"Oh, Itsuka…Eh? What happened to you?"
It was morning and Shidou, who was dragging his heavy legs into the classroom, was called out with a puzzled voice by Tonomachi.
Well even if it wasn't him, looking at his current state, everyone would have had the same impression too.
Because whether it was his face or hands, his whole body was practically covered in bandages, on top of that his steps were staggering so much that it seemed like he would fall over anytime.
"…Aah, a little something."
Shidou gave a wry smile while saying so, then let out a small sigh.
Over to the side Tonomachi, as if he remembered something, suppressed his laughter.
"Oh yeah, I heard that net radio, what was up with that? It was pretty damn interesting."
Shidou's face twitched upon hearing those words.
"Y-you've already heard it? that..."
"Oh, I listened to it a little before I left the house. But... that's supposed to be a joke right? It would be scary if that were real."
"Ah…Hahahaha… Yeah, y-you're right…"
Shidou let out a dry laugh and averted his gaze.
"Lea-Leaving that aside Tonomachi, what are you looking at?"
Shidou raised his voice in order to change the topic as it would be troublesome if he gained more interest in that radio broadcast.
Tonomachi looked like he was gazing seriously at the gravure page in the back of a manga magazine.
"Ah, this— Oh yeah, I also want to ask you about something."
"W-what is it?"
Shidou asked him back. Tonomachi was unusually serious and continued speaking.
"Nurse, miko, or maid…… Which one do you like most?"
"…Huh?"
Shidou let out a startled voice due to Tonomachi's unexpected question.
"It's been decided that the gravure costume for the next issue will be based on the readers' voting poll… This is so troubling."
"…Ahh, is that so..."
Shidou replied with a sigh. Tonomachi seemed like he didn't mind and thrust the magazine towards Shidou.
"So? Which one do you like!?"
"Eh…errrrmm…then……the maid…?"
Shidou replied due to being pressured by Tonomachi's unusual vigor. In that moment, Tonomachi's eyebrows suddenly twitched.
"Wh-What's wrong?"
"——To think that you would like maids! I'm sorry but our friendship ends here!"
"……"
Shidou, scratched his cheek, then walked over to his own seat.
"H-Hey, where are you going? Itsuka!"
"……Our friendship ends here right?"
"Hey, What the heck? Aren't you being too serious. Don't you think a world where Maid lovers and Nurse lovers can coexist in peace is also kind of good? "
It seems like Tonomachi is in the Nurse faction.
Shidou placed his bag on his seat, all the while ignoring Tonomachi who threw the magazine on his table and followed him over.
At that moment, the girl sitting beside him who was reading a bulky reference book——Origami Tobiichi glanced towards him.
"……"
"O-Oh…Tobiichi, good morning."
"Good morning."
Origami replied in a monotonous voice and then tilted her head.
"Maid?"
It seemed that she heard the conversation just now. Shidou waved his hands all flustered.
"…Uh, n-no, don't mind that."
"I see."
Origami made a short reply and once again returned her sights towards the book.
"Good mornin—"
Immediately after, Tonomachi waved his hands towards her, but Origami's expression did not change in the slightest.
Tonomachi shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly, and started grinding Shidou in the side of his stomach.
"Although this happens every time. Why is it always you who always gets a reply back after a welcome? Y-You…"
"Ho-How should I know? Stop it already."
Shidou shook off the annoying Tonomachi, and arrived at his seat.
The door of the classroom rolled open, and Tohka entered.
Naturally, due to Tohka currently now living in the Itsuka family house, the route to school was exactly the same as Shidou's. However, if they were to go to school together it would probably appear suspicious, so Tohka had to leave a bit later after Shidou.
In addition to that, she was still affected by that terrible induction she received after moving into his house yesterday. He couldn't bear adding more fuel to the fire when 75 days haven't even past.
"……"
Tohka silently sat in her seat on the right side of Shidou's desk and without looking at him, she moved her lips.
"…Err, about…this morning, I'm sorry. Is your body okay?"
It seems she was still bothered about that matter this morning. Shidou scratched his cheeks while making a bitter smile.
"O-Oh…Don't worry about it…"
"Mu……"
Tohka made a small nod. And finally— Shidou had realized something.
"…Ah."
Several classmates were listening in on their conversation and were sending them stares of interest.
But, it seems Tohka had not yet realized it.
"Bu-But you were also at fault too. You suddenly…You know…I was surprised."
Because of Tohka's words, everyone listening caught their breath.
"To-Tohka…Why don't we have this talk later…?"
"Huh? Why is that?"
Tohka faced Shidou while tilting her head, and finally noticed the gazes coming from everyone.
"…Eh?"
Tohka gasped in surprise and sweat starting falling down her cheeks. She had remembered that yesterday at home it was explained to her that the fact that Shidou and Tohka were living together was a secret.
"I-It's not what you think everyone! It's not like me and Shidou are living together!?"
"——!?"
Everyone from the class frowned all at the same time.
"I-Idiot…"
Shidou muttered softly and then intentionally spoke in a loud voice.
"A-Aaah! In the morning when going to school we coincidentally bumped into each other! Were you okay Tohka!?"
"Mu…? U-Umu, no problem!"
Tohka seemed to have guessed what Shidou intended, although it was difficult, they matched their lies together.
Well, although it did look kind of forced…Originally, the talk of [a high school male and female living together] itself sounded unrealistic, he continued blabbering until everyone felt satisfied just in case.
…Well even so, there was still one person to Shidou's left side who wasn't satisfied…A female student was releasing a glare that would give anyone the chills.
"……"
Somehow, he felt like he would come out tattered. Shidou made a deep sigh.
—However, that problem would be resolved at a surprising speed.
The 4th period bell rang and echoed throughout the building, indicating that lunch break had started.
And at the same time,
"shidou! It's lunch time!"
"……"
At Shidou's desk— to the left and right, *Jyan*! tables were docked on both sides.
And of course, on his right was Tohka, and on the left was Origami.
"…Nu…What do you want? You're disturbing us."
"That's my line."
From Shidou's left and right, sharp gazes were exchanged from both sides.
"We-Well……Calm down. Isn't it okay if everyone eats together? Right…?"
When Shidou said that, reluctantly, Tohka and Origami quietly sat down. And then both of them took out their own bentos [2B 1]. from their respective bags.
Shidou followed, bringing out his own bento, and placed it on the table. All of them opened their lids together, and then—
"……"
He saw Origami's eyes widen a little bit, and he cursed himself for being unprepared.
Shidou's bento was something he made for himself in the morning. And of course it was made along with Kotori's (although she hadn't been returning home this month).
Naturally— if it was necessary to prepare another person's portion of hurriedly prepared bento, it was Shidou's job to do so.
"……"
Origami gave Shidou a cold look, and compared Shidou and Tohka's bento boxes— checking the contents.
—The same menu was arranged inside both of their bentos, looking identical.
"Nu, wha-what? Even if you give me that look, I won't give it to you…"
Tohka didn't realize the seriousness of this matter and gave Origami a puzzled look.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Thi-This is…"
When Origami asked her question, Shidou burst out in a cold sweat and avoided eye-contact.
"Ac-Actually. This was being sold by the lunch vendor this morning and coincidentally Tohka was also there—"
"Liar."
Origami interrupted Shidou midway, and then removed Shidou's bento box lid.
"154 days ago, you bought this at the discount shop that is in front of the station for 1580 yen, and you are still using it. This is not something from the lunch vendor."
"H-How do you know something like tha-?"
"That isn't important right now."
No, he thought that this was kind of an important question, but he was overpowered by Origami and wasn't in a position to say anything. Like just now, his words would have been stopped halfway.
"Muu, what were you two talking about just now! Don't split up the group!"
From the side, Tohka who was feeling left out, raised her voice, puffing up her cheeks.
And, at that moment.
*Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-----------*
A loud alarm sounded and echoed throughout the whole town.
In an instant, the noisy classroom during lunch break, suddenly went quiet.
—It was the spacequake alarm.
Around 30 years ago, a threat towards people, the worst disaster, was referred to as spacequake, and looms as an omen for disaster.
"……"
At that moment, Origami had showed an expression of hesitation, and then immediately stood up from her seat and left the classroom at an amazing speed.
"…Eh?"
Shidou was in a confused state and could only follow her using his eyes…Well, although it was a little indiscreet, he couldn't help but think that he was saved by the alarm ringing at the perfect time.
While Tobiichi Origami was a student, she was also a talented individual in the Ground Self-Defense Forces' AST.
Meaning, she was heading towards the battlefront right at this moment— To kill the Spirits, just like the situation with Tohka before.
"……"
Shidou clenched his teeth.
He knew he couldn't stop Origami. But—
Over there at the classroom door, a girl's voice echoed in a dazed state.
"……Everyone, it's the alarm. Please evacuate to the underground shelter immediately."
The physics teacher dressed in a white coat— Reine, pointed her fingers towards the direction of the corridor.
After the students swallowed their saliva, they exited towards the corridor one by one.
"Nu? shidou, where is everyone going?"
Tohka asked while looking at the other classmates and tilting her head.
"Ah-Aah…to the shelter. There is one under the school."
"Shelter…?"
"Aah. For now, let's leave the explanation for later. We are going too Tohka."
"Nu-Nuu."
Tohka regretfully glanced at her untouched bento, and stood up following Shidou's instruction.
They followed the other classmates and exited to the corridor.
"……Shin. You're coming this way."
Riene caught Shidou by the collar.
"Uh, Reine-san? This way means…"
"……Isn't it obvious? We're going to the <Fraxinus>."
When Shidou questioned her, he raised his voice but not loud enough to allow the other students to hear them, and Reine replied.
"……It has only been one day……You might not have made your decision yet on what you will do from now on. But there's something we want to show you. The Spirits and the current situation."
Shidou swallowed his saliva to moisten his dry throat and clenched his fist.
"…I understand. I'll go."
Reine made a small nod sleepily with one eye open, and after looking at the students that were lined up, she faced towards the entrance.
"……Well, let's hurry. It won't be long before the spacequake."
"Y-Yes. And— Ah, Reine-san. Is it okay if we didn't bring Tohka along?"
He said as he glanced towards Tohka.
Speaking of Tohka, she was looking confusedly at the classmates that were lining up for evacuation.
"……Aah, it's about that— Umu, we will have Tohka evacuate to the shelter with everyone else."
"Eh? Is that okay?"
"……Aah. With her powers currently in a sealed state, Tohka isn't that different from other humans. Also, if she sees the battle between the Spirit and the AST, she might be troubled if she remembers the time it happened to her. I told you right? [Ratatoskr] wants to avoid having Tohka accumulate stress as much as possible."
"No, but……"
Right when Shidou wanted to say something, down from the direction of the corridor, a high pitched voice echoed.
"Ho-Hora, Itsuka-kun and Yatogami-san, even Murasame-sensei too! P-Please don't just stop and stand over there! If both of you don't hurry and evacuate, the dangerous is danger!"
Shidou's homeroom teacher Okamine Tamae, nicknamed Tama-chan, perked up her small shoulders and said that in a hurried state. The meaning of her words was confusing though.
"……Un, if we get caught we'll end up in an annoying situation. Let's go."
Reine made a signal with her eyes and faced her feet towards the entrance.
"Uh, ah wait a second—"
Although it was a little worrying, it couldn't be helped. Shidou made a small groan and scratched his head. He then took Tohka's hand and placed it in Tama-chan's hand.
"Sensei, I'm counting on you to take care of Tohka!"
"Fue? Eh? Ah, ye-yes, of course."
Tama-chan was quickly entrusted with Tohka, her eyes were in circles as if she was suddenly dumbfounded, while saying [I-I'm also a teacher too!"].
"shidou…?"
Tohka curved her eyebrows in uneasiness.
"Tohka, listen. Please evacuate together with Sensei to the shelter."
"What about you? What are you going to do shidou?"
"Ah…I, have an important task to do. Go on ahead without me. Okay?"
"…! Ah! Shi-shidou!"
"Itsuka-kun! Murasame-sensei too!? Where are the both of you going!?"
While hearing worried voices from the pair left behind, Shidou and Reine ran outside the school building.
"—Aah, both of you came. The Spirit will soon appear. I'm counting on you for the preparations, Reine."
From the captain's seat, Kotori said this to them, with Shidou and Reine having arrived on the bridge of the <Fraxinus>.
"…Ah."
Reine made a small nod, flapping back her white coat's hem, and sat down at her console on the lower bridge.
"—Now then…"
And, when Shidou remained silent, Kotori asked him a question while tilting her head.
"Although we are sorry that we didn't give you much time but have you made your decision? Shidou."
"…Uh—"
He choked. But, over from the bridge, a loud sound from the siren echoed.
"Wha…What?"
"An unusually strong Spirit wave reading has been detected! It's coming!"
A male crew member's shout came from the lower bridge, and Shidou's eyes were spinning from the confusion.
When Kotori heard the shout, *pachin* she snapped her fingers.
"Okay. Switch the Main monitor to the image of where the prediction site is."
When Kotori gave the order, a bird's-eye view of the town was projected on the main monitor.
It was the main street which was lined with many shops. Of course there were no human figures visible, as if it was a ghost town.
In the middle of that image, *Warp*.
"Eh…?"
At first, he had thought that the image projector was having some problems but— that was wrong.
The space.
The space, that originally was empty, distorted, it was as if a ripple on the surface of water was created by throwing a rock at it.
"Wha-What is this…?"
"Ara? Is this the first time Shidou has seen this?"
The moment Kotori said that, the space distortion grew larger—
He thought that a small light was produced on the screen, and together with the sound of an explosion, the screen had turned pure white.
"——!"
Although he knew that this was an event happening inside the screen, he instinctively covered his face with his arms.
After a few seconds, while slowly dropping his arms, he opened his eyes, and on the screen was a totally different scene from before.
In the town, a hole had opened up.
There was no other way to express it.
A portion of the buildings that were supposed to be lined up, were shaved off into a shallow bowl shape.
Shops, street lights, telephone poles, and even the surface of the road that was supposed to be there, everything, had disappeared.
What's more, maybe due to the after-effects of the explosion, the surrounding area looked as if a huge hurricane had struck.
This mess…it resembles that place about one month ago, the place where he first met Tohka.
Which means, just now, that was—
"…Spacequake…"
Shidou said in a shaky voice, Kotori [yes] consented.
"—This is the dimensional distortion that occurs when a Spirit comes over to this world. And the calamity of an outbreak-inducing nature."
"……"
He had seen the ruins of buildings many times but this was his first time seeing the moment the explosion occurred.
His palms were sweaty.
There were times when he tried to figure out the phenomenon in his head— and thanks to this experience, he finally felt like he understood it.
He understood the terror it causes— The town, the space where people live their daily lives, was destroyed, all in an instant.
"Well, at least this time the explosion was on a small-scale."
"It seems like it."
Kotori and a tall man right behind her— Vice commander Kannazuki Kyouhei, had commented.
"Good fortune— was what I wanted to say, but since this is the [Hermit] this much should be normal."
"Well, I guess so. Even among the Spirits, she has the docile-type disposition."
Shidou, still silent, pushed together his brows.
—That explosion just now, it was small-scaled?
At first, he didn't understand what Kotori and the others were talking about, but then immediately remembered.
That might be the case. Since the spacequake left a crater around 10 meters in diameter. From their perspective, it should be a small compared to the others.
Of course…even if he fully understood this now…
"…Hey, Kotori."
Something in Kotori and the others' conversation bothered Shidou. He opened his mouth to speak.
"What on earth is [Hermit]?"
"Aah, it's the code-name of the Spirit that just appeared. Wait for a moment— Can you zoom in on the screen?"
Kotori, pointed her finger towards the crew members on the lower bridge.
When she did that, the image zoomed in, towards the crater that was right in the middle of the town.
And with that, something changed on-screen.
"…Rain?"
Shidou quietly muttered.
Without warning, he thought that the screen turn darker, *drip**drip*, rain started to descend.
But— that wasn't what interested him, he no longer cared about the rain.
In the middle of the area that looked like a crater, they were able to detect the figure of a small girl.
"—?!"
A shock hit his heart, as if it had been grabbed by an eagle's talons, and passed throughout his whole body.
Standing still in the middle of the enlarged screen, was the figure of one girl. And what's more— he recognized of her.
"Ah, that is…"
Covered by a hood with rabbit ears like accessories, was a blue haired girl.
She looked to be around 13 to 14 years old, wearing a large coat and innerwear made from a mysterious material.
And on her left hand, with a comical design, a rabbit puppet was equipped.
If Shidou's eyes and brain were working properly…then that was without a doubt—
The girl he had encountered yesterday when he was returning home from school.
"—? What's wrong Shidou?"
Seeing Shidou act strangely, Kotori spoke in a dubious voice.
Shidou, after gazing at the screen once, reasserted himself.
"I-I've met that with that girl before…"
"What did you say? When did this happen?"
"Just yesterday…when I was returning home in a hurry, rain started falling—"
Shidou, going through his memories, spoke briefly about the events that happened yesterday.
After hearing Shidou talk for a while, Kotori pointed her fingers to the crew on the lower bridge.
"Send the Spirit wave reading from yesterday at 1600 to 1700 to my terminal, ASAP!"
And then she lowered her sights to the screen she was holding, and scratched her head in frustration.
"…It didn't recognize the main numerical value of the disorder huh. It was the same with Tohka last time…Shidou, why didn't you tell me this at home yesterday?"
"Do-don't say something impossible. I didn't know she was a Spirit when I first met her…!"
At the same time Shidou was shouting, the speaker that was installed on the <Fraxinus> bridge roared with a loud sound.
"—!? What, is going on—"
"—The Spirit did appear…So we aren't the only ones taking action."
Shidou's finger tips twitched a little from Kotori's words.
"The AST…huh?"
"Yes."
He glanced towards the screen— Smoke swirled around the place where the Spirit was — which was now being called [Hermit]. Probably, a missile or some sort of explosive was launched at her.
And surrounding her, a small number of humans wearing heavy mechanical armor were floating around.
The Ground Self-Defense Forces' Anti-Spirit Team, in short, the AST.
Different from the organization, [Ratatoskr], which was led by Kotori and the others, they were a special team holding military power that aimed to eliminate all Spirits.
Inside the smoke, a small silhouette *Hop*, jumped out— It was [Hermit].
The girl with her left hand tucked into a puppet came out. She twisted her body to escape from the surrounding AST members holding their ground, and leapt into the sky.
The AST members immediately responded, and pursued [Hermit] all at once.
And with the weapons that were installed into their armor, an innumerable amount of ammunitions were fired.
"—! Look out!"
Reflexively Shidou had shouted— but the warning didn't do anything useful across the screen. The large barrage of bullets and missiles released by the AST members hit [Hermit]'s body mercilessly.
"Those guys……doing that to that girl…"
His eyes opened wide, and he was grinding the back of this teeth.
"……What are you trying to say after all this time?"
As he did that, Kotori, had said that while having her eyes halfway open.
"Didn't you learn anything when this happened to Tohka? To the AST, it doesn't matter what appearance the Spirits take. The only thing that matters is their sense of duty to protect this world; To those people, they would reject any dangerous existence and follow their survival instincts like animals."
"But…even so!"
The moment Shidou opened his mouth, from the smoke, the girl leapt into the sky once again.
But- [Hermit] wasn't fighting back and was only running from place to place.
"That girl…Why doesn't she fight back?"
"This isn't unusual. Even among the Spirits [Hermit] is a very docile type."
"…Then—"
"If you're asking for the AST to have mercy, it's useless— As long as that girl is a Spirit, they won't stop."
"…Kuh!"
In response to the flat out answer, Shidou bit his lip.
No…Even if he were to repeat himself, he already knew the answer.
Her disposition, or her personality, to the AST it doesn't matter.
To them, they only cared about taking down the enemy that causes harm to this world.
—The method that could overthrow this situation…there was only one way.
Shidou clenched his fingers in a fist so tightly, he thought that blood was about to flow out. Quietly, he cleared his throat.
"…Kotori."
"What?"
"…If it wasn't because of her Spirit power…that girl would have never been targeted by the AST, right?"
When Shidou said that, Kotori knitted her eyebrows together, and her eyes faced Shidou.
"Yes— That's absolutely right."
"The spacequakes…they wouldn't have occurred right?"
"Yes."
Shidou kept quiet for a moment, he took a deep breath, and continued speaking.
"—And I can make that happen?"
"If you still don't believe me after seeing Tohka's present condition, then I don't mind if you doubt me."
"……"
After Shidou scratched his head, he used both his hands to pull his cheeks.
He gently lifted his down cast eyes, and reasserted his determination.
"Help me with this, Kotori! …I— want to save that girl…!"
"—Fufu…"
Kotori, looking happy, made her candy rod stand up.
"Now that is—— My Onii-chan."
She turned to face the crew on the lower bridge, and shouted.
"All members prepare for a Level One capture!"
"ROGER!"
The crew members began manipulating their consoles all at once.
While Kotori was gazing upon this scene, she licked her lips.
"Now then—— let us begin the DateWar!"
"—Hey, Tama-chan sensei."
Tohka who had evacuated to the established large-type underground shelter in the school, as if to suppress her rustling feelings, grabbed the hem of her skirt tightly, and asked Tamae who was sitting right beside her.
"Ya-Yatogami-san even you have started calling me that…"
Tamae faced towards Tohka, Tamae had now calmed down to a degree compared with a while ago.
But Tohka, disregarding Tama's sigh of rejection, continued her words.
"That sound just now, what was that? What on earth is this place?"
"Wha-What are you saying. That alarm just now was the spacequake alarm. Because there might be a chance a spacequake might occur, everyone has been evacuated to the underground shelter since it will be safe here."
"Spacequake…? What is that?"
Tohka tilted her head, and Tama-chan wore a 'surprised' expression.
"Eh? What is a spacequake? You don't know?"
"……Muu."
After being told that, Tohka made an awkward and unhappy face.
It would seem that this 'spacequake' thing, was a word that everyone knows.
There might be a chance that she had asked a bad question. Tohka had been warned by Shidou to avoid doing things that might stand out. 'To be extremely ignorant is okay but try to avoid crossing the line that could lead to exposing yourself.'
And, not knowing how to handle the silence, Tama-chan shook her hands in panic.
"Ah, no no, it's alright. I guess that, there are still people that don't know."
"…Nu, sorry."
Tama-chan said [no no] once more, and raised her finger.
"A spacequake is a general term for occurrence of a large scale disaster. Well, in simple words, one day suddenly in the world somewhere, *DON*, an explosion will occur. Although there are many theories taught like the 'Atmospheric Pressure Alteration theory' or 'Plasma theory' but the real cause has still not been clarified."
"—An explosion, you say?"
Through Tama-chan explanation, Tohka raised her eyebrows.
"Yes. The biggest one to date was around 30 years ago. The Eurasia Sky Disaster. There were around 150 million casualties, it was the worst disaster since the dawn of history."
"Wha-What's up with that, wasn't that dangerous!"
"Yes. That is why everyone evacuates to the Shelters— Well, although there haven't been any spacequakes that big since then— in this neighborhood, for the past few years there have been small scale explosions occurring frequently."
From Tama-chan's lecture, Tohka's eyebrows came together closely.
"The-Then why isn't shidou here at this dangerous time, where did he go?"
"Eh…? Eh, errrr……that is……"
Tamae, adjusting her glasses awkwardly, looked over to the other students that were sitting around.
"……"
While remaining silent Tohka, started gripping the hem of her skirt that was in her hands more tightly.
"……shidou."
*Thump* *Thump*
Around the area of her chest, she heard these sounds.
For some reason she didn't know……She had a bad premonition.
And then, when the throbbing in her heart reached a climax.
"……Uh."
Tohka immediately raised her face.
"Errrr……I-It's okay. Although I can't see him around here……I think he most probably forgot something and went back to get it. He should be back here by now, somewhere around here in the Shelter…"
And, Tamae who was surveying the inside of the Shelter returned her sights to Tohka.
"Ara……? Ya-Yatogami-san?"
She looked at where Tohka was standing before but, her figure disappeared.
"Fuu…This way right?"
Shidou who had been sent to the ground using the teleporter in the lower section of [Fraxinus], was following the voice in the small intercam that was equipped to his right ear.
"Yes. The Spirit is already inside the building. Don't make a mistake with the first contact."
"……Understood."
Shidou said that while his sweat dripped down his cheek, and separated his hand from the intercam.
And then, to calm down his throbbing heart, he took a deep breath.
Right now, Shidou was in a large department tower just outside the shopping district.
It would seem that the [Hermit], was a Spirit that had a fairly high appearance rate— By using movement pattern statistics, which also incorporated the results of Reine's thought analyses, they could estimate the Spirit's most probable route.
And of course, due to the movements of the AST there might be a chance that the route would change. If that happens they would recover Shidou, and then head towards the next predicted location— However, at this moment this department store location was ideal.
The AST's main equipment— the CR-unit was unsuitable for indoor combat.
And naturally, there might be a chance that they would destroy the building to smoke out the Spirit like that time they did to Tohka. But, for the time being, they should be waiting for the Spirit to come out from the building on its own.
And therefore during this time, without the AST knowing, it was a precious opportunity for Shidou to sneak onto the battlefield and converse with the Spirit, even if only for a few minutes.
"……"
In the middle of April, while wearing this intercam and following the instructions from [Ratatoskr], he remembered that time he had his conversation with Tohka.
And to think that, it hasn't even been a month since then. He didn't think that he would once again return onto the battlefield but it couldn't be helped.
For some weird reason which he couldn't understand, Shidou had an unbelievable power.
If he used that power, it could stop the spacequakes. It was also said that it could stop the attacks on the Spirits as well.
—And what's more, that was something that Shidou has wished and hoped for.
"…Well, even if I think that."
Shidou made a small sigh… —And the reason was, he had to seduce the Spirits and kiss them— the difficulty level was somewhat too high for Shidou.
"—Shidou. The [Hermit]'s signal has entered the area."
"—!"
From the unexpected voice echoed by Kotori, it made Shidou's body nervous.
And, at that instant.
"—You, hav' ya come here to bully Yoshinon too…?"
"…Uh!?"
And suddenly a voice echoed from overhead, Shidou quickly raised his head.
Over there was [Hermit], currently floating upside down as if she was defying the laws of gravity.
"Your wrong- Since Yoshinon is a kind girl who hasn't done anything mische— Eh, unn?"
Suddenly, the girl's body that was upside down, flipped around in mid-air— righting herself, before landing on the ground and stood there.
And then, *clatter* *clatter* she moved the puppets mouth.
"oOOYaa? I was wonderin' who it was but aren't ya that lucky pervert Onii-chan?"
After looking at Shidou with a serious face, the puppet skillfully *pon*, smacked his hands together.
…Seriously, how do you control something to that extent with only one hand?
But now wasn't the time and situation to be asking something like that.
Immediately, from his right ear came Kotori's voice, [wait for a moment].
Right after [Hermit] words.
① "Aah, long time no see. How you doing? You okay?" Frankly give a normal greeting.
② "Lucky Pervert? What do you mean by Lucky Pervert, Huh!" Give a casual tsukkomi. [2B 2]
③ "Fuu……, I don't know nee. For I, am just a wanderer passing by." Go with the 'Hard-Boil' act.
Looking at the 3 choices displayed on the <Fraxinus> bridge's main monitor, Kotori licked her lips.
By the way— on the bridge monitor, all sorts of other parameters were being displayed, including an enlarged projection of the [Hermit]'s bust, various stats and text windows.
No matter how you look at it, it was a love simulation game— in short a Galge screen.[2B 3]
"All members, Begin picking your choice!"
Together with Kotori's command, the crew from the lower bridge pushed the buttons on their hand.
All together—— ①,②,③ ,all received roughly the same number of votes.
"Eeh? It should be ②! This galge main character is the Tsukommi-type! It has to that one!"
One of the crew members insisted. However, immediately another voice came up from another direction.
"—But, wouldn't it be dangerous since we don't know for certain about the opponent's character? I think ① would be appropriate here."
"No no, from the data we've gathered up till now, we know that [Hermit] rarely takes the chance to attack humans! We should setup a confrontation by choosing ③!"
"……Fuumu."
After hearing the opinions from all 3 directions, Kotori touched her jaw and groaned.
And then, facing towards the mike she opened her lips.
"—Shidou, pick ③."
"……Uh, what the heck is that…"
Shidou, muttered that while his butt hit the floor.
The order delivered to his ear by Kotori— It was totally crazy.
"Uun? What's up?"
The puppet skillfully tilted its head.
This wasn't the time to argue.
Shidou immediately stood up from that spot, finding a chair on display nearby, he put one of his legs on the chair.
"Fuu……, I don't know nee. For I, am just a wanderer passing by………"
*Swoosh*
After conceitedly saying that, he started roughing up his hair.
…Honestly, that was really embarrassing.
"……"
The puppet that [Hermit] was controlling, *Deadpan* with its mouth wide open, kept quiet.
Just like that, a few seconds passed by.
"…H-Hey, Kotori. What are we going to do about this atmosphere……?"
And, the moment Shidou made a small voice of discontent to Kotori.
"Fu……,Ha-Hahahahahahaha!"
The puppet, *clatter**clatter* shook its head while laughing.
"Whaaat? Unexpectedly Onii-chan are you a facetious person? Ahahaha, no one would do that nowadays."
"Ha-Haha……I'm glad that you enjoyed it."
Shidou following the puppet's lead and laughed dryly. No one uses [facetious person] nowadays I think, but he refrained from saying that.
*gloom*
"……Yeah yeah, sorry about that."
The prideful Kotori replied with a small voice, and Shidou returned his gaze back to [Hermit].
As if matching him, the puppet met Shidou's gaze.
"Iyaa—, but I'm lucky pervert Onii-chan. We meet again in such a weird place— Ahaha, I welcome people like ya Onii-san— It seems that everyone hates Yoshinon— If I were to leave this place, they would probably start attacking me again——"
After saying that, it once again started laughing.
"Well that's one surprisingly, cheerful Spirit."
From his right ear, Shidou heard the same words he was thinking about. As expected, even Kotori thought of the same thing.
And, inside [Hermit] words, there was a word that caught his interest. He opened his mouth a little.
"Hey…Who's Yoshinon?"
When Shidou asked, the puppet made a shocked expression, and opened its mouth wide.
"Ah, what a mistake! For Yoshinon of all people, to forget my own introduction! Yoshinon is Yoshinon's naa—mee cute right? Cute right?"
"Aah,aahh…it's a nice name."
Getting pressured by the high tensioned puppet, he nodded.
When he did that, from his right ear he heard Kotori's dubious voice.
"—Yoshinon, huh? Fuun, this Spirit is different from Tohka— she has information of her own name."
"Ah…"
It seemed true after being told that— Tohka, didn't have her own name.
The word [Tohka], was the name given by Shidou.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted, as the puppet approached his face.
"Hm so? What is Onii-chan's name?"
"Ah…Aah——My name is Shidou. It's Itsuka Shidou."
"Shidou huh? —That's a cool name. Well, it doesn't beat Yoshinon though~~"
"O-Oh…thanks. Errr…Yoshinon?"
"Hai Hai— What's up? —This is what Yoshinon is impressed by —Shidou-kun's frontier Spirit —making clever conversation —and using the name you just remembered a moment ago——"
After giving back a dry smile to the puppet that was making an exaggerated gesture by opening its hand wide, Shidou continued his words.
"No, it isn't a very important thing, but errr……the Yoshinon I'm talking about— Isn't the puppet but it's your name right?"
With that said he set his sights passed the puppet, towards its back——the blue-eyed girl.
"……"
When he did that, the puppet that had been cheerfully chatty until now, suddenly went silent.
Following that, from his right ear intercam, *Piiii!*, *Piiiii!* the sound of an alarm echoed.
"—Uh, Shidou, the values of her mood suddenly dropped. What on earth did you just say?"
"Eh…? No, I was just, asking why she doesn't talk instead of using ventriloquism…"
When Shidou frankly voiced that question, the puppet wobbled nearer to his face.
"—I don't understand what Shidou-kun said……What is ventriloquism?"
The tone of its voice remained calm. By the way, the puppet's facial expression didn't change at all.
And yet, he felt an unbelievably strong pressure, Shidou took a step back.
"N-No……About that."
"Shidou. You can think of a reason later. You need to fix the Spirit's mood right now."
An instruction came flying from Kotori. Shidou moved his lips while avoiding eye-contact.
"Ye—Yeah you're right! Yoshinon is Yoshinon. Iyaa……Haha…ha."
When he did that.
"Uun, mou——, it's because Shidou-kun is a mischievous guy——"
The dreadful mood from just now vanished like it was a lie, the puppet voice echoed in high pitch.
"……Wha-What was that just now?"
"Dunno……Well, no matter how friendly she is, the opponent is a Spirit. It's a bad idea to lower your guard."
When Shidou gave a small nod, he fixed his sights back to [Yoshinon].
"Errr——"
Although he didn't let out any words immediately.
When Shidou hesitated to say anything. Kotori's irritated voice snapped.
"Don't freeze up now. Set it up so that the Spirit can't run away."
"…Ho-how…?"
"That sort of thing, isn't it clear what you need to do? You are inside a large department store you know? Since you have time, you should be able to date, right? You understand? Listen— It's not [why don't we have a date?]— It's [let's go on a date], that is the goal. Don't give the opponent an option to pick."
"Ha-Haa……"
While feeling nervous Shidou, returned to facing [Yoshinon].
"L-Let's go on a date?"
And without any preamble, he repeated the line exactly as heard.
"……Without any setup. Can't you have played it a bit more smoother?"
Kotori said disappointedly.
[Yoshinon] didn't seem to react. No, rather the tension seemed to have risen, making it hard to say anything.
*clap* *clap*
The puppet clapped its small hands together.
"HoHo~~! That's nice—— Regardless of how ya look, ya're pretty gutsy to give an invitation out like that. Ufuun, of course it's an O-K. Rather, I finally encountered a human that I can have a decent conversation with. So it is more like Yoshinon to be the one wishing for it~~"
With that said, *Clatter* *Clatter* it laughed.
"I-I see……"
"……Well, I guess everything turned out all right in the end."
While hearing Kotori's voice mixed with her sigh, Shidou together with [Yoshinon], began walking around the department store together.
"……"
Origami, whose whole body was wrapped by a wiring suit and stocked with ammunition for her auto-range weapon, was patrolling the sky above the department store.
Around her surroundings there were a few other AST members with the same equipment flying around, and they were all bracing themselves.
AST— Anti-Spirit Team, as a special unit of the JGSDF, they were a team with remarkable and highly special characteristics.
Prepared with a machine that can turn fantasy into reality— the Realizer. They are the team formed to counter the calamity that could destroy the world— the Spirits.
However, only a limited number of humans could use the Combat Realizer unit in practical combat— this limit resulted in the recruitment of irregular members like Origami.
Living in a house outside the garrison, moreover she was allowed to go to school, and only dispatched when there was an emergency.
Even though she received this special treatment, she was a JGSDF member whose dispatch frequency was extremely high.
"……"
Raindrops were continuously pelting the surface of her deployed Territory. [2B 4] That Spirit— it has been almost an hour since [Hermit] first entered the building.
But, [Hermit] was still hiding inside; even now she hasn't made an appearance.
"—Looks like she's being very persistent."
And through her transmitter, she heard the voice of her team captain, Kusakabe Ryouko.
"This is rare even for [Hermit]. To be staying in one spot like this. Normally she would have been spotted *Hop* *Hop* jumping around the place by now."
Yes. [Hermit]'s only movement pattern was mostly just running away.
Everytime Origami and the others had launched an attack, she would just run around, without even fighting back.
But, if she gained the knowledge that by passing time inside buildings could result in a [Lost][2B 5]—— to Origami this was not an amusing matter.
"The permission to attack?"
Origami asked in a soft voice, and Ryouko replied with a hint of a sigh in her voice:
"—I did try asking for permission, just in case but they said to remain on stand-by."
"Even if the building structure was to collapse, there is the possibility for repairs."
"…Well, if you were to think about it logically, that would seem to be the case. But it isn't that simple. Somebody has to pay for the repair unit, it isn't free— If this situation was like the [Princess] class, like last time then it would be okay— But this time the target is just the weakling [Hermit] class, you know?"
"……"
[Princess].
From that code-name, Origami twitched her eyebrows a little.
Not knowing the exact details of what she went through but the Spirit that held that code-name was now, the human girl— Yatogami Tohka, who was attending the same high school as Origami.
Of course, Origami having confirmed Tohka's existence, had informed Ryouko about it.
But for some reason they couldn't detect a Spirit reading coming from her, thus the assault permission wasn't granted.
Asking for the impossible and then having her family register investigated, they were unable to find anything suspicious.
At the very least, at this time —although Origami was extremely dissatisfied— she was a Japanese citizen, an existence that was Origami's duty to protect.
And so—
"……?"
Origami narrowed her eyes unexpectedly.
In that moment, from the corner of her eye, she felt she saw the shimmer of beautiful black hair.
Yes. It was as if she saw Tohka over there.
Looking down— at the area that had become uninhabitable; she faced the main street that was under a heavy downpour.
"……"
But, she was unable to confirm Tohka's presence.
Origami shook her head silently. It would seem like she was becoming edgy.
If she were to let the Spirit slip away like this, it would be embarrassing. Origami took in a light breath, refocusing herself and continued her patrol.
—Sometime had passed since he met [Yoshinon].
Shidou and [Yoshinon] were having a lively conversation, while walking around the inside of the department store.
As normal, sometimes Kotori would whisper some instructions into his ear— oddly enough [Yoshinon] has a low susceptibility towards gags; no matter how lame it was *clatter* *clatter* she would still laugh.
In reality, the <Fraxinus> bridge was monitoring her mental condition, and good values were being reported.
It would make people think that the sudden change in her manner earlier was some kind of mistake; at the moment things were developing favorably.
"—Fumu, this is going beyond my expectations."
Kotori said those words.
"It might be that she has the characteristic that attracts people. The favorable impression is also great. Even if I say to kiss her right now, she won't refuse right?"
"…Hey hey."
He couldn't be sure whether those words were a joke or whether she was being serious, he scratched his cheek.
But in reality, Shidou was also shocked.
Although he was able to talk to Tohka normally now, the first time they met she had a serious case of distrust against humans— each time she got the wrong idea he would encounter a life or death experience.
…But.
"As I thought being able to chat sure is F~u~N. It seems like those other people are boorish—"
"Ha……haha."
The puppet *clatter* *clatter* opened its mouth and said those words, and he replied in a strangled tone.
…How do you say it? He was still troubled.
That wish he hoped to grant— The conversation was proceeding smoothly and lively, and the values in her affection level were rising, then there shouldn't be any problems……that should be the case, but...
"……"
Shidou silently, glanced in the direction of the girl that was fiddling with her puppet.
When meeting her yesterday, and today too. The only one that was doing the speaking was the puppet through ventriloquisms; that person's mouth herself did not even move an inch.
It was like…yes, she was like the string puller for the puppet at a stage theater.
"——Ooo?"
"……Uh!"
And, Shidou was suddenly startled when the puppet unexpectedly turned its face towards him.
"Amazing!! What's that—!"
The puppet excitedly clapped its hands and ran towards the place it had pointed out— Well, of course the one doing the running was that person herself.
The object that caught [Yoshinon] interest, was the thing assembled in one corner of the toy store, a small jungle gym that was made for little kids.
At the excessively colorful strengthen plastic castle, she skillfully climbed up with only her hands and legs.
And when she reached the top of it.
"Wahaha! How is it Shidou-kun~? Am I cool? Is Yoshinon Cool~?"
Such a voice was bounced right down at him.
"H-Hey, it's dangerous if you stand there."
The jungle gym was designed for indoor use and for children. Even if it wasn't that big, she might hurt herself if she were to fall from the top.
No, although he knew she could fly up to the sky, but for some reason in Shidou's mind, he recalled yesterday's image of her [Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddeee!].
In a panic, he rushed over to the base of the jungle gym.
But [Yoshinon] shook the puppet hand unsatisfied.
"unMou, even though I was asking if I was cool or not— and, wa-wawawa…!?"
"Wha—!"
It might be that her balance broke when she did that action, on the top of the jungle gym [Yoshinon] flapping her arms as if she was dancing, and then fell right on top of Shidou.
And just like that, while breaking [Yoshinon]'s fall, they crashed onto the floor.
"Uh…ihee……"
While his face was facing upwards, he let out that sound. And for some reason, his front tooth hurt.
And— he had a bad feeling.
Somehow, the girl with blue hair, her graceful facial features were there— right in front of him.
—And just right around the area of his lips, an oddly soft sensation was felt.
"——Umh!?"
After a few seconds, he understood the current situation that he was being put under right now.
"…Wow. Good going, Shidou!"
Even Kotori thought that this development was unexpected. She let out a surprised voice.
That was expected. Because right now Shidou was— with the girl that fell from above, he just managed to perfectly exchange a kiss with her.
"……"
—Keeping quiet, [Yoshinon] raised her body. And at that moment, their lips finally separated.
Unexpectedly……they had kissed.
But with this, [Yoshinon]'s powers should be sealed.
But…wondering why, compared to last month, during the time when he exchanged kisses with Tohka— this time there wasn't a warm feeling flowing into his body or how'd you put it?—
—And, once again from the other side of the intercam, a loud siren resounded.
"Wha…?"
He let out his voice while raising his eyebrows— shouldn't her power have been sealed?
But this sound was, when the Spirit's mood was breaking apart, something that would ring when danger was approaching Shidou.
This meant that [Yoshinon] was now—
"Ouch ouch— ……Sorry sorry, Shidou-kun. I was careless——"
But when [Yoshinon], *clatter* *Clatter* moved the puppet, she spoke calmly.
"Eh…?"
Dumbfounded, he opened his eyes wide. At [Yoshinon], who was not showing any signs of anger.
If that was the case, then what was the sound of the alarm that was being sent into his ears?
"——Shidou, it's an emergency …And most likely, the worst possible kind."
And Kotori, said with an unusually panicked voice.
"Huh…? What is…?"
And. From behind, *step*, the sound of a foot firmly stepping onto the ground, Shidou shook his shoulders.
Timidly, he turned around his head to look backwards.
And over there was— an unexpected face.
"To-Tohka……?"
His eyes widened as he called the name of the girl who was standing there.
Yes, the person standing over there right now was Tohka, who should have evacuated to the Raizen high school underground shelter.
And what's more, maybe it was due to the falling rain, her body was dripping wet. As if she had been running at full speed just now, she was now breathing heavily.
"——shidou."
As if to obstruct Shidou's process of thought, Tohka's body swayed, and while swaying she let out her voice.
He wondered why— with her only just calling his name, caused shivers to run down his spine.
"……What did you do just now?"
"……Eh? Wha-What do you mean…?"
At that question he touched his lips without thinking— and immediately regaining his thoughts he put his hands behind his back.
But Tohka, wasn't pleased with that response, while making an expression like a grumbling kid, she squeezed out her shaking voice from deep down her throat.
"—Aft-After making me so worried……"
"Eh……?"
"What are you doing flirting around with a girllllllll!!!!!!!!"
*STOMP*————!!
Tohka shouted, and the moment her foot struck the ground, in the middle of the floor where she stood *CLANG*!And, it collapsed forming a small crater; cracks were spreading outwards from the epicenter.
"Wha-Whahwahwah……!"
Due to the sudden situation, Shidou opened his eyes wide and shuddered in fear.
An ordinary high school girl, couldn't break the floor simply by just stomping on the floor.
And of course although Tohka wasn't an ordinary high school girl…her Spirit power should have now been sealed— Following that logic, in this current situation the power she was displaying should only be her physical strength...
"Wha-What does this mean, Kotori……?"
When he asked that, Kotori replied with a sigh through the intercam.
"That's why………this is what we've been trying to tell you from before. Between Shidou and Tohka a link is passing through you two, and if Tohka's mental state becomes unstable, we fear that some of her powers will reverse back into her."
"H-Huh? What do you mean by that, are you saying that Tohka's mental state is now unstable?"
"Yes. And so, before this situation gets any worse, you should fix Tohka's mood somehow."
"E-Even if you say that how am I supposed to do—"
During the time he was saying that, Tohka managed to reach the base of the jungle gym where Shidou and [Yoshinon] were entangled.
And then she alternated her piercing gaze between the both of them, [mumumu…] she murmured while remaining tightlipped.
Then, *glare*! sending a look towards Shidou, followed by a glare at [Yoshinon] she extended a pointed finger at her.
"…shidou. The important task you said you had to do, was it to meet with this girl here?"
"Ah, no, about that…"
No well, although according to those words, it was certainly true but should he reply with a 'Yes' now, he was in doubt whether to tell Tohka his true intentions or not.
And, that time.
"……Iyaa,iyaa……I get it now…"
The [Yoshinon] who had been staring blankly at Tohka since she first made her appearance, let out its high-pitched voice.
On the Puppet's rabbit face, was a prankster like smile- he wondered how that got there.
"Onee-san? Err——"
"……It's Tohka."
When the puppet said that, Tohka replied in a discouraging tone.
"Then Tohka-chan~ Although I feel bad for you but it would seem that Shidou-kun has lost interest in you."
"Wha—?"
"—!?"
Tohka and Shidou both gasped at the same time, and then faced towards the puppet.
"Iiyaa see, how do I put it? Hearing your conversation, it looks like he broke Tohka-chan's promise and then came to visit Yoshinon right? Isn't this crux of the story?"
"……Uh."
Tohka twitched her shoulders, and made a face like she could cry at any moment.
"Yo-You, what are you sayin——mguhhhh!?"
When Shidou raised his voice towards the Puppets remark—— Tohka, *grab*, grabbed him by the mouth with both hands.
"Will you keep quiet for a while shidou?"
While releasing a force that would not allow him to consent or refuse, using an unbelievable amount of strength she *grind* *grind* clamped her grip on his cheekbone.
"……! ……!"
The puppet was in a pleasant mood and with an [it can't be helped like] tone, continued speaking.
"Iiyaa—, Sis—, sorry, but this is probably Yoshinon's fault~ her appearance is too charming~"
"Gu-Gugu……"
"It really isn't that I am talking bad about Tohka-chan you know? Buut~ I can't really blame Shidou-kun for leaving behind Tohka-chan and running towards Yoshinon~"
"U-Ugahhh!!"
For a period of time, while Tohka was still gripping onto Shidou's face and suppressing her trembling shoulders, having reached her limits she screamed.
And finally, she took her hands off of Shidou's face.
"Sh-Shut up! Shutup shutup shutup! That's no good! That kind of thing is no good!"
"Eehh—, even if say it's no good. HoraaHoraa, Shidou-kun how about saying it clearly, that Tohka-chan is already an unwanted child."
"—!"
That instant, Tohka suddenly grabbed onto the puppets collar.
And of course since the puppet was small, it was easily removed from the girls hand, it was then held up in the air.
"—!?"
And, to the girl that had her puppet taken away from her, her eyes began to swirl.
The next moment her eyeballs flickered, her face turned pale white, and sweat appeared on her face. Incidentally it was visible that her breathing has gotten rougher, and her fingers *Twitch* *Twitch* started to shake.
"Yo-Yoshinon……?"
Shidou, while he was rubbing his cheeks that were still in pain, and to the [Yoshinon] that had shown such a fast change, he gave a worried look.
But, it would seems that Tohka did not realize the state that [Yoshinon] was in. Her attention was on the puppet that she was grabbing onto with both her hands, like a knife she gave a sharp gaze, and drew closer to it.
"I……I am NOT an unwanted child! …shidou said… …shidou said that I… He said that it was okay for me to be here! Anymore insults and I will not forgive you! HEY! How about saying something!?"
Probably thinking that the puppet was the one that let out the voice, she grabbed the neck of the rabbit, and shook it.
"……! ……!"
Looking on at that situation, [Yoshinon] began letting out a cry that doesn't sound like a voice.
As if the calm demeanor she held just now was a lie, her whole body was trembling like a Chihuahua.[2B 6]
And then [Yoshinon], fixing back her hood to cover her eyes as if she were trying to avoid being seen, in a nervous manner, she tugged at Tohka's shirt.
"Nu. Wha-What? Don't disturb me. I am talking to this guy right here, right now."
"——Gii...ve…back...please……"
To try and take back the puppet, that Tohka was lifting high up with both her hands, [Yoshinon] *Hop* *Hop* was jumping up and down.
Speaking of which, it might be the first time since yesterday that he had heard her real voice.
"—What are you doing Shidou? Yoshinon's mental condition is deteriorating. Hurry up and stop it!"
And, from his right ear, Kotori's voice echoed.
While scratching his cheek Shidou, spoke timidly with his voice shaking:
"H-Hey...Tohka. Err……that...will you give that back to her?"
"……Uh!"
When he did that Tohka, at Shidou's words, her eyes opened wide in a shock.
"shidou……As I thought…you picked this girl instead of me…..."
"Ha...huh? No, it isn't about that—"
And, at the same time.
"……[Zadkiel]……"
"—!"
As he thought that, [Yoshinon] suddenly raised her right hand into the air and then swung it down, right below her.
In an instant, from the floor it broke through— a giant doll appeared at that spot.
"Wha…!?"
The whole body should be around 3 meters in length; in short it was a plushie toy that took the size of fully sized ragdoll. The outer body was made of smooth gold like material, and white patterns were carved here and there on it.
And also at the part that appears to be its head, a long rabbit like ears could be glimpsed.
"A d-doll……!?"
"—Wha...is this—!?"
Shidou and Tohka, let out their voices at the same time.
[Yoshinon], clinging onto the back of the doll that appeared right under her own feet, and in the two holes located on its back she inserted both her legs into them.
The next moment— the dolls eyes shone red, and while shaking its slow-witted like body, *Guooooooooooooooooo*, it raised a low roar.
And together with that, white smoke started coming out from the body of the doll.
"Cold……!?"
He drew back his legs without thinking.
That smoke, was similar to liquid nitrogen, was something at subzero temperatures.
"—The manifestation of the Angel at this time…!? Shidou, this is bad, run away!"
"Huh...huh……!? Wh-What is an Angel!!"
Suddenly Kotori's shout echoed into his right ear, he then raised a loud voice without thinking.
"It appeared right in front of you right! The absolute shield that protects the Spirits and coming together with the AstralDress it becomes the strongest lance! Making a Spirit into a Spirit [the miracle that holds a shape]! Did you already forget about Tohka's [Sandalphon]!?"
[Sandalphon]. At that name, Shidou moved his eyebrows in shock.
Last month. It was something that manifested when Tohka still had her Spirit powers, a giant throne and a sword.
With this event being shown. It was unusually simple.
That is to say— even though they kissed. He couldn't seal the Spirit powers.
Thus, when he thought that [Yoshinon] pulled her hands back, the doll— [Zadkiel] together with a low roar, bent its body.
When it did that, the department store's windows started breaking, one window after another, and allowing rain to enter and land on the interior shop floor.
No— to be precise, it was a little different.
It wasn't that the windows broke which allowed the rain to enter, it felt more like, the raindrops pelted the window glass with tremendous force from outside until it forced its way in.
"Eh……!?"
Shidou opened his eyes wide in shock, and while his legs were trembling, he looked at the doll rising in front of him. —*Twist*, the doll turned its face towards Tohka.
"……! Tohka!"
Shidou shouted quickly and pulled Tohka's hand, and while he was holding on to her body he caused them to fall to the ground.
"Wha……shidou!?"
Tohka's voice shook his eardrums. However, at the same time as she spoke, in the place where Tohka was standing moments ago, a large number of bullet like objects zoomed passed.
All those bullets showily pierced through the merchandise shelves around them, after that all of it turned into transparent liquid and flowed onto the ground.
"Ra-Rain…!?"
Yes. From the broken windows, hardened raindrops like hailstones, ignored gravity and were released at Tohka.
And— over there, [Zadkiel] driven by [Yoshinon] moved.
"…Uh."
In an instant to protect Tohka, he turned his back towards [Zadkiel].
But, [Zadkiel] kicked the ground performing a keen maneuver that did not match to its slow moving silhouette, it passed through the spot where Tohka was at just now, and just like that it jumped outdoors through the broken windows.
At the midway point of this maneuver— the puppet that fell on the ground from Tohka's hand, was eaten up into the mouth area of the doll.
"……"
Shortly afterwards, Shidou turned his back and his sights away from [Yoshinon], he opened his mouth a little.
"W-We are safe…right?"
"……Yes. The signal has completely withdrawn. You are quite rash aren't you, Shidou?"
From his right ear, he heard that voice.
"Iiya…but why did that suddenly—"
While he was in the middle of speaking—
"Enough is enough hurry up and get away……!"
His face got pushed away and Shidou *Flip* rolled onto the ground from that spot.
"Nowah…!?"
There was no need to think of the reason. It was Tohka who was in Shidou's arms just now.
Her face was blushing and she was clenching her teeth, she made an expression equal to a spoiled child, she then with her shoulders shaking angrily, stood up.
"To-Tohka…?"
"…! Don't touch me!"
"Ouch…"
Shidou frowned without thinking, and then when he withdrew his hands, in that instant Tohka made a surprised face.
But immediately after that she became [mumumu…………] ,*pui* and she turned her face away.
"Wha-What happened to you, Tohka…?"
"Shut up! Don't talk to me! I-Instead of me, that girl is more important right…!"
"H-Huh…? What are you sayin—"
When Shidou made a dumbfounded voice, Tohka started kicking the ground with frustration.
"U-U-U-UUuuuuuuuuuuuuu—!!"
"Wai…… Uwaa…!?"
With each kick, another crack was put into the floor, and it caved in.
Shidou who could no longer sustain his balance, rolled down into the hole.
"—All members of AST report in. There is movement by the Spirit. Resume attack at will when sighted."
From her eardrums, Origami's whole body that was wrapped in a wiring suit, heard the transmitted incoming communication.
"—Roger."
When Origami replied, she fixed her firing posture with both her hands gripping the Anti-Spirit Gatling gun [Auldist].
The latest equipment, a long-range type weapon designed to rapidly fire a large numbers of bullets from outside the opponent's range.
The rain that started falling at the same time as when [Hermit] appeared, which had been bouncing off the outer surface of her personal territory, had not affected their preparations outside the building, as she continued gazing at the Spirit readings that was directly being shown onto her retina.
In that instant.
—*GON*, together with that sound, the Spirit blasted a hole in the building wall, and a cloud of dust was raised.
At the same time together with all that, the Spirit readings lit up on the retina screen.
"—Fire!"
At the same time as the echo of captain Ryouko's command, Origami and the others pulled their triggers all at once.
A terrible rumbling sound resounded as the building was riddled by hundreds of bullets, and a dreadful cloud dust was raised into the air.
"……"
Origami, while still resting her finger on the trigger, narrowed her eyes.
Due to her Territory providing her with enhanced superhuman eyesight, she caught sight of a shadow moving at high speed within the cloud of dust.
Origami while remaining silent issued out her orders from inside her mind.
As if responding to her will, the small missiles located within the leg compartments of her equipment activated, from the left and right leg, each loaded with 10 rounds, homing missiles were launched aimed at [Hermit].
"—!?"
The Spirit who was in the middle of having Anti Spirit Gatling bullets shot at her— the [Hermit], immediately turned her eyes towards the homing missiles that were approaching her, and made a surprised expression.
"—!"
When [Hermit] pulled both her hands, the doll lightly danced into the air, and shook off the pursuing homing missiles.
But, by that time it was already too late, the remaining AST members, had locked on to the Spirit's figure.
From behind the homing missiles, and with the barrage of Gatling bullets coming from all directions. Avoiding all of that would be impossible.
"Kya——!"
At the same time, Origami heard a small cry from somewhere with her superhearing, a tremendously loud explosion occurred where all the bullets had impacted at once.
Most probably, most of the attacks would be nullified by the AstralDress that was covering the Spirit— even the [Hermit] would most likely come out uninjured not to mention a [Princess] class Spirit.
Currently, at the point of impact, they confirmed that the giant doll was falling down.
"——Okay! Don't rest your hands from attacking! Shoot! Shoot!"
Ryouko's orders echoed. But——
The finger that Origami was resting on the trigger twitched.
They confirmed that the Spirit body of the giant doll vanished and dissolved into space.
"We Lost……her?"
From someone's whisper, had been sent and heard by the entire AST team members.
When the Spirit returns to the other side, which they called the other dimension- they classify it as [Lost].
Although the AST had the goal of eliminating the Spirits with military power, it is incredibly hard to completely defeat a Spirit which has huge battle abilities; generally when this [Lost] condition occurs, the operation has been deemed a success.
And, therefore, the clouds drifted away and daylight shone down.
The rain that was hitting the Territory stopped promptly.
"—All members, we're all returning to base."
"……"
From Ryouko's voice, Origami lowered her gun muzzle, and deactivated her weapon systems.
But, during the time when she followed Ryouko's back and returned to base—
"……?"
From her eyesight that was improved because of her Territory, something peculiar caught her eye, she lowered her altitude temporarily to investigate.
"Oh, Itsuka…Eh? What happened to you?"
It was morning and Shidou, who was dragging his heavy legs into the classroom, was called out with a puzzled voice by Tonomachi.
Well even if it wasn't him, looking at his current state, everyone would have had the same impression too.
Because whether it was his face or hands, his whole body was practically covered in bandages, on top of that his steps were staggering so much that it seemed like he would fall over anytime.
"…Aah, a little something."
Shidou gave a wry smile while saying so, then let out a small sigh.
Over to the side Tonomachi, as if he remembered something, suppressed his laughter.
"Oh yeah, I heard that net radio, what was up with that? It was pretty damn interesting."
Shidou's face twitched upon hearing those words.
"Y-you've already heard it? that..."
"Oh, I listened to it a little before I left the house. But... that's supposed to be a joke right? It would be scary if that were real."
"Ah…Hahahaha… Yeah, y-you're right…"
Shidou let out a dry laugh and averted his gaze.
"Lea-Leaving that aside Tonomachi, what are you looking at?"
Shidou raised his voice in order to change the topic as it would be troublesome if he gained more interest in that radio broadcast.
Tonomachi looked like he was gazing seriously at the gravure page in the back of a manga magazine.
"Ah, this— Oh yeah, I also want to ask you about something."
"W-what is it?"
Shidou asked him back. Tonomachi was unusually serious and continued speaking.
"Nurse, miko, or maid…… Which one do you like most?"
"…Huh?"
Shidou let out a startled voice due to Tonomachi's unexpected question.
"It's been decided that the gravure costume for the next issue will be based on the readers' voting poll… This is so troubling."
"…Ahh, is that so..."
Shidou replied with a sigh. Tonomachi seemed like he didn't mind and thrust the magazine towards Shidou.
"So? Which one do you like!?"
"Eh…errrrmm…then……the maid…?"
Shidou replied due to being pressured by Tonomachi's unusual vigor. In that moment, Tonomachi's eyebrows suddenly twitched.
"Wh-What's wrong?"
"——To think that you would like maids! I'm sorry but our friendship ends here!"
"……"
Shidou, scratched his cheek, then walked over to his own seat.
"H-Hey, where are you going? Itsuka!"
"……Our friendship ends here right?"
"Hey, What the heck? Aren't you being too serious. Don't you think a world where Maid lovers and Nurse lovers can coexist in peace is also kind of good? "
It seems like Tonomachi is in the Nurse faction.
Shidou placed his bag on his seat, all the while ignoring Tonomachi who threw the magazine on his table and followed him over.
At that moment, the girl sitting beside him who was reading a bulky reference book——Origami Tobiichi glanced towards him.
"……"
"O-Oh…Tobiichi, good morning."
"Good morning."
Origami replied in a monotonous voice and then tilted her head.
"Maid?"
It seemed that she heard the conversation just now. Shidou waved his hands all flustered.
"…Uh, n-no, don't mind that."
"I see."
Origami made a short reply and once again returned her sights towards the book.
"Good mornin—"
Immediately after, Tonomachi waved his hands towards her, but Origami's expression did not change in the slightest.
Tonomachi shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly, and started grinding Shidou in the side of his stomach.
"Although this happens every time. Why is it always you who always gets a reply back after a welcome? Y-You…"
"Ho-How should I know? Stop it already."
Shidou shook off the annoying Tonomachi, and arrived at his seat.
The door of the classroom rolled open, and Tohka entered.
Naturally, due to Tohka currently now living in the Itsuka family house, the route to school was exactly the same as Shidou's. However, if they were to go to school together it would probably appear suspicious, so Tohka had to leave a bit later after Shidou.
In addition to that, she was still affected by that terrible induction she received after moving into his house yesterday. He couldn't bear adding more fuel to the fire when 75 days haven't even past.
"……"
Tohka silently sat in her seat on the right side of Shidou's desk and without looking at him, she moved her lips.
"…Err, about…this morning, I'm sorry. Is your body okay?"
It seems she was still bothered about that matter this morning. Shidou scratched his cheeks while making a bitter smile.
"O-Oh…Don't worry about it…"
"Mu……"
Tohka made a small nod. And finally— Shidou had realized something.
"…Ah."
Several classmates were listening in on their conversation and were sending them stares of interest.
But, it seems Tohka had not yet realized it.
"Bu-But you were also at fault too. You suddenly…You know…I was surprised."
Because of Tohka's words, everyone listening caught their breath.
"To-Tohka…Why don't we have this talk later…?"
"Huh? Why is that?"
Tohka faced Shidou while tilting her head, and finally noticed the gazes coming from everyone.
"…Eh?"
Tohka gasped in surprise and sweat starting falling down her cheeks. She had remembered that yesterday at home it was explained to her that the fact that Shidou and Tohka were living together was a secret.
"I-It's not what you think everyone! It's not like me and Shidou are living together!?"
"——!?"
Everyone from the class frowned all at the same time.
"I-Idiot…"
Shidou muttered softly and then intentionally spoke in a loud voice.
"A-Aaah! In the morning when going to school we coincidentally bumped into each other! Were you okay Tohka!?"
"Mu…? U-Umu, no problem!"
Tohka seemed to have guessed what Shidou intended, although it was difficult, they matched their lies together.
Well, although it did look kind of forced…Originally, the talk of [a high school male and female living together] itself sounded unrealistic, he continued blabbering until everyone felt satisfied just in case.
…Well even so, there was still one person to Shidou's left side who wasn't satisfied…A female student was releasing a glare that would give anyone the chills.
"……"
Somehow, he felt like he would come out tattered. Shidou made a deep sigh.
—However, that problem would be resolved at a surprising speed.
The 4th period bell rang and echoed throughout the building, indicating that lunch break had started.
And at the same time,
"shidou! It's lunch time!"
"……"
At Shidou's desk— to the left and right, *Jyan*! tables were docked on both sides.
And of course, on his right was Tohka, and on the left was Origami.
"…Nu…What do you want? You're disturbing us."
"That's my line."
From Shidou's left and right, sharp gazes were exchanged from both sides.
"We-Well……Calm down. Isn't it okay if everyone eats together? Right…?"
When Shidou said that, reluctantly, Tohka and Origami quietly sat down. And then both of them took out their own bentos [2B 1]. from their respective bags.
Shidou followed, bringing out his own bento, and placed it on the table. All of them opened their lids together, and then—
"……"
He saw Origami's eyes widen a little bit, and he cursed himself for being unprepared.
Shidou's bento was something he made for himself in the morning. And of course it was made along with Kotori's (although she hadn't been returning home this month).
Naturally— if it was necessary to prepare another person's portion of hurriedly prepared bento, it was Shidou's job to do so.
"……"
Origami gave Shidou a cold look, and compared Shidou and Tohka's bento boxes— checking the contents.
—The same menu was arranged inside both of their bentos, looking identical.
"Nu, wha-what? Even if you give me that look, I won't give it to you…"
Tohka didn't realize the seriousness of this matter and gave Origami a puzzled look.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Thi-This is…"
When Origami asked her question, Shidou burst out in a cold sweat and avoided eye-contact.
"Ac-Actually. This was being sold by the lunch vendor this morning and coincidentally Tohka was also there—"
"Liar."
Origami interrupted Shidou midway, and then removed Shidou's bento box lid.
"154 days ago, you bought this at the discount shop that is in front of the station for 1580 yen, and you are still using it. This is not something from the lunch vendor."
"H-How do you know something like tha-?"
"That isn't important right now."
No, he thought that this was kind of an important question, but he was overpowered by Origami and wasn't in a position to say anything. Like just now, his words would have been stopped halfway.
"Muu, what were you two talking about just now! Don't split up the group!"
From the side, Tohka who was feeling left out, raised her voice, puffing up her cheeks.
And, at that moment.
*Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-----------*
A loud alarm sounded and echoed throughout the whole town.
In an instant, the noisy classroom during lunch break, suddenly went quiet.
—It was the spacequake alarm.
Around 30 years ago, a threat towards people, the worst disaster, was referred to as spacequake, and looms as an omen for disaster.
"……"
At that moment, Origami had showed an expression of hesitation, and then immediately stood up from her seat and left the classroom at an amazing speed.
"…Eh?"
Shidou was in a confused state and could only follow her using his eyes…Well, although it was a little indiscreet, he couldn't help but think that he was saved by the alarm ringing at the perfect time.
While Tobiichi Origami was a student, she was also a talented individual in the Ground Self-Defense Forces' AST.
Meaning, she was heading towards the battlefront right at this moment— To kill the Spirits, just like the situation with Tohka before.
"……"
Shidou clenched his teeth.
He knew he couldn't stop Origami. But—
Over there at the classroom door, a girl's voice echoed in a dazed state.
"……Everyone, it's the alarm. Please evacuate to the underground shelter immediately."
The physics teacher dressed in a white coat— Reine, pointed her fingers towards the direction of the corridor.
After the students swallowed their saliva, they exited towards the corridor one by one.
"Nu? shidou, where is everyone going?"
Tohka asked while looking at the other classmates and tilting her head.
"Ah-Aah…to the shelter. There is one under the school."
"Shelter…?"
"Aah. For now, let's leave the explanation for later. We are going too Tohka."
"Nu-Nuu."
Tohka regretfully glanced at her untouched bento, and stood up following Shidou's instruction.
They followed the other classmates and exited to the corridor.
"……Shin. You're coming this way."
Riene caught Shidou by the collar.
"Uh, Reine-san? This way means…"
"……Isn't it obvious? We're going to the <Fraxinus>."
When Shidou questioned her, he raised his voice but not loud enough to allow the other students to hear them, and Reine replied.
"……It has only been one day……You might not have made your decision yet on what you will do from now on. But there's something we want to show you. The Spirits and the current situation."
Shidou swallowed his saliva to moisten his dry throat and clenched his fist.
"…I understand. I'll go."
Reine made a small nod sleepily with one eye open, and after looking at the students that were lined up, she faced towards the entrance.
"……Well, let's hurry. It won't be long before the spacequake."
"Y-Yes. And— Ah, Reine-san. Is it okay if we didn't bring Tohka along?"
He said as he glanced towards Tohka.
Speaking of Tohka, she was looking confusedly at the classmates that were lining up for evacuation.
"……Aah, it's about that— Umu, we will have Tohka evacuate to the shelter with everyone else."
"Eh? Is that okay?"
"……Aah. With her powers currently in a sealed state, Tohka isn't that different from other humans. Also, if she sees the battle between the Spirit and the AST, she might be troubled if she remembers the time it happened to her. I told you right? [Ratatoskr] wants to avoid having Tohka accumulate stress as much as possible."
"No, but……"
Right when Shidou wanted to say something, down from the direction of the corridor, a high pitched voice echoed.
"Ho-Hora, Itsuka-kun and Yatogami-san, even Murasame-sensei too! P-Please don't just stop and stand over there! If both of you don't hurry and evacuate, the dangerous is danger!"
Shidou's homeroom teacher Okamine Tamae, nicknamed Tama-chan, perked up her small shoulders and said that in a hurried state. The meaning of her words was confusing though.
"……Un, if we get caught we'll end up in an annoying situation. Let's go."
Reine made a signal with her eyes and faced her feet towards the entrance.
"Uh, ah wait a second—"
Although it was a little worrying, it couldn't be helped. Shidou made a small groan and scratched his head. He then took Tohka's hand and placed it in Tama-chan's hand.
"Sensei, I'm counting on you to take care of Tohka!"
"Fue? Eh? Ah, ye-yes, of course."
Tama-chan was quickly entrusted with Tohka, her eyes were in circles as if she was suddenly dumbfounded, while saying [I-I'm also a teacher too!"].
"shidou…?"
Tohka curved her eyebrows in uneasiness.
"Tohka, listen. Please evacuate together with Sensei to the shelter."
"What about you? What are you going to do shidou?"
"Ah…I, have an important task to do. Go on ahead without me. Okay?"
"…! Ah! Shi-shidou!"
"Itsuka-kun! Murasame-sensei too!? Where are the both of you going!?"
While hearing worried voices from the pair left behind, Shidou and Reine ran outside the school building.
"—Aah, both of you came. The Spirit will soon appear. I'm counting on you for the preparations, Reine."
From the captain's seat, Kotori said this to them, with Shidou and Reine having arrived on the bridge of the <Fraxinus>.
"…Ah."
Reine made a small nod, flapping back her white coat's hem, and sat down at her console on the lower bridge.
"—Now then…"
And, when Shidou remained silent, Kotori asked him a question while tilting her head.
"Although we are sorry that we didn't give you much time but have you made your decision? Shidou."
"…Uh—"
He choked. But, over from the bridge, a loud sound from the siren echoed.
"Wha…What?"
"An unusually strong Spirit wave reading has been detected! It's coming!"
A male crew member's shout came from the lower bridge, and Shidou's eyes were spinning from the confusion.
When Kotori heard the shout, *pachin* she snapped her fingers.
"Okay. Switch the Main monitor to the image of where the prediction site is."
When Kotori gave the order, a bird's-eye view of the town was projected on the main monitor.
It was the main street which was lined with many shops. Of course there were no human figures visible, as if it was a ghost town.
In the middle of that image, *Warp*.
"Eh…?"
At first, he had thought that the image projector was having some problems but— that was wrong.
The space.
The space, that originally was empty, distorted, it was as if a ripple on the surface of water was created by throwing a rock at it.
"Wha-What is this…?"
"Ara? Is this the first time Shidou has seen this?"
The moment Kotori said that, the space distortion grew larger—
He thought that a small light was produced on the screen, and together with the sound of an explosion, the screen had turned pure white.
"——!"
Although he knew that this was an event happening inside the screen, he instinctively covered his face with his arms.
After a few seconds, while slowly dropping his arms, he opened his eyes, and on the screen was a totally different scene from before.
In the town, a hole had opened up.
There was no other way to express it.
A portion of the buildings that were supposed to be lined up, were shaved off into a shallow bowl shape.
Shops, street lights, telephone poles, and even the surface of the road that was supposed to be there, everything, had disappeared.
What's more, maybe due to the after-effects of the explosion, the surrounding area looked as if a huge hurricane had struck.
This mess…it resembles that place about one month ago, the place where he first met Tohka.
Which means, just now, that was—
"…Spacequake…"
Shidou said in a shaky voice, Kotori [yes] consented.
"—This is the dimensional distortion that occurs when a Spirit comes over to this world. And the calamity of an outbreak-inducing nature."
"……"
He had seen the ruins of buildings many times but this was his first time seeing the moment the explosion occurred.
His palms were sweaty.
There were times when he tried to figure out the phenomenon in his head— and thanks to this experience, he finally felt like he understood it.
He understood the terror it causes— The town, the space where people live their daily lives, was destroyed, all in an instant.
"Well, at least this time the explosion was on a small-scale."
"It seems like it."
Kotori and a tall man right behind her— Vice commander Kannazuki Kyouhei, had commented.
"Good fortune— was what I wanted to say, but since this is the [Hermit] this much should be normal."
"Well, I guess so. Even among the Spirits, she has the docile-type disposition."
Shidou, still silent, pushed together his brows.
—That explosion just now, it was small-scaled?
At first, he didn't understand what Kotori and the others were talking about, but then immediately remembered.
That might be the case. Since the spacequake left a crater around 10 meters in diameter. From their perspective, it should be a small compared to the others.
Of course…even if he fully understood this now…
"…Hey, Kotori."
Something in Kotori and the others' conversation bothered Shidou. He opened his mouth to speak.
"What on earth is [Hermit]?"
"Aah, it's the code-name of the Spirit that just appeared. Wait for a moment— Can you zoom in on the screen?"
Kotori, pointed her finger towards the crew members on the lower bridge.
When she did that, the image zoomed in, towards the crater that was right in the middle of the town.
And with that, something changed on-screen.
"…Rain?"
Shidou quietly muttered.
Without warning, he thought that the screen turn darker, *drip**drip*, rain started to descend.
But— that wasn't what interested him, he no longer cared about the rain.
In the middle of the area that looked like a crater, they were able to detect the figure of a small girl.
"—?!"
A shock hit his heart, as if it had been grabbed by an eagle's talons, and passed throughout his whole body.
Standing still in the middle of the enlarged screen, was the figure of one girl. And what's more— he recognized of her.
"Ah, that is…"
Covered by a hood with rabbit ears like accessories, was a blue haired girl.
She looked to be around 13 to 14 years old, wearing a large coat and innerwear made from a mysterious material.
And on her left hand, with a comical design, a rabbit puppet was equipped.
If Shidou's eyes and brain were working properly…then that was without a doubt—
The girl he had encountered yesterday when he was returning home from school.
"—? What's wrong Shidou?"
Seeing Shidou act strangely, Kotori spoke in a dubious voice.
Shidou, after gazing at the screen once, reasserted himself.
"I-I've met that with that girl before…"
"What did you say? When did this happen?"
"Just yesterday…when I was returning home in a hurry, rain started falling—"
Shidou, going through his memories, spoke briefly about the events that happened yesterday.
After hearing Shidou talk for a while, Kotori pointed her fingers to the crew on the lower bridge.
"Send the Spirit wave reading from yesterday at 1600 to 1700 to my terminal, ASAP!"
And then she lowered her sights to the screen she was holding, and scratched her head in frustration.
"…It didn't recognize the main numerical value of the disorder huh. It was the same with Tohka last time…Shidou, why didn't you tell me this at home yesterday?"
"Do-don't say something impossible. I didn't know she was a Spirit when I first met her…!"
At the same time Shidou was shouting, the speaker that was installed on the <Fraxinus> bridge roared with a loud sound.
"—!? What, is going on—"
"—The Spirit did appear…So we aren't the only ones taking action."
Shidou's finger tips twitched a little from Kotori's words.
"The AST…huh?"
"Yes."
He glanced towards the screen— Smoke swirled around the place where the Spirit was — which was now being called [Hermit]. Probably, a missile or some sort of explosive was launched at her.
And surrounding her, a small number of humans wearing heavy mechanical armor were floating around.
The Ground Self-Defense Forces' Anti-Spirit Team, in short, the AST.
Different from the organization, [Ratatoskr], which was led by Kotori and the others, they were a special team holding military power that aimed to eliminate all Spirits.
Inside the smoke, a small silhouette *Hop*, jumped out— It was [Hermit].
The girl with her left hand tucked into a puppet came out. She twisted her body to escape from the surrounding AST members holding their ground, and leapt into the sky.
The AST members immediately responded, and pursued [Hermit] all at once.
And with the weapons that were installed into their armor, an innumerable amount of ammunitions were fired.
"—! Look out!"
Reflexively Shidou had shouted— but the warning didn't do anything useful across the screen. The large barrage of bullets and missiles released by the AST members hit [Hermit]'s body mercilessly.
"Those guys……doing that to that girl…"
His eyes opened wide, and he was grinding the back of this teeth.
"……What are you trying to say after all this time?"
As he did that, Kotori, had said that while having her eyes halfway open.
"Didn't you learn anything when this happened to Tohka? To the AST, it doesn't matter what appearance the Spirits take. The only thing that matters is their sense of duty to protect this world; To those people, they would reject any dangerous existence and follow their survival instincts like animals."
"But…even so!"
The moment Shidou opened his mouth, from the smoke, the girl leapt into the sky once again.
But- [Hermit] wasn't fighting back and was only running from place to place.
"That girl…Why doesn't she fight back?"
"This isn't unusual. Even among the Spirits [Hermit] is a very docile type."
"…Then—"
"If you're asking for the AST to have mercy, it's useless— As long as that girl is a Spirit, they won't stop."
"…Kuh!"
In response to the flat out answer, Shidou bit his lip.
No…Even if he were to repeat himself, he already knew the answer.
Her disposition, or her personality, to the AST it doesn't matter.
To them, they only cared about taking down the enemy that causes harm to this world.
—The method that could overthrow this situation…there was only one way.
Shidou clenched his fingers in a fist so tightly, he thought that blood was about to flow out. Quietly, he cleared his throat.
"…Kotori."
"What?"
"…If it wasn't because of her Spirit power…that girl would have never been targeted by the AST, right?"
When Shidou said that, Kotori knitted her eyebrows together, and her eyes faced Shidou.
"Yes— That's absolutely right."
"The spacequakes…they wouldn't have occurred right?"
"Yes."
Shidou kept quiet for a moment, he took a deep breath, and continued speaking.
"—And I can make that happen?"
"If you still don't believe me after seeing Tohka's present condition, then I don't mind if you doubt me."
"……"
After Shidou scratched his head, he used both his hands to pull his cheeks.
He gently lifted his down cast eyes, and reasserted his determination.
"Help me with this, Kotori! …I— want to save that girl…!"
"—Fufu…"
Kotori, looking happy, made her candy rod stand up.
"Now that is—— My Onii-chan."
She turned to face the crew on the lower bridge, and shouted.
"All members prepare for a Level One capture!"
"ROGER!"
The crew members began manipulating their consoles all at once.
While Kotori was gazing upon this scene, she licked her lips.
"Now then—— let us begin the DateWar!"
"—Hey, Tama-chan sensei."
Tohka who had evacuated to the established large-type underground shelter in the school, as if to suppress her rustling feelings, grabbed the hem of her skirt tightly, and asked Tamae who was sitting right beside her.
"Ya-Yatogami-san even you have started calling me that…"
Tamae faced towards Tohka, Tamae had now calmed down to a degree compared with a while ago.
But Tohka, disregarding Tama's sigh of rejection, continued her words.
"That sound just now, what was that? What on earth is this place?"
"Wha-What are you saying. That alarm just now was the spacequake alarm. Because there might be a chance a spacequake might occur, everyone has been evacuated to the underground shelter since it will be safe here."
"Spacequake…? What is that?"
Tohka tilted her head, and Tama-chan wore a 'surprised' expression.
"Eh? What is a spacequake? You don't know?"
"……Muu."
After being told that, Tohka made an awkward and unhappy face.
It would seem that this 'spacequake' thing, was a word that everyone knows.
There might be a chance that she had asked a bad question. Tohka had been warned by Shidou to avoid doing things that might stand out. 'To be extremely ignorant is okay but try to avoid crossing the line that could lead to exposing yourself.'
And, not knowing how to handle the silence, Tama-chan shook her hands in panic.
"Ah, no no, it's alright. I guess that, there are still people that don't know."
"…Nu, sorry."
Tama-chan said [no no] once more, and raised her finger.
"A spacequake is a general term for occurrence of a large scale disaster. Well, in simple words, one day suddenly in the world somewhere, *DON*, an explosion will occur. Although there are many theories taught like the 'Atmospheric Pressure Alteration theory' or 'Plasma theory' but the real cause has still not been clarified."
"—An explosion, you say?"
Through Tama-chan explanation, Tohka raised her eyebrows.
"Yes. The biggest one to date was around 30 years ago. The Eurasia Sky Disaster. There were around 150 million casualties, it was the worst disaster since the dawn of history."
"Wha-What's up with that, wasn't that dangerous!"
"Yes. That is why everyone evacuates to the Shelters— Well, although there haven't been any spacequakes that big since then— in this neighborhood, for the past few years there have been small scale explosions occurring frequently."
From Tama-chan's lecture, Tohka's eyebrows came together closely.
"The-Then why isn't shidou here at this dangerous time, where did he go?"
"Eh…? Eh, errrr……that is……"
Tamae, adjusting her glasses awkwardly, looked over to the other students that were sitting around.
"……"
While remaining silent Tohka, started gripping the hem of her skirt that was in her hands more tightly.
"……shidou."
*Thump* *Thump*
Around the area of her chest, she heard these sounds.
For some reason she didn't know……She had a bad premonition.
And then, when the throbbing in her heart reached a climax.
"……Uh."
Tohka immediately raised her face.
"Errrr……I-It's okay. Although I can't see him around here……I think he most probably forgot something and went back to get it. He should be back here by now, somewhere around here in the Shelter…"
And, Tamae who was surveying the inside of the Shelter returned her sights to Tohka.
"Ara……? Ya-Yatogami-san?"
She looked at where Tohka was standing before but, her figure disappeared.
"Fuu…This way right?"
Shidou who had been sent to the ground using the teleporter in the lower section of [Fraxinus], was following the voice in the small intercam that was equipped to his right ear.
"Yes. The Spirit is already inside the building. Don't make a mistake with the first contact."
"……Understood."
Shidou said that while his sweat dripped down his cheek, and separated his hand from the intercam.
And then, to calm down his throbbing heart, he took a deep breath.
Right now, Shidou was in a large department tower just outside the shopping district.
It would seem that the [Hermit], was a Spirit that had a fairly high appearance rate— By using movement pattern statistics, which also incorporated the results of Reine's thought analyses, they could estimate the Spirit's most probable route.
And of course, due to the movements of the AST there might be a chance that the route would change. If that happens they would recover Shidou, and then head towards the next predicted location— However, at this moment this department store location was ideal.
The AST's main equipment— the CR-unit was unsuitable for indoor combat.
And naturally, there might be a chance that they would destroy the building to smoke out the Spirit like that time they did to Tohka. But, for the time being, they should be waiting for the Spirit to come out from the building on its own.
And therefore during this time, without the AST knowing, it was a precious opportunity for Shidou to sneak onto the battlefield and converse with the Spirit, even if only for a few minutes.
"……"
In the middle of April, while wearing this intercam and following the instructions from [Ratatoskr], he remembered that time he had his conversation with Tohka.
And to think that, it hasn't even been a month since then. He didn't think that he would once again return onto the battlefield but it couldn't be helped.
For some weird reason which he couldn't understand, Shidou had an unbelievable power.
If he used that power, it could stop the spacequakes. It was also said that it could stop the attacks on the Spirits as well.
—And what's more, that was something that Shidou has wished and hoped for.
"…Well, even if I think that."
Shidou made a small sigh… —And the reason was, he had to seduce the Spirits and kiss them— the difficulty level was somewhat too high for Shidou.
"—Shidou. The [Hermit]'s signal has entered the area."
"—!"
From the unexpected voice echoed by Kotori, it made Shidou's body nervous.
And, at that instant.
"—You, hav' ya come here to bully Yoshinon too…?"
"…Uh!?"
And suddenly a voice echoed from overhead, Shidou quickly raised his head.
Over there was [Hermit], currently floating upside down as if she was defying the laws of gravity.
"Your wrong- Since Yoshinon is a kind girl who hasn't done anything mische— Eh, unn?"
Suddenly, the girl's body that was upside down, flipped around in mid-air— righting herself, before landing on the ground and stood there.
And then, *clatter* *clatter* she moved the puppets mouth.
"oOOYaa? I was wonderin' who it was but aren't ya that lucky pervert Onii-chan?"
After looking at Shidou with a serious face, the puppet skillfully *pon*, smacked his hands together.
…Seriously, how do you control something to that extent with only one hand?
But now wasn't the time and situation to be asking something like that.
Immediately, from his right ear came Kotori's voice, [wait for a moment].
Right after [Hermit] words.
① "Aah, long time no see. How you doing? You okay?" Frankly give a normal greeting.
② "Lucky Pervert? What do you mean by Lucky Pervert, Huh!" Give a casual tsukkomi. [2B 2]
③ "Fuu……, I don't know nee. For I, am just a wanderer passing by." Go with the 'Hard-Boil' act.
Looking at the 3 choices displayed on the <Fraxinus> bridge's main monitor, Kotori licked her lips.
By the way— on the bridge monitor, all sorts of other parameters were being displayed, including an enlarged projection of the [Hermit]'s bust, various stats and text windows.
No matter how you look at it, it was a love simulation game— in short a Galge screen.[2B 3]
"All members, Begin picking your choice!"
Together with Kotori's command, the crew from the lower bridge pushed the buttons on their hand.
All together—— ①,②,③ ,all received roughly the same number of votes.
"Eeh? It should be ②! This galge main character is the Tsukommi-type! It has to that one!"
One of the crew members insisted. However, immediately another voice came up from another direction.
"—But, wouldn't it be dangerous since we don't know for certain about the opponent's character? I think ① would be appropriate here."
"No no, from the data we've gathered up till now, we know that [Hermit] rarely takes the chance to attack humans! We should setup a confrontation by choosing ③!"
"……Fuumu."
After hearing the opinions from all 3 directions, Kotori touched her jaw and groaned.
And then, facing towards the mike she opened her lips.
"—Shidou, pick ③."
"……Uh, what the heck is that…"
Shidou, muttered that while his butt hit the floor.
The order delivered to his ear by Kotori— It was totally crazy.
"Uun? What's up?"
The puppet skillfully tilted its head.
This wasn't the time to argue.
Shidou immediately stood up from that spot, finding a chair on display nearby, he put one of his legs on the chair.
"Fuu……, I don't know nee. For I, am just a wanderer passing by………"
*Swoosh*
After conceitedly saying that, he started roughing up his hair.
…Honestly, that was really embarrassing.
"……"
The puppet that [Hermit] was controlling, *Deadpan* with its mouth wide open, kept quiet.
Just like that, a few seconds passed by.
"…H-Hey, Kotori. What are we going to do about this atmosphere……?"
And, the moment Shidou made a small voice of discontent to Kotori.
"Fu……,Ha-Hahahahahahaha!"
The puppet, *clatter**clatter* shook its head while laughing.
"Whaaat? Unexpectedly Onii-chan are you a facetious person? Ahahaha, no one would do that nowadays."
"Ha-Haha……I'm glad that you enjoyed it."
Shidou following the puppet's lead and laughed dryly. No one uses [facetious person] nowadays I think, but he refrained from saying that.
*gloom*
"……Yeah yeah, sorry about that."
The prideful Kotori replied with a small voice, and Shidou returned his gaze back to [Hermit].
As if matching him, the puppet met Shidou's gaze.
"Iyaa—, but I'm lucky pervert Onii-chan. We meet again in such a weird place— Ahaha, I welcome people like ya Onii-san— It seems that everyone hates Yoshinon— If I were to leave this place, they would probably start attacking me again——"
After saying that, it once again started laughing.
"Well that's one surprisingly, cheerful Spirit."
From his right ear, Shidou heard the same words he was thinking about. As expected, even Kotori thought of the same thing.
And, inside [Hermit] words, there was a word that caught his interest. He opened his mouth a little.
"Hey…Who's Yoshinon?"
When Shidou asked, the puppet made a shocked expression, and opened its mouth wide.
"Ah, what a mistake! For Yoshinon of all people, to forget my own introduction! Yoshinon is Yoshinon's naa—mee cute right? Cute right?"
"Aah,aahh…it's a nice name."
Getting pressured by the high tensioned puppet, he nodded.
When he did that, from his right ear he heard Kotori's dubious voice.
"—Yoshinon, huh? Fuun, this Spirit is different from Tohka— she has information of her own name."
"Ah…"
It seemed true after being told that— Tohka, didn't have her own name.
The word [Tohka], was the name given by Shidou.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted, as the puppet approached his face.
"Hm so? What is Onii-chan's name?"
"Ah…Aah——My name is Shidou. It's Itsuka Shidou."
"Shidou huh? —That's a cool name. Well, it doesn't beat Yoshinon though~~"
"O-Oh…thanks. Errr…Yoshinon?"
"Hai Hai— What's up? —This is what Yoshinon is impressed by —Shidou-kun's frontier Spirit —making clever conversation —and using the name you just remembered a moment ago——"
After giving back a dry smile to the puppet that was making an exaggerated gesture by opening its hand wide, Shidou continued his words.
"No, it isn't a very important thing, but errr……the Yoshinon I'm talking about— Isn't the puppet but it's your name right?"
With that said he set his sights passed the puppet, towards its back——the blue-eyed girl.
"……"
When he did that, the puppet that had been cheerfully chatty until now, suddenly went silent.
Following that, from his right ear intercam, *Piiii!*, *Piiiii!* the sound of an alarm echoed.
"—Uh, Shidou, the values of her mood suddenly dropped. What on earth did you just say?"
"Eh…? No, I was just, asking why she doesn't talk instead of using ventriloquism…"
When Shidou frankly voiced that question, the puppet wobbled nearer to his face.
"—I don't understand what Shidou-kun said……What is ventriloquism?"
The tone of its voice remained calm. By the way, the puppet's facial expression didn't change at all.
And yet, he felt an unbelievably strong pressure, Shidou took a step back.
"N-No……About that."
"Shidou. You can think of a reason later. You need to fix the Spirit's mood right now."
An instruction came flying from Kotori. Shidou moved his lips while avoiding eye-contact.
"Ye—Yeah you're right! Yoshinon is Yoshinon. Iyaa……Haha…ha."
When he did that.
"Uun, mou——, it's because Shidou-kun is a mischievous guy——"
The dreadful mood from just now vanished like it was a lie, the puppet voice echoed in high pitch.
"……Wha-What was that just now?"
"Dunno……Well, no matter how friendly she is, the opponent is a Spirit. It's a bad idea to lower your guard."
When Shidou gave a small nod, he fixed his sights back to [Yoshinon].
"Errr——"
Although he didn't let out any words immediately.
When Shidou hesitated to say anything. Kotori's irritated voice snapped.
"Don't freeze up now. Set it up so that the Spirit can't run away."
"…Ho-how…?"
"That sort of thing, isn't it clear what you need to do? You are inside a large department store you know? Since you have time, you should be able to date, right? You understand? Listen— It's not [why don't we have a date?]— It's [let's go on a date], that is the goal. Don't give the opponent an option to pick."
"Ha-Haa……"
While feeling nervous Shidou, returned to facing [Yoshinon].
"L-Let's go on a date?"
And without any preamble, he repeated the line exactly as heard.
"……Without any setup. Can't you have played it a bit more smoother?"
Kotori said disappointedly.
[Yoshinon] didn't seem to react. No, rather the tension seemed to have risen, making it hard to say anything.
*clap* *clap*
The puppet clapped its small hands together.
"HoHo~~! That's nice—— Regardless of how ya look, ya're pretty gutsy to give an invitation out like that. Ufuun, of course it's an O-K. Rather, I finally encountered a human that I can have a decent conversation with. So it is more like Yoshinon to be the one wishing for it~~"
With that said, *Clatter* *Clatter* it laughed.
"I-I see……"
"……Well, I guess everything turned out all right in the end."
While hearing Kotori's voice mixed with her sigh, Shidou together with [Yoshinon], began walking around the department store together.
"……"
Origami, whose whole body was wrapped by a wiring suit and stocked with ammunition for her auto-range weapon, was patrolling the sky above the department store.
Around her surroundings there were a few other AST members with the same equipment flying around, and they were all bracing themselves.
AST— Anti-Spirit Team, as a special unit of the JGSDF, they were a team with remarkable and highly special characteristics.
Prepared with a machine that can turn fantasy into reality— the Realizer. They are the team formed to counter the calamity that could destroy the world— the Spirits.
However, only a limited number of humans could use the Combat Realizer unit in practical combat— this limit resulted in the recruitment of irregular members like Origami.
Living in a house outside the garrison, moreover she was allowed to go to school, and only dispatched when there was an emergency.
Even though she received this special treatment, she was a JGSDF member whose dispatch frequency was extremely high.
"……"
Raindrops were continuously pelting the surface of her deployed Territory. [2B 4] That Spirit— it has been almost an hour since [Hermit] first entered the building.
But, [Hermit] was still hiding inside; even now she hasn't made an appearance.
"—Looks like she's being very persistent."
And through her transmitter, she heard the voice of her team captain, Kusakabe Ryouko.
"This is rare even for [Hermit]. To be staying in one spot like this. Normally she would have been spotted *Hop* *Hop* jumping around the place by now."
Yes. [Hermit]'s only movement pattern was mostly just running away.
Everytime Origami and the others had launched an attack, she would just run around, without even fighting back.
But, if she gained the knowledge that by passing time inside buildings could result in a [Lost][2B 5]—— to Origami this was not an amusing matter.
"The permission to attack?"
Origami asked in a soft voice, and Ryouko replied with a hint of a sigh in her voice:
"—I did try asking for permission, just in case but they said to remain on stand-by."
"Even if the building structure was to collapse, there is the possibility for repairs."
"…Well, if you were to think about it logically, that would seem to be the case. But it isn't that simple. Somebody has to pay for the repair unit, it isn't free— If this situation was like the [Princess] class, like last time then it would be okay— But this time the target is just the weakling [Hermit] class, you know?"
"……"
[Princess].
From that code-name, Origami twitched her eyebrows a little.
Not knowing the exact details of what she went through but the Spirit that held that code-name was now, the human girl— Yatogami Tohka, who was attending the same high school as Origami.
Of course, Origami having confirmed Tohka's existence, had informed Ryouko about it.
But for some reason they couldn't detect a Spirit reading coming from her, thus the assault permission wasn't granted.
Asking for the impossible and then having her family register investigated, they were unable to find anything suspicious.
At the very least, at this time —although Origami was extremely dissatisfied— she was a Japanese citizen, an existence that was Origami's duty to protect.
And so—
"……?"
Origami narrowed her eyes unexpectedly.
In that moment, from the corner of her eye, she felt she saw the shimmer of beautiful black hair.
Yes. It was as if she saw Tohka over there.
Looking down— at the area that had become uninhabitable; she faced the main street that was under a heavy downpour.
"……"
But, she was unable to confirm Tohka's presence.
Origami shook her head silently. It would seem like she was becoming edgy.
If she were to let the Spirit slip away like this, it would be embarrassing. Origami took in a light breath, refocusing herself and continued her patrol.
—Sometime had passed since he met [Yoshinon].
Shidou and [Yoshinon] were having a lively conversation, while walking around the inside of the department store.
As normal, sometimes Kotori would whisper some instructions into his ear— oddly enough [Yoshinon] has a low susceptibility towards gags; no matter how lame it was *clatter* *clatter* she would still laugh.
In reality, the <Fraxinus> bridge was monitoring her mental condition, and good values were being reported.
It would make people think that the sudden change in her manner earlier was some kind of mistake; at the moment things were developing favorably.
"—Fumu, this is going beyond my expectations."
Kotori said those words.
"It might be that she has the characteristic that attracts people. The favorable impression is also great. Even if I say to kiss her right now, she won't refuse right?"
"…Hey hey."
He couldn't be sure whether those words were a joke or whether she was being serious, he scratched his cheek.
But in reality, Shidou was also shocked.
Although he was able to talk to Tohka normally now, the first time they met she had a serious case of distrust against humans— each time she got the wrong idea he would encounter a life or death experience.
…But.
"As I thought being able to chat sure is F~u~N. It seems like those other people are boorish—"
"Ha……haha."
The puppet *clatter* *clatter* opened its mouth and said those words, and he replied in a strangled tone.
…How do you say it? He was still troubled.
That wish he hoped to grant— The conversation was proceeding smoothly and lively, and the values in her affection level were rising, then there shouldn't be any problems……that should be the case, but...
"……"
Shidou silently, glanced in the direction of the girl that was fiddling with her puppet.
When meeting her yesterday, and today too. The only one that was doing the speaking was the puppet through ventriloquisms; that person's mouth herself did not even move an inch.
It was like…yes, she was like the string puller for the puppet at a stage theater.
"——Ooo?"
"……Uh!"
And, Shidou was suddenly startled when the puppet unexpectedly turned its face towards him.
"Amazing!! What's that—!"
The puppet excitedly clapped its hands and ran towards the place it had pointed out— Well, of course the one doing the running was that person herself.
The object that caught [Yoshinon] interest, was the thing assembled in one corner of the toy store, a small jungle gym that was made for little kids.
At the excessively colorful strengthen plastic castle, she skillfully climbed up with only her hands and legs.
And when she reached the top of it.
"Wahaha! How is it Shidou-kun~? Am I cool? Is Yoshinon Cool~?"
Such a voice was bounced right down at him.
"H-Hey, it's dangerous if you stand there."
The jungle gym was designed for indoor use and for children. Even if it wasn't that big, she might hurt herself if she were to fall from the top.
No, although he knew she could fly up to the sky, but for some reason in Shidou's mind, he recalled yesterday's image of her [Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddeee!].
In a panic, he rushed over to the base of the jungle gym.
But [Yoshinon] shook the puppet hand unsatisfied.
"unMou, even though I was asking if I was cool or not— and, wa-wawawa…!?"
"Wha—!"
It might be that her balance broke when she did that action, on the top of the jungle gym [Yoshinon] flapping her arms as if she was dancing, and then fell right on top of Shidou.
And just like that, while breaking [Yoshinon]'s fall, they crashed onto the floor.
"Uh…ihee……"
While his face was facing upwards, he let out that sound. And for some reason, his front tooth hurt.
And— he had a bad feeling.
Somehow, the girl with blue hair, her graceful facial features were there— right in front of him.
—And just right around the area of his lips, an oddly soft sensation was felt.
"——Umh!?"
After a few seconds, he understood the current situation that he was being put under right now.
"…Wow. Good going, Shidou!"
Even Kotori thought that this development was unexpected. She let out a surprised voice.
That was expected. Because right now Shidou was— with the girl that fell from above, he just managed to perfectly exchange a kiss with her.
"……"
—Keeping quiet, [Yoshinon] raised her body. And at that moment, their lips finally separated.
Unexpectedly……they had kissed.
But with this, [Yoshinon]'s powers should be sealed.
But…wondering why, compared to last month, during the time when he exchanged kisses with Tohka— this time there wasn't a warm feeling flowing into his body or how'd you put it?—
—And, once again from the other side of the intercam, a loud siren resounded.
"Wha…?"
He let out his voice while raising his eyebrows— shouldn't her power have been sealed?
But this sound was, when the Spirit's mood was breaking apart, something that would ring when danger was approaching Shidou.
This meant that [Yoshinon] was now—
"Ouch ouch— ……Sorry sorry, Shidou-kun. I was careless——"
But when [Yoshinon], *clatter* *Clatter* moved the puppet, she spoke calmly.
"Eh…?"
Dumbfounded, he opened his eyes wide. At [Yoshinon], who was not showing any signs of anger.
If that was the case, then what was the sound of the alarm that was being sent into his ears?
"——Shidou, it's an emergency …And most likely, the worst possible kind."
And Kotori, said with an unusually panicked voice.
"Huh…? What is…?"
And. From behind, *step*, the sound of a foot firmly stepping onto the ground, Shidou shook his shoulders.
Timidly, he turned around his head to look backwards.
And over there was— an unexpected face.
"To-Tohka……?"
His eyes widened as he called the name of the girl who was standing there.
Yes, the person standing over there right now was Tohka, who should have evacuated to the Raizen high school underground shelter.
And what's more, maybe it was due to the falling rain, her body was dripping wet. As if she had been running at full speed just now, she was now breathing heavily.
"——shidou."
As if to obstruct Shidou's process of thought, Tohka's body swayed, and while swaying she let out her voice.
He wondered why— with her only just calling his name, caused shivers to run down his spine.
"……What did you do just now?"
"……Eh? Wha-What do you mean…?"
At that question he touched his lips without thinking— and immediately regaining his thoughts he put his hands behind his back.
But Tohka, wasn't pleased with that response, while making an expression like a grumbling kid, she squeezed out her shaking voice from deep down her throat.
"—Aft-After making me so worried……"
"Eh……?"
"What are you doing flirting around with a girllllllll!!!!!!!!"
*STOMP*————!!
Tohka shouted, and the moment her foot struck the ground, in the middle of the floor where she stood *CLANG*!And, it collapsed forming a small crater; cracks were spreading outwards from the epicenter.
"Wha-Whahwahwah……!"
Due to the sudden situation, Shidou opened his eyes wide and shuddered in fear.
An ordinary high school girl, couldn't break the floor simply by just stomping on the floor.
And of course although Tohka wasn't an ordinary high school girl…her Spirit power should have now been sealed— Following that logic, in this current situation the power she was displaying should only be her physical strength...
"Wha-What does this mean, Kotori……?"
When he asked that, Kotori replied with a sigh through the intercam.
"That's why………this is what we've been trying to tell you from before. Between Shidou and Tohka a link is passing through you two, and if Tohka's mental state becomes unstable, we fear that some of her powers will reverse back into her."
"H-Huh? What do you mean by that, are you saying that Tohka's mental state is now unstable?"
"Yes. And so, before this situation gets any worse, you should fix Tohka's mood somehow."
"E-Even if you say that how am I supposed to do—"
During the time he was saying that, Tohka managed to reach the base of the jungle gym where Shidou and [Yoshinon] were entangled.
And then she alternated her piercing gaze between the both of them, [mumumu…] she murmured while remaining tightlipped.
Then, *glare*! sending a look towards Shidou, followed by a glare at [Yoshinon] she extended a pointed finger at her.
"…shidou. The important task you said you had to do, was it to meet with this girl here?"
"Ah, no, about that…"
No well, although according to those words, it was certainly true but should he reply with a 'Yes' now, he was in doubt whether to tell Tohka his true intentions or not.
And, that time.
"……Iyaa,iyaa……I get it now…"
The [Yoshinon] who had been staring blankly at Tohka since she first made her appearance, let out its high-pitched voice.
On the Puppet's rabbit face, was a prankster like smile- he wondered how that got there.
"Onee-san? Err——"
"……It's Tohka."
When the puppet said that, Tohka replied in a discouraging tone.
"Then Tohka-chan~ Although I feel bad for you but it would seem that Shidou-kun has lost interest in you."
"Wha—?"
"—!?"
Tohka and Shidou both gasped at the same time, and then faced towards the puppet.
"Iiyaa see, how do I put it? Hearing your conversation, it looks like he broke Tohka-chan's promise and then came to visit Yoshinon right? Isn't this crux of the story?"
"……Uh."
Tohka twitched her shoulders, and made a face like she could cry at any moment.
"Yo-You, what are you sayin——mguhhhh!?"
When Shidou raised his voice towards the Puppets remark—— Tohka, *grab*, grabbed him by the mouth with both hands.
"Will you keep quiet for a while shidou?"
While releasing a force that would not allow him to consent or refuse, using an unbelievable amount of strength she *grind* *grind* clamped her grip on his cheekbone.
"……! ……!"
The puppet was in a pleasant mood and with an [it can't be helped like] tone, continued speaking.
"Iiyaa—, Sis—, sorry, but this is probably Yoshinon's fault~ her appearance is too charming~"
"Gu-Gugu……"
"It really isn't that I am talking bad about Tohka-chan you know? Buut~ I can't really blame Shidou-kun for leaving behind Tohka-chan and running towards Yoshinon~"
"U-Ugahhh!!"
For a period of time, while Tohka was still gripping onto Shidou's face and suppressing her trembling shoulders, having reached her limits she screamed.
And finally, she took her hands off of Shidou's face.
"Sh-Shut up! Shutup shutup shutup! That's no good! That kind of thing is no good!"
"Eehh—, even if say it's no good. HoraaHoraa, Shidou-kun how about saying it clearly, that Tohka-chan is already an unwanted child."
"—!"
That instant, Tohka suddenly grabbed onto the puppets collar.
And of course since the puppet was small, it was easily removed from the girls hand, it was then held up in the air.
"—!?"
And, to the girl that had her puppet taken away from her, her eyes began to swirl.
The next moment her eyeballs flickered, her face turned pale white, and sweat appeared on her face. Incidentally it was visible that her breathing has gotten rougher, and her fingers *Twitch* *Twitch* started to shake.
"Yo-Yoshinon……?"
Shidou, while he was rubbing his cheeks that were still in pain, and to the [Yoshinon] that had shown such a fast change, he gave a worried look.
But, it would seems that Tohka did not realize the state that [Yoshinon] was in. Her attention was on the puppet that she was grabbing onto with both her hands, like a knife she gave a sharp gaze, and drew closer to it.
"I……I am NOT an unwanted child! …shidou said… …shidou said that I… He said that it was okay for me to be here! Anymore insults and I will not forgive you! HEY! How about saying something!?"
Probably thinking that the puppet was the one that let out the voice, she grabbed the neck of the rabbit, and shook it.
"……! ……!"
Looking on at that situation, [Yoshinon] began letting out a cry that doesn't sound like a voice.
As if the calm demeanor she held just now was a lie, her whole body was trembling like a Chihuahua.[2B 6]
And then [Yoshinon], fixing back her hood to cover her eyes as if she were trying to avoid being seen, in a nervous manner, she tugged at Tohka's shirt.
"Nu. Wha-What? Don't disturb me. I am talking to this guy right here, right now."
"——Gii...ve…back...please……"
To try and take back the puppet, that Tohka was lifting high up with both her hands, [Yoshinon] *Hop* *Hop* was jumping up and down.
Speaking of which, it might be the first time since yesterday that he had heard her real voice.
"—What are you doing Shidou? Yoshinon's mental condition is deteriorating. Hurry up and stop it!"
And, from his right ear, Kotori's voice echoed.
While scratching his cheek Shidou, spoke timidly with his voice shaking:
"H-Hey...Tohka. Err……that...will you give that back to her?"
"……Uh!"
When he did that Tohka, at Shidou's words, her eyes opened wide in a shock.
"shidou……As I thought…you picked this girl instead of me…..."
"Ha...huh? No, it isn't about that—"
And, at the same time.
"……[Zadkiel]……"
"—!"
As he thought that, [Yoshinon] suddenly raised her right hand into the air and then swung it down, right below her.
In an instant, from the floor it broke through— a giant doll appeared at that spot.
"Wha…!?"
The whole body should be around 3 meters in length; in short it was a plushie toy that took the size of fully sized ragdoll. The outer body was made of smooth gold like material, and white patterns were carved here and there on it.
And also at the part that appears to be its head, a long rabbit like ears could be glimpsed.
"A d-doll……!?"
"—Wha...is this—!?"
Shidou and Tohka, let out their voices at the same time.
[Yoshinon], clinging onto the back of the doll that appeared right under her own feet, and in the two holes located on its back she inserted both her legs into them.
The next moment— the dolls eyes shone red, and while shaking its slow-witted like body, *Guooooooooooooooooo*, it raised a low roar.
And together with that, white smoke started coming out from the body of the doll.
"Cold……!?"
He drew back his legs without thinking.
That smoke, was similar to liquid nitrogen, was something at subzero temperatures.
"—The manifestation of the Angel at this time…!? Shidou, this is bad, run away!"
"Huh...huh……!? Wh-What is an Angel!!"
Suddenly Kotori's shout echoed into his right ear, he then raised a loud voice without thinking.
"It appeared right in front of you right! The absolute shield that protects the Spirits and coming together with the AstralDress it becomes the strongest lance! Making a Spirit into a Spirit [the miracle that holds a shape]! Did you already forget about Tohka's [Sandalphon]!?"
[Sandalphon]. At that name, Shidou moved his eyebrows in shock.
Last month. It was something that manifested when Tohka still had her Spirit powers, a giant throne and a sword.
With this event being shown. It was unusually simple.
That is to say— even though they kissed. He couldn't seal the Spirit powers.
Thus, when he thought that [Yoshinon] pulled her hands back, the doll— [Zadkiel] together with a low roar, bent its body.
When it did that, the department store's windows started breaking, one window after another, and allowing rain to enter and land on the interior shop floor.
No— to be precise, it was a little different.
It wasn't that the windows broke which allowed the rain to enter, it felt more like, the raindrops pelted the window glass with tremendous force from outside until it forced its way in.
"Eh……!?"
Shidou opened his eyes wide in shock, and while his legs were trembling, he looked at the doll rising in front of him. —*Twist*, the doll turned its face towards Tohka.
"……! Tohka!"
Shidou shouted quickly and pulled Tohka's hand, and while he was holding on to her body he caused them to fall to the ground.
"Wha……shidou!?"
Tohka's voice shook his eardrums. However, at the same time as she spoke, in the place where Tohka was standing moments ago, a large number of bullet like objects zoomed passed.
All those bullets showily pierced through the merchandise shelves around them, after that all of it turned into transparent liquid and flowed onto the ground.
"Ra-Rain…!?"
Yes. From the broken windows, hardened raindrops like hailstones, ignored gravity and were released at Tohka.
And— over there, [Zadkiel] driven by [Yoshinon] moved.
"…Uh."
In an instant to protect Tohka, he turned his back towards [Zadkiel].
But, [Zadkiel] kicked the ground performing a keen maneuver that did not match to its slow moving silhouette, it passed through the spot where Tohka was at just now, and just like that it jumped outdoors through the broken windows.
At the midway point of this maneuver— the puppet that fell on the ground from Tohka's hand, was eaten up into the mouth area of the doll.
"……"
Shortly afterwards, Shidou turned his back and his sights away from [Yoshinon], he opened his mouth a little.
"W-We are safe…right?"
"……Yes. The signal has completely withdrawn. You are quite rash aren't you, Shidou?"
From his right ear, he heard that voice.
"Iiya…but why did that suddenly—"
While he was in the middle of speaking—
"Enough is enough hurry up and get away……!"
His face got pushed away and Shidou *Flip* rolled onto the ground from that spot.
"Nowah…!?"
There was no need to think of the reason. It was Tohka who was in Shidou's arms just now.
Her face was blushing and she was clenching her teeth, she made an expression equal to a spoiled child, she then with her shoulders shaking angrily, stood up.
"To-Tohka…?"
"…! Don't touch me!"
"Ouch…"
Shidou frowned without thinking, and then when he withdrew his hands, in that instant Tohka made a surprised face.
But immediately after that she became [mumumu…………] ,*pui* and she turned her face away.
"Wha-What happened to you, Tohka…?"
"Shut up! Don't talk to me! I-Instead of me, that girl is more important right…!"
"H-Huh…? What are you sayin—"
When Shidou made a dumbfounded voice, Tohka started kicking the ground with frustration.
"U-U-U-UUuuuuuuuuuuuuu—!!"
"Wai…… Uwaa…!?"
With each kick, another crack was put into the floor, and it caved in.
Shidou who could no longer sustain his balance, rolled down into the hole.
"—All members of AST report in. There is movement by the Spirit. Resume attack at will when sighted."
From her eardrums, Origami's whole body that was wrapped in a wiring suit, heard the transmitted incoming communication.
"—Roger."
When Origami replied, she fixed her firing posture with both her hands gripping the Anti-Spirit Gatling gun [Auldist].
The latest equipment, a long-range type weapon designed to rapidly fire a large numbers of bullets from outside the opponent's range.
The rain that started falling at the same time as when [Hermit] appeared, which had been bouncing off the outer surface of her personal territory, had not affected their preparations outside the building, as she continued gazing at the Spirit readings that was directly being shown onto her retina.
In that instant.
—*GON*, together with that sound, the Spirit blasted a hole in the building wall, and a cloud of dust was raised.
At the same time together with all that, the Spirit readings lit up on the retina screen.
"—Fire!"
At the same time as the echo of captain Ryouko's command, Origami and the others pulled their triggers all at once.
A terrible rumbling sound resounded as the building was riddled by hundreds of bullets, and a dreadful cloud dust was raised into the air.
"……"
Origami, while still resting her finger on the trigger, narrowed her eyes.
Due to her Territory providing her with enhanced superhuman eyesight, she caught sight of a shadow moving at high speed within the cloud of dust.
Origami while remaining silent issued out her orders from inside her mind.
As if responding to her will, the small missiles located within the leg compartments of her equipment activated, from the left and right leg, each loaded with 10 rounds, homing missiles were launched aimed at [Hermit].
"—!?"
The Spirit who was in the middle of having Anti Spirit Gatling bullets shot at her— the [Hermit], immediately turned her eyes towards the homing missiles that were approaching her, and made a surprised expression.
"—!"
When [Hermit] pulled both her hands, the doll lightly danced into the air, and shook off the pursuing homing missiles.
But, by that time it was already too late, the remaining AST members, had locked on to the Spirit's figure.
From behind the homing missiles, and with the barrage of Gatling bullets coming from all directions. Avoiding all of that would be impossible.
"Kya——!"
At the same time, Origami heard a small cry from somewhere with her superhearing, a tremendously loud explosion occurred where all the bullets had impacted at once.
Most probably, most of the attacks would be nullified by the AstralDress that was covering the Spirit— even the [Hermit] would most likely come out uninjured not to mention a [Princess] class Spirit.
Currently, at the point of impact, they confirmed that the giant doll was falling down.
"——Okay! Don't rest your hands from attacking! Shoot! Shoot!"
Ryouko's orders echoed. But——
The finger that Origami was resting on the trigger twitched.
They confirmed that the Spirit body of the giant doll vanished and dissolved into space.
"We Lost……her?"
From someone's whisper, had been sent and heard by the entire AST team members.
When the Spirit returns to the other side, which they called the other dimension- they classify it as [Lost].
Although the AST had the goal of eliminating the Spirits with military power, it is incredibly hard to completely defeat a Spirit which has huge battle abilities; generally when this [Lost] condition occurs, the operation has been deemed a success.
And, therefore, the clouds drifted away and daylight shone down.
The rain that was hitting the Territory stopped promptly.
"—All members, we're all returning to base."
"……"
From Ryouko's voice, Origami lowered her gun muzzle, and deactivated her weapon systems.
But, during the time when she followed Ryouko's back and returned to base—
"……?"
From her eyesight that was improved because of her Territory, something peculiar caught her eye, she lowered her altitude temporarily to investigate.
