"Today is April 8th, and it won’t be long until Tohka Yatogami shows up. Right now, I’m sitting in class waiting for the teacher to arrive.
Origami isn't in class either because she had an 'accident'. Of course, after our head-on clash, she wasn’t going to be okay after leaving the Realizer. But it’s nothing too serious—she’ll probably be back next week.
'Shido-san, what do you want for lunch?' I ask in a monotone voice.
'Anything’s fine, Aurelio-kun,' he replies.
'How’s your sister?' I ask.
'Uh? She’s fine, I guess. Why do you ask?'
'Oh, nothing really, just making conversation.' I was curious if my appearance made her reveal the truth about Spirits earlier than expected, but it seems nothing has changed, judging by his clueless response.
'Everyone, please take your seats. I have an announcement,' says Tamae as she walks in.
'A new student has just joined our class.' I don't really care about that, so I tune out.
'Please come in and introduce yourself.'
'Nice to meet you all. My name is Tokisaki Kurumi... and I’m a Spirit.' Everyone in class looks a little surprised by such an unusual introduction.
But for me, this statement carries absurd implications. Suddenly, the person standing at the front of the room has my full attention.
I see a girl with long twin-tails of black hair, her right eye red, while her left eye is hidden beneath her bangs. Her posture exudes elegance.
I look at her and notice she’s staring right at me. 'What is this domino effect? Why is she here?' This is utterly ridiculous to me. Kurumi wasn’t supposed to show up yet, and yet, here she is.
'Aurelio-kun, is something wrong? You seem surprised,' Shido asks, curious.
'No, it’s just... I’m a little taken aback by the new student’s beauty.'
'What do you think of her?' I ask Shido.
'Well, I do think she’s stunning… but she gives off a bad vibe.'
Oh, part of that response I expected, but the fact that Shido thinks she might be dangerous is a surprise.
'Even though she’s beautiful, she’s not my type.' I don’t need someone with her kind of personality. I’d prefer someone like Shido, who I can control.
I notice Kurumi sits four seats away from me, but that initial look she gave me hints she knows something.
How does she know who I am? I thought others’ perception of me was blurred. Did she do something I’m unaware of? Or is she so focused on finding me that she can see past the false image?
I have no answers, and she doesn’t seem inclined to start a conversation, so there’s nothing I can do for now.
'Let’s start the lesson now that the introduction is over,' Tamae says as she continues the class. While I try to figure out how to deal with this situation, I find no solution, so I decide to ignore Kurumi for the time being.
When lunchtime arrives, I speak to Shido.
'Shido-san, please go to the usual place. I’ll go grab lunch.'
'Okay, see you there, Aurelio-kun.'
When the classroom is nearly empty, I walk past Kurumi’s desk and give her a look, which she returns with a smile.
'Tsk,' I click my tongue as I leave the room.
It’s obvious by now that she’s here because of me. But how did she get into the school?
Too many questions and not enough answers. I decide to deal with it later.
I grab lunch from the cafeteria and head to the roof, which has become my private spot for eating with Shido.
'Aurelio-kun, you took a while. Did something happen on the way?' Shido asks, a bit worried.
'No... I just stopped to look at a rather unusual bug I found in the classroom.'
'If it’s dangerous, maybe it would be a good idea to remove it so it doesn’t hurt you.' I’m not sure if she knows about Shido’s ability, but I won’t let her interfere with my plans.
'I see. I didn’t notice, but I’m sure it’s fine.'
'Here you go,' I say, handing Shido his lunch.
'Thanks,' he says as he takes it with a nod of gratitude.
I raise a small barrier to keep Kurumi from hearing our conversation. I’m not sure if she’s nearby, but I don’t need her interfering.
'Shido-san... I have a feeling something really interesting is going to happen to you this week.'
'Really?' he asks, confused.
'I just have this sense that something’s coming, so you should be careful before agreeing to help anyone… You tend to accept things too easily,' I say, activating the perception shift.
'Well, if you’re warning me, I’ll be careful.'
'Yeah, you should listen to people you find important, not random requests, don’t you think?'
'... Maybe… I’m not sure,' he replies, a bit hesitant. But it’s progress, since he didn’t outright reject the idea.
We have these conversations once a day, and during them, I always try to change his perspective on life, emphasizing that he should do anything for the person he finds important.
In the future, I’ll do everything I can to be that one important person for him. When he turns into a girl, that will be the moment I make him fall for me.
But first, I need to figure out how to get Kotori into a serious fight with Shido. How do I do that? They’re so close, and Shido isn’t someone who’s good at fighting with others.
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He’s the passive type, more likely to go along than to argue.
I notice someone tried to enter the barrier, but when they realized it was there, they backed off.
'Damn it,' I mutter.
'Did you say something?' Shido asks.
'No, Shido-san, I just thought I saw something.'
'What do you think of lunch, Shido-san?'
'It’s good.' Shido seems to have gotten used to my sudden topic changes, which is very normal between the two of us.
'Shido-san, one day I’ll invite you over to my house so you can taste my cooking.'
'Really? You cook? I mean, I’d love that.' I feel slightly insulted by his assumption that I don’t cook, but it makes sense, since I only eat pre-packaged food in front of him.
But I can cook fairly well. Not at a chef’s level, but still quite good.
'Sure, it’ll be great to have you over,' I say, as we continue chatting. Kurumi doesn’t attempt to break through the barrier again, and it ends there. I still don’t know what she wants, but I can’t let my guard down. I need to resolve the Reiryoku issue as soon as possible.
Today is finally April 10th. Kurumi hasn’t tried to contact me again or do anything noteworthy. But I notice that she’s keeping an eye on me. It may not seem like it, but she’s definitely watching my actions.
It’s uncomfortable knowing I’m being monitored, but as long as that’s all she’s doing, it’s acceptable.
Shido is talking to me while I wait for a SpaceQuake alert.
'Shido-san, class is a bit boring. Wouldn't it be nice if something interesting happened?' I whisper to him.
'I guess...' As Shido is about to speak, the alarm goes off.
'This is not a drill. This is not a drill. A SpaceQuake has been detected. All nearby residents, please evacuate to the nearest shelter immediately. I repeat...'
'Everyone, please line up and let’s head to the shelter,' says Tamae, looking very nervous. The students, however, are calm. Of course, we’ve all been trained for evacuation since we were kids, so this isn’t a situation to panic over.
As Shido and I head to the shelter, he pulls out his phone to check something.
'Is something wrong, Shido?' It’s starting. Now he’s going to see a Spirit for the first time.
'I made a promise to my sister… but I don’t think she’d be stupid enough to stay outside during a SpaceQuake... right?'
Shido looks anxious and makes several calls.
'I think she just didn’t see the alert... I have a GPS app on her phone, so I’m sure she’s already in a shelter.' Who puts GPS on their sister’s phone?... I never thought about it before, but it’s a little odd.
He looks even more nervous as he checks the app, going pale.
'She probably just forgot her phone...' Then he seems to get an idea and runs off.
'Sorry, Aurelio-kun, but I have to check on my sister. We’ll talk later.' He dashes through the halls and around the corner.
I walk calmly, glancing back to make sure the teacher didn’t see me or Shido leave.
I notice Kurumi isn’t in the evacuation line as I round the corner.
She disappeared. While wondering where she went, I keep moving forward. After all, I’ve still got time."
POV Change:
As Shido ran through the streets searching for his sister, he ended up finding a girl in the crater left by the SpaceQuake. She attacked him, but luckily, he wasn't seriously injured.
While this was happening, he remembered Aurelio’s warning.
“Shido-san... I think something very interesting is going to happen to you this week,” Aurelio had said. He’s always right, and even this time, he hit the mark. “Though I doubt this crazy situation was what he was warning me about.”
The girl who attacked me looks at me, her eyes seem sad, but I don’t care much about that right now. The most important thing is that she just tried to kill me.
“Why did you do that?”
The girl instantly vanishes and reappears right in front of me. It happened so fast I couldn’t even see it.
“Of course, it was to kill you,” she responds casually, sending chills down Shido’s spine.
“Why?” is all Shido can ask.
“Because... you came to kill me too, didn’t you?” she replies indifferently.
“No?” Shido answers, puzzled by her unexpected words. “How could I possibly kill someone with powers like yours? That doesn’t even make sense.”
“I mean, I didn’t come here to...”
BOOM BOOM
As he was about to speak, he hears explosions, the wind pushing him to the ground as missiles hit the girl’s barrier. The girl with long purple hair and a metallic purple armor stands before Shido, holding a large sword.
A group of girls in some kind of high-tech armor is flying around the area, launching the attack.
“Disappear, disappear. Everything and everyone... Just disappear,”
The girl in purple armor says, swinging her sword.
Missiles are launched at her, and the force of the explosion violently throws Shido against a wall, knocking him unconscious.
Shido feels someone touching him as he wakes up, seeing a woman with gray hair and a lab coat with a plush toy in her pocket. She’s shining a flashlight in his eyes.
“WHO ARE YOU?” he yells in surprise, questioning who she is.
“I’m the Analysis Officer here, Murasame Reine. Unfortunately, the Medical Officer is out. But don’t worry. Even though I don’t have a license, I can take care of some basic injuries.”
She seems extremely tired, like someone who’d fall over if the wind blew too hard. "Isn’t she the one who needs a doctor?" Shido thinks.
“Where are we?” Shido asks, confused about where he is.
“This is the medical office aboard the
Yes, I remember blacking out after hitting a wall.
“Can you tell me what that was I saw?”
“...” She turns away, ignoring me as she walks forward.
“Wait,” I say to her, and she responds.
“Follow me. There’s someone I’d like you to meet... I know you have a lot of questions, but I’m terrible at explaining. If you want something specific, you should ask this person.”
She tries to walk ahead but has to support herself on the wall, looking like she might collapse.
“Are you okay? You need to rest. How long has it been since you’ve slept?” I ask.
“...Yes,” she answers, holding up three fingers.
“You haven’t slept in three days? Of course, you’d be tired.”
“Maybe around 30 years,” she says.
“I think you might’ve mixed up your units there,” I say after hearing that number.
“... I have something... extreme insomnia,” she says while taking several pills.
“Is that...?” I ask.
“Sleeping medication.”
“I think you took too much,” I say urgently as she continues walking.
“Am I becoming a little numb?” I question myself. In the past, I wouldn’t have been so indifferent to someone taking that many pills. She could even die from this amount.
So why don’t I care? I guess it’s not that important, so I decide to let it go. People change over time, so it’s probably nothing.
She ignores me as we walk through the corridors until we reach a door.
“He’s in here,” she says to a man with long blonde hair who looks like he just stepped out of a BL novel.
“Hello. I’m the Vice Commander here, Kannazuki Kyouhei. Nice to meet you,” he says in a cheerful tone.
“Commander, he’s arrived.”
“I welcome you. Welcome to
“Kotori?”
While Kotori explains what she’s doing here, about the SpaceQuakes, and about the Spirits, she also explains about AST, the Fraxinus, and gives a brief explanation of Ratatoskr.
As I listen to her talk about AST, I honestly don’t care, and that scares me a little. “I’m changing... why don’t I care about this?” I think.
“Shido?” Kotori calls out to get my attention.
“Yes?”
“You seem a little distracted.”
“I was just thinking a bit.”
“I see. It must be too much for your tiny, underdeveloped brain to comprehend,” she says, insulting me. That’s not really what I was thinking about, but I don’t bother correcting her.
Kotori continues explaining how helping the Spirits would work and what my role would be, but I can’t focus as much as I should on it.
“Pay attention,” Kotori says sharply, and I look at her.
“Shido, you’re not focused. Even a pig should be able to stay focused for a while.” This new side of Kotori is very different from what I’m used to, but I really can’t concentrate.
I still don’t know what’s wrong with me or when it started, and it’s frustrating me.
“Sorry, I’ll focus,” I say.
“After hearing all this, Shido, what do you think?” Kotori asks.
“I’m not sure about all of this.”
“Hmm...” Kotori murmurs something I don’t catch.
“So, Shido, are you going to help the Spirits?” She asks with a smile. Although it’s phrased as a question, it’s practically a statement. She’s expecting me to confirm it.
When I’m about to give my answer, I freeze.
“Of course, I...” I should help... but why? It has nothing to do with me, and the Spirits didn’t ask for help. Besides, they seem like they can protect themselves. Why should I get involved?
More and more doubts flood my mind, forming a spiral that prevents me from answering.
Seeing my hesitation, Kotori’s expression changes. She looks a little worried, disappointed, as if she didn’t expect this hesitation to help someone.
I decide to accept so as not to hurt Kotori’s feelings.
“I... Accept. Yes, I’ll help the Spirits so they can live peacefully.”
Kotori smiles slightly at my response.
“Then...” Just as she’s about to say something, the man who said he was the vice commander interrupts.
“Commander...”
“Speak,” Kotori says, clearly irritated at being interrupted.
“I think you’ll want to see this,” he says, showing Kotori a screen.
“Seriously? Why now?” she says, surprised.
“What happened?” the woman in the lab coat asks.
“The