Rain: Another Magical Girl RP

[Reyson]

Hills High

Karen stood by her locker, packing her bag full of the books she’d need for homework. However, she had no real intentions of leaving anytime soon. Hills High had enough clubs to keep Karen entertained, and how would she find a way to say hello to everyone in the school if she weren’t a member of each and every one of them? Xuande often told her she was spreading herself too thin. That didn’t stop Karen from taking every opportunity to abuse the system and shamelessly promote herself as a loyal companion to every living being on the planet. She slung her bag over shoulder and started to perform her daily patrol of the halls. With every shout of “Hey Karen!”, she beamed. So much friendship. So little time. You sure are something else, aren’t you? Karen mused to herself.

“Hey girl, we need to get lunch sometime!” Karen would respond, much to Xuande’s chagrin.

“Karen. You do realize that you only have 24 hours in a day, right? You can’t keep all these promises.” Xuande remarked from Karen’s backpack.

Relax. It’s all under control. Karen thought. She continued her jaunt through Hills High, accompanied by her usual entourage. Suddenly, Xuande perked up.

“Main Gate. Look.”

Karen’s calm demeanor suddenly took a more concerned tone.

I should probably do something about that.

Karen hustles toward the courtyard, accompanied by her posse.

[Trybien]

Hills High - Library

Now that the school day was over, Kyomou made his way over to the library as per his routine. Given his expertise in researching and writing, the once infamous blog poster now spends his after school hours tutoring struggling students. Having an excuse to stay away from home could be considered one good reason to dedicate his time to others; however, what Kyomou truly appreciated was the bonds he has been forming through his volunteer work. While he may still be no where close to overcoming his deep rooted trust issues, the sense of purpose tutoring gives him has truly helped him grow as a person.

Kyomou picked a table and pulled out a seat. Normally, he was the first one there, and he used that time to prepare. Since every student has their own shortcomings when it comes to learning, Kyomou was never quite sure what to expect or who would appear. Considering that he was a magical boy now with creature called a "Seer" following him around, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that Kyomou was a bit more on edge than usual. While he has yet to meet any other "magical people" himself, he knew it was only a matter of time before he found one, and Slasher Fanta would urge him to test them.

"I'm sensing a disturbance near the main gate. You should expect Seers with their chosen partners to arrive and handle it." Slasher Fanta droned unenthusiastically. "Now would be an opportune time to identify and evaluate the other Magical Girls.

"While I understand your noble cause. I've got my own obligations. Unless the situation gets out of hand, I'd rather not engage when I have made a commitment to those I tutor..."

"...Um... Mr. Torimaku? Who are you talking to?" The quiet voice startled Kyomou. Turning around, he located the source of the sound to be an underclassman girl he has been tutoring for a few weeks.

"Oh... just chatting with an invisible floating squirrel... heheheh..." Kyomou awkwardly chuckles.

The girl giggles and sits down next to him with a smile on her face. "That was pretty funny. You should try telling jokes more often."

Kyomou cringes a bit. "Yeah... heheheh.. so what did you want me to help you with today?" As Kyomou began the tutoring session, he wrote a small message in his notepad and flashed it towards his seer. Goand check out the situation. Come get me if they need backup.

Slasher Fanta sighed then nodded. As he left the room, he stated, "Remember our agreement." He then flew towards the courtyard, keeping his eye out for other Seers and magical girls.

[VGBM]

Hills High

Among the current of students heading every which way was a lone hooded figure on his way to the exit, taking a route he planned carefully to avoid the detection of his teachers. Well, to most he was alone, but he actually had a little wolf bounding alongside him that he was trying to ignore.

"Hey, hey Kuro!" said the wolf. "I'm getting a sense of something! Something exciting!"

Kuro groaned in response. "What is it this time, Howler? Is another magical person nearby? Cause I don't have time to stop and chat with anyone."

"No no, not that! There's a ghoul! At the front gate!"

This caused him to stop walking. "A ghoul, you mean those bad guys you were talking about?"

"Yes yes! Those guys exactly!"

"You mean I finally get to fight one?"

"Well, yes, but more importantly-"

Howler was cut off by the sound of Kuro enthusiastically catching his fist in his hand. "Well, it's about damn time!"

"Kuro Yami," came a voice from behind him. He started to turn around, but he already knew who it was, his least favorite teacher. "Time for what, exactly? Shouldn't you be in the library right now?"

He had to tilt his head up to look the man in the eyes, but his eyes quickly darted to the side anyway. "Uh, y-yeah, that's what I was saying, that it's 'about damn time' I get over there to, uh… study." He had to force out that last word, as if saying it caused him physical pain.

A wide grin spread on the teacher's face. "Why, that's great to hear, Kuro. In that case, I'll escort you."

"Oh come on, I know the way."

"I insist."

There was no getting out of it this time. Before he knew it, Kuro was being all but dragged across the halls in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go. Soon, they arrived at the double doors that lead to the library, a place that someone was about to see the inside of for the first time, and I don't mean Howler. "Go ahead," said the teacher, "your tutor's waiting."

Ah yes, the tutor Kuro has had for weeks, and had yet to actually meet once. Avoiding meeting people was certainly a pattern with him. "Yessir," he groaned. With his annoyingly loyal seer still at his side, he took one step inside the library, then immediately ducked behind the nearest bookshelf before anyone could see him.

"What do we do now?" Howler whispered, because they were in a library.

"I dunno, sneak past him I guess. I've been waiting too long for a real fight to miss out on one now."

The seer nodded, for once the two of them agreed on something. "Not only that, but other magical girls will surely join the fight as well. You can finally meet some of them!"

Kuro blinked. "Wait, you're sure about that?"

"Of course! In a place this public, the other seers are sure to have noticed by now."

It took him a while to respond to that, he was suddenly conflicted. "You know what? I think I'm suddenly getting an itch to learn."

"Seriously, Kuro?!"

"You said others will take care of it anyway, and with how much trouble it'll take the get there, the fight will probably be over by the time I do."

"You don't know that!"

"If it means so much to you, then you can go meet the magical girls and if there's still a problem in an hour when study hall ends, I'll take care of it."

Howler let out an exasperated huff. "Fine, but you can't keep putting this off forever, no one can save the world alone." With that, he went back out of the library, leaving Kuro alone with whoever he was about to be stuck with for the next hour or so.

--------------------------------------------------

Hills High library

During his tutoring session, Kyomou would soon see a freshman approach the table, wearing a dark blue shirt under a gray hoodie, with the hood up even though they were indoors. He took a seat across from him and was immediately slouching in it. "Let's get this over with," he said.

[The Ash Raichu]

Hills High Library:

"AW, COME ON! WHAT A CHEAPO, COP-OUT ENDING! HOW DO YOU JUST HAVE HIROKA-CHAN DEVELOP SUCH A GREAT CHEMISTRY WITH MASATO-KUN AND THEN THROW AWAY THE OTP FOR HER TO GET TOGETHER WITH FRIGGIN' KUZO?! THEY HAD LIKE TWO CONVERSATIONS TOGETHER AT THE BEGINNING! AND HE'S STILL AN ASSHOLE, TOO! THERE'S LITERALLY NO REASON FOR THESE TWO TO BE CANON! THERE WASN'T EVEN A CHARACTER ARC, HOW DO YOU FLUB THAT UP THAT BADLY?! THIS HAS TO BE THE WORST LIGHT NOVEL I'VE EVER READ!"

The alien-looking life-form(s?) continued loudly ranting, either completely oblivious to their location, or fully aware that most people wouldn't be able to hear them anyways. One of the people that could was Laura Gray, who was supposed to be organizing books on the other side of the bookshelf, but instead was lacing her fingers together, clasping them against her ribcage, shifting her eyes rapidly, and wishing for nothing more than the sweet release of death. Or at least, the sweet release of being literally anywhere else.

She double... triple... quadruple-checked the ordering, making sure it was absolutely perfect. She remembered the last time she screwed this up, and her nightly panics recently haven't been helping matters at all. Why oh why did that... creature... have to decide to contract her of all people? She wasn't OLD old, but she had seen several other creatures similar to the Blobs that followed her around accompanying a small portion of the student body, and couldn't help wondering if her age was that much of an outlier. And why oh why did she have to get this particular "partner," so petulant, so immature, so... undignified! Or... that's what she should say, but truth be told, she didn't know if... it? He?? She??? They????? ...had any dignity in the first place. She slowly tried to distance herself from the Blobs by moving to the front desk.

It was times like this that she really wished she was getting paid to do this. Especially considering how slow commissions were coming in in this quaint little town. She had even made an extra investment in setting spray, but to no avail. Afraid to speak (she knew the people working here), she gestured toward the bookshelf and offered a thumbs-up, to show that her task was completed, and she was preparing to leave.

She then heard the Blobs shouting toward two male students. One was sloppy in posture, the other was sloppy in dress. Laura should've chastised them about how well they presented themselves, but she was the one wearing a paint-stained... she heard the students calling it a "japron," whatever that was supposed to mean. Either way, she'd be quiet about the matter.

"HEY, GET A LOAD OF THESE TWO EDGELORDS! Hey, here's a tip: being dark and disheveled like that doesn't make you cool. Friggin' NERDS!"

Laura stiffened on the spot. She gave the crew at the front desk a thousand-yard stare, her face turning blue with embarrassment. Why, oh why, why her?

[Trybien]

Hills High - Library

Kyomou was in the middle of assisting the underclassman girl next to him when Kuro the Edgelord entered the library. Barely batting an eye, the tutor turns the unenthused boy and sighs. "Now this is a surprise. Even I never guessed you'd show up for tutoring again, Kuro." Kyomou gave a somewhat stern smile in an attempt to reward Kuro for wishing to further his education. "Now then, we are currently going over effective ways to read text. If you would like to join in, that would be great. If not, I can help you with any specific classwork you are struggling with..."

Suddenly, the obtrusive sound of the Blob's voice echoed throughout the room of books. The hair on the back of Kyomou's neck stood up and his heart raced. Despite the little panic attack the startling outburst caused him to have, the tutor retained a calm exterior and continued his tutoring, hoping that whoever is making such ruckus gets a stern talking to from the librarian. Turning his attention back to the female underclassman, he focused on tuning out the the anxiety he was feeling. "Now you see, whenever literature references some source, it is imperative to check if its credible and scan it for any other information that could be helpful towards your thesis... any questions?"

[VGBM]

Hills High library

"Yeah yeah," Kuro responded, not in the mood to come up with any snappy comebacks.

Geez, all this school stuff was hard enough without some a-holes screaming in the background. Then, when the same voiced turned their attention to the table, Kuro instinctively responded to the word "edgelord" and turned to see who was talking about h- GOOD LORD WHAT THE HELL WERE THOSE THINGS?

Though an expert at maintaining a cool and aloof exterior, internally he was struggling to wrap his head around what he was seeing. Was that supposed to be another seer? Did Kuro luck out and get the one normal one (though he uses the word 'normal' very loosely)? Or maybe it was one of those ghoul things. Maybe the one at the entrance moved its way in here, and here Kuro was without Howler to fight it.

Whatever it was, it was clear no one else could see or hear it, which meant if Kuro started yelling back, he'd look like a crazy person. (Not that that usually mattered to him, but right now his grade was on the line.) This left only one reasonable course of action: ignore it and hope it goes away. He quickly turned back to face the table before anyone could notice he was staring at nothing, and ignored the loud blobs so hard that he forgot to ignore the tutor as well and was actually paying attention. "So, how am I supposed to know if something's 'credible' or not?" he asked when prompted.

[DSY]

Hills High Library

While the blobs screamed, most students in the Library didn't even so much as flinch.

Groups remained together, solo readers continued to slunk backwards in their chairs. That cute couple from room c-3 continued staring one another in the eye while the pages in their opened book jealously remained unread.

More students entered and some left.

Some members of the student council even popped their heads in the door only to pop them right back out again.

Hope they didn't hear the fuss.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Main Gate

The rain was coming down. It wasn't pouring so to speak but it was coming down. The storm drain was flowing and the curves in the ground were making a makeshift river from all the running water.

Big puddles just begging to be splashed in, and you could swear some people were when you last looked out the window.

...

.....

So where was everyone?

The Main Gate was almost worryingly empty. Some students exited the building and walked right through it without a care.
There was even a stray cat prancing about, wishing dearly it had thumbs and an umbrella.

Was this all just jumping at shadows?

Perhaps this was merely a false alarm.


Looking closer...

The cat is gone
The blur floats in the middle of the Courtyard, unmoving

[GuardianDreamer]

Main Gate

Ultimately, Kazuko had realized that there was no convenient group of students walking closely together for her to really sneak in and join them. In hindsight, maybe that was for the better? If someone had noticed, then she would have had a difficult time explaining that she was just scared for no particular reason. More likely than not, she would have come across as desperate for new friends and someone who tried to slide into a group without any warning. Well. She was VERY desperate for friends, but she would be desperate for friends on her own terms, not by these false conclusions!

All of this was to say that she eventually calmed down enough to just go get her umbrella and head out to the main gate. In other words, Lamorak had convinced her that heading out was a better idea than just letting her anxiety get worse. She was almost offended at how he used unfair debating tactics, like logic or reason or common sense. Anxiety didn't care about any of those things!

For a brief moment, she thought that she saw a cat. She closed her eyes and internally debated something with herself, but ultimately realized that it wasn't really a debate. She was convinced already. There was no way that her conscience would allow her to leave a cat alone in the rain, so she would need to give up her umbrella so that the cat had some kind of protection and then just dash home as quickly as possible. But when she opened her eyes, the cat was gone. ... Had it left already? ... Why did the atmosphere feel so... Odd, all of a sudden?

"Lamorak, I'm going to act you a question. Okay?"

"But of course, Kazuko. Ask away."

"Are... Are we haunted by ghosts? Am I a ghost?"

"... No, Kazuko. I don't believe so. ... Wait. Kazuko, your sense for danger may have been accurate. Take a look over there."

Well, for one thing, Kazuko most certainly did NOT want to take a look in the direction Lamorak was pointing her towards because it sounded like trouble, but just in case a giant dinosaur had popped up out of nowhere to attack her, she figured that being aware of it would at least be helpful to some extent. What she saw was... A blurry figure. She looked at Lamorak, still mostly hidden in one of her pockets. While he tried to remain as still as possible, his eyes reflected a certain degree of worry. Lamorak was the closest thing to a responsible adult figure she had in her life, so this was probably cause for panic.

"Uh... Is that you, cat? Meow meow? Oh, or maybe... Nya nya?"

"... Kazuko, may I ask what it is you're doing?"

"Oh, um... I was... Trying to speak cat. ... Do you think it worked?"

"... I'm afraid not."

"... Oh."

Their banter was the only kind of familiarity that Kazuko felt, an inane conversation that soothed her nerves, at least slightly. But that didn't change the fact that she didn't know what the blurry figure was, or if it was connected to the magical world.

[Sleuth]

Thorne Meets Kazuko:

Thorne wasn't sure what to expect when she got to the courtyard, but she hadn't expected to see a blue-haired girl seeming to... "meow" at the air. She was rather used to people acting weird since she WAS best friends with Soggan's resident weirdo, but this was still a bit odd. Still, Thorne couldn't have people witnessing her secret-- And worse, what if it turned out her Magical Girl costume was really lame?? She'd never be able to live it down.

What would CutieStrike Gold do in this situation? Ah shoot, the writers never bothered to make scenes like this actually. But that's what fanfics are for. In the fanfic, Cutie Gold would...

Thorne quickly marched up next to the student, feigning confidence.

"Hey, you, student. The teacher wants you in Class-C." Thorne said, hoping this student was even in the class, "Please report there at once and don't come over here for roughly the next five minutes."

At that moment, a little red head once again popped out of Thorne's bag, with a button nose sniffing the air.

"Hey! I know that scent... Lammy, is that you?"

[GuardianDreamer]

Main Gate

Kazuko nearly felt herself freeze as soon as someone called out to her. Her only hope for unfreezing was if she was mistaken and the voice had actually been talking to someone completely different, but this seemed less and less likely as the owner of the voice approached her. She seemed to be a fellow student, one who Kazuko didn't recognize and so she had to assume that she was in a lower grade. Right. That was enough reason for Kazuko to try to maintain her composure. She was supposed to be some sort of guiding beacon of gay light or something, wasn't she? To seem way more responsible than she actually was and pretend to have dignity so that other people could mimic her, except do it correctly.

She wasn't sure how to respond. Her mind decided that the best plan would be to talk about how cool it was that they both wore scarves, but then she realized that would have been completely off-topic. Right. She had mentioned a class of some kind? ... Wait, why would a teacher be calling for her? Did THEY know magic?! Had that teacher seen Lamorak?! Was Kazuko going to be erased and deleted from all public records so that no one would ever remember she had existed?!

Kazuko was, fortunately, saved from this deep dive into conspiracy theory by a voice that she didn't recognize. It came from the direction of Thorne, but unless Kazuko had completely misheard her voice the first time, something was up. ... Who was Lammy? Suddenly, Lamorak stopped trying to hide, still staying within Kazuko's pocket but now looking at Thorne. ... No, wait. He was looking at Thorne's bag?

"Oh, that's a nickname I would recognize anywhere! How have you been, Chili? ... Ah, just a moment, this may not be the best time to catch up. Just to confirm, I take it this is who you've bonded with? As you've likely summarized yourself, I've also chosen a partner. Meet Kazuko. I expect great things from her, and I'm sure she would love to make your acquaintance and befriend your new comrade."

Unfortunately for Kazuko, she was doomed to make terrible judgments. She had a few facts that she wasn't wrong about. Her eyes darted from Lamorak, to Thorne, to the bag. She assumed that Lamorak was talking to a fellow Seer, and that this meant that Thorne was similar to herself.

Due to her own anxiety, Kazuko managed to miss seeing any part of Chili that was now poking out from the bag, and proceeded to completely misunderstand everything.

"Huh? Wait... This Seer is a talking bag?! I thought you all took on animal forms! Could... Could anything be a Seer?! Is my trash can a Seer?!"

[Sleuth]

Thorne Meets Kazuko 2:

Thorne's eyes widened and she quickly glared at her bag. "What? She's also a magical girl...? Why didn't you say something!"

"hey its not my fault you're too dumb to ask" Chili responded, casually wriggling out of the bag and hopping closer to Kazuko.

"Well, she ain't the girl I wanted, but she's the girl I got! Her name's Thorne and she's a total lame-o. I don't really expect much of her. Wanna trade?"

"Hey, watch it," Thorne replied, narrowing her eyes. "Just because most people can't see you doesn't mean you can do what you want." She reached down and scooped up Chili in one hand.

"...Kazuko, was it?" Thorne said, "Sorry, I made up that stuff about the teacher. I thought you were a bystander so I wanted to get you out of the way, before I dealt with... That."

She glanced pointedly at the fog still hovering in the courtyard.

[Reyson]

Hills High

Karen quickly strode through the halls of Hills High, trying to escape her cult-like following as politely as possible. Xuande seemed to perk up again as she grew ever closer to the Main Gate. Karen needed to think quickly in order to lose the throng of people accompanying her so she could get some more information out of Xuande, lest they all think she’s insane for talking to her backpack. Who would drink mimosas with the girl that talks to her backpack, anyway? As Karen turned a corner, she whipped around to face the masses.

“Oh my gosh, guys! I am so sorry I totally just remembered something that I have to do! Like, without any of you! I promise we will all get brunch this weekend! Just text me, or something!”

Karen quickly dashed away, leaving her disciples disappointed. She quickly entered the courtyard and noticed a cat, or at least she thought she did.

Xuande, you really had me come down here for a--

Just as Karen started to express her exasperation with her Seer, the cat was nowhere to be seen. There was, however, a strange body of what appeared to be fog in the courtyard. Additionally, there were two girls standing in the courtyard. They were the only two people there, save Karen. Initially, she thought they were just ordinary students. However, they did seem to be aware of the fog.

Can they see that too?

“They are Magical Girls, like you. They also have Seers.” Xuande hopped out of her bag and started to approach the two. “Come. Let’s introduce ourselves.”

Karen followed Xuande’s lead in approaching the girls. She didn’t think that she had ever met these two before, which put them in the minority among students of Hills High. Karen thought she knew just about everybody. But, if they were Magical Girls, it would probably behoove Karen to get to know them quickly.

[GuardianDreamer]

Main Gate

Oh no! Kazuko's worst nightmare! Yes, the blurry figure in the fog that gave her a lot of anxiety was also really scary too, but nevermind that! She was going to need to talk to more people. She could handle speaking to Thorne and Chili, but that was just because Lamorak happened to recognize one of them so he could help her out. What was she supposed to do when she had to rely on her own social skills?!

... Once she calmed down slightly, more relevant information came to Kazuko's attention. She thought about trying to give Thorne some kind of signal that they could discuss their powers after convincing the newcomer to leave and also maybe address the potential threat that had drawn their attention in the first place, but it soon became apparent that she had misread the situation. Whoever this newcomer was, she was accompanied by a Seer. Unlike Lamorak and Chili, who had remained hidden until they noticed each other's presence, this Seer was just casually walking alongside Karen. In actuality, he had been in Karen's bag previously, but as far as Kazuko knew this was just his default state of being.

It was Lamorak who spoke up first, since Kazuko was too torn between wanting to quickly whisper something to Thorne, try to greet the newcomer, or run away and cry. All valid options. But instead, Lamorak turned towards Chili and Thorne to say something quickly. "You should really have more faith in her, Chili. It seems as though we have company. It's a bit sudden, but it would be for the best if we could form some kind of alliance. Kazuko, do your best to befriend this newcomer."

Oh no... Befriend people?! She didn't even know if Thorne hated her or not, and she was expected to try to also befriend someone else at the same time?

"Um... Uh... I'm Kazuko." Kazuko said, internally screaming. She almost added 'I'm gay' in the interest of adding more facts about herself, but decided against it.

She then decided not to internally scream and instead say more than just that for the benefit of the newcomers.

"... If I suddenly started talking about magic to you, would you know what I'm talking about, or would you think I had been reading too many light novels?" Kazuko said, though the appearance of Karen's Seer really should have told her everything she needed to know. In an effort to seem more social, Kazuko gently reached towards Lamorak's arm, and made him wave at the newcomers. Lamorak looked up at Kazuko, raising an eyebrow and wondering what she was doing, though he played along.

[Sleuth]

Main Gayte:

This girl... she looks older than me, but she acts like she's never spoken to someone in her life? Is she really a magical girl?

Thorne decided not to judge her too much, and simply move on.

"Thorne Ikuhara." She replied, "Magical girl, I suppose."

She turned to the new girl who'd arrived, a tomboyish looking girl with red hair, waiting expectantly for her name.

[Reyson]

Hills High

Karen evaluated the pair of girls, then looked down at the polar bear that one of the girls was forcing to wave. They seemed nice enough.

I hope these girls are chill, a couple Magical Girls could make nice friends to add to my collection! Karen thought to herself. Xuande leapt up onto Karen’s shoulder, perching there. His whiskers twitched as he calmly took in the two Magical Girls from his new vantage point.

“I’m Karen, and I’m a Magical Girl.” Karen announced, hands on hips. “I suppose that’s what you were asking? You’re both Magical Girls too, right? Is that your Seer? Adorable! This is Xuande, he’s my little sidekick. Say hi, Xuande!”

“I am Xuande, and I am indeed a Seer. I have chosen to make Karen Dzielny a Magical Girl. Lamorak, Chili, it is good to see you again.”

Karen’s smile radiated with such intensity that she almost forgot about the mysterious fog in the courtyard. The prospect of more friends was more important, anyway.