On the dark side (placeholder; guideverse)

(Everything started to go awry the day the parents went to Osaka for a honeymoon just someday after the twin's birthday.

Since it was the last day of the winter, it was great to start the new season with a trip to rekindle their bound. And the twin were being understanding for eight years old and were willing to let them off by spending time at their friends' place. Each having their own set of friend, of course.

For Ran, who likes to befriend boys more than girls, seeing as she spent a lot of time with her twin brother, it was at little Raito's place. The parents weren't there but the boy had an older sister six years older who didn't have any better to do than look after three eight years old toddlers. Of course, because it was a friendly sleepover, the parents took care by nighttime, but to have a teenager check on noisy kids, Tsukihana Kanako and Renji decided to pay her, as they do not lack of penny and every job should be paid to assure the employee's loyalty.

For Rei, who liked to learn for both his sister and himself, he went to spend the nights at the neighbour's. They had two teenagers that loved making pocket money by giving tutorship to younger and it just happened that the Tsukihana couple was not stingy for their babies education. Besides, teenagers were always cheaper than actual tutors.

It's a weekend trip anyway, nothing too tedious and everyone could get a rest by evening.

But no one came to pick either child by early night, so Raito's parents had to drop Ran at the neighbours, who had to contact the family friend, the Tsukimoris. They didn't know much but accepted to take the twin in as they had twins girls themselves and Tsukimori Nao's Kanako's best friend, she can do that much.

And then people came knocking on the door at midnight. 

It's never good omen to bother a household that late. 

It wasn't a good thing by any mean as the twin's parents were reported missing.

It came to a head when the police knocking at the door this late told the Tsukimori couple the whereabout of the Tsukihana couple. Not in this world anymore. 

Nothing was ever the same for the twins.

By the time the funerals were held, a lot of people attended, claiming to be good friends of the deceased. 

Nao, who was the closest person of the family, was having none of this and made sure to shield the children from harm's way. The Sakuras, Kanako's parents, were receiving all the condolences without uttering a word to their grandchildren, somehow being really cold to the poor orphans who had no guardian anymore.

It's quickly explained when they refused to take either of them in as they never approved their daughter's choice in marrying an orphan, thus disowning the twins on the spot. While Tsukimori Nao was the more likely to take the kids in, she and her husband already had their own twin girls to raise and couldn't afford to add them, too. Though, she will later came to regret it. There was also Tachibana Eijun, Renji's butler, who knew and raised the twins with the parents, but the court ruled him out for not having the finance either as the deceased's riches were to be inherited by the kids once in adult age, so in twelve years.

That's how the twins got sent into an orphanage and how their living hell started.)

Ranko's life truly started when she was 14.

Before that, she felt missing something and suffocated by her family overprotectiveness. Of course, she should feel herself blessed to have supportive family when she was a disabled girl living in Japan, but her diseace caused daily life difficulty she could barely overcome. Her Turner Syndrom was diagnosed at 8, when she had late growth that worried her mother. Thanks to that, they learned that she lacked a second sexual chromosome and quickly connected her lasting lymphedema since birth were due to the diseace. Soon, they prescribed her synthetic growth hormones and put her under plenty test to prevent internal medical risks. Which did help in treating her hearing loss and kidney issues. But she then started to make regular trips to the hospital to treat her heart defects. The problems just kept adding and it became unbearable for her despite her parents and her brother's support and love.

One day, she heard about the Esper item that could turn her into Esper.

Though these became superpowered with enhenced strength, senses and durability, they had the worse weakness to go on rampage the more they use their power. And the more powerful one was, the bigger the rampage, which could only be stopped by being guided. Ranko was not deterred, thinking that her father being a guide could have passed the ability to her (which's generally the case, safe if her disease also deprived that from her), and wanted to be an artificial Esper even more after hearing the item would garantee a total healing.

So the Sakura family travelled to Estonia where the item was said to be discovered and esposed for eveyone to give a shot at turning into an Esper, because of course it had its own sentience.

Sakura Ranko was among the rare phenomen to be chosen by the item.

While the surge of fire power inside her was exhilarating, it was the fact that she was allowed to decide how her healing could affect her. So she chose to have a regular height, no internal issue and basically invulnerable to poison and illness. It was pure heaven.

And then she fell into hell.

Gaining power not naturally meant the artificial Esper would have a lot more trouble to get used of the new power. Ranko earning the fire attribute meant she'll have to regulate her body temperature to balance the sudden heat emanating from her core. Also, since she had no clear grasp of her power, her unconscious usage rendered close to rampage more time than not. Thankfully, both her father and twin brother could just guide her whenever it's too much, which meant almost always.

The nightmare lasted two years where she learned to guide herself and balance her two sides.

Then she spent two more years to train her power and to adjust with the array of ability that came with. Strength, sences, perception, durability and luck. She was rigorous and diligente, and by the time she was in age, she pleaded her mother to be allowed to be registered as Esper, but not affiliated to the Association since she didn't want to go in Rifts but just to use her power.

Two years later, she became the S class (and not rank) delivery boy of Flora delivery service, known worldly.

In the end, she did lose her Esper ability when snatched into a sudden Rift. She tried to ask the mage Haruki to turn back into Esper, who granted her request but got changed back into just Guide when her mother didn't like her debt to the mage. Haruki took his gift back, though let her benefit the healing effect permanently, the downside was that no other otherworld item or device could turn her back to Esper. Then, Reiji dies and Ranko pleaded Haruki to save her twin, making him turn back time, thus destroying the present.

Later, we learned it's not the first time that Haruki had turned back time, though it wasn't actually him per se, but a him from an alternate past who granted Reiji's wish to turn time to save his family. His parents dying during honeymoon and Ranko from suicide due to never turning Esper because living in orphanage. He was adopted by his paternal grandfather who discovered their guide inheritance and forced Rei to do illegal guiding to his henchmen of his gang, leaving Ranko to fend herself. Which she didn't as she killed herself, pushed by bullying. To add insult to injuries, the grandfather disguised the death into a murder to have more incentive on Rei. But Rei uncovered the truth thanks to the cyber attribute Esper Seiya and asked Haruki's help.

In the third time, Ranko arrived at 14, just before she used the item to turn Esper, since she will eventually lost this part anyway. But Haruki took pity and decided to give a chance to change her life by becoming a mage like him and live in the Rift for two years. She confessed to Rei, about knowing he turned time once and that she did it, too. How even turning Esper wouldn't save her from her resentment of being born disabled and her blaming her family to keep her going despite her suffering. So, she chose the second option that could make her normal, being a mage. She came back to Earth by 16, and abducted Eunho so he could be saved living as mage, too. At 18, she contact again with Yuki, as they were in relationshio before time travel, and since then made regular travel to the Rift as S rank Guide.