The fight continued with tension; both sides were equally apprehensive. Maureen displayed her experience because, even in adverse situations, she could stay focused, never losing sight of her goal, even in the fog.

Maureen didn’t waste much time and launched lightning chains to the ground, which moved toward the Fire user. Hitomi stuck to her strategy of defending herself from the lightning, creating explosions with fire before they could get too close.

The pink-haired woman realized she needed a new strategy because the lightning she had absorbed was running low. Then, she noticed the energy wires and decided to use them to recharge. With the last bit of lightning gone, she tore up the energy wires and began absorbing electricity. Now, with a direct source, she could make the fight last longer.

Once again, she raised her hand and threw lightning at both of them. She was clearly anticipating their counterattack, which they had prepared by using wind and fire to amplify the impact area. However, they didn’t expect Maureen to use the explosion’s force to propel herself higher and strike them from above.

Nami and Hitomi were confused, unsure of where Maureen had gone, but they knew she was ready to attack again. The tension in the air increased even further.

“MAUREEN, ENOUGH!” A mysterious voice called from a distance. She heard the call and halted her attack, shifting her trajectory mid-air to descend toward a nearby alley where the voice had come from.

“Itzel, what do you want? I’m almost done here!” she said, frowning.

“Let’s leave while they’re distracted!” the man said, extending his hand to help her up.

“Why? I can handle it!” she complained, but accepted the help anyway. The two began to escape, leaving the battleground. “Itzel, I don’t understand what you want.”

“We’ll talk later.”

Meanwhile, Hitomi and Nami remained alert. Slowly, the fog began to clear, and the area grew clearer once again.
“I don’t see her…” Hitomi said apprehensively.

“Did she… leave?” Nami wondered.

“WHERE IS HANA? SHE CALLED ME!” Hitomi turned to her and reminded her that she hadn’t seen her daughter.

“AHHHHHHH!” Nami snapped back to reality. “I left her at the drugstore, next to the market.”

“POOR GIRL, SHE MUST BE ALONE!” Both of them ran towards the drugstore to check on the little one. When they arrived, they were greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm.

“HI! DID YOU DEFEAT THE BAD PERSON?” Hana raised her arms, eager to hug both of her moms.

“I thought you would be scared being here alone,” Hitomi said, relieved that she was fine but still bothered by how little danger Hana seemed to sense.

“MY HEROINES!” the little girl repeated, full of excitement.

The drugstore employees were bewildered. They recognized the famous model but were still in disbelief that she was there in person. Nami maintained her usual calm. After the scare, they returned home.

Itzel’s apartment, 8 p.m.

Maureen opened the apartment door with a forceful push, and the slam could be heard echoing through several floors of the building. Afterward, she tried, unsuccessfully, to turn on the lights.

“What? No lights?” she asked, pushing the switch repeatedly.

“You left half the city without electricity. You cut off the main wire that conducts it.” Itzel replied, smiling but with a hint of irony.

“Seriously? Those wires were for that?”

“They were. By the way, are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine.” Maureen replied, lying down on the couch. “Those girls… one is Air. I thought they were the ones you found. I tried to talk, but it didn’t seem like her.” Maureen sighed deeply and glared at the man, annoyed that she had to ask. “Itzel, why that you stopped me?”

“Good you want to talk! I was watching the fight.” he replied, changing the subject and handing her some water to drink.

“You sure you looked well? Because I wouldn’t lose, you shouldn’t have stopped me. - she answered seriously while drinking water her friend handed her. Itzel sat beside her with a water glass and started to talk.

“Maureen, tell me… Did you, perhaps, feel threatened by my 'rental friends'?”

“No…”

“That’s because we didn’t attack them. But the ones you fought tonight were scared because we took a combat position.”

“Hm?” Maureen seemed to not understand what her friend was trying to say.

“I believe we can fulfill our mission in a peaceful way.”

School, Monday, March 15th, 7:40 a.m.

Another week started at school. As always, the noise was intense right from the morning, and each day it seemed to get even louder. Before the lessons, it was common for everyone to chat and socialize with their classmates. However, for one person, that morning had started differently.

A golden-haired girl was vigorously rubbing her hands under running water in the women’s restroom next to the Freshman year classrooms.

“Damn… is this going to come off?” the young girl thought, feeling apprehensive.

Turning off the tap, she noticed something strange – her hands were emitting some kind of glow. The bell rang for the first lesson, but she stayed there, lost in thought, until Aino came in and called her.

“Minami! Let’s go to class!”

“Ah! I’m coming!” Minami startled, quickly putting her hands in her pockets before heading out of the restroom toward the classroom.

The biology teacher noticed that the young girl was acting oddly and wondered if she was okay. Minami said she was just a little cold.

The first period lesson went normally, until the bell rang for break. Akiko was excited and invited Yukino to have a snack with her and Miyu.

“Yukino, did you hear about the blackout last night in the city? Hitomi and Nami said it was caused by an attack.” Miyu informed.

“There was no power outage at my house, so I didn’t know… But yeah, that’s harsh… I think there will be more.” 

Akiko tried to look for Naoko in the schoolyard, but there was no sign of her. The truth is, no Senior students were in the schoolyard. They stayed in their classrooms, shouting excitedly. The Senior class had already been through many school games, so they were used to them. They were calmer, and having someone for each activity was good enough because their main concern that year was passing the entrance exams.

“I WON’T TAKE PART IN THIS!” Naoko replied, feeling bothered. “I’VE ALREADY SIGNED UP FOR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.”

“Naoko, we need someone for basketball.” said a classmate.

“You’re tall; if we find someone else, we’ll switch.” said another person.

“Ah, ok then!” Naoko gave in.

After break, it was the Sophomore class’ turn to discuss the school games. The Sophomores were also calm about the school games, but even so, they were very concerned with following the rules for participation, which made things more competitive.

The participants’ lists for each event were practically ready. But the class kept eyeing a classmate who hadn’t signed up for anything.

“Hey, Adonis! Do you know what you’re going to sign up for?” asked a classmate, making a friendly face.

“Pick something already! You’re good at everything!” said another, impatiently.

“Man… I don’t know, no clue.” Adonis replied, feeling chill.

“Soccer, then!” one of them suggested.

“No way! He’s going to play volleyball!” another person jumped in.

“Don’t trip, you guys! He’s going to play handball!” someone else argued.

“Hey, you all, just sign me up for whatever you want, just don’t bother me!” Adonis said, uninterested.

Whatever we want? The classmates looked at each other excitedly.

“Volleyball, basketball, general knowledge, chess, soccer…” they started signing Adonis up for everything.

“Wait, is there any event that happens at the same time?” one of the classmates realized.

“Ah, then he’ll manage!” another answered.

But… what have I done? Adonis thought, perplexed.

In another part of the school, tensions were running high. Shouts and conversations echoed from afar. The cause of all the commotion, besides the usual teenage energy, was the famous School Games. For first-year high school students, it was their debut as team leaders, and since they had never been in charge of organizing before, the pressure was much higher than in the other grades.

In Room 101, the self-proclaimed class leader, chosen by herself and her small group of friends, took charge of organizing the events and assigning participants. As with every year, the person who decided to lead the school games was authoritative and stressed, but swore to herself that she was the only one capable of handling it. She considered herself a good communicator and believed that her stress was due to the laziness of her classmates—something that wasn’t entirely untrue, but also not entirely accurate. What was certain, however, was that her loud voice could be heard echoing through the hallway.

“GUYS! SILENCE SO WE CAN ORGANIZE THIS!” she barked, as though she were the teacher herself. “IT'S ALL ON THE BOARD! I’LL SAY WHAT IT IS, AND IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE, RAISE YOUR HAND. IT’S NOT THAT HARD, RIGHT?”

“I want to participate in the opening, cheering, handball, volleyball…” Akiko was the first to speak up, signing up for almost everything.

“Can’t I participate in anything?” Aino asked, looking a bit lost.

“Alright, Akiko… put your name on the lists. Aino, you need at least two events. No exceptions.” the class leader said, already starting to take a deep breath as she dealt with the different types of students.

Ironically, the leader didn’t follow her own rule. Instead of announcing the events, she began calling students one by one and asking them which ones they were going to participate in. Yukino requested to join the opening and arts, since two events were mandatory. Miyu chose chess and general knowledge, as those were the activities she felt most comfortable with.

The rest of the lessons went on, but they weren’t exactly the same. The students were far more focused on the competition than on their actual subjects.

March 16th.

That morning, Minami was attracting everyone’s attention as she walked through the hallways. Her outfit for the last days of summer was, without a doubt, curious. A hat on her head, a scarf around her neck, gloves, and a coat that covered her body and face. Everyone else was wearing the summer uniform, so no one could help but stare.

She continued like this even in class, when she asked the teacher if she could step out to get some water. The teacher allowed her, and she left. But time passed, and Minami didn’t return. Concerned, the teacher asked Aino to check on her.

Aino left the classroom and headed toward the water fountains nearby. She found no one there and started asking around where her friend could have gone. Suddenly, she heard a faint cry.

That cry… it’s coming from the bathroom... Aino thought.

She quietly opened the bathroom door and peered inside. What she saw shocked her.

“What’s happening? It’s getting worse. I don’t want to be like this!” Minami murmured between sobs, glowing brighter than ever. Her entire body was emitting light.

Careful not to be seen, Aino gently closed the door behind her and quickly returned to the classroom. She informed the teacher that Minami was in the bathroom and would be back soon, saying that she was feeling ill due to the flu. Then, she sat at her desk, quickly wrote a note, and handed it urgently to her cousin, Yukino.