Magical Girl Pretty Advent

Class 1-A was crowded with people, talking to each other before the bell rang. It was mostly students greeting each other, but some were noticeably complaining about the new school year.

Meanwhile, Haruka was chatting with Ikunosuke about his meeting with the maid from the luxurious car.

"Eh!? She didn't accept your advance!?" Haruka wondered.

"Well, she seemed rather uncomfortable when I asked her if she wants to hang out…" Ikunosuke muttered in defeat.

"I-it's alright! There is always another chance!" said Haruka trying to convince the violet haired boy to not give up.

"I thought you said it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance." replied Ikunosuke in a lazy tone.

"I said "just think of it", doesn't mean you have to treat it as such."

"I'm sorry!"

The chat was interrupted when Reika suddenly opened the classroom's door. Well actually, it's more like she slammed the door rather than opening it normally as it let out a loud 'bam' sound. The black haired girl panted like she had just run a marathon.

"Reika-san, need some water?" Haruka offered as she took a bottle of water out of her bag.

"Thanks, I could really have one." said Reika as she quickly took the bottle and gulped down the water. As the black haired girl was drinking, Haruka noticed that her body was covered in sweat. Reika previously said that she needed to go to the restroom, but she found it unnatural that merely going to the toilet could cause her to sweat that much.

To add more to her suspicion, her left wrist has a nearly unnoticeable wound.

"Are you okay, Reika-san?" Haruka asked, filled with concern. But when she asked that, Reika quickly stopped drinking and hid her wounded wrist.

"Ah no, I'm all fine. Nothing to be concerned about." answered Reika in a rush, although it didn't seem like she managed to convince the red haired girl.

"But you seem like you sweated a lot, Tamauji-san. Are you sure you're not sick?" This time, it was Ikunosuke who asked.

"I'm fine." Reika answered again, nervously.

"Oh well, if you don't feel alright just head for the nurse office, alright?" said Haruka this time with a gentler tone than before, almost like a mother to her daughter, "The last thing we need is someone collapsing in the middle of the headmaster's speech."

"I know. Thanks for your concern." Reika replied as she gave the bottle of water back to Haruka. "Also, thanks for the drink."

"Don't mention it."

And with that, Reika headed toward her seat, which was three seats behind Haruka who sat on the foremost seat. While Reika was busy placing her bag on her seat, Haruka couldn't help but wonder if something had just happened to the clumsy, black haired girl.

"I hope she will be alright." muttered Haruka.

Soon after, the school bell rang, signaling the students to head towards the gymnasium for the welcoming ceremony.

"Oh god, headmaster speech." Ikunosuke already sighed in defeat.

"Well, it can't be helped." said Haruka trying to get the violet haired boy to be a bit more energetic, "It's not like we can have it everyday after all. Might as well enjoy it."

"Easier said than done…" responded Ikunosuke lazily.

"Come on! You can't afford to slack! The early bird catches the worm!" yelled Haruka, almost gave in to her d.e.s.i.r.e to just drag the slender boy to the gymnasium.

"But the birds got killed by stone!" Ikunosuke yelled back, still feeling rather lazy.

Haruka sighed. If Ikunosuke was insistent about it, then she had to bring out her trump card.

"Reika-san." This time, Haruka turned her face to Reika, "Would your sister like a lazy person?"

The question was so out of the blue that Reika was taken aback by it.

"I-I don't think so." answered Reika innocently, "Who would like a lazy person anyway?"

"Never mind, I'm all fine!"

As Haruka expected, Ikunosuke suddenly stood up from his seat after he heard Reika's answer. His face looked much brighter than before, as if the laziness from before had just been swept away.

"Come on Haruka-san, we got a worm to catch!" The violet haired boy ran out of class, leaving the tomboyish girl and the black haired girl behind.

"Worm?" Reika wondered. "What is this about a worm?"

Then, as if realization had just hit her, Reika suddenly showed a surprised face.

"Wait a second, is this about my sister!?"

Haruka calmly shrugged before she walked away, heading for the gymnasium.

---

"AND THAT'S WHY, EVERY YEAR, WE MUST AIM FOR SOMETHING EVEN GREATER!"

The headmaster's speech was far from boring. If any, the headmaster actually managed to keep everyone in the room to stay awake with his booming voice.

Most notably, there was Haruka and Ikunosuke, who had their eyes wide open.

"He sure has his way with words." Haruka muttered.

"Are you sure he is even our headmaster? With that kind of body, he could circle the town twice and not feel tired at all." Ikunosuke muttered back toward Haruka.

And true to Ikunosuke's brief description, the headmaster was a fit-looking, muscular person despite his age. His hair and beard were white like a typical old person, except it was cut in a spiky style. All in all, he gave out this vibe of someone who was physically strong and capable of beating anyone if he felt like it.

"Well, he did manage to circle the town twice and not feel tired at all." Haruka whispered back before she looked at the seat on her right, which was empty.

"By the way, what's taking her so long?" Haruka wondered as she gazed towards what was supposed to be Reika's seat.

"Maybe she went to the nurse's office after all." said Ikunosuke.

"I'm not sure…" Haruka muttered. Somehow she was worried about the black haired girl and she couldn't simply shrug it away.

Somehow, there was this feeling that something bad had happened to Reika.

"Kominato-kun, I'm going to check for her." Haruka turned toward her friend before she stood up and began to head outside.

"Okay. Be careful." Ikunosuke nodded in understanding before Haruka finally left him.

After several steps and a lie about feeling not too well, Haruka finally managed to get out of the gymnasium.

What Haruka saw outside was not the hallway from which she came from, but a dark room with dim and eerie purple lighting. Haruka quickly realized that it felt like the same place she was in when she was on the railway near the school.

Suddenly, something hit the tomboyish girl's right leg. It felt quite soft, but Haruka noticed it regardless.

"Watch where you're standing, skank!" shouted the strange creature which hit her leg. When Haruka looked at it, she was completely surprised at the form of that creature.

The creature was a humanoid, size no larger than a child, but it was really ugly with wrinkles all over its face. The humanoid creature was almost completely n.a.k.e.d, with only a fundoshi to cover its crotch.

"You're the one who should watch your mouth, Gaki!" From behind her, Haruka heard a shouting voice that sounded just exactly like herself, "Don't you have any shame swearing to a girl and all?"

"Tch." And with that, the small creature – Gaki, as it is apparently called – simply left Haruka alone. Haruka sighed in relief and began to turn around.

"Thank you for the-"

When Haruka turned back, what she saw was herself… except this lookalike wore a white kimono slightly lowered to reveal her shoulders. This 'Haruka' also has fox ears and nine tails, each of them boasting beautiful white tips.

"Uh, you are…?"

"Ah, my apologies." 'Haruka' said while bowing slightly, "My name is Inari Okami. You may think of me as… the true you, Haruka Kudo."

"The true me?" Haruka tilted her head in confusion, "Also, how do you even know my name?"

"I have observed you from this world, Haruka." Inari explained as she revealed a crystal ball from one of the sleeves of her kimono. "Normally as a Demon, I shouldn't even be aware of your existence, but Crystal Ball of Kuzunoha allows me to pierce through the boundary of this world and your world, and in turn it lets me observe all of your actions."

Those words somehow caused Haruka to blush in shame.

"D-does that include every time I took a bath or when I change my diaper during that time of the month!?" Asked Haruka in panic while trying to cover herself.

"Details aside, I believe you have a lot of questions in your mind." Inari replied calmly, much to Haruka's discomfort.

"Don't just change the subject right away!" Haruka protested although she calmed down a little after that. "It's true, though. This place is strange, and I'd like to be enlightened about it."

"Well, why don't we talk while searching for Tamauji-san?" Offered Inari.

"'Searching'? Are you saying that she wasn't in the restroom?" Asked Haruka.

"She sounds like she had quite a bladder issue." joked the fox girl before she lifted her crystal ball, "But I can assure that she is not in the ladies' restroom right now. In fact, she is in this world as we speak."

"I knew it…" Haruka's face tensed as she began to feel rather uneasy, "Let's find her! If she is in this world, then she might be in grave danger!"

"I could say the same about you." Inari deadpanned, "but yeah, let's find her."

---

"So basically, you're a Demon that born from those who d.e.s.i.r.ed to protect other people dear to them?"

Haruka, after listening to Inari's explanation, tried to conclude the information she had just received. To her first deduction, Inari simply nodded.

Throughout the talk, they walked along the hallway, with Inari holding her crystal ball on her left hand while her right hand carried a lantern with blue fires which only god knows where she had gotten it from.

"Indeed. Unlike most Demons though, mine is a special case." Inari added to Haruka's words. "As the identity 'Inari Okami' is also worshipped as a god, I also become venerated into a Deity."

"A Deity?" asked Haruka.

"Indeed I am." Inari stopped in her track, which prompted Haruka to stop as well, "To be fair, Deities aren't that much different from Demons. The only notable difference is that unlike Demons, we don't have to feed on people's negative emotions. Also, unlike Demons, we Deities are stuck with the roles that our worshippers gave to us."

"So you are a prisoner to your own power." Haruka concluded.

"Well, I won't say 'prisoner' since I enjoyed my job quite a lot. I get to see the world that I wouldn't be able to as a Demon, and I get to run this place while protecting the weaker Demons." Inari closed her eyes as she smiled gently.

"So, uh… why are we stopping again?" Haruka wondered as she looked around her.

"Because we don't need to move further." Answered Inari while looking at the roof.

"What do you mean?" Asked Haruka again.

"You'll find out in- Uh, I think you need to step back a little."

With the warning from the fox girl, Haruka quickly stepped back. True enough, soon after, something broke through the roof as if it was falling from the sky.

"And there she is." Inari glanced at the body of the falling thing.

It was a girl with long black hair. Her outfit was rather weird, a frilly black gothic dress which only covered the girl's c.h.e.s.t down to her knees. Strangely enough, she wore a necklace with three red magatama on it, and her right arm wore a metallic claw, shaped like that of a crow's claw, connected to a black gauntlet. A pair of black wings also stretched on her back, and above her head floated a golden halo which symbolised the sun rather than just a simple circle.

"Good thing she wore her Pretty Advent. Otherwise, that landing could've been fatal." Inari uttered.

When the falling girl woke up, Haruka could see the face of the girl in gothic dress clearly. At exactly the same time Haruka realized who the girl was, she also turned her head toward the redhead.

"Haruka-san!?"

"Reika-san!?"

Their surprised faces were an amus.e.m.e.nt for Inari.