Hana managed to get outside without encountering her creep of a brother. Hana was starting to feel constricted. She was so happy with that monster out of her life, and now he was trying to worm his way back into it. What did he expect to happen?
Hana flipped open her phone. With an exception to her parents, there was only one other name in there: Himeko. Hana didn't directly remember exchanging phone numbers with her, but that didn't matter now. The thoughts of her brother were being pushed out of her head when she saw her name. It reminded her of all the good food she ate yesterday, as well as that exiting encounter with the magical girls. Though there would be plenty of time to catch up with Himeko during the infirmary thing tomorrow at school, Hana needed to talk to someone now. She hit auto dial and lifted the phone to her ear.
“Hello, it's Hana. Are you busy?” Hana nodded while listening to Himeko's response. “Yes well, I was wondering if you were free to hang around and chat. I had an interesting encounter yesterday, I'll tell you about it if you meet me at the library. I'll see you then!” Hana had completely forgotten about what made her so upset. She was smiling. It felt so strange to be this way.
...
The local library was a quiet place. Very little of the reading material interested Hana, but nobody really came to the library to do much more than drop off books on Sunday. Because of this, very few people hung around, and you could talk about almost anything in private. The technophile was passing the time in an isle reading book titles. The overhead florescent lighting was rather poor, and wasn't nearly as bright as the sunbeams coming in from a nearby window.
"Lord have mercy, what kind of library doesn't even have the entire Shar Spire series, I don't even." Himeko was greeted to not just Hana but an extra strong wiff of unknown fumes. "My god! What the heck is that smell?" Exclaimed Himeko as she pinched her nose, dropping a book in disgust.
Hana lifted up her arm and sniffed under it. “I-I ran out of aluminum free antiperspirant!” She grit her teeth. Hana was pretty sure she still smelled a little bit like that slimy tentacle monster. “Anyway, I think you're being a little dramatic.” Hana pinned her elbows at her sides.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll adjust... So what's this 'interesting encounter'? It better not be something stupid like a cat chasing a dog."
“Well, it's not entirely unlike that.” Hana turned to face Himiko with a smile “I encountered some magical girls fighting a creature yesterday.”
"Oh. My. Glob." Himeko's jaw was about to drop. She shook her head and drew her usual smug expression. "But wait Hana, I thought you weren't interested in Magical Girls. How'd you suddenly just find some?"
“Well...” Hana scratched the back of her head. “It's a lot different seeing them in person I guess. And...” Hana was avoiding making eye contact with Himeko. “M-maybe the monster was going to eat me, and one of them saved me.” She closed her eyes. “It was even a tentacle monster! And people were recording the whole thing on their phones! It was so embarrassing but...” Her eyes opened up again. “It makes you realize that regardless of what resides in a magical girl's heart, it still takes a lot of bravery to fight something like that.” Hana stood up a little straighter. “Even with all that power, you're still pitting yourself against monsters, making it and all of it's victims your responsibility. Not just anyone can become a magical girl.”
Himeko shook her head. her eyes squinting in disbeleif. "Nooo way! I can't beleive you actually got involved with them! But don't worry, you might get famous now." Her smug expression returned.
"Heh, I told you Hana! Magical Girls are the best things out. Some better than others." Himeko then whispered under her breath "Specifically one better than the rest" Himeko chuckled to herself. "I'm glad you joined the rest of the world in their love of magical girls."
Hana let out a small, noticeable groan. “Well, I'm not sure love is the right word...” She turned to face the window and folded her arms behind her back. “I don't mean just for me, I mean everyone. Do we really love magical girls... or do we envy them?” Hana turned back to Himeko with a smile. “I mean, you must admit that being a magical girl would be better than meeting one right? Having all that power at your disposal, you'd never have to be afraid of anything again. Maybe that contradicts what I just said, but it is easier to be brave when you're strong.”
"Whoa Hana, I didn't even know you were capable of such otherworldly thought. But I could say, personally, if I was a magical girl, I'd love that envy heheh" The ever returning smug smile came about. "That might seem a bit selfish, but what're you gunna do? With the power of magical girl, you'd be able to do such impossible feats for everyone and anyone to see. When you save someone, like they did for you, you can expect some good gratification. Then take into consideration the society we live in now. A society in which magical girls are put upon pedestals and are often talked about with positive remarks. They're essentially local celebrities."
“I agree entirely... Or at least I would.” Hana grinned like a demon. “I plan on being different than the rest of them. I can't prevent myself from feeling stronger because I have these powers, but I'm not going to try to be someone's roll model. I don't care about sponsorship deals, merchandising, or rewards. All I care about is what Ignites my hear: The spirit of adventure!” Right in front of Himeko, Hana transformed into a magical girl. “Shining scale lives for adventure, and adventures to live!” Hana's eye brows bounced up and down on her head as the room was filled with the pleasant fragrance of her scented candles.
"The rest of them? Hana what do.... OH MY GLOB YOU'RE A MAGICAL GIRL TOO?!" In her surprise, Himeko let her secret slip, quickly putting her hands over her mouth in realization of what she had said.
The pirate girl raised an eyebrow. "...What?" She raised the other. "All this time, YOU'VE been a magical girl?! I KNEW something smelled fishy! There was no way you had nothing to do with magical girls!" Hanna took a step closer to Himeko. "Well? Don't clam up now! Which one are you?"
"Me? Well dear Hana you know I'm not one to brag but..." A sly smile stretched acorss Himekos' face. "Who am I kidding right?! It of course I am!" Himeko began to cheerfully laugh as a purple aura began form around Himeko, swilling around and encasing her in it's glory. Bursting from the Aura Himeko transformed into her vampire-esque magial girl attire. Forming her spear and tapping it against the ground. "Who else would it be? It's me! My Cute Self, The Cutest Magical Girl!"
Hana eyes her companion up and down. “I...See, so you're that one.” The pirate took a step closer. “So I guess it's fair to assume that the real reason why you wanted to know if I was interested in magical girls, was because you wanted to hear me complement your magical girl persona. Is that correct?”
"Fu fu fu! Well maybe Hana, I do enjoy having my ego stoked ya'know!" Himeko ran her hand through her hair. "Afterall, I'm simply the best there is and everrrrrrybody knows it! Honestly you'd never guess how surprised I was that you'd never heard of me!"
“I said that?” Shining scale shrugged and looked away from Himeko. “Well, if I did... That was a lie.” Hana marched towards her magical girl companion. “Because while I don't follow most magical girls, I do follow you rather closely.” Hana stopped when her feet were right in front of Himeko's. “I don't really like how egotistical some magical girl types are but, I always got the impression you were a little different.” Hana started to smile. “And in meeting you in person you do seem to have a... inflated sense of self worth, but you never went out of your way to put me down. Even when I ate like a pig in front of you, you didn't call me out on it.” Hana sighed. “I'm... so happy you're exactly the way I thought you'd be.”
Himeko backed up a little. "Um! ... Well! Aha! It's... Erm! I don't really care how others look! Besides! The worse you make yourself look the better I look." Turning her head she blushed. "Besides. I just needed you to join this stupid afterschool thing, it's not like I really care or anything."
“You're contradicting yourself now.” Hana continued to walk towards Himiko until she bumped into a wall, at which point Hana stopped walking again. “When you took me out, your first question to me was if I liked magical girls, because hearing my answer meant more to you than some 'stupid afterschool thing.'” The pirate girl placed her hands on Himeko's shoulders. “You don't have to pretend to be strong for me, Himeko. I already know you are.”
Himeko was unable to make a retort. She blushed, unable to look away. Her breath began to become heavy as Hana came closer to her. Backing her into a wall. "Y-You think I'm strong? Oh my goodness..."
Hana's hands slid around Himeko's shoulders and the two were pulled into a kiss. The vampire girl's spine trembled when they made contact. Their eyelids fluttered shut as Hana hugged her tighter.
When Hana pulled away, she could see something in the corner of her eye. The pirate girl turned her head to see a few school girls looking to pick up books. They were standing in the doorway, shocked.
“Himeko?! Hana?!”
“Uh...” Hana released the vampire magical girl and swung her coat around themselves, causing them both to appear inside a cannon. It fired the duo out the window over a grassy knoll. Their landing was less then graceful, but neither of them was hurt.
“Ahem.” Shinscale stood up and dusted herself off. “Sorry about the landing, We'd have fared a bit better in a boat. My chest softened the fall, how's your booty?” Himeko was a bit dazed, but she managed to stand on her feet. “Sorry about the surprise kiss, I just kind of...” Hanna looked around to make sure they were alone. “Okay, so it's likely that our cover is blown now. On the upside, we both come from wealthy families. We could go almost anywhere, continue to do the magical girl thing with new identities.” Hana sighed. “I can't speak for you, but I really need to get away from my brother. I can't live in my own house anymore. What do you say? Do you want to leave this dump with me and make it big somewhere else?” After Himeko gave her answer, the two girls left the knoll together.
...and that was the last time either of them were seen around Umitori City.
