1.28: We Rise by LiftingIt was just the two of us again. Rui walked ahead with her brisk little stride while I followed, the city drifting into the evening around us. After basking in Natalia-sama’s sunlight-like warmth, her absence felt strange. Exactly like stepping out of a heated room into a chilly hallway. I didn’t think I’d miss her this quickly, but wistfulness clung to me like a coating of dew.

  As the sun dipped behind the buildings, the crowd around us shifted. People in costumes wandered through the streets. An assortment of witch hats bobbing, capes fpping, neon wigs catching every stray headlight. Probably on their way to some party or other. I clutched my phone, tracking our route on the map, the glowing screen a ticking reminder of my dwindling time.

  Streetlights flickered on one by one, pale halos stretching over the sidewalk. Every passing car briefly washed us in a different shade of white or yellow. The fading light made me hyper-aware of every minute slipping away.

  So much for optimism.It sted as long as the sun… warm, bright, and doomed to set. What remained was twilight, and the creeping cold fear of what midnight might mean for me.

  But at least the train station finally came into view.

  My stomach twisted. After what had happened that morning, being attacked by Noh-face on a train. The idea of boarding another one made my entire soul recoil. And hearing about the girl who’d been assaulted in a crowded carriage… yeah, trains were very high on my “hell no” list.

  But this was our only clue.And the station was bright.It was at least open.And this time it was full of witnesses.

  That had to count for something.

  We descended the stairs into the thick press of the evening crowd. People smiled when they saw me, but I barely processed their approving gazes. Earlier, the attention had buoyed me… random strangers cheering me on, kids giggling, even policemen showing kindness. Now the novelty of seeing a sentai outfit was fading into the night. Costumes were normal.

  And without that encouragement… The weight of the evening pressed harder on my shoulders.

  We passed through the check stands. The policemen gave me polite nods. No cheers this time, no questions, just normal civility. For a moment, I wished they’d reacted. Even a comment about my suit would’ve boosted my spirits.

  If I got my real face back tonight……maybe I really would stay a Sentai Ranger forever. It felt better this way. Every disapproving, distrusting, even hateful look had a way of grinding at my soul.Tonight, to them, I wasn’t a goril. I wasn’t that yakuza. Nor was I a “monster.”For the moment, I could just be a weird local hero who enjoyed making kids ugh.

  Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad life.

  If I lost myself after midnight…What would I do?Maybe I’d still help people out of the goodness of my heart.Maybe I’d be a hero. I’d at least have some superpowers according to Natalia-sama.Maybe Tokyo would even celebrate me… serving them as a faceless protector.

  The thought warmed me as we reached the ptform.

  Then the warmth died instantly.

  Because everyone… literally everyone in sight… was wearing a germ mask!

  The ptform was completely packed. It was the evening rush, filling the ptform with hundreds of commuters. There was not a single visible mouth or nose.

  My cloak billowed dramatically as I whipped my head left and right.

  WHAT’S WITH ALL THE GERM MASKS?!Is THIS a Halloween thing?!Did I miss a (literal) viral meme?!Is there some mask-wearing trend?!Is it some kind of an epidemic?!

  It was completely normal to see anywhere from around a quarter to half of people in public wearing them, but for every single person in sight to be wearing them made me worry and wonder.

  Rui blinked hard. “Hmmm… I do not need another mystery on my pte today. One murdering yokai case is enough.”

  For Rui to look rattled was unsettling. I was used to her being snarky, not worried.

  She fished out her phone and typed furiously… her tiny fingers moving faster than my eyes could track.

  “Umm…” she muttered, “I-I don't see anything about an outbreak… no emergency warnings… no news posts. Nothing. It could be something new, though. Maybe unreported.”

  She puffed out her cheeks like a frustrated hamster.

  “Fine! The direct route!” Rui decred, spinning toward the nearest person and grabbing his sleeve. “Excuse me! Why are you wearing a mask?”

  “Rui…” I tugged her sleeve. “He doesn’t look like—”

  The man blinked. “Ana atahadath alyabaniya. Ana asaf.”

  He was speaking a foreign nguage.…ZERO comprehension.He’s some kind of a tourist. You can hardly tell with these masks.

  He scratched his head and ughed apologetically and waved his hands.

  But then how did he get word that he should wear a mask if he couldn’t communicate with Japanese people? Was everyone here from the same country? That might expin a few things..

  Rui groaned. “Sorry! Excuse us!”She shot off like a guided missile toward a new target. An elderly woman.

  “Miss, why are you wearing a mask?” Rui asked sweetly.

  The woman smiled, her mask puffing slightly at the cheeks… but then hacked a deep cough.

  Rui and I flinched in perfect unison.

  “Oh no! It really is an outbreak! A pgue! I’m too young and beautiful to die!” Rui wailed.

  The elderly woman ughed mid-cough and gently ruffled Rui’s hair. “So cute,” she wheezed.

  “NOOOO! NOW I’M INFECTED!” Rui shrieked, colpsing dramatically onto the ptform.

  The woman blinked in concern. “No… cough. I just have a cold…”

  Rui froze, then sprang upright with desperate dignity. “Oh! In that case, I-I’m relieved! Is there anything I can do for you?”

  I facepalmed so hard my helmet almost cnged.

  “No… cough No need to trouble yourself…” the elderly woman wheezed gently, waving her tiny hand.

  I stepped forward. “Hot tea always helped my mother’s throat when she wasn’t feeling right. I’ll get you a bottle! On me!” I sprinted toward a vending machine, smmed a few coins into it, and snatched the hot can as soon as it cttered down.

  I hurried back, holding the can toward her—

  —and immediately yanked it back.

  “You jerk! Are you PRANKING an old dy?!” Rui shouted at me.

  “What?! No! I’m Magiranger Red! Trust my noble spirit!” I cried, filing.

  I unched into an improvised sentai kata, hands slicing in sharp lines, cloak whipping dramatically. A crowd formed, murmuring. At the peak of the dance, I popped the can’s tab with a flourish and knelt, offering it to the elderly woman like a devotional offering.

  “For a moment, I forgot the most important part. Please be careful. It’s hot.” I winked, not that anyone could see it.

  She coughed, then ughed so hard more coughs burst out. But she accepted the tea, and her eyes sparkled warmly.

  The crowd appuded.

  I blushed beneath the helmet.

  Rui sighed as though physically pained. “Hmmm… I suppose you’re not entirely hopeless.” She turned to a passerby. “You! Why are you wearing a mask?”

  The girl blinked. “Eh? Why aren’t you wearing one?”

  “IS THERE A REASON TO GET ONE?!”

  The girl preened, flipping her hair. “I only follow the test fashion trends, duh. Where’s your sense of fashion?”

  “That’s IT? That’s ALL? JUST A FASHION TREND?!” Rui spped both hands to her face and staggered.

  “Yup! Please try someone else.” The girl giggled vapidly. Then she looked at me… and instantly tched onto my arm. “Man, that was so cool just now! I think I’m in love! I’m heading to a party, Magiranger-san!” She winked enticingly.

  “Let’s crash it together! I don’t have a date tonight!” She leaned closer and covered her mouth although her mask already did the job. “Your kid can come too I guess, but it has alcohol, so we should probably find a babysitter. I can be soooo fun…”

  WHAT. She was clearly already buzzed.

  My brain short-circuited.

  No woman had ever hit on me in my entire life… well, except for Natalia-sama, but I was almost one hundred percent sure that she was just being kind for my benefit. My mind filled with romantic montages… things that I had no business imagining… dates, holding hands, kissing under street lights, having adorable children…

  Those children abruptly turned into Noh-face children.

  GOOD GOD NO!!!

  In a blink those Noh-face children turned into mini Yakuza babies, scarier than I ever was, working together to hold up their mom for bottles of milk at gunpoint.

  My entire body seized in horror. And yet despite having seen my future if nothing changed, whether I got my face back or not, I felt the inevitable BLORP of a noh-nosebleed flood the helmet.

  A split-second ter as blood leaked down my out from my helmet…

  WHACK.

  I toppled sideways like a felled tree.

  When my vision returned, Rui’s silhouette loomed over me like an angry chibi demon-god.

  “W-WHY?!” I squeaked.

  “You’ll BLEED to death on this ptform, idiot! FOCUS HARDER! Pretend that you’re some kind of a Buddhist priest! Think only PURE THOUGHTS!” Rui shrieked, grabbing my colr and shaking me like a maraca.

  The flirt-girl tossed her hair. “Okayyyy, gross. My train’s here. Toodles! Have fun your kiddo!” She sauntered off.

  Rui froze mid-shake. She might as well have called her as ft as a washboard.

  Rui’s grip sckened. Her eye twitched dangerously and she abruptly smacked me upside the helmet.

  I pointed at the girl striding into her train accusingly. “Why didn’t you hit HER instead?! She called you a ft— YAAAAAIIIII!”

  “Too hard. I’d have had to chase her into her train and she’s getting on a train on a different line. We need to get on one in the Yamanote, BAKA.”

  Her fist connected with my helmet again so fast I swear my soul astral-projected.

  “You’re SO BRUTAL!” I wailed, flopping on the ground like a dying fish. “I’m a VICTIM HERE! EVERYONE! THE ONI attacked me again! She’s a TOTAL VILLAINESS! Someone cheer for me so I can def— YAAAAIII!”

  *SMACK*

  I rolled, kicking my legs and fpping my hands. It was a full blown toddler meltdown

  “Noooooo! SAVE ME!!!! ARGH!!!”

  The crowd burst into uproarious ughter. They adored Rui’s violence. Of course they would.

  Of COURSE everyone would take her side. *HUFF*

  Relwing