-Sonagi, Yuko, & Mahiro-
“Mooooooossshhhhiiii-chan~,” a sing-song voice called from outside Mahiro’s front door. “We’re going to be sooo late because of you~ Right, Yuko?”
A silent response must have been made as the first, more vibrant girl continued, “Yuko agrees, so hurry up and come on out here. There is nothing to be afraid of or embarrassed about. I’m sure there will be t-o-ns of other guys there. You are supposed to be a man! And...now that I think about it…you were supposed to be the one coming to get us! You lazy bum, get out here!”
Seeing as there was no immediate response from the occupant residing within the dwelling, the spirited girl turned to banging on the poor, wooden door noisily. THUD! THUD! THUD! Her poundings only grew stronger and louder with each round until finally the door swung wide open.
“Sheesh Sonagi, don’t you have any common decenc- OW! Sto-stop it! You’re not hitting the door anymore, you are hitting my face!” yelped the tall, 5 foot 4 inches male that answered the door. Blocking the descending fist with one hand and covering his injured face with the other, the light-brown haired, young man groaned in pain. The spirited, young lass, Sonagi, slowly retracted her fist and her lively smile dropped from her face, replaced by one filled with regret.
“Geez, Sonagi, as usual you always go too far. I heard you the first time. Were you trying to wake up the whole neighborhood? That’ll be, what, the 10th noise complaint this week?” the boy huffed as he still held his face. However, his questions were met with silence, which was unusual. Sighing, the injured, young male, Mahiro, or Moshi, looked up. “Sonagi, you know I didn’t mean it like tha-” Upon glancing up, he was met with Sonagi’s tear-filled gaze.
“You JERK! You always blame everything on me, but we have been friends for 14 years now, and I am always the one that has to come over and pick you up. It should be the other way around. I know I am loud and obnoxious a lot of the time, so I don’t need to hear it from you too. Whatever, if you don’t want me to come over to your house anymore to keep you in check, then fine, I won’t. Hope you are happy being late. Come on Yuko. We are already late as is because of him,” Sonagi bawled as she fought to restrain her tears. Motioning for Yuko to come, Sonagi marched off down the street and her sister, Yuko, followed quickly behind. The silent girl shot one last sympathetic look over her shoulder before following her emotional sister.
“Was that the Shiji boy again?”
“Such a heartbreaker.”
“He really needs to find better women...and friends...He always gets the loud ones.”
“I might not send in the complaint this time, though. It seems he is facing some rough times as is...especially with that scene right there.”
“Eek, I think he hears us. He’s looking this way.”
“Shhh, I’ll talk to you later.”
Mahiro sighed exasperatedly as he walked back inside. The neighbors were talking again. This was not turning out to be a good morning. Nevertheless, Sonagi was right, Mahiro was running late, as usual. He had signed up and gone through the tiresome process in becoming a “Magical Girl”, even though he was a guy, just because his friends insisted on him joining them. Honestly, he didn’t see the point in becoming a “Magical Girl”. “Magical Girls” gain no benefits, not like those shown in some of the more popular animes and mangas. Life is not a fairytale. “Magical Girls” are practically glorified volunteers, except just a little better as they get paid a measly sum and are equipped with magical powers that may or may not be useful at all.
Either way, Mahiro was officially registered, and today was the first day on the job, or something like that. Leaving his house five minutes after the whole morning event, Mahiro shoved his hands in his pant pockets and walked sullenly towards the Tokyo Magical Girl department office.
-Hino-
The short, barely 4 foot 11 inches, redheaded, young girl with two long braids trailing down her back sauntered down the street without a care in the world. Humming to herself as she half-skipped, half-walked towards her destination, Hino casually glanced at her watch. Oi, was she late! However, the girl was completely unfazed by this fact and continued to skip nonchalantly. She knew she was going to be late from the moment that she had woken up to find her previously-dutiful alarm clock burnt to a crisp. Yeah, she was going to need to purchase a new alarm clock on her way home from this important meeting. Hopefully she would be able to find a flame-retardant one.
As Hino approached her destination, she noticed two girls, both with an oddly bright shade of pink hair, standing to the side of the building that she was heading towards. One of the girls was sobbing as the other pink-haired girl silently comforted her. Hino cautiously approached the two girls.
“Excuse me, miss...and other miss. Is everything okay? I, a new heroine of justice, could not help but notice that you were crying. Is there anything that I can do to help? Beat up a bad guy? Put on a little show?” Hino asked in a polite manner.
The pink-haired girl sniffled and shook her head no while her friend remained silent. “Th-thanks for the offer, but I’m fine, really. There is just...this jerk...who…”
“Jerk?! Where?! I’ll go beat him up! Teach him the pain as a result of making a girl cry!” a strong look of conviction crossed Hino’s face as she proclaimed her statement with valor.
“N-no! Wait! Please, don’t. He’s actually a really nice guy, and he is our childhood friend. He’s just...a jerk by nature...but really, he is a good guy. He even joined the Magical Girl department with us…” the crying girl babbled through choked breaths.
“Eh? You guys are Magical Girls, too? No way! Nice to meet you both! What division are you two in?” Hino interjected excitedly, grabbing both of their hands and shaking them violently, completely bypassing the fact that the girl was still glum.
“We...we’re part of the new, 4th Department...today is our first day...meeting….”
“Same here! I’m Hino, Hino Takibi! Come on, we are sooo late!” Hino shouted enthusiastically. Still holding on to both of the girls’ hands, Hino dragged the reluctant two into the department office building. Releasing Yuko’s hand, Hino procured her license and waved it at the receptionist, who directed the girls towards their new destination.
“4th door on the right, ladies,” he called from his spot behind the counter, not even bothering to look up from his pile of registration and licensing paperwork.
The little redhead smiled gleefully as she pulled the sniffling girl along, Yuko trailing close behind. Upon opening the 4th door to the right of the hallway, Hino announced her presence boisterously to the two already waiting inside. “Hello, everyone. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, so I hope we can get along!”
Sonagi, relieved that Hino had finally released her hand to make that unnecessary announcement, quietly shuffled into the room with her sister. The two moved to one of the back corners of the room while Sonagi tried to hide that fact that she had been crying about a minute earlier.
