Aozaki Aoko stood in front of the room's antique full-length mirror, adjusting her outfit. After tying her ribbon, she spun around in place and then lifted the hem of her skirt, posing in a classic lady's curtsy. The girl in the mirror was flawless—fair-skinned, tall and slender, youthful yet with a well-proportioned figure.
Her incredibly exaggerated waistline gave her the look of a perfect heroine, as if she belonged in a game, making it hard to believe such a figure could belong to a fifteen-year-old. Despite her youthful face, her deep blue eyes held a firm resolve that anyone meeting Aoko could sense immediately—she was not someone weak.
Her jet-black, silky hair was gathered together, and Aoko picked up a silver hairband from the table, tying her waist-length hair into a loose, high ponytail. The front and side bangs, of course, couldn't be slicked back, so she left them slightly loose, styling herself after the character EVE from one of her favorite games. With her absurdly idealized looks, Aoko thought to herself, why not try out those "hard-to-pull-off" hairstyles?
The reference to "game characters" hinted that this "Aozaki Aoko" was not the original. However, she didn't quite feel like the usual "transmigrators" from her memories. After years of reflecting and speculating, Aoko concluded that she was a "hybrid," a new individual formed from a fusion of the original Aozaki Aoko and the soul of a transmigrator. She wasn't anyone else—just herself.
In her memories, her "previous life" was that of a recent graduate with a master's degree in electronic engineering from a prestigious university. During a graduation trip to the mountains, she inexplicably encountered a meteor falling from the sky. In a dazzling blue-green light, her promising life was abruptly reset.
When she opened her eyes again, a new Aozaki Aoko was born in this strange, pseudo-Earth. The overwhelming memories and will of an adult burdened her infant's brain, and after emitting a series of incomprehensible wails, the baby fell into a deep slumber.
When she woke again, the first thing she saw was the tearfully joyful faces of a weary middle-aged couple, along with the incubator that cradled her. For the first three years of her life, Aoko lived in a daze, her days revolving around eating and sleeping like any other baby. Her sharp logical thinking was buried deep within her soul, leaving her in a state of half-awakened consciousness.
This state worried her parents greatly, but since the Aozaki family was no ordinary household, Aoko's father took her to seek help from his father, a magician who lived in his workshop. The old magician examined her carefully, then assessed her condition before returning to his work.
"She's fine," he said.
"This child is so healthy it's sickening. She's so healthy her life force is practically blinding me."
With this cryptic evaluation, Aoko's father returned home, and his worries eased. He trusted his father completely, and if the magician said Aoko was healthy, then she was. Sure enough, when Aoko turned three, she finally "woke up" in the true sense of the word. With a sense of confusion, she tried calling out to her parents in the local language.
Her parents were overjoyed and even brought Aoko's older sister over to introduce the two siblings. Seeing her sister for the first time, Aoko thought, What a snob. With her orange-red hair and her finely tailored, adorable dress, seven-year-old Aozaki Touko had been studying the esoteric knowledge of magecraft in their grandfather's workshop since she was five, only recently returning home.
Initially, the older sister seemed somewhat disdainful of her three-year-old sibling who had only just learned to speak, but as she looked at Aoko now, most of her malicious thoughts dissipated.
"This little girl is just too cute," Touko thought.
"She's so cute that if I used magecraft to tease her, she'd probably cry immediately, right?"
Seeing Touko remain silent, their parents assumed their eldest daughter was simply shy after being away for so long and left the room, giving the two sisters some space.
It was then that Aoko fully realized she had transmigrated into a Type-Moon world. Comparing her hazy memories from both lives, she recognized the orange-haired girl in front of her as none other than the future Scarred Red, the Grand Puppeteer Aozaki Touko. And as for herself, she was the Aozaki Aoko destined to inherit the Fifth Magic.
What a wonderful place I've ended up in, Aoko thought. Calling this world disastrous would be an understatement.
The young Aoko let out a small sigh, ignoring the growing irritation in Touko's eyes, and instead turned to look out the window. The clear sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds, and she occasionally saw unidentified birds flying by. With her naturally optimistic outlook, Aoko suddenly felt a surge of excitement about this new world.
"Hey!"
Aoko was brought back to reality by Touko's slightly annoyed voice. "Since you're my little sister, you should first learn the rules between us."
With a mischievous grin, Touko looked at her cute young sister and activated her newly acquired Mystic Eyes, casting a suggestion spell on Aoko.
"Bark like a dog, Aoko," Touko commanded with a hint of wicked amusement.
"If you do, I'll give you a present."
However, to Touko's surprise, her sister—who had only just learned to speak and had never studied magecraft—seemed completely unaffected by the suggestion spell. Instead, Aoko looked at her with an expression of utter disdain.
"Hey! What's with that look?!"
Touko's temper flared as she raised her voice.
"Don't think I can't…"
"Waaahhh!!~~~"
To Touko's shock, her devious little sister suddenly burst into tears, her high-pitched wails piercing through the walls and reaching their parents in the next room. Touko panicked because despite being a prodigy, she had no idea how to handle this unexpected situation.
Hurried footsteps approached, and their parents rushed into the room. Their mother scooped the sobbing Aoko into her arms, gently patting her back to soothe her, while their father shot a reproachful look at Touko.
"How could you bully your little sister, Touko?"
Aozaki Touko was on the verge of losing her mind. She couldn't even come up with a retort, because she had indeed intended to tease her sister, though she hadn't expected to fail so spectacularly.
As their mother carried Aoko out of the room, Touko saw her little sister stick her tongue out at her over their mother's shoulder, and she clenched her fists in frustration. That little brat did it on purpose! she fumed. But how did the suggestion spell fail?
Touko didn't have time to ponder the anomaly, however, as she was about to face a stern lecture from her father as punishment for her failed prank.