Chapter 4: Interlude – I Was Keeping a Diary

The first time I met Haruto was in the middle of a battle.

It was such a shocking event that I figured I should write it down in my diary.

The fighting had intensified, and you never knew what could happen next...

◆

“Youta. Magical Beast signature detected. Intercept immediately.”

In its uniquely pronounced voice, the Holy Beast notified me of the appearance of the "Legion Brigade."

They’ve built their own global information network, and whenever something reacts, they immediately let me know.

Today's battlefield was in the middle of Sazanami City.

I heard that magical beasts—monsters under the control of the Legion Brigade—had appeared, so I transformed into the silver magical girl, Silver Witch Luna, and rushed over.

The city, normally filled with the peaceful hustle of everyday life, was now packed with panicked people fleeing from the suddenly appearing magical beast.

The beast had the form of a quadruped.
To describe it simply—like a lion with wings.
Closest thing would be a chimera from a video game.

Its fur was jet black, dull and glossy like it was swallowing the light itself.

The beast took position directly above a car at an intersection and inhaled deeply.

Panicking, I urged the Holy Beast to deploy the Inverted Field.

“Understood. Deploying Inverted Field.”

The Inverted Field is a type of magic.
It's created during battles with the Legion Brigade to prevent collateral damage to the surroundings.

It creates a mirror-like parallel world—one that keeps the terrain intact but flips it left and right—then teleports only me and the magical beast into it.

Once I confirmed no one else was around, I declared,

“Silver Witch Luna, magical girl of the moonlight! I’ll defeat you with the power of the moon!”

…It’s an incredibly embarrassing introduction, but it's actually a required phrase—a sort of password. If I don’t say it, the safety lock won’t release.

The Holy Beast is overprotective, and it insists on putting safety mechanisms on all my abilities to prevent them from going out of control.

The only saving grace is that no one can witness this in the isolated space.

Sometimes, I have to say it before the Inverted Field is deployed… Those moments are pure agony.

“—!”

The magical beast leapt off the car, landing heavily on limbs as thick as my torso, stomping the concrete and letting out a roar.

The shockwave shattered the windows of nearby buildings, shards glittering as they scattered in the air.

The roars of these beasts have the power to shake human emotions.

Some people fall into panic just by hearing it; others laugh uncontrollably without knowing why.

Thankfully, I’m protected right now, so it doesn’t affect me.

Anyway, victory goes to the first strike.

I pointed my toy-like magic stick at the beast and began chanting.

A geometric pattern—a magic circle—formed at the tip of the stick and sparkled.

“Light of the moon—fire! Moonlight Strike!”

Right from the opening, I unleashed the ultimate spell I’d only just learned.

A massive beam erupted from the magic circle and blasted straight at the magical beast.

Direct hit.

—At the same moment, a burst of light engulfed the surroundings.

The beast, struck by a purifying blow, should have disintegrated into particles of light and vanished.

“…Did I get it?”

—Looking back, I was clearly getting ahead of myself that day.

It was my fourteenth battle in total.

I’d just defeated the Legion Brigade’s First Invasion Commander and had started to believe I could handle any enemy.

But the enemy that showed up that day was clearly on a whole different level.

Through the lingering smoke, the magical beast—completely unharmed—closed the distance in an instant and lunged at me with its fangs.

I hurriedly cast a barrier and braced for impact—or so I thought.

But reality tore through me like paper, and a shock rocked my entire body.

—We weren’t even on the same level.

By the time I realized that, my transformation had already been undone, and I was sprawled on the ground.

The only mercy was that I wasn’t injured.

My transformed outfit has a built-in function that forcibly ends the transformation to disperse damage.

Still, the impact left my body completely unresponsive.

…I prepared for death.

Once I revert, I’m just a weak human.

If that beast so much as swipes its claws, I’ll be split in two before I can even scream.

—But the beast didn’t move toward me.

Was it licking its chops in front of its helpless prey?
A nameless dread crawled up my spine, but I refused to look away.

Clenching my teeth, I braced myself for the moment of terror.

And that’s when he appeared—a single boy.

He jumped out in front of the magical beast—without giving me a chance to speak, hoisted me over his shoulder like luggage, and bolted.

W-What the heck!?

This space should’ve been completely empty—so how!?

Just as I was about to ask, the boy said,

“Shut up. You’ll bite your tongue.”

He said it flatly, without a hint of kindness.

---

We managed to slip into the shadow of a building and hide in an alleyway, where we finally introduced ourselves.

It might’ve been a bit too relaxed for a life-or-death emergency, but I was too banged up to move properly, and the boy was just a regular human. If we ran into that beast again, we’d be dead for sure.

We only got away because we were lucky.

Talking helped distract us while I recovered.
Otherwise, the fear and anxiety would’ve crushed me.

Once I transformed, a healing spell would restore me completely—but until then, I was defenseless.

The boy's name was Haruto Kurosaki.

He was tall—taller than most guys our age, though that might just be because I’m a little on the short side—with sharp, piercing eyes that left a strong impression.

Apparently, he’d gotten caught up in the creation of a Reversal Space purely by accident.
It was, of all things, his very first day after moving to this city.

“You’re in high school, Kurosaki-kun?”

“Yeah. I’m scheduled to transfer into Konami High.”

Scheduled to, huh…? Kind of an odd way to put it, I thought, but I went ahead and introduced myself too.

“I’m Youta Hidaka. Looks like we’ll be at the same school.”

“…Wait, you’re in high school?”

He looked genuinely surprised.
I know I’ve got a baby face, but still…

“Sorry. That was rude of me.”

“It’s fine. I get that a lot.”

After that, I explained how I ended up becoming Luna.

It was super embarrassing to talk about how I turn into a girl when I transform, but he’d already seen me change, so there was no point hiding it.

“Luna was a guy all along… No wonder no one could figure out your identity.”

Kurosaki-kun muttered in a daze, and I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for some reason as I focused on healing myself.

“Hidaka. Do you think you can make it through this?”

“…Yeah. If I don’t win, the beast will attack people and destroy the city. And also—”

“Hm?”

“You can just call me Youta. But not when I’m transformed, okay? If someone hears, they’ll figure out who I am.”

After saying that, I pushed back the fear threatening to overwhelm me, and smiled.

---

“—Transform!”

The moment the beast noticed me and I charged forward happened nearly at the same time.

Once I transformed into Luna, my physical abilities far surpassed those of a normal person.

I closed in and slammed a punch into its face—then quickly jumped back.

…Not that I expected much, but it didn’t seem to do any real damage.

“—!”

The beast roared again, its furious cry shaking the air.

But I wasn’t afraid.

I conjured a small magic projectile and fired it at the monster.

It vanished instantly.

Still, I didn’t panic. I just kept measuring the distance between us.

—Just like Kurosaki-kun said!

"I could tell from the side—it's covered head to toe in a barrier. That’s why your attack didn’t land."

I slipped aside as the enraged beast charged at me.

"Its claws and fangs probably work the same way. That’s likely why your own barrier was so easily shattered. Never rely on magic for defense against it."

Just by keeping his advice in mind, I found the battle much easier to handle.

The chimera-type beast seemed to only move in straight lines, and as long as I read its motions carefully, gaining the upper hand wasn’t hard.

Last time, I messed up by using my finisher right away and even blinding myself in the process.

I summoned a blade from my staff and slashed as we passed each other.

I couldn’t deal serious damage through the barrier.

—But still!

"It’s not completely invincible. Your finisher rattled it enough to buy time to escape. If you can just do something about that barrier…"

I dodged over and over, like a matador, and kept striking the same spot.

Gradually, the barrier began to erode, and shallow cuts multiplied across its body.

"Trust me—it’ll work. …I’m counting on you."

I focused my magical energy again, concentrating it to a single point and released it from close range—

“Moonlight, shine—Moonlight Strike!”

A flash.

My ultimate spell pierced through the beast sideways, reducing it to particles of light before it disappeared.

---

“Kurosaki-kun!”

“Youta. Looks like you pulled it off.”

I dispelled the Reversal Space and ran over to Kurosaki-kun.
He’d made it back to the real world too, thank goodness.

“Yeah. It’s all thanks to your advice.”

“Glad to hear it… And also, you can use my first name too.”

“Your first name?”

“Yeah. Call me Haruto. I’m just not used to being called that way.”

He looked slightly bashful after saying that, and I nodded, a little surprised.

“When do you start school, Haruto-kun?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Oh, really… I hope we end up in the same class.”

More than winning the fight, I was happy to have made a new friend.

When I told him that—

“Friend? That’s what this is?”

He asked like it was a foreign concept.

“You saved my life.”

“You’re exaggerating. If anything, you helped me, Haruto-kun.”

And with that, Haruto-kun left, saying he had something to take care of.

---

The next day, just as he said, Haruto-kun transferred into our high school—and turned out to be quite the character.

On his very first day, he skipped class and went to nap on the roof.

After a lot of careful persuasion on my part—

“A friend’s request… I suppose I’ll comply.”

—he finally agreed to attend class, albeit reluctantly.

There were other quirks too. He was amazed by the taste of ramen, having apparently never had it before, and even tried to eat instant noodles raw because he didn’t know how to make them.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life he’d lived until now.

One thing’s for sure—being around him is never boring.

Still, writing in my journal, I had one lingering thought…

How did Haruto-kun get up to the roof in the first place?