(The following can be paired with BGM: SAIKAI - MILI)
The morning sunlight streamed through the thin window curtains, scattering across the wooden bedroom floor, light and shadow swaying gently with the breeze.
The girl with burgundy-red hair nuzzled deeper into the soft covers before reluctantly opening her emerald-green eyes.
"Ugh... so sleepy."
She felt like she hadn't slept well last night.
She couldn't remember the dream's contents, but after waking up, thinking about it, it felt like something was missing. There was a deeply sorrowful feeling... yet she couldn't recall what was missing.
Should she stay in bed a little longer? Nah, she didn't want Mom to yank off her covers...
Su Fang rubbed her bleary eyes, pushed aside the sun-warmed blanket, slipped on her rabbit slippers, and shuffled toward the bathroom.
Cool tap water splashed across her cheeks, finally chasing away the lingering drowsiness.
She looked up, skillfully braiding her hair while staring at her face in the mirror—a face dotted with water droplets, still carrying a hint of childishness.—Today was a very ordinary Monday.
No different from any other Monday.
Eat the breakfast Mom made, grab her schoolbag and head to class, exchange good mornings with her close friends, then start a plain yet fulfilling day.
That was how it should be.
But staring at her own emerald-green eyes in the mirror, Su Fang froze on the spot.
Yet why... did she have this persistent, nagging sense of dissonance in her heart?
Su Fang tilted her head slightly.
Something just felt off.
Like a beautifully completed jigsaw puzzle, with one piece forcibly jammed into the wrong spot. Or like someone had secretly folded a corner of a colorful painting.
Those everyday memories of going to school and doing homework suddenly felt weightless now, as if a single gust of wind could scatter them.
Replacing them was some indescribable feeling.
As if... someone was waiting for her?
—Oh, honestly, what am I even daydreaming about?
Su Fang let out a soft sigh, patted her own pretty cheeks, returned to her room, put on her black-and-white sailor uniform, then turned and bounced down the stairs.
The moment she reached the bottom of the stairs, the tempting, smoky aroma of fried eggs and toasted bread drifted from the dining room. Her stomach cooperated with a loud grumble.
Mogong Ma, still wearing her apron, stood by the dining table, pouring warm milk into Su Fang's special glass.
Hearing footsteps on the stairs, she turned around, her face glowing with a familiar and warm smile: "Good morning. Breakfast is ready."
"Good morning, Mom."
Su Fang obediently replied, walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down properly. She examined the sandwich fillings, and her eyes instantly lit up.
—It was her absolute favorite bacon and egg sandwich!
Little stars seemed to twinkle in Su Fang's emerald-green eyes.
Mom always said eating too much bacon was bad for her health and only made it once a week.
She clasped her hands together, raised a smile, and was just about to say "I'm digging in."
Rumble...
Without any warning, an extremely deep, muffled roar suddenly erupted from deep beneath the earth.
"Huh?"
Su Fang blinked.
What was that? An earthquake?
The next moment, the tremors intensified. The entire house swayed violently, like a small boat in a raging storm.
The chandelier overhead swung wildly, letting out a terrifying creaking sound.
The milk glass on the table tipped over, white liquid dripping along the edge and onto the floor. Ceramic plates slid off the table from the violent shaking and shattered into pieces on the ground.
Mogong Ma gasped, grabbing onto the cabinet fixed to the wall in front of her to steady herself.
The sudden violent quake left Su Fang dizzy and disoriented. Her body tilted, and she instinctively crouched down, wrapping her slender arms around the leg of the heavy solid-wood dining table in front of her. Cold sweat beaded on her palms.
The terrifying shaking didn't last long. After about ten seconds, the violent jolts gradually subsided, leaving only slight, lingering aftershocks.
Phew... scared me to death.
Su Fang was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.
A piercing air raid siren suddenly tore through the morning of Kazenari Town, echoing throughout the entire city.
It was the demon beast invasion alarm!
In Kazenari Town, even a three-year-old knew that hearing this sound meant heading immediately to the nearest shelter.
Mogong Ma's expression shifted.
Without even a second's hesitation, she immediately reached down, untied her apron, tossed it onto a chair, and grabbed the emergency kit stored in the corner.
But Su Fang remained crouched by the table, her mind buzzing.
For some reason, the air raid sirens sounded distant, as if separated by a film of water.
She stayed there, crouching blankly, her vision suddenly losing focus.
The sirens were so piercing, yet how did everything feel... so unreal?
"What are you spacing out for, child!"
Mogong Ma strode over urgently, grabbing Su Fang's wrist with the hand wearing that gemstone ring, and yanked her up forcefully: "Hurry, Su Fang! We need to take shelter in the bunker!"
Held tightly by her mother's wrist, Su Fang was half-pushed, half-pulled out of the house and rushed down the stairs.
Her mother's strength was surprisingly great, and her steps were incredibly nimble. Seven floors felt as easy as walking on flat ground.
And somehow, Su Fang herself could easily keep up with that speed.
But at that moment, she had no time to think about why.
—How strange.
As she ran alongside her mother, Su Fang felt like everything around her had been coated with a strange, blurry filter.
The clamor on the stairs, the noise in the streets, people's shouts—it all seemed to fade into the background, becoming meaningless noise.
Only the warmth of her mother's palm felt as comforting as ever.
...As ever?
The unknown sense of dissonance surged back, and Su Fang's emerald-green eyes darted around dazedly.
Along the streets they passed, there were people everywhere, just like them, carrying emergency kits and rushing to take shelter.
Thanks to the regular drills, although everyone moved quickly, they maintained a certain order.
Everyone followed the rules they had practiced many times, trying to keep things orderly as they hurried toward the bunkers.
Though there was no stampede, a close look revealed the cold sweat on people's foreheads and the panic flickering in their darting eyes.
"This wave... is huge."
As they ran, her mother's voice came from ahead, her shoulder-length burgundy-red hair swaying back and forth.
"Never before has there been such a large-scale alert. It's like every siren in Kazenari Town was triggered at once."
Held by her mother's hand, Su Fang kept running through the crowd.
Suddenly, she looked up, her gaze passing over the panicked faces around her, and fixed on the distant sky.
In the far-off sky, a massive pitch-black rift had somehow torn open. Countless monsters were pouring out of it, looking utterly terrifying even from a distance.
The next moment, dozens of dazzling rainbow-colored beams shot up toward the sky from every corner of the city.
It was the magical girls!
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