The morning seemed longer than usual for Minami, who could only hide behind the small wall where no one passed during break time. However, her moment of introspection wouldn’t last long, as Yukino, who had been searching for her everywhere, quietly appeared behind the young girl.

“I found you! How are you doing?” Yukino asked.

Minami jumped and slowly turned her head in Yukino’s direction.

“I’m great!” Minami replied in a shaky voice.

“No, you’re not!” Yukino said, dismissing her lie. The words made Minami’s eyes fill with tears, but at the same time, they made her start to open up.

“…Yukino, you’re not that normal…” Minami said, choking back sobs. “…If I show you something, you won’t get scared, right?”

“Did you just call me crazy?” Yukino asked, staring at Minami.

“Ahh… it’s not wrong, is it?” Minami replied. Instead of continuing the conversation, Minami removed her scarf. Then, she took off her coat and gloves, revealing her sparkly skin to Yukino. “Don’t tell anyone.” she asked, a little shy.

“As incredible as it seems, I know someone who can help!” Yukino said, not showing any surprise.

“Really? I knew I could count on you!” A small spark of hope lit up in Minami’s heart.

“I’ll call Akiko and Miyu to take a look.”

“NO, STOP! NO ONE IN SCHOOL CAN KNOW!”

Yukino turned and ran to get her friends, completely ignoring Minami’s desperate plea. She quickly found the other two in the schoolyard and brought them to see the situation. Both looked at it, then immediately came to a conclusion.

“Megumi! You need to talk to Megumi!” Akiko and Miyu said in unison, without hesitation.

“WHAT?! ANOTHER PERSON NEEDS TO SEE THIS?” Minami began to feel more worried about her situation. Discretion no longer seemed like an option.

“It’s because Light Potentia is different from the others. I don’t understand how it works, but it’s the only thing that causes this.” Akiko explained, speaking technically about it.

“Potentia?” The glowing skin young girl asked.

“They are powers.” Yukino swiftly explained.

“I feel like I’m in one of those crazy things you watch, Yukino. What is it called?”

“Anime.” Yukino answered with a disapproving look, while thinking that her friend had called “crazy” what she likes.

While they were talking, the song at the end of the break rang, and all of them needed to get back to their room. Minami was concerned because it would take too long to get dressed again, and she didn’t want the others to see her glowing.

“Go that way!” Yukino suggested.

“Tell them it’s highlighter.” Miyu suggested.

“No one will believe that!” Minami complained.

Back in the classroom, Minami sat at her desk and fell silent, hoping no one would look in her direction. A classmate sat beside her, stared at her, and asked:

“Minami, what’s the deal with you glowing?”

“It’s highlighter.”

“Hm, okay!”

He believed it… Minami thought in shock.

Sayuri’s House

Sayuri was in her daily practice for a new melody she was composing on her piano. She was focused, the song flowing with an incredible lightness, filling the environment in a harmonious way. The scenery seemed like a glorious scene from a heroic film.

“SAYURIIII!” Akiko arrived home shouting her lungs out, interrupting Sayuri’s practice.

CLANG! sounded the piano when Sayuri missed the notes and had her thoughts interrupted. She breathed deeply, turned toward Akiko, and said:

“Akiko, don’t shout while I’m playing, please,” she asked, a little angry, but with delicacy, she kept saying, “I was practicing a more difficult melody…”

“But Sayuri…” Akiko said. “We’ve got an emergency.” Akiko showed another young girl glowing and said that she needed help. Sayuri saw the scene and was startled.

“MEGUMI, COME OVER HERE!”

As she wasn’t used to hearing Sayuri shout in fear, Megumi ran down the stairs, asking if everything was alright. Minami looked at the model and was enchanted by her beauty. On the other side, the blonde watched the scene and quickly understood.

“Rub your hands together and then slap them. That will dissipate the energy,” Megumi explained, making gestures so the girl could understand.

Minami looked a little confused, but she didn’t have any other alternative and preferred to copy her actions, as absurd as it seemed. She rubbed her hands and slapped them. A beam of light spread and she automatically stopped glowing.

“What?! Is that all?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“That happens in the initial stages of that kind of Potentia! I can teach you how to use it!” Megumi volunteered.

“It’s better I learn.” Minami replied.

Koa and Adonis’ Apartment, March 21st, Midday.

The young Adonis finally woke up and went to the kitchen, where Koa was making lunch.

“What’s up, Koa? Mornin’,” said the red-haired boy, yawning.

“Adonis, it’s already lunchtime. Don’t you think you’re getting up too late?” Koa, annoyed, replied.

“But today is Sunday. My day off.” the young one replied after yawning.

Day off? thought the older one.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do this week?” Koa asked, glancing at Adonis.

“Tomorrow I’ve got a math test, a physics project, and my room is in charge of collecting cardboard boxes for the game festival.” The young one was mentally checking off his tasks and mentioning them to his roommate.

Koa then angrily drove the knife into the wooden board he was chopping meat on. It seemed the other answer was way too far from what he expected to hear. Adonis, startled, took a step back and widened his eyes.

“Adonis… your mission! Maureen, Itzel, Yesenia, Rosália, everyone has already seen the girls, and you’ve done nothing until now!” His tone of voice was harsh and serious, leaving no room for justifications. Adonis clasped his hands, lowered his head, and replied in a shaky voice:

“I will! I swear! Don’t give up on me!”

March 22nd, Monday, School

The second-year high school students were in P.E. class. At this school, physical education classes were practiced with girls and boys separated. There were three courts: the covered gymnasium, the covered court, and the uncovered court. Normally, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and handball were practiced. On that day, Adonis was playing his favorite sport: soccer. Some girls from his class watched the game and couldn’t stop complimenting the young boy.

“Ahhhh! Handsome, isn’t he?”

“So nice to be alive at the same time!”

“So good to be in the same class!” were some of the sentences they said.

As a forward player, Adonis played seriously and quickly, and because of that, he was already sweaty, including his face. As usual, he lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the girls shouted in unison.

“Girls are weird, man.” commented on other boys from his class to each other.

Meanwhile, Aino and Miyu headed to the sports court. Aino was holding Miyu by the hand and seemed to be in a hurry.

“Come on, Miyu, let’s enjoy the fact that we were dismissed earlier.”

“Ok, but why are we going to the court?”

“I want to see Adonis, but not alone.”

“But I’m not interested.”

“Don’t make a fuss.”

“...”

No way I’m staying here..., thought Miyu, turning to the other side to leave. As she turned, she tripped and ended up face to face with someone's chest.

“Wow! My bad, didn’t see ya!” Adonis said to Miyu.

The green-haired girl didn’t respond, stunned. The red-haired boy stared at her and lowered himself to match her height.

“My! You’re so short!” he said, quite perplexed.

“I’m what?!” the girl said, showing annoyance.

“Look at the bright side! You don’t hit your head on the ceiling!” Adonis comforted her.

“Lucky you, Miyu!” Aino commented from the back.

Miyu got way too annoyed and sulked. Adonis, once again standing, didn’t understand why she got upset. With no more talking, Miyu turned and left in the direction of the schoolyard. Aino ran after her.

“So? Has your heart stopped beating?” her friend asked.

“It did, out of anger!” Miyu replied harshly.

March 23rd, Tuesday, School

The first classes had already finished, and the breaktime song echoed. In the first year of school, the last class had been Biology, and the teacher asked a favor before everyone left:

“Ok, guys, I know it’s break time, but can someone help me take these books to the lab?” She showed the giant pile of books she had brought to the classroom.

However, everyone left running to break time, without worrying about helping her out. Only Miyu stayed and offered to help the teacher, who thanked her and handed her some books to carry.

The pile of books was really enormous, almost covering the young girl’s face. The classroom was on the ground floor, while the lab was on the second floor. Miyu needed to go up the stairs with caution and stopped in front of the lab’s door, thinking about how she could open it while carrying so much weight. It didn’t take long for a hand to open the door for her.

“Thank you.” she said, thanking the person.

“It’s not heavy? Hand some to me.” Adonis, who had opened the door, offered help.

“It’s not. I can do it.” Miyu politely refused.

Both entered the lab. Miyu placed the books on the table, while Adonis started exploring the place, greeting the skeleton and looking at the jars of experiments. Miyu only watched him from the corner of her eyes, a little concerned. Soon, he went too far and started moving the substances that were kept.

“Let’s mix these substances.” He took two bottles of liquid and went to the counter.

“HEY, DON’T TOUCH THAT!” Miyu was getting mad at the boy.

“Look at the pink liquid, it’s so cool!” Adonis started mixing the liquids from the test tube and the Erlenmeyer flask.

“Adonis! That’s caustic soda!” Miyu got closer, feeling worried.

“Look at that! It’s pink! Blue! Green! Now it’s yellow!” He spoke while the mixture changed color. The colors caught Miyu’s attention, and she started to pay more attention to it, despite being worried. “Do you know why that happens?” Adonis asked, facing her. The young girl got a little shy but replied:

“It’s not difficult! In the water, there was sodium permanganate, and the caustic soda had some sugar. That’s the combination that resulted in these colors.”

“That’s right! You’re damn smart! I liked that!” Adonis was impressed. Miyu didn’t answer, but it didn’t take long before he had another idea. “Ok, I’m taking this home,” he said, grabbing the container.

“WHAT? YOU WON’T! LEAVE THOSE THINGS WHERE THEY ARE!” Miyu got desperate.

“HEY! HEY! HEY!” the young boy complained, swerving the container out of her hands.

“ADONIS! LET IT GO!” Miyu tried to grab the container back. During the fuss, the Erlenmeyer flask hit the closest beaker, and a thin sound of glass echoed through the environment.