Chapter 5 Itsuka Kotori
My first encounter with Shidou was when Shidou was adopted into the Itsuka household.
Of course, I was a kid then, so I don’t remember it very well.
Actually, for a while, I spent time without knowing that Shidou was my adopted brother. My gentle, kind, and favorite brother, to me Shidou was like this. At the time, I felt that way.
--My world changed six years ago.
When I became a Spirit by the hands of <Phantom>.
In retrospect, I’m sure I was chosen in order to grant the protection of <Camael> to Shidou.
Really, it’s a vexing story. Moreover, the person in question selfishly disappears before I can raise a complaint. Really--a person that lets people feel that nothing can be done about it.
Anyway, I became a Spirit. And also around the same time I was scouted by <Ratatoskr> and given the position of commander to prepare for the arrival of other Spirits.
I was rescued by Shidou and began preparing to help Shidou.
--Because after all, I am Onii-chan’s little sister.
I felt very satisfied and proud of this.
In fact, among everyone else today, I’ve spent more time with Shidou than anyone else and know more about Shidou than anyone else.
However, I suddenly noticed one thing.
Me being a little sister is both a source of pride and at the same time--it’s almost like a curse.
Closer than anyone else, but too close.
Presumably when Shidou falls in love, I won’t be able to come in.
But. If perhaps--Shidou hadn’t been adopted into our household.
Would both of us have met in a different way?
--Thump, thump, the sound of his heartbeat felt excessively noisy.
His heartbeat was racing so fiercely that it felt like his ribs were about to be broken.
Surely, this feeling must be coming from the trembling fear. In fact, the tremendous pressure generated by this mysterious girl standing in front of him was to the extent that he didn’t need an apparatus to measure the goosebumps coursing through his skin.
“……”
Primal fear, the intuition of death, every fiber of his instincts strongly screamed about the overwhelming gap between them. Run away now. An absolute predator was in front of him--but Shidou didn’t escape.
Perhaps his feet were so frightened that he was paralyzed, but above all else--he couldn’t look away from this girl.
--What was this feeling?
Shidou was attacked by a strange visual sensation as his heartbeat rang like an alarm bell. An unknown existence, it was a girl who he should have never known. But why? Shidou couldn’t help but feel that he had met this girl once before.
“……U, a--”
It was the girl who broke this stalemate. While leaking out a small groan, she slowly raised the arm cladded with her claw above her head.
“……--”
Upon realizing the girl’s intentions, Shidou held his breath as he frantically tried to escape from this spot.
The girl’s hand swung down as the sound of even the wind being cut down resonated.
--At that moment.
The surrounding scenery became displaced.
“Ha--”
Not understanding what had just happened, Shidou let out a dull cry.
But he soon immediately understood. The roads, houses, sidewalk, trees, vehicles, everything in front of the girl--was smoothly cut apart like tofu and collapsed onto the ground with a heavy sound.
And this phenomenon didn’t just occur right front of this girl. The sounds of collapse gradually extend off into the distance, stirring up a round of smoke and dust.
“Wha……”
Shidou felt his breathing grow suffocated. After all, the cityscape in the direction of where the girl had swung her claw was cleanly sliced apart to a few kilometers away.
If Shidou had retreated just a few seconds later, he surely would have become a smooth cross section just like the street.
“A, a, a--”
The girl raised her arm above her head for a second time, wildly swinging her claw for a second and third time.
Each time the cityscape extended beyond the girl’s line of sight was beautifully cut.
“Y-You’ve got to be kidding……!?”
Now that Shidou has lost <Camael>’s protection, even the tiniest blow would be fatal. Shidou lowered his body while trying to flee from this place.
Still, Shidou couldn’t find it meaningful to try and find some distance from this girl. As long as that girl swung her claw, all the scenery within that extension line would be reduced to rubble.
The most important thing was to not stand in front of that girl’s gaze. So inevitably, Shidou decided to circle around this girl.
“--Aa, a, aa……!”
After an unknown number of attacks, the girl raised her hand to the heavens.
Immediately, the huge claw disappeared. In its steed, one of the ten swords floating around the girl was taken into the girl’s hands.
The fifth sword from the left was a great sword boasting a thick blade just like a battle axe.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa--!”
The girl roared like a beast as she inserted the sword onto the ground.
“Ha……!?”
His body cowered as he reflexively let out a scream.
With the girl at the center, cracks radiating from the earth spread out--as flames burst out just like a volcano.
“T-This is--”
Suddenly, the surrounding area transformed into a burning hell. Fortunately, Shidou wasn’t caught in the fire, but inhaling the diffused fumes caused him to violently cough.
However, this was far from over. The girl grabbed the eighth sword--a spiraling sword swirling like a tornado, and swung it down with great strength.
With the girl as the starting point, a tremendous gale was set off, trapping the flames that had erupted and extending them out to the sky.
“Gah……!”
As a human being, it was impossible for Shidou resist this rampage. He was helplessly blown to the sky and scorched by the rising flames.
--A stuffed animal thrown into the washing machine probably felt like this. His vision grew absurdly shaky as useless thoughts plundered his mind. His body was unable to freely move. He couldn’t breathe. Only the torture of the flames’ heat afflicting his entire body was clearly engraved onto his mind.
But this situation didn’t last long. Shidou was thrown out of the sky with that momentum, but after experiencing a strange floating sensation for a few seconds, his body landed on the ground.
“Ga……fu……”
Because of being thrown in an unnatural posture, he wasn’t even able to cushion the blow. His vision flickered on and off. It was difficult to tell where exactly his body was hurting.
Was still being conscious at this moment a fluke or terrible misfortune? For a brief moment, such thoughts crossed his mind--but Shidou immediately judged it to be the former.
Indeed, wounds covered his entire body. Indeed, he was pushed into a desperate corner. But Shidou still hasn’t lost consciousness yet. He could still think. It was too early. It was too early to give up--
However, faint footsteps resonated as if to completely trample down on Shidou’s hopes.
The girl was approaching step by step closer to Shidou who had collapsed face up on the ground.
“Ah------”
A hoarse voice leaked out from his throat.
A mysterious girl was standing in the background of the sky that was transitioning to nighttime.
Shidou was left puzzled by the mysterious feeling taking control of his head.
Confronted by the monster that had just injured him, Shidou felt horrified and desperate--
--He thought that she was beautiful.
“Aa, a……”
The girl held the hilt of the floating sword as if to sever Shidou’s thoughts. --The Tenth Sword.
The biggest sword that released the most ominous sense of intimidation.
“----”
Shidou felt an unfathomable feeling as he watched himself be lifted up by this girl. It felt as if time was being stretched and the entire world was in slow motion. --Ah, I remember this impression. His brain, experiencing the intuition of death, was examining his memories in detail in order to discover a way to survive from his past experiences so far.
Nevertheless, he didn’t feel that it would be useful for him right now. The reason why he was able to survive so far was due to the power of the Spirits dwelling in his body. Without that now, this phenomenon was just a revolving lantern. (soumatou, also known as the revolving lantern, is often related to the flashback phenomenon before death according to Asian superstitions.) But that wasn’t all bad. As his consciousness dimed, Shidou thought. He could recall everyone’s faces even though it was just before death. Various scenes appeared and disappeared within his heart. --When he was adopted into Kotori’s family. His first meeting with Origami. When he was almost killed by Kurumi. And also-- the first encounter with that girl he could never forget.
“……,--Toh, ka--”
Thinking back to that memory, Shidou felt his voice unconsciously leak out from his throat.
A small whisper that should have dissipated with the wind.
A thin monologue that no one will ever hear.
But--
“------,--, A, a--”
Why? At that moment, the expression of the girl who was about to swing her sword slightly changed, as emotions stirred her body.
“…………?”
As his consciousness stretched out, Shidou gazed at her behaving strangely.
He couldn’t figure out what just happened. The girl who was supposed to have absolute power was hesitating. Shidou couldn’t understand why.
“You, are……”
--Suddenly.
“…………!?”
At the very next moment, just as he was in the middle of saying something, Shidou opened his eyes wide in surprise.
He felt a strange floating feeling wrap around his entire body. The scenery reflected in his view had completely changed.
Shidou thought for a moment that he had arrived in heaven, but--that wasn’t it.
What spread out before his eyes were neither a land of clouds nor a rainbow bridge, but rather it was the interior of a ship that was composed of rigid straight lines.
“--Shidou! Are you okay, Shidou!?”
“Ah……”
Hearing that sound above his head, Shidou leaked out a small whisper.
While holding his swaying head, he was somehow able to capture the appearance of the voice’s owner.
“Ko, tori……”
That’s right. Standing in front of Shidou was his little sister who had her hair tied in black ribbons--Kotori.
After that, he understood. Just before Shidou could be killed by that mysterious girl, he was recovered immediately by <Fraxinus>’s transfer device.
“--Shidou.”
“Uwwaa, you were almost done in, Boy.”
After replying to Kotori, familiar faces and voices appeared in Shidou’s view. --Origami and Nia were looking down at Shidou with a worried look.
No, that wasn’t all. Behind them he could see other girls. Apparently, they had all been recovered by <Fraxinus>.
“Ah, aah……sorry, you saved me, Kotori.”
As Shidou replied in a hoarse voice, Kotori finally let out a sigh of relief.
“……Really, I could feel the years of my life go by in a flash. It is entirely your fault for acting so rash……!”
Looking closely, her face was pale and there were huge beads of sweat on her forehead. It seems that he had made her worry a lot.
“……Sorry. But I didn’t expect there would be a Spacequake so soon……”
“--I’m really ashamed pertaining to that point.”
It was Maria who, sitting nearby the captain’s seat, responded to Shidou’s voice. She looked to his side with a rare expression of dread.
“The prediction of the occurrence of the Spacequake, based on fluctuations in space, was certainly ten minutes later. --But in actually, the Spacequake occurred earlier than expected. It was as if the wall of space itself was broken.”
“……”
The analysis was similar to the intuition Shidou learned while being on the field. Shidou frowned as he looked at the bridge’s main surveillance screen.
The screen displayed the girl tyrannically abusing her overwhelming power. She didn’t seem to care that Shidou was there or not as she continued her mindless destruction. With her at the epicenter, Tenguu City was reduced to ruins in an instant.
It was as if a beast was rampaging in a chaotic manner. There was no purpose or will, just a tyrannical king acquainting the world with her existence.
“…………”
But--seeing her like this, Shidou felt his breathing suffocate.
Why was it? The look she gave as she roared.
--She looked, so very sad.
“…..Anyway.”
As Shidou was staring at the main monitor, Kotori raised her voice to regain his attention.
“Please get medical treatment for Shidou first. Kawagoe, Nakatsugawa! Get Shido to the medical office!”
“Yes!”
Following Kotori’s instructions, members of the <Fraxinus> crew, <Bad Marriage> Kawagoe and <Dimension Breaker> Nakatsugawa began preparing a stretcher. Seeing this, Shidou tried to get up.
“Eh? No, you don’t have to go that far--”
“…………”
As Shidou said that, Kotori stabbed his body with her finger. Suddenly, a severe pain spread throughout Shidou’s entire body.
“Ugh……gu……!?”
“……Like I told you. You don’t have <Camael>’s protection anymore. It should be expected that injuries won’t heal if left alone. ……If left alone, do you really want die!?”
Kotori sharpened her eyes and spoke. Shidou apologized while recognizing that he had been too naïve.
“A-Aah……sorry……”
“Now then, Shidou-kun.”
Kawagoe and Nakatsugawa urged Shidou while laying out the stretcher. Shidou moved his body to the stretcher with their help.
Kotori looked towards them while speaking to Maria.
“--We must develop countermeasures as soon as possible. Maria, please collect as much information as possible about that mysterious existence.”
“Roger that.”
Maria gave a brief reply while saluting. Immediately, the other girls who heard those words also raised their voices.
“Kotori. We also want to help.”
“Mun. Muku and the others were originally Spirits. It may prove useful.”
Origami and Mukuro made an appeal as they clenched their fists with a determined look. In response to this, Kotori faintly raised her eyebrows.
“……I’m grateful, but I don’t want to involve you guys as much as possible. Now that your Reiryoku has disappeared, everyone was finally able to obtain a peaceful life--”
“--Why not?”
However, it was Maria who interrupted Kotori’s proposal.
“While I agree with Kotori’s opinion, the target this time is too unknown. The possibility of getting ideas that we don’t have shouldn’t be useless.”
“…………”
It seemed that opinion was also justifiable. Despite making a bitter face, Kotori finally relented.
“……It can’t be helped. But I’m only asking you to lend your wisdom as a reference. If you make a mistake, you won’t be able to participate in the operation.”
“……!”
The girls all nodded in unison.
Shidou was being transferred to the medical office while watching this scene.
Treated by the Medical Realizer, Shidou headed for the briefing room where the former Spirit girls had already gathered there.
Including Kotori, there was Origami, Nia, Kurumi, Yoshino, Mukuro, Natsumi, Kaguya, Yuzuru, and one more person lined up at the table.
“Ah! Darling! Are you alright now!?”
As soon as Shidou entered the room, that one more person raised her voce.
A tall presence with hair cut in a princess style and a voice that resonated beautifully just like a silver bell. It was the former Spirit and idol, Izayoi Miku.
“Ah, I’m fine. It may be strange to say this now, but the Medical Realizer is really incredible. I feel even better than before I got injured.”
While saying, that he showed off stretching his shoulders. Seeing this, everyone gave a sigh of relief.
“--We’ve been waiting for you, Shidou. I’ll start the meeting now. Please sit down.”
Kotori, who was sitting in the innermost seat, spoke while resting her elbows on the table.
Shidou nodded in response and sat down in the vacant seat.
“Now if you will, Maria.”
“Yes.”
As Kotori made her request, Maria, who was standing next to her, snapped her fingers.
Immediately following her movements, the center of the elliptical table displayed an image.
“This is……”
Seeing this, Shidou lightly raised his brow.
The image displayed an urban area now resembling scorched earth and the mysterious girl sleeping while hugging her knees.
“--As you can see, after the encounter with Shidou, the subject entered a dormant state after destroying part of the surrounding area. As if being put to ease of not seeing any other creatures with her eyes.”
“What about the AST?”
If the Spacequake alarm sounded, the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force’s AST would be dispatched. Shidou asked while slanting his head.
“They were fighting just now……but of course it wasn’t an opponent they could handle. They fled on the spot. Fortunately, no casualties occurred.”
Kotori helplessly shrugged her shoulders. ……Well, that was a situation that could be fully anticipated. The power felt from that girl was so overwhelming.
Immediately afterwards, Origami narrowed her eyes and stared at Kotori.
“--I have one thing to confirm. Is it a Spirit?”
“…………”
After hearing this, everyone fell silent.
However, that was to be expected. That question was on everyone’s mind but no one could come up with a clear answer.
Kotori opened her mouth after let out a long sigh.
“……One year ago, the Sephira Crystal of the Spirit of Origin, Mio, disappeared. If you define Spirit as an existence that has been given Reiryoku by Mio, then the answer would be no.”
However, Kotori continued on.
“What is being observed from the subject is clearly a Reiha response. Therefore, <Ratatoskr> has temporarily decided that the subject is a Spirit and given her the codename <Beast>.”
“<Beast>……”
Indeed, that name seemed like something appropriate for her. …..Well, he didn’t know if it could be regarded as a proper name for a girl.
As Shidou was thinking that over, Miku placed her finger against her chin while making a confused face.
“Hmm……although I don’t quite understand, but are you saying that this Spirit is born from a source other than Mio-san?”
“It’s impossible to tell……to be honest. After all, we don’t have a sample case of a Spirit being born from a source outside from Mio.”
Kotori shrugged as she replied to Miku’s question.
“The Reiha response emanating from <Beast> is very similar to the wavelength of a conventional Spirit. However, it’s unclear whether this means Mio’s power has remained somewhere in this world or if Spirits will have the same composition regardless of their origin.”
“Well, there’s no way to test it without a comparison……”
Natsumi nodded in agreement to Kotori’s words. But then, her eyebrows twitched as if coming up with something.
“……Perhaps, and I’m saying perhaps. The Spirit crossed through time using a bullet from
<Zafkiel>……could that be possible? After all Sephira Crystals existed up until a year ago. Ah, and I also remember it. A bullet that could be used to travel to the future……”
“--Ara, ara.”
After hearing that hypothesis, that voice came from Kurumi, the original host for the Angel of time <Zafkiel>. She narrowed her eyes with keen interest and stroked her cheeks with her fingers.
“It’s an interesting theory. Certainly if that’s the case, you may be able to make a Spirit appear in this era where Sephira Crystals are gone.”
“……So. Do you have any idea, Kurumi?”
Kotori coldly stared at Kurumi. Kurumi shook her head with exaggerating movements.
“Unfortunately, I don’t remember shooting the Eleventh Bullet <Yud Aleph> on such a person.
--How about Shidou-san and Natsumi-san?”
Kurumi said while looking towards Shidou and Natsumi.
Nevertheless, her intentions were immediately understood. In the past, Shidou had sealed Kurumi’s Reiryoku and Natsumi, while incomplete, could use <Haniel> to imitate the powers of other Angels. In other words, there was the possibility of both of them using <Zafkiel>.
“No, I don’t remember doing that.”
“……Me too. In the first place I was only able to copy abilities that I’ve seen. Wouldn’t using
<Zafkiel> decrease my lifespan? Even if I copied it, I would never want to use it……”
“So it’s like that.”
While saying that, Kurumi shrugged while turning her eyes towards Kotori. Kotori seemed to think that this answer was expected as she nodded slightly in agreement.
However at that moment, Kurumi curved the corners lips into a smile as if finding this amusing.
“--Well, if it was the Twelfth Bullet <Yud Bet> shot rather than the Eleventh Bullet <Yud Aleph>, it would be understandable for the current me to not know.”
“……What did you say?”
Kotori sharpened her eyes in astonishment. On the other hand, Kurumi let out a little giggle.
The Twelfth Bullet <Yud Bet>, a secret of <Zafkiel> that was paired with <Yud Aleph>, the bullet that could send the target to the future. It was Kurumi’s secret trump card that could send the target back to the past.
Phrasing it like that could only mean one thing. Seemingly aware of this meaning, Kotori frowned.
“Are you saying that the future Kurumi sent <Beast> to the past?”
“No. no. Needless to say, I have no intention of doing that. After all, I don’t have that sort of power right now. It’s just--”
Kurumi continued on while spinning her finger.
“The future is unpredictable. For some reason, the power of the Spirits was restored and I dispatched this target to the past--can anyone deny that possibility?”
“……What are you trying to say?”
As Kotori’s expression oozed tension, Kurumi simply shook her head and lowered her eyes.
“Please don’t be on so high of alert. It is unlikely that this happens; I just can say that it’s not impossible--it’s just a possibility I am trying to explain.”
“…………”
Kotori silently folded her arms while making a difficult face. Certainly, Kurumi’s opinion was disturbing, but she did just offer a possibility in order to solve the problem. ……Well, she couldn’t deny that her tone and manner were certainly provocative.
“Ah--……”
Shidou deliberately coughed to both clear out his throat and lighten the atmosphere.
“W-Well anyway……while we don’t know her true colors, isn’t her being a Spirit all the same?
So in that case isn’t there one thing that we have to do?”
As Shidou said that, the girls in the briefing room narrowed their eyes and nodded.
That’s right. Indeed it was an unidentified opponent. Indeed it was a dangerous Spirit. But for Shidou, Shidou has always attempted to converse with them first. To phrase it in another way, the girls lined up now were also once such opponents.
If that was the case, what they should do this time will not change. Shidou turned to look to Kotori.
“--It’s up to me to make this girl fall in love. Kotori, please support me.”
Ah, that’s right. This was Shidou’s task and mission.
At moments like this, Kotori would laugh and shrug, saying “I didn’t expect you to be capable of saying that”. It would then come down to those words. --Alright, let’s being our war (date) --
“----, No.”
However.
Kotori uttered that word against all expectations. Shidou couldn’t help but stare.
“……Huh? What did you just say, Kotori?”
“……I said no. I don’t agree with you. This will be left to <Ratatoskr>.”
Kotori said sternly. Faced with this unexpected response, Shidou’s expression grew more confused.
“What are you talking about Kotori? What are you going to do? You were the one that said only I can seal the power of the Spirits!”
Kotori kept her gloomy gaze as Shidou made his appeal.
“--Then, let me ask you, is the power to seal Spirits still present within Shidou?”
“Eh……?”
“With Mio’s disappearance, the power of the Spirits also disappeared. --Then what about Shidou’s power which was given by Mio during reconstruction? Did it also disappear along with the power of the Spirits? Or is it still woven into Shidou’s existence?”
“T-That’s……”
“The answer is--I don’t know, right. There’s no more Reiryoku that can be sealed, so there’s no way to verify it.”
Kotori continued while shaking her head.
“……And even if you still have the power to seal, we don’t know if it will work for this Spirit.
After all, she may be a Spirit born from a Sephira Crystal that wasn’t derived from Mio.
--Faced with an uncertain existence, I can’t give you the task of dealing with the Spirit, right?”
Kotori coldly spoke. Nevertheless, Shidou didn’t see any other alternative means. He clenched his fist while raising his voice.
“……Indeed, I didn’t think it over. It is different from what’s been done before and it’s uncertain I can help. --But if there’s the slightest possibility of the sealing working, there’s no reason not to try it! It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work! Let me try--”
“--Who was the person that almost died just a few minutes ago!”
Kotori slammed her fist against the table to interrupt Shidou.
The girls all trembled seeing the usually calm Kotori be so enraged.
“……”
Seeing everyone’s response, Kotori lightly placed her hand against her forehead.
“……Sorry. I’m disqualified from being commander. ……I’ll go cool my head a little. Everyone take a break.”
Kotori got up and left the briefing room with some staggering steps.
“……Nushi-sama--”
Mukuro said worriedly while staring blankly at Kotori’s back.
Shidou said “it is fine” to reassure everyone and then silently stared at the door where Kotori disappeared into.
“……Tch!”
After returning to the captain’s room onboard <Fraxinus>, Kotori walked towards the office chair. Then, she grabbed the cushion and threw it against the wall at full strength.
With a dull sound, the cushion fell onto the ground.
--As the commander of <Ratatoskr>, she even messed up in front of everyone and even lost control of her temper. Kotori heavily sighed. But rather than feeling better, she felt even more humiliated.
Kotori picked up the cushion and fell onto the ground while holding it.
Of course, Kotori also understand that it wasn’t the time to do such a thing.
--An unidentified Spirit that suddenly appeared. That power could be described with a single word: threat.
Although she was now dormant after destroying everything within her field of vision, it was impossible to expect her to stay that way forever. If such a creature went on a rampage with destruction as her only goal, then it would only take a few days to completely change the scenery of the earth. Before that happened, they had to plan out the countermeasures as soon as possible.
However, in Kotori’s hands the means to deal with this Spirit--no, such a thing no longer existed in the world.
Of course, <Ratatoskr> was an organization built with the goal of protecting Spirits. An act such as annihilation by force was not allowed, not to mention they lacked the combat power to use those means against the Spirit in the first place. Under the current circumstances, Ellen Matters was the most powerful person in <Ratatoskr>, but it couldn’t be denied that her proficiency with the Realizer has declined after her memory loss.
If so, then their last hope would be Shidou. She didn’t know if he retained the ability to seal Spirits after Mio’s disappearance, but there was no other method left. As Shidou had said, they had to risk it all in this gamble.
Kotori understood that.
The knowledge--was there.
“…………”
However, Kotori silently felt her head creak.
In the back of her mind, the scene she once saw resurged. Six years ago. An old memory. --The scene of when Kotori was turned into a Spirit by <Phantom>.
Kotori, who was too young, couldn’t control her power, causing a fire to spread and sparking a huge conflagration. Then--even Shidou who had come to help Kotori was almost killed. Shidou falling down. The smell of burnt flesh. Even after six years, that nightmarish scene could still be remembered.
Although at that time, by letting Shidou seal her Reiryoku, she as able to transfer <Camael>’s healing power and he ended up safe and sound--
But now that the power of the Spirits have disappeared from this world, letting Shidou respond to that Spirit would be nothing more than pushing him into circumstances where he might really die.
“……, ……”
Kotori felt her heartbeat speeding up. Her breathing became messy as sweat gradually poured out from her forehead.
It wasn’t just that time.
When he was accidentally sniped by Origami.
When he entered Yoshino’s ice boundary.
When he was stabbed in the chest by Ellen.
Without the power of the Spirits, Shidou would be dead.
--It was her fault for allowing him to act so recklessly. After losing <Camael>, Kotori understood this again. She squeezed the black ribbons tying her hair.
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