The first rule of being a Magical Girl; don't let your identity be revealed

Luckily that's made easy for us. Magic to hide our identities, warping our appearance, and even changing our voices is put in place for all Magical Girls. Even those who we work with on a daily basis don't know each other's real-life identity. There's nine of us on the team I'm on, I know that much, but I can't recall their faces or even their voices in my mind.

"Eli-chi."

I looked up, my gaze landing on the smiling face of my best-friend. "What is it, Nozomi?"

She chuckled, brushing away a piece of her hair that had fallen over her face. "You looked a bit out of it. It was kind of cute!"

I blushed slightly, averting my eyes from her knowing gaze. "Don't tease me like that."

"But Eli-chi's reactions are always so adorable," Nozomi replied with a laugh. "I can't help but want to tease you!"

"You say that about Nico too," I responded with a small smile.

"Nico's fun to tease in a different way. Besides, you're Eli-chi, and no one else can take your spot!"

"Really, you say I'm cute when you're the cute one."

I smiled to myself as Nozomi sat down in the desk next to mine, the class finally settling down as homeroom began. Nozomi and I have been friends for three years now, and our relationship has developed into the teasing sort it is today. Sometimes I feel that maybe I want more from it, but at the same time…

"Sorry I'm late!"

The whole class barely glanced at the door as a pig-tailed girl ran in and took her seat behind me. Nozomi chuckled a little, leaning back in her seat to whisper, "Late as usual, Nico-chi?"

"Oh shut it, Non-tan!" she playfully retorted.

The two of them exchanged smirks before returning their attention to the class. I smiled, enjoying the normality of the school atmosphere. Here with Nozomi and Nico I could live content with myself. Maybe, if it wasn't for the other world I'm stuck with, would I want more from this everyday life?


"Hey, you always disappear at lunch," Nico remarked.

I paused for a second before finishing the last little bit of the borscht I brought. "I just have a lot of things with the student council I need to finish up, and lunch is the best time for that."

"You can always give some of those to me," Nozomi offered with a slight frown. "Don't work yourself so hard!"

"Ah, I can't possibly do that-"

"Really, at this rate you're going to get wrinkles!" Nico exclaimed with a humph. "Nozomi's right for once, you can let us help you as well."

"Really, it's okay." I stood up, putting my lunch away and starting to walk away from them. "I'm just going to finish the paperwork real quickly, there's no need to worry."

"But Eli-"

I didn't want to hear her finishing words.

I slipped away towards a deserted hallway, making sure Nozomi and Nico weren't following me. I took a deep breath, waiting for the familiar tugging sensation to come. I closed my eyes, a faint warmth enveloping me. On instinct I took out my ponytail, letting my hair then wave free from it's previous hold.

The next time I opened my eyes, the world had turned into a collage of patterns and colors. I opened my fan with a snap, watching as the cut-outs continued to fall and deconstruct. Above it all an endless curtain of black nothingness stretched over the fabricated world. I sighed, already having expected this torn up world of the Magical Girls.

"I wonder, if the rest of μ's is already there?" I murmured. I lept off the crumbling remains of a decrepit building, and ran off towards our regular meeting spot, my decorative blue kimono waving behind me.


Disclaimer: I don't own Love Live or anything associated with it, and all rights belong to their original owners as per usual.

AN: I really should be working on Curiosity Train but this random plot thread went into my mind instead. I'm sorry if the description isn't the clearest ever, I'm not the best at sensory details. If it helps, the world of the Magical Girls is a bit like the witch's worlds in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Also, if it wasn't clear, the outfit of Magical Girl!Eli is just her Angelic Angel outfit. Hmm, that's about it at the moment. I'll probably end up scribbling out an outline for this later and developing the world more before putting out another chapter for this. I still need to work on Curiosity Train after all.

Ah, I didn't write anything for Eli's birthday! Now I feel sad...