-Chapter 11, The girl of ice
Flanked on all sides by unfamiliar walls and cold, heartless warnings, Tohka looked to Miss Okamine for any kind of support, her hands buried in her lap and her back arched with worry. "Do you think it's really all that dangerous outside?" Tohka asked, struggling to keep a strained warble out of her voice.
"There's no telling how dangerous it is!" Tamae replied. "But, with a spacial quake, it's not worth the risk!"
Across the way, Ai, Mai, and Mii turned their attention to the troubled Tohka. "Seriously?" Ai started. "Tohka doesn't know about spacial quakes?"
"Maybe she's like a spoilt super-rich girl?" Mai offered.
"That's so lame," Mii added.
Tohka's face hardened. "Miss Okamine, why do you think Shido would leave during such a dangerous time?"
The teacher's gaze fell away. "Honestly, I have no idea."
"You don't?" Tohka pressed.
"If she's planning on trying to save him, she's either brave or stupid," said Ai.
"I hope she knows what she's doing," came Mai.
"That's so...lame?" finished Mii.
Unable to keep her own tone calm, and with her body language pulled inward, Okamine assured, "Well, I'm sure Shido will be perfectly fine. There's really nothing to worry about, Tohka, you'll…" Tamae gasped as she finally looked up again. Tohka was nowhere to be seen.
Origami perked up as she heard a woman's voice flood into her ears. "This is master sergeant Tobiichi. I'm receiving you."
The woman on the other end of the transceiver was none other than captain Kusakabe herself, suspended on a crutch under one arm. "Realiser treatment sure is something, huh?"
"Captain?" Origami held one hand up to her headset, as if to make sure she wasn't hearing things. "You're up already?"
"Well, I won't be combat-ready for a few more days," she guiltily admitted, "but they told me you were out on a mission when I came to, and, of course, I had to see how you were doing." She slowly lowered herself down onto one of the many chairs in the AST's mission control room; an area not unlike the Fraxinus' bridge. She propped the crutch against the desk and brought the displays to life. "I can monitor more of the squad from here than you can, so you just focus on doing your thing, and I'll do my thing."
"Understood, captain. It's good to have you back," Origami replied, no small part relieved to be released of IC duties.
The puppet seemed genuinely engrossed in thought while it digested the question, but before it answered, a question of its own popped into its head. "Shido, before I answer that, would you mind telling me something first?"
"Of course! What did you want to know?" Shido replied, forming an enthusiastic smile.
Suddenly, its eye locked on to the seemingly-empty darkness. "Who's that?"
Nat gulped as he felt the piercing gaze shoot straight through him. Did it really know he was here?
Sub-consciously, Shido too glanced behind himself – a gesture that Yoshinon did not miss. "I-I don't know what you're-"
"Don't," Nat interrupted, stepping forth from the shadows with his hands up in surrender – the second time in five minutes – making sure to be in plain view of the Spirit's stare. "No point in lying. We're all friends here."
The puppet, unconvinced, hovered closer. "Hmmm. Why…"
"Hinata. Call me Nat."
"Why, Nat, did you come here?" it demanded, scanning the boy up and down.
Nat managed his best disarming expression. "It's really nothing to worry about, I promise. I'm just here to keep this guy safe," came his answer along with a jerk of the head toward the wary Shido.
The puppet seemed confused. "Safe from what?"
"Them." Nat thrust a finger behind and beyond the puppet. "The AST."
Yoshinon, seemingly light-years ahead of Tohka, understood immediately. "They'd hurt him, too?"
"Yes, if we're not careful," Nat conceded, slowly letting his hands back down.
Once more, the puppet showed that it was far more savvy than the other Spirit they had encountered so far. "But, if you're really not a threat, then why did you hide yourself at first?"
However, Nat didn't have a response to that and, despite going to speak, his mouth just flapped uselessly. With an answer expected, an unlikely ally came to save the day.
"Hold on, Nat. I think we've got this." Kotori intently studied the three options displayed for all of the crew to see.
"I'm quite surprised that the choices even show up for Hinata," Kannazuke noted, also studying the given options while scratching his chin.
"Mmm, but as long as they do, we might as well make the best use we can out of them."
They made their decision and relayed the order back to the ground. A pragmatic approach seemed best.
"Ah, it's really quite simple," Nat began. "With all the commotion, we figured it'd be best not too bombard you with too many more strangers all at once." Nervously, Nat combed his hair between his fingers. While he wasn't lying, per se, it did seem suspicious.
Fortunately, the puppet bought it; its stiff demeanour faded. "Hahaha! Well, why didn't you say so!" it grinned, waving its short arms.
"Ahah...yeah… I guess I'm just not always as good with words as this one," Nat joked, bumping his elbow against Shido.
The puppet snorted.
"Hey! I like to think I did just fine, thank you very much!" Shido retorted.
"Sure, sure," came Nat and Yoshinon, before sharing a light chortle.
Angrily, Shido stamped his foot. "Hey, where do you get off laughing at me, huh?!" But, to his dismay, the outburst only brought more laughter his way. "I swear…"
After the banter subsided, the three of them went about exploring the store, Shido and Hinata for a way out, and Yoshinon for something to play with. Much to two-out-of-three's chagrin, Yoshinon stumbled across some kind of climbing frame before an exit. "Tell me what you think, am I cool or am I the coolest ever?!" The puppet hollered from the highest rung. The girl's body swayed slightly in order to stay balanced.
"Hey, wait! That's not safe," Shido reasoned, beckoning the Spirit to come down.
"'Hey, wait'," it mocked, folding its arms. "I asked if I was cool or the cooles-wuh, wah!" The girl's foot slipped and the two of them cartwheeled backwards. Shido and Nat glanced at each other for barely more than a moment, then broke off to catch them. Nat handily snagged the puppet out of mid-air, but Shido only managed to break the girl's fall with his own body. With a disgruntled "Urf!" he fell to the ground, loosely clasping the girl in his arms. For a heartbeat, they shared the embrace, her lips errantly upon his, before the Spirit stood up and brushed herself off, no more than a quizzical look on her face.
"Th- That was uh- I- um-" Shido stammered.
Unfazed, the girl turned to Nat as he returned the puppet. It was only when the puppet sank over the girl's hand did it start talking once more. It giggled, then lightheartedly chastised itself for being so careless. "Sorry about that, Shido! I wasn't paying enough attention." It then turned to Nat. "And, thanks for the catch! That was pretty cool!"
Nat let a smug grin play over his lips. "Well, I don't mean to brag or anything-"
"Shido! It's an emergency!" Kotori's voice came crying through the earpiece.
"She's not wrong!" Nat glanced nervously between Shido and the figure before him: a girl with long, purple hair and overflowing with a deep crimson flame.
"T-Tohka?" Shido quickly scrambled to face her.
Tohka's face seemed...shadowed, somehow. A thick shade that covered two glowing, enraged pupils. "Shido," she started with cold deliberation, "what were you doing just then?"
Nat slowly sidled up beside Shido, making sure to be the first in harms way in case Tohka lost it, before letting Shido speak. "What do you mean?" he asked. Then, the memory of the fall just a moment ago flooded his mind's eye, and he found himself bringing two fingers up to his lips in stunned silence.
"So, after you worried me half to death...you came here to make out with her?" Tohka turned to the girl in question, her body blazing with fury. "How dare you!" Her right foot stamped down, expelling the ebb and flow of her power into the floor and forcing a spider's web of cracks rushing towards them. The shockwave echoed throughout the room several times over.
"See what I mean? You're looking at a rather unstable mental condition," Kotori cried, her voice hitching mid-sentence. "Her Spirit powers are gradually flowing back into her!"
Nat, rising onto the balls of his feet, warily watched Tohka as she strode towards them, her eyes still downcast and hidden, before violently jerking a finger at Yoshinon. "How rude!" Tohka whined. "Why didn't you tell me the 'something that came up' was meeting this weird looking little girl?!"
"Tohka, just calm down," Nat tried.
"Stay out of this!" Tohka snapped back.
Cutting ahead of Shido, the puppet bobbed closer. "Hello there, angry lady!" it sang.
"My name's 'Tohka'!" She roughly corrected.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news Tohka, but it seems as though Shido's gotten bored with you." Both Shido and Tohka gasped. "Based on what you've already communicated, Shido stood you up to come here and hang out with me, instead! Isn't that right? I think that's fairly conclusive," it cackled.
"No! What are you talking ab-"
With tears in her eyes, Tohka pushed her hand over Shido's mouth and forced him back to the floor. "Shido, you shut your mouth right now."
"Mmm-kay…" came his muffled groan.
"I do apologise, though," said the puppet. "Being second best is never an easy thing, is it? It's because I'm so charming, not that there's anything wrong with you, Tohka." The puppet smiled as wide as it could. "But, it's not like you can really blame Shido for blowing you off so he could come and play with me! I am pretty adorable."
Tohka burst out crying. "No! Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut-up-shut-up-shut-up, this can't be happening! It can't be!" She screamed.
"You can scream all you want! But, you're about to hear the brutal truth! Go on, Shido, tell this poor thing she's not wanted anymo-"
Tohka snatched the puppet off the girl's hand, effectively cutting it off, then wrestled it high into the air by its neck. "I am wanted! You-you don't know! Shido was the one who said it was okay for me to stay here with him! Why are you lying to me and being so mean?! I won't take it any more!"
"Now hold on Tohka, I'm sure we can sort this all out," urged Nat as he grasped Tohka's shoulders.
Undeterred, Tohka continued to interrogate the now-lifeless thing. "Say something! Come on, why aren't you talking now?! Speak!"
Reluctantly, Hermit hid under her coat's hood and started tugging on Tohka's blazer, trying to draw her attention.
She shot a glance downward at the girl while simultaneously shrugging Nat away and demanding, "What's wrong? It won't talk! Make it talk!"
"I was trying to talk," the girl whispered, futilely trying to reach up and take back the puppet. "Give it back, please."
"What are you doing in there?!" Kotori shouted, leaning forward in her chair with concern; eyes locked onto the monitors. "Hermit's mental condition is all over the place, too. They need to calm down!"
Shido looked pleadingly up at Tohka. His voice was soft and understanding. "Hey, listen, Tohka. Could you, maybe, give that back to her, maybe?"
With a pained inhale, Tohka's tear-soaked eyes gazed back at the boy. "Shido...she was right. You really do like her better than me…"
"No, it's not that at all!"
"Tohka, give her the puppet," came Nat's stern voice.
"Why should I?!"
"Tohka!"
"Stay away from me!"
As Nat made to dash for the puppet, and Tohka made to flee, Hermit, who had still been struggling to grab Yoshinon, flexed her hand towards the sky and, with an ear-deafening screech, called, "Zadkiel!" The ground behind her shook, then burst forth a flurry of ice and mist, instantly freezing the walls and ceiling in a thin layer of sparkling permafrost. From within rose a giant hare with jagged teeth and demonic red eyes, easily fifteen feet tall, and towering over Shido, Tohka, Nat, and Hermit. When it roared, the sound was deep, guttural, rumbling. Its fur was white with craggy, black highlights
"Uh, what's that?" croaked Shido, still on his behind.
Hermit hopped away and mounted the beast's back, then pushed her hands into two glowing glyphs, essentially gripping the animal's reigns. It reared its head and, with another roar, sent forth a blizzard of battering cold. The onrush crashed over the three, sending Shido and Tohka staggering back, while Nat just barely clung on.
"Oh no! She's releasing her Angel!" Kotori shouted. "You have to get out of there, right now!"
"Her Angel?!" Shido spat, rubbing the pain on his head.
"Did you forget Tohka's Sandalphon?"
The sudden change in temperature, combined with the gale-force winds crashing into the buildings, shattered the windows around the room, letting the rain in all around. That rain then flash-froze in the mist and transformed into razor-sharp darts, gliding through the air like a thousand arrows.
"Watch it, you two!" Nat managed to block a fair number of them mid-flight, but Shido still got nicked on the arm as he dived to save Tohka, knocking the puppet from her grasp. What shards hadn't speared the ground around the three now surrounded the decidedly non-angelic Angel like some kind of natural barrier, fanning out and destroying the climbing frame, shelving units, and almost the cause of all of this in the first place: the puppet.
Shido held Tohka as best he could in his slack grip, both of them intently staring at the Spirit from behind what little cover remained. Nat, opposite them, couldn't help but stare at the puppet instead. If he could just get to it without being sliced up…
The rabbit turned tail and bounded toward the broken windows, each leap firing fissures into the concrete beneath its feet. It exploded out of the store, taking a bulk of the wall with it, and colliding into an unfortunate AST member, crushing her against the neighbouring wall. Caught off-guard, it took Origami and the rest of her unit a moment to open fire, but open up they did, filling the sky with explosions once more. In retreat, Zadkiel leapt away, hopping between buidings and ducking down alleyways.
KABOOM
An explosion slammed into its side, knocking the beast sideways. Yoshinon yelped with pain.
Back in the department store, Nat quickly scooped up the puppet and began to chase the Spirit, until his body halted at the edge of the fourteen-storey drop. Looking down, the fall seemed to stretch out, pushing the ground further and further and further away from him in a long, drawn-out pan. His foot started to bounce with nerves. Sweat lingered on his brow. A dizzying sensation clouded his vision.
"Hinata! What's going on?" Kannazuke demanded. His tone was forceful, but not harsh.
"I-I can do this, s-sir," the boy murmured.
"Do what?!"
Nat's mind flashed with memories. Sam's hand outstretched. The flash of power. The twisting bullet. He tried to remember all the missions she had been on. It wasn't many, but maybe it was enough. What would she do? His foot bounced faster. He recalled the encounter with Tohka at the school. A thousand images filled his head. Could he really emulate all that? Was he strong enough? Was he ready? Then, there she was! Flying down the road, bringing to bear all she could to protect the Spirit, delivering the puppet, then laying the smackdown on the AST, all while that infectious smirk clung to her lips. Nat just had to do that. He could, right? He had to.
"Hinata!" Kannazuke yelled.
"I'm going down there! I'll fill Sam's shoes! Just, watch me!"
"Wait! Kid!" But Kannazuke was too late. He could only watch as Nat flipped through the air, sailing toward the ground, eyes clamped shut with concentration. Kannazuke shook his head with disbelief. "He's gonna get himself killed!"
The rush of wind filled Nat's ears, but he pushed it aside. How long had he been falling for? That didn't matter, either. "Focus, Nat, focus! Find that power, then I can be like her. Then I can fill in for her. Then I can be there for her!" Nat's eyes snapped open. The shocking reality smacked him harder than he was sure the floor was about to. "I can't do this," he whimpered.
"One shot. One shot. One shot." The words Kyouhei Kannazuke repeated aloud as he watched the boy fall were the only thing grounding his judgement. A moving target. AST interference. A Spirit's power off the scales. He fought to line the numbers up. A thousand variables. A million chances to fail. Not yet.
"Kannazuke!"
Not yet.
"Kannazuke, push the button!"
Not yet.
"Push the damn button!"
He slammed his hand down, activating the teleporter a hair's breadth from the ground, all but guessing the dimensions, timing, and location of the teleporter's bubble, and giving himself as much margin as he could to align the figures. "Please..."
The crew waited...
..and waited...
..and waited...
"Confirmed transit. Subject successfully retrieved," Miizaki reported.
Kannazuke forced a breath between his chapped lips, suddenly going dizzy and collapsing into his chair, much to cheers from all around. He gulped down with relief.
Kotori couldn't help but grin. "When the hell did you learn how to do that?"
At first, Kannazuke didn't answer. Instead, he clumsily righted himself, then strode for the teleporter room, leaving just a few words in departure, "You underestimate me, commander."
"Nat!" Shido yelled, clambering to the edge of the window, looking down just in time to see a flash of familiar green light, and not see Nat's flailing self. "Oh, thank god," Shido breathed, pitching back onto his behind away from the window. Wearily, he massaged his temple, then looked back to Tohka.
The look Tohka gave back was...conflicted. She wasn't sure whether to be angry, sad, relieved. "Is he okay?" she mewled.
Shido whispered, "He is, right?"
"Yeah, Kannazuke caught him just in time," Kotori replied, seemingly having aged ten years by the sound of her voice.
Shido assured Tohka that Nat was okay and tried to give Tohka an apologetic hug, but was pushed away, stressing the nick from earlier and making Shido wince with pain. She gasped, but then turned away with a huff. "You like that little girl better than me! I know you do, so admit it!"
"Wait, what?"
From the teleporter room, Nat looked down at his trembling grasp. He slowly opened his palm, as if it would have made a difference on whether or not it was there. He had dropped the puppet. "God...damn...it…" Then, he passed out.
With an eruption of equal parts the AST's smoke and Hermit's mist, the Spirit vanished into thin air, returning to wherever she came and dooming the AST's mission to failure. With a heavy heart and irregular breath, Origami called a retreat of the troops back to base. But, before she herself took off back into the sky, a small object strewn onto the ground caught her eye, giving her pause. She moved to pick it up, her slick hands soaking the white fabric.