Ichika's P.O.V
I woke up, tired as shit.

"7:00 a.m." I read out in my drowsy state on the alarm clock on my nightstand. I got up and stretched my arms out on the bed, popping a few sore joints in the process. Then, I walked up to the window and threw the curtains open, feeling the warmth of the morning sunlight on my face.

"Good morning Mega-Tokyo", I whispered silently to myself as I gazed out at the bustling city below from the window of my apartment.

I yawned and stretched again, then walked over to my wardrobe and pulled out a selection of clothes to wear for the day; a brown turtleneck blouse, a pair of bright blue jeans and my favourite lavender jacket. I put those on, brushed my hair and tied it, then pulled on a pair of black leather boots I'd purchased a few years ago at a car boot sale at the park for a dirt cheap price.

Well, hello there beautiful, I told my reflection in the mirror. I tidied up my bed and then hurried out to the hall, where the rest of the day was already in full swing, thanks to Miko of course.

"Good morning Mom"! she squeaked, running up to me at that moment and hurling herself around my legs. "Slept well"?

"Very well", I told her, bending down to pat her head gently.

Miko was my daughter, the only person I had close to me in this world after my husband, her father, Endo, had been pushed away by a divorce I had initiated on grounds of domestic abuse, physical and verbal. I had absolutely no love for Endo left after what he had done to me while I was carrying his daughter, and to know that his parents, my in-laws, hadn't tried to stop him only served to sting the wound further when it was trying to heal. I had undertaken sole responsibility for Miko since then, bringing her up the best I could and managing my family's cat café, Nyan Nyan, which had now become an iconic place for couples to take wedding photos and for high-schoolers to unwind after a long day of studies and revising for finals, whichever came first.

I waited for Miko to let go of my legs, then ducked into the kitchen and begin rustling up some sandwiches for the two of us. Gingaburger, our spoiled ginger Scottish Fold-American Curl hybrid tom cat, perched on the kitchen counter and watched me as I went about with preparing the sandwiches, flicking his bottle-brush tail absent-mindedly and perking his ears up each time I opened the butter container, mainly because he loved butter.

Butter cat, I chuckled, using a knife to set a pat of butter down on the lid nearby so he could lick it up.

Breakfast was a fairly noisy affair for us in the morning, with Miko talking non-stop about the problems her friends had, her problems with them and what had been done about those problems plus what was should have actually been done to solve them (in her opinion). I just listened to it all while gnawing down on the sandwiches and ticking off a checklist of stuff we needed for our jungle trek today.

1. Water bottles ✅

2. Bento boxes ✅

3. Hiking boots ✅

4. Sore muscle cream ✅

5. Blister bandages ✅

6. Camera ✅

7. Sketchbook ✅

8. Mechanical pencils ✅

9. Swiss Army knife ✅

10. Aspirin/Paracetamol pills ✅

11. Insect repellent ✅

I sighed in satisfaction as I ticked the last item off the list. Finally, after so many months of planning, Miko and I could finally do something together for once. Running a cat café was hard, especially since all our feline friends were rescued from the streets and had various health problems, some serious enough to require the vet's attention to them. Now I finally had some time to myself with some of my workers (whom I had rehired after my ex-husband had scared them away out of jealousy) back and tending to the cats while I made sure every moment with my daughter counted.

"Ready to go, dear"? I asked Miko as she chewed her sandwiches speedily.

"Ready"! she squealed in a muffled tone, her mouth full of sandwiches.

A few minutes later, we were both out the door with backpacks and in sneakers, plain shorts and sports shirts. We both caught the bus to a part of the forest several miles out of the city that opened to a wide plain where a few other hikers were either waiting for friends who hadn't shown up, checking their equipment to see how long it would last, making sure their friends were all geared up or taking a breather after one round and debating as to whether they could go for another round. I paid our bus fare and Miko occupied herself playing a game of noughts and crosses with the kids of the other hikers while I checked out the parts we planned to go through on our hike.

Not to far from the path we were taking was another clearing, full of long grass, that would make an excellent rest stop provided we sprayed on enough bug spray. Somewhere further from there was a waterfall that cascaded into a natural pond that itself branched into several smaller streams going here and there, and north of those two spots was a natural grove pregnant with edible herbs, berries and leaves. This was going to be a fun trip.

"Akimoto-san"! a familiar voice called out to me.

"Seia-chan"! I called back to the tanned slender-bodied lady bounding up to me at that moment. Seia Onoue stopped in front of me, leaning against a nearby tree trunk. Lithe and well-toned, with short Tyrian purple hair and maple brown eyes, Seia could have easily given most of the famous models a run for the money with her good looks and 'licentious physiognomy' as some people put it. She was currently a commander for Mega-Tokyo's military force which, considering her busy schedule, was somehow lax about their commander taking a day or two off.

Of course, that's Seia's choice, not mines. I'm just being honest.

"Long time no see, Ichika", Seia mused, reaching out a hand to shake mines. "How's everything back home"?

"I just managed to get a day off to go hiking with Miko", I explained, momentarily glancing over my shoulder to check on my little monster before turning back to Seia. "What about you"?

"They have someone else at the wheel for now", Seia told me, then pointed to a bright green tourist sticker with the words 'TRAVELLING IS FUN' on her backpack strap. "Meanwhile, I've been taking a little time off myself".

"Are we ready to go now"? Miko asked us at that moment, then turned her attention to Seia. "ONOUE-SAMA"!

"Hey there, you little beach peach"! Seia teased, scooping Miko up in her arms. "Missed me? Missed your awesome friend"?

I smiled, watching the two mess about with each other. Seia had chosen to be childfree due to health problems (her uterus was deformed and thus incapable of holding a foetus), but she nevertheless enjoyed the company of children and as such Miko and her got along swimmingly. Naturally, most 'normal' parents would've told their kids to not bother Seia, but there was no need for me to remind Miko of the fact because I'd brought her up learning how to read unspoken hints people gave you when it was clear they weren't interested or comforted by your presence. She learnt it from the cats in our café too, since cats were the type who could really give you hell if you overstepped their boundaries.

Very soon, the three of us were off into the woods, picking our way through the leaf and twig strewn path gingerly and occasionally stopping to get a closer look or picture of a certain plant or tiny animal. We stopped by the natural grove first, whose abundant flora didn't just attract curious and tired hikers but also...

"Hi little fawn"! Miko trilled to a little fawn no older than six months with a white base colour that was in turn speckled with darker brown splotches on its back, head and flanks. Just opposite them was a doe, the fawn's mother, keeping an eye on the two youngsters while occasionally tipping her soft muzzle into my hand to lap up any leftover açai berry and cherry juice that spilled on my hands when the berries had been crushed while picking them from their respective stems and bushes.

Next up was the waterfall, where we were greeted by the sound of the cascade chuckling. Crystal clear water poured from the natural bedrock ledge like a scattering of glittering diamonds from a necklace. Wild koi in elegant shades of orange, black, white and yellow with a light gold dusting swam in circles of increasing diameter, suddenly clustering in a writhing, lip-kissing mass of golden orange, black, white and yellow when someone neared the edge of the water.

"They're ticklish", Miko giggled as the fish bobbed up and down, planting wet fishy kisses up and down her arms. Seia and I let the fishes have a go at kissing us too. Fishy kisses were great.

We finally ended the hike with a stop in the plain, where Seia and I decided to rest up. I let Miko run around in the long grass, chasing butterflies of varying crystalline shades, while Seia and I sat down on a log nearby and munched on our bentos.

"What did you get this time"? Seia asked me as she unlatched the lid of her bento box open.

"Something of my mom's", I mused back, opening my box to reveal several white sito dumplings shaped like doughnuts with a side of citatap balls and pumpkin rataskep. My mom didn't live with me (she's in Hokkaido) but her recipes had been passed down to me from her and while I wasn't a picky eater (make of that what you will), my mom's cooking was absolutely to-die-for. "What about you"?

"Gyoza dumplings", she nodded, grabbing a spork and shovelling two of the meaty dumplings into her mouth with vigour. "They had these ones that were stuffed with chicken curry the other day, so I bought a few and kept them frozen for hikes".

"Hey mom! Onoue-sama"! Miko called out to us at that moment. She was pointing her hand up to the sky. "Check out that pretty little bird up there"?

"Bird"? I asked, half a sito dumpling hanging out of my mouth. "What bird"?

"That one up there"! she repeated, pointing to the sky.

I looked up and tried to see what Miko was pointing to, but all I could see were fluffy clouds. Nothing else.

Tiny bird much? I asked myself.

"Hey! Actually, it's a pretty normal-sized bird", Miko exclaimed, still pointing to the sky.

"O-kay", I murmured quietly, still confused as to what she was going off about.

"Mom"?

"Oh", I half-gasped at that moment upon realising Miko was right in front of me, now looking just as confused as I was. "Yes dear"?

"Why is the bird getting bigger the more I look at it"? Miko asked me, pointing her finger skywards, but in a different direction this time.

"That must be a pretty big bird then", Seia mused, grabbing a pair of military-issued binoculars from her backpack as the two of us followed Miko out into the grass plain. "Where did you say it was again"?

"Up there", Miko pointed at what looked like a yellowy-white shape in the sky that seemed to be...glowing?

"That ain't like any bird I've ever seen before", I commented at that moment.

"Uh, Chika"?

"Seia"?

"I think we've gotta make a break for it", she said, voice pitched low.

"Why"? I asked.

"'Cause that's not a bird", Seia begin, before she looked up again and immediately started shouting. "Everyone find some cover! Now"!

No sooner had she said that did a large shape suddenly crash into the grass plain, incinerating the emerald green grass to black soot and white ashes and creating a huge shockwave that bowled us over as we ran for cover.

KBOOM!

Seia got to her feet quickly and grabbed me by the hand, pulling me behind a row of hawthorn bushes. I scooped Miko up in my arms and followed her. We ducked behind the bushes just as the smoke and dust cleared and revealed what had crashed into the plain.

A long, cylindrical 'pod' that seemed to be in working condition and was beeping ominously, like something out of Ben 10.

What-the hell-is that? I thought as the next few minutes passed by like a blur of seconds.