The Eve
It was chilly.
No — it was probably just cold.
The house, filled with nothing but the ticking of an analog clock, felt terrifyingly empty.
"..."
There wasn't a sound.
Aside from the occasional voices drifting in from outside the window, the house itself was utterly silent.
Had Mister gone out?
He used to leave notes stuck to the dining table. Was there one now?
"..."
No. Nothing.
Maybe he was in the bathroom?
That wasn't it either. The bathroom door stood open.
"...Dad..."
There was no one in this house but me.
"..."
Not in the master bedroom. Not in the living room. Not on the veranda. Not in the bathroom. Not in the kitchen.
"Misterrr."
I had known it the moment I opened my eyes. I just hadn't wanted to believe it.
Where had he gone?
If he'd rushed out without a single word, it had to be some job that paid an absurd amount of money.
"..."
Looks like I'd be walking to school alone today.
He could have at least said something.
A small, wounded feeling settled in my chest.
Once I finished getting ready, I realized I was hungrier than usual, so I pulled some fruit from the fridge. It tasted dry and chalky.
I shrugged on the jacket Mister had bought me, slung my bag over my shoulder, and stepped outside.
Chilly. Cold.
Normally I would have pressed myself against his side and held his hand tight. This time, all I could do was shove both hands deep into my pockets.
"...Mm."
Something strange sat in my throat, so I made a random little sound just to hear it.
Without Mister around, everything felt off somehow. Unpleasant.
Why would he leave for work without telling me a thing?
Ah — right. Mom was supposed to come back today, wasn't she?
Maybe he'd gone to pick her up.
A car roared past right in front of me as I crossed the street, and I dropped to the asphalt in a heap. The pedestrian light was green.
If Mister had been beside me just then — at the very least he would have shouted something, helped me up, worried over me.
"..."
People only stared.
Under those heavy eyes I dusted off my bottom and stood. It hurt a little.
What was Mister doing right now?
With a scraped, stinging hand, I walked through the school gates.
All day long I couldn't concentrate. My mind kept drifting back to Mister.
It felt wrong. Unsettling.
Why leave without even a note? He'd been so good about that lately.
Of course, I knew this was just meaningless fretting. Mister would never abandon me. He would never leave me behind and go somewhere I couldn't follow.
The chime rang, and I came back to myself to find homeroom already over.
Another lonely walk home. But walking home alone was starting to feel familiar. All I had to do was imagine Mister beside me, and before I knew it I'd be at the door.
Five. Two. Zero. Zero.
What greeted me was a sight I hated and feared and found so terribly cold.
An empty house.
"Daaad—"
"Mooom..."
I called out even though I already knew there would be no answer.
You never know, right?
No answer came.
Because there was no one here.
Mister had gone to work, after all.
I slipped off my shoes and flipped on the lights. What time would Mom arrive today?
I set my bag down and sank onto the couch, watching the ticking analog clock.
Two-forty.
When would Mister get back?
He'd come with Mom, surely. The thought made something hopeful flutter in my chest.
"..."
But I was still scared.
Being alone was terrifying. Maybe what frightened me now wasn't being alone at all — just the simple fact that Mister wasn't here.
Even with the sun still hanging outside the window.
To soothe the fear, I put on a magical girl anime.
Four o'clock.
Still no Mister.
Outside the window, the sky was turning that particular color — the one that meant darkness was on its way.
Mister once told me that winter nights come early.
Five o'clock.
Still no Mister.
I hadn't really expected him yet, honestly. Maybe he and Mom were talking right now.
Conveniently, the channel was running a Fruits Magical Girl marathon. I'd watch the whole thing while I waited for him.
He'd be home before I finished. Mom too.
Six o'clock.
My stomach growled as I watched. Was there any curry left from yesterday?
"..."
I'd rather eat with Mister, though. And preferably with Mom too, right? After being away so long, maybe she'd want a special dinner tonight.
I decided to hold out a little longer.
Seven o'clock.
The world outside the window had gone dark. Truthfully, it had been dark for a while.
Why weren't they back yet...?
A thought slipped in before I could stop it — what if a monster had gotten him?
During a commercial break I flipped to the news, and sure enough they were reporting another monster rampage.
"..."
I switched back to the anime, heart pounding.
There were so many things I wanted to tell him. When I finally saw Mom again, I wanted to brag about everything Mister and I had done together.
Please just come home, both of you.
And then it was nine o'clock.
No one had come.
I was scared.
Had I done something wrong?
"..."
I turned last night over in my mind and remembered falling asleep before we finished the puzzle.
Was he so annoyed that he'd simply left?
"That's not it."
Mister wasn't that petty. Sure, he'd tried desperately to wake me so we could finish the puzzle — but that was all it was.
I stood and went to the window, half-hoping I'd see Mister and Mom coming up the street.
Of course, there was no one.
Tears pricked at my eyes. What if he'd left me for good this time?
"...Hic."
To chase away the gloom, I reached for happy memories.
Our second meeting came first. It hadn't felt happy then, but looking back now, it was a good memory.
"Heh."
Next was the time he'd saved me from a monster. Even now, just thinking about him in that moment made something flutter wildly in my chest — so cool, so strong...
But I could never quite recreate the feeling I'd had back then.
"..."
And after that...
Ah, there were too many.
Reading picture books with him had been wonderful. I could feel his voice and his warmth right there with me.
Going to the department store with him had been wonderful. Exploring somewhere I'd never been, with him beside me — it was thrilling and sweet.
Going to that wedding with him had been wonderful. I still daydream about the things I imagined that day. How nice it would be if those daydreams came true someday.
Going to the arboretum with him had been wonderful. It felt like he loved me more than my real father ever had, and knowing someone that smart was my dad made me so happy.
The convenience store trips. The times he'd nursed me when I was sick. The day he came to my open class.
Looking back, every single moment spent with Mister had been good.
And every moment still to come would be good too.
"Hehe."
I felt better. Remembering all those memories, I couldn't believe he wouldn't come back.
When Mister came home with Mom, we'd all be happy together. We'd go to amusement parks and the arboretum and the ocean.
"..."
Mom must have gone somewhere pretty far. Judging by how late he was, picking her up must be taking a while.
Something was wrong.
Something was terribly, insanely wrong.
"Kyaaaaaagh—"
"Grrrrrrrrrr..."
There were too many monsters. And most of them were freshly spawned.
The magical girl in the pink dress crushed a reaching claw before it could touch her.
There were simply too many to keep using magic. Even when she cut them down here, more came crawling out of the surroundings almost immediately.
"...Why is this happening?"
She'd burned through so much magical power that a vicious headache had settled in as payment. Day by day their numbers were swelling exponentially.
All she could do was race toward any place where even a faint trace of Magi lingered and cut the creatures down before they could mature into full adults.
"..."
Blackberry was probably fighting just as frantically somewhere else. She could feel Magi blooming and vanishing in real time — the other magical girls must have been in the same state.
She shook her wand and a few spatters of monster blood flicked off.
Newly born specimens appearing like this was not a good sign. It meant a Mother Body had established itself somewhere secure and was steadily producing offspring.
In a matter of days — no, hours — the ones that slipped past them would mature into full adults. Those adults would either snatch away innocent lives or become Mother Bodies themselves.
"..."
On impulse she pulled the communicator the Association had given her from her pocket and tried to switch it on.
It didn't work.
Pink Rose didn't even have the strength left to put it back. She simply let it drop to the ground.
She felt lost and afraid. What was she supposed to do?
She collapsed onto a monster's corpse.
She was so exhausted she thought she might go mad. For hours she had been cutting them down without rest, focusing only on the ones spawning near civilians — or in places where civilians gathered.
"...Pink Rose, what are you even doing..."
She tried to stand through the self-reproach, but her body simply wouldn't answer.
Then, ahead of her on the asphalt, a violet fissure split open with a low rumble.
Something was being born.
"...It really never ends."
Pink Rose leveled her wand. The moment the thing began to take shape, she would fire and blow it apart.
That was the plan, anyway.
"..."
As the form grew clearer, the wand she was aiming slowly drooped toward the ground.
What climbed out of the crack in the street wore the unmistakable shape of a human being.
The monsters had begun disguising themselves as people.