Side: Maki
The art of magic was a long, time-honored tradition. And since it couldn’t be used by just anyone, it was often handed down the generations from master to student. That held true for both Rainbow Heart and Darkness Rainbow. In fact, Maki had learned magic from her master, Maya.
“Make us your students, ho!”
“Please teach us magic, ho!”
“...Are you serious about this?”
But surprisingly enough, the two prospective students before Maki were haniwas. They were lined up next to each other with their tiny heads bowed all the way down to the tatami mat. Of course, being haniwas, they looked more like they’d faceplanted than anything.
“We’re very serious, ho!”
“There is something that we absolutely must do, ho!”
Maki thought they were joking at first, but it seemed they were quite serious indeed. They were desperately pleading with her and practically throwing themselves at her feet.
“Something you must do? What’s that?”
“We have to beat those things, ho!”
“We need to show them our true power, ho!”
“What things?”
“Those blue things Ruth-chan uses, ho!”
“We have to become stronger than the unmanned fighters, ho!”
“Oh.”
Maki now finally understood what was going on. The haniwas saw the unmanned fighters that Ruth used during emergencies as rivals, and they wanted to surpass them.
“We tried all kinds of things to get stronger, ho!”
“Like becoming friends with Ruth-chan, ho! And learning martial arts, ho!”
“And then we came up with the ultimate plan, ho!”
“We’re going to become magical girls, ho!”
“Those things can’t use magic, ho!”
“I see...”
Maki was a bit taken aback at first, but the haniwas did have a point. The unmanned fighters were pure technology, so the haniwas learning how to use magic would give them a distinct advantage.
“Maki-chan, please, ho!”
“Make us your students, ho!”
“I don’t mind taking you on as students, but...”
“Really, ho?! Thank you, ho!”
“We’ll call you master from now on, ho!”
“But I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to use magic.”
“What, ho?!”
“What do you mean, ho?!”
The haniwas were shocked to hear those words from Maki’s mouth. She felt a little pressured as they leaned in closer with their expressionless faces, and explained the situation as best she could.
“Not just anyone can use magic. It requires a certain latent talent, and without that, you’ll never be able to use magic no matter how much someone teaches you.”
Maki was worried about the haniwas not being human. Most humans didn’t have the potential to use magic, so the chances of the nonhuman haniwas having it were even lower.
“We’ll only be able to beat those things by making the impossible possible, ho!”
“We’re real men, ho! And we’ll fight like men to become magical girls, ho!”
“Well, as long as you’re resolved...”
As long as they knew going into this that there was a possibility they wouldn’t be able to use magic at all, things would probably be fine. And so Maki decided to try teaching the haniwas magic despite the near absurdity of the situation.
The first spell Maki taught the haniwas was the most basic of basics: a weak spell to create light. It was the first spell that almost any magician learned.
“Here we go, Karama!”
“Got it, Korama!”
“Firefly, ho!”
“Firefly, ho!”
The haniwas held chopstick-sized wands above their heads and incanted the spell together. When they did, their bodies began faintly glowing.
“Did it work?!”
Maki was quite surprised by this result. While the haniwas had souls, their bodies were artificial. They shouldn’t have been able to generate any mana of their own, much less activate a spell. But seeing it happen before her very eyes, Maki was floored.
“It disappeared, ho!”
“It was only for a moment, ho!”
But as expected, the haniwas couldn’t sustain any magic. The light they did manage to conjure only lasted for a fraction of the estimated time.
“Guess we don’t have the talent after all, ho...”
“We’re not cut out for this, ho...”
The haniwas’ shoulders slumped in disappointment. As aspiring magical girls, the haniwas were hoping for something a bit more spectacular.
“That’s not true at all. You two just being able to use magic is amazing.”
In Maki’s eyes, the haniwas had a surprising amount of talent for magic. While the magic they could muster was weaker than most humans’, the fact that they could muster anything at all was nothing short of miraculous.
“Let’s try a little more, okay?”
“Thank you, master, ho!”
“We’ll do our best, ho!”
And so the haniwas continued down the path to becoming magical girls under Maki’s guidance. Of course, they’d likely never be able to cast anything amazing. But they would eventually succeed in learning to cast spells that would make them more valuable, like creating nice smells and being able to make things a little colder. And since those were things the unmanned fighters couldn’t do, the haniwas considered this a victory.
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