Chapter 1
The sound of Kanshi Itsuka's alarm clock ringing woke him up as always. Wordlessly, he reached over and slammed the alarm off. With his room bathed in silence once more, the owner of the clock muttered, "Alright... come on, get up..."
Gathering his willpower, Kanshi forced himself to sit up. Staring with bleary eyes around his room for a few seconds, Kanshi got out of his bed. Leaving the comfortable warmth behind, Kanshi staggered his way to the bathroom, yawning every so often.
The house was quiet, as was to be expected, Kanshi was usually the first out of the three siblings to awaken. Kanshi's red eyes scanned black locks of hair, checking for any bits that stuck out. Kanshi didn't care much about his appearance but at the very least, he wanted to appear presentable today. Good first impressions and all that.
Satisfied with what he saw, Kanshi finished up with his morning routines. Once done, Kanshi exited the bathroom and checked the clock hung in the living room.
Putting on an apron, Kanshi got ready to make breakfast for the three of them. All in all, it was a pretty standard morning.
"Nnnmm? Onii-san?" A drowsy voice called out from behind Kanshi. "You're already awake?"
"Morning Kotori," Kanshi cordially greeted his little sister. Kotori Itsuka was the only one out of the three siblings to be related to Tatsuo Itsuka and Haruko Itsuka by blood. Before Kotori, there was Shido Itsuka, their older brother, adopted too, just like Kanshi. "Go ahead and use the bathroom. After that, could you go wake up Nii-san?"
Kotori let out a sound of affirmation as she stumbled into the bathroom. Though not related by blood, the Itsuka siblings all shared one common weakness, the morning and all the pains that it brought. A few seconds after Kanshi heard Kotori's footsteps going up the stairs...
"Gaaaahh!"
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Ah, how wholesome, his two siblings were bonding with one another. Shaking his head at the antics of the two, Kanshi continued focusing on making breakfast. As footsteps pounded down the stairs, a sudden weight made itself known.
Looking behind him, Kanshi saw Kotori clinging onto him. She seemed to be terrified of something as her head was quivering while burying itself into Kanshi's back. A few moments later, Shido Itsuka entered the room.
Shido Itsuka was the oldest of the three. The Itsukas had adopted him when he was still young. From what Kanshi heard, it seemed like Kotori had helped Shido get used to his new life. Though his form spoke volumes about how average he was, Kanshi still considered his brother to be "cool". Family is family after all.
Sighing, Kanshi shook his head, signifying that his brother should refrain from scaring their sister further.
"Hey, Kotori?" Kanshi called. "Could you let go of me for a bit?"
Feeling the arms clinging to him slowly let go, Kanshi gave his brother a nod.
In the roughly five years Kanshi had been part of the Itsuka family, he had grown accustomed to the antics of his siblings. Then again, being the middle child often left him being dragged into their antics even when he'd much rather stay out of it.
Kotori's energetic nature coupled with Shido's narrow-minded heroics often left him to have to clean up after the two. It was just how the three of them were. Kotori would get into some situation or another, Shido would then get Kotori out of said situation, then Kanshi would have to try to patch things up before the situation worsens due to Shido's actions, but then getting himself into a bad situation.
Of course, the three knew just how much of a handful they were to their parents. Mother's Day, Father's Day, or any day where the siblings would give a gift to their parents were the most stressful. Everything just had to be perfect, how else could they show their appreciation for their mother and father for putting up with their troublesome selves?
"Let me help you with that," Shido offered once he managed to calm down Kotori and apologize for the prank he pulled.
"Thanks," Kanshi nodded.
While the two brothers worked on breakfast, Kotori turned on the TV. Hearing a familiar street on the news, the two brothers turned their attention to the TV. On-screen was an image of a destroyed street with buildings practically reduced to rubble. There was only one thing that could cause such intensive damage.
"A spacequake huh? They've been getting more and more frequent," Shido shook his head before turning back to the cooking.
A spacequake. A strange phenomenon that had its first occurrence thirty years ago. Labeled, the Great Eurasian Spacequake, it caused widespread devastation and panic. Anything caught within the blast was simply erased. Around 150 million people had simply vanished, any family members or loved ones far from the epicenter simply had nothing to bury. Six months after that initial spacequake, smaller instances began to appear all around the world.
Spacequakes are nigh-impossible to predict. There are warning signs that were eventually discovered, however, they were only a few minutes before the spacequake actually occurred. Society had adapted to these disasters, there were now spacequake shelters being constructed all around the world.
Tengu City, the place Kanshi and his siblings lived, was one such area. The city was relatively new, having been constructed not long after spacequakes started appearing. Thus it was one of the first cities in Japan to be built around the idea of allowing its inhabitants to survive a spacequake.
"It's happening earlier than expected..." Kanshi heard Kotori mutter.
"Early? What is?" Shido seemed to have heard that part also.
"Nophing," Kotori's voice was muffled by something.
...
Blinking, the two brothers shared a glance. Jerking his head towards the living room, Kanshi nominated Shido to check it out. Shido accepted the job without much of a fight and moved into the living room. Trusting Shido to dish out appropriate punishment with what Kanshi suspected Kotori was guilty of, Kanshi turned his focus back to cooking.
"Guh!" Kotori cried out.
"Haven't we told you not to eat sweets before meals?" Shido scolded while Kanshi just rolled his eyes. So it was that—typical Kotori. Kanshi tuned out the rest of the conversation—no doubt Kotori was protesting how this was an abuse of power and all that—after a few seconds, Kanshi heard Shido sigh, "Fine, but you better finish your breakfast."
"Yay! I love you, Onii-chan!"
As Shido moved back into the kitchen, Kanshi just shook his head, whispering, "Aren't you a bit too lenient to her?"
"Aren't you the same?" Shido shot back.
"...Touché." After a while, Kanshi suddenly remembered something. "Now that I think about it," Kanshi began. "Today's opening ceremony for Kotori's school right?" Kanshi said that part loud enough for Kotori to hear.
"That's right~" Kotori answered from the living room couch.
"Oh, right! That means you'll be back for lunch! Any requests, Kotori?" Shido asked.
"Hmmm... a Deluxe Kids Plate!"
Kanshi's eye twitched at that.
"Oh well, since it's a special occasion, let's eat out for lunch," Shido shrugged.
Kanshi's eye's twitching began to increase in intensity.
"Really?!"
"Yeah. Let's meet at the usual family restaurant after school then."
"No going back on your word! It's a promise! You have to be there even if an earthquake starts, a fire erupts, a spacequake happens, or terrorists occupy it!" After a momentary pause, Kotori added, "Even if Onii-san refused to go."
"Fine. We'll be there, even if I have to drag Kanshi all the way."
Hearing Kotori give out a cheer, Kanshi muttered, "So my cooking is being dumped in favor of some restaurant's huh?"
Shido just chuckled at Kanshi's reaction. "Don't worry, Kanshi, I'm sure she still enjoys your cooking more."
"Once again I ask, don't you think you're a bit too generous to her, Nii-san?" Kanshi sighed in exasperation.
"Hmmm?" Shido tilted his head innocently. "Whatever do you mean? Besides, admit it, you just wanted to cook for Kotori on this special day. You spoil her more than me at times."
Kanshi just sighed in resignation. Shido was right, that was what he wanted to do.
"Honestly," Shido shook his head, exasperated. "You take cooking so seriously, have you really not considered becoming a full-time chef?"
"I..." Kanshi hesitated. "I don't know... At least, I'm not sure if that's really what I want to be doing with my life." Kanshi's face twisted into a conflicted look.
"I see... well, let's put this talk off for today. It should be a happy one after all. I think I'll let you handle dinner tonight," Shido said. "Does that make up for lunch?"
"Hmm, you get off this time," Kanshi said, a small smile gracing his features.
In the moments leading up to his and his peers' entrance to the school's gym, a wave of unease washed over Kanshi. It was common practice for the parents of the child to be present during the entrance ceremony, but his foster parents were away. Of course, Shido probably had it worse, he had no one he recognized in the crowd, Kanshi had his brother there at least.
As the doors opened, Kanshi followed after the others into a room of applause. His heart began to pound loudly in his chest. Just smile and stay calm, just smile and stay calm.
Kanshi could feel sweat gathering on his head. Every step he took felt like a lifetime away.
Through the sea of faces, Kanshi found Shido. The two made eye contact. As soon as Shido saw Kanshi, he seemed to clap harder. A reassuring smile was on his face, easing Kanshi's jitters just a bit. A friendly face among strangers can go a long way.
Sitting down, Kanshi was still a bit tense. It felt like everyone else's parents had shown up, he couldn't help but feel like he didn't really belong. As the principal stood atop a podium and began his speech, Kanshi tried his best to calm down, or at the very least, not have a mental breakdown then and there.
After the entrance ceremony, Kanshi was led to his classroom. As he left the gym, Shido gave Kanshi a small nod. Once in the classroom, the teacher directed the class's attention to the chalkboard. On it were the seating assignments; Kanshi's seat was in the second to last row by the window. Sitting down, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He was definitely going to ask Shido how he managed to get through that without anyone familiar in the crowd.
"Hello, my name is Hikari Ito. I guess we'll be next to each other," a voice struck Kanshi from his musings. Looking over, he saw a blonde-haired girl with blue eyes. Her eyes gleamed with mischievous energy, something familiar to Kanshi having seen it in Kotori's eyes on many occasions.
"Ah, I'm Kanshi Itsuka. It's nice to meet you, Ito," Kanshi quickly snapped out a greeting.
"It's nice to meet you too, Itsuka," Hikari smiled.
"Hm? Hikari? What a surprise!" A new voice jumped in.
"Ah! Toyaki! We're in the same class again!" Hikari was practically bouncing in place as she spoke.
"I'm Toyaki Hirai, please forgive Hikari if she annoys you," Toyaki bowed.
"Mou! Toyaki~!" Hikari pouted as she slapped Toyaki on his shoulder.
"I'm Kanshi Itsuka. It's nice to meet you, Hirai."
"Likewise," Toyaki gave a small smile whilst being barraged by Hikari's playful slaps.
Toyaki Hirai didn't seem to have anything that stood out. His hair was black and his eyes brown. Average build, average height, Kanshi got a distinct impression that Toyaki wasn't one to stand in the spotlight. The only thing that made him unique so far was his relationship with Hikari. They clearly knew each other from somewhere other than Raizen High.
"Alright settle down!" the teacher called out. "You'll have time to get to know each other later. For now, let's get to business."
After their homeroom teacher laid out what was to come and what was expected of them in the coming year, Kanshi and the rest of his class were free to leave. However, many students simply remained in the room, talking to their fellow classmates. Kanshi found himself with Toyaki and Hikari around his desk.
"Eh?!" Hikari exclaimed. "You have amnesia?!"
"Not so loud Hikari," Toyaki scolded the girl.
Slapping a hand across her mouth, Hikari whispered an apology. "Still, to think you were caught up in the fire five years ago and got amnesia... it's like the background of an anime protagonist!" Hikari's voice grew with each word that passed through her lips.
Toyaki sighed as he rested his head in the palm of his hand. "Sorry about this Itsuka. Hikari means well, it's just... she's a little energetic..."
"Ah, it's fine. I don't really mind," Kanshi reassured Toyaki. "My little sister is probably even more energetic than Hikari."
Looking at the clock that was hanging at the front of the room, Kanshi realized it was almost time to meet up outside that restaurant.
"Sorry but I have to go now, my brother and I are taking our sister out for lunch today," Kanshi apologized for cutting their conversation short.
"Ah don't worry about it," Hikari waved off Kanshi's apologies. "Now go on, shoo. lt's rude to keep a girl waiting after all, even if it is your own sister."
"It's been nice talking to you Itsuka. Perhaps we could continue tomorrow?" Toyaki asked.
"Of course, and call me Kanshi. I think we're close enough to do so now. After all, we're both being run ragged by someone else."
"Alright Kanshi, you can call me Toyaki too, if you'd like. See you tomorrow," Toyaki chuckled.
"Mou~ what about me?" Hikari pouted.
"You can call me Kanshi as well, Ito," Kanshi chuckled.
"Ok Kanshi, in that case, you can call me Hikari," Hikari brightened up in an instant.
"Alright, then see you tomorrow, Hikari, Toyaki."
Saying his goodbyes to his two classmates, Kanshi made his way to the shoe lockers. As he opened his locker an alarm began to blare.
It was a spacequake alarm. Hurriedly closing his locker back up, Kanshi made his way back to the hallway. If he remembered correctly, there was a spacequake shelter underneath the school. Kanshi followed the crowd towards a set of stairs leading down.
A commotion drew his attention. It looked like someone was going the opposite way of the shelter. Kanshi recognized that familiar mop of blue hair.
"Kanshi!" Shido's voice was panicked. His hands grabbed Kanshi's shoulders tightly. "Can you check Kotori's location?!"
"Wha—Nii-san?"
"Just do it!"
Spurred on by Shido's words, Kanshi quickly fumbled through his pockets and fished out his phone. Pulling up an app, Kanshi quickly checked Kotori's location. Seeing the marker his phone displayed, Kanshi felt the blood drain from his face.
"Damn it!" Shido let go of Kanshi and began to run. "That idiot!"
"Wha—Nii-san, wait!" Kanshi clumsily pocketed his phone and took off after his brother.
Getting to his shoe locker, Kanshi all but threw his school shoes off before putting on his outdoor shoes. Running outside the school gates, Kanshi spotted Shido's figure growing more distant. With no time to lose, Kanshi chased after that retreating figure.
Shido was running fast, faster than Kanshi thought was possible for him. Kanshi strained himself to try to catch up.
Streets devoid of people, cars parked haphazardly to all over. The scene was reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic city. It was only contrasted by the various intact houses and distant high-rises.
Kanshi's vision began to blur. He was sprinting far faster than he normally would. He never really did well when it came to Physical Education, now he regretted not trying harder. His chest began to hurt, it felt like something was constricting him.
A blinding light erupted in front of him. Shutting his eyes in reflex, Kanshi felt something impact him. The force of the impact sent him flying backwards off his feet. For a few seconds, Kanshi was flying.
"Gah!" Kanshi let out a cry as he felt his back slammed against something hard. Kanshi fell to the ground hard. Kanshi's vision was clouded by a haze of pain. His back, his legs, his lungs, his throat, his eyes, his mouth, his head. It felt as though every part of his body were crying out in agony. He found it hard to breathe, it felt as though an oppressive pressure trying to crush him.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Kanshi blacked out as a feeling of weightlessness overtook him.
When Kanshi finally regained consciousness, he first noticed a beeping sound. Was that... a heart monitor? Cracking open his eyes, he was at first blinded by the lights. When his eyes finally adjusted, Kanshi looked at his surroundings. To his right was definitely a heart monitor. To his left was another bed that had Shido lying on it.
"Nnn? You're awake?" a sleepy voice asked. Looking towards the source of the voice, Kanshi saw a sleepy-looking woman in a suit. She put a hand to her ear and spoke, "Doctor, he's awake... Understood."
"Um... nice to meet you?" Kanshi's voice was hoarse. The sleepy woman moved towards a water dispenser and filled a cup of water before handing it over to Kanshi.
"Here," she said, holding the cup before Kanshi.
Moving his arms carefully so as to not disturb the wires coming out from his chest, Kanshi took the cup and downed the liquid.
"Thank you," he said gratefully.
The woman gave a nod at Kanshi's thanks. "I'm Reine Murasame, an analyst here."
"I-I see," Kanshi stuttered out. Analyst? Analyst for what?
As Reine moved to the bed Shido occupied, the doors split opened to reveal a man in a doctor's outfit.
"Ah, I see one of our patients has woken up," the man said in an uplifting tone. "Tell me, how are you feeling?"
"I guess I feel normal?" Kanshi shrugged.
"Normal huh? Well, I suppose that's good enough," the doctor gave a small laugh. "I'm Hajime Ito, I'm the chief medical officer here. It's nice to see you awake Kanshi Itsuka."
"You know my name?"
"Easy," Dr. Ito raised a hand. "I'm not your enemy here. As for your name, well, you do have my wife as your primary physician do you not? I simply asked for her to transfer the information to me so I could properly treat you.
"I see. Thank you for taking care of me Dr. Ito. What about my brother?"
"Ah, you mean Shido Itsuka? He's only unconscious, you were in a more dire state when we brought you in."
"I see, that's good," Kanshi's shoulders relaxed as he received that bit of information.
"Now, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to have to run some basic checkups on you. Let's get those wires disconnected."
Dr. Ito ran Kanshi through the basic tests that anyone would receive when going to the doctors. After finding out that Kanshi's arms were in fact not broken and that yes, he was most definitely not paralyzed from the neck down, he was let go.
"It seems that you are doing fine."
"So, I'm free to go?"
"Yes."
"What about my brother?"
"He's in good hands. I'm afraid I can't have you waiting here, however. There's a room you can wait for your brother to wake next door. Just turn left and enter the first room on your left. Reine will pick you up from there."
"I understand. Thank you, Dr. Ito."
"Just doing my job."
Kanshi got out of the bed and approached the doors. As he got close he suddenly remembered something he had been meaning to ask.
"Um... Dr. Ito? Where exactly am I?"
Dr. Ito simply gave Kanshi an enigmatic smile. "You'll get your answers in due time, let an old man have his fun keeping secrets."
With that vague response, Kanshi continued towards the doors of the infirmary. The doors slid open to reveal a futuristic corridor. Well, how the doors opened should've at least signaled to him something was wrong. The design reminded Kanshi of what someone would find in some sci-fi spaceship.
Dr. Ito said to head to the left and enter the first door on his left right? Following those instructions, Kanshi walked down the rather spacious corridor until he came across a set of doors. It was the first set of doors on his left since he headed left after leaving the infirmary, was this the correct room?
Deciding to take a leap, or in this case a step, of faith, Kanshi stepped into the room as the automatic doors parted for him. Automatic doors, this really was some sort of sci-fi spaceship. The room Kanshi entered was more colorful than the corridor and most certainly more colorful than the consistent white that permeated every inch in the infirmary. There were sofas, what looked to be a holographic monitor, even a vending machine with drinks and snacks.
"What the..." Kanshi muttered as he took in the room. "Dr. Ito did say this was the recreation room... But I didn't expect it to be so..." When Kanshi had heard, "recreation room", he had expected something simple, a few couches, a water fountain, maybe a TV or bookshelf, not... whatever this was. To Kanshi the room felt more like a VIP suite than a room for whatever staff worked here to relax.
Standing in the doorway awkwardly, Kanshi decided to sit in one of the chairs at the side of the room. He just didn't feel like he could sit in one of those sofas, no matter how inviting they may seem. Hesitant to even attempt at figuring out how the monitor worked, Kanshi settled for just sitting around and maybe watched dry paint get dryer.
After what felt like forever, the doors opened, snapping Kanshi out of the weird trance-like state he had got himself into. Reine, the sleepy-looking woman from before walked in. Now more awake, Kanshi noticed more curious oddities about the proclaimed, Analyst Officer. For one, what's with that teddy bear in her breast pocket? There were several patches on it, showing how long it's probably been in Reine's possession. The other oddity was, how beautiful Reine was.
Kanshi was by no means unfamiliar with beautiful women, he had seen his fair share. But Reine's beauty seemed otherworldly. Even with the bags under her eyes and how unkempt her hair was in certain places, her beauty still managed to shine. Unwittingly, Kanshi began to imagine just what Reine would look like if she didn't look so worn out. Though, that did bring up another question, when was the last time she slept? Sure her work may require long nights of digging through papers and organizing information, (That was what analysts did right?) but she simply looked like she hadn't had a full night's sleep in ages!
Shido walked in behind her. His eyes scanned the room, evidently a bit less taken aback compared to Kanshi at the room. His eyes eventually found Kanshi's and he immediately headed towards his younger brother.
"Hey Kanshi, do you know where we are?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Kanshi shrugged.
"The commander will explain," Reine said. "Follow me." The woman led the two brothers down the corridor and past several rooms Kanshi had no idea what they were for. They finally emerged onto what appeared to be the bridge of a ship.
Reine brought the two brothers to what Kanshi could only assume to be the Commander's seat. There was a long blonde-haired man standing there. He looked to be in conversation with whoever was sitting on the seat.
"I've brought them," she informed the person sitting in what Kanshi could only assume to be the captain's chair.
"Nice work," the blonde man said. "I'm Kyouhei Kannazuki, the vice commander."
After the two boys exchanged greetings Kannazuki spoke to the person sitting in the chair. "Commander, Analyst Murasame has returned."
"Good." Wait, that voice.
The chair spun around, revealing Kotori sitting one leg over the other and a massive red coat around her shoulders like a cape.
"Welcome to Ratatoskr."
"Kotori? What are you doing here?!" Kanshi was the first to recover from the shock.
"I thought it would be obvious," Kotori raised an eyebrow. "I'm the commander. I knew Shido was an idiot but I had higher hopes for you, Kanshi."
Kotori's tone was drastically different. It had a tint of arrogance along with a firmness that Kanshi never thought Kotori would be capable of.
"Anyway, what were the two of you thinking?!" Kotori continued. "You heard the spacequake alarm, if you two had been any closer you would've been vaporized!"
"What about you!?" Shido exclaimed. "Your GPS signal says you're at the restaurant!" Shido pulled out his phone and showed Kotori its screen.
Kotori blinked before slamming her face into her palm. "Such a stupid thing?" she muttered. "The reason it says I'm in front of the restaurant is because we technically are in front of the restaurant. It'll be easier to show you. Remove the filter."
After a few moments, the walls, floor, and ceiling disappeared. Around him, Kanshi was surrounded by sky, sky, and more sky. Glancing downward made Kanshi feel a sense of vertigo. That was a long way down, like a really really long way down. For the record, Kanshi wasn't afraid of heights, but that didn't mean he wouldn't get a bit dizzy when standing on what appeared to be air looking down on the city he lived in. His knees involuntarily gave out as Kanshi dropped on all fours. Yes, there was a floor here, no he was not about to fall, and yes all this makes no sense to him which is giving him a headache.
"You're aboard the airship Fraxinus. This is our main control center. As you can probably tell, we're hovering above Tengu City, 15 kilometers above it to be precise," Kotori looked rather smug as she proclaimed that. "As for the GPS signal..." Kotori sighed. "We must've forgotten to turn on the jammer. It's only coincidence that where I'm sitting right now is 15 km above that restaurant."
The filter came back on after Kotori finished explaining. Kanshi noticed that he was shivering a bit. Calming himself down he asked, "So... how does this lead to you being the commander of an airship?"
"I'll get to that later, but first," Kotori directed her attention to Shido. "You saw Princess didn't you?"
"'Princess'? You mean that armored, sword-wielding girl?" Shido asked.
"Yes, we call her Princess. She's—"
"Hold on, what's all this about princesses?" Kanshi interrupted Kotori.
"You were unconscious during Shido's encounter with Princess. Again, this is something that'll be easier to just show you."
Saying that, Kotori turned towards a monitor that was beside her chair. She pulled up an image of a girl with black hair and violet eyes, clad in purple armor.
"This is Princess. She's not a human, she's what we call, a Spirit."
"A Spirit?" Shido repeated.
"Yes, a being that doesn't originally belong in our world. For some reason, whenever they enter our world, they cause a spacequake."
"So she's the cause?" Kanshi tilted his head. Kanshi tried to wrap his head around it. One girl? One girl, who didn't look all that much older than Shido or him, was responsible for the spacequake that just happened?
"Kotori," Shido paused and wetted his lips before continuing. "The Eurasia Sky Disaster, that was caused by a Spirit wasn't it?"
Kanshi whipped his head towards Shido. "That... can't be possible. I mean that would make Spirits essentially nukes!"
"Impressive, you might be smarter than I thought, Shido," Kotori nodded. "As for calling them nukes, that's not too far from the truth, there's a reason the JSDF has an Anti-Spirit Team."
The screen changed to show a group of girls wearing some form of mecha? That was the best Kanshi could really describe it. It looked less like a giant robot and more like a bunch of different apparatuses attached to a uniform. A rigging then? A suit?
"The Anti-Spirit Team, AST for short. The suits they have on are called Combat Realizer Units or CR-Unit for short. Their job is to respond to the appearance of a Spirit and dealing with them."
"Dealing with them?" Shido repeated.
"Yes, to put it more bluntly, killing them," Kotori calmly nodded.
"So basically, that girl is a Spirit and whenever she appears, a spacequake happens where she appears at. Then the AST is deployed to kill her. Am I getting it right?" Kanshi summed up.
"The basics, yes," Kotori nodded.
Shido's face twisted into a conflicted expression. Kotori seemed to notice it as she went on to say, "It's not strange, is it? After all, just by appearing in this world, they cause spacequakes. Eliminating them would eliminate any future spacequakes."
"But didn't you say that the spacequakes have nothing to do with the Spirit's wishes?" Shido asked.
"That's correct. It's widely believed that the explosion caused by their appearance in our world is unrelated to the Spirit's intentions. But there have been scars left by the battle with the AST afterward."
"...Isn't that because those AST people attacked them?"
"That may be. However, there is also the possibility that if the AST did not engage, the Spirits would begin to destroy everything in sight. Not even the spacequake shelters would be safe from them."
The image of that girl massacring helpless civilians trapped in an enclosed environment went unsaid.
"That... that couldn't be the case," Shido stated.
"What do you mean?" Kotori asked.
"Someone who would destroy things for fun wouldn't be making a face like that..."
"The issue isn't in whether or not they intended to destroy their surroundings. They're simply too dangerous to be left alone. Today may have been a small explosion, but the next time could be something that rivals the Great Eurasian Spacequake."
"Even so..."
"Good grief, you've only met her for a few minutes and in those few minutes, she tried to kill you. Yet here you are taking their side... did you fall for her?"
"N-No way, I just wanted to know if there was another way."
"Well, do you have any better ideas Shido?"
"Well..." Shido trailed off. After a moment, he quietly finished his thought. "If we never try to talk with them, even just once..."
Kotori's lips curled into a mischievous smile at Shido's words. "You've been awfully quiet Kanshi. Do you agree with Shido?"
Kanshi looked between Kotori and Shido. Neither of them seemed to try to convince him that they were right.
Spirits. Beings of destruction. No matter what they'd have to be dealt with somehow. The response the JSDF has seems like the right choice. They were threats after all, the sooner and quicker they're dealt with, the better.
Then there was Shido, what had he meant when he said, "Someone who would destroy things for fun wouldn't be making a face like that"? Did Shido see something that he couldn't? Or was Shido just being his usual self, helping others even if it was a detriment to him?
The context of the situation was making this out to be the arcade all over again. Back then, Shido had put himself in the line of fire too. But this was different, instead of your usual school bullies, this was a being that could and most likely will, kill him.
At the same time, it didn't sit right with Kanshi either, the whole idea of killing that girl. She looked human. If she looked like a kaiju or something, maybe then Kanshi wouldn't be so conflicted. The question was, is Shido onto something?
Which was it? Was this the arcade all over again? Or was Shido right in thinking there was an alternative?
Mulling it over, Kanshi finally opened his mouth. "...I believe you Nii-san. If there is some other path then we should take it."
Kotori's smile seemed to widen even more at his response.
"Then let us help you with that."
"Huh?" Shido blinked.
Kotori opened her arms out wide as those gesturing to everything that was there.
"I said, let Ratatoskr help you with that. All of our power will go to supporting this alternative."
"W-What are you talking about? I thought—"
"Let me answer your first question," Kotori raised a hand, interrupting Shido. "There are two main ways to deal with a Spirit. One is the approach the AST is taking, killing the Spirit," Kotori raised her pointer finger. Raising her middle finger she said, "The second way is by talking to them. That is the purpose of Ratatoskr, to resolve the issue of spacequakes by talking with Spirits rather than killing them."
Kanshi furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait so all that talk about Spirits being monsters was just part of your sales pitch?!"
"Well, I had to be sure you were on board for an alternative method, even if that method seems silly." Kotori smiled mischievously.
"So why is an organization like this supporting us?"
"Let me correct you on two things." Kotori raised her pointer finger once more. "First of all, the one doing the talking will be Shido." Then Kotori raised a second finger. "Secondly, Ratatoskr was created for Shido's sake specifically."
A brief moment of silence fell upon the brothers, then pandemonium broke out.
"Wait, what do you mean Nii-san will be the only one doing the talking?"
"What do you mean, 'created for my sake'?"
"Stop! Stop! I can't understand you both if you speak at the same time. Kanshi you go first," Kotori gestured for Kanshi to ask away.
"What do you mean Nii-san will be the only one talking to them?" Kanshi repeated.
"Hmm... Shido what was your question?"
"What do you mean Ratatoskr was created for my sake?"
"I see... the answer for both is, because Shido is special."
" " ...That doesn't answer anything! " " Both brothers shouted simultaneously.
"You'll find out eventually. But isn't this fine? You have the backing of Ratatoskr whereas if you didn't, you'd have to deal with the Spirits and AST all alone. You'd die. I know what you're like Shido. I know you'd be more than willing to throw yourself into the line of fire to save someone."
"Then what's my place in all this?" Kanshi asked. "If Nii-san is the one doing the talking then what am I supposed to do?"
"We'll figure that out later. Honestly, I didn't mean to even drag you into this but..." Kotori shrugged. "Maybe you could help us on our side with picking what Shido should say."
"On what Nii-san will say?" Kanshi repeated, tilting his head.
"You'll see soon enough," Kotori reassured him.
"...So, how does that conversation method work exactly?" Shido spoke after a momentary pause.
Kotori smirked. "It's simple, make the Spirit fall in love."
A brief moment of silence engulfed the two boys.
" " ...What. " " They deadpanned.
"Like I said, become friends with her, flirt with her, date her, and ultimately, make her fall in love," Kotori was wearing a devilish smile on her face.
"And... how would this solve the issue with spacequakes?" Shido asked.
"Well, if we want a solution without bloodshed then you have to persuade the Spirit right?" Kotori asked.
Shido nodded in agreement.
"In that case, wouldn't it be faster to make the Spirit like this world?" Kotori asked. "Oh this world is so wonderful~" she spoke in an exaggerated girly voice. "If they become that like that then they wouldn't go on a rampage."
"That... sounds right," Shido nodded along.
"Well, don't they say when you fall in love everything around you seems beautiful? So, date her and make the Spirit fall in love with you!"
"...There's something wrong with that logic..." Shido trailed off.
"Well, what else can you do? You don't want the Spirits to be killed but you also don't like our method? If you're going to be naive then do it in moderation. Without our support where else can you turn to? If you don't want to kill the Spirits then you don't have room to argue about the methods."
"...I understand," Shido nodded bitterly.
"Wonderful," Kotori smiled. "Based on the data we gathered, the next time that Spirit will appear will be within a week. Your training starts tomorrow... Kanshi? Are you still awake?" Kotori asked.
Kanshi was standing stock still. The only sign that he was alive and not some realistic statue was the rise and fall of his chest. Hearing his name called out, he blinked. Looking around the bridge, he looked towards Shido then at Kotori.
"So Nii-san needs to seduce that Spirit?"
"Basically, yes," Kotori nodded, that ever-so not calming smile on her face.
"...We're doomed," Kanshi buried his face into his hands.
The next day at school, Kanshi found himself surrounded by Hikari and Toyaki again.
"Hey Kanshi, want to eat with us?" Hikari asked.
"Sure," Kanshi shrugged. "Why not."
"You're Itsuka-senpai's younger brother right?" Hikari asked.
"Hmm? If you mean Shido Itsuka, then yes, I'm his younger brother," Kanshi nodded wondering where this was going to go.
"Then is it true? Is Itsuka-senpai going out with Tobiichi-senpai?" Hikari leaned in and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper.
"Who?"
"Origami Tobiichi. 2nd-year student at Tengu High. Consistently scores the highest marks on exams. On the mock exams, she placed number one in the country," Toyaki rattled off as though he were reading from a list.
"Eh? Toyaki? I didn't realize you were interested in Tobiichi-senpai!" Hikari said, eyebrows raised.
"I'm not, but considering how you usually are, I had a feeling you'd be telling Kanshi the rumors rather than the actual facts," Toyaki fixed a flat look at Hikari who let out a small laugh in response.
"Well... I've never heard Nii-san mention anything about a girlfriend. Nor did he ever seem to leave inexplicably," Kanshi's eyes pointed towards the ceiling as he tried to remember.
"Hmm, but even so, there has to be something between the two of them. Why else would there be rumors spreading about the two of them then?" Hikari folded her arms.
"Perhaps the majority of the school's students are like you and prefer gossip?" Toyaki suggested.
"Or there could actually be something," Kanshi pointed out.
"That's all possibilities. Nothing's for certain unless we ask them ourselves. Even then, they're probably not going to tell us everything either," Toyaki shrugged. "Can't say I blame them. I wouldn't really want to share my love life with my younger brother and some strangers."
"But what if they are!" Hikari exclaimed with stars in her eyes. "I mean, the top student in the school, doing her best all so she could meet her childhood friend who she had made a promise to marry each other once they both become the top students in the entire world! Isn't that romantic?!"
"... Uwah, Hikari have you considered becoming an author? I think you'd do really well in that industry," Kanshi deadpanned.
"Thanks! Wait... no... it's not just a story it's a possibility! A possibility you hear!"
"A possibility of 0% maybe," Toyaki muttered.
"Still!" Hikari slammed her hands down on their combined desks. "There has to be some sliver of truth behind all those rumors!"
Toyaki and Kanshi shared a look. Finally, Kanshi hung his head and sighed. "I guess we're going to be asking my brother about this after school today?"
"It seems so," Toyaki nodded in resignation.
While Hikari was off celebrating her victory in their battle of wills, the two boys slumped in their seats, looking for the life of them, as though their soul had left their bodies.
After the final homeroom, the three gathered outside Class 2-4's door.
"So... should we just enter?" Kanshi prompted after a few seconds of them just stood outside.
"Are you sure you got the class right?" Toyaki asked.
"Pretty sure," Kanshi said hoping that he sounded confident.
"Someone's coming, hide!" Hikari grabbed the two boys and ran off. Throwing them around a corner, she peeked out towards the classroom. Letting out a gasp she spoke quietly. "That's Tobiichi-senpai and Itsuka-senpai! They're leaving together! Is Tobiichi-senpai leading Itsuka-senpai by the hand?! Ohmygosh she is!"
Meanwhile, the two boys were sitting on the floor staring up at the ceiling.
"I didn't know Hikari was that strong," Kanshi murmured.
"She's as strong as the situation needs her to be," Toyaki said sagely while nodding.
"Oh, that's nice." Kanshi tilted his head back down to Earth. "Why are we hiding?"
"Hikari," was the answer Toyaki gave him.
"I see..." That... answered a lot more than it should've.
"They're going to the roof, come on!" Hikari called out to the two boys before taking off after the pair they were now apparently stalking.
"...We'd better move before she gets in trouble," Toyaki broke the momentary silence that fell after Hikari's departure.
"I'll follow your lead," Kanshi sighed in resignation. "I'm beginning to get more curious about why you stick with her."
"Maybe I'll tell you someday."
The two boys walked after Hikari, who they found stood by the staircase on the third floor.
"What took you two so long? Never mind. Kanshi, go and see what's happening," Hikari said.
"Wha-Why me?" Kanshi protested.
"Because you're the one least likely to get into trouble with Itsuka-senpai and the one least likely to be scarred. Here, I'll take your stuff."
"Well, yeah that sure sounds—wait scarred?!" Kanshi did a double-take as he processed the entirety of Hikari's reasoning. "What do you mean scarred?!"
"Just go!" Hikari gave Kanshi a push, red dusting her cheeks a bit. "They're not on the roof, just in the stairwell so be careful not to be seen."
"Fine fine," Kanshi grumbled as he made his way up as quietly as he could. Stopping by the stairs that would lead him up to the roof, he leaned against the wall and strained his ears.
"...have to defeat." A voice said. It seemed to lack any emotion at all.
"S-So this... Spirit is a bad guy?" A second voice, that had to be Shido. Which meant the first voice was Tobiichi's.
"My parents died five years ago because of a Spirit."
"Whuh..."
"I don't want that to happen to anyone else."
"So... is it fine for you to tell me all this stuff about Spirits? I mean, I'm the one who asked but..."
"...It's not a problem."
"Really?"
"As long as you two don't tell anyone."
"Oh... wait, two?"
Stiffening up like a board, Kanshi scrambled down the stairs.
"So what's—"
"Gogogogo!" Kanshi interrupted Hikari while gesturing madly at them to run. Those words spurred the group into action. The three of them took off down the stairs to the first floor before running down the hallway and ducking around a corner. As they recovered their breaths, Kanshi thanked whatever greater being was out there that there wasn't a teacher or anyone else in an official position. He was sure the three of them would be in trouble from all the running they've been doing.
As the three of them tried to catch their breath, Toyaki began to chuckle softly. Both Kanshi and Hikari soon joined him as the adrenaline wore off.
"So... what happened?" Hikari asked while peeking around the corner.
"Evidently, I'm not as good at sneaking as I thought I was," Kanshi breathed out. "But... I didn't hear anything that suggests they're dating." There was no way Kanshi could mention Spirits and whatnot.
"...We should meet up at the front gate," Toyaki suggested.
"Good idea, I'm sure Tobiichi-senpai has some idea who was eavesdropping. Otherwise, I'm sure she'd have brought up that she knew I was there earlier," Kanshi agreed.
"Ugh, how could you be so bad at sneaking around?" Hikari pouted.
"Next time, you do it then," Kanshi shot back.
After changing out of their indoor shoes, the three met back up at the front gate of Raizen.
"Well... was that enough to satisfy your curiosity Hikari?" Toyaki asked.
"I guess," Hikari sighed. She seemed dejected that there wasn't anything going on between Kanshi's brother and Tobiichi-senpai.
"Well one thing's for certain, that was not how I expected to end today," Kanshi spoke, chuckling a bit.
"Um, Kanshi..." Toyaki spoke up. His face looked a little pale. Hikari meanwhile just pointed at something behind Kanshi.
"Hm?"
"Kanshi Itsuka," the white-haired girl said. That apathetic voice was unmistakable.
"A..." Kanshi's voice refused to work. He had no idea what Tobiichi-senpai was thinking. Her face, just like her voice, betrayed no emotion.
"You left your bag by the third-floor staircase," Origami said holding Kanshi's bag out in front of him.
"A..." Kanshi took the bag from Origami.
"Enjoy the rest of your day," she bowed and left.
Silence fell upon the group as Origami walked away. Only when her figure could no longer be seen did it break.
"Whew, that was lucky. I thought we were going to get into trouble," Hikari let out a sigh of relief.
"Trouble that you would've gotten us into." Toyaki emphasized the 'you' and 'us'.
"Fine fine, I'm sorry for dragging you two into this mess... Er, Kanshi?"
"..." Kanshi was still frozen in the pose he had held the entire time Origami was there.
"Kanshi?" Toyaki called out. Waving one of his hands in front of Kanshi's face, he got no reaction.
"Kanshi? You there?" Hikari began poking at Kanshi's cheeks.
After a few more attempts, Kanshi finally reacted. Slowly turning around, he looked at his two friends as though he were about to cry. "My life flashed before my eyes. I thought I was going to die."
"You alright?" Toyaki asked. "Can you make it home by yourself?"
"Yeah I should be good," Kanshi took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Then he stared at Hikari. "By the way, what happened to looking after my stuff?"
"Hehehe... oops?" Hikari closed one eye, stuck her tongue out, and bopped her head with a fist. "In all the panic I forgot?"
"Well thanks to you, now Tobiichi-senpai definitely knows I was there," Kanshi sighed. What excuse could he use for why a first-year was on the third floor anyway?
"Well!" Toyaki clapped his hands. "I'm certainly tired after today's events. I'm going to head home now."
"Yeah I'm pretty beat too," Kanshi nodded.
"Then I guess it's goodbye for now?" Hikari chimed in.
"Looks like it, I'll see you both tomorrow then," Toyaki waved goodbye as he set off.
"I'll be going too, see you tomorrow Kanshi," Hikari waved as she too, left.
"See ya!" Kanshi waved after both of them.
And with that, the three of them went their separate ways. After a few moments, Kanshi was able to calm his nerves down. Letting out a sigh, he rounded the corner and bumped into someone.
"Woah, sorry," Kanshi apologized as he backed up. "I wasn't paying attention. I'll be more careful. Sorry."
"It's fine, I wasn't paying attention either."
The girl Kanshi had just bumped into looked eerily similar to him. Her black hair was in twintails with bangs covering one of her eyes. But the eye that was visible to him was a shade of red that Kanshi could easily find whenever he looked in the mirror. Black hair, red eyes, if he didn't know any better, he'd say they were twins.
She looked beautiful. Like an otherworldly beauty. Was she really a human?
"You're from Raizen High School right?" the girl asked.
"Ah yeah, I'm a first-year at Raizen... Is there a reason you mention that?" Kanshi asked, now a little warier. She wasn't wearing a uniform familiar to him. Was she from out of town?
"Oh, nothing you need to worry about. I just happen to know someone who goes to Raizen," an enigmatic smile graced the girl's lips. "I moved away you see, so I don't get to see them as often anymore."
"I see... well I could keep an eye out if you want. Maybe tell them that you're looking for them?" Kanshi offered.
"There's no need for that, although I thank you for the offer," the girl shook her head.
"Well... I have to get home now. Nice talking with you."
"Yes, it was nice..." the girl trailed off.
"Ah, Kanshi Itsuka. It's nice to meet you."
"Itsuka? Well Itsuka-kun," the girl gave a small curtsy. "My name is Kurumi Tokisaki."
Ah, as of posting this, it's April 10th huh... That's a coincidence, don't expect me to post the beginning of Yoshino's arc sometime in May. Unless that's actually how long it takes me to finish Tohka's arc and finish typing up the first chapter of Yoshino's... You know what, I'm just not going to jinx myself any more than I already have.
What else can I say? Oh yeah, don't expect consistent uploads from me, I'll work on this when I have the time or motivation but I don't see myself being able to meet deadlines. Maybe once I get more skilled at writing? Who knows?
But yeah, if you are interested in what else I have to offer, I'd recommend following this story since that'll send an email to notify you when the next chapter's up. Or bookmark the story, I guess you could do that.
I put it as rated T but I might bump it up once Westcott enters the picture. We all know what Westcott's like so it shouldn't be too surprising. We'll just have to see what happens at that point.
Edit 5/1/2021: Fixed a few grammatical errors along with some continuity errors with established canon.