I know it's been a while, but I've rewritten this about seven times, so take it before my consciousness decides that I need death for failing to give this story the attention it deserves.

Also, as it's been misinterpreted, the Wizard that Kurumi killed was just an ordinary Wizard. That one... she's got something else in store for her.

Chapter 10

Why did it always rain on the days she looked forward to?

Stephanie sighed at the sky through her clear umbrella, angrily judging the clouds. She just shook her head and continued her walk to school, bag in her hand uncomfortably banging against her bruised knee. It affected her gait, giving the pinkette a small and extremely noticeable limp. She wasn't going to think of its origin. Not when she was going somewhere she felt safe.

The patter of rain against the umbrella overhead gave her white noise to listen to. The smell of the falling sky allowed her to forget her troubles, just for a moment, and she wondered what chaos the day would bring. Maybe Tohka and Tobiichi would end up in another scuffle over Shido's affections. It'd be fun to watch it alongside Ean, who would no doubt tease Shido to hell and back.

Maybe she could try baking. She could try it out with her friends an-

Stephanie bit her lip to drag herself back to reality. She wasn't supposed to be getting attached to them. They were going to leave her too. It was inevitable. It always happened.

But she enjoyed this one. It was nice to just be normal; no longer someone that knew a fight better than how to socialize. To rely on someone else to take care of her instead of licking her wounds alone. No longer called a delinquent, but instead a friend.

She rubbed the bruises that adorned her arms, glad that it was raining outside so she could cover them with her blazer in case the bandages were compromised. She'd find a way to change for gym class too without freaking everyone out. She was good at that kind of stuff.

Even so, Steph walked alone. She made sure she'd found the most convoluted path to school so she wouldn't be seen by her good old caretaker, even though she was late because she'd held her up already. If the bitch found out she made friends…. well, she wouldn't have friends anymore. Simple as that. It happened too many times before to coincidence. She couldn't drag Ean, Shido, Tohka, and… she guessed Origami into that situation.

Speaking of routes, her's had just dragged her to Okami Shrine, the place she'd always played around as a kid. It had been so long since she'd last been; probably since she'd last seen her mother. She glanced into the shrine grounds. Maybe her wish would still be hanging...

Stephanie couldn't see the rack of wooden plaques from her vantage point, but she did see someone. It was a kid. A little girl in a bright green rabbit raincoat was the only sign of movement, with her jumping and splashing into the larger puddles that the rain had caused. The teenager watched for only a moment, and yet felt envious of that childhood innocence.

Well, that envy turned to pity when the girl jumped weird.

She ate dirt, to put it simply. Those bright blue eyes went wide and sad within seconds of removing her face from the puddle, filling instantly with so many tears that they seemed to dwarf the rain.

Stephanie sighed and wandered over, listening to the girl begin to lightly sob, trying so desperately to keep the tears back and failing all the same, all over a skinned knee.

"You alright, kid?"

The blues irises snapped up to her, and it felt like someone was playing her heartstrings like a harp. The girl looked at her with such wide and scared eyes that Stephanie felt like she had done something wrong. It was only by reminding herself that she wasn't trying to hurt anyone that she didn't leave automatically.

Where was this kid's family? Why was she out in this weather all alone, with no one around to watch out for her scrapes and bruises?

"Does that hurt?" Stephanie lightly asked, keeping a sympathetic smile on her face when she was given a slight nod in return, despite the shaking. Whether that was from the rain or maybe even fear, the teen didn't mind. Stephanie popped open her school bag, pushing through the classroom materials and gauze and bandages, finding just what she needed. Pulling out the tiny bandage, she gave a smile to the blue haired girl, then looked down to the wound.

The suddenly healed, completely gone wound that made the teen wonder if the kid had even skinned her knee in the first place, the only reminder of it a little bit of dirt on the skin.

Huh.

"What's your name?"

She stowed the bandage back in her bag, waiting for the girl to untie her tongue, keeping fairly still, then finding herself guilty that she was treating an innocent girl like she was a wild animal.

"Y-Yoshin-no…"

God, that stutter was adorable.

"Well Yoshino, mind telling me what you're doing out here all by your lonesome?"

Maybe that was a bit creepy, because the girl didn't look like she could bring herself to talk. Instead, the girl held up her rabbit toy.

"People scare her, of course! What, do you think we like to be out here in this freezing cold rain?!"

Stephanie balked. She'd seen ventriloquists before - that awful, awful school talent show still gave her nightmares - but Yoshino was on a whole new level. Kid had skill, enough said.

But the sass was unpredicted. A surprise, sure, but considering her friends, a welcome one.

"Why do people scare you? I mean, some are jerks," she muttered, thinking of those eyes and that scar that haunted her everyday and feeling particularly disgusted when it made her bruises ache at the memory, "but not all of them are bad," she continued, the feeling lifting when she thought of the friends that awaited her at school, greeting her with bright smiles and the best intentions, along with a little playful sarcasm. Yoshino tearfully looked up at her, a little bit of red in her cheeks.

"They call poor little Yoshino here a monster! And a Hermit! What the heck even is a hermit?!"

Steph blinked. She could've sworn she heard that name before… and now that she looked closer, Yoshino seemed kind of familiar. She'd never seen the girl, but she felt like she'd been described somewhere.

She shook those thoughts away. She was a kid. Home life and Yoshino didn't need to mix.

"What else do these mean people do?"

"They chase her! They call her names and insults, and they always wear those scary clothes and hold weird things! Who would ever want to hurt this adorable face," the puppet demanded, grabbing Yoshino by the cheeks, to her slight displeasure.

"That's just mean," Stephanie agreed. "Do you know why they'd do something like that?"

There was a short pause, the puppet and her owner looking at one another, and it made Stephanie wonder if there was more to the story than she'd heard.

"Not a clue! We just like to wander and then they show up! It's not our faults we're around here!"

"No, it's not. We rarely get to make decisions for ourselves nowadays, huh?"

Damned society...

"You know, you're not too bad! What's your name, Pinkie?"

The rabbit had found its way right into her face. Steph smiled in return.

"Stephanie. Stephanie Yaria. It's nice to meet you two," she stated, the statement becoming more of a question when she realized she never learned the puppet's name.

"I am the great Yoshinon!"

"Well, Yoshino, Yoshinon, if you like me, you might like some of my friends too. Do you want to meet them? Maybe get out of this cold rain, too," she inquired, holding up and hand and gesturing as water drizzled into it.

"Depends if they're not like those meanies who terrify Yoshino!"

Oof. Poor Origami. She'd horrify any child with her strange actions. Just yesterday, she'd tried to force feed Shido like she was a bird, almost flayed Tonomachi, and generally threatened Tohka with disembowelment.

"Well, if those mean people ever come back around, just trust that big sister Stephanie will be there to keep you save, alright Yoshi-woah!"

Yoshino swamped her in a tight hug, and Stephanie didn't really know what to do; confusedly patting her head.

It was then Stephanie realized that the constant cold of rainfall had faded, and she looked up to realize that the rain had stopped.

She hesitated. She couldn't just bring a kid to school with her. She was already the weird girl in class; if she brought a child, she'd practically be deemed as a complete degenerate by her classmates.

Then again, Tama-Chan-Sensei did owe her a favor for helping her with grading last week. She could make them not care about it. Besides, Yoshino was adorable enough that she could see a good chunk of them not caring too much.

She ended up walking with the girl, holding her hand and smiling as she did. Yoshino jumped in every puddle she saw, Yoshinon cackling loudly, and Stephanie would be hard pressed to deny the fact that she'd joined in on the fun. In fact, she'd smiled wider than she had in quite some time, so much that even as she approached Raizen High, two people by the School gates, she never stopped...

Oh fuck.

She recognized that petite little shit. Her dumb silver hair, black headband, and fur lined jacket was like an annoying beacon of bitchiness.

Ashley Sinclair had found her way to Raizen, and she was tormenting her teacher's niece, Mikie. A dark thought worked into Stephanie's brain: there'd been what people called a terrorist attack earlier that week, and just suddenly Ashley decided to suddenly show up at Raizen. Fuck, she really wished she'd never met her in the first place. She was somewhat part of the reason of her home life anyways.

Did that mean Cecile and Leonora were going to show their ugly mugs too…?

"Senpai!" Mikie called out when Steph came closer to the school, Yoshino still holding her hand, Yoshinon quiet as well.

"Sen… well hello, Stephie," Ashley grinned slyly, using the nickname that made Steph want to snap her own neck, "surprising to know you're here too! It's like all of my friends are here!"

"We're not friends, you tiny, flat-chested midget," Stephanie quickly retorted, feeling Yoshino begin to shake. Steph moved in front of the girl, blocking her away from Ashley's infectious, incurable disease of asshole. Said asshole also picked up on the movement, her eyes shooting to the bluenette behind the older girl.

"Who's the brat?"

Yoshino cowered further behind her, and Steph would've snarled had she and Mikie not been around.

"Someone you're not going to talk about to anyone, write, record, or even remember if you know what's good for you."

"Do you have permission," she asked, a ruthless smile on her face. Mikie looked confusedly between the two, trying to figure out how they knew each other, and Stephanie hoped what she said next would deter her from such.

"I'm going to fucking spear your head on my door," was Steph's retort, having covered Yoshino's ears to protect her from the words of teenagers. She pulled her hands from the younger girl, her nails digging into her palms.

"Trust me, Stephie," Ashley muttered, the grin gone, replaced by a look she could only classify as vengeance, "I'm gonna have fun punching holes into your caretaker. She's gonna be covered in more than just that mark on her eye."

"Go ahead," the pinkette spat right back. Ashley grinned, a hint of sadism in it, and it made her shudder. Stephanie clamped down harder on her palm, leading Yoshino to the entrance before the brat could say anything more. No thinking of her, or anyone she mentioned. Just…

Think of Ean. Think of that idiot, and what he and his friends might get up to. Think of how Tohka and Origami will fight against one another for Shido's affection.

Don't think of anything or anyone else.

Nor the repercussions of her actions.

"I still can't believe you name-dropped Tohka to the commander of the AST. What're you, an idiot?"

Ean glared at Shido, who looked like his attempts to suffocate himself in his bento were working. The redhead wouldn't allow such a thing to happen, snagging the lunch away from the weight of Shido's face and holding it out of the bluenette's reach when he feebly tried to get it back.

"Seriously, I'm mad at you. Do you think anything through?"

"I get it, alright?"

The muffled sound of face now against table just made the foreigner sigh and put the lunch back, where it was pulled into the suffocating embrace. He had no doubt that by the looks Origami had shot them before being dragged away by Mikie, the patron saint of denying stalkers, the lunch would be stolen and used to make a cast of Shido's face at some time.

Ean probably wouldn't stop her. Oh, he could try, as he'd be expected to because just letting it happen would be catastrophic in general. The problem would be that Origami would probably kill him for interfering. She'd tried to flay Tonomachi for getting between Shido and herself a day prior, which was also the day she tried to mouth feed Shido her lunch because he wasn't eating.

Freak.

"Come on, it's been a week. Just leave it be," Tohka tried to justify.

"No. I won't leave it be because he'd dumb and should feel dumb. Also, as the local asshole, it is my job to be a general nuisance to him in every way possible. So stop suffocating yourself in your bento," he concluded, glaring at the bluenette. Tohka at least had mercy for him, smiling warmly enough that the glow caught Shido's attention and made at least three people go blind.

"Shido, it's fine. Ean may think you made a mistake. Maybe you did," she said, a pitiful smile on her face when Shido pushed his face further into the food, "but that's okay. I still trust you, Shido. I know that when I'm around you, I'm the safest I'll ever be. So please, don't beat yourself up over this."

Ah, beautiful. So so, heartwarming.

"I'm gonna vomit," Ean grumbled. "Look. As long as you make up for your mistakes, I'll overlook this. But you've gotta take this seriously. You made your choice, now stick by it."

"But… what if the choice is wrong?"

The foreigner frowned.

"This is because what Kusakabe said, isn't it?"

The miserable silence from Shido was all it took to piss him off. Where was the dedication to his choices? He understood that this was an extremely delicate situation, what with the fate of possibly millions of lives hanging in the balance, all dictated by a date and a kiss, but if he couldn't get himself sorted out, how would he with everyone else's issues?

"Ignore her. She fed you her life story, but why do you care? Could you have saved her sister back then? An eleven year old chasing after a Spirit while the world burns around him?"

"No, I don't think I could have," he stated, as if he felt he should've done something. Ean actually had to keep from slugging Shido.

"Then stop fucking worrying about it!"

Ean had slammed down on the desk, standing over the bluenette, trying to surprise him. It worked. Shido had jumped like a deer in headlights, looking up with what might have been fear in his eyes.

The foreigner swept his eyes around the room. People were looking at him in shock. He practically growled at their expressions.

"WHAT?!"

They jumped and wisely looked away. He seethed and slumped back into his seat, glancing over to Tohka.

She looked hurt. She looked uncomfortable to even be near them.

"Shido… do… you regret bringing me into your life?"

He snapped his chopsticks in half. Shit. Shiiit.

Shido looked to the innocent Spirit, worry in his eyes.

"No. Never. I'd do it a billion more times and then a billion after that to give you the life you deserve. The same for every Spirit."

"Then I feel like everything will be fine," she smiled. The glow that came off of her made the three blinded in the room miraculously regain their sight and then lose it all over again.

"I've lost my appetite," Ean grumbled, his hunger satiated by the purity of the Spirit. Tohka's stomach growled with unholy volume.

"Can I…?"

Ean pushed the lunch in her direction, watching as her jaw unhinged like a snake and she consumed the food instantaneously. He brought up a hand to prevent his face from being part of the splash zone, and in doing so noticed the approaching pinkette that had been missing from their table. He grinned, knowing that the serious talk was thankfully dead.

"Yo."

Her blue eyes sharpened at him.

Ean choked on whatever would've come next. Stephanie looked pissed. Hell, he wondered what he'd done wrong, because the last time he saw that face, he'd been slapped so hard he bled.

He doubted that would be the case today, considering the kid that was clinging to her hand in a bright green rabbit raincoat, looking around the classroom with stars in her eyes. He quickly glanced to the girl's feet, where she had the indoor shoes dignifying her as a visitor for the day, and looked to Miss Okamine, who caught the glance and smiled warmly.

"Stephanie," Tohka gushed when she saw the younger girl, "who is this?! Ooh! She's so cute!"

"Better question," Ean rebuked, "whose kid did you steal off of the street? She looks very out of place."

Stephanie glared, but seemed to ignore the jab. Instead, the pissy look slid off of her face as she looked to the younger girl, an encouraging smile present for the raincoat wearing girl.

"Yoshino, you wanna introduce yourself?"

He watched the girl.

"Well, hellloooo!"

And promptly felt his eyes pop out of his head when the toy on her hand started flopping around like it was having a seizure, a voice that sounded like Yoshino was imitating a male voice that still sounded slightly feminine.

"I'm tripping," he muttered to Shido, jabbing a thumb in the puppet's direction, "the rabbit toy is talking."

Shido grinned.

"I am Yoshinon. My beautifully adorable friend here is Yoshino, and know that if you do anything to her, you will answer to me!"

It was some seriously impressive ventriloquism. Maybe too impressive, because Tohka snatched up the toy with stars in her eyes, spinning like a top.

"WOAAAH! That's amazing! How are you talking so well, mister Yoshinon?! I didn't know animals could do that! I need to apologize to the rodent I almost killed!"

She jammed the doll to her chest, mumbling "Mister Squeakers," which he could only assume was the squirrel he watched her almost annihilate, and was dragged from his train of thought by Shido tapping him on the shoulder.

"H-hey," Tohka asked. "Mister Yoshinon?"

The bluenette had confusion across his face, pointing up at the foreigner. Ean quickly looked himself up and down, understanding what the confusion was for. The fog that appeared in rhythm with his breathing stood out like a sore thumb.

"Why isn't he talking?"

Why was it suddenly so cold that he could see his own breath? The boys shared a confused look, instantly running over the events that had transpired in their head, then came to an astute understanding about what Yoshino possibly was.

"P...please… give Y-Yoshinon…" the girl in question stuttered. Shido had already managed to coax Yoshinon from Tohka's hands, explaining that it was special while Ean looked to his phone, having converted the files on all known Spirits to his phone, scanning through them.

Hermit. Yoshino was possibly Hermit. How did Stephanie come across Hermit? If Yoshino really was Hermit, why wasn't she… well, Spiriting?

"Do we…?" He started, looking to the bluenette.

"Later," Shido stated, looking at Stephanie, who was mid-rubbing her temples.

"Stephanie," he heard Tohka ask quietly, "is everything alright? You look… not happy."

"I'll be fine, Tohka. Just… had a bad morning."

Tohka moved to distract Stephanie, not knowing she'd immediately helped the boys swap information.

"Hermit?"

Ean nodded quickly, handing Shido the phone and letting him look at the information. He scanned it diligently, biting a nail, and looked hesitant to stop even when the bell rang and Miss Okamine started to usher people out for gym, saying something about their class meeting with a first year class for a game of soccer, as the rain had miraculously stopped.

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions," he finally stated. "We might be completely wrong and it's all a coincidence. Let's be subtle."

"That kid… do you really think she's a Spirit? It could be just chance."

Shido nodded, analytical eyes scanning over the younger and thankfully distracted girl. He nodded with finality. Ean smirked.

"This is going to be miserable for you."

"Why?"

"I'm going to make so many lolicon jokes."

Shido turned a beautiful shade of neon pink.

Kannazuki watched the Commander. That was his daily routine, never interrupted even by the most dire of situations.

He watched her movements. He watched her expressions. He watched that supple skin.

And more recently, he watched her confusion.

Kyouhei Kannazuki knew he wasn't the smartest of people. He was good with tactics, but people were… not so much. It was one of the reasons he'd left the AST in the past; he couldn't understand what drove them to fight so hard. He, as AST Captain, couldn't understand anyone beneath him, so he looked for someone who did.

Enter Ratatoskr, the Fraxinus, and the eight year old Commander who had unknowingly given him everything he desired. He started as a meager intern, and she saw and understood him for what he was.

A lolicon. She saw the lolicon and understood what that meant.

She couldn't even get him out of her life because it wasn't in her ability to do so. So, he'd stuck around, becoming more and more attached to the only person he'd ever met to understand how he worked.

So, watching the composed Commander look at everything with confusion… irked him.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something," Kotori muttered, looking over the screens. It made Kannazuki frown and think of her schedule. Most of it was habitual, minus things such as the AST meeting, but that had been taken care of at the soonest occasion, even if the results were less than satisfactory. Most of the time, a feeling or a whim had some basis of truth to them, no matter how small… so what was Kotori forgetting?

"Commander, mind stepping out with me for a moment?"

Kannazuki heard Reine's tone. He heard the concern, and more so, the suspicion in her voice.

It was that reason he eavesdropped when they stepped into the hall, his foot keeping the door from shutting and his ears strained to hear their voices.

"Damn! Reine, I forgot about Shido's meeting with that AST bitch!"

"Kotori, you were there. You wrote a report about it. You specifically said Kusakabe had lost a sister on the day of the Tengu Fire."

Kannazuki bit his lip in worry. She'd ranted about something Shido had done for a while and then filed paperwork; he remembered it perfectly because in that time she'd gifted him two kicks with some oomph to them.

"I… I did?"

The innocent tone of voice made it clear that she truly didn't remember. Kannazuki could tell such with particular ease. It was like Kotori had truly been surprised to know she'd done such.

"Yes. You and Ean ragged on Shido for name-dropping Tohka. He has continued to do so," Reine continued, making the Commander grumble to herself.

"I… don't remember that happening. Everything's just a haze."

"Kotori, have the voices in your head stopped?"

Voices? The Commander was hearing voices in her head?

"Yes, they have."

The thankfulness that should've been there when hearing that whatever was wrong no longer seemed to be an issue was nowhere to be found, instead replaced with concern over the fact that it was a problem in the first place. Auditory hallucinations were normally associated with schizophrenia, and if the Commander was losing touch with reality, she'd be a liability to their efforts in saving Spirits.

"How?"

The question made him pause. Reine knew what Kotori was undergoing, undoubtedly the reason why she wanted to talk. She knew about the voices, and as the head medical analyst, she likely knew that voices in one's head didn't just stop.

"I've been…"

"Kotori, you haven't been using your Angel, have you?"

Horror. Absolute horror coursed through his veins. She was using her Angel?! Was she insane?!

Kotori was killing herself by using her Angel. Something was so wrong with her that she willingly resorted to using something she was practically cursed with.

"We're undergoing a physical," came Reine's desperate voice. "Now."

"This is hell… this is hell on earth."

Yoshino sat beside the soccer field, nodding silently to the words uttered from Mikie's pale form. The large hexagonal marks that decorated her face painted a happy picture of how she was allowed to say that. Yoshino had witnessed it with her very own eyes. The ball had been kicked with enough power to make a Spacequake seem meager, and it looked like it seeked the girl out.

The purple haired girl, Tohka, had apologized profusely for knocking the girl out. It didn't mean that she was more careful, because the cold eyed, white haired girl continued to egg her on. It also hadn't stopped her, as the redheaded boy that didn't look like the others had said, from 'Committing War Crimes.'

"Oh god, Tohka please no!"

She counted the times that the ball cracked against the redhead's face. One became two, then three.

Then four.

Five.

Oh, the sixth looked painful.

"Aim for his balls!"

"Wha…?! No! Yoshinon!"

"Huh?! Wait! No! Tohka, don't you fu-!"

The distinct sound of glass shattering rang out when Tohka had skimmed the ball, had been unable to stop herself, and connected superhuman strength with the boy's groin. The scream he let out was about ten octaves higher than he'd previously shouted at, and to say he was sent into the air would be an understatement.

"W-W-WHY?! WHY THE N-NADS?!"

On the next kick, Tohka missed the ball, and her foot impacted with the skull of a boy that Stephanie had described as a "no-good vagabond." Yoshino cringed as he literally ate dirt.

Speaking of, Stephanie was hiding dutifully behind her blue haired friend, egging Tohka to "KICK AWAY FROM US!"

"You're only further cementing my superiority over you," the white haired girl stated.

"DAMN YOU ORIGAMI TOBIICHI! I'LL SHOW YOU THE REAL POWER I POSSESS!"

"I should probably go save them," Mikie mumbled, rushing back onto the field. Yoshinon cheered for her to go kick butt, but the raucous encouragement was stamped out when the ball pinged off of several people and then swept the poor girl off of her feet. Yoshino cringed at the sight. Yoshinon barked with laughter.

"Yoshinon… it's not that funny…"

"Hey there. Talking to your stupid toy?"

Yoshino flinched at the voice, and shook when the owner of said voice sank onto the bleacher, right beside her. Yoshino immediately tried to make room, make any kind of distance to breathe, but an arm was thrown over her shoulder and kept her from trying to escape.

Ashley just grinned.

"Leave Yoshino alone, you petite brat!" cried Yoshinon on her hand. Ashley looked at Yoshinon for a second, and by the next, her friend had been ripped away and tossed over the fence. The Spirit wanted to run to grab her, make sure Yoshinon was okay, but was forced back into the seat by the Wizard.

"Oh, come on. I just got here, you Hermit," she grinned, and Yoshino whimpered in return.

"B-big si-"

The hand that dangled over her shoulder lunges like a snake, light on her neck, but still there. Tears that had already been forming streamed silently down her cheeks.

"Ah. No can do. You getting Stephie's attention is going to end horribly for all of us. Besides, Stephie won't be able to even stop me. Her caretaker wants all of the glory for slaying me."

Zadkiel would work. But… all of the people. Big sis Stephanie. She didn't want to hurt them.

"I've got to admit," Ashley lamented, dragging the struggling girl closer and closer, "it wasn't my intention to deal with a Spirit today. I was actually looking for Wizards to kill."

She looked at Yoshino, the grin much more sadistic than it had just been, then stuck out a tongue like that would make everything better.

"Some time with, of course."

It made Yoshino whimper again, this time louder. She hoped it would get someone's attention, so they'd come and save her.

No help came.

"Tell you what," Ashley said, leaning closer with the hold on Yoshino getting tighter around her neck, "run fast and run hard. Give me something to do, and you might see tomorrow."

Yoshinon. She just needed…

Ashley raised an eyebrow.

Yoshino couldn't keep away the tears as she ran as hard as she could, Ashley's laughing behind her making her fear for everything she ever cared about.

It began to rain.