Chapter 4

Triple Date

“Listen. You meet with Tohka at ten and head to the Aquarium in East Tengu. Then you make up a reason to slip out. Fraxinus will pick you up once you get outside. You’ll meet Kurumi at the station at ten thirty, go somewhere, get back to the plaza at eleven, and link up with Origami Tobiichi. At that point, you’ll have left Tohka alone for half an hour. So get back to her right away. After that, we’ll have to break it down into intervals and arrange it so none of them is alone too long. We’ll handle the timetable on our end, Shido. You just keep up the sweet talk so they don’t get angry. Our top priority is making Kurumi fall head over heels and getting all the way to a kiss. But you can’t put Tohka in a bad mood, and it won’t be great if Origami Tobiichi catches on that something’s up. You have to— Hey, are you listening?”

“…I-I’m listening.”

Whether any of this is making it into my mind is another story.

Shido cleared his throat so that she wouldn’t catch a hint of this muttering to himself, as he replied to Kotori over his earpiece.

Unable to decline the invitations from Tohka and Origami, Shido had ended up forced into a triple date. Normally, he should have focused on the Kurumi mission as his number one task, but if he reneged on his promise, Tohka’s mental state risked worsening, causing her Spirit power to flow back into her. And given that Origami was likely to barge in on his dates with Tohka and Kurumi, he couldn’t leave her out, either. The result was this grueling schedule.

“There’s no point in just listening. You have to get all this in your mind.”

“Unh…” She had read his mind. He was starting to feel hot under the collar.

“Aah. Well, fine. Basically, follow this schedule. Ready?”

“Y-yeah… Probably.” He turned his face down and looked over his outfit. He was keeping it simple in a navy polo shirt and beige chinos.

According to Kotori, “girls are subtractive in doling out style points to boys.” Since fashion beginners were bound to fail regardless of effort, his best option was the safest one, cutting a nice clean figure.

“Now, it’s just about time. Let’s start our ‘war’—a date.”

“Y-yeah.” He took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves.

He was already standing in front of the dog statue at the east exit of Tengu Station. He was pretty sure its official name was technically something else, but because it so strongly resembled the faithful Hachiko dog at Shibuya Station, locals called it Pachiko, with a mixture of fondness and contempt. It was a sad little dog. That said, because it had been placed immediately outside the station, it functioned as a meeting spot, just like the original dog statue. A fair number of people besides Shido could be seen in the environs.

“Shido!” As if parting this sea of people, Tohka’s familiar voice reached him.

He turned to look at her. She was beaming so brightly she was almost more dazzling than the sun. And she was not in the usual uniform but rather a thin tunic and shorts. This suited her so well, it seemed made to order.

“Y-you…” He gaped at her and then heard Reine’s voice over his earpiece.

“…Oh, Tohka asked me what she should wear. Not bad, right?”

“Y-yeah,” he muttered, dazed. Not only was it not bad—it was very good. For a moment, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Shido?”

“Uh, oh! Sorry. I spaced out… That looks good on you. Very cute, Tohka.”

“Wha—?” Her face turned red, and she waved her hands as she shook her head before turning on her heel. “O-okay, let’s just go! C’mon! Hurry!”

“Wh-why are we in a h—?” he started to say and then ran into her walking ahead of him when she abruptly stopped. “Tohka? What’s wrong?”

“M-mm…” Her brow came together, as if she were troubled, and she looked back. Her cheeks were still a little pink. “Shido. So where exactly should we go?”

“Huh? Aren’t we going to the aquarium?”

She suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. She clearly didn’t know where the aquarium was.

“Ha-ha! Hang on a sec.” He pulled the tickets out of his wallet and dropped his gaze to the map on the back. “Umm? Tengu Quintet? Okay, that’s the other way.”

He pointed in the opposite direction. Tohka whirled around and glued herself behind him. She probably meant for him to start moving.

Smiling wryly, he began walking.

“…?!” He felt like he saw a familiar figure in the corner of his eye and frowned. Keeping himself facing forward, he shifted just his eyes to the left.

Origami Tobiichi was standing in front of the fountain in the plaza across the road from the station. She was in a sleeveless turtleneck and a miniskirt with a small bag hanging off her shoulder, perfectly upright, perfectly motionless. He wouldn’t have been surprised if a stranger mistook her for a mannequin.

He was pretty sure he was meeting her at eleven. It was currently five past ten. She was extremely early.

“Mm? Is something wrong, Shido?”

“N-no, nothing! Okay, let’s go, let’s go, right now, right this instant!”

It would be very bad if they stayed here too long and Origami spotted them. He made Tohka walk on his right, as if to hide behind her, and kept his face turned toward her.

“Goodness! Looks like you’ve actually learned some consideration. A girl shouldn’t walk on the side closest to the road,” Kotori said. “Don’t take your eyes off her. Yup. That’s better. This is the kind of thing a girl really loves.”

“O-oh yeah?” he whispered, a wry smile on his face. That wasn’t what he had intended. But, well, he’d accept that the result was all good.

Once they were out of the danger zone (Origami’s line of sight), he slowed a bit. He wiped his forehead with his arm and exhaled at last.

“That reminds me, Shido!” Tohka called out.

“Mm? What’s that?”

“What is an aquarium?”

“What…? I thought you wanted to go?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I just wanted to do a date with you.”

“…”

What was this? His face grew hot. It seemed to him that normally this conversation went more like, “D-don’t get any weird ideas! I just wanted to go to the aquarium!” And this was somehow…the opposite.

He cleared his throat to get his thoughts back on track. “An aquarium is… Well, it’s a place where there’s a lot of fish and things.”

“What?!” Tohka cried, eyes wide. “Grilled in salt?!”

“No, no, no.”

“So boiled?”

“No, not like that.”

“Then acqua pazza?”

“Huh…?”

“Oh! Steamed fish? Qing zheng yu?”

“They’re not the eating kind! And how do you know so many fish dishes?!”

He didn’t know where she’d picked up this knowledge, but it was very specific. If he hadn’t known a thing or two about cooking himself, he might not have even known what she was talking about with the last two.

“Mm. They’re not?”

“No. You have fun watching the fish swimming.”

“Fish…swimming…?!” She furrowed her brow.

Now that he thought about it, Tohka had maybe only seen fish once they had been deliciously prepared.

“Oh… Well, a picture’s worth a thousand words. We’ll just go, and you can see.”

“Mm. Okay. R-right.”

He pulled her along down the street.

Soon, they arrived at their destination, Tengu Quintet, a new mixed-use commercial facility that had only been completed the previous year. Nearby were a hotel, an indoor amusement park, a movie theater, and a shopping mall managed by the same group, and together, they almost made up their own little town. It was very popular as a new tourist destination, and there were a lot of people in the area, even though it was a weekday.

“Okay. I guess that’s the aquarium.”

“Shido.” Tohka abruptly squeezed his hand.

“…?! T-Tohka?! Wh-wh-wh-wh-what’s wrong?”

“Mm. With this many people, we’ll get separated.”

“Ohhh… R-right.” He tried to calm his pounding heart and racing pulse as he gripped her hand back, and they walked into the aquarium.

He handed over their tickets at the front desk, and they stepped into the dim building.

“Wh—?! What is this?!” Tohka said, loudly enough that her voice echoed through the building, as her hand in his twitched.

The other visitors all turned to look at them.

“T-Tohka. You have to be quiet here.”

“Mm. Hmm… Sorry. But, Shido. This is…amazing,” she declared, her voice a little quieter, as she lifted her face.

One wall of the building was all glass, containing fish of every size on the other side. It was on a scale that made even Shido sigh in admiration. It was only natural that Tohka would have been surprised.

“Th-these are all fish?” she asked, without looking at her feet as she walked.

“Yeah. They are. Pretty, right?”

“M-mm-hmm. Very pretty.” As she spoke, she let go of his hand, staggered forward, and planted her hands on the glass wall. A school of small fish cut in front of her.

“Ooh…” Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she chased after the school with her gaze. She looked strangely cute, and he smiled without realizing it. “Sh-Shido, let’s keep going!”

“Ha-ha! Sure. So—”

A cheery alarm sounded in his earpiece, and he jumped.

“Shido, it’s time for you to go meet Kurumi. Fraxinus’ll pick you up, so get outside, somewhere away from other people.”

“…!”

“Shido? Are you coming?” Curious at why he would suddenly stop, Tohka stared at him with a baffled look on her face.

“Ohhh… Uh!” He sent his eyes racing around the room before grabbing his stomach and leaning forward. “Ah! Ow-ow-ow!”

“Wh-what’s wrong, Shido?!”

“Oh, uh, my stomach’s a little… I need to go to the bathroom. Can you just wait a bit?”

“Wh—?! A-are you okay? I-if it’s really bad, we could call Kotori—”

“N-no! It’s not that serious. Don’t worry! Okay?!”

“M-mm…” The look on her face was one of the deepest concern as she stared at him.

An incredible feeling of guilt washed over him.

But if he dawdled here, he’d end up making Kurumi wait. With a feeling akin to walking away from a box of abandoned puppies, Shido turned toward the exit. “I-I’ll be back as soon as I can, so you go look at the fish!”

“O-okay. I understand. If it’s really bad, you have to call Kotori right away!”

“R-right.” He nodded and started walking, clutching his stomach.

He turned the corner, and once he was out of Tohka’s line of sight, he straightened up and raced off as fast as he could.

“S—! Sorry I’m late…!”

When he reached the east gate of Tengu Station, panting, Kurumi was already there.

She was in an expensive blouse and long skirt, but perhaps because it was all black, it almost looked like she was wearing mourning clothes.

“Not at all. I only just arrived myself,” she reassured him and smiled.

Once he got his breathing under control, he turned to face her again. “Sorry.”

“Hee-hee-hee! You needn’t have rushed so.”

“O-oh. Well… Ha-ha.” He gave a vague laugh.

Although he took a shortcut via Fraxinus, he’d still had to move to a place with no obstacles blocking the sky above and with no people around for the transfer. He had to run a fair distance to get from the aquarium to the station, when crowds were milling around both of them.

“Now,” Kotori said. “This is the main mission of the day. Keep it together.”

Shido tapped his earpiece to show that he understood. His most important objective that day was to kiss Kurumi and seal her Spirit power. As he was made aware of this once more, he caught sight of her lips and instantly felt awkward.

“Thank you so much for inviting me out today.” She bowed her head. “I’m honestly delighted. Now, where are we heading first?”

“Mm. Right,” Shido began to say, and heard a “Wait” from Kotori in his right ear.

A selection of options was displayed on Fraxinus’s main monitor.

“Choices now!” Kotori barked, and the results were immediately displayed on her small terminal. “Hmm.”

“It has to be two!” a member of the crew spoke up from the lower deck of the bridge. “The dark space! He can place his hand on hers! This is the only option!”

“No, no, one is the only option! Girls love shopping!”

Indeed, either of these seemed likely to work. Kotori, however, scratched her chin. The nearest shopping mall and movie theater were at Tengu Quintet, where Tohka was. She doubted they would bump into each other, but she also couldn’t go deliberately introducing more variables. That said, however, the remaining option was…

“She’s definitely going to recoil at three, I bet…,” Kotori moaned, stumped.

“…Oh.” Reine’s voice came up from below. “Looking at the numbers and her reaction yesterday, I can’t say for sure she’ll say no.”

“Hmm.” Kotori frowned. It was risky, but if Kurumi said yes, then it would also be evidence that she trusted Shido a great deal. A useful litmus test. “Shido, three. Take her to the lingerie shop in the station building.”

“Roger that. Wait. What…?!” Shido’s baffled voice came through the speakers.

“Uh, um… Kurumi, is there anything you wanted to buy? Or see? L-like, you know, things you wear…or something.”

“Do you mean clothing? Ohhh, I would like to look at clothing.”

“N-not so much clothing as…like the stuff you wear under it…”

“Under it?” Kurumi’s cheeks colored ever so slightly as she realized what he was hinting at.

“A-actually, that’s weird, isn’t it?! Right, so let’s just—” He was about to start walking, sweat beading on his forehead, when Kurumi grabbed his sleeve. “Huh?”

She looked up at him from under her long lashes. “Shido… Would you like to pick some out for me?”

“Huh?! Uh… S-sure.” He nodded, bewildered.

“Hee-hee!” She smiled shyly. “My only request is that you choose something pretty.”

“Uh. Um… Okay.” Given that he was the one who had asked her, he could hardly say no now. He started walking, body stiff like a robot.

“That’s a surprise. Can’t believe she’s on board.”

“…Hey.” He tapped his earpiece to insist on the fact that it was Kotori who had told him to take her to such a place.

The plaza across the road came into view. And he spotted Origami standing in front of the fountain in the exact same position as half an hour earlier. It wasn’t that there had been absolutely no change. A group of three boys had started talking to her with an excessively friendly manner, likely trying to pick her up. She didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow, however, almost as if she didn’t even notice their presence.

One of the boys, seemingly growing indignant at being ignored, tried to grab her shoulder. Origami nimbly deflected his hand and flipped him to the ground.

It must have hurt a lot; tears sprang up in his eyes, and he cried out. His friends were too scared to even move from where they stood. While all this was going on, onlookers began to gather, hearing the commotion, and in the end, a police officer came and took the boys away.

And then, as if nothing at all had happened, Origami snapped back to her previous statuesque stance.

“…”

“Shido, is there something the matter?” Kurumi asked, curious about why he had suddenly stopped and started sweating.

“Oh. N-no, nothing.”

Taking care to keep from catching Origami’s attention, he went into the building next to the station. They took the escalator up three floors to the lingerie shop. He’d been in this station building any number of times, but this was obviously the first time he’d ever set foot in this space.

Right near the entrance, ridiculously sexy underclothes were laid out. Naturally, the clerks and customers were all women.

When he stepped inside, he immediately found himself the target of curious stares. Although it seemed to be okay, since he had Kurumi by his side, it wasn’t a particularly comfortable space for him.

“My! How adorable! Shido, which do you prefer?” Kurumi spotted something she liked right away and pointed to two bra-and-panty sets. Both were very cute designs adorned with delicate lace, and his face automatically felt hot.

“R-right… Umm…”

“Shido, hang on a second.”

A set of choices was displayed on the bridge’s main monitor.

“Choices, people!” Kotori shouted, and the results popped up on her terminal. The margin was narrow, but the most votes were, surprisingly, for (3).

“We’ve come this far; we should press in for the kill! We put her senses into a stupor and reduce her resistance to a kiss!” a crew member’s voice rang out.

Kotori put a thoughtful hand to her chin. “Well, the AI did offer up this third choice. There might be value in trying it out. Shido. Three. Select the underclothes behind Kurumi.”

The Shido on-screen pointed at the area behind Kurumi.

“H-hmm. Both are great, but I like those more…” As instructed, he pointed at the underwear behind Kurumi. And here, his expression stiffened.

Hanging there was something borderline obscene in a see-through fabric.

“Is this the one you prefer, Shido?”

“Uh. Oh, it’s, you know,” he stammered, and Kurumi returned the sets in her hands to their original places before hesitantly picking up the sexy lingerie he’d pointed at.

“Ah, Kurumi, you don’t have to—”

“No. You went to all the trouble of choosing this one for me, Shido. I shall try it on. Will you look to see if it suits me or not?”

“Huh? Uh… S-sure,” he agreed, and she stepped into the changing room in front of her and closed the curtain.

Naturally, this meant that he was now alone in the store. He felt the gazes on him grow sharper.

“…” He fidgeted awkwardly. And then there was a tap, tap on his shoulder. “Hmm?”

He looked back curiously and found three girls standing there. His jaw went slack for a second, but he instantly remembered who they were. They were his classmates, the trio of Ai, Mai, and Mii.

“Hey, hey, Itsuka. What’re you doing here? You into drag?”

“And, like, isn’t today your date at the aquarium with Tohka?”

“Wait. You didn’t actually stand her up, did you?”

Ai, Mai, and Mii each started to voice their thoughts.

“Huh? Oh. No…,” he stammered. He was curious about how they knew about his date with Tohka, but now was not the time for that. If they saw he was with Kurumi, there was a chance things would get messy later.

All three of them glared at him.

“Huh? Are you for real? No way. You turned Tohka down—”

“N-no! I wouldn’t do that! I was just on my way now!” He shook his head in a panic, and the three girls looked at him doubtfully.

“You mean that, right? If you’re lying, we’ll come for you. My dad’s a big shot at a black magic company. I can get him to curse you so that your life gets a year shorter every time you touch a girl.”

“Yeah. We won’t let you get away with making Tohka cry. My mom’s a dominatrix. I’ll get her to school you until you thank her through your tears.”

“Know that not even your bones will remain. For real. My uncle is a hitman overseas. I’ll use the kill-one-get-one-free coupon he gave me for my birthday.”

“Like I’m gonna get killed with a coupon like some menswear service! And wait, does that mean you’ve already killed someone else?!” Shido snapped and then let out a sigh. “A-anyway. I didn’t break my promise to Tohka, so you can rela—”

And then the curtain to the changing room opened.

“How does it look?” Kurumi pulled her legs together, embarrassed, as she revealed underwear far too skimpy for a high schooler to ever don, along with a sinful amount of pale skin.

“…Hey, Itsuka?”

Instantly, he felt the temperature in the room drop.

“Uh, um. So this is…” Just when he was about to try and come up with some excuse, he heard a bright alarm in his right ear followed by Kotori’s voice.

“Shido, it’s time… You really should be focusing your attention on Kurumi right now, but if you’re late for your meeting and she comes looking for you, it’ll be a whole thing. Head for where Origami Tobiichi’s waiting.”

“E-easy for you to say…”

“Just go. Oh! You have to tell Kurumi she looks cute, though.”

“…R-roger.” Shido braced himself and then clutched his stomach.

“Ow-ow-ow! Sorry, Kurumi! My stomach’s not feeling great! I’m going to go to the bathroom! Wait here! Also, that set looks great on you! Very cute!”

He ran off, while behind him, Kurumi’s cheeks flushed.

The three girls who had witnessed this development yelled with fury at his receding back.

“Hey! Wait! Stoooooop! What is Tokisaki doing here?!”

“You’re helping her pick out sexy underwear?! Was Tohka just a game to you?!”

“I don’t know whether to stab you to death or shoot you!”

Ready to burst into tears, Shido raced along the polished floor.

“S-sorry… Origami… I’m a little late!” he panted.

“No problem.” Origami stared at him, the expression on her face not changing. “I just got here.”

I highly doubt that, he had the urge to say but managed to repress it. She had been here for an hour at the very least, but he wasn’t supposed to have known that.

“Uh. Umm. Where are we going today?”

“Movies.”

His cheeks stiffened. The nearest movie theater was…

“H-hey, Origami, which theater are you thinking…?”

“Tengu Quintet.”

“…Of course.” He tapped his earpiece, a strained smile on his face.

“Mm. Right. There’s the possibility of running into Tohka, so it’s not my first choice. Try sounding her out on switching to a different location.”

“Uh. So, um, Origami. Maybe we could go—,” he started, and she handed him a ticket.

“I’ll give you this now. Don’t lose it.”

“…Okay.”

She had completely beaten him to the punch. It would be unnatural to say no now when she’d even gone and gotten the tickets.

“Welp, that’s that then. It’s a big area, and you’re going to a different building, so it’ll probably be all right.”

“R-right,” he whispered before turning back to Origami. “Okay, should we get going?”

She nodded, and they started walking alongside each other.

Then she abruptly snaked her arm through his and yanked him close to her, so he unconsciously tensed up.

“Uh. Um… Origami…? What are you doing…?”

“I’m holding your arm.”

This was obvious. Realizing that arguing was pointless, he started walking again, his heart pounding. Each time it did, he felt a soft sensation brush up against his arm, and he looked anywhere but at Origami.

The time passed strangely slowly. They followed the same route as he’d taken with Tohka, and when they arrived at Tengu Quintet, he felt he had easily lost a year of his life to nerves.

Once they entered the center, Origami started walking toward the aquarium for some reason.

“…! O-Origami! Wh-wh-wh-where are you going?! The theater’s over here!” Panicked, he yanked on her arm.

“We have time before the movie.” She quietly pointed ahead. “Let’s grab a quick bite to eat for lunch.”

“Huh?” He looked at where she was pointing and saw a chic little restaurant next to the aquarium. “O-oh… Okay, yeah.” He let out a sigh of relief.

But it wasn’t great for his mental health to be a hop, skip, and a jump from Tohka in the aquarium. There had to be other places nearby where they could eat. Shido was about to suggest exactly that, but Origami half dragged him along.

“H-huh?”

They stepped inside the restaurant, where he learned she had made a reservation. When Origami told them her name, they were shown to a table by the window. An order for their meal had already been put in, so the waiter only asked what they’d like to drink and then left.

“…”

“…”

For a while, they faced each other, silent.

“You have to say something, Shido.”

“Oh…! Uh…” He scratched his cheek. “Hey, Origami? Why did you invite me on a date today?”

She stared into his eyes. “I wanted you to not be alone today if at all possible.”

“Huh?” He frowned.

She paid this no mind and continued. “Once our date is over, I want you to come to my house.”

“…?! Wh-what do you mean?!”

“And I want you to stay at my house for the time being.”

“H-huh?!” he cried out involuntarily. The other diners turned surprised eyes on him, but he didn’t have the mental bandwidth to pay them any mind. “Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-where is this coming from…?”

“I’m serious.”

“Uh. Ummmmmm…” His eyes darted around the room. Origami was serious; her words were the truth. He couldn’t imagine her ever making a joke.

And then a lifeline from heaven. The server brought their meals. She set the plates down on the table with a practiced hand and briefly described the dishes to them before placing the bill on the table and walking away.

“A-anyway, let’s eat before it gets cold! Okay?!”

Origami nodded, in some kind of agreement.

He brought his fork to his mouth in silence, his head in turmoil. To be honest, he wasn’t tasting much of anything.

Once they were finished eating, he heard an alarm in his ear.

“Shido, Tohka’s getting anxious. Go back to her for a minute. You can walk from there, yeah?”

He tapped the earpiece to indicate his assent and stood up.

“O-Origami! Sorry. I’m just going to go to the bathroom!”

Shido breezed past the bathroom and stepped out of the restaurant.

He showed his ticket stub at the front desk and went back inside the aquarium where he found Tohka not far from the entrance.

Her eyebrows were twisted up with worry, and she was looking around the area, searching for someone.

He didn’t have to wonder who. It would have been none other than Shido himself.

“Tohka!” he called out to her, drawing near, and the clouds immediately disappeared from her face.

“Shido! A-are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. Mostly.” He patted his stomach, and she let out a sigh like she was relieved from the bottom of her heart… His conscience was eating him alive.

Then her stomach grumbled rather adorably.

“Mm… Hmm.” She lowered her eyes, embarrassed, and he couldn’t help but smile. It sounded like she was hungry.

Which was no wonder. It was already lunchtime.

“Tohka, if we keep our ticket stubs, we can leave and come back. Did you want to go and get something to eat?”

“Mm. Yeah! I think that would be great!” She nodded with excitement.

“Okay, so then how should we do this? Is there anything you particularly want for lunch?”

“Mm. What do you want to eat, Shido?”

“Huh? Me? I…” He patted his stomach. He wasn’t hungry at all because he had only just polished off a meal. “Oh, I’m…good for now. We can get what you want.”

When he said this, a look of concern popped up on her face again.

“Shido… D-does your stomach still hurt? Maybe we should call Kotori…”

“Unh…”

He got the feeling somehow that he was going to have to eat again.

“O-okay, I’m back…!”

Having finished lunch with Tohka, Shido returned to Kurumi and the station building and slapped his stomach.

“Wonderful. But are you all right?” Kurumi asked, worried. She was holding a paper bag from the lingerie shop in her hand.

“Yeah. Basically. So did you maybe buy that underwear?”

“Yes. You said it suited me.”

“…” Feeling uncomfortable, Shido picked at his skin. He looked around for a way to change the subject. Which made him appear plenty suspicious, whirling his head around in front of a lingerie shop. “Th-that reminds me. What happened to those girls…?”

“They departed after you went to the restroom.”

“Th-they did…” He let out a sigh of relief. He felt like he had dodged a bullet somehow.

“Oh! They did leave a message for you, however. Let’s see. ‘Itsuka, we’ll make you weep,’ I believe they said.”

“…” He took that bit about relief back. He was going to be in serious trouble the next day.

Kurumi peered at his face intently as she parted her lips. “By the way, Shido.”

“Hmm…? What is it?” He raised an eyebrow, and she uttered words that filled him with despair, an innocent smile on her face.

“Are you perhaps getting hungry?”

“Haah… That Shido. We’re finally on a date, and yet he can’t stay still.” Kurumi let out a sigh as she sat down on the bench in the park.

It was 3:30. Shido had just gone to the washroom for the thirtieth time. Although five hours or so had passed since their date started, they’d barely spent thirty minutes together.

“But that’s all right.” She brought her hand to her chin and giggled.

Yes. This was a trivial issue. It was all a process, nothing more than a path.

“In the end, he’ll be mine, after all.” She tapped her chin with her index finger and hummed a little tune.

When she closed her eyes, Shido’s face popped up. This feeling might have been equivalent to love for humans. Ever since she had learned he existed, she had seen his face, awake or asleep. She wanted to know more about him.

His hobbies.

His thoughts.

His…taste.

“—Hee-hee.” Her laughter grew deeper as she stood up and stretched lightly. When these visions raced through her head, her body always grew hot somehow. She wanted a cold drink.

She was pretty sure there had been a vending machine along the way they’d come. Shido wasn’t likely to come back anytime soon, so there was no real issue with her straying a little from the spot. She cut across the park on light feet.

“…?”

She slipped through the park, came out into a quiet alley, and stood in front of the vending machine when she raised a single eyebrow.

She had been in such a good mood, and now her ears were picking up unpleasant voices.

“…”

She moved wordlessly and arrived at a dead end in the alley.

“…Oh my goodness. What are you doing here?” She stared quietly.

“Eep?” A boy jumped at the sound of her voice and looked back.

There were four of them, all with guns. This was Japan, remember. They were probably model guns in their hands, facing the end of the alley.

She could make out a small, squirming shadow. A cat. A relatively newly born kitten was mewling, dragging a leg behind it.

And now she understood. They were either test-firing reworked model guns or relieving stress. Well, something like that. Kurumi narrowed her eyes.

“What the hell?! Don’t creep up on us.”

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“Oh… This girl.”

And now the rest of them noticed her presence. They turned their gazes on her.

“Aah. Sorry, we’re kinda in the middle of something. Could you go away?” One made a shooing motion at her.

Kurumi took a step forward and flashed a bewitching smile. “Oh my! Please don’t say that. I do know a few things about the handling of guns myself. Would you mind if I joined in?”

“What?” One of the boys glared at her with a dubious look and raised his eyebrows.

He finally realized that he was faced with a gorgeous girl. Instantly, an overly familiar smile rose up on his lips, and he moved toward her.

“Oh, what? You wanna try, too?”

“Yes, I’d love to.”

“Well, since you asked nicely. Okay, here, first you—”

“Hee-hee-hee. No need to worry about me. But might we change the rules ever so slightly?”

The boys looked at each other.

“Rules? What do you mean?”

“It’s really nothing so difficult—we simply switch targets.” Kurumi’s lips slid up in a bloodthirsty grin.

“Mm. Where’d Shido disappear to?” Frowning, Tohka whirled her head around to search the area.

The place was filled with people, but she couldn’t see Shido among them.

She was worried about him, after he’d run off on her any number of times. She’d tried following him, but he had vanished completely after stepping behind a building with no one around.

This was supposed to be a date, but because he kept disappearing, she wasn’t getting to spend any real time with him.

“Mm.” She groaned, displeased and anxious.

Dates with Shido were a lot of fun. Just walking and talking with him gave her a feeling like time didn’t even exist. Because of that, the sadness after he left was even more immense.

Lost in thought, she bumped into someone walking along in the opposite direction.

“Mmph!” She landed on her butt. She quickly stood up, brushing her bottom off. “S-sorry. I was in a hurry.”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t paying attention, either,” the person replied in an inflectionless voice.

For some reason, it was a voice she was familiar with. She frowned suspiciously and lifted her head. There she found the face she least wanted to see.

“O-Origami Tobiichi?!”

“…! Tohka Yatogami,” Origami announced at the same time, sounding somehow annoyed. “Why are you here?”

“I—I was going to ask you the same thing! What are you doing here?!”

“I’m under no obligation to tell you.”

“Wha—?” Tohka was about to fire off a hot retort but then rethought it. She didn’t have time for Origami right now. “Whatever. I’m busy. I don’t have time to waste on you.”

“I see. I’m also busy.”

“Hmph. I don’t know what you’re doing, but…”

“I have to find Shido.”

“…What?” Tohka frowned. “Wait. Shido is on a date with me. Why are you here to get in the way?”

“He can’t be. He’s on a date with me today.”

“Wh-what?! You’re lying!”

“I’m not. You are the one who should stop getting carried away in your little daydreams.”

“I-it’s not a daydream! I definitely went to the aquarium with Shido today!”

“This Shido, is he a dog? A puppet?”

“I’m obviously talking about the human Shido!”

“…” Origami appeared to sink into thought before lifting her face as if she’d just realized something. “Impossible.” She walked away, leaving Tohka behind.

“H-hey! Wait! We’re not done talking! What’s going on?!” Tohka chased after her.

“Haah…! Haah…! Haah…!” Exhaustion eating into his entire being, Shido somehow made it to the park bench where he had left Kurumi.

Although they weren’t that far apart, he had now done over thirty laps between Tohka, Kurumi, and Origami. His body was reaching its limit.

He frowned slightly as he wiped away sweat with his sleeve. “Huh…?”

“What’s wrong, Shido?”

“Oh…Kurumi’s not here.”

“What? Hey, camera team. What happened with Kurumi?”

“Th-the video cut off. Maybe something happened to the camera…”

“…Excuse me?” Kotori snapped.

“Commander! It’s weak, but we sense a Spirit signal nearby!”

Shido heard the voice of a different male crew member suddenly through his earpiece.

“Where?”

“An alley near the east exit of the park! The signal is—there’s no mistake, it’s Kurumi Tokisaki!”

“…?!” His shoulders straightened, and he lifted his face with a gasp, turning his gaze to the east exit.

“Hmm. Maybe something happened. Shido, can you head over there?”

“G-got it…!” Swallowing hard, he cut across the park. He followed Fraxinus’s directions past the vending machine and into a narrow alley.

“—Huh?!”

The moment he reached his destination, he opened his eyes wide and froze on the spot.

Red filled his field of view. An ocean of red splattered over the gray walls and the road. Three large, deformed lumps sat on the ground like tiny islands.

The scene was so bizarre that he couldn’t process it for a moment.

No. It was more than a moment, more than several moments, more than several seconds.

Even as he became more and more certain of what he was looking at, his brain shied away from the truth.

It shouldn’t have been possible.

Not in a town like this. Not in the middle of the day.

—People didn’t just die.

“Unh…aaaaaaah?!” he screamed, the facts finally overcoming his rejection of them.

“Shido! Calm down!” Kotori’s voice came into his ears, but it didn’t have any meaning to him.

The instant his brain acknowledged the situation, the strange smell in the area assaulted his nostrils, and he felt an irresistible urge to vomit. He clamped his hands over his mouth to somehow fight the sensation of the many lunches he had eaten rising up from his stomach. “…! Unh…!”

“—Oh?”

He lifted his eyes at this voice. A girl in black stood in the center of the crimson ocean.

“Shido. Are you back already?” Kurumi Tokisaki asked, outfitted in a red-and-black Astral Dress. In her left hand, she held an ornate ancient pistol. He had no idea where she’d gotten it.

He noticed one other thing.

A man crouched on the ground toward the back of the alley, his body shaking intensely. He was young. For some reason, three concentric circles were drawn in blood on his stomach, almost like a target.

“Hee—! Heeee—!” He was breathing like he was about to expire at any second as he turned his eyes on Shido. “H—! Help…me! This… She’s… Monster!”

“Oh my goodness.” Kurumi turned back to him and pointed the gun in her hand at his stomach.

“Kurumi! What. Are—?” Shido squeezed dazed words from his throat, and she giggled.

It wasn’t her usual cute laugh. It was a disturbing sound that made his teeth rattle just hearing it.

“Don’t you think it’s strange that a person would try to kill something without being prepared to be killed themselves? That is what it means to turn the barrel of a gun on a life, hmm?”

“…S. Sto…,” the man panted, barely breathing.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Kurumi pulled the trigger.

An inky black bullet like a hardened shadow shot out of the barrel, carved out a pitch-black trajectory, and was sucked into the target drawn on the man’s stomach.

“Hngh!” His body jerked. And then no more sound came from him.

“One hundred points. An A-plus.” Kurumi let out a short sigh and dropped the gun. It disappeared into her shadow as she turned back toward Shido. “I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting. I’m afraid you’ve caught me in a rather uncompromising position.”

“—do! Shido! Run! Now!”

Shido realized that Kotori had been shouting at him through his earpiece this whole time. He pulled himself to his feet somehow, braced his shaking legs, and ran.

However…

“Hee-hee-hee… IIIIII don’t think soooo.” He heard Kurumi’s voice from behind.

“Whoa?!” His legs were abruptly swept out from under him, and he slammed into the ground, hitting his skull hard. “Ngh…!”

He grimaced at the dull pain that made fireworks go off in his field of view. But now was not the time for that. He had to get away. Except someone was holding on to his ankle, and he couldn’t move.

A white hand poked out from Kurumi’s shadow and had his leg in a vise grip.

“Wh-what…is that?!” He rolled over and kicked his legs to try and shake it off, but the fingers held on with impossible strength, and he couldn’t get away.

Kurumi slowly closed in on him. “Hee-hee. Gotcha.” She grinned as she knelt down beside him and laid her body over top of his.

“…Ngh.” It hurt like his heart was being crushed. But this wasn’t because of Kurumi’s beautiful face and audacious action; it was simply out of terror.

Yes. Shido was afraid of Kurumi the Spirit. A world-killing catastrophe. The enemy of humanity. Words he’d heard as words any number of times.

This was the first time they really sank into his brain together with the metallic smell in the air.

“—Aah, oh dear, I’ve failed. I’ve failed terribly. I should really have taken care of this more quickly. I did so wish to enjoy my date with you a little longer.” She ran her hands over his cheeks.

“…! …” He tried to run. He tried to scream.

But he couldn’t. His legs spasmed, and only hoarse breath left his throat.

She drew closer to his face—not coming in for a kiss; it was almost like she was going to sink her teeth into his neck.

“…! Huh…?” Finally, a voice came out of his throat.

Just when her mouth was on the verge of touching him, a curious sensation enveloped his entire body. Something mysterious he’d never experienced before. Bizarre like the air around him had become a highly viscous fluid with a will of its own and was now caressing the surface of his body.

“…!” Kurumi gasped and flew backward. Her slender limbs slammed into the concrete wall, leaving fine cracks in it.

“Wha—?” Shido stared dumbfounded. What on earth…?

“Are you all right, Brother?” He heard someone say as his mind raced to try and comprehend the situation.

“Uh…?” He managed an idiotic grunt and lifted his face.

Mana was standing with her back to him as if to protect him, clad in a wiring suit. She had something like a shield or wings on her shoulders. This was the equipment he had seen in the video the day before.

“Ma…na…?” he managed, voice hoarse, and she turned her eyes toward him.

“Yes. That was very close. Are you badly injured?”

“Uhhh,” he replied, stunned.

He didn’t know how Mana interpreted this, but she looked down at her own outfit and scrunched up her hair. “Ohhh. I suppose this would be a surprise. It’s just, well, there was a situation.”

He heard small bits of concrete dropping to the ground up ahead.

“Well, we can talk later,” she offered, while Kurumi slowly stood up.

“My goodness… Interrupting me and Shido on our little rendezvous is a serious violation of manners, yes?”

“Shut your mouth,” Mana barked. “What are you thinking, targeting a person’s older brother?”

Kurumi’s eyes widened in surprise. “Are you and Shido siblings, Mana?”

“Hmph. It’s none of your business,” Mana spat and turned her head. With this movement, the equipment on her shoulders tilted forward and began to transform, the tips splitting into five prongs almost like a hand. Then a pale light appeared in those combined ten tips.

“Please go ahead and drop dead now, Nightmare.” Mana snapped her fingers, and ten beams of light jetted from her shoulders, stretching out toward Kurumi.

It happened in the blink of an eye. Kurumi, however, twisted her body and neatly sidestepped the beams.

“Hee-hee-hee. That’s quite dangerous.”

“Tch.” Mana clicked her tongue in annoyance and moved her fingers the tiniest bit.

The beams of light abruptly changed course and came at Kurumi once more.

“Guh…”

This time, she couldn’t get entirely away. Light pierced her legs and her stomach, and Kurumi let out a curious cry as her legs crumpled beneath her. Blood spilled out onto the ground.

“…!” Shido grimaced at the overly gory scene.

“You just have to make me work, don’t you? Disgraceful monster.” Without so much as lifting an eyebrow, Mana raised her right hand. The equipment that had opened up like a pair of hands returned to its shield form, and an enormous sword of light appeared at one end.

“…!” Shido gasped.

He had seen this before. The sword from the video she’d used to deliver the killing blow.

“Ma…na…!” he cried out.

“Is there something that is the matter? I’ll clean this up right away, so please wait.”

“You…can’t! Kill—,” he gasped.

Mana stared at him. After a moment, she lowered her gaze and shook her head.

“Now that I think about it, this girl transferred into your school as a human being, hmm? Brother, I can’t tell you the details, but you need to forget her. She isn’t human. She is a presence that cannot be allowed to live.” She started walking to Kurumi on the ground.

“…! That’s not the issue! Stop! You have to stop!” he pleaded.

Kurumi wheezed, her voice threatening to fade out at any second. “Hee. Hee… You…really are so kind… Shido.”

Mana’s sword came down on her.

Thwk! There was an unpleasant sound, and then Kurumi stopped saying anything at all.

“Phew.” Mana waved her hand gently, and the equipment in it returned to her shoulders.

“Why…?” Shido asked her back in a shaking voice.

She let out a small sigh as she turned toward him and set her feet in motion. Her unit and wiring suit seemed to flash faintly, and then in the next second, she was in street clothes again.

“It can be a bit of a shock when you know the face of the person dying, but if I hadn’t killed her, she would have killed you,” she told him.

“…” He didn’t know what to say to that.

“I’d ask that you listen to me. Think of today as a bad dream and forget it as quickly as possible. You also shouldn’t concern yourself at her death. She is something that shouldn’t exist; it’s only natural she dies.”

Shido found that he’d clenched his hands into fists. “O-of course the AST would say that! I’ll thank you for saving me! But… But you can’t say that kind of thing just because she’s a Spirit.”

Mana frowned. “Where did you learn all that?”

“…!” His eyebrows shot up. Now that he was thinking about it, he remembered that she didn’t know he knew about the Spirits and the AST.

A few seconds later, she crossed her arms and nodded. “I bet it was Master Sergeant Origami. Honestly, that personage… She is so soft on you.” She let out an exasperated sigh and turned her gaze back on him. “But, well, in that case, this will go a lot faster. I have no idea how deep your knowledge is, but basically, that’s how it is.”

He felt a shiver run up his spine. “Why…? How can you be so calm? You just did that…to a person…”

His throat hurt, maybe because he hesitated to actually say the words. But he forced them out anyway.

“You…killed a person!”

“That’s not a person. It’s a Spirit,” she replied, voice cold.

“Still! How could you so casually—?”

“Because I’m used to it.”

“…!” He gasped.

“Of all the Spirits, Nightmare—Kurumi Tokisaki—is special.”

“Special…?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “She doesn’t die. No matter how many times you kill her, no matter how you do it. That girl inevitably appears again somewhere else as if nothing happened and kills more people.”

“…?! Wh-what does that…?” Even as he protested, he felt this explanation click into place. The video he’d seen the day before suddenly made sense.

“You heard me. I don’t know what else I could tell you at this point.” Mana let out a sigh and lifted her chin. The look on her face was sheer exhaustion, as if she had aged in an instant. “—And so I continue to kill her. That girl. Nightmare. Kurumi Tokisaki. I chase her relentlessly. Over and over and over.”

Shido scowled.

“You’re wrong…!”

“What?”

“You’re not used to it or whatever. You’re just worn down… Your heart is worn thin!”

She trembled slightly. “What…are you trying to tell me, Brother?”

“Stop it already, Mana. You said you’re my sister, right? So then…just listen to me, just this one time!” He pushed the words out of his throat like a prayer.

This wasn’t some trick of his imagination. He knew that your heart got worn down when too great of a burden was placed on it. And if that burden was never lifted, at some point, your heart would be so broken that it could never go back to the way it was.

Just like Shido’s heart almost was when he was abandoned by his mother.

Just like Tohka’s heart almost was when she faced constant enemies and hostility.

“…That’s impossible,” Mana said, with a hint of self-deprecation. “For so long as Nightmare comes back to life, and for so long as she continues to kill people, I must grab that girl by the neck. Otherwise, she will kill more people. It’s something only I can do.”

“…!”

No. That wasn’t the only way.

Before Shido could give voice to this, Mana turned her face upward, searching. “—Mm. That will have to be all for today.”

“Wha—? But I still—”

“Reinforcements are approaching. There will be some problems if you’re here.” She half forced him to turn around and gave him a push.

“Mana! You—”

“There’s no reasoning with you, huh.” She smiled dryly and held up a finger. He floated up into the air.

“Wha—? How…?”

There was no mistake. This was the Territory the AST deployed with their Realizers, but Mana was deploying it without a CR unit equipped.

“We shall meet again. With more time at our leisure.”

“Wai—” Mid-word, his body was flown out of the alley and given a gentle landing.

“…!” He didn’t care about the AST. He quickly turned back to the alley.

But an invisible wall blocked the entrance, and he couldn’t go any farther. This had to be Mana’s doing as well.

“…!” He sank to his knees and hit the ground with his fist until he nearly drew blood.

“…Aah.” Having moved Shido out of the alley, Mana scratched her head. She felt like she had told him too much about all kinds of things. She certainly couldn’t tell Origami about this.

She wasn’t sure why, but she had wanted him to hear it.

“This is just routine work.” She dropped her gaze to the body of Nightmare—Kurumi Tokisaki—sprawled cruelly at the end of the alley.

Then from out of nowhere, a tiny kitten approached the corpse, dragging a hind leg behind it. Thinking this strange, she bent her knees to pat its head. The kitten mewed in a tiny voice.

“Now, look. You’re going to get all filthy with blood here,” she cooed, picking the kitten up. She looked at Kurumi’s corpse once again. “Why?” She voiced the question Shido had asked her.

Now that she was thinking about it, why had Mana continued to kill Kurumi?

Kurumi was the worst of Spirits, who went around killing people, and Mana had a knack for using the Realizer. So she tried to use that power to help everyone else out… Supposedly. Certainly. But…

“Ngh!” She winced at a sudden pain in her head. Her memory was hazy; she couldn’t really recollect any details. She shook her head slightly and tried to get rid of the headache.

“Hmm?”

She spotted something strange on the ground. A small device was lying right where Kurumi had attacked Shido. She scooped this up and took a good look at it.

“Is this…an earpiece?”

Yes. It appeared to be a small communication device of the type that was equipped in the ear.

“What is this doing here?” She stared at it, puzzled, and brought it up to her ear.

“Shido! Answer me, Shido! We’ll take you back to Fraxinus for now! Move!”

“…?” She heard a voice she’d heard before, yelling her older brother’s name.

Shido staggered over to a bench in the park and dropped down lifelessly.

“…”

The scene that had just unfolded before him spun around and around in his mind. Kurumi killing people; Mana killing Kurumi.

In his mind, he understood. After all, this was the relationship between Tohka and Origami, simply pushed to the extreme.

Tohka, however, was not interested in killing. And Origami didn’t have the strength to kill a Spirit.

Over the last two months, Tohka had grown accustomed to this world, and he couldn’t deny that he’d grown less tense as she did. If the balance had tipped even the slightest bit, it was plenty possible that he would’ve seen something like this much earlier.

A murderous Tohka. And an Origami with the power to kill a Spirit.

Kurumi and Mana were what Tohka and Origami might have been if they had chosen the worst.

“I mean, that’s just… What…?” He couldn’t accept any of it.

How could Kurumi kill a person so easily? How could Mana kill Kurumi so easily?

He’d been naive somehow. It was convenient for him to think all the Spirits were actually good people like Tohka and Yoshino, even as he screamed that they were dangerous. When it came right down to it, he’d had this arrogance, assuming there was no way the AST could kill a Spirit.

And now…

“Shido!”

He heard a familiar voice and lifted his face with a gasp to see Tohka racing toward him. She’d probably come looking for him when he hadn’t come back. He could also see Origami behind her. He assumed they’d run into each other at some point.

“Shido! Where did you go?!”

“What exactly is going on?”

Tohka and Origami both sounded grumpy as they came to stand in front of him.

At the moment, he didn’t have it left in him to make excuses. “Sorry.” He could only squeeze out a brief word of apology before falling silent once more.

“…Shido?”

“What’s wrong?”

Tohka and Origami peered at his face, worried.

“Shido, you’re not hurt, are you?!” Tohka grabbed his hand.

He hadn’t noticed before, given the shocking things that had just happened, but he saw now that he had scraped his hands. That was probably from when his feet were knocked out from under him and he fell. The instant Tohka touched his hand, he saw Kurumi’s face covered in blood.

“Eee…” A sound like a gasp-wheeze slipped out of his throat, and he pushed her hand away.

“Huh… Uh, Shido?” Tohka looked back and forth between her own hand and his, dumbfounded, before turning her gaze back on him. “S-sorry… Did that hurt?”

“…! S…orry.” He bowed his head slightly and clasped one trembling hand with the other.

Tohka was just worried about him, and he had rejected even that, which was so pathetic that he wanted to cry.

“Sorry… I’m really sorry.”

“I-it’s nothing to get so upset about,” she assured him. “What happened?”

“…Sorry…!” he said again, before standing up and running away.

“Sh-Shido?!”

“Where are—?”

He heard Tohka and Origami from behind. But he couldn’t stop his feet from moving.

They didn’t come after him.

How long did he run after that?

Once he came out onto a road with no one around, he felt a curious buoyancy envelop him.

“…! This is—” He knew this feeling. It was Fraxinus’s transporter.

Just as he’d expected, a second later, his field of view changed from a deserted corner of the park to the interior of Fraxinus.

“I’m so glad you’re safe.”

A voice came from behind him. When he looked back, Kotori was standing there in her crimson uniform jacket, a complicated expression on her face.

“…Kotori.”

“You finally moved to a location where transfer was possible, hmm? Do you know how many times I yelled at you to do that?”

At this, he put a hand to his right ear, and his eyes opened wide. “My earpiece is gone.”

Right. The earpiece that he always wore when he was on duty was not there. It must have fallen out somewhere, but he hadn’t noticed until that very moment.

“You dropped it? When?”

“Sorry. I don’t really know.”

She groaned and touched her face, thinking. “The only time I can think of is when Kurumi attacked you. So then that voice before—”

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s nothing.” She sighed as she shook her head from side to side. “Anyway, let’s get your wounds treated. Follow me.”

“…! Okay… But Tohka and Origami—”

“Once Tohka’s alone, we’ll pick her up and give her a simple explanation of the situation. Origami Tobiichi… Well, it’ll probably be fine if we just leave her be. Follow up with her at school tomorrow.”

“Okay…,” he replied lifelessly and trailed after Kotori. “…Hey.”

“What?”

“What I’m— What we’re doing is the correct thing, right?”

The echoes of her shoes against the hallway stopped, and she turned sharp eyes on him. “What do you mean by that?”

“I…I couldn’t stand it that the Spirits were being attacked unjustly. They weren’t trying to make the spacequakes happen. That’s why I’ve been helping you.”

“…Yes, right.”

“But…Kurumi, she—”

She killed people. Not in a spacequake, but with her own hands. Deliberately. This was just too unbearably sad and frightening.

“What are you trying to say?” Kotori asked.

“I…can’t…” He finally spat the words out. “It’s only gone well up to now because Tohka and Yoshino just happened to be good guys. In the end…I couldn’t—” He stopped himself there. Or to be more precise, he was stopped there.

Kotori grabbed his collar and slapped his cheek with an impressively flat hand.

“Huh! Ah…”

“You’ve really lost all your nerve, huh!” she said, scowling. Or maybe she was on the verge of tears. He couldn’t tell in that moment. “You? You can’t? …Hmph. You can’t be whining over every little thing! You used to have more guts back in the day, you know!”

“What are you—?” he asked, pressing a hand to his stinging cheek, unable to really get what she meant.

“You!” She grabbed his shirt and continued. “You’ve faced a much scarier Spirit, haven’t you?! You saved her, didn’t you?! Don’t go telling me you can’t do it. If you give up, Kurumi will kill even more people. Mana and Kurumi…they’ll keep on killing their own hearts! You’re the only one who can stop them!”

“…!” He swallowed hard. He didn’t know if the “much scarier Spirit” was Tohka or Yoshino, but the latter part of her speech sank into his brain.

Immune to dying when killed, Kurumi slaughtered people, and Mana killed Kurumi. Mana said that this cycle had been going on for a long time. And it would probably keep going. As long as Kurumi had her Spirit power.

The only person who could lock that power away was Shido.

“…” Wordlessly, he put a hand to his forehead.

He absolutely didn’t want Kurumi to murder anyone else. And he didn’t want Mana to kill Kurumi. That was the truth. It was how he really felt. As for what he needed to do to make this a reality, well, he knew that only too well.

“You’re right.” He walked ahead on shaky legs.

“Ah! Hey!” Kotori hurriedly chased after him.

“To keep Kurumi from killing anyone else, I have to lock her power away. To keep Mana from murdering Kurumi… I’m the only one who can do it. Fine. Are you happy now?”

“…Yes.” For some reason, Kotori sounded just the tiniest bit anxious.

That night, Shido lay on the living room sofa, his mind racing.

“…”

As he stared absently at the light of the incandescent lamp set in the ceiling, he let out a long sigh. Kurumi would no doubt be at school the next day. In which case, his job would begin again.

Increase his likability, kiss her, seal her power. Then everything would be resolved. Kurumi would stop killing people, so naturally, Mana would stop killing Kurumi.

This was the only way of reaching the lone happy ending available to him. However…

“…” He felt heavy, like a giant weight had been placed on his body. He expelled gloomy air from his lungs.

Then he heard the sound of the front door opening down the hallway. “Hmm…?”

He somehow managed to sit his burdensome body up and looked toward the living room door. About the only person he could think of who would come in without ringing the bell was Kotori, but she had said she was going to stay on the ship that night for work. So who was it?

While he considered this, the door opened, and Tohka poked her face inside, acting timid.

“Tohka?”

“Mm. Can I come in?”

Given that she had already come into the house, he couldn’t help but feel that she had gotten the timing for that question a little wrong. He decided not to bother with such details.

“S-sure. Of course.”

She stepped into the living room and ran over to him.

“Shido… Is it okay if I touch you?” she asked thoughtfully. Maybe she was upset about how he’d brushed her hand away in the park.

“Y-yeah, it’s fine,” he replied, and she crawled up onto the sofa and set herself between it and him. “What are you doing…?”

“It’s fine. Just be quiet.” She wrapped her arms around him to squeeze him tightly from behind.

“T-Tohka? What exactly…?” he asked, perspiring when he felt something soft against his back.

“Mm. The TV said to do this when you’re feeling sad or scared.”

“…And which program was this?”

“Mommy and Me…I think.”

The children’s show of all children’s shows. A smile slipped across his face. It seemed that they were right. He did actually feel a little better.

He didn’t know how long they had sat like that when Tohka suddenly opened her mouth.

“…Reine told me.”

“Told you…?”

“About Kurumi and Mana. I asked her why you seemed off, and she told me.”

“…! Sh-she did…” He swallowed hard.

He knew that Reine didn’t really like to tell Tohka too much about the Spirits and the AST. She had probably assumed that Tohka’s mental state would have taken a turn for the worse if she didn’t tell her something.

“Shido. Do you remember what I said when I came to live in this house?”

“Huh?”

“If another Spirit like me shows up…I want you to save them.”

“Ohhh.” He nodded. He remembered that quite well.

And he had said he would. That feeling wasn’t a lie, and that resolve hadn’t changed even now.

“But Kurumi’s—”

“—The same as me.”

“Huh?”

She pressed her face into his back.

“You were there for me. You saved me. But no one’s there for Kurumi. She’s been there with no one holding out a hand to her a lot longer than I was.”

She squeezed him harder, to the point where it almost hurt.

“If you hadn’t been there, if I had kept going like that, constantly exposed to nothing but malice and hostility forever and ever…I might have ended up like Kurumi.”

“Y-you wouldn—,” he started and then cut himself off.

Two months ago, when he had first met Tohka, she was so wild it was almost impossible to believe it now. Sick of a fight she couldn’t see the end of, exhausted, worn to the bone, her heart was on the verge of being crushed. It wasn’t his place to casually comment on that despair now.

“If Kurumi really is such a bad Spirit that there’s no saving her anymore, then I’ll protect you.”

“Huh?”

“So… Shido. Please. Just look at her one more time. Don’t let her slaughter any more people. Don’t let her heart be worn down any more.”

“…!” He gulped.

Aah, I finally get it.

He couldn’t stand the idea of Kurumi killing people. He absolutely could not allow Mana to murder Kurumi. He had resolved to stop Kurumi to end this cycle. But there was an important piece missing from this thinking.

“…Thanks, Tohka.”

“Mm… Mm? Wh-what for? I didn’t do anything.”

“…No, it’s thanks to you.”

Right. Even though what he needed to do was kiss Kurumi and lock her power away, he had been totally focused on the people Kurumi killed and on Mana. The incredibly shocking scene he’d witnessed had knocked the very obvious fact of saving Kurumi right out of his head.

The Spirit Kurumi had indeed killed any number of people. This was something that could not be overlooked, no matter how she tried to atone for it.

But…when he’d sealed Tohka’s power, he had wanted to save her from the bottom of his heart. He’d prayed he could somehow help this girl with such irrational malice turned toward her.

When he’d sealed Yoshino’s power, he had wanted to save her sincerely, too. He couldn’t believe that this girl wouldn’t be rewarded for how carefully she considered people who turned to her with hostility.

That’s why he had been able to act. He had a power to recover that went beyond human intellect and the ability to seal away the powers of Spirits. But the only reason a high school boy with average physique, strength, and brains could even attempt to make this happen, coughing blood all the while, was his own single-mindedness.

Save Kurumi. Rescue this girl trapped in a chain and cycle of murder.

And Mana, too. He couldn’t let this girl who said she was his little sister kill Kurumi anymore. He wouldn’t let her wear down her heart any further.

Fine if it was an illusion. Fine if it was empty imaginings. Unless he truly believed he could do this, it would be impossible for him to reach out his hand.

“—Tohka. I’m all right now.”

“Mm. You’re not sad anymore?”

“Nope.”

“You’re not scared anymore?”

“…Well, I’m maybe a little scared.” He looked sheepish and smiled wryly. “But I’m okay.”

“Mm…okay.” She loosened her arms.

He got to his feet and stretched. At the same time, his stomach growled. Now that he was thinking about it, he had thrown up all his lunches on the street, so he felt like he hadn’t had anything to eat all day.

“How about I whip something up? You’re staying for supper, right?”

“Yeah!” Tohka nodded vigorously.