Magical Girl Outcast

With the advent of Magic, the Magical Girls genre's tropes and sensibilities seeped throught every aspects of humanity's culture. And by extension Japan's culture became a monolith as the originator of said genre.

Today the customs and culture of Japan can be found everywhere in the world. Especially in places with strong Magical Girls presence. Naming children with Japanese names also became a lot more common. Especially for girls of parents hopeful that their daughters will awaken magical powers.

''Japan and it's effect on Magical Girls culture.'' By Usagi Kaname. -2050

David was on the phone, his expression growing more and more heratic and angry the longer the conversation went. ''Then take the chance! Weren't you the one that always strove to break new ground? There's no newer ground than this!...You gave a second chance to fucking deliquants who robbed and assaulted civilians and law enforcers alike but a trans girl is too much for you to handle?!...Fine then, just walk away you fucking coward!''

He slammed the phone back down, instantly ending the call and burried his face in his hands with an exhausted groan. He bent down to his cabinet and retreived a bottle of rum and a small empty glass. He poured the rum and swung the glass to his lips before gulping it all down in seconds, the burn of the alcohol going down his throat grounded him a little bit.

He had basically exhausted all the reputable middle schools in the country. He knew this would be an uphill battle but he never expected how alive and well transphobia still was. It was really depressing and it took all his restraints to not make a hole in the wall of his office in frustration.

He only had one last option left. He wouldn't accept sending Rin to a school with a subpar and undefunded Magical Girl program and education. His pride as social worker wouldn't allow it. He would rather send the girl to the USA if it came down to it. No matter how much his boss would chew him out for letting a Magical Girl escape the country into the arms of a rival.

The school in question had a well funded program but it was undermanaged. The program had a more hands off approach than most other schools due to the fact that the main instructor also served as the school Magical Nurse. So the students would be left using the ressources given by the school mostly on their own.

But from what he heard the Magical Girls were a close-knit group that helped each other to rise higher in their training. Which was the only reason why he considered the school at all.

Despite this, he wasn't happy at all that he had to call them. Him and the director of the school had a...tense relationship.

Arleady dreading the interaction ahead he took the phone back up and composed the number. The phone rang and with each successive ring his heart was beating faster.

On the third ring someone finally picked up. ''Hello Mr. Timothy, I didn't expect to hear back from you anytime soon.''

David groaned arleady feeling an headache forming in his head. ''Believe me I wouldn't call you if I had a choice.''

The man on the other side of the call chuckled. ''There's only one reason you would call me. You're desperate.''

''Yeah and so are you, so you better not be an ass with this or I'm going to strangle someone.'' David replied with gritted teeth.

''True, true, our school is unfortunately low on Magical Girl students and the board is not happy. So what do you have for me? A thief? Someone who pissed the authorities with a spree of vigilantism using excessive force? A rogue Magical Girl?'' The other man asked clearly still amused.

''None of those things, however with how the other schools reacted to her situation you would think it's somehow worse.'' David replied and wasn't that just depressing to think about?

''Oh? Now you got me curious, what is the issue with our new Magical Girl?'' The Director asked seeming even more interested to learn more.

David braced himself for another rejection as he says the next words. ''She's a trans Magical Girl. I personally helped her legally change her gender when I met with her after she helped with Alagia's Emergence. But that wasn't enough to satisfy any of the bigwigs at the other schools.''

The other side of the phone stayed silent for an unbearably long time. And for a moment David was worried the Director had ended the call, but then.

''...That's it?'' The voice of the Director was low and dangerous which was something David had never heard from the normally flippant man and it put him on edge. ''They refused to enroll a promising new heroine simply because of her assigned gender at birth? What kind of moronics waste of space manage those schools?!''

David's opinion of Adrien Kinomoto had raised significantly higher after his rant. Not that he would ever admit it to the man.

''Well it's not like your school accept trans students either, as far as I know.'' David pointed out.

''Because I believed, like everyone else, that it wasn't possible for trans girls to be contracted! But now that we have proof of the contrary this change things, significantly.'' Adrien said with a clear giddiness in his tone.

''So you're going to accept her into your school?'' David asked feeling hope rising in his chest for the first time on this damn day.

''Provide she can pass our entrance exam, yes absolutely.'' Adrien replied and David pumped his fist in victory.

''Alright then I'll call you back. I have to tell the news to the kid.'' David tried to not show how giddy he felt. Which he might not quite have managed to do, with how the Director chuckled in response.

''I'll see you later then.'' And with that the call was ended.

David quickly composed a new number and tapped his foot impatiently as the phone started ringing. After what felt like an eternity the phone pick up and the familiar voice of a young kid answered. ''Hello, Mr. Timothy?''

''I have some good news.'' Davis started with a smile...

Rin couldn't help but fidget nervously as she advanced toward the looming structure before her. New Hopes Middle School. The second most prestigious school in the mega city of New Québec. Rivaled only by Awakening High School which was an High School tailored specifically for Magical Girls.

New Hopes on the other hand was mostly composed of regular students. But it's Magical Girls program still made it a school of note for that reason alone.

She entered inside the school and was greeted by the scent of cleaning supplies and perfume. She saw only girls milling around with no boys in sight and tried to not feel like too much of a impostor for even being here.

Rin's hair had grown significantly in a single week. It was now all the way down to her shoulders. According to Lupin, magic strived to match their host's body with their subconscious ideal form.

It was one of the big reason why Magical Girls never seemed to age and were always very attractive no matter what. Her body was starting to look slightly more feminine too. But the change in that aspect was limited by the fact that testosterone was still the dominant hormones in her body. Hopefully she would be able to change that, someday soon.

Because of that she was afraid someone would caught on to the fact she was trans. But thankfully no one seemed to give her more than a cursory glance.

However her luck might have run out when she reached the desk and the receptionist looked at her with a raised eyebrow. ''Hello young man, what are you doing here?''

Rin winced and looked around to see if anyone had heard her. Thankfully it seemed everyone was too occupied to care. ''I-I'm here to take the entrance exam.''

The receptionist eyes widen in recognition. ''Ah, you're Rin Ainsley right? Sorry about that, I didn't think you would wear clothes like that.''

Rin winced again and glanced down. Admittedly the red shirt and the shorts she was wearing didn't do a really good job of communicating her preferred gender. ''I-I didn't have the time to change my wardrobe yet.''

''That's fine you'll be wearing the school uniform while you're here anyway. It's a female uniform, obviously. I'm assuming you're alright with that?" The receptionist asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Rin cheeks flushed at the question but nodded in confirmation.

''Alright then follow me, I'll guide you to where you're taking your test.'' The receptionist stepped out from behind her desk and motioned for Rin to follow her.

Thankfully by the time they were done talking the school bell had rung and the hallway of the school had emptied as the students went to their classes. So there was no one to gawk at the 'boy' walking around an all-girls school.

The receptionist guided her to small room called the 'detention room'. ''Don't worry you're not actually in detention. This is just where we make transfer students take their test.'' The woman said with a playful wink that made Rin chuckle.

The receptionist let Rin take a seat and walked away from the room. There was another older woman sitting on a desk at the back of the room. She smiled at her as she sat on the desk with the exam papers on it.

''You can begin the test.'' The woman stated and Rin went to work.

Unlike what you might expect taking the test was the less stressful thing about coming here today. Her academic scores had been the only thing that made her proud about herself before she became a Magical Girl.

The test was a combination of all subjects she had previously learned at school. English, french, math, science, geography and history. It took her half the time she was allocated to fill every answers. But she checked over her responses to be sure she didn't make any mistakes or miss anything. Then she checked again just to be extra sure.

Once she was satisfied she took the paper and gave it to the teacher sitting at her desk. She looked at her in surprise. ''Arleady done?'' Rin responded with a simple nod. ''Alright then, you can go home we'll call you with your results.''

''A-alright.'' Rin responded, despite how confident she had felt about her answer what if she got things wrong? What if she got rejected and couldn't be trained to be a Magical Girl properly?

Rin knew deep down she would still continue to be a Magical Girl even if she couldn't be accepted by a training program. But she knew it would also worry Alicia to no end and she didn't want that.

Trying to calm her nerve she walked out of the classroom and took a deep breath. There was nothing she could do now but wait and hope...

Adrien looked over the result of the test taken by Rin. His new Magical Girl. And honestly he was impressed. She had scored perfect or close to perfect on every subjects. A feat almost never acheived by first graders. And with how fast the teacher had told him she finished the test it was clear the test hadn't been a challenge to her.

She was clearly too intelligent for the grade she was in. There was also the fact that the board was uneasy about the fact they would send a first grader out in the field. Sure it wouldn't change the fact she was actually twelve years old. But if they bumped her to the second grade maybe they would be less worried about public perception. It wasn't like the general population would have access to the records of her actual age after all.

It might also make it easier for her to bridge the gap with the other Magical Girls who were mostly third graders. If not, she would at least have one Magical Girl in the same grade as her, so at least she wouldn't be alone. Deciding on this new course of action Adrien took the phone and made a call...

After three days of painful wait they had received the call. She was accepted! And not only that they had apparently been so impressed with her results that they had decided to let her skip a grade. Honestly she hadn't expected that part.

Alicia had looked so proud of her when she heard the news and it made her feel both warm and fuzzy and depressed at the same time. She was so happy of her new relationship with Alicia. But a part of Rin wondered why couldn't her mom have been proud of her in the same way?

A day later Rin received five set of school uniforms. Alicia insisted for her to try it on immediatly. The school uniform was composed of a black blazer with golden buttons, a white undershirt, a black skirt, a pair of thigh highs and a big red bow around the neck to tie everything together.

''Aww, you look so cute!'' Alicia gushed, making Rin turn red like a tomato.

''I-I don't look like a boy wearing girl clothes?'' Rin asked, her hands worriedly clenching at her skirt.

''Nope! You look like an adorable little girl. It's a good thing there won't be any boys at your school because you would have to fight them off with a stick!'' Alicia said with a wink.

''G-grandma!'' Rin squealed in embarassment making the old lady cackle in delight.

The day after was finally the day of her transfer. Her homeroom teacher, a woman wearing a thick pair of glass and an easy smile on her face. Her name was Valery Kazuko. She told her to wait outside the door of the classroom so she could present herself.

Rin would have rather have just found her seat before class started and tried to not stand out. But she didn't want to make a bad impression on her teacher.

The teacher also told her that she and the other teachers knew of her gender identity. It had made her nervous at first but the teacher reassured her it wasn't a problem. She also told Rin that none of the students knew about it. But that if they ever gave her trouble about it to come to her.

Rin felt touched about her willingness to help her. But she would prefer if none of the students ever found out. She didn't know how realistic that wish was, but one could hope.

After a few minutes she heard the teacher call for her. She gulped and with a trembling hand opened the door. Every eyes inside the classroom turned to her. It took much effort to not just freeze like a deer in headlights.

Seeing her nervousness the teacher threw her a bone and started introducing her. ''This is Rin Ainsley our new transfer student. She'll be staying with us for the remainder of her Middle School years. So please give her a warm welcome.''

Rin nervously bowed. ''I-I'm glad to meet you all-'' Her voice cracked at the last word and she looked back at the class completely mortified.

A few students either laughed or stared confused back at her but most of them just clapped politely. Rin for her part just wanted to sink in the floor and die. Hopefully no one would connect her voice crack with male puberty.

One girl in particular seemed shocked to see her for a while. And for a moment Rin was afraid her voice crack really got her clocked. But then the girl smiled and made a show to brush her gorgeous red hair away with her hand. Rin was confused at the gesture at first until she noticed the silver ring around her finger with a small purple gem.

The ring felt eerily familiar but she couldn't remember where she had seen it.

[Look down at your own hand.] Lupin pointed out helpfully.

Rin looked down and froze when she saw her soul gem around her finger. Which was the same exact type of ring except for the gem which was a sandy yellow color instead.

'There's a Magical Girl in my class and she immediatly found me out!' Rin tought in a panic.

''Rin, you can go sit on the desk in the back close to the window.'' Her teacher told her snapping her out of her stupor.

She nodded and made her way to her new seat with a blank look in her face. But internally she was panicking. 'I'm screwed, I'm scewed, I'm screwed!'

Once Rin was sitting in her seat the red hair girl gave her furtive glances. Making her panic even more. 'What if the other students see our rings and somehow connect the dots? They'll want to know more about the new Magical Girl and then they'll learn I'm trans and my life will be screwed!'

[Relax Rin. Humans who are unattuned to magic cannot see your soul gem. And you shouldn't worry too much about a fellow Magical Girl figuring out your identity. Secret identities rarely stay secret for long between Magical Girls. But it's a code of honor to never reveal the identity of their fellow Guardians to normal civilians. And the penalty for going against that code can be quite severe both socially and in term of progression. A Magical Girl who out someone else will lose a lot of her points and lose a few levels worth of experience.]

His words calmed Rin somewhat but she was still on edge for the remainder of class...

It wasn't much of a surprise that when the first break happened. The red haired girl immediatly ambushed Rin as soon as she left class. ''Hey Rin! Can we talk in private?'' She had asked. Rin felt trepidation at talking to the girl who had figured her identity as a Magical Girl.

But trying to avoid her would be more trouble than it's worth and if Lupin words were true she wouldn't be able to hide her identity from the other Magical Girls of the school either. The girl guided her outside to an area facing a garden with all sort of flowers.

Both of them sat on a bench facing the garden and that was when the girl finally cut loose. ''Oh my God. I can't believe there's a new Magical Girl in my class! It sucked so much being the only member of the club in second grade! But now you're here and we're going to be besties!''

The girl suddenly leaped onto Rin and put her in a hug. Rin's face turned red and she hoped desperately she could keep her dysphoria-inducing stick in check.

''S-so what's your name?'' Rin suddenly asked trying to change the subject as fast as possible. To her immense relief the girl backed away.

''Oh my gosh, so sorry for forgetting to introduce myself! My name is Melody Landry. I'm also called Magical Girl Heartsong when I'm transformed! Do you arleady have a Magical Girl name too, Rin?''

Rin fidgeted slightly. She supposed there was no point hiding it. After all she would figure it out as soon as she saw her transformed. ''Y-yeah, I'm called Magical Girl Millennium.''

''Awww! That's kind of cool, but I would have preferred a cute name!'' She said with a small pout but then she froze as she seemed to realise something. ''Wait a minute you're Millie aren't you?!''

Rin spluttered in shock at the familiar nickname. ''W-where did you hear that?'' There had only been one person who had called her by that name...

''Oh, from my aunt! Magical Girl Moruga! She told me she encountered a new Magical Girl during the Alagia Emergence, that was you right?'' She questioned with a bright smile.

She was in the same class with the niece of one of the first Magical Girl she ever encountered. What were the chances of that?

''By the way, I'm sorry about what happened with your mom.'' Melody started saying.

''W-what?!'' Rin's eyes widened in alarm. How the hell did she know about that?!

Melody continued not seeming to notice Rin's distress. ''It's so horrible that a mother would abandon their child just for being a transgender girl.'' The girl turned around and seemed to finally notice Rin's mounting horror. ''Oh, wasn't I suppose to know about that? Sorry, my aunt suspected it was your mom when you talked to the police about her. She was worried about you when you collapsed afterward. But since your grandma helped you she refrained from interfering.''

So Moruga had been a witness to all that, huh. ''P-please don't tell anyone about me b-being trans.'' Rin requested trying her best to not descent in a full blown panic at her biggest secret being found out so early.

Melody nodded with the first serious expression Rin had seen from her. ''I won't tell a single cat. I know I might seem like an airhead most of the time. But I take keeping secrets very seriously.''

Rin still felt uneasy about the fact that anyone knew at all. But it wasn't like she could do anything about it now. The only thing she could hope for was that Melody would keep her word.

The bell rung signalling the end of the break. And Rin tried to calm down as they made their way to their next class...