Shoujo Grand Summoning

The blue sky slowly gave way to the yellowish-red hue of sunset.

As the clouds drifted away, the golden rays of the sun's twilight rained down on the pedestrians.

It's almost night now. However, there are still many pedestrians on the street. There are housewives with bags of groceries and there are also students who held bags.

Slowly but surely, the sun faded away. Soon, the pedestrians will be replaced with night owls or those who operated in the night.

Soon, the traffic slowed to a halt.

The few pedestrians still on the road caught sight of a pair of couple.

Rather, they were stunned by the beauty of the lady.

She wore a fancy dress that shimmered under the fading glow of the sunset. Her purplish hair was also a sight for sore eyes. Her hair fluttered with its owner's movements.

What caught everyone's attention was her looks. The bazookas she's packing on her chest also did little to diminish her presence.

She has the figure and she has the looks. She even got her dazzling clothes. Why wouldn't everyone be gawking at her?…

The students who passed by stared with wide eyes. Their hearts almost jumped out. Even the female students weren't spared from this effect.

Fortunately, the girl kept her real identity and appearance hidden from the public. If they found out Miku was walking in front of them while holding hands with a normal-looking guy, it's almost certain that this would spark a disturbance.

Reporters and paparazzi would be all over this news tomorrow for sure.

Forget what the others had to say, Miku's shocked that she's doing this.

She looked at the hand Wu Yan was holding as she wrestled with her own emotions.

She hated men, just being near a man would induce nausea in her. Touching another man is out of the question.

Is this, me?

She continued staring at their connected hands.

Without her powers, she's very weak, that much she's aware. Instead, she relied on the man who threw her into the pits of despair for support.

Just being weak made her crave the support of a man she hated?

No, that's not it.

Her mental demons were born from her past trauma with males. They are the reason she lost her voice, the reason she lost her purpose in life.

She hated men!

She hated them so much she wanted to vomit whenever she sees one of them.

If at all possible, Miku wanted to use her powers to kill all the men in the world.

They turned on her so she hated them. Did losing her powers force her to seek the help of a man?

No.

It's even more impossible to seek the help of the man who took away her second chance at life. He took her voice again.

Yet…

Miku wondered why she sought the man's help…

Is it because she wanted her voice back?

No, maybe, but that's not it.

Miku actually knew the reason.

The man holding her hand hated her when she had her voice. But, he treated her nicely after she lost her voice.

Her heart shook when the man said: "You're not worthless."

Aren't all men dirty, ugly, and low-classed?

The men who formed lines at her concert, they all shouted things like "I love you!", "I like you very much!", and "I would die for you!". In the end, they still betrayed her.

Instead of believing in her, they chose to gobble up the unfounded stories drafted by unscrupulous individuals. They lost qualifications as her fans.

Humans are just nasty creatures who pay lip service while hiding their dark hearts.

This man, on the other hand, said he wasn't a human.

Maybe he's just trying to console her, maybe he's just lying. Miku had those thoughts but the confusion within her mind didn't decrease.

Not even Miku's sure how she should feel. She allowed Wu Yan to hold her hand as they arrived at Rindouji all-girls high school's entrance.

Wu Yan turned around after stopping. Miku also turned her head the other way. Wu Yan couldn't ascertain her expression, he shrugged.

He tapped Miku's body and the dark rings on her limbs exploded away.

Miku can feel her Reiryoku moving once more. When she channeled some of that power into her vocal chords, her voice returned.

Miku wasn't glad about the return of her powers. She remained silent with a lowered head.

"Alright, we are here…"

Wu Yan dusted his hands.

He beamed at Miku.

"Remember, control yourself and don't cause any spacequakes. Otherwise, not even Ratatoskr will let you run around with your powers intact."

Miku raised her head. She asked the man she used to hate the question on her mind.

"Why?"

Miku's mesmerizing voice hid her own complex feelings.

"The Ratatoskr wanted to seal my powers, right? You could have permanently sealed my powers, couldn't you? Why didn't you do it in the end? Why did you let me go?"

"Do I need to explain?"

Wu Yan raised an eyebrow. It's like Miku's asking something strange.

"Anyone with a bit of kindness wouldn't seal your powers, not after knowing your background."

"Kindness?"

Miku snickered.

"Humans are just a bunch of pretentious creatures, where is the kindness in them?"

Miku sounded really pessimistic, her expression also darkened.

"If they had kindness… I wouldn't have become like that…"

Wu Yan shut his eyes.

"Don't tell me you think everyone's like the sneaky producer who smeared your reputation? You think everyone's like the fans who only paid lip service?"

"Am I wrong?!"

Miku stared into Wu Yan's eyes, he can see the sadness and anguish within her eyes.

"They said they would support me forever, they said they would believe me no matter what. In the end, when I needed them the most, nobody supported me. Where did the people who said they trusted me go?!"

"No! Not a single one of them came!"

Miku's expression twisted in pain.

"So many fans and not a single one truly believed in me, does that say it all?!"

"Does it?"

Wu Yan nodded slightly. He looked around and found a paper. He wrote a series of numbers on the paper with magic. He gave the piece of paper to Miku.

"This is…"

Miku looked at the paper.

"A telephone number?"

"That's my number."

Wu Yan grinned. He gave her another firm nod.

"If you want a supporter, if you want someone who believes in you, even if you lose your powers, heck, even if you just wanted to sing, then that's my number and you can always ring me up."

"No matter where you are, I will come running."

"You…"

Miku grabbed the paper with shaking hands. She laughed out loud.

"What is the meaning of this? You think you can make me trust you just like this?"

"Look, you can wait for people to come to support you and believe in you, or you can take the initiative. Go find someone you can trust."

Wu Yan replied while staring back at Miku.

"I don't know if I am trustworthy enough. I also don't know if I can earn your trust. Admittedly, I rarely sit idly by when a cute damsel is in distress…"

Wu Yan turned around. He waved his arm while chortling.

"One day, when you sing with your own voice, call me, I would like to hear your true voice."

"Compared to your fake voice, I am more interested in your real voice."

Wu Yan left her with that.

Miku continued looking at Wu Yan's receding back before she waxed thoughtful.

"Who would believe the words of men like you…"

She said that while holding tightly onto the piece of paper.