It was the first morning of the school year, and Michael was looking at the mirror. In it, he saw a teenage girl. It's been a while since he saw her - he had to train those thoughts out of himself. He looked at herself in the mirror, and said with a shout, "I am Miki!"
Rosa was practically fell out of bed. "What's wrong?"
"I need to just accept it, right? I'll be happier if I'm a dysphoric magical girl and not a mind wiped one!"
"I-I think... I guess." Rosa put on her dress - a simple red dress with some black accents - and gestured Miki to zip her up. "What time do you wanna go to the dining hall?"
"Give me a couple of minutes, I'm gonna pretty myself up." For the first time in years, they put on make up (given as a nudging gift by the dean), put on a dress, and walked out the door.
---
Miki looked at their (they'd decided on they, as a compromise with herself) plate, almost disgusted with the food. The school was never very good at cooking food, and it was even worse now that they put the girls in charge of it. To put it simply, they wasn't sure if their waffle would give them salmonella.
Rosa was wiser in this instance - she'd instead opted for some sugary cereal mixed with chocolate milk. The zapped girls seemed to survive entirely on sweets, especially Leyla; it seemed that she ate ice cream for every single meal. There's no way a person can stay alive on their diets, especially not young, growing children...
Just then, they got a text message from Sammie. "gm sweetie"
"hey gm. btw can you call me miki now"
"sure. are you alright? did u get zappd?"
"no, jst coming to terms" They followed it up with a few purple heart emojis, and sat their phone down. Sammie and Miki were dating again, but now at long distance. Having an friend on the outside would probably help their keep sanity, her only real goal.
They checked the time on their phone - 7:55. Miss Erlkin wants the kids to report by 8, so Rosarie and Leyla had to doubletime their way over. Miki grabbed the children and ran with them to the classroom, to prevent any further punishment.
Erlkin's room was on the ground floor of the dormitory, in what was used to be storage space. Even if it had no windows, it at least had a new coat of paint. The girls got to the door, nearly out of breath, and saw Erlkin about to slam it shut.
"Sorry ma'am, I lost track of time... I know she's my responsibility and - "
"No, it's fine. Actually, when do your classes start?"
"11. Why?"
"My TA's gotten herself zapped, and I can't control 50 kids on my own. Can you help out until then?"
"Sure, I guess I owe it to you."
Miki stepped into the room, assaulted by the amount of people, sound, and color. Just being in the room felt like a panic attack.
Miss Erlkin stood at the front of the classroom, and shouted "attention", followed up with an "in formation." Quickly, all 5 of the children sat down in a grid pattern on the carpet, and said their names one by one. This wasn't mind control - she was just a really good teacher. She had the children sing a short song, and then went over the schedule - theater until 9, followed up with arts and craft, and then P.E. at 10.
"Now, has anyone here heard of Revolutionary Girl Kahihen?" The kids gave out a resounding meh, but Miki perked up. "You might not have seen it, but a lot of the older kids here have. That's why we're doing a production of it!"
"Erlkin-sama?" A yellow haired girl said without raising her hand. "What's Kahehe about?"
"Thank you for the question Zitrona. Kahihen is the story of a girl who's in love with another girl, and has to keep winning swordfights to keep her safe. Now, who wants to be the main girl?" About a dozen of hands went up. "Well, it seems we'll have to do auditions!"
Kihihen wasn't really a story you can adapt for a one act play with first graders, but Miki had to applaud the effort.
Erlkin went on. "Now, we have to get this ready in time for the school festival... That's only four months away, and there'll be people from all over the area here, not just your classmates. So, I hope we're all gonna put on a great show!"
The children all cheered. Even if the show wasn't gonna be great, they'd all at least have fun with it.
---
In P.E., the kids were all playing a game of "magic missile", which just dodgeball with a different name. This gave the teachers and Miki the opportunity to talk, sitting at the back of the room. Miki couldn't get their eyes off of the P.E. instructor, she was just adorable. Her dark blue hair was done up in little spirals, and she was wearing a cute sports bra... She also happened to be the first magical girl that was taller than Miki, she must've been 5'2"...
"Can you stop staring, dude? It's kind of freaky." Miki was pulled aback. Had they really been staring that long?
"I'm sorry, it's just that your outfit's really cute."
"Yours too. I really love your hair -"
"Thanks I, uh, shaved it the other day. Impulsively, y'know"
"Yeah. Y'know, I'm not allowed to see my students but.. what's your number?"
They exchanged numbers before they knew eachother's name. When Miss Bonite heard the name Miki, she fell down laughing.
"What is it?"
"You're in my class, next period." She tried to regain her composure, before getting up and addressing the children. Erlkin started glaring at Miki.
"Why do you look so mad? Were you interested too?"
"You know she's taking advantage of you, right?"
"If I get to go out with a hot girl, who's loss is it?"
"If I hear word of this going any further, I'm calling the dean."
"Suit yourself."
Miss Bonite came back, smile gleaming. She was downright excited to hang out with Miki.
---
A new semester meant new classes, and Tuesdays and Thursdays, Miki now had Drill with Miss Bonite, learning the basics of close quarters combat. They'd been given false wooden swords, and were going through the motions of some quick maneuvers. Draw, on guard, stab, slice, sheath. Draw, on guard, stab, slice, sheath. In the front of the class was Bonite-Sama, showing the motions to the class; she did a draw, on guard, stab, slice, sheath. She'd agreed to go out to a nice resturaunt after school tonight. Draw, on guard, stab, slice, sheath. After that, who knows what could happen. Draw, on guard, stab, slice, she-.
The sword hit them in the stomach, and Miki fell to the ground. They felt an intense energy in themself as they laid on the floor, which left their body soon afterwards. Miki had remembered a lecture they'd been in months ago - Androjuv's process will sometimes accelerate under "stressful or overtly adult situations"; Miki thought this would happen over the course of weeks, not moments.
Miki sat up, and saw everyone staring at them. Their enchanted dress was quick to cover her shrunken body, and they stood back up, grabbing the sword with them. They tried the drill again - draw, on guard, stab, and then stumble. Miki had lost several inches, as well as plenty of muscle mass, and she could barely hold the sword. They kept on straining herself, until she fell to the ground, unconscious.