Chapter VII

Hello everybody! I am back with another chapter of Armored Spirits! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, seems at least several of you have, which is always good. I hope you enjoy this one too, so be sure to let me know with a review if you did. That said, on to the reviewer responses!

Skull Flame: Lots of meetings going on.

No. Wasn't her.

Indeed it does.

It did initially.

Male? What makes you say it was male?

Fortitude501: Could be, I wouldn't know.

You have to admit, Twoearl should've seen that coming.

Touki? I'm going to assume you mean Houki?

Karen gets along with almost anyone.

Well there's certainly not a lot there.

Which is now.

freeforall546: Christmas? I don't know if I'd go that far, but it is an occasion. Well, well, aren't we rather knowledgeable?

Nothing else for now, so on with the main event!

As Shidou spoke with Aika, Chifuyu shouted up from the first floor.

"Oh what now…?" Shidou groaned.

"Your new trainer is here. So get down here!"

"… New trainer…?" he wondered curiously as he made his way downstairs.

Reiri, speaking to someone, heard Shidou come down and moved aside, motioning to the new person. "Ah, there you are. I believe I mentioned her once before, this is my Partner, Yu-Mi Kim."

Shidou looked past his sister and saw a tall woman with short, neat brown hair that had a slight green tint to it, light grey eyes, dressed in a flattering, blue business suit with dark brown stockings, though what stood out most was her impressive bust, outsizing even Reiri. "Wh – Whoa…" he unwittingly muttered.

Yu-Mi bowed politely to Shidou, resulting in her ample bust swaying freely.

Trying to refocus his attention, he spoke up, "S – So you're my sister's girlfriend?"

Yu-Mi stared at him in silent thought for a moment before her cheeks turned red as she stumbled back slightly. "G – G – Girlfriend?! Reiri, what have you been telling him?!"

Reiri raised an eyebrow in curiosity, a light tint to her own cheeks, but she otherwise appeared unfazed. "Nothing like that, I can assure you."

Shidou, feeling like he had already put a foot in his mouth, tried to fix the situation. "W – Well she did say you're her partner…"

Yu-Mi seemed to put the pieces together as she made a very flustered attempt to correct him. "Partner! As in combat Partner! She's my Limiter!"

Shidou winced and tried to hide in his own neck. "O – Oh… S – Sorry…"

Yu-Mi groaned in exasperation as she scratched her head. "I – It's fine, just so long as you understand."

"R – Right…"

After a moment of quiet for the atmosphere to return to normal, Yu-Mi redirected the conversation. "So I take it you're the kid I'm here to train?"

"I guess so…" he answered, his eyes still uncomfortably darting around. 'They're so big I don't know where to look!'

Aika seemed to notice his response and scanned around the room herself, her eyes going from Yu-Mi, to Reiri, to Chifuyu, then Twoearl, Reine, Tohka, Yoshino, and then finally she looked toward her own feet. It was then that a vessel began to pulse on her forehead.

Shidou managed to pick up on the girl's anger, but not on the reason, with Yoshinon snickering knowingly. However, his attention shifted when he pieced together what was happening. "Wait, so does that mean I'll start training now?"

Chifuyu shook her head in denial. "No. Yu-Mi just got here and needs to unpack her things first."

Shidou raised an eyebrow in thought, glancing between Yu-Mi and Reiri before just asking his thought aloud. "… Is she staying in Big Sis' room?"

Yu-Mi flinched before looking at Reiri in disbelief. "Reiri, why is your little brother such a pervert?!"

Sighing, Reiri retorted, "Sadly he isn't…"

Yu-Mi stared at her in bewildered silence before just grunting in confusion.

"What? You heard me."

"But… haa…" she trailed off with a sigh. "I can see you're as incomprehensible as always."

Shidou watched the exchange before Aika, having observed the two well-endowed women arguing back and forth, suddenly stomped out of the house. "… What was that about?"

Yoshinon gave Shidou a look that was about as close to deadpan as a puppet could get. "Seriously?"

"Wait, do you know?"

Origami pushed Yoshino's arm down before the faux rabbit could respond. "It is nothing to worry about."

"R – Right…" he answered, as clueless as ever to what was going on around him. "So, where is your friend sleeping, Sis? I think all the spare rooms are used up…"

With stomping steps, Aika suddenly burst back into the Hida house. "What the hell?!"

"Loudmouth Tsun is back," Yoshinon commented dryly.

"Who the hell built the apartment complex?!"

Reiri gave a small expression of pleased surprise. "Ah, that was finished much quicker than I anticipated."

Shidou looked at his elder sister with a gaze of extreme suspicion. "Sis… what did you and Twoearl do…?"

"Tahdah!" Twoearl cheered as she motioned to a massive, multi-story apartment complex next to the Hida home.

Shidou felt all the air leave his chest as he looked at it in shock. "What the heeellllll!? HOW THE HELL DID WE NOT NOTICE THIS?!"

Twoearl puffed out her already voluminous chest with pride. "That's the power of my construction! Here we have the new Spirit apartment! Six floors, and thirty rooms on each floor for a total of one hundred eighty rooms!"

Taking them inside, Twoearl showed off the interior of the building, their path swiftly interrupted when Iowa came out of one of the rooms, hair still damp, dressed in nothing but a towel wrapped around her midsection. "Morning neighbors!"

Shidou immediately and reflexively slapped a hand over his nose, Aika growling out, "How many flabby bitches are we going to meet?!"

Bismarck sighed as she walked out behind Iowa, and then noticed the group. "Ah, guten morgen."

Aika's twintails began twitching like rattlesnakes.

Shidou then turned his attention to his eldest sister. "And you didn't tell me about this because…?!"

Reiri looked at him somewhat puzzled. "I figured you'd you already know."

"How!?"

"You think our home is big enough to house all the Spirits on its own? Or the support units?" she retorted plainly.

"Well that doesn't mean building an apartment building right next door makes any sense!" Shidou shot back, his patience wearing quite thin.

"How else would they be able to get here on short notice?"

"How should I know?! Isn't that your job!?"

Iowa, who had not left to get changed, instead still standing in just a towel, blinked in thought before smirking. "Oh, is Shidou movin' in too? He can move in with me."

Reiri nodded in response. "He is not, but I will keep that in mind."

Shidou finally felt his patience snap. "Stop trying to pimp me out!"

Reiri just turned to him curiously, as if not hearing him.

Before the exchange could go further, the city's sirens began blaring loudly.

Shidou frowned as he looked around the area. "Oh what now…?"

Holding up her phone, Reiri nodded as she listened to the person on the other end before nodding and putting it away. "Understood." Turning to the others, she explained, "It's Ultimagil."

Shidou let out a small sigh of relief. "Oh thank god it's not another Space Quake…"

Iowa, however, tilted her head, completely lost. "What's an Umami grill?"

Twoearl is the one who answered her. "Ultimagil, and they are vile monsters that need to be utterly eradicated."

"Like Savages?"

"More like humans fused with Savages," Reiri elucidated.

"Oh. That sounds bad. Oh well, let's go kill it!" she cheered as she slammed her fists together. However, she noticed the somewhat troubled expression on Twoearl's face. "What?"

Twoearl answered, "It's best if Tail Red handles it."

Iowa just tilted her head in further bewilderment, Shidou, however, spoke up vehemently. "It's not safe for Souji to fight those things."

"Souji will be fine," Twoearl answered with a smile.

Ignoring her, Shidou turned his attention to Reiri. "Sis, where's the Swallow?"

Reiri shook her head in denial. "Undergoing maintenance after that fight you had for Origami and the AST."

Shidou hissed in frustration as he tried to think of an alternative. "… Is there any other I can use? Maybe an Uchigane?"

"Not here, no," Chifuyu responded, shooting down that idea. "We'd need to get one transported in."

"… Damn…"

After a moment, Yu-Mi spoke up. "Should I go Reiri?"

Reiri looked at her in thought. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Yu-Mi smirked as she flexed her shoulder. "Not at all. It'd be good to actually fight for once instead of being behind a desk."

Reiri nodded in return. "Then by all means. Take out that freak."

"Right. How do I find him?"

The answer was provided when a large explosion went off near the shopping center.

"Follow the smoke," Reiri retorted.

"Right." With that, Yu-Mi ran off at high speed.

The group eventually found the source, another Lizardgildy, though its scales were a blue hue rather than green, accompanied by a small cadre of Savages.

The Lizardgildy cackled into the air as the Savages charged at people in the area. "Gahahaha! This is great! There's so much attribute here! It is such a paradise!"

Yu-Mi ran towards a Savage looming over a woman and sent a powerful kick that toppled the beast against a wall before turning to the monster in charge. "Hey, jackass, pick on someone your own size!"

Shidou nearly fell to the floor as he slid to stop before groaning. "… She could have worded that better…"

The Lizardgildy huffed in confusion before turning to see Yu-Mi and howled. "Huh? Tits! Nice big tits! How much milk you got in them?!" It immediately charged at Yu-Mi with its claws.

Reiri and Yu-Mi's expression suddenly became perfectly matched before they both called out, "Ereinbar Set!"

Yu-Mi's body was momentarily engulfed in light before a long, black lance formed out of green sparks of energy that grabbed hold of and swung, swatting Lizardgildy's arm away.

Reiri then immediately raised a hand towards the beast. "Freeze!" A large grid of bright green hexagons formed just above the ground, one lighting up as it appeared under Lizardgildy's feet.

The beast looked down with subdued surprise. "E – Eh?! A Freezing Field?!"

Yu-Mi kicked off the ground and rushed at Lizardgildy so forcefully she left a small crater, her spear impaling it through the lower torso.

However, the beast merely smirked before tendrils shot out of its back and grabbed Yu-Mi, hoisting her off the ground with her spear still impaled in the armored creature.

"Th – The hell?!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"How can he still move?" Reiri questioned with a look of genuine shock.

Lizardgildy merely cackled as its tendrils held Yu-Mi, who attempted to free herself from them. "Gahahaha! Gotcha now tits! Now give me your attribute!"

"Dammit…!" Shidou cursed in desperation as he grabbed a pipe lying on the ground nearby.

Before he could do anything, Souji came running past him. "Tail On!" she shouted as she was enveloped in light and transformed into Tail Red. A large sword encased in flames appeared in her grasp which she swung in a wide arc, cleaving all of Lizardgildy's tendrils and freeing Yu-Mi.

"Gyahoowwch! That hurt you loli bitch!" Lizardgildy howled in pain.

Tail Red stood ready with her sword before shooting back, "Yeah, well I don't even want to know what you had planned with those creepy things!"

Yu-Mi took the opportunity and leapt back to where Reiri was standing, shaken and confused. "What the hell just happened…?"

Reiri growled in frustration. "I have no idea. My Freezing Field had no effect on him."

Lizardgildy snarled as it looked at Tail Red. "Then I'll just put you down and grab them Nova Whores!"

Shidou reflexively opposed, "Don't call my friends that!"

Lizardgildy leaned to the side slightly, looking at Shidou. "Eh? Who the hell are you?"

Tail Red took the momentary distraction and swung her sword at the creep, sending a blast of flame flying out that Lizardgildy dodged before attempting to dash around her towards Yu-Mi. "No you don't!" She proceeded to fire of a few more blasts that hit him in the back and exploded, knocking Lizardgildy to the ground.

Standing up with a hiss, he turned to her enraged. "Okay, I've had it with you, brat! Prepare to have your Attribute taken!" he shouted before sending a blast of energy at her that she knocked away, giving him the chance to send out his tendrils to ensnare her. "Twintails always have the best Attribute… I'm going to enjoy this!"

Tail Red paled as they raced towards her and recoiled in disgust. "Kya! Stay away!" The various gems on her suit suddenly began to glow brightly.

"E – Eh?"

Light began to condense around her bracelets before floating out and forming a ball of energy that slowly fluttered towards Lizardgildy.

"… Huh?" he mumbled before curiously poking it, instantly striking an immense explosion.

Tail Red nearly got sent flying before digging her sword into the ground, Reiri turning around and activating a Freezing Field to keep Shidou and the others rooted to the ground from the shock wave.

The blast rocked outwards for several seconds before suddenly shooting up into the sky and evaporating, leaving little more than a cloud of smoke.

Reiri sighed in frustration as she deactivated her field.

"… Is it over?" Yu-Mi asked with slight trepidation as she looked to where Lizardgildy had been, only to see a crater with smoke rising out of it.

Tail Red blinked curiously as she peered into the smoke and saw a small crystal float to the ground, before jumping down to grab it.

Looking at the situation, Shidou retorted, "Considering that bastard is gone and there's a giant crater in the road, I'm gonna say yes."

Yu-Mi sighed in relief. "Good." Looking around for a moment to verify a crowd had not started to form, she turned her attention to Reiri. "Now, how the hell did he resist the Freezing Field? There shouldn't be anything in existence that can…"

Reiri put a hand on her chin in thought. "This is going to require further study…"

Tail Red reverted back to Souji, who immediately ran over to Shidou and the others. "Y – You guys alright?!"

Yu-Mi nodded as she put a hand on her shoulder with a hint of disgust. "Yeah, I'm fine. He only managed to grab me."

Sighing in relief, Souji turned her attention to Twoearl. "Hey, Twoearl, what was that?"

The silver-haired woman explained, "Aura Pillar, the Tail Gear's ultimate attack, and you managed to do great with it."

"Right…" she responded, her brow furrowing in thought.

"Something wrong?" Shidou asked, seeing that.

Souji shrugged as she answered. "I… don't know how I did it. The idea of that creep touching me just grossed me out so much, and next thing I know he's been vaporized."

"I see…" Shidou turned his attention to Reiri with a firm look. "We need to get the Swallow fixed as soon as possible."

Reiri nodded, albeit somewhat flippantly. "Sure. But for now, I'm sure everyone's exhausted, so let's eat. And you're cooking."

"Right…" he grumbled as she dodged the issue again.

"Mm… smells good," Yu-Mi noted as she walked into the dining room as Shidou and Kotori set out the food.

Reiri nodded in agreement. "It is. Be careful on eating it though."

As she set several pieces of seasoned steak, sautéed onions, and grilled chicken on her plate, Yu-Mi retorted with a smirk, "I can handle hot food." Taking a piece of the steak and biting some off, she suddenly stiffened before trembling slightly, feeling sudden heat spread throughout her body. "Wh – What is this…?!"

Shidou frowned slightly as he put some pieces on a plate for Yoshino. "Is it that bad…?"

The woman turned to him incredulously. "… Eh? N – No, on the contrary, it's amazing. Hell, you could even attend Little Garden's cooking Academy with such skill. Maybe even be among the top students."

Shidou laughed weakly before shaking his head. "I don't know about that. I definitely practice my cooking, but I'm not good enough for some academy."

"With food like this?"

Kotori stared in disbelief when she saw Tohka gleefully eating entire chunks of the steak with nary a reaction.

Turning to Shidou, Tohka excitedly asked, "So yummy! Is there more Shidou?!"

He nodded with a smile as he handed her more.

Yoshino very carefully ate small nibbles of the meal as she watched the others, before Yoshinon spoke up. "Come oooon… Take a big bite Yoshino!" Yoshino and Karen just stared at the puppet uncomfortably. "Yoshinooo… come on and bite into iiiiiiit!"

Yoshino whimpered in frustration at the puppet's persistent prodding and took a large bite out of one of the beef steaks.

Kotori leaned back in concern and waited quietly.

Yoshino suddenly stood from her seat. "… I – I'll be right back…" Without waiting for a response, the girl suddenly rushed off from the room.

"Y – Yoshino!" Shidou called out as she ran before sighing. "Guess she really didn't like it…"

Yu-Mi just looked at him with annoyance. "… You are frustratingly modest."

Shidou raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, perplexed.

Sometime after the meal, Miharu walked up to Reiri and patted her on the shoulder as the woman stood outside, looking at the apartment building.

"Hello, Miharu," she greeted.

"Hey, Rei-Rei, how much is it if Sou-Chan and I want to stay in those apartments?"

Reiri raised an eyebrow as she thought over the question. "Hmm… I believe Twoearl and I discussed it at twenty thousand yen per month."

Miharu gaped in disbelief. "Really, that's all?!"

"Yes," Reiri answered plainly.

"What's all the noise about?" Souji asked as she walked up to the two women, Shidou also walking out after having cleaned up the kitchen.

Miharu turned to her daughter and grabbed her hands firmly. "Souji, let's do it!"

"D – Do it? Do what!?"

"Move into these apartments! They're way cheaper than our current house! We'll even get the room closest to Shidou's house!"

Souji looked at her mother quietly, while Shidou just stared incredulously. The redhead then nodded somewhat nervously. "O – Okay."

"Great!" Miharu cheered, Shidou just more confused with every passing moment.

After that discussion, Shidou went in his home to tell Tohka and Yoshino about the apartment and that they would be staying there.

"No!" Yoshino shouted in a sudden, unexpected bout of defiance.

Shidou stumbled back slightly, surprised at the reaction.

"I don't want to live in a different place!"

Yoshinon chimed in as well. "Yoshino doesn't want to live somewhere else!"

"But…" Shidou argued sheepishly.

"Yoshino and Yoshinon want to stay here with Shidou."

Reiri interjected on the conversation. "We don't have any more rooms here. I do know one solution, however."

Shidou stared his sister down with knowing annoyance. "… I get the feeling you planned this…"

Without batting a lash at his accusation, she continued. "The very top floor has a master suite you can stay in, Shidou."

Shidou's shoulders slumped in defeat. "… Ah… Yeah, you planned this."

"Now let's get you settled in."

Chifuyu frowned interrupted the discussion. "… Question."

"Yes?" Reiri replied, turning to her sister.

"How will we get him to make breakfast in the morning if he's on the top floor of that building?"

"We move as well, naturally," the busty woman answered plainly.

"What about my lab in your house?" Twoearl questioned somewhat annoyed, Shidou just groaning as the discussion continued without him.

"I –" Reiri began to answer before Chifuyu cut her off.

"You'll be staying at the house. Kotori, Karen and I will stay with Shidou."

Reiri attempted to argue, only for Twoearl to interrupt.

"This was your idea after all, Rei-Chan."

Shidou watched as Reiri pouted in defeat, finding it surprisingly cute.

"Whoa… this room is huge," Shidou awed as he walked into the apartment's topmost room with Yoshino and Yoshinon. The room was easily four times the size of the room he currently had, with a large bed in the center, four equally sized walls surrounding it, a tile floor that, curiously, had a drain positioned at the foot of the bed, and several doors around the periphery.

Yoshino was equally awestruck by the room. "Yeah…"

Yoshinon nodded in agreement. "Ooh… This place looks very ritzy. Got a water bed?"

Raising an eyebrow, Shidou walked up to the large bed in the center of the room and pressed down on it. It was surprisingly soft, but beyond that was a normal bed. "No, just big."

The puppet attempted its best form of a pout. "Boring…"

Shidou looked at Yoshinon in confusion. "It's a bed, how exciting could it be?"

The rabbit stared at him for a few silent moments. "… Really?"

"Y – Yeah… why?"

It continued staring at him, and he could feel a sense of annoyance from it.

"… Yoshinon?"

"You have no idea what fun can be had on beds… do you?"

Looking around the room, Shidou pointed to the wall-sized television positioned on the eastern wall, opposite the one they had come in. "Video games?"

Yoshinon gave an audible groan. "… I think I'm just going to sleep for a bit now."

"Okay…?"

Shidou and Yoshino both stared silently as Yoshinon snored.

"… I'm… gonna go back home."

"This is your home now," Chifuyu interjected as she walked in.

"You can't seriously be okay with everything getting uprooted like this, Sis!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Chifuyu questioned, curiously.

Shidou grumbled and retorted, "First this thing pops up out of nowhere, and now Big Sis wants us to move all our stuff into it…?!"

"She's keeping her stuff at the house."

Shidou twitched an eyebrow and sighed in defeat. "Of course, she gets to stay home…"

Chifuyu raised an eyebrow at his words. "What?"

Shidou just waved a hand in dismissal. "It's nothing. So will I get any help moving my stuff?"

She nodded in return. "Of course."

"Right…" Sighing heavily as he headed towards his room. "How did all this crazy happen at once…?"

"Because Fate loves you?" Twoearl added.

Shidou looked at her, irritated. "Love doesn't seem like the right word."

"Really?"

"More like it sees me as a toy or plaything…"

Twoearl just shrugged with a smile. "Same thing."

He stared at her flatly. "… I don't think that's right…"

Twoearl tilted her head curiously. "Why not?"

Shidou groaned in frustration before changing the subject. "Forget it. So you were able to build that underground base without vehicles and able to build that apartment in a flash, but you can't move the lab?"

Twoearl laughed off his question, seeing it as ridiculous. After a moment, she realized he was serious. "Well duh. It's already been built."

"Right… because common sense has constrained you so much already…"

Seemingly ignoring his comment, Twoearl remarked, "Now then… You sure you don't want me to work on the Swallow?"

"I don't want you putting anything perverted on it," he answered bluntly.

Twoearl pouted sadly. "Meanie…"

Twitching an eyebrow, Shidou rebuffed, "So you admit that's what you'd do."

Twoearl stared at him, confused. "Huh? Admit what?"

Shidou felt his shoulders sink as he lost braincells talking to her. "… Nothing…" With a final sigh, he walked off.

After a short wait to ensure he was gone, Twoearl pulled out a cellphone and hurriedly dialed a number. "Hey big sis, do we still have that Drag Ride we stole?"

She waited for an answer from the other end, and her eyes went wide when she got it.

"We do?! Great!"

Shidou sighed as he laid in his abnormally large bed. "What to do today…"

"Let's go on another date!" Tohka exclaimed as she burst into the room.

Shidou, mostly unfazed by her excitement, put a hand on his chin. "Hm… maybe…"

"Well aren't you forward?" Yoshinon teased, sitting on its usual perch of Yoshino's arm.

"S – So what if I am!?" Tohka shot back, blushing.

Yoshinon just kept staring with a wide grin. "You wanna Tether with him some more, don't'cha?"

Shidou, however, was greatly confused. "Tether? Like tetherball?"

"Nope! It's whe –" Before Yoshinon could finish its sentence, Tohka slapped a hand over its mouth.

Yoshino just looked on with adorable confusion, Shidou watching on, perplexed as well.

"Y – Y – You will say no more!" Tohka sputtered.

Yoshinon huffed and mumbled, attempting to speak.

Shidou just sighed before hearing a knock at his door. Opening it, he saw Origami standing there in a rather fancy outfit. For Origami, that is. "… What is it…?"

"Date," she stated plainly.

"… Hah?"

"Let's go on a date."

Shidou stood silent for a moment as his brain tried to make sense of what was happening. "Um… wh –?"

Before he could, Tohka jumped in between the two of them. "Oh hell no!"

"T – Tohka!?"

"You are not being alone with Shidou, Mecha-Mecha girl! You'll just try to get him killed!"

Origami twitched an eyebrow, though her expression remained neutral. "No," she rebuffed bluntly.

"Hey, stop arguing you two," Shidou intervened, hoping to defuse the situation.

Tohka looked at him somewhat surprised, then saw Origami merely nod in deference to him. Tohka puffed her cheeks with a pout before sighing. "… F – Fine. But I'm still not letting you go on a date with her! It's too dangerous!"

"I won't let him die," Origami retorted firmly.

Tohka shot back, "You already shot him!"

"Accident. He survived."

"And what if he –?!"

Before their squabble could continue, a very irate Chifuyu harshly chopped them both on the head, a vein bulging on her forehead. "No shouting this early in the morning, dammit! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

The girls both whimpered in pain.

Shidou sighed in relief as the kerfuffle finally came to an end.

Later in the day, Reiri stood on the bridge of Fraxinus with Chifuyu and Kotori.

Chifuyu noticed her elder sister pouring over a pile of documents. "Something wrong?"

Without pulling her attention from the papers, Reiri answered. "I'm looking over the information Kotori's group has on this 'Nightmare'."

"And?"

"She is a very efficient killer."

"I see…" Chifuyu noted in thought before Reiri pulled up an image of a large warehouse, piled high with dozens of corpses. "Wh – What the…?"

"That's what's left of the gang who was extorting Hinako. Naturally their hold of the city is gone as well."

"Holy hell…" Chifuyu noted in awe.

"Now you see my point," Kotori remarked coldly.

"She did our job for us…" Chifuyu remarked, almost disappointed.

Kotori looked at her sister in disbelief for several silent moments. "… Huh?"

Reiri stared at the image, thinking. "Wonder how she found this scum so fast to… She'd probably make a great bounty hunter…"

Kotori turned to her eldest sister in shock. "You can't be serious… She's a murderous monster!"

Reiri remained quiet as she raised an eyebrow. Chifuyu interjected in the silence. "Hm… do you have any idea how to contact her?"

"Why would I!?" Kotori shot back.

"You know about Spirits," Reiri answered plainly.

Kotori nodded firmly. "I do, and I know this one is nothing but danger."

Reiri quietly narrowed her eyes as she studied the screen.

Kotori noticed her sister's inquisitive expression and found it troubling. "… What…?"

"Do you have a list of everyone she's killed?"

Kotori stopped silent, not expecting that question. "H – Huh? Well, not all of them, but we have the ones that were confirmed to be her, and every scene we've come across, the victims' mana is completely drained."

"Then show me the ones you know are her."

"Okay…?" Motioning to one of the bridge crew, the large screen was then filled with an image of two corpses in an alley, one a man with a large hole in his chest, the other a younger man with a single hole in his head. "This is one of her earliest confirmed kills."

Reiri studied the image carefully for several moments before speaking. "Hmm… Any information on the victims?"

Kotori tilted her head in confusion. "I don't see how it matters, but what we do know is the guy in the middle was a drug dealer. The other guy was just someone from the community. Though I believe his widow posthumously accused him of abuse."

"So scum," Reiri spat out coldly.

Kotori was somewhat taken aback by Reiri's reaction. "I – I suppose you could look at it like that…"

"Next?"

The next image flashed on screen showing at least seven bodies. "Here's the next one. According to police reports we managed to get, a woman claimed these men took her after she got lost in the unfamiliar town."

Reiri hissed in disgust. "Let me guess. They tried to rape her, or worse, sell her into slavery."

Kotori just shrugged. "That's what she assumed they were trying to do. All she remembers is blacking out and then waking up with them all dead."

"Any corpse that didn't deserve to be one?" Chifuyu remarked sarcastically.

Kotori frowned slightly before flipping to another image. "This woman was apparently part of a group. She would apparently lure men to alleys where they'd get mugged or murdered. Beyond that she didn't participate."

"So she was the boss, then," Reiri remarked.

"Right…" Kotori remarked, completely oblivious to Reiri's idea. "Last one is these kids."

Chifuyu looked at the image, half a dozen high schoolers, and huffed. "Kids? They're at least teenagers."

"Okay," Kotori returned, deciding not to split hairs. "Anyway, a girl who lived nearby said they took her dog. Their bodies were found with bats and rocks."

"So psychopathic lives cut short," Reiri remarked.

"What about the dog?" Chifuyu interjected.

"She said it showed up later that day. Seemingly unharmed," the redhead answered.

Reiri nodded in approval. "Then I'd say my hypothesis is effectively proven."

"And what might that be?"

"She only kills those deserving of death. And don't act like you don't make such judgments. You judged her being worthy of death as well. It's very clear everyone she's killed have either hurt others already or were an imminent threat to those around them." Reiri then turned to her younger sister directly. "Or perhaps you're afraid of her finding out what you did when you became a Spirit."

Kotori's entire body tensed as she stared silently at her sister.

"Thought so. I wouldn't worry about it. Unlike everyone she's killed so far, what you did was inadvertent. All of her prey purposefully caused harm to others. Like the AST." Reiri blinked in thought before frowning. "Damn. Now I'm slightly concerned for Houki."

Chifuyu nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I suppose we should put Nightmare on the back burner and worry about getting Houki set straight."

"Agreed. We need to find out where the AST is centrally based and prepare to strike."

"Hopefully Origami is sincere in her desire to oppose them."

Reiri nodded in agreement.

Shidou sighed as he stepped out of the apartment building and looked around. "Right… now what to do…?"

"Shidoouu!" a familiar voice called.

Turning, as expected, Shidou saw Hibiki running up to him. "Huh? What's up Hibiki?"

"Hey, are you busy today?" she asked, slightly out of breath from running.

Shidou shrugged in return. "Not really."

"Great!" Hibiki chirped happily. "Remember that concert I talked about?"

He nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, I do. Why?"

"It's tonight," she explained simply, to which Shidou responded with a simple "ah". After a short pause, Hibiki began fidgeting where she stood with a light blush. "So… can you still go?"

Shidou nodded with a smile. "Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem." 'Might even bring Tohka or Yoshino along too.'

Hibiki then pulled out two large tickets from her pocket. "Anyway, Miku bought three tickets. One for me, one for her, and one for you."

Shidou's expectations had been dashed slightly. 'Those two will be fine without me, I guess. What's the worst that can happen at a concert?'

"She said she'd meet us at the stadium, so let's get going."

With a nod he followed her, Hibiki leading him to the train station that took them to the area of the city where the concert was being held, a large, multi-level stadium with a glass roof.

Shidou looked at the line of hundreds, possibly thousands, of people extending out from the stadium's entrance. "That's a really long line… Why is it so long…?"

Hibiki just shrugged as she looked through her phone. "According to Miku, Zwei Wing is extremely popular."

"I see…" he remarked before looking around curiously, "where is she anyway?"

Hibiki looked up from her own phone in concern as she looked around, not seeing her friend. "I don't know… Let me call her."

Shidou just sighed as he waited, pulling his phone out.

"Hey, Miku, where are … What?!" Hibiki suddenly exclaimed, getting Shidou's attention.

"Do I even want to know…?"

"You can't be serious! You're the one who invited us out here!" Hibiki pouted as she hung up. "Apparently Miku's aunt got into an accident and her family's heading to the hospital to check on her."

Shidou hung his head in defeat. "Well… we already came all the way here, so we may as well see the show."

"R – Right."

Shidou's attention was pulled when he felt his phone rumble, seeing a text from Miza.

"Shidou are you at the Zwei Wing Concert?!" it read.

Shidou was somewhat confused by her apparent worry and responded, "Yeah. A friend from school invited me."

"You need to get out of there NOW! Zwei Wing is not what they seem!"

Shidou was growing more confused as he read her messages. "What? They're an idol duo."

After a short silence, Miza seemed to go for a hail Mary. "They're Slayers! Both members, and they only make appearances near high class Savages!"

Shidou's confusion was quickly turning into suspicion. "… How do you know this…?"

There was a long pause as he waited for a response. "I can't tell you."

"Miza," he prodded, resulting in another pause.

"I just can't. Not now."

"Oh, hey, the line's moving!" Hibiki suddenly exclaimed, getting Shidou's attention.

"I – I see," he stammered before sending Miza one last text. "Going into the Concert."

In a darkened room, a purple-haired figure silently looked at a dim screen. "Shidou… You idiot… They will get you killed…"

Shidou groaned as he squeezed into a seat with Hibiki. 'There's so many people… All to listen to some song… Hopefully it's a good one…'

"Oh, it's starting!" Hibiki exclaimed as lights flared to life above the stage and two figures descended from above.

"Whoa…" Shidou gasped as the two landed on the stage.

The first was a woman with long, wild, dark orange hair that flare out behind her, matching burning orange eyes, clad in a pink and white, frilled uniform with an angel-like wing on one side, the outfit barely containing her ample bust.

The second was a slightly younger woman with long, straight blue hair and dark purple eyes in an outfit matching the first woman's, though with blue accents rather than orange, and a wing emerging from the opposite side.

"Beautiful…"

Hibiki, seemingly unaware of Shidou's awe, nodded in agreement. "Yeah… Miku told me the one in blue is Tsubasa, and the one in pink is Kanade. They make up the duo Zwei Wing." She then shook her head as she handed a glowstick to Shidou. "Oh, here. I bought these glowsticks, everyone else is swinging theirs."

"Ah, right," he muttered before cracking his, causing it to light up bright orange.

As the two begin singing and dancing along the long, cross-shaped stage, the lights on the roof of the stadium flickering and pulsing, Shidou watched, drawn in by their voices.

"Whoa… their singing is incredible… and… soothing…"

Suddenly, as their first song reached its conclusion, the roof of the stadium began to split and splayed open like an immense set of wings, numerous lights shining brightly on the structures, pulsing softly.

Shidou frowned slightly as he looked at the structures. "… That's weird… I can almost feel… energy coming from them… But…" he trailed off as he shook his head, suddenly feeling fatigued, "something isn't right…"

Kanade came to a stop with a twirl, smirking proudly next to Tsubasa. "We're not done yet!" she called to the audience, eliciting cheers from the thousands of people gathered around the duo.

Shidou watched uncomfortably, the sense of unease growing stronger and stronger until, finally, suddenly, the pillar at the center of the stage collapsed, the middle of the stadium exploding violently with dust and pieces of stone flying in all directions.

Kanade and Tsubasa's singing stopped immediately as the audience members began panicking and running from the center of the area.

Shidou paled as several Savages of varying types began emerging from the hole. Some that looked like giant bugs, others that resembled humanoid blobs, others resembling pointed birds. At the center of them all was an immense, four-legged, segmented creature resembling a giant worm with horns. "… A Savage…!"

Shidou watched in horror as many of the bird-like Savages coiled themselves into spears and dove at the concertgoers, impaling them and causing them to dissolve into dust. He was pulled from his stupor when the large worm spat out a flood of green ooze that morphed into countless more Savages that attacked the people around them. Realizing what was going on, he grabbed Hibiki by the arm. "Hibiki, you need to get out of here!"

The girl was, however, too terrified and confused to even move.

Shidou's attention was pulled from his friend when he heard a soft song emanate from nearby and turned to see Kanade enveloped in light before it formed into a sleek, orange and white IS with a massively long, arrow-tipped lance.

Tsubasa began uttering a similar song, clad in a blue and black IS with a long katana.

Shidou was most perplexed by the fact the Savages suddenly slowed down, their movements becoming sluggish and forced as the two began plowing through the monsters. 'What… is with this song…?'

Kanade dove at a large group of Savages, still calling out her song, and landed on the ground hard, launching them into the air and slashing, sending out a blast of wind that smashed the monsters to pieces, Tsubasa carving through other Savages with incredible speed.

'… They… really are Slayers… I need answers from Miza after this.'

"What… is going on…?" Hibiki intoned, too shocked to comprehend what she was seeing.

Shidou saw from his perch as the worm began to position itself to strike Kanade and instinctually began to move towards her, only to see several more bird Savages coil into spears and dive at him as he ran. "Shit!" he cursed as he dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding the monsters.

Kanade snarled as she saw Shidou and Hibiki come under attack from the airborne Savages and began twirling her lance at high speeds, creating a powerful twister that slammed into the attacking monsters, tossed them into the air, before crushing them to pieces.

Shidou stopped in his tracks as he watched the girls fight with awe. '… I need an IS that powerful…'

Tsubasa planted her feet firmly and swung her blade with all her might, sending out a large, crescent-shaped blade of blue energy that carved through more Savages, including several oversized insect types.

Kanade reached the end of the song she was singing, impaling a large Bug before watching as the light emanating from her IS began to fade. "Shit, is that my limit…?" she hissed.

Shidou frowned as he heard her words. "What the…?" He did not have time to try and understand as one of the Birds dove from above, narrowly missing Hibiki, but causing the seats around her to explode apart, sending her flying. "Hibiki!" he cried out as he towards her, leaping and catching her as she fell, though he hit the ground harshly.

"Ow…" Hibiki whimpered as she looked at her leg, bruised and bleeding, before noticing Shidou underneath her. "Sh – Shidou!?"

Coughing roughly, Shidou sat up and looked at the terrified girl. "Y – You okay, Hibiki?"

"I – I think my knee is sprained–wait, forget about that, what about you?!" she began to answer before forcing herself to refocus midsentence.

"I'm fine," he retorted with a cough as he stood. Hearing a howl, he looked up as two more massive Worms emerged from the ground.

"Run!" Kanade demanded as she cut down several of the large, slug-like Savages.

Shidou frowned firmly as he watched the battle unfold. 'I can't though… if I do Hibiki will die!'

Kanade stopped as she saw several humanoid Savages along with several Birds charging towards Shidou and Hibiki, their bodies seemingly melting and shooting towards the two like arrows. Acting instantly, Kanade jumped in the way of the attacks, deflecting several of them, but a few of the beasts managed to hit her, causing cracks to start forming on her armor.

"Kanade!" Tsubasa cried out as she saw the damage Kanade was taking.

Shidou clenched his fists angrily as he watched Kanade deflect and get pummeled by even more of the monsters. 'Damn it… Why…?' He cursed his inability to fight as he watched helplessly.

"Damn you…!" Kanade cursed as she began twirling her lance, creating a large windmill of blades that carved up or smashed any Savages that tried to get past her, receiving even more hits in the process, resulting in large chunks of her armor getting destroyed.

"Stop…" Shidou begged desperately.

Three Bugs jumped over her head to get past her. "Oh no you don't!" Kanade challenged as she leapt up, impaling one of the beasts, spinning midair and slamming her foot down the other, before aiming for the third.

However, before she could land a decisive blow, it pummeled her with its large pincer, shattering even more of her armor before sending her crashing to the stands below, sending large fragments of her armor flying.

"Stop fighting, you're going to die!" Shidou cried out, before stopping as he felt a familiar wet heat on his chest. Looking down, he realized one of the chunks of Kanade's armor had shot straight through him. Any concern he had for himself was stopped when he heard a weak cough from behind him.

He turned in horror as he saw the piece of armor sticking out of Hibiki's chest, blood staining her blouse before she collapsed to the ground.

Shidou's eyes went wide with horror. "No… HIBIKI!"

"Sh – Shidou…?" the girl asked weakly as Shidou ran towards her.

Kanade grit her teeth when she saw the injured girl. Punching another Humanoid rushing at her, she made a mad dash towards Hibiki. "Hey, come on! Don't die! Open your eyes!"

Shidou stared at the girl in shock before slowly turning his attention to the army of monsters locked in combat around him. "… Why…?"

"Get out of my way dammit!" Tsubasa howled as she slashed through several Savages, trying to get to Kanade and the others, but getting overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Kanade looked around her at the ever-increasing army of monsters and slowly stood up, taking her lance and tapping the end on the ground, resulting in the tip flaring open.

Shidou stood in stiffened shock, his only reaction being a stare of pure hatred aimed towards the Savages. Unnoticed by anyone, including Shidou himself, particles of light began fluttering and condensing in his hand.

Kanade began making her way towards the roaring monsters slowly, smirking. "At one time… all I wanted was to sing with an empty body and soul. Look how many came to listen today. That's why it's time for my ultimate performance." As she raised her lance into the air, her IS began to disintegrate, forming into particles on the wind. "Now then…" She began singing a low, somber tune that filled the area with bright purple light and made the Savages slow down even further, practically to a standstill.

Realizing what was happening, Tsubasa's face paled with horror. "No, Kanade! Don't sing that! Stop!"

Shidou turned his attention to Kanade, enraptured by her song.

Behind him, Hibiki opened her eyes weakly. "I can hear… something… a song…" She then heard Kanade's voice speaking in her mind.

"Yeah… this is my final song… the one that will burn my life away…"

Shidou stumbled where he stood, a hand gripping his head in pain as he felt heat fill his body, unaware of the light taking the form of a sword hilt in his right hand.

As Kanade's song continued, a burst of energy suddenly shot outward in all directions, colliding with and vaporizing every single Savage in the area, turning them all to dust.

Tsubasa jumped to her feet and sprinted towards her partner. "KANADE!"

Kanade just looked at the vaporized Savages and smiled as blood dripped from her mouth before she collapsed to the ground, Tsubasa barely managing to catch her as she fell.

"N – No! Not you too!"

Shidou's consciousness waned as the pain in his head reached its peak, but he retained it long enough to watch as Kanade turned to ashes in Tsubasa's arms.

"Tsubasa… think Miku is… waiting…?" Kanade asked weakly as she disappeared.

Tsubasa forced a smile on her face and nodded, despite her tears. "Yeah, I'm sure she is…"

Kanade nodded weakly with her own smile as she finally vanished. "Right… Then I'll… see you later…"

Shidou watched faintly as Tsubasa collapsed on herself crying. "… Dammit…" he cursed before everything went black.

Opening his eyes weakly, Shidou saw the familiar sight of the ceiling of Fraxinus' med-bay. "Never… going… to another concert…" he groaned as his senses returned to him, before he finally remembered everything that had happened, causing him to sit up in a panic. "Hibiki! Hibiki where are you?!"

His words were silenced when Reine, sitting beside his bed, put a finger on his mouth to quiet him, before pointing next to him.

Shidou turned and saw Hibiki, unconscious and with an oxygen mask on her face, sitting in the bed next to him. "She… she's alive…" As that concern assuaged itself somewhat, he turned to Reine with another. "What about those girls?"

Before Reine could answer him, the door to the med-bay swung open as Reiri rushed in.

Shidou immediately laid back down, trying to pretend he was asleep. Reiri, however, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up. 'Crap!' However, his mind completely short-circuited when Reiri pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Shidou's brain remained blank for several moments before he managed to get it moving again, barely. "… S – Sis?"

Pulling away from him with a smile Shidou wasn't accustomed to seeing, Reiri sighed heavily. "I'm glad you're okay. I had no idea Ryoko was testing that fossil today, or I would've stopped you from going."

"Huh? Who? What?"

Reiri pulled a stool up to his bed and sat down. "I wasn't planning on telling you yet, but I guess you basically know now."

"Know what…?"

"Those girls are…" she trailed off with a wince before correcting herself, "were, Slayers."

His eyes widened as numerous realizations hit him. "So… Miza was telling the truth…"

It was Reiri who had the look of surprise of her face this time. "Miza knew?"

Shidou flinched as he realized he said that out loud but decided to just nod rather than trying to lie around it. "… Yes. She texted me warning me not to go to it."

Reiri frowned suspiciously as she narrowed her eyes in thought.

"I'll figure that out later. Who's Ryoko, and what's this fossil you're talking about?"

Reiri nodded as she began explaining. "Right… Ryoko Sakurai. She leads the Little Garden program focused on fighting the Savages. She's the one who discovered their weakness to certain frequencies of sound and developed modified IS technology to utilize it. What we were hoping for was that Kanade and Tsubasa's song was going to destroy an ancient, fossilized Savage we had found, since all manner of conventional weapons; guns, bombs, missiles, even nukes, failed to do anything. But instead their song seemed to wake it up, and ended up costing Kanade her life."

Shidou shot his sister a glare of indignation as he shot back, "Not just her, those things killed so many people! Why would you have them sing at a concert like that if you know that could happen?!"

Reiri winced slightly at the words from her brother before sighing. "Shidou, you know the connection you're able to form with Spirits that absorbs their power?"

"H – Huh? Yeah…" he muttered, somewhat perplexed by the connection.

Reiri nodded in recognition. "The reverse phenomenon is also possible. IS Cores operate under that principle. Most Cores have a separate power generator they absorb their energy from. That energy is mana. When IS users are able to enrapture others in some way, form a mental and emotional link, they're able to absorb mana from them, which we can store and give out to the mass-produced units."

"I see…" he mumbled, following her reasoning but still unhappy with it.

"I readily admit, obtaining mana to power our IS in such a way is underhanded at best. The only alternative would be for the Cores to absorb mana from their Slayers, and most humans don't have enough mana on their own to power an IS for more than a few minutes. Get thousands of people in one place, all with a shared sense of wonder, with a singular emotional and mental focus, and the amount of mana we can obtain, without doing any harm to the audience, is enough to power most of our units for several days each. Though, I am working on a plan that would allow this method to be fully retired. One more filling for the Slayers too."

Shidou frowned in confused frustration. "I see… well hopefully it works out, I don't like innocent people being put in danger like that."

Nodding in understanding, Reiri shrugged as she retorted, "Innocent people are put in danger all the time. It's part of the risk known as life. Death is the only way to fully avoid danger."

Shidou's fist curled with frustration as he looked at them helplessly. "I know, but I'd like to reduce that risk as much as possible for others…"

Sighing, Reiri put a hand on his shoulder gently. "What happened yesterday was no one's fault. Just very bad luck."

Shidou's shoulders began to tremble as he sat, his frustration finally reaching a peak he could not contain. "I hate this…"

Reiri winced at the sight of her brother breaking down but maintained her composure. "Hate what?"

"Feeling so helpless… useless… I'm never able to help when people are in danger. The one time I tried my IS got trashed… it's…" he trailed off as his teeth clenched and ground together, "infuriating…"

Reiri tensed her fingers as she spoke. "… It will be fixed soon. The weapon Chifuyu and I have been making for you is almost done."

Suddenly, an out of breath and sweating Twoearl stumbled into the room carrying a long black box. "Is he awake!?"

Reiri turned to her with mild annoyance. "Yes, but his roommate is not, so keep your voice down."

Sighing, out of both relief and exhaustion, the silver-haired woman made her way to Shidou's bed. "I came here as quick as I could…"

"Why?" Reiri asked, genuinely confused.

Smirking, Twoearl held up the box in her hand. "I have something for Shidou. Something he will just love."

Reiri raised an intrigued eyebrow.

And finito! Thus ends the seventh chapter of Armored Spirits. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, be sure to let me know with a review if you did. If you were confused, uncertain, or simply had questions on anything, leave a review with your concerns and I will do what I can to address them in the next reviewer response. As for new characters, again, if any you don't recognize were introduced, let me know and I will tell you what they are from. That said, if you did not enjoy it, leave a review if you must, but I would recommend a better use of your time instead. Well, enough babbling from my end, until next time, bye-bye!