Chapter 4: Self-Introduction

Self-Introduction

I was so excited that the original story was about to begin that I rushed out of the house, but on the way there I kept my mind calm and took my time, not rushing.

"Did you notice, Sumire? That this is a summons from the Tower."

"Yeah."

I gave a suitable reply. The reason I was moving around with ease wasn't because I realized this was an emergency summons from the tower, but because it seemed like I could earn more Mysterious Heroine points if I arrived last.

Imagine what would happen if seven magical girls gathered together and a mysterious person arrived late.

Naturally, the first impression would not be good. At worst, it could lead to combat.

But that's fine. Even though I haven't done anything wrong, my goal is to be arbitrarily labeled an enemy.

"But it's still better to hurry. Why don't you try going a little faster?"

"That's right."　

Roy was being noisy so I picked up the pace a little.

•

•

We arrived at the Sousei Dome Tower.

I entered through the hole at the top and descended towards the bottom, where I saw seven magical girls in the distance, wary of my approach and ready to fight.　

Oh, they're all here, they're all here.

Just as I thought, I've been mistaken for a demon. If I continue on like this, I might be attacked, but I continue descending regardless.

Then, just as expected, the other side began to move. One of the seven magical girls attempted a killing strike towards me.

The red-haired magical girl - Akabane Kaoru.

I deployed my magical tool in her direction. Akabane Kaoru, unaware of the presence of the wires, plunged into a space filled with countless wires. She fell to the ground with cuts all over her body.　

"Kaoru-chan!"

The pink-haired girl - Kisaragi Koharu - shouted.

Don't worry, I took care to make sure the wound was shallow.

Kisaragi Koharu's unique magic should be able to cure it without any difficulty.　

I quietly landed at the ground.

The magical girls were shocked to discover that I was human. It seemed like the stalemate would continue if things continued like this. To break the silence, I spoke to them.

"That's quite a barbaric greeting."　

I finally said that!!

Hey, come on! That was an incredibly mysterious heroine! It was the perfect opening line for a heroine who gives a terrible first impression but later on all the misunderstandings are cleared up!　

This is a very auspicious start.

The plan seems to be going smoothly from now on.

Koharu stared at me with a dazed look on her face for a while, but then my words seemed to take her by surprise as she ran over to Kaoru and activated her unique magic.

Her ability is "Recovery Magic," which reflects her mentality, which is made up of 100% kindness.

"Are you... a magical girl?"

The woman in green asked, and I nodded as curtly as I could.

The woman in green was an adult woman with curly hair in a ponytail and glasses. Her height was close to 170 cm, and her tattered long coat suited her perfectly. She had the look of a lone rider.

"Sorry, I thought you were a demon."　

Kaoru, who was receiving treatment from Koharu, sincerely apologized.

The theory in these situations is that the injured person will continue to attack the person who tried to defend themselves, creating an explosive atmosphere, but this refreshingly handsome girl was the type who could easily admit her mistakes.

"But wouldn't it be weird if she was a magical girl?"

"There are only seven magical girls... after all."

"Hey, aren't there eight of us?"

Blonde, Purple, and Orange each speak.

It seems they noticed something was wrong early on.

"That's true." The woman in green took a cigarette and lit it. "This contradicts what I heard from my 'agent.' Rod, are there eight magical girls?"

"Only seven magical girls can exist at a time. There are no exceptions."

"That means someone is pretending to be a magical girl."

"Pretending, who, and why?"

Kaoru asked.

"How could I possibly know? What do you think?"

"If you've made it here, you're no ordinary human, right? It would be different if you had a helicopter or something. So... you're a demon?"

"Demons don't have human forms. Everyone here is human, right?"

"I'm at a loss."

Kaoru actually raised her hand, giving up in thinking

"But the same signal came from the tower as when the demons invaded. Something bad is definitely going to happen."

"Even if she's not a demon, it's possible that she's one of their allies."

That comment increased the tension in the room.

A tense atmosphere develops.

"Can you prove you're not a minion of the demon?"

The blonde pointed at me.

Calling me with "You" was a tactless way of speaking. The blonde was wearing an expensive-looking, but tasteless, fur coat over her magical girl outfit. Considering the way the coat was wrapped around her small, youthful body with no consideration for how it would clash with the outfit underneath, it was more like it was using her than she was wearing it.

"Me? Why should I have to prove it, and not you or anyone else?"

"Because you were the last one to arrive!"

"Calm down," Kaoru soothed the blonde. "The order doesn't really matter."

"Huh?! Then can you prove it? That you're not one of the demon's minions!"

"Hmm, I don't know if this counts as proof, but I'm childhood friends with Koharu here, and we can vouch for each other's identities. Right, Koharu?"

"Y-yes... Kaoru-chan and I are working together to fight the demons..."

"And you?"

"Me?"

The blonde turned her attention to the woman in green.

"You don't look like a young girl at all! You're even smoking. How old are you?"

"I'm 23 years old. I'm still a proper magical girl... It's hard to say that myself. But magical girls are human too, so after 12 years, they'll eventually become adults, right?"

"You are 23, you're an old lady! You're suspicious!"

"Huh?! I'm not old enough to be called an old lady yet! Call me Onee-san! Besides, you've been biting anyone and everyone since then, so you're the one who seems far more suspicious!"

"Huh!?"

The blonde and the green woman are arguing.

As the two of them screamed and yelled, Koharu timidly raised her hand 

"Ummm... I think it would be best to introduce ourselves first..."

"That's right. Rather than fighting over pointless arguments, wouldn't it be better to first reveal our identities to each other? ...I think it would also be useful as a reference for various things."

Kaoru added.

"Yes. That's what I wanted too."　

The green woman sat down in a chair, followed by the blonde and orange. The white-haired woman had been sitting there from the start, and it was doubtful she even understood the situation.

Koharu, Kaoru and I chose to stand.

"Let's start with the one who brought it up. My name is Akabane Kaoru and I'm a second-year student at Enza Junior High School."

"Oh, my name is Kisaragi Koharu. I'm also a second-year student at Enza Junior High School."

"Koharu and I have been friends since elementary school, and we signed contracts with the 'Agent' around the same time."

"I've been fighting demons alongside Kaoru-chan for a month now."

"A month ago? That's pretty recent! That's suspicious."

"If you say we're not magical girls because we only recently made a contract, then there must be nine people here."

Kaoru retorted.

Perhaps anticipating an argument, the woman in green immediately spoke up.

"So, it's my turn next. I'm Mitaka Raika. As you can see, I'm your senior."

"Senior?... Can you continue being a magical girl even after becoming an adult?"

Kaoru whispered to her 'agent'.

"No problem."

"That's right. Well, I have a lot of experience, so I know more than you guys. But even if you're in trouble, don't rely on me. Hey, you're next, little one."

"Who's the little one?"　

The blonde yelled, then glared at everyone present.

"Alice is Alice! 11 years old! I've been a magical girl for a year! Don't underestimate me just because I'm a child! I live in a high-end residential area that you guys will never get to have anything to do with!"　

She sneers condescendingly at everyone in the room and spreads her arms out as if showing off her fur coat.

Leorio, it seems money can't buy character.

After Alice finished her self-introduction, everyone was just waiting to see who would come next, and no one made the effort to introduce themselves. For some reason, everyone's attention was focused on the orange girl.

"Oh, is it my turn? My name is Asahina Shio. I attend Horai Junior High School."

Horai Junior High School is known as one of the most prestigious schools for rich girls. Alice's eyebrows twitched.

"I'm 15 years old. I've always been prone to illness and spent most of my time in the hospital, so I'm excited to be a magical girl who can move my body freely and even fly! There's no way I'm the demon's minion!"

"The most suspicious thing would be if you said it yourself."

"Really? So I'm the demon's minion!"

"Did you hear that?! This guy is the demon's minion! Everyone, attack her!"

"Are you stupid? The way things are going, this isn't going to be a confession."

Raika said in an exasperated voice.

"Asahina too, please don't say things that could lead to misunderstandings."

"I'm sorry!"　

Shio bowed her head.

The only ones left were me, Purple, and White Hair.

Both White and I were acting mysterious, so Purple, sensing the mood, volunteered to introduce herself.

"Following the flow, I guess I'm next. I'm Yuzuriha Yuzuki. I'm a second-year student at Enza High School."

She speaks in a unique, drawn-out tone. She's a seductive, boyish girl. She wears her purple hair in a side ponytail. She has a beauty mark beneath her gentle, droopy eyes. Her breasts are the biggest out of the group.

Alice immediately bit back.

"Hey! You said 'me'! That's suspicious!"

"What on earth is this girl not suspicious at all...?"

Kaoru muttered with a forced smile.

Yuzuki, who had been accused of such a ridiculous logic, just smiled without seeming particularly bothered.

"Ahaha."

Now then. After Yuzuki finished her self-introduction, I noticed that everyone's eyes were on me. Only me and White were left, but White had been giving off an aura that made it seem like she couldn't understand what they were saying, so naturally it was my turn.

"Tachibana Sumire."

I said just that and fell silent.

And sure enough, Alice started screaming.　

"You have nothing else to say?! That's basically saying you're black!"

"…………"

When I ignored her, Alice got even more heated up.

Shio steps in and says, "Calm down."

"I guess it's fine now that you've introduced yourself. Look, next, you white hair."

Raika directs the flows at the white hair.

However, the white-haired girl just stared blankly and unfocused at the sky, and didn't respond.

"You, you!"

"Hey, can you hear me?"　

Shio raised and lowered her palm in front of the white-haired girl's eyes. It seemed like a futile effort, but gradually the girl's unsteady eyes came into focus, and she began to observe the people around her, as if she had regained her senses.

"What's your name?"

"Me……?"

"That's right."

"Who am I? I don't know."

"Huh?"

Raika looked confused.　

"That makes you Alice's prey."

"What prey?"

Alice slammed the round table.

"If you can't introduce yourself in this situation, that makes you a minion of the demon. Is that okay?! You're just putting on a poor performance to hide something inconvenient for you!"

"Is that so? I'm a prey..."

But this time, Alice was right.

The white hair's behavior was quite suspicious to the casual observer. Even Raika, who had been sarcastic towards Alice, seemed to be growing more wary of the white hair.

Now that the white hair had attracted everyone's suspicions and was on the verge of being executed, a cube popped out from beside her. It was her 'Agent'.

"Wait a moment. Let me explain."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the 'Agent' who made a contract with this child. My name is Logos.

It's no wonder everyone is suspicious of this child. But the truth is, she doesn't know her own name. Her name is Tengai Nemuri."

"Nemuri...? Who...?"

"Exactly. She doesn't recognize herself."

"Why doesn't she even know her own name?"

"When we made the contract, this child wished to 'forget everything.' I don't know her motives. But her memory loss is due to the contract, and her inability to reveal her identity is in no way due to any guilt. I hope you understand."

"This is complicated..."　

Raika said with a difficult look on her face.

Well, she's designed to be a misleading character for the other characters, so it's no wonder people are confused when they first see her.

My biggest challenge is to appear as mysterious as possible so as not to lose out to Nemuri in terms of suspiciousness.　

This concludes everyone's self-introductions.　

"Did this reveal anything?"

"Well, I can't say anything for sure based on just this."

"No, Alice knows now. The black-haired and white-haired ones are suspicious! If we defeat them, everything will be solved!"

Wow, I'm glad that even with that incredibly suspicious Tengai Nemuri, they've included me as a possible suspect. All my hard work creating an aura of mystery was worth it.

I pretended to be on guard and floated into the air without saying a word. I was now in a position to look down on everyone from above.

Alice immediately deployed a magical tool to restrain me.

"Don't move!"

Alice's magical tool was a gun.

"Hey, it's too early to assume she's guilty."

"Because she's acting like she's going to run away. If you have nothing to be ashamed of, why not prove it here?"

"Well, that's devil's proof."

"What?! You're deliberately using difficult words to make fun of Alice!"

"If you fire it, it'll be war. Not just between you and Sumire. If this stalemate is broken, it'll be the start of a bloody killing spree where discussion is pointless. Are you going to pull the trigger?"

"Shut up! You think I can't fire!?"

"Haaaah"

Raika sighed.

Activated unique magic.

The room was covered in thick smoke, making it impossible to see anyone.

Luckily, I was floating in the air, so I was the only one who wasn't consumed by the smoke.

From within the smoke, I could hear the choked voices of the magical girls. It must have been extremely painful being in the smoke. I was glad I was floating in the air.

Just as I was feeling relieved, a bullet came flying with the sound of a dry gunshot.　

"Whoa!"　

I let out a small shriek. It seemed she couldn't see me through the smoke, and the bullets flew off in a completely different direction, but it still gave me chills.

A second and then a third gunshot rang out.

If I stay here, I'll probably get shot eventually.

I quickly fly up and escaped from the Sousei Dome Tower.

I returned to my room and undo my transformation.

When I undid the transformation, a wave of fatigue hit me.

"Uhaa! Being everyone's enemy really puts your life on the line."

"That is the path you have chosen. If you value your life, you should bow to them now and tell them you have no ill will towards them."

"No way. The plan is finally starting to move."

"Even so, this is troublesome. The eighth magical girl... her true identity is unknown, but it's highly likely that she's our enemy. If only we could at least find out who the eighth is..."

"Ah, about that..."

"Did you find out anything?"

"I already knew who the eighth was."

"Eh?"

"Magical Girls Killing Each Others" main characters list:

Black - Tachibana Sumire (MC who want to cloud everyone)

Pink - Kisaragi Koharu (The original anime MC, 100% all support stats, no offense)

Red - Akabane Kaoru (Koharu's childhood friend)

Green - Mitaka Raika (25 years old biker Onee-san who smoke)

Blonde - Alice (the pretend rich loli girl)

Orange - Asahina Shio (a real rich girl)

Purple - Yuzuriha Yuzuki (tomboy)

White - Tengai Nemuri (amnesiac girl)