Chapter 11: Mia’s World
Chapter 11: Mia’s World
HOW old was she in her earliest memories? She was probably too small to even know her own age; it was since then that Mia had learned one kind of magic, and one kind of magic only. Other forms of magic were merely derivative: ice projectiles, blades of wind, opening up holes in the ground, flying through the air—all of them. Even creating her own original spells. All her training served the sole purpose of perfecting the image of just one spell—the quintessential spell known as the Great Magical Art of Darkness “Miangaia”.
This magic, also known as “God’s Hope”, had been passed down from generation to generation since ancient times, from parent to child. Mia had learned it from her father, who had learned it from her grandfather, who had learned it from her great-grandfather.
What Mia experienced after training for and learning about the great magical art of darkness every single day was history. She was studying natural history; just as any other person had to sit through history during social studies in elementary school, so too did Mia learn her family’s history.
How did this blue planet come to be? The sky was made, the sea was made, the earth was made, and so, life was born.
There was no need for a scientific explanation or a profound understanding of the processes. The important thing was to picture that primeval world.
Life eventually turned into plants, into fish, and into animals, each contributing to the flow of energy in the food chain as they kept going through the circle of life and death on the lush, green earth and in the beautiful azure sea. A beautiful world. That was the image that lay at the heart of the great magical art of darkness Mia had been taught since she was but a child.
Without thinking, she meticulously followed her father’s instructions, dutifully picturing that world inside her head. She imagined scenery: the sky changing in tune with the seasons and weather, a bright-blue sea hiding mammals within its depths, which she pictured with some help from the encyclopedia illustrations. After creating the sea, next was the land with its flora, and then fauna: animals, insects, birds. An abundance of life. One by one, she purposefully conjured up a highly detailed image of each in her head. Over the period of many long years, she shaped the world in her mind.
However, one thing conspicuously absent from that image was humanity. She’d never questioned it or thought it was strange. …Why was that? Was it because she had naively expected people would exist there as a matter of course? Was it because she had been instructed in a way that didn’t allow for doubts or questions, this one included? She didn’t know anymore. Because the father who had been guiding her was no longer with her.
MIA flew aimlessly through the air, and she recognized the place she decided to alight on a whim as a riverbank. Now that she thought about it, this was where she had met Ren and the rest of the Rangers for the very first time. Spring had been in full swing. According to the traditional Japanese calendar, it was the very beginning of early summer. And now it was winter, and the riverbank was cold, a freezing wind blowing in from the river. She exhaled slowly and sure enough, her breath formed a white mist.
“I have to do it,” Mia murmured and looked up at the sky.
The winter’s night sky was captivating. Mia wasn’t particularly fond of this season, but she did like the sky it produced. The stars looked clearer and brighter than during summer.
She thought of something Father had once said about how, “If you perform the great magical art of darkness, the stars in the sky will become even more beautiful.” That’s why she had felt such pure joy at the prospect. How wonderful it would be if the things she found beautiful became even prettier! That was why she had been looking forward to defeating the Champions of Justice, their defeat enabling her to cement world domination through the final spell—it felt like a reward for her efforts. It would have been like a gun salute, celebrating her victory. The thought of humanity disappearing when she cast the spell to reshape the world hadn’t even crossed her mind.
…A world of sparkling blue and verdant green. In her naiveté, she had imagined many people there too, rejoicing in its beauty. It was easy to see that wouldn’t be the case, if only she had given it more than a perfunctory thought. She remembered how Ren and the others affectionately said she “lacked smarts”, and she couldn’t help but laugh self-deprecatingly. Indeed, she lacked the smarts to think things through and see the consequences her actions would beget.
“I have to do it…”
She fished her cape out from her backpack and tied the cord in a bow around her neck. Then she took out her wand and gently raised it.
“For I am the Supreme Ruler of Evil. For it is I who now stands at the head of the evil organization known as Gealach.”
Mia softly closed her eyes and pictured the image in her head. She could recall it effortlessly; after all, it was the only thing she had been training to do all the years of her life. Envisioning the image of the world that her father had taught her came as easy to her as breathing.
“This is my will that I have inherited from you, Father. To fulfill our hearts’ desire, I have endlessly studied and trained for this one spell. For taking over the world is the very reason I was born,” Mia exhaled hotly, her voice a bit breathless.
This would be the first time she would use this magic. Was she exhilarated or was she nervous? Was she, perhaps, afraid?
“Right, world domination is our long-standing ambition. Having the world in the palm of my hand is what I wish for. S-So, whether or not there will be any humans inhabiting it, if that is what my ancestors wanted, then I…I have to do it!”
Utter the words…with clarity and intent.
“A blue world—”
“Don’t jump the gun, you dummy!”
Something hit her on the forehead with a loud thunk. The carefully crafted image in her head instantly dispersed, and Mia cowered right where she stood, covering the forming bruise.
“O-Ouch!”
Something had hit her on the head. Wondering what it was, she looked down and discovered that it had been a smartphone. …A familiar one. It was Ren’s phone!
Mia scrambled to her feet and scanned her surroundings. She noticed Misaki’s car at the end of the road by the riverbank, the Crow Rangers scattering out of its doors and rushing towards her. Ren in particular ran exceptionally fast, and it seemed as if he would close in on Mia’s position in mere moments. The girl urgently brandished her wand.
Stay back, stay back, stay back—
“Do not come any closer to me!”
Her cry involuntarily turned into a spell, the magic activating of its own accord. It had been a jumbled mess of an image, but the force with which she had invoked it made it manifest in a very concrete form. A colossal wall, made of translucent stone and circular in its shape, now protectively surrounded her at its center. Ren, the fastest of them all, managed to barrel his way inside its perimeter, while the rest of the Rangers, slower on their feet, had their way forward cut off by its tall smooth expanse.
“Ren! Mia!”
Aya started hitting the wall of stone. Next to her, Subaru kept vehemently slamming his fists into it. However, the clear stone wasn’t quite as responsive to such treatment as ice had been; not a single crack appeared in its surface.
“Wh-What is this? …Is this some kind of precious stone?”
“Feels like crystal. This must’ve been what came to mind when she had to conjure up an image of something tough on the spot,” Misaki speculated, standing near Shou who was probingly tapping on the stone.
Mia had mentioned before that materializing something universally regarded as valuable required spending a great deal of magical power. She must’ve forgotten about this fact when she had fired off this spell in desperation. As was to be expected, Mia’s shoulders were heaving up and down. That was most likely due to how much this spell had taken out of her. If she exhausted her reserve of magical energy…
“…Ren. Do something about it, promise me!” Aya forcefully struck the crystal wall, gazing at Ren’s back imploringly.
***
THE space within the confines of the crystal wall looked very much like something out of a dream. Mia was out of breath. She had formed so many large pieces of crystal and melded them together. Crystal was a mineral that was recognized as a precious mining resource all over the world. That must be why she felt this worn out.
Even breathless, Mia squeezed the wand with steely determination and stared Ren squarely in the eye. Her eyes conveyed a whole range of emotions, flitting one after the other: confusion, fear, resolve.
When the pebbles crunched under Ren’s foot, signaling his approach, a small tremor shook the girl’s shoulders and she flinched.
“Cool your head, Mia. You heard the chief, right?” Ren asked in as restrained a tone he could muster under the circumstances to soothe her.
Mia slightly nodded, glaring Ren down all the while.
“The spell to take over the world and the effect it creates—it’s not your fault you didn’t know about that stuff. And don’t go blaming yourself for lacking the brains to figure that out on your own, either. Your old man just never told you. No… He couldn’t tell you.”
Even though he taught his daughter such dangerous magic, he chose to omit those vital pieces of information. It was no different from teaching a bomb expert how to work with said bomb, but never explaining what the detonation switch did. It had been her father’s weakness that had sealed his lips shut, for this was a testament to how much his original point of view as a “sorcerer above the constraints of human morals” had shifted to that of just an “ordinary man”.
Ren didn’t know what had sparked the change in Mia’s father. However, what was clear was that the man had loved Mia. He had experienced love, an emotion that was useless to a true Supreme Ruler of Evil.
Because he had known love, he couldn’t bring himself to speak about what the effect of the spell to take over the world would be. …For he had been in love with an ordinary human. He was no evil sorcerer, rather, he was a failure as a sorcerer. Who could this good-for-nothing raise if not a successor that was equally unfit?
He had showered his darling daughter with affection, and so she tasted loneliness and alienation after he had died, but also learned what it was to love and be loved by someone. This, in turn, morphed into roots of righteousness in her soul, and thus the girl had become the polar opposite of evil; she overflowed with virtue …That was who Mia truly was—a lonely, misunderstood Champion of Justice.
“Mia, come on, take the time and think about this. You don’t have to rush. I’m not asking you to give me an answer right now, but talk to me. Your thoughts, your worries, anything that comes into your head. Let’s think about this properly and reach a decision. If you take the time, then, surely…” Ren reasoned with her, talking in a slow, soothing manner.
Mia couldn’t bear it. Shaking her head vehemently, she poured all her confusion and anger into her voice and screamed, “And how will ‘taking my time’ make this any better, pray tell?! What are you going to do to help me if I decide that I do not want to go through with this, huh? This is all I have! This is my will, the will of my father, my grandfather, my entire lineage! I do not want to think. I do not want to agonize over this anymore. For this is something I have to do!”
Convictions instilled in her concerning her destiny and blood ties had Mia in their clutches, coiled tightly around her heart in a cunning binding spell.
Ren scowled, painfully aware of this fact, feeling his temper flare up, he shouted, “You have to do this?! The will of your entire lineage? What the hell does that matter? What about you? What ran through your mind when you learned what would happen if you activated the great magical art of darkness?”
“Wh-What r-ran through my mind?”
“Yeah! The world will be restored to its original splendor and mankind will cease to be. When you learned that, did you think that you’re up for the task to become a tyrant prepared to commit genocide against an entire species, or did you think you’d rather not do it? Which one is it?”
Did she want to activate the spell, or did she not? …That had been clear from the very beginning.
The answer’s obvious, but it’s… Mia unconsciously bit into her lip. She couldn’t accept this. The teachings her father had instilled in her, her pride as the Supreme Ruler of Evil, the entirety of her life principles up until now, all of them worked together in synergy to suppress Mia’s own will.
That was why she didn’t want to think. That was why she didn’t want to worry. Because if she started thinking, the answer would end up slipping from her lips. Because she knew it would mean she would lose the resolve to wave her wand.
“…I have to…do it. I have been trained for this moment ever since I was a little girl. World domination is our cherished ambition, a destiny I must fulfill,” Mia rasped out, her throat constricting, each breath more difficult than the last.
Tears she valiantly tried to hold back with all her might spilled, rolling slowly down her cheeks. Ren’s frown deepened, his face darkening into a terribly somber expression. However, after a short while, he cast his eyes down as if he had given up on something.
“I see…” he muttered, “So that’s your desire?”
“Yes. That is my will. That is my choice. For I am the Supreme Ruler of Evil.”
This was the only way of life for Mia, the path that she had chosen for herself. Or that, at least, was what she was trying to convince herself of, proclaiming to be the villain while desperately trying to stamp down her stubborn emotions that threatened to burst out from under her control.
“…All right,” Ren affirmed softly, raising his face again to take a good, firm look at Mia’s face.
She in turn stared right back at him with wide, startled eyes. Despite having essentially just said he understood her choice, the man’s foot slid forward a step. Mia stumbled back and readied her wand.
“Wh-What is it?! Are you going to fight me?”
“Why would I? I told you, I get it. I won’t do a thing. I’m just moving closer to you.”
“Moving closer?! S-Stay back! I am going to perform the Great Magical Art of Darkness ‘Miangaia’ now!”
“Mee-ahn-guy-ah? Your naming sense is as awful as ever, I see. Is this a hereditary trait passed down in your family? I feel sorta sorry for your clan,” Ren taunted, drawing nearer all the while.
Mia shrunk back, making a few quick steps backwards, and after having put some distance between them, raised her wand.
“I told you to stay back! O sky of ice, turn into arrows and fall down!”
The very instant she spoke the words, imbuing them with intent, a multitude of slender spears made of ice rained down right before Ren’s nose, burrowing into the ground and blocking his path.
It looked like he was shaking his foot when the ice cracked after he kicked it aside. Without breaking his pace, he leapt lightly over the icicles and continued his relentless approach.
“Why do you keep on coming? Did you not say you were all right with my choice? Just stay put and watch me activate the spell!”
“Huh? I said I understood, that’s true. But when did I ever say I’d take orders from you? …I’ll go wherever I please. If you don’t like it, try and stop me if you can!” Ren scoffed, the crunch of gravel on his shoes growing louder as he drew nearer and nearer to where Mia stood.
How…? Why do I feel so scared? Stay away. Don’t come closer. I don’t want you here. You are only going to get in my way. If I get a whiff of your scent, if I feel the touch of your hand, it will ruin everything.
Mia’s mind went blank. The only two things on her mind were how she had to complete her mission no matter what, and how that meant never seeing Ren again.
Making the most of the cramped space inside the crystal wall towering around her, Mia ran along its perimeter, calling forth a veritable downpour of magic, one spell after another. Any and every form of magic she could conceive. She sent hailstones flying everywhere, created gaping holes in the ground, hurled blades of wind. However, they were all spells that Ren had seen many times before, so he dealt with them in a speedy and efficient manner, never even breaking a sweat.
Seeing the futility of her efforts, Mia decided to take a different approach, twirled her wand around, and ascended into the air. Ren dashed forward suddenly, forcefully grabbed on to her cloak and pulled with all his might until he dragged her out of the air and down to the ground. She crashed into the gravel helplessly and looked back over her shoulder with a start. There, she saw Ren, looking down on her with uncharacteristically cold eyes.
“Oh, I ain’t letting you go!” he growled, his large hand reaching out towards Mia’s cheek.
She slammed her eyes shut, shook her wand and chanted, despite being right next to Ren, “Dance, o wind!”
As soon as she uttered the words, a strong air current picked up, roaring to life between Mia and Ren. The wind swelled up like a typhoon, tearing Mia and Ren apart and blowing them away in opposite directions. Ren, being propelled backwards by a gust of wind, twisted his body so he could brace his foot against the crystal wall, stepping down from it and landing on the ground nimbly. Mia, however, slammed gracelessly into the slab of crystal with her back, the force of the hit knocking the wind out of her. She slid down the wall awkwardly, landing in a heap. She was gasping for air, as if she had just run a marathon at full speed.
Her head was spinning and her back hurt. Quick, I have to cast the next spell! Mia thought, but her mouth could only open in shaky, oxygen-starved inhales. Why did every little action feel so taxing all of a sudden? Had she really used that much magic? She shook her head in confusion and grasped her wand tightly, as if holding on to a lifeline. This wand was an important treasure she had received from her father.
“Sorceresses use this kind of wand. Come on, give it a twirl. See how the bit with the star lights up? Pretty, right?”
When she was little, her heart had filled with excitement over the wand that lit up when she waved it around. Nowadays, the part that used to light up was broken, and even replacing the batteries didn’t make it shine again, but Mia still couldn’t cast spells properly without it.
Her father may have been a man full of contradictions. He may have been suffering to an extent she may very well never fully grasp. But her father had always been kind to her. He had been strict during their lessons—about magic, about his way of life, but he had also been kind to her and had given her plenty of love. Mia’s father was her everything.
“…Magic… Have to…use…magic…” Mia rasped, ragged breath like sand in her throat. She pulled what little fight she had left in her together and brought herself up to stand.
She gripped her wand so tight her knuckles turned white, raised her head and there—right in front of her was Ren.
“Re-Ren.”
Her body tensed involuntarily. When did he get so close to her? Ren stood silent. He was scowling, a usual and very familiar wrinkle in his brow; his upturned eyes making him look like more of a villain than she could ever hope to be. His hand stretched out towards her. Mia closed her eyes automatically, her shoulders trembling.
Was he going to cover her mouth so that she couldn’t use magic against him anymore, like he always did? But as the seconds went by, no hand curved over her lips. Instead, she felt enveloped in something soft and warm.
“…Huh?”
Ren was holding Mia in his embrace. Her eyes opened wide in surprise. He held her tight against his chest, his arms pulling her in ever stronger.
“I’m not gonna stop you, silly. I’m done with being a Champion of Justice. I quit. Instead I’ll be your minion, you’re hiring right? I have good references, I once worked for the good guys, you know?”
Mia was panting and out of breath, her mouth hanging open in a small “o” out of sheer shock. She couldn’t seem to close it. The only sound that passed through her lips was “huh”, which hung above her like a question mark rather than transform into an actual word.
“Go on, use it, the great magical art of darkness. If that’s what you wanna do, then so be it. I’m not gonna judge you for your choice. …But, please, let me do this, at least,” Ren beseeched, his arms, holding her to him with almost crushing strength now. As if he never wanted to let go, not even for a moment. As if he wanted to carve the sensation of Mia’s form against himself.
“You know, I have no idea how it’ll feel to just disappear. I gotta say, I’m terrified. Going out in an instant, like a light, seems okay as far as the choices here go, but fading out slowly, bit by bit, now that sounds pretty nasty. But if I’ll feel you right next to me while I cease to be, well, what’s to come doesn’t seem so scary anymore.”
Even though his expression was so dark until just moments before, right now he looked calm, almost serene.
“If I am to be erased, I want to disappear feeling the girl I like by my side. I want to fade away feeling you with me until the very end… I’m sorry for being so selfish. Now, go on Mia, use the spell.” As if emphasizing his resolve, Ren hugged Mia all the more tightly. He seemed to have said his piece, content with his last words, so he stopped speaking.
Mia, wrapped in Ren’s arms, slowly raised her wand overhead. I have to speak the words. I have to say them! This is our wish that has burned in our hearts for so long. My father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, all of my ancestors…they lived their lives toiling away to perfect their craft, and then they perished, entrusting that dream to the next generation…
She just couldn’t put a stop to this long chain of tradition in her own generation. She couldn’t trample on their hopes and dreams like that. For Mia, world domination was an aspiration she had to fulfill no matter what. Once again, she brought up the image in her mind.
It was one of a beautiful blue world. The sky, its colors shifting and mingling endlessly. The azure sea so clear you could see all the way to its bottom. The land with its lush greenery. Fish swimming about leisurely, all kinds of animals being born, finding a mate, giving birth to the next generation, and meeting their end. Plants growing luxuriantly, blessing all the living things with their boon, then growing old and withering. And then the next seed sprouts.
Now that she had the abundant beauty of the ideal world pictured vividly in her head, it was time for the last step. She had to pour it all into words and speak them out loud. However, right at that moment, she caught a whiff of Ren’s scent. The smell of his favorite brand of cigarettes mingling with the musky odor of a man’s body.
She hadn’t even noticed it happening, but somewhere along the way, she had begun to associate that smell with safety. She felt at ease whenever she smelled it. …She had grown to love it. She had liked it so much, she would subconsciously start sniffing at Ren to get more of it.
If she uttered the words, this smell would be gone, forever. She didn’t even know what would happen to herself, but what she did know without a trace of doubt, was that Ren’s scent would disappear. So would his arms, wrapped around her, holding her tightly, as would the silky-soft feel of his hair, his mischievous smile, his teasing words. All of that would be wiped out, once and for all.
And it wouldn’t just be Ren. Misaki, Subaru, Shou, Aya, her next-door neighbor Mrs. Ozawa, her friends from school, Sayoko, and Kana… Everyone, every single person Mia had crossed paths with in her life, all of them would be erased from existence with just a few words falling from her lips.
Thunk! The wand slipped from her now-limp hand and fell to the ground.
“I… c-cannot…”
Salty drops welled up in her eyes and started flowing in an endless stream down her face. The silent tears eventually gave way to sobs. Mia lifted her face up towards the night sky and through her convulsive cries, she repeated, “I cannot” over and over again.
“I cannot do this. I just cannot… I don’t want everyone I know to vanish! I am sorry, I am so sorry, Father… I am so sorry. But this is too much for me… I do not want to be left all alone!” Mia blubbered like a small child.
Within the safety of Ren’s arms, her face wet and puffy, the girl apologized to her father, who was always in her heart, to her grandfather, to all of her sorcerer ancestors. Though apologizing didn’t make any difference, it was the only thing Mia could do. Like a broken record, she said “sorry” time and again.
Ren trailed a gentle hand along Mia’s back in a soothing gesture. Then, he hugged her tightly. He put his strength into the hug, as if telling her with all his heart that he would never let her go, would never leave her side.
“Mia, I won’t blame you for your choice, I won’t try to stop you, whether you go through with it or not. Whatever you decide, I’ll always be right by your side. I won’t ever leave you alone. Whether we live or we disappear, we do it together. I know you hate feeling lonely. You don’t have to worry about that, I got you covered.”
Mia cried upon hearing those words. Letting out heart-wrenching sobs, she clutched Ren’s clothes in her hands.
She wept, feeling a myriad of different emotions erupt within her with explosive force, warring with each other. There was joy and relief at hearing Ren say that he would stay by her side no matter what she chose, and that he would never let her feel lonely again, but also heavy, crushing guilt. Ren kept holding her close to him and caressing her head throughout this conversation, as if he were comforting a small child or soothing a bawling baby.
“Do some soul-searching, apologize for it if you must. And amid it all, pave your own way forward. Shape the future on your own terms; forget about what the sorcerers want. Don’t worry, whatever you decide, I won’t leave your side. If thinking things through ain’t your strong suit, talk it over with someone. You’re not alone, okay? You’ve got me, and all of us Crow Rangers. …You can talk to us, I promise you we’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”
Ren’s words sizzled in her chest. The moment she felt she couldn’t go through with world conquest, she lost the very guiding principle around which her whole life had been built. She felt immense guilt towards all sorcerers throughout history, and yet she couldn’t help her own decision. She didn’t know how she should live her life from now on, but she couldn’t bring herself to choose death, either, so Mia had to continue her existence. She had to find her own path in life.
…But she wouldn’t have to do it alone. The arms that encircled her, the gentle hands, they told her she was not alone. There were people that would listen to her, people who would help her find her way through her troubles. And there was someone who had promised that no matter what choice she made, they would always be together.
“Thank you…” Mia quietly whispered the words of appreciation, tears streaming down her face.
Mia tightly squeezed Ren’s body in an affectionate embrace, pouring all of her unspoken feelings into the hug. After a while, the sobs shaking her frame began to gradually subside.
Ren gently stroked Mia’s back and let out a small sigh. He felt bad for making her cry. Felt bad for letting her, his beloved, make a choice that brought her suffering and agony. He had really meant it when he said he didn’t mind being erased from existence. If that was what she chose, that was fine. The thought of dying together with her somehow seemed much more palatable than leaving her all alone in the rebirth of a pure beautiful world.
His team members, his family, friends, colleagues—it wasn’t as if their faces hadn’t flashed through his mind back then.
But, “Sorry,” he’d said lightly, apologizing to all of them in his mind, “I’m choosing Mia over you guys, bummer, huh?”
He could have chosen to restrain her against her will to make sure she couldn’t use magic, but he couldn’t possibly keep her subdued indefinitely. Killing her was never an option. He had reasoned that the only choice he had left was respecting her will.
Mia had decided she couldn’t go through with it. In the end, that was what her final choice had been.
Let us be together then, he thought. That was his fault too, for it had been him who had ultimately driven her to pick that option. Mia kept on saying “sorry” over and over again to her ancestors, but she, in turn, was unknowingly also receiving silent words of apology from Ren for the way things had played out.
I’m sorry… If you did perform the great magical art of darkness, your conscience probably wouldn’t bother you so much. Mia would likely have to live out her life apologizing to her father, grandfather, and all of her ancestors. She had lost her way and would have to find herself a new course to follow. It would be a long, agonizing road filled with pain and hardship.
…I’m sorry, Mia. But at least I’ll be by your side every step of the way. I won’t leave you alone to face your anguish, your troubles. Let’s be together forever. I’ll shoulder your pain for you. Let’s find it together, a new path of our own, Ren secretly swore to himself.
Maybe it was because she had used up all her tears after a long bout of crying, or maybe she just felt better, but she slowly lifted her head. Her eyes met Ren’s, and he instinctively brought their lips together in a kiss. …As always, he astounded her with his crazy antics. His actions never ceased to catch her off guard. In spite of herself, Mia’s cheeks flamed red, her eyes dropping down. Ren let out a small chuckle.
“Are we feeling calmer now?”
“…Hmph. Y-Yeah.”
Mia’s tiny nod came accompanied by a loud rumbling noise. With a gasp, Mia put a hand on her stomach to the sounds of barely contained amusement above her ear.
“W-Well, I haven’t had dinner yet!”
“Ha-ha-ha! You really are something… Sheesh, Mia, your voice is all hoarse! Definitely a cold. You’ve barely recovered, and there you go firing off spells left and right while fighting a cold in the chilly breeze… You silly girl!”
“Oops…”
He was right—her throat hurt and she felt weirdly fatigued. She could feel that her magical power reserves were decimated. Could what she was feeling be the effects of the first flu of her life? She felt tired to the bone, more exhausted than ever before.
“So, what are we gonna do about this mountain of crystal?”
“I should be able to smash it, I think. Not all of it, but one slab should be within my powers.”
Mia should actually be able to erase the wall with a poof by giving her wand a light shake, but she generally wasn’t good at making things go away.
“Smash, huh…?” Ren murmured, and looked at Mia with worry in his eyes. “How’s your magical powers reserve?”
“I still have some left. It should be enough for this one task… It will be by the skin of my teeth though.”
Mia exhaled gingerly, regulating her breath, and picked up the wand. She felt like she was going to start gasping for air again as soon as she let herself relax, so she brought her breathing under control and focused.
“…All that has a form must someday fall apart!”
As soon as she spoke the words, cracks started to spread through the crystal wall blocking their path. Then, the wall started to crumble, pieces of it clattering to the ground.
Ren couldn’t help but pipe up in an exasperated tone of voice, “What was that spell just now?!”
“Bleh, this is what improvised magic is like. I can’t come up with cool words for the spell on the spot,” Mia grunted sullenly, which only made Ren burst out laughing.
“Ah, so that was improvised! You don’t say! You mean, you’ve actually put some thought into spell names up until now?!”
“Shut up! Shut UP! I’ll think up some good names one of these days!” Mia bit back in the spirit of their usual bickering.
When she tried to take a step forward though, her legs refused to support her, her body dangerously swaying. Alarmed, Ren quickly shot out an arm to steady her and keep her from falling.
“Hey, take it easy, okay?” Ren commanded as he pulled her up by her arm and hoisted her up so that she was draped over his back. Her arms over his shoulders, Mia cast her eyes down apologetically.
“Sorry…”
“How about you just stay still, then you won’t need to apologize in the first place. Hey! Over here!”
At Ren’s loud shouting, the Rangers who had been standing on the outside of the crystal wall came running.
“Dear me! Do you have any idea how worried we were about you?! Oh my, Mia, look at you, you can barely stand!”
“Ah, that’s because of her cold, and overdoing it with magic. Also, she says she could eat a horse.”
“Yeah, that must’ve messed her up good,” Shou cooed, patting Mia on the head.
Subaru stepped up to them, clearly anxious over Mia’s state. “Speaking of which, we haven’t had our dinner yet. …So, what are we going to do? If you’re tired, should we go home and eat there?”
“No thanks, I should be just fine if I rest a bit. That’s how it was after Kyoto, at least. I’m hungry for some…meat. I want Misaki’s…deliciously plump wiener.”
“Please don’t say that ever again! Okay, all right. I did promise to treat you to some meat. Eat well and get your protein fix so you have lots of energy to beat that cold, you dummy,” Misaki grumbled and hit Mia on the head lightly.
“I will,” Mia nodded, gingerly rubbing her forehead.
***
“WE can report back to the chief by phone. Let’s tell him we’ll give him the details tomorrow.”
“Yeah, sure. The real issue is that wall, or rather, now heap of crystal on the riverbank. Can we file it under lost property? Who should we even contact for that?”
With Misaki behind the wheel, Aya took out her cell phone; Shou followed her example, both of them probably calling the police station. Mia was sitting in the back, spacing out due to the flu, her head resting on Ren’s shoulder, swaying whenever the car shook. …It felt so nice. Now that she had realized her true feelings, she could bask in the comfort Ren offered her.
Ren looked down on the peaceful girl, lovingly narrowed his eyes and stroked her shoulder. The two of them looked like the very picture of a harmonious, loving couple.
Shou, stealing a sidelong glance at them, gave a good-natured chuckle. “I guess you could call it the silver lining to the cloud.”
“Nah, that sounds wrong. Still, all’s well that ends well, right?”
The two laughed together in perfect unison. Eventually, Misaki gave the steering wheel a sharp turn and stopped the car in the parking lot of a grill restaurant.
By the time they were getting out of the car, Mia was able to walk without stumbling again. Nevertheless, Ren placed a careful hand around Mia’s shoulders to support her just in case as they walked towards the restaurant. They had to cross the street to get to the grilled meat place from the parking lot they had stopped at, so the six of them stood at the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
“Me too, I’m starving! Oh right, did you get in touch with the chief?” Misaki asked Aya.
She nodded and held her phone up for everyone to see. “Yeah, I gave him the brief version. As in, ‘don’t worry, humankind isn’t getting erased for now’,” Aya said jokingly, but Mia immediately cast her eyes down as if slapped.
“I…I am very sorry. Now that I think about it, I was about to do something truly horrific. Yes, I was acting out in confusion at the time, but that doesn’t change the fact that I almost made the choice to erase everyone from existence.”
The more time she spent with everyone, the more the reality of what she had been so close to doing seeped in. With just one word, she could’ve lost everything. Realizing how terrifying that would’ve been, Mia trembled at the thought. Then, a hand gently plopped down on her head. She looked up, and met Subaru’s eyes, warm and compassionate.
“You’re a good kid, we all know it. Your smile will mean more to us than a thousand apologies. Trust me, that’s what will make us the happiest.”
Such kind words. Mia felt as if she could burst into tears again, her heart constricting inside her chest. She hastily wiped her eyes and nodded at Subaru, a smile on her lips.
Not long after, the traffic light turned green. Just then, a family exited the doors of the barbecue restaurant. They were walking towards the pedestrian crossing, merry chatter and laughter hanging in the air around them.
“…Ah! It’s the sorcerer lady!” someone exulted in a tiny voice.
The child, huddled next to his parents, seemed familiar to Mia somehow…
“Oh! It’s the good little future workforce member!”
“…Huh? What future workforce member?” Ren raised an exasperated eyebrow, prompting Mia to tell him a brief version of their encounter.
The boy started running towards Mia, gushing at his parents with an excited gleam in his eye. He was probably telling them how, “that lady is a sorceress, pinky swear”. The parents had a slightly embarrassed look on their face, probably telling the boy in a placating manner, “sure she is, sweetie”.
The light was still green. Mia regarded the child scampering towards her across the road, her head blissfully blank.
Until a huge truck came swerving around the corner down the road.
The piercing sound of screeching brakes mixed with the horrified scream of the mother, and over that, two voices yelled simultaneously,
“Wait!” Ren shouted.
“NO!” Mia shrieked.
It was exactly like an hour ago, when she had erected the crystal wall. Without thinking, she shouted out the only feeling that filled her mind. Her emotions pouring into it, the yell became the trigger that activated her magic. The image that Mia had pictured in her head on instinct gained form, manifesting in the real world.
Magical vines, sprouting from the asphalt, surged up into the sky, and then cascaded down, snaking around the truck and stopping it in its tracks. Some vines shot up from under the boy’s feet, lifting him up in the air. The vines quickly deposited the boy to safety on the sidewalk where the vines unraveled from around his limbs, dropping him safely into the outstretched arms of his parents.
The next thing anyone knew, the scene, already outlandish, gained an otherworldly beauty to it. The entire ground became filled with a medley of colorful flowers, sprawling widely out from the concrete. Daisies, gerberas, marigolds, dandelions, violets, tulips, and many other kinds of flowers. It was clear Mia had studied the tomes on flowers night after night, for there were even more kinds of flowers than they had seen in the flower garden she had conjured up that summer.
A jumbled image she had in her head probably broke free of her mind’s constraints and materialized in the physical realm. A beautiful world. A world of vast, endless flower fields. A world in which everybody was smiling. A world where everybody was happy. Mia’s dream world as she envisioned it, childish and naïve as it may be.
“Thank goodness!” Mia breathed out in relief at Ren’s side, evidently glad to see the boy returned unharmed to his parents.
Her voice sounded completely normal. It didn’t sound particularly tired, so Ren didn’t think much of it. “You can say that again! You okay?” he addressed Mia, concern tingeing his voice, as he looked down at Mia standing next to him.
She should’ve been next to him. Only, she wasn’t there.
Mia lay face-down on the petal-littered road.
***
“…HUH?!” Ren uttered weakly, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Mia had collapsed.
There was no discernible exhaustion in her voice, so he’d thought she was all right. But now, she lay on the ground unmoving, unnaturally still. She looked as if she were sleeping, so Ren, thinking he had to wake her up, knelt down amid the flowers and started shaking Mia.
“Rise and shine! You can’t sleep here on the cold ground… You have a cold, don’t you? It’ll get even worse, you dummy.”
A part of him knew what had really happened. He felt terribly ridiculous, spouting empty, lighthearted nonsense like that, pretending everything was still fine, running away from the ugly reality by faking cheerfulness. Mia showed no sign of movement.
“Mia, hey, Mia? Come on, wake up! At least wait until you’ve had some food before you sleep!” Ren chided, desperation mounting in his voice.
A particularly forceful shake flipped the girl’s limp body over, and now he could see her face. Her eyes were closed, her lifeless lips parted slightly.
“Mi…a…?”
Empty-eyed, Ren gazed at the girl. At her motionless, limp, wilted form, all life drained from it. Immediately, Aya came running, wild-eyed, and grabbed Mia’s wrist. Then she hovered her hands over the girl’s lips.
“I feel…no p-pulse… A-And she’s…not breathing either…” Aya stuttered out, deathly pale.
Never before had Ren seen Aya make such a face. Subaru was the next one to sprint over to them, his face drained of all color, and put his ear to Mia’s chest. He listened intently for a while, and then his big body started quaking all over, his gaze fixed on Mia lying prostrate on the ground.
“Her heart…”
Misaki staggered over with unsteady steps, Shou stood stock-still, rooted to the spot.
“No way, it can’t be over just like that! Her body’s just in shock, right?”
“Uh-huh, in so much shock that her heart stopped?! Hey, Mia! This isn’t funny, stop joking around!” Misaki barked, approaching the girl’s body with a few determined, angry steps and knelt next to it, shaking it violently.
Everyone stared at him, hoping against all hope that Mia might jolt back to life. That the girl would open her eyes suddenly, and go, “Hm, what is it?” while quizzically cocking her head to the side as she was so prone to doing. Then everyone would go, “Hey! You really scared us there, you silly girl!” and they would all poke her teasingly and have a good laugh about it. They wished so hard for that to happen.
But no matter how much they stirred her, no matter how many times they called her name, she remained still and lifeless, not even an eyelid twitching. Their hope soon turned into despair. Feeling the dark claws of anguish tear into their hearts while they sat in a sprawling field of gorgeous flowers felt like cruel irony. How could it be that the girl who created such a beautiful world, the one who would’ve been the happiest looking at it, just lay there with her eyes closed, motionless?
Ren carefully wrapped his arms around Mia and propped her up against his chest in a sitting position. When he carded a hand through her hair, it felt soft and silky against his fingers. When he gently touched her cheek, she still felt warm. He couldn’t believe her pulse wasn’t beating anymore, her heart stopped, her breathing ceased. However, when he put his ear to her lips, he indeed felt no breath, just like Aya had said. The dreadful realization dawned on him. Ren hugged her body close to him, so tightly she could break.
“No… This… This can’t be…” he sobbed, tears streaming down his face.
However unseemly it might be for a twenty-six-year-old man to cry, both his pride and his self-control utterly failed him. Just when they had finally started reaching out to each other, this happened. He hadn’t properly put them in words yet, but he was certain that his feelings had reached Mia, and that she, in turn, had opened her heart to him. He was certain their hearts had reached out to each other and made a real connection.
“Not like this. It’s too soon! Not when we finally broke the hold of your old man’s spell over you!”
It was way too soon. It was supposed to be just the beginning for them! When things calmed down, he would’ve taken the time to say those three magic words to her, and find out if she felt the same way about him. He would’ve told her that him being so tactile with her and all his “efforts to annoy her” actually hadn’t been what he had made them out to be. Then, he would’ve hugged Mia, who would no doubt get all flustered as she tended to do, and he would’ve placed a sweet kiss on her lips.
“This can’t be it! I haven’t done a thing yet. I promised you I’d take you to all sorts of places, but we haven’t been anywhere together yet. You haven’t even given me a proper smile. You’ve been giving away your smiles to Subaru and Aya, you even started showing them to Misaki recently, but I’ve never seen a full-face sincere smile directed right at me. It used to drive me nuts, you know!”
Because her reactions were so hilarious, he poked fun at her a lot. Because he enjoyed her matching his fire, her eyes taking on a defiant glint, he ended up teasing her despite himself, never quite managing to stop himself from doing it. It was very much like how an elementary school boy would pull on the pigtails of a girl he liked. He had done nothing but act like a child. He thought that he still had time after all.
If they spent more time together, he was certain she would’ve smiled for him too. That’s how he could stand Mia smiling at Subaru and the others, but not him, despite feeling upset with that fact. Because he had been so certain that eventually, she’d show him her true smile too.
Ren shook his head, looking at Mia, who still lay motionless, not a fingertip moving. This couldn’t be happening, it just couldn’t.
He just couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that Mia would never move, never smile, never get angry again. It was unthinkable. Accepting that she would disappear from his side would drive him to certain madness. That was why he couldn’t believe it, wouldn’t believe it. That she’s…dead…
“AAAGH!” Ren cried out.
His wail was suffused with pure, unadulterated agony. It was a painful sight to watch. Subaru dropped his head down, Aya was sobbing, fat tears flowing down her cheeks in a torrent. Misaki turned his face away from the group, his brows tightly knitted, Shou looked at the ground, still rooted to the same spot he had been standing in ever since this all started.
Unable to stem the tide of his overflowing emotions, Ren closed his arms around Mia’s body and wailed amid the beautiful field of vibrant flowers. He wept, tossing aside any shred of dignity or pride. To hell with that useless garbage! If playing the cool guy and fighting back his tears would make the girl open her eyes again, he’d stomp down his grief endlessly if need be. But there was no helping the fact that her breathing had stopped, that when he put a hand to her chest, he couldn’t feel the pulse that was supposed to be there. How else was he supposed to let out the growing despair in his heart, but by wailing and crying?
“No! I won’t have it! I don’t want to lose you. I want you here, right next to me. It’s just too cruel, to disappear after stealing my heart away, right when I’ve irrevocably fallen for you!”
Please, please just open your eyes. If there are any miracles in this world at all, please make one happen here, right now. Ren didn’t believe in God, yet now he was praying with the desperation of a drowning man clutching at straws. Stroking the cheeks of the girl he loved, not even trying to wipe away his streaming tears, Ren stared intensely at Mia.
“I’ll give you anything you want. If there is anything that is mine to give, then take it, just, please, open your eyes. I……I love you, Mia.”
If I could split my years of life on this Earth and give half of them to you, I would. If you needed an organ, I’d cut open my belly right here and now. So, open your eyes. Make this heart beat again. Putting all of these thoughts and feelings swimming through his mind into his one greatest wish, Ren pressed his lips to Mia’s in a kiss.
It was a long, deep kiss. Ren kept their lips melded together for so long it seemed like an eternity. He was afraid to break away. Afraid of the despair he would feel, seeing Mia still unmoving as no miracle came to save her. He couldn’t even bring himself to open his eyes. However…
Ren felt as though a small current of air hit his lips.
“Wha—”
When Ren broke the kiss, faint though it might have been, he felt the smallest of breaths come from the tiny gap between Mia’s lips.
“She… she’s breathing…”
“Huh?!”
At Ren’s astonished murmur, Subaru, who was standing to his side, lifted his head. He frantically put his ear to Mia’s chest.
“It’s… beating? It’s beating! Her heart is beating!”
“What?! But, but, but how?! No, wait, wh-wh-what, what do we do now?! Go to a hospital?”
“W-W-We, w-we’ve got—we’ve got to calm—just calm down for now!” Misaki stuttered to a panicking Aya, pacing about in circles.
Shou, dazedly watching the four Rangers freak out, raised his voice, an idea popping into his head suddenly, “The police! Let’s get back to the station! The chief will be there, too. A hospital probably won’t be able to help us anyway.”
He was right. Mia was neither sick nor did she have any injuries. Ren lifted Mia in his arms and scurried to Misaki’s car. Crow Ranger Red was the last one of the group to squeeze into the car, taking the driver’s seat. He floored the gas, zooming off towards the police station.
***
MIA might’ve returned back to life, but she still wouldn’t open her eyes. She lay in the bed of the police station medical office, her chest rising and falling, seemingly sound asleep. Sleep, however, was all she did. She didn’t move a finger, nor twitch an eyelid. She just continued breathing.
“I wonder if there’s anything we can do…” Shou scratched his head in vexation.
Ren was gazing at Mia, almost boring holes in her with the intensity of his stare. She was breathing. That, however, didn’t mean much on its own. Unless she woke up, opened her eyes, started moving and talking, she might as well be dead.
Ren was shocked at his own selfishness. That time in the flower field, he had thought nothing would make him happier than hearing her heart beat again, and yet now that his wish had been granted, he just wanted her to make another step towards recovery.
The chief, sitting in the back, slowly exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke. “Okay, I now understand the situation, more or less, but to be honest, this is a first for me too. When Mia’s father used up all his magic powers and collapsed… He just ended up dying then and there.”
“Hmm, magic powers. Magic powers…” Aya muttered with her arms crossed, mulling it over in her head.
Subaru frowned in contemplation too.
Misaki, who had been silently ruminating all this time, lifted his head and asked, “Speaking of which… Why did Mia come back to life? I’m absolutely certain her heart had stopped beating, and she wasn’t breathing. There must’ve been something that triggered her miraculous resurrection, right?”
“Ren, didn’t you kiss Mia back there?” Aya asked.
After Shou nodded in agreement, everyone turned to look at Ren.
“Well…yeah, I did… But that couldn’t have…” Ren felt embarrassed at being reminded of what had transpired. He scratched his head awkwardly at Aya’s question.
“If it worked once, it might work again! How about you try it one more time?”
“Look here, that’s not—No, wait… All right, I’ll do it…”
If a kiss was all it would take for the girl to open her eyes, he’d kiss her senseless. It felt incredibly embarrassing to kiss her here though, with everyone’s eyes on him. His discomfort was, however, a small price to pay for the prospect of Mia moving again. Looking uncomfortable, he touched Mia, who was lying on the bed, and mutely pressed his lips to hers.
…But the miracle that had occurred before did not repeat itself. Mia’s eyes did not open, her fingers did not move. She just continued lying there, breathing quietly.
Slowly but surely, anxiety swelled in their hearts. The despair that had enveloped Ren before, struck once more, this time besetting all of them. An awkward tension filled the room.
Then, Subaru uttered under his breath, “Pour intent into the words, and speak them.”
Everyone looked at Subaru. Even Ren turned around to stare at him. Subaru uncrossed his arms, stared soundlessly at Mia, and said it once more, “Pour intent into the words, and speak them. That’s how Mia’s magic works.”
“Sure, we know that, but…”
“I don’t know why, but for some reason Ren’s kiss acted as a trigger. Some kind of force must’ve worked to activate the magic. So, the important thing must be to pour intent into your words, speak them, and be in physical contact with Mia… Right?”
Everyone’s eyes flew open in astonishment at Subaru’s hypothesis. If what they thought had been a miracle had actually been magic, then indeed, just like Subaru said, imitating the way Mia used her powers was the best course of action. It was unclear why such a phenomenon had occurred, but even though they didn’t know the reason behind the miracle, the important thing was to spare no effort in trying to get Mia to wake up. Misaki whirled around to look at Ren and pointed a finger at him.
“All right, go on, pour that intent and say the words! And then smooch away.”
“Wh-What?! Pouring intent and speaking the words… What are you expecting me to say?! Besides, I don’t have to kiss her, right? If touching her is all I need to do, we can just hold hands or something…”
“Now is not the time for this nonsense! What are you suddenly getting embarrassed about, you’re twenty-six years old for crying out loud, get a grip! So before, when it didn’t matter, it was an all-you-can hug, all-you-can-kiss sexual harassment buffet for you, and now you’re shy all of a sudden?!” Aya snarled at him, almost pouncing on him. “Don’t think I wasn’t paying attention all those times you forced yourself on her! If not for our situation and carte blanche given for our actions, I would have dragged you in and tossed you into a cell myself! Now get kissing!”
However, for Ren, this felt different somehow. It was different from his previous touchy-feely attitude bordering on sexual harassment. It felt like he was doing something extremely, terribly shameful.
“If you’re talking about molesting her, surely, I don’t have to be the one…”
“Ugh, just shut up and do it! Think and say the same things you did back then, and you’ll be all right! It’s how the miracle happened before. So, quit your whining and just do whatever you did last time!”
Ren was taken aback by the angry tirade directed at him. So, he had to think, say, and do the same things he had done when Mia had first collapsed? Did that mean he had to say those things again? How…? Those words he had uttered in the spur of the moment—he’d have to say them in this quiet medical room, with everyone’s attention centered on his person.
“Ugh, do you guys all get off on embarrassing me or what?” he grunted spitefully, clutching at his bangs. Everyone just kept looking at him, as if wordlessly ordering him to get on with it. …Well, it seemed that there was no getting out of this. Ren resigned himself to his fate and sealed away his sense of shame.
Once again, he turned towards Mia, bent his back slightly and brought his face close to hers. He could hear the whoosh of her breath, in and out, in and out. Ah, she’s alive all right, he thought, and it made a warm wave of happiness rise in his chest. But he couldn’t settle for just that.
I’m sorry for being so egotistic, so selfish. But the way you are now, I’ll never get to see you walking next to me ever again. Mia… I want to see those defiant eyes of yours. Want to hear your cute voice. I want to see your face light up with a myriad of different expressions. I want you by my side, forever.
“…Mia, I love you.”
Putting all those feelings into it, he pressed a kiss to her lips. Just like before, he didn’t break off immediately, closely watching her instead. He held his breath so that he wouldn’t miss even the slightest change in her condition. He stayed like that for a while, and eventually, Mia’s eyelids started fluttering. Ren stared at her, eyes wild and round like saucers.
Aya, who was watching them with hawk eyes, shrieked in surprise, “Ah! Mia!”
Ren called her name too, parting from her lips. “Mia!”
She blinked a few times, letting out a small groan, and opened her eyes a tiny crack. Then she wiggled her fingers slowly, and languidly turned her head towards Ren. “Ren? Everyone, why the long faces?”
“Waah! Oh, Mia! My dear little Mia!” Pushing Ren aside, Aya gripped Mia in a bear-hug. Ren pinwheeled, a look of panic on his face as he fell onto the floor with a loud bang.
“Wh-What’s happening?” Mia asked, flustered, but Aya, crying tears of joy, just rubbed their cheeks together.
Shou let out a long sigh of relief, and Misaki put his hand on his forehead, muttering, “You really made us worry there, you silly runt!”
Subaru held out a hand to help up Ren, who lay flat on the ground moaning after Aya had shoved him quite forcefully out of the way.
“Worked out great, huh, Ren?”
“Yeah, you can say that again. It worked out amazing. …But, really, how?” Ren tilted his head in puzzlement, the entire situation nothing but a mystery to him.
Of course, he was immensely glad it worked—he was over the moon about it. He was almost literally jumping for joy. He felt so ecstatic he barely suppressed the urge to let out a cry of triumph. But at the same time, a question plagued his mind, “Why did Mia open her eyes?” Because he knew for a fact that he couldn’t use magic. Did this mean that the reason for this miracle lay with Mia, after all?
“C-Can someone please explain what’s going on?”
Ren’s grumbling was lost in the joyous clamor around him.
***
“THIS is just a hypothesis, all right?”
A few days later, all of the Crow Rangers, the chief, and Mia sat together around a grill. Which, by the way, was not being paid for by Misaki. The Rangers had put their foot forward and insisted that it was a celebration, and as such the chief should pay. The chief had nodded, deeming it to be a fair argument. Several days after treating them, he’d end up cocking his head to the side and asking himself, “What were we actually celebrating back there?” But that was a later problem.
Be that as it may, Misaki inclined his head curiously towards Shou, who held his finger up while chewing on some grilled ribs. “Is that a hypothesis about the Mia incident?”
“Yep, it’s about why Mia woke up at Ren’s declaration of undying love and subsequent kiss,” Shou confirmed, upon which Ren, who was sitting next to Mia drinking beer, spat out his entire drink in surprise.
In a coughing fit, he huffed angrily, “Aren’t there other ways to put it? ‘Declaration of undying love’?! How can you say these things with a straight face? How can I trust you anymore?!”
“Yeah, yeah, but that doesn’t make it any less true. So, about my hypothesis, right?” Blithely ignoring Ren’s protests, Shou went on to expound upon his theory. Everyone present listened to him in silence interrupted only by the clatter of their chopsticks as they helped themselves to the grilled meat. “I’m pretty sure that was it. I believe it’s because Ren and Mia’s hearts are one.”
“Eh, what do you mean their hearts are one?”
“I mean that their feelings are mutual. I’m fairly certain that if they were unrequited from any one side, it wouldn’t work. Hey, Mia, you like Ren, right?”
At the blunt question, Mia cast her eyes down and turned beet red. She looked irresistibly lovely, the very picture of a young girl in love. Flipping over a few slices of meat sizzling on the grill to try and hide her embarrassment, she nodded her head. “Yes. I, um, do like him.”
Happiness burst forth like colorful fireworks inside Ren’s chest at hearing her say the words confirming her feelings, even though they had been barely more than a whisper. He also felt very self-conscious all of a sudden and started scratching at his nose.
“Ooh, is it here that this spring breeze of young love is emanating from?” Aya grinned, circling her chopsticks between Mia and Ren.
“Shut up!” Ren snapped at her through his teeth.
Skillfully avoiding getting sucked into the exchange between them, Shou continued speaking, “And that’s precisely why, just as I had thought, it must’ve been Mia’s magic at play. Mia, a sorceress, likes Ren. Ren also likes Mia. The words of love resonated with their shared feelings. With that as a medium, when Ren wished with all his heart for Mia to start breathing, to open her eyes again, he established a link with Mia, and activated the magic sleeping within her.”
“Or maybe, when their hearts are one, it replenishes the magic reserves within her? Mia’s heart stopped once because her magical powers were depleted, right? I don’t presume to know how exactly it works, but in Mia’s case, when Ren said he loved her and kissed her, it made magic spark back to life within her,” Subaru countered Shou’s hypothesis with utter seriousness, chewing on a piece of pork jowl.
Ren’s face turned red and he let out a resigned sigh. “So, to sum it all up, what do we think happened?”
“Well, to sum it all up…” Shou gulped down the meat, fixed Ren with a solemn stare, and cleared his throat with a cough. Then he clenched a fist tightly and pumped it. “Moral of this story is—the kiss of Prince Charming is the solution to all problems!”
“Ugh, that is such a load of bull!”
“Love and peace overcome any adversity! Love is all you need!”
“What kind of crazy reasoning is that?!” Ren shouted in irritation.
Shou, slurping on his beer, muttered to the side, “Even if I do say so myself, that was a pretty solid argument I made there, thank you very much.”
“Well, Shou’s hypothesis is just pure speculation. There’s no way we can validate it. Subaru’s theory was interesting though, huh? A union of hearts and souls creates a wellspring of magic. That would imply free limitless magic, right? I wonder if the sorcerers of the past exploited this lifehack,” Misaki mused, putting some more meat on the grill, and directed his gaze at the chief who was, of course, puffing on a cigarette.
The chief crossed his arms, mulling it over. “There’s no account of any such theory in the documents we have in our possession. After all, he… Ah, I mean Mia’s father. Up until his generation, there are remarkably few mentions of female names. Probably, the women were treated as nothing more than human incubators, to bear children so that the sorcerers’ bloodline wouldn’t get extinguished. Akin to a baby conveyor belt.”
In the records, there was no trace of mothers ever being in the picture. That is, when they had their babies, those women… Were they bound by some contract? Or were they regarded to have become “unnecessary” after they had fulfilled their roles by bearing an heir? He didn’t know that much, nor did he want to. There was, however, one thing he could say with certainty.
“I don’t know about the past generations, but Mia’s dad loved his wife. He was head over heels for her, completely, irrevocably smitten with her. That’s why while she was alive, he always glowed with happiness. Sometimes, he would get this haunted look in his eyes, but even then, he was actually happy. Truly, the man was a walking contradiction!” The chief laughed, and Mia beamed back at him.
She had known her father loved her mother but hearing it from another person made it more real somehow. The two of them had loved each other. That simple truth made her almost squirm in elation.
“So, maybe, if Mia’s mom was still alive, her father might not have died in the way that he did. I guess we’ll never know for sure, but I want to believe that.” Misaki crossed his arms, humming in understanding.
Subaru opened his mouth after putting another piece of grilled meat on Mia’s plate, “All the more reason to verify our theory, then. I can’t help but be curious about it. Mia, back then, when you were being kissed by Ren, did you feel anything? Like, sensing some changes in your magical power?”
Mia hummed, sinking into thought. She had heard the account of what had happened to her. She had already been told how she had used up all of her magic, which resulted in her death, and how Ren’s kiss had brought her back to life.
“In all honesty, I do not really remember much at all. But when I opened my eyes, I think I felt something warm and fuzzy…spreading around in my chest.”
She couldn’t find the right words to describe that sensation and furrowed her brow as she dipped the cow tongue Subaru had put on her plate into lemon juice and kept eating.
“I see,” Shou grinned, seeming intrigued. “This might be fun! Confirming the theory seems worthwhile. Wouldn’t it be great to know for sure? We can’t predict when or where she’ll get close to depleting her magic again. If Mia had some kind of magic power gauge, that’d go a long way to help us. I’m not up for a repeat of the last time, so I’d like to have some sort of insurance in place.”
“Hm, that’s true. I’d like to avoid having Mia expend that much magical power at all if possible. But still, I’d feel a lot better if we’d know for sure that Ren can always supply Mia with additional magic in an emergency,” Subaru nodded vigorously in approval.
Ren felt like he was about to be turned into a lab rat against his will and piped up gruffly, “Well, let’s say we try to prove the theory. What do you suggest we do? I am not going to say ‘I love you’ or kiss Mia in front of you guys ever again and have you get off on my embarrassment.”
“Ha-ha-ha! That sounds like it’d be a ton of fun to watch, but we’ve already verified the hypothesis with that, haven’t we? You can, of course, try that a few times in private and make absolutely sure it works. What I’d like to know is whether saying something other than ‘I love you’ works as well, or if holding hands, or even just touching her would suffice too. If you can restore her magical powers with just a kiss, would getting to the next base restore them even more? Stuff like that.”
…The next base? Everyone froze at Shou’s words, except for Mia, who didn’t catch Shou’s meaning.
“What is this ‘next base’ you speak of?” she asked out of curiosity.
“Hm? Well, I can only think of one place where you’re touching deeper than when you’re touching with your lips. I mean, that would involve Ren putting it inside your body. I can’t imagine any way in which you could be in more physical contact with each other—”
“Ga-a-ah—Shut your trap right now!” Acting on pure instinct, Ren threw his lighter, which hit Shou square in the head with a thud.
“Ouch!” Shou called out and made a display of rubbing his head although it was plain to see he didn’t actually sustain much damage. “Ren, you’re surprisingly self-conscious, considering the amount of inappropriate touching you’ve been doing with Mia since the day you met her. Is that what you’ve been making all those girls swoon with, your secret soft side?”
“Ack, please, I’m begging you, just be quiet!” Ren moaned, sliding down in his seat, dropping his elbows on the table and covering his face.
Mia still didn’t understand what was going on and looked at Ren, her head inclined quizzically, “Um, I must admit, I failed to comprehend what Shou said earlier. What is this one place we would be touching the most in? And what would Ren put inside my body, and where?”
“You shut it too! I’ll tell you all about it one of these days, but definitely not right now!”
“Ah, so it’s settled that you’re ‘telling’ her soon?” Misaki shot playfully at the casual air with which Ren had announced this.
Aya, sitting next to him, muttered exasperatedly, “Ugh, that settles it, all men are animals and deserve to be thrown in jail!”
“Don’t forget to give us the full report!” Shou quipped, grinning. Shou would never learn his lesson, it seemed.