It was a cool night with only the barest of breezes, and the moon was full in the cloudless sky as the young woman Sano Mayumi gazed up at it, unexpectedly she found herself thinking it was quite beautiful.

Mayumi closed her eyes and thought back to earlier in the night. She had met her bandmates and thanked them for all the support they had given her over the last few years and for the fun and friendship in the years before that. She had told them she was sorry but that she no longer felt she could continue as an Idol and that she was leaving. They were upset as they had been friends since middle school, and eventually, she let them talk her into sleeping on the decision until they could speak again the next day.

Mayumi returned home, got her little brother ready for bed and read to him until he fell asleep. Then she kissed him goodnight and went downstairs, her mother thanked her for the help, but she had told her it was no problem and she was happy to do so. After telling her parents, she loved them and that she was going to meet her friends, she had left the house.

Finally, she visited her Grandparents' graves, in particular, her grandmother who had recently passed away; she told them how much she missed them and thanked them for the love and support they had given her for her whole life. After saying a final prayer and goodbye, she had headed for her final destination.

She opened her eyes and wondered how her life had come to this point, but knew she was lying to herself as she was aware of exactly how and when things had started to go horrifically wrong. She had been having nightmares about it most nights for the last three years, the glint of a knife and a face full of rage, the terror that froze her, then so much blood quickly followed by the feeling of relief that it was not hers, that quickly changed to soul corroding guilt.

Afterwards, people told her how lucky she was and that it was not her fault. Most never knew of her many sleepless nights and that when she did sleep inevitably waking up screaming. They never knew about the anxiety and fear whenever she was in a crowded place or an unfamiliar situation, the guilt and self-loathing that her surviving came at too greater a price.

She returned to high school and her life and put on a front that nothing had changed, that she had not been diagnosed with PTSD or that her councillor all too often mentioned survivors guilt. Her life moved on, but it felt hollow and colourless. She learned to fake the emotions she no longer felt; the only times Mayumi felt close to her old self were when she was competing in archery competitions and when performing on stage with her friends.

The concentration and focus she used in archery left no room for focusing on emotions and gave a brief respite from them. While performing, let her embrace her passion for music with her friends and brought her the closest thing she could feel to joy, letting her almost feel normal for a time.

But nothing had changed as the pain was not fading, and neither was the guilt she still felt no matter how people tried to absolve her. Frequently in her dreams, she saw her saviour covered in blood being worked on desperately by paramedics, as she asked him why he had helped her and the subtle smile as the light left his eyes before he could answer.

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She looked around while steadying her resolve, took a few deep breaths to settle her breathing and her wildly beating heart. Once she felt calm, she took a step and heaved herself up to the bridge's guardrail. Balancing there briefly, she looked down and saw the moon and stars reflected far below on the surface of the water.

Sano Mayumi then took her final steps in this world off the rail. There was a brief moment of weightlessness and then a stomach-churning sensation of falling. As she was nearing the water below her, she had a short moment to notice that the patch of water she was approaching appeared void black, where around it the moon and stars were still reflected then everything went black, and her story in this world ended.

Mayumi’s consciousness returned in a brief flash of pain that settled to reveal an inky black void, she desperately tried to move or look around, but she could not feel her body or even tell if her eyes were open.

Panic welled up and disappeared just as quickly as she tried to figure how she got here, only to surge back as she remembered the bridge, the stomach-churning sensation of falling and the light of the moon glinting on the surface of the approaching water.

The panic turned to terror as she could only think of one thing ‘Oh God, somehow the fall did not kill me just left me as a paraplegic, and now I’m going to spend the rest of my life like this’

Suddenly much to her relief, sensation started to return to her body and although she still could not move, she felt warmth on her skin and the darkness lightened. She could smell that the air had the slightly musty scent she associated with large numbers of books and could hear the low murmur of people speaking. She could feel she was lying on something comfortable with her head cushioned by something soft but could not make out more details yet.

Her eyelids felt heavy, like she had slept long past time to wake up, but she finally forced them open. From where she was laid she could see a plain white ceiling with evenly spread lights giving off a gentle, comforting glow. Along the walls, she could see we’re bookcases running from the floor to the ceiling. Each shelf was filled with books of all sizes and colours, each seemingly bound in leather with a title finely printed on the spine.

She realised she was laid on a large leather sofa with a fluffy white pillow under her head; now that her initial fear had passed, her curiosity was aroused as given what she could remember, she could not understand where she was or how she got there.

‘Ok, one step at a time, first I need to sit up and check that all my bits still work and are accounted for, then I need to find whoever those voices belong to and ask them what happened’

Deciding on a course of action helped her feel a little better, at least until she sat up with a barely stifled groan and looked around.

‘Oh God, I ache all over like I had not moved in ages, hmm seems to be some kind of study or office. Now, where did those voices come from ahh desks and two people’

Having spotted the owners of the voices, she let out a strangled squeak; they appeared to be two young women, one taller with long blonde hair wearing a simple plain white summer dress and the other a shorter redhead with a black pleated skirt and a white blouse. What stood out, though and caused Mayumi’s shock was that both had a large pair of white wings on their backs.

Hearing her exclamation, they both turned to look at her, seemingly surprised she was awake. The blonde’s face showed the briefest flash of annoyance before instantly settling into a pleasant smile before she began to speak; the redhead just looked at her neutrally with just a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“I see you’re finally awake, that’s good I hope you feel ok, let me introduce myself. I am Celestine, my friend here is Cassandra, and we are what people from Earth would call Angels. I am sure you have lots of questions about your situation and what happens next, so let’s get started”