I, Sora Goto, am a liar.

From my head to my toes, everything about me is a lie. A facade I've carefully crafted to hide the truth.

Even my "name" is a lie - I abandoned the one I was born with a few years ago.

The falsehoods that define me were not created willingly, however, but out of necessity. This is the fourth time I've changed my identity, and every time the thing I'm trying to escape eventually catches up.

That being said, the lies upon which my entire being is built are far from the most important thing in this classroom today, because-

"Look! A real magical girl!"

-today is the day we get to see a real magical girl in action.

***

The room was abuzz, as it had been since the morning. The sudden appearance of a band of cultists, followed by their equally sudden defeat at the hands of the cape-clad magical girl group, had sent the entire school into uproar, and the excitement had yet to die down.

Frankly, I found the noise a tad unbearable, but nothing I could say or do could ever quell the passion this all-girls school had for their magical girl idols. The worship for them here bordered on obsession.

"What's got you looking all gloomy, Sora?" The voice that snapped me out of my irritated internal monologue belonged to Saki, the boisterous and hyperactive girl that dragged me into her friend group by the scruff of my neck.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Just… not dealing well with all the noise."

"Tut tut. You should join in with the fun for once instead of brooding like a tomboy." She puffed out her chest as she said this, semi-sarcastically talking like a disappointed parent

"I know, I know. I just don't like it when it's so loud, that's all." Truth be told, I can't stand any loud noise. Were it not against school rules, I'd probably wear noise cancellers everywhere, but alas.

"I… know how you feel." The meeker voice that affirmed my irritation came from Saki's right hand, a short girl totally devoid of any confidence called Sunao. "I don't like all the noise either."

"Man, what a pair of tight-arses. Learn to live a little, you too," said Saki, absent of any form of self awareness. "Why not join in on the magical girl fever for once. Like… Sora, what's your favourite magical group?"

"Me? Uhhh… All Seeing Thread, I guess? I like their costumes a lot."

"Laaaame. Thread are all preachy and crap. Illusory Spear are the coolest, their fights are sooo fun to watch. We gotta get you some better taste, girl."

While I certainly don't scorn her company, Saki's magical girl obsession can get quite annoying at times. She seems to consider herself an aficionado on everything magical girl related, the most elite of all magical girl fans. Sadly, it seems no one ever taught her the difference between 'elitest' and 'elitist'

"I… like Cutlass Of Beauty." Seemingly mustering up enough courage to speak for once, Sunao tries to join on in on the discussion.

"Oh, of course you'd like Cutlass, Nao. Always talking about justice and crap. They just don't have any dramatic flair."

"W-well, maybe if they focused less on 'flair' and more in saving people, Spear wouldn't let so much collateral damage happen."

"Ah, who even cares about collateral damage? They catch the bad guys, don't they?"

"That's not all that matters…"

Realising that these two had gotten into yet another meaningless argument, I tune out of the conversation again. Best of friends though they may be, Saki and Sunao really know how to squabble like an old married couple.

I seem to be the only person in the entire school who isn't consumed by the Magical Girl craze that has swept through Tokyo these past few months.

It's not that I think they're not interesting. Quite the opposite in fact. Out of nowhere, a group of super powered individuals that seemingly throw everything we know about the laws of physics into question show up without the tiniest bit of explanation? Of course I'm fascinated by that. What I don't understand is why everyone is obsessing over who's the coolest or the strongest instead of how the hell they do what they do.

But it's not as if I don't understand the excitement. Superheroes suddenly becoming real is something I dreamed about as a kid, so I understand the appeal. I just wish people would ask deeper questions than "which magical group has the coolest signature move?"

Wit that still on my mind, I suddenly take notice of something that leaves me surprised. At a time like this, I would expect our resident magical girl maniac to be here, and yet, she's nowhere to be se-

"SORA-CHAAAAAN!"

As if fate itself had read my mind and decided to fuck with me, the fangirl in question came bursting through the classroom door, ran to where I was standing and caught me in a flying hug so powerful I almost lost my balance.

"Eaaaaasy there, Mai. And where have you been? Lunch started 15 minutes ago." The blonde girl who's tackle-hug nearly sent me to A&E was Amai Sugi, the fourth and most fanatical member of our idiot quartet. It took my by surprise to see her show up late for lunch, considering she seems to love food more than any other thing on planet Earth. Anything other than maybe…

"That magical girl we saw fighting outside the window, I followed her as far as I could, and I noticed she wears the same socks as us! I think she goes to our school!"

Yes, among the entire student body of Tokyo Highschool For Gifted Girls, none had caught the magical girl fever quite like the carefree girl still clinging to my body.

"Our school uniform, huh? Happen to catch any clues as to who it might be?" The conversation had quickly caught Saki's attention, causing her to temporarily halt her bickering with Sunao.

"She was pretty tall, so she was probably a third year. But she was wearing a mask and didn't have dyed hair so I couldn't make out any details that might give away her identity." Saki huffed in disappointment, while neither me nor Sunao were the slightest bit surprised. Magical girls always show up, do their work, maybe say a few words about peace or justice and then seemingly disappear. Figuring out their identities would be next to impossible.

That being said, the grin on Amai's face told me there was more to it than that.

"Which is why, after school today the four of us are going magical girl hunting!"

…oh god, I have a bad feeling about this.