Hagakure Sakura Does Not Lament - Chapter 1: Prologue
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-
“Magical Girl”
When people hear that name, what exactly do they imagine?
A princess of the magical world chanting spells into a hand mirror?
Or perhaps an apprentice witch training in a human town?
Or else brave girls fighting villains for the sake of justice?
None of those are exactly wrong, but the girls in this world... are a little different.
National Defense Magical Contract Volunteers—commonly known as “Magical Girls.”
They are the “guardians of the nation” who chose to fight for themselves in order to oppose the endlessly spawning Demonic Beasts.
Some wished for status.
Some wished for ideals.
Some wished for hope.
Some wished for peace, and chose that path.
What awaits those who become “Magical Girls” are dangerous days always on the verge of death. A meritocratic society where only one’s own talent matters.
Within such lonely battles—retreat is never permitted...
Winning is a given. Losing means death.
—This is the story of a single girl, or perhaps a boy..., entangled in such a fate.
————It is the story of Hagakure Sakura.
◆ ◆ ◆
In a silent residential street, there was a girl.
The girl, wearing floral-patterned pajamas, walked with an unsteady gait while keeping a hand on the wall. Perhaps because she was unwell, she painfully repeated rough breaths.
“Five minutes remain until Demonic Beast appearance. Please evacuate promptly to the northwest.”
An inorganic mechanical voice flowed from the girl’s phone.
“Hurry... I have to get away from here...”
The girl murmured in a hoarse voice, bit her lip, and put strength into her trembling legs.
—How much time had passed since the alarm... rang? If she didn’t hurry, she really wouldn’t make it.
A cough escaped. Perhaps because of the high fever from her cold, her dizziness was severe too. Even so, there was a reason the girl was outside.
Yes—because Demonic Beasts... were coming.
“—Prediction of an E-Class Demonic Beast Archenemy occurrence has been confirmed. The entity will appear in thirty minutes. Everyone in the area near the marker, please begin evacuating immediately to the designated location.”
Within her hazy consciousness, she certainly heard that alarm. The reason her memory was vague was probably because she had been sleeping deeply from fever.
—An E-Class Demonic Beast. According to the map on her phone, the appearance point predicted by the government was within a two-hundred-meter radius of the girl’s home.
At this distance, if her parents had been there, she should have been able to evacuate with them. But her parents had gone far away for a relative’s funeral and would not return until tomorrow night. So the girl had no choice but to flee alone while dragging her unwell body.
“Demonic Beast Archenemy.”
That existence, like a bad joke, suddenly began encroaching on reality one day.
—It began thirty years ago. July 7, 2:00 PM.
People who happened to look up at the sky said, one after another, “The sky is cracked...—”
A giant fissure like a crack ran through the sky on a scale large enough to cover the Japanese archipelago. People were bewildered by the anomaly, but the fissure soon vanished as if melting into the blue sky. Apparently, on that day’s news it was reported to be an out-of-season aurora.
—But the people of that time had no way of knowing that that day was the beginning of everything.
The next day. In a city business district bustling with the commuting rush, “it” appeared without warning.
A beast like a large bear made even more vicious. It caused dozens of casualties and was shot dead several hours later by a police riot squad. ...If it had ended there, it might have been forgotten as an unexplained animal attack.
—But that did not happen.
From that day on, beast-like creatures changed form, changed location, and began appearing all over Japan almost daily. They wreaked destruction and, after a while, vanished like mist. Truly unknown invaders—Demonic Beasts.
Spreading unease and fear. People could not accept the reality that the world had changed.
Several days after the incident. In place of the government, which could not grasp even a clue to a solution, a psychic issued a warning on social media.
“The aurora from the other day is the cause. Evil things are entering Japan through that fissure.”
At first it was mocked, but that voice gradually grew smaller. It was simply that people no longer had the leisure to concern themselves with such things.
Foreign media also reported Demonic Beast incidents on a large scale. At first they were treated like monster movies, but the tone gradually changed.
“Hell of the Modern Age.”
“The End of Godlessness.”
“A Country Abandoned by God.”
“Those Demonic Beasts Must Be Devils.”
“—If we get involved, our country will be destroyed too!”
For countries with deep-rooted religion, it was natural to tie unknown fear to known concepts.
Japan’s greatest misfortune was that it could not involve other countries. For some reason, Demonic Beasts appeared only in Japan...
Countries cut relations with Japan; within less than three months, embassies were closed, and even countries that took measures to ban Japanese entry appeared.
—In only three months, Japan was isolated.
...It may seem heartless, but for other countries, Demonic Beasts were a symbol of fear. Events in a distant island nation were, after all, someone else’s problem. Like the Plank of Carneades, they cut Japan loose to protect their own countries.
Japan, driven into a state of national isolation, had its lifelines destroyed by Demonic Beasts and fell into a catastrophic situation. Fearing Demonic Beasts that attacked day and night, people became exhausted.
Meanwhile, those with wealth fled abroad, and foreign nationals returned to their home countries. Thus, only those who could not escape were left behind in Japan.
...Thirty years since those nightmare-like days. Miracle after miracle that no one could have predicted occurred, and Japan’s situation improved greatly. But—the reality of constantly being exposed to mortal danger did not change.
—After all, Demonic Beasts have not disappeared from this country.
Deaths caused by Demonic Beasts are not rare now. A certain number of victims occur each year—so to speak, like traffic accidents.
But no matter how common a cause of death it is, it is human nature to think that you alone do not want to be involved.
“Ah.”
Suddenly her feet tangled, and the girl fell. Her vision swayed. If high fever and fear overlapped, it was only natural she couldn’t move properly. Even so, she couldn’t stay collapsed here.
The girl gathered her last strength and tried to stand.
—But as if mocking that resolve, a deafening sound rang from her phone.
“Warning, warning. Leave that place immediately. I repeat. Leave that place immediately. The predicted appearance location is twenty meters from your current location. I repeat—”
“Huh, no way...! The map said this area was supposed to be safe!”
When she hurriedly looked at the screen, her current location was dyed bright red.
“Why...? The display is different from the beginning... I’ve never heard of such a malfunction...!”
—I have to run, I have to run, I have to run!
The moment she tried to dash off, a chill different from the cold of illness ran down her spine.
“Ah, ah... no...”
Scrape, scrape, a strange sound. She could tell that “something” was approaching from the alley right beside her.
She understood...
—She had to run, but her legs were frozen and wouldn’t move.
The girl turned her trembling gaze to the side.
It... had a silhouette like a large man. But there was one decisive difference from a human.
“Grrr... Graaah!!!!”
With the light of the full moon behind it, it—a Demonic Beast with a wolf’s face, stood there, radiating killing intent.
A voiceless scream escaped.
Overwhelming fear dominated the girl’s thoughts, and she couldn’t even look away.
—No way... impossible...
She had seen Demonic Beasts plenty of times before. But those were always unreal things seen through TV or books. Even hunters panic when they encounter a wild bear, so could an ordinary girl really remain calm when seeing a Demonic Beast?
She didn’t need to think to know that.
“U, ugh...”
Tears spilled endlessly from both eyes. Unable to hold back, small sobs escaped. It was absolute fear of death. The girl simply found the monster before her terrifying beyond words.
The Demonic Beast twisted its large mouth into a grin and watched the girl. As if it had obtained a new toy, happily. That expression told of how the girl would be treated from now on.
—It’s over. I’m going to end here. I’m going to be torn to pieces and killed by this werewolf.
Then something gently touched her shoulder.
“Close your eyes.”
The voice seeped into the girl strangely naturally. She closed her eyes as told. She felt she had to.
At that instant, she heard a sharp, whistling sound as it cut the air, and the sound of something large being slammed onto the ground. A raw, wet squelching sound remained in her ears.
Trembling, the girl knelt and covered her face.
Footsteps like splashing in a puddle approached.
A chill froze her spine. Just what on earth was approaching her now? If she raised her face and opened her eyes, she would surely know what it was. But the girl was terrified beyond help.
—What if what is before her now is another Demonic Beast?
If so, she had no confidence she could stay sane. Wouldn’t it actually be happier to end while keeping her eyes closed? She ended up thinking that.
As the girl trembled, something gently touched her shoulder.
“Hii!?”
Her body jumped. Scary, scary, scary—if this is a dream, let me wake. Thinking that, the girl shrank.
But that expectation was betrayed.
“...Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
—It was an extremely clear tone. But the voice was somehow nostalgic, and strangely she even felt a sense of relief.
Her back was gently stroked, and her hyperventilating breaths slowly calmed. The owner of the voice stayed close until the girl calmed down.
—Who is this person...?
The girl timidly opened her eyes.
There was a woman who appeared two or three years older. Cool-looking eyes, a slender outline. While leaving a somewhat boyish impression, her features simply made one think she was beautiful.
Seeing her, the girl immediately knew who it was. No—she knew the general term for that “existence.”
“Magical... Girl...?”
The woman nodded at the girl’s question. The woman nodded quietly.
—An existence that appeared just as suddenly after Demonic Beasts began to appear. That was the “Magical Girl.”
Girls who contracted with miracles and gained the power to oppose Demonic Beasts. The woman before her was probably one of them.
—I was saved.
The moment she realized that, all strength left her body. Her body was heavy as lead.
While supporting the girl who was about to fall, she quickly checked whether there were any injuries and said, “It’s okay, it looks like you’re not hurt.”
“If an alarm goes off when you’re feeling unwell, first contact emergency services. You don’t need to push yourself alone.”
“Ah...”
Only after being told did she remember the existence of ambulances. Her fever and impatience had kept her from thinking.
“You have a high fever, so I’ll take you to the hospital like this. You should sleep a little.”
The woman gently placed her hand on the girl’s forehead. The cool temperature was pleasant. Just as her consciousness was about to sink into drowsiness, the girl murmured as if she suddenly remembered.
“Onee-san’s... name?”
—I will never forget what happened today for as long as I live. That is exactly why I wanted to know the name of the person who saved my life.
The woman smiled softly and answered as if whispering.
“—My name is Hagakure Sakura. You don’t need to remember it. It’s an insignificant name.”
“Hagakure... Sakura...”
—The girl’s memory cut off there.
When she came to, she was receiving an IV in a hospital bed. A mother with a face about to cry rushed over to the girl rubbing her eyes. Apparently, the Magical Girl, Hagakure Sakura, had carried the girl to the hospital.
According to the doctor, because she had moved around, her cold worsened and caused pneumonia, and the girl had been unconscious for about a week. She was told that if she had been a little later, her life would have been in danger.
The woman who had carried the girl on her back apparently handed her over to the doctor and disappeared without giving her name.
At the doctor’s puzzled words, the girl narrowed her eyes and smiled. —Somehow, that was just like her.
While soothing her mother, who was crying and rejoicing in her safety, the girl looked back on that night. It had been terrifying. But—more than that, she wanted someone to hear about this strange experience.
“Hey, Mom. —I was saved by a Magical Girl!”
◆ ◆ ◆
—Several months after the incident in which the girl was almost attacked by a Demonic Beast.
When the girl, now completely recovered, was walking on the station platform chatting and laughing with a friend, she suddenly caught her foot on the stone paving and bumped into a male high school student coming from the front. The boy she bumped into hurriedly supported the staggering girl.
“Ah, um, I’m sorry!”
“No, don’t worry about it. I was also at fault for spacing out.”
It was the girl who had not been looking ahead. To the girl, who had turned pale thinking she would be scolded, the boy said that without seeming to care and left.
As she watched his back while sighing in relief, her friend grinned and tugged at her sleeve.
“What, what? Love at first sight? That guy earlier was cool. He seemed kind, too.”
“N-no! But, um...”
The girl faltered and put a hand to her mouth as if pondering.
“—I felt like... he resembled someone...”
Her friend replied with a bored “Hmm?” and pulled the girl’s hand, saying they would be late, so hurry. The girl, too, returned to her peaceful everyday life without deeply pursuing that déjà vu.
Without knowing that from a distance the boy looked back at the girl and murmured, “Looks like she got better. That’s good.”
-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and Cannedbread
Follow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-