The sun slowly crept up over the clouds until it hovered in the bright blue sky. Birds chirped cheerily and a light breeze blew about, rustling the grass and leaves on the trees.
A young girl woke up in the hospital, her violet eyes opening up slowly and purposefully. She sat up and took the red glasses from where they were perched on her nose and undid the two ribbons holding her black hair in twin braids.
I won't fail this time.
Shadows.
Distorted figures.
Blood.
Sobbing.
And a face with bright, red eyes like orbs and a smile that showed nothing but apathetic triumph.
Green eyes shot open and Hitomi Shizuki shot up in her bed, the scream brought on from the images still lodged in her throat, cold sweat dripping down her face. Trembling breaths shuddered in and out of her lungs as Hitomi tried to calm down. Her hand came to her face, feeling the damp skin and coldness brought on by the fear.
She leaned forward and turned on the lamp on the nightstand by her bed, illuminating her room. Her bed was large and plush with a canopy over it. Her room was fairly large with a desk and chair of polished wood with various drawers and a PC. Her wardrobe was fairly large and was made from a different wood, but gleamed in the light. Hitomi looked up to the area above her doorway, where a round clock face was hanging, along with a rectangular digital reading of the time.
4:17.
The green-haired girl suppressed a groan before she wiped away the sweat on her face before she slumped back onto her mattress, now wide awake. She would remain as such until her mother came in to check on her and gently remind her that after school, she would be having a longer piano practice than usual. She simply nodded her head before doing her hygiene and putting on her school uniform and heading out the door, head, eyes and body still hazy.
"Hey, Hitomi!"
The greenette looked ahead to see her two friends Madoka and Sayaka wave to her. She managed to give them a smile before she sped up her walking to meet with them.
"Good morning, you two," she greeted, her voice slightly slurred and low.
"Are you okay?" Madoka asked, looking worried. "You look a bit out of it, Hitomi."
Hitomi shook her head, trying to get herself more awake. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."
Sayaka shrugged. "You'll be able to get more tonight at least!"
"Hopefully..."
With that, the three girls walked off to school at a leisurely pace. The breeze was soft and gentle, just short of tickling their hair and skin. Their hands bobbed up and down in tempo with their legs as their schoolbags gently bumped or brushed against their legs or back. Their shoes clacked against the white pavement melodically as they rounded the next corner to the school-
"I'M ON A HIGHWAY TO HELL-"
Blaring music and a ridiculously loud voice boomed out and Hitomi's eardrums were shattered as she was slammed onto the concrete with her face stuck between two giant pillows.
"Aw damn kiddo; you 'kay there?" a loud, informal female voice asked with a strange accent.
Hitomi looked up to see a young woman either in her very late teens or very early twenties with dark brown skin, bright amber hair tied in a messy braid, orange eyes, a tight-fitting tanktop with her midriff exposed and grey torn jeans. Hitomi then saw the position they were in was very-
Oh my- those are breasts!
Hitomi backed away as fast as she could from the woman, her face burning and bright red. The young woman shrugged before she grabbed the mp3-player on the ground and stuck it in her pocket, the music still blaring from the headphones, and got back her feet, adjusting the backpack on her shoulders. "Are you okay, Hitomi?" Madoka asked her friend as she helped Hitomi up while Sayaka silently oggled the woman's cleavage.
"Man, I really am sorry- Hitomi, was it?" the woman apologized before she offered a hand, clad in a fingerless glove, to the greenette. "I'm Bernadette."
Hitomi stared for a moment before she shook Bernadette's hand. "Hello," Madoka greeted her as well, "I'm Madoka Kaname-"
"And I'm Sayaka Miki!" her blue-haired friend grinned.
"Nice t' meet y'all," Bernadette said, flashing a toothy grin.
"You've got a weird accent; are you a foreigner?" Sayaka inquired.
"Yup! Born an' bred in th' U.S.A!" Bernadette said, jabbing a thumb at herself.
That explains a little too much, Hitomi thought, her eardrums still ringing slightly.
"Bernadette!"
A girl around eleven to twelve rounded the corner just then to see the four females. She had dark brown hair with a white cap, grey eyes, a black dress with white tights and brown lace-up shoes and also had a backpack.
"Don't run off like that all or a sudden!" the girl scolded.
"Sorry 'bout that, Gracie!" Bernadette laughed as she rubbed the back of her hair before "Gracie" rolled her eyes.
"It's 'Grace'; I'm so sick of telling you that!"
The three girls stared at the two before them before they (Bernadette and Grace) noticed them again.
"So, are y'all students or somethin'?" Bernadette asked, before she looked startled. "Ack! That means we're holdin' y'all up!"
"Please excuse my friend," Grace said solemnly before bowing her head slightly. "We'll be on our way now."
"Um, okay; have a good day," Madoka said, smiling slightly, even though she was a bit put off.
With that, the two females left. "Well, that was weird," Sayaka remarked offhandedly.
The rest of the day went by as it usually did, with the only other events being a new student named Homura Akemi being introduced and seeming to take a strange interest in Madoka, and said pink-haired friend apparently dreaming about said transfer student. Sayaka joked that perhaps the two were separated and reincarnated lovers too.
Girls can't love each other like that, though... Hitomi thought as her mind drifted to Kyousuke, her heart beating just a little bit faster.
Ever since he had gotten in that accident, Kyousuke had been at the hospital slowly recovering. He hadn't been able to play the violin or walk like he used to; that alone would dampen her spirits without fail.
"Hey Hitomi, we were talking about hanging out after school," Sayaka said, snapping the greenette out of her thoughts. "Wanna come with?"
"Sorry, but my lessons after school that are supposed to run later than usual," Hitomi apologized.
"It's okay; we can try again tomorrow, how about it?" Madoka suggested.
Hitomi nodded. "We'll see."
After the school day was over, Hitomi went to the piano lessons in the music room for about two hours, then traditional Japanese dancing for one hour and finally, tea ceremonies for another hour. By the time she left the school, the sun was beginning to descend and was casting yellow-orange light across the city. Hitomi could barely keep her eyes open during the walk home, she was so tired.
After I get home, there's dinner, then chores, then homework... she silently droned, trying to keep the tasks straight in her head.
How am I supposed to accomplish everything if I'm so tired?
"You shouldn't have to worry about all of that," a soft, cooing voice murmured.
But... they have to get done...
"You try hard every day," the voice continued, lulling and gentle. "You do what you want."
Hitomi's eyes began to glaze over as her eyelids drooped, barely able to think coherently even as she walked on.
Maybe... maybe I should...
How Hitomi broke free of whatever ailed her, she didn't know; all that the greenette knew was that the next moment she had been snapped out of the stupor and was fully awake and aware of what was around her.
She was no longer in the city, but inside something that looked like a game room, with puzzles and blocks, toys and games everywhere. But there was something off, distorted, wrong about it. The air seemed to be shimmering and the entire layout looked like it was drawn by a child.
"What is this place...?" Hitmi wondered as she backed away, only to trip over something and be sent falling backwards onto her back.
The thing she tripped over was a small box with a handle that wound up and down until a clown-head came out. It had bright blue hair sticking out from every angle, covered in bright yellow paint, buttons for eyes, a giant toothy grin with lipstick smeared messily on it's lips, wearing a top hat and was giggling. Hitomi shivered as she edged away from the creature, only to be stopped by a stuffed giraffe, bear and rabbit, babbling in a strange language.
"No... no!" she cried out as she tried to run away, only for the jack-in-the-box to jump high and block her, no longer giggling but leering eerily.
Suddenly, a blast of orange slammed into the head, pushing it backwards. Hitomi barely saw the motion, the tailwind whipping her hair up and sending goosebumps up her skin. Hitomi turned backwards to the source to see-
"Eh- Aren'tcha Hitomi?"
Bernadette was behind her by a few meters. She was now wearing a bright orange sleeveless tunic that came barely at her thighs with a pale orange sash tied around at the waist, white bandages tied around her arms nearly up to her shoulders and down her legs to her knees. She wore dark orange gauntlets and strapped shoes, her amber hair was tied back in a bun with a covering tied on with a few ringlets hanging out and she was wielding what appeared to be a variety of clubs. Above her left breast was an amber cross outlined in gold, seemingly attached to her skin.
Hitomi's mouth just hung open like a fish, too startled for words. Bernadette just gave a small smile before she said, "Yeah, pretty freaky, huh? Don' worry, it'll be over soon, an' I'll explain wha's goin' on, 'kay?"
"What are you-?!" Just then, the jack-in-the-box got back up, it's head shaking to throw off the recoil before it screeched, it's face twisted in fury.
"Yo Gracie; what's that s'pposed t' be?" Bernadette snapped behind her.
Hitomi looked and saw Grace behind the older female. She was wearing a grey hat with a long visor, an almost business-like dress suit with long coattails, grey skirt, tie and tights, and darker grey lace-up shoes. in the middle of the hat's visor was a perfectly round grey gem outlined in gold. She was holding a small handheld and out-dated computer.
"Witch: Beverly. Type: Play-time. Nature: Childlike," Grace stated, reading off of the device. "Minion(s): Connie, Albert and Sally. Type: Beverly's minions. Duty: Playing."
"How do I beat 'er?" Bernadette shot back as she threw the strange clubs at the stuffed animals, managing to rip two of them apart.
"Beverly's weakness is her box," Grace said over the noise. "Without it, her head will crash and she will die!"
"Got it!"
With that, Bernadette drew back the clubs and before Hitomi's eyes, seemingly thousands more of them appeared behind her before with a wave of her hands, they all shot at "Beverly's" box, shattering it. Just as Grace said, the head slammed onto the ground and shattered. A moment later, the game room dissolved, revealing the city covered in the day's dying light once more.
Hitomi stared before her legs simply buckled and she slumped onto her knees in sheer relief and shock. Meanwhile, Bernadette and Grace's outfits disappeared, leaving them in the attire Hitomi met them in. Bernadette went over to where Beverly's body used to be and picked up a tiny black object as Grace approached her.
"Here," Bernadette said with a serious expression as she gave the object to Grace. "Yers is dirtier."
Grace nodded her thanks before producing a strange grey glowing glass object that had some black spots on it. She put the object against the glass and it drew the black into it before the object shone a bit brighter and was pristine once more.
"Hey, you shit!" Bernadette barked suddenly as she threw the black object up in the air, "Some dinner fer ya!"
Before Hitomi's eyes, a strange white creature that seemed a cross of a cat and ferret jumped into the air and caught the object in her mouth before swallowing.
"Yer welcome," Bernadette scowled, while Grace sent it a disgusted look.
Hitomi blinked, wondering why the two females were so hostile to this "Kyubey". Just then, Grace glanced over at Hitomi and walked over to her, the greenette stiffening as Grace looked down at her.
"You can't tell anyone what has just transpired, understand?" she said with a stern look.
Hitomi nodded mutely.
"Hey now Gracie," Bernadette said, walking over to Hitomi as well, "don't act so serious, 'kay?"
She knelt down in front of Hitomi with a kind look on her face before she offered her a hand. "It's okay now; tha' witch won't come back. Yer safe now."
Hitomi said nothing but took the hand and let herself be helped up. "What on earth just happened?"
Bernadette and Grace looked at each other before looking back at Hitomi as Grace said, "You should get home. Do you know when you'll be free tomorrow?"
The greenette quickly went over the plans she had prepared for tomorrow before she finally said, "I'm free after school, since I don't have any after school classes."
"Then we'll talk tomorrow; 'kay?" Bernadette said, grinning.
With that, the older and younger females bade Hitomi good-bye before they both walked off. When Hitomi got home, she greeted her parents, ate supper and went to bed. However, Hitomi was wide awake during the entire time, her mind racing with questions.
Just who were those two? How did they defeat that creature? What was that creature? And why were they wearing such outfits? What purpose do they serve?
Bernadette yawned gracelessly as she stretched out on her bed like a cat. She and Grace were in their hotel room, getting ready to sleep for the night, small snack bags and containers littered around the room.
"Well, today was pretty interestin', eh?" the dark-skinned woman remarked.
Grace nodded, looking up at the ceiling from where she was laying. "We already came across a witch, and two different Magi."
"Didja remember tha' one pink-haired kid? That Hitomi girl's friend, Madoka somethin'-or-other?"
"My sensors were off the chart; I didn't even have to activate it to read her potential."
"Kyubey's really gonna want her, that's fer sure."
Grace nodded her assent before a frown crossed her face as she looked over at Bernadette. "Why did you agree to answer her questions? There's absolutely nothing significant about her whatsoever."
"That's actually kinda funny comin' from you of all people, Gracie," Bernadette replied, raising an eyebrow coolly at her.
The brunette scowled at that. "I thought you said you'd never bring that up."
"Except when yer bein' a hypocrite."
Grace turned away at that. Bernadette rolled her eyes before she got up and began to pick up the bags and containers before throwing them away.
"There's something kinda weird about that one magi, though."
"Which one; the overly optimistic blonde girl, or the extremely macabre raven-haired girl?"
"Th' one with black hair, Homura Akemi; I dunno how t' explain it, though..."