Author's Note:

-Don't worry, this is likely the only lengthy author's note you'll get from me (except maybe when this story is complete), but there's a few things I'd like to clarify before we start.

-+-This will be a serious story. Unlike the OVA this story is based on, which was bouncy, ridiculous, and over-the-top, this story (while it will have some levity) will be taken fairly seriously. Those of you looking for fluff, sorry, but this isn't it.

-+-We'll be working with visual novel Makoto, not anime Makoto. While Makoto in the visual novel (while still not being a great person) at least has some redeeming qualities depending on the path you take (in my opinion, anyway), anime Makoto has none of those (again, my opinion). Thus, Makoto will be far from the best protagonist you'll ever meet, but hopefully you'll still be able to, if not like him, at least understand him. On that note, several other characters will also be changed for the better- Taisuke's perverted characteristics will be toned down, Kotonoha will both be more mentally stable and have a backbone, etc.

-+-There will be no lemons, or even limes. To the horny readers out there, sorry, but this will be nothing like the visual novel or the anime in terms of that content. The most you'll get is probably some nudity and/or kissing (and I'll try to keep it T rated).

-+-This story is rated T for violence, nudity, and suggestive dialogue. If you cannot handle these things, this story probably isn't for you.

-+-Thoughts are italicized quotes. "They'll look like this."

-+-I do not own either the visual novel or the anime. 0verflow and TNK do, respectively.

-With all that out of the way, let's get started, and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: Life Gets Derailed

"Unless someone makes the first move, nothing will happen."

-Tsugumi Ohba, Death Note

Whenever Makoto took the train to the prestigious Sakakino High School, he always sat facing the doorway, two benches away from the front of the car, fourth train car from the rear. If anyone asked why, he either shrugged it off or talked about the fabulous view of the river he got every morning, which convinced most people. However, there was another reason for his tradition, one he didn't share with anybody.

That reason was Kotonoha Katsura, a beautiful girl who happened to take the same train as Makoto to school. After about a week of investigation, Makoto had realized that she always sat with her back to the door, two benches away from the front of the car, fourth train car from the rear. The two of them had never talked since she always brought a book for the train ride there and Makoto usually had headphones in, but with any luck, that was about to change.

With some encouragement from his best friend Taisuke, Makoto had mustered the willpower to finally attempt to start a conversation with Kotonoha. What the outcome of that conversation would be was murky- for all Makoto knew, the two of them had nothing in common. But at least he would have tried, which was better than the alternative of merely watching her from afar and hoping for something romantic to happen. (He had more than enough experience with that in junior high, it never worked.)

The train began to slow, with the conductor announcing, "We are now arriving at the Haramihama Station. If this is your stop, please be respectful to boarding passengers as you exit."

Makoto's heart jumped in his chest. This was Kotonoha's stop- the moment had arrived.

After what felt like an eternity, the train came to a smooth stop and the doors slid open. Makoto looked outside a little too eagerly, trying to catch a glimpse of Kotonoha. The cluster of passengers on the platform was too large for him to easily see through it, but Makoto's heart rate soared upon realizing Kotonoha was not in her usual spot.

Two businessmen, along with a mother and her young daughter, exited the train. They were quickly replaced by a male classmate Makoto couldn't name off the top of his head, a group of four senior citizens, and a boy who barely looked old enough to have graduated from elementary school, much less be traveling on his own. Several of the other passengers boarded, but there was still no sign of Kotonoha.

After the tensest sixty seconds Makoto had ever gone through in his life, the doors slid closed and the train lurched forward once more. This time, without Kotonoha.

Makoto groaned internally. "Go figure," he thought. "Right when I'm finally ready to speak to her, she doesn't show up."

As the train leveled off at its top speed, Makoto produced the headphones he always brought with him, plugged them in, and prepared for an uneventful remainder of the ride to school.

But before he could hear the first verse of his favorite song, an explosion rocked the train. Makoto was thrown from his seat as the train launched upward, crashing against the floor as the train began tipping sideways.

Then came the plunge, a free-falling sensation Makoto had heard about from some classmates who had ridden roller coasters but never expected to experience in real life. Weightlessness kicked in for a single, solitary moment as the passengers cried out in terror.

In what felt like an instant, the train crashed into the ground with an earth-shaking impact.

The passengers screamed.

Luggage that had fallen off the rack flew around the car.

The lights failed.

But just as quickly as it started, it stopped.

The screaming abruptly cut off. The luggage came to rest on the floor. The train stopped jolting around.

Makoto managed to get to his knees, then his feet. Miraculously, besides a nasty knock to the head from hitting the floor face-first, his headphones having been painfully wrenched from his ears, and a small cut from what was probably a flying shard of glass, he was unharmed. But when he took in his surroundings, he realized that most of the other passengers had not been so lucky.

Three of the four senior citizens who had just boarded the train lay on the floor in impossible positions, looking very, very dead. Their surviving counterpart, an old woman with a cane, had several pieces of glass stuck in her face and was moaning in pain. A young woman who had boarded the train alongside Makoto was writhing on the ground, her arm looking badly broken. Even the little boy hadn't been immune- he was screeching in agony as a deep purple bruise formed over his nose and a large gash beside his left ear began to drip blood.

Someone ran for the emergency exit and tried to force it open, but it was stuck shut and wouldn't budge no matter what he tried. Although, with half the train windows having broken in the explosion they didn't really need an emergency exit anyway. Makoto would have expected the conductor to have made an announcement by now to remain calm and stay in the train, but no such announcement had occurred- meaning either the intercom had been destroyed in the crash, or even worse, the conductor had been killed as well.

As Makoto glanced out the train window trying to figure out if exiting the train- or helping others do the same- made any sense, he caught movement in the corner of his eye. Initially, he shook it off as nothing more than a trick of the light- the area was too desolate and what he thought he'd seen too improbable. He held that belief until he saw it again, not ten seconds later. Darting to the window and carelessly sticking his head out of a hole in the glass for a better view, he was among the first to witness a sight both beautiful and terrifying.

Someone who appeared to be a girl about his age was hovering in the sky, defying just about everything Makoto had ever learned. While she was too far away for Makoto to see her face clearly, he could make out strands of pitch-black hair sneaking out from what appeared to be a blood-red hoodie. Not much of the hoodie could be seen, though- just about everything below the hood itself was concealed by a loose-fitting navy and gray outfit that covered the rest of her frame. When he tried to make out more about her, however, she appeared to start staring directly at him. Makoto gulped and ducked underneath the window, for he'd never been too comfortable with girls focusing on him, especially when they were able to fly.

A few seconds later, another loud explosion went off close by, followed by more screams cutting off. Above it all came an even more spine-chilling noise: the sound of laughter.

Makoto couldn't make sense of it. How did someone take such joy in this mindless destruction?

When he dared stick his head out the window again, the girl was no longer paying attention to him, instead choosing to fiddle with something in her hands, which were moving too fast for Makoto to see what she was doing with them. But the second she was finished, the girl noticed his head outside again. She flew in closer before throwing the thing she'd made in his direction.

"Crap," Makoto thought, "that can't be good."

Makoto didn't realize how accurately she'd thrown it until too late, when it caught him full in the face with a loud crunching noise and bounced off onto the ground. However, the second that he saw it hit the ground and figured out what it was, he ignored the nasty throbbing pain in his forehead and the mark that would definitely leave a bruise. He didn't even care that he probably had a black eye.

Instead, he yelled two words. "Get down!"

He and several others hit the floor just as the grenade went off, tipping the train car perilously to the side before it managed to right itself somehow. The chorus of screams started up again as Makoto began to seriously consider getting out of the train car and just running for it. If this girl had another grenade, everyone in the train car was dead.

And it looked like that outcome was fast approaching. Makoto's view from the floor was somewhat obstructed, but he could still figure out that the girl was building something once more. It wouldn't be a big stretch to assume that it was another grenade.

But before she could finish, something else flew into Makoto's line of sight, crashing into the girl and causing her to drop what she was making. Makoto braced for the explosion, but to his surprise (and joy), none came.

Makoto hadn't risked getting up yet, but that fast changed when a second girl, this one much younger, flew in front of the window. Unlike the other girl, who looked his age and had worn an outfit that didn't look too ridiculous to be seen wearing in public, this girl looked several years younger and was dressed like she'd just stepped out of a superhero cartoon. Except for the large yellow heart that covered most of her chest (and the small ones on both of her shoes), every part of her outfit was either white or some shade of pink- pink-and-white headband, pink-and-white dress, pastel pink leggings, even white shoes with pink bows.

Makoto saw her look inside the train car and try to give the passengers a winning smile. "Do not fear, Magical Heart is here! I've come to save you!"

"Not if I can help it," another voice said. Even though Makoto couldn't see who it was, the person it came from was pretty obvious, especially when said person proceeded to fly straight into the girl calling herself Magical Heart, knocking her both back and down before she was able to right herself.

Despite his fear, Makoto managed to get back to the window to watch the two of them fight. He would have cheered Magical Heart on but didn't want to draw any more attention to himself than he already had. However, based on the noises behind him, at the very least everyone in the train car had seen what he was doing and was following likewise.

After what felt like an eternity but probably wasn't longer than fifteen seconds, Magical Heart retaliated. She quickly pulled something from behind her back that appeared to be nothing more than a simple-looking plastic wand, a pink-and-white striped stick ending with a golden star surrounded by pink glitter. However, when she suddenly jolted said wand down, the other girl matched its motion, barely managing to pull up before she hit the ground. As she stabilized herself, she yelled, "Curse you, Magical Heart!"

"That won't happen on my watch, Doctor S," Magical Heart responded. She continued to wave the wand around, tossing the other girl (who presumably went by Doctor S) aimlessly through the sky as she screeched and shouted curses. Several cycles of being flung down and then back up later, she finally managed to get close enough to knock Magical Heart back, canceling out what she was doing but also stunning herself in the process.

They both recovered at about the same time, but before Magical Heart could close in on her to make a finishing blow, Doctor S zipped out of range, making a final vow as she did.

"This isn't over. And next time, this meeting will be on my terms."

With that, she flew away as fast as she could, leaving Magical Heart victorious and Makoto awestruck. Just ten short minutes ago, he had no idea people like those two even existed. But just like that, one of them had tried to kill them and the other one had most certainly saved his life.

Today had already secured its place as the most eventful day of Makoto's short life.

And it was only eight in the morning.