"Amano Hina?"
Seeing the new member's handle, a glint flashed in Rei Ao's eyes. He immediately thought of the heroine from Weathering With You, and also of the link between her world and Miyamizu Mitsuha's.
"Seems a bit unusual."
…
Rain slid down Amano Hina's cheeks and dripped onto the cold concrete. She didn't notice. All her attention was locked on the streaming messages, her heart brimming with confusion, awe, and an indescribable tremor. It was far beyond what an ordinary student could comprehend. In her simple, limited view of the world, only a god could do such things.
Trembling, she tried to "type" on that light-woven virtual interface with nothing but her thoughts. It was a strange process—no keyboard, just focus. Carefully, she asked her question.
Amano Hina: "Um… excuse me, is everyone here a god?"
That timid message appeared in the chat, and the atmosphere—which had been lively after the newcomer joined—stilled slightly.
Rei Ao: "First, as the owner of the Trading Chat Group, welcome, Amano Hina."
Rei Ao: "Second, no need to be nervous, and no need to call us gods. We're just members who can talk to each other."
His words seemed to carry a soothing power; Hina's taut nerves eased a little.
Rei Ao: "This is the Trading Chat Group."
Rei Ao: "As you can see, everyone here—including me—comes from different worlds, with different backgrounds and abilities."
Rei Ao: "And this place where we're speaking now is a platform that crosses the barriers between worlds, letting us meet, talk, and even help one another."
Different… worlds?
Hina's breath nearly stopped. She'd already glimpsed hints of that in the earlier chatter, but having the group owner confirm it so plainly hit like a hammer. Her world was just one among countless others? Outside the universe, were there truly so many wildly different worlds? Did aliens really exist? And she—a young woman working part-time at McDonald's who prayed for clear skies—had somehow (or inexplicably) joined such a miraculous group?
After the initial shock, a hard-to-name excitement and curiosity began to flow through her like spring water under thawing ice. She looked at the unfamiliar names and world descriptions, feeling as if she stood before an immense star-lit gate, with infinite unknowns and possibilities beyond it. She drew a deep breath to steady herself, then introduced herself politely. Since everyone came from different worlds, maybe what was "abnormal" about her wasn't so strange here.
Amano Hina: "M-my name is Amano Hina, I'm from Tokyo. I'm a student, and I work part-time at McDonald's."
She hesitated, then decided to share her secret—somehow it felt like she didn't have to hide it here.
Amano Hina: "I-I think I'm what they call a 'Sunshine Maiden.'"
Misaka Mikoto: "Sunshine Maiden? What's that?"
Misaka Mikoto: "You mean someone who can control the weather, like an esper?"
Busujima Saeko: "Could also be something like a yuki-onna—some kind of yokai."
Akiyama Mio: "Eh? But she said she was just a regular student."
Miyamizu Mitsuha: "A sunshine maiden… that sounds like a weather-related divine role—like the deity our Miyamizu Shrine enshrines."
Interest in "Sunshine Maiden" swept the group. Most took it as a name for some kind of special power or magecraft.
Rei Ao: "A Sunshine Maiden isn't just simple superpowers or magecraft."
Rei Ao: "In her world's lore, when the land falls into extreme weather and the sun doesn't appear for a long time, a Sunshine Maiden will emerge and, through prayer, bring back the light."
Amano Hina: "!!!"
Amano Hina: "Group Owner, you… you know about that?"
She was stunned. He'd said he was from another world, yet he knew her world's legends!
Frieren: "Haha, don't be too surprised. Rei Ao knows a lot."
Frieren: "But I'm curious about your ability."
Hiiragi Shinoa: "Being able to clear rainy days is super handy—especially when you need good weather to go out."
Tohsaka Rin: "Huh? Weather control? Would that count as some rare magecraft attribute?"
But Rei Ao's next reply froze everyone's light curiosity solid.
Rei Ao: "However."
His tone seemed to turn grave.
Rei Ao: "That recovery is only temporary—clear skies borrowed from the heavens."
Rei Ao: "To truly return the weather to normal requires a tremendous price."
Rei Ao: "At its core, a Sunshine Maiden's power is an exchange with the world's weather rules."
Rei Ao: "If this power is overused—especially in large-scale prayers that reverse extreme weather—the Sunshine Maiden's 'connection' to the world will be stripped away bit by bit."
He paused, then sent the words that plunged Hina into an icy abyss.
Rei Ao: "The final result is being spirited away."
Miyamizu Mitsuha: "Eh? Spirited away?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha: "That means disappearing from the world entirely—as if you never existed."
Rei Ao: "Exactly. The Sunshine Maiden's very existence becomes the offering to restore normal weather."
"!!!"
A chill shot up from the soles of Hina's feet, colder than the rain—her small body shook violently, her face turning paper white.
D-disappear?
Completely vanish from the world?!
She'd always thought her ability to clear the skies was just a small, special gift—heaven's favor, even. She'd felt a secret pride in it, and leaned on it for solace on bleak days. She had never imagined that behind it lurked such a terrifying, brutal truth.
Every prayer—every clearing of the sky—was consuming her own existence, leading in the end to total erasure.
Terror clenched her heart like a freezing giant hand; she could scarcely breathe.
The chat fell into a brief, deathly silence.
~~~
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