The Set Up

Fuku ate lunch and got to work.

He made several stops around town to get supplies. Salt, aerosols, water, collections of herbs, he would need all of those and more.

The easy part of making a magic circle three blocks large was that he’d avoid the wrong kind of attention once he started drawing the thing. With all the people Jade Chrysanthemum kept on the payroll, they needed as much lead time as possible.

It was also the only easy part.

Drawing a magic circle was a simple if intricate thing. The materials must be evenly distributed and mixed in the right ratio. The circle had to be unbroken. All of which was to say that it was very impractical to draw a magic circle in the heart of Tokyo. Not impossible but a true pain in the ass.

Fuku stood on a street corner and struggled to heft a bulging sack three times his size onto his back. He checked his watch. Five past five. Time to begin.

He started walking. A mist wafted out of the sack’s seams with each step. Anyone he passed would smell an overpowering mix of seawater, pine, and fresh bubble gum.

Drawing the circle with an aerosol was the only way he could do it in the middle of the city on such short notice. But that had its own drawback. Most magic circles could be triggered manually. But once this circle was drawn, Fuku wouldn’t be able to stop walking. He’d have to maintain a constant speed, avoid getting hit by cars, and dodge any curious police.

Because the moment he stopped, the circle would activate.

Fuku hoped he wouldn’t get stuck behind people who walked slow.

----

Hanzo was never sure what he’d find any time he went to Akihabara.

As clock struck six, he wandered through a pop-up market focused on the night’s Smile Showcase. Vendors would sell all kinds of merch to waiting fans, from vintage materials and signed posters to fanworks. There was an energy that Hanzo couldn’t deny.

It was disappointing then, that their excitement was for heroes who stood for the wrong thing. Hanzo’s mind drifted back to Eagle Rook and Hippo Bishop. All the PR in the world and they stood with Jade Chrysanthemum.

Hanzo wondered if this would work.

He was so deep in his own thoughts he bumped into one of the stalls. “I’m so sorry!”

The woman manning the stall held up her hands. “It’s quite alright. Things are crazy out here.”

Hanzo nodded and took a moment to look at the woman’s stall. Oddly enough, the stall didn’t have the diversity of show fan merch on display. It was only focused on two shows.

He stared at a poster of Sweet Bear and Wolf Knight squaring off as a pair, attacking towards anyone looking at it. “An old-school fan?”

“No school like it,” giggled the woman. “There’s something so pure about those two shows. The current stuff’s fine but those ones went for it.”

Hanzo smiled. “The new stuff seems popular.”

“Popular, sure.” The woman shrugged. “But between you, me, and everyone else? There’s a reason the original shows’ merch vanishes as soon as someone puts it out. I bet they’d all lose their minds if they saw what Sweet Bear and Wolf Knight make a comeback. It’s money they’re leaving on the table.”

Maybe this would work after all. With a smile Hanzo told the woman, “I’ve got a good feeling about tonight.”

-----

Sayuri sat hunched over at Erika’s dining room table. Her fingers danced over her phone as she kept writing out a message.

Her staring at her phone was starting to get on Erika’s nerves. In the privacy of her own home, she felt the freedom to relax. Which was why two black fox tails were waving in the air behind her.

“When you finish, do you intend to stay here?”

Sayuri kept staring at the screen on her phone. “No, I’ll be on my way when I’m done.”

“Good. As pleasant as you are to look at,” huffed Erika, “being a chaperone at home wasn’t how I wanted to spend my evening.”

That broke Sayuri’s concentration – and her stare. “Aren’t you married?”

“Happily and exclusively,” Erika said without missing a beat.

Sayuri opened her mouth for a second before closing it. She didn’t want to know and focused on her phone vibrating as she sent the final part of her message out. With a smile, she rose from her chair and stretched. “What about being a chaperone out on the town?”

Erika raised an eyebrow. “And why would I do that?”

Sayuri showed Erika the message she’d sent out on her phone. “This. Also you’d be a chaperone for someone pleasant to look at~”

“Ararara~” mused Erika. “I didn’t think you were capable of teasing. Very well.” The kitsune’s tail’s worked their way back into her outfit. “Let’s have ourselves a night on the town.”

----

Hanzo looked up at the many screens of Akihabara as the Nise Kitai Smile Showcase played on the screen. He was surrounded by eager fans and onlookers, waiting for the latest news to drop.

Fuzukawa Ayumu would occasionally intercut with everything else. She acted as the lead presenter, showing off new merchandise and announcing new miniseries crossovers. Her stare was unnerving. While she was putting on the façade of warmth, her purple eyes deeply unsettled Hanzo.

“…We have one final surprise to show you tonight,” she smiled. “Please take a look at this.”

Everyone around Hanzo nodded eagerly. This was what they’d been waiting for.

The screen went black, briefly glitching and the audio cutting out.

Come on, Miho. Show me something.

From black to white, the screen shifted… and music started to play. A cheerful anime song quickly swapped to a rolling guitar lick, hitting everyone’s ears as some of the older people in the audience recognized the tunes and started to lose their minds.

The screen started showing an animated young girl walking down the street with a winged blue bear, split with a man in wolf-themed armor kicking a Jade Chrysanthemum goon in the jaw.

Everyone was catching up to the older fans and starting to lose their minds as words appeared on the screen.
[FIRST RERELEASE OF MAGICAL GIRL SWEET BEAR & WOLF KNIGHT]

[ALL-NEW RESOLUTION & REMASTER! NOW STREAMING!]

Hanzo saw grown men next to him weep openly, women screaming at the top of their lungs. The woman he’d spoken to earlier was furiously manning her stall as overjoyed fans were suddenly buying every bit of fan merch she’d brought with her.

He pulled out his phone and sent out a message.

[Operation is a go. See you all there.]