Magical Girl: Human Rebellion

Mai and I woke up bright and early, though the dream of the night before left a bad taste in my mouth. Though I had given my tacit approval at the time, I was very much against using that power if it could be avoided. I decided to tell the girls about it later, since there were other matters to attend to for now.

“Saki sent us documents outlining the plan for the solstice. Wanna read through them together?” Mai had her own emails open on my PC, one more sign that she had practically claimed my house as her own.

“They’re just sending them to us as they are? Not going over them in briefing?”

“Saki explained that in the email. She wants all of us to read over it in our own time while she and Hana work out the finer details. Once everything has come together they’ll be a big briefing for everything to be explained in greater depth.”

The idea made sense when explained that way. It meant that the actual briefing could go by smoothly since everyone would have the baseline knowledge beforehand.

“Speaking of Saki…” though uncomfortable, I sought a brief conversation detour. I wanted the two to patch things up as soon as possible. Not only because seeing friends fight made me sad, but because we couldn’t afford such discord on the battlefield.

“I texted her when I first woke up this morning. We’re gonna meet up for coffee this afternoon and try to patch things up.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure the two of you will be fine, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving a lingering awkwardness between you.”

“Nor do I. I know I fucked up, but I wanna fix it at all costs, so I’m being proactive about it.” Despite making a somewhat childish mistake, I appreciated Mai’s mature attitude about making things right. It was one of the many things I loved about her. “Anyway, the documents.”

“Oh, right. Almost forgot for a moment.”

“And you told me off for not keeping my head in the game. Tut tut.” She poked her tongue out at me before turning her attention back to the monitor. “The plans have been broadly split into two categories. Hana’s Spartans, the side consisting of Hana and the 300 holding the line at the Hot Gates, and Saki’s Hussars, the seven of us infiltrating hell directly.”

“Wait, shouldn’t those be the other way around?” I interjected.

“Come again?”

“The names. Saki’s Spartans and Hana’s Hussars would both alliterate.”

“You want to call the small army armed with spears and shields that are defending a choke point ‘Hussars’ and the fast-moving specialist group charging into enemy lines ‘Spartans?’”

“I didn’t say it made historical sense, it just sounds better.”

“Saki literally has Hussar wings.”

“…I still think it would sound better.”

“You’re an idiot. Regardless, here are our orders:”

Mai read through the plans for the Saki’s Hussars side, though with our complete lack of knowledge about hell it was a little barebones.

“What about the Spartans? What do their battle plans look like?” I asked.

“There’s are a lot more extensive, it seems.” Mai pulled up the files pertaining to Hana’s army, which showed everything from battle formations to advanced defensive tactics. “Looks like they’ve been split up into four groups. This hulking mass in the middle is the main fighting force. One hundred strong, shoulder to shoulder with spears and shields. They’ll be the ones cutting demons down as they try to leave the Gates.”

“Who are these guys off to the sides?”

“Reserve infantry. Fifty strong on either side. Their main purpose is to switch in for any of the main fighting force that are wounded or exhausted, but they also deal with stragglers that make it past the first line.”

“I see. And these guys at the back… I guess these are the ones like Nao?”

“You’re half-right. The hundred making up the back line are comprised of support-types like Nao, along with range attackers like the twins. We can’t guarantee the demons won’t be able to fly. Their job is mainly to shoot ‘em out of the sky.”

“Looks like Hana and Saki have been hard at work.”

It was a simple formation, but one that would be brutally effective if executed properly. It sealed off every avenue of attack the demons could have. And Hana, with her powerful defensive ability, would be leading her girls from the front.

I took a moment to appreciate how much she had grown, from the desperate girl following Saki to save her friends to the fearless and steadfast leader of a small and loyal army. She truly was one of a kind.

“Stop thinking nice things about other girls. It’s making me jealous.”

“Who are you, Saki? Stop reading my mind, it’s freaking me out.”

“You actually were thinking about other girls? You better treat me to dinner to make up for it.”

“…can’t believe I actually fell for that trap.”

Mai stuck her tongue out at me and then turned back to the plans on the computer.

“Apparently Kyouma went to visit the supposed real-world location of Yomotsu Hirasaka to estimate how wide the Gate is gonna be, but we can’t know for sure. If it ends up being too wide, we’ll struggle to stop them getting in. If they break our first line of defence…”

She didn’t need to finish the sentence. It was obvious: if they broke through, there’d be nothing we could do. We had one shot at this, and could afford no mistakes. It was the very definition of a make-or-break situation.

“We have 300 exceptional soldiers and Hana’s leadership to fall back on. It may not be ideal, but I do believe we can do this.”

“I believe too, but the margin for error is so thin…” Mai studied the plans closely, as if seeking out any possible weaknesses. This battle would determine the fate of the entire world, so it was no surprise that she was scrutinising everything closely.

The rest of the document had little to do with us, being mostly full of troop assignments and changeover times for if the battle lasted a prolonged period of time. The battle plans seemed well laid, and with the limited resources we had I doubted there was any way to significantly improve our chances. Even still, with so much riding on all of this it was hard not to be filled with doubt over how fragile everything seemed.

One wrong move. One miscalculation from commanding officers. One overextension from a ground soldier. That’s all it would take for everything to come crashing down.

Though I wished to avoid it at all costs, it was becoming more and more clear that I may yet to be forced to use the power bestowed upon me by God.

Time continued to pass with Mai and I talking over how we felt things would go, until eventually Mai looked at the clock on the wall and rose to her feet.

“My time to meet Saki is coming up soon, so I’m gonna get walking to the train station. I’ll be home before evening, so tell Kandai to make some of that gyuudon that I love.”

“You really are completely brazen about eating other people’s food, huh?”

“Yep. I’ll text you when I’m on the way home.”

“I’ll make sure dinner’s ready when you get home. Bye, hon.”

Mai left my room and quickly trundled her way down the stairs and out the door.

In truth, I was a tad relieved to have her away from the house for a little while. After all, there was a serious talk that I needed to have too.