Perfect Imperfection

The library was empty; the lights were already off, and a computer monitor on the librarian's desk glowed with a surveillance recording.

An angel stood behind the librarian. The angel was not visible to the naked eye.

It is silently watching the footage. The librarian cannot see the angel behind him.

The recording showed Chitose walking between the bookshelves.

She stopped until she reached the cookbook shelf.

And then—

She began to speak.

The angel tilted its head.

There was no one in front of her.

Chitose smiled.

She appeared to be listening to someone.

The librarian's voice could be heard in the original recording.

"What little girl?"

The angel's gaze stayed fixed on the screen.

---

The footage returns to the recording and continues.

Chitose held out her hands.

Something appeared as she placed her hand on the bookshelf.

But the camera showed nothing; The book does not exist.

The mysterious black book suddenly appeared in Chitose's hands.

---

The librarian replayed the recording, and Angel stepped closer to the monitor.

Chitose looked toward the space beside her.

She smiled, then walked away.

The librarian checked the footage again.

The angel watched; the recording rewind.

Again.

Chitose reached toward the shelf.

Again.

She appeared to speak to someone.

Again.

She received the book from empty air.

The librarian whispered to himself, “This is getting scary and scary. It doesn’t make any sense.”

The angel's fingers slowly clenched.

It rewinds the recording once more.

Nothing.

No little girl; no missing frames; no corrupted footage.

The camera recorded exactly what happened.

Chitose had received the book from nobody.

The angel stared at the screen, watching Chitose’s hands as soon as she reached a vacant spot on the bookshelf, and the grimoire just appeared on the bookshelf.

Its expression changed. It knew the book.

But it did not know where it came from.

The recording continued.

Chitose and Momoka left the library, and the automatic doors closed behind them.

The angel remained standing behind the librarian, looking toward the empty cookbook shelf, then back at the monitor. The mysterious book was already gone.

The angel slowly turned away.

---

Weeks later, the afternoon streets were crowded. Cars passed through the intersection one after another. The pedestrian lights turned red.

People waited at the crossing, some checking their phones and others talking with their friends as they waited for the light to change.

Among them were Chitose and Miyo.

Miyo stood beside her, with several grocery bags hanging from both her hands.

“This is heavier than I thought.”

Chitose looked at her.

“You can give it to me if it was getting heavy on you.”

“I’m completely fine. I’m stronger than I look, you know!”

Miyo shifted the bags in her hands.

“But I didn’t know vegetables could weigh this much.”

Chitose glanced at the bags.

“You’re holding the potatoes.”

“That’s right! Don’t worry, I can handle it.”

Chitose sighed and smiled.

“You’re stronger than you look.”

Miyo smiled proudly.

“Yes, I am!”

The pedestrian signal remained red. Chitose looked across the street. There was a bakery on the other side.

“Oh.”

Miyo followed her gaze.

“What?”

“Bread.”

“You just bought bread.”

“I actually forgot, and I’m wondering if I bought bread.”

Miyo stared at her.

“No way… You forgot we bought bread five minutes ago?”

Chitose nodded.

“I think something is wrong in my head; instead, I remembered something else.”

“What is it?”

“I'm not thinking about it for now, but there’s a book I want to read carefully.”

Miyo laughed.

“You’re really something, Chitose.”

The pedestrian signal changed.

BEEP.

People began to cross, and Chitose stepped forward.

Miyo followed.

And they stopped, and her expression changed.

The Eye of Order activates.

Class: Vanity

Its body was a twisting pillar of translucent flesh, connecting from head to ground: it had no lower body or limbs. The torso was a skeleton with a mouth on its stomach.

It's an abstract of pride that was so high that I couldn’t even reach the person.

“Chi-nee?”

No answer.

Eventually, Miyo noticed the Eye of Order. It was activated.

Is there a demon? An angel?

Miyo slowly turned her head toward the road ahead.

She saw the biggest vanity demon she had ever seen. Chitose was about to take out the grimoire.

“Chi-chan!”

Suddenly, Momoka came out of nowhere carrying a bag of bond paper.

“What are you—“

She quickly hid the book behind her.

The Grimoire slipped from her hands and fell to the ground.

Its pages flipped wildly as a strong gust of wind swept through the crossing, almost as if the wind itself had made it happen.

The world suddenly fell silent.

The sounds of cars and pedestrians disappeared, and even Momoka stopped moving beside her.

The city turned monochrome, and the domain of order was activated.

“Momo-chan!”

The grimoire levitates, recommending a compass, and take it out of its page.

This is the first time the domain has been activated in a crowded place.

She takes a look at Momoka.

How I can protect the people means a lot to me.

Wait, where’s Miyo?

The grocery bags Miyo had carried before were on the ground; Chitose looked around, searching for her.

Chitose looked around again.

“Miyo?”

No answer.

Her eyes swept over the frozen crowd. Dozens of people stood motionless in the middle of the crossing.

A businessman with one foot still raised.

A woman holding a shopping bag.

A child reaching for his mother’s hand.

Momoka remained frozen beside her, still holding the bags of bond paper.

Chitose tightened her grip on the compass.

“Where did she go?”

A low sound came from behind her.

KRRRRR…

Chitose turned.

Vanity demon was no longer standing in the middle of the road.

Its enormous body had moved closer.

The translucent flesh twisting around its skeletal torso slowly contracted. The mouth on its stomach opened and whispered.

“Look at yourself.”

Chitose’s expression hardened.

“No.”

The demon’s body suddenly stretched toward the surrounding buildings.

Its translucent flesh touched the glass of a building and rippled like water. Then the windows reflected Chitose.

Hundreds of Chitoses stared back at her.

Some wore her bridal battle dress. Some wore her casual outfit. Some wore clothes she had never seen.

One held a rapier. Another held a compass. Another stood silently, hands folded. Then every reflection raised its weapon.

The grimoire opens its pages on her stardress, and black ink spews from the pages to protect her from entities.

SHING!

Chitose’s eyes widened.

“They’re not illusions.”

The reflections stepped out of the windows.

BOOM!

One crashed onto the road.

Another dropped from a building.

Then another.

The monochrome crossing suddenly filled with copies of herself.

Chitose spun around.

The first reflection swung its blade.

CLANG!

Chitose blocked it with the compass.

The impact shoved her several meters back.

She looked at the copy.

It had her face, her hair, her eyes, even its expression.

But something was wrong.

It was smiling.

Chitose kicked it away.

The reflection crashed through a traffic light.

CRASH!

Another attacked from behind.

Chitose ducked.

A blade passed over her head.

She swept her compass along the ground.

WHOOOM!

A circular wave of force hurled three reflections into the air. As they collided, they shattered into glass fragments.

Chitose exhaled.

“One down.”

The fragments began moving from the ground. Then they reassembled into herself again.

Chitose stared.

“That’s troublesome.”

Vanity’s stomach-mouth widened.

“You cannot destroy perfection.”

The reflections charged again.

Chitose raised her compass.

“Then I’ll just have to keep destroying it.”

She moved.

BOOM!

Her compass struck one reflection in the chest.

CRACK!

A second came from the side.

She blocked.

A third attacked from above.

She jumped.

A fourth appeared behind her.

Chitose barely twisted her body.

The blade ripped her dress.

Shrrrk

She landed a hit.

Her stardress had been torn at the waist.

Chitose looked down.

“No.”

She touched the tear.

“My dress!”

The demon laughed; the laugh echoed through the city, and the reflections stopped attacking.

They all looked at the original more than before, and their faces changed. One by one, their expressions turned disappointed.

“You are careless.”

“You forget.”

“You hesitate.”

“You cannot protect everyone.”

“You are not perfect.”

Chitose’s eyes narrowed.

The reflections spoke together.

“You are unworthy of being the Harbinger.”

Silence.

Chitose lowered her compass.

“…I see.”

She looked toward Momoka; she was still frozen.

Then toward the people surrounding them.

Still frozen.

“As long as no one’s harmed, then I’ll be fine.”

Her expression became calm.

“You’re trying to make me doubt myself.”

Vanity’s mouth was open and laughing.

---

Chitose smiled faintly.

“Then that never works.”

She raised the compass and angled it to one hundred thirty-five degrees.

“I already know I’m imperfect.” She takes a look at Momoka.

“But as long as someone believes me, I’ll grow stronger.”

The pointed tip of the compass spun like a chainsaw.

WHIRRRR!

“I’m letting you hurt them!”

The domain trembled.

The reflections suddenly rushed forward.

Chitose stepped toward them.

BRRRMMM

The first one was cut in half

BRRRMMM!

The second was decapitated.

BRRRMMM!

The third was cut in the waist.

Chitose moved faster.

One after another, the reflections disappeared.

But there were too many.

Every shattered reflection became another. Every broken piece became another version. The demon’s illusions were multiplying throughout the city.

---

Chitose finally realized the problem.

“This isn’t a fight against the copies.”

She looked toward Vanity.

“It’s a fight against the thing making them.”

Vanity’s body twisted upward.

The enormous pillar of flesh expanded until it towered taller than the buildings. Its ribs became visible through its flesh. The stomach-mouth opened. Inside is dark, and within that darkness—

Chitose saw herself.

A perfect Chitose.

No hesitation; no forgetfulness; no mistakes.

The perfect Harbinger stepped out of Vanity’s body.

Chitose stared at herself.

The copy smiled.

“You could be better.”

Chitose tightened her grip on the compass.

“Maybe.”

The perfect Chitose raised her weapon.

“But I don’t want to be you.”

BOOM!

---

The two collided.

At that moment, something stirred above the Vanity demon.

A tiny yellow light appeared in the sky, making its color stand out against the black-and-white city.

Chitose didn’t notice.

The light pulsed once.

Thump.

Again.

Thump.

The ground shakes.

Vanity stopped.

Its mouth slowly turned upward. Then it looked up at the sky.

The yellow light continues to pulse faster and faster, then it moves downward, sliding through the demon's skin, but it doesn’t harm the demon.

Instead, something was about to arrive.

The monochrome clouds split apart.

A translucent, ugly fish with a big mouth and sharp teeth.

The creature is slowly getting bigger and bigger.

Until its enormous body covered the buildings above the crossing.

Chitose looked up.

Her eyes widened, and she was confused.

“Huh!? What’s that!? What’s happening!?”

A rough-skinned blue creature glows, illuminating the monochrome city.

The creature opened its mouth, and Miyo was floating above the building.

She was barefoot, wearing a cute summer dress with a translucent summer hat. Above her was a big blue jellyfish. Inside it were embryos of fetuses. Some were alive, and babies floated weightlessly around her face. The jellyfish's tentacles were carrying Miyo midair

She wasn’t smiling anymore.

She simply raised her one hand and slowly lowered it.

“I’m sorry, Chi-nee.”

She sounds cold and flat, yet her word choices are still Miyo's.

The enormous anglerfish descended.

“I dropped your groceries.”

Vanity demon looked up.

For the first time, it looks afraid.

Miyo’s eyes sharpened.

“But I brought my baby.”

“Choo-choo…”

And swallowed the vanity demon whole.