Magical Girl
by: zulka
She was irritated. The next person that asked her about it would get a knuckle sandwich. She tried to take a deep breath.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
"Okay. I have to ask something though."
Inhale. Exhale. 'You don't want to go to jail for murder.' She thought. 'Besides they're your friends. The only ones you have.'
She began counting to ten as she nodded cautiously to Rei. She wasn't sure what he was going to ask. She had already punched Takao and Daichi for being jerks about the whole matter. They didn't need to rub in the fact that she failed!
"Where did you get the outfit?"
Hiromi blinked.
Rei and Max watched as her cheeks tinged pink.
"Oh. That." She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Yeah grandma, where did you pull that thing from? You looked like one of those girls that go fighting evil while they talk about love and stuff."
She glared at Daichi. Takao's laughter brought her back and she wanted to punch both of them again. Those jerks!
Max watched her warily; there was no saying what she would do. She scared him more than half the time with her violent temper. Rei smiled uneasily, though he had to admit watching Takao get beat up was funny sometimes. He hoped he would never be on the receiving end of Hiromi's temper. It was definitely something to reckon with.
"If you really need to know. Well," here she hesitated. "I made it."
It was quiet for a moment as everyone stared at her.
"Wait, you mean that you made that dress? With all the ribbons and stuff and bows?" Takao asked dumbfounded. "Why would you do something like that?"
Daichi stared at Takao and then at her, "Geez, grandma. No wonder it was ugly."
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. 'Don't kill them. Don't kill them.'
"So what! I happen to like warm colors! And as if you would be able to even make something!" She boomed.
Takao cringed and flailed his arms. "I was just kidding! I don't know about monkey boy though." He smirked evilly.
"Hey!" Daichi yelled, realizing the danger Takao had put him in with the Dragon Lady and she was one scary Dragon Lady.
The thump against the table made everyone jump. Hiromi was staring at the kitchen table, her bangs obscuring her eyes.
"Ehm…"
Composing herself she took another breath and exhaled. "For your information, I like Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura okay! And I will not have any of you judge me!" She pointed at all of them menacingly.
Laughing lightly Max tried to calm her down but she merely glared at him. He gulped. "That's nice, really." He told her, hoping to appease her fury. He was always good at that or laughing at Takao when he got beat up.
"So…was that the inspiration for the costume?" Rei asked tentatively. Angry Hiromi was not a funny Hiromi.
"Yeah!" Instantly she cheered up and the cloud of doom dissipated from above their heads. Phew. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"I just thought it would be really cool. I mean I have always loved Sailor Moon."
"Hmmph. What's so great about a bunch of girls who defeat evil with hearts and moons? Now, ninjas are what I'm talking about!"
Hiromi frowned. "Well no one is talking to you Takao and I don't care what you like. Sailor Moon owns your silly heroes any day!"
"Eh, let's not get ahead of ourselves here guys." Max began calmly. He could see this erupting into all out war. My hero is better than your hero type war. Those were the worst and they got so nasty too sometimes. Friendships ended over those things!
"Going back to the topic, why stardash?"
Disaster having been avoided for the time being, Hiromi turned to Rei with an 'are-you-stupid' look.
"Code name. Duh."
"Why would someone like you need a codename, you're like a nobody."
Rei and Max winced. Takao would never learn. What followed was a yelp, a chair crashing and a scream.
Satisfied with the outcome of the battle, and with the knowledge that Takao was too incapacitated to make any more awful remarks she dusted off her hands and turned back to Rei and Max and smiled brilliantly. Both boys sat straighter.
"Did you like the costume at least?" She asked eagerly. Everything else had been a disaster.
"It was very well done. How much time did it take you and when did you get the time?" Max asked. Truly he was impressed and hadn't she been busy running around town looking for beyblade parts?
Hiromi laughed, "Oh it wasn't that hard actually. I had been working on it for a while before the whole BEGA thing happened. I just didn't know when to wear it. I just thought it would be a perfect blading outfit. I mean, most bladers wear strange things."
Max was slightly offended by this. He didn't wear strange clothes. "I don't wear strange clothes." He told her, slightly put off.
"Oh not you Maxie, though your color scheme does need some help, on the best of days." She waved her hand in the air as if dismissing the topic. "But don't feel bad because even Kai needs help sometimes."
Rei laughed. "So when did you come up with all of this?"
"Oh the night before the bus, Max's dad helped me with the launcher. I mean it had to match the dress!"
Hiromi and fashion, Max would never understand. She wore booties with shorts for heaven's sake! She wasn't more fashionable than he was! Well actually, now that he thought about it everyone dressed strangely. Except for maybe Takao.
"And that was how it all started." Hiromi told Rei in a matter of fact type voice. But Max missed the whole explanation.
Rei looked at her with widened eyes. "Wow."
"I know."
Max looked from Hiromi to Rei, "Wait what?" he asked confused.
"I said that I had to channel my inner spy to get Einstein. Kyoujyo had that thing under lockdown!"
Rei looked at Max and nodded sagely.
Max just stared at them both. "Oh."
"And that is the whole story behind stardash." Hiromi nodded to herself.
"But you haven't told us yet!" Max whined.
Hiromi scowled. "Yes I did. I told you I was inspired by Sailor Moon! The outfit, the name, and the attacks I would have had. Something along the lines of spiral heart moon attack or something like that. And my launcher was modeled after Card Captor Sakura and her staff thing."
"That's a mouthful." Rei commented absentmindedly.
"What!"
"Nothing. I meant that's a good attack name." Both he and Max nodded vigorously, lest they wake the Dragon Lady.
Hiromi sighed. "I just wanted to try it. Just once."
"Hiromi-chan…" Max began, uncertainly at her confession.
Hiromi laughed and waved him off. "Nope, it's cool. Silly me. Where did that come from?" The forced laugh at the end got them as she walked off muttering about making some lemonade or something. There was more. They knew it.
.
Notes: Hmm…thoughts?