Prologue

It was a sunny day in Akihabara. I was spending the day with my family and we decided to go shopping in Electric Town. My sister was insistent on getting the final couple of volumes she was missing from her favourite manga, and my dad wanted to check out some of the parts stalls to try to fix his motorcycle that he’s been working on. My mom, same as usual, was just happy to be along for the trip. She did, however, make on request that was the only selfish thing I’ve ever heard from her.

“I want us to stop by somewhere and get ice cream. And we’re all going to have it.” She said in a cheerful voice.

“Always with a sweet tooth.” My dad replied, a smile creasing his face.

My sister, on the other hand, tried to hide that she was just as excited as my mother for some tasty frozen dessert. She let out a sigh and turned her head away as she finally responded. “I guess, if everyone else is having some I will too.”

“For a 16-year-old, you really do act like a kid sometimes. I can see that excitement on your face.” I said to her. “That’s a good idea mom. We can grab some on the way home tonight.”

My sister puffed her cheeks out and glared at me while crossing her arms. Really reinforcing what I just said. My family agreed to my suggestion and we picked a place out on the way home and continued on our day out as a family. Despite our little banter and small arguments, my family really did get along well with one another. We enjoyed our time together and would plan days out like this often.

Today was a little extra special as I was home on break from university after having been away for several months. It has been a while since I got to spend time like this with them and so we planned out the entire day. It was just another day spending time with the people I loved.

Little did I know; it would also be the last.

Later that day, we were all walking home from the train station. We had gotten our ice cream, and my mom had a perfectly content smile on her face that easily spelled out how happy she was with our family outing. We were walking along and exiting the station in Asakusa and heading into the back alleys toward our home, when suddenly a loud bang rang out. Birds flew in the sky, and several cats ran out from hiding.

“What in the world was that noise?!” My father cried out

“Did that come from the police station? Do you think a bomb went off?” My sister started to panic.

“Let’s just wait here, it may be too dangerous to head home.” My mom said with a rational tone.

I, however, was panicking. More than I ever have done before or thought I was capable of. It was a sense of immense dread that had washed over me and flooded all my emotions. I could hear the blood pumping through my ears and my heart pounding in my chest. My breathing was caught in my chest, and I stumbled to the ground. Something was terrifying me beyond rational concern, but I couldn’t understand what or why.

“Ryuki! Ryuki are you okay?!”

I felt my dad’s hands on my back as he tried to calm me and make sure I was fine. My hearing started to get more and more fragmented as my panic rose. I thought I heard my mother say something about going to get help, and then her and my sister left. I reached a hand out and tried to stop them, but I couldn’t speak. My dad, understanding what I wanted, quickly left and ran after them.

And that’s when it happened.

A large white flash of light enveloped my vision, causing me to close my eyes. A few seconds later, a loud boom similar to thunder roared loudly and shook the area around me. The shockwave of whatever that was knocked me fully to the ground and I braced myself on my elbows. My once pounding ears were now ringing and my vision was blurred and hazy. My head was pounding and my sense of direction was all turned around as I struggled to stand up. I propped myself against a nearby building and tried to focus my vision on where my family went, only to realize that they were gone. In their place was a large crater that had taken out most of the road and the surrounding sidewalk. My eyes widened and my heart sank.

“N-no... no, no, no... they were right there... where did they go?” I muttered out to myself.

A moment later, another crash of white light and thunder slammed into the ground. This time, in the same crater, a man wearing a strange cloak was laying unconscious in the middle of it. A moment later, a woman flanked by three other people came running over and quickly apprehended the man and placed a pair of glowing hand cuffs around his wrists and a purple-glowing choker around his neck.

“Who... who are you?! What just happened? Where’s my family!”

I shouted out as soon as I saw the people in front of me. They were all wearing the same attire that, despite not recognizing anything written on it, gave the impression that they were a sort of law enforcement. They all had dress suit-like jackets and buttoned white shirts with a blue armband. The woman was tall and slim with long purple hair and wore a pair of angular sunglasses that had a green hue on the lenses. She turned to look at me and walked over toward me. She gave a hand motion to the other three people with her, who then started to mutter words and picked up the man. Suddenly, a bright and glowing circle on the wall opened up and one of the followers, a tall muscular man who was carrying the person from the crater over his shoulder, entered it and vanished. The woman walked up to me and placed a hand on my chin and forced me to look at her, away from the sorcery behind her.

“Hello, sir. My name is Yukino Kurosawa. Who are you and what happened here, what did you see?” the strange woman said to me in a voice that clearly noted this was routine for her.

“W-where’s my family? They were right there and then... and.... what was that large crashing sound? And what’s with that crater? Is my family okay?”

I already knew the answer deep down, but my mind refused to accept it as reality. My brain was in shock and would not take in the reality of what had just happened.

“Sir, I apologize, but it appears your family was caught in the area of effect of a mage we were hunting and apprehending. What you most likely saw was a large lightning strike.” The woman said matter-of-factly. “We were chasing a fugitive who was reckless in their use of magic and attempted to use their sorcery for personal gain. We used large area lightning magic to swiftly stop him. Only took three strikes to secure the target.”

The woman took off her sunglasses, folded them, and hung them off her low-buttoned shirt. She stared at me with her orange eyes with an emotionless gaze. How little emotion or sympathy she was showing me started to swell up a raging anger inside. I tried my best to control myself as I was still disoriented from everything, but this woman... she was becoming a focal point for my hatred.

“What the hell do you mean? What are you saying? Why are you just telling me that and why are you so damn relaxed!?” I lashed out and grabbed her by her collar. “How can you be so calm telling me my family died!? And that you killed them!”

The woman grabbed my hand and despite her slim build, pulled it off of her with ease. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a device that looked similar to a smartphone but had some sort of holographic projection emitting out of it in a circular pattern.

“I have to ask you not to touch me or other magi officers, please. I am letting you know what happened because you will not remember anything in a few moments and I have a duty to be honest with civilians when they ask.”

“I- wha- !”

Before I could protest any further, a bright blinding light flashed, and my vision went black and my consciousness faded.