Mayuri Judgement - Part 2, The Great Big Ball in the Sky:
When the show and other shows was officially over that evening, many people were exiting the building Miku performed in having various types of merch. Nearby in another building that we zoom into, it was shown it had a large swimming pool inside that even had a huge water slide.
And shouting in joy, Tohka and Yohsino/Yohsinon were going down it together. They were wearing the same suits from back at the water park when Kotori and Michael had their date.
SPLASH!
It took a few seconds, but they returned to the surface before exiting the pool and going on the slide again… Michael counted 5 times. Speaking of himself, he was sitting with Kotori and Miku at a table. Miku was smiling kindly though appearing to gaze at the boy across from her.
Of course Kaguya and Yuzuru were here too, but at another table to themselves.
"Wow. Going crazy over a slide. Those two are still immature." Kaguya said while watching the Princess and the Hermit. She and her twin were wearing their bikinis that they wore when they held that 100th contest with Michael, but had white T-shirts over them. There was no decisive winner at that time unless you count Michael himself, not that they regretted being sealed by him.
Would have been nice to know their dresses would dissolve beforehand, but still…
"Observation. You have jealously written all over your face." Yuzuru remarked, immediately making Kaguya's face redden and go into denial.
"I am NOT jealous! I'm envious of their innocence! There's a difference!" Kaguya insisted.
Yuzuru held out her hand, surprising Kaguya. "Question. Would you like to try the slide with me?" It took a few seconds, but Kaguya cutely took her twins hand before they both went to slide together.
"Ya know, when you said you'd having a pool party, this is not what I had in mind." Michael said to Miku, not expecting her staff to reserve the entire hotel for her for a few hours just so no one else would bother them.
It was nice gesture… crazy, but nice.
"Its fine." Miku assured. "I asked my staff for an after-party venue, and they got me this."
"That's a superstar for you." Kotori said.
"More like spoiled-star." Michael said, taking a sip of bottled water after. "And for the record, my Summer Girl is white as glue with silky, shiny hair." He added. Miku took no offense to this. In fact she smiled a bit brighter at it.
"She sounds like an amazing girl." Miku said, also leaning forward a bit. "You should introduce me to her sometime." She said, which her actions also revealed more skin of her breasts from her pink jacket with a yellow bikini. Whether this was intentional or not was anyones guess, and the look in her eyes could be interpreted either way.
Kotori bit her lip. She did not appreciate the view…
"Michael! Aren't you going to swim?" Tohka asked while recovering from another slide down the slide. "The waters so warm!" Michael looked in her direction, but noted one cup of her bikini was drooping down a little further than it should…
He could not help but flashback to the spa incident with the Yamais, but he shook off the mental image relatively quickly. Although he promised to forget that it ever happened, a sight like that is something you tend to not simply "forget".
"Yeah. In a minute." Michael, playing off his sudden hormonal click well that none of the other girls even picked up that it happened. Part of him wanted to tell Tohka, but if he did, he might be labeled as a hentai again.
Then again, even if he didn't… he can't win in these types of situations, can he?
"Then yooou'd best get in here, Kotori," Yoshinon said. "Or could it be our Flame Girl can't swim?" He added, cheekily, also using Kurumi's nickname for her. Mike had to say he got the joke, seeing as Kotori was the Spirit of fire. He sometimes forgot that puppet was an extension of its puppeteer…
Needless to say, Kotori didn't take the jab too well.
"Don't be ridiculous! You saw me swimming at Ocean Park!" Kotori said, being set off, and ran around the table she was sitting at with Miku and Michael. She also quickly threw off her own jacket, which went into Michael's face by accident, revealing her red bikini underneath.
SPLASH!
She joined the others in the pool, splashing Tohka and Yoshino in the pool, and then she got playfully splashed by them as Kaguya and Yuzuru exited their turn on the slide. The twins got separated from this, with Kaguya popped up somewhere else while Yuzuru was getting out of the pool, which her twin noted.
Hey… wait a sec…
"Huh? Yuzuru? Why are you still wearing your T-shirt?" Kaguya asked.
"Fact. Origami says that a swimsuit can't be considered a good swimsuit, unless it is a see-through wet T-shirt." Was Yuzuru's response to Kaguya's question. Her leaner body typed twin stared at her for a few seconds before stopping out of the pool, probably to get her own T-shirt.
They both pulled it off equally as good, Michael couldn't decide who was better… another tie.
"… so, now that we're alone…" Michael said, getting Miku's attention. "You were incredible on stage today, you haven't lost your touch." He complemented her. "But if you wanted to live some fantasy, you could've just asked." He added before taking another sip of his water bottle, obviously referring to the song.
Again, Miku took no offense. Making stupid jokes was kind of Michael's way of saying he likes you, but he did speak the harsh truth when necessary. It's one of the things she liked about him, just like what the mind-controlled Spirits told her: he won't sugarcoat what he feels, so it came from a genuine place in his heart.
"I already am." Was her answer, then she looked at everyone else in the pool having a good time. "It was thanks to you I was able to find myself again. Even after I pushed you away, you never gave up on me or Tohka or any of them." She continued. "The audience seemed to like it to… and if you did as well… then I can ask for nothing more."
She finally looked back at him. "I'm glad we met again, Darling… I really mean it."
That was a very nice thing for her to say, but Michael did not respond to it, which was quite odd. It was here Miku took note of his expression… why was he frowning? "Michael, what's wrong?" She then asked, her silver eyes having genuine concern in them.
Michael looked back up at her, realizing what he just did… he couldn't tell her though. Or ANY of the girls for that matter. It would break their hearts and he knew it. Now that he's learned the truth from Westcott, why he was truly abandoned… there was no reason for him to be here anymore, let alone look for other Spirits if there were any.
He finally knew… that was his goal from the very beginning… so there was no reason for him to stay. Sure there was the freaky robots that ran on a near limitless supply of energy and all, but that was a problem for Ratatoskr and the authorities to solve, not him. He was only a kid!
Besides… its not like he was the only person to have the special Sealing Ability, right? And even if he was, he was sure Ratatoskr's advanced technology could very easily find a way around this, as well as the Battlelogs themselves seeing as what they are capable of.
He felt very guilty about even the thought of leaving though, but at the same time he missed his home. He was torn on what to do, but what was he supposed to do? Finally pack up and leave? Or return to the West after all he's been through?
He snapped out of it, realizing he didn't give Miku an answer yet. "N-Nothing." He lied. "Just… still tired as all, ya know?" He white-lied this time, the statement both true and untrue at the same time.
Miku did not question him. She trusted him, and she can only imagine what it's like having the power of 6 Spirits (7 if you count both Berserk Twins for one) in his body with how many times he has stated it hurts him. Of course him saying it isn't all the proof she needed, she has seen the damage done to his own body WITH that power while using it.
"I'm happy we met again too, Miku. And for everyone else in my life." Michael said, which was probably the only true thing he said during the last minute. He was very grateful for all the girls in his life, despite the aggravation some of them put him through.
"Alright. I'm going for a swim." Miku then said, getting up off the chair and getting off her jacket as she walked away from the table, putting the jacket on the chair by sliding it off her back without turning around.
Then. She turned back around to Michael with a smile on her face, doing this part on purpose and putting on a show for him. Her yellow bikini left nothing to the imagination, in fact the top part looked very stretched out. Michael could not help but stop blinking, feeling his heart skipped a beat or two.
He didn't know if it was a matter of the suit being too small or Miku being too big… but it definitely suited her well.
"Darling. Your staring." Miku said, not that she sounded insulted or anything. Upon being called out is when Mike regained his composure.
"Ahem… Americans' don't, stare… okay? That's just rude." He said to the Diva. "We admire, from a respectable distance."
Miku smirked at him and his 'justification', her smile seemingly saying "Then admire me more" before she gave a soft giggle then turned around, and dove into the pool, probably as another show for him.
With him finally alone on the deck, he turned around away from the pool which ironically from this angle the camera was facing him now, he sighed and then pulled his collar, where steam proceeded to exit. He let it go after 3 seconds where it snapped back into place.
"Pheeeeeeeeeeew… need some guy friends…" he muttered to himself.
XXX
Miku did offer them a ride later that night, which probably would've been faster, but Michael decided to take the train along with everyone else. Kotori said they could use Fraxinus, which was ironically faster than a car, but that was probably a joke (she never specified on this however).
Plus Tohka, Kaguya and Yoshino were eyeing cakes in a nearby bakery window.
"If you don't fog up the glass, I'll buy ya one." Michael said. The trio immediately backed away from the glass at that point, appearing next to him in 3 puffs of smoke. After buying them all cakes, this includes everyone else (minus Miku as she already went home and the only other Spirit who was MIA), they got to the train station and hopped aboard.
Cutely, all the girls tried staying awake, but ended up falling asleep on each other. They were probably just as tired as he was; from today and even the fights between Light Wing and Phantom not too long ago.
Geez… they can all be so cute.
They stopped at an empty station, but it's not the stop they need to get off of, so Michael didn't bother waking them up just yet. He'll do that at the next one, seeing as after that is the section of town they actually live in. He looked out the window just for the hell of it…
*ripple…*
?
Was he going crazy, or did he just see ripples appear in the sky? Not only that, when the train begin moving again, he just happened to see a single blond girl in the station that was empty a second ago, but only for a fraction of a second as the train moved on its way. Maybe she just got off from another section of this train?
What he didn't see in the next car over, that same girl somehow appeared in it… watching him and the other girls in the window…
XXX
Kurumi: Zafkiel! Zayin!
BANG!
After filling her musket with her dark power, Kurumi fired her time-stopping bullet in an attempt to freeze the opponent. The bullet traveled in midair towards the target… said target then disappeared in shadows seconds before her bullet made contact. Not on the ground like Kurumi does, but into darkness itself while in midair.
Kurumi: Huh?
KICK!
Kurumi: GAH!
CRASH!
Kurumi was then kicked away by the unnamed Spirit when it reappeared behind her, knocking her out of the air and into some stacked boxes. These boxes and most likely whatever was in them were destroyed by the impact of her body, not to mention the Time Spirit herself feeling quite a bit of pain.
WHOOOSH!
While swirling around each other first, Kaguya and Yuzuru combined their power before launching a tornado at the mysterious Spirit. However all this Spirit did was open a dark hole very similar to Kurumi's shadow pools only just pitch black, and in midair in front it of itself, using it to absorb the attack.
CLANG!
Michael, using Sandalphon, attempted to attack the Spirit himself. But this had a similar barrier like Tohka's when the Princess used to be bombarded by bullets from the AST, of course only in black. He held the attack for a few moments, but the Spirit just waved its arm, knocking him back as the Spirit Sealer groaned on impact with the ground.
*kling!*
And the Battlelog he found at DEM with Miku fell out of his pocket as well. Before anyone else could do anything, a shadow pool swallowed that same Battlelog… only it didn't belong to Kurumi.
The unknown Spirit eyed the object it acquired when another shadow pool dropped the item in its hand and continued to eye it for a moment before extending its arm away…
"What's it doing?" Asked Tohka, only for her answer to be answered in a rather violent way…
STAB!
The Spirit stabbed itself with the flash drive… only for the being to start sparking with power. It was small jolts at first, but it only increased in intensity the longer it held it's position. Whatever it was doing also appeared painful to a degree, as its teeth were gritted and its head was a bit thrown back…
XXX
Michael awoke with a start, shooting up to sit up in his bed… another dream, this time about the crazy Spirit the encountered in that same complex after destroying Light Wing… maybe the robot was guarding it or something, though they still didn't know.
Regardless, Michael took a few deep breaths before laying back down, attempting to go back to sleep again…
XXX
The next morning while the Spirits in the apartment next door were asleep still, of course excluding one of them being his roommate, Michael got out of bed with a renewed sense of energy. Okay, so maybe yesterday wasn't the start of his Summer Vacation that he planned for, but TODAY'S the day.
New morning, new day, and he still had around 40 days of a well-deserved break. He'll repeat himself again, what could possibly go wrong!
He opened to curtains to see the sun was pretty close. Odd how it wasn't bright, but he turned away to get into the bathroom and…
"… Ha?" Michael asked himself out loud before slowly looking back out the window… that wasn't the sun. It definitely looked as big as the sun, but it wasn't yellow. It wasn't even reflecting the light of the sun above either, but it did appear to change colors at some intervals. He shut his eyes and shook his head a couple of times… yet the second sun was still up there, floating above the city.
"Michael? You up?" Kotori came in, and of course some Michael looking out the window. "Oh, you are."
Before she could say another word, Michael immediately spoke to her. "Tori! Get over here for a second!" He said hastily, still trying to comprehend what he was seeing outside. "You see that?" He asked her, but when Kotori stepped in front of his bed where the window was and looked out it…
Kotori: … see what?
"Whatdaya mean, see what! It's right there!" Michael pointed outside, his voice cracking in his second sentence. Kotori looked out again.
"Unless your talking about a shape in the clouds I'm not seeing, what are talking about?" Kotori asked, remaining level-headed.
Michael looked back-and-forth between his 'little sister' and the UFO outside… she had to be playing dumb, right? How could anyone not see something THAT large? "… Tori… of all that is good and holy, can you please tell me your seeing this!"
Now Kotori was getting aggravated. "See what Michael! There's nothing there!"
Michael took a mental step back, and looked outside once before looking back at Kotori again… even she wouldn't pull this kind of joke. Did she… not actually see it?
He tried one more trick, he got his cell phone off his night table and snapped a picture of the object in the sky, which he himself saw in the phone screen just before the picture was taken. Kotori would've questioned what he was doing, but was pretty confused herself at her 'big brothers' actions this morning.
When Michael opened the photo… there was nothing there.
At that point, the muscles in his finger stopped working and he dropped the phone. "Michael? You okay?" Kotori asked, starting to get a little concerned, but Michael did not hear her… this was NOT happening… was he finally going crazy?
What was with that ball in the sky? Where did it come from? And more importantly, why did only he appear to see it?
XXX
Fraxinus, cloaked like it usually is, flew in front of a giant sky ball.
"So let me see if I'm getting this…" Kotori said, now in her Commander uniform. She and the entire crew was on board, and so was Mana the most recent recruit. Kotori pointed to the screen using her lollipop. "Your saying there's a giant sphere somewhere around there?" She of course sounded doubtful, but could you blame her?
"Yes. For the 15th time!" Michael said, on one hand praying he wasn't crazy, but also kind of annoyed he was being asked the same question over and over. "It's like earth had a baby and decided to drop it right there." he pointed at the screen, not that it helped the crew see it any better.
"Could it be cloaked, just like our ship?" Kannazuki suggested.
"If it were, that doesn't explain why Michael is the only one who can see it, if anything is there." Kotori said.
"I'm telling you! It's floating above this forsaken town like a hot air balloon, only it's not moving anywhere from the dry wind that's blowing through!" Michael shouted, getting annoyed he was being doubted again. To repeat he cannot blame them, but it was still frustrating.
He then sighed to calm himself. "Look. Just scan the area directly ahead! Figure out if I'm crazy or not."
"… look, big bro… I think you need some time to relax." Kotori said. Now part of her wanted to believe him, but the other part of her was rationalizing her roommate was just overstressed with all the BS that's been going on. "You've been under allot of stress lately. Maybe just unwind for the summer."
"Yeah, cuz. If anyone deserves a break, its definitely you." Mana agreed.
Don't get Michael wrong, he understood Kotori and Mana meant well, but he couldn't help but feel aggravated. And to be honest he hoped they were right and this was just stress-induced… would be a much better and easier explanation.
"And if there's nothing there, you can both put me in padded solitary confinement in a straitjacket, now can you please just scan?" He said with obvious sarcasm in the beginning, but if there really was nothing there then that was probably the best idea. At least this way he would know if he had finally lost his marbles or not.
Kotori, despite still not fully believing in it herself, gave the order to scan the area. All they had to do was a wait for the analysis to complete, though surprisingly it did not take long to come back with results.
"Analysis complete! We are in fact detecting Spirit waves radiating spherically just ahead!" Said Munechika.
Everyone was honestly in complete shock, you can only imagine how Michael must've felt… so he wasn't crazy after all, which was a good thing that he hasn't lost his sanity yet, but this still didn't explain what the hell that giant ball was and WHY it was even there in the first place.
"So there is something there." Kotori said, still in shock that something wasn't fact out there, she just couldn't see it, though for whatever reason only Michael could.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past half hour!" Michael said. "Woke up this morning and poof. There it was."
"That's amazing, cuz!" Mana said. "You can see something no one else!" She added, then she begin to have a fantasy with her having a glowing forehead and a glowing wings the background, while she posed with her arms straight out. "I still need more training, to see with my untrained eye!"
"What you need to see is a therapist…" Michael sweatdropped dryly.
"But this brings up the better question, what exactly is that sphere?" Kotori asked. "I doubt its DEM's doing."
"We are detecting the waves, but the data doesn't tell us much about the object at all." Said Kozue.
"It's gotta be a Spirit though, right?" Asked Masaomi, which to be fair was probably the most logical conclusion.
"But Spirits' cause Space Quakes, not…" Mana said, but then paused, trying to describe in the best words possible. "… that."
"Yes. That is true. But from what we're gathering right now, we can conclude there's some kind of energy build-up over there." Hinako said.
"So… what, is it gonna blow up?" Mike asked, not sounding nervous when he asked that. This is probably because he seen so many explosions happened several times, he probably just takes it in stride now.
"That would only work if the energy was expanding." Reine, who has been quiet most of this time, finally spoke up. What she said also made logical sense, as that's how explosions usually work anyway. "With the way it's circulating, I doubt it will explode anytime soon." She explained, and typed away at her workstation, doing something. "Though if you break the Analysis down, there are six more signals coming from that invisible sphere."
"… great, its a floating egg sac." Michael said. "Now we know were little aliens come from."
"If you think that's bad, listen to this," Reine said, deciding to ignore Michael's sarcasm but match it with her own. "Tohka… Yoshino… the Yamai Sisters… Miku… and even Kotori…" She let the names sink in for a moment before continuing. "Signals matching nearly every Spirit Michael has Sealed thus far are coming from that sphere."
That was quite the bombshell, and the data seem to back it up. Reine even showed her findings what she was doing on her end of her workstation, giving further proof and context. But all this did was served leave everybody even more confused.
"… Waaaaaait. Wait-Wait-Wait-Wait-Wait! Hold on a second!" Michael felt the need to interject, waving his hands. "You people told me their powers get sealed in ALLLLLL of this!" He said, gesturing down his body from head to toe with both of his hands. "So why the fuck, is it over my house?! And why only now?!" He asked, now gesturing to the ball on screen, and also making a valid point.
The Spirits powers were supposed to be in his body, but if Reine's breakdown was to be taken literally, then for some reason all that power was in the form of a sphere above the town.
"And didn't you say you Sealed Tokisaki already?" Mana asked. "So where's her signal at?"
"That was my next question. What makes her so special?" Kotori agreed.
"If I had to guess, its probably because unlike the rest of you, she still uses her own powers quite frequently, or perhaps because she was the most recent one to be Sealed." Reine theorized, although she did not have a clear answer. "Regardless, the results are a 99.95% match." Reine added. "There's no mistaking it. That sphere is most likely residual energy from you Spirits."
"U… Us?" Kotori asked.
"Aaaaaaaah. So you were only messing with us, eh Commander? That's so adorable." Kannazuki said, playfully poking Kotori's head, which to her did not feel anything like the head pats Mike gave. She spun her lollipop in her fingers before using it to bend the index finger Kannazuki was poking her with.
Course this only made him thank her…
"Of course, this is only my hypothesis," Reine continued. "But perhaps it could be a physical yet invisible manifestation of all the Spirits' subconscious."
"What do you mean by that?" Asked Kotori, getting slightly defensive.
"In other words, your emotions are probably what formed this sphere." Reine said. "You said it yourself: Michael had been under much stress, so wouldn't that mean by extension mean those close to him would feel the same way?"
Reine was talking logically, and you can tell it bothered Kotori to a degree of what it implied for herself. "Your… gonna have to be more specific." Kotori said, retaining her Commander Mode tone, but it was ever so slightly cut back on.
Undeterred by Kotori's pride rising, Reine went on to explain. "Well, you've been through various life-or-death situations, had to make tough decisions whenever he was involved, you even had us go out of our jurisdiction only to encounter things like Light Wing at DEM of America."
Kotori was only getting ticked off more bit by bit, that she had to clinch her teeth and bite her tongue to force herself not to say anything. Reine still continued on. "That's what I theorize this sphere was made out of. Emotions like stress, concern…"
"Jealously…" muttered Hinako. Unfortunately for her, Kotori heard it.
"Excuse me, Shiizaki?!" Kotori couldn't help but snap at her crew mate. This did cause Hinako to flinch. Michael himself could make a jab here, but he refrained himself.
"I… I'm sorry, Commander!" Hinako apologized. "But, I can't help but think you and the other Spirits must also feel some desire to have Michael to yourselves… I mean, most of you are all living under one roof, so it would only make sense."
Kotori's eye began twitching, but Kozue then answered with stars for eyes. "AAAAAAH! You all want to stay by his side forever and ever, relive stress by keeping him safe from harm, but you just can't no matter how hard you try!"
Michael and Mana sweatdropped at Deep Love's statement. Again, he could make a comment, but refrained.
"Keep your bad habits out of this!" Kotori ordered.
"Well, stress is inherently a subconscious thing…" Kyoji said. A flashback of him standing in the doorway of a completely empty house was then shown. The only thing behind was an 'I'm sorry' letter on the floor. "One day, I came home from a long hard day of work, and my wife ran off with everything in the house wi-…"
Kotori: Kawagoe!
POP!
Kyoji's flashback popped after Kotori called his name. "We don't need to hear about your divorce!" Kotori snapped at him.
"Which one?" Michael added dryly in a mutter, which only Mana heard who giggled at it with a hand on her mouth to drown the noise.
"I suppose we didn't take into account that your relationship with Michael does have one minor problem…" said Munechika, to which immediately Kotori got defensive again due to their roommate/sibling bond; but before she could say anything in response, he finished with: "You all do love him, right?"
The bridge was silent, and even Michael was shocked… that was probably the smartest thing ANY of the crew had said in his entire employed time with these whackos. As you could imagine, Kotrori could not think of a single word to say after that. In fact, her cheeks matched the color of her hair.
"We've all raised good points. There could be a multitude of reasons for that sphere." Reine said, ending the conversation on a rational note. "However, as we still know little about it, we should continue our investigation of it. In the meantime, Michael should relieve the Spirits' stress."
Michael had a pretty good idea where Reine was going. "And how do you propose we do that, doctor?" He 'asked'.
"Isn't it obvious?" Reine 'asked' back. "Date them." Her response got both Michael and Kotori to gasp lightly but for different reasons. "Spend some time with them, one-by-one. Considering all that you've been through together, it may also help their mental states."
Michael was not aggravated at this like he normally would be if the crew said some stupid (yet accurate) shit. In fact, wasn't that part of vacationing anyway? Spending time and relaxing with your circle of friends? It sounded like a good idea… but it was also the problem. This was still part of the job and not on his free will.
For once… he wished things would go back to normal without anything "Spiritual" attached to it, if you knew what he meant.
"Listen… I'm a healthy teenage boy, so I'm not gonna stand here and say that dating six different girls doesn't sound unappealing," Michael said. "My question is… is doing anything really necessary?" At first, the entire bridge looked at him like he was talking gibberish, which he kind of expected, so he went into further detail. "I mean I'm open for dating, but will it even do anything to the giant snow globe?"
"That's what we want to find out." Reine said. "If you take them in dates and something happens to that snow globe, then we'll know we're on the right track."
"That's not what I meant." Michael said. "I'm asking what's the immediate danger here?" He clarified. "Think about it. If that things not gonna blow up or split a building in half, then what's the problem?… So I see a color-changing zit in the sky for the rest of my life… I can tune it out."
"While your right and it might not blow up, if my theory is correct, then if the Spirits continue to experience stress, the energy in that sphere will continue to expand until eventually it has nowhere else to go but out." Reine said, heavily implying that the sky ball may in fact explode. "Dating them should give us the data we need… plus after what you've been through, you look like you need it yourself."
"No, no, no." Michael said adamantly while waving a finger. "What I need is a vacation," he started by pointing to himself with one index finger, then continued to point to everybody in this room when he called them out, his voice is getting progressively louder with each one:
"He needs a girlfriend, he needs a wife, he needs to hire a CCE, she needs a lawyer, she needs to stop playing with dolls, HE needs to touch some grass, SHE needs a dentist, SHE needs a new sparring partner, and YOU need to take a nap!"
The order Michael pointed to in that paragraph was Bad Marriage (Kyoji), 100 Waifus (Munechika), Boss (Masaomi), Deep Love (Kozue), Nail Knocker (Hinako), Kannazuki, Kotori, Mana and finally Reine. He honestly didn't want to do any more Spirit work for the rest of the summer, which was the only reason he was bringing this up aside from his own stress.
"And what if your wrong? What if dating them causes it to explode anyway? Then what?" Michael calmed down from his rant, then asked a serious question, which admittedly was a good one.
"… I admit, we've never experienced something like this before, and there's no telling what this will do to that sphere…" Reine admitted. "Still… I think it's better than doing absolutely nothing." She then looked at Kotori, the one who had the final say. "What do you think Commander?"
Kotori anxiously shifted her lolipop in her mouth back-and-forth, and even had a bead of sweat going down one side of her face. Since a Spirit was involved, or in this case six of the seven Spirits they already knew which included herself, they had to do something.
Although she saw logic in Michael's side of the argument, she ended up taking Reine's side, but not before turning sideways and pouting, being the tsundere of the bunch. "It's not we have any better ideas…"
"If you wanted a date, roomy, you could've just asked." Michael said, basically saying that Kotori was using this situation as a convenient excuse. While she glared at him for saying this… she did not deny it either.
Reine then began to leave the bridge for some reason. "Good luck, Michael." She wished him well before the automatic doors opened up for her as she approached, then closed behind her. When she was alone, she said 2 simple words:
Reine: … System Kerubiel…
TO BE CONTINUED…