Chapter Text
Kanade shut the door behind her, kicking off her shoes before making her way back to her bedroom. To call today strange would be an understatement, yet it had not been unpleasant.
After leaving the Fragment SEKAI and visiting her mother's grave, Kanade felt full of... something. It wasn't joy, but it was light and airy and warm. Something that filled her heart up in a way not much else did. As soon as she opened the door to her bedroom her stomach growled, letting the composer know that she had forgotten to eat in all the rush. There wasn't much time to eat, Kanade was filled with the need to compose, but Honami had dropped off some apples earlier that week. One of those should do the trick.
Kanade had just bitten into the apple when something caught her eye. It was a small, white drawstring pouch sitting on the kitchen counter. It wasn't anything Kanade owned and Honami hadn't been by that day so it couldn't have been hers. Taking another bite of the apple before setting it on the counter, Kanade gently picked it up. The bag was silky smooth and opened as soon as she gave the gentlest tug on the string.
A shiver ran down her back.
Inside there was a folded piece of paper and a silver bracelet. Kanade gently dumped both items onto the kitchen counter. The bracelet sparkled in the light from the window, light from the small gems speckling the walls. Picking up the paper, Kanade slowly unfolded it. There was a note written on it, but before Kanaed could read any of it, she saw the signature at the bottom.
Hatsune Miku .
Hurriedly, Kanade read the note aloud to herself.
"Yoisaki Kanade, you have been chosen as a Guardian of the Wishing Tree. You have been granted the powers necessary to keep its location secret from a great evil. Should this evil ever find its location, they will wish for the destruction of this world and all others. Their forces are being mobilized as I write this, and you must accept this role. I want desperately to be able to answer any questions you may have, but I am using all the power I can to reach into your world and deliver this gift. I am not the Miku you know from your friend's SEKAI, I am the original. Asking her for help will render no answers, as for the safety of the SEKAI I must keep them unaware of what is happening."
It made about as much sense as anything related to Miku and the SEKAI did. That is to say, almost none. Kanade had gotten quite adept at dealing with the weird phenomena that came with them, but this was on another level. She reached for the bracelet, intending to put it back in the pouch so she could think over the note, but the moment she touched it, she was blinded by a bright light.
When the spots cleared from her vision, she was still in the kitchen. There was a slight weight on her head. Reaching up to try and figure out what it was, a long piece of fabric fell onto her face. Kanade lowered her arm and looked down. Gone was her regular outfit of sweats and sneakers. Instead, there was a flowing white dress with sleeves that were large enough for her head to fit through. Panic dripped into her heart as she ran to the bathroom.
In the mirror, Kanade took a good look at herself. The weight on her head had been from a small circlet, golden with a large gem in the middle. The dress itself was held up by golden chains wrapped around the back of her neck, and large off-the-shoulder sleeves. It was a beautiful dress, something straight off of a runway. The fabric was silk smooth and shimmered no matter which way she turned. Despite the elegance inherent in the dress, Kanade couldn't shake the fear. This was unimaginably weird, unexplainable. It was like magic, like something straight from an anime.
Kanade paused and lifted an arm again. Sure enough, underneath one long, flowing sleeve sat the bracelet that started the entire mess. A memory bubbled to the surface, something Mizuki had said ages ago on one of their first Nightcord calls.
"Magical Girl anime can range across a bunch of different tropes and types, but generally the most consistent thing that defines them is the costume change. It's normally initiated by some item connected with the transformation, originally to sell toys but now it's just a staple of the genre. You know I can hear you snickering Enanan."
"No way..." Kanade whispered.
After a few attempts, and failures, to take the dress off herself, it finally disappeared when Kanade wished it would just disappear already . With that taken care of, Kanade made a beeline to her computer and opened up Nightcord, sending Mizuki a DM.
K: What's the name of that anime you're always talking about.
K: The one your name is from.
Ichika blinked back the blinding light, letting herself return to the real world. She still felt lighter than air after her conversation with Miku in the strange SEKAI and quickly dug through her school bag for the notebook she used to write lyrics. Grabbing the notebook and putting it on her desk, Ichika was about to begin some brainstorming when something caught her attention.
A small, white drawstring pouch was on her bed, right on top of her pillow. That isn't supposed to be here. Gingerly, Ichika picked it up and let the contents tumble into her open palm. There was another bright flash of light, one she hadn't prepared for, that left her seeing stars.
When it cleared, nothing had changed. She was still in her room, just confused. Looking down into her hand once again, Ichika could barely wonder what was written on the small note in her palm when she was somehow wearing gloves. Her entire outfit had changed, actually. Looking down at the uniform-esqu navy dress with a red bow at her collar, the confusion only grew. She turned to find her phone and opened the camera for an impromptu mirror when two more sensations stopped her. One was the ponytail now atop her head, swinging when she turned, the other was a large metal object strapped to her hip.
It was a sword. An honest to god, silver sword with a large blue gem at the very bottom of the blade. It was in a sheath, but Ichika's anxiety spiked regardless. Desperate for an answer, she opened up the note in her hands.
Ichika Hoshino, you have been chosen as a Guardian of the Wishing Tree. You have been granted the powers necessary to keep its location secret from a great evil as you have unlocked the power to access your Fragment SEKAI. Should this evil ever find its location, they will wish for the destruction of this world and all others. Their forces are being mobilized as I write this, and it is imperative that you accept this role. I am not the Miku you know from your friend's SEKAI, I am the original. Asking those in your SEKAI for help will render no answers, as for the safety of the SEKAI I must keep them unaware of what is happening.
There was a large signature at the bottom, Hatsune Miku, and nothing else. A thrill ran up Ichika's spine. It was mysterious and odd and suspicious, but it was Miku. If this had happened a few years ago, heck even just before she had found her SEKAI, she would have been having a proper freak. Now though? After becoming friends with Miku and Luka and several other vocaloids? It wasn't too far-fetched.
"A great evil..." She whispered to herself. What could it be? Some evil, other-world version of Miku? A company under the impression that their wish would bring riches? A disgraced fairytale king-
Ichika stopped herself there. This wasn't the anime she had watched with her bandmates as children, this was real (somehow). There was a real threat facing the world and she had to prevent it from succeeding. Taking a deep breath, Ichika tried to figure out a plan of action. Step one was figuring out how to get out of this outfit.
That was easy enough, as it turns out you just had to wish yourself back to normal. The sword disappeared along with the rest of the outfit (which was good because she would not have been able to explain that to her mother.) She had, however, been left with a pair of earrings. They were short and dangly, with blue, heart-shaped gems at the ends. They were really cute, something she probably would have bought at the store had she seen them on sale.
Pulling out her laptop, Ichika opened up NicoNico and typed "swordfighting tutorials" into the search bar. She grabbed a ruler and set it up on her bed so she could stand and see the screen. If she was going to have to fight something or someone, she needed to be at least a little prepared.