Monday, October 20, 2025
Sakamiya University - Main Building
The Conference Room 2nd Floor
12:20 PM
"Yes! This is it… THIS IS THE MOMENT..!" Luna shouted, her voice ringing through the room with sudden realization.
She turned halfway toward Haruto and Kanna, her tone filled with desperate urgency. "Listen carefully! Both of you must say these words, in this exact order: AWAKEN!… ACTIVATE ASTRAL LINK!… START…!"
Haruto flinched, confusion painted across his face. "Wh-what? Luna, what do those words even mean?"
Kanna, still gasping between sobs, reached out and grabbed Haruto's arm. "Awaken? L-Luna, what are you saying?"
Luna spun toward them again, eyes burning with intensity. "There's no time to explain! You have to do it—right now!" Her expression was frantic.
"Haruto, Kanna, say it!" she raised her hand in front of both of them, commanding once more.
But they didn't move.
The chaos crashing all around them—the monstrous roars, the panic in every scream, the horrifying truth that every military's heavy weapon was now useless—left them frozen. Haruto's throat had gone dry; he couldn't even form words. Kanna's tears wouldn't stop, her voice stuck somewhere deep in her chest.
"Please!" Luna cried, her voice cracking with desperation. "You have to do it or we're all finished!"
Her voice shook the air—but neither of them understood. Haruto and Kanna hesitated, unable to grasp whether Luna had lost her mind… or was genuinely onto something. Meanwhile, The glow on their bracelets pulsed again, casting mysterious patterns onto the nearby surroundings.
They still didn't notice the glow!
Luna's expression twisted into one of total desperation,
"LOOK AT YOUR BRACELETS, DAMN IT! LOOK!"
Only then did Haruto and Kanna raise their hands… and froze.
Their eyes widened as they saw the light. Haruto's purple bracelet pulsed with a deep, glowing violet, while Kanna's orange bangle radiated a vivid orange glow. Each pulse felt like a heartbeat.
"This bracelet… it belonged to my mother. Why is it glowing?" Haruto asked in disbelief. He had never known the strange heirloom left behind by his late mother. One he had worn every day, was hiding such a secret.
"This bangle was a gift from my mother… before she was died ten years ago. Why is it glowing now?" Kanna whispered, her voice trembling. The glow had never appeared before, not even once.
"Luna, what do you mean by making them say those words?" Miyuki asked, staring at the glowing bracelets with a bewildered expression.
"There's no time to explain, Miyuki!" Luna barked, her voice rising sharply.
"Just say it! SAY IT NOW..!" Luna screamed even more, as if her own life was in danger right now.
At next second, SUDDENLY…
**
Everything around Haruto became dark and completely silent, as though he were trapped in a place devoid of all light, entirely alone.
What's happening? Why is everything dark? Am I still in the conference room or...?.. Haruto wondered anxiously how everything around him had become dark and quiet so suddenly.
He glanced left and right, but he saw nothing, heard nothing at all.
Could it be… that Spirit Girl wants to meet me again?.. He considered that possibility briefly.
"Where am I? But why is it so dark here, with no one around? Who is…" Haruto's murmuring stopped abruptly when he heard a voice calling his name.
"..Haruto Mori…"
The voice sounded like an adult male, yet not human. It echoed softly around him.
"..Haruto Mori…"
Again, the voice called to him.
Unsure how to respond at first, Haruto finally gathered his courage and answered, "Yes, I am Haruto Mori. Who are you? Why am I here?"
Suddenly, a gentle purple light, not too large—perhaps the size of a basketball—appeared in front of him. The light emitted gentle beams in all directions, floating directly before his eyes, not blinding but flickering slowly and rotating softly. Haruto gazed at the glowing purple orb without hesitation.
Strangely, he found he wasn't afraid, nor did he feel any urge to back away. The purple glow felt familiar somehow—like someone close to him, warm and friendly. Then, Haruto looked down at his own body and discovered, to his embarrassment, that he wasn't wearing any clothes at all.
"Wha—? Why am I naked? What's going on here?"
Shocked, he hastily tried to cover himself, placing his hands awkwardly over his private areas while turning his body away from the glowing purple orb.
"Haruto Mori... Do not be afraid. Right now, you are within your subconscious realm. This is not your physical body; it is your soul's form. I brought your soul here." the gentle, purple glow explained calmly, its voice warm yet firm.
"Light-sama... But why...?" Haruto felt bewildered, unable to understand why this mysterious light had brought his soul here. He called it respectfully with '-sama', feeling afraid to act rudely in front of what might be a deity.
"Tell me, Haruto Mori. Do you desire for power? And if you were to receive that power, what would you do with it?" The purple orb asked him sternly, as if testing his resolve.
Hearing the question from the orb, Haruto suddenly recalled the words of the Spirit Girl he encountered inside the train carriage this morning, who had told him:
"You stand at a crossroads. The choices you make will shape the future and the inevitable destiny ahead. Seek power if you wish to protect those you love, for a great threat looms on the horizon. You will find the truth, in the right time."
Once again, the Spirit Girl's words resonated clearly in his memory:
"Seek power if you wish to protect those you love…"
"Light-sama… I-I... I desire for power… If I could truly have it..." Haruto's words halted momentarily, heart pounding strongly with determination. Taking a deep breath, he then continued resolutely, "Light-sama. If... if I gain this power, I…"
— — —
Kanna's Subconscious Realm
"Aaaahhh..! Where am I? Why is it dark? Where's everyone gone? Oh no... Am I dead already?" Kanna anxiously looked around, panicking slightly as she couldn't see anyone or hear anything. Everything around her was engulfed in darkness.
"..Kanna Fujita…"
A voice suddenly called to her. The voice was gentle and feminine, yet clearly non-human. At first, Kanna didn't reply, assuming it was merely her imagination playing tricks.
"..Kanna Fujita…"
"Y-y-yes... I am Kanna Fujita... B-but who are you, Onee-san? Oh, umm, is it okay to call you Onee-san, or should I address you as Onee-sama, o-or something else?" Kanna stammered nervously, completely uncertain of how to address this mysterious female voice.
Suddenly, an orange-colored glowing light appeared right before her. The orb glittered and gently rotated, emitting rays of soft orange illumination. The orb was about the size of a basketball, yet its brightness didn't hurt her eyes; Kanna could comfortably look directly at it. And, when she looked down…
"Aaaahhh..!! Why am I naked? Where are my clothes?! Oh no… I'm so embarrassed... Kyaaa..!" Kanna panicked, turning around quickly and awkwardly trying to cover certain parts of her body with both hands.
"Do not fear, Kanna Fujita. Your soul is currently within your subconscious realm. I have brought your soul here. The form you see now isn't your physical body, but the manifestation of your soul." explained the gentle orange light soothingly, its voice reassuringly warm.
"O-Onee-sama, I-I don't understand. Why am I here? Am I already dead? This would be terrible if I truly died. What about Haruto-kun?" Kanna still couldn't fully comprehend her situation, feeling scared and believing she had died. Tears began to stream down her cheeks softly.
"Oh, Dear… You are not dead. Hey, Sweety, I can sense the sincerity and kindness within your heart." The glowing orb shone a bit brighter as it spoke, its tone reminiscent of a caring older sister close to Kanna.
"Warm... You feel so warm... You seem like someone who knows me so well, not like a stranger at all, Onee-sama." Kanna was still sobbing softly but gradually wiped away her tears, comforted by the warm presence.
"Allow me to ask you two things, Kanna Fujita. Do you wish for power? And if you were granted that power, what would you do with it?" The orange light asked clearly, its tone firm yet gentle and kind.
"I... I... I want power, Onee-sama... If I truly had it… I-I… would..." Kanna answered hesitantly, her heart incapable of lying. Mustering courage from deep within, she continued her sentence to answer the orange orb's questions.
Then gradually, everything around her turned blindingly white.
**
Inside The Conference Room
Haruto then opened his eyes and found himself back inside the conference room. In front of him were dozens of people—anxious and terrified. Luna stood right before him, visibly frustrated, shouting at him to say the words.
Kanna opened her eyes a few seconds later. "Ah, I'm back... I'm not dead after all... Yooshh..." She exhaled in relief, happy to find herself back in the conference room.
"HEY! Say it already! Don't just sit there with your eyes shut again! SAY IT! SAY IT NOW! DAMN IT! My god, what is wrong with you two?!" Luna shouted louder, her tone full of exasperation—as if everyone's lives now depended solely on the two of them.
"Come on, Haruto-kun, this is it..." Kanna smiled at him, already sensing that Haruto had just gone through the same experience she had.
"Let's do it, Kanna-chan." Haruto nodded back at her, his eyes full of burning resolve.
They both stepped forward, separating themselves by about one meter, taking a few determined steps ahead. Their hands—each bearing a glowing bracelet—rose and extended outward, palms open and facing forward.
"Everyone, back away!" Luna snapped, ordering the crowd around Haruto and Kanna to move aside. Those nearby quickly stepped back, making space for what was about to happen.
Then, in unison, Haruto and Kanna shouted the command:
"AWAKEN…!"
"ACTIVATE ASTRAL LINK…!"
The two glowing bracelets—Haruto's purple and Kanna's orange—flared brighter than ever.
"STAART…!"
Transformation!
The moment Haruto shouted the final word, a thunder-like sound cracked through the room…
KRABOOOMMM..!!
In an instant, both Haruto and Kanna were engulfed in two separate, blinding spheres of light—one radiating with powerful purple energy around Haruto, and the other burning bright orange around Kanna.
The orbs rotated horizontally, pulsing and shimmering intensely, filling the air with a heavy static charge that caused the lights across the conference room to flicker erratically.
"What the hell..? What's happening to them?!" one of the mid-ranking soldiers in the room exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.
From the outside, it looked as if two colossal cocoons of raw energy had manifested in the middle of the conference room, completely enveloping Haruto and Kanna.
The light was so thick and dense, no one could see inside—no one could tell what was happening to them within those orbs.
Wind began blowing from the center of each glowing sphere, swirling gently around them. The noise from these energy spheres sounded like a storm accompanied by an otherworldly hum, radiating incredible, intense energy—similar to when Luna cast her supernatural Absolute Holy Barrier.
The VIPs and officials in the conference room staggered back in astonishment, instinctively shielding their faces from the moderately dazzling lights and powerful swirls of energy. Gasps of surprise and murmurs filled the room immediately.
"Is that really Haruto and Kanna?!"
"What's happening now?"
"Is this why they're here?"
"Those purple and orange spheres are incredible!"
"They're transforming! HENSHIN!" shouted excitedly Airi Tachibana, one of the female assistants of the Japanese Police Chief, who was known for her fondness for anime and manga.
"C-Colonel Hayato, is this another secret military weapon?" Police Chief Akira Oda asked Colonel Hayato, astonished that ordinary humans like Haruto and Kanna could apparently wield such special powers, different from Luna who was clearly non-human.
Colonel Hayato simply shook his head in response to Akira's question. With eyes both amazed and in disbelief, he couldn't look away from the two luminous spheres, exactly as when he had witnessed Luna's supernatural barrier ritual.
Sparks and streams of energy crackled and danced around the spheres, with colors matching their respective orbs. Observers—military officers, scientists, and VIPs alike—felt compelled to step back further due to the increasingly intense static discharge.
Although these energy spheres pulsed with immense force, they didn't exhibit any destructive power toward their surroundings. Instead, the dancing sparks of energy only caused the conference room lights to flicker softly.
The swirling wind gently scattered papers and a few lighter items.
BEEP..! BEEP..! BEEP..!
The alarms of scientific monitoring equipment immediately rang loudly, triggered by the massive energy signatures detected. Several scientists swiftly checked their instruments on their desks, shocked as they examined the readings displayed on their screens.
"All readings at maximum, everything's spiking dramatically. It's exactly like when Luna cast her Absolute Holy Barrier! Such incredible mysterious energy… OFF THE CHARTS..!!" one of the scientists exclaimed, astonished yet not overly surprised.
This was the second time the instruments had registered enormous unknown energy levels impossible to measure with normal scientific tools.
The energy surrounding Haruto and Kanna intensified further, their spheres gradually rising from the floor, floating approximately one meter above the ground. Moments later, both spheres swiftly moved, flying gracefully toward the large conference room window facing the parking lot.
"KYAAAA…!!"
"IT'S GOING TO HIT THE WINDOW…!"
"TAKE COVER..!"
However, the thick glass did not shatter. Instead, both swirling spheres of energy phased harmlessly through the solid, reinforced window, carrying Haruto and Kanna outside while leaving the glass completely intact, without even a scratch—as if the glass offered no more resistance than air.
The two energy spheres appeared to warp or "glitch" briefly in slow-motion as they passed through the window. Those who had braced themselves for an intense impact and shattering glass—some even instinctively hiding behind desks—stared wide-eyed and astonished, utterly amazed that the spheres had instead phased through completely.
"What… what are they?"
"They went through the window?!"
"The glass is still intact! How is that even possible?!"
"Phasing Skill like The Flash?! A-Are we d-d-dreaming right now?"
"Those energy spheres look strangely familiar…"
Several people inside the conference room spontaneously rushed closer to the window, eager to watch more clearly where the glowing spheres would go.
Others observed via the large monitors at the desk, with Operator Takanashi swiftly controlling some drones, adjusting their cameras to clearly capture and follow the path of the purple and orange spheres.
They watched, almost speechless with disbelief, as the two luminous orbs—each containing one figure—gracefully descended toward the parking lot area outside.
They landed directly in front of Sakamiya University's main building, standing in front of Luna's Absolute Holy Barrier, as if openly challenging the giant monsters awaiting them there.
"Luna, is this..? Could it be…?" General Victor asked Luna if this was the same as what he thought.
— — — — —