Beep beep. Beep beep.

Click.

A small hand tapped the button of the round, light blue alarm clock, and a young girl the age of sixteen with long black hair sat up from her bed and stretched. She looked out her window with bright gray eyes with a smile on her face.

A pair of birds flew across her view. "It's going to be another good day, she said hopefully.

She stood up and changed into her uniform. It was a very similar green uniform to what her mother had once worn, although she needed a slightly bigger top than she did. Then, stepping in front of the mirror, she tied a pair of tiny bobbles to her hair to form little pigtails.

She turned to her side table, where on its top was a picture of Shana in her black cape, Yuji in his gray long coat, and Hecate in her Priestess garb. "Good morning Mom, Dad, Aunt Hecate, wherever you are. I'll be going now."

She smiled at the image and grabbed her bag as she walked out the door.

Retrace Chapter: The World of Yukari Sakai

"Good morning Grandma. Good morning Aunt Yumiko," the girl said with all cheer as she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning Yukari," Yumiko replied. She was at least twenty years old now, and she matured quite beautifully. She had the body of an athlete, slim at the waist, yet broad at the shoulders. Her hair was long and dark, tied in a ponytail, and she wore a plain white T-shirt and jeans.

Saying nothing else and sparing only a glance to her brother's daughter, she sipped her coffee and continued to read the morning paper.

"Good morning Yuka-chan," said the girl's grandmother, Chigusa Sakai. Many years had passed, but it seemed like she only aged by a few years since her daughter was born. Her never losing her inner youthfulness throughout the years may have been the reason for it. She poured some tea for her dear granddaughter.

"Thanks Grandma," Yukari said as she took a seat. "Smells delicious."

"It was your Aunt Wilhelmina's special blend," Chigusa said. For a moment, her expression seemed to betray a feeling of sadness, but she smiled again and made it seem as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly, loud ringing came from Yumiko's pocket. The young woman stood up, laid her paper on her seat, took the phone out and flipped its folding keypad open as she brought it to her head, all in one deft motion.

"Trouble?" she responded, then nodded to no one physically present. "Alright, I'll be there in five minutes. Don't let anyone get hurt this time while you hold them off until then."

She turned to her family. "Sorry, but I've got work to do," she said.

"Be safe dear," Chigusa responded.

Yumiko nodded. As she strode out, she grabbed a dark crimson long coat from a rack, the uniform of the special police and donned it. She also picked up an elegantly shaped naginata propped on the wall close by.

"She's so cool," Yukari said as she watched her aunt with admiration. I wonder how much cooler my Dad or Mom was.

"You better hurry up and eat Yuka-chan, or you'll be late for school," Chigusa gently reminded.

Realizing she had been staring, Yukari blinked and quickly got to eating her lettuce, egg and bread breakfast.

On the way to her school, the very same school her parents had once been students at, she encountered a tall, hulking beast with large horns and a horse's face, large eyes of blue and yellow, with dark skin and a long blonde mane.

Wearing the same green school uniform.

"Good morning Altessa-chan," Yukari said cheerfully as she came up to her.

"Hey Yukari," the young Denizen, for indeed, she was a Crimson Denizen, replied as she continued up the road with her friend. "Did you see it last night?"

"Yeah, that blonde Flame Haze guy was pretty cool, but I don't really like how he flirts with all those women," said Yukari.

"At least he's confident and strong," said Altessa. "My dad says that those are important qualities for any Flame haze or Crimson Denizen."

Yukari giggled.

"…and so, every monster humankind has ever made legends out of, from fairies to werewolves to the Lochness monster, were either Rinne or their Crimson Denizen masters," said a red-haired lamia wearing a formal teaching jacket over her rather voluptuous upper body standing before her class, which was composed of mostly humans, but here and there were a few creatures either oddly-shaped, or human looking yet with unnatural colors.

"My mom kept telling me that she was always being called a yuki-onna," a pale-skinned girl with long, pure white hair whispered to Yukari beside her. "And dad married her before he even knew what she really was, because she was so pretty."

"I'd say you take after her, Sayo" Yukari whispered in reply. "Too bad those human girls are jealous of you."

Her white friend bowed her head a bit. "I think it may be for a different reason," she said. "But I don't care about them. The one whose opinion matters though…" She glanced at a black haired boy napping at the back of her class. All too quickly, red spots appeared on her cheeks.

Yukari giggled. "I'll be rooting for you," she said.

"Teach, what about Bigfoot?" one energetic looking boy said. "He said he saw it once when he was a kid travelling abroad."

The lamia Denizen looked at him with a smirk. "He's just a guy in a suit," she said. "Although the Yeti is a different story, he was one of the more terrible Denizens, like the one the humans know as Mothman or the one called Chupacabra…"

When class ended and the students were allowed their lunch break, the young people brought their desks together in their own respective groups. As it was with everywhere else in the school, only a few humans mingled among young Crimson Denizens, but most stuck with their own species. Yukari was one of those who did not care at all whether she was with humans or with Denizens. To her, people were people regardless.

As she sat, drinking from her juice box, she overheard a human female classmate with light brown hair speak.

"Boy, was my dad shocked when he found out that all those UFO sightings he heard about were actually some Unrestricted Method or Hougu in action," she said, then laughed.

"That's nothing!" said a tall boy with an athletic build. "My grandad absolutely freaked when he found out that Superman was an actual Crimson Denizen, and Lex Luthor was a real Flame Haze in the 1930s. Although they both got killed pretty quick since they liked being flashy. Served as good inspiration for some writers though."

"Dad…" Yukari muttered to herself softly amid the laughter around her.

"Yukari, you alright?" Sayo asked her friend. "You're making that face again."

Yukari smiled quickly and shook her head. "It's nothing, really," she said.

"If I didn't know any better, she's missing her dad," said a girl with brown curly hair and a beauty mark under one eye. She didn't say it out of spite, but out of genuine concern.

"Oh, yeah," Altessa said as she patted her friend's head softly. "He disappeared when you were born right."

"Alty!" Sayo exclaimed at the huge Denizen girl. But Yukari raised her hand to stop her.

"No no, it's fine, really," she said.

Her human female friend hugged her. "Yukari-chan, we're some of the few people who know your dad really was that Yuji Sakai, and not just someone who coincidentally has the same name," she said. "But just because we keep that secret for you doesn't mean we don't want to help you."

"Thanks Mayuki, but really, I'm okay," Yukari said, obviously forcing herself to keep smiling. "I'm happy already, having friends like you."

Her three friends could say no more, but they continued to look at their friend with concern.

After school, the four girls parted ways. Mayuki took Sayo to a beauty parlor, Yukari and Altessa respectfully declined, and travelled home together. On the way, they passed by a vendor on the street, and Yukari noticed one particular product in his inventory.

"Mom's favorite food," she said, not hesitating to buy two pieces of melon bread and eating them as they traveled.

They passed by a towering building, the biggest structure in Misaki City, so tall it seemed to try and pierce the heavens. It was the headquarters of the company once owned by Ike and his father, now named Giralda Inc.

"The symbol of sacrifice," Yukari said as she looked at the logo with its cross-shaped emblem.

"I'll have to study really hard if I want to work here," Altessa said beside her. "They have high standards, but they don't care whether you're human or Denizen, unlike most places."

Yukari smiled at her friend. "But at least some companies really look for Denizens, especially those who could come up with useful Unrestricted Methods."

They continued on their path. "Speaking of which, can you tutor me sometime on that?" Altessa asked. "Although I find it very ironic that though you can't use Power of Existence at all, you do really well at that subject."

Yukari smiled and closed her eyes. "Principles of Unrestricted Methods," she said and shook her head. "I wonder how hard it was to get that into the curriculum. It's still very useful though, even for us humans." She opened her eyes. "Chancellor Leanan-sidhe said that my dad was a natural with Unrestricted Methods. Maybe I got it from him."

After that, her smile softened, and she bit into her melon bread again.

"With neither the East International Crimson Senate nor the Allied Nations taking action as of yet, the Loyalist and Ultranationalist parties of Soviet Russia continue to take their battles steadily towards Moscow…"

As Yukari listened to the news, she watched as a Flame Haze used a large shield-like Unrestricted Method to deflect every bullet, rocket or artillery shell coming his way as he charged along with several men wielding AK-47s. Suddenly, he and his spell was blown away by a glowing missile of yellow flame from a Denizen on the other side of the battlefield. Soon after, another Flame Haze who stood beside the Denizen unleashed a stampede of glowing white horses at his foes.

"Girls, dinnertime," Chigusa called her daughter and granddaughter from the kitchen.

As the three women of the Sakai household ate dinner together, Yumiko, wearing just a plain shirt and jeans again, didn't say a word. As usual, it was up to Yukari to get her to talk.

"So, what was the big emergency this time?" she asked.

"A couple of human men tried to use some Unrestricted Method device to break into the Grid and steal the power source," Yumiko answered informatively. "Not the first time it's happened, the power sources are extremely powerful and dangerous, and that makes them valuable as well."

"They're also something special your brother left behind for everyone," Chigusa said. Yumiko nodded.

"How did it go?" Yukari asked.

"Not so rough, although a rookie almost got himself killed, if I didn't come in time to take down the perpetrators," said Yumiko. "They have to learn to stop playing hero and just hold them off until someone from the special police arrives."

"Haven't you ever thought that they're just jealous?" Yukari said.

"Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, they shouldn't keep trying to do it if they value their lives."

"At least you weren't hurt," said Chigusa. "Even better, no one was. And I find that to be most important right now."

Yumiko sipped her drink and swallowed. "But if we don't find a way to stop these attempted raids completely, someone soon will," she said.

After a bath, Yukari returned to her room, lit only by her bedside lamp. Although much of her room was filled with cute stuffed toys, a map of Misaki City hung over her bed. It had once been her father's room, in her father's house, until he was her age. Changing into her pajamas, she plopped onto her bed with a soft thud with little ceremony.

She picked up the picture on her sidetable. "Who would have ever thought that everyone could be like this together. Too bad you couldn't see how much the world has changed from your time," she said.

She returned the picture. "Goodnight Dad, goodnight Mom, goodnight Aunt Hecate," she said softly. "I still hope I can meet you someday. Until then, wherever you are, please keep doing your best. I love you."

With that, she turned off her light.

Author's Note:

Everything you know is WROOOOOONG!

XD

Surprised? Hope you'll enjoy the next chapters to come.