Ch. 40 The Oa
The group is trying find Miya as she may be the antagonistic Spirit Child that Mana heard about. They can't let another Saori catch them by surprise. But they're still a little worried that it was Saori who told them about it as it seems too suspicious. Moreover, Miya would make a dangerous enemy according to what Ellen knows. Out of caution, they decide the best option is to stick together.
Aboard the ship, Shido's meal is ready despite it being last minute to those on the ship, but Hiro and Shiori aren't around. Akane and Miyuki happily eat the food along with Tohka, who isn't enjoying Shido's cooking like she normally would; Kurumi is just eating and acting normal without saying anything. She is too worried about Aki to fully enjoy the food. She worries about him, and she doesn't focus on getting any more food, and decides to go back to looking for him. Miyuki then gives a little burp as she bashfully puts her free hand over her mouth and says.
"Excuse me."
Miyuki then goes away as she and Yoshinon have to finish coloring something they were working on. Shido then just goes back to cooking anything that he can think of. Kurumi decides to leave since she has no business here, and Akane stays behind. She wants to talk to Shido alone so she has to wait for Kurumi to leave. Shido just goes back to his burner and melts chocolate for a dip later. Akane approaches him and says in an empathetic tone.
"Shido, cooking isn't going to change what happened. You know that."
Shido doesn't respond, and then Akane asks him.
"Do you think you feel the worst about this?"
Shido stops doing what he's doing and slams his hand on the counter. Akane then explains to him.
"I'm disturbed by this too, Shido. I joined Ratatoskr to help Spirits, and losing one isn't anything fun for me. Hiro is out for blood and is reviewing the footage like a madman to figure who did it. Akihiko is disturbed as hell over something he shouldn't feel bad about, and Shiori…Miku's her mom, and she saw her own mother dead on the ground. I can't imagine how painful that was to her."
Shido finally says something upon hearing this as he replies in a very serious tone.
"Akane, it just easy to accept. I've saved the girls from this stuff before, but this time I couldn't. I wanted to help her just like I've done, but I couldn't….I couldn't do anything."
Akane puts her hand on his shoulder and tells him.
"Shido, go to Shiori. She needs you right now, just like Aki needs Tohka."
Shido agrees and decides to leave the stove to go to Shiori's room and leave Aki to Tohka. On the bridge, Hiro is becoming increasingly frustrated with his findings as he can't find a clue as to who killed that previous Miku. Tohka enters the bridge and sees Hiro smash his fist against a metal bar as she approaches and asks.
"Hiro, could you please help me find Aki? I'm very worried about him."
Hiro doesn't turn his head and answers.
"This really isn't a good time, Tohka."
Tohka doesn't accept this as she becomes more serious and tells him.
"I need to find him before he does something that could…"
Hiro turns around and has a vicious look on his face as he snaps.
"SHUT UP, TOHKA! I'M IN NO MOOD!"
Tohka becomes a little startled at Hiro, but she then immediately slaps him across the face and this is strong enough to knock him out of the chair as Tohka starts clicking random buttons on the consol to adjust the camera. Hiro's ribs start aching from the force he took, but he doesn't get mad at Tohka as he watches her mess around which pops up multiple screens and other things that don't help her. Hiro stands up and then says.
"Move, I'll help you, Tohka."
Tohka moves away from the consol and Hiro sets up the monitors to help find Aki. He does this and says to her.
"Tohka, I'm so sorry I yelled at you."
Tohka is a little pouty about it, but then Hiro explains to her.
"I'm actually very happy to be near you again."
Tohka becomes curious as she asks.
"What happened to the me that you knew?"
Hiro pauses for a second as he explains.
"She died protecting my mom."
Tohka is a bit shocked at this as the idea of giving her own life to save Origami Tobiichi is something she hasn't thought of. Hiro tells her.
"During the final days of the war, we put up a massive territory around the inner parts of the city where the citizens were being kept because DEM was breaching our defenses. My mom was nine months pregnant at the time and she wasn't evacuated with most of the others at the time. I think part of her really wanted be part of the fight. An elite wizard broke through our defenses and intended to kill my mother…and then, you suddenly appeared and took a fatal blow protecting her. The wizard pierced your heart with her weapon, but you fought back and killed her yourself. You then died in my mother's arms and you said…."
Final Days of the war
Tohka is bleeding profusely as her fatal wound is taking its toll as she falls over, but is caught by Origami, who is wearing a white dress with black laces for her swollen stomach. She (Origami) is baffled by the sudden protection and says in complete shock.
"Tohka….why did protect me? I know you've always hated me to an extent, but now…"
Tohka smiles as she explains in her dying breath.
"I did…for the baby…not you…but maybe…it woul….nt have matt..mattered."
Tohka's eyes go blank as her body goes limp. Origami is beside herself as she looks at Tohka's smiling face and lays her body on the ground. It was from this day forward that she forgave the spirits and realized they aren't the monsters she painted them as. If it wasn't for Tohka, he children would have lost their mother, and a life would have ended before it could start.
Present
Hiro wipes his face and Tohka can understand his frustration. She then says.
"My son needs me now, just like your mom needed me then."
Hiro continues to help Tohka, and then she adds.
"I heard that you made a city where the spirits are thought of as heroes, and that the others are happy. If I had to sacrifice my life to make that happen, I…I probably would."
Hiro becomes silent as Tohka's death is something he wishes her could undo along with Yuzuru's death.
Down on the land below, Aki is traveling with the twins he met a little bit ago as they are getting along and he wants to know if they are indeed the Spirit Children of this world. He decides to become familiar with them first to avoid being suspicious. He asks them about their parents, to which Sora answers, with her arms behind her back.
"Our old man is some hotshot game story writer at some company."
Kenji then explains while walking straight.
"And our mother is well; she can be diverse at times. She's rather…unique."
Aki wonders about this as he knows both of the Yamai twins, but can't tell what they mean. He wonders who their mother specifically is. He can't just admit he knows as that would make them curious about him. Sora, taking the initiative, asks Aki.
"We spilled our beans all over your plate, so spill some on ours."
Kenji interjects by stating.
"Sora, good grief, spilling already spilled beans back on our plates just means he's giving it back."
Sora puts on a poutier look as she doesn't respond as Aki adds.
"Sure, I'll tell you both about me parents."
Aki just gives vague details on his parents without dropping names. But the twins seem like good kids and Aki is cheering up rather quickly. Kenji checks his watch as he states.
"Reminder, we promised to have lunch with our mother at the ramen place."
Sora remembers that too as she slaps her face and says that they have to go, but Kenji suggests.
"We could invite him to go with us. I'm sure mother wouldn't mind."
Sora and Kenji are being considerate of Aki seeing as how they met him as he was slamming his head against a tree. Aki doesn't mind as he has skipped lunch and maybe a hot meal will do some good for him.
Elsewhere in the city, Mana and Ellen have located Miya with Kotori following them. She is reading in a café while having a muffin with a coffee. She is engrossed in her comic book. Miya then looks at them as if she knows they're there. Ellen explains.
"If she's Nia's daughter, she's probably aware of us at the moment."
Ellen explains some base things about Nia's power and she thinks that Miya must have similar powers. As she does, they hear a voice asking.
"Are you three stalking me? Or are you planning to do with me?"
They look and see Miya with her comic and an irritated look on her face as she just appears annoyed. Kotori is the first to think of an excuse as she takes the charge and says.
"We're here to check on your work on the newest..um…chapter"
Miya looks confused as Ellen mentioned Nia does create manga, but Miya simply looks confused as she wonders. She then asks.
"Wait, do you want my autograph? I didn't people would know who I am."
The three go with it, and Miya reaches into her pocket and pulls out a piece of paper as she says.
"I'll give you three credit for finding me, but I don't want trouble, and I don't want my peace disturbed. So I'll give you an autographed picture, but tell no one."
Miya starts drawing a character on the piece of paper and it resembles a character from a western cartoon holding a sword and Miya autographs it with a different name, Rebecca Faust. She hands them the picture and also says in a very stoic way.
"Next time you want an autograph, don't cause trouble for the person involved."
They manage to avoid arousing her suspicion, but they continue to follow her for a while. They move more cautiously so she won't try to read them again or look into them. It isn't known if Nia's powers would work on the group if they're each from different dimensions, so they don't know if Miya is the one they're to looking out for, but they can't take any chances.
Back aboard the Bifrost, Hiro is still helping Tohka find Aki as they haven't made too much progress. They are looking at the screens when a sudden static takes them over. Akane happens to walk into the bridge when this happens and is present as the screen shifts over and shoes a figure with a menacing presence coated in full body armor that is navy blue and he has red glowing eyes as he simply states.
"Are all DEM technologies this flimsy?"
The person on the other end catches the attention of the others as Hiro tries to get the screen back to normal as Tohka puts on a serious look to not be intimidated by this person. Akane walks up and asks in her sarcastic tone.
"Who is the crap is this comic book joker?"
Looking at the man, he does resemble a comic book villain as he replies.
"Just the king of the ship before you."
The monitors then disappear from vision as they see a giant black and green ship just in front of their own causing them to wonder how such a ship could have been hidden from them. The man then states.
"I am J'onn Hol, the king of the Oa, and the hunter of Spirits."
Hiro grips his hands as he repeats.
"Hunter of Spirits?"
The screen returns to normal as the giant ship remains there. Akane is just confused about what just happened as she has a more "really" look than anything else. Hiro, on the other hand, is more serious about that statement. He stands up, but his ribs suddenly feel very hurt as he falls to his knees. Akane tells him.
"Hiro, enough with the chivalry for one day. You haven't been able to recover since your fight with Saori and Aki."
Tohka doesn't react too much to that last statement as she understands who they come from. Tokha agrees with Akane as she says.
"Hiro, you need to rest. I and Akane will take care of those guys."
Hiro wants to fight, but he is in no condition to fight under these circumstances. Even odder, the screen goes immediately into a closed off district and shoes a bunch of black robots rummaging through old buildings, but Tohka and Akane think this is part of their plan. The two mutually agree that something needs to be done, so Tohka partially transforms so she can have Sandalphon and fight while Akane only uses her blue flame with her sword as they warp to the area using Tohka's power.
Hiro stands up again to get back to his monitors, but he is struck from behind by a unknown person, who turns out to be Saori as he falls unconscious from being struck. Saori smiles as she says.
"I couldn't have timed this better if I tired."
Miyuki is her room, but she has fallen asleep after drinking a glass of juice which is mostly empty at her side. The only people on the ship that are awake are Shido, Kurumi, and Shiori with Saori now on the ship without them knowing.