One night away from Onee-chan

Haruto stared at his phone screen for a good minute before finally typing out the message. His thumb hovered over the send button as he second-guessed himself for the third time that evening.

"Onee-chan, I'm gonna stay over at Jun's tonight. Study group stuff for the upcoming exams."

He hit send before he could chicken out again. The response came back faster than he expected, and he could practically hear the irritation in her voice through the screen.

"Study group? Really? What, is my cooking not good enough for you anymore? Are you saying Jun's mom makes better food than me?"

Haruto nearly dropped his phone. Damn, she was quick to jump to conclusions. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he tried to damage control.

"No no no, it's not about the food at all! Your cooking is amazing, you know that. It's just... exam season is coming up and we really need to focus. You know how it is."

Three dots appeared, disappeared, then appeared again. Satsuki was clearly typing and deleting her response multiple times. Finally, a single message popped up.

"Fine. But you better not make this a habit."

Haruto let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Crisis averted, for now. He grabbed his backpack and headed out into the cool evening air.

The walk to Jun's house took about fifteen minutes through the quiet residential streets. Most people were already inside, settling in for the night. Street lamps cast long shadows between the houses, and Haruto found himself checking over his shoulder more than once. Ever since his abilities had awakened, he'd become hyperaware of his surroundings in a way that was both useful and exhausting.

Jun's house was a modest two-story building with a small garden in front. The lights were on in what Haruto knew was Jun's room on the second floor. He knocked on the front door, and Jun's mom answered with her usual warm smile.

"Oh, Haruto! Jun said you'd be coming over to study. Such dedicated students, staying up late like this."

"Thank you for having me, Mrs. Nozomi."

"I made some extra snacks for you boys. Jun's upstairs with... Miki, was it? Such a nice girl."

Haruto nodded and headed upstairs, his mind already shifting to the serious conversation ahead. He found Jun and Miki sitting on the floor around a low table covered with textbooks and notebooks that were clearly just for show. Miki looked up as he entered, adjusting her glasses with a nervous gesture.

"Good, you're here," Jun said, closing a math textbook that he definitely hadn't been reading.

"Miki, What is your power?" Haruto asked, settling down on the floor with them.

The room went quiet. Jun looked between them with confusion. "Power what?"

"We're awakened," Miki said matter-of-factly. "We have supernatural abilities."

Jun blinked several times, processing this information. "You're joking, right?"

Instead of answering, Haruto held out his hand. A soft, golden light began to emanate from his palm, growing brighter until it formed the shape of a sword made entirely of pure light. The blade hummed with energy, casting dancing shadows on the walls.

"Holy shit," Jun whispered.

"Language," Miki said automatically, though she was smiling slightly. "My ability is different. I have what I call analytical eyes." She removed her glasses, and for a moment, her eyes seemed to glow with a faint blue light. "I can see through things, analyze structures, detect supernatural energies. But it's purely observational. I can't fight directly."

Jun stared at them both, his worldview clearly undergoing some major adjustments. "This is... this is actually happening. You guys have superpowers."

He didn't elaborate on the circumstances, and neither Jun nor Miki pressed him for details. They all had their own triggers, their own moments when the ordinary world had cracked open to reveal something deeper and stranger underneath.

The hours crawled by. Jun lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, every small sound making him jump. The apartment's old pipes creaked and settled, the refrigerator hummed, and somewhere in the distance, a dog barked. Normal sounds that now seemed sinister and threatening.

In the spare room, Haruto and Miki lay on the small futon they'd set up, maintaining absolute silence. Haruto's senses were on high alert, every muscle in his body tense and ready for action. Miki, despite her brave front, was equally nervous. She'd dealt with supernatural situations before, but something about this felt different. More dangerous.

It was just past 2 AM when Jun finally drifted off to sleep. Almost immediately, the dream began.

He found himself in a place that seemed familiar yet completely foreign. It looked like his apartment, but everything was bathed in a soft, ethereal light. The walls seemed to shimmer and breathe, and the air itself felt thick and dreamlike.

That's when she appeared.

The woman was breathtakingly beautiful in a way that seemed almost unreal. Her long black hair flowed like liquid silk, and her skin was porcelain pale. She wore a traditional Japanese kimono that seemed to be made of moonlight itself, and when she moved, it was with a grace that no human could match.

"Jun," she said, and her voice was like honey mixed with music. "I've been waiting for you."

In the dream, Jun felt drawn to her like a moth to flame. All his fears and anxieties melted away, replaced by an overwhelming desire to get closer to this mysterious woman.

"Who are you?" he managed to ask, though his voice sounded distant and strange.

She smiled, "Does it matter?"

Meanwhile, in the spare room, Haruto felt a sudden chill run down his spine. The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees in an instant, and he could see his own breath misting in the suddenly frigid air.

A gentle breeze stirred through the room, which was impossible since all the windows were closed and locked. The breeze carried with it a scent that was both alluring and wrong – like flowers blooming in a graveyard.

Then, without warning, a translucent interface materialized in front of Haruto's eyes. The familiar blue glow of the system window made his heart race.

Cold sweat broke out across Haruto's forehead despite the freezing air.

"She's here," Haruto breathed.

That's when they both saw her.

In the moonlight streaming through the window, she was even more beautiful than Haruto imagined. Her human form was perfect, but there was something predatory in her movements, something inhuman in the way her eyes reflected the pale light.

She leaned over Jun's sleeping form, her delicate fingers reaching toward his face. In the dream, Jun was completely entranced, walking toward her with glazed eyes and a vacant smile.

Haruto knew they had maybe seconds before she made contact.