Fantasy into the dreamworld ⋆ ˚｡⋆˚｡･:*:･ﾟ

Spring in Wakubetsu had always been one of towering cherry blossoms, restless students ready to leave school, curious tourists prowling on the boardwalks to spy fishing boats, and seasonal shops opening for their primetime. In 2005, the image the city came to be known for was never clearer; the cusp of summer ever approaching as cicadas and afternoon naps moved in to consume its residents.

There was no greater day for the girls to meet. A Saturday before noon: enough time to have grabbed a coffee and sorted out an outfit, but leaving plenty to move on with afterward. Of course, it was pointless, they would not be moving on. Not every girl in the city was attending, many had filed out for universities or the call of the unknown that perhaps they were not even aware of what was happening to their former friends in the place their powers hailed from. But all that mattered is that there was enough.

It had been a month since the first death, which had been followed quickly by another: a girl named Aoi. She was as close to a household name in the dreamworld as one could get, bubbly and chased by pink streamers and admirers wherever she went. When they found her body, the beloved scepter she had flipped time again for her audience was found alongside her. She was minutes from her home. Girls became nervous, of course, and their paranoia was validated when the third girl was found like all the others. Long past friendships rekindled and those who had abandoned Wakubetsu for greater frontiers suddenly returned to their hometown. They knew something had to be done, their past escape sought them one by one.

The idea of a meeting floated around the girls briefly before one began to organize it: Ishii Riko. Time, date, and location passed through word of mouth and rudimentary social media contact; whoever they could get a hold of was extended an invite, and whoever they knew would receive one in return. Now Riko was waiting for the girls to arrive, not knowing how many would arrive nor if any would at all, but certainly knowing they all had one thing on their mind: it was now or never.

It was a flurry of noises that awoke Riko. A pillow rested atop her head, shielding her eyes from the light that streamed through the blinds in her bedroom. The alarm clock kept squeaking, droning on and on into insanity. It appeared it had sent Chika on a similar spiral, as she was adding to the noise with her own banging.

"Shut up that stupid alarm!" she yelled through the door, which Riko always kept locked.

Snapping the button to off, she silenced the ringing. It also put a cease to the assault on her door. "Learn to wake up when the damn thing turns on," Chika told her firmly. "I'm tired of being your personal wake-up call."

"Sorry," Riko called back as she shuffled around for her pants. She tucked a few locks of her hair behind her ears, aware of the dwindling time before the other girls would arrive before she'd gotten there. "I didn't mean to sleep for so long."

"Yeah, yeah. Write me some new material."

"I'm rolling my eyes through the door." A smile came to Riko's lips, even as she struggled to find the binder where she wrote down the agenda for the meeting.

This time, Chika let slip a small chuckle. "Whatever, dick."

Riko gave a giggle back, right as her hand grasped around the heavily-stickered and Sharpie-scribbled binder."Same to you, bitch."

Ferociously tying her shoes onto her feet, she fixed another piece of hair before finally catching an eye on her backpack. She slipped the straps on as she twisted the lock on her door. Then, she began her run towards the park in Wakubetsu. Thankfully, the years of constantly running for the bus or train paid off, and Riko managed to make it to the greenery in just enough time.

Her body shifted into the dreamworld, and it felt like a deep sigh unnotched itself within her. She could breath out, and each return breath in was peppered with beauty and the smell of flowers. It was a world so perfect compared to the one she normally occupied that every second felt like being drenched in honey, a sensation so unfamiliar and dubiously good-feeling but magical all the same. Outside of the realm of realism, she often thought, though she tended to enjoy this notion rather than abhor it.

Sitting on a picnic table bench criss-cross apple-sauce, she took out a pen from her back pack and opened her binder to the page she last worked on. She had outlined the meeting, hoping to address all of what was pertinent. Most of all, she wanted to discuss the murders, in particular the victims. The girls who had passed weren't her best of friends, but they were once near that. They were the girls she fought next to in a world only they shared. It was losing a piece of herself, and she needed to save any one else from the same fate. With that thought, she moved the topic of protection higher up on the list of discussion points.

Sticking the yellow pencil behind her ear, she snapped the binder shut before pushing it off to the side. Looking at her plastic Batman watch, she studied the time. Zipping the backpack open, Riko pulled out Junko's favorite: lemon cookies. In addition, she lugged out a two liter of pop and a small stack of solo cups. Her eyes softened with the note of how sparse her snack spread was, but she refused to acknowledge said fact. Looking up and with a sigh, she awaited the arrival of her fellow friends and fighters.

She had been in that position a while, lying on her bed, letting her thoughts wander. A month had passed so quickly, it felt like only yesterday when she found out the first of many magical girls had died. Aoi had been someone she looked up to greatly, and she had only recently passed her by at the station. Nothing seemed wrong. And the she died, like that. And then another, and another and another. And there was nothing she could do but watch. Or perhaps there was, maybe if she had been more observant in the dreamworld to notice the incoming danger, maybe if she had been there for her old friends. Perhaps she was simply too late.

That morning, like every other that morning, she woke up early to the sun dazzling through her window, piercing the shadows with spears of light. The birds sang their sonata, the warmth of day upon her skin like a hug. And she'd take a breath, let her surrounding settle in and stare at the ceiling. Every night, she wondered whether she might become the next victim to whatever was killing her old friends, the morning bringing relief that she was still alive. Even if it meant she had to carry the memory of the girls another day.

But unlike, every other morning, the meeting of the magical girls had arrived. Though she had still continued her dreamworld duties up until the first death, it had been a long time since she would be seeing another magical girl there.

After changing from her white and blue plaid pyjamas to a standard white dress, a blue ribbon tied into a bow around the collar, she did her bed and meticulously tidied her room, filling the time until the meeting with small distractions and fiddly tasks. To put it simply, she was extremely nervous about the whole situation. Thoughts wandered to and fro, until the time came. The house was empty as it usually was on a day like that day. Her father was away at sea once again, and her mother was on a business trip. Her siblings were at her grandparents house up north. Though she didn't mind the peaceful quiet, in times like these, she wished she had someone to hug. At least her mum and siblings would be home by tomorrow, she thought. Grabbing the neatly packed cupcakes she had baked and decorated with frosting of iridescent colours the night prior, she tightened the golden ribbon that held the bag together and left, slipping her shoes on.

She had a little ways to go, her house directly on the beachfront, on the opposite side of Wakubetsu. Stepping out the door, the briny sea air caressed her skin as the breeze softly danced by. A smell she'd always known. Walking urgently, her legs straightened as if she were in a march, she walked along the beachfront, the endless ocean beside her lapping against the mottled pebbles of the beach. It was a day like any other day for someone else perhaps, where the clouds dotted the sky like cotton freckles.

After what seemed like and endless walk, she made it to the park. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. Though the invitation had been spread far and wide, she didn't know whether anyone would actually show up. Though, she hoped more than anyone would ever know that they would. They had to.

She entered the dreamworld, all the ruffles and ribbons on her magical girl outfit weightlessly wrapping around her, wafting as if they were the wind. Her outfit had always given her the strength to keep going, as if giving her power, energy and hope flowing through her. The air felt so much lighter in the dreamworld, a constant warm breeze intertwining with her hair. Cautiously, she opened her eyes, the relief lifted from her heart as she saw the girls, all gathered around the picnic table in the centre of the park, the dreamworld scenery of blooms of flowers and colours as beautiful as if it were painted just as it always was. Though she hadn't changed much appearance wise over the years, the other girls seemed to have grown far more than she anticipated. Even though she was relatively old for a magical girl, the girls gathered looked far taller and more mature than she. Especially Rika, who had always been tall, though she had a hard time matching the image of her from a while ago to the face she saw now. Honoka felt a little intimidated. It was as if they had all grown past her. She was a little jealous of how attractive they looked. But most of all she was glad they were still alive, and seemingly doing okay.

"Hello all!" Honoka said as she jogged towards the girls, blushing as they turned towards her. They were even prettier up close. She bowed politely, before continuing. "I hope we are all doing well in light of recent events... but, it sure is nice to all be together again!" She thrusted her bag of tightly packed cupcakes towards the girls, smiling innocently.
"I brought cupcakes!"

Despite the circumstances of their meeting, she couldn't resist a smile at the sight of Emiri. "You know me, bitch. You're lucky I'm on time," she said back with a tenacity that indicated she was only joking but definitely serious, just a little. "I'm happy you're here," she added, nodding solemnly as the mutual understanding. They would do something, make their lives and deaths worth it.

Then, Mizuki caught her attention, and the laughing flavor to her voice returned. "I apologize, though if you know of a place that sells decent pizza at 10 a.m., let me know." She winked, though she pushed the plate of lemon cookies closer to where Mizuki stood.

Then, Honoka joined, and Riko found herself caught off-guard by the sight of the three together. She wouldn't say they were the bestest of friends to her, but it was like seeing your high school acquaintance at work: strange, yet exhilarating. Memories flashed behind her eyes, and the feeling of her sword in her hand appeared with a slight fluff of wind. In actuality, the sword sat at the head of the picnic table.

Would that aid her the same way the others were 'aided' by their weapons?

Selfishly, Riko thought of her own survival, whether or not she would fair any better if it had been her who was attacked. She used to be one of the best, arguably, but now, she was out of practice. Out of shape. Cowardice sunk into her bones.

Instead of wallowing, Honoka's cupcakes called to her, and she mumbled a vague 'tank-oo' as she scarfed one down. "Thanks for coming," she announced, fingering at the frosting decorating the corner of her lips.

"Like Mizuki said, I wish we could be here on better circumstances." She scratched at the back of her neck, briefly, before opening one of her soda bottles and pouring herself a glass. The binder sat angrily on the table, as though it knew she was stalling. It stared at her with hostility, and she took a sip in ignorance.

"I hope you're all well," she said as seriousness overtook her. "It's nice to be back," she referenced the spring air around her, the perpetual beauty. Silence enveloped the group, but it was peaceful as only it could be in the dreamworld.

Clearing her throat, she attempted to begin the meeting. "It might be best if we started with discussing the girls who..." she trailed off, surprised how quickly it caught her. Throat constricted, and she chocked on her soda. A coughing fit began, leaving an awkward pause. "Uhm, the girls. We should try to find what they have in common?"