Chapter Text
As the sky turned dark, the night wind whispered among the tall buildings, carrying a piercing chill. The moon, which was about to give its full light, was blocked by rows of clouds. On a quiet street, a man sat slumped weakly, his shoulders shaking with uncontrollable sobs. The shadow of his body, cast by the streetlight, began to emit a thick black mist. It didn't take long for the mist to form a monster-like figure with glowing red eyes and long, sharp claws. The monster hissed, drawing in the man's sorrowful energy like prey.
Suddenly, a dazzling pink light shot down from above, landing between the man and the monster.
"Enough!" Nene's voice rang out, loud and full of conviction, as she stood there in her magical girl outfit.
Almost simultaneously, a soft purple light landed beside the man. Aoi, with a calm yet alert expression, immediately knelt down. "Stay calm, we're here," she whispered, as her hands began to emit a purple aura that healed the minor wounds on the man's hands.
The monster roared and charged. Yet, Nene did not dodge. Instead, her hands danced through the air, weaving a circle of light from her fingertips.
"Fly!" she cried, and the circle of light shot forward, coiling around the monster's body like a blazing lasso. The monster shrieked in agony, ultimately collapsing to the ground.
"Now, Aoi!" Nene called out.
Aoi was already on her feet. She raised her magic staff, and a flower-shaped symbol with a purple glow shone brightly from it.
"Purifying Light!"
The purple energy radiated out, enveloping the bound monster. The monster groaned as its mist-like body began to disintegrate, slowly evaporating into particles of light before vanishing completely.
With the threat gone, Nene walked over to the man, who still looked shocked.
"It's all over now," she said in a soft, soothing voice, a stark contrast to her tone during the fight. She extended her hand. A charm in the shape of a heart, glowing with a soft pink light, formed at the tip of her index finger. As the charm touched the man's forehead, his pale face gradually brightened. A smile spread across his lips.
“I... I suddenly remembered the day my son took his first steps,” he murmured. The beautiful memory was instantly rekindled, and tears of joy replaced those of sorrow. Nene smiled with satisfaction. This was her routine. It had worked, just like always.
"Yay!" After Nene and Aoi shared a victory high-five, they promptly left the scene, leaving the confused man behind. “Huh? What was I just doing...?”
In the cool night air, Nene and Aoi soared across the sky, illuminated by the glow of the city lights below. The lights twinkled like a sea of stars in the vast expanse, captivating any onlooker and making their eyes sparkle in turn.
“Another success for us today, Aoi!” Nene said enthusiastically
“Of course, Nene-chan!” Aoi replied with the same enthusiasm. “Well then, let's continue our separate patrols. If you see another monster, be sure to let me know!”
After parting ways with Aoi, Nene continued her patrol through the night sky. Suddenly, her chest felt tight. It wasn't from fear, but from an intense, heavy wave of despair that she could sense at the edge of her perception. “What is that...?” she whispered. She flew toward its source—a dark, quiet third-floor classroom in her school.
From behind the window, she saw a boy in a uniform sitting on the windowsill, his back against the frame, staring blankly at the full-moon-adorned sky. The boy's body was covered in numerous wounds. The bandages meant to protect his injuries seemed utterly futile. One end of the bandage had come loose, yet the boy showed not the slightest concern for it.
The aura of sorrow around him was so potent that Nene could clearly see a thick black mist enveloping him. What shocked Nene, however, was the monster forming nearby. This was no mere wisp of smoke; it was almost like a shadowy giant with multiple blinking eyes and gaping maws, looking as if it were ready to swallow the boy whole.
Nene immediately lunged forward, driving the monster away from the boy's window. "Don't you touch him!"
But the monster was faster than she anticipated. It swung its shadowy claw. Nene dodged swiftly, causing the attack to miss and slam into the building's wall, shattering it to pieces.
This monster is strong, Nene thought. She couldn't afford to hold back. She focused more energy. "Moonlight Bind!" She created two rings of light simultaneously, trapping the monster from two directions and holding it in place. The monster raged but couldn't break free. For the final blow, Nene leaped up and kicked the center of the monster's body, causing it to vanish in an explosion of tiny shadow particles.
Catching her breath slightly, Nene approached the boy—Amane. He still sat there, seemingly indifferent to the destruction around him. Their eyes met. Nene was startled by the profound depth in his golden gaze.
“Hey, are you okay?” Nene asked, trying to offer a reassuring smile. As always, she summoned her Happiness Charm, the same pink, heart-shaped glow forming at her fingertip. “This will take your sadness away for a while.”
She pressed the charm against Amane's forehead.
But what happened next shattered her certainty.
The pink light instantly fizzled out upon touching Amane's skin, like a spark of fire falling into water. There was no smile, no glimmer of happiness in his eyes. He only furrowed his brow slightly before returning Nene's gaze with the same hollow look. The charm vanished without a trace, as if rejected by a sorrow too vast to be penetrated.
Nene stood frozen, her eyes wide. “This... this is impossible…” she muttered in fear. She tried again, forcing more energy into it. A second charm formed, brighter than the last. But the result was the same. Its light faded and vanished the moment it touched Amane. It was a total failure. For the first time, her power was useless.
* * *
“I don’t want to go home,” he murmured as the school's dismissal bell rang.
At that moment, the school was still bustling with students eager to get home, though a few stayed behind for their club activities. Amane sat silently in his classroom until the twilight glow fell upon his face, making his golden eyes shine many times over, yet they still felt empty. He decided to close his eyelids for a moment and eventually drifted off to sleep.
Unbeknownst to him, the school's afternoon bustle had been replaced by the silence of night. The cold from the classroom floor seeped through his uniform. The stiffness in his shoulders no longer came from the weight of his backpack, but from an invisible burden he always carried.
To stretch his stiff body after his unintended sleep, he rose from his seat and walked to the open classroom window. The world beyond the dark glass felt incredibly distant, as if he were trapped inside a soundproof glass aquarium. Everything was muted. Everything was silent, except for the constant hiss of his own thoughts—a broken record endlessly replaying the same memories.
He preferred the cold, quiet emptiness of the school over the sound of arguments from his home. Here, at least, the solitude felt like his own. He took a deep breath, trying to swallow the hard lump in his throat—the guilt that had been his constant companion ever since... since 'he'...
Then, something pierced through his silence. A light. A girl. She descended from the dark sky like a falling star. Her hair seemed to emit its own moonlight, and her red eyes glimmered with an unstoppable resolve. Amane couldn't see the monster, but he could feel its terrifying presence—something cold, promising only despair. Yet, as the girl moved, fighting against the menacing emptiness, Amane couldn't look away. Her movements were like a dance, a poem written in light against the darkness.
For the first time in months, something frozen within him trembled. Not from fear, but from something else. Because of her. Whoever this girl was, she was the complete opposite of everything in his world. She was warmth, color, and sound—a living, brave melody that was shattering the glass walls of his aquarium.
The girl drew closer, her face etched with genuine concern. “This will take your sadness away for a while,” she said. A beautiful, glowing pink heart formed at her fingertip. As she pressed it to his forehead, Amane felt warmth. A truly deep warmth. A brief flash of memory surfaced in his mind—an image from his childhood, playing joyfully under the sunlight.
But then, his ever-faithful guilt bit down. How could he? How could he allow himself to feel this false happiness when 'he' could no longer feel anything at all? It felt like a betrayal. Like tarnishing the memory of the only person who had ever mattered. As if his own brain was sending an emergency signal, the warmth was violently snuffed out, swallowed by the familiar black fog of his sorrow. The light faded, and the world returned to its muted state—but this time, with a painful contrast. Now he knew exactly what was missing.
He stared at the girl, who now looked utterly confused and frightened. In her confusion, he saw something more human than all her magical power. She had failed. And in that failure, she seemed so real. Amane's heart, which he had long thought was frozen forever, pounded violently. Not because of magic, but because someone—for the first time—had tried, truly tried, to reach him. And even though his world was still dark, he saw a light, a new, dazzlingly bright light.
“M-maybe it needs time to work. You... take care of yourself!” She fled, feeling strange and like a failure, leaving behind a silent, mesmerized Amane.
* * *
The next day, as Amane went about his school routine, his heart wouldn't stop racing. His mind kept replaying the moment the mysterious girl appeared—her face bathed in moonlight, her long hair tousled by the night breeze, and her red eyes, full of determination, striving to reach him. Questions swirled in his mind. Who was she? He wanted to know more about her.
Just as he was lost in his daydreams, the girl who had been occupying his thoughts appeared right in front of him. The moment their eyes met, Nene knew one thing for certain–the boy remembered her.