red-gold rose

There was a pause after Marika said those words while Alice considered what to do next.  She had hoped to cause Marika to back off without a fight, but I was clear that Marika wasn’t going to do that.  While Alice knew that magical girls shouldn’t fight, she also knew she needed to do something to help Snow White, or else she’d continue to suffer.

After considering all this, Alice charged at Marika.  She maintained her low stance as she made her rapid approach, and opened up with a powerful kick aimed at Marika’s midsection.

Marika chuckled. Oh she was on!

She took the kick to her midsection with a small grunt, holding her leg in place with a grab. “Not bad. But you’re gonna have to do more than that. C’mon, I wanna see you really use your power. Don’t hold back!”

“There’s nothing there to enjoy, Sensei. No need to rely on others if others leave you one by one…” How did it come to this? When they first met, Koyuki was the one that lectured her about being responsible and being a proper teacher, but in reality she was only using Mariko as a means to satisfy her ego and needs. “I…should focus on finding Ripple instead. I won’t be missed if I’m gone for awhile.”

“H-hey, c’mon.” Mariko stepped in front of her, so she couldn’t transform and fly off. “What about your parents? I’m sure they’d be pretty damn worried if you up and vanished...”

Damn, she dodged a bullet. It was weird…her usually irresponsible teacher has gotten her act together and she’s now one of the popular teachers in the school!? Not to mention…a lot more students have been coming to see her now. Koyuki felt like she was about to lose someone again and she felt depressed over this. “I’m probably going to patrol the city for a bit before heading home.” She mumbled, materializing Ruler in front of her without transforming.

Ah? Did she say something wrong? Snow looked a little dejected. Or perhaps rejected was a better word. Mariko rubbed the back of her neck and frowned in concern.

If Snow’s thoughts were a jumbled mess, then Mariko’s were a trainwreck.

“Uh–” she paused. “Y’know, I’m not really good at that kinda stuff, haha. Never really had anybody like me, pretty sure.”

There were definitely people Mariko had liked in the past, but–

Thoughts of Mimi were flooding back to her. Her stomach unsettled. She needed to turn her thoughts away, or Snow could hear them. She briskly freed her hand.

It pained Koyuki to do this, it really did. She had received a love letter from one of her classmates but not for herself, but rather to pass onto Mariko, the target of affection. She didn’t want to give up her teacher that easily…she may not display it, but Koyuki had become extremely reliant on her teacher as she validated her need of having to take care of someone. “Sensei, someone asked me…to give this letter for you.” She begrudgingly handed it over, looking down at her feet while doing so.

In the passing months, Mariko had become something of a celebrity icon at the school.

At first, she was the talk of rumors and idle chattering, which wasn’t surprising. That usually happened, because she was usually quickly painted out to be the loner type. Mariko typically found a few close friends she liked and was disinterested in everyone else. 

After meeting Snow White, Mariko felt like things were really changing for the better.  She found her confidence. She started taking showers more often, and her hair was no longer thin threads of grease. For once, she actually started to smell like flowers. She loved her students dearly, despite only being a substitute, and worked hard to help them pass. Suffice to say, she quickly became the center of the student gossip.

Perhaps she should have figured something like this would happen. “Ah? For me?” She took the parchment from Snow, flipping it over in her hands once or twice. It lacked a sender’s name.

Opening it revealed incredibly curly handwriting--a female student, probably. She took little notice to Snow’s lowering gaze and read the contents partially allowed, stopping to mumble every few seconds.

At first, she wondered what was so important it needed to be sent in a letter. Then, as she mulled over the contents, her face flushed. “Oh. Ah, um...” She stuttered, feeling somewhat exposed for what felt like the first time in a long time.

“Well, that’s sweet of her, but...” Mariko handed the letter back. “I’m a teacher, so I can’t exactly return her feelings, haha. And I don’t even know her, to boot.” She’d never... been the object of someone’s affections like this before. Was it proper to write a rejection letter? It would be kind of cruel to just send Snow back to give the bad news, wouldn’t it? But it would be inappropriate to meet with her like this, too, right?

“I’m not sure if it’s my place to brag, but I wouldn’t be into Magical Girl Raising Project if I wasn’t this addicted to games. Teacher, you’re on!” Koyuki played…this time, without using her abilities. This was purely her skill at this point. It was a simple fighting game, yet Koyuki’s abilities simply cannot be outrivaled!

Alice continued to stare down Marika.  At first Alice thought Marika was going to back down with how sheepish she was looking, but then she quickly recovered and confronted Alice.

In response, Alice quickly shifted her weight, leaning over in a low menacing stance. Combined with her already corpse like appearance, this stance made her look even more zombie-like than she already did.  “…Dangerous people like you have no business with Snow White… leave her alone.”  She maintained her monotone expression, but this time there was a slight edge to her words.  Alice wanted to get Marika to realize how serious she was.

“…” Alice stared at the magical girl, Mariko Fukuroi if she remembered the name Snow White had told her correctly.  It looked like Alice was right to be worried.  This was exactly the kind of magical girl Alice was worried Snow White would start hanging out with.  The kind that would rather fight than actually try to help people.

Alice’s gaze shifted over to what was left of the flowers for a moment.  She could respect how she wanted to protect the flowers at least, but she definitely could’ve found a more peaceful way of doing it! That was nothing like how Snow White… or at least… that was nothing like how the old Snow White would’ve resolved things.  She would’ve found some peaceful way to protect the flowers.

Finally she turned back towards the flower magical girl.  A muted expression on her face.  Alice decided it would be best to get right to the point, “You’re Mariko Fukuroi, right?  I need you to stay away from Snow White.”

For the moment of awkward silence, Marika stared with a hung jaw. She waited for some sort of reaction--probably scared, or something--from the magical girl, but instead she was given the same look as she’d had when she first saw her. Just sort of... emotionless. Blank. Marika furrowed her brows.

“No, no, no, it’s Marika. Marika Fukuroi!” She sheepishly scratched the back of her neck. It was probably a bit more childish to swap the syllable than to simply leave the ‘ko,’ but getting a name-change through the Land of Magic was more tedious than sitting in line at the DMV. 

The last time that Ripple had seen Snow White, she had murdered an innocent person in front of her. There was absolutely no way that Ripple would agree to talk to her.

After all of this was over and Frederica was gone for good, Ripple intended to approach Snow and let her decide what should be done to her. She wouldn’t even put up a fight- she understood that she couldn’t walk free after killing innocent Magical Girls, no matter what the circumstances had been. It was only right that she should finally be punished for her crimes.

Still… would there be any harm in leaving a message? Or would that just be another selfish act? How would Snow react to hearing from her? Would it help her or would it hurt her?

No, Snow White was stubborn. If she found out that Ripple was targeting Frederica then she’d most likely decide to hunt her down as well. It was better if she didn’t know.

“No thank you.” Ripple paused. “Are you her ally?”

Watching Ripple seriously for a moment, Marika shrugged. Suit herself, but Marika didn’t come here to chit-chat. It was the first time in a while Marika let herself go along with someone else’s whims--she still felt the guilt of her selfishness biting down on her, and the only thing holding it back was her composure.