December 24, 202X. 9pm to 10pm.
I yawned and stretched in my seat, as I just finished typing out the report for Sergeant Fujiwara.
"There you go, Sergeant." I handed a file of documents I just printed to the man with blueish gray hair. "The Autopsy Report for Momose Shizuru."
"Thank you, Ms Reika."
I sighed.
Momose Shizuru, a 26 year old woman who worked as an office worker.
She went on a date with a highly respected man, who is her colleague.
Only to be drugged and kidnapped by that same man, which explains the date rape drug in her system.
As it turns out, the man was part of a human trafficking ring. The woman was going to make her escape... but didn't make it.
"There will be a court hearing next week. Your presence will be required."
"Yes, Sergeant. I know." I waved my hand, before turning to him. "So you will be working overtime as usual, huh?"
"The same can be said of you, Ms Reika."
I scoffed. "Tell me about it. I swear, it's during festive times like these that crime rates will skyrocket."
"It's like these people aren't feeling the holiday spirit." I added.
"Or maybe, they're feeling too much of it." The Sergeant remarked.
"Regardless, it looks like I won't be able to host a Christmas Party for my colleagues as I originally planned."
"Then instead of a party, how about a present?"
I turned around to face the Sergeant, who is holding out a wrapped gift box. "Merry Christmas, Ms Reika."
I was taken aback. "A-Are you sure?"
"Of course." He laughed, and handed me his present. "You and your team have been most helpful with our investigations."
"Just doing my job, Sergeant. And if you're going to give me a present as gratitude, you should gift the others too since it was a team effort."
"I will." He nodded.
I took the box carefully, while staring at the Sergeant with wary. "You didn't get anything expensive, did you?"
He smiled. "Don't worry. I had this on my person for a long time now."
"What, you kept it in your storage?" I looked at the Sergeant incredulously.
He chuckled. "Something like that."
"Good grief..." I shook my head. "You sure are bad at giving gifts."
December 25, 202X. 12am to 1am.
"Finally..." I finally reached home.
I took a shower and was about to head to bed but-
'I suppose I should open my gift.'
Carefully, I unwrapped the packaging, and opened the box.
Inside was a gold necklace, with a key pendant.
'And he said it is a second hand present...'
I wore the necklace around my neck. 'Not bad.'
Weary with exhaustion however, my mind automatically decides it was okay to sleep with the necklace on.
Not knowing that whatever happen next, would change my life.
"Mmm... Bright— huh?"
Unbeknownst to me, the necklace shined brightly. Waking me in an instant.
"What the—"
Instinctively, I covered my eyes.
The next thing I knew, I landed on the floor of a pitch black space. Instead of my bed.
"Ouch!"
I looked around, as I stand up in the middle of nowhere.
The place I ended up in was empty and dark.
"..."
'This isn't a dream, isn't it? I saw with my own eyes. That necklace was shining.'
I slapped myself.
*SMACK*
...My cheek hurts. If I was feeling sleepy just now, I'm sure as hell I'm awake now.
"Definitely not a dream. Where am I?"
Just then, I hear the sobbing of a woman.
Looking in the direction of the noise, there was a figure of a woman, made out of bright light that illuminated the dark void.
I approached the woman.
"Ma'am... Are you okay?"
At that very moment, I sense a bright glow on my chest.
I looked down.
'?!' This is...
'The necklace! It's shining again?!'
It's as if it's responding to the woman.
Sensing this, the woman made of light looked up. "Who goes there?!"
Her intense gaze trailed down to my neck, where the glowing necklace is.
"A sacred treasure?!" The woman got close to me. "Where did you get that? Are you an enemy?!"
"What- I'm not-"
"Show me the truth!" She wrapped her hands around my face.
Old memories started flowing before my eyes.
And the woman's thoughts formed in my head.
[???'s Perspective]
December 25, 2019
A young girl, with black hair and brown eyes, was playing a mobile game on her phone.
In that game...
'...Huh? Are those... Gekka Tribe members? Sengoku Night Blood?' The mysterious woman wondered.
Oh, I see. In her world, Shinga is the setting of that game.
'She's certainly very passionate about this game.'
Just then, there was a sound coming from her mobile phone.
'Hm? An announcement from the developers?'
The young girl clicked on the notification.
The announcement reads: "SERVICE HAS ENDED FOR THIS GAME. THANK YOU FOR PLAYING SENGOKU NIGHT BLOOD."
...Wait that means-
Oh.
OH.
I watched helplessly as the young girl cried out in agony. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
[Reika's Perspective]
"...I deeply apologize for looking through your memories." The woman said before releasing me. "It was the easiest way of ascertaining your identity."
"But I suppose I should have introduced myself first. Forgive me, I am called Himemiko. What is your name, Miss...?"
"Reika. My name is Takemoto Reika."
Himemiko nodded. "Nice to meet you, Reika. Where did you get the necklace?"
"Oh this?" I held the pendant up nervously. "It's a Christmas gift I got from a friend just now."
"I just finished my shift, and then I went to bed. Next thing I knew, I'm here."
"Is there anything you know about your friend?" Himemiko asked.
"Nothing! Except he's a Sergeant, and I work with him."
"Well, whoever he is, the necklace he gave you is a sacred treasure. I believe it has brought you here when you wore it."
I looked around. "And here is...?"
"The Void. A space between realms."
"The Void", she says. I can't believe this.
I rubbed my temples. 'Sergeant, I'm gonna have a word with you sooner or later...'
"That said..." Himemiko turns to me. "I wasn't expecting you to have vivid knowledge of Shinga."
"WHAT KNOWLEDGE?!" I sputtered. "That you're Himemiko, the mysterious woman who united the war torn country, Shinga. A parallel universe of the Sengoku Period?"
"But all of that is supposed in the mobile game! Shinga is just, part of a game from my world!"
"Hell, I still can't believe I'm talking to Himemiko, YOU, a character from that game!"
I buried my head with my hands.
"I have not gone crazy, have I?" I looked up at the woman.
"No, you have not dear."
"...So, you're serious? You're Himemiko, from the game "Sengoku Night Blood" ?"
"So it seems."
I sighed and held my head in shame.
Sengoku Night Blood is a mobile otome game collaboration between 3 companies, and it featured 7 different renowned otome artists.
This game died YEARS ago - and they didn't even show Himemiko's appearance!
"...Hey, how are you so calm right now? You just learned you're a character in a game in a different world."
Himemiko laughed. "I supposed it's because I am someone who has traveled between dimensions."
"...Well not anymore though." Himemiko sighed.
"...What happened?" I asked curiously.
"Shinga, as you know, was a world torn by war. I appeared, to stop all forms of conflict and bloodshed, and unified Shinga. Becoming the symbol of peace at the centre of the capital."
"However... the capital built to preserve peace was destroyed. Shinga will be plunged into war again." She added.
"Peace is broken... because of me."
Himemiko may have a face made of light, but I sensed a melancholic expression.
"Hence, I am here. Stuck in the void between worlds, unable to move."
'So that's why she was crying earlier.' The Himemiko right in front of me, was the one who disappeared from Shinga recently.
'But what did she mean when she said peace is broken because of her, I wonder?'
"That said though, I am honestly shocked that there is a human like you in this void." Himemiko turns to me as she said this. "By right, I should send you home immediately..."
"However." Himemiko continued. "Judging from what I saw in your memories, and with what you said. You must have come from a very far, distant world."
"With my current state, I do not have enough power to send you back to your world."
I gulped nervously.
"Please don't fret, Miss Reika. I believe we can help each other. Let us enter a contract."
Himemiko suddenly stood tall. "Please help me protect 2 women who share similar abilities as me, and become their guardian."
"I'm sorry, what." I was stunned.
"Before I disappeared, I abruptly summoned a young lady to Shinga. But in doing so, I lost most of my power and became very weak."
"That lady..." Himemiko mutters. "Is the key to saving Shinga. If she accomplishes her purpose, I would be able to recover half of the power needed to send you home."
'So that's where the second woman comes in.'
"Do you have any details on the second lady?" I asked.
"The second young lady, has a similar situation to the first one." Himemiko replied. "She was also forcibly brought to a different world, by a magician summoner."
"It wasn't you?"
"Not me." She shook her head. "Other than that, there's not much to go on. But saving Shinga is the first step."
"Those two women... is there a connection between you and them? Are they your descendants? Your reincarnations?" I asked.
"Sorry, I am unsure about that."
I pointed to myself. "So you want me, to be the bodyguard of your possible alternate incarnations, or descendants?!"
"Yes."
"Himemiko, please. I am a just a regular human being, and I am powerless." I implored. "There's not much I can do to protect those women in strange worlds!"
"Hm..." The woman held her chin, pondering. "I can't give you power, but how would you like to get power related to your interests?"
"Pardon?"
"When I look through your memories, I saw that you loved playing a few games when you were young." Himemiko remarked. "I will send you to those worlds to receive abilities from them"
"You can do that?"
She nodded. "Although I'm not as powerful as I was before to be able to send you back to your world, I will still be able to send you to different worlds to learn abilities related to your hobbies and preferences."
"By aiding me in being the guardian of those young women, my power will recover."
"So if I agree to help you, you will be able to send me back."
"Correct."
I sighed. "...Ok, I will help you."
I was reluctant, but it sounded like Himemiko wasn't lying.
"Now then." Himemiko extends a hand out for me to shake. In which I respond, causing an explosion of light that engulfs everything in sight.
"I wish you luck, Reika."