Chapter 4

Shido was supposedly fairly social. Ean realized this when they walked into Raizen High and the bluenette was immediately bombarded with his classmates and friends, talking happily about what they did over the break. The boy looked genuinely happy with the interaction, yet it left Ean shafted to the side unceremoniously. He didn't want to be spiteful, so he just stood a few feet away and watched as the conversations bled into the white noise all around them.

Ean felt envious because of it. He'd never really been the social kid back home, and the accident just made him a sad sight. He didn't like sports, which was essentially immediate ostracization, and from the lack of memorabilia in the Itsuka house, neither was his fellow teen. His hobby in acting died along with use of his legs all those years ago, and unlike his physical capabilities, the feeling never came back.

That didn't mean he couldn't try to strike up his own conversations, even if he lacked a topic.

"Hi, I'm…"

The greeting didn't last, completely ignored by the boys walking past. He tried again, this time to a couple of girls. He couldn't even get his name out before they left him be.

Damn schools… they always seemed to be the place where he was reduced to another unremarkable face in the background.

I just wish one time that I could be the talk of the town…

...

If there was anyway Ean could feel more awkward, the metaphorical being that played with his existence would be hard pressed to find it. Eyes from every corner of the room were drilling into him, looking him up and down for every little detail they could attain from the enigma that was the boy with mounting anxiety.

This was not what he meant when he wanted attention on him. This was another scenario when he was seen as different, only out of chance rather than reason. He wanted to earn the attention, not demand it.

"Hey, Shido?"

His attempt to net the bluenette's attention hit the air and was crushed by the atmosphere, his voice barely carrying half the distance required. Funny, considering they were sat right next to each other.

"Who's he?"

"Didn't you hear? He's an exchange student from America rooming with Shido."

"That's so lame…"

Ean did his best to ignore the chatter as he rested in his new desk, trying to at least look faux-impressed by the sight of the sky outside the window. He watched from his peripherals as Shido talked with Tonomachi, who was still absorbed by the twins they'd met in the arcade, to which the bluenette disproved the boy's claim that he'd gotten their numbers.

"Look at the guy. Shido's supposed to be showing him the ropes, yet he's just talking with that perv Tonomachi."

"I heard that they're actually gay lovers, and that Tonomachi is unfaithful to the point where he swings both ways."

"That's so lame…"

The girl wasn't wrong, because that was lame. Whoever had created that rumor was really scraping the bottom of the barrel. He looked to those who had caused such a bad reaction in him, catching a blonde, brunette, and black haired trio of girls, undoubtedly the popular girls.

Well that option was out the window. Considering they seemed perfectly content alone, he probably wouldn't fit in.

He scanned the faces, seeing people happily chatting away or giving him small glances. No one seemed to try and beckon him over, or even introduce themselves to the boy, and it kicked his self-esteem in the balls.

"Damn it…"

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as girl stood and looked in their direction, likely just another person mesmerized by the foreigner in their midst. Bubblegum pink hair was obviously more amazing than a kid from another continent, but from some of the obtuse hair colors he'd seen in Tengu, maybe that was a way of life.

He started watching her closely, confused by her face whirring through the various stages of pale, and how she was awkwardly shifting side to side.

Oh thank God, someone like him! Neither of them knew what the hell to do in the middle of large social gatherings!

"I should not be getting so much relief from that similarity… How does one approach this situation rationally? Okay, just do it like a normal person. No stress swearing - people don't like that. Just walk up to her and introduce yourself. Make a good impression. I'm Ean McBride! I'm new around here! That's all you have to say."

He took a calming breath. He stepped up. He stumbled over his own feet.

And he crashed right into her. They both hit the ground in a heap, and he did his best to not notice the bottom of her skirt brushing against his legs, nor how close he was to her chest.

He was blushing, she was blushing, the people around them were blushing, someone was laughing their ass off and taking photos, and he wanted to throw himself out the window.

"I'm Ean McBride. I'm very sorry."

"FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!"

"S-Stephanie Yaria."

She was doing his best not to meet his eyes, and he felt like that was something she was completely entitled to. Probably not from the fact that he was on top of her like a damned harem protagonist, of course.

"Well, nice to meet you. I… guess?"

Ean rose and pulled her from the ground, resisted the urge to brush the wrinkles from her clothes, turned on his heel, and sprinted the the back of the room, where Tonomachi cackled as Ean collapsed onto Shido's desk facefirst.

"I don't know how to socialize," he cried into the wood, oblivious to Shido trying and failing to stifle his own laughter. Stephanie herself was frozen in place, her face redder than ever seen before.

"I'm never going to be able to look her in the eyes ever again! Son of a bitch, I hate myself sometimes! God, just kill me already…"

Origami entered the room during the chaos, looked at Shido's desk and the boy almost crying onto it, then to the obviously claimed desk beside his. She did what was sensible and seized the bag resting on top and whipped it out the window. Conversations actually stopped as people watched its beautiful brown arc down to the ground, where it collided with the school gate and crashed down onto the concrete. If that wasn't enough, a cat had wandered by and decided to relieve itself of the leather. Ean's head was already resting against the window by then, miserably watching the desecration of his once favorite piece of luggage, then turned to Origami, who had claimed the seat that was once his.

"That was my fucking bag…"

She ignored him and he glared back.

"That's also my seat."

"It didn't seem to be claimed," she responded callously. The vein on Ean's forehead doubled in size.

"Because you threw the bag resting on it into the horizon," he retorted hot-headedly. The girl continued to ignore him, and he was half ready to throw her out the window and see how she liked the smell of cat piss. Their teacher, Tamae Okamine, walked in to see Ean's attempts to throttle the unaffected girl, Shido trying desperately to keep his exchange brother from maiming his possible stalker, Stephanie with a face the shade of a radioactive tomato, Tonomachi sending something to everyone on his phone, and the Gossip Trio talking faster than ever before.

She sighed. It was going to be a long day for all of them.


Shido watched throughout the day as his redheaded friend wallowed in his own despair, glared holes through Origami's head, and made sure to look literally everywhere besides Stephanie, whose blush still didn't go down. He grinned behind his hand as he noticed Tonomachi silently tapping away on his phone, trying to stifle his laughter. Whatever was making Tonomachi borderline cry while laughing was definitely something he needed to see.

The pictures he snapped from the disastrous first impression, which was already embarrassing enough before being altered, just made him die of laughter. They had overly large anime eyes, Ean's hand was edited onto her breast, and Stephanie was calling him senpai.

He could feel Ean's striking gaze from behind Origami, eyes shining red with malice as he leaned back to glare unblinkingly. Shido was forcing the laughter down before Tonomachi and Ean had another fight, and was literally and thankfully saved by the bell before their physics teacher, Chousoka Beshiyouichi, managed to catch them.

Almost all of their classmates took off for the cafeteria, sans Origami, the trio of boys, and a small number of girls gossiping in the corner, and Stephanie. Ean had taken note of this, tried to psyche himself up to apologize for his actions, only for Stephanie to get up, realize she and Ean were staring down each other like they were in a western standoff, and bolt from the room. Ean's head slammed back down onto Shido's desk.

"Fuck me. This is my life now. I'm the perverted kid that no one likes. My high school life is going to be spent with a three foot buffer around me! I'm gonna be the last picked in any event, people are going to pretend I don't exist or look at me like a disgusting roach and I'll deserve it because I just wanted to introduce myself and I messed it up and oh god why couldn't I just say hello like a normal human being FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE?!"

Tonomachi watched the breakdown, standing awkwardly by as Shido just placed a comforting hand onto Ean's head and murmured sweet nothing until the crying stopped. He counted the seconds that passed, and when he felt that enough time had passed, asked "Yo, guys, wanna get lunch together?"

"Why?! So I can sexually assault someone else?!"

His childish roar made Tonomachi step back in surprise. Ean was actually torn by this, and Tonomachi made sure to never show him the photo he was editing.

Wait.

Shit, he sent it to the entire school.

"He'll be fine," Shido said, smiling. "But we can't get lunch with you today. Kotori is likely waiting at Danny's Diner right now."

Tonomachi's retort of how Ean was certainly not fine was quickly cut off when a siren blared over the loudspeaker, and all of the students quickly realized what was going on, sans the foreigner. He quicker up quickly enough when some of the girls started to shout in a panic and Miss Okamine tried her best to usher them from the room.

"A Spacequake?!"

Shido nodded to Ean as the trio of boys left the room in a hurry, and they assimilated into the flowing crowd of students. They flowed smoothly from the school to a Spacequake shelter on the property, and Shido made sure to keep a close eye out for anyone who fell behind. Damn, what a horrible way for their lunch to start...

He was supposed to see Kotori and every… thing…

"I'll be here even if a Spacequake happens!"

A pit opened up in his stomach. He couldn't keep his terror down and tore into his phone's contact list. Kotori's number was accessed with ease, so he listened to it ringing with a hand tight on his blazer.

"Hi, this is Kotori! Leave me a message!"

No! NonononononoNO!

"Shido," Ean acquiesced as they stood together in line, noticing Shido's rambling across his cell. "Everything okay?"

"I can't reach Kotori," he murmured so just the two of them could hear. Ean paled.

"She wouldn't be out right now. She's not stupid enough to try and stay there to wait for you. There was a shelter right across the street."

Shido agreed silently, but needed to know. He called her number again, waiting in tense silence for the call to pick up so he could hear his little sister's voice again. The call didn't get through, and Shido felt like he was going to vomit on the spot. He knew Kotori, and he was sure she wasn't dumb enough to blatantly throw herself into such a horrible situation, but… she took promises seriously. She claimed to be looking towards the first day of school and getting to know their new family member better. Ean was worried about the bluenette's expression of despair and felt his concern turn to terror. With shaking hands, he pried the device from Shido's grip, doing his best to try and alleviate his stress when he looked to the redhead in shock.

"H-here. I'm going to try the GPS."

Ean pulled up the app with small assistance from Shido, and they waited for it to locate Kotori's cell in suspense. Their eyes followed the loading sign until the map popped up, having found out the girl's location.

"D-Danny's Diner…"

They looked at each other in horror and sped off, tearing down the street in front of the school, ignoring the shouts of their classmates. Their shoes scuffed against the ground in their haste to clear the ground as quickly as possible.

"What the hell is going through your sister's head?!"

"Kotori takes promises too seriously!"

Ean just looked at Shido as they stormed into the commercial district, worried and confused. He remembered her words of that morning, 'Even if a spacequake happens,' and experienced a tightness in his scars. He didn't like it when she said it, and now he was paying for not opening his dumb mouth.

"That's why she's essentially committing suicide?!"

He didn't get a response, so he wisely shut his mouth and focused on the sprint. Shops were closed up with large metal doors and windows like they were expected to hold against the impending explosion. The trains and railroads had all been transferred underground with the entrances to the shelters. Signs and warnings blurred past in lines, the implications that danger was ahead seen and promptly ignored. All that mattered was the destination and the despair creeping in. They quickly recognized the area, having been there just hours prior, and Shido sped forwards, Danny's Diner just around the corner.

"Turn here!"

Ean followed the bluenette, and both were cut off by… something. It was like an explosion out of nowhere, a dark purple energy that destroyed everything it touched. Neither teen had a chance to stop or even slow down as the spacequake started, the initial sound enough to shatter every glass object within a mile radius. Trying to rationalize what happened didn't assist the teens in the slightest, and they were blown immediately off of their feet by the sudden force smashing down on them. They just shouted in shock and panic as the world was coated in a blinding white light, and pain flowed through their bodies as they hit the ground. It roared through them like a brand on their skin as they ragdolled across the ground, unable to move their bodies or even think. Time moved agonizingly slow, where every second was filled with hitting something hard, dust and rubble assaulting them without an issue. Unconsciousness quickly took them.


By all means, he should have been dead. Shido managed to pull himself from the ground with aching muscles, his body sore from everything that had happened. The street was reduced to rubble, but he'd miraculously survived. He quickly scanned for his fellow male, hoping to whatever gods out there that he was alright. The groaning from beneath a small slab of concrete told him that he was at least alive.

Shido pulled it off and looked the redhead up and down worriedly. Nothing looked broken, but there was a small cut across his forehead and a small line of blood dripping from it.

"My head…" Ean grumbled, and Shido felt elated to know that he was conscious. He brushed a few stones from his school blazer, and quietly asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a couple of scrapes. Scars hurt though."

Shido winced at the addition, helping the boy up from the ground. Ean's thanks died in his throat as he looked over the destruction just feet away, and he wheeled Shido around as if to ask, "You seeing this too?"

Down in the center of the crater was a gilded throne. It shone brighter than any gold they'd ever seen, crafted by someone with seemingly impeccable focus. The back of the seat was easily larger than either of them, but out the top looked like a decorative piece, like a handle. They could have admired it all day, but it was easily overshadowed by the being beside it.

A girl. She was surrounded by destruction and dissipating energy, but she was beautiful in every sense of the word. Long indigo hair flowed like water, partially restrained by a bow strangely reminiscent of a butterfly. Her dress accented her beauty, vibrant and purple, and was distinctly otherworldly with armored plating on her sides and shoulders. She was looking directly at them, a serious visage on her face.

Her eyes narrowed, and she leapt to the top of the throne, seizing the handle jutting from its top and pulling it with a flourish. Out came a blade, a broadsword with a glow around it, and she swung it at them. Energy dispersed from it and tore apart the ground in its direction, barely missing them while shooting past like a firework, and the teens trailed its progress in horror, watching as it collided with a partially destroyed office building and obliterated it.

"What the hell…?"

She was in front of them within a fraction of a second, her glare harder than anyone should ever have to show.

"I see. So you have both come here to kill me as well."

The blade, larger than either of their torsos, stopped its tip right before Shido's neck. A ball of energy, eerily similar to that of a Spacequake, hovered mere inches Ean's face. The speed she'd presented the weapons with was so fast that they didn't even realize what had happened until her purple eyes narrowed. Shido stammered and hit the ground, while Ean was completely frozen in fear for his life. He didn't want to know what that sword could do to him it it blew up a building with ease.

"Y-you're here to… kill someone?"

Shido's mumble was light and brittle, terrified of getting on the wrong side of this girl.

"We're not here to pick a fight," Ean started, paler than a sheet. "W-we're ju-"

She grabbed him by the shirt and hoisted him into the air with fearsome strength, her purple eyes narrowing sharply. Ean wisely shut his mouth, although he let out a sharp exhale when she tossed him away like a ball of trash.

"Enough. I have to deal with you before the others come."

The boys shared concerned looks. Others, as in more people probably capable of evaporating them with a snap of their fingers? And unless they were going to be spirited away to somewhere safe, being taken care of was the most unappealing possibility.

"We're just trying to find someone," Shido exclaimed pleadingly. His strong voice was betrayed by the shaking in his body. The girl took note of such a fact, and despite the prior threat, seemed curious. She stepped towards him, Ean doing his best as a buffer between the two without sparking the rage of the girl's sword.

"Who do you expect to find in this destruction?"

They were trying to find someone who was likely scared out of her mind…

As Shido spoke to the girl about their reasoning, Ean's eyes zeroed in on a dash of red and elation soared through him. He looked closer, expecting to see the younger Itsuka disheveled and scared, but at least alive. He quickly realized it wasn't her, but Ean's eyes couldn't tear away from a large stack of rubble and the crimson liquid leaking from beneath it. All that was visible of the poor soul was an arm reaching for safety.

"That was almost you," he heard in the back of his head. It wasn't wrong, was it? Just a few feet forwards and the both of them would be completely dead; another tick of the casualty numbers. His chest was tight as he forced himself to look away, only to think the worst case scenario.

Did… they just lose Kotori to the afterlife?

"What's that noise?"

The three looked around, trying to find the source of the loud buzzing that suddenly leapt upon them. It had started out as distant, but the buzzing quickly became more akin to the roar of jet engines. They looked to the sky, seeing lines of smoke in the air coming closer and closer with each passing second.

There were five of them, at first easily mistaken for airplanes. That logic quickly perished as airlines normally had layovers if a Spacequake were to occur, and these forms were smaller and flying way too close to the ground.

No, they were girls. Armored, weapon-bearing, flying robot girls. It was easy to see the robotic armor, but the weapons were shown firsthand when an entire array of missiles came crashing down at the three. The boys screamed out in terror, but were completely ignored by the sword wielding girl, who stepped forwards with a glare.

"Why do they not see that their efforts are pointless?"

The purple haired girl held up a hand and batted the missiles to the side without even touching them, layering the area and the boys in shrapnel and smoke. She ignored the coughing of the boys, more focused on a cannon that was suddenly in her face due to a girl with short white hair. Her face was a mask of anger as she pulled the trigger, and the males regained their composure quickly enough to brace for the gore.

Without even a flinch, she calmly caught the beam with her gloved hand. It was basically the equivalent of her immediately insulting her, and it had the same effect. The blade came up and slashed the gun in half, and would've slashed the girl in two as well if she didn't jump away. The purple haired girl would've advanced, but she was caught in a lynchpin by another girl unloading her cannon in the girl's direction. To protect herself, she held out a hand and a wall of energy appeared. The two boys watched as she was practically leapt upon by another girl, smashing a blade onto the wall again and again in a desperate attempt to break the barrier.

The purple haired girl wasn't having it, and a heel came up and caught the mech girl's stomach, tearing her from the ground and into a projectile. She crashed into one of her teammates, and both had to evade when the blade in the superhuman's hand shot energy after them.

"Plan B!"

They spread to imitate the five points of a star, each girl in every direction tearing forwards at once. Like vultures swooping for their prey, the girls came in one after another, but their target was agile. She danced out of the way with grace, like it was a second nature. By the time they finally realized their plan wasn't working, the girl was glaring angrily at them.

They tried to catch her from every side in a drastic pincer, yet were cut off by the hurricane of energy the girl let out. The girl took to the sky, some ability capable of letting her fly, but gave a quick glance back to the two.

"Why does she look so sad?"

Shido didn't get an answer to that one.

A deflected fire of bullets tore at his feet, and only choice the boys had was to throw themselves into the fray. They ducked, weaved, and screamed their way past the chaos while the girls duked it out at levels no human should ever hope to achieve. The match was five against one, but the purple haired girl had no trouble tearing through the defenses against her. Rockets that missed her were either dodged or cleaved into pieces, forgotten by her but not the boys who had to haul ass in panic when they finally did detonate. To the girl, her attackers were annoyances buzzing back and forth like insects: lowly mosquitoes employing hit and run tactics. Finally having had enough, she let energy discharge without an issue. Vibrant energy screamed off of her in waves, blowing everyone back long enough for her to return to her throne and give it a hard kick. It changed into the closest possible thing to a hover board and whirred with power as she boarded it, gripping her blade tightly.

The first mech girl didn't know what hit her. She had just been cocking her cannon when a gash appeared across her stomach. She fell to the ground and didn't move again, blood pooling across the ground around her.

The purple haired girl continued her rampage, shooting around on her vehicle and drawing lines across the ground with her blade trailing her. Energy shot from the cracks like ley lines and glowed angrily when she swung her broadsword again, this time at a girl with black hair who he been so preoccupied with the state of her wounded friend that she didn't realize a blade had buried itself in her stomach. The girl didn't even slow down as she blew past the boys, watching in horrified awe as the battle turned into a life or death struggle.

"This is the part when we run like hell, dude!"

Ean had to physically force Shido to turn away and move when a cannon crashed into the concrete before them, terrified by the noise of it malfunctioning and powering up. It rattled and shook like a faulty firework, one with not enough lift to make it off the ground but still primed to explode. The foreigner hauled his friend down to the ground and tensed for the pain, only to be smashed into the ground as the white haired girl used him as a stepping stone to intercept the weapon's malfunction. The girl seized it and threw it at the purple haired girl, catching her by surprise when it crashed into her and detonated.

"O-Origami?!"

Both boys had recognized the girl, the white hair being a decade giveaway. She turned, a pistol of all things in their faces. The look of anger in her eyes was quickly replaced with the slightest smidge of uncertainty upon seeing the teens in her crosshairs.

"Shido." It was like a gasp, and she quickly holstered her gun, made sure the clothes she was wearing were adequate despite the lack of fabric, and finally stood face to face with him. "You're here?"

"What the hell is happening," Ean demanded, wincing as something exploded mid battle and someone screamed. He looked Origami up and down, and under his breath murmured, "And what are you wearing…?"

"No time. Move."

Without hesitation, she seized the two by their collars and threw them to the side as energy tore by once again, rejoining the battle once she assured the two were safe. Safe was subjective, as she'd thrown them hard enough to send them rolling right into piles of concrete.

"Restrain Princess already! There are innocents on the scene!"

"W-wait," Shido cried out after Origami as he pulled himself back to his feet, despite the incredulous look Ean instantly shot the bluenette. "Leave her alone!"

She heard his voice through the fire of gunshot, and looked at him in such amazement that it was like a child discovering their favorite thing. The joy that had just barely began to spread across her face was cut short by one of the mech girls unleashing a whip that crackled with energy. She brought up a wall of energy by pure instinct, but winced when it shot to where Shido and Ean were, helpless to stop it. Ean took the brunt of the attack to protect Shido, the whip snapping around his neck and discharging. The scream he let out was nothing less than bloodcurdling as the owner of the weapon tried desperately to turn it off and was intercepted by the glowing broadsword going for her torso. His fleshed burned from the electricity as he tried to pry it off weakly, thousands of volts going through him. His unconscious body still writhed as Shido grabbed a slab of concrete and smashed the machine causing the pain. He convulsed in Shido's embrace with panicked breaths, and the bluenette tried desperately to wake him.

"Hey! Ean, stay with me!"

The mecha girls looked to see where the shout originated, realizing that the boy was hurt. They advanced, looking either worried or annoyed, but he didn't care. Shido pulled Ean back, ready to face them off alone.

He didn't need to. Princess slammed down in front of him, her weapon ready as she stood before the boys protectively.

"Leave them alone. Can't you see that you've hurt that human?"

The whips came back out despite the words Princess said, and Shido shied away from them as best he could. He flinched as one of the lines of electricity came tearing at his head, despite the shout Origami gave for a complete halt. The pain never came, as Princess stopped the attack by putting her own arm in the way, gritting her teeth as the electricity coursed into her muscles. Three more whips came to restrain her remaining limbs, but Shido couldn't do a thing to stop it.

Origami scooped him up, grabbed Ean by the scruff of his neck, and began to run. Shido realized then that they weren't coming to try and help them, but were using the boys as bait. He hated to have to think that.

Princess began to glow bright purple, shouting out in anger as she fought against the whips. Origami moved faster when the ground started to shake and splinter around Princess, a clear sign that she was breaking free. It felt like watching an explosion go off in his face: the screaming peaked, the whips snapped, and the force of a car crash hurtled into them.

He was airborne for less than a second, the unconscious body of Ean beside him, and then he felt a strong hand grab him and pull him close. He looked up to see those purple eyes once again, looking down at him with concern, but also with happiness. The fear he had was gone, smothered away by those vibrant eyes and a wide smile.

She set the two of them down gently, shot a glare at the mech girls, and began to shine in a glow even more powerful than the one minutes before. Shido watched right before she vanished, connecting eyes with Princess and conveying the thanks that he could manage as light completely engulfed everything around him.


The pain in his chest was worse than the accident two years ago. The phantom pains he had were nothing compared to the boiling sensation beneath his skin, making him feel like a living firecracker. Blood was running down into his eyes, making the blue sky above a crimson tint. Noise from every direction was pounding into his head like a railroad spike through his skull. He pulled himself from the ground, stifling a scream of pain at the sickeningly familiar sensation of putting pressure on a broken wrist. People screamed by in a wave of hysteria, running from multiple sources of black smoke that billowed into the sky.

Tengu City was burning to the ground. A giant mass of metal had crashed directly into the center of the city, erupted into flames. It was like a spaceship had crash landed into his new home, a la Wrath of Khan.

He wandered. He didn't know what was so alluring, but something told him to find out and denied his movement in any other direction. He walked methodically, just to take in everything as it ended. Glass rained down from buildings high above him, aided by more glass from numerous car crashes on the street. There was concrete scattered everywhere, mixed with spilled gasoline and blood. It was more morbid than his own close shave with death.

It was at the site of the crashed spaceship that he saw it.

It was surrounded by noise. That was the only way he could describe it. He could see a human figure, but details and specifics were cloaked from every sense. Despite all of that, he could still tell that it was looking at him. He couldn't even move. It was suddenly just right in front of him. The figure pulled him from the ground with ease, hand wrapped around his throat, and took a nice long look at his terrified face.

"You have no clue how sorry I am for this."

It threw him. It wasn't like when the purple haired girl did such; this creature mocked her. He was reduced to a projectile, the force used more than enough to bend his spine painfully. The amount of times he collided with something was more than he could count, yet all he knew was how much it hurt. When he finally stopped, it was quick, painful, and in the side of a half built building.

Pipes protruded out of his chest. He was promised he'd never need to feel the pain again, yet here he was, screaming. Life just loved looking him up and down and hurling her lunch onto his face. Blood was dripping down his chin as he tried to pull himself out, his throat so sore from the screaming that he could only manage to whimper in pain. He was too weak to even make progress, his body screaming for him to stop.

Everything began to blur. The crisp image of the world burning around him dulled away, replaced only by foggy colors and a light in the sky, descending down to the world like a meteor. He wanted to brace himself, but he couldn't. His body denied him that ability.

The light seemed so warm now...

"I've got you. It'll be alright."

White robes, like a toga from Greece, replaced the light. They flowed from some unknown source of wind, moving in tandem with the high blonde ponytail and bangs that adorned her, held down with a gold laurel. Bright pink eyes, full of worry, looked him up and down. She cradled him in her embrace, not minding the blood that was seeping from his clothes and onto hers. How he could see her, he didn't know, but she was the only thing in the universe he could meet eyes with.

"What is it you want? I'll do it for you."

Her voice was like silk, washing over him with a feeling akin to the sound of a mother. She was giving him a wish; a way out.

"I want to live…"

She frowned. She actually pouted at his plea.

"That's not the problem. She's coming back. I want you to be happy before that happens."

What…?!

Bitch. What would make him happy would not be dying. Fuck whoever she was talking about, he had pipes out his chest!

"Pull me out…"

"No."

"Pull me the fuck out."

"Don't take that tone with me, young man!"

Great, now she was berating him like his mother would. He hurt. He was bleeding out, and she was trying to make him feel better - yet failing spectacularly. He had every right to take whatever tone he wanted.

"Protect Shido. Protect Kotori. Please."

He apparently wasn't going to be around, because somebody wasn't going to help him, so he wanted them to be safe. The look on her face was one of surprise, and Ean was about to pull her onto the pipes before she smiled.

"Alright."

He let out a sigh of relief, just letting his senses dull from the white noise.

He still wanted out. Was it too late to change his choice?

"Rest now, Darling. We'll see each other soon."

She put a hand over his eyes, apparently not one to know that you did that after the person died, but it did the job. The screaming and fire faded, replaced with a coat of shadow. The last thing he saw, glowing a bright red in the darkness of unconsciousness, was an eye. It stared him down, and for some reason…

He could tell it was smiling.


"I won't ever be wrong again."

Shido came to with a bright light attacking his eye and an inability to shut his eyelids. He struggled to regain control of his body, and surprisingly enough, it was given to him. He felt sore, sweaty, and tired. His body ached as he pulled himself up to sit, and it put his face to face with a woman holding a flashlight.

She was in her twenties sat in a chair before him, unarguably beautiful, even despite the unkempt pale blue hair and the dark circles around her eyes. A small patched teddy bear rested in her breast pocket. Something about her was almost familiar to Shido, sparking a warm feeling in his chest.

He felt like he knew her, even though he'd never met the woman in his life.

"W-where am I?"

His voice was hoarse, and the dryness in his throat forced him to hack and cough until a glass of water was pushed into his hands. He nodded thankfully.

"What do you last remember," the woman asked. Her blue eyes narrowed as she looked him up and down, trying to see if there was anything else wrong with him.

At the woman's behest, Shido paused and racked his brain. The day started off so normal. He remembered Ean's failure of a first impression, laughing with Tonomachi, being weary of the break and ready for school, then lunch came and-

The Spacequake. Princess. Origami. Those other girls.

Kotori.

"Wait, my sister! I have to find my sister! She's stuck somewhere, scared, an-"

"What you need is to calm down. Your sister is fine. As is your friend over there."

She pointed to a bed just beside his own, where the taller teen laid silently. He looked terrible. He was paler than usual, enough to give off a sickly look to him. The singe marks around his neck had been covered in gauze and hopefully cleaned, so that worry was gone. His normally tamed copper hair was instead slightly resembling a bush from laying on his pillow, and his face was scrunched up in pain. The woman rolled her chair over, tapping a pen on her knee as he looked him up and down, a small frown on her face.

"He's having a nightmare."

That he was…

Okay, maybe if the woman stopped prodding him with the pen, things would be easier, simpler, an- it's up his nose.

His awakening was much quicker than his own. He gave a snort and his eyes shot open, accompanied with flailing like a fish. He managed to twitch his way off of the bed and crumpled to the ground. His face slapped into the ground, the sound of metal colliding with flesh making the bluenette and the woman watching cringe slightly.

For good measure, mainly to assure himself that the redhead was alive, Shido kicked him in the head. The grumble enough was telling.

"S-Shido," he called into the ground. The bluenette could identify a slight tremble in the boy's voice, so he waited patiently for Ean to continue. "Did you call me darling?"

Shido briefly wondered if he was going insane, and Ean realized that he was just messing up constantly. His face became slightly flushed as he peeled himself off of the floor. His awkward laugh wasn't enough to disregard the topic, so he just mumbled, "Uh… never mind. Where are we?"

They finally scanned their surroundings, quickly realizing how it looked like a movie set in real life. The faux sci-fi area was the least of their problems, and they had heard a small rattle from the woman and had managed to witness her struggle opening a childproof cap on a bottle of pills, get fed up with it, snap it in half against her small desk, and down all of the pills like candies. She laid back and let out a very content moan, then tried to hurl the bottle halves over her head into the trash can. Her aim was terribly off, and they hit the wall behind the two boys. Upon the trash tumbling to the ground, they managed to catch a glimpse of the labels on the bottle, deduced them as sleeping pills, then looked back in horror at the woman, who by all means, should be dying.

She looked fine, despite the bags still under her eyes, and left the boys to realize oh holy shit she's fucking crazy.

"Hey, lady, can you explain what the hell just happened?"

She lurched up and looked at them like she completely forgot they were in the room. Shido wondered if he should be calling the hospital, because either she was scatterbrained, or the pills were already taking effect.

"That might be better for the Commander," she finally said after making sure the boys actually existed. "I'll lead you two towards the Bridge."

With a dramatic flourish, she rode from her chair and left the room through an automatic door. Ean immediately wheeled to face Shido, a shocked expression that matched the bluenette's own.

"What is happening?"

"I have no idea," Shido murmured, biting his nail and weighing his options. Ean looked to the open doorway, but glanced back to Shido before he decided to act.

"Do we follow the crazy lady?"

"You've got something better?"

Shido followed the woman, and he could hear Ean's agitated groan from behind before the foreigner quickly caught up. They walked through twists and turns that may as well have been part of a maze, following the uniformed woman with tension building. Judging from video game logic and the long silent walk, either the Commander was a huge disappointment, shockingly familiar, or a giant skeleton monster.

The trio stepped into a bright long room with a huge screen at the far wall, displaying the destruction of the Spacequake and Princess standing alone in the center of it. Just moments later, it showed the boys meeting her, and the six people in desks against the walls were all typing furiously on keyboards, their eyes glued to the screen.

"Shido, Ean, glad you could make it. My name is Kyouhei Kannazuki. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The teens jumped as a blond man appeared literally out of nowhere, a wide smile on his face. He regarded the two happily, then nodded his head to the side, where an elevated platform rested with someone sitting atop. Shido's eyes bulged out of his head, and Ean's right eye began to twitch uncontrollably. A very familiar little sister was looking down at the two teens, a lollipop sticking out of her mouth yet again. She sat in the chair like she owned the place: legs crossed, arms folded over her chest, and her grin bordered on a smug smirk.

"Kotori?!"

"Sup, nerds? Reine, thanks for showing them the way."

The tired woman nodded and took to her own seat, joining with the others in analyzing the video.

"What's with the black ribbons," Shido asked, never having seen them before in his life. Kotori always wore white ribbons, that was as natural as breathing for her. To see her wear something so different was actually really unnerving.

She just shrugged in response, popped her lollipop from her mouth, and pointed at the screen with Princess on it.

"Look, that there is a monster known as a Spirit. They come from a separate dimension, which causes the spacequakes that plague Tengu City. However, they-"

"Kotori, just shut up for a second!"

She fixed the offending redhead with a glare, but his frazzled and agitated expression kept her from snapping back. Instead, she delegated him with "Rude," and let him continue.

"Kotori, what is happening? How are you here? Last time we saw, your phone's GPS said you were at Danny's."

She looked just as surprised as they did, and pulled her phone out to look at it with curious eyes. Huh, it did say that. Isn't that convenient?

"Oh yeah! I did promise that, huh?"

She stepped down to them, her bright eyes regarding the two. She saw how disheveled and tense they were, and she blamed herself. Her words got them hurt and terrified, and she was sorry because of that. She slowly brought her hands up to their faces, tears starting to bubble in her eyes. Her pride and her ribbons kept her from crying out to them and apologizing for worrying them, and for once in the Fraxinus, she wished she was just Shido's innocent little sister.

Commander mode was who she was right now. She had to be strong. She was close with the crew, but Elliot Baldwin Woodman taught her that being a commander meant being strong no matter the situation. She had to be fierce, but still kind.

So she slapped the shit out of them. She disregarded their shocked shouts and backhanded them again and again, grinding her teeth until sparks shot out.

"Why the hell did you two morons run out into the middle of a Spacequake zone like that?! Did you want to get yourselves killed?!"

She let the redheaded boy collapse onto the ground, grabbed Shido by the collar, and ruthlessly slapped his head back and forth.

"I thought better of you, Shido!"

Her brother was not supposed to be this stupid! He was smart and caring and responsible and intelligent enough to know she wouldn't be trying to kill herself! When her brother's face was sufficiently smacked red, her gaze snapped onto Ean's like a wild animal, the fellow redhead squeaking in terror.

"And you! Aren't you supposed to be helping us out when you're here?! You let him run out into danger!"

"Not really my choice! We were more worried about you, dipshit!"

She held her glare until he had literally cowered himself into the corner and sighed, turning on her heel and returning to her chair. Reine was watching quietly, waiting for the queue to disengage the filter and give the newbies something else to chat about.

It had actually started out as an accident: the filter situation. When [Deep Love] Minowa had joined Ratatoskr, she accidentally disengaged the filter and screamed her lungs out, and Kannazuki teased her for weeks. When the same experience happened for [Dimension Breaker] Nakatsugawa, it became akin to an initiation. Everyone always got a laugh out of it, but Kotori's current mood was dampening the mood.

"Just show them before I burst a blood vessel…"

Everything surrounding them became suddenly transparent, giving them a view of the city below. Shido panicked and jumped back, but Ean tapped into his inner cat and leapt four feet into the air. The crew of the Fraxinus howled with laughter, and the faces of the boys turned even deeper shades of red.

They looked down over the city, and Ean recalled the sight from the airplane as he came to Tengu. He thought how strange it was that it was built in a crater before, but after coming face-to -face with a Spacequake, the spiral motif that the city had made so much more sense that it wasn't even funny. The filter reappeared, and Kotori could only smile smugly down at the two.

God, she loved freaking people out, didn't she?

"Welcome to the Fraxinus."


"As I was saying, Spirits. They're strong, dangerous, easily set off, and more. You encountered Princess today."

Ean, no matter how he tried, couldn't wrap his head around what was happening. His nightmare had a giant ship crashed into Tengu City, one he'd never seen in his life, and if he was correct, he was now standing on that very ship. Did that mean the figure that attacked him was real too? The girl who promised to keep the Itsuka's safe?

This didn't seem safe in any way. Tatsuo and Haruko couldn't be okay with this, right? They'd freak out if they heard that Shido and Kotori were part of some crazy supernatural conspiracy, wouldn't they?

"What about your parents," Ean questioned the girl with a concerned expression. "Do they know about you pulling a Captain Kirk?"

Kotori gave a sideways glance to her fellow redhead, and he quickly realized that she didn't get the reference and he looked like an idiot in front of a bunch of people, judging by the light snickering that came from Kannazuki and the others onboard.

"Mom and Dad work for Asgard Electronics, who create Realizers which we use to restore the damage caused to the city. In fact, multiple companies worldwide do that same, like Astaroth Developments, electricity conglomerates, and the Kirijo Corporation in Tatsumi Port Island," she regurgitated. The glaze that suddenly covered her eyes spoke of how many times she'd gone over paperwork regarding such companies. However, she snapped back and nodded to Kannazuki, who came rushing up with a pile of folders in his gloved grasp.

"We've got some records of known Spirits, including Princess. I suppose you guys would like to know a bit more about what just happened, right?"

Kannazuki spread them out over a small open desk, stepping back to let the boys see. There were numerous folders, and Shido took equal time looking at each one, genuinely curious about the supernatural beings. He was busy going over one tilted with the code name of Efreet with acute interest as Ean scoured Princess's document. Danger: the only thing he could see reading it. If the spacequake generated which had destroyed an entire district was classified as a B, he never wanted to witness what an A, or worse, an S, was capable of. Her Angel, which he assumed was her broadsword, was the rating of triple A, as was her risk factor and her 'Astral Dress'.

"Why are we here?"

It was a question that was tickling the back of the redhead's mind for a while. Sure, airships, AST, Spirits, whatever. Why didn't Kotori just drop them back home and claim that they were found after the destruction?

"We want to induct you into Ratatoskr."

She spoke about what she wanted of them, peacefully talk down the Spirits, while avoiding the anger of the AST and other groups against the existence of Spirits. This… this was insane to Ean. A secret world of supernatural creatures and people in mechs fighting against one another. Just being in the middle of the conflict that Princess had caused made Ean imagine his own dead body, torn apart from the force of… whatever the Spirit had. He could never even think of trying to join this mess of supernatural beings fighting the government. In fact, he thought the AST was right to try and kill the Spirits. How many people had they killed like those two girls were in the battle? If that type of monster found her way into the public, the death would be catastrophic.

"I'll do it."

Shido spoke first, only leaving his friend behind. He could help that girl, find the reason she looked so distraught and remove it. It was the way he'd pay her back for keeping the AST off of him while he was protecting Ean. He flashed a small smile to his redheaded friend, missing the look of mortification, then looked up to meet the smug grin on Kotori's face.

"I'll join Ratatoskr. I want to help the Spirits."

Ean grabbed the bluenette before he could dig himself down further, quickly excusing them as they stepped from the bridge into the close corridor. He ignored Shido's indignant complaints until they were far enough from the door so they wouldn't be heard by the group, shoving him roughly enough to leave the boy staggering. The copper haired boy pushed his way directly into Shido's personal bubble, flustered enough to stop thinking and just talk.

"Are you insane?! You want to go and fight that bad?"

He didn't intend to start shouting, but paranoia was getting the better of him.

"I'm not going to be fighting! I just-" Shido held his hands up innocently and managed to look somewhat apologetic as he spoke. "I just want to help her. She looked so sad. I want to talk to her."

Shido blushed a bit, but led to Ean being even more perplexed with his reasoning. He was seriously doing this over a crush?! No girl was worth so much to walk into guaranteed death! It was suicide!

"You…"

"Ean, you don't need to join, too. I just-"

"You're a fucking idiot!" His shout tore at his already sore throat, but he needed to get this across. Life wasn't going to go all butterflies and rainbows! "Are you that desperate to throw your life away?! You want to get caught up in that mess?!"

"W-where is this coming from?"

Ean slammed Shido against the metal wall, his fists clenched around the boy's collar. He didn't want to hurt him, but his emotions were so haywired that he couldn't calm down.

"We almost died today! We were almost disintegrated by a shockwave that blew up a skyscraper! The AST didn't seem to have any qualms engaging a Spirit with a triple A in risk while two idiots were in the area! Do you not remember the missiles, bullets, explosions, and everything else under the goddamn sun flying at our faces?!"

Shido paled, remembering that very thing. But he couldn't get Princess out of his head. She saved them.

Ean was unconscious by then, wasn't he? No wonder why he was so panicked...

"We were safe. Princess protected us."

"Princess protected herself! The AST -Anti Spirit Team, if you can remember- is trained to kill Spirits! What happens when you accidentally get in the way when trying to 'talk' with a girl able to blow up half a fucking district?!"

Ean was shaking as he demanded to know the answer to Shido's delusion. He couldn't even meet the bluenette's eyes, and his teeth were pushed so hard together that he looked like a child trying to hold back from crying.

He was scared. He was so damn terrified of what had happened - what could happen - that he didn't even know where to start.

"Why wouldn't you help?"

"Because I'm a human! We break, Shido! We die! You can't seem to get that prospect through your thick skull!"

He felt his bones shatter into pieces once in his life, and never wanted to experience it ever again. This seemed like a one way ticket into losing everything. He couldn't let Shido into that, not while his family still cares about him!

"I'm not going to die! The Fraxinus could-"

"You're trusting a bunch of people you know nothing about! You didn't know that Kotori was even a part of this before today, and she is their leader!"

He caught himself before he could shout any more. Shido's face was a mask of emotions and thoughts that Ean couldn't even begin to try and decipher.

"I'm trying to help you from making one of the biggest mistakes of your life here."

"Isn't that my decision in the end?"

His tone was terse and clipped. Brown eyes met in a battle of their spirits, where heated common sense rivaled cool passion and gut feeling. Shido managed to remain calm in the face of Ean's warranted rage. He could see where the boy was coming from, but it was what he needed to do. Kotori was asking for his help for a reason, especially when she could've easily dumped him back in his bed and let life continue on like normal. If there was a slightest chance she could've kept him out of the danger, then he wouldn't be standing on the Fraxinus that very moment.

This was his job. A requirement he needed to fulfill.

"I don't know if this is the right choice. I don't know if I can even do anything substantial, but I need to try. Stay if you want. Join Ratatoskr. I don't mind if you don't. Hell, you can even leave altogether, go back to North America and forget that any of this happened."

The negative look on the redhead's face explained that that possibility was not an option. Shido could've felt his emotions brighten if they weren't currently locked down.

"But please," he continued, adopting an angry expression resembling his adoptive father's. "Don't even think of telling me what I should be doing with my life. Save it for after you get yourself pulled together."

Shido left Ean standing there in the room, the foreigner scared, angry, offended, and miserable all at the same time. Why didn't he understand…? He was trying to help the ignorant bastard! He didn't need to see another person be killed because he wasn't there to dissuade them. He needed his parents with him that night, practically begged them to join on his last day of therapy. They were dead because he couldn't convince them. They said he should be comfortable enough to handle it alone.

He wasn't. He wasn't, but they were dead because they couldn't listen. He could hear Shido's footfalls as a constant fact that he was failing yet again.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!"

He punched the metal wall hard enough to leave a dent and almost screamed in pain and agitation. His hand felt like it shattered, but since when had his physical condition meant anything? He was supposed to bounce back from the pain stronger than ever, never giving in.

He wanted to collapse. He wanted to act like a brat and tantrum. Cry alone in the hallway. Punch, kick, and scratch until his dumbass of a brother got some common sense. None of it would change a thing, but he just couldn't handle it. He just kept seeing the possibilities in his head where it could all go wrong. Shido says the wrong word and gets slashed in half without a second thought. Stand between the Spirit and the AST and be filled with bullets. Trapped in a spacequake and reduced to a number on the casualty rate.

He cared about Shido and Kotori. There wasn't a way to deny that. Sure he and Kotori never spoke much, but they were getting better. He and Shido were bonding over the stupidest things. Tatsuo and Haruko had welcomed him into their home.

He couldn't lose them too… he just couldn't.


"Tobiichi-san?"

Origami was nursing her side on the eleventh, but still looked to the boy who looked out of his comfort zone, responding silently to his attempt at gaining her attention. He had large bags under his eyes and a distracted gaze, clear signs of not having had sleep. His uniform was unkempt, as was his copper hair, which had been relatively tame the day prior. When he failed to continue the conversation, Origami let her patience end.

"You're the exchange student. What is it?"

He jumped a bit only to quickly recover his nerve.

"It's about what happened after the quake," he stated quietly, looking for eavesdroppers who might stumble into a secret. It did catch her interest, however. Not only did he remember the events of the day prior, but he knew information regarding them. The report stated that both he and Shido had vanished when the light spread, much to Origami's anger. She believed Shido had been a casualty, and it would've spelled horror for the Spirits who dared step foot on their world. He ushered her to the hall, but Origami took the lead and pulled him even further away, wanting total privacy for what the boy had to say, hoping to know what had happened after their disappearance.

"Shido wants to meet the Spirit again," he claimed worriedly.

She smashed him against the wall. His pained gasp meant nothing to her; by that point, he was a machine to shake information from. She didn't understand what that meant in Shido's case, but it was practically suicide for anyone.

"What?"

"I tried to talk him out of it, but he's not listening! He's going to get himself killed!"

This was not how she believed the conversation would've gone. She brought him to an empty stairwell and only expected questions about what had happened. To hear his immediate declaration that Shido wanted into the mess of Spirits and on the AST's radar hurt. His eyes killed any chance that it was a joke, but it rendered her suspicious.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you know both him and Spirits. You're in the AST. Your job is to keep innocent people safe."

No. Her job was to kill Spirits. To avenge her parents. That's all she ever cared about.

"Please, keep him safe." His choked plead almost caught her off guard. "I don't want him getting hurt."

He walked away, turning his pale expression from her. He'd make a good Wizard if all he wanted to do was protect someone else. That was respectable in anyone.

...

What was his name again?