Remnant

Momoko opens the door to the penthouse and steps inside, but she doesn’t go three steps in before losing strength on her legs. “Hah!” She falls to her knees and the plush floats up to her side.

“Hoshizora-san!” He calls, but she doesn’t reply. “What's wrong?”

The pinkette slowly closes her eyes and falls forward, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.

“Hoshizora-sa—”

“Zzzzzzzzz… zzzzz…”

Blinking, the furry creature stares at the sleeping body of the girl and sighs. Seems like she is just tired. ‘Still, couldn’t fall asleep after we reached your room?’ Looking around, he sees that no one is around, which means… “I’ve gotta do it.”

Gathering all of his strength, Fluffy grabs Momoko by the collar of her pajamas with his teeth and pulls the pinkette up to her room. She’ll probably wake up tomorrow with some bruises from being dragged up a set of stairs but that is just what happens when you don’t have arms to carry someone.

After more work than it had any right to be, the floating plush carries the teenager to her bed and drops her there. “Hah, hah, hah…” He pants heavily while glancing at her sleeping face. “Next time try to pass out somewhere more convenient will ya?”

Not that he is sure there will be a next time. Realistically what would Momoko gain from helping a strange creature that came out of nowhere.

That is without taking into account that Fluffy doesn’t even know what he should be doing.

Does he have any connection to that monster? He did have some sort of magical power, but so did Momoko.

Are they connected in some way? Or was that just a coincidence?

“Urgh!” Just thinking of all that is giving the creature a headache, he should probably go to sleep and plan his next move with a clearer head. “…” Looking at the pinkette sleeping peacefully in her messy bed, he sighs again. “You better thank me tomorrow.”

He floats towards Momoko and spends a couple of minutes tucking her properly. Now fully under the sheets, he smiles softly and flies to the bedside table, touching down on the hardwood. The plush makes himself comfortable and closes his eyes.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

***

Fluffy opens his eyes only to be met with an empty white void. There is no sound, no wind, nothing as far as the eye can see.

Just white.

He tries to open his mouth, to shout, to cry, yet nothing comes out. Even his already non-existent movements are hindered. He could do nothing but float and move his gaze around.

‘W-Where am I?’ Fluffy asks himself in desperation, unsure of why he even did so, there is nobody around to answer.

Or at least, that’s what he thought.

“… C..AN… YO..U… HEAR… M..E..?”

The fur on the creature’s body stands up as the ethereal voice echoes through the void. It’s voice soft, feminine, and motherly. ‘W-Who’s there?!’ His mouth still couldn’t move, so the plush shouts inside his own mind.

“W..HO… A…RE… YOU?”

Retorts the voice, completely ignoring his own question. ‘…’ He had no reason to answer that, but even if he did, Fluffy couldn’t.

Because he doesn’t know either.

“NO… MA…T…TER… REMN…AN... ST…IL.. A…LIVE…”

‘Remn…ant?’ For some reason, that word made Fluffy’s heart accelerate, and his head hurt. He should know what that means, but he doesn’t.

“DEF…EAT… RE…MNA…T… LIB…E…RAT…E… THE… DARK…NESS…”

‘Defeat?’ The gears in the creature’s mind start to turn, and a clearer image begins to form. ‘Is it that creature? That’s a Remnant?’

“LIBE…RATE… T…H…E… DARK…NE..SS…”

“…SYN…C… Y…OUR… SO…UL…S…”

Fluffy’s eyes widen as the voice begins to fade. ‘W-Wait! D-Don’t go! W-What do you mean by liberate? W-Who are you?!’ But it’s already too late, the voice is gone and the plush finds himself alone.

He doesn’t have the time to even ponder about what happened. A painful ringing cuts through the silence and fills his ears, forcing the creature to shut his eyes in pain.

***

“Gah!” Fluffy jolts awake and rolls out of the bedside table, falling face first onto the floor. His fur stands straight and he feels his nerves screaming at him while that infernal sound continues to blare across the room. “What the hell is that?” His gaze then moves to the bed, where Momoko continues to sleep peacefully.

With sigh, he floats up and looks around, easily detecting the cause of such a sound. “It’s just her alarm clock.” Turning to face the bed, the pink-haired teenager doesn’t show any signs of waking up. “Out like a log.” If her alarm is set to this hour, then she must have something important to do.

He moves closer to her and tries to poke her sides, with nothing happening. Next he shouts her name but she continues to lightly snore like nothing is happening.

Seeing that, Fluffy decides to drop the niceties.

The plush silently apologizes to the girl before floating above her bed and then dropping down onto her stomach.

That seems to do the trick as Momoko stands up and shouts. “Ouch!” She puts on an angry expression and glares at the plush. “What’s the big idea!?”

“Good morning to you too, Hoshizora-san.”

The pinkette opens her mouth to retort but stops as her mind registers Fluffy’s presence. “…” Her expression softens and she sighs. “So it wasn’t a dream, huh?”

A normal reaction to an abnormal situation, even though she definitely felt the pain of her wounds yesterday, a part of Momoko didn’t want to believe that it was all true.

“Sorry.”

“It isn’t your fault.” She replies with a soft smile, then suddenly pouts. “What is your fault is waking me up like that! What’s the big idea?”

“Well I did try a gentler approach but that didn’t work, so, here we are.” Fluffy explains and she grabs at the alarm clock.

“…” Suddenly, all the color drains from Momoko’s face as she stares at the time. “CRAP!” Jolting up, she quickly jumps out of bed and runs to her closet. “I forgot to change my alarm! I’m gonna be so late!”

“Aren’t you freaking out a little too much?” Thankfully Fluffy had taken flight before she stood up.

“You don’t get it! I usually change my alarm to an hour early during the school year!” Grabbing her uniform from the closet and tossing into the bed, the girl quickly moves to pick up her towel and throw it over her shoulder. “But because of everything that happened yesterday, I’ve completely forgot about it!” Without waiting for him to say anything, she runs off to the bathroom, leaving the plush alone.

“…” He sighs, why would she even change it to begin with?

But soon enough, his mind wonders away from Momoko’s mishaps and back to his own situation. Specifically about his dream.

He still wasn’t sure of what it meant but it might be linked to his current situation. The word Remnant just felt like something he should know but instead there’s only static when he tries to remember what it means.

And all that talk of ‘liberating’ this said Remnant, could it be referring to the monster Momoko defeated?

Speaking of her, Fluffy should probably tell her about it. His situation is already quite complex, there’s no point in hiding that from her.

It doesn’t take long for the girl to come back to the room, her pink towel wrapped around her body and another on her hair. She stares the plush down.

“… what?”

“Out.”

Fluffy’s eyes widen and his fur turns a light shade of purple. “Oh, yeah, sorry.” The plush floats out of the room.

Momoko closes the door with a heavy thud and the furry creature sighs, landing down on the floor and looking around. At least this is a good opportunity for the furry creature to think of how he’ll talk with her about his dream.

A couple of minutes go by and the plush starts to hear something from further down the corridor. The furthest door suddenly opens up and two people come out, making Fluffy hold his breath and freeze on the spot.

One is a tall, older woman, possibly around her mid forties. She has the same pink hair as the pinkette and has a similar face, albeit more mature and with black eyes. She’s dressed in a simple black skirt and light-gray shirt.

The other is a younger girl in a wheelchair, she doesn’t look that much older than Momoko. She has short brown hair styled in a bob-cut, a pale skin complexion, bright blue eyes and a very gentle face.

“Momoko!” Shouts the mature lady as she moves to the door and knocks. “You’re going to be late for school!”

“I know that, Mother!” The pinkette shouts back, making the woman groan.

“Watch your tone with me little lady! I’m still very much your mother and need respect—” She goes on a lecture while the wheelchair-bound girl locks eyes with Fluffy.

“And who are you, little guy?” With a warm smile, she pushes her chair closer and grabs the plush, bringing him closer to her face to examine it. “I’ve never seen you before…”

Fluffy keeps his breathing in check, while trying his best not to move his eyes or mouth. “…” It was getting harder by the second, but thankfully Momoko finally opens the door.

She is now wearing her school uniform, consisting of a white sleeved shirt with a pink tie, a navy-blue blazer with golden buttons and the school logo of a golden dove on the left breast. For her bottom half, she wears a medium length gray pleated skirt and knee-socks in pink and white stripes.

“Yeah, yeah, whatev—” Her grayish-black eyes lock with Fluffy’s and the girl holding the plush notices instantly.

“Is this little fella yours?” She asks and Momoko nods, looking away from her.

“Yeah.” Stepping out of the room and ignoring her mother’s presence, she stops in front of the other girl and grabs the fluffy creature. “I found him abandoned yesterday.”

The wheelchair-bound lass chuckles. “Really? I wonder who would abandon such a cutie?” Fluffy has to hold back a blush with all his strength.

“Cutie?” Momoko looks down at him and smirks teasingly. “I don’t really see it.”

‘Maybe a little bite wouldn’t hurt?’ The creature thinks to himself while his brow twitches.

“I was going to put him on the lost and found, but for now, I guess I’ll hold onto him.”

“You don’t need to get toys from the trash, Momoko.” Her mother says and the girl sighs. “We can just buy whatever you want—”

“Excuse me, but it’s getting late and I need to finish dressing up for school.” Without waiting for an answer, the pinkette goes back to her room and closes the door with a heavy thud. “Urgh, what does she even know?” Momoko whispers angrily while letting Fluffy go.

“Family problems?” He asks innocently and she sends him a glare

“None of your business.” Retorts the pinkette while sitting down in front of her mirror and starting to working on her hair.

He is slightly taken aback by her harsher tone. Better to drop the subject for now. “Uh, I do have something to tell you.” She glares back and the plush thinks twice about it, but decides that it is too important to not talk about. “I think I’ve remembered something.”

Momoko’s eyes widen as her expression switches to a softer one. “Yeah? What did you remember?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly remember anything.” Fluffy explains, moving in closer to the pinkette. “But I had a dream and some of it felt familiar to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something about a ‘Remnant’ and ‘liberating’ it.” He pauses, watching for Momoko’s reaction, but the girl doesn’t seem to understand what that meant. “So you don’t know anything either?” She shakes her head and the creature sighs. “Me neither, but those words, Remnant and liberated. I’m sure that I should know what they mean, but I just can’t remember!”

“Could just be a dream.” The pinkette replies, going back to working on her hair.

“Yeah, but I’m unsure. The—” He stops himself, would it be better to tell Momoko about the voice or not? He wasn’t sure, but keeping secrets from her would only make things worse on the long run. “—there was also a voice back there. She sounded like a woman and it felt familiar too.”

That picks the girl’s interest, she looks back at him and questions. “A woman’s voice? Maybe someone you know?” Could be, although the voice itself didn’t seem to recognize him.

Fluffy shakes his body negatively and the two just look at each other, if what he saw was just a dream or not, only time would tell.

Their stare off is broken by Momoko’s mother shouting. “It’s getting late, aren’t you ready?”

The pinkette gasps and turns around, quickly putting her hair on its usual high ponytail and standing up. “Crap! My homeroom teacher is going to kill me!” She grabs her school bag and opens it in front of Fluffy. “Quick! Hop in!”

“H-Huh? Why?”

“Well, I can’t exactly leave you alone in my room all day. I still don’t exactly trust you yet.”

Fluffy flinches a bit. ‘That makes sense but… ouch.’ He thinks with a sigh.

“…” She falls silent while looking at him. “There’s also… that.” The plush looks at her confused, and Momoko adds. “That monster and that weird dimension. I was only able to transform because of you.”

“Oh!”

“If anything happens, it’s better for us to be close.”

With a nod, the furry creature jumps onto her bag and makes himself as comfortable as possible. Momoko zips it halfway and throws it over her shoulder, before stepping out of her room.

She runs downstairs and past the kitchen, going straight to the door. “Not going to grab anything to eat?” The girl in the wheelchair asks as the pinkette puts on her brown shoes.

“I’ll buy an apple or something on the way.”

“Oh. Okay then. Bye!”

Momoko freezes for a moment. “Yeah. Bye.” Without looking back, she steps out of the penthouse.

“…” The wheelchair bound girl sighs.

***

Taking the elevator down to the first floor, Momoko runs out of the building and through the concrete jungle of Yorutsumi-shi. Stopping to buy an apple on the way.

Just like yesterday, the city’s busy streets never seem to calm down even during the mornings.

The pinkette takes a shortcut by going through the local park and finally reaches her school. The building is quite large and imposing, definitely an establishment for the higher echelons of society.

Momoko stops to take a breather, then approaches the guardsmen in front. “Hey…”

“…” The man stares at her, then sighs. “Go in.”

Smiling the teenager punches his arm and shouts. “Thanks Kenji-san, you’re the best!”

He rolls his eyes. “Try not to be late as much this year, okay?” Momoko laughs awkwardly and nods.

Entering the building, she wastes no time in making her way to the gymnasium and soon voices can be heard from inside.

“Crap! They’re doing the entrance ceremony!” The pinkette whispers, her eyes locked onto the door. “… maybe I can sneak in?”

Fluffy pops his head out of her bag and suggests. “Or maybe you can wait until it’s over?”

“And get my ears blown off by Kenzaki-sensei? Heck no!” She looks through the small crack of the open door while the creature sighs. “He’s known around the school for his long ass lectures.” After a couple of seconds, Momoko pushes the plush back inside and smirks. “Coast looks clean. Now’s my chance!”

The pinkette slowly opens the door enough to slip in and steps inside.

“So you did decide to join us, Hoshizora-san.”

‘Instantly busted. Dammit!’ Momoko stands straight and scratches the back of her head. “Hahaha, i-it would seem so, Principal.”

A tall black-haired man wearing glasses sighs and glares at the teenager with disappointment. “Just like last year, Hoshizora-san. One more and you are out.” The chuckles of the students start to fill the auditorium. “You’re almost a fully-fledged adult, do try and show some responsibility from now on.”

“Y-Yes sir.” Blushing, the girl looks down and starts fast-walking towards her classmates.

“Tsk, always getting off scot-free.”

“Must be because her daddy's rich.”

“…”

A group of three older girls whisper while watching the pinkette looking for her seat. After a short walk, she finds it and sit down.

“Safe?”

“Shut up, Hibiki-chan!”

The two stare at each other before breaking out giggling.

“Silence you two! Pay attention.”

“Yes! Kenzaki-sensei!”

“Ahem, as I was saying before being rudely interrupted by Hoshizora-san.” The students giggle, but a harsh glare from the principal makes them stop instantly. “We expect you all to do your best, in your studies, social life and…” His speech goes on for a while, but truthfully, Momoko stopped paying attention halfway through.

It doesn’t take that long for him to finish and pass the microphone to someone else. “Thank you for your encouraging words, Principal.” Says a younger boy. He steps forward and starts his own speech. “To my fellow students, as the president of the student council, I ask of you to give some thought about your future.”

His speech is mostly for the seniors, but Momoko does listen to it. ‘The future, huh?’

It doesn’t take long for the boy’s speech to be over, after a round of applause, the students are dismissed.

“Let me guess, you forgot to change your alarm again?” Hibiki whispers as the duo makes their way through the school.

Momoko nods and they start to climb up the stairs. “Yeah, yesterday was so crazy I—” She pauses. ‘Should I tell her about what happened?’ Shaking her head, the pinkette puts on a forced smile. “—I got really tired out of nowhere. So I didn’t get the chance to.”

“Are you alright? Yesterday you looked kinda out of it.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry.” The pinkette replies with a more sincere expression. ‘Better not talk about it at school. Plus, I don’t even know if that will happen again. Hopefully not.’

The two keep on talking until reaching their classroom. Going inside, they sit on the back and continue hanging out until their homeroom teacher comes in.

“Silence, class is in session!” He shouts, prompting everyone to shut up. “But before we begin proper, I do have an announcement to make.”

“Are you finally retiring?” A boy asks, prompting the girl behind him to add.

“Took him long enough.”

The man’s face turns red as the students chuckle. “Silence!” He shouts while slamming his fist onto the desk. “The audacity on those youngsters nowadays! Back in my time—”

Hibiki quickly interrupts the madman, asking. “So, what exactly is that announcement?”

He huffs and crosses his arms. “I was about to say it, if you dipsh— delinquents, hadn’t interrupted me!” Taking a minute to compose himself, Kenzaki says. “We should have one more student in our class, her name is Kazama Midori but she won’t be able to join us in the next few days, for personal reasons.”

There is a small moment of silence, before the entire class erupts into surprised and excited gasps. “Kazama Midori!? As in, the Midori-chan?!” One of the female students shouts, causing the others to follow through with their own questions and comments.

“Oh my gosh! I can’t believe this!”

“It’s gotta be someone with a similar name, there’s no way!”

“Maybe I can get an autograph?”

“Silence everyone! We still in class and—”

As the teacher tries to calm the students down, Momoko turns to her best friend and asks on a whisper. “Who’s that?”

The black-haired girl stares blankly at the pinkette. “Momo-chan… I know you’re, like, really out of the loop with anything even remotely relevant—”

“Hey!”

“—but, legitimately, how don't you know who Midori-chan is?” The black-haired girl stares at her best friend, whom just shrugs. With a sigh, Hibiki pulls out her smartphone, and quickly pulls up an article, practically shoving it on Momoko’s face. “Look, to put it simply, she’s the teen celebrity of the past few years. An idol that has been on the top of the charts basically since her career started.”

“…” Everything she said seemed to check out with the article, except for one little burb. “It says here that she took a break a couple of months ago.”

“Yeah, she has been out of the spotlight for a while now.”

“Silence!” Kenzaki shouts, finally managing to take control of the conversation once again. “You teenagers get way too excited for your own good. What if she’s some big shot celebrity? As long as she’s behind these walls, she’s a student of Saint Louis just like any of you.”

“Still! We’re going to class with the Midori-chan!”

“Do you think I can get an autograph!?”

The teacher sighs in defeat, seeing that nothing he said would make them quiet down about the new girl, he simply opens his notebook and announces. “We are going to be starting with the roll call.”

‘Well, going to class with a celebrity is certainly going to be a new experience.’ Thinks Momoko with a sigh.

***

Hours go by and soon lunch break is upon the pinkette and her black-haired friend. The two girls stand up, and as they leave, more and more murmurs of the idol go around the classroom.

“She’s not even here and she’s already the talk of the school.” Hibiki comments as the duo steps out of the classroom.

The pink-haired teen nods. “Being a celebrity must suck.”

The black-haired girl sighs and slumps her shoulders. “Not that I can blame them, I want to get an autograph from her too…”

“You’re part of the problem, you know that?”

“Uh-huh, but can you blame me? It’s not everyday that an idol becomes your classmate!”

“If you say so.”

The two make their way out of the classroom and downstairs into the courtyard. Students of all ages and classes sit around the many open-air tables and talk about everything and nothing, although the main topic going around is obviously the future presence of an idol on campus.

Momoko and Hibiki move away from the main patio area and to a more secluded space. There Tetsuo waits for them by a small table under the shadow of a tree.

“Hey girls!” Greets the boy as the black-haired teen quickly pulls him into a hug.

“Oh, wow! You actually cut your hair!” The pinkette points out while the other teen giggles in between kisses from his girlfriend. “Looks way better than before.”

“Y-You really didn’t need to remind me of that.”

“Stop being mean to Te-chan, Momo-chan!”

“Sorry, not sorry.” The group share a laugh, and sit down.

“Man! I can’t believe you two are going to be in the same class as the Midori-chan!” Tetsuo exclaims, practically crying on his girlfriend’s shoulder.

“You a fan?” The pinkette asks and he instantly stands up.

“Not just a fan! A super fan!” He grabs his phone and shoves it in Momoko’s face. “I’ve brought all of her digital and physical albums! And even bought some of her acrylic stands too!”

“G-Got it.” Pushing his hand away, the sporty teen sighs. “I knew you were into idols, just not to that degree.”

“Urgh, I wonder if I’ll get the chance to ask for an autograph?”

“That’s going to be hard.” Hibiki replies with an awkward laugh, before turning to face her pink-haired friend. “There’s a huge line forming in our own class and she ain’t even here yet, right Momo-chan?”

“Ye—” The pinkette goes to reply, but a sudden and extremely high-pitched sound echoes in her ears, prompting her to recoil violently. “—gah!”

“Momo-chan!” Hibiki and Tetsuo quickly move to her side and hold onto the girl. “What’s wrong?”

Putting on a fake smile, the girl replies. “I-It’s nothing.” Her friends look at her incredulously and the girl waves her arms dismissively. “R-Really! I just have been getting some weird headaches out of nowhere recently.”

“That’s worrying! You should go check up with the nurse.” Her black-haired friend suggests.

Tetsuo nods and adjusts his glasses. “You got one of those headaches yesterday too, didn’t you? That’s definitely not normal.”

Momoko hated having to lie when her friends were this worried, but she couldn’t help it. “I-It’s okay, really. I’ll just grab some medicine I brought from home and everything will be A-OK!” With that, she quickly stands up and runs off towards the school. ‘I need to check up on Fluffy, last time he felt that too.’

Running through the school, it takes no time for the pinkette to reach her classroom again. She grabs her bag and quickly goes down to the first floor and into the female bathroom.

Locking herself in a stall and allowing the fluffy creature to push his head out. “Hey, did you hear that weird sound too?”

‘Straight to the point, huh?’ He nods, adding with worry in his tone. “Yes. It’s similar to what I felt before.”

“That means—”

“It’s probably a Remnant.”

“Remnant?”

“Yeah. That monster you fought before.”

“We calling them Remnants now?”

“Any other suggestions?” She opens her mouth, then quickly closes it. “Thought so. For now, let’s just go with that and call them Remnants. Feels better than just calling them monsters.”

“… fair enough.” With a sigh, Momoko adds. “But I still don’t know about this dream stuff.”

“It might be unreliable, but it’s the only hint we have.” That and because it feels so familiar to him.

Even if it’s just a dream, at least some of the information there seems accurate, it has to be.

“The sound I heard is very close.” The pinkette bites her lower lip and asks. “Do you think a Remnant is around the school?”

“Maybe.” If it is, then the situation becomes a lot more urgent. “We don’t know if they can get out of that weird dimension.” Fluffy pauses for a second. “But we also got ‘pulled’ there involuntarily… urgh, this is all so confusing!”

‘How… unsettling.’ The idea that one could simply disappear and be stuck in an alternate dimension with that thing is— “Urgh. Scary.” She whispers, before taking a deep breath and standing up.

“You need to be prepared in case anything happens.”

“I know, but… it’s just unsettling to think about.”

Without trading another word, Momoko closes the bag and moves out of the bathroom, her mind clouded with many questions and doubts.

***

Lunch break comes to a close and the pinkette is back in her classroom. Sitting silently in the farthest row, she stares out of the window and pays no attention to the class proper, her mind wandering back to the possibility of having to fight again.

That lead her into another minefield of questions. What is that power of hers? Why does it feel so natural? And what exactly is her connection to Fluffy?

Their meeting can’t just be a coincidence.

As the hours go by, the pink-haired teen keeps coming back to those questions, her mind trying its hardest to piece something, anything, together.

But it is to no avail.

She has too little information to go by and her only source is an amnesiac plush, so not the most reliable. Speaking of, Momoko still doesn’t know if trusting Fluffy is a good idea.

He did try to save her yesterday and seems to be telling the truth, but the pinkette is going to need more than that to place her full trust on him.

The ringing of the school bell takes the pink-haired girl out of her thoughts. ‘School’s over, huh?’ She stands up in silence and starts to gather her belongings. “Time sure flies.”

“Hey Momo-chan?” Turning around, she sees Hibiki approaching. “Are you okay? You looked kinda out of it.” With a worried tone, she places a hand on Momoko’s shoulder. “Are you still feeling sick? Want me to walk you home?”

The pinkette smiles and gently pushes her hand away. “I’m okay Hibiki-chan, just feeling a little tired.” Seeing her black-haired friend’s unconvinced look, she chuckles awkwardly and scratches the back of her head. “It’s true! I’m 100%!”

“… Momo-chan.”

“Look, I’m serious okay? It’s nothing.” With a sigh, Momoko adjusts her bag, and starts walking away. “And don’t you have club activities?”

“It’s the first day, so nothing that important.” Following her friend to the hallway, the two stop as more and more students walk past them.

Turning to face Hibiki, the pink-haired teen smiles softly. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

The two face each other for a couple of seconds, until the black-haired girl sighs and crosses her arms. “Fine. But if I hear that you collapsed in the middle of the street—”

“I won’t hear the end of it?”

“No, you ain’t.”

They share a laugh, then say their goodbyes. Hibiki runs off to the third floor for her club meeting, while Momoko moves down to the first floor, and out of the building through the back.

She slowly walks past the baseball field by the backyard and stops for a second, looking at the girls playing there. “…” She wistfully then adjusts her bag and runs off, only sending a small glance back, before dashing away.

***

Walking through the city, Momoko is lost in thought. “Hey Fluffy?” She calls, but he doesn’t reply. Looking around, she sees a more secretive spot and quickly moves towards it. “There’s no one around, you can come out.”

The plush pops his head out of the bag and looks around. They are currently behind a bus stop. “Yeah? What is it?”

“I’ve been thinking about those… ‘Remnant’ things you were talking about and—” She glances to both sides, before adding in a whisper. “—maybe we can try and look for information about them?”

“That’s… actually a good idea.”

“Maybe we can find something on the internet about it.” Momoko pauses for a moment, then stares the plush down. “You know what the internet is, don’t you?”

He rolls his eyes and retorts. “Of course I do, who wouldn’t know… that…” Freezing up, the plush falls silent. ‘But why do I know about that?’ It came like a completely natural thing. Like a memory so deeply ingrained in him that he couldn’t fathom not knowing about it. ‘Just like talking and how to understand what words mean.. urgh! Why is my mind so confusing?!’

“Hey! Momoko to Fluffy!” He snaps out of it as the pink-haired teen gently sways the bag.

“Oh! Uh, sorry about that.” Shaking his head, the plush adds. “But that is indeed a good idea, we should— gah!

“Guh!”

Both suddenly hear an extremely high-pitched sound and wince back in pain.

“T-That’s—!” Fluffy’s tail sticks up and the plush shouts. “It’s coming!”

The entire world around the duo is covered in a bright pink light and they feel their bodies being transported away.

***

As the flash dies down, the duo stands in the middle of the street, albeit in a world completely different to theirs.

The streets now take on a bright pink coloration and almost look like bubblegum, while the sky took on a dark color with reddish clouds and a black sun bathing the world underneath in its unnatural light.

The buildings have become stretched, rising high into the sky and twisting around like paper.

“Urgh!” Momoko looks around, feeling a little lightheaded. “…!” Her eyes widen as a multitude of mannequins stare blankly back at her. “What are those?”

“H-Huh?” The plush notices even more of them far away from the duo. “W-What? Did it… move?”

Glancing at the mannequins that are just ahead, the pinkette blinks and sure enough, they switch poses and moved a couple inches away.

“Gah! Creepy!” She steps slightly back, and holds tightly onto her bag’s strap. “I’m pretty sure those weren’t there befo—”

“KAKWBSUSJWSGWU!”

Momoko covers her ears and looks up. “Crap!” There, at the top of a twisted building, stands the monster from yesterday, except that something about it is very different.

It’s overall body shape is still just as strange and uncanny, however it now sports a mutated right arm that looks like a cannon, the veins inside of it pulsating and cracking with electricity. The flail in its left member is also now several times larger, with more pronounced spikes.

“HSKWHQGEHEU!” The creature roars, making the ground itself shake. “!” It jumps down towards the duo.

“Gah!” Momoko stumbles back as the monster's soars through the sky. “D-Didn’t I kill this thing?!” The pink-haired teen turns around and starts running away.

“Clearly you didn’t!” Fluffy shouts back while floating out of the bag and by her side.

With a heavy thud the creature reaches the ground, and with its sideways mouth opening up to its limit, it let’s out a powerful, high-pitched war cry. “JQKQSGSIWJSGSUB!” It then rushes towards the duo.

“Gah!” Momoko grabs Fluffy by the tail and sprints away towards an alleyway. “Get off!” While running, she grabs a strange looking and weirdly pointy trashcan and throws it backwards .

The monster doesn’t even bother to dodge, it just takes the hit and continues the pursuit.

In no time, the duo steps out of the alley and into an open road, at this moment Fluffy looks back and shouts. “You should transform!” He watches as the hulking monstrosity steps out and roars again.

“… no other choice, huh?” Momoko stops and looks at the plush in her hand. “Gah! Fine!” She turns around, staring the monster down. “Let’s do this!”

He nods and wiggles his tail off. “I’ll leave it in your hands.” Closing his eyes, the plush feels power surge inside of him. “Dream On!”

A bright pillar of pink light erupts from underneath the duo and they are engulfed in it. After a couple of seconds, a figure jumps out of it and flies straight towards the monster.

It gets kicked right in the face as the person spins away and falls in front of it. “I’ve already beat you once—” A now transformed Momoko points to the creature and grins. “—and I’ll do it again!”

“…” The monster stumbles back a couple steps, then its pupil dilates. “!”

“H-Huh?” seeing how it is staring at her, the pinkette instinctively puts her guard up.

“EJWKWSHJWDVGDHEJW!” Crying out, it points its right arm straight at Momoko. “!” Inside of it, the veins burst open and energy quickly swirls around the center, before shooting out in a powerful burst that sends the pink-haired teen hurling away to the middle of the street. “SOLWKWKWJWJSH!” It continues to shoot indiscriminately.

Energy bullets fly everywhere and Momoko is forced to quickly dodge them on the spot. “Gah! Stop that!” She shouts in vain, while further back. “Coward! Sniping isn’t fair!”

“JWKWBDHEJEBE!” The monster stops shooting randomly and points its cannon straight towards the pinkette. “JSKQBSJWNSGDY!” It shoots a barrage of bullets in her direction prompting the girl to jump high into the air.

“Does it ever run out of bullets?” She asks herself while looking down at the many holes formed by the shots. “Gah!” The monster’s flail comes in from the front and slams against her, sending the girl spinning away towards a building.

“Hoshizora-san!” Fluffy shouts as debris fly everywhere.

“Gah!” The pinkette pushes some rubble away and jumps back down to the street. “Sniping and sneak attacking? What a loser!” She quips but almost instantly winces back in pain. ‘Urgh! At least I managed to dodge the spikes.’

Not that she has any time to even process the pain, as the creature roars and starts its barrage of bullets back again, forcing Momoko to run around dodging as many shots as she can.

‘There’s got to be a way to kill that thing! But how?!’ The plush watches the girl fighting for her life. She grabs a piece of debris and tosses it towards the monster, but the creature just tanks it, then guns the pink-haired teen down yet again. ‘Think, Fluffy, think!’ There has to be something in his memories that can help the situation.

Watching the fight closely, the plush’s eyes slowly drift towards Momoko’s arms, specifically her right arm where the pink arrow-tattoo is located.

Images quickly flash over his eyes. If those are his memories, or just delusion in a desperate situation, Fluffy cannot tell.

The imagery itself is only a flash, nothing that he can properly piece together to form any type of clue, however, the feelings that it gives him are more than enough.

Something warm, yet painful. The feeling of tying your own soul to another and bringing out it’s full potential through your connection.

It is risky and he doesn’t know if it will work, but it’s their only chance to finally bring this foe down. “Hoshizora-san!” He takes flight and moves in closer to the pinkette, whom is currently hiding behind a large pile of rubble.

“What are you doing!? Go hide somewhere saf— guh!” A large explosion goes by just over on their right.

“Sorry but I can’t do that!” Fluffy floats up to her side. “Look, I think I’ve figured out what we did wrong last time?”

Momoko opens her mouth but quickly closes it again. ‘No time to question him, let’s just hear it.’ She nods and the plush continues.

“We need to weaken it, then sync our powers to ‘liberate’ it.”

“How do we— urgh! Do that?”

More explosions go off and the rubble starts to shake. “Do you trust me?”

“…” The pinkette closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Yes.”

“Good, now we need to weaken it enough to pull my plan off.”

Another explosion goes off, prompting Momoko to stand up. “Got it.” She cracks her knuckles and glances at the plush. “This better work.”

He nods and she returns the gesture.

Jumping out from behind the rubble, the pink-haired teen points to the monster and puts on a smirk. “Heya ugly! Feel like hitting me now?”

“SJQKSBHWJWSG!” The creature lets out a powerful roar and points its cannon towards the girl, shooting a barrage of energy bullets.

Momoko dashes off the rubble and around the street. She circles around the monster and goes for a powerful kick against it’s back. “Hah!” The creature painfully twists it’s own body around and blocks the pinkette's foot with its flail.

“JSQHGAUQVQGAH!” It pushes Momoko away, then slams its flail towards her.

“Got you!” But instead of dodging, the pink-haired teen lifts her hands, catching the weapon. “Argh!” One of its spikes pierces right through her hand, causing a pinkish ink-like liquid to gush down to the floor. “Haaaaaah!” Momoko jumps while still holding onto the flail.

“JSQGSJSJSVSH!” The monster cries out while pointing it’s cannon to the girl.

“Haah!” Keeping her pierced hand in place, the teenager pulls her legs back and puts all her strength into them. “Take this, ugly!” She slams her feet to the flail, causing it to shoot down towards the cannon, covering its entrance.

Its right arm twitches and swells up, before exploding out into a white goo, prompting the monster to cry out in pain. “KSKQBSJWJQGSJN!?”

Momoko lands and holds her bleeding hand. “Fluffy!”

“Got it!” The plush flies past the still crying monster and joins the girl’s side. “It’s now or never!” Closing his eyes, he shouts. “Sync up your breathing with mine!”

“…!” With a nod, she does so, instantly feeling something strange.

Fluffy winces, as a sharp pain courses through his body. Meanwhile, Momoko feels a powerful warmth cover hers, enough to even make her forget the wound in her hand.

A bright pink light erupts from underneath the two, and the pinkette feels her body filing with energy. “Hoshizora-san! Now!”

She didn’t need to be told twice, with pure instinct, she points her hand towards the monster. “Haaaaah!” The arrow tattoo on her arm glows with a pinkish power, then shoots out and pierces the monster’s chest eye.

Bursting on the other side, the arrow wraps around the creature, keeping it in place.

Filled with power, Momoko jumps high into the sky, spinning around twice, before looking down at the monster. “TAKE—” Her body is surrounded by pink lightning, the girl falls with a powerful dive kick. “—THIS!”

“HQUSHJSYQJWBWGWH!”

Momoko pierces through the monster’s chest and lands on the other side. Standing up, she points to the sky and shouts. “OUT!”

With one last piercing roar, the creature’s body swells up and explodes into a kaleidoscope of butterflies.

“That’s new.” Fluffy comments while the pinkette turns around and watches as the multi-colored butterflies fly away.

“Pretty beautiful, if not a bit messed up.” She can’t help but crack a smile. “Do you think it’s dead this time?”

Fluffy shakes his head. “We can only hope.”

Before any of the two can say anything more, the girl’s transformation comes undone and their vision is filled with a pink flash once again.

***

Back in the normal world, Momoko feels all her strength leaving her body, prompting the girl to stumble forward, but before she can hit the floor, someone holds onto her arm.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” Asks a feminine voice.

“I-I'm okay…” The pinkette stands up and tries to hold herself together. “T-Thanks for that…” She looks towards her aid.

She has dark-crimson hair and very thick glasses. “You don’t look okay to me.” Says the redhead in a worried tone.

“I— urgh!” Momoko falls again, and the girl comes in with a second save. “…”

“Want me to bring you to the hospital?”

“N-No! I’m not that bad, just… tired.”

“Then where do you live? I’ll help you get there.”

The pinkette stares at the girl’s face and then looks away. “I don’t want to bother you.”

Chuckling, the redhead wraps Momoko’s arm around her shoulders. “Helping someone in need isn’t a bother. My part-time can wait a couple minutes.”

“… fine.” Thankfully, she didn’t live that far anyway. “My apartment is close by, can you help me get there?”

Redhead smiles and nods. “Sure thing!”

***

The two reach Momoko’s apartment complex, and after talking to the guard the two are allowed inside the lobby. “Thanks, you really helped me back there.”

“It’s nothing. But you should take better care of yourself.” Says the redhead, letting the other girl off. “If you’re feeling that bad, you shouldn’t even be going to school!”

“Haha, I-I won’t do it again!” Scratching the back of her head, the pinkette adds. “Thanks again, uh…”

“Hina Akane.”

“Gotcha, I’m Hoshizora Momoko.”

The teens say their goodbyes and the redhead leaves the lobby. Taking a deep breath, the pink-haired girl limps her way towards the elevator.

Once inside, she falls to her knees and let out a heavy breath. “Urgh! I feel like someone put a sack of rocks inside my belly.”

Fluffy pushes his face out of the bag with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Seems like that other world takes a lot out of you physically.” His gaze moves down to her hand. “But at least your injuries don’t seem to transfer over.”

Momoko shakes her hand and sighs in relief. “At least that.” She leans against the metallic wall and closes her eyes. “That means I can get a bit reckless when fighting.”

The plush opens his mouth to reply, but quickly closes it.

Now it’s a fact, they will have to fight those things.

He can’t just tell her to walk away, somehow she is connected to what is going on just as he is.

The rest of their way up is in complete silence, as neither has anything to say and a lot to think about. The metallic door slides open and Momoko stands up, holding tightly onto her bag strap and with a lot of questions going on in her mind.