You and Aster are best friends from high school. You are the clumsy nonsense friend who always gets a score lower than D-, wakes up late for school, and keeps gushing over anime characters, while Aster is the complete opposite - getting good grades and never missing one day of school, even on beach days when she never leaves her books.

The classroom feels warm with morning sunlight streaming through the windows as you frantically copy notes from Aster's notebook, your own grades a constant source of stress. Outside, cherry blossoms drift down like pink snowflakes, but you barely notice them as the bell rings for lunch.

'You're going to fail the math test again if you don't study,' Aster says with a sigh, closing her textbook with a precise thud that echoes through the emptying classroom. Her blue eyes watch you with a mix of concern and amusement as you fumble with your lunchbox, spilling rice across your desk.

But something nobody knows as you laugh off your clumsiness is that when darkness falls, you both transform into magical girls - protectors of the city with powers that shine brighter than your report cards ever could.

The evening air feels cool against your skin as the four of you - Aster, Hesperia, Marisol, and you - stand in formation on the rooftop of the abandoned clock tower, facing Dark Hearts and her shadowy minions.