*
Her heartbeat rises quicker as if its rhythm had been consumed by the crowd's passion, just to rise in tandem with it. She had been moving as fast she could, her mind operated with as much clarity as it could muster through the myopia inducing fog of battle.
After some thinking, they thought it was perfect to blend in the tyrannical element of Kaitmei into this performance of hers by acting out the role of an ice queen. It had that slight negative connotation to it that she needed and at the same time was also the most fair role she could think of. Not good, maybe slightly evil but mostly neutral. That was the conclusion she drew, and while it was a little embarrassing...
In truth, it was a little exhilarating to act out such a role. No good... She can't smile here! She can't bear to smile or it will ruin her image she worked so hard to keep up! The edges of her lips crease and quiver, the ridge of her nose wrinkled in futile anguish. She covered her face before taking a deep breath. Due to the adrenaline of battle, she had forgotten to recreate the high pressure air barrier. Though it was more like a high speed wind with the power of a puny human slap.
The residents stood closer to her than before. Out of the large mass of humans, a lone girl half her height ran forward and before she knew it, she was too afraid of hurting the girl to reactivate the barrier so she got hugged as a result.
"Thanks for saving us from that bad person." (kid)
She smiled widely as she spoke, her exuberance reached her eyes. Ah... It was like happiness was bubbling in her stomach, just to receive this much gratitude... It felt like everything was worth it if it made even a single innocent person like her thankful.
Surrounding them were a cacophony of murmurs that drown out any other ambient noises. She was the tyrannical queen now..., she can not respond... Properly... She placed her palm on her little head. Her lips pursed in frustration, they collide one over another and jut out a little in the process.
"... Let go." (Kaede)
She spoke in a low and solemn tone. She had begun to adopt this tone ever since they decided on her role, might as well have gotten in the practice first. But her looks, she had no need to practice using Kaori's face. Instead she simply needed to use her own face. A newly born being that knows naught of love, when she thinks about her existence which she rarely contemplates so, she naturally gets a little depressed of her present circumstance. This was the source of her cold expression, it stemmed from her hostility against her circumstances.
She had switched her expressions so fast that he previous awkward faces now seemed more like fantasy. No one in the crowd knew if what they saw was real or not, or if their minds were playing tricks on them. There was nothing to record it after all, they can't just review footage that didn't exist. She began to resume her tour, blowing the dust off her exquisite dress with wind. Once again, the crowd parted, wary of the high pressure barrier.
An untouchable rose... It was as if her beauty lowered the temperature around them, though it wasn't too far fetched to say that that was the case. It was a physical alteration of their environment, she was purposefully manipulating the wind to cool her surroundings. If she could artificially create admiration of her beauty, to purposefully put into use the suspension bridge effect, then she would.
The poster too was an image of her in the middle of her tour, capturing her best angle and lighting. It was nonsensical to see such detailed posters in this day and age, light magic was used to capture the scene and production magic was used to embed that scene into a medium like a poster. Then it was mass produced. They contacted something akin to a journalist agency that made use of magical girls to create newspapers, then used Kaori's magic to fix the image into a poster.
All of these efforts were put into use to maximise her success. Of course the other candidates also began to make moves, some earlier, and others later than her. There was no fix deadline, she simply thought that a week after her declaration to be Kaitmei was a good time to do a tour. Perhaps she was trying to capture a specific crowd that was only into her looks, but she didn't have much to work with other than her looks and powers. So she demonstrated her combat prowess, hoping an assassin would come and be her sacrifice.
She felt bad taking someone's life to promote her own popularity... Sick even, but she was resolved to do anything that was at her disposal. When one is aiming to kill, they should prepare to be killed... That was the justification that she tells herself. She has no qualms with killing others when it comes to protecting herself, but when it came to this situation, it felt artificial. As if someone had sacrificed their life to boost her popularity, her stomach lurched in response. She wouldn't be able to take it if someone she knew had actually arranged that attack for her.
So she ignores it. In fact, she doesn't want to know. Knowing the truth would only hurt her conscious more, all she can do is run from it.
It didn't take long for evening to fall, it seemed like it had happened in the blink of an eye for Kaede. Despite the monotony, or maybe it was because of the monotony that she was less and less conscious during the tour. For these crowd's surrounding her to get a good look, not a single one was there an hour ago. These were completely new people and they cycled to a new batch each time. Like a fish perpetually shedding its mucous layer through continuous secretion, the older mucous falls off while a newer layer takes its place. Much like how the top layer of human skin is dead skin, following a similar cycle.
It was a constant battle to win over the messes, she was told that continuously putting up a poker face and walking through the wider streets was enough... But in truth her blank expression was no longer a product of acting but of exhaustion instead. She held her determination close to her heart, hoping that it would end soon...
But it was too early. There was no way that she could cover large swathes of land if she scheduled it humanely, she had to last for multiple days, even a week wouldn't be a surprise. She felt like puking despite not having eaten the whole day, her mind was queasy and fluctuating as if the entire world was shaking around in a snow globe.
*ping*!
The sound of glass shattering in a single sharp instant, as if calculated to not leave any fractures behind except for a lone hole. A magical girl dressed in all black had entered the highly pressurised barrier she made so quickly that it only made a single sound. Kaede turned around to look at the figure, it was one of Barius' subordinates, Rinka. She was dressed in all black so that she would be easy for Kaede to identify. In the first place, her radar had detected a fast moving object and she didn't feel the slightest sense of emanating aura from this individual.
Usually an aura would represent a magical girl's killing intent, not that it would be right all the time. Kaede gazed at her in confusion as the crowd quietened down for the second time that day.
"... You're pale, even for a magical girl... Even with our superhuman bodies, our psychology is still the same as a human's. We can last longer and survive in harsher conditions... But we still feel pain.
You should rest." (Rinka)
She didn't even have the energy to retort. From even her own perspective, carrying on would be fruitless. The crowd's wouldn't want to see a weak king. She looks at the ground with regret, her eyes narrowing in frustration. Her bangs cover her eyes to hide her features of emotion.
"You're right... I'm sorry." (Kaede)
***
She didn't remember much of what happened after that, she could barely recall that she released the air barrier and jumped into the night sky as fast as she could, her tears choked her as regret filled her mind. She gradually closed her eyes as she fell once more before something caught her, it was likely Rinka who brought her back and laid her on her bed.
She woke up feeling awful, as if she was the lowest form of living things on earth. The regret sat on her chest like a heavy weight suppressing her energy.
She wasn't even hurt from the battle, her body was in no way tired. What plagued her now was only mental fatigue, if she forced her body through its creaks and screams, it would move for her. But that's not what she wanted, she wanted the mental strength to carry on. Her vision got blurrier and blurrier, her tears pooled up over her iris, dripping down her supple cheeks and splashing over her hair in small drops.
Was she so weak? This would thoroughly hurt her campaign, mere mental distress was enough to send her efforts spiraling down into the abyss. She didn't want that to happen, but if told to resume right now, she didn't think she could do it. Why? Why was it so hard just to walk through the streets?
"My my... This was the first time you've cried since you've left for central. I didn't think I would see you break again. For a few months you had me fooled into thinking you became something inhuman... That you had achieved perfection way before I did. " (Barius)
She spoke with a hint of ridicule in her voice, enunciating each word with clear intent to mock her. Was this where Barius would take over from her? Barius' water powers and time stop would make her the most formidable foe that she currently knew, she was more suited to selling the ice queen act than she was.
" uu.. Uwahh.....!! " (Kaede)
Despair leaked out of her throat, she couldn't put all of her regret, anxiety and melancholy into words, causing her to lash out in childish cries.
"... It's only been a week, and a single day of touring. What do we do if you can't even do this much? You're lucky the god magical girls are already there because you have absolutely no ability in leading at all. Have you noticed? I've been the one coordinating our subordinates all this time, the only thing you've ordered from them is that pretty dress. " (Barius)
Barius was a little taken aback so she began giving constructive criticism. She thought that maybe Kaori despaired at her own weakness because she was aware of them.
"..." (Kaede)
Kaede couldn't muster a single word, she simply stared at Barius in silence. Nobody else was in the room, much to Barius' relief. She didn't want anyone else to see this weakness of her rival. It was demoralising, a fate that she would rather her friend did not meet.
" You can't even give your subordinates orders, most likely because you're scared that assigning them grunt work will make them dislike you. Well guess what, none of us see you as the 'cold front' you've been trying to portray all this time. You have thoroughly failed at everything you set out to do. The only thing that went well was that public execution you did. But that was the least to be expected from someone who is suppose to be a strong magical girl. " (Barius)
"..." (Kaede)
At this point she was only exasperated with Kaede.
"... Get some rest, we're continuing tomorrow. Don't worry about it. Only Rinka and I know about this. We'll cover it up as a reschedule due to logistical issues on my side. Claiming that we needed more than 4 magical girls on our side. Rinka will stay with you, along with Donry. " (Barius)
Unexpectedly, she began trying to console Kaede instead, further confusing her. If it was okay to take her word for it, then all she can do is heed Barius' advice.
" Wait! " (Kaede)
" Hmm? " (Barius)
She stopped her from leaving, despite not wanting to see her the most. She didn't understand it herself, but it was like an unpleasant feeling welled up inside her whenever a friend of Kaori's was being kind to her. She much preferred the harsh condemnation just now... No, that would sully Kaori's name as well. Then in the end, she preferred no interaction at all.
Right now... Yes... She had a strong desire to spill everything. She no longer wanted this weight on her back, she wanted to confide the fact that she was Kaede. She wanted to runaway and live somewhere else. She wanted to escape. Observing her reactions... Barius only coldly replied.
"... Are you getting cold feet again? Please stop before I lose anymore respect for you. At the very least... See through your own words to the very end." (Barius)
She promptly left before Kaede could get another word in. Once again, she let Barius shoulder all the responsibility... She felt disgusted with herself.