“Haah. I wonder what’s going on with him lately.” A black-haired girl mutters disapprovingly as she reads the message on her phone. A faint squishiness hugs her from behind.

“Meiii, whatcha’ looking at? Boyfriend?” …E-cup? Mei Fukusei stares down at her chest and laments internally.

But really, a boyfriend? How did it come to that conclusion?

“Hell no. It’s my brother.” Mei snapped as she casted a side-eye.

“Good-looking?”

“Nope. He’s a Kappa, real hideous.”

“Somehow, I don’t believe you. Don’t you have a photo?” Another girl at the side chimed in.

The voluptuous feeling behind her back is getting a little distracting. Big-chested women are cows. Cows. The surreal sight of her classmates on all fours, chewing on hay at a faraway ranch calmed her down. Moo... moo... The farmer positions himself under their udders and squeezes—

“—I don’t have any pictures.” Mei snaps out of that strangely lascivious image in her head.

“Ehhh, that’s cheap. You’re siblings, you should have a picture or two together. Like on birthdays—”

“—Rika. Are we here to hang out or talk about my brother all day?”

“Both of course~ hehehe, good-looking guys must be shared between sisters! It’s a rule.” 

Mei sighed again.

“But Mei, why can’t you let us see him once? Hogging your brother to yourself, are you secretly a br—”

“—BEFORE you say anything else…I’m going to get angry.” Mei turned her head back menacingly, smiling at the koala hung on her back.

"Also. Get off, you're heavy."

“Boo, calling a girl heavy… if you were my boyfriend..." Rika's words stopped as the girl squinted her eyes menacingly. Dissatisfied, Rika pouted as she plopped herself back on her feet.

"So defensive. Makes it more suspicious that you're really a…"

"Say something?" Mei's face closed in on hers, as a dark shadow fell on her expression like an Oni.

"…ah-ahahaha… n-nothing.” The lass darted back and hid behind another girl following the two from behind.

"Amy, what you think?"

"What I think? I think you're just being rude to Mei."

"But aren't you curious? Usually when girls get so touchy with the mention of a guy, nine times out of ten it's..."

"Yeah yeah... your 'hottie senses', right? Well... if I said I wasn't curious, I'd be lying." The girl replied apathetically at the blathering of her new friend. Mei flinched a little, but as she was walking ahead, no one noticed her expression.

Really though, do I really look like a... brocon...?

Mei scratched the back of her hair, feeling troubled by this strange misunderstanding. But well, it wasn't to say that the siblings were not on good terms with each other. Looking at it objectively, Mei's relationship with her brother was unquestionably close.

...Rather, it might've been a little too close.

Mei's frown deepened. For some reason, she refused to acknowledge this. Returning her cold gaze back to the front, she looked around the streets as if to distract herself from her thoughts.

What a calm day today. The hustle and bustle of the city seemed to have spared this paveway from the evening rush. Thanks to that, Mei was walking leisurely with her new friends from school. Today was another day to deepen their friendship, as the three had initially gotten to know each other from their seating arrangements.

Amy. And Rika. The three were currently heading towards the nearby mall to hang out. Their class had been dismissed earlier than others, so they were making use of that head start to get to an empty seat at McRonald’s. Tap, tap tap. Their footsteps resounded as the conversation died down for a short moment.

Hmm? What is this feeling.

Mei began to slow down, as she gazed meaningfully at the sky.

The birds... the natural sounds are gone.

The airiness of the surroundings feels unnatural.

Something feels slightly strange. Feeling unnerved, Mei allowed her friends to catch up and began to match their pace as they walked together.

“...Hey Rika,”

“Yeep.” The “koala” Rika answered lazily with her hands behind her back.

“The drink stand at that spot opens on weekdays right?”

“Hmm… why do you ask?"

"Just answer me."

"Ehhh... well. You’re right. Their honeydew milkshake is... hmm?” Amy puts a finger on her forehead as she finally noticed something.

"Amy, what do you think?"

"Maybe the owner is sick today or something? But... the store is open with lights on, that's definitely strange.” The girl replied with a flat tone. 

That's right. How could that overly paranoid shopkeeper leave her register open like that?

“...A toilet break maybe? There’s no sign though.”

“Amy, what about that book store?”

The bespectacled Amy seemed to have noticed the meaning behind her words, and scrolled through her phone as well.

“You’re right, Mei. The stores… around us don’t seem to be occupied at all.”

Amy looked around curiously. All of the stores were open, but unattended.

“That’s not the only thing.” Mei turned to her friends.

“Apart from some of our classmates who are headed towards the mall, …no one seems to be around. I think we’re not the only ones who noticed too.”

A slight unease began to creep into their minds.

“What’s going on? A fire drill maybe?”

“It must be a coincidence, …right?”

Mei paused her steps, and took in her surroundings one last time.

A paper cup on the ground, spilt with coffee. A leather shoe caught on nearby shrubbery. Newspapers strewn on the pavement. A shattered glass window of a clothing store. Signs of life that seemed fresh, yet contrary to what she was seeing at present.

It’s as if… Everyone suddenly vanished in an instant.

Mei overlapped the words that her brother had said from a year ago, and felt a chilling premonition.

“Mei?”

Her eyes turned sharper, feeling a deeper sense of foreboding.

“...Hold on guys. Let me make a call.”

“Mei, what’s happening?” Her friends appeared slightly pensive at her look of seriousness.

“...No, but my brother might.”

The phone rings for a moment, “The number you have dialed is currently un—”

He’s not responding at this time…! Mei scratches her neck nervously.

"Mei, tell us what's happening!"

Putting her phone away, Mei took a few deep breaths and states with certainty in her voice.

“I don't want to make a fuss out of nothing but... there's a very high chance that something dangerous might be happening right now.” 

“Something happening… you don’t mean.” Amy's eyes were now fully awake.

“Call me paranoid, but that’s the only possibility that comes up in my head. You know, don't you? Tanuki Mall is very close to one of our… national landmarks.”

“The Tower of Stone…”

An inaudible gulp could be heard from the girls.

“We should head home, I don’t have a good feeling about this." Mei spoke with a sharp look on her face. "We can always meet up again tomorrow and laugh about this if it turns out to be just a little hoax. But even if it's just the tiniest possibility, I don't want any of us to get hurt.”

Amy and Rika looked at each other momentarily, and Mei looked at her friends nervously.

The silence lasted only for a few seconds.

“...You’re right, Mei. Now that you’ve pointed it out, it’s definitely strange. Isn't this like one of those horror movies where you get spirited away into a world without other people?”

“Mm-mm. The roads don't have a single car either. Mei, I think there's some truth in what you said. Better safe than sorry."

Mei's heart slightly lifted from her friends' reassuring replies. She wasn't sure whether they would go along with nothing more than her gut feeling, but they did.

“Thanks, you two.” Mei nods with a slight smile.

"Since Mei's not going to the mall, how about we hang out at her place?" Rika laughs.

"Your intentions are obvious."

"Come on... just a peek? Maybe just his phone number?"

"Oi!" Mei didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. The strange mood earlier was dispelled so easily with the company of others. She recalled the words her brother had told her once.

Friends... huh.

"It's indeed a little bit of a waste to split up here. How about my place? It's not too far from here." Amy adjusted her spectacle frame, and suggests to the two bickering.

"Anywhere's better than my place."

"Ooh! Amy's place! Do you have an elder brother too?"

The three turned tail, and walked back as they began to reschedule their plans for the day.

As she watched her other classmates moving in the opposite direction, Mei feels something caught in her throat.

I hope I'm wrong this time.

"Hey, you two—” Her words were caught in her throat. Her pupils became dilated.

The everyday banter had created an illusion of peace, and choice.

But from the very beginning, her intuition was right. Just... too little, too late.

His words were just foreboding to this day. And thus, her perception of what had appeared was stronger than her friends.

A hideous creature with dwarf-like height stood in the way of their retreat. The pickaxe lobbed over its scrawny green shoulder had a mix of rust and a sticky red liquid.

Smirk. The intelligent creature drew a devilish expression, a face so horrific that it almost seemed like it was crafted from hell.

It was a goblin.

“Amy, Rika...! G-Get away from that thing!”

No, Mei noticed it only after casting a cursory glance. Her friends were frozen in place.

Not good!

“A-Ahh...aaa...” The two could only shudder at their eyes were fixated at the monster blocking the narrow pathway.

The goblin crept even closer, allowing the girls to see it in full detail. Cysts and hideous bumps riddled the surface of its parched green skin. Yellow slitted eyes like that of a forest frog, and sharp decaying teeth meaning to chew on game meat.

A carnivorous creature that once pushed humanity down from the top of the food chain.

...No, it still was. The girls were no more than pitiful lambs to the slaughter. A scream was stifled in her mouth as Mei forcefully kept it shut with both hands. 

This... isn't real.

Without warning, the goblin suddenly lunged forward! The pickaxe was raised above its head, as her friends cowered without resistance. No, perhaps their survival instincts had kicked in—

“”H-Hiiiii….!!!” —They had merely managed to take a step back, even if it's just to push their bodies to move away from danger. The goblin missed its first strike out of dumb luck. But it prepared the second one almost immediately.

At that distance, it was going to be fatal. Mei felt her whole world turning at that moment. And with a desperate cry that came straight from her heart, she screamed—

"Help... help us!!! Onii-c—"

—CRACK. A figure blurred past the monster. Another monster… no, is that a motorbike?!

It happened so quickly.

The rider immediately dismounted mid-air as the bike whirled and crashed onto the pavement.

The goblin, astonished by the encroaching shadow was too slow to react. It was dropkicked right in the head. Its skull completely caved in, splattering brain matter all over its assailant.

“Wha…!” “Kyaaa!” Amy and Rika screamed, as Mei identified the individual who had just jumped in to save them.

A woman wearing a full–black skintight spandex fit, face covered by a dual-visor bike helmet.

“Stay back, they might not be friendly!” Mei shouted a warning to her friends, to which they quickly stumbled back with hasty breaths. But as if the newcomer didn’t mind, their movements did not seem hostile.

“Eh, that hand sign, are they telling us to wait there?”

“...” Mei kept silent as they walked over to the bike and picked it up as if nothing had happened. Surprisingly, the black motorbike had sustained not a single scratch. It emitted a threatening hum as the driver approached the trio at a slow but steady pace.

When they were close enough, the suited rider tapped the side of their helmet. The visor opened in an unconventional manner. As machinery whirled, her face was revealed.

“You are…!”

A beautiful woman with raven black hair and bright white eyes. That gaze of hers seemed discolored just like a blind person. But Mei clearly felt her gaze.

The face was familiar, but she wasn’t sure who she was in the past. Mei had definitely seen this person before. The first person to speak was the mysterious woman.

A husky-sounding voice came out.

“You okay?”

That was when a certain part of Mei’s memories returned.

“...Senna?”

“Wait, Mei, you know this lady?” “What’s going on, Mei?”

As if to confirm her identity, “Senna” glanced at Mei, and gave a light nod.

“The situation is urgent. Where is your brother?”

There were many questions she wanted to ask, but knowing the relationship between Senna and her brother… she bit her lip and answered.

“...I couldn’t reach him.”

A look of disappointment, perhaps a tinge of panic appeared on the woman’s face as she heard it.

“...I see.” The visor was reconstructed, and soon her face was helmed again.

“It’s no longer safe in the streets. I’ll arrange my colleagues to pick you up. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. I won’t let Shadow’s little sister get hurt. Her friends too.”

“W-Wait…!”

“Stay put, little sister. I’ve cleared out the area, but it doesn’t mean you should still run around.”

Having said those words muffled underneath the helmet, the woman skid away into the distance where civilian screams could be heard.

“...Senna. …Brother, what’s about to happen to this city?”

Clutching a rosario hung over her neck, Mei prayed silently in her mind.

And also, why am I still the little sister?