Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cover pic, drawn by yours truly <3

Ayako collapsed onto the mat, sweaty, breath ragged as she let go of the 300kg barbell she'd been lifting, and groaned, stretching her tired muscles as she moved back up into a proper standing position.

A hundred reps. New record.

She smiled proudly to herself and turned to the posters on her gym wall. Between the images of strong men like Schwarzenegger and Stallone, were a set of posters of her favorite fictional female warrior: Starlight Seraphina. Unlike the two men, she was an anime character, and with that came grace, beauty. Slender, pale limbs, tiny hands and small feet, long legs and smooth shoulders, and somehow impossibly strong for her size, towering over monsters three times her size.

Ever since Ayako was a kid, she always loved Magical Girls. At first it was just because her friends were into it, but soon enough she found herself absolutely enraptured by it. 

In a country where women so often were sidelined, Ayako found solace in those strong girls who could fight adversity without losing any love from their peers.

Although... She knew it wasn't meant to be in real life. Not here. Not the way she was.

Magic wasn't real, and it was impossible to be beautiful while also being strong.

Ayako shook her head and wiped her face with her towel.

No point in thinking about all that depressing stuff. 

At least she was strong. At least she could defend herself.

Sure, she didn't have any friends, girls found her unsightly, and men would run away from her scared... But... At least she was strong. 

And if something were to happen, some crime or event... She would be ready for it.

Ayako walked to her fridge to get herself some post-workout food. Usually she'd get herself something nice, like thick Greek yogurt with strawberries, and a large protein shake. 

But as she opened the fridge, she realized she was out of eggs for the shake.

Ayako sighed, and grabbed her baggy hoodie, switched her shorts for track pants, and reluctantly walked outside.

She avoided looking anywhere but the ground. She knew the route anyway. They sold eggs for cheap at the store down the street.

Easy peasy. Just go in, grab the eggs, and go out. 

Every time she left her house, it's like she could feel the stares of the people around her.

Those giggles from the girl passing by, it might've been mocking her tan.

Or the laugh from this guy, was he disgusted by her large frame?

Ayako debated putting her hood on. Might end up bringing even more attention to herself. She didn't wanna look creepy.

A yell was heard from above. Ayako's head snapped upwards at the construction site nearby. A large pallet of marble slabs was slowly tilting left and right and sliding off. The workers were shouting at the people below to leave, clumsily trying to grab the pallet but only making it worse.

Then as Ayako looked down, she saw a woman right under. She was beautiful, a proper business oneesan. Tall, skinny, large shoulders and short hair, dressed in a form-fitting white suit. 

The rest went by in a flash. The slabs slipped and fell. Ayako pounced, not even having the time to think...

And the next thing she knew, she was holding the entire pallet, arms shaking with the effort, shielding the oneesan from harm. Her hands and arms and back were scorching from the pain, but the adrenaline rush was exhilarating.

Then for a moment the two's eyes met. And the oneesan smiled softly. 

"Perfect."

Just a second later, Ayako let the slabs fall and let out a heavy sigh, panting as the adrenaline rushed through her veins.

"Oh my goodness!! Are you okay, m-ma'am? S-sir? Ma'am?" The panicked voice of the worker started to waver with confusion seeing Ayako, and Ayako's shame immediately came back.

"M-ma'am. A-and yeah. I'm okay. Thank you." Ayako mumbled softly.

"So shameful!" Suddenly the oneesan exclaimed. "You should really be more careful! I would've died had this young girl not stepped in and saved me!!"

The workers bowed in shame, repeating apologies over and over again.

As the workers shamefully went to clean up the mess, the oneesan stepped up to Ayako and gently pressed a soft, pristine hand to her shoulder. 

"Hey. I do apologize for this. I truly didn't mean to make you hurt yourself like this. Are you okay?"

Ayako felt a bit of warmth radiate in her chest at those kind words. It was simple politeness and yet it felt warmer, more genuine.

"I-I'm okay. You... Stood up to those workers. You're strong, it's... Really uhm... C-cool..."

The oneesan smiled, hand softly rubbing Ayako's shoulder in a nurturing manner. "My name is Hana. And... I... I hear a lot of weight in those words. Sweet girl. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

Ayako looked down shyly and nodded. Was it that easy to tell?

"You're stronger than you know. And... If you'd like... I could give you a way to prove it."

Hana gently took Ayako's hand and pressed a paper to her palm. She bowed softly and smiled. 

"I hope to see you tonight."

Ayako looked at the paper for a moment. It was actually a card, pink and sparkly, with an address. The card had a soft, fruity smell to it.

Huh.

Chapter Text

The address led Ayako to a place she somehow never noticed, despite it being relatively close to home. It was a tall, but thin building, wedged in between two large ones, with a beautiful ornate door. As soon as she knocked, the door opened, and Hana arrived, in a beautiful white dress with a pink jacket. From up close and without the adrenaline, Ayako noticed how perfect her makeup was as well, and the long dangling rose gold earrings contrasting with her short, perfect hair.

"There you are! I was wondering if you'd actually show up! Come in, come in!”

Shyly, Ayako walked in, barely taking in the pink and glittery entrance area, too busy being surprised that there were a few other girls here as well. Hana probably saw Ayako's awkwardness, as she smiled and waved a gentle hand.

“Oh! Don't be intimidated, hah, these are all newcomers like you!”

One girl, large watery eyes covered with thick glasses, a soft face and porcelain skin, seemed particularly curious. She smiled shyly at her, bowing gracefully, and Ayako smiled back, bowing slightly.

“H-hi. I'm Fumiko Nishimura. It's nice to meet you.”

“Ayako Akira. Same here.”

“Come on now, girls! Now that everyone's here, follow me! Let's get to the main area, it's larger so we can all breathe a bit, and I'll introduce you to the leader of this establishment who will explain to you what this place is all about.”

All the girls, a mix of shy, excited and nervous, followed Hana as she led them down a long winding path of stairs. As they went down, the air felt… warmer. Not in a literal sense, the temperature was the same, but there was this sort of… cozy feeling that slowly settled, not just within Ayako, but clearly within all the other girls as well, it was easy to tell with the way their postures all relaxed and their nervous chatter turned to excited giggles and curious whispers.

“So what do you think this is?” Fumiko asked softly.

“YMCA for girls?”

“Hah, good guess. Personally I was gonna just say “as long as they don't try to sell us weird stuff, I'm fine.” Hehe!”

Ayako giggled. This girl was nice.

“Here we are! The main area!” Hana finally announced as they reached the bottom of the stairs, opening a heavy door to show a frankly beautiful room. It was in fact very large, with a high ceiling painted in complex renaissance-looking fresques depicting beautiful, colorful women with angelic features battling scary-looking demons in what seemed like the sky, seemingly illuminated by the chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling.

The walls had mostly motivational posters with all sorts of inspiring quotes in a mix of cutesy and cool fonts, and at the back were several ornate doors, leading… somewhere. There were panels above each, probably written on them the names of each room, but Ayako's attention was quickly moved to a figure in the middle of the room, sitting on a very long and comfy-looking sofa, drinking what seemed to be rose tea from a beautiful white and gold porcelain cup. There were many other cups on the table in front of her. Exactly enough for the entire group, including Hana.

The person on the sofa was a beautiful older woman. Despite her age, she seemed strong and youthful in body language, standing up straight with a gentle smile, no shaking or anything of the sort. 

“Good afternoon, High Priestess Chiyo Suzuki.” Hana bowed quite low as she greeted the woman, and all the girls, obviously sensing there was some respect to be given to this one, immediately followed suit. The woman smiled and nodded.

“Hello, girls. It's such a pleasure to see so many of you here today. I take it from your confused auras… you're not quite sure what you're doing here. Is that right?” The woman said in a low, soft, buttery voice. 

The girls all agreed silently, nodding, looking down, some even surprised it seemed this obvious. Chiyo laughed softly. “Come, sit down with me. I'll tell you all what you're here for.”

All the girls went to sit down, and took a cup of tea. The tea was slightly sweet, barely any bitterness left, and warm. It was soothing, and went through Ayako like a gentle balm on wounds as she drank it.

“You have all been chosen here because you showed us something that no other girl has. You showed us… strength. The ability to live despite life's hardships. To keep on going no matter what. We here are very interested in girls like you. Strong girls.” Most of the girls seemed awkward at this word, some blushing or looking down. One girl even choked on her tea. Ayako herself felt a bit uncomfortable. She… didn't quite like praise. Assuming she meant “strong” as in mentally. Not physically. Was she really? She didn't think so.

“Hehe” Chiyo let out a soft laugh, amused. “Not just strong, but humble girls as well. Humility too, is a virtue not many have these days, is it not?” she continued. Some of the girls settled down. Others still seemed a bit wary.

“Now, let me ask you a question… did you feel… warm, as you went down those stairs, and entered this room? Like… as if all the weight on your shoulders, all your worries… had just… disappeared?”

Huh. So it definitely wasn't just Ayako's imagination, huh.

“You have, haven't you?” Chiyo smirked softly, and put down her teacup. “Now… you might wonder what that was. You might be surprised… but it's… magic.”

Ayako looked at Fumiko with a skeptical gaze. Fumiko looked very weirded out as well. It almost seemed like she wanted to say something, fidgeting in her seat.

“Do you have something to say, my child?” Chiyo hummed, nodding to Fumiko, who immediately straightened up in fear.

“U-uhm- uh- well- with all due respect, ma'am…”

“I know, dearie. You probably are thinking “but magic isn't real!”. And you'd be… right. In a way. Magic isn't real, not the magic you've probably been taught about in fantasy books at least. No. But this… this is real. Some people, scientists… give it other names. Dark matter. Quantum energy. Heck, for a time, even something as simple as a placebo was considered “magic”, was it not?”

Fumiko seemed less annoyed now, and more intrigued. Most of the girls as well. Ayako too. 

Chiyo kept on talking. 

“This “magic”, we call it that because we haven't… quite figured out the ins and outs of it. It is a relatively new process, after all. We can wield it… but our scientific teams are small, and… well, let's just say, there is some fun in mystery as well, is there not? But if the word magic makes you uncomfortable, we'll call it by its chosen name. Resonance.”

Hana, who somehow had disappeared during the talk without Ayako even noticing at all, came behind Chiyo with a new steaming teapot, pouring more tea in the empty cups. Ayako took a second serving too. That tea was really good.

“Resonance is… something which we have used to heal ourselves. You may have noticed Hana's beauty, or my youthful disposition despite my age, have you not? This is all a part of it.”

Hana let out a soft laugh, blushing softly at the praise.

“Oh, Suzuki-sama, you flatter me so.”

“I only tell the truth, sweetheart.” Chiyo answered, before turning back to the girls. “And the truth is this. I know you have all suffered greatly in your lives, my sweet children. And I want to help you. You see… this place has been a haven for girls like you, like us, since the very start of its founding. My grandmother was the one who found this place, as a matter of fact, after her husband had left her. She was… lost. She… had thoughts of harming herself, even, hell, of ending her own life. But something stopped her.”

Chiyo looked up at the frescoes on the ceilings, and the girls all looked up as well.

“Thanks to my grandmother and the women who followed suit… we are now more than just a haven of lost women. We are warriors. And… we use resonance to fight against the bad things of the world. To protect it.”

Hold on… that sounded like…

“Like magical girls?” Ayako blurted out, and then immediately slapped a hand to her mouth in shame. Oh god, so awkward, she just outed herself as a huge otaku.

Chiyo didn't seem put off at all, thankfully, she just laughed softly and nodded. “That's right! As a matter of fact… Some might even say the “magical girls” of today were inspired by us. Artists and writers who saw us in action and were inspired to share our stories with the world.”

Chiyo slowly rose to her feet, hands clasped behind her back as she gracefully walked to one of the doors.

“Come, follow me. I have something to show all of you.”

The girls all hurried to follow along. As they walked through a small corridor, Chiyo talked.

“Your name is… Ayako, is that right?”

“Y-yes, ma'am.”

“Do not be ashamed of your words or your thoughts. Your love for magical girls is completely normal. It is, after all, a depiction of feminine beauty and strength in its best form, isn't it?”

“I-I guess…”

The group arrived in a small room, where in the middle was a sort of pearlescent star-shaped platform, illuminated by a hole above it, the light rays from the ceilings cutting through the darkness like a beautiful glittery rainbow. 

“Now… I did say we are warriors… but as you can probably guess, we can't simply fight looking like… like this, right?” Chiyo pointed to herself, laughing, and some of the girls laughed politely too. Then the older woman took something from her robe. It was a small cylindrical object… which immediately stretched and shifted as she moved it, turning into a long golden staff, with a beautiful pink jewel at the tip wrapped in thin golden branches along with wing-shaped appendages on each side. It looked a lot like a magical girl's wand.

“Now, I'll show you what a warrior usually looks like…”

With one slow, graceful swing of the staff, glittery pink clouds formed around Chiyo… and she seemingly started to glow, her entire body changing, her clothes shifting, and her hair flowing into the air. Then soon enough she was in a beautiful, colorful gown, pink and yellow with white accents, her hair which was initially in a bun now down in a taregami style. The girls all let out soft gasps and oooo's, obviously very awestruck as well.

She was absolutely stunning, she looked almost regal in a way.

“Obviously… none of you can transform like this, right?”

The girls all mumbled to each other, and Chiyo smiled. “Of course not. That's because you haven't gone through the goddess’s light yet.” She pointed to the star with her staff. “This is where all girls go to have their first transformation. The goddess imbues a part of her heavenly powers unto us… in exchange for our devotion.”

Ayako froze up as she saw Chiyo stare at her, and then all the other girls as well.

“Ayako-chan. Would you like to try?”

Ayako's heart was pounding in her chest. Excited, but also nervous. Her?? Go first???

“U-uhm-”

“Don't worry. It won't hurt. You might feel a sort of… cold shiver. But it's only for the first time, and only for a moment , before the warmth fills you. After that… you'll be… strong. Graceful. Beautiful. More than you've ever dreamed of.”

Ayako looked down, hesitating, although she did take a few steps forward.

“It's okay to be scared, Ayako-chan. I understand. You've fought for so long to be strong the way you are. You're quite… muscular, are you not?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Isn't it… tiring? To carry all this weight? Don't you want to let go, and have someone else carry it for you? Be the beautiful girl you truly want to be?”

Ayako sighed, heart wrenching at the words she was hearing. God, it's like she could see right through her. She was tired. It was true.

“Go on, my dear. Step into the light.”

And so Ayako did. With shaking hands and feet, she stepped onto the star platform, and stood still. The light felt warm, and a bit tingly as well, and as she breathed in and closed her eyes, she felt that “cold shiver” the high priestess mentioned, along with her feet lifting off the ground. It definitely felt unpleasant, as if for a moment all her internal organs had been plunged in ice cold water, and she shook, trembled, almost feeling nauseous as it felt as if something was sleeping out of her… but soon enough the warmth came back, stronger even, and with it came a new feeling, like euphoria. Ayako heard the girls around her gasp in awe, although she still had her eyes closed, still too scared to look.

Then she touched the ground again. And it felt… off. Like she wasn't the same anymore.

“Open your eyes, sweetheart. You're beautiful.”

Ayako's eyes slowly opened… and she gasped, heart skipping a beat.

Her clothes had changed, this was obvious the first thing she noticed, with how colorful they were. She was wearing a cute short skirt and a frilly top, along with long gloves and a big bowtie with a heart-shaped jewel, all the same colors as the High Priestess’s clothes.

And then it hit her.

Her body changed too.

Gone were her muscles. Gone were her stretch marks. Gone was her tan skin, her thick bulging arms, her tree-trunk legs. 

She was pale, skinny, soft. As she looked at herself, she noticed even her hands had changed too, smaller palms, fingers slender and thin. She looked down and saw her reflection in the opalescence of the star platform. Her usual round face seemed… cuter? Softer? Her eyelashes bigger, her nose smaller, even her monolids had shifted to double lids. 

She also had a cute little red heart on her cheek, which she gently caressed with her new hand… and then she smiled, and laughed. She looked back up at the other girls, who all seemed just as excited as her, or envious, and they all started cheering as she ran to them. They all surrounded her, exclaiming praises and flattery. 

“You're so cute!!”

“You look so pretty!!”

“Whoa!! Your skin is so soft!!”

“Your legs are so thin!!”

“You're so beautiful now!!”

Ayako started to cry, overwhelmed by all of the emotions she was feeling.

She looked exactly like a real anime girl. Like her idols!!

One after the other, every girl stepped into the star and transformed. All their impurities, their ugliness, their weight… melted away, replaced by pretty glittery clothes and thin graceful bodies. Each girl cheered for the next. Hugs, high fives and screams were non-stop.

Then as all the girls were done, the High Priestess got the room's attention again.

“I'm so glad you enjoy your new beautiful forms. Now… remember that this won't be permanent. You will eventually run out of power… and have to transform again.” She showed her staff, twirling it around as she transformed back into her regular form. “If you wish, you will be assigned rooms, and you'll find a wand in each of them. Once you touch that wand, it'll transform you back into your old selves. But don't be scared. Tomorrow, you will be shown how to transform at will, and we will train you to use your powers to protect the goddess.”

The girls all mumbled and whispered to each other in a mix of fear and anticipation. But all agreed to stay.

Seems like, just like Ayako, none of them really had a place they belonged to back in the real world, huh?

“I can't believe we're roommates!!” Fumiko squealed happily as she skipped through the corridors with Ayako. Ayako giggled. “I'm glad! I assume they noticed we were getting along so they took advantage of that!”

“Friendship is a key point of magical girl anime, isn't it?”

Ayako gasped. “You watch them too??”

Fumiko smiled and nodded, hand instinctively moving to push her glasses up her nose although finding nothing.

“Y- oh, hah, I forgot I don't have my glasses anymore. But yes!! I know, it's so childish and blah blah blah… but I find them so inspiring!”

“Me too!! I have so many posters and figurines of Seraphina back home!”

“Lucky! My parents would kill me if they found out I liked anime as an adult. They want me to be a lawyer, you know?? All serious and stuff.”

The two entered their shared room, and gasped at how beautiful it was. Both their beds were large, with pink and white sheets, covered in soft pillows and with beautiful iron four-posters covered in a thin velvet sheet for extra privacy. There was also a bathroom, and a little desk with books.

“Awesome! I'm taking the left!!” Ayako exclaimed, jumping face first on the bed on the left, body sinking into the soft mattress. She laughed and giggled, turning around on her back… and sighed. Breathing in for once.

Fumiko went to look at the desk, and found two little wands, each with a name tag on top.

“Oh. I guess uh, I guess we have to take those, huh?” She mumbled softly.

Ayako sat up and sighed.

Oh, yeah. They said touching those would revert them back to their old selves.

“Oh. Yeah.” She hummed, but then gave her friend a soft smile. “Well… it's okay! It's only gonna be for tonight! Tomorrow they'll teach us how to transform whenever we want!”

Fumiko smiled back nervously. “You're… you're right. It's just… well…” she sighed and shook her head. “I'll tell you, uhm… after we change back.”

Ayako got up, and grabbed her wand at the same time as Fumiko. Immediately, as she transformed back into her old self, the euphoria slowly seeped out, replaced by… well, nothing new. She just felt like she usually would as a regular ol' human. 

She looked back at Fumiko, also back to her old appearance. Fumiko fiddled with her glasses, now back on her nose.

“I… I don't like myself, y'know? It's… well, it's my nose. It's… very big and crooked. When I was a kid, people made fun of me a lot for it, said it looked like a witch's nose.”

Ayako nodded slowly, and the two went to sit down on their beds.

“I… I kinda wanted to get plastic surgery. But if I did, people would call me superficial. They'd go “oh look at that girl, she probably cares about how others see her”, and stuff. My mom said she wouldn't mind if I got plastic surgery, she says if it would make me happy, I should do it. My dad just tells me I need to toughen up and ignore the mockeries. But what does he know, right??” Fumiko chuckled, and Ayako nodded. “Yeah. Guys just don't get it.” she answered, and then sighed. She removed her baggy hoodie, showing a simple tank top underneath.

“This… is what I look like. It's why I always hide myself, y'know? People… I guess they get scared. I’ve wanted to be strong since I was a kid but… I guess it comes with…”

“Yeah. Not looking cute anymore.”

Ayako snorted. “A man called me “sir” earlier today. I was wearing the hoodie and yet…” she fiddled with her hair, undoing her ponytail. “Maybe it was my neck? I guess it's a bit thick…”

Fumiko smiled softly. “Well… it's like you said, right? Tomorrow all of this will be gone, we'll learn to transform and we won't have to worry about all of that! Plus… Have you seen Hana-san, and Suzuki-sama? How they're both so beautiful and youthful? If we keep it up… we'll be like them. The constant use of magic probably made them turn more beautiful in real life too. We'll get there as well!”

Ayako smiled. “You're right. Heh.”

“Now come on! Let's get ready for bed. I bet we have a big day ahead of us!”

Chapter Text

When Ayako woke up, she felt very well-rested and comfortable. The room was warm and cozy, like a little cocoon of happiness. She couldn't help but smile a bit, stretching out her limbs. 

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” said Fumiko, still in her beautiful silky pajamas but holding her wand excitedly in her hands. 

“We're all invited to eat breakfast together in the cafeteria! Apparently they have a bunch of interesting foods in there, I heard two girls in the corridor say they had weird star-shaped fruits!”

Ayako giggled and scratched her shoulder. “That sounds nice. Give me a second to freshen up and I'll join you.”

“Alright! I'll save you a seat! And don't forget your wand!” Fumiko said happily, and excitedly walked out of the room.

After getting up and washing her face with cold water, Ayako took her wand and walked out of the room. The sweet scent of food grabbed her attention immediately and she followed it, along with the growing sounds of happy girls talking.

When she arrived, she was shocked. There was a very large round table with all sorts of foods, every girl seated around it. It smelled like all sorts of different things. Fruits, toasts, fish, rice… 

Ayako spotted Fumiko eventually after scanning the area, and happily walked up to her. She gently placed her wand on the top of the table and then looked around. 

“You can just look around and ask the other girls to pass you stuff! Here's what I have!” Fumiko showed Ayako her plate, mostly filled with strange fruits she'd never seen, as well as a few rice balls and a large piece of toast with a piece of smoked salmon.

“Whoa…”

“I don't know what all of them are, but I think this is jackfruit slices? And those are… horned melon slices, I think? And those are mulberries!”

“What's in your rice balls?”

“Not sure. Some kind of sweet paste? It looks too pink to be red bean…”

Ayako shyly looked around. She was quite curious about the smoked salmon and the rice balls. She grabbed a hefty amount of salmon - apparently most of the girls had ignored that in favor of the fruits and lighter foods. Just her luck too, the meat was delicious.

She did try her best to eat cutely, of course. She wasn't used to eating in front of other people anymore but she did somewhat remember manners, thanks to her mother constantly scolding her about them back when she was a child. Eat with your mouth closed!! Take small bites! Hide your mouth with your hand! Eat slowly! Don't make noises!!

“This salmon is delicious!” Ayako exclaimed, and two other girls across the table agreed. Ayako vaguely recognized one of them as the one who had choked on her tea the day before. She was rather overweight, although it was clear there were muscles under that fat, judging by her shoulders. Her hair was very curly, and she had round rosy cheeks. Ayako could not remember her name at all, sadly, since they never actually talked. Well. At least someone else agrees with her love of smoked meat.

The girl seemed to notice the attention, as she hurried with her plate to sit next to Ayako. Even with her size, her movements were cute and graceful.

“Hi! I'm Emi! You've got some muscles on you, big girl!!” She said, and Ayako chuckled. “Heh, t-thanks, I guess?”

“Well, I'm not sure if that's really a compliment. My dad always said it was, but then again he was like, bigger than me, and he died of heart failure, so who knows. I used to be a shot-putter at my school's gym club. Didn't get along with most girls though. All the attention I got was from the boys. I was the only girl in that group, after all.”

“Heh, I get you. It's so nice to find girls who we can actually talk to now!”

“Is it me, or does the food taste amazing here? I mean, like, more than usual?” Fumiko added, unceremoniously chewing on a rice ball. Ayako and Emi giggled at the display, and Fumiko blushed, hiding her mouth behind the back of her hand. “S-sorry, heh. I'm a bit excited.”

“It's okay, we're all excited. But you're right!! I've never had sweet rice this good!” Emi answered.

“It's probably the air, right? Like, the “warmth”? I bet it's magic in the air that makes everything taste great.” Ayako added.

“Maybe the food is made of magic?” Fumiko said, now taking smaller, more graceful bites.

“We-” Ayako's sentence was immediately stopped by a blaring alarm, and all the chatter in the room quieted down as the girls all looked around, suddenly scared and confused.

“What's going on??” Fumiko whined. Hana appeared in the room from the side, wearing her magical girl outfit, a long spear in hand.

“Girls!! I'm so sorry to cut this breakfast so quickly, but one of our goddess statues has been attacked by Impurities! For all the girls who are done eating and have their wands, please follow me! We need as much help as we can get!!” 

Emi, Ayako and Fumiko all stood up, Ayako swallowing one more piece of salmon as she stumbled to grab her wand.

“How do we transform?? We haven't even learned how to do that, Hana-san!” Fumiko asked as she ran up to Hana. 

“I am very sorry about this, girls, I was planning on showing it to everyone at once… but I guess you'll have to learn on the go. Simply point the wand in front of you and imagine your most beautiful self. As you do, you will feel the wand grow into a staff. And you will transform.”

The girls following all did as they were told. Some took a few tries. Fumiko did it on the first try. Emi on the second. Ayako transformed after her third try. But nonetheless, it worked, and immediately that euphoria came back. She felt powerful again.

“Alright, we're going to the teleporter room! The attack is in Ibaraki prefecture so it's a bit far from where we are.” They all went into a large room covered in the same opalescent crystals as the star platform from the day before. It was pulsing in soft rainbow colors, and was a bit warm, temperature-wise this time.

“Alright. Just a heads-up: the impurities do not show mercy. Don't forget, you cannot ever get your guard down!! Be ready for their attack. And always be there for each other. Stick close to one another and make sure to use your staff and powers!”

“Yes ma'am!!” The entire room repeated, and as they did, they teleported.

It was quick, almost instantaneous. It took Ayako a second to realize she was somewhere else, as she blinked and looked around. Then she saw it in the distance: a giant pillar of marble in the shape of a beautiful woman… with dark, slimy, disgusting-looking creatures slowly climbing it. There were already a few women fighting them, probably veterans and more experienced 

“Holy…” Emi huffed. 

“Come on, Star Squad! For the goddess!!” Hana exclaimed, raising her staff as a ray of light shone from it, and soon enough she was flying, hopping through the air like she was walking on it. 

Without thinking, Ayako followed suit. She lifted her staff just like Hana did and ran. It felt almost natural, in a way, and with the adrenaline she had no time to doubt herself. She bolted towards the nearest creature and balled her fist. But as she punched it… it didn't really do much. It only startled it and pushed it back slightly, making it angry, as it roared, gross leg-like tendrils curving as it prepared itself to pounce. Whoa. She… wasn't strong anymore.

“Ayako!! Look out!!” Fumiko's voice was heard, but it was too late. Ayako’s shoulder was hit by the creature, and… she fell down. It hurt, more than she assumed it would've. Why did it hurt so much?? Why was she so weak??

Ayako's body rolled further into the asphalt and she let out a whine, her shoulder bruised and her skin now dirty and covered in little wounds from the asphalt. “What the hell??” Ayako screeched, clutching her arm.

“You’re a Star Fighter, Ayako, not a human!! Don't use your brute force, use your powers!! Your staff!” Hana screamed at her from afar, shooting beams of light at Impurities as they exploded like overly ripe elderberries.

“B-but-”

“LISTEN, GIRL!! LISTEN!!” Hana screamed, before running off to help out more girls.

Fumiko, now in front of Ayako's body, spun her staff around, and created a shield around them. She smiled for a moment, looking at her work happily, and then quickly went to Ayako, crouching. 

“Are you okay?” Fumiko asked in a soft tone, helping her friend up. Ayako groaned. “I-I don't know… why am I so weak?”

“I think maybe all our physical strength went to our magical abilities. It makes sense, right?”

“I… I guess?”

Impurities started gnawing at the shield, trying to pierce it. Both girls shuddered, and Fumiko gave Ayako a soft encouraging smile.

“Come on!! We have to keep fighting! Remember what Hana-san said!”

Right. No more punching…

“Alright.”

The shield went down and immediately Ayako started fighting, this time properly, using her staff. She shot a bright light at the nearest Impurity, and then hit another with the glowing gem tip. Soon enough she was plowing through them, even faster than Fumiko, who seemed to be more concerned with protecting the weaker girls with shields. 

“Fumiko, look at me!!” Ayako exclaimed. Fumiko smiled. “Good job!” 

But then as Ayako got close to the statue… she saw Emi. 

The girl, her body now skinny and pale and her hair straight in a ponytail, was surrounded by Impurities. Just as the creatures were gnawing at the statue and had been gnawing at Fumiko's shield moments earlier, they were now shredding her clothes and gnawing at her body. She was trying hard to fight back but her staff had been tossed aside and she obviously wasn't strong enough. At this point she was covered in blood, gushing from wounds across her body. Ayako screamed in horror and shot as many of the creatures off of her new friend's body, until the rest all got distracted and started attacking Ayako instead. Fumiko quickly came to their rescue as well, using a light-made platform to grab Emi's body and carry it away from the statue while Ayako finished the job alongside the rest of the Star Squad.

Once everything was done, Ayako ran back in the direction of where Emi had been brought. She was with other wounded girls. Some were sobbing, some already de-transformed. Some… no longer moving. There was blood. A thick scent of copper in the air. 

Ayako crouched to Emi, who was still alive, but shaking and sobbing. Fumiko was clinging to her, hand in hers.

“I'm sorry- I- I thought I'd be able to fight them off. I tried- I tried my usual shot-putting techniques but it- it didn't work.”

Ayako realized one of Emi’s arms was severely broken. Emi coughed. Blood spurted out. 

Oh no.

“It's okay, Emi-chan. You did your best. It's what matters, okay?” Fumiko said, voice broken. 

Ayako looked up. At the other wounded girls. At the ones who were sobbing, crying, some screaming in pain, one begging to see her mother again. 

She looked back down.

“E-Emi-chan?? EMI-CHAN??” Fumiko's broken cry made her look back up again and she realized the girl was no longer moving. No longer blinking. No longer breathing. Her body slowly de-transformed back into its original shape. Fumiko let out a horrified scream, pressing her palms on the girl's chest and trying to do chest compressions. 

“No!! No, please!!!”

Ayako was silent. Everything felt light, there was a ringing in her ears and she couldn't seem to focus her gaze anymore. The cries of the different girls around her slowly felt far away, black spots appearing in front of her…

And she fainted.