"As you might know, magical girls are bound by a contract. Who is giving out these contracts and who gets chosen? Some are more eager to find out than others."
Another morning in one of the outside wards of Japan's capital city. The sun is slowly rising, gradually coloring the concrete of the high-rise buildings.
Today will be a nice early fall day. Some birds were chirping, telling Hanako that it's morning. It was because of this, that she was able to wake up even before her alarm rang.
The first sun rays were breaching the curtain of her window, hitting the shelf with a remarkable collection of manga. Magical girl manga. As far as the eye could see. Posters and other merchandise like figures were carefully placed around her room.
She was a huge fan. Reasons for her amazement ranged from the brave and righteous characteristics they embody to the adorable outfits they were wearing.
Her most precious possession was the complete 12 volume set of the Magical Pudding Guardian manga. Since it is a limited edition, the covers have a holographic foil worked into them. Not a lot of people own a full set and it would earn a high price on online auctioning websites now because they are long out of print. Of course this particular set will never be sold.
Hanako is completely convinced that magical girls exist. And some time she would become one herself. This was her declared goal. However she never told anyone about this, because she dreaded being made fun of.
Today would be just another typical day of going to school, coming back home, sleep, and then repeat. At least to her prediction. But today had an encounter waiting for her, that would change her remaining middle school life.
She slowly removed her blanket and moved out of bed. After opening the curtain, the whole room was filled with sunlight. Even though she was quite early today, her little sister and her mother would already be in the kitchen, eating their breakfast. The father would already be off to work.
Hanako didn't want to be the typical anime character hurrying to school late with a slice of toast stuck in her mouth, even though it might have been a good start for her story. This day, she decided to eat at home and was good on time.
She is the kind of person that always comments on how good the food is to bring a smile to the person who prepared it. Today it was her mother that got to hear her kind words - and she meant it.
"Another typical day", is what she thought on her way to school.
Listening to opening songs from magical girl anime, she took the train. A few stops later, she arrived at her destination.
Other students of her class would already be waiting for lessons to start. Some were casually chatting with their friends while others were swiping through the most recent posts on social media.
She moved to her seat which would be fitting for a main character in any anime or manga story. It was located in the back of the classroom, by the window. Like so many other chosen heroes' seats also are. But nothing happened to Hanako even though the seating was so promising. Especially a contract to become a magical girl hasn't arrived. Yet.
On the way to her chair, she passed behind a boy of her class who was seated in the same row towards the center of the classroom.
Hanako took a short glimpse to see what this seemingly tired person was looking at and her eyes opened wide.
"Eeeh!? How cute is this costume looking!! Are you interested in magical girls by any chance?"
The name of the boy was Kouhei. It was rare for him to be at school this early. Normally, he would arrive at the classroom at the last possible moment because he always has trouble getting out of bed after staying up too late. If he would come for the first period at all.
A bit startled he replied "Uh. Well. I guess they do have cool costumes sometimes?"
Normally it was frowned upon for boys to be interested in magical girl content. It was basically made for females. The only redeeming factor to sell a few copies to a male audience were the revealing outfits. That's what Kouhei was after as well.
YOU ARE READING
Nopan Mahou Shoujo
Short StoryHanako is a typical female student in Japan, who likes magical girl stories as they appear in manga and anime. Maybe she likes them a little bit too much. She is convinced that magic exists and that it is only a matter of time until she will get con...
