WELCOME TO TENKAWA CITY: Magical Burst 4.0

[Ars Poetica]

"HELLO TENKAWA CITY! Looks like we're kicking off the month of March with clear skies and a bright, bright sun! To all you beachgoers out there, pack your umbrellas and towels because it's surfing weather! We've got the best beaches around and everybody knows it! Come on down and say hello to NHK-FM 89.1! And to all you unlucky students, don't worry! You'll be out of school by the fifteenth, and it's looking like we're in for a long and beautiful summer! It's 6:00 and we're glad to have you here!"

1 MARCH 2000​

Welcome one and all to the wonderful Tenkawa City. A place known for... a lot of things. Located along the coastline, this city boasts a really nice beach close to home! People come from all over the country to have some fun in the sun~

On some cliffs near the beach's shore lies an intricate web of bunkers and catacombs dating back to WWII. Some even go so far as to stretch towards the City proper, in particular to the now abandoned southern side, filled with tall and unused buildings... Nobody knows why the southern side of the city is abandoned, but that's not important.

These bunkers and tunnels haven't been fully explored, nor are they fully open to the public at large, due to the risks and hazards such as wild animals, gas and the system itself possibly caving in.

In the middle of the city, you'll find an old park built as a memorial to soldiers from the second World War. Right at the edge of it is a cathedral that dates back to the Sengoku Jidai! Though the missionaries that built it didn't survive the test of time, the cathedral did.

Clearly, this is a city with a lot of deep history behind it, and if you ever want to learn more about the city --- and anything else -- come to the Prime Academia! A university in the west side of the city famous for recruiting geniuses the world over; even if their attendance fees are prohibitive, they invest the funds in tracking down prospects the world over regardless of race, religion, age or gender.

But you're not here to go to university. You, and those like you, are a little too young for that. You're here for the history of this old city... you're here for the ghost stories. This city has a lot of rumors about odd occurrences within it. Psychics, ninjas, even shady corporations with mysterious robots have been sighted in the city.

...These are all real.

Skeptical? Don't be. Welcome to Tenkawa City!

And welcome to the Magical Burst RPG.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the rules of engagement, take a look at the following links:

https://yarukizero.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/magical-burst-4-0.pdf
https://yarukizero.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/magical-burst-sheet.pdf

Most likely, you already know most of what you need to. But if you're never sure, don't be afraid to talk to one of the many GMs for our session!

Outside the rules of the game itself, here are the basic rules of the game in our forum format.

1: Seriously don't break the forum rules. Kind of a no-brainer.

2: Try to avoid breaking the rules of the game itself. Also obvious.

3: When two Magical Girls fight, hash out the whole battle as fast as possible in PMs with a GM as witness. The winner writes the results -- after all, can't risk the loser coming up and stealing a win! Haha...

4: If a player character doesn't write an update to their character for seven days, we will assume that something... unpleasant... has happened to that character.

Hmm... I think that's about it. So, with that said, our first Episode begins! To all you would-be Magical Girls out there, lets see your best first Episode appearance! This is how you introduce yourself to everyone in the IC board. Who are your friends? Your family? What motivates you?

How long have you been a Magical Girl? Or, perhaps, did you just become one today? How exciting!

The world of killing monsters awaits!

-x-

Spoiler: The Players

01: TurtleDucks
02: Average Weird
03: o3o
04: Crow
05: Grue
06: Willyvereb
07: Silvan Eldar
08: Bladestar123
09: Nathaniel Wolff
10: Lilithium
11: Wizard_Marshall
12: Apocalyptic_Fish
13: Infinite Daze
14: Lichte

Spoiler: The Game Masters

01: @Ars Poetica
02: @D.D. Spectator
03: @ElectromagneticRhapsody
04: @Murderhobo of Nod
05: @Ridiculously Average Guy
06: @Takoe
07: @TehChron

OOC Thread is located here.

 

[Ars Poetica]

1 March 2000​

In but five years time, this wondrous City known as "Yuhadō no Tenkawa" has regrown with a new, vigorous spirit -- arisen from ashes of yesteryear's tragedy: The Tenkawa Explosion.

None could've expected a natural gas leak from the city's underground honeycombs. None could've expected the gas would one day ignite into a raging firestorm that would consume chunks of the city's now-abandoned southern district.

But that was only five years ago.

Tenkawa City and its inhabitants, despite the devastation of the inferno, have returned to a semblance of normality. Homes and businesses were rebuilt; and reconstruction efforts expanded the city even further. While some wounds have yet to fully heal, a peaceful serenity has swept over the city, like a cool ocean's breeze.

But this peace is only a temporal, fragile illusion, and like brittle glass, it is so, so easily broken.

Dark, unclean things, lurk unseen in the shadows. Things predatory and anathema to humanity: The Youma.

If left unchecked and unwarranted, these horrors will no doubt prey on the defenseless and weak. But that's where these girls come in.

Yes. These Magical Girls... They have made a contract.

Perhaps altruistically?

Perhaps selfishly?

In any case... it is now up to them to stop these Youma, with the possible aid of other Magical Girls... and their Tsukaima.

And maybe...

Maybe they'll make their own heartfelt wishes come true? If they can collect but thirteen Oblivion Seeds...

...Well. Good luck to them on that front~♥

 

[Silvan Eldar]

Hino Sasami was...actually having a rather good day so far. Perhaps it was a bit too early to really say, but she had a pretty good feeling about it all.

She'd woken up early, acquired a 'good' breakfast, for someone on the run, in a perfectly legal manner, and now she's back at her little haunt. Sitting high up on one of many metal beams criss-crossing the frame of an unfinished building which conveniently sat on the edge of the abandoned southern portion of the city. Sasami absently kicks her feet through the air, whistling a little tune as she looks out at the city's morning skyline.

Sasami had always enjoyed the sight of her home city from above. When she was younger, her mother would always bring her up to the top of the office building she worked, just letting her look up into the great blue sky and the city below. In a way, being up here let her have just a bit of those old feelings, and if she tried just hard enough, then just for a moment she could forget...

A frown finds its way onto the girl's expression, her mood soured as she let out a sigh.

"Thinking about them won't help..." She mumbles, absently pulling out her phone, flipping it open and starts typing.

@ApocalypticFish

Hey Hotaru, just wanted to check in. Probably heard about those fires by now, and that they're blaming it on me But I know that you know I'd never do anything like that! I mean jeez! Just because I like campfires...anyway, just wanted to let you know I'm all right. Can't tell you where I'm hiding though, it's a secret! Hope to see yah soon!

Click to shrink...

Clicking the send button with a fond smile, the girl closed her phone and slid it back into it's pocket.

Sasami rose to her feet and began making her way back to ground level.

Today would be a busy day, best to get to it.

 

[ApocalypticFish]

Episode 1

Hozumi Hotaru brushed her teeth absentmindedly.

To an outsider looking in, it might have appeared to be an average morning; but the truth was, despite the sleepy look on her face, she was rather on edge.

It had only been a week ago that her friend, Hino Sasami, had been framed for a crime that she knew that she didn't commit. She already knew what she was going to do about that, but the question was how...

Suddenly, she felt a buzzing in her pocket. The toothbrush fell out of her hand as she gave a slight jolt of surprise.

One of her hands fumbled around in her pocket for her phone, while the other tried to grab the airborne toothbrush.

After a few moments of this, she successfully managed to get a handle on the tooth brush, and get the phone out of her pocket. She flipped it open, and looked at the screen.

1 TEXT RECEIVED

She pressed the 'view' button, and read the text that appeared on the screen.

Hey Hotaru, just wanted to check in. Probably heard about those fires by now, and that they're blaming it on me But I know that you know I'd never do anything like that! I mean jeez! Just because I like campfires...anyway, just wanted to let you know I'm all right. Can't tell you where I'm hiding though, it's a secret! Hope to see yah soon!

Click to shrink...

A sleepy sound slid out of her mouth. "Hmm..."

She smiled, and closed it again, putting it back in her pocket. She would send her back a text when she had an idea of what to say.

But until then...

Maybe she would use her ability? She didn't have much experience with it, but she did know how it could be useful...

"Hotaru! Time for breakfast!"

She washed the toothbrush in the sink, before putting it back where it was earlier this morning, and going down to breakfast.

It was a rather quiet affair, with little to no sound. This wasn't a particularly unusual occurrence these days, but it did make her wonder why they didn't talk as much as they used to...maybe it was because she wasn't a kid anymore? That would explain it. Being quiet when around that age wasn't exactly...

She internally shook herself. She couldn't think about such inane things at this time. She had a friend to help out.


She reached over for another pancake, and bumped into her mother's arm. "Ah, sorry."

She continued to think about how to help her friend, until she had finished.

With a pancake hanging out of her mouth, she sent a text message back to Sasami.

@Silvan Eldar

It's been going fairly well, other than all the people talking to me for "some reason". In any case, have you been dealing with it well? I mean, have you been getting any food, or sleep? Because while I think that magic is pretty useful, I don't think that it's healthy to use it to prevent yourself from sleeping for a week straight. Is it? I guess I'll just have to ask the tsukaima later.

Click to shrink...

She closed it back up, and started heading down a road. It would only take her a few minutes to get to the high school, but she wasn't going to the high school right now.

A memory of a television report flew through her head; the location of one of the acts of arson, about fifteen minutes from where she was. Her memory might be a bit spotty at times, but she would not let her friend down.

She headed down the path, with an unusually focused look in her eyes. She would not let her friend go to jail because of this.

She would not.

 

[Hyacinthium]

Sakura wakes up as she does every morning. On her side, hugging a long purple pillow, and surrounded by stuffed animals. A heavily decorated alarm clock let out a long continuous ring as the sun brightens her room. Blue lights hanging alongside the canopy of her bed switch off with a simple clap.

She stretches an arm over to the small nightstand to the alarm to turn it off. A few of the many papers covering it flutter to the floor when disturbed, but Sakura pays them no mind. They could simply lay on the rug until she returns from school. Sakura instead grabs a waiting bottle of water from the nightstand and gulps it down. Following up with a yawn.

The first thing to do is say good morning. The second is to fix the bed and placement of the animals. Last, do one's business and take a shower. Finish by eating food and then say you're off for the day.

Not a single living person other than Sakura is in the house. There are some sticky notes on the outside of her door, but the girl already knows the possible words by heart. Once she finishes drying her hair and getting dressed, she gathers them and places them in the bottom most drawer of her desk. Her current amount of notes is getting high again. Standing up straight has a small pink rabbit come into view.

With eyes have always looked very sad, Hana is the kind of character that worries too much.

"I'm quite alright, thank you. Though I'd like it more if it rained today. Walking to places is best when the plants are happy, you see." Sakura says. Patting Hana on the head, she steps over to the closet and grabs the school uniform waiting for her.

Another ring starts up. The shower had taken a long time as expected, because Sakura always starts wondering about what people would say. What the characters would say or do.

Hana would be fretting right now. Rabbits are too meek to do anything because of their long ears though.

"Do you think that he'll want to be woken up early? I don't need to. I slept in today."

'Well, that Prince is an early bird. And Princes have important jobs to do too. You wake up early as well, Sakura.' Hana would say while she keeps her ears away from Sakura's fingers.

Sakura frowns, "I wouldn't force him to wake up just because of my own preferences. Relationships are compromise." Then the old bear would butt in. Tom is a horrible gossip that delights in having reasonable views and little tact. He would chuckle and point out that Sakura's relationships have no compromises, only simple bribes to secure favor. Maybe even the wish granter is like that.

'But that just isn't true mister Tom! Sakura has a best friend named Yuki!' Would be Hana's desperate outcry, causing Tom to growl at her. Then they both stop talking.

Sakura makes herself toast, a small fish, and an egg with a cup of orange juice for breakfast. There is a note telling her about left overs, but Sakura dislikes take out food and never feels very hungry in the mornings. The egg is nice and dippy, drooling yoke onto crisp brown bread. Tangy orange juice revitalizes her, and washes the taste of mackerel out of her throat. The used tableware is rinsed off and left in the sink.

"Good bye for now, everyone. I'm leaving." The girl's small voice echoes slightly into the empty house. Bag hanging from her shoulder, school shoes on, Aino Sakura locks the front door and gate behind her. She thinks of a boy's voice sending her off.

Soon they'll be walking together.

 

[TurtleDucks]

A massive Youma appeared in the skies above Tenkawa city, one so massive that it blotted out the sun the entire city stood in its shadow. Its mere presence was enough to cause buildings to be reduced rubble. People in the streets gazed upon it with abject horror, something more powerful and terrible than their minds were capable of comprehending. With just a single, subtle twitch of one of its hundreds of twisted black tentacles the city was engulfed in an explosion that resembled a nuclear bomb. Tenkawa city was snuffed out in an instant.

Momomiya Umi jolted awake as her nightmare ended, almost causing the cramped chair she'd been sitting in to collapse. She gripped the edges of her chair tightly, panting heavily for several moments until her racing heart slowed down.

'That was awful... That Youma, it destroyed the entire city!' Umi thought to herself. They deserved it... Some of them did...

Then the events of last night finally resurfaced in her mind and she remembered where she was. She had something far more important to worry about than some nightmare. She was in a hospital room and the occupant...

"Sae!" Umi exclaimed in a panic, standing bolt upright and this time actually causing her chair to fall over. She scrambled to get over to the hospital bed that occupied the center of the room. laid down in it was her little sister, Momomiya Sae. The short, black-haired twelve year old was unconscious, the left side of her torso was wrapped thickly in bandages, all meant to cover several large, painful burns. She had been the victim of a fire. Why Sae...?

It had happened some time last night. Umi had been gone, off somewhere in the city on magical girl business, patrolling for criminals as she so often did. She needn't have gone for though because as it turned out a criminal had come straight to her doorstep.

The orphanage where she and her sister were living had been set on fire. The fire had spread far and fast, consuming the older building like tinder. Those on the lower floors had a chance to escape, but many of the children on the higher floors weren't so lucky, the fire had cut them off before they could get out. Fire crews had arrived to put out the flames and evacuate the upper floors, but not before many of the children were burned to some degree or another, Sae among them. Several of them died, either in the fire itself or succumbed to their injuries soon afterwards. Why did they have to die?

As Umi had been on her way home she spotted the smoke and rushed back in a panic, only to be greeted by a sea of ambulances, fire crews, and police officers surrounding the burning remains of what had been her and Sae's home for almost eight years. In a desperate panic she ran amongst the ambulances searching for her sister. She found Sae being loaded into an ambulance, crying and screaming in pain, her left side covered in terrible burns. Seeing her sister like that had made her heart break. Why? What did she do to deserve this? It was just like with their parents... Bad things rarely happen to people who actually deserve it...

Umi rode with her sister in the ambulance, holding her uninjured hand and doing her best to reassure her. When Sae was finally treated and moved to a room to recover and be monitored Umi kept vigil over her little sister into the long hours of the night. Eventually though, no matter how hard she tried to fight it, she began to nod off until sleep finally overcame her. Her final thoughts before drifting off were of just how awful this world could be.

That was when she had that weird dream and finally, that's what brought her to this moment.

"Sae...?" Umi hesitantly asked in a more controlled tone. She was on her sister's right side and reached out to gently squeeze her hand.

After a few silent moments Umi felt her sister's hand slowly squirm around in hers before weakly returning a squeeze of her own. Sae's eyes opened and she blinked them blearily in the morning light filtering in through the window.

"Sis...? Where am I? My side, it hurts a lot..." Sae mumbled weakly, the pain evident in her voice.

"You're in the hospital Sae. There was a fire at the orphanage. You were... hurt pretty badly. A lot of the other kids were, too. Some of them..." Umi broke off, her voice was cracking up a little. She was happy that her sister was alive, but she and so many others had still gotten hurt.

"Died?" Sae asked unhappily. "I saw... I remember some of it. All of the other kids were screaming, I heard Chihiro from the room across the hall shouting that she couldn't open her door..." Sae continued, her voice growing more shakey and thick with emotions as she went on. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes.

Umi leaned in and wrapped her arms around her sister, taking extreme care not to disturb her wounds. Sae began to sob and burried her face in her sister's hair. "Shh... I know it must have been horrible. I'm so, so sorry Sae... It's my f-fault. I-if I hadn't snuck out... If I had been there I could have..." Umi broke off, tears of her own begining to spill out. It was true, if she had stayed home that night she could have easily used her powers to stop the fire, to save the other kids, something. Sae didn't know that though.

Sae shook her head, still buried in Umi's hair. "You c-couldn't have done anything Umi, the fire w-would've happened either way, it's not something a girl could just stop... O-oh!" Sae suddenly exclaimed.

"What is it Sae?" Umi asked, a bit taken aback.

"I just remembered... It was about the same time that you were sneaking out, I was looking out the window and something across the street caught my eye. There was a girl about our age crouching down on a roof top nearby. She just sort of sat there, watching the orphanage for a minute or two and then disappeared..."

"I see..." Umi muttered as she digested this news. A girl on a rooftop nearby? Could it have been another magical girl? And she'd been watching the orphanage too, disappearing just as Umi had snuck out to go on patrol. Maybe... She could have been watching for Umi to leave, and then once she was gone...

She'd set the building on fire.

Umi gritted her teeth with anger as she considered this scenario. It wasn't impossible, a girl could have followed her home one night, watched the place, figured out when and how often she left, and then, when the moment was right, they went and started that fire. Umi was shaking with rage, the more she considered it the more convinced she became. Some other magical girl had targeted her home, she didn't know why yet, but she intended to find out. She was going to find whoever did this.

"Sis...?" Sae asked worriedly as she felt her sister shaking against her.

"I'm alright, Sae," Umi told her sister, trying to hide the anger in her voice. She gave Sae one last squeeze with her arms before breaking their hug. "I'm going to go out now, there are some things that I want to look in to... Try to rest now, I'll come see you again later."

"Okay... Be careful, Umi," Sae urged, not sure what her sister intended to do. She watched her sister make her way out of the hospital room and decided to close her eyes, drifting off to sleep soon after.

Meanwhile Umi had made her way out of the hospital, ready to begin her search for the person that had started the fire. The best place to start looking, she thought, would be in and around where the fire had started. Maybe the arsonist had left some clues behind?

 

[Murderhobo of Nod]

"Sleep is for weak," Mao grumbled irritably.

But, honestly, how could sleeping-in, possibly be that bad?

Today, after all, is Angel's televised proclamation: Mao would finally, without fail, get a break from the hustle and bustle of show biz.

Supposedly, that is.

If she didn't have to do some god damn last-minute interview.

'It will bring out greater publicity,' they said.

Yeah, riiiiiiighty~o then.

Maybe she could just, y'know, sneak out? It wouldn't be the last time she played ninja.

And if on Que, like clockwork, one of her many stooges hands Mao her ordered iced mocha. Always finicky when it comes to the finer things in life; Mao quickly inspected her beverage. For such things as: the amount of individual Ice, no less than 22, all cubicle. Smell, consistency and coloring, and finally, if agreeable thus far, a taste test. Mao, having an obnoxiously, excessive sugar tooth, demanded the mocha have a taste almost akin to. . . raw syrup.

Now all she had to do was get the straw. . .

. . . Of which is of a hideously green coloration.

With what amounts to zero hesitation at all. Mao arises from her rather uncomfortable chair, hasting towards the nearest waste-bin and unceremoniously dumps the now offending iced mocha; of which incurred a slight annoyed yelp in the hectic background.

But, now what?

There wasn't anything to do here, besides playing idly with her phone.

Is K-chan up?

Absentmindedly playing with her vividly red hair ribbon, Mao began to formulate a quick message. Hopefully, K-chan's already up. It would probably make her already miserable day somewhat happier.

Pssssssst, K-chan?

U up?

Jeeze, can't believe I have to be up, doing this crap. Today, should be my vacation day ;_; ! Ugh. Pray for me!

Click to shrink...

Please, please respond. Mao sunk even closer to her phone in anticipation.

@Bladestar123

 

[Bladestar123]

"Sleep is for weak," Mao grumbled irritably.

But, honestly, how could sleeping-in, possibly be that bad?

Today, after all, is Angel's televised proclamation: Mao would finally, without fail, get a break from the hustle and bustle of show biz.

Supposedly, that is.

If she didn't have to do some god damn last-minute interview.

'It will bring out greater publicity,' they said.

Yeah, riiiiiiighty~o then.

Maybe she could just, y'know, sneak out? It wouldn't be the last time she played ninja.

And if on Que, like clockwork, one of her many stooges hands Mao her ordered iced mocha. Always finicky when it comes to the finer things in life; Mao quickly inspected her beverage. For such things as: the amount of individual Ice, no less than 22, all cubicle. Smell, consistency and coloring, and finally, if agreeable thus far, a taste test. Mao, having an obnoxiously, excessive sugar tooth, demanded the mocha have a taste almost akin to. . . raw syrup.

Now all she had to do was get the straw. . .

. . . Of which is of a hideously green coloration.

With what amounts to zero hesitation at all. Mao arises from her rather uncomfortable chair, hasting towards the nearest waste-bin and unceremoniously dumps the now offending iced mocha; of which incurred a slight annoyed yelp in the hectic background.

But, now what?

There wasn't anything to do here, besides playing idly with her phone.

Is K-chan up?

Absentmindedly playing with her vividly red hair ribbon, Mao began to formulate a quick message. Hopefully, K-chan's already up. It would probably make her already miserable day somewhat happier.



Please, please respond. Mao sunk even closer to her phone in anticipation.

@Bladestar123

Click to shrink...

Kana blinked away tiredness from her eyes, and sat up. Squinting, she groaned and leaned back a little, so she was once again hidden in shade behind the AC.

Checking her phone, she saw a message came in, and grunted lightly, giving up on further napping. She slowly got up, her long hair curtaining in front of her face. Stretching lightly, she stood and looked at the sky from where she stood atop one of the high-rises. A quick glance back showed that the bucked she'd placed in front of the door was undisturbed. Good, no one had come up. She smiled lightly, vindicated in her choice of nap spot, and blinked at the harsh sun.

Wondering who would send a message so early, she looked down and saw that it was from Mao. She immediately froze and quickly opened the message. The girl had been gone when she'd woken up (late), and Kana had assumed she'd gone out for coffee. Again.

Reading the message, she relaxed a little. Chuckling lightly, she whispered a quick prayer for the girl and the staff caring for her; Mao could be impossibly fussy when she felt cheated of something, and vacation was something the younger girl had been looking forwards to a long time.

Sighing wistfully at her shaded spot, she quickly tapped out a message, and began stetching more vigorously.

Good luck~
Got up, moved, napped, moved, napped more. Good day.
Already prayed for you. This rate, may just make a shrine
When we're done, we can go somewhere fun.

Click to shrink...

Kana grimaced when the message had been sent. Phones this advanced were new to her, and she hadn't the grasp for "chatting" her friend did. It always made her feel clumsy when replying.

Kana stepped to the edge, and looked out over the town. The town she had no memories of. The town she'd found herself in after quite notably dying. The town she'd stayed in, instead of running "home". What was left of it anyway. She didn't remember too well what happened, but she remembered enough that there was no point going back.

She had people here, at least, that cared. She smiled down at her phone again.

This wasn't a bad town.

 

[Takoe]

Kawaji Mitsuki was tired. Not for lack of good, long sleep, she made sure to keep a strict schedule for both her and her boss' sake. That man would be lost without her, no matter how important a man he was. No, what made her groggily sigh like a soldier in a trench while she was drinking her morning coffee were the events that had transpired during her nightly activities. Reality and Truth were once again fucked up, and she hated it.

She'd gone out hunting again and nearly caught up with her prey when several unexpected figures from her past showed up at the last moment and prevented her from completing the night's objective. Or at least, she thought that had happened. As soon as she'd lain eyes on the group of girls on a night out the damned headache had struck her with the force of a maul. By now she knew what this meant. Really, looking back on it, the encounter wasn't even that unlucky. She'd have had to deal with them sooner or later and now she'd managed to perfectly get the drop on.

But somewhere deep down she couldn't shake the feeling that those girls had been total strangers to her. "Perhaps it's because they didn't transform and screamed so loudly while I was tearing them apart..." She wondered out loud. "Magical girls are usually made of sterner stuff." She then mentally shrugged, downed her coffee and began to clean up her breakfast. What's done is done. She'd just have to catch that bitch and grind her face at a later date. Besides, apart from finding and rooting out more traitors her night on the job had laid bare another interesting bit of information. A Youma was on the move to the living part of town. It had been years since that had happened. Right before the incident and the great fire not long after, to be exact. It was even the same one that made the first move again. The Chancellor would be very interested indeed to hear that Judgement was almost upon them.

Minutes later Mitsuki entered her garage, dressed in a sleek black suit befitting of the personal assistant of Prime Academia's Supreme Chancellor, her hero and guiding light through these trying times. Her other anchor on reality and love of her life was currently with her in the room: Her Car. She affectionately wiped away a leftover drop of blood off of the hood and drove towards the academy, sending a quick message to her boss with her phone.

On my way, sir.

PS. The time is upon us

Click to shrink...

 

[Murderhobo of Nod]

While the fire has long since been extinguished; the bitter fact that those poor, pitiful children, perished within those hungry flames made this tragedy all the more horrific, and senselessly cruel. Try as they might: not even Tenkawa's grim-faced, hardened rescuers, could manage to even save a single, trapped, child's life.

But, to add more insult to injury. . . This wasn't just the only fire: hospitals, parks, beaches, schools, it seems like someone or something was maliciously trying to set Tenkawa alight again into another hellish inferno.

Despite growing apprehension, terror and unease, authorities couldn't find the inhuman monster behind the serial arson. Perphaps. . .

Perphaps at the site, itself, of this awful tragedy. . . this now, ashen, derelict, forsaken place: will linger some residual evidence --- and hopefully, a lead to the true culprit.

---

@TurtleDucks

What once was a happy home, is now the site of ground zero: the orphanage, itself, looms over like a monument of horror, etched over patches of scorched and barren earth, while the wind, somehow, blows only a nauseating sense of icy stillness. . .

Directly ahead, lies the door to the front entrance. Leading to the main lobby and reception area. Assuming the door isn't barred shut. . .

"I see. . . Momomiyia, that's where you are." A soft, polite voice inquires. "I hope I'm not intruding on anything too personal, am I?" The voice came from nowhere, save Umi's own head.

@ApocalypticFish

The place was rather haunting, but this is it. . .

From what Hozumi can easily gather, she's on the other side of orphanage: next to, well, what was the playground. For the fire to screech on this far? It must have been pretty bad. As the playground been distorted and warped by the sheer intensity of the flame's heat.

Now, Hozumi to validate a friend's innocence! Surely, there must be a way!

 

[TurtleDucks]

Umi had arrived at the orphanage just a few moments ago, having pushed open the wrought iron gate of the low brick wall that surrounded the building. She took a few moments to look around, noting with sadness, and no small amount of anger, all of the damage that had been wrought upon her and Sae's home.

Almost every part of the building was visibly fire damaged, most of the windows shattered or warped. Debris littered the small yard between the outer wall and building proper. Umi noted that large patches of grass in the yard had been burned away and that there were scorch marks even on the interior of the wall.

"This is fucking terrible..." Umi muttered, gazing upon the destroyed orphanage sadly. It hadn't been the ideal place to grow up, not that someone could expect that of an orphanage, but she had still lived there most of her life. It was her home. And now it was gone...

Umi shook her head to clear her thoughts. There would be time to mourn the loss of her home later, for now there was something she needed to do. She was just beginning to walk towards the entrance and see if it was open when a voice suddenly reached out to her.

"I see. . . Momomiyia, that's where you are." A soft, polite voice inquires. "I hope I'm not intruding on anything too personal, am I?" The voice came from nowhere, save Umi's own head.

Click to shrink...

Umi faltered for a moment, caught off guard by the surprise interruption. Telepathy. That meant another magical girl was nearby, or perhaps a Tsukaima.

'Yes, you are... But as long you're here I have some questions I'd like to ask. Who is this? Could you come down here so we can talk?' Umi telepathied back.

 

[o3o]

...beep.

...

...Beep.

Mrrghh.

Beep. Beep.

...

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Mmm..."

Mumbling facedown into her bed, Setsuna buries her head under her pillow.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Ugh.

Pulling herself upwards, Setsuna stretches her arms.

"Ugh..."

Getting up early sucks.

---

Brushing her teeth with one hand, Setsuna fumbles her books off the table and into her backpack with the other.

"Mrng, bwuvah."

Akira continues staring at his laptop, lost in thought.

...bah.

Walking over to the sink, Setsuna spits out her toothpaste.

"Good morning, big brother."

Akira looks up, startled.

"Ah... good morning, Setsuna."

He gives her a half-hearted smile, before he returns to his work.

Hmm...

"Hey, Akira. What time is it?"

"That's nice."

...haah.

Setsuna sighs, and looks at the clock.

7:30...?

I should still be okay.

Now, she just needed to pack a lunch...

Putting her things on the couch, Setsuna walks to the kitchen.

Walking over the to the fridge, Setsuna opens it up, to reveal...

...food.

Err, that is to say... instant food, of all shapes and sizes.

Cup noodles, microwaveable pizzas, TV dinners---!

From easily boiled Mac-and-Cheese powder on the shelves, to boxes of frozen beef-stew in the freezer below, all of it was of the easily prepared variety.

...But...

Setsuna frowns once again, and sighs.

She shuts the fridge.

Living off instant food can not be good for you.

...hmm, I think we have still have some bread in the cupboard... and I think there's some leftover chicken from yesterday.

Don't think I haven't noticed all that instant food. That can not be good for you.

I know you aren't feeling up to cooking these days, so...

I'm taking over!

Breakfast is on the table, your lunch is in the fridge. (I even found your old Spider-Man lunchbox!)

I'll do the dishes when I get home from school.

Love,

The best younger sister in the world

Click to shrink...

...maybe that part is too obnoxious?

Setsuna scratches out that last part.

Love,
Setsuna

Click to shrink...

Nodding to herself, she tapes the note to the fridge door.

Now, I just need to make lunch for myself...

She glances at the clock again.

...man, I am such a hypocrite.

Dashing over the fridge, Setsuna grabs a cup of instant noodles - the beef flavor is the best. I don't know why Akira insists on getting the Seafood ones! - before she runs out the door...!

---

"Wait! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Setsuna dashes forwards, reaching out a hand---!

"Whew."

Made it!

Handing over a bus ticket, she slumps into her seat.

Alright, maybe next time I'll just have to get up a little earlier...

...

Hmm...

Setsuna frowns.

I don't mind making everything, but...

As she leans back and stretches out her arms, she can't help but to think back to a few years ago.

---

Two children, sitting on stools in front of the countertop. In front of them - a bowl of cookie dough, lovingly mixed by their mother.

"I'm gonna finish shaping mine first!"

"Nuh-uh!"

After all - heart shaped cookies were way cooler than star shaped ones---!

...

The same two children, a little older - sitting side by side at the dinner table.

"I wish Mom and Dad would get home sooner."

Akira ruffles her hair.

"It can't be helped, right?"

Setsuna nods.

"Come on, let's get something to eat. Mom taught me how to make steak---!"

---

Setsuna sighs.

...Akira loved cooking...

She glances out the window - there was the library, and past it, the bakery.

Ever since Satsuki...

...

Setsuna's hand comes up, and grasps at her neck. She looks down at her hand - she's holding a silver necklace, the pendant embedded with a multi-colored gem.

The last time Akira was happy... was when she was still alive.

Maybe...

Maybe this time...

---

"Ahhh---!"

A scream echoes through the air.

---!

Setsuna grasps at her necklace, before she tosses it into the air. Catching it in her fist, she thrusts her hand into the air---!

"Henshin!"

An eerie crimson mist fills the air, before coalescing into a white leotard. Iridescent armor pops into existence, encasing her arms in gauntlets, and forming into boots around her feet. On the sides of her head - a futuristic headset, complete with a visor covering her eyes (nonfunctional, sadly), headphones (at least those work!) that extended out into two spikes, going to either side of her head. Finally... the gem embedded within glows, and her necklace extends and spins and lengthens, turning into scarf of pure white, flaring out behind her.


Setsuna charges into battle...!

...

Setsuna wrinkles her nose, and wipes a trickle of crimson liquid out of her eye.

I really do hate the smell of blood... Why couldn't I have gotten lightning powers or something?

She turns around, and drops her weapon - an ornate... axe...? The handle was etched with a honeycomb like pattern, and twin blades came out on either side of the head. The head itself contained a circular array of lights, revolving around one larger, brighter light. Indeed, the... veins? etched into the handle, as well as the edges of the blades, seemed to pulse alongside it.

...It's almost like a heartbeat.

"It's okay now. The monster is-"

The man screams, and hurls a bag at her.

"Get away from me! Someone, help! There's a murderer, with an axe!"

"That wasn't- I mean, I'm not..."

Without listening to her at all, the man runs away.

"...being a heroine sure is tough..."

Setsuna dejectedly releases her transformation.

---

...Yeah.

This time, for sure...I'll definitely help someone...!

...Setsuna clenches her fist, still holding her pendant... and she looks out the window, gazing at the city.

The park passes by the window, as the bus starts to slow down. Setsuna ties her necklace back around her ne-

...wait, the park!?

Ack!

She had been so lost in her thoughts, that she had completely missed her bus stop---!

Smashing down the button to request a stop, she stumbles off the bus, and dashes towards her school...!

I really hope I'm not late...

 

[Wizard_Marshall]

Aikawa Sakura was not having a good day. First, she woke up late. Then her grandmother scolded her. To top it off, she was cleansing today so she wasn't supposed to eat. The only thing she was allowed was some bread and water.

She'd always felt a little bad, lying to her friends about her circumstances, like being unable to eat certain foods, but her grandmother had raised Sakura. Sometimes, she found her grandmother's rules stifling, but it was a small price to pay for everything her grandmother had done for Sakura and her mother.

So what if her grandmother monitored her schedule, relationships, and diet? There were many people less fortunate than Sakura. People without shelter, family, or food. Things would work out if she just followed her grandmother's words. Sakura couldn't trust herself after that "incident." Nowadays, she had immersed herself into the lifestyle of a priestess helping the faithful while wishing for the impossible.

I'm not late! I'm not late! I'm not late! Sakura chanted in her mind as she sped down road to school.

Maybe if she believed strongly enough, it might come true? She was a magical girl after all... Nah. It was good to have big dreams, but just because she was deluding herself wouldn't necessarily turn it into magical power.

At least her life was better these days. She'd even made a few friends! That was more than someone like her deserved.

Unfortunately, Sakura was lost in her thoughts, not paying attention to her surroundings. Her silver braids bounced as she ran with a slice of bread in her mouth.

@Crow

 

[Lichte]

It was already morning when Yuko returned home. She entered the apartment complex without concern for being caught, knowing her father would have left for work by now. Her key clicked against the knob in an uneven beat, a shaking hand struggling to find the keyhole.

"Yuko?" a voice called. The neighbors, unfortunately, were a different story. "Are you just getting back?" The girl at the end of the hall looked from her her uniform to Yuko's t-shirt and shorts.

"Nah," she lied, "I just went out for breakfast. Dad tried to cook last night and…"

The neighbor's nose wrinkled at the thought. "Say no more."

Finally, the key slid in. "Well, I'd better get ready," Yuko excused herself. "Don't want to be late."

She entered without waiting for a response, slamming the door behind her and groaning at the sight of the clock.

"Almost fifty..." she muttered. She'd hoped she might get a peaceful night's rest if she was too tired to dream, but one sleepless night hadn't been enough to do the trick.

She stepped through the living room, making straight for her father's liquor cabinet and pulling out a bottle of whiskey. He'd never bothered locking it, and she wasn't sure if he didn't know she'd started taking from it or just didn't care. 'Doesn't really matter,' she told herself as she took a drink. Like this, dead tired and a bit tipsy, she could almost convince herself the dreams were just dreams.

Almost.

She took another drink before heading to the shower.

---

Thirty minutes later, Yuko was back outside and headed for school, shaking extremities and frayed nerves calmed by the whiskey, the dark circles under her eyes covered by makeup, and the smell of alcohol hopefully hidden under scented soap, shampoo, the onion bagel she'd had for breakfast, and a handful of mints.

She paused for a moment at the sight of a girl in the same uniform as her running from the park, blinking as recognition dawned. "Hey!" she shouted. "You!"

@o3o

 

[Murderhobo of Nod]

@Silvan Eldar

'Greetings.' A friendly thought rings softly within Hino's head.

'Do not be worried, it is me, Kuu.'

Seemingly materializing from nothing, the familiar hovered lazily behind Hino, within his (its?) warming halo of fairy-light.
An ever so cordial and polite Tsukiama; Kuu appears be something stripped straight-off a fantasy series: a chibi-wyvern whose eyes are perpetually snapped shut as if enraptured in deep meditation.

"Can I have a moment; if you would be so kind? Its rather pressing as its concerns the Seeds. . ."

@TurtleDucks

'Forgotten me, already? Haven't you, Momomiyia?' The voice sounded almost. . . disappointed, in Umi's lack of awareness.

'Its Kuu.' The fairy-wyvern descends with his tell-tale glow.

'. . . What troubles, you so?' Kuu inquired, patiently.

 

[Crow]

As if there was a need to confirm that being a seer wasnt all it was hyped up to be, the romanticism of the whole idea was completely lost on Shinobu.

Her "Gift" was annoyingly complicated and cryptic at times yet just useful enough at others that she couldn't just stop paying attention to it...not like she could ignore it either since even while she slept she saw vague visions of the futures that may be.

But was it really necessary for her to see clearly stupid details like at what time she was going to get up and when is she going to hit her toe with a door? Regardless of the fact that most of the time she can do nothing to avert it since it's not like most of her visions come with time-stamps?

So after a needlessly grimdark yet vague enough so she couldn't really prepare for anything nightmare she woke up in a cold sweat and went about her day normally, which is what she saw she was going to do today. And for some reason that annoyed her too.

Yoshino already had departed. She debated on just going back to bed before giving up after actually trying it. Her blood was already pumping for some reason, so she might as well check on her "partner."

Grumbling under her breath she put some casual clothes on and stalked the streets for just the spot.....aha.

Leaning on the wall she made a show of looking at the clock on her phone while mentally counting down.

3....2...1....

Unfortunately, Sakura was lost in her thoughts, not paying attention to her surroundings. Her silver braids bounced as she ran with a slice of bread in her mouth.

Click to shrink...

"You´re late," she states with a needlessly serious look while munching on some pocky she won in a bet yesterday(One of the good uses for her "gift", huh? You think seeing the future is cheating? Come on its their fault for betting against a seer, besides those games are usually stacked for the house so its all in good business)

"And you forgot your wallet." Now in fairness she usually did not make a habit of peeping on other people´s lives if she could help it, especially if she actually knew them. But she was determined to keep an eye on Sakura just in case she got out of control again, the girl even made her promise she would stop her if something were to happen...and while good-natured she was just a tragedy in the making like something out of an Urobuchi visual novel.

So for the overly earnest girl Shinobu took some small amount of pleasure in messing with her when the opportunity arises, like now.

 

[Murderhobo of Nod]

Mao felt a little better about all this, Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. . .

"Mao-chan, you're up!"

One of studio's attendants snapped her up, from her happy stupor. From the peppiness of her voice to her obnoxiously cheerful grin, Mao concluded only one thing: she was highly annoying.

"Right. Right. Right. . . I get it." Mao sighed, "Let me shoot a quick text."

Not bothering if the annoyance said no or not, Mao hastely texts.

Thx u xoxoxo! Gotta' go, now
Hey, hey, let's go git some iccream aftr, alght?
Bye~♥ K-chan
M-chan

Click to shrink...

"Alright then, let's get this over with. . ." The sooner, the better.

---

Mao could never get used too it:

The dazzlingly lights, the roaring waves of colorful graffiti, the deafening cheers of rambunctious crowds, and in this extremely rare case:

Talk-show hosts.

Today, she is to be interviewed by some middle-aged woman, by the named Kanajo. Really, that's it. That's all the Angel of Love, otherwise known as Hiiragi Mao, was given this fateful morning.

Impatiently, Mao sunk into her chair.

This is awful.

Everything's awful.

How much longer till this stupid show begins, so she could leave already? This chair is highly uncomfortable and the dizzying lights are beginning to bind her. But thankfully, the lead cameraman begins his signature countdown. . .

1.

2.

3. . .

Its finally starting; if the show's cheesy theme is any indication. Soon, Kanajo, herself, begins her opening piece:

"Hello, Tenkawa!"

The crowd begins to roar jubilantly, "Today, this early morning we have a very, veery, veeery special guest!"

"The Angel of Love, herself, Mao-chan"

The Cameras, like a school of piranhas, begin circling their exposed prey: Mao.

"A rising Pop Idol heralding from our own lively and bustling city!" The audience was still howling, and clapping, and whistling, and cheering, and has yet taken dip in its energy.

"So," This Kanajo woman smiles.

"Mao-chan how are you doing this morning, I hear you are quite the early bird?"

Mao mentally frown.

She woke up an hour earlier for this shit; who in their right mind would wake up early? To hell with that. But contray to her feelings, Mao ended up brightly smiling.

"Its not quite like that, but I try to be."

"Oh, how Adult."

She shifts, "Mao-chan, you started off quite young in your musical career, right? At the age of Twelve, no less."

'Adult?'

'Is she playing coy?'

"Yes," Mao nodded, "My Mother is wonderful teacher."

"Indeed. Its unfortunate that she was taken away from this world; there's no doubting that she is proudly watching you from heaven."

Mao couldn't help but feel angry.

Why was she going on about her mother like she knows her personally?

"Mao-chan, has your mother's death ever affected your music?"

"No, I try to sing from a happy, cheerful place. I don't want others too feel bad. . ." What hell is up with these questions? Her nails were beginning to dig painfully into her chair.

"That's good to hear, from Tenkawa's number one idol!" Kanajo exclaimed before continuing her verbal onslaught. "Mao-chan, your Mother has left and enduring legacy in the musical world. Tenkawa, no, the world asks: Angel, can you not only live up to her legacy, but exceed it too?"

It was like a nail to the heart, but. . .

"I'll try."

Was the best Mao could offer.

---

Even through the show's finally over. . .

Everything became a blur, afterwards. But Mao felt a growing hot-icy rage, she wanted to hurt someone. The people responsible for scheduling this.

How dare they. . .

Mao began to make a quick text. . .

---

@Bladestar123

Somewhere in the loft, Tsukino heard the tell-tale buzzing of a cell phone.

It wasn't hers, through. . .

 

[Silvan Eldar]

'Greetings.' A friendly thought rings softly within Hino's head.

'Do not be worried, it is me, Kuu.'

Seemingly materializing from nothing, the familiar hovered lazily behind Hino, within his (its?) warming halo of fairy-light.
An ever so cordial and polite Tsukiama; Kuu appears be something stripped straight-off a fantasy series: a chibi-wyvern whose eyes are perpetually snapped shut as if enraptured in deep meditation.

"Can I have a moment; if you would be so kind? Its rather pressing as its concerns the Seeds. . ."

Click to shrink...

For a moment Sasami tensed as the familiar voice resounded through her mind, only recognizing it after a slight delay.

Visibly relaxing, Sasami turned towards the draconic Tsukiama with a bright, if tired, smile upon her lips and replied pleasantly "Oh? That'd be fine Kuu-san, it's always good to stay up to date with that stuff."

Sasami might not have quite gotten used to voices, besides her own, in her head, but she couldn't hold that bit of creepiness against the little creature. After all, if it wasn't for him then she'd never have the chance to achieve her dream. That his arrival and her magic made life a whole lot more interesting overall was just an really nice bonus

Now if only it'd just let her play dress-up with it...

 

[TurtleDucks]

'Forgotten me, already? Haven't you, Momomiyia?' The voice sounded almost. . . disappointed, in Umi's lack of awareness.
'Its Kuu.' The fairy-wyvern descends with his tell-tale glow.
'. . . What troubles, you so?' Kuu inquired, patiently.

Click to shrink...

Umi closed her eyes and sighed in frustration, mentally kicking herself for not recognizing the Tsukaima's voice immediatly. Was she so out of sorts after the fire that she would forget something so basic? In any case, she should apologize to the little one...

"I'm sorry about that Kuu-san, I didn't mean to offend you... There's a lot on my mind right now, I wasn't thinking clearly," Umi answered in an apologetic tone, opening her eyes to watch the Tsukaima as it approached her.

"As for what's troubling me, well, you can see for yourself," Umi continued, gesturing towards the burned out orphanage. "My home... It's gone. People were killed, my sister was hurt... and, what's worse, I think that another Magical Girl may have done this."

 

[ApocalypticFish]

The place was rather haunting, but this is it. . .

From what Hozumi can easily gather, she's on the other side of orphanage: next to, well, what was the playground. For the fire to screech on this far? It must have been pretty bad. As the playground been distorted and warped by the sheer intensity of the flame's heat.

Now, Hozumi to validate a friend's innocence! Surely, there must be a way!

Click to shrink...

She walked through the park, carefully looking at the burn marks made. Were they caused by magic, or by physical means? (roll+insight)

Chances were, if it were a magical entity, that it wouldn't bother using physical means; either way, it would significantly lower the amount of work she would have to do...at least, if she could figure out which it was.

She sighed, and continued walking through the crisp remains of the orphanage.

Eventually, she spotted someone looking around at the place; the girl looked around her age, but she hadn't seen her in her class. She thought for a moment; perhaps she attended a different school?

@TurtleDucks

ApocalypticFish threw 2 6-faced dice. Reason: Roll+Insight Total: 6

 

[Murderhobo of Nod]

@Silvan Eldar

'. . . I have detected the emergence of a Youma,' Kuu turned his petite head towards the south.

'Thus an opportunity presents itself, Hino ––– while its weaken in its mewing, infantile state, a surgical maneuver to end its noisome existence, and extract its hardwon fruits: the Seed, would be highly advised.'

'What say you, Hino?'

---

@TurtleDucks

'Your theory isn't too far fetch, Momomiyia.'

'There has been some. . . disturbing findings: of unknown Magical Girls rummaging throughout this city; without a aide: a Tsukaima. Such rogue agents could stoop to a number of illicit activities; harmful, perhaps even deadly, to the inhabitants of Tenkawa. . .'

'Arson, like this, is only the tip of iceberg. Its inky depths, yet scratched. ' Kuu begins to dryly yawn, 'But currently there's another issue at hand. . .'

 

[TurtleDucks]

'Your theory isn't too far fetch, Momomiyia.'

'There has been some. . . disturbing findings: of unknown Magical Girls rummaging throughout this city; without a aide: a Tsukaima. Such rogue agents could stoop to a number of illicit activities; harmful, perhaps even deadly, to the inhabitants of Tenkawa. . .'

'Arson, like this, is only the tip of iceberg. Its inky depths, yet scratched. ' Kuu begins to dryly yawn, 'But currently there's another issue at hand. . .'

Click to shrink...

'Okay... What's the issue then?' Umi asked, her eyes narrowing and a slight frown forming on her lips as she considered what Kuu had just told her in the back of her mind. She would have to look in to these new Magical Girls when she got the chance.

 

[ApocalypticFish]

her eyes narrowing and a slight frown forming on her lips as she considered what Kuu had just told her in the back of her mind. She would have to look in to these new Magical Girls when got the chance.

Click to shrink...

...She seemed to be deliberating something. A little angry, no doubt. Perhaps they had some sort of relation to this place?

She didn't know any of the people here personally, but it looked like this person did. ...She wasn't particularly great at comforting people, but her moral stance demanded that she at least try to empathize with them.

She approached the person she had never met before. Tragedies like this...she would put more thought into this than she usually did. It was the least she could do. and said, "I can't pretend to know you. I can't even pretend to know what you're going through, honestly...was it anyone in particular?"

She tried to say it in the most honest tone she could; not sound condescending, or like she was putting down her feelings.

Her head was tilted up at the sky as she said those words. It just felt wrong to just look at someone and say something like that; it would've felt like she said it offhandedly, or with just pure pity, if she had done something like that.

 

[InfiniteDaze]

Aizawa Sumire wasn't a stranger to rough mornings. But there was a difference between the kind of crap she usually went through and... This.

"Why do I even have a kitchen, I can't cook for shit!" She yelled as she searched an empty freezer in hopes that it would suddenly will life giving substance into existence.

No such luck. Reality doesn't work that way.

Giving up, she slammed the refrigerator door and made a mad dash to collect everything else that she could in the house.

Bag? Check.

Uniform on? Check.

Wallet and cell phone? Triple check.

"Go go go!" She mumbled to herself as she ran out the door of her apartment, locking it behind her.

It was a sudden shift, between living with others and suddenly living by yourself. Suddenly it fell on her to do everything by herself.

She wasn't adapting well.

She dashed down the stairs of her apartment and out onto the street while she quickly tried to find the nearest convince store to buy at least something to eat.

Of course, that morning just so happens to be that sunny bright morning that always sapped the energy out of you and buy the time she had gotten a bag of chips one thing was clear.

She was completely and utterly lost with only ten minutes to make it to the first day of school.

It was time to fucking move.

Badababadadada!
​

"Well, here I am." She muttered as she looked at her watch. Three minutes till the bell. "I... Go to the office right? Gah! Remind me never to marathon a tv show on the first day ever again."

New school, no friends, no family, no idea what the hell to do and definitly no good start.

Stupid asshole who calls himself her father. This was all his (and albeit some of her) fault.

Brrrrrriiiiinnnnngggggg!!!

"Oh come on!"

 

[Ars Poetica]

The alarm was painfully loud.

Fujiwara Tsukasa slowly blinked sleep out of her eyes as she turned to look at the small clock on her bed stand. She didn't recognize it for a second, but slowly it came back to her. That electric clock, built in 1987, was something she'd probably awoken to every single day for a long time.

But for the life of her, at this moment, it'd might as well be the eighth time she'd ever seen it. She knew it was the eighth because she'd counted, every day, that same clock. It was playing the radio, she noticed as she fell out of bed and released a soft yawn. Tsukawa rubbed sleep out of her eye with the back of her hand and walked barefooted on soft carpet and towards the bathroom.

The light was blinding, and the mirror was unkind in its reflection. Tsukasa stared at the face in that mirror for a little longer than she should have, wondering what the person behind that face was thinking. She didn't know what she was thinking, because she didn't know who she used to be.

Put simply, nine days ago, Fujiwara Tsukasa ceased to exist. All her memories from before that time had disappeared, and all she had to go on was her student ID -- Prime Academia? That was a school, she knew, and she could tell that she was obviously a part of it. But that meant nothing to her.

This was Tenkawa City. This was her home, she thought to herself as she rubbed bright orange hair behind her ear. So why wasn't anything jogging her memory? How frustrating, she thought as she washed her face. How annoying, she pondered as she brushed her teeth. How... How was the door locked from the other side?

She stood there for a moment, her hand on the handle of the door as she jiggled it. It refused to budge. But the lock was on the other side of the door, so something had to have been blocking the handle, right?

At first, it didn't seem serious. But as the foggy haze of sleepiness fled her, she let her mind wander and fill with the dark possibilities of what was keeping her from leaving the bathroom. Dressed in nothing but her pajamas, she'd moved on from trying to move the handle with one hand to trying to twist it with both arms.

Putting as much of her weight behind it as possible, the door still didn't move. And as she took her hands off the handle, she started looking around the room for something to help her escape.

Down, next to the sink, she saw an outlet. Her thumbnail was just long enough to fit in the screw, and after three tries she managed to get it twisting. She bit her lip as she occasionally glanced towards the door, waiting to see if something pushed it towards her.

Nothing. There was nothing. No sound was coming from the other side of the door. The radio didn't automatically turn off, so someone had to have turned it off. That meant that someone had broken into her home.

Almost immediately after the thought occurred, the power in the bathroom turned off and plunged her into darkness. Still, she kept kneeling. Now she just glanced at the bottom of the door, searching through the ambient sunlight on the other side of it to see if anyone's feet was visible.

Her thumb twisted, the screw came out, and delicately she removed the panel from the outlet and crawled towards the door's handle. Using the panel as a screwdriver, she started twisting off the handle's screws one at a time. She wasn't very smart, she knew she wasn't, but it was amazing what a person could be driven to do when they were cornered.

Terrified, she was forcing herself to think her way out of the problem with everything she could muster. In many ways, it was her highest moment as she slowly removed one screw at a time from the handle of the bathroom door.

When none were left, she pushed the handle around. It jostled freely in the wooden door, and with a pull came loose and fell onto the bathroom floor. She clamored to peek through the hole left behind, hopefully to see if she could find what was keeping the door steady.

Her blue eye widened at the sight of the barrel of a pistol, and Fujiwara Tsukasa could've sworn she saw a bright light--

Screaming.

Burning.

Pain.

Everything hurt as she sobbed and held her bleeding face, rolling around on the ground. A bright flash of light enveloped her as she suddenly found herself dressed in a purple dress covered in frills. Vision returned to her damaged eye, but she still couldn't see anything in the bathroom.

Immediately, she faded from view of the mirror as her powers took control. Invisibility -- it was her most basic power, and one she was more than ready to pull off if it meant avoiding whatever was on the other side.

Unseen to all, she began manipulating steel threads between her two hands. If the door opened, she'd cut open anyone that came in through the other side. This was a life or death battle in her home. She couldn't be the victim, she couldn't die like this! She had too much to live for.

Light, unbidden, began glowing from the other side of the door. Her eyes widened as the orange glow met her, and through the hole left in her door she could see a figure standing there, blackened by the surrounding flames. The dark figure's hands were held out, as though approaching peacefully.

Tsukasa threw herself against the door with everything she had. It was supposed to open outwards, so a good and forceful hit should've been enough to knock it down -- especially if enhanced by the power she had as a Magical Girl. But the door stood like a brick wall as fires coated the other side.

Embers surrounded the figure, and Tsukasa watched it fade into the fires as they finally reached the hole and peaked through to find her. Licking the corners of the wood, smoke began filling the room.

...It was getting hard to breathe.

......She didn't want to die.

.........Not like this.

Past the sweltering heat, past the brightening light, Tsukasa's morning ended as it began, without her ever knowing what was happening or why.

PLAYER TERMINATED​