lost my armor (open)

"Armor!" Kimiko threw her hands in the air, attempting to summon the armor she so effortlessly summoned a week ago. Nothing. She jumped, screaming 'Armor!' again, but she just landed and almost tripped on a rock. She kicked the rock. Stupid rock! It ruined her jump, and it probably ruined her 'spell' too.

She decided she should start smaller.

She blocked with her arms. "Shield!" Again. "Shield!" Again. "Shield!"

She groaned, dropping to her knees.

She was able to do it before. When the cafeteria was burning, she leaped into danger with no fear or hesitation. It felt effortless at the time, as if her shield and her armor were as easy to summon as her sword, and in that single, fleeting moment, she was the fairy tale prince she always dreamed of being. She didn't understand what she was doing wrong now.

Kimiko leaped to her feet and summoned her sword easily. With one, smooth swing, she whacked it at a tree. The sword, unhappy about the fact it was being used out of frustration, bent like a cheap plastic toy. Great! Now it was conspiring against her too!

She groaned, dropping the useless item on the ground and kicking it out of the way. It sliced her shoe and she reeled back in pain, not anticipating the solid weight of the piece of metal. Kimiko let out a string of 'ow ow ow ow', grabbing her foot comically before colliding the back of her head against a branch. She fell backwards onto a bush.

This day was not one of her best days.

Kimiko jumped. She didn't think anyone was there! If she did, she would've been more careful with the sword and, possibly, try to impress her a little. This was the worst first impression to make. She hated looking like a goof in front of girls, especially pretty girls.

She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, that's, uh, you see... I was practicing?"

She got back on her feet, circling the branch so she was standing in front of the girl. She bowed politely in apology.

"I'm sorry I bothered you. I honestly thought I was alone! Can I... sit over here?" She pointed at the spot a few meters in front of her with a disarmingly charming smile. "I like making the acquaintance of pretty girls."

The girl was prickly, but she was prickly in the way she was trying to protect something, she thought. It was the sort of prickly that just invited Kimiko to attempt to be friends with her. It seemed like she had been hurt before and she was trying to avoid getting hurt now, at least, that was the usual case for all the girls she encountered that were the same way.

"I'm not new," she said, nodding. But she had never seen the girl before. It was probably because, most of the time, Kimiko was surrounded by women. She was always friendly around them and found that they liked being friendly around her too. She just needed to do the same thing for her!

She pulled her legs to her chest, tilting her head to see what was in her notebook. She didn't see anything from her angle.

"...And I'm not going to touch you without your consent, by the way. That's just rude," she added softly. "Call me Kimi. What's your name?"

Kimiko grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment!"

She really did take it as a compliment. She expended a lot of effort into looking like a man, even going so far as to wear the male school uniform. She was glad it was working. The jig was up, though, so she pulled out her scrunchy and let her hair fall to its natural length.

"Wait, so..." She scratched her chin, confused by the mixed things she was saying. "You don't want me to use your name? Should I give you a nickname? Porcupine, maybe?"

She nodded at her orders, laying down on the grass and resting her chin in her hands. "Do you ever get lonely?" she said, out of the blue, but it wasn't out of the blue for Kimiko. She had a sharp eye when it came to women.

Kimiko perked up with a triumphant grin on her face. She knew it! She totally called it! She sat back up, not caring her shirt was covered with grass and dirt and what else.

"I knew it! So that's your problem! Well, we have to fix that pronto!" Kimiko dragged herself next to Porcupine's side, close enough that it would look like they were two friends chatting in the Courtyard, but not close enough that they would touch. She bumped her own feet excitedly. She was shaking like an excited puppy.

They must've been quite the sight — the Ice Queen and the most popular girl in her grade. "I'll be your friend. We can hang out and maybe we'll manage to get rid of that big frown on your face! I have a lot of friends too, so obviously we can find others that share your interests. What do you like to do?"