The Festival of Light and Shadow
The festival was meant to end in brilliance—lanterns swaying, laughter echoing, masks hiding smiles beneath the Tokyo night sky.
But it's the shadows that take center stage.
The final act: a masquerade dance on the rooftop garden. Music drifts through the air, weaving between students dressed in elegant costumes, their faces obscured by intricate masks. The scent of autumn lingers—crisp air, faint traces of incense from the earlier performances.
Souta stands at the edge of the crowd, watching.
His hands tremble slightly.
Not from fear.
From doubt.
Then, she appears.
Reina, dressed in midnight blue, moves through the crowd like a specter. Her gown catches the lantern light, shimmering like the night itself. She approaches with a smile that's more promise than politeness.
"Shall we have our last dance, god?"
Souta hesitates.
He's not afraid of her power. He's afraid of what she'll make him feel again—that creeping doubt, the whisper that he doesn't deserve this life, this warmth, this family.
"What happens if I refuse?" he asks.
Reina tilts her head, amused.
"Then you'll lose your audience."
She lifts a hand.
And suddenly—every student freezes mid-step.
The rooftop goes still. The music distorts, warping into something eerie, stretched and broken.
Souta's breath catches.
"This isn't a performance anymore."
"Oh, but it is," Reina smiles. "You just never read the full script."
Meanwhile: Aqua's Perspective
Downstairs, in the AV room, Aqua scans Reina's student file.
"It's fake," he says, handing it to Ruby. "Everything—her passport, her elementary records—fabricated perfectly. But not humanly."
Ruby taps on her phone, scrolling rapidly.
"No online trace before two months ago. It's like she didn't exist before she walked into our classroom."
Aqua narrows his eyes.
"And she's been getting too close to Souta."
"She knows."
"Worse," Aqua mutters. "She's not just like him. She might be what he was supposed to become."
They rush for the stairs.
Back to the Rooftop: The Dance of Truth
Souta and Reina waltz slowly, eerily, in the frozen rooftop garden.
"You pretend well," she murmurs. "This little brother act. The clinging. The warmth."
"It's not pretend."
"You were born a god of power. Not a child of love."
Souta stops.
"I was born with power, yes. But I became a child of love. Because they gave me that choice."
He pulls away.
But Reina's eyes flash.
"Then let's see what they choose… without your protection."
She raises a hand.
Below, one of the lantern wires snaps.
A heavy metal bar swings toward the frozen crowd.
Souta moves instantly—snapping reality with a silent thought.
Time bends. The bar never falls.
Everyone is safe.
Except Reina.
She's standing behind him now.
"Good reaction. But what if they remember this? That something impossible just happened?"
Souta breathes heavily.
"Then I'll rewrite the moment."
"But you said you'd never use your power except for family. These people aren't your family."
"They're part of my world now. That makes them mine to protect."
Ruby's Perspective — Racing the Clock
Ruby and Aqua reach the rooftop.
They see the frozen crowd. Reina. Souta—glowing faintly, his presence warping the world.
Ruby gasps.
"He's using it again."
But this time, she doesn't panic. She runs straight to him.
"Souta!"
He turns, tears in his eyes.
"I'm trying. I'm trying not to be what she wants."
"You don't need to try," Ruby says, voice shaking. "You're already our brother. That's enough."
Behind them, Reina lifts her arm again.
But Happy, now fully animate and furious, leaps from Souta's side and blocks her path—biting her wrist.
"He doesn't belong to you," Happy growls.
Reina stumbles back, real pain flashing across her face for the first time.
Aqua steps forward.
"Leave him alone. You lost your world. Don't take ours."
Reina straightens her mask.
"You'll regret choosing weakness."
And with a blink—she vanishes.
The Aftermath: Lanterns Relit
Time resumes.
The students blink, laugh, sway to music—unaware of how close they came to a fracture in reality.
Ai meets the triplets after the event, hugging them all tightly.
"I felt it," she whispers. "Something was wrong."
Souta leans into her.
"I used my powers again."
"Did you hurt anyone?"
"No."
"Did you save anyone?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm proud of you."
Souta looks up at the stars.
He doesn't know where Reina went. Or when she'll return.
But now he knows something deeper:
He's not fighting to suppress his power.
He's fighting to be someone worth protecting.