Domo! Eraviel here again! I thank you for taking your precious time to read my story!
This chapter, is somewhat dedicated to Seeker213's request. I could guess you had a strong curiosity going inside you :3 See, I made it like that, because it's boring to follow the prequel-sequel thing. Better to go to the main story, then put a flashback as something, like in thoughts or something like that.
So yeah, I think I'll focus on this one, I'll go hiatus on my other fic for a while. That one's been up for a year already :3
Alright, onto the story, Enjoy!
The bolded text is Yoshinon speaking, because doesn't let me use bracket. I also decided to use the dash sign to replace the greater than and less than sign that is used for the spirit codenames, the realizers, Fraxinus, etc.
(FLASHBACK)
A certain blue-haired boy woke up from the loud ringing of the alarm clock. He reached for it using his hand while his face was buried on a pillow and his body below his head was covered by the bed covers. He seemed to have failed to shut the alarm clock off and instead, he accidentally tapped it and it fell down on his head, made him freak out, grabbed it and threw it straight to the door.
"Hey Shidou, wake u-" A twin-tailed girl called as she opened the door leading to Shidou's room and immediately closed it as she saw an incoming alarm clock attack.
A loud crash can be heard behind the door, the death of the poor alarm clock whose job is to wake up a certain person every morning has arrived.
"YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" The twin-tailed girl shouted as she blasted the door open.
Shidou sat up straight as he heard the roaring of her sister, the twin-tailed girl, Itsuka Kotori.
"N-no! That alarm clock fell on my head while I'm sleeping and I threw it because it hurts, you know." Shidou explained the incident that happened earlier.
"What are you, a kid?" Kotori asked while sighing in disbelief. "Anyways, make breakfast now, we're starving already!" She said as she stomped off the room and went downstairs.
"We're…?" Shidou asked himself in confusion as he heard that word from Kotori.
Somehow, he already expected that 'they're' going to be here. He wondered why he forgot about it.
He just shrugged it out of his mind and fixed his bed as he got out of it. He can't afford to worry about small things today.
Yes, because it's Sunday, last day of weekend. No class. No assignments.
But even though it's weekend, he doesn't know how he will make use of his free time. Most likely he'll be dragged out of the house by Tohka along with Yoshino, Kaguya and Yuzuru.
'Seems like it.' He said as he sighed.
Not like he's opposed to that thought, it's better than locking himself inside the house for the whole day and do nothing.
"Oi, Shidou! Get down here!" He heard a voice from downstairs, which he recognized as his sister's, Kotori.
'Oh yeah, breakfast.' He thought in a matter-of-fact like thought.
"Alright, I'm going down noooooooow." He replied as he yawned.
He went downstairs and was greeted by 4 beauties sitting on the sofas in the living room, a blue-haired girl with blue eyes and a puppet on her left hand; two orange-haired girls that look identical to each other, but one girl had her long hair braided, and the other one were tied short, and also braided; a purple-haired girl with a happy face with a bow on her hair that tied a portion of it in a ponytail; and his sister.
"Morning, Shidou!" The purple-haired girl, named Yatogami Tohka, greeted Shidou as she saw him appear in the living room.
"G-good Morning, Shidou-san." The blue-haired girl, named Yoshino, greeted.
"Iyaa, Shidou-kun, good morning." The puppet on Yoshino's left hand, Yoshinon greeted.
"Greet. Good Morning, Shidou." The orange long-braided hair girl, named Yamai Yuzuru, greeted with a vague expression.
"Good Morning, Shidou! You should be proud that we, Yamais, greeted you!" The other orange-haired girl, named Yamai Kaguya, greeted with pride. Greetings shouldn't include pride, in my opinion.
Shidou just ignored that pride of hers.
"Good morning, everyone." He said as he smiled to them while waving his hand.
He headed straight to the kitchen and started to make their not-so late breakfast. He took a few strips of bacon, some eggs from the fridge, and some bread loafs above it. He started to cook the bacon and eggs while toasting the bread.
"Ne, Shidou…" A voice called Shidou from behind.
"Hmm?" Shidou replied as he turned around and saw Tohka behind him.
"Since it's weekend, how about we go somewhere else?" Tohka suggested as she had this beaming look on her face.
"Ah… about tha-"
"Why not? It's better than staying here the whole day doing nothing." Kotori intervened on Shidou's reply as she appeared in the dining room. "More importantly, watch your cooking."
Shidou didn't reply to her comment and went back to his cooking. Talking about that stuff in exchange for a burnt breakfast is not a good deal.
"Then, can we go?" Tohka asked as she had sparkles on her eyes.
Sparkling that it can almost blind a person.
"Sure thing." Shidou said as his attention was still drawn to the cooking. "How about you, Yoshino, Kaguya and Yuzuru?"
"I-if Shidou-san is going, t-then I'll go too." Yoshino said while blushing a little.
"Iyaa, Yoshino, I know that you really wanted Shidou-kun to -mmmmmMMMM!"
"Y-Yoshinon!" Yoshino immediately covered Yoshinon's mouth to avoid leaking further information.
What information?
"Accept. Yuzuru is tagging along." Yuzuru said as her vague expression never left her.
"Fufu, if Yuzuru's going, then I'm going too!" Kaguya said as she puffed her chest proudly.
Is tagging along really needs pride?
"Then it's decided." Shidou said as he finished cooking their breakfast. He placed them on the table as the girls went to their respective chairs and sat down.
He sat down on his chair and folded his hand and said, "Itadakimasu!"
"I-ta-da-ki-ma-su!" the other girls said and they started to eat their 'wonderful' breakfast.
Wonderful, as Shidou made it, for them.
~o~O~o~
Shidou took care of the plates and placed them in the sink as they finished eating their breakfast. The girls headed to the living room and opened the TV while he was there washing their plates.
"Shidou, I'm going out for a while." Kotori said as she walked to the door leading to the outside.
"You're not coming with us, Kotori?" Tohka asked as she directed her attention to her before hooking to the TV.
"Nah, I have important matters to attend to." She replied to her. She looked to Shidou and narrowed her eyes a little.
Shidou caught what she meant by that. She will assist him in case something goes south.
"Hmm?" Tohka just got confusion on the sibling's eye contact.
"You guys enjoy yourselves." Kotori said as she left the house.
Yoshino, Kaguya and Yuzuru didn't pay attention to them as their interest were drawn to the TV. They sometimes have this constant sighing and gasping which is giving Shidou an awkward look.
"So, where do you guys want to spend your day today?" Shidou asked as his hands were working on the plates.
"I want to go to the pool!" Tohka said childishly as she walked to table with high chairs. (SORRY! I don't know what's that called, something like inside the bars, where you order a drink from a bartender)
That was expected. For Shidou at least.
"Pool again? Didn't we just go in there last two weeks?" Shidou said as he finished washing the plates and wiped his wet hands.
"I just want to go to pool again! Can't I…?" Tohka said as she made a sad and a little teary look.
Shidou made a problematic look as he saw her face looking at him. He couldn't disagree more with her when she gives him that look.
He sighed.
"So, how about you guys?" Shidou said as he turned his attention to the three whose interests were still pinned down on the TV.
Yoshino, who directed her gaze towards Shidou, said, "If S-Shidou-san wants to, then I'll go too."
"Iyaa, Shidou-kun, Yoshino just wanted you to se-GUUHHHH!"
"Y-Y-Y-Yoshinon!" Yoshino covered the puppet's mouth to prevent further information leakage.
Again, what information?
Shidou made a (=A=) look from Yoshinon's remark. He probably understood what she meant by that. He decided not to think about it anymore in order for him not to get flustered more as he was at that time.
"Approve. Pool is a yes-go." Yuzuru replied while her gaze's still directed towards the TV.
"Kuku, doesn't matter where, as long as Yuzuru is coming, you can count me in!" Kaguya said as she made a thumbs up side while her gaze is also directed to the TV.
Shidou wondered why they're so much attracted to the TV. He walked towards them with Tohka to see what they were watching, and made an "ah" expression.
They're watching a soap opera. What's so special about it? It was actually the series Yoshino watches everyday. The reasons were unknown to why Yoshino's so hooked up to that kind of theme.
"I'll just pack my things, you guys should do the same too." Shidou said as he disappeared in the living room and headed straight to his room.
"Haaaaaiiii~" The girls replied except Yoshino while still watching the TV.
Man, they're so captivated by that show. Maybe because there's 'Romance' in there, and they're watching it for reference.
Who knows?
After the show, they hurriedly went back to their apartment and packed everything needed for their not-so-extravagant trip to a pool.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
~o~O~o~
In the midst of the night, there were two individuals inside a certain room in the Itsuka household. A certain blue-haired boy who's sleeping on the lap of a certain back-haired girl dressed in a gothic Lolita outfit with her skirt spread out, who's also sleeping while sitting on the bed. The moonlight shined upon them, making them look like special beings on earth, which is true, if you're to describe them. The boy's right hand and the girl's left hand were intertwined, a strong bond between them can be found, and there's nothing that can cut their ties.
It seems that there are no boundaries that could separate the two persons, who're very, very close to each other, no matter what.
Few hours ago, the blue-haired guy, Itsuka Shidou, was talking to the twin ponytailed heterochromatic spirit girl, Tokisaki Kurumi, about certain things. They talked about a little about the past, and more importantly, about Shidou's current situation, his worries, and conflicted thoughts. Even though he was about to break down, Kurumi managed to relieve all of them.
Which made all of Shidou's fatigue took effect on his body, and made him fast asleep.
Every few moments, the sleeping boy would suddenly smile, sigh or whatever expression's there to mention, probably because of his dreams. The girl just had this smile on her face while she's on her blissful slumber, unknown to anyone as to why she did so.
(SHIDOU'S DREAM, FLASHBACK)
"Shidou, we're here!" Tohka jumped out in cheer as they arrived to their destination.
"I'm surprised you found a place like this…" Shidou said as his attention were drawn to the interior of the vicinity. He can't believe that Tohka, of all people, could find a place for hanging out like this.
The place is an open space pool, a very wide one. Various slides and pool shapes with different depths are available inside, where customers can have a variety of choices to where they want to enjoy their times. People won't be bored in here.
"Etoo, Ai, Mai, and Mii told me about this place. And also, they said that there are spots in here where two people can spend their time alone!" Tohka said as she had this smile on her face while facing Shidou and walking backwards.
Shidou sweat dropped.
'What are those three trying to teach Tohka…' Shidou thought.
After the dark-purple haired girl said that, two identical girls behind Shidou, Yamai Kaguya and Yuzuru, had their eyes sparkling for a mere second and reverted back to their usual faces.
Looks like some people already had their plans of advancement.
"Yoshino, don't you think you should also adv- GUUUUUUHHHMMMM!"
"Y-Yoshinon!" Yoshino blushed as she covered the puppet's mouth.
It's obvious as to why she did that. No need to repeat every detail.
"Fufu, this place is not bad." Kaguya said as she crossed her arms while observing the place.
Façade. She's really amazed.
"Acknowledge. This is a good place for enjoyment. Hehe." Yuzuru said with a vague expression that never left her face.
Her chuckle could be a little different from her usual expressions.
"But still, it's surprising that there's so few people in here today." Shidou wondered as he looked around the place.
True, there were only few people, hardly to see them gathering in a single place. Not a bad feeling for Shidou but it seems that there's something off in this place. A good resort with few people isn't normal at all.
"Then we can enjoy this place for ourselves!" Tohka said as she run inside, leaving a trail of dust behind her and looked for a good spot to place their belongings.
"Oi, Tohka!" Shidou shouted but she didn't pay heed to him.
He sighed. The other girls behind him just followed him as they made an awkward look.
~o~O~o~
"Yahohoooooo!" A loud voice can be heard throughout the place.
*SPLASH*
A dark purple-haired girl did a cannonball dive onto the pool which made the water splash to the nearby people. Those people were Kaguya and Yuzuru. Yoshino's clinging behind Shidou with Yoshinon on her left hand.
Bringing a puppet in a pool seems off. More importantly, they allowed it!
"Oi Tohka, tha's dangerous!" Shidou said as he swam towards Tohka who just jumped inside the pool.
"What's the worry? This is totally nothing to me!" Tohka said as she made a peace sign in front of Shidou.
There's no stopping this girl when she gets worked up on something.
"Inquire. May I ask what you are doing?" An orange-haired girl asked with a vague expression, Yuzuru, as her face and body were wet from the water. Getting a splash of water directly to your face is not a funny incident to any people.
"You scoundrel! What the heck do you think you're doing?!" The other orange-haired girl, Kaguya, shouted as she sounded so pissed off.
"Oh come on! You're gonna get yourself wet too, so what's the problem with it?" Tohka said as she placed her hands on her waist and puffed her chest out.
'That sounded weird.' Shidou thought as he made an awkward look.
Yeah, that sounded really weird. You know why. If you don't, then all's well.
After a few minutes of their bickering, Shidou somehow felt the water becoming colder and colder a little, and then he saw Yoshino clinging behind him.
"Yoshino, what's wrong?" He asked as he turned around and looked at her directly.
"Shidou…-san…" Yoshino replied. She then pointed her index finger from the other side of the pool.
"Hmmm…?" Shidou looked to where Yoshino pointed.
He saw a puppet floating on the surface of the pool and immediately knew what she meant by that. They're in a huge-sized pool so getting to the other side of the pool is kinda a lot of work for him since he's just an average in physical activities. And since the water of the pool was slowly icing, it's double the torture.
"S-S-Shidou-san….!" Yoshino called again as her index finger's still pointed at the floating puppet.
"O-oi, what's going on?! I-I-It's getting cold here!" Kaguya said as she's hugging herself due to the cold and tried to get out of the pool.
"Shiver. It's cold. Bzzzzz." Yuzuru said as she's shaking all over when she got out of the pool.
Tohka didn't say a word and kept on hugging herself because of the very cold temperature.
"Y-Yoshino! Calm down! I'll get it!" Shidou said as she walked towards the floating puppet. His lower body is already freezing but he can't back down now or he'll be frozen to death.
"Kuh…!" Shidou couldn't feel what's below his waist anymore as he got nearer to the puppet. He grabbed the puppet as soon as he arrived on it and shouted, "Yoshino! I got Yoshinon!"
The lowering of the water temperature and the growing of the ice stopped as soon as Shidou lifted Yoshinon up. But the temperature of the water didn't go up and the fragments of ice also didn't disappear.
His lower body completely froze, seemingly considered as an injury. Luckily, he got Efreet's regenerative abilities and his injury healed the moment he got out of the freezing pool.
Yep, freezing pool. You could see smokes of coldness rising from the pool.
"I-I'm sorry, Shidou-san!" Yoshino said as she bowed in front of Shidou who's sitting at the side of the pool.
"Don't w-worry about it, Yoshino!" Shidou said as he waved his hands in front of me. "It's not your fault!"
Yoshino beamed a smile after hearing that.
"Iyaaa, thank you so much, Shidou-kun!" The puppet, Yoshinon, said as she's placed on Yoshino's left hand.
"Don't mention it." Shidou said as he gave a thumbs up.
~o~O~o~
After that freezing hell experience, they transferred to other pools so that their time won't be wasted. Tohka's voice could be heard all over the place as she went to different slides, jumped on different pools and laughing out loud while splashing water on her companion's faces.
"Oi, Tohka, you're getting worked up." Shidou said as he covered his face from the water splashing of Tohka.
"Come on! Today's the last day of our holidays, so it won't hurt to enjoy every bits of it!" Tohka said as she placed her hands on her waist.
"Fufun, this activity is a good for us Yamai's to kill time!" Kaguya said as she splashed some water on Tohka's face which made her go "Kyaaa!"
"Affirm. This kind of activity is great. Splash." Yuzuru said as she splashed water on Shidou, Tohka and Kaguya. Yoshino just watched them from the side while laughing at them.
"Now that it has come to this…" Tohka said as she emitted a very strong aura. "Take this!" She shouted as she lifted her arms from the water.
A big wave of water hit the 4 poor people who're in front of her.
Those people just made a surprised look while the water just ran down on their faces.
"How's that? Hahahahaha!" Tohka laughed as she saw their reactions from her actions.
Which triggered something.
"Yuzuru…" Kaguya said as she formed a grin on her face. She looked at her face and nodded.
"Comply. Let's do it, Kaguya." Yuzuru said as she turned her gaze to their so-called pool enemy, Tohka.
Shidou could feel the tense around him and the atmosphere's getting violent. The twins emitted an ominous aura which made an unpleasant feeling to Shidou and Yoshino. The blue-haired little girl just clung on Shidou's back.
"O-Oi, stop it." Shidou said as he tried to calm the berserk twins.
But he's too late. They've already started. The twin shouted as they released the compressed energy from the water:
"Fufu~ Take this Storm Aquatic Wave!"
"Appease. Storm Aquatic Tidal Wave. Kabooosshhh!"
And then, a big tidal wave, yes, tidal wave, in a pool, was summoned before Shidou's eyes which made Tohka fly away to the other end of the pool.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Tohka flew to the other end of the pool. A splashing sound could be heard from their place as Tohka landed on the water.
"How's that? You don't mess with us Yamais!" Kaguya said with a prideful look.
"Agree. Kaguya and I are unstoppable." Yuzuru followed.
Shidou and Yoshino just had this surprised look on their faces as they witnessed something not-so-normal that shouldn't happen inside a public pool. Good thing that there're only very, very few people, almost can be counted by fingers, present inside the vicinity.
From the far side of the pool, Tohka rose up from the water and burst out in laughter.
"This is the best!" She shouted, enough for Shidou and the others to hear.
They couldn't help but laugh too as they saw Tohka from the other end.
'I guess I'll let it slide for now.' Shidou thought.
It's nearly noon and the girls were still having their fun in the pool. Tohka could be seen always diving in front of the other girls, much to their ire, then they would shove her away by throwing a huge wave to her in a repetitive sequence. Not that they hate Tohka doing it.
~o~O~o~
After a few hours, hunger struck them and they got out of the pool. Nobody wants to pass out due to hunger in the pool, right?
The girls took something to cover their top from their respective bags because of the weather going a little windy. Shidou ruffled the things in his bag, taking his earpiece, something to wear, and looked around.
"You guys stay here, I'll get something to eat." Shidou said as he stood up and looked for a nearby food stall. "What do you guys want to eat?" Shidou asked.
"Anything will do, as long as you offer us something worthy of our appetite!" Kaguya said as she grinned.
"Suggestion. I'll take whatever you take." Yuzuru replied.
"How about you, Tohka, Yoshino?" Shidou asked the other two girls.
"I-I'll have whatever you get." Yoshino said while smiling.
That's pretty blunt.
"Ah, I'll be right back, toilet." Tohka said as she went to the opposite direction from where Shidou went. "Shidou, I want a Soy flour bread!" She shouted as she ran off.
'Bread in lunch?' Shidou thought as he saw Tohka disappear from their table.
Shidou then left the table, wandering around the vicinity looking for an open food stall. Most of the stalls were closed, just a few select were open. Shidou visited every single open stall to get a variety of choices for their lunch. He was about to go back to their table when suddenly he heard a voice coming from his earpiece.
"Hello? Shidou? Can you hear me?!" The voice sounded like in panic.
"Yeah, I can hear you, Kotori." Shidou replied to the voice which belonged to his sister, Itsuka Kotori. "You sound like you're panicking, what's wrong?"
"Of course I would be panicking right now, we've lost contact with Tohka! She's nowhere to be seen from our scans!" Kotori said in a little higher and worried tone.
Shidou nearly dropped the tray on his hands as he heard the shocking news. He should've expected this, but he didn't take it seriously. A wide-spaced place with very few people, almost hidden to the crowd.
More importantly, not a single soul could be seen aside from them in the place now.
He hurried back to their table, he knew that Yuzuru, Kaguya and Yoshino would be in trouble too. Tohka suddenly disappearing could be the work of nobody else but them.
He arrived at their table and saw the three girls had a confused look as they saw him panting very hard.
"What's wrong, Shidou? You're awfully in a hurry." Kaguya asked.
"Haa… Tohka… Haahhh…" Shidou muttered between his heavy breathing.
The three girls and a puppet looked dumbfounded.
"Ask. What's with Tohka?" Yuzuru asked in a vague tone.
Yoshino didn't say a word but worry could be seen written all of her face. The puppet, Yoshinon, just had her usual look.
Shidou took a deep breath as he placed their food on the table and said, "Tohka… disappeared…! She's nowhere to be found!"
"Wha…!" The three girls reacted as they heard the shocking news.
"We have to find her! There's no way she'd suddenly disappear in a place where there're very few people!" Kaguya said as she stood up.
The other 2 girls agreed with her and they nodded with each other.
"Alright, let's –"
"Shidou! You have to get out of that place now! We're picking up inbound signatures heading to your location!" Kotori said through Shidou's earpiece.
"What about Tohka?! We can't just leave her!" Shidou said in a higher tone.
"I know that!" Kotori replied to him in a louder tone. "But it would be more problematic if you, of all people, gets in trouble! We'll get back at her if we found her."
Shidou gritted his teeth in anger. Seems like Kotori knows who were after them right now. Not that he doesn't know too.
"Shidou…-san… What's wrong…?" Yoshino asked in a small voice with worry.
Shidou formed a fist and turned around. "Sorry guys, but we have to get out of here now. We're gonna be in trouble if we stayed here any longer." Shidou said to them in a down voice. "Pack your things and we're leaving."
"Question. What about Tohka?" Yuzuru asked in a serious tone. "Appeal. We can't just leave her."
"I know, but it's Kotori's orders. There are people after us right now, and it would present more trouble if we're caught." Shidou said as he picked up is pack. "Come on, we're leaving."
The three girls got no choice but to comply with Shidou's request. Hard to accept it, he and Kotori had a point. They took their respective things and followed Shidou to the exit. As they arrived near the gates, they met the worst case scenario Kotori has been worrying about.
'We're too late.' Shidou thought to himself as he prepared himself.
There were 11 flying units above them, one stands out because of its different appearance among the others.
The girls felt danger at that point of time and prepared themselves.
The flying units were called –Bandersnatch–, unmanned units for combat purposes, the same units from the island where they went for school trip. Those things were after them and blocked their way to the exit of the vicinity.
He's now certain on who're after them. DEM Industries. It couldn't be anyone but them.
'Not good.' Shidou thought to himself.
A few moments later, the 'one' flying unit that seemed different from the other lowered its altitude. "Surrender now, and we will not harm you." A feminine voice can be heard.
"Where's Tohka?!" Shidou asked the person in front of him clad in a suit.
"I have no obligation to answer your question." The person replied.
"Where is she?!" Shidou asked the person again, in a louder tone with a lot of anger included.
"…"
She went silent after hearing the same question. Then after a few moment she answered him.
"We have taken the –Princess– in custody." She then pointed her index finger upwards. A large airship could be seen above them which drove them into shock as Shidou and the girls saw it. "She's locked up in there."
He gritted his teeth as he realized the situation they are now. Outnumbered, outgunned, how are they supposed to escape from this predicament?
"I've answered your question, now surrender, and we will not harm you."
"You're gonna have to take us out before that happens!" Kaguya shouted in anger as she took a battle stance.
"Negative. We're not surrendering to anyone." Yuzuru said as she did the same.
"Come, Raphael! El Re'em!"
"Response. Raphael, El Nahash!"
A gust suddenly appeared, covering their bodies, and massive weapons appeared on the twin's hands. Kaguya was holding a huge purple lance while Yuzuru had a pendulum in chains with metal wings behind her back. Both of them had locks on their necks, a symbol of partial manifestation of their astral dress.
"You guys…!" Shidou said as he turned to them.
"Zadkiel!"
The place was suddenly filled with mist and a huge rabbit appeared, where Yoshino's hands were connected on its back.
"Yoshino…!" Shidou covered his eyes with his arms due to the glacial shards emitted by Yoshino's angel.
The three girls stepped in front of him, covering Shidou from the threat in front of them.
"I see, so that's your decision." The mysterious person in the suit said as she flew above and went back to the group of –Bandersnatch–.
"Listen, we're gonna have to shoot our way to the exit, but it's not gonna be a walk in the park." Kaguya said as she held her lance tighter. "We're gonna combine our little powers and forge a path through them. Shidou, you need to run fast."
Everybody nodded in agreement.
"Here they come!" Kaguya said as she prepared for the incoming attack. They made a run to the exit as all of the –Bandersnatch– charged towards them. Kaguya and Yuzuru blocked the attacks of some –Bandersnatch– and pushed them away to give themselves a breathing room, while Yoshino immobilized some to stall their time of approaching.
But whatever push and stall they did, those things come back very fast.
"Kuh…!" Kaguya countered an attack from a flying unit that came after her but she was pushed back a little. She pushed the weapon of the –Bandersnatch– and smashed it down, reducing it to rubbles, but in a price of getting hit from another –Bandersnatch– from the back.
"Guah…!" Kaguya grunted in pain as she kneeled down, turning around and blocked the incoming attack from her attacker.
"Kaguya!" Shidou and Yuzuru shouted as they saw her got pinned down. Suddenly ice shards was shot down to the back of the –Bandersnatch– that's pinning Kaguya down. She then pushed the non-responsive flying unit away from her and went back to her friends.
"Yoshino!" Shidou said as he saw Yoshino stalling three –Bandersnatch– as she saved Kaguya. She just smiled at him but then her expression changed to a pained one as an explosion erupted in front of the huge rabbit.
The explosion was caused by the three flying units using heavy artillery.
"Aaaaahhhh…!"
"Yoshino!" Shidou shouted again. Yuzuru didn't retaliate and immediately charged to those flying units, got rid of the three –Bandersnatch– in front of Zadkiel, tying them up with –El Nahash– and slamming them to the ground.
Suddenly a compressed energy hit Yuzuru in the back, from another –Bandersnatch– from a far distance.
"Guuuuuuhhhhh…!" Yuzuru kneeled down as she felt the pain from her back. She ignored it and struggled her way back to her comrades.
~o~O~o~
They somehow managed to reach the gates after a heavy struggle. Every time they destroy a –Bandersnatch–, new ones just keep on coming, and they only destroyed a very few number of them, as they do not have great force to break them down in their current situation.
"Shidou! Come in! Where the hell are you now?!" Kotori said through Shidou's earpiece.
"Not right now Kotori! We've got company." Shidou replied as he turned his attention to the danger in front of them.
"Shidou, if you guys managed to escape, head down three kilometres straight from the gates of that bloody place, we'll port you inside the –Fraxinus– immediately." Kotori said.
"Got it!" he replied.
"Guys, Kotori said that we have to head to the bottom of this road and they'll pick us up." Shidou said as he informed the other girls.
"Fufu… good to hear that …but it's not gonna be easy… to tear a path." Kaguya said as she formed a smirk under her heavy panting.
"Request. Shidou should go ahead…" Yuzuru said as she held –El Nahash– tighter. "Plan. We're going to hold them off."
The two other girls nodded in agreement to their plan.
"What- are you saying…? I told you we're in this together! I'm not leaving any single one of you!" Shidou protested.
Despite his protests, Shidou knew why they wanted him to go on ahead. Because if they escape to the –Fraxinus– together, their presence will be discovered and they're bringing them in front of danger. But he cannot accept such proposition that he's the only one to be saved.
"Shidou, just go! Your safety is our top priority right now…! Kuhh…!" Kaguya covered her front as she felt some heat due to explosion that Yoshino blocked with an ice wall she was maintaining.
Yuzuru jumped up to the top of the ice wall, did a spinning move with –El Nahash– and tried to slice down all –Bandersnatch– near the wall, but she doesn't have enough strength left, pushing them away at most was the only thing she can do.
"Repeat… Shidou should go… ahead… Haahh…" Yuzuru said between her panting.
"No..! I–" He was interrupted as a ball of gust appeared around him and covered his body. He's slowly losing his consciousness due to the pressure he's feeling while inside the gust.
The gust slowly moved away and accelerated from the place where the three spirits were holding off and headed towards the bottom of the street.
"We're sorry, Shidou. You're the one who gave us a reason to exist." Kaguya said as she formed a bitter smile. "We cannot let you stay in danger."
Even though she, or they know that they cannot win this battle, they chose to stay and fight them off in order to protect Shidou.
"Please be safe, Shidou."
"Wish. Keep safe, Shidou."
"Shidou…-san, please be safe…."
With that thoughts of the girls, they began their last stand.
~o~O~o~
Shidou gained back his consciousness slowly as the gust around him which dragged him to the bottom of the street disappeared. He then found himself lying on the ground and saw that Kaguya and the other two girls are nowhere to be found.
He sat down and brought his gaze up the street from where he was dragged away. He could see the enemy airship leaving the vicinity, but the girls were still nowhere to be found.
Which gave him a single, worst thought.
He gritted his teeth and punched the ground with great force. They sacrificed themselves for his safety.
"Dammit, why did this have to happen?!" He said as he kept on punching the ground.
"Shidou, we got you! We're picking you up." A voice suddenly spoke through his earpiece.
As he was about to be ported, he shouted at the bottom of his lungs, to release all of his anger and shame of not protecting them.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
And then, his vision completely went dark.
(END OF DREAM)
~o~O~o~
Shidou immediately opened his eyes as he woke up early in the morning. His breathing's so heavy and he felt restless. He had few tears on his eyes, result of his bad dream.
Yes, he remembered every single detail of the unpleasant events yesterday.
He turned his body around to face the ceiling, but he saw a familiar face instead. It was a girl's face, belonged to a person with astonishing beauty, and realized that he was sleeping on her lap, which made him blush a little. She had this smile on her face while she's sleeping and would sometimes mumble something between her sleep.
"Shidou…"
Shidou's heart thumped as he heard her call his name. He then remembered that this girl was the girl whom he shared his thoughts, feelings and problems last night. She was also the girl who relieved all of his worries, the girl who was there for him at the time when he needed company.
And this girl was none other than the –Nightmare–, Tokisaki Kurumi. The spirit deemed to be the cruelest spirit of all times.
"Shidou…" Kurumi called his name again in her sleep.
Shidou could feel his heart thumping whenever she calls his name. He don't know why so but he was certain on one thing.
He wants her to stay with him.
He slowly stood up, carefully not to wake Kurumi up. As he stood up, he led Kurumi to the bed carefully, lied her down and covered her body with the covers of the bed.
He stared at the peaceful look on Kurumi's face as she was sleeping. There's a strong feeling building up inside him every time she sees her. Just her being with him makes him feel at ease.
His point of view on her at that time was a lot different from the time when he first met her.
He then dragged himself up near Kurumi's face and kissed her forehead. He didn't know why he did that but he just had this feeling that he needed, no, he wanted to do it.
He may have not realized his true feelings right now, but sooner or later, he will.
"Sleep well, Kurumi…" he muttered in a low voice as he touched her cheeks. Her skin's so soft, and so delicate, like it could be torn apart with a great force. "Thank you for being there for me…"
Aye, chapter 2 is done! Whew, this might be the second longest chapter that I did! Not that I'm complaining :)
Anyways, leave your reviews! Your comments are widely accepted. It's a way for me to know if I'm doing good or bad :)
And, I'm sorry for the late update. My PC is having its own monthly problems and it struck at the time I was typing this one D:
Anyways, thank you for supporting this story! I'll see you guys in the next chapter, Ja ne!