Waiting is not fun, even for magical girls

In the end Raiko grew too impatient and ended up dragging Hanako to the town hall one hour prior to her meeting. The building itself was made of stone, which was uncommon for the village. The mayor would receive her at any time, but she didn’t want to become a nuisance.

After all, if her visitors were there, there would be a stagecoach parked there, which there was not. She was so nervous she was feeling a knot on her stomach, she had never seen a purifier before and didn’t know what to say. Hanako, getting tired of this, placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, calm down.”

“But I’m nervous.”

“Can tell, but you’re not alone at this, are you?”

“But I never talked to a purifier before.”

“Oh come on, you will be a purifier yourself in a couple weeks, just do as you would with any stranger.”

“Are you sure?”

Hanako was contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to give Raiko a beer before this, maybe it was too much for her after all. She just shrugged the doubts away and decided to deal with it in a more practical way.

“Raiko, close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

As Raiko closed her eyes she felt her cousin’s hands setting her straight and extending her right arm, despite knowing she was left-handed. She then took a few steps back before giving any further instructions.

“Now, touch your nose with your right index finger.”

Whatever this was, it made no sense for Raiko, but she did anyway. Even with her eyes closed, she had no trouble fulfilling the task. Raiko opened her eyes with a silly face and intended to ask for an explanation, but Hanako was always a step ahead of her.

“Well, looks like you’re not drunk after all, you’re good to go.”

“Why would my sister be drunk today?”

A soft voice caught them unprepared and both girls screamed in terror. It’s not just that they were caught, but they were caught by the one they feared disappointing the most. Aoi, still with her school backpack on her, had a surprised look on her face, because she didn’t understand why they got scared of her.

“I will buy you sweets so please don’t tell grandma!” Hanako kneeled in front of her cousin.

“I want three stuffed dumplings.” She didn’t know what was going on, but might as well take advantage of it.

“Can’t it be two?”

“Okay.” She said with a smile.

“What are you doing here, Aoi?” Raiko decided to intervene.

“You have an important meeting today; I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh, that? I’m fine... hehehe… you don’t need to worry.”

Raiko tried to sound casual with her little sister, she was nervous, but she didn’t want to cause her trouble. As the elder sister she was supposed to be a role model for her, even though she wasn’t doing a very good job at that.

“You will be a purifier, so I will take mom’s seat in your place.” Aoi clenched her fist with conviction.

“You want to be a doctor?”

“I want to be useful, and someone has to take her place anyway, so I’m taking extra classes to get ready.”

“Did you tell her yet?”

“I’m not Hayato, I won’t steal your spotlight just yet.” She said with a thumbs up “Once you become a purifier, I will tell her.”

It was never too late to become a good sister, though. It was fortunate that she was chosen to become a purifier because she knew she was not the brightest, but seeing her sister so motivated helped her to get motivated herself.

“Heh” Raiko’s hand wandered all over her sister’s hair. “If that’s what you want then I’ll help you out, I’ll keep the place safe, so you can keep people healthy.”

“Is it a promise?”

“Yes, it is, let’s both work hard to do our part.”

Like a third wheel, Hanako was watching them in discomfort.

“Huh… why did you have to bring that up just now, Aoi?”

“You still don’t know what to do with your life?”

“Even though I’m 22 I still haven’t done much, I have fun working at miss Erina’s store, but I should be settling down and…” Suddenly, Hanako became depressed.

“Come on now.” Raiko patted her on the back. “You’re always there for us when we need it, I know you will find your own way sooner or later.”

The roles in the conversation switched real quick.