Magical Girl: Human Rebellion

Sensing that this was a private moment between the four of us, Hana lead us to a room in the manor where we wouldn’t be interrupted. It was less lavishly decorated than others, but was soundproofed and had a large meeting table in the middle. The four of us each took a seat at the table, though not a word was exchanged the entire way.

Even after Hana left us, a silence as loud as a jet engine permeated the room. No one knew what to say, nor how to say it.

We had won the fight, but the feeling that we had lost gripped all of our hearts.

The atmosphere was agonising.

“I-I guess this means we don’t have to worry about searching for Kei anymore, heh…” Saki tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but it was clear none of us were in the mood, and she followed with a low “sorry.”

Someone we had all considered a friend, a person we were willing to put our lives on the line to save, turned out to be the very person causing us so much misery. It was blood-boiling.

“A lot of things make sense now…” I said, barely loud enough for the others to hear me. “The magical girls were always one step ahead of us somehow. They had one of our friends as an informant. She played us like a damn fiddle.”

“Sh-she’s been at the academy since the start of first year… did she really exist under a fake identity that whole time?” Nao asked incredulously. It seemed she was still partially in denial about the whole affair.

“It’s… actually not that difficult.” As the expert on the subject, I wasn’t surprised at all that Kagami was able to live under a false identity for so long. “Changing your identity is surprisingly easy, especially if you have an inside man. Mum and Dad used their witness protection connections to make me disappear legally several times. I don’t know how far the Director’s reach extended, but I expect a man with his power could covertly destroy and create new identities trivially. After that it’s just a matter of keeping the facade up.”

It occurred to me then that there was truth in Kagami’s previous statement: “we’re mirror images, you and I.”

We had both lived a lie, dedicating each and every day of our lives to maintaining and perfecting a facade that hid our true selves. We had even both been thrust into that position by the actions of The Director. Her story and my own rhymed in more ways than I could comfortably admit.

Another thought also came to mind in this time.

“Mai… you already figured it out, didn’t you?”

Saki and Nao looked aghast at the idea, but Mai simply looked down at the ground in shame.

“I… I didn’t want to believe it. I mean, who would? But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.” Mai inhaled deeply to calm her nerves, then began again, her voice wavering slightly as if filled with sorrow. “The empty house was more like a touch base than a home. She talked about a bereavement the day the Director disappeared. Her own disappearance was too conveniently timed too. But the real kicker was the eavesdropping. Flame always knew where we would be, something we always talked about quietly enough that no normal person would hear it. But if someone with magically enhanced hearing happened to be around us often…”

“She could feed them information.” I finished Mai’s thought for her, the pieces starting to click into the place. “Her warning me to keep you guys safe… she must have heard us talking about the hideout.”

“It explains other things too. How they knew we’d be in the chemistry lab, or that we were planning to assault the place where Kagami first ambushed us… she was listening in on everything…” Saki seemed to come to the same realisation as me. After a moment of contemplation, she turned to Mai with anger in her voice. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I-I didn’t believe it myself until a little while ago… I didn’t want to bring everyone down over something that might not be true…”

“So you kept it to yourself? That information could have gotten us killed if they decided to use Kei to ambush us. What the hell were you thinking?!”

“I… wasn’t.”

As much as I hated to see Mai kick herself down so much, Saki was right. Not telling us about this was stupid and dangerous, and it could have gone a lot worse if Flame had used a less honourable tactic to stop us. That being said…

“We can’t afford to fight amongst ourselves at the moment. Tearing us apart is exactly what they want.”

“Of course you would take here side.”

“I’m not taking her side, I think she should have told us, but we don’t have time to be falling out right now.”

“But that’s n-” Saki stopped herself, sinking back down and grumbling. “I guess you’re right. Still, no secrets from now on, you hear me? We do this shit as a team, or not at all.”

“I-I understand. And… I’m sorry.” Mai still looked dejected and downtrodden, but with a mild amount of relief that the topic was being dropped.

One last member of our group, however, had been even more quiet than usual. She sat with a pained look on her face, staring off into space and looking to be near the verge of tears.

“Nao? You holding up okay?” I called out to her. She didn’t respond immediately, instead moving her gaze to the ground. She seemed to be taken by a great sadness.

“I-I just… I was thinking… those girls, they’re… they’re just like us, in a way.”

“Like us? They’re slavers and murderers. They’re nothing like us.” Saki bluntly rejected what Nao said, but I found myself agreeing.

“Saki, I think Nao is right. Think about what Kagami said: she never chose to be who she is now, just like how we never chose to become magical girls. She was forced into the life she has now, just like us. Could you say with absolute certainty that, if our positions were switched, we would be different?”

“I-” She tried to rebut, but found no rebuttal. With a sigh, Saki relented.

“A-A little while ago, Shiko talked to me at the train station…” Nao continued with her thought, her voice shaking more than usual. “Sh-She chose me because she thought she and I were similar. At first I rejected the idea, but I think I get it now. Shiko and I both grew up outcasts, loners with nowhere to belong. I-I was saved by all of you, by Saki’s kindness. But maybe… maybe if I never had that, I’d have ended up just like her.”

It was a harrowing thought, and one that clearly made Nao uncomfortable. The circumstances of one’s upbringing could change the trajectory of their life dramatically. I alone was proof of that.

“If Kandai and Genmitsu didn’t take me in… if I was left to the mercy of the Director and his goons, who’s to say where I’d have ended up? If they didn’t kill me outright, maybe I’d have ended up just like Kagami. Forced to kill and steal for the bastard who took my life away from me. In that sense… I’m not sure I can bring myself to hate her.”

Despite the enraged words I had screamed at her less than an hour before, those were my honest feelings. I was angry and upset and completely dejected about her betrayal, but I didn’t hate Kagami.

“I wonder… I wonder if, in another timeline, we could have all been friends.” Nao spoke with melancholy in her voice, a lament for a world we would never get to see.

As the four of us sunk into a gloomy silence, Saki rose to her feet and slammed her hands on the table and spoke with a seemingly renewed conviction.

“Fuck this. Fuck all of this. Flame wants to prove this world is beyond saving? Fine. Let ‘em try. And then let’s show ‘em how wrong they are. Let’s show them that there’s another way, a better way. Let’s bring them back home and give them the second chance they refuse to give themselves. Nakama thinks she can force our hand? That either they or we will end up dead? Let’s prove that she’s full of shit. Together.” Despite her despondency just beforehand, the fire seemed to return to Saki’s eyes. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling it too.

“I’m with Saki,” I said, rising to my feet as well. “Kagami said that she and I are mirror images. Let’s show them that we’re more than just reflections of them. Let’s bring home Flame. Let’s bring home Kyoukei Mira.”