Hakase Shinonome was probably the most dangerous eight-year-old on the planet. Her childish demeanour belied an incredible intelligence that even the most advanced of adult minds couldn't comprehend. She could create robots so real that they were pretty much human; emotions and all. She had invented a scarf that could translate animal thoughts into human speech. With all these creations and more under her belt, she could have very well conquered the world by now.

Thankfully, she had little interest in playing dictator. Rather, she spent her days watching TV, eating way too many snacks and playing with her cat.

Today, she was doing the former.

Four magical girls littered the TV screen, fighting an epic battle against a giant telephone-shaped monster. The pink one leapt to an absurd height and kicked it in the face. As it stumbled back, the orange and yellow ones tripped it up. With their opponent now defenceless, the green one (Who'd been having the most character development this episode) charged up her special attack.

"Emerald…Shining sphere!"

Announcing the attack, the teenager sent a giant green energy ball hurtling towards her opponent. It shot through the sky and exploded on contact. Despite the fact that it was pure stock footage, Hakase couldn't help but be in awe of the power of moving pictures.

"So cool!" She cried, stuffing another pocky into her mouth. "Purin-girls are so cool!"

Sakamoto, her cat, friend and secondary guardian did not share her enthusiasm.

"Hey kid," He scoffed. "You've been watching too much TV."

"But it's Suuuuunnnndaaaaay…." Hakase whined. "What else am I supposed to do?"

A black paw pressed down on the remote control, the screen turning off.

"Too much sitting around isn't good for you. Go out and play or something."

"But I don't wanna! I wanna watch Purin-girls!"

It was amazing, Sakamoto thought, how someone so smart could be so incredibly childish at the same time.

"I wanna! I wanna! I wanna!"

Her tantrum-throwing powers were great. Perhaps even legendary. Sakamoto however, was not going to give up. She learnt that the hard way after five minutes of crying and thumping the carpet brought no results. Her energy levels drained, she let out a groan and lay on the ground.

"You're mean…"

Sticks and stones may break his bones, but words would never hurt Sakamoto.

"It's for your own good," He said, leaving the room.

Once the cat had left, the child reached for the remote, pressing down on the power button.

Nothing happened.

She tried again. And again. And again.

Still nothing.

Hakase flipped the device over, only to find the case on the back undone and the batteries removed. The cat, having learnt her weaknesses after months of living under the same roof, had bested her. If she wanted to watch TV, she'd be forced to switch it on at the main device.

Yet the idea didn't come to her. Instead, something far more radical, dangerous yet utterly brilliant did.

"If I can't watch Purin-girls… I'll be a Purin girl!"

With newfound zeal, she ran out of the room. Once she set her mind on something, the young inventor would move heaven and earth just to make her dream a reality.

"I'm home!"

Nano Shinonome had not been at home the past two hours. Rather, she had been busy shopping for groceries, snacks and a new rotating fan. She'd grilled the professor earlier about simply building a new one, but of course, it was never that simple.

"I don't how to!" She'd answered. "I've built so many big things I forgot how to make little ones!"

Nano didn't know if that was true or just her lazy side talking. In either case, she decided it'd be quicker (and safer) just to buy one herself.

"Nano! Nano! Look what I've built!"

Her creator ran down the hallway, clutching a bright blue brooch in the shape of a shark.

"Guess what it is!"

Knowing Hakase, that accessory could be anything. For all Nano knew, it could be something that made you fly or something that changed your skin colour! Tired from her long day, she decided to take a shot in the dark.

"Is it… A magical girl brooch?"

Nano had caught glimpses those kinds of shows whenever Hakase was watching them. From what she could gather, brooches were one of the most popular trinkets used for transformation. Either that or (For whatever reason) a make-up compact.

"Yay! That's right!" Hakase cheered. "I'm gonna try it! Watch this!"

"Absolutely not!"

Nano's hand nearly launched out of its socket. Quickly, she snatched the device from her creator, holding it just out of reach.

"Nano! Give it baaaaack!" Hakase whined.

The robot shook her head and stood on her tip-toes. Hakase bounced up and down.

"No! You're too young to be a magical girl! What if you get hurt?"

"I wooooon't!"

She shook her head. Creating androids was one thing, but manipulating the laws of reality to imitate an anime? That was going too far.

"You will. Do you even know how dangerous something like that is?"

"I knew you'd say that!" Insisted the minor. "That's why I wrote a whole instruction manual, see?!"

Reaching into her coat pocket, she pulled out a small white booklet. On the front was a badly-drawn human with a shark tail, obviously meant to be Hakase herself.

"You'll catch a cold wearing clothes like that…" The android muttered.

Taking the handbook from the professor, she was amazed by just how much detail she had gone into it. There were instructions on how to work the thing, a list of its powers and even a small flipbook section of a stick figure punching a monster in the face.

Nano hated to see efforts gone to waste but if it meant protecting her creator…

"I want it! I want it!"

The ginger-haired child, began to stomp, feet slamming against the wooden floor.

This isn't good… Nano thought. Once her creator started a tantrum, god only knew how long it would last. Unless…

She didn't want to do this, but she had to play her trump card early.

Reaching into her shopping bag, she pulled out a long, tube-shaped package. Hakase stopped wailing as soon it emerged. Her eyes grew wide with a mixture of joy and hunger.

"Swiss…Swiss roll…"

"That's right," Nano nodded. "Give me the brooch and you can have some before dinner."

"Half!" The inventor demanded.

The robot shook her head. The professor glared at her for all of a few seconds. The pastry seemed to be calling out to her; telling her to chow down on its soft, fluffy body.

Reluctantly, she gave up the fight and snatched the pastry from the plastic bag, running to the kitchen. Nano chased after her, stopping only to talk to Sakamoto.

"Sakamoto-san, please hide this, quickly!" She pleaded.

The cat was both confused and annoyed with the tasteless accessory being shoved into his mouth. The paper booklet being balanced on his back did not help matters either.

Nevertheless, he agreed and watched as the robot dashed to the kitchen.

Kids these days… He thought to himself.

Then there came the question of where to hide the thing. He wasn't prepared to scour the whole house for the perfect place: he felt a nap coming on.

In a moment of haste, he slipped the objects into the nearest bag he could find and lay down on Nano's futon. Just before he nodded off, he spent a few moments wondering what on earth the thing was. It looked like a regular compact but as experience had taught him, things were never that simple.

He was about to ponder this more when he realised that he really didn't care.

"Oh, no! I'm late!"

Nano, who tried so very hard to pose as a normal girl, hated being late. Not only did it mean she was missing out on her education but she feared that playing truant would paint her as a delinquent.

And no one wanted to be friends with a delinquent.

"Professor, can you make your own breakfast?!" She pleaded, brushing her hair, putting on her uniform and packing her bag all at the same time.

The ginger-haired girl snored and rolled her over in her sleep. The sheets got another layer of drool on them. Nano realised it was no use trying to wake her up; she'd just fall asleep again the moment she left the house.

She slipped her schoolbag onto her shoulder, grabbed a piece of toast from the toaster planted on her head, (One of the few occasions it actually came in handy) and dashed out the door.

"Goodbye, Sakamoto!" She shouted, charging out the door with the toast hanging out her mouth.

The cat yawned and opened his eyes. Strands of sleep were pulled apart as the dawn of a new day greeted him.

"I told you!" He shouted after her. "It's Sakamo-"

His correction was halted when he noticed the bag she was carrying. It was the same bag he'd put the brooch in yesterday!

For a moment, he considered running after her. Then, he decided against it: Nano was as fast as a racecar once she got moving and anyways, she was a responsible girl. Surely, nothing bad would happen; she knew what she was doing.

"Sakamoto! Sakamoto! Let's play!"

The kid on the other hand…

"Weren't you asleep just now?!"

"Sleeping's boring! Let's go play!"

And without waiting for a response, she picked up the cat and carried him into the living room. At this point, the feline knew that there was no escape.

Once she saw her friends, Nano slowed down to a brisk jog. Taking a quick look at her built-in watch, she noticed the time was 7:50. As far as time went, she had more than enough to enjoy her commute.

Phew, I overreacted again… She thought to herself. I need to stop doing that…

Nano wasn't one to consider herself 'Highly-strung'. Rather, she thought of herself a calm, sensible young woman. Unfortunately, she was also living with the world's smartest child and a talking cat. Given the shenanigans that the three of them found themselves in, she'd found it was best to be ready for anything.

Realising her hasty retreat from the lab, she decided to stop for a moment and check her bag. The last thing she wanted was to arrive at school without her pencil case after all.

"Let's see…" She muttered. "School books, pencil case, brooch, flask… Wait!"

One of those things was not like the others; one of those things didn't belong.

"Hakase's brooch!? How did this get in here?"

Scolding herself for not disposing of it herself, she hid behind a dumpster. What on earth was she supposed to do with it? It was far too late in the morning to run back and give to the professor. Keeping it with her was possible, but there was always the risk of it activating during class. What if it bumped against something in her bag?

"Normal girls do NOT transform!" She told herself.

But if she couldn't keep it with her and she couldn't take it back, she could always hide it and pick it up later. Would behind the dumpster be good enough? It was empty; the garbage men must have already been.

After making sure no one was around, she put the brooch behind the dumpster, keeping it snug between two stray flowers. If she had a heart, it would be beating like crazy. All she could do now was pray to the Buddha that it would remain unscathed for the next eight hours or so.

Once the deed was done, she let herself start jogging again. It only took a moment for her friends to appear on the horizon. Yuuko was laughing to herself and judging from Mio's reaction, she had just told one of her infamous bad jokes. Mai appeared to be reading.

There was still plenty of time before school started, she had more than enough time to stop and chat with her friends. After all, wasn't that what normal girls did?

"Morning, everyone!" She announced, running over and squeezing in between Mio and Mai.

"Good morning, Nano," Mio greeted.

"Salamat pagi!" Yuuko shouted.

Mai looked up from her book and waved.

"Aioi-san, did you remember your homework?" The robot asked.

To her surprise, the brunette gave a triumphant smirk and held up her fingers in a peace sign. Despite the mundanity of the question, she looked like she'd just conquered the world.

"Of course!" She grinned, pulling out a sheet of paper. Maths symbols were scrawn all over the page and there were numerous eraser marks littered throughout. No one had the heart to tell the girl that most of the answers were completely and utterly wrong. "I spent a whole two hours slaving over this! I'd better get a good mark!" Yuuko continued.

"You spent two hours on one sheet?" Mio asked.

"Of course! If you're going to do something, you gotta do it right!"

Mio wasn't the best at math but she was pretty sure that a double-sided A4 sheet would NOT take the average student two hours to finish. Then again, Yuuko was anything but ordinary.

The accuracy of the paper would matter, for out of nowhere, a sudden gust of wind snatched the paper from Yuuko's hand and sent it flying down the street. It rose and dove like an airborne dolphin, gliding gracefully across the sky.

For a moment, there was a silence. Then Yuuko turned and torpedoed down the street, feet stamping against the concrete, arms pumping like pistons.

"Stoooooop!" She pleaded to the flying hand-out. "Come back!"

The trio watched her, both bemused and embarrassed at once.

"Should we…Should we help her?" Nano asked.

Mio shook her head, her fingers pressed firmly against the bridge of her nose.

"No, she'll be fine."

"But I really think we should…What do you think, Mai?"

Mai was already halfway down the street, nose still clamped within her book.