Entry 2: Re;Take Yatogami 2 – A First Time For Love
Origami stood outside the wreckage of Raizen, and remembered the events that happened yesterday.
Meeting with the Spirit Princess, actually managing to bury the hatchet with her, giving her the name 'Tohka', the AST strike, asking her on a date, everything.
Seconds after Tohka had gone out of sight, Origami had been teleported back onto the Fraxinus, without anyone being the wiser.
Kotori had some... choice words to say, about Origami all but ignoring Ratatoskr's guidance, but gave her a pass in the end for the simple fact that her own choices were very effective. Apparently, this resulted in Princess' 'affection meter' going up from 0 to 70 over the course of a few lines of dialogue. Even Origami had to admit that she was impressed with her own performance.
Yet, now that this part of the ordeal was over... Origami had to say, she felt almost hollow.
All that progress. All that momentum, just... come to a halt.
Origami had to admit, while she was working on it, it had become quite easy to look beyond her desire for revenge. To see past the Spirit, and look the person in the eyes.
It has only been a little over twelve hours between then and now, and Origami could already feel old biases begin to creep back into her mind. She needed to focus, to not forget the genuine emotions that Tohka had shown.
"Hey."
It was strange, Origami felt, that she was so invested in this. How had so much changed so quickly for her?
"Hey."
Perhaps that was part of Kotori's plan. Prove that humans and Spirits could co-exist by making the person with the biggest grudge against Spirits lead the charge. Well, she had to admit; it was working.
Still, Origami wondered when the next chance she'd get to see Tohka was. It wasn't like Spacequakes had a set schedule she could plan around. The next one could be a month away, or it could even happen this afternoon. Supernatural disasters weren't the sort of things you could set a clock to, after all.
"Hey! How long are you going to ignore me, Origami?"
Origami was snapped out of her thoughts by a familiar voice. But, that was impossible. It couldn't have been who she knew the voice belonged to; there hadn't been a Spacequake alert! Was she...
Origami scanned her environment, and her eyes landed on the girl with black hair that carried a tinge of purple, and those familiar indigo eyes.
"Tohka...?" Origami asked hesitantly. The question 'How was this possible' repeated endlessly through her thoughts.
"Of course it's me," Tohka said, as if her being there was the most natural thing in the world. "Should I not be here?"
"I mean, I'm glad you are here," Origami quickly said, "but... how? Did you not disappear after the AST showed up yesterday?"
"Well, of course I did," Tohka replied. "But, after our talk, I just... Well..." Oh God, she looked cute acting bashful. "I just wanted to see you again, so I woke up, and here I was."
So, a Spirit could appear without causing a Spacequake? That was... a very enlightening fact, to say the least. But then, that also raised the question of just what Spacequakes are. "You... woke up?" Origami asked. "Is that any different from when you usually appear in this world?"
Tohka crossed her arms, and tried to think on it. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "Usually, it's like I'm being forced awake, but I guess this time... I just wanted to wake up?"
So... what was Origami suppose to make of that? That Spacequakes were just city-gouging alarm clocks? It's official; while Origami might be able to forgive the Spirits, whoever was actually behind their creation was a dick.
"Anyway, enough about that!" Tohka said. "The date! The date!"
"The date?" Origami asked. "Ah, right. To be honest, I thought I was going to have more time to plan it out."
"Who cares about plans?" Tohka grabbed Origami's hand, and began to drag her off. "Let's go! Let's go!"
"Wait wait wait!" Origami quickly said in a panic. "You... you can't be seen dressed like that!"
"Hmm? Why?" Tohka asked, looking at her clothes; her Astral Dress of armour and light.
"You do know the AST would recognise you in a heartbeat, right?" Origami said. "This is a situation that requires being conspicuous."
"Hmm... In that case, what about what you're wearing?" Tohka asked. "If I wore something like that, would that work?"
Origami looked at her own state of dress, which was the standard winter uniform for Raizen high. "... Yes, that would be a good idea, actually," Origami said. "That way, it wouldn't look out of place, two high school girls going about their day." There was, however, one problem; where were they going to get the uniform? Tohka was a few centimetres taller than Origami, and noticeably more 'filled out' in the chest. Maybe not by a lot, but enough that if Origami were to donate a shirt, it would risk running into cliches.
"Right then! Let's fix this problem!" Tohka said. With a wave of magic from her hand, her Astral Dress vanished, and in its place was a perfectly normal Raizen high uniform. Even that armoured ribbon she wore was replaced with a normal red bow. "So, how is it?"
Origami was quite blown away. Both by the fact that Spirits can just do that... and the fact that there was roughly 1/8 of a second where Tohka was wearing nothing at all. And she just... didn't mind that she flashed her like that? Or, did Tohka not realise it?
"Um... yes," Origami said, suppressing any sign of a blush. "Yes, that works out perfectly."
"Great!" Tohka exclaimed, once again taking Origami's hand. "Now come on! Date time! Date time!"
With that, Tohka dragged Origami along as they headed towards the city proper.
As they walked, they passed several military style trucks that were heading towards the school. Origami quietly noted their presence, and mentally thanked that they didn't seem to notice them.
Unfortunately, however, the last truck in the convoy stopped, and the driver looked out the window at them.
"Wasn't that... Tobiichi?" questioned Kusakabe Ryouko. "And that girl she was with... that looked too much like Princess to be a coincidence."
"What do you suggest, captain?" the girl in the seat next to her, AST mechanic Mildred F Fujimaru, asked. "Looking into it?"
"Hmm. We can't let this slide if it is the case," Ryouko replied, before grabbing the radio. "This is Kusakabe to inspection team. We're breaking off to investigate something. You know what you need to do."
"Aye, ma'am."
[… And that's the situaion,] Kotori told Origami over the comm. [Looks like your date's gonna be a bit on the run, now.]
"Guess it was too much to ask for things to be easy," Origami replied quietly. "Any suggestions, commander Itsuka?"
[Leave misdirecting the AST to us,] Kotori answered. [You focus on raising Tohka's affection. How's she doing, anyway?]
Origami looked over at Tohka, who could be seen with her face practically plastered to the window of a local bakery. "Not bad, all things considered. She's none the wiser, at least."
[Let's try to keep it that way,] Kotori said. [When you can, take the next street to the right and go three city blocks down it. We've set up something that'll knock both your socks off.]
"When you say that, do you mean both me and Tohka, or just both of my socks?"
"Origami!" Tohka called out. "What is this stuff?! It smells so good!"
Kotori let out a small laugh. [Looks like you'd better get to work, Origami. Keep a weather eye out.]
"Roger." With that, the comm switched off, and Origami turned her attention back to Tohka. "That's bread, Tohka. Specifically, kinako bread. It's a type of bread known for its nutty taste, and is made using roasted soybeans."
"That sounds amazing..."
Just the knowledge of bread had her so hooked... Spirits were really something else, and Origami meant that in a good way for once in her life.
"Wait here one moment," Origami said, before walking into the store, and leaving it a minute later with a piece of kinako bread in hand, which she handed over to Tohka. "Here. Enjoy."
Tohka looked quite ecstatic as she took the bread. So much so, that it really looked like her ribbon was twitching like a pair of animal ears. When she finally took a bite of the bread...
Origami had never, in her life, seen anyone as enamoured by bread as Tohka was right now. The word 'jubilation' came to mind, going off of her expression.
"Amazing!" Tohka exclaimed. "How can something be crunchy on the outside, but so soft on the inside?!"
"If it's only taken bread to get you this excited," Origami said, "then the rest of this date will leave you on the floor."
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Tohka asked.
Without explaining further, Origami led Tohka on.
Off in the distance, a member of the AST spied on the two. She was a year younger than Origami, with brown hair and eyes.
[Mikie, report,] spoke the voice of Kusakabe over the comm. [How's it looking?]
"It's as you suspected, leader," replied Okamine Mikie. "The mana patterns of that girl match that of Princess."
[Sometimes I hate being right,] Kusakabe muttered. [But why is Origami with it?]
"Couldn't it be some plan to get the Spirit while its guard is down?" Mikie asked. "A big ambush of some kind?"
[Origami may hate Spirits, but I don't think she'd be reckless enough try to fight Princess with that injury of hers,] Kusakabe explained. [Mikie, pull back to base for the time being. We need to get you equipped for combat. Remember, this is your first sortie; don't take unnessecary risks.]
"Understood, leader," Mikie responded.
It had been nearly a year ago that Mikie had started to desire joining the AST. After being caught up in a disaster caused by the rampaging Spirit Princess, Mikie had been saved by none other than Origami herself.
Mikie wasn't skilled, per se, but she had drive. Enough drive, in fact, that she had actually managed to make it into the AST. It was finally her chance to meet her hero.
Only to learn that, two days before she arrived, Origami had been discharged after receiving a grievous injury from Princess. Yet another thing taken by that Spirit.
She may have been weak, and clumsy, and something of a scatterbrain, but she'd avenge it all.
Origami lead Tohka down the directions Kotori had given, and eventually, the two girls had come across... a pretty substantial number of food vendors and carnival games.
Origami knew for certain that those had not been there an hour ago. Ratatoskr certainly worked fast.
The two went from stall to stall, simply 'happening' to be the '1000th customer' and earning free food. Certainly considerate of them to have mercy on her bank account.
Especially since Tohka seemed to be a bottomless pit for food. Takoyaki? Devoured. Cotton candy? Devoured. Hotdogs? Do we really need to spell it out?
They passed many establishments, among which included... a love hotel. It took an obscene amount of effort to get Tohka's innocent curiosity away from it. She was really like a kid.
"Origami!" Tohka called out, face pressed against the window of a crane game. "There's big bread in this box!"
"That would be a crane game," Origami explained. "They're known for being notoriously rigged against the people who play them." Tohka didn't seem to notice what she had said, outside of 'game' and 'play'. She gave a cautionary glance to the person running the stand, who quietly gave an 'okay' hand-sign, as if to say that 'this thing is the least rigged machine in the city'. Given that that man was probably Ratatoskr staff, she could probably trust it. "Right, then. Move over," she said, gently moving Tohka aside, and taking the controls of the crane in hand.
Five minutes and several tries later, and Origami had no luck in winning. She gave a fierce side-eye to the 'store owner', who could only shrug sheepishly. Somehow, it annoyed Origami more to know that the only reason this was going south was because she was bad at games.
Origami dug around in her pockets, and found one last coin. "One more chance," she muttered. "Tohka, take control of the right-moving button. When I give the first signal, push, and release on the second."
"Umu!" Tohka nodded, taking up position.
This was going to take as much concentration as they could muster. The coin was inserted, and the game was on. Origami held her button down for roughly 2.45 seconds, before she gave the signal for Tohka to take over. Around 1.829 seconds later, the second signal was given, and the crane stopped. The crane slowly descended, picking up one of the plush bread pillows, and slowly began to carry it over to the hole. Origami realised that through this whole thing, she was remarkably tense, judging by the amount of pain shooting through her right arm.
The crane stopped over the hole, but when it was dropped, it fell at an angle, and landed mostly on the glass rim.
That was... remarkably disheartening. Perhaps it was the teamwork aspect at the end, but she had been very invested in this.
"... Fall," Tohka muttered quietly. "Fall... Please fall! We tried... tried so hard! So please, fall!"
Was she... really that hung up about it? Origami had to admit, she kinda understood the feeling. All that work, and the only thing to show for it was that Origami was bad at this sort of thing.
One heavy shove from Tohka shook the machine in its entirety. Enough so, that the plush that teetered on the edge of falling and staying... fell.
There was a moment of silence all around, until cheers and congratulations broke out. Tohka looked at Origami with that big, earnest, happy smile.
And honestly, Origami couldn't help but smile back.
Ryouko was utterly confused right now.
Every drone that the AST had sent out to track Princess had mysteriously gone silent. Every operative she had sent out, save for Mikie, whom was currently being outfitted for the next stage, had been caught in crowds of people, mysterious traps, or hordes of animals. Where had those animals come from, and why was that the part that bothered her the most?
"Mily, hows the equipment coming along?" she asked Mildred, the technician.
"Just about... Ready!" Mildred replied, stepping away from Mikie. "You're good to go, Mike-chan!"
Mikie looked at her CR-Unit, which was more or less the same as any other standard issue CR, save for the heavy duty sniper she had. "Will this really work against a Spirit?" she couldn't help but ask.
"The rifle's only the delivery boy," Ryouko replied, as the pulled a small box out of the desk she sat at. "The real payload... is this." Inside the box sat one large calibre bullet. "Ever since most Realiser based companies went under from attacks by the Spirit Nightmare, we've had to start outsourcing to other companies, like those wackos at Arquebus. According to them, this anti-mana round will pierce right through a Spirits barrier, and if struck by it, with cause their mana to go haywire, effectively killing them from the inside."
That was... scary to think about. "And... we only have one round?" Mikie asked. "What if I miss? Or worse, accidentally hit Origami-senpai?"
"Tell you what, then," Ryouko said. "Don't miss. That bullet cost us a whole lot of money just to get, and while I can't confirm if it'll have the same effect on a human, it'll definitely make someone wish they were dead. Probably go clean through, if not blow a whole limb off."
Mikie swallowed nervously at the thought. "It a lot of pressure to put on a new recruit, I know," Ryouko admitted. "But sadly, you're the only one we can count on for this."
Mikie was understandably terrified about the prospect, but she nodded anyway.
Several hours had passed, and now, Origami and Tohka were standing at the railing of the park which overlooked the whole city. The setting sun illuminated the world in a wave of orange glow. It was the textbook definition of romantic.
"It's beautiful," Tohka said, nearly at a loss for words. "Why do you think the sun sets red?"
"Because of science," Origami answered. "Light is made up of a spectrum of colours, and among those colours, red travels the fastest. The reason the sunset is red is because, with there being less light coming through, red, the fastest colour, gets to our eyes first."
"So is that why red is used on the cars that are meant to be fast?"
Origami looked at Tohka, surprised. "You didn't know what bread was a few hours ago, but you already know the 'red=fast' cliché?"
"Hey, I'm not a complete idiot!" Tohka said. "Just mostly!"
After a moment of silence, the two laughed. For Origami, it was the first honest, heart-felt laugh she had had in years.
"Still, the world is so beautiful," Tohka said, her smile turning said. "It... makes me understand why you hate me."
"Hated," Origami corrected. "Past tense. I hardly consider you an enemy at this point."
"But still, after all this... I think I get that the world's better off without me."
A strange pain wormed its way into Origami's heart. A month ago, that might've been the exact thing she wanted to hear, but now, after seeing Tohka for the person rather than the Spirit...
"There is never a person the world is better off without," Origami said on instinct. "Tohka, you are... far kinder than anyone was aware. You deserve to live in the world."
"But every time I appear, something is broken!" Tohka shouted. "I'm dangerous, and every time I fall asleep, I go back to that place! I can't..."
"Then stay here," Origami cut in. "Stay in this world. You have that right."
"But I'll just endanger more people, regardless!"
"I won't allow that," Origami said. "You and I are proof that former enemies can become close. We can coexist."
"But... I can't stay," Tohka muttered sadly. "I'll just... run out of energy, and end up back there."
"Then I'll give you a place to stay here," Origami said. "It is within my power to do so. You can live in peace here."
The scary feeling called hope began to well up in Tohka's heart. "So, I... can stay here?" she asked.
"If the world chooses to become your enemy, then the world has chosen to be mine as well." Origami was starting to wonder where all these lines were coming from. It all seemed to flow so naturally. "Will you trust me?"
Origami held out her hand. It felt almost surreal that she was doing this at all. But, after the past two weeks, it felt... right.
Slowly, Tohka reached her hand out, and was just about to take it...
Until Origami, eyes wide, saw something glimmer from atop the hillside, just beyond the treeline. Years of training and instincts told her that there was a sniper up there. No doubt aimed at Tohka. No doubt armed with something that, with Tohka's guard down, would kill her.
Origami's brain went into overdrive. Calculate how much the light off the lens is flickering. Judging by how much it flickered, the sniper must be new. Distance was well over a few kilometres away. If it was an energy rifle, then time of firing to hitting the target would be well under a second. No, it couldn't be an energy rifle; the AST didn't have one powerful enough to pierce even a passive barrier. That just left ballistic rounds. Speed would probably be around 3000 km/h, seriously above the speed of sound. No way could she react to it; if she was going to protect Tohka, she'd have to preempt the shot.
The flicker of light stopped. Now or never. There was going to be at least a 1.5 second delay between the sniper relaying the lock, and the commander giving the order, followed by at least 0.25 seconds to pull the trigger.
Origami grabbed Tohka's arm, and quickly pulled her aside. Then, she was thrown back by the force of something striking her in the shoulder, followed immediately by the sound of a resounding 'crack'.
Somewhere in the back of Origami's mind, she had to admire just how clean the shot actually was. It had pierced straight through, thankfully missing anything vital, and more importantly, missing Tohka.
Then, as she hit the ground, the blood started to pool, and she lost consciousness a moment before the pain hit.
Tohka sat on the ground, dumbfounded. Her mind was still catching up with what had happened, but the truth was right in front of her eyes.
There was Origami, her first real friend, lying in a pool of blood.
Was she... dead? Was this what seeing death was like.
"Ori...gami?" Tohka asked. No response. She gently shook her body. No response. The blood soaked into her clothes, and stained her hand.
She was gone. That body... was no longer Tobiichi Origami.
Tears began to stream down Tohka's face, but she did not wail in anguish, for another emotion was beginning to form inside her heart; rage.
"I'm sorry, Origami," she said quietly. "I know now that you wanted me to live a peaceful life, but... the world, it just keeps rejecting me. I can't... my heart just can't take it." The wind wrapped around her, and her Astral Dress manifested on her form. "But... thank you. For showing me the good in this world."
Tohka's eyes turned to where the shot was fired from. Just barely, she could see the sniper; a young girl with brown hair and eyes, who looked completely stunned that she'd missed her target.
She was just a kid. But Tohka didn't care. Tohka, the Spirit Princess, was absolutely fucking pissed.
"SANDALPHON!"
The sounds of a raging battle. The clashing of blade against barrier. Unbridled fury.
As Origami slowly regained consciousness, those were the sounds that greeted her. Somewhere among the cacophony of rage, she could make out the sound of Kotori and the rest of the Fraxinus crew panicking.
[Commander! Tobiichi Origami's brainwaves are stabilising! She's regaining consciousness!] one of the crewmen shouted.
[Best piece of news I've heard all minute!] Kotori responded. [Origami, do you read me?!]
"... Barely," Origami replied. "Not sure how long I can remain conscious. How long was I out?"
[Barely two minutes,] Kotori replied. [Listen, we're getting you aboard the Fraxinus for a quick patch-job. After that, you need to calm Tohka down.]
"Toh...ka?" At recalling the name, adrenaline shot through her body, and Origami managed to force herself up, despite the pain.
There, in the distance, she could see Tohka fighting the sniper. Well, 'fighting' was a strong choice of words. That sniper, whoever she was, was hardly trying to fight back; she looked far too shell-shocked to put up much of a fight.
Plus, there was something... off about Tohka's sword. It wasn't its usual gold, silver, and glass form, but rather, an almost grotesque, single-edged monstrosity of stone and crimson mana.
[Beginning transportation sequence!] Kotori shouted. [Shiizaki, get ready for immediate medical treatment!]
The world flared briefly, and Origami found herself back on the Fraxinus. Rushing towards her was Shiizaki Hinako, so-called 'Nail-Knocker', with a syringe gun in one hand, and a needle and thread in the other. Before Origami could properly process what she had seen, the syringe was injected, the pain subsided, the wound was already stitched up, both the entry and exit.
"Nail-Knocker to commander," Hinako quickly said. "Wounds have been treated, and the clock is ticking."
[Copy that,] Kotori replied. [Origami listen close, because we don't have much time. That anaesthetic that Shiizaki shot you up with will keep the pain at bay, but in less than ten minutes, it'll knock you flat. We're going to teleport you back out there, and I'm sure you know what to do, right?]
"Kiss the girl," Origami answered. "Save the world. Right?"
[Couldn't have said it better myself.]
"Just one request," Origami said. "Put me in the sky. If I'm going to get Tohka's attention back..."
[Say no more.]
Unbridled rage. Overwhelming despair. Two emotions clashed on the battlefield. One a blazing inferno. The other, the depths of the sea.
Neither could see the world. To the inferno, there was only the source of rage that had to be slain. To the depths, there was only the tragedy that she caused.
"You!" the inferno known as Tohka screamed. "You killed her!"
Mikie could barely speak. The horror of what had happened had left her paralyzed. Numb, perhaps. It made no sense. Why would Tobiichi Origami take a bullet for a Spirit? But now... she was dead. And Mikie had been the one to kill her. All she could do was wallow in grief, as her CR-Unit's auto defence took the brunt of the attacks.
Yet, even that wouldn't last forever against the strength of a raging Spirit.
"Carve through it all!" Tohka shouted to the heavens. "Halvanhe-"
"...!" A voice was carried on the wind. It wasn't loud enough, nor clear enough, to be understood, but Tohka still heard it, just enough to stay her hand. "Tohka!"
Tohka's eyes shot towards the sky. A faint figure could be seen falling towards her. It was impossible, but... that was Origami, wasn't it?
Tohka flew quickly towards her, struggling to believe her eyes. But, the closer she got, the more real she seemed.
With tears in her eyes, Tohka called out. "Origami!"
Tohka caught Origami, and every sense in her body overwhelmed her with the information that this was real. "You're... you're alive..." Tohka muttered, struggling to keep back tears.
"I said I'd give you a place to be, didn't I?" Origami said. "Try to have a little faith in me. I've survived all this time fighting you, haven't I?"
That managed to get a small laugh out of Tohka. Yet, before the conversation could continue, rampant mana began to pour from her sword. "What's happening?!" Origami asked.
"Halvanhelev... It's overflowing!" Tohka noted. "I need to disperse the energy somewhere!"
"If it's done at this altitude... it'll level the whole city," Origami noted with horror. There wasn't much time to think, and really, there was only one option left. "Tohka! Do you trust me?"
"Eh?" Tohka questioned, before seeing that the look in Origami's eyes said everything they needed to say; that this was going to be that chance to live in peace she had offered, and that there was no going back from it. There was no question about it. "I do!" Tohka said. "I trust you!"
Then, without much warning, Origami kissed Tohka.
…
…
'So,' Origami thought. 'This is the kiss. It's... actually not bad.'
The feeling of Tohka's lips on her own was almost intoxicating. Actually, scratch that. It was, hands down. Origami was starting to understand why certain groups of people just couldn't get enough of kissing, that they had to do it wherever they went. Perhaps those idiots who indulged so much in public displays of affection were on to something.
Origami absently noted that, during this kiss, they had descended to the ground, enveloped in a gentle wind. Seemed like the worst case scenario had been averted.
Origami and Tohka broke away from the kiss, something Origami was surprised to feel sad about, and softly looked into each others eyes.
Then, Origami looked down slightly.
… Huh. She... was naked now.
Why was Tohka naked now?
Surprisingly, Tohka didn't panic at the revelation, but she did bashfully cover herself up. "Please..." she said quietly. "Don't stare at me like that."
And it was at this point that the anaesthesia finally kicked into full effect, and Origami left the waking world.
Three days had passed since then, and life had more or less returned to normal. School had resumed, as if the past week and it being nearly obliterated by a Spacequake had never happened.
Well, that was basically normal for the world. Spacequakes, while dangerous, were a common occurrence.
Yet, for Origami, there was no real 'return to normalcy'. How could there be, after the things she had experienced?
Absentmindedly, she turned her attention to the empty seat next to her, as if expecting the person who should have sat there was going to hold all the answers.
Of course, there was no answer from an empty seat.
Origami wondered just who she was expecting to be there. That seat, back row, second from the window, had always been empty since day one. Nobody had claimed that seat.
So why did it feel like it was the hole for a missing piece of a puzzle?
The door at the front of the classroom slid open, and Tamae stepped in. "Good morning, everyone!" she greeted happily. At least she seemed to be past the whole... incident from the other day. "Before we begin today, I'd like to introduce you to a new transfer student who'll be joining us from now on."
That certainly got the students into an excited state. A transfer student, this soon after the start of school?
Still, a strangely foreboding feeling wormed its way into Origami's mind. Like the one part of her life left that could be considered 'normal' was going to go right out the window.
"Alright, come on in, Yatogami-san!" Tamae said. Okay, that was a good sign. Origami didn't know of any Yatogami's. This could just be an odd coincidence.
The door slid open, and in walked a girl with familiar black hair that had a purple tint to it, and the concept of normal was thrown right out the window.
The girl wrote her name on the board, and a part of Origami's mind that wasn't overcome with resignation noted that she had very nice handwriting. "I'm Yatogami Tohka!" she greeted energetically. "Nice to meet you!"
Fair well, normal school life. We hardly knew ye.
A/N:
Just a heads up; we're not completely done with the Tohka ark just yet. I've still got a few things cooking for it.
But here we are. The first Spirit sealed. From my perspective, it's always nice to know I'm managing to keep at least somewhat of a pace in my writing.
Heck, between this and last chapter, it's been about 22 pages in OpenOffice. Here's to hoping I can keep that sort of pace up. And only two months since the last project I finished, too. (Actually, looking back at my other works, two months between projects is pretty normal by current standards)
Also, quick shoutout to Okamine Mikie from Date A STrike, for earning canon immigration status for this fic.
By the by, did you know that, with Fanfiction dot net, you can't have repeated exclamation marks? Way to ruin a joke from last chapter on that platform.
Well, let's not waste any time, and push on.
