Chapter Text
Chiyo city, named after its founder, is a popular tourist city in Japan not too far from Tokyo itself. The reason why so many people come is for a simple reason, it’s immortal hero, a magical girl who had been around since the city was just a small town, Nikkō Purotekutā. Known for her upbeat personality and love for all things cute, she's been the soul defender of the city from evil Yōkai for hundreds of years with her magical glitter powers.
Well that’s the public story at least.
Akemi zipped up the suitcase, the last of his stuff was now officially packed. He let out a sigh, he had two suitcases packed with everything that’s ever been important to him, and well clothes and other stuff he needed as well. His family had been born and raised in the small town for generations, all of his closest friends lived there and he’d be leaving everything behind, but he also had a reason as to why he needed to leave, at least for college. His mother was… a lot he loved her but well he needed some control in his life, and even if he went to college in Japan he knew that his mother would still be overbearing. Akemi flopped down onto his bed, his face looking up at the ceiling as he closed his eyes. He had gotten used to sleeping whenever he could thanks to his mother almost always overworking him.
“Akemi come down here right now or we will be late!” Akemi’s mother Chō yelled out her words coming out quickly as she was furious.
Akemi rolled his eyes as he got up, noticing his cat which he had named well Neko as a child sleeping next to him, Akemi couldn’t help but faintly smile as he gave the old cat a pet before standing up and sighing as he left his room making sure to leave the door open for Neko as he went down the stairs as quickly as he could, not bothering to freshen up. His mother was waiting by the door, her arms crossed as she looked at him annoyed.
“Do you want to lose credit?! This will be your last big performance until the holidays. Imagine the fans if you aren’t there!” Akemi’s mother stated her face only getting angrier as she spoke.
“Right, the fans…” Akemi said quietly, he would barely have time between the ending of the performance and when the plane flies off to actually get there as well as eating dinner.
Akemi and his mother left their house, a traditional home that after mainly villain attacks had to be rebuilt many times with a more secure structure. The two made their way to the train station and quickly got on, with her still criticizing him for taking so long, they left a minute after they meant to. Akemi didn’t say anything as he put his headphones on and his hood up as he looked out the window seeing the city pass by quickly as they made their way to their destination.
When they got to the show building Chō quickly rushed him to a bathroom shoving him into an employees only room, he was happy it was at least unisex, still he knew he had to do it quickly or else his mother would be even more upset. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, before letting himself transform.
It was like something from one of those classical magical animes his mother had made his younger sister watch to study, they had believed their blessing was passed down just to the first born female with his mother’s side where it came from only giving birth to females, but when he was a male she knew she would have to have a girl for it to be continued, well thought more than new as when he became a teen he had accidentally transform into Nikkō Purotekutā when he was playing a video game with his friends, rendering all the training his sister did worthless and made it so he had the stuff suddenly hammered into him.
He hated the feeling, he was only recently able to convince his mother to let him transform alone as he was fully exposed with his old clothes leaving way for a pink dress with the bottom being incredibly puffy. His hair became longer and a light pink in contrast to the dark pink outfit, with makeup appearing as well along with boots that were more like heels. He also gained cat ears and a tail when he transformed along with tiny angel wings that weren’t usable to fly like he would’ve wished. Though the most drastic change that he hated going through everytime was his body going from admittedly not exactly a peak male one as he was slim with very few muscles, to a hyper feminine one with his body proportions being sleek and elegant. He rolled his eyes as he saw himself in the mirror, a frown on his face but he pushed it off and replaced it with a smile as he took a deep breath and walked out.
He was quickly brought away from the bathroom as fans were cheering for him well for Nikkō, they were trying to get pictures and autographs with him just giving a small wave as he made his way to the stage.
“Nikkō” quickly got to the stage, the lights still off with the stands being completely filled with the lightsticks they all had lighting people up just enough to count. He didn’t understand why his mother had him become a pop idol with him already being a magical girl, it wasn’t about money as they had brand deals upon brand deals with multiple widely loved anime and movies of Nikkō with them alone making millions of yen. Still he took a deep breath and signal for the spotlight to be turned on as it shined onto him.
“Thank you all for being here and for supporting me throughout many generations!” Nikkō began, Akemi cringed internally though kept up the smile. “As many of you know this will be my last performance in Japan as I must travel to train my skills to protect you better, but as my final goodbye we shall make it spectacular!” Nikkō exclaimed with a wide smile as her fans cheered.
“Thank you all once again for coming and have a magical night!” Nikkō said happily as he used his powers to make a small light show in front of the stands with it dissolving into gritter, he gave a wave goodbye before “light-shining” away as a big burst of light came from where he was and he was gone.
Once Akemi confirmed the backstage was clear he quickly transformed back and rushed off to the front to find his mother who was waiting for him.
“You can talk about the show later, we can’t miss the plane, your father and sister are already there with your stuff” Chō ushered him as she grabbed her son’s wrist to drag him away back to the trains so they could get to the airport. It was dark now with the stars hiding away in the massive city. Akemi sighed, at least now in America he wouldn’t have to worry about stupid concerts.
For as much as Akemi’s mother pressured him ever since a young age she’s been sure to teach him many languages, both dead and alive, English being one of the many he knew how to speak, though his sister knew more than him. Akemi could care less about what country he moved to but him and his mother had a deal where the only place he could move to for college was America because in his mother’s words, “they have better schools and better heroes there”.
Eventually the two reached their stop and got off the crowded train with Akemi being dragged by his mother to the airport with his father and sister waiting for them with his suitcases.
“Can’t believe you’re actually leaving, is it because that robot guy is scaring you or some shit?” His sister, Keiko teased him with a smirk, Akemi rolled his eyes right, “Shin no yōgo-sha” his mysterious male rival that no one had seen before.
“Eh just means I don’t have to deal with that b-... boy now” Akemi said as he had to stop himself from cussing.
“Don’t get too cocky, there's a good chance Yōkai will still attack.” His mother told him, he was pretty certain that robot guy wasn’t a Yōkai seeing how it didn’t even resemble one but his mother insisted he was one. “Now remember what we discussed, find the nearest hero to where you are. But NO superhero teams try to find a magical girl team and not one of them superheroes they have no respect for their elders” Chō told him sternly, Akemi had heard it constantly how his mother wanted him to respect their ancestors by joining only magical girls, despite there being basically none besides their family.
“I won’t ma don’t worry” Akemi told her with a smile, he didn’t know how faithful he would be…
They gave their last goodbyes as Akemi took his suitcases and made his way to the plane. He got in his seat and got settled as he looked out the window as they took off from the city he grew up in getting smaller and more distant as the plane flew away into the night, as Akemi slowly fell asleep.
-
Akemi yawned as he woke up, it was day now and the plane was close to landing. He sighed but had a faint smile as he looked at his new home, sure it wasn’t the best place, but he was able to get a decent apartment for a good price and could practice fighting real criminals here as well. Though he had to admit he would stand out being a magical girl in the city as dark as this.
He quickly got off and got his suitcases with him ordering an uber as he stepped out of the airport into the busy and noisy city. Gotham, his new home. The uber quickly came and drove in front of his apartment. Akemi gave him a tip and got his baggage quickly heading to the apartment. He was surprised by how much security there was but then he remembered hearing how bad the city was. He used the key that he was sent ahead of the time and entered the apartment, it wasn’t the biggest nor smallest place. Akemi sighed as he placed his stuff down in the master bedroom, right he needs an air mattress… Akemi exited the apartment and locked the door, he had already converted all of his personal yen to usd so he didn’t have to worry about any payment issues at the store, he also knew he needed stuff to make his dinner.
Though as he was walking suddenly he got pulled into an alley by a mugger who pointed a gun at him and was threatening Akemi to give him all of his money. This was it, Akemi’s chance to show why he was the hero of his home to show he wasn’t just a magical girl but a hero! That was until he saw all the other people walking by, sure they didn’t care, but they would if he just became a magical girl!
Akemi froze as his eyes widened from being threatened. His first day… he took a deep breath and wait- he could use light-shining to transform! It would be perfect, so he took another deep breath and steaded his breathing as he smirked-
The gun flew out of the mugger's hand as a masked man who wore a red helmet and all things considered when it came to Akemi’s standards, a pretty basic costume. The man turned to face Akemi, the mask hiding any potential emotions.
“You alright?” the masked man asked, his voice distorted by the mask that he used.
“Oh yes I am very alright…” Akemi began.