(EX1)

Haru's First Day

The alarm was a frustratingly familiar sound, its voluminous bleating the harbinger of every undesirably premature day. To most people, anyway. Hers was a delightfully chiming sequence reminiscent of a music box, and its cheerful tune never failed to wake her with a similarly positive attitude.

The blonde let it play as she stretched out her limbs in all directions with a big yawn before she ever sat up. Once she did, she still had to pull a curtain of blonde hair out of her face.

There wasn't a great deal of light in her room, what with the curtains still closed, but there was enough for her to swing her feet out of bed and reach out for the string.

The curtains had duckies on them, a relic of her childhood, but she thought it too tragic to discard them for that alone. As a result, the bright yellow-on-blue design had stayed on for nearly as long as she'd been alive, despite many offers from her father to change them out.

The music box alarm played on as she pulled the string, and like a doorway to heaven, the light spilled through to illuminate the interior of the bedroom.

It was a magical moment for her, that first light, and she looked forward to it every morning.

Ritual complete, she turned the alarm off, gave another stretch and yawn, and got to her feet. They took her over to the uniform hanging from her closet door, next to an already packed bag.

That was right, today was the first day of high school. She was a freshman now! Well, she'd been a freshman before, of course. Twice, technically, but they didn't use the term for grade schoolers. It was her first time being a freshman in high school, though! She couldn't wait to see her new school and find out if there'd be any new friends to make!

And, of course, seeing all of her existing friends, she reminded herself as she glanced to her phone, sitting on her nightstand next to her clock.

Was it too early to text Nariko? She was up now, right?

Maybe, but it was definitely too early. Besides, she'd be seeing her in an hour or so, anyway. They both had to get ready, after all, and it wouldn't stand for her to make them late on the first day because they were talking.

Or, more accurately, Reina wouldn't stand for it. She suppressed the shiver that ran through her at how scary their leader could be if she let her down like that.

She knew better than any of them how much Reina cared about them all, how she worried and fretted about them. Reina was like a big sister that tried to put way too much on her own shoulders.

Even then, though, knowing that the upperclassman would never think of doing such a thing, answering to Tamashini after doing something she knew was wrong felt like going before the headsman. Like the regal young woman would order Haru strapped into stocks and bolted onto some medieval torture device until she recanted her sinful ways.

It was the stare, she'd long decided. Reina didn't show her feelings on her face very well. It gave her a cool, mature demeanor that people flocked toward, but it also made her emotional spectrum seem ... narrow. She looked like she was sizing you up for the chopper, but she was really just disappointed.

That made it strange, though. Normally, with most people, Haru could ignore facial expressions and run entirely off of how they actually felt. She couldn't do that with their team's leader. It was as if, on some level, Reina actually felt that way, despite the fact that Haru definitively knew that she absolutely did not.

Maybe Reina was simply that intense. She was the first Witch, after all. Maybe not first ever, but the first of their team. And her Darkness directly clashed with Haru's own Light.

It didn't feel like the right answer, but it was close enough, and the blonde wasn't particularly drawn to heavy thoughts. She waved it away by thinking of her other friends as she made her bed and set her uniform out on it.

Ran was quiet, quiet as a mouse. Most people thought she was as timid as one, too, but the strange thing was how far from the truth that really was. Yes, the girl was skittish and reserved, and Haru did her best to respect that, and to listen when something really was bothering her.

But Ran wasn't afraid of people, no matter how it looked. In fact, she could be quite short with them when things moved inside her fields of expertise. That mousy veneer fell away and she became almost bossy.

No, for some strange reason, what Ran was afraid of was hurting people. It had never made sense to the blonde because Ran was the gentlest, softest person she'd ever met. The girl literally wouldn't hurt a fly. Even if she wasn't afraid of causing harm, it just wasn't in her nature to do it.

The girl had raised a barrier between herself and everyone around her, but it wasn't to protect herself from them. It was to protect them from her. Something must have happened to her at some point, some great trauma that twisted her psyche, but nothing had. She'd always been like this.

The only ones to get through that barrier were the other Witches. Riko persistently tried to press through like it was a personal challenge, and Haru, herself, was able to just see what Ran needed. Reina gave the bespectacled girl the much-needed impression of someone she couldn't possibly hurt even if she tried.

And, somehow, Natsumi had blown through it before the rest of them even knew it was there.

Like Reina, part of that was the fact that the fierce and fiery redhead didn't give the impression of someone who could easily be hurt. A bigger part was that she just never gave Ran a choice in the matter. She saw someone who needed protecting, be it from the world or herself, and she was there for it, no matter the cost.

That was Natsumi in a nutshell. All energy and drive, just looking for an outlet to channel it. She was a bear, yeah, but a lot of people didn't realize that she was specifically a mama bear. All of that fire hid a warmth like a crackling hearth. She didn't tolerate the strong abusing the weak or the vulnerable, and she'd fight to put a stop to it till her last breath.

Of course, she was far from perfect. Her raw strength made her arrogant and she couldn't stand not being the strongest. That the most powerful Witch was Reina and not her, even if it wasn't about physical strength, grated on her often.

Similarly, she butted heads with Riko nearly all of the time. Even though Riko wasn't any kind of fighter like Natsumi was, Thunder Witch and Flame Witch were unquestionably the raw damage dealers of the team, which put them on a similar keel regardless.

... And, of course, Riko could never seem to resist rising to the challenge ...

Ah, her Riko ... There was another complicated one. People tended to be put off by her because of her brash, forward nature. It was the American in her, a lot of people said. Well, not Haru. Haru understood it was just the nature of the storm.

Riko was loud and struck with the speed and flash of a bolt of lightning from what everyone else saw as a clear, blue sky. She was on so quickly to the next strike that she was oblivious to the metaphorical devastation she left behind. So disconnected from it was she that, when people got upset, she'd grow indignant in response.

And she was the only one with an ability similar to Haru's own Empathy. Analysis didn't let her see into people's hearts like Haru could, but it fed her all of the little details that usually allowed her to notice things other people missed. One would think that this would allow her to notice the effect she had on other people, but the indignity overrode it.

She cared, she really did, and she wanted to help others, but she just couldn't slow down enough to explain it to other people. She'd give the shirt off of her back to someone in need, but it was a coin flip if she offended them in the process.

Haru sighed as she finished brushing out her hair and tying her twintails off. She really did have her work cut out for her as the heart for the group of misfits, but she wouldn't trade it for the world.

* * *

"Good morning, Mom! Good morning, Dad!"

Haru was an only child, something she envied Riko's crowded home for, but Masao and Hisako, her father and mother, were still downstairs waiting for her to come springing down the steps.

"Good morning, Haru," her father greeted from in front of the stove where the popping sounds of frying were coming from. "Pull up a chair and get your mother to put away the paperwork. The eggs will be ready in just a couple minutes!"

"Okay!" She made her way over and plopped into the seat next to her mother. She laid the side of her head against her mother's upper arm.

Both of her parents could have been models, in her completely unbiased opinion, and her father actually was, mostly for products like cologne and ties. Her mother, however, had decided there was far more money to be had in accounting, and far less stress about appearance. Unfortunately, this meant she had a habit of bringing some of her work home.

Hisako Chiaki looked over from the spreadsheets she was sorting through and comparing to her laptop and down at her daughter, smiling as if waiting for mischief. "Your new uniform looks lovely on you, Haru."

"Thanks, Mom," she replied, then, after a moment ... "Dad says the eggs are almost ready."

The smile grew into a smirk as her mother looked across the kitchen. "Does he, now?"

"He says you need to start putting away your paperwork."

"Well, if your dad says so, it must be true," Hisako replied, then pecked her daughter on the forehead before beginning to shuffle the papers away.

Sure enough, the papers hardly vanished before Masao came over balancing three plates of scrambled eggs with all of the fixings.

It was an unorthodox breakfast. Haru knew that if Nariko was getting an egg for breakfast, her more traditional mother was going to be serving it over rice. Her father, though always insisted that eggs were full of nutrients for healthy skin and a healthy body, and the protein to keep you going until lunch. As a result, the breakfast was a staple of their house with milk, orange juice and a slice of toast for fiber.

She'll say this, she never left for school hungry.

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"So," her father asked as he slid into his own seat, "besides the first day of high school, any special plans for today?"

"Oh!" Haru turned toward him with a wide grin. "Tamashini said she already has the paperwork filed so we'll have our own club room! We'll probably be having our first meeting of the school year right there! I'll bet it'll have a television and a DVD player and lots of seating!"

"Your own club?" her mother asked. "But what would it be about?"

And her grin reached into the gigawatt range as she turned toward her mother to answer.

"Magical girls, of course!"

* * *

As Haru turned onto the right street, she pulled out her phone again. She knew she hadn't sent anything yet, but neither had Riko. Normally, she'd at least have sent a text message that she was ready by this point. Maybe she was running late? First day jitters? A problem with her uniform?

She opened the gate on the privacy fence with the plate that read, "Kelly," and stepped into the yard like she'd done hundreds, no, thousands of times. This time, though, something felt wrong. Something was missing.

Haru convinced herself it was just nerves and made her way to the door. She braced herself, put on her happy face, and rang the doorbell.

Her first sign that something really was wrong was that it was Misaki that answered the door. The woman greeted her with a warm smile, but there was a spark of worry behind it. Haru could tell that the woman, too, realized there was something wrong.

"Haru, good morning!"

But protocol must be followed. She can't just jump the gun and call out the concern, even if they both feel it. Instead, she forced herself to smile and stuck to the script expected of her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kelly. Is Nariko ready?"

The worry spread, and this time, it made it to the woman's face. “She’s already left, Haru. Nearly an hour ago, I think, said she was worried about finding her way. She didn’t text you?”

That was all wrong. None of it made any sense. She let herself frown, too. "Not a peep." There was only one off-chance that might explain the behavior. "Was she mad about something?"

“I don’t really know,” Riko's mother provided, shaking her head. “She would have left without saying a word if Marcus hadn’t spoken up about it. It wasn’t like her.”

A moment of thought passed across Misaki's face, almost a hope for an explanation. “She looked a bit pale, perhaps she’s not feeling well?”

Haru promised to check in on her when she got to school and to get her to the nurse's office if Riko wasn't well, but begged off soon afterwards, herself. She had to get to school, too, after all, especially if Nariko was already there.

But she worried the whole way there over what could have been wrong with her Riko. Leaving so incredibly early, and without a single message, none of it was like her. It made no sense.

She sent several texts on the way to the school, but none of them got a response and she couldn't tell if any of them were even getting read.

* * *

Haru was disappointed when she got to the homeroom assignments and discovered that she wouldn't be sharing a classroom with Riko, either. Fate and entry exam scores had cut the team in half, and did so by splitting their favorite pairings.

Nariko and Ran were with the better scorers in Class 1-A, while Haru and Natsumi were ... honestly probably toward the bottom of Class 1-B. Haru didn't consider herself stupid, exactly, but ... well, how could she be expected to compete with people who literally have brain superpowers?

Granted, that excuse didn't work for every other score between her and Riko, but come on! Her intelligence was just more emotional in nature! That was a thing, right?!

Still, she had no luck finding Riko, and didn't lay eyes on her until the morning assembly.

The assembly was a standard thing, welcoming students to a new school year, and welcoming new students to the school in general. Everyone was bored out of their minds, even the teachers. Oh, they put on stalwart masks, but it wasn't enough to fool her!

She wasn't surprised to see Riko was just as bored as everyone else, though obviously there was no means to talk with her. They weren't even in the same row, let alone the same column. Still, it was a relief to see the girl after the absence all morning.

She was worried Riko was sick or angry, but she seemed normal. Everything about her boredom was exactly as it should be for Riko. She was even barely listening at all. In fact, Nariko was far more interested in ... her feet? Yes, something about her feet was making Riko happy, if only a little bit.

Haru wouldn't see her again until P.E., but because they were in different classes, it was again a distance viewing. Riko's class was playing basketball, while hers was doing track.

Dumbest sport in the world, running around in circles ... She'd like to Shining Lance whoever thought it'd be worth putting in the curriculum. She couldn't wait for the rotation to switch ... or for it to be over so she could get a shower.

Riko seemed to be having fun on the court, but there was something off with her behavior again.

Normally, in a competitive sport, she'd be hogging the spotlight. Oh, her team would win, but Analysis - and the body of a Witch - meant that she could do all of the plays by herself. No matter how her fellow students tried to stop her, she would always find that one open path.

It was as infuriating for her peers as it was ego-inflating for her.

But no, that wasn't what Riko did now. She ... was a team player. A bit of a commander, maybe, but she had no fear of letting go of the ball, of letting someone else make the shot. She cared more about who was in the optimum position than she did about getting there, herself.

Haru had to admit that it was a positive change in behavior, but something about it still struck her as wrong. Riko had never talked about taking on a more team-oriented approach to the class. If anything, she fully intended, and was looking forward, to continuing just the way she'd been.

Maybe a teacher had said something to her? Haru was looking forward to asking her about it at lunch. There, at least, they would finally have time to sit down together and she could get a proper read on her friend.

Except Riko didn't show.

As a precaution and with a bad feeling in her stomach, Haru had even gone to 1-A to get the girl, but Ran, who had a lovely bento box as always, informed her that Riko had already left.

Weirder, she hadn't seemed to have brought a lunch from home. Misaki always made sure her children had a lunch packed.

Haru spent the lunch break nibbling on her own food while searching everywhere she thought Riko might have gone. In the process, she managed to find both Reina and Natsumi, but both denied having seen anything of Riko all day, let alone for lunch.

But the high school was a big place, and this was the first time they got to explore it. It was entirely possible Riko had been looking for her, and they'd missed each other the whole time.

Being assigned homework on the first day was salt on the wound, but not one of the growing line of teachers to hand it out had any sympathy for the class's cries for mercy.

By the time Haru pulled herself into the new club room, she felt exhausted by it all, and slumped into the nearest open chair.

Ran and Reina were already there, while Natsumi came in with Haru. When the blonde flopped into a seat, though, the redhead turned toward her in concern.

"Hey, you okay, Chiaki?" Homura asked, sitting down across from her. "You hardly said anything all the way here, and now you're all wilty."

"I haven't heard anything from Riko all day ..." she complained, laying her cheek atop the white plastic of the table. "She's not returning my messages, I haven't been able to figure out where she goes, if I didn't see her with my own eyes at the assembly and in P.E., I'd be calling the police."

"Well, hopefully, you'd call me before you'd call the police," a white cat sitting in the middle of the table said. It had two tails and a pair of feathered wings, but sat just like a normal cat. It gave a lick of its paw. "Of course, normally, that wouldn't be the right thing to do for a disappearance, but with you girls, some extra steps should be expected."

Natsumi frowned at that. "Where does your phone even go when you're in that form?"

The cat seemed to smile and gave a wink at the question. "Trade secret."

Haru turned her attention to Ran. "She didn't come with you?"

The bespectacled girl jerked a bit at being addressed, having already been focusing on her homework instead of the conversation, but adjusted her glasses and then shook her head.

"No, sorry, Haru. We left the classroom at the same time, but she broke off to use the bathroom."

"Well, there you have it, Miss Chiaki," the cat advised her. "She just went to the bathroom. I'm sure she'll be along shortly. Why don't you go ahead and get a head start on your homework in the meantime?"

The girl groaned. "Miss Sada, you're the only one who didn't give us any! There's so much of it!"

The white cat chuckled. "I'm sure I could come up with a couple-paragraph essay or something if you're feeling left out."

"Ah, no! I'm good! I'm getting started right away!"

* * *

With everyone's help, the homework wasn't nearly as intimidating as Haru had expected, but she'd been slowed down by the constant worry over the fact that Riko still hadn't shown up. The others assured her that maybe the brunette really wasn't feeling well and probably went on home.

Natsumi suggested Riko had forgotten the whole thing, and boy was she going to feel stupid when they reminded her of it tomorrow.

But when her phone rang, that worry turned into an icy ball in the pit of her stomach. After all, the caller was Nariko's house, or, as her phone displayed it, Kelly Home. Riko would only have called from her own phone normally, which meant this was probably her parents. And if they were calling her, then ...

"Mrs. Kelly?" she guessed when she picked up.

"Haru, thank goodness. Is Riko with you?"

Her Empathy didn't work over a phone connection, but she didn't need it to read the panic coming off of Riko's mother. She looked around the room at the rest, who clearly picked up on the blonde's tension.

"... No, we thought she went on home."

"Did she just leave?"

"No, we assumed she went right home after school. We were going to meet up, but she never showed."

"We?"

"Yeah, I'm here with Wakumi, Homura and Tamashini. We got a new club room, and we were all supposed to get together to break it in."

"Homura is there with you?" Misaki asked. "Oh, I was going to call her to ask about the fountain shop."

When Haru relayed that to the redhead, Natsumi answered back, "Call my dad. I can't imagine Kelly would go hang out there on her own, but he won't mind telling you if he's seen her."

Haru relayed that, too, and Misaki continued. "Oh, thank you, I'll do that. If that doesn't work, I don't know, I guess I'll try her phone again ..."

"Do that," Haru agreed. "We'll keep our ears open and let you know the moment we hear anything."

A few more pleasantries and reassurances were exchanged before Haru hung up, and then the room hung in a cold silence.

"So Miss Kelly didn't go home, either," Miss Sada was the first to break the quiet. "And after behaving strangely all day."

Haru stood up sharply and slammed her book shut. "I'm going looking for her! The demons could be up to something!"

The cat nodded. "Stay in contact. If you find anything, call me."

* * *

The next hour was spent scouring every variation of every path Haru could think of that Riko might have taken home. Her eyes were peeled for any sign of her best friend, but she was about to give up. Her feet were getting sore and there were some routes she'd been over several times.

And then the air pressure changed as the road went silent.

"A seal?" She looked around quickly, but the area around her was still and empty. Had she just walked into one? Could that mean that the reason she couldn't find Riko was ...

Her ears alerted her to shouts and crashing noises that sounded like fighting, and she sprinted after it. It was only a block before she caught sight of a large, black figure swinging about in an intersection.

"Da-kun!" She went to reach for her phone almost automatically to do as Sarasa had instructed, but scolded herself. She was inside a seal now, there wouldn't be any signal. She'd been sending regular updates via text, but the only way she was getting backup was if they noticed that had stopped.

"That means it's up to me, then." She set her jaw in determination. After all, there was only one person he could be attacking, even if she was still out of view.

Light flickered at the end of her fingertips. "Hold on, Riko ... I'm coming for you!"

And she threw a glimmering card up into the air.

"TRANSFORM!"