alive right now if it wasn’t for him.
“…hey Aiko, don’t you have this feeling that we have met somewhere before?” Ken asks something from out of the blue.
“Why ask all of a sudden?” I inquired as I felt a slight throb within my chest.
“Nothing really…we do get along pretty well even though we just met…”
“I can’t recall, in all honesty. Unless I have gone completely senile, or our memories have been somewhat fried!”
“That would be pretty messed up if it were true!” Ken laughed as he scratched his forehead.
“Ahh, I’m sorry for taking up your time Aiko. It’s getting very late I should go back to my room now.” Ken stands up as he cleans my table.
“No worries Ken, thank you very much for the present.”
“You’re welcome, and goodnight.”
“Sweet dreams.” I replied while he went out the door.
As I lie on my bed and look at the bracelet on my left hand, I reflected on what was indeed a very long day, I have learned of some things and have seen the persons that are involved in Ken’s life: a beloved childhood friend who deeply cares for him, a girl who sees him as a brother and a boy who treasures him as a comrade and a dear friend.
Going through these thoughts I’ve fallen asleep deep into the night.
After a well deserved night’s sleep, a bright morning greeted us. Going through the usual morning rituals we set out for school.
“Hoo-hum…gaah, I really wish no Anomalies would come out right now, I’m so not in the mood” Ken complains as he yawns.
“Well then here’s something for you who partied too much last night!” I reach out for my bag and then said “COMMENCE RESCUE! Dan dan… MORNING RESCUE!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-_oLjmCGY&feature=related
Ken couldn’t hold it in and started laughing “Dammit, you got me there!!”
“Hi,hi,hi here, this will help you get over that drowsiness of yours…”
We continued to walk traversing our usual path to school; however, I felt a strange presence watching us from the sidelines.
“What is it Aiko? Is something the matter?” Ken asks puzzled.
“Someone is following us…” I warned Ken.
The surroundings have become suddenly tense as I try to detect our mysterious stalker.
“Oooh, you’re pretty alert for someone who’s so flirtatious in the morning…” a crooked and teasing voice echoes from the trees around us.
“Dammit! Come out you weirdo!” Ken shouts as he is angered.
“Looks like the Maiden of the Stars has found herself a very hot-headed boyfriend…” the mysterious and distorted voice continues to resonate.
“Maiden of the Stars? What are you talking about?” I asked in a very furious tone.
“…I don’t give my enemies information, besides you’re going to die here anyway!” as the mysterious voice goes on with his rambling, the surroundings have started to become distorted.
“Tch, not again…I’m sorry Ken but I guess we have an early start today as well”
“You bastard, you’re gonna need a lot more than Morning Rescue when we are done with you!” Ken cracks his fists as we prepare to engage another mysterious enemy.
Our foe didn’t waste time and came out from hiding…Ken couldn’t help but be surprised from what he saw, he was also a human. He was clad in black robes, had a very muscular build and a Mohawk for his hair.
“Wait! Your human, are you a mage too?” Ken asks in a flustered manner.
“Obviously, I am!” the mysterious man, just flicked his finger and spikes of earth came up from the ground.
Ken dodges, and once again asks “Why are you fighting against us? Don’t we have the Anomalies to fight?”
“Fight them? Why would I when I control them?” He flicks his fingers once again and then Anomalies started to come out from the void.
“Stop this! Why do you have to involve innocent souls? What do you want from us anyway?” I ask in hopes of reasoning with him.
“Didn’t I just tell you that I don’t give out information to my enemies? You better stop dawdling around if you want to live!” after he snapped his fingers the ground that we stood on shook as we struggled to stand.
“Dammit! This isn’t anime! There’s no way we can reason with this guy, Aiko let’s just knock some sense into him!” Ken looks at me with eyes determined to win “…I know that you’re adamant about fighting those souls now, so I won’t force you if you don’t want to, so we’ll just have to focus on that weirdo !”
“Thanks Ken, but I’ll do what’s necessary to protect everyone around me right now…” I replied even though there is this great feeling of doubt throbbing through my chest.
“Atta girl! Now’ let’s go get †˜em Aiko!”
“You don’t need to tell me twice!”
Early in the morning we are once again engaged in combat, this time with a mysterious enemy bearing very questionable powers and intriguing words as well: just what does he mean about the Maiden of the Stars?
Spoiler:
Spell 7: Maiden of the Stars
Commuting to school has never been so troublesome! Instead of enjoying a brisk walk while savoring a glorious and beautiful morning we are now fighting against a formidable Earth Mage.
I want to finish this quickly as possible but the creep uses his magic with such efficacy that Ken and I can’t even hold our own ground: literally.
“This is nuts! Every where we step on there are spikes sprouting from the ground!” Ken complains as he dodges.
We are indeed in a very tight situation and we can’t fight back as fiercely as we would have wanted because of the obstacles that we were facing.
“Dance and dance kiddies! You won’t be able to dodge all day long!” the snotty mage continues his assault on us.
“Ken is already running out of stamina, if I can just distract this mage for a while…” I thought to myself.
“Don’t worry Aiko! I can handle the Anomalies just fine, concentrate on that guy!” Ken tells me as he pushes an Anomaly aside. I can also see that he doesn’t want to destroy the Anomalies as much as possible.
“Don’t try too hard Ken…”with no time to doubt I jumped as high as I could and spun in the air Olympian style targeting my landing upon the snotty mage.
My opponent was steady and didn’t even bother to move. Is he preparing for a counterattack? Or is he planning a last minute dodge? Nevertheless I didn’t pull out from my attack, and still set my eyes on him.
“Take a load of this!” I charged up an energy filled ball upon my right hand as I thrust it upon my target full of vigorous force.
BANG! I hit my target solidly on his chest; the whole surroundings were then quickly clouded by dust upon impact. I was sure and I knew my attack hit, but…
“Nice try, but it seems you haven’t eaten your breakfast missy!” the Earth Mage remarks teasingly as the smoke clears between us
“Guuh, what the?” I immediately made a back flip getting away from him before he could manage to grab my arm. As I got the chance to look clearly at my target, it seemed like that he was covered in hard clay as pieces of them fell off from his body.
“A coat of Earth Armor huh?” I grumbled with much disdain as I dust my skirt while planting my feet squarely on the slightly cracked ground.
“It’s commendable that you have managed to even crack my armor… however that’s as far as you go!”
Clenching his fists, his right forearm suddenly turned to a sharp lance made of hardened earth! And just like a ferocious black knight mounted on his mighty steed, he immediately charges forward upon with very furious eyes.
“Gaah!! Take this!” he thrusts his lance with lightning quick agility…but it wasn’t quick enough…
Just before the mage could land his attack upon me I immediately leapt above him and twirled in the air turning toward his defenseless back. Once again charging light energy with my right palm, I prepared to snipe at his rear while in mid-air.
“Now, be a good boy and stay put!”
As I prepared to fire my charged shot, a large spike suddenly sprouted from the ground and hit me solidly on the chest, with that I lost my balance and began falling towards the earth below.
Expecting to hit hard ground, I instead felt warm strong arms that caught me from my fall. But my savior himself fell to the ground as he caught my full weight plummeting from the air.
“Ouch…Hey Aiko are you all right?” Ken: the one who broke my fall asks as he continues to hold me with arms slightly trembling.
“Thank you very much Ken. You helped me once again.” I commented while we both stand up from the earth that we fell upon. “This guy is very serious…he really does intend to get rid of us…or at the very least he intends to get rid of me…”
Before we could even get our composure, the Earth Mage quickly faces us and shouts: “Now stay still little buggers! Assault Type Earth Magic: GAIA SMASHER!”
“Damn, this guy reacts fast!” Ken remarks flustered
“Quick, hide behind me Ken!”
Upon the mage’s invocation spikes from the ground rapidly sprouted from the earth and quickly raced towards us with debris violently spreading across the ground.
As the sound of furiously smashing earth can be heard, my ears seemed to have caught a chant coming from a girl whose voice I recognize.
“Blowing through the valleys,
And rustling through the trees.
This unseen force of life,
shall put an end to all this strife!”
The speedily incoming earthen spikes were easily shattered and disintegrated as a wall of rapidly circulating wind came in front of us. The wall of wind effortlessly cut our enemy’s assault just like a shredder would do to a hapless piece of paper.
“Is it a wind barrier?” Ken asks amazed
“Seems like we’re saved again…” I said with much relief.
“For a big guy you sure pack a weak punch, maybe that barrier wasn’t necessary to protect them after all…” so says the petite silhouette coming from the dust of the shattered earthen spikes.
“Damned brat, who the hell do you think you are?” the Earth Mage asks flustered.
“Me? I’m just a Magical Girl who just happened to pass by….”
As the dust cleared, the figure of the Magical Girl who claims that she just passed by became visible to our sights.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr217/wildflug/CIMG7844.jpg
“Ah, I knew that voice was very familiar…It was Alice all along…” Ken remarks with a face painted with ease yet tainted with slight worry.
Alice gazes at Ken and I slightly irritated. It was reminiscent to how she looked at me yesterday.
Slowly turning her head towards our enemy she says hesitantly:”Come on, you better get moving if you don’t want other people or him to get hurt…”
“…right…” I replied meekly.
“Please take care of the Anomalies for us....” Alice looks at Ken rather unsure with the words she just said.
“Okay, let’s do this!” I started to rapidly shoot beams towards our tough opponent. Alice moved just as fast towards our target.
“Even if there are two of you it doesn’t matter! I’ll just take both of you down!” the Earth Mage boastfully remarks as he parries every shot that I throw at him.
“Don’t be so sure about that!” says Alice as she suddenly pops up from above our opponent with a gust of wind.
“Wow she’s fast!” Ken notices while he pins down an Anomaly to the ground.
“You can’t defend from both our attacks! Take this: Assault Type Wind Magic: Sonic Slicer!!” upon Alice’s invocation her right arm was instantly covered by magical wind creating the shape of a very sharp blade, sharp enough to cut apart anything in half.
“CHESTO!” Alice shouts just like a disciple of Kendo as she swings down her right arm to deliver a punishing strike.
When only inches were in between the edge of Alice’s blade and the Earth Mage’s shoulder an Anomaly swiftly shielded him from the devastating blow.
“Tch…” Alice grunts disappointedly as she pulls away from her target, knowing that the attack failed.
“Do it again Alice! Move while I keep him busy!” I continue to rain down upon our opponent bullets of light while Alice regains her stance in order to attack once again.
“If it comes to this then I’ll have to use that!” Alice prepares to invoke another spell with a motion similar to how an archer would prep his bow, but this was forcefully interrupted...
“Ahhhh!” Alice falls to the ground violently as a group of Anomalies warp out from the void successfully pinning her down.
“Wooah!! What the hell?” Ken soon follows as another group of Anomalies does the same as what they did to Alice.
“Ken! Alice!” I look at both of my comrades as I distress on how to pull them out from their binds.
As I get my sights back at my opponent, a warp hole appears right behind him, and amidst my continuing assault he says: “You got lucky this time! But I’ll be sure to get you the next time we meet…” and with that he rapidly steps backwards and withdraws. The Anomalies soon disappear as the mage left.
“Haaa *gasp*” I fall down on my knees as I feel exhaustion making my whole body numb.
“Aiko are you all right?” Ken approaches me as he pats my back.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What about Alice?”
“I’m fine…” Alice replies as she stands up dusting her uniform while turning her back on us.
“Hey thanks for the help.” I approach Alice as I touch her shoulder.
However she quickly brushes off my hand with much disdain saying “…it’s clear to me that merely your presence will bring more danger around him…”
“So you heard…” I spoke with words sullied by much sadness, accompanied by a feeling of uneasiness.
“…” Alice stays silent.
“…That mage says that I am the Maiden of the Stars…that’s the first I heard of it…I honestly don’t know what he meant”
A deafening void of silence continues to fill the space between me and Alice as I feel her animosity towards me growing.
“Look Alice I…”
“Just stay away from him!” Alice angrily states as she walks away from me.
“…”
“Protecting the ones that you hold dear doesn’t necessarily mean always staying by their side…” those were familiar words that just came out from Alice’s mouth with a shuddering voice.
What the little girl said was similar to what I heard from Megumi last night. Do I have to make a choice the same as Megumi’s? Leaving behind your loved ones so that you can protect them? I am the whole reason why Ken is in this danger, but I can’t do anything without him. I need his strength so that I can continue to fight…such a painful irony of thoughts swirl within my mind as I process what Alice just spoke.
Alice continues to walk away from me as she heads towards school without even turning back; casually carrying her bag just like any other student would.
“Hey Aiko…don’t mind what Alice just said, I’m sure that she’s confused just like we are….” says Ken while he looks at me with a comforting gesture. “Judging from what we saw that mage is big trouble….” Ken sighs deeply.
“I know that! Even I can understand that much!” I said so in a fairly irritated and loud voice.
“Aiko….”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you…” I apologize sincerely as Ken hands me my bag. He smiles at me with an expression saying that it’s all right.
“That guy called you the Maiden of the Stars huh? Aiko did you know that goddess Astraea was addressed in a similar way?”
“Yes. If I remember correctly she was always associated with the Goddess of Justice, and gave blessings to the people of Earth whom she dwelt with….” I replied as if I was answering a question from a game show.
“That’s right…Just like Astraea I know you can be a goddess who gives blessings to everyone around you. So please don’t think that you’re only a harbinger of trouble and danger.”
“….” As I stood in front of the boy who tried his utmost to comfort me in my troubled state, the bracelet that he gave slightly rattled as I wore it around my left wrist. With that I couldn’t help but smile.
“Hi,hi,hi so I’m a goddess now?” I laughed ever so slightly as I fixed my tangled hair. “Did you woo Megumi in the same way too?” I asked with a teasing tone.
“…ugh that’s completely irrelevant right now!” Ken replies embarrassingly. “Come on now, we better get going or we’ll be late for class…”
“Yeah let’s get going then.” I replied.
Continuing our commute to school, I tried my best not to look so troubled in front of the boy who just cheered me up. Thinking about what he told me, indeed Astraea was a goddess who blessed everyone around her. But it’s also true that she eventually left the humans whom she graced with her blessings…Am I fated to leave behind the ones I care for just like Astraea? Do I really have to part with the people around me so that I can protect them?
Even the radiant and brilliant sky wasn’t able to rid me of those troubling thoughts. But within myself I know nothing good would happen if I think about it too much. At least to that extent I understand.
“To be honest, I’m very troubled of what we just knew. And I’m really itching to get some answers as well…” Ken tilts his head slightly upward towards the same azure sky I was gazing upon.
“….” I sighed lightly as I looked at his face which is worried yet still filled with confidence.
“Kyosuke might know a thing or two about what we heard right now…So let’s just ask him when lunch time comes” he continues to narrate.
“Okay. Let’s do just that.” I replied with a smile.
“Y…you should really keep up that smile of yours 90% of the time.” Ken talks with a slight stutter as he took a glance of me. “One must go on smiling even when troubled. Just like what you did yesterday….”
“But it would be really weird if I keep on smiling even when I’m angry you know? That would make me look like a psycho or something” I slightly giggled as I softly jabbed Ken on his shoulder. “Seriously though, you do fit the role of the hot blooded main character…”
“What do you mean by that?” Ken asks puzzled.
“Well I dunno, you’re on a roll with your cheesy lines, and you’re quite impulsive. Not to mention that you’re hot headed. Yep, you really do fit the bill…” I laugh as we continue to walk on the pavement leading the way to our destination.
“Guh, cheesy lines you say?” He reacted with a slightly flustered look. “I can say the same about you. The way you shout your attack names as if you were piloting a giant super robot or something….”
“Uggh, you have a point there, but I’m not the only one who does that….”
Going on with our seemingly pointless conversation we continued to traverse the sunshine colored road as we approach our school, embracing hope that some light would be shined upon the subject that we were so puzzled about.
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^Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it ^_^. I'll post the next chapter by next week as I have exams at the moment.
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No worries. :)
Hey, that picture on the top. Is that a character design for this story ? And if so was it you who draw it ? Could you make it more colorful ? Some other stuff, is you don't need to censor the brand names like Red Bull or the anime/manga titles. It was just confusing a bit. I did not have any other problems. It's easy to read too, since you broke it up into several smaller chunks.
Hey, that picture on the top. Is that a character design for this story ? And if so was it you who draw it ? Could you make it more colorful ? Some other stuff, is you don't need to censor the brand names like Red Bull or the anime/manga titles. It was just confusing a bit. I did not have any other problems. It's easy to read too, since you broke it up into several smaller chunks.
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Wow just wow, it has a good dam plot twist at the end, i like it hope more chapters will be shown soon
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It's the weekend over here so I had some time to type a little. Chapter 2 is in the top post.
Thanks for the suggestions and comments everyone. I hope I can continue this story even while I study XD
@bfg10k17- thanks for the suggestion, about the drawing: well yeah I made it, but I'll think about the coloring part ^-^6.
So for now it's back to the books for me.
Thanks for the suggestions and comments everyone. I hope I can continue this story even while I study XD
@bfg10k17- thanks for the suggestion, about the drawing: well yeah I made it, but I'll think about the coloring part ^-^6.
So for now it's back to the books for me.
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Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
Story and plot is turning out to be pretty awesome, I only read chapter 1 due to my shortage of time but I can't wait to read the other chapters.
This was my first time having a peek at magical girl stuffs by the way and it was pretty nice.
Protips: Don't overuse one word, like candy on chapter one, you used it three times on a single paragraph, you could have used the word 'it' instead to refer to the candy.
And don't use question marks (?) more than once, even if the character is screaming and the sentence is capitalized.
And finally, check your writings for typos, I noticed lots in there on chapter one.
This was my first time having a peek at magical girl stuffs by the way and it was pretty nice.
Protips: Don't overuse one word, like candy on chapter one, you used it three times on a single paragraph, you could have used the word 'it' instead to refer to the candy.
And don't use question marks (?) more than once, even if the character is screaming and the sentence is capitalized.
And finally, check your writings for typos, I noticed lots in there on chapter one.
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^Thank you very much! I'm glad that it piqued your interest ^_^ I'll be implementing what I've learned as I type more.
To be honest I'm not much of a Mahou Shoujo fan too, I'm more of a Gundam and mecha fan XD
To be honest I'm not much of a Mahou Shoujo fan too, I'm more of a Gundam and mecha fan XD
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Cinia Pacifica
Ojou-sama Writer
I'm not a fan of either of those (yet), I'm more of a fan of the kind of fiction I'm writing currently lol.
Well, I look forward to a much more refined and fixed writing~
Well, I look forward to a much more refined and fixed writing~
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Updated! Action packed (well sort of) Chapter 4 is now available.
Man, I should really get a scanner or a pen tablet XD
Anyways, it's vacation time for me, so its time to build and paint some of my models that have been begging to be built. So that means there might be no updates in a while, but please stay tuned! ^_^
Man, I should really get a scanner or a pen tablet XD
Anyways, it's vacation time for me, so its time to build and paint some of my models that have been begging to be built. So that means there might be no updates in a while, but please stay tuned! ^_^