The atmosphere was peaceful and quiet, the lampposts remained to light up the darkest night, and many trees were planted around the area. On this very chilly night, one wooden bench was occupied by a single person.

A high school girl was sitting down on the empty bench, she looked down on the ground and seemed to be thinking something that kept her worrying for the whole day.

Clenching both her hands into fists, her thoughts were occupied with a certain person, smiling in her memory. She chuckled at these thoughts and continued to look down in sadness.

She can feel the wind blowing into her bare skin, she can feel the chills but she quietly ignored it.

When she thought she was all alone, the footsteps can be heard from the distance, the footsteps draw closer and closer until it finally stops.

Her teal eyes met with the stranger's eyes, she doesn't have the right words to talk to the person properly.

"What's wrong? You seemed to be down." The person asked.

"I-It's nothing..."

"Saying that won't fool me, I have met some people like you before."

She gasped but she decided to let the stranger continue talking, she didn't expect the stranger to swiftly sit next to her before continuing their conversation.

"Is it perhaps, you get attacked by the Noise? Have you had issues with your family or friends? Or, did you encounter something strange?" The stranger asked several questions to the girl, her tone was very energetic like her.

"No..."

"Do you have a problem with your school life?"

"No..."

"Let's see...Ah! Did you have any personal problems?"

"NO..." The teen was almost on a breaking point.

"Um...Are you having problems with-"

"ENOUGH!"

The stranger backed off from the girl's sudden hostility, it's like they never met anyone who was angrier than anyone they met. It took a couple of seconds for the girl to realize what she did, she widened her eyes and gasped in shock.

"I-I'm sorry! It's just..."

"I was very anxious about my recent situation with my friend and ever since that disaster happened, I started having nightmares about her getting killed..."

"I don't know if...She can go home and greet me with a smile..."

The girl started sobbing and covered her face with her hands, she was comforted by the stranger. In response, the stranger stood up from the seat and looked at the girl, which made her stop crying for a while.

"What does she do when she leaves home? Don't worry, if it's something that isn't supposed to be revealed in public, I won't force you."

This takes 5 minutes for her to answer "...It's okay, I'll tell you." She clears her throat before telling the stranger the truth.

"Hibiki Tachibana...She was the person I was waiting for."

"Wait a minute...Isn't that the girl who ended up becoming a scapegoat after the Zwei Wing concert?" The stranger interrupted and asked.

"Yes...2 years after the incident, things got even more dangerous, she dons an armor capable of defeating the Noise, and when I learned what she was doing, I ran away because she broke the promise by keeping this a secret but we managed to reconcile after that."

"As time passes by, the situation gets even worse than it ever was, and the most dangerous one is the moment I will never forget..."

"Let me guess, is it the recent situation the world has experienced?"

She nodded "Correct. I would never forget it because my best friend risked her life just to save my life, and in the end, Hibiki and her new friends saved the world."

"She was always like that, risking her life to save anyone in need, going as far as to get herself killed just to save the world, while I'm standing there, waiting for her to come home...

After hearing her story, the stranger knows what it feels like despite not having a similar situation as hers.

The stranger touched her shoulder and removed her hands from her face, making eye contact again with her teal eyes, to the girl's surprise, the stranger touched her shoulder gently.

"Let me ask: What's the most important thing for you?"

"The most important thing for me?"

"Yes. My father told me that ever since I was young, I kept this in my heart ever since."

This person may not know her very well but it seems like they understand her situation. In return for understanding her situation, the girl slowly answered the stranger's question...

"I..."

"Want her to become her sunshine, because Hibiki always considers me as her sunshine!"

Everything broke into silence once she finally told them about their most important thing for them, then the stranger started speaking after a few seconds.

"I see...That was your important thing to do." The stranger responded "Listen, if you want to become her sunshine, give yourself a boost of confidence, plus, give her the warmth and comfort she needed."

"But how can I do that? It's not like I can give myself some confidence."

"Good question." The stranger pulls a purple lipstick from their bag, and pulls off the cap, much to her surprise. And they applied lipstick on her smooth lips "If you need a boost of confidence, put on this lipstick, it will surely help you."

Next, the stranger shows the hand mirror right in front of her, it shows the face of the girl. Her short black hair and teal eyes stand out quite a bit, the only thing that stands out the most is her purple lips.

"How was it?"

"My face, it stands out with my lipstick, I feel confident when I put it on."

"Told you! I-"

The stranger was interrupted when their phone rang out of nowhere, they took the phone from their pocket and checked it.

"Oh no, I am going to be late! I'm sorry, I have to go but I will introduce myself first!"

"My name is Manatsu Natsumi, what about you?" The stranger, who was a woman in her 30s, introduced herself as Manatsu.

"Miku...Miku Kohinata." She introduced herself with a gentle voice.

"Miku-chan, that sounds like a cute name." Manatsu complimented her.

"A-Arigato..." She looks away from her a little bit.

"Now we know each other's names, I guess I will see you again. And oh, come visit me at the 21st Street Apartment Building, Room 130 if you need help and also, don't forget to make your life tropica-shining!"

"Ok, that's all Miku-chan, I will be looking forward to meeting you, bye-bye!"

With things finally settled down, Manatsu quickly left the area, leaving with Miku, now confident thanks to Manatsu's help and the lipstick.

Wait, the lipstick! Oh, nevermind, Manatsu seems to have a lot and she gives away one lipstick for free on purpose.

Smiling while looking at the sky, Miku held the lipstick tightly and with her newfound confidence, she quietly muttered...

"Thank you, Manatsu..."

And left the place as well.

Manatsu POV:

Crap! I forgot that I will meet up with Laura in my room! I sprinted my way towards my apartment since it's not that very far. I kept thinking about her until I realized something. Who texted me when Laura didn't have her phone?!

Wait, don't tell me...

While waiting for the pedestrian lane, I quickly pulled out my phone and opened the messages, it didn't take me that long to see my recent message.

To my shock, it was my neighbor, Chris! But it's odd, the way she speaks with me is different, the text says:

"Manatsu! I have arrived at your apartment, but you never told me that someone is inside! – From Laura P.S: She saw my mermaid form."

And the realization came on me...

I HAVE CHRIS-CHAN WATCHING MY APARTMENT WITHOUT LAURA KNOWING! AND WORSE, SHE SAW LAURA'S MERMAID FORM!

Laura borrows Chris-chan's phone to tell me she's here, I shouldn't tell Chris-chan to watch my apartment but I'm scared that my place will probably get robbed by thieves so I had no choice!

Why am I stupid?!

"WHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY?!"

3rd Person POV:

"I wonder why she is screaming about..." Sango sweatdropped while watching Manatsu lowering her head in defeat.

"I will have to guess, she had someone watching over her apartment while she was gone. And Laura came here and ended up getting spotted by the said person." Minori said.

"That is true, Manatsu-san had to ask Chris-senpai to watch over for safety." Shirabe told her.

"Should we tell her that we met her friends?" Kirika asked, looking at the women carrying half of their groceries.

Recently, Kirika and Shirabe were struggling to carry all the large groceries for Chris and Manatsu, luckily for them, three women came here to help them, and it turns out they're going to Manatsu's apartment as well.

"I don't think so because she already saw us..." Asuka points her finger at Manatsu, who immediately just noticed her friends' presence, but she continued to wail anyway.

"WHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY?!"

"Yeah, you may be right." Everyone except Asuka said in unison.