“Mahou Shoujo! Magical Shooting Star!”
Hoshigawa stood still with a big smile, waiting for a reaction from her wild-haired classmate. But much like her at the moment, he didn't move a muscle or say a word. He only stared at her with his arms crossed, sporting a malicious grin.
“Space pirate, Shiroku Yume. I'm here to put a stop to your evil schemes!”
How about that? she thought.
“Ho~?” was the first response the girl got from the transfer student.
What do you mean “ho?” Are you mocking me?!
“I know your type. Pirates are evil. They are kidnappers, thieves, murderers. And you space pirates are even worse. How dare you bring your tainted selves into the pureness of the cosmos? As a magical girl from the stars, I can't forgive you!”
“So what if we are?” he retorted, teasing Rizel.
“Star Sagitta!” she shouted, all of a sudden swinging her toy. Again, she remained quiet, whereas nothing else happened. Yume didn't even flinch.
“Th-That was just a warning shot.”
She started to feel nervous, so she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down.
“I'll give you one opportunity, Shiroku-san. I'll let you walk away unharmed, provided you swear that you'll quit your life of piracy.”
Yume turned around, crouched, and grabbed his school bag.
“Kidnap, thievery, murder. The truth is I have no intention to do such things.”
He seemed to take something out and carefully place it in his pocket, but his classmate wasn't able to see what it was.
“But it doesn't matter. If I ever want to, I won't let anyone tell me otherwise.”
He stood up and turned back to face Rizel, as he was putting on a couple of wristbands. In his left hand he was holding a smartphone.
“So, if you are planning to get in my way, then we might as well settle things right now, don't you agree, Nagareboshi?”
The expression on Yume's face became somewhat menacing, putting pressure on the magical girl.
“Sagitta!”
The young pirate waved his jacket in front of him, like he was using it to block something. He threw it and ran upstairs. Once he was on equal ground to Rizel, he launched his fist against her at the same time that his cellphone let out what seemed to be the sound of a mechanical object moving. The punches were never close enough to hit her, but she moved to evade them anyway.
Rizel was retreating all the way. She had to do something to even the odds, so she ran downstairs and reached the shoe lockers. While turning towards her enemy, she brandished her scepter.
“Star Sagittarius!”
Quickly, Yume covered himself with his left arm. His phone played the sound of an explosion.
He withstood that?!
He raced to reach his opponent. She had to act fast.
“Star Scutum!”
Yume stopped running and began to punch the air repeatedly. Sounds of clashing metal could still be heard.
He's cracking the shield!
It looked like Rizel started shooting invisible projectiles at him while Yume was hitting an invisible wall. But clearly they were putting a lot of effort into what appeared to be a game of pretending.
They both had opposite ideals.
Rizel wished for order and she perceived Yume as a chaotic individual.
Yume’s determination was to do whatever he wanted to, Rizel was nothing more than an obstacle in his path.
And so they were fighting a battle that was beyond the limits of reality. One which could only be appreciated by achieving their level of imagination.
In a world covered by the night sky, the fighters faced each other in the middle of a city in ruins. There were no artificial lights, the stars shone upon the battlefield.
Yume's fists, armed by huge mechanic gauntlets, finally pierced through Rizel's solid light shield.
All she could do was guard herself with her arms as the pirate's punch sent her flying into a nearby building. The strong impact caused the already weak structure to collapse on top of her. Seconds of quietness left the fate of the magical girl unknown.
“Is that all, Nagareboshi?” he asked, slowly walking to the wreckage.
Beams of light flashed out through the cracks of the building’s remnants.
“Star… Hercules.”
Steadily, the girl pushed the rubble away. One last powerful move freed her from her prison of concrete. She gripped her weapon and placed it firmly on the ground. Yume saw her toy scepter turn into a long staff with five orbs, and a winged ring with a star made of light on its tip.
“That's more like it.”
Rizel and Yume glared at each other. Neither was willing to give up. Both sprinted to their right. The star on the girl’s pole, named Cassiopeia, flared as she prepared her attack.
“I won’t let you tarnish the name of the astronomy club to deceive people into joining your pirate crew! Star Sagitta!” she yelled again, boldly fluttering her staff, firing three glowing arrows at the transfer student.
The pirate was able to dodge the shots, though one of them barely scarred him. Once he posed his eyes back upon Hoshigawa he beheld the ominous radiance flowing from the weapon, slowly taking the shape of a giant bow, ready to fire an equally enormous arrow. Standing at a safe distance from her adversary, she mimicked the act of pulling back the bowstring.
“You’re jumping to conclusions there, Nagareboshi.”
Rizel cried out the name of her previously failed attack, Star Sagittarius, whilst releasing the invisible bowstring. The immense arrow of light blasted off in the shape of a comet.
Without hesitation, Yume extended his left arm in front of him.
“Pridwen.”
The strike triggered a huge explosion. It completely engulfed a wide area around Shiroku.
The dust dissipated. Rizel frowned at the debris she caused.
After putting a much greater amount of energy on the attack, Rizel couldn’t hide her surprise when she saw him standing in the middle of the havoc. His left gauntlet was now a broad shield, a force field around it.
“I refuse to lead a crew made up of conviction-lacking, misled members. But that doesn’t mean I can’t point them in the right direction.”
He dispelled the barrier and his shield reverted to a metal glove.
“Then, what are you planning to do with it?”
“I’m going to make sure they know what they’ve been missing. The magnificent world of endless possibilities that exists beyond the clouds! I’m going to show it to them.”
Yume raised his right arm and pointed to the sky.
“The Ocean of Stars!”
Rizel stared at her new classmate, unsure of what to think. His blatant statement astonished her.
The boy’s right gauntlet changed its shape. Most of it detached from his arm and turned into an oversized sword handle. A glimmering blade spawned from its hilt. He jumped, gripping his weapon, in the direction of his opponent.
Hoshigawa’s body wasn’t responding. She could only look at him as he prepared to brandish his fiery weapon.
Ready to strike, Yume called out the name of his sword.
“Calib—!”
“Hey! Who’s there?! Didn’t you hear the announcement? Go home, now!”
That sudden interruption from a member of the school staff brought the couple of fighters back into reality. Rizel’s toy scepter returned to its original form. On his right hand, Shiroku had a small, plastic-made version of the sword he was about to swing.
Free to move again, the girl ran upstairs while undoing her twin-tails, to grab the school bag she had carefully placed on the stairway landing. There was no time to go back to the lockers and change, so she only removed the neckerchief and put on the uniform’s blouse. Yume, that only needed to change his shoes, wasn’t around anymore when she was ready to go.
But after hurrying outside, she saw the transfer student riding a bicycle across the schoolyard. He wore the school jacket properly when biking.
Rizel remained still for a couple of minutes. In his own way, Shiroku carried the ideals she once held dear. The childish wish of sharing what lies beyond the skies with everyone else. One she had stripped from her last year.
“The stars won’t ever judge… we humans do.”
※※※
Class had already finished the next day. Yume sat over a desk at the clubroom, with his arms crossed, looking through the window.
Outside, Asuka walked to the door, dragging her pink-haired friend with her.
“Stop, Asucchi! I said I was thinking about it, I haven’t decided yet!”
“It’s fine, Rizeru-chan! I understand you!”
“If you do, then let me go!”
She did, right when they had reached the entrance to the clubroom. Rizel looked up to see the new door sign, with the words “Astronomy Club” on it.
“You want to try again, don’t you, Rizeru-chan? You only need a little push forward.”
Her friend was right. Even more than stopping the space captain and protecting the Universe, Hoshigawa’s heart wanted to recover her innocent wish.
Was she ready to try again? She wasn’t sure. But, at least for once, she chose to follow the pirate’s credo of doing whatever she wanted to do.
“Let’s go, Asucchi.”
“Yes!”
As if it was a metaphor, the girls opened the door to their future.
“We’re here to join the astronomy club!”
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