Final Chapter

Shido? I Will…

A new dawn came after the storm had died down.

The next day, his class left the inn, and Shido stared out the window of the bus at the leveled trees as they headed to the airport for their flight to Tengu.

The students left large bags stuffed with clothes at the front desk, and after a few warnings from their teacher, they were told to hang around the lobby until it was time for their flight. Although most of them had already done plenty of shopping, they threw money around on souvenirs in the airport shop and indulged in airport delicacies in the food court.

They were in high school, the pinnacle of youth. They had screamed and yelled and run around on the beach the day before, and yet they apparently still had stamina in spades.

Shido slumped into a chair in the lobby and smiled weakly.

“Aah, it feels like we just got here,” Tonomachi said, smiling beside him, sunburned from only the neck up for some reason.

“Yeah… It does,” he replied, looking like the husk of an ancient, withered tree.

He had been overcome with lethargy after he summoned Sandalphon the previous evening, but a night’s sleep had added an intense muscle pain to the mix. That said, if this was the price to be paid for wielding the power of an Angel with a human body, if it was the price to be paid for saving Kaguya and Yuzuru, then it was a small one.

“But it didn’t really feel like a school trip…” He sighed. Because he’d been caught up in the Spirit commotion, he hadn’t gotten to join in any group activities.

“Aah, c’mon, how come you’re so exhausted? You weren’t in the room last night. Where were you? Hmm? What kind of sexy stuff you get up to? And with who?” Tonomachi grilled him, breathing hard.

Shido sighed in exasperation. “Why do you automatically assume it’s sexy stuff…?”

“Gimme a break. A healthy teenage boy disappears for the night on his school trip and does nothing? The only person who’d believe that is a saint, or an idiot, or Tohka. So? Who was it? Tohka… No, not her. She’s full of energy. Oh? You took on both of the Yamai sisters at once and used up every bit of strength you had? I don’t see either of them around.”

“Mm.” Shido grinned. “Well, in a sense, yeah.”

He hadn’t seen a hint of Kaguya and Yuzuru since he left the inn. After the previous night’s events, they had been transferred to Fraxinus. He probably wouldn’t see them again until Ratatoskr finished its battery of examinations after he and his class returned to Tengu.

For convenience’s sake, they had been treated as transfer students. But he didn’t yet know if they would keep attending his high school.

Now that they had reconciled, their mental state was stable and top-notch, even compared with the other Spirits. The day when they could walk through town side by side was not likely so far away.

“Hey!” Tonomachi loomed in close. “You trying to give me the slip here? Wait. Was it actually Tobiichi? She’s not here, either. What kind of hardcore stuff did you get up to?”

“Origami…?” Shido asked, scratching his cheek. He hadn’t seen her, either, since they’d left that morning.

According to Reine, she’d waited until the heavy winds died down and then had Origami taken to a nearby hospital, so she would most likely be returning to Tengu later. She had been attacked by the very Bandersnatches he’d faced. He hoped she was all right.

Just when Tonomachi was about to press him further for details, he heard the voice of Tama in the distance.

“Okay, everyone! It’s just about time, so let’s all come together here!”

“Ngh! Hey, Itsuka, you’re going to tell me everything later!” Tonomachi said with an exaggerated gesture that reminded Shido somehow of the villain who, after being defeated by the hero every week, shouted, “I’ll get you for this!”

“I—kay…” He managed to get to his feet somehow, and as if waiting for this cue, someone came running up behind him.

“Shido! I bought lots of sweets!” Tohka cried, grinning with hands full of bags from the souvenir shop. Even though she had played a role in the big fight, too, she was 1,000 percent full strength, completely recovered.

“Isn’t that kind of a lot?” He raised an eyebrow at the overstuffed bags.

“No way! Look! Limited edition Chupa Chups! Kotori’s gonna be so happy!”

When she grinned at him so carefree, so obviously overjoyed, he couldn’t say anything in response. He patted her head and walked slowly over to the meeting point.

“Okay then, is everyone here? We’re going to board the plane now, so please line up in order,” Tama called out as she looked over the students gathered in the lobby.

Chattering regretfully about the end of the trip, the students got in line.

“Shido, can I sit by the window on the way home?” Tohka asked, her eyes glittering. She was probably still vexed that Origami had taken the window seat on the flight to the island.

But Origami was in the hospital now, so he figured it would be fine.

“Yeah, I’m o—”

“That is unacceptable.”

“Huh?” he cried out, stunned by the voice that interrupted him.

When he looked back, he found Origami standing there on crutches, bandages wrapped around various parts of her body.

“O-Origami?!” His eyebrows shot all the way up. “What are you doing here?! And, like, those injuries… Are you okay?!”

“I am perfectly fine,” she said evenly.

“C-could you just go away already?!” Tohka shouted. “You can’t just show up out of nowhere!”

“The seating has already been decided. The window seat is mine. You can look from the aisle seat.”

“No fair! I get the window on the way home! I’m gonna look at the view with Shido!”

Tohka and Origami began to quarrel with Shido wedged in between them. With each shout, he was pushed back and forth, each movement an insult to his already tortured muscles.

“Hey, hang on. Hold up!” he said. “Calm down, both of you! Let’s settle this more peacefully—I know! We can decide with rock-paper-scissors, okay?”

“Mm… Is that the one where you compete with the three different hand shapes? That’s fine with me.” Tohka’s gaze grew sharper, and she clenched her fist.

“If you say so, Shido, I have no objection,” Origami replied.

“Good. Let’s settle this. Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!” Tohka called, and she and Origami threw their hands out.

But Shido noticed something off there. For an extremely obvious reason. There were two hands too many in front of him.

“Huh?”

Tohka had rock. Origami also had rock. And the two hands thrust in from either side were both paper.

“Keh-keh… The jet-black magic stone triumphs over the air-rending double blades, but is defeated by the evil-crushing paper charm.”

“Declaration. It is a victory for Yuzuru and Kaguya. We will accept the seats on either side of Shido.”

“Kaguya? Yuzuru?!” Shido cried out when he looked up at the pair who had thrown the papers.

Yes. Standing there were Kaguya and Yuzuru, who had supposedly been collected by Fraxinus the previous evening. Behind them, he also saw Reine, her head wobbling.

When he shot a questioning look her way, she slowly walked over to him and whispered, “…They insisted on being on the same flight with you. Their condition’s stable, and it’s not good to stress them out for no reason, so we got special permission. The full set of examinations will take place after we get back to Tengu.”

“O-okay, that’s all well and good, but—,” he started, only to be interrupted by the victors, Kaguya and Yuzuru, as they each slipped an arm around one of his.

“Keh-keh… Consider yourself honored, Shido. Although you were nothing but fodder for battle at first, I have taken an unexpected liking to you.”

“Affection. As has Yuzuru. However, I do not wish to fight with Kaguya after we have finally reconciled.”

“And thus, Shido, we have decided that you shall be the shared property of myself and Yuzuru.”

“Agreement. That is a fact. We will love you to our hearts’ content.”

“H-huh?!” he shouted, baffled, while Tohka and Origami scowled and glared.

“Shido, what is the meaning of this? Did something actually happen when you stripped them naked?”

“Naked? What is this now? I demand an explanation.”

“Uh-oh.”

When Shido struggled to respond, Kaguya and Yuzuru snorted triumphantly from where they hung on his arms.

“Keh-keh… Apologies, Tohka. But the fact that you are my retainer is glory enough. At any rate, you were able to make an offering to me.”

“Initiation. Master Origami, thank you so much for everything. I shall take your teachings to heart as I proceed forward.”

Tohka and Origami each grabbed one of Shido’s legs.

“Quit fooling around! I’m not letting you have Shido!”

“Do not appear out of nowhere and speak such nonsense.”

“Keh-keh… Such pluck! To challenge us, the Yamai sisters!”

“Counterattack. We accept your challenge. Witness the combined might of Yuzuru and Kaguya.”

The four girls began to pull Shido in four different directions.

“Hey…! Sto—!” His body, battered after the use of Sandalphon, screamed out at this final blow.

Kotori could feel her heart beating. It was unpleasantly loud.

She grinned a little as she heard her footsteps echo in the large hallway. This was partly due to the fact that she was the only one in this large space, but she was also a little nervous, in fact. She’d been to this place any number of times before, but she never seemed to get used to it.

She was in her usual red military uniform, but rather than having the jacket hang off her shoulders, she had actually put her arms in the sleeves and buttoned it up properly. Naturally, there was no lollipop in her mouth. If the crew of Fraxinus had seen her, their eyes might have popped out of their heads.

She stopped in front of a door and took a deep breath. And then she knocked.

“Kotori Itsuka, reporting.”

“Come in.”

“Sir,” she answered, pulled the door open, and stepped into the room.

The interior resembled a study. All four walls were filled with bookcases, and a number of leatherbound volumes rested on their shelves. She didn’t know what they were about. There was no text on the book lying open on the desk, only a series of dots. Braille.

And in the back of the room, a man.

“It’s been some time, Commander Itsuka,” he said, turning his chair and his face in Kotori’s direction.

Hair and beard mostly gray, kind eyes. He was likely in his fifties. He might not have had sufficient years to be called old, but he projected the aura of a friendly grandfather.

Rounds Chairperson Elliot Woodman. The founder of the Ratatoskr organization and Kotori’s benefactor.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, Lord Woodman.” She snapped to attention and bowed.

“Looks like you’ve been quite busy. The other members of Rounds were surprised.”

“It is their job to be effusively surprised,” Kotori said, and Woodman chuckled.

“Come now, don’t say that. They are who they are, and essential personnel to Ratatoskr in their own way… Anyway, Commander Itsuka. I heard you used Camael. Not hurt, I hope?”

“No, sir. I apologize if I caused concern.”

“Aah, I’m the one who needs to apologize for pushing you so hard,” Woodman said, stroking his beard, before continuing in a quiet tone. “Incidentally, there was a report that just came in.”

“A report, sir?”

“Mm-hmm. Apparently, Fraxinus was attacked by what appeared to be a DEM airship.”

She nodded. She had already received this report. “I was informed. But Kannazuki is on the ship. There should be no issues.”

“I suppose not. If there is a problem, it’s more likely to be the other one.”

“Meaning?” she asked.

Woodman hesitated for a moment. “It seems that your brother manifested an Angel.”

“…!” Kotori’s eyebrows jumped up her forehead. She swallowed hard and put a hand to her chest to try and calm the instantly frantic pounding of her heart. She got her breathing back under control before she replied, “Is that so? Already?”

“Mm-hmm. Most likely, sealing your Spirit power again is what triggered it.”

“…!” She gritted her teeth, and Woodman frowned apologetically.

“We may be forced to take appropriate measures in the case of an emergency. Otherwise, the Spirits we’ve worked so hard to seal might fall into catastrophe once more.”

“I…understand.” She quietly narrowed her eyes.

Woodman sighed. “I am sorry for pushing this unpleasant role on you.”

“No, it was inevitable… If the worst does come to pass.” Kotori nodded slightly before continuing.

“Shido? I will kill him.”