Chapter 5 – The Life We’re Hiding

It had been five days since Alya moved into Izumi’s apartment, and somehow, his quiet life had transformed into something like a low-budget sitcom. With action movie special effects.

Every morning began with a tiny, glowing-eyed girl poking him in the face and saying, “Papa, it time to get up,” followed by Hana knocking on his door ten minutes early with a box of supplies for Alya, books, crayons, hair brush, and everything thing else a 7 year old girl would need.

Izumi wasn’t sure about the situation at first, but these days are nice.

Between school, grocery runs, and a bedtime routine, the three of them had built something like a rhythm. A strange, chaotic rhythm—but a rhythm nonetheless.

Still, there were things Hana didn’t know. Not yet.

It was after school when Izumi brought them both to the rooftop. The sun was beginning to set, turning the sky into molten gold. Alya sat on the bench, quietly nibbling on a rice cracker.

Izumi turned to Hana.

Izumi – “I need to show you something.”

Hana – “Not another magical child, right?”

Izumi smirked.

Izumi – “No. Just the reason you’ve been babysitting one.”

He reached into his shirt and pulled out a pendant. Blackened, cracked, and dull, but faintly pulsing at its center.

Hana stepped closer, watching it carefully.

Hana – “So, that’s… the thing that brought you back from Solvain?”

Izumi – “It’s more than that. It’s like a conduit, a bridge between worlds I think. I still need to do more research. But watch this.”

He closed his eyes. The pendant glowed brighter.

The air around them shimmered. It wasn’t like fireflies, it was more like sparkly dust all moving together.

Alya giggled and ran to grab Izumi’s hand.

Alya – “We’re going again?”

Izumi – “Yeah. Hold on.”

Alya was ready in a moment without any hesitation. He extended his other hand toward Hana.

Izumi – “Grab my hand.”

Hana – “Excuse me?”

Izumi – “You want to see the other world, right? That’s the rule. Physical contact. Otherwise the portal won’t take you.”

Hana – “…You could have led with that.”

Hana paused for a beat, then walked up next to Izumi shoulder to shoulder while holding Izumi hand.

Izumi - “you ready”

Hana didn’t say anything, she just gave a nod. She could feel her cheeks getting warmer.

Izumi activated the pendant.

The world folded inward.

The moment they stepped through, Hana staggered.

Hana – “Whoa…”

The forest clearing they arrived in was bathed in moonlight, but it felt… alive. The air shimmered with particles of light. Mana.

Hana’s skin prickled with the sensation of energy running over it. Her heartbeat quickened.

Hana – “It’s beautiful.”

Izumi – “This is Solvain.”

Alya jumped off a nearby rock and twirled in the air.

Alya – “I like this place! The sky sings here.”

Hana – “Wait—what?”

Izumi – “It’s just how she experiences mana. This forest is actually a part of an elven village that I’m friends with. Because of that this place has a lot more mana than other places. I thought it would be the best place for you to see first.”

He stood beside Hana.

Izumi – “You feel it, right? The buzzing under your skin?”

She nodded slowly.

Hana – “I feel… something. Like a second heartbeat.”

Izumi – “That’s your magic waking up.”

Hana – “Wait—I can use magic?!”

Izumi – “Everyone from Earth can… They just never get the chance. No mana there.”

Hana looked down at her hands, as if expecting sparks to leap from her fingertips.

Hana – “And you’ve been walking around like a secret wizard this whole time?”

Izumi – “I’m more like a swordsman than a wizard, but yeah.”

He stepped back, he raised his hand and a small white circle of light appeared floating next to him. Izumi reached into the circle and pulled out 2 wooden swords.

Izumi – “In this world there are monsters, bandits, and even real demons... If you really want to travel with Alya and I, I need to teach you how to protect yourself”

Hana - “Monsters and demons! How am I supposed to fight demons?”

Izumi - “lets hope you don’t have to but you will need to get stronger anyway”

Hana's expression changed, she was now worried about having to fight anything, especially monsters and demons. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get strong enough… Just then Alya grabbed Hana sleeve

Alya - “don’t worry, trust papa… he’s very strong.”

Hana took a breath and collected herself… then looked at Izumi squinting her eyes with a slight smirk.

Hana - “how strong?”

Izumi walked over to one of the trees nearby. He patted it a few times. Hana looked at him confused. All of a sudden the tree exploded violently. A gust of wind pushed out in all sides throwing up dust all over. The sound echoed through the forest, pieces of wood started falling down. None of the pieces were any bigger than a pencil. Hana stood completely still, little pieces of wood falling all around. Her eyes fully open in shock. The only thing left was a small stump that was still attached to the ground.

Alya - “yah… papa is the strongest”

Alya started running to Izumi. Hana is still in shock. Alya jumps on Izumi’s back smiling and giggling from the excitement.

Hana - “I…I…I don’t know what even happened. What did you do?”

Hana's tone went from shocked to angry. Izumi taken back by the sudden outburst

Izumi - “I only punched it… I mean I did use a portion of my magic… I guess I could of held back a little”

Hana - “A PORTION! I didn’t even see you move”

Izumi - “That makes since, we haven’t leveled up your perception yet”

Hana started to rub her eyes out of frustration

Hana - “what does that even mean?”

Izumi - “ I guess I forgot to tell you, I’ll explain. Think of this world like a video game. In a game you level up by fighting monsters or bad guys, same thing here. When you level up you get more skills, like perception, and the more you use those skills the more your skills can level up too. But unlike a game, when you die…you die…but we get to use magic, so that's cool.”

Alya - “papa…what’s a video game?”

Izumi looking back at Alya still on his back

Izumi - “we’ll play one when we get home…So, Hana what do you think?”

Hana paused for a moment

Hana - “this place is amazing! It’s just like Final Fantasy. I can see why you changed after coming back from this place. All of the training and fighting you had to do while you were here. All of the places you got to see and people you met along the way. And then coming home and you couldn’t tell anyone, they would think you were crazy. I believed you but part of me always thought they were just made up stories… but now I know it’s true. It’s all true… so, I have a feeling that I'm going to love this place. Because of that I want to get stronger too… wait… how did you get so strong in 5 days.

Izumi - “well it seems like one day here is around an hour on Earth”

Hana -”Seriously? So how long were you here last time”

Izumi - “Last time? Well Alya and I have been visiting trying to find answers to her past. But it’s sometimes dangerous. I can’t leave her at home for the safety of my apartment but bringing her here puts her in danger. I’m sorry to ask but the reason I brought you is to train you in combat.”

Hana - “what!? Why?”

Izumi - “I need someone to protect Alya and you are the only one I can think of.”

Izumi looked at Hana, her expression was full of hope and excitement

Hana - “Bring it on, I'm ready! I do what it takes to protect Alya from any kind of danger.

Both of them grabbed one of the wooden swords and for the next hour, Izumi taught Hana the basics—how to stand, how to breathe, how to keep her balance.

At first, she was clumsy, but she was determined.

He corrected her posture, adjusted her grip, and nudged her footwork. Every time he stepped closer, every time his hand brushed her wrist, her shoulder, her waist, something sparked.

Something not entirely magical.

He tried to ignore it. Focus on training. But Hana wasn’t making it easy. The elegance in her movement. The way Hana took everything Izumi would say and adjusted her fighting. She was taking this serious and she looked good doing it

Hana – “Is everything okay, your face is red.”

Izumi – “It’s nothing… just the training. I haven’t practiced with swords in awhile”

Hana – “Is that so?”

She grinned, stepping forward and pressing the flat of her blade against his shoulder in a quick feint.

Izumi – “You're learning fast.”

Hana – “I had a good teacher. Even if he’s emotionally constipated.”

Izumi – “That’s not…I’m not….”

She laughed.

He looked at her... Her cheeks were flushed, her smile bright, and her hair slightly tousled from sparring. She looked alive in a way she never had back on Earth.

Hana – “What?”

Izumi – “Nothing.”

He turned away quickly.

Alya, watching from the edge of the clearing, tilted her head.

Alya – “You two look weird.”

Hana looked a Alya surprised and then started to laugh

Izumi – “We’re done for today. Let’s go explore for a little bit”

Later that night, as they returned to Earth through the pendant, Hana lingered just a moment longer still holding Izumi’s hand

Hana - “Listen…Izumi, I want to thank you for sharing this part of your life with me. I really do want to help you and Alya. You’re helping me get stronger and I want to learn more about Solvain… I want to meet the people, see the land, and see this through, no matter where it takes us.”

Izumi and Hana stood there while Alya was rubbing her eyes from staying up late.

They didn’t say anything. They didn’t have to.

And Izumi wasn’t sure which world felt more dangerous—Solvain…

…or the one where Hana was starting to see right through him.

Sooo I Went to Another World Today
Possibly a Tuesday. Definitely not Earth.

Dear Journal,

You are now officially a multi-world traveler’s diary.
Congratulations.

Because guess what?
I, Hana Morikawa—high schooler, occasional honor student, lover of chocolate milk and quiet libraries—just casually stepped into another world.

Like. Another. Actual. World. With mana. And ruins.
And glowy flowers that hum when you touch them.
(Which I may have tried to sniff. Mistake. Glowing pollen kinda burns.)

And of course, who else would be my tour guide through this magical fever dream?

Izumi Kurokawa.
Yeah, that Izumi.

Childhood friend. The guy who disappeared in middle school under super mysterious circumstances. The guy who came back all cool and broody and “Oh yeah I was in another dimension fighting monsters and learning magic, nbd.”

Turns out… not a joke.

Also turns out:
He still looks like the lead in a supernatural dating sim, and he somehow became the guardian of a precious tiny child named Alya.

And now I’m now apart of this weird situation
Because why not suddenly become part of a magical found family?

Okay but seriously—

Solvain is... beautiful.
The sky is beautiful, it has two giant moons, and the air is so clean and smells amazing (like cinnamon?). The magic in the air feels like it’s watching you, but not in a creepy way. More like: “Hey! Welcome! Please don’t blow anything up.”

Spoiler:
Izumi did, that poor tree. It never stood a chance

And Alya.

Oh my stars, Alya.

She’s like the cutest little cinnamon roll wrapped in sunshine and divine prophecy.
She called me Hana-mama and I straight up forgot how to breathe for like six seconds.

Six. Whole. Seconds. My heart, that little girl had it from the start.

She has this way of looking at you that makes you want to build her a castle and slay three dragons just so she’ll smile. And when she giggles and runs to hug Izumi, he softens like—like that’s the only thing in the world that matters.

And then there’s me.
Standing there.
Trying not to combust from how stupidly heart-melting it all is.

And yes, before you ask:
I might have a teensy bit of a long-standing, repressed, childhood-to-present crush on Izumi.

Not helping that he can literally fight monsters one second and then turn around and be so gentle with Alya. Like, what do you even do with that?

Scream?
Cry?
Plan our future wedding with Alya as a flower girl… whole crap, Alya in a flower girls dress… I'm going to die. Calm down girl, pull it back in. But that would be really cute.

Anyway, I don’t know where this is going.
I don’t know how long we’ll be here.
But tonight, I’m curled up under a canopy of stars in a place that shouldn’t exist.
Izumi’s asleep with his sword leaning against the wall.
Alya’s snoring softly next to me with a bunny plushie in hand. His name is Mr. Hoppy
And for the first time in forever… I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Even if it’s insane.
Even if it’s terrifying.

I’m ready. I hope I get to learn magic soon.

— Hana (high school student, badass with a sword, queen at making shadow animals for Ayla)