There was a hero who roamed the streets of Dawn City in a pretty frilly yet gothic outfit. A black mask and cat ears were her signature features. People of the city loved her for who she was. A protector that would jump in when strange occurrences happened.

Well, that was at least the case for those involved.

It wasn’t like everyone believed she was real. Most thought of her as a fictional idol from a Magical Girl cartoon that someone would cosplay occasionally. A fun thing people of Dawn City thought about was where their street entertainment idol would go next.

After all, they couldn’t see the Apparitions.

Only being able to see a girl acrobatically making a show in public. Sometimes climbing rollercoasters at the amusement park, and would other times just doing insane feats in public. She had put on a show along with her ‘winged’ partner. It was so inspiring.

In the next five years, she would become a hit.

A celebrity with her identity hidden from the public eye, but had a stage name. There was something she called herself while playing the Magical Girl act. The hero name that she’d used as if to foreshadow that she would eventually become part of a full team.

She was called ‘Kitty Cue’.

Quite the pun of a name for whoever decided it.

No one knowing that this was the hero name she’d chose herself. The pretty cute pun coming from her former dream of becoming a rapper. Following in the footsteps of her biggest song idol. One day, she believed that dream would have become a reality.

Oh how naive she was…

Keeping the balance between training her voice as Rina Doyle and heroism as Kitty Cue wasn’t an easy feat. She had become overworked. Succumbing to multiple injuries and had almost died. If it weren’t for her informing the military beforehand, she would have died the day she’d rejected the advances of a wolf named ‘Max’. Refusing to become his ally.

This was not out of bravery against great obstacles.

Nor was it out of a sense of justice or anything else.

Rina was truly fearless.

Having forgotten that emotion over the years.

It was why Ben had been so worried about her. He couldn’t shake the feeling that his scary friend would throw herself into danger foolishly. Not having the self-preservation instincts to call for help. The fact she did meant something must have happened.

What exactly did his lack of presence cause?

He dreamed about a potential past for Rina. The same events of being scouted as a Magical Girl and fighting Apparitions would happen again. Because he wasn’t there, she’d become the same way as she was in the past. Succumbing to her ‘Negative Trait’.

At least, that’s what he wanted to call it.

His first meeting with her was not a peaceful one.

Their mothers were socialising with each other at the playground. This being a common occurrence at the public park. Sometimes, an adult would meet an old friend while taking their children out to play. They’d become so immersed that the child was forgotten.

He was playing there as a regular kid like no other.

The swings were his favourite. Even without his mother pushing him, he ran to make the momentum and let himself be lifted into the air. His laughter was drowned out by the other sounds of children in the vicinity, but he didn’t feel alone at this moment.

His mother glancing at times to see if he was fine.

There was a rush he felt like he was flying in the sky.

After a little while, he wanted to switch to the climbing frames nearby. It was a simple desire. If he wanted to stay high up longer, then climbing high up there would be more meaningful. Since he was ten, it wasn’t like he didn’t have any thoughts of safety.

He just wanted to try it out more than being scared.

It was after getting a bit further from his mother (to the point she could barely see him) did he see a sight that was beyond his understanding. A bunch of boys and girls were crying home to their mommies. The entire section of the park cleared out because of her.

She was the least ‘chill’ girl in existence.

Holding a boy by the hair and about to what him.

“S-stop!” Ben acted before he understood what the situation was. Throwing himself at her and taking away the stick- No, it was an extendable baton that belonged to a policeman. Something that shouldn’t have been in the hands of a young girl her age.

The boy quickly ran away after he was saved.

Crying home to his mom.

They shared no words or interaction. Her blue eyes were like the sky. Bright. However, everything else about her was like that of a thug. It took a while for him to remember he recognised her. She was the quiet girl from school. Someone who was pacifist.

Never hitting others even when being bullied.

What made her change?

After the parents came, they were split up.

Only meeting again at school.

Her entire persona changed. She tried talking to people more, but there was no one around to talk friendly to. Those other kids at the playground mostly consisting of her classmates. One exception being the only kid in her class who was friendly.

“Want to be friends?” He leaned over her shoulder.

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They were at the age when guys and girls thought of each other as gross. You could get cooties if you got too close. What was this disease? Well, Ben had no idea whatsoever. He literally did not see a difference between a dude and the dude-like girl before him.

She had short hair, so it was very understandable (to him). Perhaps judging a person by their hairstyle was sexist, but he was a kid. There were no deeper thoughts in his mind other than being unable to cognitively perceive her as simply ‘one of the girls’.

“…Sure.” She recognised his face, but did not say it.

They spent time together until eventually graduating from there. When entering high school, they started where they’d left off from there. Never bringing up that incident ever again. Even without a deeper explanation, he started to understand her attitude.

Especially when he saw the crazy thing she did.

There was a guy in the same year, Alan Smith. He was a thuggish brat that got into fights a lot. The kind of twisted guy who enjoyed the mere act of hurting people. Watching them squirm under his feet or feel hurt after he’d intimidated them.

That memory became clearer.

He was just sitting outside of class after disturbing a lesson. Since he knew a guy who took notes, this wasn’t really much to deter his actions or make him worse in grades. He could just memorise what he saw and do that without thinking about it much.

Maths was his weaker subject here anyway.

The teacher was also too strict with him.

Just as he was about to pick his nose, there was an electronic sound of speakers being turned on. This was followed by the tap on the microphone as if they were checking if it was on. There shouldn’t be any m announcements today, so he was a little confused.

Only to hear a familiar voice through the speakers.

“This is about Alan Smith.” She spoke into the mic.

The entire school her audience.

It was a dis-track.

From the sound of someone bolting out of the room in the background, Ben realised what was up. The amateur track was about how disgusted she felt from a guy hitting on her. The track annihilated Alan’s street cred and coolness by joking about his face.

Saying that he looked like a pompous little… Err…

Let’s not get into that.

Well, the track had a number of swears and things Ben didn’t know could be turned into a diss. It was very creative… but was also suicidal. Although that delinquent was skipping classes, he was still in the hallways. In fact, Ben saw the guy walking past.

His face twisted like his face ate a lemon.

Veins protruding from his forehead like worms.

Someone was going to die. Not the joking kind of one where you’d just beat the other up. Ben could see absolute murder in the guy’s eyes. She had such a talent that she made the usually composed sadist turn into a raging monster. His steps were heavy.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The guy didn’t even look at Ben while walking past him. Those eyes only had one target to kill. Every other person was nothing. Even though he was unfamiliar with fighting people, Ben could see a similar resolve to hurt someone as Rina in the past.

He kept his mouth shut.

Sweating bullets.

“Where is your friend?” Alan turned towards him.

“Damn…” Ben could only cuss at her in his heart.

Was he going to keep his mouth shut when there was serious danger afoot? Risk being torn to shred by this guy who could even go toe-to-toe with adults and gangsters? If he was a good friend to her, there was only one option that was right in this situation.

“You…” Alan reached out dangerously.

“Her class is B7. Downstairs to the right.” Ben had made such a quick decision that the delinquent’s hands were still in the air. His eyes looked puzzled to why he gave her up so easily. When they were walking together, he thought they’d be closer.

“We’re not THAT close.” Ben raised his arms.

He was a pacifist. Wanting to talk this out.

Rather than spending any more time on him, Alan quickly turned and ran the moment he knew exactly where she would be. Ben watched his back disappear and gasped for air. Feeling like he’d just avoided a disaster. Someone really gotta give this guy therapy.

Was killing so easy to teenagers like them?

Obviously not. Only that weirdo was different.

Ben turned and walked in a different direction from the delinquent. Cautiously checking if anyone would see him. He slowly made his way up the stairs. This was because though Rina’s class was downstairs, the speaker room was upstairs. So were many lockers.

As he was making his way there, he stopped.

Leaning on a long student locker nearby.

He took out his phone and dialled up a number. He had put it to memory a while ago, so typing it was awkward. He hesitated and looked around. Seeing that there was no one around to see him. This would make what would happen next a little bit easier.

Ben rang her phone.

Bzzzz!

A vibration could be heard from the locker behind.

She picked it up quickly. Likely out of panic.

“Having fun? I thought I’m the jokester.” Ben was the first to speak his thoughts. The echo behind him quickly disappeared when she put the volume on her phone down. They were so close, but he could tell that she was unwilling to show herself right now.

He could feel someone shivering in the locker.

Was it out of fear?

No, Ben knew better than to think that.

“Yeah, I was having fun.” She laughed to him softly.

“Crazy idiot…” Ben rolled his eyes at this situation.

“What do you think of my rap? I’d worked really hard on it. You know how hard it was to dig up dirt on my own? What does the master comedian think of my performance?” Rina sounded a bit giddy. This likely coming from the thrill of experiencing danger.

“Jokes aren’t so mean. As a master comedian, I’ll be straight with you. Never joke around again. You will literally die if he finds you. That guy ain’t sane. You can’t avoid him forever.” Ben really wanted to open up the locker and slap her silly for being so crazy.

And she called HIM a damn lunatic…

“Sorry for worrying you.” Rina spoke more softly.

He knew this was just puppy eyes on the phone.

Just trying to please his ego in the moment.

“You’re gonna have to transfer. Because of your little joke, I had to tell him what class you’d be at today at this moment. It won’t be long before he finds out your schedule.” Ben tried to caution her. This girl was not brave. She was a fearless fool at heart.

Someone who acted on impulses.

“I’ll take care of it. A future rapper has to start somewhere, don’t they? BizFreaky also started his career with dis-tracks. He completely annihilated every celebrity in Dawn City. I’m gonna be famous if this goes viral.” Rina still showed no remorse at all.

Completely unapologetic about her actions.

She was one who knew how to hold a grudge.

“You want to be a rapper when you grow up?” Ben raised his brows. His heart unable to contain the surprise he felt. He threw away his thoughts about her safety for the time being. Completely enthralled by this new bit of information she was talking about.

Awwwww… Did she finally want to confide in him?

“That is so cute~!” Ben thought in his heart.

He wasn’t dense about relationships.

This gothic tomboy hated being called ‘cute’.

…At least on the surface.

“I’m being serious here.” Rina had definitely had some pushback from her parents. This defiant type of personality was likely a result of that. They say kids went through a rebellious phase when young. It was usually seen as just that. Just a simple phase.

“Me too. Show me your works more. I’ll give you my opinion.” Ben wasn’t so bothered about it. He spoke with a lighthearted tone. Just being a guy who didn’t dislike raps. He wasn’t that particular about what he was listening to in terms of his musical playlists.

It was then things changed.

“W-wait…!” Rina spoke out in panic of his actions.

He opened the locker door.

The brightness outside made her squint heavily.

“Let’s bounce. The emergency exit is that way. It’s not like our punishment could get any worse with that psycho on your tail.” Ben spoke like the lunatic that she remembered. It was quite the boldness even she didn’t have. Making her a bit giddy once again.

They were in the springtime of their youth.

Skipping school without looking back.

They bonded even more after that incident. There was this unbreakable trust between them. Unspoken words and being on the same wavelength. They both couldn’t call it something like ‘love’. In truth, they both felt more like lost siblings than anything else.

It was only later they’d hear that Alan was gone.

A weird situation had occurred.

They were punished for skipping school when they came the next day, but there was no mention of the dis-track or Alan. It was like he had never existed in the first place. Something that would always be on their minds. Especially after seeing the supernatural.

Would he come back to get revenge in future?

“Hah…” Ben sighed while opening his eyes from this lucid dream. He could remember every detail and was hoping he’d never see that guy again. He was unsure why that kid vanished, but it was better to pretend that nothing happened and forget about it.

He couldn’t regress far enough to stop it anyway.

“Bro…” When he woke up, a pretty face greeted him.

Those cat-like eyes still uncomfortable to look at. It was an intimate word. No formality or any of the sort. Her eyes went straight to looking at him with annoyance. Making him understand that he couldn’t avoid having a proper talk to her after all this time?

“…” When he opened his mouth, he couldn’t say it.

Joke and call her ‘Bro’ too like always.

He thought she died. Living in prison while leaving her to fate. He’d promised to save her, but it looked like that belief was unwarranted. These events had proved that it was HIM who caused her to die. No one said it, but the results spoke louder than words.

His gaze shifted to the reward for fighting ‘MiniBoss Vascovitch’. There seemed to be choices for it.

Ones that could likely affect this conversation.