"........"

The reflection in his bedroom mirror showed him an image he barely recognized. It wasn't that of an organized fifteen-year-old boy, ready to go out, but rather someone with disheveled hair and eyes full of panic. The morning light streaming through the window illuminated the everyday order of his room, an effort to maintain normalcy in the face of what he had lived through.

"...."

Leo clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, in a desperate attempt to anchor himself to reality. Time had passed since that night, but the image of the ruined base remained as vivid in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.

"It's okay... just breathe..."

His reflection nodded, a forced grimace on his lips. The smile of someone trying to convince himself that this time, everything would be okay.

"It's not a dream... the explosion, the chaos... it was all real. And it was my fault."

The memory of Mireya's short, concise, and strangely empty messages piled up in his mind. They were awkward replies, as if he didn't know how to socialize, or as if someone else were writing. Sometimes, the answers were so incoherent that he thought he had the wrong number, but somehow, the number of that androgynous, silver-haired boy had ended up in his hands.

"You can do this."

His voice gained a little more strength.

"No, I'm not a hero. And what I have to do is... is... accept it! Yes. Accept that the boy who almost killed everyone was actually a magical girl. Accept that his family asked me to be his friend. And accept that last night he begged me to go out and I said yes."

He put a hand to his chest and felt the irregular beat of his heart. The echo of that woman's laughter and Mireya's face, so fragile and unconscious in his arms, were as vivid as if they had happened a second ago.

"Come on. It's just a boy. A boy who is a magical girl... and who can explode things. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?"

Leo tried to laugh, but only a nervous chuckle came out. He shook his head, forcing himself to calm down.

"Yes. Nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is going to be okay. Today I'm going to meet a new friend."

With his heart still racing but his mind a little clearer, Leo finally turned away from the mirror, leaving his reflection and the strange conversation he had just had behind. The silence in his room was heavy, and for the first time, he felt terribly alone, but also felt strange, as deep down he had a feeling of excitement.

"..... "

Then, his hand went to his pocket, checking it by inertia.

"Phew..."

A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he remembered that he hadn't brought a choco bomb with him.

"Ugh... I can handle this."

However, despite his efforts, his mind returned mercilessly to the events of that night. His nervousness spiked as he recalled Mireya's innocent smile, even when he used him as if he were a beast of burden, dragging him from one side to another. The memory of being thrown as a weapon to hit one of the guards made him tremble, and the recollection of being a "plaything" for that boy's childish laughter filled him with a deep shame. All of that had been a whirlwind of chaos and madness. And the weirdest part of all hadn't been his transformation or his abilities, but his voice.

"Why did it sound like that?"

It was a voice with a strange superposition. It sounded like the voice of a childish, cheerful, and playful boy, but which at the same time was superimposed on that of a mature and calm woman.

"Maybe he suffered from multiple personalities...?"

That was the conclusion Leo reached as he recalled how those voices alternated, mixed, and fused into one every time Mireya spoke under the effects of that "choco bomb." It was an insignificant detail, but one that Leo couldn't get out of his head. As much as he tried, he couldn't make sense of anything that had happened, and the question, "Why?" resonated again and again in his mind.

"..."

As the city's buildings gave way to vegetation, he realized that every step he took brought him closer to the park, to the place where he might finally get answers, or maybe, just more questions.

"Concentrate, Leo!"

He scolded himself in that way, shaking his head hard, trying to push away the images and questions that tormented him. It wasn't the time to think about what Mireya was or why he was like that. Those questions could wait. Now, the only thing that mattered was the meeting he had ahead of him. He had to concentrate on what was important: being a good friend and making sure they both had fun.

...

At that moment, Leo remembered the text message from the night before. On the screen, the words seemed simple, but the desperation they conveyed was undeniable, an echo of a child's voice pleading for help. He remembered the plea, the urgency in every letter, as if Mireya was willing to make a great sacrifice just to spend some time with him. At that, Leo's fear dissipated, replaced by a new feeling: determination. The least he could do for that boy, who seemed so lonely and broken, was to support him.

"Come on. I can do this."

With that new conviction, Leo crossed the street. A few meters from him stood the large wrought-iron gate of the city park, a green oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle. His heart was still beating fast, but it was no longer from fear, but from a strange mix of nerves and excitement.

"Maybe I got here first...?"

In that way and with those words, Leo arrived at the park's main entrance. The air felt cooler among the trees, a relief from the morning heat. He spotted the huge oak tree they had agreed on as a meeting point in their conversation the night before. With a mix of nervousness and anticipation, he walked toward it and leaned against its sturdy trunk, scanning the area for a familiar figure. A few seconds of silence passed, and just as he was beginning to wonder if Mireya hadn't arrived, or if he had come to the wrong place, a playful voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Boooo!"

"?!"

"Did I surprise you?"

The sound startled him. His heart raced and he jumped, spinning on his heels with a speed he didn't think possible, ready to react. But he stopped dead, his eyes wide. The figure in front of him looked nothing like the boy he had known before.

"Ufufu, the surprise was worth it."

Standing there, with a modest, satisfied smile, was a teenage girl. Her long hair, a silver color as bright as Mireya's, cascaded down her back, but this time, strands of a vibrant green were woven into it. Her eyes were the most surprising part: one was a pure white, identical to the one he remembered, but the other was a brilliant golden color. She wore an elegant and elaborate black gothic dress, so different from the maid cosplay he had seen last time.

"..... "

Leo was in complete shock, unable to process the vision in front of him. The girl looked like, and at the same time, looked nothing like Mireya.

"W-who... are you...?"

With Leo's heart still racing, the girl made a bow so elegant it looked like something out of a play. Her gothic dress moved gracefully, and a brilliant smile, full of serene satisfaction, appeared on her face while her voice, a fascinating mix of a child's innocence and a mature woman's calmness, echoed in the air.

"It is a true pleasure, dear Leo. My name is Melioris, born from the anointing of two. And I am enormously pleased to debut before you."

She said with a soft rhyme and a youthful tone, her heterochromatic eyes shining with a dazzling light.

".............."

Leo was left speechless. The last time he had seen Mireya, he looked like an unstable boy in a maid's costume, and now he was standing in front of a mysterious and elegant girl who was introducing herself with a completely new name.

"Then it's time to begin, isn't it?"

And in that way, the "date" had begun...