Sanae's parents had decided to surprise her with a visit one
afternoon. It was five o'clock as they arrived at the house, so they knew she
would be home from school by now. They did not, however, expect to find their
daughter fast asleep on the sofa, happily dreaming.
"Aww, look at her," said Sanae's mother.
"All tuckered out from school."
"I'll go and bring her down some blankets, so she doesn't
catch a cold," said Sanae's father.
Sanae's mother decided not to wake her daughter. Instead,
she sat by her side and silently watched her sleep. Actually, it sounds kind of creepy when you put it like that, she suddenly
thought to herself. I guess I shouldn't
do that. Hmm… I wonder what happened today to make her so exhausted…
***
FIFTEEN HOURS EARLIER
"Sanae! Time to wake
up!"
Sanae's eyelids slowly
slid open in response to Kousen's quiet but shrill voice. She blinked drowsily,
looking at the mentor with unfocused eyes. "What time is it?" she
moaned groggily.
Kousen peered curiously
at the digital alarm clock. "Two-hundred and fourteen," she said.
Sanae rolled over,
pressing her face against the pillow. "I'm not waking up at two-fifteen in
the morning," she mumbled.
"You have to,"
Kousen replied. "A monster has appeared on the edge of town, and it's your
duty to fight it before it causes serious damage."
"I'm not fighting a
monster at two in the morning," muttered Sanae. "I'm tired, and as an
anime protagonist, I need my beauty sleep."
"What's more
important, your beauty or the safety of Mitsuzawa's inhabitants?" asked
Kousen indignantly. Sanae's response was to throw a pillow at the youkai's face.
"Sanae-"
"You go fight it, if
you’re so eager," mumbled Sanae.
With a weary sigh, Kousen
seized Sanae's hand, which was dangling off the edge of the bed, and tried to
pull her off. "You're fighting this monster," she stated, "and
that's final."
"I'm not fighting it," retorted Sanae,
"and that's final."
***
"Time to let the… light
of…" White Star's head lolled forwards and then promptly jerked back as
she tried to stay awake. "Oh, what's the point of saying the catchphrase
if there's no-one awake to hear me say it? I mean sure, there's the readers…
all twelve of them…"
Having essentially been
dragged out of bed by Kousen, Sanae had transformed into White Star, drowsily
flown over to the suburbs (narrowly missing several tall buildings) and was
about to confront the monster, a large black bird with a ten-foot wingspan,
razor-sharp beak and flaming red eyes. "Well, I guess you're here too,"
White Star added bitterly, looking the bird in the eye, "but I doubt you give a damn."
The bird's response was a
shrill cry, followed by a direct swoop right at White Star's head. White Star
dropped down by about ten feet a split second before the bird's beak sliced
through the air right where her head had been. "Be careful, Sanae!"
shouted Kousen, watching as ever from the sidelines.
The bird circled round,
preparing for another attack. "Don't worry," said White Star, "I
got this." She lazily raised her wand, pointing roughly at the bird.
"Star Shower!"
A series of glowing stars
sprayed out of the end of the White Star Wand. Every single one missed,
bouncing off a nearby skyscraper and dissipating. "Did I get it?"
asked White Star, a second before the bird's beak slammed straight into her
stomach, carrying her with it. "Nope. Didn't get it," she wheezed.
Other than being severely
winded, Sanae was unharmed, but certainly none too pleased about being hit.
"Alright," she growled, "now I'm tired, pissed off and in pain. Big mistake,
feathers." White Star jammed the end of the wand into the side of the
bird's head, and growled, "WHITE STAR BEAM!"
A blinding white light
exploded in the night sky, and the monster was incinerated, its Black Heart
falling to the street below. Sanae, carried by the bird's momentum and the
force of the blast, was sent flying backwards, clutching the Emblem for dear
life. Kousen caught her comfortably in mid-air. "Sanae, are you
alright?"
White Star's head
continued to gently sway back and forth as she tried to stave off her
tiredness. "I think I… got 'em that time…" she mumbled. "Which
way is bed? I need bed…"
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