“Is it morning already?” Lexar wakes up and looks around the hospital room.

It is only 5:30 AM in the morning. The light coming through the window is light blue, signifying that the sun has not risen yet. The three girls are still sleeping soundly in their own beds. Only Lexar is completely awake in this room. A strange dream caused him to wake up from the deep sleep. No, it was not a dream, but rather a recollection of his past memory. He saw back the day when he was awarded for a special achievement during his time in military. It was a special day, the day he was officially called hero by everyone present at the stage. That was one of his special milestones in the past life. It was a thing that he could brag with everyone about, yet at the same time a thing he preferred not to discuss. After all, he wasted the rest of his life doing nothing fit what they used to call him.

Shaking his head, he is already set for a new life. What happened in the past has nothing to do with the current him now. He already reflected enough during the last few years of his life. The thing he should only be concerned with is to apply the lessons from that life in this new world.

He exits the room through the window for some fresh air. He sees many polices cars parking outside the hospital gate. It is obvious that the polices are here. This hospital takes care more than 30% of the survivors from that incident. They want to ensure the safety of the victim, as well as wait for opportunity to question them about the incident. Makoto and her friends already got an interview the day before, but Lexar can bet that the polices want to know more, especially since they know the girls have special power.

This information was hidden from the mass media, but not for those in charge of the investigation and government. In fact, they are itching to research their powers as soon as possible. Having the magical girls' identities exposed can be quite problematic, but it cannot be helped in this case. Not mentioning the fact they did transform in front of normal people, there is an important reasons why Lexar seriously considers having the girls' power known: the one year limit.

Unlike the stereotype of mascot characters who know a lot about the world behind the scene, Lexar knows nothing crucial to solve his task. He has no idea where to look for the clue nor what to do. He cannot afford to waste time to find the clues by himself, not mentioning there are a lot of problems that need to be taken care of. What he needs is a strong tie with those in power to assist him with many tasks such as investigation, transportation, handling the aftermath of the battle, financial assistance, equipments, and so on.

Of course, he also knows that nothing in the world is free. Lexar and the girls will probably have to cooperate them with the research of super power. Being treated like a lab rat is definitely not a good experience to anyone, however, that is necessary because they have to understand their own power too. There is also one good outcome from collaborating with the government. Which is to enhance human fighting capacity with the monsters from the other world. What happened at Hakugawa academy is no doubt only a small scale event, yet there was such a huge casualty already. If the red world scaled up to cover the whole city, how many people would be killed? Just thinking about it already sent him shiver down the spine. Thus, another strong reason why he should collaborate with the government.

What worries him the most is the involvement of Makoto, Hinami and Yuuko with the dark side of society. As those with special ability, they are no doubt in the center of everyone’s eyes. The deal with those in power is probably not simple enough to limit only experimenting their power. There is a high chance they will get involved in the vortex of conspiracy in the government. During his life in military, he knew quite well that the turbulence in the political atmosphere of upper echelon of a country is more complex than what the civilian know. He himself belonged to the low layer of the hierarchy so he is also not very well versed in politics. Therefore, he cannot help but wonder whether he can prevent them from getting too deep in that vortex. Hinami is a daughter of the chairman of a zaibatsu so her family can protect her from bad influence. However, it is very dangerous for Yuuko and Makoto as they seem like they do not have a big enough background to protect them. The top brass may turn them into political tools for their personal use. He is very anxious of that future.

After that much thinking, he decides it's better to return and talk with the girls on this matter. Just at the moment he turns his face away, he catches a sight of something strange. Through a window, he sees a table with some bottles lined up orderly. In the containers, he can sense a tiny bit of negative energy. Understanding that something is not right, he stealthily approaches the window to check them out. Confirming that no one is inside the room. He jumps on the window bar and inspects those bottles at close range. Under his normal eye, the bottles are just filled with clear transparent liquid. However, with the potential eye, he can see a drop of black liquid inside each container.

(Why on earth there is black liquid here?) Lexar thinks.

A creaking noise of a door opening comes. He quickly gets off the bar to hide away. It is a nurse coming in. She looks around to check for anyone present before putting those bottles on a tray and leaving. Peeking from the corner of the window, he sees clearly the light at her heart: a mixture between white and black. It is a very strange phenomenon. There are only three colors of light he saw: white, gray and black. There has been no person so far that can have such a distinct difference between white and black spots like her before. With suspicion, Lexar activates the clairvoyance to observe her.

The nurse Fukawa walks along the corridor of the hospital. There are only few people walking around at the moment as it is still early in the morning. She reaches in front of a patient room then comes inside. There are four beds inside and all the patients are on intravenous drip.

(Don't tell me she is going to inject that into their blood veins?) An answer comes to his mind.

Lexar immediately dashes to Makoto's room. He has to inform them to stop a dangerous activity.

"Makoto! Wake up!" Lexar immediately jumps on her bed and says with a loud voice.

"It hurts. What's up with you all the sudden?" Makoto massages her stomach that was stomped by Lexar.

"This hospital has a problem. A nurse is going to inject the black liquid into the patients here." Lexar explains.

Hinami and Yuuko who is still slightly sleepy immediately jump off the bed feeling completely awake. Makoto makes a stern face as she hears it.

"Lead the way, Lexar!" Hinami says with a commanding voice while fixing her clothes a little bit.

Their immediate response to the emergency surprises Lexar. Their demeanor are like well trained solders. He has some curiosity whether this is affected by having their power awaken, but he has no time for that now.

"Follow me. The E area second floor." Lexar answers as he leads them.

Three girls in pink patient clothes and a cat are running on the corridor. Their speed completely surpasses normal human as those whom they pass by only feel a strong wind before noticing.

"Hey! You are not allowed to run inside the building." A doctor yells out as the group pass by.

"Sorry! But we are having an emergency here." Makoto's voice echoes as they are hundred meters apart.

....................................................................................

"Stop with what you are doing!" Hinami yells out as she pulls the slide door strongly.

The four patients and the nurse are all startled by the loud voice of the intruder. Makoto immediately checks the trolley after she enters the room while Yuuko approaches the nurse and takes away the syringe she is holding.

"What are you doing? Do you know that you are obstructing a medical treatment?" The nurse says with an angry voice.

"I don't think that is the case. Do you know what is inside the syringe you held just no?" Hinami says with a calm face.

"They are medicines prescribed by the doctors for these patients. What do you think they are?" The nurse answers.

Makoto picks up a container and checks it. The liquid inside is clear but as someone with power, she can sense trace of negative energy inside. She looks at Hinami and gives a nod.

"You may not know it but the liquid inside the medicine bottle here is directly related with the massacre at Hakugawa academy. I expect you to answer who is the one who supplied these bottles and the doctor prescribed it." Hinami questions the nurse with demanding voice.

"I really don't know what you are talking about." The nurse shakes her head in confusion.

"Oh, little ladies, can you girls stop this meaningless cat fight?" A flirtatious voice comes from the door to the room.

"!" The three girls gasp when being caught off guard. Even though they are still amateurs in fight, they can sense someone approaching near, or else they could not detect the surprise attacks before. For someone to approach them without noticing, it means that person is not only abnormal, but also much stronger than the bandage man and slit mouth woman.

"Be careful! That man is also a monster." Lexar warns as he jumps back a great distance.