"Out debut is next Saturday?!"

"That’s right." Mariko smiled as she sipped her tea.

"But, we haven’t even started training yet."

"Are we really going to be ready by next week?"

Mariko chuckled and patted my head. “Don’t worry. I know you girls can do this. I believe in you.”

"But…"

I heard the door click open and Yuko came in with the box.

"Hey guys. We got a few name entries. Wanna look and see if we got anything good?"

"Alright." We gathered around the table as Yuko opened the box.

"Who wants to go first?"

"How about the leader?"

"Okay…" I reached my hand in and pulled out a sheet of paper. I unfolded it and read the name.

"Kokoro"

"Oh, that sounds pretty."

"My turn." Nana pulled out a sheet of paper and looked at it.

"Kira Kira Mahou Squad"

"Hm… interesting."

Miki pulled out hers and smiled. “This one’s cool! It sounds like a really awesome magical girl catchphrase.”

"Sekai Ichiban Girls"

"That does sound cool."

One after another we read of the names of the different entries.

"LOVE Power"

"7-nin Hearts"

"Lucky Seven"

"The World’s Best Squad of Cute Girls who can Sing and Dance and…"

"OK, this one is way too long!"

"Some of these names are really good…"

"But… it still feels like it should be different."

We all harmonized a huge sigh and set down the paper slips. Yuko took the box and went to take it back outside for new entries.

"But, y’know, it would be great if we could come up with some," Meru spoke up.

"Eh?"

"Some of what?"

"Catchphrases. Cool poses, stylish outfits, and cute moe-moe catchphrases are the complete essence of a magical girl."

"Yeah, exactly!" Miki joined in and held her hands. "We need to do that."

They both live in a fantasy world…

"We’re magical warriors by day!"

"And idol performers by night!"

"Magical idol chu! Or, for short…"

They posed together like a freeze frame you’d see in a manga.

“Magidoru chu!!!”

“KACHING!”

All of us just looked at them as they froze, waiting for some kind of response.

"Hm?" They both turned to look at us.

"Magi-doru-chu?"

"It was the first thing we could come up with the top of our heads."

"Don’t blame us. We just wanted to have fun."

We just laughed and had them sit back down. Mariko-san started to get up and leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I have some business to take care of," she said as she sat her cup down. Then, she left the office.

Before I could think of what she could’ve been doing, I looked and saw Nana flipping through the manga.

"What are you doing?"

"Studying."

So… earnest…
…..

Kaiba stood in the shadows of the streets, unnoticed by the people passing by, busy with their daily lives.

In the middle of the intersection, he saw the Akihabara48 agency building. He grinned, watching the girls walk out to the café. They were all smiling and laughing.

And that sight was one that disgusted him. But he still smiled, because he knew, once he was finished with them, those smiles would be gone.

"Kaiba."

The world completely froze, everything in a stand still. The white haired man looked and saw Mariko standing behind him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Mariko, what happened to you?"

"I want to ask the same thing."

"You used to be one of us."

"You were against Muse-sama. What did she ever do to you?"

"Exactly. She never did anything for us. And yet, in the end, you abandoned us."

"You tried to kill her!"

"And I would’ve left you in peace… if you hadn’t used your magic to scatter the Heart fragments around Japan and hide them from us."

Mariko grabbed Kaiba’s collar.

"I won’t let you hurt them."

"Do you really believe you have the power to stop us?"

"I do. I was blessed with Muse-sama’s Heart fragment, her virtue. I am a miko."

"No," Kaiba pushed her away. "You are now, and forever, a *shinigami."

Then he disappeared into black smoke. Mariko clenched her fists as the world unfroze and time continued like nothing happened.

"I’ll protect those girls. No matter what."

======================

Footnotes

*1. Shinigami - An angel of death. They are beings from the Underworld who guide people’s souls to cross over to the other side.