Chapter 10

Vengeance Five Years Coming

Ryouko stepped into the SDF Tengu Garrison’s CR unit hangar in work clothes and was welcomed by an uproar.

“Hey, something happen?” she called to a mechanic nearby.

The mechanic frowned, looking panicked. “Get outta the way! Can we do this later? Now’s not—Captain!” She snapped up straight with a salute.

“At ease.” Ryouko shook her head slightly. “Tell me what happened.”

“Er… White Licorice disappeared with all its ammo.”

“What?!” Ryouko widened her eyes, and she whirled her head around.

Just as the mechanic had said, the place where the enormous White Licorice had been stored was glaringly empty, and several officers and mechanics were running around nearby in a panic.

“So did someone take it out…?” she asked.

“N-no idea. I don’t know the details, either.”

Ryouko looked around the hangar. She wouldn’t know until she investigated, but she couldn’t see anything else out of the ordinary. There was no sign of the door being broken down or the transport truck being moved. So whoever took this massive weapon did it without a transport truck.

After a moment of silence, Ryouko spoke to the mechanic again. “What’s the current storage status of the emergency equip devices?”

“The emergency equip devices? Wait just a second.” The mechanic began to tap the small terminal in her hand.

The emergency equip device deployed a Territory temporarily and immediately equipped a wiring suit. Using this, an AST member could gain the power of a wizard without obtaining formal permission to equip a CR unit. Thus, they were monitored via computer, and when someone took a device and when they equipped it were automatically recorded in the database.

There was one possible culprit—nothing more than a suspicion at this point. But about the only people she could think of who could move a White Licorice–class piece of equipment without using a transport truck were wizards with a Territory deployed.

Praying in her heart that a certain code would not come up, she waited for the mechanic to speak.

The terminal emitted a high-pitched beep, and the mechanic said in a choked voice, “Captain. Th-there is one person carrying a device.”

“…! Who?” Ryouko demanded.

“O-Origami Tobiichi…,” the mechanic announced, voice trembling.

“Allllll riiiiight! Kotori! What should we ride next?!” Shido started running, Kotori’s hand in his, after a wild ride on the Drop of Doom.

“H-hey! Hold up!” Kotori shouted, hair flying around her face, as she braced her feet to bring Shido to a stop.

“Hmm? What’s up, Kotori?”

“‘What’s up’?! You know what’s up! Explain yourself!” Kotori shouted.

This wasn’t unexpected. Because as soon as she had changed clothes, Shido had dragged her into the amusement park area and made straight for the nearest thrill ride, whether she liked it or not.

“Explain? I already did. The truth is your big brother loves amusement parks.”

“That’s not an explanation! You’re dragging me around for that?!”

“C’mon! Don’t be rude. When a guy hits high school, he doesn’t really get to go to the amusement park so much. I mean, going with your family’s embarrassing. Going with your guy friends is just sad. The only way you get to be at an amusement park is if you belong to the privileged class of girlfriend-haver! Do you have any idea how many thousands of boys want to come to the amusement park but can’t?” Shido appealed to her.

Kotori’s eyes grew sharper. “As if I care! First of—”

But then she gasped suddenly.

“G-girlfriend…,” she murmured, and her face turned red.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Kotori? Oh! Did you maybe—?”

“I-it’s nothing! I wasn’t—”

“Did the Drop of Doom scare you? You should’ve told me before.” He pressed a hand to his mouth and started giggling.

Kotori’s face was so red, it was nearly purple, and she swung her hand at him.

“Ow-ow-ow! St-stop it!”

“Shut up! Hngh! Hngh!”

Shido managed to escape her attack somehow and pointed at the entrance to the roller coaster. “Okay, Kotori. We ride that next.”

“You have got to listen to me!”

“Oh right. I guess you’re too short to ride, huh?” Shido taunted, smirking.

Kotori recommenced her attack. “Don’t be an idiot! The height requirement for the roller coaster is a hundred and ten centimeters! I mean, I’m not that small!”

“Oh? But I bet you’re scared, huh?”

“Don’t you go looking down me! I’m actually worried you’ll be peeing your pants, Shido!”

“Whaaat? So then how about we see who’s the scaredy-cat?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” Kotori snorted and climbed the stairs with him.

She realized that Shido had reverse psychologied her onto the ride only when the safety bar was coming down on their seat.

“Hmm… Do you think Shido is all right?” On the bridge of Fraxinus, hanging in the air above Ocean Park, Kannazuki crossed his arms, unable to relax, and tapped his foot on the floor.

“…Actually, with Kotori at least, this way might be better,” Reine observed in a quiet voice from her seat on the lower deck as she stared at the monitor.

“I wonder.”

“…Mm-hmm. Shin gets the job done. We might have been overthinking this.”

Kannazuki frowned, as if he still couldn’t stop worrying, and turned his eyes toward the main monitor.

Shido and Kotori had just gone into a haunted house when Kannazuki cried out, “Oh!”

The screen showed them walking in the dark. When they were far enough in that the light from the entrance no longer reached them, Shido held his hand out to Kotori.

“Here, Kotori. Take my hand.”

“H-huh? What are you on about? Could you not treat me like a child? Or maybe you’re the one who’s scared, Shido.” She shook her head.

Normally, this was where Shido would fall silent.

This time, however, he nodded and shrank into himself dramatically. “Yes. The truth is, I’m so scared, I can hardly stand it. So, Kotori, come on, hold your big brother’s hand.”

“Wh-what are you doing, you creep?!”

“Kotoriiii.”

“F-fine…! I get it; just shut up!” Kotori scratched at her head and, after a moment’s hesitation, took Shido’s hand. And then she dropped her head, a little embarrassed.

It was a charming scene. The crew couldn’t understand why Kannazuki had cried out.

“Wh-what’s the matter, Vice Commander?”

“Shido, such a missed opportunity. And in a haunted house no less…!”

“What…? He’s holding her hand,” a member of the crew objected from the lower deck. “There doesn’t seem to be any problem…”

Kannazuki shook his head vigorously. “What are you talking about?! Why wouldn’t he clutch the commander to his chest?! He could have legitimately had his fill of her soft body and perhaps even gotten her to step on his face with the soles of her hard shoes…!”

““…””

Sweat trickled down the faces of all the crew members.

Shido and Kotori had exited the haunted house and were now walking toward the go-carts. At first, Kotori tried to get in a separate car, but Shido beckoned her over, and Kotori got into a larger two-seater cart with him, her cheeks coloring slightly.

“Ah! Aaaah! Shido, what are you…?!” Kannazuki yelped in despair once again. “Why would you get in a cart together?! You should have set the commander in a cart on her own and you run ahead of her! The commander chasing you, a sadistic smile on her face! Gradually closing in! And then you fall after persistent attacks on your Achilles’ heel, baptism by bumper! Aah, Commander! Have mercy! Mercy!”

““…””

Kannazuki writhed in ecstasy while the crew once again turned dubious gazes on him. Those gazes suggested that Shido might have been correct in tossing away the earpiece.

“Phew…!” Kotori threw herself down on a bench in the central plaza. It was already five o’clock.

Attempting to conquer the amusement park attractions, she and Shido had ridden and ridden and ridden some more. It was no wonder that she was exhausted.

“Aaah… Holy crap. I underestimated the power of the theme park. It rules.”

“Hmph,” she sniffed. “That’s because you’re a child. I hope you get your diapers off before you graduate from high school.”

“You’re one to talk. You nearly lost it at the splash coaster.”

“Wh-what did you say?!” Kotori yelled and then let out a sigh as she sat back down. “Hmph. Fine. I’m tired. And…well, it wasn’t boring.”

“Yeah?” Shido lowered his eyes and stretched at length one more time. Something cracked in his back. “…How long’s it been since we were at an amusement park? Mom and Dad are basically never home, so it must have be—”

“Five years,” Kotori replied immediately.

“Huh?” Shido was stunned.

Kotori gasped, like she was surprised she’d actually said it, but then continued since she’d already started. “The last time we went to an amusement park as a family was five years ago. We haven’t been once since.”

“I can’t believe you remember. Huh… Five years ago?” Shido rolled the words around in his mouth.

Five years ago. He felt like he’d been hearing those words a lot these last few days.

The year the Itsuka family last went to an amusement park. The year Kotori became a Spirit. The year Shido had locked that power away. And…the year Origami’s parents had died.

Shido stood up wordlessly from the bench and squatted down facing Kotori.

Two days ago, Shido had remembered what happened the day of the fire in Nanko five years ago. The scene with Kotori in her Astral Dress crying. Which was exactly why this question lurked in the depths of his heart—had it been Kotori who killed Origami’s parents?

“…What?” Kotori looked at him in confusion. But after a few seconds, her body trembled, her cheeks turned pink, and she whirled her eyes around.

What exactly was she thinking?

“Huh? Um. So… Do you maybe—?”

“Kotori,” Shido said softly.

“Ee-yeah…!” Kotori replied. “Sh-Shido…? Um. Yeah. Well. I do think we’re nearing that time… Um. H-how about we at least go somewhere out of sight?”

“…? Why?”

“Wh-why…?” She looked around. She could see several people, but no one was close enough to overhear them. So maybe there was no need to worry about that.

“Here is fine, isn’t it?” Shido asked.

“…!” Kotori’s red face grew even redder.

“So, um, Kotori,” Shido said, staring at her.

“…! Wh-what…?”

“There’s something…I want to ask you.”

“If you wanna kiss me, then you can just—huh?”

“Huh?”

Shido and Kotori stared at each other in surprise.

“Uh, um. Sorry, Kotori, did you—?”

“Sh-shut up! Forget it! What?! This thing you want to ask. Spit it out already!”

“S-sure …” Shido took a step back. He was curious about what Kotori started to say, but well, if she was going to insist, then he would go ahead and ask. He cleared his throat and looked her square in the eye. “So, Kotori. Five years ago—”

The moment he started to speak, Shido felt the sound around him grow a little distant. And then he realized that an invisible wall had been set up around him. Almost like an AST Territory.

“Huh?”

Something dropped down from directly above, right where Kotori was.

In the next instant, he heard the roar of something denotating, and his field of view was obstructed by a wall of fire.

“Wha…?” He froze briefly, unable to process what had happened in front of his eyes.

Shido didn’t have a scratch on him. The invisible wall around him had completely blocked the blast.

But outside this barrier…the spot where Kotori had been…was unrecognizable.

He took a step forward to get outside the wall wrapped in smoke. The barrier, however, didn’t so much as bend at Shido’s strength.

“Kotori!” he shouted.

Targeted explosions didn’t just happen. Not without an actor, some person attacking with malice, animosity, with the intent to kill.

Shido yanked his face up and gasped at who he saw there.

“Origami…”

Origami Tobiichi was floating in the sky, clad in a wiring suit and a CR unit, looking down on him.

“Shido. It’s dangerous here. Get away.” Origami had slightly different weapons every time she set out for an attack, but the unit she was wearing now was on an entirely different level from anything he’d seen before.

It was a massive unit, entirely enveloping Origami’s body. On the back were several missile pods and containers crammed together. Two arms stretched out from there, and Shido could see a large laser sword with a long blade of light, plus two massive guns that looked like they belonged on a battleship. It was bizarre, like Origami had come out with a whole armory on her back.

There was no doubt in his mind: She was the one who had shot Kotori.

““Unh. Aaaaaaaaah?!””

A heartbeat later, the park guests noticed that something was very wrong. Some started shrieking, and everyone went running.

And rightly so. If it had been just Origami arriving on the scene, some—or even most—of the people might have thought it was a new amusement park attraction. But she charged in firing missiles to scorch the earth. Obviously, they would flee.

Shido didn’t move, however. He couldn’t move.

Clenching his fists so tightly they almost started to bleed, he glared at Origami in the sky.

“Origami! Do you know what you just did…?!” Shido shouted in a hoarse voice.

Origami nodded. “I killed Kotori Itsuka.”

Her straightforwardness made Shido shudder.

“…Killed me, huh? You toss that word around pretty casually, it seems,” came a daring voice from where Kotori had been sitting, and the lingering smoke was whisked away as if caught up in a breeze. There, protected by a wall of flames, stood Kotori.

“Haah.” She sighed and snapped her fingers. The wall of flames before her melted into the air and disappeared. Then she turned her eyes toward Origami and jerked her chin up, sneering at the other girl. “Origami Tobiichi. I thought you were smarter than this.”

“…You know me?”

“How could I not know a girl crazy enough to launch missiles willy-nilly when there hasn’t been any alarm and no one’s been evacuated?”

“…” Origami was silent, and her gaze grew sharper. She was probably giving a command to the CR unit. Part of the weapon container on her back deployed, revealing countless gun barrels.

A rain of steel pebbles fell on Kotori, with trajectories perfectly controlled by Origami’s Territory. Shido was so close that stray bullets came his way, but the invisible wall around him deflected them all. The wall was probably Origami’s work, too.

“…! Kotori!” Shido cried out, amid the deafening gunfire, covering his face automatically with his arms.

Kotori held up a calm hand, and crimson flames sprang from her feet to swallow every last bullet.

“Elohim Gibor—Astral Dress Number Five!” she shouted, and the flames rose up, licking at her body and burning away her clothing.

In the next moment, the flames took on the shape of a fantastical Japanese kimono. The fluttering robes of an angel. Burning sleeves. And snowy white horns. Astral Dress. The castle and armor that would provide absolute protection to a Spirit.

“Camael!” Kotori yelled, and the flames converged on her hand to form a massive battle-ax.

Origami’s face twisted in annoyance.

Shido frowned, unable to believe this look on her face. Origami Tobiichi. The honors student, the ideal. Always cool, always composed. Almost nothing changed her expression.

Origami Tobiichi’s face was now colored with rage as she glared at Kotori. “I found you… Finally…!”

Shido’s body was suddenly lifted up into the air. “Wha—?!”

“Be careful. You get back, Shido.” Origami shifted her gaze and sent him flying gently in that direction.

“Whoa?!” He tumbled down onto soft grass and pressed a hand to his head.

Then he realized that the invisible wall around him had been released. Now was not the time for that, however. He hurriedly sat up and turned back toward where he’d come from, toward Kotori in her Astral Dress and Origami in the massive unit.

“Kotori! Origami…!”

His beloved little sister and his friend. They were both important to Shido, and now they were facing off against each other, brandishing lethal weapons. This was the very worst thing he could picture, a scene he’d tried desperately not to imagine.

“Haah.” Origami exhaled, and the container on her back opened up. A barrage of missiles that made the earlier onslaught look like a few sticks tossed through the air closed in on Kotori on the ground, trailing smoke.

The incredible explosion and blast, a violent shaking and shock wave, cut through the area.

“Ngh…!” Unconsciously, he covered his face with his arms and narrowed his eyes. But that wasn’t enough. Couching low on all fours, he managed to somehow keep himself from being blown away.

The missiles set out to completely destroy everything in its path and annihilated a corner of the amusement park half a second later. The area where Kotori stood was gouged out of the earth like a localized spacequake. There was nothing left.

This force was simply too great. He’d seen Origami and the AST in battle a number of times, but he’d never see a unit boasting this kind of firepower.

“Kotori!” he called out. He couldn’t see her in the obliterated earth. She couldn’t have been blown away in that attack. Could she?

“Hmph,” came a small voice from above, as if to assuage Shido’s fears. “Quite the naughty weapon you got there, hmm?”

He looked up to see Kotori floating calmly in the sky, not a scratch on her.

“Ngh.” Origami’s face twisted painfully. Countless missiles turned toward Kotori. And that wasn’t all this time.

“Directional Territory deploy! Coordinates two-two-three, four-three-nine, three-six…!” Origami cried, and a spherical barrier took shape around Kotori.

“Hmm?” Kotori frowned.

From where Shido stood, he could tell right away that this was not a field to protect Kotori like the wall around him before. No, this was…

Origami’s missiles passed through the barrier around Kotori and slammed into her.

This time, Shido didn’t have to cover his face. The reason was simple: not a single tremor of the multiple shock waves from the missiles exploding inside the barrier slipped out from it.

He could easily picture the disastrous scene inside the wall. Kotori might have been a Spirit, but even she wouldn’t make it out scot-free after a direct hit from those missiles combined with the contained aftermath of the multiple explosions.

“Hah…! Haah…! Haah…!” Sweat poured down Origami’s face, and she panted for breath, shoulders heaving. The attack must have seriously overtaxed her brain.

The barrier around Kotori melted into the air, and the dense smoke curled up inside before thinning and disappearing.

Origami’s eyes flew open in surprise when the smoke cleared.

And it wasn’t hard to see why. A mass of bright red flames floated where the smoke had been.

“Pwah!” Kotori poked her face out, little parts of her sooty. “Well, look at you go. I’ve never seen this machine before. New model?”

Kotori waved a hand. Flames once again crawled along her, and her body and her Astral Dress were restored to perfect condition.

“…! Ah!” Kotori face twisted suddenly, and she cried out in pain, pressing a hand to the side of her head. “Ngh… Used. Too much…power…”

Shido gasped. He had seen this symptom before—he’d seen it on the roof of the high school two days ago. And in the scene he’d witnessed earlier in a corner of the pool area. Kotori’s mind was being eaten into by the destructive urges welling up inside of her.

When she was fighting for her life, it was too big of a breach in her defenses. Origami wouldn’t let this chance get away.

“Cleave Leaf—removal…deploy!” Origami shouted, and the blade of her laser sword shot out from the hilt, a beam of light that twisted around Camael and Kotori.

“Ngh…”

“Directional Territory…deploy!” Origami chanted again, and a spherical barrier formed around Kotori once more.

Rather than fire missiles, however, Origami twisted around and turned the massive guns on both edges of the weapon container toward Kotori.

“Destroy her. Blastalk!”

A torrent of magical light jetted forward.

“…!”

Dazzling pale light of destruction. Even Shido, who knew nothing about weapons and ordnance, could tell that this light was meant to annihilate. The barrier around Kotori, which had completely contained the impact and shock wave of the missiles earlier, now cracked, and a tiny bit of magical light leaked out.

The instant it touched the ground, there was an incredible explosion, and a small crater appeared.

“Kotori!” Shido shrieked, practically tearing his vocal cords. His cry was drowned out by the aftershocks of the destructive magical light.

“…! …!” Origami lowered her arms, looking haggard. Her face was pale, and she was breathing fast. Even though she had been the only one attacking, it looked almost like she was the one taking damage.

In the next moment, Kotori appeared behind her, brandishing Camael.

“Wha—?” Origami’s face twisted in surprise, and she held up her laser blade to counter, but it was too late.

“Camael.”

The flaming blade flickered and closed in on the girl.

“Ah…!” Origami let out a choked scream and slammed into the ground with her massive weapons unit.

Kotori looked down on her with cold eyes and lightly swung Camael with one hand. The flames snapped out at Origami.

“Ngh… Defensive Territory…deploy!” she cried, gritting her teeth, and the Territory activated around her shrank so that it clung just to Origami and her unit.

Camael’s blade beat down into the ground.

“Ngh… Ah…!” Origami’s Territory managed to defend against the attack somehow, but guarding seemed to have put a correspondingly intense load on her brain. She furrowed her brow in pain and cried out.

Kotori, however, didn’t stop. Flaming blade burning brightly, she swung the battle-ax over and over and over, like she was hitting Origami with a whip.

“Oh dear! What happened to all that power? I thought you were going to defeat me! I thought you were going to hit me! Kill me! If you can, hurry up and fly. Turn the tip of your blade, the barrels of your guns toward me. Otherwise… Hee-hee, you’ll die first.”

“…! Kotori!” Shido cried.

This was clearly not his sister. This was a Kotori who was not Kotori, one whose mind had been corroded by destructive impulses.

“Kotori! Stop! If you go any further—”

She showed no sign of staying her hand. The corners of her lips turned up in a gruesome smile, and she hit Origami’s Territory again and again with her flaming blade.

“…! Haah—”

And then on the nth blow, the Territory finally broke, and Camael’s blade scratched the weapon container.

“…What? We’re done already? How boring,” Kotori commented, her voice cold, and dropped down to stand next to where Origami lay panting. “Camael. Megiddo.”

The blade scattered from the massive battle-ax, and the base shifted and equipped itself on Kotori’s right arm.

“Fine.” Kotori thrust the barrel of this gun into Origami’s face. “If you can’t fight, then I don’t need you anymore.”

“Kotori! Stop! Kotoriiiii!” Shido shouted, straining his throat, as he raced toward the two girls.

The surrounding flames continued to be sucked into Kotori’s weapon.

This was the blow that had easily pierced Kurumi’s Angel. A human being would have been helpless taking a hit like that at super-close range.

Origami glared at Kotori hatefully, showing no signs of fear as she panted in pain, her shoulders heaving. “Efreeeeet…!”

An unhappy look settled on Kotori’s face. “You do know some ugly names. I wonder where you unearthed that one.”

Origami ignored her. “Did you…kill them like that? Five years ago… Did you kill my mother and my father like this?!”

“What?” Kotori asked, her voice suddenly very different.

“Ooh! Look, Yoshino! A waterfall!” Tohka cried out from the large boat in the wave pool that lapped the water area inside.

“It’s…amazing…!” Yoshino nodded, apparently excited.

“Just beautiful. I’d love to freeze it,” Yoshinon threatened from Yoshino’s left hand, laughing like this was a great joke.

The truth was, the first jungle cruise had ended ages ago, but Yoshino had said she wanted to go again, so they had jumped aboard for a second tour.

Normally, Tohka would have wanted to go look for Shido. But when Yoshino begged and pleaded with her, she had been struck with the brilliant idea of riding on the right side of the boat since they had seen the left the last time, and they had gotten on the vehicle for one more go.

“All right, take a look over there,” the staff member at the bow of the ship announced, gesturing at the volcano to one side. “This is the biggest volcano at Ocean Park. It’s normally quiet… But it seems to be excited that you all came to visit today. Look, it’s about to erupt!”

A loud explosion rocked the pool area, and the air shook and crackled.

“O-ooh?!” Tohka grabbed on to the edge of the swaying boat, her eyes round. “W-wow! It didn’t feel that big when we were on the left side of the boat!”

Yoshino’s face grew pale for some reason.

“Yoshino?”

“That…wasn’t it. That was…”

A siren began to blare, and an announcement urging everyone to evacuate began to play.

“Wh-what…?” Tohka gasped. She couldn’t explain it clearly, but she had a definite feeling. Somewhere nearby…there was a being that was the same as her. “Yoshino…”

When she turned to look at Yoshino, she had the same expression on her face.

They felt this faint surge that might have been called the scent of a Spirit, of Spirit power.

With the explosion just now and Shido nowhere to be found, Tohka had a very bad feeling.

“Shido…!” she cried and leaped from the boat into the pool.

“What…?” Kotori asked, dazed. She pressed a hand against her head as if suffering from a headache. Her voice and her expression were not those of a few seconds earlier. This was the Kotori that Shido knew.

Perhaps realizing this or perhaps not, Origami continued, “Five years ago. Five years prior to now. My parents lived in Nanko in Tengu, and they were killed by a Spirit of flames. By you. You roasted them before my eyes…! How could I forget that?! How could I ever forget that?! So I’ll kill you… I’m going to kill you, Efreet!”

Origami screamed and sent Kotori flying.

This wasn’t so much because Origami had gotten stronger as it was that all the strength had drained out of Kotori. Her small body flew through the air so easily, it was hard to believe she was a Spirit in an Astral Dress.

“Kotori…!” Shido shouted but got no reaction.

When she slammed into the ground, Kotori merely opened her eyes wide, stunned, and her teeth began to chatter. “I…wouldn’t—”

Origami immediately deployed her Territory once more, stood up, and turned her large laser sword on Kotori. The light blade flew out and wrapped around the young girl.

“This time, you won’t get out of this. Directional Territory…deploy!”

A barrier sprang up around Kotori—not to protect the target, but to lock her in, a bloodthirsty cage to inflict lethal attacks. Before, she had gotten out in the nick of time, but that didn’t seem likely now. She was sweating and writhing in agony.

“…!”

Shido unconsciously started running. It wasn’t like there was anything he could do. There was no role he could play. In fact, now that he had lost Kotori’s power, he couldn’t even regenerate if he were mortally injured. Even if he did throw himself in front of Kotori, they would only end up being shot through together.

But he couldn’t stop his feet. The reason for this was simple. His adorable little sister was in danger. That was more than enough to spur a big brother forward.

“Territory contract… White Licorice, parallel world drive!” Origami turned the barrel of a massive gun on Kotori.

Shido leaped between Origami and Kotori, and stood arms and legs thrown out to protect Kotori.

“Origami! No! You have to stop!”

“…! Shido. Get out of my way.”

“Not a chance!” he shouted.

Origami gnashed her teeth and glared at him. “I told you. I have lived to avenge my parents. I made it through that fire five years ago and devoted myself to this. My life has been only for this purpose. Killing Efreet—killing Kotori Itsuka—is my reason for being.”

“…!”

As Shido listened to Origami, the words of another girl spun around in his mind.

“Because I’m used to it.”

Mana Takamiya. Shido’s self-proclaimed real little sister.

“It’s my mission and my reason for living to keep murdering you. If you do not fall, I’ll kill you until you fall, and if you do not die, I’ll kill you until you die.”

The girl who had killed the Spirit Kurumi over and over, wearing down her heart to the point where it could no longer go back to the way it was. Remembering the glimpse of her total exhaustion and dark, dull eyes he’d seen, Shido swallowed hard.

Why was he remembering Mana now…? Simple. The girl with the massive weapon before him now looked the same as her.

“You. Can’t…,” Shido whispered, and Origami frowned slightly. “You can’t… You can’t kill her! If you pull that trigger, I just know you’ll never be able to come back from it…!”

With that single blow, Origami would become Mana. Her heart would be crushed, and it would never go back to the way it was. Precisely because he was so sensitive to these feelings in people, Shido knew this. The trigger Origami had her finger on was the final key.

“I…don’t want to see that happen to you…!”

Rather than lowering the weapon, Origami kept her sharp gaze turned on Shido and Kotori behind him. “…! I don’t care. If it means I can take down Efreet with these hands…!”

“Ngh!” Shido clenched his hands so tightly, his nails cut into his flesh.

But at the same time, he had an idea.

Spirit of flames. Efreet. That name that Origami had said.

“…! Ah…”

A bit of sophistry, sure. He wouldn’t argue if someone pointed out that it was nothing more than word games. But it was a possibility, however small. A single thread to salvation was dangling before Shido’s eyes, however thin and ephemeral.

“Origami… Answer one thing for me.”

She didn’t respond. Taking her silence as agreement, Shido continued.

“The revenge you want is against Efreet…right?”

“Yes.”

“Not my little sister, not Kotori Itsuka, but the flame Spirit, right?!”

“…What are you saying?” Origami frowned slightly. “Efreet and Kotori Itsuka are one and the same. What exactly are you—?”

“Just answer me! You want vengeance on the Spirit of flames, and the human being that is my little sister has nothing to do with that, right?!” Shido shouted.

Origami fell into a dubious silence briefly before replying. “What you’re saying is impossible. It’s true, I want vengeance on the Spirit of flames. Efreet. She is not human. But Kotori Itsuka is a Spirit. Your statement is nonsensical.”

Shido swallowed hard.

“Get out of the way, Shido,” Origami whispered.

“No… I can’t do that. All the more so after hearing what you just said…!”

“…Meaning?” She scowled at him, as though she couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

“Please. A couple minutes is all I need. Please give me and Kotori some time. And then—”

“I cannot. Now is my best chance to strike Efreet…! If you won’t get out of the way—” Origami raised her weapon once more. To go through Shido and erase Kotori.

“Ngh!”

It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand how Origami was feeling. She would no doubt say that Shido was the one being unreasonable.

It was the most natural thing in the world to hate the person who killed someone you love. It was natural to hate them so much that you wanted to kill them with your own hands.

If Origami did kill Kotori now, Shido would no doubt harbor the same feelings in his heart toward Origami that she held toward Kotori. Even if he said he forgave her, even if he smoothed things over on the surface—regardless of what he thought he wanted, he was sure that hatred would cling to the deepest part of his heart.

So his following comment would be nothing but the right thing to say. Call him a hypocrite, call him selfish, call him irrational, but Shido couldn’t hold his tongue.

“Your parents were killed, so maybe this sounds like lip service to you. I know that if my parents or Kotori were killed, I would hate the person who did it so much, I’d want them dead. I know this is a contradiction! I know I’m being selfish! But I…! I can’t look away when my adorable little sister is about to be murdered in front of me. And I can’t sit back and watch my friend lose herself to despair!”

“…!” A spasm ran across Origami’s face. She lowered her eyes for a second and then shook her head slightly before turning her gaze back on Kotori.

“Even so…I—!” At the same time as Origami spoke, an invisible wall popped up about Shido.

“Th-this is—,” he cried. It was the same as the one deployed around him earlier—a defensive barrier to protect the target from attack, unlike the barrier around Kotori.

“Stop! Origamiiiiiiiiiiii!” Shido shrieked, guessing at Origami’s intentions.

“Unh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Origami roared, loud enough to drown out Shido, and set the sights of her raised weapon on Kotori.

But at that moment…

“I don’t think so!” came a voice from the sky, as one of Origami’s gun barrels was neatly severed.

“…?!” Surprise crept across Origami’s face, and it didn’t take long for her to spot the attacker. Her lips twisted in annoyance. “Tohka Yatogami…!”

Dancing down from the sky above to attack Origami’s weapon was Tohka, wearing a faintly glowing dress over her swimsuit and gripping a large sword in one hand.

“Tohka!”

“Mm. You okay? Shido? Kotori?” Tohka touched down to stand between Shido and Origami, while keeping an eye on the girl.

Origami sharpened her gaze hatefully and deployed the weapon container on her back. Even though she had already fired so many missiles, it seemed that she still hadn’t exhausted her ammunition. Several bullets poked their heads up.

“Don’t get in m—”

Before Origami could fire, beams of light came at her from either side.

“Ngh…” She leaped up into the air and just barely managed to dodge the attack. At the same time, her concentration was broken, and the invisible wall around Shido vanished.

The beams shot through the earth, and the ground there crackled and immediately froze solid. He suddenly realized that those weren’t beams of light.

“That’s…”

A concentrated mass of cold air that froze everything it touched. He’d seen this power before.

“Are you…all right…Shido…and…Kotori…?”

He heard a familiar voice from the direction of the attack. He looked up to find a rabbit doll, much smaller than the last time he’d seen it.

Smooth with a pattern drawn on the surface. Jaw with fangs like icicles. And on its back, Yoshino, clad in a dress that shone hazily around her swimsuit.

“Yoshino!” Shido called.

“Yes.” Yoshino bobbed her head up and down.

“A-and… That’s Zadkiel…?!”

“Y…es. Reine told us. You and Kotori…were in danger. So we came, but… I felt like… I had to help you, and then…this strange feeling in my heart…”

As if to pick up where Yoshino left off, the enormous rabbit-shaped Angel—Zadkiel—rumbled, “Heyooo! Nick of time, huh?”

“And…Yoshinon?” Shido tilted his head to one side.

Zadkiel laughed out loud in a way that belied its fearsome appearance. “I’ll listen to how grateful you are later. But right now—”

Missiles rained down on Tohka and Yoshino.

“Ngh!”

“Aah…!”

They cried out in anguish. Although they managed to defend against the blow—Tohka with her sword and Yoshino with an ice wall—they hadn’t been able to completely crush this attack.

Both Tohka’s Sandalphon, which was able to cut up everything, and Yoshino’s Zadkiel, which let nothing pass, were probably only manifesting a tenth of their full power. They might have been Spirits, but at less than full strength, it was far too reckless to challenge Origami with the equipment she had now.

“Shido!” Tohka shouted, her face screwed up in pain. “We’ve got this! You run!”

“T-Tohka… Yoshino.”

“We’re fine. You have to go!”

“We…won’t last…that long…!”

Origami glared hatefully at Tohka and then Yoshino. “…! Don’t get in my way. I don’t have time for the two of you right now.”

“Hmph. Kotori saved us, same as Shido did,” Tohka said, glaring at Origami. “We can’t let you take her down.”

“…We can’t!” Yoshino shouted her own addition, nodding.

Origami exhaled slowly and squeezed the hand holding the laser sword. “Then you two will have to disappear as well.” She deployed the container on her back once more and fired several missiles from the pods inside.

“…! Hah!” Tohka’s sword flashed, and a slicing attack flew out from it, causing the approaching missiles to explode on the spot. But she didn’t manage to take out all the missiles. Some slipped past her slicing attack and avoided being ignited by their fallen brethren to close in on Tohka.

A shower of water began to fall from the sky, and the missiles froze just as they were on the verge of touching Tohka.

“Yoshino!”

“I…borrowed some…water…from the pool…!”

Zadkiel’s eyes shone as if responding to Yoshino’s voice.

Tohka and Yoshino glanced at Shido again. Even without them putting it into words, he understood what they were saying—Take Kotori and go.

“Ngh! Sorry, guys…!” Shido gritted his teeth and started to run, the breathless Kotori in his arms.

He couldn’t just stand rooted to the spot, worried about Tohka and Yoshino. He had to respect their willingness to risk their lives for him and get Kotori somewhere far away!

“Shi…do…,” Kotori rasped, her face growing pale.

“It’s okay. I’ll get you fixed up in no time…!” Shido told her as he ran, and Kotori nodded a little, seeming a bit relieved.

The sound of explosions came at them from behind. Tohka and Yoshino were putting up a good fight, but even if it was two against one, neither of them had their full Spirit powers back. They were at a disadvantage taking on an opponent like Origami equipped with that massive weapon. In the worst case, it was very possible that they would be killed.

And he didn’t have much time to spare with Kotori, either. Her mind would be swallowed up by the destructive impulse, and she would rampage again like she had the day before yesterday.

Shido couldn’t simply run away from this. Kotori, Origami, Tohka, Yoshino. It was all for nothing if he couldn’t end this with all of them safe and sound.

And he had just one way of doing that.

“Okay…!”

Shido hid behind a ride and set Kotori down on the ground. Just this movement made her writhe in pain.

“Are you okay, Kotori?!”

“Yeah…I’ll manage,” Kotori said lifelessly, leaning back against the ride.

He really was out of time. Shido glanced toward the plaza and the sound of explosions before opening his mouth.

“Kotori.” Shido placed a hand on her shoulder and stared into her eyes, close enough that he could feel her breath.

“Y-yeah,” Kotori replied, her face stiff.

Shido swallowed hard. He was perspiring, and his throat grew dry in inverse proportion.

There was one method left to Shido to save Kotori. He was going to use it now.

“Ngah…?!”

He heard a cry of anguish from Tohka, while the sound of Origami’s unit grew even louder.

“Found you…!” Origami was heading straight for them at incredible speed.

“…! Ngh!” Shido gasped and moved his face closer to Kotori’s lips.

But there he realized there was an issue that he absolutely could not ignore.

Yes. Likability.

Because he’d tossed away his earpiece halfway through the date, Shido had no way of knowing his likability with Kotori. If it hadn’t increased over the course of their date, then all this would come to nothing.

He would be unable to seal her Spirit powers, and her mind would be eaten away by the force of the Spirit. His adorable little sister would be lost forever.

Shido gritted his teeth and shook his head. He absolutely would not let that happen.

So before he brought his face closer, he shouted, “Kotori!”

She opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Shido continued—clumsily but from the heart. “Kotori. Kotori. You are my adorable little sister. The best little sister in the world! My pride and joy! I can hardly stand…how much I like you! I love you!”

“Hah— Hwha?!” Her face turned beet red.

Shido’s was the same color. “Kotori…! Do you love me?!”

“Wh-what am I supposed to—?”

Steel pebbles came flying up from behind and shot through the ride that Shido and Kotori were hiding behind. Sparks scattered around them. Then Origami turned a small missile on Kotori.

“Kotori!”

“A-aaah! Come on!” Kotori sent her eyes racing around in confusion. “I do! I love you, too! I love my big brother! I love you more than anyone in the whole world!”

“…!”

Shido made his decision and touched his lips to hers.

A dizziness swept through him. Something that felt like the immorality of kissing the little sister he’d spent years with filled his heart, became an indescribable ecstasy, and slipped out through his nose.

And then Shido felt something warm flowing into his body through his lips. The Spirit’s powers being sealed inside of himself, the same sensation he’d experienced with Tohka and Yoshino.

“…?”

Just like the other day when Kotori’s Spirit power moved through the Path between the two of them, hazy memories poured into Shido’s head, and he raised his eyebrows.

On that fateful day, Kotori had been playing by herself in the small park right across from their house.

No, not playing. It was not quite that. She had simply been swinging on the swings, her mouth turned down at the corners, bored.

Even though it was her ninth birthday, Mommy and Daddy had to work, so they were away. On top of that, her beloved big brother had gone out somewhere.

“Unh… Unh…”

Kotori wiped at the tears in her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.

She was a crybaby, they said. She cried at the drop of a hat. Her big brother had only just warned her about this that very morning. He might end up hating her for this. No, maybe he was already sick of Kotori and that was why he wasn’t at home today of all days…

Each time her thoughts swirled around in this direction, tears sprang up in her eyes again, and she desperately wiped them away.

She was no good. She had to get stronger, otherwise her brother would hate her. But that thought had the opposite effect. Each time it came into her head, tears spilled from her eyes.

“Unh… Enh…”

And then a voice came from above her head.

“Hey? Why are you crying?”

“Huh?” She lifted her face. Standing there was a person who defied description.

Even though she knew it was there, she didn’t know what it looked like. She could recognize its words, but she didn’t know the sound of its voice.

This something was right there.

Kotori shuddered. She had been told to be wary when strangers talked to her, and even if she hadn’t been, it would have been weird to not be on the defensive around a being as mysterious as this.

“I-I’m fine. I was just going home,” Kotori said and jumped off the swing to run toward her house.

“Hmm. Your mother, your father, and your big brother aren’t home. Even though it’s your birthday. How sad.”

Kotori stopped in her tracks.

“H-how did you…?” she asked, but the thing did not answer. Instead, it continued quietly.

“If you were stronger, your big brother would love you.”

“…! That’s…”

“Don’t you want to be stronger? Don’t you want so much power that you never worry about your big brother again?”

“…”

When Kotori fell silent, she felt like the thing smiled. Then it reached a hand out toward her.

A small red gem appeared in its palm. A mysterious object gleaming hazily.

“It’s so pretty…”

This unknown “something” smiled again.

“If you want to be stronger, all you have to do is touch it. Then you’ll be stronger than anyone. Your big brother will love the strong you.”

Kotori swallowed hard. “Will he…really…love me?”

“Yes, of course,” the thing said. Invitingly. Enticingly.

Kotori slowly stretched out a hand and touched it. She touched it.

“…?!”

The red jewel melted into the palm of her hand, and before she knew it, she was hot like she was roasting in flames. Her clothes burned away from the bottom up and transformed into a strange Japanese-style outfit.

“…?! A-ah…!”

Her face twisted in agony at the heat enveloping her. But it didn’t end there.

Bright red flames sprang up around her.

“Ah… Aaaaaaaah!” Kotori shrieked as the fire scattered.

To the park. To the house across the street. To the apartment building next door. To the shop next to that.

The blaze burned bright and wild, intense, violent—enough to swallow up Kotori’s entire neighborhood.

Then a flash of light shot into the ground, and the something that had been in front of Kotori disappeared.

Kotori didn’t even notice that. Too much else was going on.

A searing pain raced through her. She felt like she was being burned alive. With each flash of pain, the fire around her was thrown in all directions, as if she had become a flamethrower.

“Huh… Wh-what is this…?”

At last, the pain eased up somewhat, and she was able to see again. The scene around had changed completely.

“Ah. Ah. Ah…”

The house she loved, the park she loved, the streets she loved were all on fire.

It was obviously her fault. The belt of flames wrapped around her was burning up everything in her life.

“Stop… Stop…!”

This fervent prayer did not weaken the flames. In fact, they only spread, as if ignoring what Kotori wanted. She screwed up her face, and tears fell from her eyes.

“Shi…do! Shidooooo!”

“Kotori!”

She suddenly heard a familiar voice. It was the voice she most wanted to hear. The voice of her beloved brother.

When she turned around, she could make out Shido in their neighborhood that had been eaten by flames and turned into a wasteland. He tossed aside the bag he was carrying and ran over to her, calling her name.

“Unh, ah, ah, Shido…! Shido! Shido…!”

She called his name over and over as she wiped at her tearstained face with both hands.

When he tried to get near her, however, the flames coiled about her suddenly swelled outward.

“…!” Kotori stiffened. This was bad. “Shido! You can’t come near meeeeee!!”

“Huh?” he said, baffled.

Kotori’s flames had already leaped onto him.

“Shidoooo…!”

She somehow managed to set her pained legs in motion and raced over to him.

On his back on the ground, he was in a terrible state. It was like his flesh from shoulder to stomach had been gouged away, and burns covered the rest of him. Even to the eyes of a layperson like Kotori, he looked beyond saving.

“Shido… Shido! Shido…!” she called to him over and over but got no response.

His eyelids fluttered shut.

“So do you want to save him?”

Kotori heard the voice again.

“…?!” She jerked her face up. And standing there, indeed, was the thing.

“Who…are you…?” She looked up at the something, her whole body shaking. “Wh-what…did you do to me?! I… I don’t want this power… I don’t want it!”

“Oh. But then he will die. You’re fine with that?” the something whispered.

“…!” This made her breath stop like a spasm in her throat, and she dropped her gaze back down to Shido. “Is there…a way to save my brother?”

“Yes.”

Then the something told her about this way—a ridiculous method to speak of in this place of devastation. But Kotori had no other choice left to her.

She was well aware that this something could not be trusted. But it was also a fact that Shido would die if she did nothing.

Kotori took a deep breath and then did what the something had told her.

She slowly approached Shido’s face and pressed her lips to his.

“…!” The white kimono wrapped around her shone faintly for an instant and then gradually melted into the air.

At the same time, flames crawled along Shido’s body, but they weren’t burning him up. When they faded away, his gruesome wounds were gone.

“Shi…do…”

A second later.

“Aaah…”

Shido slowly opened his eyes.

“Shido… Shido, Shido…!” Despite the fact that she was half-naked, Kotori wrapped her arms around him.

“…Kotori. Are you crying…again?”

“It’s just… It’s just…” Kotori sniffled.

Shido smiled, pained, and slowly sat up. “Ohhh, right…”

He pulled himself away and crawled over to where he’d come from. He picked up the bag he’d thrown aside and returned to her. He opened the bag and pulled out a small, beautifully wrapped gift bag.

“Happy…birthday, Kotori.”

“What?”

Her eyes grew wide, and her jaw dropped. She had completely forgotten about her birthday. And she had thought he’d forgotten, too.

Smiling at her reaction, he handed her the bag.

Kotori looked back and forth between Shido and the bag before opening it. From inside, she pulled out black ribbons that were just a little more grown-up than her usual taste.

“Ribbons…”

Shido nodded, took them from her, and tied her hair up into pigtails.

Not only was he not used to doing this, but he had only just been on the verge of death. Kotori’s head ended up looking rather unbalanced.

But she felt a smile cross her lips for the first time, albeit a faint one.

Seeing this, Shido also smiled.

“Mm. I do love it when you smile.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah. So can you make me a promise? …It can just be while you’re wearing these for now. But when you have these ribbons on, you are…strong.”

“Strong…” Kotori stroked her tied-up hair.

Shido nodded.

She rubbed her eyes and tried smiling more broadly than she had before, her nose bright red. “Okay. If you say so, Shido, I’ll be strong.”

Even with that gem the thing had given her, Kotori hadn’t been able to. But with these ribbons from Shido, she felt like she could be just a little stronger.

“Okay! You’re a great kid. Now let’s hurry up and—”

Shido took Kotori’s hand and was about to stand up.

“He’s all better then. Wonderful.”

The something appeared before Kotori for the third time.

“Wha…?” Shido hid Kotori behind him.

The something chuckled. “No need to fear. I have no intention of hurting either of you. In fact, I must thank you for bringing about the truly perfect result.”

“What are you…saying…?”

But the thing didn’t reply to Kotori’s question. Instead, it reached a hand out to each of their heads.

“…!”

Kotori felt an instinctive fear. Shido tensed up as if he was about to bolt, but he couldn’t move, almost as if he had been pinned down.

The something’s hand slowly approached. “But there’s no need for you two to know me yet. I’ll have you forget for a bit.”

The moment the something’s hand touched Kotori’s forehead, the world went black.

“Just now…” Shido scowled, a hand pressed to his forehead.

The instant he kissed Kotori, memories had come flowing into his head together with her Spirit power. This was different than the memories he’d dreamed the other day. These weren’t his. He’d seen these memories through Kotori’s eyes. They had been shared with him through the Path.

“I…remember. That time…when I was with…something…,” Kotori said, stunned. The robes wrapped around her became particles of light and melted into the wind, exposing her pale skin. She fainted.

“…”

The Astral Dress was the crystallization of a Spirit’s powers. If she lost her power, it only made sense that this would fade away, too. Because the same thing had happened with Tohka and Yoshino, he wasn’t entirely unprepared for it, but for a moment, he was actually at a loss for words.

Kotori’s naked body wrapped in the light of her Astral Dress disappearing was so beautiful, it sent a shiver up his spine.

But he quickly sent that thought packing.

A small missile was closing in on his sister.

“Ngh…!” He held her to him and leaped away from the spot.

“…!”

In the next instant, the missile landed where Kotori had been, and a tremendous explosion assaulted Shido.

A burning pain seared his back, and he fell to the ground. Kotori seemed to be more or less all right, but his back was in such a state that he hesitated to look at it.

“Ah…”

“…! Shido…!”

Calling Shido’s name was Origami herself. She quickly landed by his side.

“Why—? Ngh! This isn’t for medical use, but there must be some kind of…” Origami started, and then her eyes widened.

And that was only natural. The flames were crawling along Shido’s body and healing his wounds.

“Ngh! Ah…” He put a hand to his back and checked that there was skin there before slowly pulling himself upright. Then he turned toward Origami.

“Wha…? That—” She looked stunned.

“Yes. Origami. You said so before. That you wanted revenge on the Spirit of flames Efreet and not on the human being Kotori Itsuka.” He stood up. “There’s no point in killing Kotori now. Kotori—my little sister—is a human being! It’s Efreet you want to kill, right? Then shoot me! Right now, I’m Efreet!”

“What…is this…?” Origami asked, her confusion apparent.

The Spirit power had suddenly shifted to Shido.

“But,” Shido continued. With the memories that had come to him, he had realized the truth. “Before you do, listen to me. I finally remembered everything. What happened five years ago. What I did then. What Kotori did then…!”

“…! Five years ago… Efreet—my parents—”

Shido shook his head slowly. “From the time that Kotori got her Spirit powers until they were sealed away, I was the only person in the area! Efreet’s power was the cause of the fire, but Kotori didn’t mean to do that! And she would never kill someone…!”

“What…are you saying…?” Origami replied. “There’s…no way! That was definitely a Spirit I saw!”

“Yes… I’m sure you did see a Spirit. But was it really Kotori…?” Shido asked.

Origami furrowed her eyebrows. “…! Then what are you saying that was? The one who killed my parents that day—”

“It was there! In that place! There was a Spirit who did this to Kotori…!”

“Wha…?”

Yes. There was one other in Shido’s memories, something not human.

When he explained about this Spirit to Origami, she bit her lips, looking even more doubtful.

“You’re telling me to…trust you?”

“…Yeah.” Shido nodded. He had no other information to give her. All that was left was for Origami to believe him.

Origami thrust her lowered laser sword forward once more. “…I want to believe you. But there’s no way I can. I mean, there’s no way there’s a Spirit like that! It looks to me like you’re lying to protect Efreet—Kotori Itsuka!”

Shido couldn’t back down here. He got to his knees and bowed his head. “Please. Trust me. If you really can’t trust me, then fire on Efreet—fire on me. Kotori’s not a part of this. She’s just a regular human being now…!”

“That’s…not—”

“Origami. You told me, right? That you didn’t want any more people to go through what you went through. You said that’s why you joined the AST.”

“…! What does that…?”

He lifted his head and looked into her eyes.

He watched as her face twisted in anguish, and static rippled across the blade of light. Suddenly, the container and weapons on her back fell to the ground as if they were under the control of gravity once more.

The Territory around her had been released. Origami fell to her knees in pain.

“Ngh… The activation…limit? I— Not now—”

“Origami—”

She tried to pull a 9 mm pistol out of a holster on her left leg. It wasn’t anti-Spirit equipment or anything of the like. Even so, it could inflict a lethal blow on Kotori as she was now.

“Please…! Don’t take Kotori from me. She saved me. Without her, I wouldn’t be here. Please…! I don’t care if it’s the only thing you ever do for me! You have to trust me…!”

“…” Origami hesitated for a few seconds and then collapsed lifelessly.