Part 01

She woke up, sweat drenching her skin as the memory of her dreams slowly fade away. What is up with the dreams, she thought as she rolled over and looked at her phone. Three a.m., the time display stated and she let out a frustrated sigh.

Grumpily, she got out of her futon and stretched her legs for a while. She considered calling one of her friends to talk but they were probably going to yell at her for calling them at this time so she decided against it. Instead, she made her way to the kitchen and opened the fridge, rummaging around for something to snack on.

As she poured herself a glass of milk, the vague memories of her dream trickled into her mind once more and she thought about them for a while as she sipped on her drink. There were monsters in her dream, she recalled, strangely colored otherworldly things that was hunting people down and killing them by disintegrating them with a single touch.

But even as the monsters were killing people around her, there was a song in the distance, beckoning her to listen to it. As she paid attention to it, the song grew louder, vitalizing her being with each note and beat. Fear fled her mind, despite the monsters exterminating every person around her, a testament to the song's power.

A voice called out to her and she turned to face the speaker, only to see one of the monsters approaching her. Its strange color blazed and it raised its arm to strike at her. The fear overtook her mind once more and she remained still as the monster's ball-like hand touched her face in the gentlest of manner possible.

It is always at that point of the dream when she wakes up and the first time she had that dream, she screamed so loudly that her mother went to her room to check on her. "What's wrong, honey?" her mother asked and she told her about the dream that she just had.

Her mother lets out a loud sigh after she had heard the story and she said, "You know it's just a dream right? You're starting middle school soon. There's no reason for you to wake up screaming like the house is on fire." She nodded her head once, not wanting to argue with her mother at that time. They talked for a little while longer before she was left alone to her own devices.

Despite what her mother said that time, the dream still kept returning but this time, she managed to keep her fears under wrap and did not scream the next time it happened. Just smile through it, she told herself. It's just a dream. It's not real. I'm not dead.

But it's still going on and she wondered to herself as she finished drink and washed her glass, is she going mad?

***

She fell asleep after her glass of milk and despite her worry, the dream did not repeat itself that time. In fact, her sleep was rather peaceful and she barely stirred when someone slammed loudly against the door. "Wake up!" a vaguely familiar and angry voice said to her. "You're going to be late for your first day of school!"

Those words forced her out of her futon and she looked around in a panic for a moment before looking at her phone again as it started to play the theme song of Kaiketsu Utazukin. As the three girl band sang the chorus, she glanced at the time and said, "No, I'm not! It's only six a.m. right now!"

The door to her room flung open and she stared up at the short girl with long white hair tied up in a very thin twin tails like manner. "No but if I let you sleep later, you're going to end up like that other idiot I'm babysitting so get up!" she yelled angrily at her.

Grumbling, she got up as the older girl had asked and started to pull off her top, only to be smacked for that. "Hey! What was that for?" she shouted back and stared at the other girl angrily.

"Wait until I'm out of your room before taking your clothes off," the latter retorted before she walked out of the room. She let out a frustrated sigh before she resumed changing her clothes. She was not exactly late, she knew that but there was a promise to meet up earlier so that her friends can show her around the school.

"But we already had an orientation," she told them but this was dismissed in her friends' enthusiasm and she had no choice but to do as they told her and now she wished that she had friends who were in her year at the same school. All of her elementary school friends enrolled in different schools and she was the only one that she knew who was going to Lydian Musical Academy.

Of course, everyone was surprised that she chose to go there and everyone was even more surprised when she was admitted into the school. "Who did she bribe to let her in?" a few people in her old school whispered when news broke out regarding her acceptance but she did not care about that. She was in Lydian and that was all that mattered to her.

It helped that she did have friends in Lydian of course, all of whom were her childhood friends. Unfortunately, they were older than her, they will not be in the same class at all. As she brushed her hair, she heard two people talking outside her room. "...sure she comes home tonight. It's not safe..." she heard her mom say.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure she gets back before..." Chris said before their voices fade off into the distance. Kirika sighed a little and shook her head in annoyance. Her mom and Chris were being overprotective as usual, she thought as she resume getting dressed. Once she was done, she stepped out of her room and saw Chris waiting for her.

"Took you long enough," her friend said to her and handed her a bun and a glass of milk. "Finish them now. We don't have time for your usual breakfast," her friend says in a grouchy manner before the latter pats her on the head.

"What's that for, Chris-senpai?" she said, her tone becoming a little more mischievous as she added the senpai suffix to her friend's name. She did love being called that for some weird reason, even if they did know each other for a very long time. Her parents worked with Chris' parents whenever they had a musical performance and that was how they first met each other.

The head pat turned into a ruffling instead and she protested; she had just brushed her hair. Chris gave her a big grin and said, "Come on! You don't want to be late for your first day at school, do you Kirika?"

***

They made their way to the bus stop where they met up with the rest of their group. The first was a girl with bright creme hair who gave them a friendly wave before hugging Chris. "Chris-chan! I haven't seen you at all during the winter break!" she declared loudly and that earned her a hard smack to the hard, courtesy of Chris' school bag.

"First, I'm older than you, Hibiki," Chris declared, looking a little embarrassed by the hug. "Secondly, you know that I was busy making...preparations for the festival," she said, looking a little flustered by her words and that made Hibiki grin evilly.

"You mean you were preparing your suit for that Utazukin cosplay, don't you?" the latter said before Chris swung her bag at her a second time, knocking her to the ground this time.

"Shut up," Chris replied, looking away in a huff as their second friend, a girl with dark hair and a ribbon tied into it helped Hibiki up to her feet.

"Hibiki, you really shouldn't make Chris upset like that. You know she doesn't like to talk about her hobbies out in the open like that," the dark-haired girl said in a half-chiding, half-amused tone to her friend. Hibiki laughed at that and wiped the dust off her clothes before getting up to her feet.

"Too bad, Miku. I think Chris looks really cute in that Utazukin outfit. And what about you, Kirika-chan? I haven't seen you in a while either," Hibiki said, leaning down and grinning at her other friend.

"Yeah! Me and Chris-senpai were both preparing our costumes for the festival," Kirika said with a wide grin. "I'm went there as Requiem, death!" she flashed a peace sign at Hibiki as she said this, prompting Chris to tap Kirika's head lightly.

"And stop imitating Requiem, Kirika. We're not at the festival any more so there's really no point in sticking 'death' at the end of your sentence right now," she said, sounding a little annoyed by the younger girl's actions.

Kirika laughed and stuck her tongue out at Chris. "Why not?" she asked with a grin. "It's fun dressing up like Requiem and swinging her Death scythe around, you know. And don't tell me that you didn't enjoy yourself doing all of Utazukin's moves during the festival, death!"

Oh crap, Kirika thought as Chris' eyebrows began to twitch rapidly. She's definitely mad, she noted just before Chris smacked her with her bag. "Shut up!" Chris snapped at her before pointing a finger at Hibiki. "And I blaming you for making Kirika this dense. Stop making her watch pro-wrestling and MMA matches with you," she declared loudly.

"Eh?" Hibiki said, looking rather confused about the matter before Miku stepped in to placate her friend, allowing Kirika to lean back and rub her smarting head. A limousine drove past them at this point and she watched it drive past, absently rubbing her head as she wondered just who might be inside the vehicle.

Probably some rich guy, she thought as their bus arrived and they boarded the vehicle while Chris is still scolding Hibiki albeit in a softer manner now that they are on the bus.

***

They arrived at school with twenty minutes to spare and Kirika let out a sigh of relief as Chris was persuaded by Miku to abandon the guided tour due to the lack of time. "Fine..." Chris said, looking rather upset that she couldn't do something for her friend.

"Don't worry too much about it," Kirika said with a consoling smile. "They already gave us an orientation tour last week so I know my way around. I'll be fine without a second one, you know."

Chris grumbled a little but relented as a group of her friends arrived and called out to her. "Alright. I'll see you later after school then," she said reluctantly and went off to meet with her friends. Kirika waved at her and watched as another group of girls called out to Hibiki and Miku.

"Guess it's our turn to go. Take care!" Hibiki said cheerfully and Kirika grinned as she leaned close to her friend.

"I've got photos of Chris if you want them," she whispered conspiratorially to her and Hibiki's eyes gleamed evilly.

"After school," Kirika told her and they nod solemnly to each other before bumping their fists together. Miku simply sighed and rolled her eyes at their little pact.

"You do know that whatever it is the two of you are planning to going to make Chris made at the both of you, right?" she said as they left with their friends, leaving Kirika alone. She watched them walk away before she turned and took a walk around the school on her own.

A short walk later, she found herself walking along a quiet path where there are few students and she paused for a moment. "Wait...this is the part where I bump into someone who is going to change my life into an exciting mess that people would want to make into an anime?" she said loudly as she looked around.

Silence greeted her as a single student who walked past her simply stared at her as though she was a crazy nerd. Kirika sighed as her shoulder slumped down and she walked away. "You know, I really thought those dreams were leading me somewhere," she mumbled to herself as she kicked at a stray stone by her feet.

"Ow," a soft voice said in response to her words and she looked around in surprise. A nearby girl whose dark hair was done in twin-tails rubbed her forehead in annoyance where the stone had apparently struck her and left behind a bruise.

Kirika let out a startled shout and ran over to the girl, shouting, "I'm really sorry about that! Are you hurt? Maybe you should lie down! It might be a conclusion!"

The girl stared back at her, her pink-tinged eyes widening ever so slightly in confusion. "Conclusion? You mean concussion right?" she asks her and Kirika nodded her head vigorously.

"Right. Concussion. Didn't I say that?" she said as she starts to fuss over the girl's forehead until the latter pushes her away, clearly irritated by Kirika's action.

"I'm fine so please stop fussing over me," she said, her voice slowly becoming icier  as she folded her arms and glared at Kirika. The latter bowed and mumbled an apology to her, allowing the girl to walk away.

As she was doing so, a thought occurred to Kirika and she called out to the girl again. "Hey...look, I know you're going to think I'm crazy but...have we met before?" she asked meekly.

The girl turned back to Kirika, giving her a confused look. "No. This is the first time we've met. Is this some kind of pick up line?" she asked, her eyes cold with disdain.

Kirika shook her head and said, "No...it's just that I swear I heard your voice somewhere before. Hmm..." She scratched her head thoughtfully and closed her eyes, tapping her foot while thinking. The other girl sighed and quickly walked away before Kirika can notice that she was no longer there.

A minute later, Kirika opened her eyes and was about to say something when she realized that the girl had already left. She puffed her cheeks in annoyance as she said, "Man...I was really close to figuring out why she sounded so familiar too..."

Before she can do anything else, a bell began to ring and her eyes widen. "Oh man...just when everything is going to be good. If I'm lucky, I'll run into the girl again later today, I guess," she said to herself as she ran to the school hall.

***

Kirika took her seat in her class as she watched everyone else took their place as well. As she had expected, there was no one in the class whom she recognized and she let out a soft sigh. On the other hand, she can see this as a chance to make new friends and that was not too difficult for her, she thought to herself.

Every seat was filled except for one and she glanced at the seat for a moment, wondering just who it was before the door swung open and the last member of her class stepped in. A slight smile grew on her face and she gave the latecomer a friendly wave when she saw that it was twin-tailed girl that she spoke with earlier.

On the latter's part, her eyes widen slightly and she let out a loud sigh as she took her place at the empty seat. Happily, Kirika hopped over to the girl's seat and said, "Hi! Nice to meet you again. Are you okay? How's your head feeling?"

The girl sighed and said, "I'm not going to get rid of you that easily, hmm?" Kirika shook her head and stuck her hand out to her.

"My name's Akatsuki Kirika. What's yours?" she said cheerfully and the other girl sighed, pointing in front of her. Kirika turned around in surprise as a tall, burly man with fiery hair (both in color and appearance, it seemed) stepped into the classroom.

"Alright, everyone settle down. It's time for your first class in Lydian," he announced in a pleasant baritone voice as everyone returned to their seats. "I'm your homeroom teacher as well as your P.E. teacher," he stated before turning around and writing his name on the blackboard.

Kazanari Genjuuro, Kirika noted and she raised her hand at once. He blinked in surprise when he turned to face the class and pointed at Kirika. "Are you related to Kazanari Tsubasa from Zwei Wing?" she asked quickly and everyone in the class turned to him, eager to hear his answer. Everyone's heard of Zwei Wing, one of Japan's top idol duo and rumor has it that they are both studying here in Lydian under assumed names.

The teacher chuckled at her words and nod. "Yes, she is my niece. No, I can't ask her for autographs. I think she said that her manager forbade her from giving it out except during official autograph sessions or something like that," he explained and the class started murmuring excitedly at the revelation.

He clapped his hands loudly and said, "Alright, that's enough about my niece. Why don't we actually get started on introducing yourselves to your classmates?" Everyone stopped murmuring as their teacher took out the registry book and gestured at the first student on the upper-leftmost corner.

Kirika listened quietly as each student introduced themselves to the class, fidgeting her seat excitedly. This is going to be awesome, she thought as the boy in front of her finished introducing himself and she stood up as soon as he sat down, startling everyone in class.

"Hi everyone! My name is Akatsuki Kirika!" she said in a loud voice while raising her hand high above her head. "Nice to meet all of you and I hope to have a good year with everyone here!" She sat down at once after that and everyone gave her a polite nod after that. Kirika grinned and watched everyone else introduce themselves, waiting for the twin-tailed girl's turn.

Finally, it was her turn and she stood up, bowing to everyone first before taking a deep breath and saying, "My name is Tsukuyomi Shirabe. It's a pleasure to meet everyone and I hope we can get along for the most part." Her voice was a little soft though and it was clear that everyone was straining to hear her talk.

She sat down after that and Genjuuro waved at the next student to introduce himself while Kirika thought on the girl's name for a moment. Tsukuyomi Shirabe, she mused in her mind for a moment. She definitely have not met the girl before in her life but there is something that is vaguely familiar about her voice. Just why is that though, she wondered to herself as the class introduction continued to be made.

Well, she'll have plenty of time to figure it out, she thought with a grin. This is going to be a fun class to be in; she just knows it!

***

The rest of the day passed by quickly enough and Kirika found that she was enjoying herself at school. Most everyone was friendly with her and the teachers were pretty interesting, especially the math teacher, Sakurai Ryoko. On normal days Kirika would be sleeping through something as complicated as math but somehow, the teacher managed to keep her interest in the subject, which was in itself a pretty weird thing.

During lunch, she went to the canteen to buy something to eat with a few of her classmates and was chatting with them when she noticed that twin-tailed girl walking out of the canteen. Shirabe, she told herself as she watched her leave the canteen on her own. Kirika glanced down at her almost finished meal and nodded her head once before excusing herself from her class-mate and running after Shirabe.

It took her a short while before she noticed Shirabe walking away from the canteen and she called out to the latter. "Shirabe!" she shouted while waving her arms and running towards her. However, Shirabe did not hear her and in fact, she seemed to be walking away faster than before.

Just where is she going, Kirika wondered as she started to run after her. Is there some big secret that she is trying to keep from everyone else? Her eyes gleamed slightly at the thought and she increased her running speed, hoping to catch up with Shirabe.

At least until the latter moved out of the building and Kirika paused for a moment, having lost track of her. Where did she go, Kirika wondered, looking around. As far as she can tell, she was at the shared field that split Lydian Musical Academy into its middle school department and its high school department.

Another thought crossed her mind as she looked around the field for Shirabe. Why is Lydian set up in this manner, encompassing both middle school and high school in one large compound? Most of the other schools she is aware of did not do something like this and as far as she can tell, this was a fairly recent thing too, having been set up like this three years ago.

The question is pushed out of her mind when she noticed Shirabe on the other side of the field heading towards the high school department and she started running towards the girl cheerfully. Is she trying to meet someone there, Kirika thought absently as she jogged across the field. I wonder who...

Her thoughts are interrupted when she bumped into a tall girl and fell down from the impact. "Ow..." she said, rubbing her forehead a little before she noticed that the girl she bumped into has knelt down and is offering her hand to her.

"Are you alright?" the latter asks, her voice an octave lower than most girls. Her black hair was cut in a neat bob and she wore a pair of wire-framed glasses which framed her dark blue eyes. While Kirika was certain that she had never met this girl before, she seemed a little familiar somehow.

"Yeah..." Kirika said after a moment before getting up to her feet and bowing low. "Sorry about bumping into you, senpai," she said respectfully as the other girl stood up and gave her a polite smile.

"It's no problem. Are you here looking for someone?" she asked and Kirika nodded her head in reply.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll be in and out before you realize it," she said and was about to walk off when another girl joined them. She was even taller than the first girl and more amply gifted as well, Kirika noted. Her brown hair was tied in a braid and she flashed Kirika a cheerful grin.

"Oy, Tsukasa...since when did the juniors started confessing to you?" the new girl said and Tsukasa shook her head, looking a little embarrassed by the newcomer's words.

"Kaede, stop that. Besides, we just only bumped into each other and she's here looking for someone else," Tsukasa said in protest but Kaede silenced her with a single finger to her lips as she bent down a little and gave Kirika an eyeful. The younger girl blushed but the nagging thought that Kaede sounded familiar buzzed in her mind as well.

"Well, she is a cutie but Tsukasa...I didn't figure you for a lolicon," Kaede said, flashing a mischievous smirk at her friend, who flushed a little before she took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, clearly trying to regain her composure.

"Kaede, shut up. She's just someone that I bumped into, literally in fact and right now, you're the one who's being weird with her," Tsukasa said and pointed at her friend who was now busy inspecting Kirika. The taller girl laughed at her friend's words before patting Kirika's head.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave her alone, if you really are that upset," Kaede said, tossing her hands up before folding them behind her head. "You don't hear me complain when everyone in this school come to you with their confessions, after all."

Kirika took a step back as the two girls started to argue with each other. "Man...those two are weird," she muttered to herself as she walked away, ready to head back to her side of the school. Then she remembered what she was here for and she turned around, moving around the two bickering girls.

***

A short search later, Kirika stopped to catch her breath. She did not recall Lydian ever being this big from her orientation but on the other hand, she is also pretty certain that she only visited the middle school department. There were quite a few confused eyes on her as she explored the area and her questions about Shirabe turned up nothing.

"Man...where can she be?" she muttered to herself as she sat down on a bench. She kicked back for a moment as she tried to think of where Shirabe might be and she cast her eyes around. Maybe she is around here and I might just notice her at the last moment while she is heading off to a secret meeting.

At this point, she noticed two tall girls walking into the area and she paused for a moment to look at them. Unlike most of the people she have seen so far, these two are clearly Caucasian. The taller girl had coral colored hair with blue eyes and was as gifted as Kaede was and the shorter girl has warm brown hair, blue eyes and was the slim and slender type that can be found on fashion magazines.

As she looked at them, the taller girl turned in Kirika's direction and waved her hand, surprising Kirika. Do I know her, she asked herself before shrugging and waving back at her. A look of surprise briefly crossed the girl's face a second before Kirika felt someone's presence behind her.

"Just what are you doing here?" Shirabe's voice reached her ear and Kirika turned around quickly to see her classmate standing there with her arms folded and an annoyed look on her face.

"Oh hi! I saw you in the canteen a while back and you looked kinda alone so I decided to look for you but you walked really fast and I couldn't find you so I searched around for you but then I got tired and I'm taking a break here but then I saw those two over there and they waved and I waved back and now you're here! This is awesome!" Kirika said, jumping up to her feet upon seeing Shirabe.

"Shirabe, is this a new friend of yours?" a voice said behind Kirika who turned around and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the two Caucasian girls approaching them. Her mind worked overtime as she tried to figure out what was going on before she settled on a conclusion.

"So...they were waving at Shirabe and not me?" she said aloud and this earned an exasperated groan from her classmate as the slender girl covered her lips to suppress a smile. The taller one smiled at glanced at Shirabe whose shoulders slump and she stepped forward.

"Maria, Serena, this is Akatsuki Kirika and she's just a classmate, not a friend. I don't know why she's here but she's leaving right now, aren't you, Akatsuki?" Shirabe said in a cold manner but Kirika had already hopped over to the two girls and was busy shaking their hands.

The taller girl smiled at the excited young girl and said, "I'm Maria Kovalchuk and this is my sister, Serena Kovalchuk," gesturing at the slender girl as she introduced themselves to her.

Serena smiled as Kirika shook her hand excitedly and said, "How do you do and how was your first day at school so far?" The sound of her voice made Kirika pause for a moment and she let go of her hand, closing her eyes and adopting a thoughtful look on her face.

Then her eyes flew open as the gears clicked in her mind and she pointed a finger at Serena. "Ah! Utazukin!" Her finger flew over to Maria, whose eyes had widened and Kirika said, "And you're Utahime!" Her finger pointed at Shirabe next who was already shaking her head in dismay and looking rather angry at the current development.

"And you're Requiem! I'm a big fan of your show!" Kirika said with a huge grin on her face.

***

It was a bit of a surprise to most anime fans that the main leads of the Kaiketsu Utazukin anime would feature complete unknowns and there were rumors abound regarding how the voice actors were selected for the show. But the first season aired and the general consensus was that the main leads were perfectly cast for the roles and everyone was completely blown away by their performance and singing.

Maria and Serena Cadenzavna Eve, Tachibana Aya. These were the names of the main characters' voice actors and after the show's first airing last year, speculation abound on where they were and how they looked like. No one got a picture of them and they were nowhere to be found on social media.

And now Kirika knew why: everyone assumed that the performers were adults like it would be in most situations. People would definitely be surprised to hear about this and Chris would love to hear that her favorite performer is so close to...

Shirabe cleared her throat loudly, making Kirika look up as Maria and Serena gave each other a troubled look. "Akatsuki, I would appreciate it if you didn't go about telling people about who we are," Shirabe said, folding her arms once more while she glared at her classmate.

"Eh? Why not?" Kirika said in protest; this was the biggest thing that she had ever encountered and she would become famous or at least internet famous for finding out how these voice actors look like.

Maria sighed and said, "We just want to have a private life without having to worry about fans bothering us at every point of our lives. I know we're just voice actors but we're still celebrities and there are people out there who can be really...persistent about us."

"You mean like that time when someone tried to break into the studio and take a picture of the three of you?" Kirika said, recalling that particular story.

"Something like that," Maria replied with a slight smile. "So, will you let us maintain our privacy and lead normal lives outside of our jobs?"

Kirika sighed and nodded her head. "Fine...I guess. I don't really want you to be in any kind of trouble and I don't want to make it such that we won't get a second season of Utazukin." A thought occurred to Kirika and she glanced at the three girls. "We are getting a second season right?"

Serena looked at Maria who simply shrugged and the former gave Kirika a smile. "Well, we are studying here right?" she said and Kirika frowned, thinking about what she meant by that before she understood.

"Now...you will keep our identities a secret right?" Serena asked and Kirika nodded her head excitedly as the latter began jumping and hopping about excitedly.

"Oh...I can't wait...okay. Your secret is safe with me and I'm going to go now! I know I said I wanted to talk to you, Shirabe but I need to go and find someone else to talk about the second season. I can talk about that right? Anyways, I'll see you later and bye!" she said before she ran off as fast as she can.

As she ran, she turned around to wave goodbye to them but she noticed that the three of them were walking away with a fourth person whom she had never seen before. She was quite far from them and the only thing that she can see was a stylized butterfly on the woman's hat as well as her pale blonde hair.

Kirika simply shrugged and ran back to the middle school department of Lydian. Whoever that person was, it was none of her business. She needed to find Chris right now and tell her the good news.

***

Unfortunately for her, she could not find Chris before their lunch break was over and she was forced to go back to class without telling Chris about the big secret. As she returned to her class, she noticed Shirabe already seated at her table and she gave her a friendly wave.

Shirabe simply nodded once at her in a polite fashion although there was still an angry disposition to her face. Kirika responded by smiling at her before heading to her own seat where she spent the rest of the day quivering in excitement.

As soon as the final class was over, Kirika got up and turned to Shirabe, only to see that the other girl was already walking out of class. "Shirabe!" she shouted at her and the latter turned to look at her. "See you again tomorrow!" she said cheerfully and there was a look of surprise on her face before it quickly vanished and she gave her a curt nod before walking out.

Once Shirabe has left, Kirika quickly packed her things and rushed out, waving to the rest of the students in her class as she darted out to find Chris, Hibiki and Miku. She found them waiting for her at the school entrance and she ran over to them, waving at them.

"You're looking rather excited," Miku said, smiling at her young friend. "Everything went well today?"

"Yup! School's great and I made a few new friends and I found out that there's going to be a new season of Utazukin," she replied, puffing out her chest. Chris nods her head in a dismissive manner and pats her head absently.

"Sure, your new friends told you that there is talk from the producers about getting a new season up and good for you," Chris said, still nodding her head and Kirika puffed her cheeks angrily. She really did not care for the way Chris is just ignoring her words.

"Anyways, we have to go now. I promised your mom that we'll have you back after school right away," Chris continued to say and Kirika glanced at her curiously.

"Really? Why?" she asked and Chris sighed in response.

"You haven't been paying any attention to the news at all, haven't you?" Chris asked, folding her arms and clucking her tongue in disappointment. Kirika shook her head and waited for Chris to explain to her what was going on before she noticed that Hibiki was looking just as confused as she was.

"Er...Chris-chan? What are you talking about in the first place?" Hibiki asked and that earned an angry glare from Chris, who looked ready to smack Hibiki again with her bag.

"For crying out loud...do I really have to educate the two of you? Miku, just what are you doing with Hibiki in the first place?" Chris said, glancing at Miku who quickly looked away, blushing in embarrassment. Chris took a deep breath to calm herself first, closing her eyes as Kirika looked at her curiously.

"Look, I promised your mom that you'll return home after school today. She's just worried because the news has been reporting of disappearances in the city as well as an increase in the number of breaking and entry over the past year," Chris explained to the both of them as patiently as she can.

Kirika folded her arms and closed her eyes, thinking about it for a moment. Well...she did hear her mom talking to Chris this morning and it is also true that she does not pay attention to the news. They are usually too boring for her to care about though.

Sighing, she opened her eyes and nodded to Chris. "Fine. It's not like I've got any plans later today anyway," she said and Chris nodded to her.

Hibiki sighed as well after hearing Kirika and she said, "But I wanted us to go to Flowers and have an early celebration for Kirika's birthday. Then we can have another birthday party for Kirika when it's her actual birthday next week."

"And you need to stop thinking with your stomach. Honestly, sometimes I'm not even sure if your brain is located in your stomach," Chris said, shaking her head in disappointment. Miku covered her mouth for a brief moment before lowering it and tapping Hibiki's shoulder.

"If we're lucky, the whole thing will be cleared up next week and everything will be back to normal. We'll have a birthday lunch for Kirika and then we'll have a party at her house in the evening. How does that sound to you?" she said softly and her friend looked at her with a bit of hope and disappointment in her face.

"Fine..." Hibiki said and Chris rolled her eyes at her response.

"You know that you're not the birthday girl right? Don't act more spoiled than her, okay?" Chris waggled her finger at Hibiki and Kirika giggled at her friend's reaction to the scolding as the four of them start to walk to the bus stop once more.

***

The way home was as normal as the day could get and Kirika waved goodbye to her friends as they walked home; they lived nearby which was probably why her mother felt at ease to ask them to watch over her. Still, she was starting to feel a little annoyed by her mother's request. She's almost thirteen; she can walk home on her own after hanging out with her friends.

"I'm home," she called out as she slipped off her shoes and walked into her house. It was a simple two floor house in the suburbs and for a moment, Kirika forgot her annoyance as she stepped in and head to the kitchen. All the way back, Hibiki was talking about the okonomiyaki that Flowers served and she was feeling hungry right now.

No one answered her and Kirika sighed a little. Her parents were probably at work right now and her older brother still hadn't returned home from school yet. As for her younger brother, he was probably still at the daycare center and her parents will pick him up after their work is done.

She head over to the kitchen and walked over to the fridge, rummaging about inside before she found some leftover onigiri from yesterday and she took some out to eat. No homework today, she thought gleefully as she chewed on the cold rice. So she could just laze around for a little while until her parents came back.

Her phone buzzed at this point and she went to take a look at it. It was from her older brother, Kazuma, telling her that he wouldn't be back for dinner since he was staying over with his friend tonight and that he had already informed their parents. "That is so not fair..." she complained aloud after she had read the message before she sat down to watch some television.

Hours later, Kirika was lying asleep on the couch when her phone rang and she sat up at once, looking at the clock and noting that it was almost eight thirty p.m. before she answered her phone. "Hello?" she said, stifling a yawn.

"Kirika? It's mom here. Sorry we're late but work ran a little longer than expected today. We just picked Kazuya up from the daycare and we're getting some takeout for dinner. Is there anything that you and Kazuma want for dinner?" her mother said and Kirika thought for a moment before she realized something.

"Eh? I thought Kazuma said that he told you that he wasn't coming home tonight because he's staying over at his friend's house? Oh and I want yakisoba please," Kirika said with a slight grin on her face.

"Did he now? Thanks for letting me know about that," her mother replied and Kirika could hear the sharp edge in her voice that indicated that she was annoyed. She can hear her father chuckling on the other side of the phone before he muttered something that Kirika couldn't make out.

"Huh? What was..." There was the sound of the car brakes being struck and Kirika heard her mother screaming loudly in surprise before the connection was cut. A chill ran down her spine and she ran out of the house, grabbing a set of keys along the way before locking the door and hopping onto her bicycle.

Please be safe, Kirika thought as she raced towards the daycare center.

***

The daycare was about twenty minutes away by bicycle and she took the route that they would normally have to take in order to drive there and back as there were several restaurant along the way. She had pedaled for nearly fifteen minutes when she saw her father's car by the side of the road and two police officers inspecting the vehicle.

As soon as she was close enough, she hopped off her bike and ran towards the car, panting heavily as she rushed past the policemen and into the car. To her surprise, there are no signs of her parents or Kazuya in the car and she was about to search for them when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Excuse me but do you know whose car this is?" one of the police officers ask. He was in his early twenties, with light brown hair and eyes whilst his partner was a woman in her mid twenties, with dark, nearly bluish hair. Kirika glanced at them in shock for a moment before she nodded her head and gave them a halting explanation regarding her call to her parents.

After she had explained the situation to them, the male officer stepped aside and radioed his department while the female officer went to her patrol car, rummaging around inside for a moment. Kirika stood away from her parents' car as per the officers' instructions, staring mutely at the vehicle before a glint caught her eye and she turned in its direction.

To her surprise, it was a rainbow colored crystal, lying covered several meters away and covered by some sort of black ash-like dust. She stared at it for a moment before she heard a soft yet jarring sound in her mind. Unconsciously, she knelt down and picked the crystal up, staring at it for a while before stuffing it into her shirt pocket where it immediately stopped glinting.

"Excuse me!" she heard someone call out to her and Kirika turned around, startled back to her senses. It was the female officer and she was holding up a steaming hot cup for her. "Something warm for you while we wait for help to arrive," the latter said to Kirika with an equally warm smile.

"Thanks," she mumbled and took the cup before drinking it. Cocoa, she thought absently before she glance at the police officer and asked, "Do you know what happened here? Does it have something to do with those disappearances?"

The officer arched an eyebrow and said, "Wow, you've been paying attention to the news, huh? I'm impressed." Kirika flushed a little as she scratched her head in embarrassment. There was no way she was going to tell the officer the truth after being praised like that.

"Well, I might have some idea but we can't be certain until my partner finishes his report and gets confirmation from HQ," the officer said before looking at him. A short moment later, he walks over to her with a tensed look on his face, nodding grimly at her.

"Guess we've got a job to do," the female officer said and pats Kirika's head. "Go home and wait there for us to contact you, okay?"

Kirika nodded once and watched as the officers began to cordon off the area as several onlookers stopped to take a look. She had only moved a short distance away however, so that she can see what was going on and after another five minutes have passed, a large police truck and trailer drove up to the area and a uniformed man got out of the truck, walking over to the two officers.

A familiar voice reached Kirika's ears and for some reason, she ducked out of sight, not quite believing her eyes. Why is Kazanari-sensei doing here and talking to the two officers, she thought to herself in surprise as she watched them discuss something quietly.

They talked for a little while before Kazanari-sensei got back into the truck and drove away. Kirika stayed hidden for a little while longer before hopping onto her bicycle and riding after the truck. She had a feeling that he held the answer to her current situation and she wanted to find out the truth.

***

Another twenty minutes passed by as Kirika followed the truck. As far as she can tell, it was wandering around aimlessly around the city and she was starting to wonder if she was wrong about the truck. But after a while, the truck led her to the port and towards the container yard.

Bright flashes and the sounds of fighting reached her eyes and ears and Kirika shivered a little. Not out of fear but of excitement. Is something big taking place here, she wondered as the truck stopped and she hid herself once more. She watched as the trailer unfolded itself, revealing two large, upright pods within.

Her eyes widened as the pods opened, revealing two armored figures inside the pod and they stepped out. Mecha suits, Kirika thought in awe as she stared at them. One was colored white with blue and black highlights while the other was black, with orange and white highlights. Both were about two meters tall with sleek lines and curves and their heads were featureless save for a single slit which Kirika assumed worked as eyes.

As they stepped out, they raised their hands to their heads, presumably receiving orders and they nodded before moving towards the source of the fights. Kirika took a deep breath and watched the truck carefully for a moment to make sure that she had not been spotted yet before she moved after the two armored figure.

The sounds of fighting grew louder as she crept forward and after a quick turn around a container, she finally saw what was going on and she gasped in surprise. The two armored figure are standing back for now as a tall, strangely colored humanoid being swung and flail its ball-shaped limbs at three people.

From what she can see of the three people, they are young girls who are wearing frilly dresses: one black and white, another white and pink and the third was black and pink. All three of them wore domino masks and their hair were beautifully styled in a bun, a side ponytail and twin-tails respectively.

Despite the domino mask, she was somehow not able to get a better look at their faces; something was obscuring their features and they were also moving around rapidly, making it difficult for her to focus on them anyways. One of them, the black-white dress in a bun charged forward at the strange being and a knife flashed in her hand as she slashed at it.

As the being staggered back, Kirika's eyes widened as she saw her family, lying unconscious on the ground. She could clearly see her father's blonde hair along with her mother's dark hair and the latter was holding her brother tightly in her arms. Kirika was about to run out when a second humanoid burst out of the ground, this time one with a drill for an arm and head shaped like a diamond.

At this point, the two armored figures moved in, the white-blue one brandishing a sword and the black-orange one armed with a massive lance as they attack the strange humanoids. Each humanoid dodged the attacks from the armored figures before moving forward, attacking them and forcing them on the defensive.

The orange figure jumped forward, attempting to break past its opponent's defense, which is the drill armed humanoid. It landed a fierce kick, knocking its opponent back before it hurled its lance at it, piercing the humanoid's torso before retrieving it via a retractable chain attached to the lance's hilt. Even then, the humanoid stood back on its feet, unphased by the gaping hole in its body.

One of the masked girls, the one in the white and pink outfit and with a side ponytail, waved a butterfly tipped rod, letting loose a stream of stained-glass butterflies onto the humanoid and Kirika watched as the butterflies exploded upon contact, shredding the humanoid further while the third masked girl stood in front of Kirika's family, erecting a glass dome that protected them.

The other armored figure was engaging the first strange humanoid, slashing fiercely with its sword while the knife wielding masked girl darted in and out, slashing at the humanoid's legs where its knees should be. The humanoid slithered out of the way and the blue armored figure hurled a massive knife at it in response, catching its head and allowing the knife girl to fire a energy blast from her hand.

Kirika's mind reeled at the sight, unable to fully comprehend what was happening. If Hibiki's friend were here, she'd probably say something about how this is not an anime and truthfully, that was how she felt like at the moment as the battle raged on.

A loud clang drew Kirika's attention as she noticed that the orange figure was knocked to the ground at this point and she stared as the drill humanoid raised its drill appendage in the air. The drill began to spin as it lunged forward, ready to pierce its opponent and kill it.

Without a thought in her mind, Kirika ran out and stood in front of the orange figure. "No!" she shouted defiantly, throwing her arms out in order to defend the fallen figure.

There was a brief moment when everything stopped and everyone stared at her in surprise before the drill humanoid charged at her instead. Okay...this was a bad idea, Kirika thought in shock as the drill slammed into her chest and a piercing pain shot through her body.

"Akatsuki!" she thought she heard someone shout out in shock but she had no idea who it was as darkness claimed her, although she could swear that it sounded just like...

***

She felt like she was floating on thin air before sinking down to the deepest darkest part of the earth. Is...is this what dying is like, she wondered to herself as she felt her consciousness slip away. She remembered something exploding in her chest a few seconds ago. Was that her heart?

Colors flashed before her, both calming and terrifying her and she could hear something soft. A song? She strained her ears and squinted but could not see who the singer was. Of course not. She was dead. There was no way she could see or hear anything now.

The song grew louder however and the colors pulsed like a heartbeat. Come back, the song beckoned. You have so much to live for, so much to do. She nodded. There was the second season of Utazukin...and she really wanted to make friends with Shirabe. Make sure her family was safe too.

A warm glow filled her body and the pain in her chest ebbed away as she felt something grew in her chest.

Wake up, the voice said and so Kirika woke up.

***

Cold! That was the first thought that appeared in Kirika's mind. The air around her was freezing and she felt a cold metal slab underneath her skin, making her shiver. To make matters worse, she was only covered in a gray plastic sheet and as her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she realized she was in an unfamiliar room with metal slabs and strange tools on a table next to her.

"Where am I?" she wondered aloud as a door slid open and someone stepped into the room. A woman whose brown hair was done up in a beehive hairdo and thick glasses stepped inside and it took Kirika a moment to recognize her as Sakurai Ryoko, her math teacher. On her part, Ryoko stared at Kirika, her jaw dropping in surprise at the sight of her student.

"Sensei, what are you doing here? What's going on?" she said, startling her teacher who was in the middle of putting on some latex gloves. The latter stared at her for a moment before she stepped over to a nearby speaker and tapped a button on it.

"Gen-chan? Our dead student has just come back to life. You'd better come and bring some clothes for her," Ryoko said in an amazingly calm manner and only now did Kirika notice that she was naked. She let out a startled yelp and wrapped the plastic sheet around her.

While she was doing this, she noticed a strange scar on her chest, shaped like a stylized 'f' and memories of her being stabbed by the strange humanoid flooded her mind.

Just what in the world was going on right now?