"So, tell me… you got a wish you wanna make come true?"
"Uh…"
Staring at the bizarre, rabbit-like creature in front of her, Aki Takamatsuzume instinctively shrank back, her voice cautious. "…What are you?"
"Just call me Ace," the creature said, scratching at its ears with a forepaw. "So, about that wish. Got one? I can make it happen."
Aki eyed Ace warily, barely believing what she was hearing. "You're saying… I just name it, and it comes true?"
"There's a catch, obviously." Ace's crimson eyes locked onto her. "Afterward, you pick up a weapon and fight the demons tearing this city apart. You got the guts for that?"
Aki's world went dark.
For the past year, this memory haunted her dreams. And every time, she woke up right at this moment.
She'd lost count of how many times she cursed herself for making that wish. Back then, she'd thrown it out so carelessly, never imagining it would bring nothing but misery.
Aki lifted her head from her desk, rubbing her bleary eyes. School was over, but no one had bothered to wake her. It was a small, pathetic attempt at atonement after learning the cost of her wish. She couldn't let herself get close to anyone. Friends? Out of the question. Because the moment someone became Aki Takamatsuzume's friend, her reckless wish would twist into a curse and swallow them whole.
She sluggishly packed her things and trudged downstairs, head down, silent as she headed for the school gate.
But then, a voice caught her off guard.
"Aki?"
Her head snapped up at the sound of her name. There, waiting just beyond the gate, was her.
"Soma…" Aki started, but she clamped her mouth shut, biting her lip hard.
Soma Nagasaki. Once, they'd been partners, fighting demons together in the city's shadows. To Aki, she'd even been a friend.
But that was the past. Aki didn't deserve friends. That was her punishment for making that wish.
Because of that wish, Soma had…
Soma? Wait, who's Soma?
Two conflicting thoughts crashed in Aki's mind, threatening to tear her apart. Instinctively, she pushed back, her voice barely a whisper. "No… stay away from me."
"Come on, Aki, don't say that." Soma softened her tone, trying to reason with her. "Whatever's going on, you can talk to us. We're friends, aren't we?"
Friends.
The word stabbed into Aki's heart like a dagger.
No. No one could be her friend. If they were…
She turned and bolted.
"Wait, Aki!"
She left Soma's voice fading in the distance.
Soma stood frozen, stunned as Aki rejected her and ran. But a pink-haired girl's sharp nudge snapped her back to reality. "What're you standing there for? Go after her!"
It was Ayane Chihaya. She was already sprinting, diving into the chaotic chase, and somehow found time to fire off a message in their group chat. Soma's phone buzzed almost instantly.
She glanced at it. "Aki's running" and a "Huh?" stared back at her. Her expression wavered.
Then her phone rang. Rikishi Shiina.
Soma knew Rikishi had always been closest to Aki in their old squad, mostly because they meshed so well in a fight. Aki's weapon, the magic staff "Partenope," let her soar through the air and rain down massive bombardments on the ground. For Rikishi, who also fought from a distance and could trap enemies in toxic swamps, Aki was the perfect partner.
Unlike the others, Rikishi seemed like she'd signed her contract with Ace just to hunt demons. Every move she made prioritized wiping them out, even if it left streets wrecked by her poison pools and Aki's explosions. Someone always had to clean up the mess.
Soma paused.
Clean up?
Was there even someone in their squad who could do that?
Soma's Scylla, Rikishi's Hydra, Aki's Partenope, and Mutsu's Machine God—none of their demon-hunting weapons had the power to undo the damage they caused.
But that didn't add up. Without someone to cover their tracks, the city would've noticed Aki and Rikishi's insane destructive power ages ago. Their fights with demons would've been plastered all over the news.
There's someone else.
Soma clutched her forehead, no hesitation in her voice as she called out, "Scylla!"
There wasn't just the four of them in the squad. There was a fifth—a mysterious figure erased from her memories.
A massive pair of scissors materialized in Soma's hands. She gripped her weapon, staring at the tangled web of threads that appeared before her, searching for the one that had been cut.
Her phone kept ringing.
Soma stepped into a quiet corner to answer, one hand holding her bag and Scylla, her eyes still glued to the mess of threads.
"Where are you?" Rikishi's voice cut through.
"Aki's school."
"Where's Aki?"
"She ran. Ayane's chasing her."
"By herself? What about you?"
Finally, Soma set the phone down, snatching a broken thread from the pile and switching to speaker.
"Rikishi," she said, her tone heavy.
"What?"
"Do you remember who cleaned up the streets after you and Aki trashed them?"
"Cleaned up? That kind of thing…" Rikishi trailed off, realization hitting her. "…I don't remember?"
Then, thinking of Aki's strange notebook, she connected the same dots as Soma. "Wait, you don't mean—?!"
"Exactly."
Soma ignored whatever Rikishi said next, silently ending the call and looking up at the sunset.
"What the hell is that girl doing?!" On the other end, Rikishi glared at her phone, frustrated, before reluctantly dialing a number she really didn't want to call. "Hey, where are you?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm asking you!" Rikishi snapped, losing her patience.
"I don't know!" Ayane's voice was frantic. "Aki's still running, and I can't catch up! Do you know where her house is?"
"You're saying she's heading home?"
Rikishi sucked in a breath, her response short. "Got it. I'll cut her off."
She hung up without another word.
Ayane, still running, stared at her phone's "beep, beep" and let out an exasperated yell.
"What is wrong with you people?!"
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