"KENSHIROOO!"
"JOTAROOO!"
"KENSHIROOO!!!"
"JOTAROOO!!!"
Sanae was in currently in her bedroom, introducing Kousen
to the world of anime. On the TV screen in front of them, two heavily-muscled
men with spiky hair were staring each other down, fists clenched, yelling each
other's names back and forth endlessly. While Sanae seemed enraptured by the
show, Kousen was rather nonplussed by it. "Are they actually going to
fight," asked the youkai, "or just stand there and yell each other's
names for the entire episode?"
"I hope so," said Sanae. "They've been
doing this for three whole episodes now."
"Then why are you still watching it?" asked
Kousen. "I don't understand."
"It's the suspense!" exclaimed Sanae eagerly.
"You know something's going to
happen at some point, but you don't know when!
It could be in five minutes, it could be in five months! That's the beauty of
it!"
Kousen sighed. "Is this really how your people
entertain yourselves these days?" she asked. "How boring."
Sanae sighed. "Alright, let's see what else is on…"
She turned over the channel and was greeted by a shot of five girls sitting
round a table eating cake. "Nope, that's also boring." She turned
over the channel again, and this time stumbled across a news broadcast.
"We interrupt this program to bring you a convenient
news bulletin," said the anchor. "A strange magical girl dressed in
black is currently on the rampage in downtown Mitsuzawa, overturning cars and
smashing windows. Authorities are unsure whether this magical girl is connected
in any way to White Star, the heroine who yesterday saved Mitsuzawa from a
giant sea monster, but it is clear that unlike White Star, this girl does not
have good intentions. Authorities are thus urging people to stay in their homes
and watch clichéd shonen anime instead."
"I don't believe it," said Kousen, staring at
the screen in horror.
"I know!" moaned Sanae. "Watching shonen
anime is always less fun when the government are telling you to do it-"
"No, not that," said Kousen. "It's her.
She's back."
Sanae took another look at the screen. There was a shaky
close-up of the magical girl, and although it was a little blurry, she could
clearly tell that just had the report had said, this girl was evil. Or maybe
just attention-seeking, as at that moment she turned to the camera and waved
energetically at it before turning her attention back to the Mazda MX-5 that
she was currently violently dismantling. Either way, she needed to be stopped.
"You know her?" asked Sanae.
"I do," said Kousen. "I was hoping I
wouldn't have to tell you this, or at least not this early, but… when I came to
your world, all those years ago, I didn't come alone. There was another who
came with me, a youkai called Kage. We fought to protect this city from
monsters, and together we were known as the StarLight Duo, for we wielded the
White Star and Black Star Emblems respectively.
"However, 372 years ago, it all went wrong,"
said Kousen ominously. "Do you recall what I told you this morning, during
class?"
Sanae thought hard for a moment, then shrugged.
"Nope," she said. "But we can just show it in a flashback, like
this:"
***
"They sure are enthusiastic about you, aren't
they?" said Kousen.
"Mmm," Sanae mumbled into the desk. "I
can see now why you told me to keep my identity a secret. If people found out,
they'd never leave me alone."
"It'll die down eventually," said Kousen. "After
a while, people will just get used to having you around. When they do, you'll
know you've finally succeeded in bringing peace to the city."
***
"Oh, that!" said Sanae, her eyes widening in
recognition. "Yeah, I remember that now. So, is that what happened with
you and Kage? People just got used to having you around?"
"More or less," said Kousen. "People
stopped being afraid whenever a monster appeared, because they knew we would
defeat it, and when we did, they carried on as though nothing had happened. To
me, that was a sign that we were doing our jobs properly. But to Kage, it was a
sign that the townspeople no longer truly appreciated what we were doing for
them. She felt we'd been turned into slaves, doing the people's bidding without
any recognition.
"Eventually, she grew bitter and resentful towards
humans, and one day when a monster appeared, she refused to help. I tried to
talk sense into her, but she had grown angry at me as well, for serving the
humans so willingly. In the end, I was forced to fight my old friend. The
resulting battle destroyed half the city, but ultimately Kage was defeated, and
I sealed her away inside her own Emblem. However, my powers had been greatly
weakened during the fight, and I was close to death. With the last of my
strength, I sealed myself away inside my own Emblem, in the hopes that et
cetera, et cetera, you know the rest," Kousen concluded.
"And now someone's picked up Kage's Emblem and
decided to use it?" asked Sanae. "Damn. I'm guessing I'm going to
have to fight her, huh?"
"I'm afraid so," said Kousen, her face grave.
"However, I must warn you that Black Star will be far more powerful than
that monster you fought yesterday. It will be a very difficult battle. All I
can do is wish you good luck, and hope that you will be successful."
"Thanks, Kousen," said Sanae. "I'll do my
best, just like I did yesterday!" Sanae hopped off her bed and began
rooting around inside her school bag. "Now then, where did I put that
Emblem… I know it was in here somewhere…"
"Please don't tell me you've lost the most powerful
magical item this side of the World Above," said Kousen wearily.
"No, wait, here it is," said Sanae, and as she
pulled it from her bag, she was engulfed once more in a blinding white light. Her
T-shirt and sweatpants morphed into a beautiful white knee-length dress, with
violet lace trim. White thigh-high socks and high-heeled shoes gently enveloped
her feet and legs, the straps of the shoes winding their way delicately up her
shins. White gloves manifested themselves on her hands, and as the Emblem
transformed into the White Star Wand, she clutched it tightly in her right
hand. Finally, her hair curled itself into two neat ringlets either side of her
head, and her transformation into White Star was complete.
"Alright," said Sanae, "time to go do the
thing! Seriously, I need to think of a good pre-battle quote."
No comments:
Post a Comment