Volume 2 - CH 2(2/3)
"....Uh."
Tohka immediately raised her face.
"Errrr....I-It's okay. Although I can't see him around here....I think he most probably forgot something and went back to get it. He should be back here by now, somewhere around here in the Shelter.."
And, Tamae who was surveying the inside of the Shelter returned her sights to Tohka.
"Ara....? Ya-Yatogami-san?"
She looked at where Tohka was standing before but, her figure disappeared.
"Fuu..This way right?"
Shidou who had been sent to the ground using the teleporter in the lower section of [Fraxinus], was following the voice in the small intercam that was equipped to his right ear.
"Yes. The Spirit is already inside the building. Don't make a mistake with the first contact."
"....Understood."
Shidou said that while his sweat dripped down his cheek, and separated his hand from the intercam.
And then, to calm down his throbbing heart, he took a deep breath.
Right now, Shidou was in a large department tower just outside the shopping district.
It would seem that the [Hermit], was a Spirit that had a fairly high appearance rate— By using movement pattern statistics, which also incorporated the results of Reine's thought analyses, they could estimate the Spirit's most probable route.
And of course, due to the movements of the AST there might be a chance that the route would change. If that happens they would recover Shidou, and then head towards the next predicted location— However, at this moment this department store location was ideal.
The AST's main equipment— the CR-unit was unsuitable for indoor combat.
And naturally, there might be a chance that they would destroy the building to smoke out the Spirit like that time they did to Tohka. But, for the time being, they should be waiting for the Spirit to come out from the building on its own.
And therefore during this time, without the AST knowing, it was a precious opportunity for Shidou to sneak onto the battlefield and converse with the Spirit, even if only for a few minutes.
"...."
In the middle of April, while wearing this intercam and following the instructions from [Ratatoskr], he remembered that time he had his conversation with Tohka.
And to think that, it hasn't even been a month since then. He didn't think that he would once again return onto the battlefield but it couldn't be helped.
For some weird reason which he couldn't understand, Shidou had an unbelievable power.
If he used that power, it could stop the spacequakes. It was also said that it could stop the attacks on the Spirits as well.
—And what's more, that was something that Shidou has wished and hoped for.
"..Well, even if I think that."
Shidou made a small sigh.. —And the reason was, he had to seduce the Spirits and kiss them— the difficulty level was somewhat too high for Shidou.
"—Shidou. The [Hermit]'s signal has entered the area."
"—!"
From the unexpected voice echoed by Kotori, it made Shidou's body nervous.
And, at that instant.
"—You, hav' ya come here to bully Yoshinon too..?"
"..Uh!?"
And suddenly a voice echoed from overhead, Shidou quickly raised his head.
Over there was [Hermit], currently floating upside down as if she was defying the laws of gravity.
"Your wrong- Since Yoshinon is a kind girl who hasn't done anything mische— Eh, unn?"
Suddenly, the girl's body that was upside down, flipped around in mid-air— righting herself, before landing on the ground and stood there.
And then, *clatter* *clatter* she moved the puppets mouth.
"oOOYaa? I was wonderin' who it was but aren't ya that lucky pervert Onii-chan?"
After looking at Shidou with a serious face, the puppet skillfully *pon*, smacked his hands together.
..Seriously, how do you control something to that extent with only one hand?
But now wasn't the time and situation to be asking something like that.
Immediately, from his right ear came Kotori's voice, [wait for a moment].
Right after [Hermit] words.
① "Aah, long time no see. How you doing? You okay?" Frankly give a normal greeting.
② "Lucky Pervert? What do you mean by Lucky Pervert, Huh!" Give a casual tsukkomi.?[2B 2]
③ "Fuu...., I don't know nee. For I, am just a wanderer passing by." Go with the 'Hard-Boil' act.
Looking at the 3 choices displayed on the <Fraxinus> bridge's main monitor, Kotori licked her lips.
By the way— on the bridge monitor, all sorts of other parameters were being displayed, including an enlarged projection of the [Hermit]'s bust, various stats and text windows.
No matter how you look at it, it was a love simulation game— in short a Galge screen.[2B 3]
"All members, Begin picking your choice!"
Together with Kotori's command, the crew from the lower bridge pushed the buttons on their hand.
All together—— ①,②,③ ,all received roughly the same number of votes.
"Eeh? It should be ②! This galge main character is the Tsukommi-type! It has to that one!"
One of the crew members insisted. However, immediately another voice came up from another direction.
"—But, wouldn't it be dangerous since we don't know for certain about the opponent's character? I think ① would be appropriate here."
"No no, from the data we've gathered up till now, we know that [Hermit] rarely takes the chance to attack humans! We should setup a confrontation by choosing ③!"
"....Fuumu."
After hearing the opinions from all 3 directions, Kotori touched her jaw and groaned.
And then, facing towards the mike she opened her lips.
"—Shidou, pick ③."
"....Uh, what the heck is that.."
Shidou, muttered that while his butt hit the floor.
The order delivered to his ear by Kotori— It was totally crazy.
"Uun? What's up?"
The puppet skillfully tilted its head.
This wasn't the time to argue.
Shidou immediately stood up from that spot, finding a chair on display nearby, he put one of his legs on the chair.
"Fuu...., I don't know nee. For I, am just a wanderer passing by......"
*Swoosh*
After conceitedly saying that, he started roughing up his hair.
..Honestly, that was really embarrassing.
"...."
The puppet that [Hermit] was controlling, *Deadpan* with its mouth wide open, kept quiet.
Just like that, a few seconds passed by.
"..H-Hey, Kotori. What are we going to do about this atmosphere....?"
And, the moment Shidou made a small voice of discontent to Kotori.
"Fu....,Ha-Hahahahahahaha!"
The puppet, *clatter**clatter* shook its head while laughing.
"Whaaat? Unexpectedly Onii-chan are you a facetious person? Ahahaha, no one would do that nowadays."
"Ha-Haha....I'm glad that you enjoyed it."
Shidou following the puppet's lead and laughed dryly. No one uses [facetious person] nowadays I think, but he refrained from saying that.
*gloom*
"....Yeah yeah, sorry about that."
The prideful Kotori replied with a small voice, and Shidou returned his gaze back to [Hermit].
As if matching him, the puppet met Shidou's gaze.
"Iyaa—, but I'm lucky pervert Onii-chan. We meet again in such a weird place— Ahaha, I welcome people like ya Onii-san— It seems that everyone hates Yoshinon— If I were to leave this place, they would probably start attacking me again——"
After saying that, it once again started laughing.
"Well that's one surprisingly, cheerful Spirit."
From his right ear, Shidou heard the same words he was thinking about. As expected, even Kotori thought of the same thing.
And, inside [Hermit] words, there was a word that caught his interest. He opened his mouth a little.
"Hey..Who's Yoshinon?"
When Shidou asked, the puppet made a shocked expression, and opened its mouth wide.
"Ah, what a mistake! For Yoshinon of all people, to forget my own introduction! Yoshinon is Yoshinon's naa—mee cute right? Cute right?"
"Aah,aahh..it's a nice name."
Getting pressured by the high tensioned puppet, he nodded.
When he did that, from his right ear he heard Kotori's dubious voice.
"—Yoshinon, huh? Fuun, this Spirit is different from Tohka— she has information of her own name."
"Ah.."
It seemed true after being told that— Tohka, didn't have her own name.
The word [Tohka], was the name given by Shidou.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted, as the puppet approached his face.
"Hm so? What is Onii-chan's name?"
"Ah..Aah——My name is Shidou. It's Itsuka Shidou."
"Shidou huh? —That's a cool name. Well, it doesn't beat Yoshinon though~~"
"O-Oh..thanks. Errr..Yoshinon?"
"Hai Hai— What's up? —This is what Yoshinon is impressed by —Shidou-kun's frontier Spirit —making clever conversation —and using the name you just remembered a moment ago——"
After giving back a dry smile to the puppet that was making an exaggerated gesture by opening its hand wide, Shidou continued his words.
"No, it isn't a very important thing, but errr....the Yoshinon I'm talking about— Isn't the puppet but it's your name right?"
With that said he set his sights passed the puppet, towards its back——the blue-eyed girl.
"...."
When he did that, the puppet that had been cheerfully chatty until now, suddenly went silent.
Following that, from his right ear intercam, *Piiii!*, *Piiiii!* the sound of an alarm echoed.
"—Uh, Shidou, the values of her mood suddenly dropped. What on earth did you just say?"
"Eh..? No, I was just, asking why she doesn't talk instead of using ventriloquism.."
When Shidou frankly voiced that question, the puppet wobbled nearer to his face.
"—I don't understand what Shidou-kun said....What is ventriloquism?"
The tone of its voice remained calm. By the way, the puppet's facial expression didn't change at all.
And yet, he felt an unbelievably strong pressure, Shidou took a step back.
"N-No....About that."
"Shidou. You can think of a reason later. You need to fix the Spirit's mood right now."
An instruction came flying from Kotori. Shidou moved his lips while avoiding eye-contact.
"Ye—Yeah you're right! Yoshinon is Yoshinon. Iyaa....Haha..ha."
When he did that.
"Uun, mou——, it's because Shidou-kun is a mischievous guy——"
The dreadful mood from just now vanished like it was a lie, the puppet voice echoed in high pitch.
"....Wha-What was that just now?"
"Dunno....Well, no matter how friendly she is, the opponent is a Spirit. It's a bad idea to lower your guard."
When Shidou gave a small nod, he fixed his sights back to [Yoshinon].
"Errr——"
Although he didn't let out any words immediately.
When Shidou hesitated to say anything. Kotori's irritated voice snapped.
"Don't freeze up now. Set it up so that the Spirit can't run away."
"..Ho-how..?"
"That sort of thing, isn't it clear what you need to do? You are inside a large department store you know? Since you have time, you should be able to date, right? You understand? Listen— It's not [why don't we have a date?]— It's [let's go on a date], that is the goal. Don't give the opponent an option to pick."
"Ha-Haa...."
While feeling nervous Shidou, returned to facing [Yoshinon].
"L-Let's go on a date?"
And without any preamble, he repeated the line exactly as heard.
"....Without any setup. Can't you have played it a bit more smoother?"
Kotori said disappointedly.
[Yoshinon] didn't seem to react. No, rather the tension seemed to have risen, making it hard to say anything.
*clap* *clap*
The puppet clapped its small hands together.
"HoHo~~! That's nice—— Regardless of how ya look, ya're pretty gutsy to give an invitation out like that. Ufuun, of course it's an O-K. Rather, I finally encountered a human that I can have a decent conversation with. So it is more like Yoshinon to be the one wishing for it~~"
With that said, *Clatter* *Clatter* it laughed.
"I-I see...."
"....Well, I guess everything turned out all right in the end."
While hearing Kotori's voice mixed with her sigh, Shidou together with [Yoshinon], began walking around the department store together.
"...."
Origami, whose whole body was wrapped by a wiring suit and stocked with ammunition for her auto-range weapon, was patrolling the sky above the department store.
Around her surroundings there were a few other AST members with the same equipment flying around, and they were all bracing themselves.
AST— Anti-Spirit Team, as a special unit of the JGSDF, they were a team with remarkable and highly special characteristics.
Prepared with a machine that can turn fantasy into reality— the Realizer. They are the team formed to counter the calamity that could destroy the world— the Spirits.
However, only a limited number of humans could use the Combat Realizer unit in practical combat— this limit resulted in the recruitment of irregular members like Origami.
Living in a house outside the garrison, moreover she was allowed to go to school, and only dispatched when there was an emergency.
Even though she received this special treatment, she was a JGSDF member whose dispatch frequency was extremely high.
"...."
Raindrops were continuously pelting the surface of her deployed Territory.?[2B 4]?That Spirit— it has been almost an hour since [Hermit] first entered the building.
But, [Hermit] was still hiding inside; even now she hasn't made an appearance.
"—Looks like she's being very persistent."
And through her transmitter, she heard the voice of her team captain, Kusakabe Ryouko.
"This is rare even for [Hermit]. To be staying in one spot like this. Normally she would have been spotted *Hop* *Hop* jumping around the place by now."
Yes. [Hermit]'s only movement pattern was mostly just running away.
Everytime Origami and the others had launched an attack, she would just run around, without even fighting back.
But, if she gained the knowledge that by passing time inside buildings could result in a [Lost][2B 5]—— to Origami this was not an amusing matter.
"The permission to attack?"
Origami asked in a soft voice, and Ryouko replied with a hint of a sigh in her voice:
"—I did try asking for permission, just in case but they said to remain on stand-by."
"Even if the building structure was to collapse, there is the possibility for repairs."
"..Well, if you were to think about it logically, that would seem to be the case. But it isn't that simple. Somebody has to pay for the repair unit, it isn't free— If this situation was like the [Princess] class, like last time then it would be okay— But this time the target is just the weakling [Hermit] class, you know?"
"...."
[Princess].
From that code-name, Origami twitched her eyebrows a little.
Not knowing the exact details of what she went through but the Spirit that held that code-name was now, the human girl— Yatogami Tohka, who was attending the same high school as Origami.
Of course, Origami having confirmed Tohka's existence, had informed Ryouko about it.
But for some reason they couldn't detect a Spirit reading coming from her, thus the assault permission wasn't granted.
Asking for the impossible and then having her family register investigated, they were unable to find anything suspicious.
At the very least, at this time —although Origami was extremely dissatisfied— she was a Japanese citizen, an existence that was Origami's duty to protect.
And so—
"....?"
Origami narrowed her eyes unexpectedly.
In that moment, from the corner of her eye, she felt she saw the shimmer of beautiful black hair.
Yes. It was as if she saw Tohka over there.
Looking down— at the area that had become uninhabitable; she faced the main street that was under a heavy downpour.
"...."
But, she was unable to confirm Tohka's presence.
Origami shook her head silently. It would seem like she was becoming edgy.
If she were to let the Spirit slip away like this, it would be embarrassing. Origami took in a light breath, refocusing herself and continued her patrol.
—Sometime had passed since he met [Yoshinon].
Shidou and [Yoshinon] were having a lively conversation, while walking around the inside of the department store.
As normal, sometimes Kotori would whisper some instructions into his ear— oddly enough [Yoshinon] has a low susceptibility towards gags; no matter how lame it was *clatter* *clatter* she would still laugh.
In reality, the <Fraxinus> bridge was monitoring her mental condition, and good values were being reported.
It would make people think that the sudden change in her manner earlier was some kind of mistake; at the moment things were developing favorably.
"—Fumu, this is going beyond my expectations."
Kotori said those words.
"It might be that she has the characteristic that attracts people. The favorable impression is also great. Even if I say to kiss her right now, she won't refuse right?"
"..Hey hey."
He couldn't be sure whether those words were a joke or whether she was being serious, he scratched his cheek.
But in reality, Shidou was also shocked.
Although he was able to talk to Tohka normally now, the first time they met she had a serious case of distrust against humans— each time she got the wrong idea he would encounter a life or death experience.
..But.
"As I thought being able to chat sure is F~u~N. It seems like those other people are boorish—"
"Ha....haha."
The puppet *clatter* *clatter* opened its mouth and said those words, and he replied in a strangled tone.
..How do you say it? He was still troubled.
That wish he hoped to grant— The conversation was proceeding smoothly and lively, and the values in her affection level were rising, then there shouldn't be any problems....that should be the case, but...
"...."
Shidou silently, glanced in the direction of the girl that was fiddling with her puppet.
When meeting her yesterday, and today too. The only one that was doing the speaking was the puppet through ventriloquisms; that person's mouth herself did not even move an inch.
It was like..yes, she was like the string puller for the puppet at a stage theater.
"——Ooo?"
"....Uh!"
And, Shidou was suddenly startled when the puppet unexpectedly turned its face towards him.
"Amazing!! What's that—!"
The puppet excitedly clapped its hands and ran towards the place it had pointed out— Well, of course the one doing the running was that person herself.
The object that caught [Yoshinon] interest, was the thing assembled in one corner of the toy store, a small jungle gym that was made for little kids.
At the excessively colorful strengthen plastic castle, she skillfully climbed up with only her hands and legs.
And when she reached the top of it.
"Wahaha! How is it Shidou-kun~? Am I cool? Is Yoshinon Cool~?"
Such a voice was bounced right down at him.
"H-Hey, it's dangerous if you stand there."
The jungle gym was designed for indoor use and for children. Even if it wasn't that big, she might hurt herself if she were to fall from the top.
No, although he knew she could fly up to the sky, but for some reason in Shidou's mind, he recalled yesterday's image of her [Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddeee!].
In a panic, he rushed over to the base of the jungle gym.
But [Yoshinon] shook the puppet hand unsatisfied.
"unMou, even though I was asking if I was cool or not— and, wa-wawawa..!?"
"Wha—!"
It might be that her balance broke when she did that action, on the top of the jungle gym [Yoshinon] flapping her arms as if she was dancing, and then fell right on top of Shidou.
And just like that, while breaking [Yoshinon]'s fall, they crashed onto the floor.
"Uh..ihee...."
While his face was facing upwards, he let out that sound. And for some reason, his front tooth hurt.
And— he had a bad feeling.
Somehow, the girl with blue hair, her graceful facial features were there— right in front of him.
—And just right around the area of his lips, an oddly soft sensation was felt.
"——Umh!?"
After a few seconds, he understood the current situation that he was being put under right now.
"..Wow. Good going, Shidou!"
Even Kotori thought that this development was unexpected. She let out a surprised voice.
That was expected. Because right now Shidou was— with the girl that fell from above, he just managed to perfectly exchange a kiss with her.
"...."
—Keeping quiet, [Yoshinon] raised her body. And at that moment, their lips finally separated.
Unexpectedly....they had kissed.
But with this, [Yoshinon]'s powers should be sealed.
But..wondering why, compared to last month, during the time when he exchanged kisses with Tohka— this time there wasn't a warm feeling flowing into his body or how'd you put it?—
—And, once again from the other side of the intercam, a loud siren resounded.
"Wha..?"
He let out his voice while raising his eyebrows— shouldn't her power have been sealed?
But this sound was, when the Spirit's mood was breaking apart, something that would ring when danger was approaching Shidou.
This meant that [Yoshinon] was now—
"Ouch ouch— ....Sorry sorry, Shidou-kun. I was careless——"
But when [Yoshinon], *clatter* *Clatter* moved the puppet, she spoke calmly.
"Eh..?"
Dumbfounded, he opened his eyes wide. At [Yoshinon], who was not showing any signs of anger.
If that was the case, then what was the sound of the alarm that was being sent into his ears?
"——Shidou, it's an emergency ..And most likely, the worst possible kind."
And Kotori, said with an unusually panicked voice.
"Huh..? What is..?"
And. From behind, *step*, the sound of a foot firmly stepping onto the ground, Shidou shook his shoulders.
Timidly, he turned around his head to look backwards.
And over there was— an unexpected face.
"To-Tohka....?"
His eyes widened as he called the name of the girl who was standing there.
Yes, the person standing over there right now was Tohka, who should have evacuated to the Raizen high school underground shelter.
And what's more, maybe it was due to the falling rain, her body was dripping wet. As if she had been running at full speed just now, she was now breathing heavily.
"——shidou."
As if to obstruct Shidou's process of thought, Tohka's body swayed, and while swaying she let out her voice.
He wondered why— with her only just calling his name, caused shivers to run down his spine.
"....What did you do just now?"
"....Eh? Wha-What do you mean..?"
At that question he touched his lips without thinking— and immediately regaining his thoughts he put his hands behind his back.
But Tohka, wasn't pleased with that response, while making an expression like a grumbling kid, she squeezed out her shaking voice from deep down her throat.
"—Aft-After making me so worried...."
"Eh....?"
"What are you doing flirting around with a girllllllll!!!!!!!!"
*STOMP*————!!
Tohka shouted, and the moment her foot struck the ground, in the middle of the floor where she stood *CLANG*!And, it collapsed forming a small crater; cracks were spreading outwards from the epicenter.
"Wha-Whahwahwah....!"
Due to the sudden situation, Shidou opened his eyes wide and shuddered in fear.
An ordinary high school girl, couldn't break the floor simply by just stomping on the floor.
And of course although Tohka wasn't an ordinary high school girl..her Spirit power should have now been sealed— Following that logic, in this current situation the power she was displaying should only be her physical strength...
"Wha-What does this mean, Kotori....?"
When he asked that, Kotori replied with a sigh through the intercam.
"That's why......this is what we've been trying to tell you from before. Between Shidou and Tohka a link is passing through you two, and if Tohka's mental state becomes unstable, we fear that some of her powers will reverse back into her."
"H-Huh? What do you mean by that, are you saying that Tohka's mental state is now unstable?"
"Yes. And so, before this situation gets any worse, you should fix Tohka's mood somehow."
"E-Even if you say that how am I supposed to do—"
During the time he was saying that, Tohka managed to reach the base of the jungle gym where Shidou and [Yoshinon] were entangled.
And then she alternated her piercing gaze between the both of them, [mumumu..] she murmured while remaining tightlipped.
Then, *glare*! sending a look towards Shidou, followed by a glare at [Yoshinon] she extended a pointed finger at her.
"..shidou. The important task you said you had to do, was it to meet with this girl here?"
"Ah, no, about that.."
No well, although according to those words, it was certainly true but should he reply with a 'Yes' now, he was in doubt whether to tell Tohka his true intentions or not.
And, that time.
"....Iyaa,iyaa....I get it now.."
The [Yoshinon] who had been staring blankly at Tohka since she first made her appearance, let out its high-pitched voice.
On the Puppet's rabbit face, was a prankster like smile- he wondered how that got there.
"Onee-san? Err——"
"....It's Tohka."
When the puppet said that, Tohka replied in a discouraging tone.
"Then Tohka-chan~ Although I feel bad for you but it would seem that Shidou-kun has lost interest in you."
"Wha—?"
"—!?"
Tohka and Shidou both gasped at the same time, and then faced towards the puppet.
"Iiyaa see, how do I put it? Hearing your conversation, it looks like he broke Tohka-chan's promise and then came to visit Yoshinon right? Isn't this crux of the story?"
"....Uh."
Tohka twitched her shoulders, and made a face like she could cry at any moment.
"Yo-You, what are you sayin——mguhhhh!?"
When Shidou raised his voice towards the Puppets remark—— Tohka, *grab*, grabbed him by the mouth with both hands.
"Will you keep quiet for a while shidou?"
While releasing a force that would not allow him to consent or refuse, using an unbelievable amount of strength she *grind* *grind* clamped her grip on his cheekbone.
"....! ....!"
The puppet was in a pleasant mood and with an [it can't be helped like] tone, continued speaking.
"Iiyaa—, Sis—, sorry, but this is probably Yoshinon's fault~ her appearance is too charming~"
"Gu-Gugu...."
"It really isn't that I am talking bad about Tohka-chan you know? Buut~ I can't really blame Shidou-kun for leaving behind Tohka-chan and running towards Yoshinon~"
"U-Ugahhh!!"
For a period of time, while Tohka was still gripping onto Shidou's face and suppressing her trembling shoulders, having reached her limits she screamed.
And finally, she took her hands off of Shidou's face.
"Sh-Shut up! Shutup shutup shutup! That's no good! That kind of thing is no good!"
"Eehh—, even if say it's no good. HoraaHoraa, Shidou-kun how about saying it clearly, that Tohka-chan is already an unwanted child."
"—!"
That instant, Tohka suddenly grabbed onto the puppets collar.
And of course since the puppet was small, it was easily removed from the girls hand, it was then held up in the air.
"—!?"
And, to the girl that had her puppet taken away from her, her eyes began to swirl.
The next moment her eyeballs flickered, her face turned pale white, and sweat appeared on her face. Incidentally it was visible that her breathing has gotten rougher, and her fingers *Twitch* *Twitch* started to shake.
"Yo-Yoshinon....?"
Shidou, while he was rubbing his cheeks that were still in pain, and to the [Yoshinon] that had shown such a fast change, he gave a worried look.
But, it would seems that Tohka did not realize the state that [Yoshinon] was in. Her attention was on the puppet that she was grabbing onto with both her hands, like a knife she gave a sharp gaze, and drew closer to it.
"I....I am NOT an unwanted child! ..shidou said.. ..shidou said that I.. He said that it was okay for me to be here! Anymore i-->>