"Nnngh..."

Cold. Cold cold cold. Koishi felt like she'd just been hauled out of the ocean, her clothes clinging to her skin. She shivered as she held her bedsheets close, groaning beneath her breath.

She'd had a strange dream. A wish from the shrine, creatures from the deep, a magical ring, and...she didn't like thinking about the part where she turned into a magical girl. It had felt so real, but it couldn't have happened - maybe it was a hallucination? Maybe she had a fever.

"Yeah, that makes sense..."

In that case, the best solution would be some more rest. Koishi laid her head down on the pillow again and relaxed, waiting to drift off to sleep once again. Getting sick was pretty handy for her - it meant that she wouldn't have to go into school tomorrow, and she'd get to avoid Cirno and her gang for a whole day.

"...Hey. You awake yet?"

These hallucinations were more believable than she thought. That one sounded just like someone was sitting next to the bed, talking to her. But that was impossible - she never had visitors. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put a face to it.

"I heard you mumbling to yourself. Rise and shine, okay?"

The voice was getting more irritated. She'd heard it last night - yesterday? This morning? She didn't know what time it was right now. Whatever time it was, she wanted the voice to leave her alone for now.

For all these hallucinations floating around, the pillow that slammed into her face felt incredibly real.

"Ow!"

It didn't hurt much, but it was enough to get Koishi to wake up. She sat upright in bed, clutching at her nose with a groan.

"Morning, sleepyhead! You're lucky you had your address down in your wallet, or I'd have had to leave you on the pier."

The voice sounded a lot more cheerful now that Koishi had woken up in full. It annoyed her that she couldn't place it - it wasn't a classmate, but who else could it be? The only other voice she'd heard recently was in that dream of hers, the one from the dol-

Oh, god.

She didn't want to open her eyes. She had a horrible feeling that if she did, she'd see something ridiculous again. It would just be a good idea to lie down and go back to sleep...

"Do I need to throw something else at you?"

Apparently she was going to be barraged with household objects until she woke up. May as well take the plunge now rather than later, then. She counted to three in her head, then opened her eyes wide.

Another girl was sitting in the chair at her side, looking down on her with dark blue eyes. Her shirt had an odd bubble pattern running along its sleeves, and her skirt was dripping onto the carpet. She was soaked just like Koishi was, but she didn't seem to mind.

For a while, it didn't seem all that bad. She wasn't one of those weird fish-things from before, at least. Her hair was strange, true - a shade of silver, just like hers - and her outfit was a little eccentric, but she didn't have scales or anything else freaky like that. She could deal with odd hair and fashion sense.

Then the girl turned her head slightly, and Koishi saw the fin sticking out of her back.

"Ah-"

Koishi's cry caught in her throat as she promptly fainted.

She awoke more violently the next time around, as a bucket of water was dropped on her face.

"Don't collapse on me again, please. I need to talk to you about a ton of stuff, and it's sorta hard to do that when you're unconscious."

She didn't sound angry, in spite of what her language would have suggested. Apparently having a legitimate reason to drop a bucket of water on someone's face was enough to entertain this girl. Koishi spluttered momentarily, but she was definitely awake this time.

"Good, you're gonna stay up this time," the girl said, smiling. "Nice to meet you...Koishi-san, wasn't it? At least, that was what you called yourself during the fight."

So the fight had happened. Koishi felt an urge to curl up in shame.

"Uh, yeah. Koishi Komeiji. But..."

This was not the time for names. This girl was not normal. No matter how much she tried, Koishi couldn't look away from what was coming out of the girl's back.

"Please tell me I am seeing things and that you do not have a fin."

The girl looked back on herself, like she didn't understand what Koishi was talking about. She made a little 'oh' sound as she put two and two together.

"Yeah, that's a bit of a nuisance. I'm not exactly undercover right now, so I didn't see any point in hiding it. After all, you know who I am, right?"

Koishi struggled for a response for a few seconds.

"Um...not really. Unless you want me to say 'a magical dolphin who saved my life'. And I really don't want to say that."

The dolphin leaned across the bed, her face wearing an absurd-looking smile.

"Aw, why not? You know I'm adorable. I can see it in your eyes - you just wanna give your friend Sango a big hug and tell her what a great person she is, right?"

"Not really."

Silence. Sango pouted.

"...Oh. Well, I'm sure we'll get to know each other a lot better. We've got a lot of work to do together, after all!"

Sango raised her arms into the air in celebration. She acted younger than she looked - and she looked around Koishi's age.

"Um...what work?"

Koishi still had no idea what was going on here. Sango frowned at her.

"I was about to get to that! Jeez, I figured you Sirens would be a little more patient."

Another term that Koishi didn't recognise. This definitely wasn't a hallucination now - even if her brain was going haywire, it would still make more sense than this.

"A siren? What, were you that desperate to wake me up?"

"No, silly, I'm talking about you. See that gem you have over there? That's proof that you're a Siren."

Sango pointed to the desk next to Koishi's bed. Turning to it, Koishi saw that sitting on top of it was the orange jewel from earlier. The one that she'd...

"That gem is what we call a Tidal Teardrop. Long story behind 'em, but for now let's just say they're what let you go super-powered in that fight earlier."

Koishi picked the Teardrop up. It glistened slightly, letting off the same beautiful tint it had earlier.

"There are seven Teardrops in total, and they're all hidden in the hearts of girls in this city. They get released when you make a wish from the bottom of your heart. That make sense?"

She remembered the shrine. The wish she'd made to find someone who would look after her. Had Sango appeared to grant that wish...? Koishi nodded, putting together what had been said so far.

"Why 7 in particular?"

"Hell if I know. Magic just seems to like certain numbers for some reason. Don't ask me, I just work here."

Sango shrugged, sighing in preparation for what she had to say next.

"Now, this is where things get a little weird, so bear with me, okay? I want you to start by looking down on yourself."

Koishi stared blankly at Sango for a moment, but eventually she complied and pulled the covers away.

"What the-?"

Something was running across her body - a series of purple cords travelling along her legs and coming to an end at her chest. A dark blue sphere was attached to them, centred over where Koishi's heart was. An eyelid hung shut on it, and it didn't look set to open any time soon.

How could she have missed this? It was connected to her body in four, five different places, but she couldn't feel it at all. It was like it had always been a part of her-

"Wait. No, that's impossible..."

Sango smiled.

"I'm not introducing you to any new world, Koishi-san. I'm just helping you see what's already there."

"This is gonna be a lot for you to take in, I figure. The world runs on science and logic nowadays, so how am I supposed to tell you that the old fairy tales you heard as a kid were real? No human would believe those stories nowadays - and that's exactly why magic doesn't 'exist' in the human world."

Sango had stood up, walking to and fro like a lecturer. Koishi could see a definite spring in her step as she told the story.

"See, if you think magic exists, it does. If you don't, it doesn't. You humans aren't actually seeing the world for what it is - a zany, magical land where everyone got some sorta superpower or secret ability. You've all got crazy hair, crazy eyes - sometimes even weird stuff like that third eye of yours. Of course, no-one ever realises this 'cause no-one believes in magic anymore."

Koishi raised her hand, puzzled.

"Hair? You mean, people having blue hair for no reason and not being aware of it?"

Sango stopped her monologue, taken aback by Koishi's question.

"W-Well, yeah, pretty much. How'd you know that?"

"I, uh, sort of see it sometimes. People with weird strands of hair that no-one else seems to notice...is that normal?"

Sango bit her lip, which was enough to tell Koishi the answer was a definite 'no'.

"OK, that's not the sort of thing I got briefed about, so I'm gonna just have to say I have no idea what's going on there. Anyway, back to what I can tell you."

She went back to her lecturing strides, trying to act as if that little blip in her knowledge had never happened.

"So there's two ways for humans to realise magic exists - either believe it whole-heartedly, or basically have undeniable evidence thrown in your face. The former's kinda too much to ask nowadays, so it's the latter that makes people really take notice. It's also kinda what happened when you saw those fishmen and I bailed you out and all."

Koishi suddenly realised she'd never offered thanks to Sango for her help earlier, and immediately she felt guilty for having forgotten.

"Um. You saved me from those...whatever they were. Thank you, Sango-san."

"No problem. Anyway, the other thing people don't realise about the world is that there are people around them who've been aware of the truth the whole time."

Koishi raised an eyebrow. "You don't mean wicca folk and stuff like that, do you?"

Sango sighed, pointing to her fin again.

"Here's a hint."

Koishi stared at the fin while her brain processed the question. Her jaw slowly opened.

"You don't mean...animals, do you?"

"Yup. Most people would just think I was a dolphin - kinda smart, but not as smart as one of you. How wrong can you get, huh?"

Sango smirked, taking a proud stance and looking dramatically into the distance. It was clearly meant to impress, but Koishi disregarded it entirely.

"So, we animals are in two minds when it comes to you humans. Most of us think things are fine the way they are, and that humans are best kept in the dark in terms of the whole magic deal. Humans are already volatile enough creatures as it is, so giving them all that power is basically begging for trouble.

"But that's not how all of us think. Some creatures - well, youkai as you'd call us - figure that giving power back to humanity will be a good thing. Not because it'll help the race, but because it'll be exactly what wipes mankind off the map. They call themselves the Children of the Black Claw, and they're the ones who tried to kill you."

Koishi frowned. This was all getting horribly complicated...it was hard enough for her to take in that magic existed in the first place, let alone that every animal she'd ever met was at least as smart as she'd ever been. Now Sango was starting to delve into magical politics, and Koishi's head was really hurting.

"Again, I'm not gonna go into detail about how it works, but the Claw wants to get hold of those Teardrops. With the power they could get from those, they could do practically anything they liked - natural catastrophes, mass mind-control, and even go so far as forcing mankind to accept the existence of magic. I assume you agree with me that these are all bad things?"

Koishi nodded without even needing to think it over. Sango smiled.

"So that's why there's another sect designed to stop the Claw from collecting the Teardrops. We're here to defend the Sirens, recover the artifacts, and stop them from falling into the wrong hands. There aren't many of us, but we're well trained and fully-devoted."

She bowed gracefully, to the extent that it was almost parody.

"And so it's with great pleasure that I offer my services to you as Sango Tororetsu: Initiate of the Order of the White Pearl, and your new personal bodyguard."

"Think you can understand all of that?"

Koishi took a moment to think it all over, but eventually she nodded. So basically there were bad guys who wanted to use that teardrop to take over the world, and Sango was here to protect her? That made sense.

"So, um. How long do we have to wait before they stop looking for the Teardrops?"

Sango's face fell.

"Wait? We're not going to wait for them to get bored, Koishi. We've got to go at there and find the other Teardrops before they do! True, they won't get all seven, but even four or five in their hands is really dangerous!"

Now this part Koishi didn't like. Her voice grew a little more flustered as she began to question the dolphin.

"W-Well, can't you just wait for them to make their wish or whatever, and save them like you saved me?"

"I can't be responsible for all of the Sirens at once. If I go out of my way to save someone else, that would leave you in danger, Koishi-san. And like I said, there aren't many of us in the Order - I'm pretty much the only agent they could send to look out for you in person."

Koishi was starting to tremble a little now.

"But...that means we'd need to fight again."

Sango shrugged.

"Probably. The Claw isn't gonna sit on its heels and wait for the Sirens to wake up, either - they'll get lackeys to do the work for them, force them to embrace the truth. Other girls who they lure into servitude with promises of power. Girls your age. Hell, maybe even girls you went to class with this very morning."

Koishi fell silent. Her eyes started to water a little, and she sank back into her bedcovers. Her heart was pounding with fear just at the thought of going through another fight like that again - it had been adrenaline alone that guided her through her battle against the fishmen, and now she was being asked to fight people she knew? People she'd gone to school with her whole life? It was too much, far too much.

"I...I don't want to fight."

The dolphin sighed.

"Koishi. I know it's scary, but I'm counting on you to-"

"You don't get it! I can't help you, Sango-san!"

Koishi burst out at Sango, raising her voice to a shout for the first time in the discussion. Sango stepped backwards, mouth hanging open.

"You've got the wrong girl here. I'm no hero, okay? I can't go out there and beat people up and fight for love and justice or whatever it is you want me to do. I can't even stand up to one girl my age, so how do you expect me to take on this whole magical-animal-cult-thing!"

Koishi pulled the covers over her head, slumping down into bed again. Sango bit her lip - she hadn't just struck a nerve, she'd stabbed a knife through it and run all the way along.

"Koishi-san...don't say stuff like that. You saw what you did to those fish-freaks, didn't you? You beat the crap out of them!"

"What if I just got lucky? And besides, it's only going to get harder from here, right?"

Sango couldn't answer that one, and bit her lip as she tried to come up with a response. There wasn't much she could do, though - if Koishi wasn't going to accept that she'd managed to succeed, Sango could hardly convince her to change her mind after knowing her for all of an hour.

"Take that Teardrop, and give it to someone else, okay?" Koishi said, her voice tiny now. "Just act like I never had it."

Koishi pulled the pillow over her head, effectively ending the conversation on her part. Sango bit her lip, wishing she could do more here - she wasn't willing to give up on Koishi, especially after that show she'd put on. She wouldn't admit it herself, but Koishi had kicked some serious...wait, fish didn't really have rears, did they? Anyway, she was incredibly strong for a beginner. She had potential, and it might just be enough to get the White Pearl through this war. But the problem now was making her want to fight - no, making her think she could fight.

"...Maybe I should leave this to someone who knows you better."

Koishi barely heard her from beneath the pillow, and her words didn't make any sense anyway. She heard Sango walk towards the doorway.

"I'll be hanging around for a while, so feel free to think this over. Later."

She made her way out of the room, leaving the door open behind her. Maybe she was waiting until Koishi calmed down? If that was the case, it wouldn't work - nothing that girl said would change her mind, come hell or high water.

She heard Sango's voice from the hallway, aimed at someone else entirely.

"You two can see her now. Hopefully she won't be too surprised."

Two voices let out little yelps of joy at that one. Koishi was confused - who on earth would be wanting to visit her at a time like this? She still didn't have any friends who'd have a reason to visit, and the only living things that stayed here besides her were Rin and Utsuho-

Wait.

She pulled her thoughts back to what Sango had told her earlier - animals were part of the magical world as well. So...did that mean...?

"K...Koishi-sama?"

A new voice entered the room, asking after her with concern. It was joined by a second, more aggressive one soon after.

"Nyaah! Outta the way, outta the way! I can't get in with you blocking the doorway like that!"

There was a sound of someone being pushed, and two shouts as the newcomers tumbled onto the floor in a heap. Koishi was torn between looking over the edge of the bed and confirming her fears and holding this pillow down for just long enough to suffocate herself. Survival instinct won in the end, however, and she satisfied her curiosity.

Two young girls were looking back up at her - one with a pair of raven's wings emerging from her back, and the other sporting a set of feline ears. There was no doubt about it - these were the pets she'd looked after since she was a child, except they'd apparently been a lot more intelligent than she'd previously imagined.

There was an awkward silence as the pets prepared to speak with their master for the first time.

"Uh...hi?"