pow!☆

“I know— I know what you’re probably thinking…” Harumi said, wrapping her arms around herself. “That I must be selfish and— and manipulative—" 

"Gh, Harumi-san is just too careless! I have to change seats… she’s a complete jinx. I can’t stand it anymore—” 

"If I were her— I’d be embarrassed. The magical girl act is just so childish.”

She shook her head, thinking as if her mind were a piggy bank. If I keep shaking— I won’t even hear them anymore. I’ll get dizzy and they’ll go away. After all, Kiku Nekomura didn’t let anyone get her down. 

But did Harumi?

I don’t think my feelings— I don’t think they’ve ever reached anyone, so what do you expect me to say?” 

Harumi bit down on her lip once it had begun to tremble, her eyes welling up with more tears. She continued to stare downcast; everything had become a blurred kaleidoscope. She didn’t quite hate it.

"I was afraid, but it wasn’t just of the dark.” She admitted softly. “I’ve always figured that one day I’d go blind— that my eyes would get so bad that I’d never get to be Kiku again.” She paused. “The dark makes things worse, and I get really paranoid and scared—” 

The girl’s frame began to shake vigorously as she held herself, her eyes wide and glossy with tears.

"I’ve always treasured being Kiku and playing derby because— that’s all I’ve ever wanted. That’s were I belonged.” Her voice suddenly grew faint as Harumi struggled to find the proper words.  ”B-but I found other things to treasure without realizing it— and ruined everything. Without Moto-chan here, I don’t feel cute at all… I can’t be Kiku anymore…” 

Before speaking another word, Harumi bowed her head in shame towards the others.

"A-ah…? My glasses?" Kiku’s frown deepened as her hands made their way to her face. "I must have forgot them—” 

The girl leaned over her podium, squinting her eyes as she watched the other’s blurred silhouette. Who is th…? 

" Teh, I’m so stupid…” 

She lowered her gaze to the floor before hanging her head; it seemed as if everything had begun to blend together. Taking her hand, she lightly tapped the top of her head. Dummy… 

For the most part, Kiku had been silent; she’d never been good at discussing and debating with her classmates. As far as she was concerned, that was a smart people thing. It was usually for the best that she kept quiet— thinking happy thoughts as she often did. 

"Eh— o-okay…” Kiku said before she began to adjust her clothes. “If you think there was a struggle—… Moto wouldn’t lose a fight.” 

The derby girl exposed the rest of her arms, her legs, and then as much of her torso as she possibly could. (After all, there were children present!) 

Once she’d finished, Kiku waited for some paper to make it her way before writing something down for herself. 

“Mm…" She leaned in closely, squinting her eyes. "The economy is in shambles…”

A loud, high-pitched scream escaped the girl’s lips as she found herself staring into Moto’s wide, lifeless eyes. Nearly crashing into one of the nearby washing machines, Kiku covered her own eyes— forcibly blocking the image from her sight.  No, no— not this! She felt her bottom lip begin to quiver as her eyes welled with tears. 

He was her friend, right? After all, they had gotten along just fine these past, few weeks. Kiku had grown so used to having him around that now— she couldn’t even react to Moto’s own death without looking for his face in the crowd. At times like this, she would have tried to stop him from vomiting. But given the recent circumstances, it wasn’t quite possible. 

Despite a heavy numbness eating away at her stomach, she slid closer. 

"T-that’s not fair. You— you were suppose to be tough— hic! You were supposed to be smarter than me!" Kiku sobbed, clenching her hands into fists. "You can’t just die— what am I… hic! What am I supposed to do now?” 

Turning on her heels, the girl practically jerked her frame around as she forced herself past the crowd, bumping into anyone who stood near.

She continued to cry as she left the laundromat, falling to her knees once her skates had collided with the grass. Propping herself up by her hands, Kiku watched as her tears fell easily to the ground. 

“WhaaAAaaaaaa—!” 

She allowed heavy sobs to rise from her chest, not caring how immature or pathetic she may have sounded to the students behind her. Kiku was upset, and she wanted to cry— so she did. There was no shame in that; even magical girls cried when things got tough. And this was definitely tough.

Miyako, initially, had not planned to stay in the playground for more than a few minutes at most as she attempted to figure out her next plan of action; and yet, here she was, still, kicking her heels to the playground, sitting on the swing.

Pathetic…

Admittedly, and a little ashamedly, it took her a few minutes to register there was someone else there; a shorter girl, by the slide.

Wait; Miyako recognised her! She was the pink girl, who had said at Four-san’s trial that she was a…magical girl. A magical girl! Even if she didn’t know her name, that alone made the midwife a little excited. Even if it was just a claim, she did look like she’d pull off a mahou shoujo-style costume well…Furika-chan would be so excited…!

(She tried to bury the fact that Furika Ikumi was far, far, far away from here back to the deepest recesses of her mind.)

Slowly, as if afraid of startling someone if she went any faster, she slid off the swing, and began to make her way over to the derby girl, looking somewhat shy, almost.

“Ah, um…excuse me, Pink-san? Ah, I mean—! Er, may I ask your name…?”

(Calm down, Ikumi Miyako.)

Straightening herself up, she cast the girl a friendly smile, extending her hand.

“It’s good to talk to you! It’s just, er, I wanted to ask…at Four-san’s trial, you said you were…a magical girl, correct? It’s just, me and my sister…really like magical girls! So I wanted to see what you knew, and to learn more about you! I’m Miyako Ikumi, by the way, which— you probably already know, but…!”

Uh-oh. There it was.

The unmistakable sparkle that appeared in Miyako’s soft brown eyes whenever she was excited about something was shining bright in her eyes, looking at Kiku with a healthy mix of enthusiasm and curiosity.

What a nerd.

Pink-san? Kiku glanced around herself as if the girl could have possibly been talking to someone else. Well, she wasn’t the only one with pink hair there in Louloudias— that was for sure. It’s like I’m in an anime or something— teehee! 

She smiled sheepishly at Miyako, pressing a finger to her cheek in thought. What she knew? Frankly, Kiku didn’t know very much, but she was confident in her knowledge of magical girls. Too bad that wasn’t a school subject.

“O-oh! Well, I’m Kiku Nekomura—! It’s nice to meet you.” She replied, clenching her hands into small fists. “For some reason, like, I don’t have any power here— this place has given me all sorts of bad vibes... and my aura feels so weak I could— well, I could cry.” 

Despite her words, Kiku’s smile broadened and she began to pump her fists into the air. 

“Oh, yeah… hands. Sorry.”

He watched quietly as she clambered up the slide, preparing for ~the ride of a lifetime~, only to come to a halt mid-way. Talk about an anti-climax. He waited patiently for her to continue her trek down the slide, but she just sat there glumly instead. Was she stuck…? He wouldn’t be surprised, this clearly wasn’t designed to accommodate teens, even if Kiku was pretty small.

It was time to take matters into his own knees hands. Climbing up the slide after her, the rusty metal creaking under him, he sat himself at the top, knees drawn up to his chest. Boy, he was right when he thought this wasn’t for people his age. Or his size. But sometimes you have to take risks, for the sake of fun.

Stretching out his legs, he gave her a shove in the back with his heels, pushing her to the bottom of the slide. 

Placing her hands on her cheeks, Kiku felt herself enter an internal crisis— practically fearing for her own life. This was it, this was end. Moto was going to kill her with poor, safety precautions. Gah, there isn’t any evidence here— it’s the perfect crime!

And just like that, his heel made contact with her back; she promptly slid downwards, landing on the ground with a small “oof”. Removing her hands from her cheeks, Kiku blinked slowly in astonishment. 

“Mmm— I don’t think so...” She mumbled, pulling herself from the ground. “Are YOU having fun yet—? Huh?”

Placing her hands on her hips, she now stood in front of the slide. Kiku cocked her head to the side as if waiting for something, her eyes peering up at him. 

Moto sat atop the weathered dome climber, feet propped up on the peeling metal bars. This playground really was a dump. In hindsight, he thought visiting the playground would be a fun experience! …But alas, instead he was greeted with the sight of rusted bars and peeling wood. 

And… Kiku? What was she doing here? Apparently trying to upright a toppled slide… and failing, it seemed. Why someone would want to use that slide in the first place, Moto would never know. It was so coated with rust and dirt, it’d probably give you tetanus just by looking at it. But what did he have to lose at this point? Who was he to deny someone a little fun in these trying times?

Making his way over to her, he peered over her shoulder, clearing his throat as she mumbled to herself.

"Mmn… Hold on a sec’."

Gripping her shoulders, he scooted her aside, before dropping to his haunches. He slipped his hands under the side of the slide, straightening up with some effort, and allowing the slide to stand upright once again with a ‘thunk’.

“Wow—! That was, like, really macho, Moto-chan.” She said, scurrying over to the ladder. “I’m puh-retty sure you just lifted it with your hands though.”

Once she had climbed to the top, Kiku promptly sat with her legs resting in front of her. She kicked her feet against the slide, shaking off some of the dirt and rust as she did. It was a wonder why the girl even wanted to use such a shabby thing. 

Gross or not, It was a slide and dear Kiku just wanted to have a good time. Pushing herself forward, she slid about a mere foot before somehow stopping in the middle. What an awful playground, what awful equipment.