Magical Girl: Human Rebellion

The four of us returned to the meeting room to find Hana and Saki just finishing their discussions, Nao and Kyouma seemingly transcribing their words for some reason.

“Even if the 300 are totally loyal to Hana, it’s likely to take some convincing to make them fight this war with us. Which is why we’ve been discussing what to have Hana say in a speech. Nao and Kyouma are keeping notes for us,” Saki explained after seemingly finishing her business. “How was the tour of the manor?”

“You’d have to see it yourself to believe it,” I replied, still unsure whether or not to trust my own eyes. “Magic powers or no, it’s incredible what Hana and her girls have accomplished this past month.”

“I’ll have to see it myself when I have a chance. But I have a feeling you’ve got something you wanna say, right?”

Saki saw straight through me once again. Whether she had 「Fearless Leader」active or not, she always seemed to be able to read my mind.

“Yeah. Actually, would you guys mind sitting down? There’s something the four of you deserve to know.” I addressed Hana and her girls, all while trying to gather the courage to say what I had to say.

We all resumed our seats from earlier, and the attention of the whole room fell on me.

“Alright, Sora, we’re all ears. What do you want to tell us?” Hana asked.

“The truth is… there is no Sora Goto.” I left my voice drop to it’s natural tone, and the four of them seemed caught completely by surprise. “My real name is Shin Nomimoto. I adopted the identity ‘Sora Goto’ as a way to escape assassination attempts from the Director and his goons, though in a twist of fate I ended up being the one who put him away in the end. So… that’s all I had to tell you. My name is Shin. It’s good to meet you all properly.”

I expected Hana at least to be upset that I had hidden my identity from her this whole time. The response I got instead was completely out of the ballpark of my expectations.

“Hmm… a man with magical girl powers… I guess that disproves our theory, right Suzu?”

“Indeed. In fact, by Shin’s earlier confession that he was immune to the brainwashing due to ‘dumb luck,’ it would seem that compatibility with the mind control drug, not the powers, is the reason the director solely targeted girls.”

“Ohhhh, so the mind control drug only works on women. That makes so much sense now.”

Hikari and Suzume simply launched into their own conversation, seemingly about the suspicious lack of magical boys.

“One who conceals their identity to protect their life after telling an inconvenient truth… a truly fantastic motif. Thou have my interest, Shin Nomimoto.” Kyouma seemed not to care any further than enjoying my character.

“I see… well, thank god for the series of coincidences that lead you to this point. If not for your unusual situation, the rest of us would still be mindless slaves. A stroke of good luck for those in need, I suppose.”

Hana, who I had expected to feel betrayed, reacted completely calmly.

“You’re… not upset that I lied about my identity?”

“Hmm? Of course not. Sora or Shin, man or woman, you’re still the one that brought down the director and helped me save my friends. I owe you far too much to be hung up on something as trivial as your name and sex.”

“…huh. This went over far better than I thought it would.” I was 0-for-2 on angry responses to my true identity. First I find out my girls already knew my identity before I had a chance to tell them, now Hana and her girls simply seemed not to care. “I mean, if none of you are upset or anything I guess it’s all fine. But I would ask that you not tell anyone else. My identity is still a secret and there is still a target on my head, so I have to keep the façade going at least a little while longer.”

“I’ve no problems keeping secrets.” replied Hana.

“I’ll speak not a word about it.” said Suzume.

“Bet.” Added Hikari

“A rogue with a secret name asks me to keep his ultimate lie? I’ve no choice but to accept.” cackled Kyouma.

“Thank you all. I seriously appreciate it.” Truth be told, I was taking an enormous leap of faith by telling three people I had only met today, but it seemed that Hana had put her faith in the right people. Eccentrics though they have may been, they seemed more than worthy of her trust. And ours by extension.

The rest of the meeting was taken up by discussions of where to go from here. Or more specifically, how to ensure that the 300 would fight alongside us.

“I don’t doubt that most of them would even follow Hana into the depths of hell itself if asked, but not everyone here has that kind of blind loyalty. If we’re putting all of our hopes into Hana’s speech, it has to reach everyone.” Suzume explained calmly

“Are they even likely to believe us?” I asked

“They’ll probably doubt it at first, but if all four of us testify the truth in the words it might assuage most of that doubt. Saying the information came from you guys should help even more, considering Hana pretty much talks you all up like you’re gods or something.” added Hikari.

“Well, as far as the speech goes, what do you guys have so far?” Mai asked Hana, who shifted slightly uncomfortably in her seat.

“We don’t really have a script or anything written out yet, but I’ll go through the notes we’ve made and string together what I have so far. But I honestly don’t think it’s very good.”

Kyouma passed her notes over to Hana, who gave a practice run of her speech to the 7 of us present.

“The base is good, but I think something's missing…” Saki said, putting her hand to her chin while deep in throught.”

“It gets the message through, but not the emotion I guess? It’s not a bad start, at least.” Mai added.

“Well we have a month before the solstice. We can afford an extra day or two to refine the speech. I have faith in you to pull through.” Said I, though I personally doubted I’d have been able to give valuable input anyway.

“T-the people here trust you a lot, and they respect you too. If you speak from the heart I’m sure you’ll get through to them.” Said Nao.

“Thanks guys. I’ll keep trying to improve the speech as much as I can. Saki-senpai, is it okay if I consult you on certain things if I’m stuck in a rut?”

“Of course. I’m always there if you need me.”

“You’re the best! Thank you for everything.” Once again, Hana wrapped Saki in a hug, and once again Mai and I stifled a laugh as Nao twitched with jealousy.

With the meeting coming close to wrapping up, I remembered one last question I had intended to ask before being swept away by the momentum.

“Hey, you guys mind answering a question for me? How come all these girls are staying here seemingly full time? Don’t they all have lives and families to go back to?”

Hana and her girls looked awkwardly between each other, as if none of them quite knew how to answer. After an uncomfortable silence, Hana spoke with a sigh.

“As we rescued more and more girls, we started to realise we all had something in common. None of us had a real family to return to. Most of us are orphans, some are estranged, and some even homeless. The people here are all girls who have nowhere in the world to belong. That’s why we’ve poured so much time and effort into making it as comfortable and town-like as possible. It’s not just a hideout or base of operations for us. It’s our home. The only one we have left.”

Saki, Nao, Mai and I all shared an unpleasant expression. Such a thing couldn’t possibly be coincidence.

“The director… that bastard.” Saki practically spat as she spoke.

“He must have targeted those in the most vulnerable positions. People that wouldn’t have family members actively searching for them day in and day out. Sickening.” Mai’s tone had a venom that I rarely ever heard from her.

“Unforgivable…” Nao spoke quietly, but with an angry conviction.

“That scumbag. I should have known. I can’t believe I let him slip through my fingers like that.” My opinion of the Director was already at rock bottom, but this new revelation pissed me off even more than before.

“Another reason we need to put a stop to whatever he’s planning. You four have my full support. I’ll follow you anywhere in your quest to take him down once and for all.” Hana, who herself had been victimised by the Director’s nefarious plans, was just as resolute as the rest of us. The expressions of her comrades showed a silent agreement with the sentiment.

“Then let’s stop this bastard. Together.” Saki held out her arm, bent at the elbow so her hand was in front of her face.

“Yeah. Together, into the fires of hell.” Hana grasped Saki’s hand firmly, symbolically sealing the pact between our teams.

More pieces had been set. The board was almost ready. We had just one month until the game would begin.