Prologue

He wouldn't stop, even if his legs couldn't take it anymore, he would keep going until he reached her, the GPS showed he was still at Danny's, he had to hurry, he had to get her out of that place before the space earthquake started.

—Kotori! Kotori! Kotori! Kotori!

He screamed her name at the top of her lungs, he couldn't afford to waste a second, her sister's life depended on it.

However...

—Darling!

A voice came from behind him, when he heard it, Shido stopped in place and turned around in one swift movement, discovering who it was.

—M-Miku?!

A deep fear formed inside him, she had followed him here, which meant she was in danger as well.

But before either of them could speak, the street in front of them was covered by a blinding light, followed by a deafening explosion and a fierce shockwave that pushed them both over.

Part 1

While rubbing their eyes, Shido and Miku slowly picked themselves up off the ground, if they hadn't covered themselves with their arms in time, they might have been blinded.

—E-eh?

When they saw the landscape stretching across their visions, they both let out a sound of astonishment.

How could they not, the street that was right in front of them moments ago, in the time they both had their eyes closed... had disappeared without a trace.

—Wh-what is this? What happened?

Shido muttered in a daze, it was as if a meteorite had crashed, no, in any case, it was as if everything on the ground had completely disappeared.

—D-Darling... W-why is she in this place?

With fear in her voice, Miku pointed a finger at the crater in front of them.

—What?

Due to the distance, he wasn't able to make out the small details, but he saw a shape that was something like a throne that a king from a movie would sit on.

However, that was not what Miku was referring to.

To the side of it, there was a girl with a strange dress, violet hair and violet eyes, who seemed to be resting her foot on the arm of the throne.

The girl casually scanned the area, suddenly turning to face Shido and Miku.

—Uhm...?

She saw them... it was most likely. They were too far away, so they couldn't know for sure.

While the pair was puzzled by this, the girl made another move.

She jumped on top of the throne and grabbed a handle coming out of the back of the throne, then slowly pulled it out.

It was... a huge sword, with a wide blade that emitted an illusory glow like a rainbow, or a star.

The girl shook the sword, leaving a faint trail of light.

And then...

The girl looked at the two and, with a burst, swung the sword hard horizontally.

—Darling, watch out!

Miku yanked Shido's arm, taking the latter by surprise.

Once he fell to the ground, Shido intended to ask Miku why she had done it, but the sound of destruction behind him made him realize what had just happened.

Wide-eyed, Shido turned his head back.

The houses, tents, trees, signs and other things behind him had, in an instant, been cut down to the same height.

—W-we have to get out of here, Darling!

Trembling from head to toe, Miku grabbed Shido's hand to run away from the place; however, when she looked back ahead, the girl who hadn't been there until a moment ago was in front of them, pointing her sword at them.

—You too...

Shido and Miku could not understand what she was saying, thinking clearly was not possible, the fear they felt was too much.

However, the girl narrowed her eyes immediately and looked away from both of them, turning and looking up at the sky.

And as if influenced by her, Miku and Shido looked up as well.

The pair's eyes widened even more than before, and their breaths caught in their throats.

After all, there was a group of humans wearing strange costumes flying in the sky and, on top of that, from the weapons in their hands, a large number of missile-like things were fired towards Miku, Shido and the girl.

Fearing for what might happen, Miku and Shido involuntarily closed their eyes; however, after a few seconds they both remained conscious and opened their eyes.

—Huh?

—W-why can she stop them?

Startled by what they were witnessing, they let their voice filter through.

The missiles that were launched from the sky hovered motionless in the air several meters above the girl, as if they were being stopped by invisible hands.

The girl let out an exasperated sigh.

—That sort of thing is useless. Why can't they understand?

Saying that, she raised the hand in which she was not holding the sword and closed it.

As he did so, the countless missiles crumpled as if compressed and exploded where they stood. Even the magnitude of the explosions were extremely small, it was as if all the power had been sucked inwards.

Shido and Miku could somewhat understand the confusion of the people flying in the air; however, the group did not stop their attack. One after another, missile after missile was fired.

—Hmpf.

The girl let out another small sigh and jumped, only to rise a second later to the same distance as the group of humans floating in the air.

—Disappear, disappear. Everyone and everything, just disappear!

As she said that, she launched several slashes at all the missiles coming in her direction, destroying them all at the same time and causing a chain reaction.

Even so, the missiles did not stop, the group of humans that remained in the air continued to attack her relentlessly.

—Haaaaa!

Tired of this, the girl waved her sword and generated two energy slashes against all her enemies.

The people flying in the air rushed to evade it, and retreated from their position. But in the next moment, from a different direction, a beam of light with tremendous power was shot towards the girl.

—¡...!

Shido and Miku involuntarily covered their eyes.

As expected, the beam of light hit an invisible wall on the girl's left side, and stopped; however, as if the beam had continued, something landed behind Shido and Miku.

The two turned around in order to find out who it was, but upon seeing her, both of their bodies stiffened.

She was wearing a machine, or something like it.

Covered from top to bottom in a strange bodysuit, there was a girl.

She was carrying large thrusters on her back, and a weapon in the shape of a golf bag in her hands.

The reason why both of their bodies froze was simple, they knew the girl.

—Tobiichi-san?

—Origami-chan?

The mechanical looking girl was their classmate, Tobiichi Origami.

—Itsuka Shido? Izayoi Miku?

Origami glanced at the two of them, and in response, said their names.

Even though she was surprised, her expression did not change in the slightest; however, her voice had a tone of bewilderment in it.

—You must leave this place, it's not safe.

After saying that, Tobiichi looked away from the two of them towards the girl in the dress.

After all...

—Fwph.

The girl swung her sword in the same manner as Origami before.

Origami kicked the ground, dodging the attack, and approached the girl at an incredible speed.

From the front of Origami's weapon, a sword of light had appeared.

Aiming at the girl, Origami waved that down with all her might.

—Ugh.

The girl frowned, parrying the blow with the sword in her hand.

While this was happening, Miku was looking for a place where they could hide; however, that was impossible, everything around them was completely destroyed. The only thing they could do was to run and get as far away from the area as they could.

—Darling, we have to take the opportunity Origami-chan gave us to...!

She interrupted what he was about to say, when she noticed that Shido was looking at the confrontation with attention, the curious thing was that he wasn't paying attention to Origami, but to his opponent, to the same girl that almost killed him minutes ago.

—Her gaze... Why is she making that kind of face?

Without taking his eyes off the battle, Shido mumbled.

Miku didn't understand what he was referring to, so without letting go of Shido's hand, she looked in the same direction he was looking.

And that's when she understood what Shido meant by those words.

The girl wore a melancholic expression on her face, she looked like she was going to cry at any moment.

—Darling... She...

Before Miku could tell him what she was thinking.

Origami was repelled, and for a moment, the two separated and looked at each other with their weapons at the ready.

Surrounding Shido and Miku, the unknown girl's and Origami's gazes mingled.

It really could be called a serious situation. They were in a state where it seemed that any minor provocation would cause the fight to resume immediately.

Miku and Shido, on the other hand, felt threatened.

With sweat forming on their foreheads, and now with the thought that they had to escape from this place, they slowly took a few steps back.

However, at that moment, both of their phones, which were tucked away in their pockets, suddenly started ringing with a cheerful melody.

—¡...!

—¡...!

That sound became a signal.

The girl and Origami jumped at the same time, colliding right in front of Shido and Miku.

—Gyaaaaaaaaahhh!

—Kyaaaaaaaaa!

Facing the overwhelming wind pressure, both of them were sent flying mercilessly, and fainted after colliding with the wall of a completely destroyed building.

Part 2

—Haa!

Shido came to his senses

—Uwahhh!

And he let out a loud scream.

Well, it was a normal thing to do. After all, a woman he didn't know was holding his eyelids open with her fingers, while shining light into his eyes with what appeared to be a small torch.

—You woke up.

The woman with a strangely sleepy face spoke in an indifferent, spaced-out voice.

She seemed to have been checking the movements of the unconscious Shido's eyes, so her face was unusually close. Shido could smell a faint fragrance, probably the scent of his shampoo.

—W-W-W-W-W-W-W-WHO ARE YOU?

The woman, still in a distracted state, lifted her body, pushing her fringes aside in a bored manner.

As a certain amount of distance was put between them, it was possible for her to see the woman's full view.

She wore what looked like a military uniform and was in her early twenties. Her messy hair, eyes decorated with thick circles under her eyes, and the scar-covered teddy bear, whose face was peeking out of the pocket of the military uniform for some reason.

—I am the Fraxinus Analysis Officer, Murasame Reine. Unfortunately, the Medical Officer is not here, but don't worry. Although I don't have a license, I can at least manage some simple care.

—Ehhh...

Shido couldn't help but worry about her. This woman named Reine obviously looked less healthy than him. In fact, since before, her body had been swaying unsteadily.

However, Shido, who was now sitting up, remembered what Reine had just said.

—Fraxinus? -Shido asked, looking around.

All this time he had been sleeping on a bed of simple tubes. Around him was a white curtain that acted as a partition. It was a space like a school infirmary.

—But how is that possible...? after that battle.

However, as he remembered what he was doing before, two names popped into his head, Kotori and Miku, they were not beside him.

—I must look for them! Miku and Kotori are still out there!

Worried about what might happen to them. He let the woman know how important they were to him.

—Calm down, they're fine.

—Huh? What do you mean by that?

He didn't expect such a response from Reine, but, the next moment, the automatic door to the infirmary opened. Leaving two girls, one with red hair and the other with purple-blue hair.

—Kotori?! Miku?! I thought you two were...!

He stopped when she saw how her sister was dressed; she was wearing a military uniform over her shoulders, but what caught her attention the most, were her ribbons with which she tied her hair, they were no longer white, but black with red details.

—It took you long enough to wake up, idiot brother.

Hearing her talk that way. Shido opened his mouth in surprise.

Her way of speaking was completely different from the way she used to speak every day.

—K-Kotori... Is it really you?

He asked a silly question. he couldn't believe it at all, he wondered when she changed so much, if today in the morning she was still the same Kotori she knew.

—What's the matter, did you forget your little sister's face, Shido? I knew you were bad at remembering things, but I didn't expect you to be so bad.

Whichever way you look at it, no matter if you go by the looks, the voice or the aura around her, even if there are several differences, that girl was undoubtedly Shido's little sister, Itsuka Kotori.

—Don't be so mean to Darling, Kotori-chan. but... Wouldn't it be better if you explained everything that's going on?

In an attempt to defuse the situation, Miku stepped in front of Kotori and proposed to change the subject.

—Ahh...

Letting out a small sigh, Kotori accepted Miku's proposal. She'd rather not waste any more time on this matter.

—Alright, follow me, I'll take you to the Fraxinus bridge.

Before meeting Shido, Miku was an Idol named Tsukino Yoimachi, after striving throughout her childhood, she was able to achieve what she longed for, to be an Idol.

However...

A year later, her Idol career ended abruptly when she refused to accept an indecent proposal from a famous TV producer.

Within days, unbeknownst to her, false rumors began to spread, causing her to fall out of favor with her agency and her supposedly loyal fans, who began to despise her.

For a couple of weeks she thought she could regain what she had lost with her singing, but her attempt was ruined by symptoms of severe psychogenic aphonia.

Knowing that she could no longer pursue what she longed for most, she felt that she had lost her only value in life, so she began to consider suicide as a way out of all her problems.

But...

One day, she received a private message from an account called "Itsuka". Just that, it had no other information, no age, no name. Just that surname.

At first, she didn't intend to see it, surely it was a comment of hatred towards her, something she had to endure day after day; however, her curiosity was greater and she checked that message.

That day, she cried all night long, it was not a hateful message, nor a threat, after so long, she received words of support.

Even though it was from a stranger, she felt happy, after suffering for days, she was able to get those bad thoughts out of her head.

Days passed, the two started to talk more and more, and as it was evident, they started to become closer, the person behind the account with the name Itsuka became her only friend and one of the few people she could trust.

After a couple of months, they promised to meet in person. By that time, the person behind the account nicknamed Itsuka had already revealed his name and gender.

The day of the meeting arrived. At first, it was awkward for both of them, but the more time they spent together, the more they got used to each other's company.

That same day, and thanks to Shido. Miku understood that all men were not the same. Also, during the "Date", Miku started to fall in love with him, not because of his looks, but because of the way he acted with her, she thought he was quite cute.

And so time went by, until the last three months of the school year.

On September 8th, Shido got a big surprise, Miku entered Raizen High School as his new classmate and, of course, sat at the desk next to him.

From that moment on, the bond they possessed only grew stronger, the two would chart a future together, supporting each other at all times and, who knows, if all went well, the two would be able to form...

A Sweet Melody