Karin's First Meeting; Magical Aka's Security Duty

“I can’t forgive you for what you’ve done, not now at least. But I’ll offer some advice, your friends seem like good people. Rely on them more, and maybe you won’t make this mistake again.”

Karin hung up the phone, her conversation with Carol finished. Karin sighed, relief washing over her. While she couldn’t say she’d put this incident behind her, she felt the weight pressing on her heart lighten ever so slightly.

As her clouds of anxiety blew away, a tide of tiredness creeped in. The building exhaustion from all the events she had faced that day, staved off only by her anxious state, came crashing down on her all at once.

She’d have to ask Roxy where her bedroom is; she might make the hallway floor her new bed at this rate. She stumbled toward the gymnasium, worried she might have to also ask Roxy to help get into bed.

A chime ringed throughout the building.

“Everyone to the meeting room,” Xi’er announced.

Roxy burst through the gym doors, rushing toward Karin in a mad dash.

“Meeting time! I’ll lead you there!” she yelled, already dragging Karin’s limp body behind her like a wet noodle.

***

“We made it! We even beat Calice here together!” Roxy cheered.

Karin attempted to cheer with her, her tiredness no longer present, but it had been replaced by a queasiness that made doing so just as difficult.

“How did you best him if he’s not aware you’re competing?” Xi’er asked, “Besides, it seems that Karin was dragged along by you, how is that competing?”

“I was just giving her a little helping hand, that’s all,” Roxy said, paying little mind to the questions as she danced with Karin’s lifeless body. Xi’er couldn’t help but sigh at the sight as the door swung open to announce Calice’s arrival.

“It seems you’re won again, my dear Roxy,” he paused, waiting for her smile back before continuing, “my obsession with being fashionably late ruins me yet again.”

“There was no set meeting time though, and you only arrived a minute after Roxy,” Xi’er replied, looking down at their notes.

“Relatively late, besides, it’s best not to keep a beautiful woman waiting too long.”

Roxy shooed her arms at Calice, a shy smile showing on her face. Unfortunately, in doing so, Karin was launched away from their one sided celebratory dance. Thankfully her moving body came to rest as it tumbled into a chair, rather than a table or a wall.

“Karin has the right idea, let’s get this meeting started,” Xi’er said, sitting down at the head of the table.

Roxy took her seat across from Karin, while Calice took his opposite Xi’er.

If it was a square table, they’d all be bunched together rather close, and while this was the case for Karin, Roxy, and Calice, Xi'er was a fair bit farther from their cluster.

“This meeting will be about our press release plans. It requires minor adjustments to accommodate Aka joining the team being a known variable now, but it will broadly remain the same,” Xi’er said.

“Shouldn’t we further emphasize Aka’s inclusion by having her participate directly in the press release?” Roxy asked.

“No, I believe that’ll create potential holes for the reporters to exploit,” Xi’er responded.

“Besides,” Calice added, “the reason people like Aka is for the strength of her punches, not the quality of her words. I think a position as our security would suit her nicely.”

“That is the current plan. Her presence will assure the populace we’re acting as one whole unit.”

“I feel like that might create too much distance between us, people will wonder why she’s not participating more directly,” Roxy said.

“I think that benefit is marginal compared to the risk factor we face due to Aka’s inability to handle stressful questions.”

“Couldn’t we just not take not take questions?” Karin offered sheepishly. She was having trouble following this conversation since she didn’t have any context to what their plan was, and her friends were talking a mile a minute. However, she was still able to gleam that the major worry was that she’d blow up under a stressful question.

“It’s a press release, it would look like we have something to hide if we didn’t take questions,” Calice responded.

“Couldn’t we just make it an announcement. Like when Báisè used their powers to project a warning message of evacuation to the city?”

“Karin,” Xi’er started, causing Karin to brace for impact, “that would be the fastest way for us to get labeled as cultists, terrorists, or maybe both. If we make such a grand announcement without any forewarning of our impending return and desire to change the world, that will be how the media undoubtedly spins it.”

“Oh…” Karin slumped over, feeling stupid.

“Don’t let it get you down, I think your outside the box thinking is what we need,” Roxy said.

“Thanks,” Karin said, sighing as her upper body deflated into a puddle of shame upon her arms on the table.

Her friends continued to discuss their plans, but their words felt distant, like the ocean in a seashell.

***

“… with that settled, I think we should move onto our most concerning matter,” Xi’er said, turning directly to Calice, “can you relate the full events of Aka’s fight?”

“Really, are you really going to talk about Karin like she isn’t sitting right there?” Roxy asked.

“She might as well not be,” Calice countered, pointing to the puddle of drool that had accumulated beneath her, “though there’s not much to say Xi’er. She fought like she regularly did.”

“And you noticed no changes? Are you sure you performed your best against her?” Xi’er inquired further.

“Yes, she was already near her boiling point when we started, so it’s not like I could hold anything back. However, no matter how much I hurt or trapped her physically and emotionally she remained as Aka. I saw no signs of anything to the contrary.”

“I don’t understand why you two think you need to go this far? She’s our friend, she cares about us!” Roxy shouted in a whisper, her finger clenched, ready to bang her fists into the table. The only thing that held her back was waking up Karin.

“You can pull up the back of her shirt if you need to remind yourself why,” Xi’er said.

Roxy’s fingernail clenched into her skin, a look of resentment painted clear upon her face, but she didn’t say anything in turn.

The dance of Calice’s fingers across the table stopped.

“We should be wary, but worrying about it won’t change anything,” Calice said, pulling himself up from the table, “I think we should bring this meeting to a close now.”

With that said, both Calice and Xi’er took their leave, leaving Roxy alone to stare at Karin’s sleeping body.

“Come on, let’s get you into a proper bed,”

***

“Hi, welcome to the Magical Rainbow Press Conference. May I ask for the news network you’re reporting for?” Aka asked.

“Yes, we’re from Hound News,” the reporter said, his film crew beside him.

“Let’s see then, you’re in row B, left side.”

“Thank you! Would you mind giving me a bit of an inside scoop before I step in? There’s many things our viewers are likely dying to know about Magical Aka.”

“Apologies, but I’m here to direct the news crews to their seats, so I won’t have any time for that,” Aka said with a shy smile.

“It’ll be real quick,” the reporter said.

A flash of pink light shined, then faded, leaving another group of bewildered reporters brought by one of Rose’s clones and his teleportation magic.

“Sorry, I can’t keep them waiting.”

The reporter walked off with a huff, and Aka couldn’t help but be reminded of her old job. A simple task she had to repeat over and over for customers who’d get into a combative mood for simply being told “no.”

Still, this job was a million times better than her old one for two simple reasons. The first being that she actually felt like she was actually working for a greater good by doing it. The second being that her boss wasn’t awful like her old one, and she could actually fight with him.

Rose’s clones were quick to wave each new group that arrived over to Aka, before fading out of existence, and she continued to filter them through.

Finally, the wave of reporters died down, as the area behind her reached its maximum capacity.

With all the reporters having to announce to their audiences about what was going on, the chatter grew rather loud, but thankfully Aka could now retreat to the rafters above it all.

As security it was her job to essentially keep an eye on it all, just in case anyone came to crash the party. While no human had any chance of hurting them physically, if they let harm come upon their guests, such an event would look rather poorly on them and suggest they don’t have the capability to keep people safe.

These were things Xi’er was sure to drill into Aka after she fell asleep at their meeting.

Finally, a tap came from the microphone at the podium, feedback resonated throughout the room. The chatter came to a calm.

“Hello, my name is Magical Rose, the leader of the Magical Rainbow. At this time the press conference will now begin. I and my compatriots will be talking about the reason for this press conference, and then open the room to general questions.”

Chatter arose again as the lights dimmed, and Rose retreated from the stage. Spotlights fired up and shined down upon the podium, revealing Yellow to be standing there.

“Hi, my name is Magical Yellow. You probably know me as one of the Magical Girls who helped save the Earth seven years ago,” she gave a small chuckle, which the audience shared. “Back then we had a simple goal: Keep the world safe from monsters who would appear and threaten its safety. It was a job I took pride in, and felt a great love for despite all the trials I faced. However, an issue arose after the Dark Lord, the source of interplanetary invasions and genocides, was finally defeated by us. With the external threats to the Earth gone, the need for our great power diminished, and so we retired. Recently though, we have found a need for our return, and thus have come out of early retirement.”

The lights turned off, Yellow walked off the stage, and the lights flipped back on, revealing Rose standing before them with a dramatic pose, holding on for just an instant before beginning his speech.

“Recently, we have heard the cries of humans, the animals, the very Earth itself. They are sick and dying, because of illnesses spread throughout it. When we were younger we had no awareness or time to consider these ailments, but now that we have grown older and wiser, we wish to address these issues we have left unanswered. Because we believe it our responsibility to help keep the Earth safe.”

The lights again flashed off as Rose exited the stage, turning back on to reveal Báisè standing formally at the desk.

“Our path toward the future is uncertain, the only thing I can state for certain is this: If we do nothing, our world is doomed to oblivion. We have many plans to address the present issues throughout our world. Whether it be poverty, homelessness, civil rights, global warming, the list goes on, but our solutions for them are just as numerous.”

The spotlight faded for the last time, though Báisè did not take their leave.

The room lights faded in this time, revealing the three Magical Girls standing before the podium together. They helds hands and did a small bow.

Rose, at the center before the mic, said, “Thank you for listening to our mission statement. We will now open the floor to more general questions. These will be done one at a time. When you are called upon, please walk up to the mic that sits before the podium, and speak your question clearly into it. It works much like our suits do and allows others to understand what you are asking, even if you don’t speak the same language.”

Aka was rather surprised at how short the press conference was. She expected these kinds of events to go on forever, not that she was complaining. Just meant more time for them to do actual saving the world stuff. She actually wasn’t entirely sure what that entailed, since Xi’er hadn’t gone over it with her in full detail, but whatever it was, she’d be sure to give 110% towards it.

A reporter called upon by Rose walked up to the microphone.

“Hello, this might be a bit rude, but what assurances do we have that you have our interests in mind? We don’t know if you’re even human, so it’s a bit worrisome to be told you’re going to fix all the issues humanity has spent centuries trying to solve.”

“Don’t worry about the rudeness,” Calice assured them, “it would be right to question people promising to fix something for no reward, even if it comes from figures you respect. We can only ask that you watch our actions and make a judgment for yourself about what we are trying to achieve. For the second half of your question, I assure you that all of us, even the seemingly robotic Báisè, are human, so please do not worry about that.”

The reporter sat down, their turn at questions over as the next one stood up.

“This is a question for Báisè: What methods will you be using to solve the issues you brought up?”

“I will be funding humanitarian projects that assist the lives of people who do not have access to the basic amenities. Alongside that, I will be using my magical inventions, such as the mic you see before you, to better connect our world. There is more in development of course, but the main limiting factor is the means of labor and production for the products.”

And so the cycle of questions and answers continued. A flash of camera lights, chatter among the crowds, these were all things thankfully muffled by Karin’s suit. If she was sitting there with them without her power active, Karin couldn’t even begin to imagine how she’d react. Trying to distract herself she began to scan the crowd again.

From the corner of her eye she spotted something concerning. A man angrily rapping his foot against the floor. She could see the flames of anger burning behind him, as his face twisted in pain.

He was near the back of the crowd, so his chances of coming up were far less likely than the other reporters, but it seemed like just being here was causing him major discomfort.

Then, it happened-- he got up from his seat, and made a beeline for the microphone.

Aka fell from the rafters, dropping to the floor with a silent stance, ready to take care of this as discreetly as she possibly could. However, as her eyes came to view the man running down the center aisle, she caught a glimpse of Rose holding his hand in a stop sign toward Aka for the briefest instant.

She was confused why he’d let the reporter do this, but she had to be a team player, so she let him continue.

As the man got to the podium, he pushed past another reporter who was returning to their seat, and pulled the mic so close to his face that he looked like he might eat it. From his mouth tumbled out words of such vitriol and bile that Aka could hardly believe it. He pointed in anger and accusation at each of her friends. His face grew redder and redder as he screamed his contempt for them to the heavens.

Only, no words could be heard by those that surrounded him. His screams were silenced, and yet he didn’t even notice it. The other reporters looked about in confusion at the scene.

“Allow me to clarify something I didn’t mention at the beginning,” Rose explained, paying no mind to the screaming man in front of him, “that mic is a tool of conversation. Those who do not wish to discuss will have their voices silenced, not amplified.”

The man stepped back at this revelation.

“You who would seek to make a bold statement by crashing our event, we give you no platform, no voice to speak your driveling dissent. This is a place for serious people, not clowns like yourself.”

The man’s veins looked like they might pop out of his head upon this statement by Rose. He ran forward, attempting to climb up the stage to fight, but Aka was quick to apprehend him, holding him up from the ground with one hand like a petulant child.

“You’ll now be escorted from the premises,” Rose said, producing a clone that grabbed the reporter from Aka’s extended arm, and poofed to some other location with him in tow.

“Now that they’ve been removed, who would like to go next?” Rose asked.

Someone was already at the microphone, ready to capitalize on the opportunity.

“Yes, I have a question for Miss Aka, now that she’s appeared.”