by Asari Endou
Snow White was the pure and righteous heroine little girls dreamed of becoming—the exact opposite of Ripple, who brushed off praise for her work by saying she was simply “in it for the candy.” It wasn’t that Ripple didn’t want to serve the community, but she was too embarrassed to say otherwise. However, maybe boldly declaring, “I want to help others!” and actually doing so was the correct way to be a magical girl, she mused.
“Ripple, you’re really focused on Snow White, ain’t ya? She your rival?”
Ripple clicked her tongue sharply. The voice felt like cold water jolting her out of her reverie.
“I thought you considered Calamity Mary your rival.”
Another disapproving click. And who exactly was responsible for that mess in the first place?
A few days after Ripple had first transformed, Calamity Mary had come knocking on the roof of the Seventh Sankou building, Ripple’s and Top Speed’s de facto meeting point. Light as a butterfly, she had leaped to them from a neighboring building. As she landed on the roof, Ripple noticed she looked exactly as the rumors stated: like a cowgirl. Not really magical girl–esque, she thought, though she didn’t have any room to judge.
Calamity Mary’s business with them was quite simple.
“You, little girl. Ripple, was it?”
She appeared to be in her second or third year of high school, and she was much more well-endowed than either Ripple or Top Speed. Her breasts and butt were huge. Ripple looked like she was in middle school, which made the “little girl” comment somewhat understandable, she reasoned. So, while it did irk her a bit, she kept her cool and give a small nod.
Calamity Mary flicked her cowboy hat.
“I told Fav I’d be mentoring the next newbie.”
“Oh, y’see, I made Fav promise me a long time ago that if a new girl was assigned to a neighborhood near me, I’d get to mentor her. Good neighbors and all that, right?”
Ripple had been assigned to Nakayado, the center of an area once famous as a castle town, while Top Speed’s area was the northern section of Kitayado. Naturally, they were next to each other.
“It was a really long time ago, so that must be why Fav came to me first. I had no idea you two had an agreement. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Oh?”
Calamity Mary continued to stare at Ripple, sparing no concern for Top Speed groveling with her hat in her hands. Ripple glared back. The uncivilized staring was upsetting enough without Top Speed kowtowing to someone who was ignoring her entirely.
In a flash, Calamity Mary’s gun left its holster and fired at Ripple, who whipped out the sword from the sheath on her back and deflected the incoming bullet. Not a tenth of a second had passed before it was over. Flustered, Top Speed raised her head.
“What’re you two doing?”
“Ain’t it obvious? Huh, little lady?”
Ripple glared hard at the pistol in Calamity Mary’s right hand. Red smoke rose from the long black barrel. It was clearly no ordinary gun. Magic, maybe? Her sword-wielding hand was still numb.
Top Speed inserted herself between the two and spread her hands to both sides.
“Please, sis! Peace! Newbies always need to be taught respect! I’ll scold her later, so please put down that gun. I’m begging ya!” she shouted in Mary’s direction, then whispered to Ripple, “And you, put that away. Someone could get hurt!”
Calamity Mary spun her pistol before dropping it into its holster, and Ripple returned her sword to her back. Top Speed gave a sigh of relief.
“Peace, girls. Peace. We’re all magical girls here, right? Comrades?”
Ripple didn’t know what Calamity Mary was thinking, but she doubted she’d holstered her gun because they were comrades like Top Speed had suggested. She didn’t consider Mary a comrade, and most likely the feeling was mutual.
“Well, all right. I’ll yell at Fav later.” And with that, Calamity Mary grabbed on to the guardrail and flipped over it with ease. At that moment, Ripple’s heart pounded again—in the other girl’s hand was a pistol, aimed at her. She’d totally missed the draw.
Multiple shots rang out. One bullet flew toward Top Speed while two flew toward her. Ripple grabbed her mentor by the collar and forced her down, simultaneously drawing her sword again and deflecting the bullets from a crouch. She came back up ready to retaliate with the throwing knives hidden in her sheath, but Calamity Mary was already gone.
“You two, I swear.”
Top Speed stood herself up, rubbing her nose and forehead like she’d hit them.
“Why’re ya so quick to pull the trigger? Have some damn restraint! Ever heard of it?”
“If someone picks a fight… you have to retaliate…”
“Well, learn to choose your battles! If you go starting shit every time she gets on your nerves, you won’t live long!”
Ripple clicked her tongue. She was rattled and upset—first, with Top Speed for doing nothing the entire time. Second, with Calamity Mary and her bizarre willingness to fire at others without hesitation. And third, with herself for her terror at facing a gun, despite her tough act. She couldn’t stand, her heart raced, and her sweat flowed like rivers, but somehow she barely managed not to cry.
Her right hand tingled from the impact of deflecting the bullets. When she’d become a magical girl and realized how strong she’d become, she had been so sure she couldn’t be killed. Turns out she’d been wrong. Normal humans couldn’t kill her. Most likely not even a disease or traffic accident could. But no matter how sturdy and resilient she was, another one like her could injure her. All of this made her angry.
“You’re a sword with no sheath, like I used to be. Things could get bad if I left you alone. You could get up to some serious danger,” Top Speed said, exasperated. That know-it-all look, those crossed arms, the lecturing—Ripple angrily clicked her tongue again.
Every evening after five o’clock, students packed into the hamburger shop in front of the train station and filled it with a thousand different conversations. The air bubbled with excitement and laughter, but the everyday chaos always stayed under control. The employees and customers were all used to it. Amid the hustle and bustle, three middle school girls occupying the three window seats near the door carried on their conversation like normal. One of them gestured at her smartphone and talked excitedly.
“The sightings are pouring in like crazy! See? Magical girls just have to exist!”
“Sumi… are you still going on about this?”
“Not even you can deny it when there are so many witness reports, Yocchan! They totally exist! So totally exist!”
“Of course I’ll deny it. There’s no freaking way.”
“H-hey, Yocchan, why don’t you believe in them?”
“You tell her, Koyuki! You speak for all the dreamers out there!”
“I dunno how to explain it. It’s just plain embarrassing.”
“Why is it embarrassing?”
“Wow, Koyuki, why’re you so curious?”
“I just am!”
“Like, in anime and stuff, when a girl transforms there’s a second where she’s completely naked, right? It’s like, are you an exhibitionist or something?”
“That doesn’t happen! The media’s lying to you!”
“Calm down, now. We’re only talking about cartoons here, right?”
“Why are you two talking about anime, anyway? This stuff is happening in real life. There are eyewitnesses and everything.”
“There’s no way people can grow wings and fly or get hit by a dump truck and just walk it off.”
“C’mon, Yocchan, dream a little. If something may or may not be real, it’s just more fun to think it’s real.”
“Sumi, you need to come back to Earth. Reality is important.”
“I’m not delusional, okay? I just think it would be cool if they existed, even if I know how reality works. Yocchan, you’re missing out with that attitude. The Internet’s going nuts! There’s info on magical girls eve
rywhere! My favorite’s this one, the one in white. She seems real down-to-earth. I’d be relieved if she came to my rescue. She’s, like, chicken soup for the soul.”
“Koyuki, why are you grinning?”
“I-I’m not! I’m not grinning at all!”
A week later—only seven days, and yet the anticipation had made them feel so long to Cranberry. A glance at any aggregate site revealed just how hard the other girls had been working. None of them wanted to be cut. Cranberry navigated to the chat on her magical phone and logged in.
Attendance was unusually high, similar to last time. Right away, Nemurin was unceremoniously named as the one among them with the least magical candy. She didn’t seem particularly tortured or regretful about the results, just a little embarrassed. While the vast majority of the girls wanted to wield the great power they’d been given, she preferred to listen to their tales of adventure. Cranberry couldn’t recall a week where Nemurin hadn’t been there, and she was always easy to talk to.
But through her perfect attendance, her relationships with the others ran deep. Unlike Cranberry, simply there to be there, she had never missed an opportunity to chat or listen. Everyone knew her. Snow White, Top Speed, and Sister Nana were the most torn up about saying good-bye.
“I’ll be watching you guys on the Internet. I’ll always be cheering for you!”
To which Fav responded, “Well, good-bye, pon.” And the pajama-wearing avatar was gone.
Then the top earner was also announced, which ended up being Snow White by a landslide.
“Everyone, try to emulate Snow White, pon,” Fav said, ending the chat. One by one the girls left, until it was just Fav and Cranberry. She had a question she wanted answered.
Cranberry: I have one question, if you don’t mind
Fav: What is it, pon?
Cranberry: What exactly happens when one loses the right to be a magical girl?
Fav: Girls who have been cut die, pon
Cranberry: Do you mean that figuratively? As in, they die as magical girls?
Fav: It’s a biological death, pon
A franker answer there wasn’t. Cranberry logged out without responding and tossed her magical phone at her pillow, just as she had a week ago. Chat logs were available even to those not present, which meant soon all the magical girls would learn what she and Fav had discussed. This would fundamentally change the implication of “getting the ax,” not to mention the meaning of the game they were playing. Cranberry crossed her hands behind her head and rolled onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
CHAPTER 2
THE PRINCESS AND HER FOUR FOLLOWERS
Magical girls weren’t so different from normal humans, in terms of their species. They were human, and humans could become magical girls. But the ones who made that leap could no longer be compared with normal people. Magic allowed them to draw forth exponentially more power.
“To lose the right to become a magical girl is to lose one’s essence as a living being. In other words, death, pon.”
“But that’s exactly the problem! I’d rather go back to being normal than die!”
“Complain all you like, there’s nothing that can be done now, pon.”
“Nothing that can be done?!”
“Magical girls are natural-born warriors—their destiny is to fight, pon. Unflinching in the face of danger, they use brains, courage, and magic to overcome any crisis. The stronger the foe, the greater the joy—”
Snow White shut off her magical phone, abruptly ending her conversation with Fav. A few days ago she’d read through the logs and found the conversation between Cranberry and the mascot, which had led to a never-ending argument that only spun its wheels. When she said she’d rather quit than die, Fav revealed that if she quit she’d die anyway.
“You should have warned us!”
“No one forced you to pick up the game.”
On and on the argument stretched. They were like two parallel lines, never meeting in the middle.
Snow White sighed. She couldn’t tell anyone what she was. Doing so would mean she’d forfeit her powers and die. She couldn’t even tell her parents or friends her life would end, or she’d perish on the spot.
Two days after the chat, a small blurb in the obituary section of the local newspaper revealed that a twenty-four-year-old female, one Nemu Sanjou, had passed. Her time of death was the time the chat had ended, and the cause of death was a sudden heart attack despite no history of illness. All these factors led to one conclusion. It had to have been Nemurin.
We’re really… gonna die.
Snow White sighed again, then gazed out at the horizon. With her magically improved eyesight, she could see every detail of the ocean, even from atop the steel tower. Dozens of fishing boats were setting out for the open ocean. They get to be so carefree, and I have to deal with this. She felt an unreasonable anger inside, but knowing it was irrational just made her depressed.
I’ve just been worrying about myself. I’m putting my own life above Nemurin’s death. We talked so much, and we were such good friends, but after some crying and a night’s sleep all I can think about is myself. I feel guilty. I’m scared to die. My stomach hurts. I wanna throw up. But I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. I’m scared to die.
An electronic beeping brought her back to reality. Next to her was La Pucelle, fiddling with her magical device.
“What are you doing?”
She heard a noise like a level-up chime from an RPG.
“Mind checking your magical phone for me?”
“Sure, but… what are you doing?”
She turned on her phone and checked the screen. Displayed were the time, humidity, temperature, her magical candy total…
“Huh?”
Assuming her memory wasn’t off, she’d had more candy the previous night. Yet somehow her total had been cut in half.
“Wait, what the heck happened? Oh my gosh!”
“Calm down. I’ll send them back.”
Again came the level-up sound, and Snow White’s candy total was the same as she remembered.
“What is this?”
“Fav told us there’d been an update to the magical phones. They added the ability to share magical candy. You can do it even if the other phone is off. It takes a little while to complete the transfer, though.”
“Oh… So?”
“It’s probably Fav’s way of telling us to work together to get more candy, considering the timing of the update.”
Snow White studied the knight sitting next to her. Even with the cold and cloudy night sky as a background, her face was noble and beautiful—and just a little bit excited.
“Sou, are you gonna go get candy?”
“Stop calling me Sou. And if I don’t gather candy I’m gonna get the ax, literally. So it’s better than nothing.”
“You’re not scared or anything?”
“Are you scared, Snow White?”
“Sure I am. I don’t want to let anyone else die, or die myself. Then I wouldn’t be able to see my parents, my friends, I wouldn’t be able to watch magical-girl anime, eat good food, see cool stuff, laugh…”
“I know it’s scary. I’m scared, too. Who wouldn’t be?”
La Pucelle’s expression hardened. Startled, Snow White tried to distance herself, but La Pucelle placed a hand on hers. Snow White swallowed, finding herself unable to reject her.
“But if we let the fear paralyze us, it’ll be us on the chopping block next. You don’t want that, do you? So let’s work hard together.”
She would have been right at home with the girls on TV she’d cheered for all those years—ready to challenge even the strongest enemy with a heart determined to protect those important to her. Were the others thinking the same thing? Were they steeling their resolves, just as La Pucelle had? Snow White felt like the odd one out for being so scared. Was she the strange one? What would Nemurin say? Snow White recalled her smiling face, a
ll ears to yet another story of adventure. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
“Don’t cry, Snow White.”
La Pucelle drew her sword from its sheath, offered the handle to her, and took a knee. The blade was nearly two feet long, its steel sparkling.
“My sworn friend Snow White, I vow to be your sword, no matter what befalls me.”
Her words and actions seemed rehearsed, but her eyes were sincere. Despite being told not to cry, Snow White couldn’t suppress the great big tears spilling forth. She hugged La Pucelle tightly and put her lips to her ear.
“Thank you…”
Sensing the warmth of La Pucelle’s body, her face began to burn. She glanced at her friend, whose cheeks also seemed to burn a deep shade of red.
Ripple had no idea what Top Speed liked about her, but she was acutely aware of her new title—partner. In chat, the witch went on about “my partner this” and “my partner that” and then made sure to let Ripple know, even though she never asked. It annoyed her. The only sounds from her mouth were tongue clicks. But the ninja never turned her away or yelled at, abused, or hit her, instead choosing to let her talk. Top Speed, taking Ripple’s silence as approval, showed up almost daily to pick her up for a night of candy gathering. But Ripple hadn’t simply caved. She wouldn’t be putting herself through hell for no good reason.
Ripple’s pinpoint accurate shuriken only helped those in need if they were in a very dangerous situation, and those didn’t happen every day. Ripple’s only recourse was to use her enhanced physical abilities, something any other magical girl could do. She had no special advantage.
Top Speed, on the other hand, had the unique ability of flight, thanks to her magic broomstick, Rapid Swallow. This was far more useful than Ripple’s ability to throw things. It wasn’t a matter of helping people more easily—it was much easier to search from the skies for chances to lend a hand.
