Chapter 22

-Tsubasa's POV-

I glance up from my computer as the Space Quake alarm starts to sound. Everyone starts to hurry from the building, evacuating like normal, but I ignore them. I didn't sense any Space Quakes or massive influxes of Spirit energy, I wonder what Ayako could be doing.

"Not gonna go run and hide Tsubasa? Won't someone get suspicious that you didn't evacuate with everyone else?" Kurumi's sinful voice tickles my ear as she leans over me. "We can't have you doing anything dangerous now can we?"

I reach back and turn her head right into a kiss, capturing her lips and giving them a soft teasing bite before letting her go. "Hello Kurumin, how are you today my love?" I purr, letting her go and turning back to my computer.

She smirks, obviously pleased by the reception I've given her and she wraps her arms around my neck, settling her chin on my shoulder. "Not curious about what's going on out there? You don't know where Ayako is do you?"

I chuckle softly and glance over at her briefly. "Are you sure you aren't asking because you're the one who's worried and not me?" I ask her teasingly and she 'hmphs' in annoyance.

"Why would I care about that annoying brat anyway? If she isn't around then I have you all to myself." She kisses my cheek as if to prove a point.

"Really? You two seem to be getting along so well recently, like when you went to the amusement park together." I recall, a slight grin on my face. "And if I remember correctly, you very much enjoyed indulging in her when she got shrunk, I recall you saying something along the lines of, 'she is the cutest thing I've ever seen' or something to that effect."

Kurumi's face burns with annoyance, coughing to cover her embarrassment, and ignores the comment. "So what are you going to do about our little peeping tom?"

"I believe you already took good care of her yourself didn't you?" I stop working on my computer and turn to face her fully. "Ayako might not have been able to notice, but I could certainly hear her a few times, and I kept a eye on you two in the hall."

"Ara ara, is that JEALOUSY I hear in your voice Tsubasa? Can't stand the thought of me playing with someone else without your permission?" Kurumi's face breaks into a wide, sadistic grin.

"Oh? Why would you assume that Kurumi?" I ask her, my voice cool and uninterested. I turn away from her and resume working on my computer, leaving her dumbfounded. I work for a few moments, my fingers flying over the keyboard but I finally pause and glance over at her, a smug look on my face. "I know, no matter what, you will always be mine Kurumin. Because you love me, and I love you."

Kurumi's face goes bright red and she sputters a bit, but doesn't deny what I said. She clears her throat and leans against me. "So, do you know what's going on?"

"Well, I know it's not a Spirit. Though the Space Quake alarms are going off, that isn't the cause of the panic. I was about to look into it, AND Ayako, but then you showed up and distracted me with your cute teasing." I reach over and grab Kurumi and pull her onto my lap. I spin us around so we are staring out over the city. I hold her snuggly as I create my remote viewing. I make it so Kurumi can also watch and it only takes me a few minutes to locate Ayako, who's running around the city with Shido and the others looking for the troublesome Witch.

"Ayako, can you hear me?" She doesn't pause a beat as she flies over the city, but nods her head as she continues calling out for Natsumi. "What's causing the alarms to go off? It's not another Spirit, but it would have to be something pretty big if they are using the Spirit Alarms to evacuate everyone." Ayako responds only by pointing her finger up into the sky.

"Not very helpful is she?" Kurumi scoffs.

"Zuriel allows one way communication, she can hear me, but she can't talk to me. Also she told me exactly where I needed to look, you really should give her more credit Kurumi, she is smarter than both of us combined." I shift my viewing and it only takes me a moment to find what is causing the alarms to go off. A large satellite is hurtling toward Tenguu City.

"That doesn't seem natural at all. You don't think DEM had anything to do with this do you?" Kurumi asks, confused by what their goal behind this would be.

"I don't know. I certainly know Westcott wouldn't do something so foolish as to drop a satellite on the city, especially when he hasn't left town yet. Regardless I don't think we have to worry, it seems the Fraxinus is already working on handling the object." I rest my chin on Kurumi's shoulder as the view display I'm using with Kurumi flips to the Fraxinus preparing to fire on the falling object. We watch together as they fire on the satellite, only to have the blast from Mystletainn deflected by a powerful territory.

"That shouldn't be possible! There's no way an ordinary territory could deflect such a powerful attack!" Kurumi exclaims, voicing my own thoughts aloud.

"It seems DEM is in fact behind this, though why, I don't know." I point out another large ship hovering in the sky. "It used its territory on the satellite to protect it from Fraxinus, but I doubt it will hold up with this second shot."

As I say this Kotori emerges from the ship and summons her Angel. She links Camael to the Mystletainn cannon, taking aim at the falling object and fires, breaking through the ship's territory with relative ease and leaves nothing behind but ash. Kurumi lets out a low whistle. "I'm glad she can't do that on command. Even Ayako's shields wouldn't be a match for that kind of attack."

"Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Ayako is a lot stronger than you think, and she's been working on getting even stronger than she was before." I say with pride swelling in my voice.

Suddenly the alarm goes off yet again. "What is it now?" Kurumi snaps in annoyance and I direct her attention to what appears to another satellite.

"It seems DEM was prepared for the first target to be destroyed, and prepared many more." I widen our view and show eight total objects falling to earth, two of which were much closer than the others.

"Are you going to step in and deal with it then?" She asks curiously.

I chuckle at her question. "You just want to see me flex my powers a bit don't you? I may, but don't forget, there are 5 Spirits that still have access to some of their powers down there, and Ayako as well." I assure her.

"You really think they can deal with all of those?" Kurumi questions again, the skepticism plain in her voice.

"No, I don't. That doesn't mean I'm not going to let them have their moment though. What kind of big sister would I be if I dealt with all the problems Ayako faced?" I turn back to the viewer in time to see the Spirits having to deal with waves of Bandersnatch units. "Hmm, I didn't think DEM would be so insistent on this dropping."

"It shouldn't be a problem. Sure Bandersnatch might be difficult for a sealed Spirit to deal with, but Ayako is wiping them out in droves." Kurumi remarks lightly as she watches Ayako release a blast of electricity that wipes out all of the units around her. "She isn't even summoning a weapon."

"In a numbers battle a weapon would probably slow her down, going for wide range attacks like that is faster. She really is a natural at this, I don't know why she's always worried she's too weak."

"Perhaps because her idol is the most powerful Spirit ever?" Kurumi points out.

She isn't wrong, and every time Ayako brings up how she isn't good enough she's always saying that if I had been there the whole thing would've been avoided. I sigh heavily. I really wish I could help her with her self-confidence, it seems to fluctuate so heavily whenever I get involved. I lose myself in my own thoughts as Shido and Tohka break the second satellite with Natsumi's help before sealing her powers away.

"Hey, is there any way we can hear what's going on?" Kurumi asks, bored by the silent movie. I snap my fingers and suddenly we can hear Shido panicking as they learn of yet another object falling from space.

"I'm all out of power, but I still have to try. Sandalphon!" Shido calls out to Tohka's Angel, but it doesn't respond, leaving him barehanded in the face of the impending meteor.

"Why so worried Shido?" There is a blinding flash of light as a powerful beam hits the satellite, crashing into the shield for a moment before breaking through and vaporising the falling debris. "Don't forget you have me here to help." Ayako drops down to the street with the rest of them. "Sorry, the Bandersnatch units were swarming me so it took a bit to get rid of them all."

"Hey Tsubasa, there was another object that's falling. It was right behind the satellite, but I didn't notice it until Ayako blew it away." Kurumi points to a fast falling object. "Is that a bomb?"

I feel the blood drain from my face, while Ayako could probably survive, the others wouldn't be able to. I pull my phone out to text Ayako, as none of them have noticed, when a concentrated beam fires out, blowing up the bomb mid air, scaring those down in the street.

"Origami?" Shido finally finds his voice, only to gape in disbelief at seeing his classmate there. She stares down at them all with a cold gaze before leaving them standing there in confusion.

"That's enough of that for now." I close the viewer and lean back in my chair with a sigh.

"What about the other objects?" Kurumi asks, curling up in my lap and pressing up against me, prompting me to hold her tighter.

"I already used my powers to divert them back into space on a crash course with the sun. After the close call they just had, I didn't want to risk it again."

"So you WERE worried about Ayako." Kurumi points out teasingly.

"Of course I was worried about her. Who wouldn't be worried about their little sister? But just because I'm worried doesn't mean I'm going to stop her from going out there and helping them. Ayako needs to grow on her own, I can't always protect her, even though I really want to."

"Being a big sister is hard huh?"

"The hardest job I have, but also the best and most satisfying one." I turn us away from the window and hug Kurumi tight. "Let's go home. I wanna make some dinner for Ayako, she deserves something nice after today." I kiss Kurumi's cheek. "Also you are staying the night, I'm feeling cuddly."