Hello!
As I said before, this story will probably a short one. I'm not skilled enough to create complicated plots, sadly.
But. I hope you will enjoy this story anyway!
Hakuryuu, I'm very glad you enjoy it so far. I'll try my best for this one and also, in the future, for Lux x Celes!
Actually, Nia is in her forties, so, much older than Shidou! And I'll try to keep up with the references, though I don't promise anything.
As always, thanks for your much appreciated feedback!
The next day, Kotori, in her usual commander uniform, was with Reine inside Fraxinus' main control room.
The other crewmembers were also present, though they were busy with various tasks: only Kannazuki, the masochist yet talented vice-commander, was listening.
Actually, Kannazuki was doing Hindu squats on Kotori's order, as he had suggested that Nia and Shidou should experiment a BSDM private club in order to deepen their bond together.
"Now that we can talk between adults, Reine, please explain" Kotori said, giving a cold glare to the sweating yet happy Kannazuki.
"Yes."
Reine manipulated her screens and several readings appeared in front of them. There also was the representation of Shidou's body, where waves of different colors were running inside out, like a cycle.
"For practical reasons, I depicted the different reiha flows with different colors. They represent the passes between Shin and the Spirits."
Reine then pointed a light blue line with a pen.
"As you can see on this picture, this blue line, representing Nia's reiha, is somehow stuck inside and outside Shin's body."
"Inside and outside?" Kotori repeated, frowning.
"Yes. It looks like Nia's reiha barely circulates between her and Shin, as if it was blocked by something."
Kotori's Chupa-Chups almost broke between her teeth.
"… do you mean, it will happen again?"
Kotori was mentioning the event known as "Itsuka Disaster", where Shidou had lost control of his powers, as the reiryoku stuck inside his body had overwhelmed him.
This incident had happened because the pass between Shidou and the Spirits had weakened. They had eventually managed to save him, but they all clearly remembered it.
Kotori especially, as she had almost killed her brother in order to prevent him from causing a giant scale disaster.
"The chances are low" Reine answered, "as the only reiryoku concerned is Nia's. It is not enough to cause an issue now, but…"
"But?"
"But if it gets worse, it can provoke a chain reaction inside Shin's body. Needless to say, we have to treat that matter as soon as possible."
Kotori chewed her Chupa-Chups and pondered.
"And you are saying that the signature is Nia's?"
"Yes. The readings between her and Shin have been slightly irregular these last weeks, but given their bond and the fact that Nia does not see Shin as often as the others, we did not perceive it as a problem" Reine explained.
As Nia was not "formally" in love with Shidou, and because the sealing of her powers had been quite chaotic, the Ratatoskr's analyzers did not find weird that the values of Nia were different from the other Spirits.
After all, Natsumi's values were the same.
"Commander, I have an idea!" Kannazuki suddenly spat, between two squats.
"Go on."
"I think that if Shidou and Nia explore together the crossdressing universe, they will find their true selves! After all, Shidou can transform into Shiori, and Nia can easily disguise as a man, due to her lack of curves!"
"Rejected. By the way, since you seem to like squats, you will do 10 series of 1 000 every morning for an entire week."
"Thank you very much!"
Kotori ignored the beaming Kannazuki and tapped the armrest of her chair with her fingertips.
"Summon Nia here" she finally ordered.
"Are we opting for a direct approach?" Reine asked.
"Yes. We don't know what will be DEM's next move. We better solve the Nia matter now, or else, it could backfire later."
"Roger that."
Hours later, Kotori, Reine and Nia were alone in the conference room of Fraxinus around a table.
Kotori and Reine were having tea but Nia had asked for a black coffee.
Due to her almost sleepless night, she was yawning and had bags under the eyes.
"Imouto-chan, it's no good…" she complained. "I planned to sleep the entire day, so why did you have to break into my apartment?... I thought that I would be safe in my own home!"
"Break? Safe? Maybe if your security code was not 1234, you would be safer!" Kotori replied with humor.
"Guh… so what is it, Imouto-chan?" Nia questioned. "You ought to have a good reason to convoke this powerless me alone… Perhaps you want to turn me into a mechanical doll that will serve the mafia?"*
Kotori did not pay attention to Nia's usual nonsense and teasing tone and addressed Reine a nod.
Reine showed Nia a portative screen with the same readings of the day before displayed on.
Nia frowned and get closer, analyzing the data in front of her. Her face became serious and somehow anxious.
"…these irregular lines… they are mine, right?"
"Yes" Reine nodded.
"And…this is Boy's body?..."
"Yes."
"Nia. What is happening?" Kotori firmly asked. "Or, did something happen with Shidou? Why is the bond between you two perturbed?"
Nia gave Kotori an embarrassed "teee-hee" and scratched her head.
"Hmm…how would I explain it… let's say, this is Steins;Gate's choice, okay?"**
"Cut off your crappy jokes and filthy otaku references" Kotori retorted. "You do not seem to understand how serious the situation is, so let me explain it to you."
Nia immediately stopped grinning and gulped.
"Even if that damned Westcott stole your Qlipha Crystal, you still have a little bit of reiryoku inside of you. The chances of you turning Inverse are very low, but still exist."
Kotori pointed her finger toward Nia.
"But that's not the main issue here. The main issue here is your emotions. You share a bond, a pass with Shidou, but you are not the only one. At the present time, Shidou's body is the receptacle of ten different reiryokus. If one is perturbed, the chances of having it causing a chain reaction are not negligible."
She paused and took off a new Chupa-Chups out of her breast pocket.
"I'm sure you know what happened the last time where Shidou's reiryoku was perturbed, right?"
Nia nodded.
"Of course I remember. He freed me with his "Ougi Roaring Flash Blast Wave"!" Nia said, quoting the original technique created by Shidou during his chuuni period.
"Yes, that– no, that's not what I was talking about!"
"I'm just kidding. I know that Boy turned a berserk time bomb and nearly died…"
Kotori coughed. Each time she talked with Nia, she had the feeling of her being the adult and Nia the kid.
"Back to the main topic. There are two perturbations in the readings: the first is coming from you, and the latter causes the second. As a result, the reiryoku between Shidou and you has troubles to achieve its cycle."
Reine sipped her cup of tea and looked at Nia in the eyes.
For some reason, her dizzy yet serious look made Nia uneasy.
"Nia. If you do not tell us what is happening, it is possible that it will endanger Shin."
This time, Nia did not try to laugh it off.
She bowed her head and averted her gaze. To her own – as well as Kotori's and Reine's – surprise, she blushed.
"… I, myself, don't really understand my own feelings… since I only fell in love with 2D characters… besides, I already have a waifu even though it's a male…"
Kotori facepalmed.
"Nia, do you love Shidou?" she then asked.
Nia froze and then smirked.
"Heeee, no way, no way, no way! As I told you, I already love someone: Tokiya, my first love from [CHRONICLE]! This warm feeling inside my chest is probably… only gratitude, that's it! I just want to repay Boy! Like that dragon maid who only wants to help!"***
Kotori and Reine stared at her, obviously not convinced.
"…Why are you looking at me with such suspicious looks?! I'm not a terrorist with a Power Ranger mask who plants bombs while leaving riddles behind her?!"****
Nia felt cold sweat running down her temples, as she was under Kotori and Reine's glare, eyebrows raised.
"I opened my heart to Boy, but that's all there is to it, I swear it! Even if Boy is cool as a manga main character and cute and easily flustered, it's not like I love him or anything! After all, I can only fall in love with 2D! So!"
Kotori closed her eyes and put a hand on her forehead.
A few seconds later, she left her chair and smiled.
"…alright. I got it. Nia, you are a lucky one. We have the perfect solution for you. Follow us."
Even though she was slightly anxious because of Kotori's grin, Nia obeyed.
Kotori and Reine then guided Nia to a small and dark cabin only equipped with a comfortable chair, a mouse and a large video screen. The room was only lightened by the screen that was displaying an "INSERT DISK" announce.
"Huuh, so it's a game… that makes sense…" Nia pondered, caressing her chin.
A game was the most appropriated method to interact with Nia, after all.
Back then, when Shidou was trying to make Nia fall in love, they had tried a similar method.
"Hehe, I wonder what it'll be. Be it an otome, a FPS or a RPG, I'm ready. I played so much games even Kagami Junichirou could not beat me!"*****
Still, how is it supposed to solve the matter of my bond with Boy? Nia thought. How playing a game will make me understand my own feelings?...
At this moment, the screen changed and a title appeared, in moe moe style, blue and pink font:
[Love Me My Little Shidou ~ Girl's Side 2~]
"Eh?"
Nia gasped for a good reason: the title of the game indicated that the latter was the sequel of the game Ratatoskr had created before in order to make Nia fall in love with Shidou.
Truth to be told, the title itself was very explicit...
However, as the first [Love Me My Little Shidou ~ Girl's Side ~] was a typical otome, the second was a simple quiz game.
"Do you really love our little Shidou? ~ Find out through this interactive quiz!" Nia read aloud. "Fine… Let us begin the game!"******
Nia stopped and immediately felt a chill running down her whole body.
"Kyaaa! I always wanted to say that! It's so cool! Wait, being that chuuni makes me look like Kaguyan!"
In Reine's bureau, Kotori and the chief analyzer were observing three things: the game's progress, Nia's emotions readings and Nia herself, through a camera.
All of the data were displayed on a computer screen.
"Ehh. Don't underestimate us from Ratatoskr" Kotori smiled, her legs crossed. "Do you think that, with the growing number of Spirits, we didn't consider the possibility of one of them doubting her feelings toward Shidou? That's why, this game has been developed by our most capable members in that field: Dimension Breaker Nakatsugawa and Maria!"
As Kotori was proudly boasting, a voice suddenly resonated in the room.
"Though Nakatsugawa mostly played eroge, I have to admit that his help was precious."
The mechanical yet, in a certain way, human voice, was Maria's. She was the super advanced AI of Fraxinus, the one in charge of propose choices to the crew.
"But I can guarantee the efficiency of this software" she added.
"Of course. I trust you, Maria."
"Thank you."
"So…Let's begin our (war) date!"
"Choose one of the three options with the mouse…Huh, so that's how it works…" Nia mumbled as she read the instructions.
It was likely the same system Maria, the AI of Fraxinus, used to submit choices to Shidou each time he could raise the mood of a Spirit.
A fraction of second later, the first question appeared.
"Do you love Shidou?"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?!" Nia yelled. "Nononono, wait, that question is supposed to come in last position! That's just basic logic! Imouto-chan, your game is messed up!"
However, no answer came from the speakers in the room. Nia was shocked but it looked like there was no mistake in the development.
She looked at the three choices proposed to her: "Yes", "No", "I don't know".
Nia felt an urge to select "No", but…
… it would be lying, right… and I should not lie, especially in a game. It always lead to a bad end! she thought.
Using the cursor, she selected the third option.
Because. She didn't know.
Kotori smirked when Nia made her choice.
The first question in this game was primordial.
If the Spirit interrogated would choose "Yes", the game would end immediately; since it was designed to make the Spirits who doubted their feelings towards Shidou fall in love with him, it was pointless to go further if they were certain that they loved him.
Nia could've lied and chose "Yes" to put an end to this, but she would've lied to herself by doing so.
The game would only continue if the Spirit chose "No" or "I don't know".
"Understood. The following questions will now determine your feelings toward Shidou."
Nia read the sentence displayed on the screen, and, having recovered from the first shock, motivated herself.
"Okay, bring it on, you super computer! But please, don't try to create a level 6 ESPer this time!"*******
As to answer with a perfect timing, the next question appeared.
"If you were to see Origami dragging Shidou in a love hotel, what would you do?"
Stunned by the question and its realism, Nia examined the options.
"1) Knock out Origami with an Iron Mountain Fist, take possession of the reservation and make love with Shidou all night in a closed room"
"2) Follow them and spy on them to get R18 doujin premium raw material"
3) Separate them and take Shidou home to check if he has not been drugged with an aphrodisiac
Nia pondered aloud.
"The first one is… no, even I couldn't do that… I didn't put any point in Strength, so knocking out Origami would be impossible…"
She played with her glasses.
"The two would be interesting from a mangaka perspective but... I played too many visual novels to know how it ends if I let something like that happen to the main character. That's right; I have to protect him and his virginity!"
Nia, letting her otome spirit talking, selected the third option. This triggered the third question.
"Would you regain your powers in exchange of never seeing Shidou again?"
"Yes"
"No"
"Probably"
This time, Nia did not hesitate for a second and instantly chose "No".
In fact, this kind of question irritated her. It was an insult to her, to Shidou, to their bond, and to her gamer pride.
Giving up the main route? Like, would Shirou retire from the Holy Grail War? Or would Red join Team Rocket? Don't screw with me! Nia thought.********
"Kotori. It seems the last question did anger Nia" Reine said.
"Perfect."
On the computer screen, a warning appeared.
In fact, all the questions of the game proposed by Maria were taking into account the Spirits' mood and the possibilities of triggering them.
When Maria judged a question to be risky, she would send a warning to ask for confirmation before any action.
All it required was Reine and Kotori's approbation.
"…under these circumstances, are you sure we should send the next one?..."
"…Yes."
"In my opinion, it is too… brutal."
"I know. But if we give up now, then all this game is pointless. We have to conduct our date (war) to its end."
"…Understood. Sorry."
Nia's lips trembled when she read the fourth question.
"…aaah."
She exhaled and closed her eyes, trying to calm down her heartbeat.
"Did you open your heart to Shidou because you believed in him and had affection for him, or did you do it just to be saved from death?"
Because of DEM, Nia had almost lost her life but had been saved by Shidou at that time. It was only because he had managed to seal her power and let reiryoku flow in her to heal Nia's body.
All that time, everyone, including her, had believed she had opened her heart to Shidou.
But. That question cleared the mist in her heart.
She was not in conflict with herself because she did not know if she loved Shidou or not.
Deep inside of her, she felt guilty and doubted.
She wanted to believe that she appreciated Shidou, who looked like a manga main character.
But… what if, in truth, she was forcing herself to like him to maintain their bond?
What if, she had done that only to be saved, and was keeping this lie on only to live as a normal person, surrounded with friends?
Nia had, for a long time, been alone because of her Angel, Rasiel that let her know about humans' deeds and hidden faces.
And now, she was living a happy life. She could joke and spend time with her friends. She could draw her manga in peace. She could enjoy life.
Thanks to one person: Shidou.
To imagine she was faking her affection toward her savior was horrifying.
What if all of it was an untruth?
A façade, to break off her isolation?
Nia re-opened her eyes and noticed that, this time, there were only two choices on the screen: "I did it because I trusted him" and "I did it for my own sake".
I always called humans liars… I cut myself off from the real world to escape these lies… But in the end, the true, biggest liar… is me, right? Nia thought.
Disgusted by her own self, Nia was about to select the second answer.
However.
Memories flowed through her mind within an instant.
All the moments she had spent with Shidou.
Shidou himself.
Shidou's easily triggered personality.
Shidou's wry smile.
Shidou's kindness.
Shidou's will to save people from solitude.
Shidou's will to…save her, at that moment.
Shidou, as cool as a manga character, incarnating the hero depicted in the manga he had created with the other Spirits.
Shidou, who could know whether Nia was fine or not.
Nia's heart was beating faster and louder, resonating inside of her.
Only thinking about Shidou sufficed to put her in that state.
Nia was feeling hot. She had a knot in her belly. And above all, she was hurting.
No. I can't believe… I can't believe this feeling is an untruth. I can't believe these emotions are lies…
Using the mouse, she changed the course of her action and chose the first answer.
Immediately, a line appeared on the screen.
"The results will be calculated."
Little did Nia know that the software and its manager, Maria, calculated the results based on the answers given and Nia's own emotions readings.
Seconds later, a loud fanfare resonated and a pink font announced the results with confetti.
"PROBABLY IN LOVE WITH SHIDOU~~
CONGRATULATIONS!~~"
Nia stared at the screen silently.
"..So… I probably… love Boy?..." she whispered.
"Huuuuuuuu…" Kotori stretched her body while exhaling. "Looks like I was right on the mark. But Nia sure is a tough one…"
Kotori was satisfied with the result. Of course, it was obvious from the start that Nia had a liking for Shidou, but it was good to confirm it.
"The margin of error is 0,2%" Maria's voice announced. "In my opinion, it is almost certain Nia is in love with Shidou, but she does not want to admit it for some reason. Her age may be the cause, though."
"Yes… but at least, this problem is solved. Now, the perturbation between her and Shidou should be cleared, since she has realized her feelings" Kotori nonchalantly replied, waving her Chupa-Chups.
At that very moment, an alarm sound resounded.
"Kotori."
Reine spoke up.
"What is going on again, Reine?!"
"…Nia's mood… is dropping dangerously, all of sudden…"
"How?!"
Jan-jan, here comes the references corner!
Are you a man/woman of culture as well?
* Gunslinger Girls
** Steins;Gate
*** Kobayashi-san no Maid Dragon
**** Zankyou no Terror
***** Denpa Kyoushi's main character
****** A catchphrase from No Game No Life
******* To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
******** Respectively Fate/stay night & Pokémon
Nia's character is very special to me, since in a certain way, she resembles me. Or, to tell the truth, I identify my past self to her.
Maybe, in a certain way, this is why I think I understand her so well.
But enough about me.
I'd be happy to hear your thoughts about this chapter... and I'm sorry about the cliffhanger, haha.
Until the next chapter!
