Chapter Text
Class was a drag, as always.
Hanako never really listened-- at least not completely. Before she knew it, she was off in her own little world, doodling in her notebook. Her daydreams were full of cotton candy clouds and teddy bears in every color that her pens could write in. She became engrossed in her world, clicking her pen as she contemplated what to draw. Her mind immediately drifted to last night’s episode of Magical Girl Pretty Miyuki. Digging in her pencil pouch, Hanako pulled out a pink pen and tried to draw the titular character from memory.
Just a few more pictures and I get to go to art!
“Ms. Yamada, are you following along?”
“Huh?” Hanako looked up from her notebook to see the faces of her peers and her teacher staring right at her. “Oh...Yeah! I’m listening!”
“Is that so?” The teacher crossed her arms. “Would you like to come up to the board and solve the equation then?”
“...Ms. Anna, may I go to the--”
“Hanako.” She spoke with a bit more bass in her voice.
Hanako reluctantly got up from her seat. She slowly made her way over to the chalkboard and picked up a piece of chalk. She glanced back at her classmates, shrinking back a bit when her eyes met with theirs. “U-Um...okay.” Hanako’s hands shook a bit. She swallowed, taking a breath before writing as small as she possibly could. Half of her “numbers” were scribbles with the occasional plus sign thrown in for good measure.
“Done!” Hanako beamed, placing the chalk back on the ledge from whence it came.
“Do you think you could write it so everyone can see?”
Hanako’s brow furrowed. She erased her ‘work’ with her hand and picked up the chalk again, writing a bunch of jumbled up nonsense in hopes that she would get to sit down.
“Ms. Yamada--”
“I’m not done!” Hanako picked up more chalk and began writing decimals.
“Thank you for your...contribution, Ms. Yamada.” Ms. Anna sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Please, take a seat.”
Hanako dropped the chalk back on the ledge, wiping the chalk dust off on her leg. As she turned to return to her seat, a large ‘BOOM!” could be heard just down the hall. Everyone froze. Whispers began filling the room. Another explosion soon followed. Before anyone could inquire about the situation, panicked screaming soon filled the halls. A few students stood up, ready to rush towards the door to see what was happening.
“Everyone! Sit down and remain calm!” Ms. Anna walked over to one of the doors. She carefully slid the door open, just wide enough for her to get a good look at the hall. Smoldering holes littered the walls, smoke wafting from the freshly scorched paint. The smell of burning metal filled her nostrils and a soft mechanical hum resonated through the halls. Students ran, some tripping over their own shoes in order to run away and others throwing themselves into other classrooms to hide. Despite the panic, she had yet to see the threat that caused such a ruckus.
“What’s happening?” Hanako peered over her shoulder, a bit too curious for her own good.
“I..I don’t know.” Ms. Anna’s eyes darted around the hallways. “Everyone, stay where you are! Ms. Yamada, return to--”
The doors suddenly burst apart, the impact sending both Ms. Anna and Hanako careening across the room. Hanako flew into the podium, and cried out in pain as it toppled over onto her. The remaining students immediately disobeyed their orders, some running to the back of the room and others attempting to escape the room altogether. The mechanical hum grew louder as a robotic figure entered the room. They could have passed a human-- if it weren’t for the exposed wireframes in their chest, the metal plate embedded in half of their face and the singular, green, unblinking orb within the metal. Cracks in the metal glowed bright green as the figure observed the room.
Hanako froze in fear as the figure stared directly at her.
“H...Homu…?” A timid voice spoke up. Hanako recognized Mai’s voice, but she couldn’t turn to see her.
“ONCE WAS HALVED.
NOW IS WHOLE.”
A metallic voice rung throughout the room.
“We...are one. We are complete.”
A different voice, yet from the same being. It was more human, but it lacked all traces of emotion.
“THE PLACE THAT TOOK MY LIFE.”
“...Will pay now only in blood.”
“Homu, what...what are you doing..?!” Mai spoke again, on the verge of tears.
“It’s what she wanted...It’s what we wanted.” Homu turned to face the crowd of students huddled in the corner. “They told me we could be together again.”
“WE CAN FINALLY BE ONE ONCE MORE.”
“Homu, please!” Mai let out a choked out sob. “What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense!
“All I wanted was to be with her again.” Homu closed her remaining human eye. “She’s here...She’s with me again. All I need is a new body for her and then--”
“IT WILL BE DONE.”
“Homu, your sister is dead! ” Mai shouted. “She’s been dead! You can’t change the past!”
“Shut up!” Homu’s eye snapped open as she rushed towards the group. The students dispersed and ran out of the room as she grabbed Mai by the neck, strangling her within her metal grip. “Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don’t know a damn thing!”
Mai grabbed onto her hands, trying to pry her fingers off her neck.
“KILL HER.”
Homu paused. “...Is that you want?”
“KILL HER.”
“Then I’ll happily oblige.” Homu smirked, tightening her grip. Mai reached for her hair, yanking as hard as she could, but Homu didn’t react.
“Let go of her right now! ” Ms. Anna finally got to her feet, panting as she glared at the creature before her.
“Would you kindly?”
“WITH PLEASURE.” Without even looking in her direction, Homu pointed a finger at the teacher. In the blink of an eye, a blast of energy shot from her fingertip directly at Ms. Anna.
Ms. Anna let out a strangled cry as she went limp, her body convulsing. Hanako could only look on in horror.
Oh god. please let this be a nightmar
“Let...l-let...go...please…!” Mai whimpered.
Please...please! This can’t be real!
Hanako trembled and squeezed her eyes shut. Her body ached all over. She held onto the hope that she was back at home, snug in bed and having a bad dream. She would wake up, Taeko would greet her with breakfast, and everything would be fine. But the stinging pain in her back reminded her that this was all too real.
“Wa..wait!” Hanako’s throat was horribly dry as she finally spoke up. “Don’t hurt Mai! Take me instead!”
“A SACRIFICE?”
“Should we accept?”
“NEED YOU EVEN ASK?”
Homu smirked as she tossed Mai aside like a piece of common garbage. She stalked over to Hanako, eyes glowing. Hanako attempted to get back on her feet, but no matter how hard she tried, her legs wouldn’t hold her up. She was beginning to regret ever saying anything.
“Don’t you lay a single goddamn finger on her!” A familiar voice rung out. Homu looked towards the broken door, tilting her head.
“Another sacrifice? How lovely. Two for the price of on--” An arrow suddenly lodged itself into the remnants of her flesh. Homu gasped, staggering backwards in shock. The arrow appeared to be made of pure light, and dissolved into particles before Homu could even touch it. From the remnants of the hallway stood a shining figure adorned in golden attire, hair flowing as they made a running start towards the classroom. Two more arrows whizzed by Hanako’s head as the figure finally came into her line of sight.
“Alright, freakshow. Time to pull the plug on this scheme!” The figure was revealed to be a young girl, bow and arrow strapped around her back. Warm light radiated from her very presence. Hanako could barely see her face around the piercing intensity of the light emitting from her body. The girl stopped, groaning. “Ugh, that was so lame! Who writes this junk?”
“Y-You…” Homu stuttered. “Who are you?”
“The last thing you’ll ever see.” The girl smirked, readying her bow and docking another arrow. “Count up your crimes and despair!”
“HOMU...LET’S END THIS.”
“Guardian Lux, at the ready!” She took her aim.
“Yes….yes. We must uphold our end of the bargain.” Homu nodded regaining her composure.
“For all that is good and just, you’re goin’ down, scumbag. ”
And with that, the fight truly began.