The Magical Girl

Tomoki was sitting quietly on the ground of his living room with an expression worse than his usual resting face. This could be attributed to the dark circle he now sported around his left eye. And how did he receive this brand new marking?—It was by getting punched in the face by a stranger at his door just seconds after opening it. And where was this stranger now?—She was sitting directly across from him with a cup of tea in her hands.

The girl was no younger than Tomoki, with straight black hair with red streaks and a pair of menacing amber eyes. She wasn’t at all bad looking—in fact, she could even be considered a beauty by high school standards. She didn’t wear an ounce of makeup and possessed a real natural beauty that would make any girl jealous! Her attire consisted of a red cloak wrapped over a traditional purple kimono with red chrysanthemum floral patterns. Hanging from her ears were earrings in the shape of some kind of wheel with spiky edges. She possessed a rather cold temperament, given the fact that she didn’t show the least bit of remorse for what she did and accepted Tomoki’s hospitality with a veiled arrogance.

“How is the tea?” Tomoki asked her with an attempted smile.

“Tolerable,” answered the girl with an arrogant expression.

“Why, thank you,” said Tomoki with a twitching eye. “Now, may I ask who you are?” he added politely.

“Konoe Ruka,” she answered.

“Konoe-san,” said Tomoki.

“‘-Sama’,” quickly interjected Ruka.

“Come again?” questioned Tomoki.

“When referring to me, add -sama to the end,” ordered Ruka. “Having a Vulgaris like you call me any other way is demeaning.”

“V-Vul—?” questioned Tomoki, confused. He quickly stopped himself and changed tactics. “My name is Kimoto Tomoki.”

Ruka took a spit-take, tossing all of the tea that was in her mouth straight at Tomoki, splattering him wet. She then let out a laugh as if she had just heard the funniest joke in a long time. “Y-You’re kidding, right?” she said, practically rolling on the ground in joy.

“Of course not!” shouted Tomoki. He was used to this reaction—his name had always been a subject of ridicule ever since his childhood years. Due to the nature of his name, many people often joked about whether or not his parents loved him to give him such a thoughtless name like that. Of course, this only ever happens whenever Tomoki has to write his name in kana or when he introduces himself verbally.

Ruka’s incessant laughter was really getting on Tomoki’s nerves and he yelled, “Can you be any more rude?!” Ruka finally calmed down. “Sheesh! First you punch me in the eye and make me give you hospitality and now you’re laughing at my name! If I wasn’t such a patient person, I would’ve kicked you out right now or get you arrested for battery and trespassing!”

“That was self-defense,” corrected Ruka, taking a sip of her tea.

“What part of that was self-defense?!” demanded Tomoki.

“When the door opened, I thought I might’ve chanced upon a criminal’s home and instinctively took you out first before you got the chance to do something to me,” explained Ruka nonchalantly.

“That’s the worst reason for self-defense I’ve ever heard!” retorted Tomoki.

“It was your face,” pointed out Ruka.

“It’s not my fault I was born with a face like this!” shot back Tomoki. “You’re not remorseful for your actions at all. Usually, when you accidentally clock someone out, you would humbly apologize for your mistake. Especially if that person is also treating you to tea in their very own home!”

Ruka’s eyes darted to the left as she muttered, “Sorry.”

Tomoki let out a huff of air. “It’s clear that you don’t mean any of that at all,” he said with a shake of his head, “But whatever. Why are you here anyway?”

Ruka put down her cup of tea and her face turned grim. “I’m here for my partner,” she revealed.

“Your partner?” asked Tomoki.

“He’s here, isn’t he? I traced his trail of blood to this place,” she told him.

“Wait a minute, are you talking about…?” Tomoki realized who it is Ruka was looking for. His eyes darted to the left and he rubbed his neck as he said the following words, “You’re friend—he, um, disappeared.”

“Hah?” came Ruka harshly with a dagger-like gaze.

“I found him in front of my building and brought him in to give him some medicine. But then he disappeared in a bright flash of light. Well, I didn’t really know if that light was him, but, um, yeah, so…I don’t know where he is right now.” Tomoki added a nervous laugh at the end in a misguided attempt to lighten the situation.

“Naturas: Li – Dragon’s Breath,” casted Ruka in a scary low voice; her eyes had murder written in them. A giant stream of fire shot out of the magic circle. Tomoki, who was still in the process of processing what he was seeing, jumped out of the way at the very last moment.

“What are you, crazy?!” he immediately yelled back.

Ruka clicked her tongue knowing that Tomoki survived her attack. That’s when a shiny glint caught her eye. She turned to Tomoki and noticed the amulet hanging around his neck. “How did you get that?” she asked in surprise, pointing to the amulet.

“I don’t know. I saw it lying on the ground and before I knew it, it was around my neck,” he told her honestly while looking down at the amulet.

Ruka sank to the ground. “He’s gone,” she muttered to herself. Tears welled up in her eyes and she quietly sobbed to herself. In her sorrow, she felt a presence right in front of her and looked up to see Tomoki offering her a cloth to wipe her tears; his eyes were looking away from her but carried kindness and warmth that transferred to his gesture. Ruka reached out for the cloth and said, “Don’t expect me to accept your pity.”

“Just make an exception for this one time,” Tomoki told her while blushing. Ruka took the cloth and wiped her eyes before blowing her nose into it. She then handed it back to Tomoki. “You can throw it away yourself!” protested Tomoki.

Finally returning back to her usual self, Ruka stood up and quickly grabbed Tomoki’s right arm. Despite his protests, she pushed up his shirt sleeve; what she saw confirmed her suspicions. Tomoki was surprised, too, by what he saw. On his right arm was a black mark in the shape of a magic circle with the image of a hexagram in the center.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hells is this? A tattoo?! I don’t remember getting one!” objected Tomoki.

“I knew it,” muttered Ruka with a click of her tongue. “Apollo was already dying after getting infected with that poison. It looked like the seal sensed his end and had decided to choose you as its next holder. However, because a normal human cannot possibly keep it safe, Apollo sacrificed himself to transfer all of his magic to you,” she affirmed.

“Wait, what? Slow down and explain it to me one more time. You’re not making sense,” requested Tomoki.

Ruka shot him a nasty glare. “Basically, my partner gave you all of his magical power because that—,” she pointed to the amulet, “—chose you to become its new keeper!”

“This thing?” asked Tomoki, looking down at the amulet. “Wait, did you just say magic?” he realized.

“Did you not hear me this entire time?” asked Ruka through gritted teeth. “Perhaps you want another example?”

As she said that, Tomoki remembered almost being burned to a crisp and quickly accepted her claims about magic. “But, what do you mean by transferring his power to me?” he asked Ruka, still confused about that part.

“Hold out your hand and repeat after me,” she ordered him.

Tomoki did as she said and chanted, “Vocatios: Evocare Cleos!” A white magic circle with Latin letters surrounding it in the edges appeared. In the center of the circle was the image of a cat. Suddenly, that very cat jumped out of the circle and landed on top of the living room table. The cat appeared at first like any normal cat—it was black in color with emerald eyes and a gray underside. However, Tomoki quickly noticed that the cat had not one but two tails! “B-Bakeneko!” yelped Tomoki.

“It’s a nekomata,” corrected Ruka. “Good to see you again, Cleos,” she said to the nekomata with a smile. She held out her hand and the nekomata rubbed itself on her hand with a loud purr.

“Cleos? You mean, that’s its name?” asked Tomoki.

“She is one of your familiars,” Ruka told him. “She originally belonged to Apollo, though.”

“Are you saying that along with inheriting your partner’s magic, I also inherited his familiars?” asked Tomoki for clarification.

“Is the evidence not sufficient enough for you?” returned Ruka with a tilt of her head.

Tomoki carefully approached Cleos and put out his hand. The nekomata sniffed his hand and then proceeded to rub itself on the hand with a purr. ‘So fluffy!’ gasped Tomoki with a delightful smile.

“Tch! I though for sure she would maul you,” muttered Ruka to herself with a scowl. “Alright, enough with this, send her back,” she told Tomoki loudly.

“How do I do it?” he asked. Ruka told him how and he quickly applied it. He held out his hand and simply commanded, “Cleos, return!” The same magic circle from before appeared and the nekomata jumped back into it. “Say, how does magic work anyway?” Tomoki asked Ruka once the magic circle disappeared.

Ruka stretched out her arms and yawned. “I need a place to stay for the night,” she told Tomoki, making her way to the bedroom.

“Um, actually, that’s—,” Tomoki began to protest. Before he could get any other words out, Ruka had entered his room and closed the door. Tomoki stood in front of his own door and called out, “Um, excuse me, Konoe-sama! If you would like, I can set out a futon for you! That’s my room, you see!” The only response he got back was the sound of snoring. Tomoki sighed and made his way back to the living room.

Tomoki woke up the next morning with a slight lapse in his memory as he wondered why he was sleeping in the living room. A minute or two later, he fully reoriented himself and remembered exactly what had happened the day before. He got up and made his way to the bathroom.

He opened the door and immediately froze. His heart was in his throat and his mind panicked as his face turned red. Staring right back at him with an equally red face, was Ruka—bare naked. Her hair was up and she had nothing covering her body.

Tomoki turned his face away and covered his eyes. “I’m sorry, this is just an accident! The door was unlocked! I’ll accept whatever punishment you have! But first, please cover up!”

Ruka quickly snatched a towel from the rack behind her and covered herself. Her body was shaking with both embarrassment and anger. She turned back to Tomoki and saw him prepared for whatever she decided to dish out at him. But nothing happened. Instead, she let out a sigh and said, “It was half my fault. I left the door unlocked.”

“R-R-Right,” said Tomoki with a sigh of relief.

“However, letting you off like this doesn’t sit well with me at all,” she said with a frown. “If you want me to fully forgive you, then get down on your knees and bow while apologizing to me three times.”

“Huh?! I would rather have you clock me out than do something like that!” vehemently protested Tomoki. He was the type of person to choose pain over downright humiliation. As he said that, Ruka gave him a look filled with pure disgust.

“Perverted masochistic scum,” she grimaced.

“Says the super sadist!” shot back Tomoki fearlessly.

Ruka, furiously annoyed by Tomoki’s provocation, shot out her fist straight at his jaw. Tomoki fell backwards and landed with a heavy thud. “N-N-Now, was that so hard to do?” he grunted dazedly.

Once they both were finished with getting ready, Tomoki got started on breakfast: cup noodles. Ruka looked at her own cup with displeasure. “Do you expect me to eat an unhealthy meal such as this?” she asked Tomoki with a scowl.

Tomoki simply shrugged and wolfed down his own cup. “If you don’t want it, you can just go buy your own breakfast,” he told her upon finishing his cup.

Ruka didn’t like it one bit. However, her stomach grumbled despite it all. She had not eaten anything at all since the day before. All of her energy had been depleted in yesterday’s chase and magical battles. She didn’t like this one bit…but there was no other choice—even if she did decide to take Tomoki’s provocation, she didn’t have any money to spend on food. With displeasure still plastered on her face, she snatched up the cup noodle and wolfed it down.

“Wow, you’re really going to town with that. Good, isn’t it?” said Tomoki with a smile. Ruka flashed him a deadly glare and said nothing. ‘Sheesh, she’s so prickly,’ he said to himself.

They finished their breakfast and Tomoki prepared for school. Ruka followed Tomoki out the apartment and down the stairs. Once on ground level, Tomoki asked Ruka where she was going.

“School,” she told him simply.

“School? Which one?” asked Tomoki with genuine curiosity.

“One which is none of your business,” she replied back.

Tomoki said nothing further and continued onwards to school. Along the way, Ruka followed right behind. ‘I wonder if her school’s in the same direction,’ he wondered to himself. As he thought this, he heard his name being called by a familiar voice.

“Tomoki!” called Junko, walking up to meet him.

“Ah, Junko,” greeted Tomoki. “Want to go to school together?” he asked.

“Is there any point in asking?” she replied back with a raised eyebrow.

“Right,” said Tomoki with a laugh.

“Who is this?” Ruka asked Tomoki.

Tomoki had almost forgot about Ruka until she spoke up. “This is my childhood friend, Suwabe Junko,” introduced Tomoki.

“Tomoki, who is this girl?” asked Junko.

“Good morning, my name is Konoe Ruka. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Suwabe,” greeted Ruka politely with a bow.

“T-The pleasure is mine,” replied Junko with a bashful smile.

Tomoki couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing; he was physically petrified! Ruka’s interaction with Junko was the most civil he had ever seen her act! Her politeness in both physical and verbal communication was beyond anything she had shown Tomoki since their initial encounter! And hearing Ruka use polite speech (keigo) for the very first time…it was all mind-blowing given how she spoke to Tomoki this entire time!

“S-So, how do you know Tomoki?” asked Junko.

“We both have a mutual acquaintance,” explained Ruka. “I chanced upon Sir Kimoto last night to inquire about said acquaintance. Alas, I never did manage to contact my acquaintance due to unforeseen circumstances.”

“I-I see,” said Junko.

“And due to my late appearance, I slumbered at Sir Kimoto's lodge,” continued Ruka.

“Eh?” uttered Junko in shock.

“Alright, that’s enough!” quickly interjected Tomoki. “Anyway, Junko, the train for the school is about to leave!”

“Aren’t you going on the same train?” asked Junko with a growing scary expression on her face.

“Be there in a moment!” he replied, pushing Junko along. Junko reluctantly left but not before glancing back and forth between Tomoki and Ruka for what seemed like a good minute. Once she was gone, Tomoki dashed back to Ruka and complained, “What the hell was that for?!”

“I was just telling her the truth,” said Ruka with her face turned away.

“But she didn’t need to know that!” protested Tomoki. Ruka simply shrugged her shoulders. “Also, what’s with the weird way you were talking to her? You never talk to me like that even when we first met!”

“That is how I usually talk,” Ruka told him matter-of-factly. “But why would I use such language when speaking to a masochistic perverted delinquent such as yourself?” she added harshly.

“I’m not a masochist nor a pervert! And it’s not my fault that my face looks like this!” objected Tomoki.

“Now, now, don’t you have somewhere to be, Gomiki?” said Ruka, waving him away.

“It’s Tomoki, you bi—,” huffed Tomoki.

“What was that?” snapped Ruka with a scowl.

“—Konoe-sama!” quickly amended Tomoki loudly.

“My, my, having a lovers’ quarrel, aren’t we?” came the mocking voice of a woman approaching them. She was a tall and elegant woman with long curly scarlet hair and sharp citrine eyes with cat-like pupils. She had a rather long neck that was otherwise unnoticeable when taking the entirety of her features as a whole. She wore a brilliant red dress that accentuate her curvy mature body, especially around her bosoms. Her smiling lips were stained red and her hands carried well-manicured nails. And on her feet were sparkling heels that clacked on the ground with every footstep she took.

“You!” snarled Ruka, her fists clenched ready to fight.

“You know her?” Tomoki asked Ruka, pointing to the strange woman approaching them.

“I have no business with you, Vulgaris,” said the woman to Tomoki. Her attention was focused solely on Ruka. “Where is your partner? Surely he couldn’t have gotten far. Especially with his body full of poison,” mocked the woman with a smirk.

Ruka clenched her fists even tighter.

“Now that you know there is no point in fighting back, why don’t you just hand over the seal?” continued the woman, her lips forming a cruel smile. As she said that, she caught a glimpse of the amulet hanging from Tomoki’s neck and did a double take. “Impossible! How can a Vulgaris such as you possess it?” gasped the woman in horror.

“Run away as far as you can. I’ll fight her,” Ruka told Tomoki.

Suddenly, the woman let out the most unnerving laugh either of them had ever heard. It sounded like a screechy cackle being put through a blender! But the woman’s laugh came at a moment of epiphany for her—the seal hanging around the neck of a Vulgaris could only mean one thing. “It has been more than five hundred years since one of your kind existed,” the woman mused to Tomoki.

“My kind?” questioned Tomoki.

“Just run away, Gomiki! This woman is dangerous!” Ruka ordered him.

Despite his desire to correct Ruka, Tomoki silently obeyed her words and made a run for it. He had reached the next intersection when a cloud of dust appeared and forced him to jump back. Once the dust cleared, Tomoki realized that he was trapped.