Writefight!

Okay, I was rushing to get this out before July, so I just wrote up the magical girls’ refs.  I’ll update this post with the Shades’ refs soon!  Also, I used this picrew to make chest-up pictures of the characters (untransformed), and each character has a playlist of songs I associate with them!

Suravi Rahman (playlist)

Suravi, AKA the magical girl Lucky Spade, is the main protagonist.  At the beginning of the story (after the prologue), she finds herself falling from the sky on the Other Side, then quickly winds up passing through a mirror into San Francisco, a city on the other side of the world from her home in Dhaka.  The last thing she can remember before her fall is the car crash that killed her mother and older sister (Sabi) and almost killed her as well.  She’s found by Tarot, a Shade, then rescued by Jessica, a magical girl, and from there on out becomes involved in the battle between magical girls and Shades.  Though initially reluctant due to fear, she finds that she can’t just go back to a normal life — not only is her family dead, but she has a Trump Card (cards magical girls use to transform) embedded inside her, and her eyes have turned a weird shade of gray.  Teaming up with Jessica, she embraces her magic in order to protect the city, and find out just what happened to her back in that crash as well.

Every magical girl has a Virtue that their powers are meant to embody, and Suravi’s Virtue is hope.  She would’ve preferred something like independence or self-reliance, but she’ll take what she can get.  One of her goals is to one day get to a point where she won’t have to rely on anyone; as such, back in Dhaka, she was very diligent with her studies, and upon hearing that English was her best subject, she devoted extra energy to that, thinking she could perhaps become an English teacher someday.  She’s not really all that passionate about teaching, but she can’t think of any job she’d be genuinely enthused about, and what’s important is the salary, right?  When she was very little, her father just took off one day and never came back, leaving a huge dent in the remaining family (little Suravi, her mother, Sabi, and her paternal grandmother) both emotionally and financially.  The family wound up moving to Dhaka, and the situation improved as Suravi’s mother quickly moved through the ranks at her new job, but Suravi could still tell that the experience had deeply scarred her mother and Sabi (Suravi herself has little to no memories of her dad, and she’s pretty sure that her grandmother was always a cranky, disapproving woman, although she’d never say that out loud), and as she got older, she vowed to grow up to be a woman who could stand on her own even after marriage.  Of course, as loath as she is to ever admit it, Suravi was affected emotionally by her father’s departure, though it was mostly in the form of feeling embarrassed and jealous while hearing about her classmates’ big households and close extended family.  To avoid judgment and gossip, she developed a habit of vaguely speaking of her father as if he was dead (and only when absolutely necessary), but never explicitly saying that he’d died, in order to maintain somewhat plausible deniability.

Over the course of the following years, her grandmother died, then Sabi got married and moved in with her husband’s family.  Though she didn’t let it show much, Suravi missed her terribly, and with her mother working long hours, she felt lonely in the apartment by herself.  While she still had some good friends at school, she felt increasingly separated from her classmates as they got older — for some reason, they kept wanting to gossip about boys more and more, and she just couldn’t relate, as the things they seemed to find so attractive held no appeal for her.  This got her increasingly labeled as immature and/or holier-than-thou — the latter was particularly false, as Suravi has never been all that devout.  She was also considered stuck-up and distant by some of her classmates, and even before this, she’d always been a bit socially awkward, seen as too serious too often.  These issues were made worse by her sister-in-law Rukhsana, who seemed to be well-liked by everyone except Suravi, who she would demean and bully.  Even with all these struggles, Suravi misses her old life and having a home to go back to.

Suravi is ultimately a compassionate girl who doesn’t want to see others suffer, especially if it’s her fault in some way.  She has a strong dislike of unfairness, and resents it when people say things like “life isn’t fair,” or “that’s just the way it is,” without trying to change anything, though she might not always immediately confront them about it.  She can get pretty uncomfortable in big social groups, especially around people she doesn’t know, and tends to retreat into herself during these times, perhaps going off into a corner to read.  Suravi doesn’t have the same strict moral code that Jessica subjects herself to, and, combined with being a naturally cautious person, is usually the more pragmatic one as a result; however, Jessica knows a lot more about how to survive on the city streets, and her practicality in those matters can surprise Suravi.  Suravi also has somewhat of a stubborn streak, is often blunt without meaning to be, and can be argumentative at times.  When she’s been bottling up resentment and irritation for too long, she tends to take a lot (but not all) of it out on the closest object of annoyance.

As the magical girl Lucky Spade, Suravi fights with a calligraphy brush, and she has an ink theme.  She can attack with arcs of ink, and the brush can also be used as a bludgeoning weapon.  At first, she fights only out of obligation, viewing herself as a lousy excuse for a heroine because she’s not as brave as Jessica, and because she wasn’t chosen by the fairies like other magical girls are.  However, she takes some comfort in protecting others, reasoning that she doesn’t have to be a cookie-cutter hero in order to help people.  She also is a bit suspicious of the fairies, as well as the story given for what the Shades are and why they have to be fought; she suspects there’s more to the story, and she’d like to talk to a Shade outside of battle in order to hear their reasoning.  Not Tarot, though, because even without taking the mind control stuff into account, he’s a dick.

Jessica Martin (playlist)

Jessica, AKA the magical girl Lucky Clover, is Suravi’s partner.  She became a magical girl about three weeks before the story begins, and she’s known to be weak, even compared to previous inexperienced magical girls.  In truth, she wasn’t exactly the first choice to wield the Clover Trump Card, but Chip, the fairy who’d been tasked with finding the next Lucky Clover, was caught up in a battle en route to a promising candidate and wound up injuring her right wing, leaving her unable to really get around.  Jessica found her hobbling around San Francisco, hopelessly lost, and decided to take care of her until she could fly again; she knew about fairies since her older sister, Addison, whom she idolizes, used to be Lucky Clover.  During Chip’s recovery, she was shocked by Jessica’s generosity; Jessica had no home, no idea where her next meal would come from, and no one who could help her, but she still treated Chip with the utmost gentleness, shared what little she did have, and acted optimistic and hopeful to boost Chip’s spirits.  However, when Chip was fully mobile again and ready to continue on with her mission, Jessica’s facade shattered, and she begged the fairy to let her be Lucky Clover.  Chip, while thinking that Jessica’s kindness made her a great candidate, tried to stick with the high-ranking fairies’ ruling at first, saying that magical girl duties would make her already-dangerous situation extremely likely to turn fatal.  Jessica responded by pouring her heart out to Chip, telling her about how she was kicked out by her parents after being inadvertently outed as trans; how she tried couchsurfing for a while, alternating between friends’ houses and still trying to attend school until all the support dried up and she’d clearly overstayed her welcome; how she took to the streets full-time after that, even though it was terrifying to be so alone, with no one to help her when she was mugged, when she had nothing to eat, when her teeth began to rot, when she got sick from bad food and started throwing up so violently she feared she would die, when it grew dangerously cold and rain started pouring down and she had nowhere to escape to…

Then she talked about Addison, who’d let Jessica in on her secret magical girl life when she was younger.  Addison always told Jessica (quite embellished) tales of her battles, her exploits, how she defended the city alongside her partner, Lola, and to Jessica, Addison was a true hero; she wanted to grow up into a young lady just like her.  One terrible night, however, Addison came home with a nasty lump on her head and told Jessica that Lola was dead, killed by a Shade named Conquian.  Lola had been like a second big sis to Jessica, and so this event led her to have a personal vendetta against Conquian.

Beyond all that, however, Jessica wanted to be a hero.  She admitted that she’d come out to her friends in the first place because it seemed like something a brave heroine like Addison would do, and though it led to pain in the long run, it did feel wonderful to have her friends call her Jessica.  What she really wanted, she told Chip, was to have something come out of all of her tribulations, something worthwhile.  She wanted to do something more than just survive; she wanted to do something meaningful, help people, shine brightly as a light of some kind to people who felt like they were drowning in the world’s darkness.  If she could achieve that, then what happened to her in the end didn’t matter.  Better to burn out fast and bright than to slowly fizzle out.  Awed by her resolve, Chip defied her orders and gave Jessica the Clover Trump Card.  This got her in a lot of trouble once the higher-ups found out, but in the end, they agreed to let Jessica serve as long as she could.

As it turned out, Jessica was even weaker than Chip expected, especially in comparison to her talented older sister.  Jessica feared that she was lacking in magical potential due to being AMAB, but Chip reassured her that this wasn’t the case, and there’d been trans magical girls before; some girls simply had more potential than others, and there wasn’t always a reason.  Jessica didn’t take this information well at all, fearing that she could train as much as possible and give her all in every fight and it still wouldn’t measure up to girls who were born more lucky.  She also began to police her words, actions, and even thoughts much more strictly, wanting to be a “true hero” in all aspects.  During her first three weeks, she couldn’t save many people, and even when she did, Chip’s memory modifications made it so that they didn’t remember.  Jessica logically knew that regular humans couldn’t be involved in magical conflicts, but she couldn’t help wishing for more recognition — something that made her angry with herself, as “true heroes” didn’t do what they did for fame or rewards, but simply to help others.  She also tended to get lots of injuries during her fights.

Chip still thinks that if it weren’t for Suravi’s timely arrival, Jessica would’ve died within a month or two.

When Suravi joins up, Jessica is eager to be the guide, the experienced one, for a change.  She tries to be as lighthearted about her situation as possible when she shows Suravi the ropes of unhoused survival, showing off her skills at snatching uneaten fast food before it gets thrown away like it’s all a game.  (She’s also very adamant that it’s not stealing, because it would just get thrown out anyway, even though Suravi doesn’t question it in the first place.)  Her main source of (tiny amounts of) cash comes from collecting as many used cans as she can carry and redeeming them for five cents each, but she playfully calls herself a public sanitation hero when telling Suravi about it.  In general, she’s trying to make her life seem fine, even fun, when it’s very clearly miserable.

Even in the most desperate of circumstances, Jessica refuses to steal even the smallest things, and she won’t deceive anyone either.  She has a very black-and-white definition of what a hero is, and she holds to it like a lifeboat.  This attitude can lead to conflict with Suravi, who’s willing to break the rules if necessary and has reservations about whether the Shades are really pure evil like they were told.  Still, Jessica is very fond of Suravi, viewing her as a treasured companion, and will always be grateful for whatever stroke of luck let her find and save her in time.

Jessica is always talking about Addison, gushing to Chip and Suravi about how she aspires to uphold her legacy.  However, this also comes from a place of denial, and it covers up a cruel reality…

As the magical girl Lucky Clover, Jessica has an idealized feminine body, and she feels more like herself while transformed than when she’s in her normal form.  Though she does have a bit of a flower motif, fire is her real forte.  However, it can spread quickly and be hard to control.  She wields a magic rod from which she can shoot bursts of flame.  In general, Jessica is very aggressive and reckless in battle, hitting her enemies again and again with all she’s got, even though her weaker magic makes that fighting style impractical.  She also tries to give Sailor Moon-style pre-battle speeches, to little effect.

Unsurprisingly, Jessica’s Virtue is justice.

ATTENTION!  The characters beyond here are ones whose backgrounds and motivations are much more spoiler-y than those of Jessica and Suravi, so their descriptions will be shorter, to fit with the chapters I’ve released so far.

Aiko Hirose (playlist)

Aiko and her best friend Yukari (Lucky Joker) were partners, defending Tokyo together.  Yukari had the power to scry the past and future with her magic crystal ball, and so she’d predict where the Shades would strike next and hurry there with Aiko to prevent any destruction.  Although they were very successful in taking down the monsters the Shades commanded, they never managed to kill an actual Shade.  Aiko’s Virtue was love, and she started out very idealistic to the point of naivete.  She was also rather shy, relying on the more confident Yukari to help her feel comfortable in social situations.

At a certain point, she became involved with Tarot and tried to keep it a secret from Yukari, as well as the duo’s fairy, Jack.  Yukari found out quickly and tried to keep Aiko away from Tarot, to no avail.  Aiko had entered the relationship with the intention of reforming Tarot through love, but she quickly became addicted to his very presence.  He showed her places and experiences she’d never even dreamed of, and she felt secure when she let him take charge and lead.  When she was around him, she felt like her inhibitions had disappeared; she tried all sorts of new things, from walking around Harajuku in full gothic lolita coord like she’d always been too nervous to try, to confronting Yukari about her controlling behaviors, to…uh…fucking.  In a few different locations, including the Other Side and a stolen car.  When Jack found out, he started to panic.  He and Yukari had never really gotten along that well, so even though they were on the same side, they disagreed on how to best deal with the situation, with Yukari highly dubious of any of Jack’s suggestions almost on principle.  Jack disappeared abruptly one day, leaving behind a note saying that he thought Yukari and Aiko could handle themselves without him.  Aiko never forgave him for abandoning them, especially after she learned of Tarot’s true colors, the nature of his powers, and how he’d been using her all along…

The whole affair left Aiko with a heavy dose of cynicism.  Yukari, on the other hand, became more and more reclusive, to the point where she spent every waking hour of her last days scrying.  One fateful day, the day Aiko and Yukari were supposed to thwart the Shades’ predicted bombing of the Tokyo Skytree, where Aiko’s parents worked, Aiko got a message from Yukari that she needed backup at an abandoned theater.  It was a trap, of course.  Yukari was long dead, having gone deep into the Other Side all alone, and the Shades took this chance to beat the shit out of Aiko.  Then the bomb went off, destroying a chunk of the Skytree and killing many people, including her parents.  Aiko felt like all her struggles had been for nothing, like she was a total failure of a magical girl and a friend.  In that instant, in her darkest hour, she decided that she wouldn’t let herself die until she’d killed the four Shades for what they’d done, and if all the love in her heart couldn’t do the job, then she’d rely on hatred instead.  This triggered a dark transformation, and the Shades retreated.

Aiko sent a brief message to Addison, telling her that Yukari was dead, that the Joker Trump Card was in Shade possession, and that she was leaving Tokyo.  This was her last message, and her current status and whereabouts are unknown.  However, she was known to have healing powers, so Tarot suspects she might have had something to do with saving Suravi from that crash and putting the Spade Trump Card securely in her body…

Okay, I was rushing to get this out before July, so I just wrote up the magical girls’ refs.  I’ll update this post with the Shades’ refs soon!  Also, I used this picrew to make chest-up pictures of the characters (untransformed), and each character has a playlist of songs I associate with them!

Suravi Rahman (playlist)

Suravi, AKA the magical girl Lucky Spade, is the main protagonist.  At the beginning of the story (after the prologue), she finds herself falling from the sky on the Other Side, then quickly winds up passing through a mirror into San Francisco, a city on the other side of the world from her home in Dhaka.  The last thing she can remember before her fall is the car crash that killed her mother and older sister (Sabi) and almost killed her as well.  She’s found by Tarot, a Shade, then rescued by Jessica, a magical girl, and from there on out becomes involved in the battle between magical girls and Shades.  Though initially reluctant due to fear, she finds that she can’t just go back to a normal life — not only is her family dead, but she has a Trump Card (cards magical girls use to transform) embedded inside her, and her eyes have turned a weird shade of gray.  Teaming up with Jessica, she embraces her magic in order to protect the city, and find out just what happened to her back in that crash as well.

Every magical girl has a Virtue that their powers are meant to embody, and Suravi’s Virtue is hope.  She would’ve preferred something like independence or self-reliance, but she’ll take what she can get.  One of her goals is to one day get to a point where she won’t have to rely on anyone; as such, back in Dhaka, she was very diligent with her studies, and upon hearing that English was her best subject, she devoted extra energy to that, thinking she could perhaps become an English teacher someday.  She’s not really all that passionate about teaching, but she can’t think of any job she’d be genuinely enthused about, and what’s important is the salary, right?  When she was very little, her father just took off one day and never came back, leaving a huge dent in the remaining family (little Suravi, her mother, Sabi, and her paternal grandmother) both emotionally and financially.  The family wound up moving to Dhaka, and the situation improved as Suravi’s mother quickly moved through the ranks at her new job, but Suravi could still tell that the experience had deeply scarred her mother and Sabi (Suravi herself has little to no memories of her dad, and she’s pretty sure that her grandmother was always a cranky, disapproving woman, although she’d never say that out loud), and as she got older, she vowed to grow up to be a woman who could stand on her own even after marriage.  Of course, as loath as she is to ever admit it, Suravi was affected emotionally by her father’s departure, though it was mostly in the form of feeling embarrassed and jealous while hearing about her classmates’ big households and close extended family.  To avoid judgment and gossip, she developed a habit of vaguely speaking of her father as if he was dead (and only when absolutely necessary), but never explicitly saying that he’d died, in order to maintain somewhat plausible deniability.

Over the course of the following years, her grandmother died, then Sabi got married and moved in with her husband’s family.  Though she didn’t let it show much, Suravi missed her terribly, and with her mother working long hours, she felt lonely in the apartment by herself.  While she still had some good friends at school, she felt increasingly separated from her classmates as they got older — for some reason, they kept wanting to gossip about boys more and more, and she just couldn’t relate, as the things they seemed to find so attractive held no appeal for her.  This got her increasingly labeled as immature and/or holier-than-thou — the latter was particularly false, as Suravi has never been all that devout.  She was also considered stuck-up and distant by some of her classmates, and even before this, she’d always been a bit socially awkward, seen as too serious too often.  These issues were made worse by her sister-in-law Rukhsana, who seemed to be well-liked by everyone except Suravi, who she would demean and bully.  Even with all these struggles, Suravi misses her old life and having a home to go back to.

Suravi is ultimately a compassionate girl who doesn’t want to see others suffer, especially if it’s her fault in some way.  She has a strong dislike of unfairness, and resents it when people say things like “life isn’t fair,” or “that’s just the way it is,” without trying to change anything, though she might not always immediately confront them about it.  She can get pretty uncomfortable in big social groups, especially around people she doesn’t know, and tends to retreat into herself during these times, perhaps going off into a corner to read.  Suravi doesn’t have the same strict moral code that Jessica subjects herself to, and, combined with being a naturally cautious person, is usually the more pragmatic one as a result; however, Jessica knows a lot more about how to survive on the city streets, and her practicality in those matters can surprise Suravi.  Suravi also has somewhat of a stubborn streak, is often blunt without meaning to be, and can be argumentative at times.  When she’s been bottling up resentment and irritation for too long, she tends to take a lot (but not all) of it out on the closest object of annoyance.

As the magical girl Lucky Spade, Suravi fights with a calligraphy brush, and she has an ink theme.  She can attack with arcs of ink, and the brush can also be used as a bludgeoning weapon.  At first, she fights only out of obligation, viewing herself as a lousy excuse for a heroine because she’s not as brave as Jessica, and because she wasn’t chosen by the fairies like other magical girls are.  However, she takes some comfort in protecting others, reasoning that she doesn’t have to be a cookie-cutter hero in order to help people.  She also is a bit suspicious of the fairies, as well as the story given for what the Shades are and why they have to be fought; she suspects there’s more to the story, and she’d like to talk to a Shade outside of battle in order to hear their reasoning.  Not Tarot, though, because even without taking the mind control stuff into account, he’s a dick.

Jessica Martin (playlist)

Jessica, AKA the magical girl Lucky Clover, is Suravi’s partner.  She became a magical girl about three weeks before the story begins, and she’s known to be weak, even compared to previous inexperienced magical girls.  In truth, she wasn’t exactly the first choice to wield the Clover Trump Card, but Chip, the fairy who’d been tasked with finding the next Lucky Clover, was caught up in a battle en route to a promising candidate and wound up injuring her right wing, leaving her unable to really get around.  Jessica found her hobbling around San Francisco, hopelessly lost, and decided to take care of her until she could fly again; she knew about fairies since her older sister, Addison, whom she idolizes, used to be Lucky Clover.  During Chip’s recovery, she was shocked by Jessica’s generosity; Jessica had no home, no idea where her next meal would come from, and no one who could help her, but she still treated Chip with the utmost gentleness, shared what little she did have, and acted optimistic and hopeful to boost Chip’s spirits.  However, when Chip was fully mobile again and ready to continue on with her mission, Jessica’s facade shattered, and she begged the fairy to let her be Lucky Clover.  Chip, while thinking that Jessica’s kindness made her a great candidate, tried to stick with the high-ranking fairies’ ruling at first, saying that magical girl duties would make her already-dangerous situation extremely likely to turn fatal.  Jessica responded by pouring her heart out to Chip, telling her about how she was kicked out by her parents after being inadvertently outed as trans; how she tried couchsurfing for a while, alternating between friends’ houses and still trying to attend school until all the support dried up and she’d clearly overstayed her welcome; how she took to the streets full-time after that, even though it was terrifying to be so alone, with no one to help her when she was mugged, when she had nothing to eat, when her teeth began to rot, when she got sick from bad food and started throwing up so violently she feared she would die, when it grew dangerously cold and rain started pouring down and she had nowhere to escape to…

Then she talked about Addison, who’d let Jessica in on her secret magical girl life when she was younger.  Addison always told Jessica (quite embellished) tales of her battles, her exploits, how she defended the city alongside her partner, Lola, and to Jessica, Addison was a true hero; she wanted to grow up into a young lady just like her.  One terrible night, however, Addison came home with a nasty lump on her head and told Jessica that Lola was dead, killed by a Shade named Conquian.  Lola had been like a second big sis to Jessica, and so this event led her to have a personal vendetta against Conquian.

Beyond all that, however, Jessica wanted to be a hero.  She admitted that she’d come out to her friends in the first place because it seemed like something a brave heroine like Addison would do, and though it led to pain in the long run, it did feel wonderful to have her friends call her Jessica.  What she really wanted, she told Chip, was to have something come out of all of her tribulations, something worthwhile.  She wanted to do something more than just survive; she wanted to do something meaningful, help people, shine brightly as a light of some kind to people who felt like they were drowning in the world’s darkness.  If she could achieve that, then what happened to her in the end didn’t matter.  Better to burn out fast and bright than to slowly fizzle out.  Awed by her resolve, Chip defied her orders and gave Jessica the Clover Trump Card.  This got her in a lot of trouble once the higher-ups found out, but in the end, they agreed to let Jessica serve as long as she could.

As it turned out, Jessica was even weaker than Chip expected, especially in comparison to her talented older sister.  Jessica feared that she was lacking in magical potential due to being AMAB, but Chip reassured her that this wasn’t the case, and there’d been trans magical girls before; some girls simply had more potential than others, and there wasn’t always a reason.  Jessica didn’t take this information well at all, fearing that she could train as much as possible and give her all in every fight and it still wouldn’t measure up to girls who were born more lucky.  She also began to police her words, actions, and even thoughts much more strictly, wanting to be a “true hero” in all aspects.  During her first three weeks, she couldn’t save many people, and even when she did, Chip’s memory modifications made it so that they didn’t remember.  Jessica logically knew that regular humans couldn’t be involved in magical conflicts, but she couldn’t help wishing for more recognition — something that made her angry with herself, as “true heroes” didn’t do what they did for fame or rewards, but simply to help others.  She also tended to get lots of injuries during her fights.

Chip still thinks that if it weren’t for Suravi’s timely arrival, Jessica would’ve died within a month or two.

When Suravi joins up, Jessica is eager to be the guide, the experienced one, for a change.  She tries to be as lighthearted about her situation as possible when she shows Suravi the ropes of unhoused survival, showing off her skills at snatching uneaten fast food before it gets thrown away like it’s all a game.  (She’s also very adamant that it’s not stealing, because it would just get thrown out anyway, even though Suravi doesn’t question it in the first place.)  Her main source of (tiny amounts of) cash comes from collecting as many used cans as she can carry and redeeming them for five cents each, but she playfully calls herself a public sanitation hero when telling Suravi about it.  In general, she’s trying to make her life seem fine, even fun, when it’s very clearly miserable.

Even in the most desperate of circumstances, Jessica refuses to steal even the smallest things, and she won’t deceive anyone either.  She has a very black-and-white definition of what a hero is, and she holds to it like a lifeboat.  This attitude can lead to conflict with Suravi, who’s willing to break the rules if necessary and has reservations about whether the Shades are really pure evil like they were told.  Still, Jessica is very fond of Suravi, viewing her as a treasured companion, and will always be grateful for whatever stroke of luck let her find and save her in time.

Jessica is always talking about Addison, gushing to Chip and Suravi about how she aspires to uphold her legacy.  However, this also comes from a place of denial, and it covers up a cruel reality…

As the magical girl Lucky Clover, Jessica has an idealized feminine body, and she feels more like herself while transformed than when she’s in her normal form.  Though she does have a bit of a flower motif, fire is her real forte.  However, it can spread quickly and be hard to control.  She wields a magic rod from which she can shoot bursts of flame.  In general, Jessica is very aggressive and reckless in battle, hitting her enemies again and again with all she’s got, even though her weaker magic makes that fighting style impractical.  She also tries to give Sailor Moon-style pre-battle speeches, to little effect.

Unsurprisingly, Jessica’s Virtue is justice.

ATTENTION!  The characters beyond here are ones whose backgrounds and motivations are much more spoiler-y than those of Jessica and Suravi, so their descriptions will be shorter, to fit with the chapters I’ve released so far.

Aiko Hirose (playlist)

Aiko and her best friend Yukari (Lucky Joker) were partners, defending Tokyo together.  Yukari had the power to scry the past and future with her magic crystal ball, and so she’d predict where the Shades would strike next and hurry there with Aiko to prevent any destruction.  Although they were very successful in taking down the monsters the Shades commanded, they never managed to kill an actual Shade.  Aiko’s Virtue was love, and she started out very idealistic to the point of naivete.  She was also rather shy, relying on the more confident Yukari to help her feel comfortable in social situations.

At a certain point, she became involved with Tarot and tried to keep it a secret from Yukari, as well as the duo’s fairy, Jack.  Yukari found out quickly and tried to keep Aiko away from Tarot, to no avail.  Aiko had entered the relationship with the intention of reforming Tarot through love, but she quickly became addicted to his very presence.  He showed her places and experiences she’d never even dreamed of, and she felt secure when she let him take charge and lead.  When she was around him, she felt like her inhibitions had disappeared; she tried all sorts of new things, from walking around Harajuku in full gothic lolita coord like she’d always been too nervous to try, to confronting Yukari about her controlling behaviors, to…uh…fucking.  In a few different locations, including the Other Side and a stolen car.  When Jack found out, he started to panic.  He and Yukari had never really gotten along that well, so even though they were on the same side, they disagreed on how to best deal with the situation, with Yukari highly dubious of any of Jack’s suggestions almost on principle.  Jack disappeared abruptly one day, leaving behind a note saying that he thought Yukari and Aiko could handle themselves without him.  Aiko never forgave him for abandoning them, especially after she learned of Tarot’s true colors, the nature of his powers, and how he’d been using her all along…

The whole affair left Aiko with a heavy dose of cynicism.  Yukari, on the other hand, became more and more reclusive, to the point where she spent every waking hour of her last days scrying.  One fateful day, the day Aiko and Yukari were supposed to thwart the Shades’ predicted bombing of the Tokyo Skytree, where Aiko’s parents worked, Aiko got a message from Yukari that she needed backup at an abandoned theater.  It was a trap, of course.  Yukari was long dead, having gone deep into the Other Side all alone, and the Shades took this chance to beat the shit out of Aiko.  Then the bomb went off, destroying a chunk of the Skytree and killing many people, including her parents.  Aiko felt like all her struggles had been for nothing, like she was a total failure of a magical girl and a friend.  In that instant, in her darkest hour, she decided that she wouldn’t let herself die until she’d killed the four Shades for what they’d done, and if all the love in her heart couldn’t do the job, then she’d rely on hatred instead.  This triggered a dark transformation, and the Shades retreated.

Aiko sent a brief message to Addison, telling her that Yukari was dead, that the Joker Trump Card was in Shade possession, and that she was leaving Tokyo.  This was her last message, and her current status and whereabouts are unknown.  However, she was known to have healing powers, so Tarot suspects she might have had something to do with saving Suravi from that crash and putting the Spade Trump Card securely in her body…