*
Slipping into my bed without making too much noise, I promptly ceased any activities and layed on the soft mattress like a log. Apparently there were some magical girls suited to repairing damaged objects, simple objects like pillows and mattresses were easy to acquire and restore. On the other hand, electronics were either impossible or took too much time and energy to repair. The more compact the furniture, the more common it is to find. Mini cabinets, stools and low tables were now commonplace replacements of modern furniture.
*
Rubbing my eyes open, they groggily lifted themselves open like heavy iron shutters threatening to shut back down. After the disaster, everyone had focused on societal rebuilding efforts and work hard at their jobs, naturally we all took care of our sleep schedule with great prudence. It was only last night that my nocturnal cycle had been disrupted in such a long while. There was no longer the presence of smartphones, so keeping to a timetable when sleeping was simple unless there were other underlying issues.
"Huuughhhuuuuuuu"
A hearty yawn escaped my throat as the stale indoor air seemed to catch itself onto my skin. Pulling to the limits of my flexibility, my muscles strain and stretched feably to execute my morning stretches. The farm work had made my body decently fit as well. Well.. My body was unfit before due to virtue of my hobby, so if compared relatively to the average human, my body was now average. A mundane physique not out of the norm. Maybe slightly more muscle concentration in certain regions such as the biceps or calves credited to my intensive work. I was certainly quite resistant to occupying as a farm hand at first, but I changed my mind seeing the smiles on the faces of my colleague. If they can be happy, why couldn't I?
Hmph, it's not like I'll never see them again. In fact I'll come back part time in one of my days off to help out. A 5 day learning week was certainly bothersome for this early society, not being able to contribute even a little peels off the nerves and doused them in the cold water of guilt. It certainly felt a little horrible, but ultimately it couldn't be helped.
It seemed that many sustain fatal injuries and won't be back in action for a few weeks. It was only by healing magic that they were able to escape from death, just not those that loss too much blood. Most of them played dead while groaning on the ground from their wounds, hence the gory scenery from that time. Even now that 1 colleagues face would pop up in my mind. His name was Mr Corolla. He had apparently came from overseas to work here before the great disaster happened and his family was left behind in another country.
His phone had broke in the monster attack and no other clues were left to find his family. A big hearty smile on a middle-aged man, his hair had greyed partially and his belly went over his belt a little. His thick muscular arms from decades of experience and reassuring pat on the shoulder. I wonder if I could have accepted my job without him. I was pretty much the only kid in that small team of workers.
Now that I had much free time, I could think all this through. I wonder if he had left his family behind or had a quick reunion with them instead. I can't cling to the past, now that I've become a magical girl I've finally found a direction. A path that I can faithfully walk on. This small little bits and pieces of life came naturally from human desire. Before that, all I had that kept me from suicide was my hobby.
Other than the occasional communication that was necessary to get my needs across, there was pretty much no socialising with the other students in my class. Wake up, go to school, come back home, indulge in hobbies, sleep, repeat. The future prospect of having to get a job was simply put away in the abyss of my mind, there was high chance that I would devolve into a NEET. When even... Those hobbies were taken away by something arbitrarily, when everything I ever looked forward to was gone... Was there really any meaning in living? Had things gone differently, there was good chance that I would be gone by now.
Without the convenience of television and a news network, some issues are heavily hidden to the point that only a select few would be aware of them. Problems lead to unrest, and unrest would only impede our recovery efforts at such a critical time. Certain issues... Inevitably slip through. No one can hide it, suicide rates had gone up exponentially. Many lose their sense of self worth or despair at the changes when things are taken away.
If I hadn't been attacked at that shelter, would I have yearned to live as much? The pain of it all seemed to fade away in the depths of memory, but they can surface back occasionally in the form of trauma. Sharp objects, coiling objects, anything that resembled a crocodile, really. An immediate response of my body was to cover my right eye and tremble. Thankfully this doesn't occur all the time. Perhaps it was the nature of my job, or the consideration of others. Or maybe even the fact that there are others similar to me. The fact that such trauma related objects have been removed from my daily life. I cherish these friends.
In any case, it was time to enrol onto this magical school. Yesterday, I was given a key that could be used to go back to that location. But what about the materials required? Mainly the textbooks, stationary and uniform. As I thought of such worries, a few taps could be heard from my door. Somehow, the knocks seemed particularly heavy. With a slight swerve and sliding sound, the view beyond the door was now open. The person was my neighbour to the right, Jinmei.
He had woken up earlier for his work, as he processed materials at a factory quite some distance from here. He came back home earlier than me though. His eyebrows seemed to twitch as an unfamiliar article hung down his right hand. His left hand retracted back after knocking while he spoke in a monotonous tone.
"I didn't know you had these kinds of hobbies..."
Saying so, he handed me the packaged article before disappearing from view. Closing the door, the sliding of wood against woodechoe once more to signify the end of the intrusion of my privacy. Now, no one could see what was happening in the room perhaps there was something suspicious inside it. It was a paper bag with what seemed to be clothes inside and a manual. Taking out the manual, my jaw could only drop to the ground from the utter shock.
What was fit inside that paper bag was what answered my earlier question. Knowing the true nature of my identity, they had send a manual as well to pair along with it. What it was, inside the bag, was a set of uniform, a female uniform.
"Ah... So that's what he meant by hobby. Well, he was blushing too. What a weird guy, but I can't blame him."
He had probably seen the contents from the top and imagined it. My face was feminine enough for an unwarranted nickname after all, though that was in middle school before I became a social recluse. Well, it's only been a year or two since then, so maybe it hadn't changed that much. In other unrelated news, my magical girl form had a bit of a resemblance enough to call both forms together a pair of siblings. If that was the circumstance, my identity has a chance of leaking. Thankfully, magical girls have evolved to automatically exude awareness obstruction auras.
Maybe it had been the witch hunts of the past, from over centuries ago that forced magical girls to evolve this way. But what it entailed is basically simplified into mental corruption. When a person looks at a magical girl, the magical girl's aura, a form of magical energy, enters the person's brainwaves. Said magical waves were converted from the magical energy stored in the magical girl, and they immediately start to intrude into the cerebral region that controls the person's perception.
Basically, people aren't able to remember or recognise the faces of magical girls. So a connection shouldn't be drawn from facial similarities, not that it would be obvious at first glance. I've only shown my face around my various work locations, helping treat and prepare the soil. Another group was in charge of the planting.
Checking out the calendar, it seemed to be a Saturday. One of my 2 remaining days of respite, perhaps I'll visit the company.
Stepping outside the wooden residential building, similar buildings dot along the path, resembling a large village. Concrete buildings have also begun to materialise as refurbishing work is done on the wooden cabins. It had been around a month since the great disaster, rebuilding efforts have finally borne fruit. A small city has finally surfaced.
There was also a global movement at the moment. A news system had finally been completed, and the bare minimal of world affairs were reported to each cabin in the form of newspapers. Factories and resources must have been restored, though I doubt more complex instruments like electronics would return so quick. In any case, the global movement was named, "the splitting".
Suicides weren't uncommon in such a desolate and grim scenario, this gave rise to restlessness and dissatisfaction. Naturally some governments would dissolve, get overthrown and replaced. They come and go like a cycle, so it wasn't a surprise. Even in a relatively peaceful area where I was at, crime wasn't non-existent. Before the disaster, even the "era of peace" after World War 2 was still ridden with civil wars and inhumane administrations.
Why would now, when there is no longer an adequate policing force, be an exception? In any case, it was reported that the Illnoia administration that took over the territory of the previous Russia has split into numerous factions. The Gangrea monarchy around Europe is facing a three way front with the previous Illnoia administration, grundo alliance and Holy Kingdom of Blumford. To be more precise, bandits and outlaws are forming large armies with primitive weapons to raid the cities around the Gangrea monarchy. Their ancient structures survive the great disaster, so some amount of cover and guerilla warfare was available to them. Though this ultimately caused the Gangrea monarchy to split up even more.
The grundo alliance residing around Africa and Middle east asia along with the Holy Kingdom of Blumford around the North American continent miraculously survive "the splitting" and the uprisings. They must have had concentrated on gathering military force the whole time. The South American continent was annihilated, leaving a mysterious crater and large ash clouds that left the area uninhabitable. A wasteland would be an apt description.
After reaching quite a distance outside the residential area, a low stone wall blocked most buildings from view. Only the concrete buildings with multiple times the height of the wooden cabins could be seen from here. Staying close to the wall to keep hidden, I concentrated a feeling like liquid into my body. Slowly and steadily, it was akin to filling up a bucket with water. Inchmeal, a slight warmth filled my body up like spring water, steadily making contact and occupying every inch of my flesh.
With the completion of the magic filling, a slight glow emanated from my skin, starting from the feet and inching upwards like a fast growing vine, it wraps the body and a bright radiance that nothing but white could be observed. When what was basically a flash bang had subsided, a magical girl costume had rematerialised. A small diamond shape crystals hung from a collar that was more similar to a layed down hood jingle in the blazing sun.
Its teal shine reflecting brilliant rays to show off its beauty. 4 cloth like tails stretched out the back of the collar like fluttering capes and the multi-layered skirt shifted around my legs. A simple pattern of 2 lines originating from the crystals hanging point, the collar, extended to the sides under the armpit and arm around the torso at a 45 degree angle before returning around the waist to end above the centre of the thigh. It was met with an abrupt line that was the start of the skirt. An accent of light grey filled the areas segregated by the line while black spike like clothes hung above the 2 layered skirt, before being covered by 2 large cloak like clothes, one on the left and one on the right that ended in points.
The arms were sleeveless with 2 small teal gems attached to black bracelets at the wrists, while the legs donned thigh-high socks. Above those socks were forbidden territory rightfully protected by the skirts.
Easing my joints, my knees bent forward to store elastic energy. Releasing all tension in a single stroke, I was sent far enough into the air to seem like I was flying. Recalling the feeling in my first battle, the stroking of the wind against my flesh, I was swallowed by a vacuum.