As the bullet train speeds into the late afternoon, the view outside slowly starts to shift from rural to suburban, Mount Fuji looming in the background being its only consistent fixture. Inside, the wagon’s gentle cadence has lulled Koharu asleep, and her head is on Yosuke’s shoulder as he is playing around with the setting on his camera, occasionally pointing it at the window to test the image. Hanako is idly gazing out the window, watching the scenery roll by. She is silent for a few minutes, before finally deciding to break the silence.

Hanako: …How long have you had aspirations for photography, Yosuke?

Yosuke: Oh-oh, err…  A couple of years, I guess? A friend got me into it. They were really into keepsakes and memories that can last forever and all that.

Hanako: Ehe… I suppose I can relate. Any passions I ever had were due to a friend as well. Then again, that’s not so strange, is it?

Yosuke: Is it? … I wouldn’t know. I mean, I’ve always had an interest in technology and gadgets and so on, cameras specifically. It’s just because of… this friend that I started caring about what you do with them.

Hanako: Ah… I don’t think I have quite an interest or passion in anything so substantial. The closest I can think of is this video game my first friend made me play.

Yosuke: Oh? Didn’t take you for the type to be into video games.

Hanako: Well, erm, technically just the one. …Two now, actually, I guess. …And the prequel that came on the disc…

Yosuke: (he chuckles) But of a hyperfixation, then, I guess.

Hanako: Mm. It was… difficult at first to get into. It always reminded me of the friend I thought was gone. It… helped me get over a lot of things, to be honest. Even if it is something silly like a video game.

Yosuke: No need to put down the things that matter to you. I like… I appreciate it when people refuse to apologize for who they are. I-I mean, not that you should do it for me or anything, it’s just… it’s a good thing. Like, generally.

Hanako: (she smiles a bit) I’m not apologizing, per se. It’s just… odd. I let that game console gather dust, because it reminded me of her. The first time I turned on the game she gave me, I… broke down. But I started playing it, and over time, I began to heal. …It likely helped that my friend was alive in the end, but I had no way of knowing that at the time. …That game series kind of became a very important part of my life as a result, I think. …I’m rambling, I realize.

Yosuke: How do you— No, sorry. I don’t mean to pry. I’m not this one. (he nudges towards Koharu, still sleeping peacefully on his shoulder) 

Hanako: Ah, um… (she pauses, as if calculating her words carefully.) Well, she had gone missing for some time. It’s very easy to assume, after a while and with no leads, that she would be gone permanently. It… happens far too frequently to young girls nowadays as it is.

Yosuke: … to go missing? I dunno, I get the feeling that should be, like, on the news. Like, extensively.

Hanako: …Not to sound pessimistic or anything, but if every missing girl made the news, each broadcast would last several hours at least. It is a rather unfortunate reality of our world, Yosuke, and the trend is only getting worse with the times.

Yosuke: Uh… err, yeah. Sure. If you say so. I mean, sounds… plausible?

Hanako: …Yosuke. Koharu is sleeping. Yasu and Shinju are patrolling. If we keep civil and speak softly, there is no reason for you to mask your distrust of me.

Yosuke: Huh? I dunno what you’re talking about… You seem just fine to me.

Hanako: (she looks over into his eyes) …Truly, Yosuke? You genuinely believe that?

Yosuke: If anything, I’m surprised you don’t distrust me.

Hanako: Oh, um. I do, actually.

Yosuke: Yeah, okay, I kinda brought that one onto myself, didn’t I? (he chuckles, only to be slightly startled when the train enters a tunnel, replacing the suburban vistas outside with pitch-black darkness)

Yasu: (Yasu suddenly enters the compartment where everyone else is gathered.) Everyone, brace yourselves. (Yasu then glances at Hanako with a knowing look in her eyes.)

Once the bullet train emerges from the tunnel, the environment has changed entirely. Now accelerating through an expansive metropolitan area, it passes by skyscrapers and zooms through smaller stations not important enough to be counted among the high-speed rail’s select number of stops, occasionally going back underground, only to see the daylight again seconds later. Keeping a careful eye on the tracks as the engine pulls onto a large bridge crossing a busy national motorway, the train’s driver doesn’t look up when the door to his cab opens and a steaming cup of coffee is dispensed into his cup holder.

Conductor: (she smiles) Here you go. Fresh from the cafeteria.

Driver: (he briefly looks over his shoulder to show the conductor his appreciation) Ah, thank you, Takamine-kun. Right when I needed it, as usual—

When the driver turns his head again, all of a sudden the sight in front of him has changed. A raggedy-dressed girl has appeared on the tracks mere meters away, flashing a grin as the train barrels towards her.

Driver: Where the hell did that girl come from?!

Conductor: Hit the brakes! HIT THE BRAKE—

Unphased by the speeding vehicle about to hit her, the girl hops in place a few times, before bending through her left leg, keeping the right one straight as she prepares to face the train head-on. Then, just before it hits her, she delivers a blistering kick to the very tip of the locomotive’s nose, catapulting it into the air, slightly to the left, until its weight pulls it back down, tumbling off the bridge, right onto the highway, crushing several cars passing by and causing a massive pileup soon after, quickly to be followed by the other wagons — until the entire train catches fire, a crumpled, tangled up inferno in the middle of Japan’s busiest highway.

From atop the bridge, a giddy Moonlover looks down upon the mayhem she’s created, barely able to contain her excitement.

Moonlover: <Holy… crud! Ahahaha!> (she whistles, as if complimenting the impressive feat she just pulled off) <Don’t tell me that actually worked! I kicked a train! I kicked a flippin’ train!> (giggling, she pulls out her phone and films the smoking wreckage, imitating a cartoon falling sound, followed by a loud explosion) <Pheeeeeeeeeeew… BOOM! Quel spectacle! Merveilleux!>

Hanako: (the wind swirled and raged around the girl, picking her phone up into the air and tossing it up, out of her sight, and at the same time, a loud burst from one of the overturned cars, with Hanako emerging from the hole, hovering in a swirling tempest) …You must be the enemy I was warned about. 

Moonlover: (she smiles at Hanako, clapping her hands a few times) <A daring escape! You’re a bona fide Houdini, aren’t you?>

Hanako: …Probably for the best, if you can’t speak Japanese. (Hanako tilts her head, catching a rapier as it swirls about her cyclone) Yacchan always tells me I talk too much in battle as it is.

Moonlover: <Ah, un petit peu!> I can speak… a little bit Japanese? Hello hello!

Hanako: I’ll keep it simple. What’s your name? After that, there’s no need for words. …But I can hazard a guess. You’re the one known as Moonlover, aren’t you?

Moonlover: <La fille qui aime la lune, oui oui! C’est moi!> I am her! (she jogs in place, her metallic legs revving up as she gets ready to charge in) Nice to meet you, Hanako Sasaki!

Hanako: …I suppose I should not question how you know my name. (Hanako braces herself, her cyclone flaring out)

Moonlover: (her lips curl into another smile as she leaps at her opponent, her leg stretched into an overhead kick. However, before she can get too close, the winds swirling around Hanako blow her off course, knocking her off the bridge.)

Hanako: (Hanako wastes no time, diving after her target with a swarm of rapiers falling faster than she is, all aimed at Moonlover’s body)

Moonlover: (standing on top of a wrecked car, she looks up, holding up her hand in front of her face. While most of Hanako’s swords bounce off of Moonlover’s legs, one of the rapiers pierces her hand, flying straight through and stopping just short of the scarecrow’s eye. With a grin, she pulls the rapier from her hand and uses it to parry Hanako’s incoming attack from above.)

Hanako: (Hanako’s movement is deflected, and she is thrown off from the parry. Correcting herself in midair, she hovers, staying at eye level with Moonlover a few meters away)

Moonlover: Ah! You can fly! C’est chouette!

Hanako: An owl…? (shaking her head, Hanako lunges forward on a burst of wind, her rapier outstretched. Several others fly from behind her, equally aimed along Moonlover’s upper body)

Moonlover: (she doesn’t even bother to evade Hanako’s attack, letting the various rapiers piece her chest — including the one Hanako is holding, making use of the opportunity to grab her opponent by the neck, holding her implace for a sweeping high kick)

Hanako: (Hanako grips the woman’s arm with both hands, squirming in mid-air. As she does, she passes a glance back towards the train.) { Now, Shinju! }

Shinju: (A powerful geyser of water erupts from the fallen train, aimed at Moonlover from below.)

Moonlover: <Here she comes!> (she chirps in excitement, seeing the water burst out of the wreckage. Rather than following through on her kick, lets go of Hanako and contorts her body to have her feet back on the ground — after which her legs begin extending, carrying her higher and higher up. As the geyser knocks her off-balance, she wobbles slightly, but eventually she manages to somersault back up onto the bridge before the water is able to swallow her) <Zut alors, you two. You’re causing such a mess! These people just wanna get home after a long day of work!>

Hanako: (Hanako doesn’t give her much time before flying up into her face, a massive surge of wind aimed squarely at Moonlover’s chest)

Shinju: (Shinju leaps out of the fallen train, joining Hanako’s attack with a pressurized jet of water from her umbrella)

Moonlover: (the impact of Hanako’s burst forces her to take a few steps back, before she finds the footing to withstand it right in time to dodge Shinju’s jet – though it cuts some hairs from her swinging braids. She whirls out of the way as the two girls zoom past her, only to catch Shinju’s wrist.) <Using an umbrella as a weapon? C’est chouette! Hey, can I have this? I heard it’s gonna rain and I have to get all the way back to Mitakihara after I’ve killed you! It’s not like you’re gonna need this anymore, n’est-ce pas?>

Shinju: Tch! (After one unsuccessful tug to pull her arm away, she turns into water. A perfect silhouette of herself in water hangs suspended where she was for a moment, then splashes down to the ground.) 

Hanako: (before Moonlover can react to Shinju’s trick, Hanako has lunged forward again, her rapier aimed straight at her assailant’s arm)

Moonlover: <Whoa, cool!> (barely acknowledging Hanako’s rapier piercing her wrist, she pulls the girl with a friendly arm around her shoulder) <You can turn into water? That’s pretty darn—Wait, how does that work when it’s raining? Do you merge with the rain? Do you have to, eh ben, filter it out?> (suddenly, Moonlover’s demeanor shifts entirely when Hanako realizes she has been lured into a trap — before Hanako has the time to flare up her cyclone and widen the distance between her and her opponent, the latter unleashes an unrelenting flurry of  blows and kicks, constantly maneuvering herself into an advantageous position through freakish gymnastics)

Hanako: (Hanako can’t seem to regain her balance, pushed back and eventually thrown away from the force of Moonlover’s attacks)

Moonlover: (she immediately closes the distance, slamming Hanako against the ground and raising her fist for the finishing blow) <Hanako, Hanako, Hanako! Hey, where do you keep that Soul Gem?>

Hanako: (she coughs, sputtering a few drops of blood) M… My Soul Gem…? Ggh… l-like hell I’d ever tell you.

Moonlover: <Ah, t’as pas peur? Aren’t you the peculiar one!> (she gazes into Hanako’s eyes for a second) You feel nothing? <Alors, bon débarras!>

Hanako: (Hanako gazes into Moonlover’s eyes in turn, remaining expressionless) <…Do you not?>

Shinju: (With a shout, she dashes in from the side, swinging a cutting water jet from her umbrella across Moonlover’s body) 

Caught in the middle of her finishing blow, the girl’s cheerful giggling is cut short by the near silent swipe of Shinju’s attack. Split clean, at a slight angle, into a top and bottom half, Moonlover’s lifeless body collapses onto Hanako as gallons of blood begin gushing from the wound, a large pool forming on the tracks.

Hanako: (Hanako hesitates for a moment, then rises between the sections of Moonlover’s body, covered in blood. She takes a step back, closer to Shinju, speaking calmly) …Thank you, Shinju. Even after training all this time, I got careless. 

Shinju: (She averts her eyes, taken aback at the results of her own attack.) Shit! God. I… w-we need to g-get out of here. 

Hanako: …Right. Let’s go, Shinju. Let’s meet up with Yasu, Koharu and Yosuke. (Hanako looks up, hearing the distant sound of sirens and helicopters) …Before we are discovered here.