Tengu Park— 3:42 p.m.
A warm breeze rustled the trees above as Shidou stared, dumbfounded, at the form of his self-proclaimed sister, her body clad in skintight material that exposed the naked skin beneath the areas not covered by CR unit.
"Mana…?"
"…Sorry you had to get involved in this. I'll have to explain things once I'm finished."
She kept her eyes trained on Kurumi, laid out on her back after being knocked off of him just before she could steal his spirit power.
With remarkable ease, the girl rose to her feet, that crooked smile of hers splitting her face.
"My, my. Don't you think you're being extremely rude, interrupting my rendezvous with Shidou like this?"
Mana didn't dignify that with a response, simply snapping her fingers.
The equipment mounted on her shoulders jerked, launching beams of light a moment later. Kurumi sidestepped the first volley, ascending into the air and taunting Mana with a cocky grin.
The girl just sucked her teeth, raising her hands and the beams in concert. They followed Mana's motions, pursuing Kurumi even as she dodged and weaved through the air, until finally striking their target.
Blood splatter hit the dirt along with Kurumi, her abdomen — no, her spine — pierced by a beam.
At this gruesome sight, Mana shook her head, detaching one of the components from her shoulders and deploying its energy blade functionality.
"I'd say good game, but that was freakin' embarrassing, Nightmare."
From his vantage point behind her, Shidou struggled to wrap his mind around everything that had happened within the last thirty seconds.
"Wh-What are you… doing with that?"
She'd already subdued Kurumi, hadn't she?
"You really are… naive, aren't you…?"
A shaky smile on her lips, Kurumi uttered those words in a tone that was impossible to decipher as Mana approached her prone form. Shidou didn't even realize what she intended to do until the last second, such was the casualness with which she raised her blade above Kurumi's throat.
"…No, DON'T—!"
Blood spurted from the stump that was Kurumi's neck, as her head rolled onto its side and her body slumped limply.
Shidou just stared, the impulse to flee this horrifying sight screaming at the same time a bone deep terror rooted him in place.
"You… You just… killed a person…"
Mana raised an eyebrow at that.
"That is a spirit that has hurt or killed over ten thousand people during the last thirty years. Not by spacequakes or in battle, but by deliberate, intentional action. Its name is Nightmare, and it's a monster in the truest sense of the word."
"Monster… How can you say that…"
"Just think of it as a game," she explained as her CR unit vanished in a flash of light, replaced by her light camisole and skirt. "Nightmare's just a really tough boss with a lot of lives. My job is to keep killing it until it runs out. As many times as it takes. As many ways as it takes."
"What the hell are you saying!"
Shidou stood, gathering his torn, ragged clothing and holding it to his body like a blanket as he gazed upon Kurumi's lifeless body.
Every part of his being recoiled at her words. The memory of Mana casually killing Kurumi the day before superimposed itself upon the images he'd just born witness to, and the utter banality of her actions then and now sickened him to his very core.
It spoke to the countless times she'd committed that act, wearing down her heart until she'd whittled it down to nothing. Treating the killing of another, one of the gravest, most irreversible decisions that could be made, like it was just some game?
That was wrong. Just… wrong.
He clung to that belief like a life raft in a storm as he struggled throw his clothes on.
"Killing someone… is just a game to you? If you really believed that… you'd just be a monster too…"
With a small smile and truly hollow eyes, Mana looked at him as a lonely breeze caught her hair.
"Maybe that's true. But you saw it yourself, didn't you? Nightmare killed everyone here in cold blood. If I'd come just a few minutes sooner, they'd still be alive. To protect innocents like that, what's it matter if I become a monster?"
Shidou blinked like he'd just been slapped in the face and remembered the man Kurumi had killed before attacking him. He'd begged for his life, hadn't he? And yet Kurumi had killed him anyway. With a smile on her face.
This was why the AST killed spirits, wasn't it?
Shaken to his very core, he stumbled away, in some direction. He didn't really know where. He just knew he needed to get away from here. Normal people didn't belong here, not in this mad place where people's lives were just playthings.
In the silence that ensued, Mana got to work disposing of Nightmare's remains, a routine that had become so familiar she could have done it in her sleep.
As she carried out that mindless task, her mind couldn't help drifting to uncomfortable places. About how long she'd been doing this. About how numb she'd become. And about what her older brother had said.
"…You really are naive…"
When he felt the weightless sensation of the Fraxinus' teleporter transporting him to the ship's bay, Shidou was truly at a loss.
He'd been such a fool.
From the very beginning, he'd been suspicious of Ratatoskr's cause and, though it seemed their goal truly was to save spirits, he should have known that the AST weren't just attacking them for no reason.
He'd had so many unanswered questions, and yet for some reason he'd just… gone along with all this madness. And now… And now…
Reality really wasn't a romance novel, huh?
The pod bay doors slid open and Kotori marched into the room, arms crossed as she studied his body closely.
"You seem… fine."
"No thanks to you…"
He regretted those words the instant they left his mouth, and stood in shameful silence for Kotori's reply.
"…What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"If… If Mana hadn't shown up, I would have—"
"You think I wanted to just sit there and watch while my brother was in danger!"
Scowling, Kotori closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.
"Your earpiece fell out. We couldn't contact your dumb ass, so we didn't know what was happening."
His eyes wide, Shidou touched his ear to find it empty.
"That was… my bad…"
"Great. Now, we need to talk strategy. Despite everything that happened, today's date wasn't a total bust. You made some real progress with Kurumi. We need to capitalize on that and strike before Mana or the AST can attack her again."
Kotori rattled off words at a pace Shidou could barely keep up with. But it didn't really matter anymore, did it?
"I'm… done sealing spirits."
It took her several seconds to respond, and when she did, it was with a careful tone.
"Done sealing… What are you… If it's because of the three-timing, that was just a miscalculation on our part. We should have taken how you would feel about that into account."
"No, that's…"
Shidou struggled to put words to the molten emotions roiling in his chest.
"…I thought we were doing the right thing, Kotori… Spirits don't cause spacequakes on purpose. They don't want to hurt people. They just can't help it. But Kurumi is different…"
"Hey now… what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I can't do this."
A moment passed before Kotori rounded him, gripping his collar like she wanted to strangle him.
"What the hell are you saying! It doesn't matter if she's a good person or not, or how many people she's killed! You have a responsibility to see this through! If you don't seal her, she'll just—"
"How am I supposed to love someone like that!"
Kotori paused at those words, stunned shock leaking through her indignation.
"That's how it works, right? Spirits can only be sealed if an emotional connection has been established."
Kotori had nothing for that, and Shidou yanked his shirt from her limp grip. When she finally spoke, she was staring at the metal flooring, fists shaking at her sides.
"…You've already fucked two spirits. You can't just pull out now."
Really? She was making stupid innuendos now? Of all times?
No, no.
This wasn't his problem anymore.
Shidou swallowed his frustration, putting on a smile that was a little more forced than he'd intended.
"I'm sure there are plenty of eager guys out there waiting to take my place. You said it yourself, didn't you? All the way back at the beginning."
Kotori didn't say anything to this, even as he turned and headed towards the teleporter.
"I'm going home."
Shidou had only just entered the teleporter doors when Kotori spoke, her voice so soft it was almost unrecognizable.
"It can't just be anyone… It has to be you…"
What was she even saying right now?
"Kotori. Why do you even want to save spirits?"
"Why?" she scoffed. "That's… T-That's…!"
Kotori's eyes widened as her voice spluttered out, truly at a loss for words for the first time. Shidou watched her struggle before shutting his eyes and activating the teleporter.
As the familiar and now welcome feeling of weightlessness enveloped his body, he found he couldn't begrudge his little sister too much.
After all, it wasn't like he'd had any better an idea why he'd been doing any of this.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Shidou returned to the Itsuka household and found it much the way he'd left it that morning— empty.
For some reason, that fact conjured memories of spring break, when Kotori was still preparing her Ratatoskr work unbeknownst to him, and their parents had just flown overseas. He didn't remember it feeling quite so lonely though.
In any case, it seemed the dishwasher had finished while he was away.
He got to work, pulling open the drop down door and taking out the pots, pans, dishes, and silverware before putting them away in their appropriate draws and cabinets all too quickly.
Shidou stood in the kitchen, running through a mental list of daily and not-so-daily chores. It had been nearly a week since he'd last cleaned the bathrooms— those could definitely use a cleaning.
He got to work doing just that— except each bathroom was annoyingly clean, so he finished both of them in no time at all. That was only to be expected, since he was the only one regularly using them, now that Tohka and Yoshino had the Spirit Mansion.
As he searched around the house for errands to do, Shidou couldn't keep his thoughts from turning to other things.
There were good spirits. After living with Tohka and Yoshino these past months, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that that was a fact.
But there were also terrible spirits. Spirits who killed without a second thought. Spirits who even took glee in hurting humans.
Spirits who were little more than monsters.
In the end, he'd just been arrogantly assuming that the AST had no cause for their treatment of the spirits, assuming that a random civilian like him knew better than entire governments and militaries.
How could he have been so arrogant?
Shidou came to in the middle of vacuuming the living room, something he had already done this past weekend but decided he hadn't done a good enough job of. He'd somehow managed to wind the cord around his leg. He grabbed at it, trying to forcibly untangle the stupid thing, only to yank the cord from the outlet.
"…Damn it!"
Shidou shoved the vacuum to the floor, the frustration inside him finally boiling over.
How could he have been so stupid!
He should have done his due diligence before ever agreeing to this ridiculous thing! He should have asked more questions, demanded answers! He should have—
"Shidou…?"
He snapped up to see Tohka standing at the door, a hand on the frame as she watched him with grave concern.
Shit.
In all the commotion, he'd completely forgotten about Tohka and Origami. He'd totally abandoned them on their dates. Just another fuck up on his part.
"Uh… hey, Tohka… Sorry about bailing on you like that…"
Words fell listlessly from his mouth as Shidou pulled his leg out of the now fallen cord.
Tohka took one, long look at him before walking over to the couch and taking a seat, patting her lap expectantly.
Shidou just stared at her.
"Uh…"
"Sit."
Saying these words with a surprisingly authoritative tone, Tohka just patted her lap once more.
Shidou wanted to protest further, but honestly just didn't have the energy right now. So with sluggish motions he sat down at Tohka's side and laid his head on her thighs.
They were soft yet firm— a surprisingly apt description for the girl herself.
Letting her eyes slide closed, Tohka gently combed her fingers through his messy hair, which still had dirt from the ground mixed in. He couldn't help but notice some of it falling onto the carpet. Seemed he actually had a reason to vacuum now.
"…Reine told me about what happened."
"She did?"
"Mm-hmm. Kurumi's a spirit, just like she said when she introduced herself, and you've been trying to seal her spirit powers since."
He wanted to say so many things in that moment. So many things he couldn't find the words for.
"I was, yes…"
But that was all he said.
Shidou shut his eyes as if to run away from his words, and the finality they brought.
It was over. He was done sealing spirits.
If Tohka felt any way about this, she didn't say anything, simply stroking his hair with the same tender rhythm she'd started with.
"You saved me," she eventually said. "And you saved Yoshino, too. Saved us from the endless, endless fighting. I… almost became like her, when I thought you had died. I'm sure I would have become just like her if I hadn't seen you back then."
At that, Shidou opened his eyes.
"But Tohka, you never killed anyone—"
"I did," she cut him off. "I did."
Tohka was deadly serious in that moment.
Gone was the curious, energetic, and fun-loving girl he had come to know these past few months. She seemed much more like she had when they'd first— a fearsome spirit that had fought many lonesome battles.
"I never wanted to, but it happened nonetheless… When you strike with intent to kill, you can't get upset if you're the one who ends up dead instead."
Her gaze was focused somewhere far away as she spoke, and Shidou felt like a real piece of work for making her remember such things. He reached out a hand, carefully, and gently caressing her cheek.
"Thank you, Tohka. You've just reminded me of something very important."
"Shidou…"
At his words, the tension in her body relaxed and her eyes grew soft once more as she leaned down to kiss him.
After that, the two stayed in comforting silence for some time, until Tohka left to leave with his thoughts. He headed to the bathroom, to properly clean up after everything that had happened that day.
Shidou stripped out of his ruined clothes, stepped into the shower, filled a bucket of lukewarm water, and doused it over his head, his hair clinging to his scalp in thin, long tendrils.
Tohka had killed people.
He didn't think anything less of her for it. It was just as she said, after all— those who kill must be prepared to be killed.
Just another reminder of how out of his depth he'd been.
When he'd decided to seal Tohka and Yoshino, both had been mere reactions. He'd seen the AST attacking those girls, been compelled to do anything he could to help them, and in the process begun to think of the AST as fundamentally misguided.
But he had been wrong.
By their very existence, spirits endangered the world and innocents and some even did so deliberately. The AST were not wrong in that respect, not at all. But just because that was the case did not mean their methods were acceptable. By attacking spirits, by killing them, they only risked the creation of more spirits like Kurumi, further endangering the lives of innocents and perpetuating a cycle of killing with no end in sight.
It was a conflict that could not be resolved by violence.
Behind him, the bath door quietly slid open, and Shidou glanced back to see a familiar slim figure.
"Yoshino?"
She was naked, hair done up and a washcloth in her free hand. Yoshinon was wearing that ridiculous shower cap again.
"Can I… come in…?"
"Of course."
With her typical quiet shyness, Yoshino padded through the room, coming to a stop at Shidou's back. He heard her fidgeting with the soap for a while before speaking once more.
"…Are you… okay?"
"Yoshino…" He let his eyes slide closed. "Yeah, I'm fine… I heard you helped a lot during today's date."
He couldn't see it, but he imagined the girl going red as a tomato as she made Yoshinon slap his back affectionately.
"Oh, Shidou, you lucky lecher, you charmer, you! Careful— you might give a girl ideas!"
"Agh! Ow! H-Hey, that hurts!"
That superhuman spirit strength of hers was really doing a number on his back right now.
Yoshinon (mercifully) let up, and Yoshino began washing his back.
"How did… the date go?"
He was almost certain she already knew, but this girl wasn't one to ask questions without reason, so Shidou answered frankly.
"It went about as poorly as dates can go. But, uh, that wasn't because of you or anything. Kurumi and I… we had something of a lover's quarrel."
Talk about the understatement of the century. It got a giggle out of Yoshino, which almost made the day worth it. He lifted his arm at her silent behest and she didn't speak until she was ready to move on to the next one.
"…Do you… mind if I ask… why you… decided to seal spirits?"
"Not at all."
Shidou's answer was prompt as he recalled vivid memories of that fateful Monday in April.
His first encounter with the devastation spacequakes wrought. The exhausted face of a girl so lonely it was unbearable. Standing aboard the bridge of the Fraxinus, surrounded by unbelievable things and an even more unbelievable calling.
"…I wanted to save her from that life. Tohka, I mean. She looked so painfully alone… and tired. Tired of fighting and fighting and yet more fighting. I wanted to show her there was more to the world than that."
"And… me?"
"That… I was moved by your quiet strength. How you… refused to hurt anyone, even though they meant you nothing but harm. I couldn't stand watching someone be punished for that."
Yoshino listened to this, and there was a long pause as she put together her response.
"I think… people are mean… when they don't have anyone… It's hard to be strong on your own… So people get… scared or… d-doubt themselves… and they can't… they can't find the strength to be nice… That's why you're… you're my hero… Because… b-because…"
As he listened to the girl stumbling through her words, Shidou realized for the very first time that Yoshino's speech was so stilted not because of fear or hesitance or anything like that, but because she carefully considered each and every word she spoke.
And he felt the depth of that consideration in her next words as she washed down his chest and stomach.
"Because, despite everything, you are… you are a very kind person. Shidou."
A kind person, huh?
Those words brought to mind an old memory.
This was back when he had first been adopted into the Itsuka family, back when he didn't believe in love at all.
Thrust into an unfamiliar situation, he'd initially had no intentions of getting close to his foster family. Just graduate from middle school with good grades, graduate from high school with good grades, and then get some good job as a salaryman.
He'd been washing himself alone on the first night, as he had done so often at the orphanage, when his new mother entered the bathroom with nothing but a hand towel.
Of course, he'd resisted, insisting that he could take care of it himself, but she'd just plowed on ahead in that manner her daughter had inherited, squirting some soap in her hands and beginning to lather his body.
It wasn't the first time he'd ever been washed. The social workers bathed the children, after all.
But it was the first time anyone had done it with such love.
She gently scrubbed him down as if cleansing his soul as well as his body, the memory of the quiet love he had felt in his mother's fingers overlaid the sensation of Yoshino's and Shidou found he could scarcely tell the difference.
After that day, he had eventually discovered and fallen in love with the solace of romance. But it was all only possible thanks to that bath one still evening all those years ago…
When she finished washing him, Yoshino silently rose and made her exit.
It was there in the washroom, alone but not lonely, that Shidou reflected on everything that had happened today.
If he could change so much, then maybe…
Perhaps that was just fanciful thinking, a delusion brought on by his love of romance. But Shidou at least wanted to try one more time, now that he had a clearer view of the situation.
A small smile graced his lips.
"Thank you very much, you two…"
He'd have to apologize to Kotori when he got the chance, but until then he knew what he had to do now.
He would try to love that girl.
It wouldn't be easy, but nobody ever said love was supposed to be easy.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
This was a cyberpunk romance Shidou had read about half a year ago, a mafia plot about a hard-boiled cyber-detective intent on uncovering the identity of a hacker cat burglar. Caught in between these two was a hapless IT worker with a neural implant that served as the sole access point for a database that the mob would do anything to get its hands on.
Hopelessly in debt to the mob, the cat burglar had drowned herself in the depths of depravity, believing herself irredeemable. So she thought nothing of introducing the IT worker to a world of worldly delights, seducing him into giving up his company's secrets. What was just supposed to be another disposable mark turned out to be anything but, when they found something in the other far greater than any amount of data.
In the end, she turned herself in, but not before crippling enough of the mob's infrastructure to sink the entire operation and reduce her sentence dramatically. The moment those two finally reunited after years apart had left Shidou bawling like a baby.
Of course, things probably wouldn't go as smoothly in the real world, but it reminded him of Mana and Kurumi's relationship, in a way.
Those two had been fighting for who knew how long, with no end in sight. Mana would keep killing Kurumi, and Kurumi would keep killing innocents. If there was a way to stop that endless recurrence…
As he reflected on these thoughts, Shidou stepped across the threshold into Raizen High.
He had only just entered the building though when an emotionless voice interrupted his solemn mood.
"Shidou. We need to talk."
Origami, waiting at his locker.
How could he have forgotten? She was one of the girls whose date he had run out on. By all rights, he should have been apologizing to her. Right now, though, that would have to wait.
But, before Shidou could utter a single word—
"You! I've been looking for you!"
Tohka crashed into the scene, a hand on her hip and the other pointed squarely at Origami.
"Princess?" she shut her eyes. "I don't have time for you…"
"Oh, are you afraid, Origami Tobiichi? Is that why you ran away yesterday!"
At this, one of Origami's eyebrows began twitching— the only indication of her growing irritation.
"I am not afraid of anything. Least of all an impotent spirit like you."
"Oh yeah? Then why are you trying to run away, huh? You chicken?"
Tohka continued egging her on, drawing the girl away and allowing Shidou to breathe a sigh of relief.
Thank you, Tohka.
"Why, good morning, Shidou."
As if she'd been waiting for her cue, Kurumi stepped into view, a pleasant smile gracing her lips.
Had he not personally borne witness to it the other day, he might have been able to believe her death was just some horrible nightmare.
"Morning." Shidou slipped off his shoes and set them in his locker. "I've decided to save you."
"Save me? My, you say such funny things, Shidou."
"I'm asking you not to kill any more people. I'll also ask Mana not to kill you too."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Heh, you make it sound so easy."
"It's not. I know that."
There was a moment where the easy smile she always wore seemed to falter — seemed to darken — until it reasserted itself.
"Really, now? Well then, I will take my leave."
Saying this, and only this, she left Shidou by the shoe lockers, slipping away into the halls, where she began to pace up the stairs, her school shoes clacking with the measured sound of a ticking clock.
Her steps brought her to the school rooftop, where the bright morning sun cast equally dark shadows on the gravel beneath her.
"Shidou wants to save me, huh…"
Kurumi repeated these words, spinning on her heel as she summoned her naked dress, her shadow growing blacker and blacker as she with each revolution.
"What utter foolishness. There's no saving the likes of me."
These hands of hers had been dirty for a long time. Childish talk of love and romance wasn't going to wash that fact away.
Her shadow spread beneath her like spilled ink and, as it slowly grew to engulf the entirety of the school building, Kurumi glanced up at the clear blue sky above.
"Yes… I shall burn this bridge as well."
As first period began in earnest, Shidou felt the world around him… grow darker.
It wasn't like the sky outside became overcast, or the lights dimmed, the air just seemed thicker all of a sudden, in a way that resisted the very light passing through it, like a viscous fluid.
Sluggishly, Shidou looked up to find everyone around him slumped in their desks. Even Tama had collapsed behind the podium at the front of the class.
His heart skipped a beat when he heard Tohka slip out of her chair like several of his classmates.
"Tohka!" He rushed to her side. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine… but my body feels heavy…!"
Hearing this, Shidou pulled his earpiece from his slacks and pressed it into his ear. He thanked his lucky stars he'd been given spares.
"Kotori! Kotori, we've got an emergency!"
But, rather than his sister's voice, he heard a characteristically exhausted voice on the other end of the line.
"Apologies, Chin, but Kotori's not here at the moment."
He balked at that. Where could she be at a time like this?
"Alright, Reine, do you know what's going on?"
" …We've confirmed strong spirit signals centered on Raizen High. There's no mistake— the signal is Kurumi's signature. A large force field… Looks to be the type that weakens all humans inside of it."
He glanced at the students around him, some of whom groaned or writhed listlessly. He could feel a similar lethargy pulling at him, like a cold pool sucking away his body heat.
"Why I am I the only one unaffected?"
"You have Tohka and Yoshino's spirit powers sealed within you, protecting you from Kurumi's interference. That's why you're the only one who can move freely right now."
That explained why Tohka wasn't completely immobilized. She still had remnants of her spirit powers.
His thoughts were interrupted by Kurumi, speaking through the school intercom.
"Shidou, dear, can you hear me?" Her voice dripped with malicious glee. "If you have any business with me, please proceed to the roof. Oh, and I advise you to arrive as quickly as possible."
She really wasn't giving him a choice in the matter, huh?
"Tohka, I'm going to Kurumi. Will you be alright?"
The girl seemed to gather herself before nodding once.
"Mm-hmm!"
Giving her a quick kiss, Shidou stood and began sprinting through the thick air, which seemed to cling to his body like hands as he ran past unconscious students and faculty.
What the hell is that girl thinking!
Targeting him was one thing but bringing in others? No, after yesterday, he was just glad they were still alive. But there was no telling how long that would last, or what Kurumi's plans for them were. He needed to settle this quickly.
Shidou tore up two flights of stairs, nearly crashed into the roof access door, and threw it wide open.
"Kurumi! What have you done!"
There she stood, the wind in her hair as it drew her naked dress taut around her legs and her hands planted proudly on her hips, something like a smile on her face.
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Holding her lollipop off to the side between her knuckles, Kotori stifled yet another yawn before stuffing it back in her mouth.
How annoying. There was still work to be done. She could sleep after that was done. It wasn't like she was standing before an abandoned building on the outskirts of town because she had a thing for urban exploration, after all.
Late last night, the Fraxinus had received a transmission from Shidou's lost earpiece. It was the Adeptus 2 herself, Mana Takamiya, "requesting" a meeting with her to discuss things, the unspoken threat that she'd leak their involvement to the AST if they refused hanging in the air.
Honestly, Kotori didn't have time to be wasting on things like this. She should have been dealing with that idiot brother of hers.
"…Seriously, who the hell does he think he is, just quitting like that…"
She wished she could just throw in the towel like that. Didn't even put in his two weeks' notice or anything.
"Whatever. I'm sure he'll come to his senses eventually…"
She couldn't help replaying his words in her mind though, and how serious he'd sounded when he'd said them. She knew how her brother could be once he made up his mind…
"Kotori, why do you even seal spirits?"
That question in particular echoed through her mind, inescapable.
Why did it even matter what her reason was for sealing spirits? It was the right thing to do, damn it. Wasn't that all that mattered?
"Hah… what am I doing…" Kotori screwed her eyes shut and pinched her brow. "Why am I thinking about this right now…"
It wasn't like her to worry about useless things. Right now, she just needed to focus on getting done what needed to be done. Everything else could come later.
Finishing off the lollipop with a satisfying crunch, Kotori pushed forward, up the stairs until she arrived at the wood front doors, turning the rusty knob and passing through the door into the dingy interior.
It was a small, abandoned theater, a victim of one spacequake or another, scheduled for demolishing. Dim light filtered through the hole that was once the building's skylight. At the center of the space was the mountain of the debris that had fallen from the ceiling during the destruction.
Mana was perched atop a beam of twisted metal, looking down on Kotori as she entered.
"So, what did you call me here for? Normally, you're supposed to invite a lady out to tea and cake for a first date."
In answer, Mana hauled herself to her feet and leapt into the air, landing before her with pointless flair.
"Ratatoskr. That's a name I wasn't expecting to hear out here. I'd only heard rumors, about an organization that attempts to seduce spirits."
As she said this, she handed off a small earpiece to Kotori, the very same one Shidou had lost yesterday.
Damn.
Ratatoskr operated in secret specifically to stay out of the sights of those people— DEM Industries, the people behind Mana's little visit to Tengu City.
"That is what we do. Quite a bit more civilized than killing them, I'd say."
"It's nonsense. You can't reason with spirits. Even if it is unintentional, they cause nothing but death and destruction. The world is better off without monsters like that."
At those dogmatic words, Kotori shut her eyes and took in a deep breath, letting it out with all the patience of an overworked manager dealing with an utterly unreasonable customer.
But, before she could say anything—
"At least, that's the story. But, in the two days I've been here, I've met two perfectly normal girls matching the descriptions of Princess and Hermit."
Was she talking about Tohka and Yoshino? Why was she bringing those two up now?
"…What's your endgame here? I can't imagine you came here to switch teams or something like that."
"Of course not. I'm saying I won't tell my superiors about any of this. That is, if you release Shidou from Ratatoskr immediately."
An eyebrow raise.
"Come again?"
"You heard me. Even if there are spirits that can be neutralized without killing them, throwing my brother out on the front lines like that, without even a weapon, is freakin' insane."
"A weapon?" Kotori scoffed, planting a hand on her hip. "What, so he can hold a gun to a spirit's head and force them to open their legs? You're talking about crazy, but that's downright despicable."
"Say what you want, but the fact is you couldn't do anything to protect him against Nightmare yesterday. I'm the one who saved him, remember? His real little sister."
This little shit …
She had a lot of chutzpah, Kotori would give her that.
"I've decided to ignore that stupid comment, since the answer is the same either way. Shidou is not going anywhere, especially not to a corrupt organization like DEM."
"How do you about—!"
For the first time since the conversation began, Mana seemed genuinely taken at back. Kotori couldn't help a triumphant grin at that.
"Got a friend in the know. Looks like we've both got each other by the throats."
Mana took a moment to collect herself, crossing her arms and cocking her hips.
"Seems so… Yeah, I was sent by DEM Industries and assigned a rank appropriate for my role. They've supported me like that ever since I lost my memories. Even gave me a reason to live. I can never repay them for that. That's why I'm gonna have to ask you to take back what you just said."
"Oh please. Don't play high and mighty with me, especially after what that bastard Westcott gets up to? After what he's done to your body?"
"My body? What are you freakin' talking about?"
Mana's genuine, offended shock made Kotori pause.
Did she not know?
After her visit the other day, Reine had analyzed the saliva from Mana's tea cup and discovered extreme amounts of magical energy infused into her body, far more than what was safe or sane. Reine had given the girl a decade at best before her body gave out.
To think that those bastards at DEM had done all that, and not even told her…
But, before she could respond—
"Commander, we've detected intense spirit waves at Raizen High School. We think it's Kurumi Tokisaki."
Kannazuki's voice came through the earpiece she'd taken with her. Before her, Mana pressed a finger to her ear. Seemed she'd received a similar message.
Without even a sideways glance her way, the girl began stalking towards the exit, earning a scowl from Kotori.
"Where are you going."
Mana didn't even deign to look back at her.
"It's none of your freakin' business, but I'm going to do what I do best. Take care of spirits."
Saying that, she threw open the theater doors and passed through them, letting then slam shut behind her.
Kotori wanted to shout after her, but she bit her tongue. She had bigger fish to worry about, namely whatever was happening at Raizen High.
There was yet more work to do.
Squaring her shoulders, Kotori began the march towards the latest in an endless pile of tasks—
Making sure that dumbass brother of hers was safe.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
When the air suddenly grew heavy, Origami was returning from a trip to the bathroom.
The space around her sucked at her vitality like heat on a cold winter day. The students around her collapsed, and Origami just barely avoided joining them as she fell to a knee.
This phenomenon …
There could be only one explanation.
With a swift motion, Origami removed a small badge from her skirt pocket, holding it between her thumb and fingers as she spoke into it.
"Identification: AST, Origami Tobiichi. Basic Realizer. Deployment authorized."
Once voice and fingerprint authentication had completed, the badge doubled in size, and Origami tapped the device against the tiny pin transmitter embedded in her forehead just beneath her hairline.
Instantly, a territory snapped into existence around her, shielding her from the abnormality sapping her strength but pushing her body to the limit as it produced a copy of her CR unit out of nothing. Origami grit her teeth through the wooziness caused by her blood sugar suddenly dropping in exchange for the new matter.
As she gathered herself, a familiar voice came through the school intercoms.
"Shidou, dear, can you hear me? If you have any business with me, please proceed to the roof. Oh, and I advise you to arrive as quickly as possible."
Nightmare was targeting Shidou once again.
Mana had been able to protect him yesterday, after Origami had tipped her off to his location, but there was no telling if the Adeptus would be able arrive before Nightmare had its way with Shidou.
She took off down the hallways towards the roof.
"We just received an alert." Captain Kusakabe spoke through her Realizer's virtual speaker. "You've deployed the emergency equipment, confirm?"
"It's Nightmare. The situation is serious. Requesting backup. Over."
Origami had barely barked this out before she came to a stop at the pedestrian crossing joining the two wings of the school.
In front of her was a girl with hair as black as midnight, dressed in a white Lolita dress smothered in ribbons, a heart-shaped eyepatch covering her left eye.
Without a doubt, this was Nightmare.
"Contact with spirit. Engaging. Out."
"Negative, Tobiichi. Retreat and await bac—"
Origami sent a mental command, ending the transmission. She couldn't afford distractions right now.
"You'll have to forgive the imposition, but I cannot allow you to proceed beyond this point." Nightmare brandished the parasol in its hand. "We do not wish to be interrupted."
Origami deployed her energy blade without a word.
At the same time, Tohka struggled to even sit upright as she leaned against the hallway walls. It had taken nearly all she had just to get out of the classroom.
"Shidou…!"
He was going to face Kurumi alone, all by himself. She wanted to be there with him, to protect him and be at his side.
A strangled yell wrung itself out of Tohka's throat as she forced herself to her feet, only to collapse to the cold hard floor a second later, utterly exhausted from the effort.
She grit her teeth as bitter tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. She couldn't even crawl in this state, much less be at Shidou's side.
Screwing her eyes shut, Tohka clenched her fists until her knuckles were white.
"Move…! Move! MOVE!"
The world gradually slipped away until that desire to move eclipsed everything, and a moment later—
Tohka felt light, completely different from the exhaustion just seconds ago.
She knew this sensation.
She'd experienced it the first time a month ago, when Shidou's life had been on the line. Just like back then, she'd felt something shake loose inside her followed by a rush of weightlessness, and now an incomplete version of her naked dress had manifested, turning her skirt and shirt collar translucent.
And in her hand was her angel— Sandalphon.
"…I can do this!"
Standing, Tohka undid the top buttons of her shirt and began sprinting.
"Shidou, where are you!"
Tohka charged through the hallways in search of him before instinctively dodging out of the way of something like a bullet.
She turned on her heel to face her assailant fully, a waifish girl sporting uneven twin-tails and a corset with a short skirt. Her limbs, as well as the left half of her face, were bound tightly in gauze.
With both hands, Tohka brandished Sandalphon.
"Kurumi Tokisaki!"
This was definitely her. But if Kurumi was here, then where was Shidou?
"Ah, Tohka dear, fancy seeing you here." She wrapped her palm around face. "Care to go for a stroll?"
Questions like that would have to wait.
While Origami and Tohka were preoccupied, Shidou dealt with his own confrontation.
"Kurumi! What did you do!"
On that desolate rooftop, he confronted her, pushing through air that grew heavier and heavier by the moment.
As if to mock his trouble, Kurumi approached Shidou with a casual stride that made her hips sway, her smile growing more lurid by the second, and gripped him by the chin with a strength he could not resist.
"Kihi, wonderful, isn't it? This is my Time-Devouring Castle. All who fall within its shadow will have their time stolen away."
Her hair swayed in the wind as a breeze passed over the rooftop, revealing that her left eye was nothing more than a clock face, its hands steadily ticking away the time in reverse.
"Yes. That is my time, Shidou. And I only have so much of it." She released Shidou, and began to pace around him. "From time to time, I must replenish it."
"That's why you've done this?" he demanded. "Why you pulled everyone into this?"
"Correct. Humans are all my adorable. Pitiful. Prey. Ah, but you, Shidou… You're special." She stopped at his back, snaking her arms around his body as she nuzzled the nape of his neck. "Ahh, yes… I came here to become one with you, after all. To devour you in a less… literal way."
Shidou frowned at that, even as arousal churned in the pit of his stomach.
Devour me …?
Was this more innuendo?
No, wait. She'd brought this up before.
"But if you were just after me, you didn't need to do all this."
"Au contraire. Before I devour you, I need you to take back that foolishness you spoke earlier."
"Foolishness?"
"About saving me, of course."
Kurumi pulled away, a theatrical lilt in her voice as she strode around the rooftop.
"Do you think me some lost damsel in distress, some wayward soul who need only be shown the light? Ah, I knew you were naive, but this is ridiculous! I am not in need of any saving, least of all from you. If you can admit that, I may just consider dispelling my Time Devouring Castle."
Shidou stared at her in confusion.
Was she lying? Why would she care about something like that?
"Kurumi's serious…" Reine clarified. "There are no indications of deceit in her mental state. If you agree to this condition, she really will release the barrier, Chin."
Shidou listened to this, in context with Kurumi's odd fixation, and couldn't help the feeling that something about her actions and words didn't match.
It was almost like… she was acting according to a script.
Or rather, a frame …
Yes, up until now, Kurumi had maintained complete control of the frame, of the particular role one played in a given interaction, and Shidou was beginning to think that control was not as effortless as he had once thought.
"…I don't think of you as a damsel in distress, or a wayward soul, or even someone in need of saving."
"If that's so, then just—"
"But just because I don't think that doesn't mean I'm giving up on you."
Kurumi regarded him with an amused smirk.
"Oh my. Oh dear. You know that if you waste too much time, innocent lives just might be lost?"
"That's why I'm asking you to take the barrier down, Kurumi."
"Then say it. Take back that nonsense about saving me."
"I'm sorry, but I won't do that."
Those words earned him with an unamused look.
"Shidou, you're making me dry."
"Then dry out. I'm not taking back what I said."
"No, wait," Reine cut in. "Remember, Chin, you still need to seal her."
Shidou listened to Reine's words, but ultimately decided against them.
He couldn't seal Kurumi if there was no love between them, and how could there be love between people who did not respect each other?
The girl herself just shook her head in disappointment.
"My, how I do despise fools!"
With those words, Kurumi raised her arm high above her head and a second later, the sound of an alarm began blaring, first at Raizen High before gradually progressing across the city.
"I trust you know what this is."
A spacequake alarm.
For a single impossible second, Shidou thought another spirit had happened to appear nearby. After all, it was the distortion in spacetime that occurred when a spirit entered this world that caused spacequakes.
But Kurumi's feral grin rejected that possibility outright.
"Kihi—kihihihi! What shall you do now, Shidou? It would be such a shame if something happened to all those defenseless students left unconscious throughout the school!"
"Damn it…!"
Normally, citizens evacuated to the underground shelters as soon as the foreshocks of a spacequake were detected. But the people inside Kurumi's barrier had all lost consciousness. It'd be impossible to evacuate them in time.
"Chin, Kurumi's mental state is changing. It's as if she's afraid of you …"
Reine's words almost made him double-take.
She was afraid of him?
It sounded ridiculous. But, based off her behavior, Shidou couldn't deny it outright.
Why was she so intent on having him take back his words about saving her? Was she just vain? Couldn't bear the thought of being seen as weak? Or was there something more?
But he didn't have the time to think about that, not with a spacequake poised to strike at any moment.
He had to do something about that. And fast.
"Reine… my healing ability, how powerful is it?"
" …Based on the spirit values we've recorded when you've healed, you should be able to survive anything short of instantly fatal injuries."
That didn't exactly make what he was about to do any less harrowing, but it was good to know.
He walked over to the metal railing outlining the roof's perimeter, setting his hands on top of it.
"…Kurumi, you said your main goal was to devour me, right?"
"Yes, that is correct. Have you finally decided to give in?"
Shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath, Shidou climbed on top of the railing and turned to faced Kurumi.
"Then stop the spacequake. Or I'll throw myself off the roof."
There was a moment of silence after he said this. And then Kurumi doubled over with laughter, holding her sides as her shoulders shook.
"Using yourself as a hostage, huh? Well, I must admit there are worse bluffs." Kurumi waved him off. "Go ahead, then. Do it, if you're so adamant about this."
"Sure."
Shidou said that, and then he fell back and off the roof.
There was a moment, just before he lost contact with the top rail, where his body tried instinctively to recover, to prevent him from falling, but Shidou restrained that unruly impulse and let the world turn upside down.
He fell, and he felt everything as if time had slowed to a crawl.
The wind in his hair. The deep, deep blue of the sky above. The flipping of his stomach, and the weightlessness of his body. And beneath it all was the sinking realization that this might not have been the best idea.
But before the thought could register, Shidou's descent ended prematurely.
Kurumi had emerged from the shadows crawling along the school walls, catching him before he'd even had the chance to fall ten meters.
Having roughly caught him, she flew out from the building's side and returned to the rooftop, where she tossed Shidou unceremoniously onto the hard gravel.
"You actually went and did that!" she growled incredulously. "How foolish can you be!?"
Wincing at the pain reverberating through his body, Shidou sat up and leveled a hard stare at Kurumi.
"Foolish? You're the one who just gave away all your leverage…"
Kurumi had just admitted that she could not afford to let him die— he was simply too valuable to her.
Dragging himself to his feet, Shidou did not hesitate to press his advantage.
"Now, will you please stop the spacequake? And while you're at it, I'd also like you to take down the barrier as well."
At the utter conviction in his voice, Kurumi stepped back— she retreated.
"You… Y-You…!"
She spluttered but found no words.
Eventually, begrudgingly, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. Immediately, the spacequake alarms ceased and the air grew light once more.
That was truly a relief, but he still had more to do.
"…One more thing, Kurumi."
"There's more?"
"Just one more. I want us to start over, this time on the right foot."
"Start over? Are you talking about our date? You realize that was all just a game to win you over, right?"
"Maybe it started out that way, but in the end it became more than that, right? For the first time, you experienced the kind of peaceful everyday life that most people dream of, and you liked it, didn't you? I know you did. Otherwise, you wouldn't have enjoyed our date so much!"
Being on the receiving end hadn't been too fun, but he'd seen the absolute delight this girl took in teasing him. Not like a spirit. Not like a monster. But just like any normal girl.
"…You'd have to atone for your sins for the rest of your life, but that's fine. No matter how much wrong you've done, you can still do the right thing."
"Why… How can you say that? I'm a murderer, a monster. Do you honestly think I could atone for everything I've done?"
"Of course." He held out a hand and a smile. "Maybe it's naive or foolish or whatever, but I'm a lover, not a fighter."
Kurumi stared at his outstretched hand with a tired, exhausted expression, like the one Tohka had worn, once upon a time.
"…Is it… really okay?"
For the first time since they'd met, Kurumi was truly, undeniably on the back foot.
Shidou had successfully shifted the frame, from one where he was just Kurumi's latest plaything to one where he was offering her a way out of her current life of killing and being killed. And now they could begin the journey towards mending her ways.
They had a long journey ahead of them, though. It would undoubtedly take time for Kurumi to even be sealed, but he wanted to be there for her— not to save her, but to help her grow and save herself.
And, as she reached out to take his hand, Shidou couldn't help but feel that it was such a romantic mome—
"Ah ah ah. Not so fast."
A voice spoke, as if emanating from the very air itself.
Shidou's brow furrowed in confusion, but before he could even think about the odd familiarity of that voice, something else stole all his attention.
In his desperate attempts to get through to Kurumi, he had forgotten one, very important thing—
An arm burst forth from her stomach. She let out a strangled sound as blood dribbled from the corners of her mouth.
Reality was not a romance novel.
Kurumi's eyes slid shut and she collapsed face first onto the ground, leaving behind an identical clone of herself in the space she had formerly occupied.
"To be led astray so easily. What a foolish girl." The second Kurumi tutted and shook her head. "I suppose I was just too young back then…"
Shidou watched this all happen with a stupefied expression.
What the hell… was going on?
The other Kurumi glanced up at him through her bangs as the first Kurumi's naked dress shattered into shards of light and faded away.
"Step back, Shidou, lest you be swallowed by my shadow."
A second later, the shadow of the motionless Kurumi grew pitch black, and the girl's body sank into it like quicksand. Shidou stumbled back dumbly, eyes snapping back to the other Kurumi.
"What… just…?"
This was bad.
Something was off about this new Kurumi, he could already tell. But before he could even think of retreating, the same pale hands from yesterday emerged from his shadow, gripping his legs and rooting him firmly in place.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Shidou, but that was merely my shadow." Kurumi reached out to caress the side of his cheek. "Now then, let us do away with these silly games…"
And in the next moment her hand was lopped off by a cut so clean, it simply fell to the ground.
A white shadow had dropped from the sky like a bullet aimed at Kurumi. The girl had already leapt back though, shaking her bleeding stump as if to wring out the pain.
"Impressive as always, to cut through my Elohim so easily…"
Between her and Shidou was Mana, clad in her CR unit and baring an energy blade. She glanced Shidou's way.
"Seems I've come just in time again…"
"Mana… What are you doing here?"
"…Maybe not all spirits are like Nightmare. I can accept that. I can accept that some of them are decent. But I'm still going to kill this one." She turned her gaze on Kurumi. "Not because they're a spirit, but because they're a crazy, murderous bitch."
"Oh, you wound me." Kurumi held up her bloody stump as evidence. "Shouldn't you treat an old friend with a little more respect?"
"Quiet you. The only treatment left for scum like you is execution."
Mana was cocky, and Shidou sincerely hoped she had the skills to back that cockiness up. Something told him that Kurumi was no longer playing around.
Before them, she eyed Mana fearlessly.
"My, what arrogance you have. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you or that arrogance to interfere any longer." She raised her arm high above her head. "Now then, come to me— Zafkiel!"
With the striking of a death knell, behind Kurumi materialized the face of a great clock. It towered above her, its minute and hour hands an intricately ornate rifle and pistol. As if having a mind of its own, the minute hand found its way into Kurumi's grasp.
"Dalet."
From the IV of the clock oozed an inky shadow, which slithered into her pistol as her clock eye accelerated, turning clockwise as she grinned, placed the barrel beneath her chin, and fired.
Her head jerked back from the impact and her severed hand, as if rewinding a video, returned to its original place on her arm.
Shidou gawked in disbelief.
"Wha…"
"An impressive healing ability."
"Oh dear, this isn't healing at all." Kurumi smiled like a shark. "I've simply turned back the clock."
At those words, Mana studied the clock face behind her.
"That's your angel, isn't it… This must be your real body." The cavalier attitude she'd shown until now vanished, replaced by something deadly serious. "Finally. It's time I killed you off for good."
Kurumi just laughed.
"Oh, you foolish, foolish little girl! Even after all this time, you still haven't realized— That time will never come!"
In the same breath, Kurumi fired her rifle with a lighting fast motion— just a moment too late.
Mana had already exploded forward, the thrusters of her CR unit propelling her past the trajectory of Kurumi's shot in the blink of an eye. Shidou didn't realize until he saw her left arm hit the ground that Mana had even struck her at all.
The sound of gunfire rang out as Kurumi retaliated, forcing Mana's retreat and allowing the spirit to call on her angel, barking out a "Dalet!" and rewinding the damage of her severed arm.
"Tsk—!"
Mana let out only that hint to her irritation, before rushing Kurumi again, intent on cutting her down.
Shidou could only watch on impotently, still rooted in place by Kurumi's hands.
These two were seriously trying to kill each other.
"Wait, you two! Hold on!"
But neither were listening, locked as they were in combat.
It was a simple game. If Mana severed both arms, Kurumi would have no way of controlling her angel and the fight would be over.
Kurumi of course knew this, and prioritized protecting her arms, even if it meant taking a hit elsewhere. She was good at dodging them, but Mana was even better, evading round after round of gunfire, flitting in to lop off an arm or a leg, only to have Kurumi reverse the damage before she could land the finishing blow.
The game of cat and mouse went on like this until the fourth run, when Kurumi lost an arm and leg at once, toppling to the ground helplessly.
Mana, having reflexively leapt back in anticipation of an attack, immediately seized on the opportunity, her thrusters blasting to life, firing her towards her target, and bringing her in for the killing strike.
Except—
Her eyes widened as she slammed face first into the concrete with such force it sent gravel flying and Shidou felt the impact all the way from several meters.
"Mana!"
Groaning, the girl lifted her head to see several pale hands emerging from the shadows, gripping her ankle and locking it firmly in place. Mana's eyes bugged out of their sockets as she realized what had happened.
The entire time, Nightmare had been carefully leading her into the shadow of the staircase housing, to trap her just like this.
"Zayin."
For once, the second strongest wizard in the world looked up— at Nightmare's approaching form, and the satisfied smirk she saw made her chest burn with shame at her own foolishness.
"Y-You… you freakin' cheated!"
A cackle.
"Cheated? My, my, a sore loser, aren't we?" Nightmare pressed the barrel against her forehead. "Haven't you ever heard, dear? Don't hate the player. Hate the game."
Then she shot her.
Before Shidou or even Mana could react, Kurumi shot her, a black line marking the trajectory of the bullet before it hit her and froze her solid.
Mana was utterly motionless. Even the very light that would normally interact with her physical matter had been halted, turning her appearance into something like a holographic image, shifting in inexplicable ways.
From Kurumi's clock face angel slithered another shadow, crawling right into the barrel of her rifle— as if loading another round.
Shidou couldn't believe his eyes. She was going to shoot her while she was completely defenseless like this?
"Don't do it!"
Kurumi just ignored him, carefully firing several rounds into Mana's static form, each shot traced by a line segment stopping just before contact, where the effect of her previous bullet halted their motion.
And then, she released the effect on Mana.
Instantly, each bullet struck her body at once before Mana could even react. The girl was left a bloody, spluttering mess.
"Mana!"
The girl struggled feebly from her injuries, only squeezing out a pained, "Brother… run…"
"Oh my, you survived that? I must say, I'm rather impressed." Kurumi cupped her own chin. "Though, I suppose that is thanks to those people…"
The door to the roof smashed open, Tohka and Origami barging through with it. They were clad in their limited naked dress and CR unit respectively, their bodies covered in scrapes and bruises.
Had they been fighting? No, never mind that.
"Tohka! Origami!"
Shidou's shout grabbed their attention, and the two rounded on Kurumi, blades in hand.
"Oh my. A gangbang on little 'ol me?" She tittered demurely. "I certainly don't mind, but if that's the case, allow Us to join in the fun!"
The shadows at her feet darkened and spread, like ink spilled on the ground. And from that inky blackness rose pale hands bearing familiar, Lolita clothing. Followed by their elbows, and then their shoulders, and the rest of their bodies.
In no time at all, countless Kurumi's had appeared, outnumbering them ten to one, at least, all clad in different styles and variations of Lolita fashion.
Mana, who had just managed to struggle to her feet with the help of Origami, gaped at the sight in abject horror.
"What… is this!"
Kurumi surveyed her other selves for a moment, before turning her gaze on Mana.
"They are all me. They are my personal history, myselves from the past. Do you understand now, my dear, why you will never be able to kill me?"
As if on cue, each and every Kurumi descended on them, restraining or subduing them with their arms or rifles.
Shidou struggled vainly against a pair of cackling clones.
"K-Kurumi… don't… do this…!"
Kurumi strolled to a stop before him, tapping her chin in thought as she approached.
"Now, let's see… For daring to meddle with a young maiden's heart, I think I shall finish what my naive self couldn't."
She raised an arm up high, and the sound of the spacequake alarms began blaring, others gradually joining the first in the distance.
"You wouldn't…"
Kurumi just smiled as her shoulders shook with laughter.
"Kurumi!"
"Kihihi… This time, many are certain to die…"
"Stop it! Stop it!"
Kurumi's wretched laughter seemed to drown out the sound of his cry and even the alarms as the space above them ruptured and collapsed in on itself infinitely before swallowing whole the entirety of the school.
Except—
Shidou's wide-eyed confusion was mirrored in Kurumi's furrowed brows as the summoned spacequake had seemingly just… vanished.
And then, before anyone could even react to this unexpected turn of events—
Heat wafted across the rooftop.
"Wh-What is the meaning of this!"
Kurumi threw an arm up, shielding her eyes as she turned them to the sky, shock breaking out across her features.
"Didn't you know? Spacequakes can be neutralized by a quake of equal but opposite magnitude."
At that voice, Shidou followed Kurumi's lead, and his eyes bulged out of their sockets at what he saw.
Floating several meters above the rooftop was a girl wreathed in both kimono and flames like a seraph from biblical times.
But that was not the source of Shidou's astonishment.
"Koto… ri?"
At his breathless words, his sister regarded him with an enigmatic smile.
"Sorry for not asking, but I'm taking this back for a bit. It's high time I made myself useful for once, isn't it?"
Saying this, she held out an arm, the flames of her kimono flaring as she spoke an order.
"Burn, Camael."
From her fire burst forth a great battleaxe, as large as she was tall, which she leveled at Kurumi before flashing a dangerous grin.
"Now then, let us begin— our conquest!"