Yoshino Friendship

By : Tohka_Yatogami

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Summary

Original version of Yoshino's story for "The Sephira Chronicles"

Chapter 1: The Girl in the Rain

~April 10th

Today was an odd day for Shido's first day of school, around halfway on his trip to class, the cloudless clear sky suddenly got rain without any warning. As he would end up late for class if he went back to get an umbrella, he had nothing but his school bag which luckily still had no important papers to get soaked as a cover. Strangely this hadn't been the first time as of recent days that unexpected showers had come, even meteorologists couldn't explain the rain.

"Man, the weather forecasts have been really odd lately. How do we keep getting all this rain?" Shido sighed as he began running by a local shrine. Suddenly he heard the sound of a noticeable splash. "Huh?"

Shido stopped and looked to see a blue haired girl wearing a green raincoat and rain boots with a hood that had rabbit ears on it walking across the shrine which was filled with rain puddles. She looked to be around the same age as his younger sister Kotori, on her hand looked to be some kind of rabbit puppet, however he was quickly distracted from that as she suddenly tripped to the ground.

"Hey, are you OK!?" Shido said worriedly as he rushed over, the girl looked up at him, her hood covering her eyes as she didn't seem comfortable looking at him directly. "Oh good, you're not hurt?" To his surprise, she suddenly backed away from him and to the nearby tree. "Huh? What's wrong?"

"Please... don't come any closer to me..." The girl softly said, suddenly terrified to Shido's surprise. "Don't hurt me... please, please don't hurt me..."

Now that reaction gave Shido some concern, was she just this shy or had this girl once gone through something that made her scared of people getting close to her? Shido then noticed her puppet had fallen off and went to pick it up.

"This is yours, right?" Shido said holding the puppet out, the girl seemed a bit scared to get close, so Shido decided to come closer and hand it to her. Luckily that seemed to convince the girl he wasn't going to do anything and soon the puppet was back on her hand, what happened next however would shock him.

"Thanks for that, you're a lifesaver!" The puppet exclaimed, and in a completely different sounding voice, one that seemed more gender neutral than the girl's voice. "Though you sure did touch me in a lot of places, so how was it? Be honest and tell me."

Shido's jaw nearly opened in shock, puppet or not, most teenagers or adults would expect a child to say something like that.

"Wow, that's some really impressive ventriloquism you can do there." Shido said, feeling a bit awkward from that last line.

Suddenly the puppet who was waving around suddenly stops moving for a moment. It was only a brief moment before the puppet gets closer, it's face darkening in a scary manner, in face Shido could have sworn the puppet's visible red eye was actually glowing.

"Uh... what's wrong?

"I do not know what you are talking about, what is... ventriloquism?" The puppet menacingly asked, Shido instinctively took a step back as it seemed like the area got darker.

Taking a look, the sudden change of voice didn't seem to make sense, in fact taking a moment to think about it he even noticed the girl's mouth didn't move in the slightest... almost as if this puppet was alive.

"Oh, wait... I think I get it. You're one of those people who jokes around a lot aren't you?"

Shido sighs in relief as the mood around him returned to normal, and the feeling of danger vanished.

"Y-Yeah, I guess I am a bit of a comedian." Shido says relieved, a moment after that however, Shido heard a bell and realized if he didn't hurry he'd be late for school. "Oh crap, sorry but I've gotta go!"

Shido quickly ran off, as he does the puppet peaks from the tree, seeing him as he left.

~7 hours later

Soon the school bell had rung as the first school day finally met its end, aside from getting one of the better-known teachers as his class' homeroom teacher and his friend/acquaintance Hiroto being one of his classmates, Shido had gotten another surprise in the form of a student named Origami Tobiichi. Before class had begun she called out to him, when he asked why she knew his name, she seemed surprised and asked if he didn't remember her. Part of him wondered if maybe they met once and he forgot over the years, but another part of him felt that he honestly didn't met her before now with only her knowing him leaving any doubt in his mind.

He decided that when he had the chance he could always simply ask her, but for today he had a promise to fulfill with his little sister who wanted to eat lunch with him at a restaurant called Danny's, she jokingly told him that they'd eat here after school regardless if Terrorists or even a spatial quake were to happen. The odds of anyone bothering to try that were pretty much zero, and even he doubted a quake would happen all of a sudden... though as if to just jinx him, a blaring alarm went off, one everyone recognized.

[WARNING! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THERE HAVE BEEN PRECURSORY SIGNS OF AN IMPEDING SPATIAL QUAKE! PLEASE HEAD TO THE NEAREST SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!]

"Kids, we have to evacuate immediately!" The class teacher, Tamae Okamine, exclaimed in a panic. Everyone began to hurry out of the room, while Origami for some reason left but in a different direction to Shido's confusion.

"Oh man, I hope Kotori's evacuating to the nearest shelter." Shido began following the others as he tried to call his sister. Unfortunately, he didn't get through so he decided to check where she was through her current location... and to his horror, it said she was at Danny's!

'Why? Why didn't she take shelter, eating today there can't be more important than her life, can it!?' Shido thought. His instincts as a big brother taking over, he turned around instead of entering the shelter.

"Wait, where are you going Shido!?" Tamae yelled in a panic as she saw him run off.

Shido was soon seen running outside through the pouring rain, rushing towards Danny's hoping that he'd make it or that somehow the quake wasn't going to hit around that area and catch Kotori in the crossfire. As he ignored the flaring pain in his leg muscles, his thoughts were interrupted as the spatial quake went off. The good news? It wasn't anywhere near Danny's, but the bad news? Well... he was most likely in the blast radius.

"Oh no... I'm sorry, Kotori!" Shido held his arms in front of him before the recoil pushed him back, and to his luck the spatial quake wasn't able to reach him, so he survived. After the shock had passed, he got up and saw the destruction he narrowly got caught in. "That was too close..."

However soon he noticed the crater from the quake seemed to be emitting some green energy. He went to take a closer look, but what he saw surprised him.

Standing right in the crater's epicenter, and against all odds and possible logic Shido was sure he knew and should be applying right now even by a spatial quake's standards... was the girl he had met only hours earlier today. Shido's head was filled with questions and disbelief, even the thought of if he was actually still alive crossed his mind at the sight.

It was at that moment when he remembered earlier. When that puppet spoke to him, it's one eye glowed and the girl's mouth never opened, he wondered if he was just seeing things or if the rain had blurred his vision, but right now what he was seeing made him consider only one conclusion.

'Don't tell me, the reason she's down there... the reason she's right where in the epicenter of this destruction, and why she's not hurt. Did... did she actually cause the spatial quake? Is she... is she even human!?' Shido thought to his surprise and slight horror, the girl turned slightly as she noticed Shido looking at her, making her gasp.

"What's going on here? What... what's happening?"

Shido never got any sort of answer to that question as he heard something sounding like a jet fly towards him, he turned to see a bunch of girls and a woman in some kind of suits as they began to open fire on the girl. An explosion of smoke formed from where she was hit, but the girl flew out unharmed, not even trying to fight back as they continued to fire at her with little success. As Shido watched, one of the girls noticed him and was surprised.

"Shido?"

Shido turned and saw it was none other than Origami, once he noticed her he showed similar surprise.

"Tobiichi? Why are you wearing those clothes?" Shido asked, beyond merely confused at this point. Unfortunately, Origami didn't answer and continued attacking the girl, after a bit of dodging, one of the shots knocked the girl's puppet off her hand, once she realized this she was suddenly filled with fear and ended up crashing into the ground. As a result, the normally docile girl who just ran away rose her hand and shouted...

"ZADKIEL!"

Her hand slammed into the ground, and with that one action, a powerful blizzard suddenly began blowing. Shido was quickly blinded as he held an arm up to block the intense ice and snow nearing his eyes. The extreme cold that began piling on him made him shiver, and he slowly started to lose consciousness, but right before he blacked out he saw the silhouette of some giant creature appear. A mighty roar sounded off from the shrouded beast, and seconds after it ringed through his ears, it all went dark for him.

"...The target, Hermit, has been lost."

Shido blinked his eyes as he regained consciousness, he gasped and got up before he looked around. He was soon surprised as he saw himself in what seemed to be some kind of laboratory and himself resting upon a possible examination table.

"Where am I?" Shido wondered, hoping he hadn't gotten into some kind of trouble. Suddenly a door opened up, and he turned to see who entered, his eyes widened at the sight of a familiar red haired girl.

"Glad you finally rejoined us in the waking world bro." Kotori smirked, a Chupa Chups lollipop's stick hanging from her mouth as she sucked on the tiny sucker. "Your questions can wait for later, for now... welcome to Ratatoskr."

Shido simply stared at his little sister, who looked different from usual and was wearing black ribbons instead of her usual white, as his mind finally caught up to the entire situation he found himself with only one word to say.

"...What?"

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Chapter 2: Frozen in Fear

Right now, Shido was having a long recap about his lovely day so far. First it began raining halfway on his walk to school, leaving him completely soaked by the time he arrived. He met a blue haired girl who after returning the puppet she dropped, got threatened by it for asking if she was good at ventriloquism. Nearly had a heart attack because his sister didn't head to shelter when the spatial quake alarm sounded off and then got extremely close to dying from a spatial quake in an attempt to make sure she was OK.

After that he found out that same girl was likely not human as a bunch of girls, including one of his own classmates, tried to shoot her. Then a blizzard nearly froze him to death and finally... he woke up in some weird place with his sister dressed like a military commander, suddenly saying "welcome to Ratatoskr" without any explanation for it or why she hadn't headed to a shelter for the spatial quake. Shido's response could only be summed up by a plain-

"...What?" Shido said dumbfounded.

"Really? That's the best greeting you can give me right now? What happened, did you fall on your head while you were out there Shido? I guess we've gotta admit you to a general ward to be safe." Kotori teased. Shido was a bit surprised she didn't call him bro like usual, but then again what did make any sense today?

"Well get your butt in gear and follow me, we've got a lot to talk about."

It didn't take long for Shido to get up to speed on a lot of what was going on and where he was. Apparently, Kotori hadn't actually been at Danny's like he had thought she was, the reason he phone had stated it as her location was because at the time he checked, she was on a ship known as the Fraxinus which had been flying in the sky above the restaurant's general area.

While partially annoyed he ran outside for nothing, he was more relieved Kotori hadn't been in any danger to care about it. Also, it turned out she was the Commander of the Fraxinus itself, explaining her wardrobe choice better.

There were multiple people stationed on the ship, but Kotori only introduced him to two notable members. Vice-Commander Kannazuki, a man near his 30s with long blonde hair that was a complete masochist, showing total joy whenever Kotori hit him... which from Shido's observation happened a lot, either on purpose or accidentally.

The other was the Analyst, Reine Murasame. She was a woman who looked to be in her young 20s, but she claimed when Shido pointed the dark spots under her eye that she hadn't been able to sleep for 30 years... Shido didn't bother to ask further after that. As of right now, Kotori was showing a screen where a video recording of the blue haired girl was present.

"This thing is a monster called a Spirit, it was lost not long ago, that means it disappeared. Then this is what we call-" Kotori began explaining things, but she was going way too fast for Shido to understand her.

"Will you slow down, I'm already lost enough as it is with how I got to this point!" Shido said, slightly overwhelmed. Right at that moment Kotori stomped on Kannazuki, the man showing joy at the act, scaring Shido by how out of left field it came.

"Don't be rude, the Commander is taking the time to explain everything to you personally. Now I've gotta start all over." Kotori sighed, her current personality making Shido wonder if this was just a phase, or if how she acted at home was just an act.

"Alright, there's 3 things I'm about to say that you'll need to remember. That girl you're seeing in this image isn't Human, but a being called a Spirit, she doesn't belong in this world so appearing it in causes it to blow up regardless of if she wants to or not."

"So she really did cause it... hey wait, but then why wasn't there a spatial quake when I saw her earlier?" Shido said, both confused and shocked. This got the attention of Kotori and the rest of the crew.

"Wait, you already saw her? When!?" Kotori said, surprised that Hermit had managed to appear without them noticing, not to mention that Shido had managed to find her by pure chance no less.

"On my way to school, she was at the shrine by herself. Oddly that was around the same time it began raining." Shido said, wondering if somehow the two events were connected. He had just seen this small girl fly through the sky, have a living puppet and summon some kinda beast alongside a blizzard, he wouldn't be surprised if she could make it rain at this point.

"We had already been tracking Hermit, that's this spirit's Code Name, by then. However we didn't notice any disruption of her spirit numbers at that time. As for why she didn't create a spatial quake we aren't fully sure." Kannazuki said holding a tablet showing information.

"We can wrack our heads around that mystery later. Now, ready for 2?" Kotori asked. The picture changes to a captured image of the girls that had shown up, the group Origami was apparently a part of.

"This is ground force's Anti-Spirits Team, or AST as they're better known. When a Spirit appears, the AST fly to their location to take care of it."

Kotori suddenly frowned, showing Shido she was about to say something pretty serious.

"In this case by 'take care', we mean they kill them." Kotori explained.

"What? Kill!" Shido exclaimed, and suddenly the girl's earlier reaction from their first meeting came to mind.

"Don't hurt me... please, please don't hurt me."

Shido could only stare before showing some anger.

"How could they fire on a little girl!? She wasn't even trying to fight, she was running away from them!" Shido yelled, clearly unable to see the AST's actions as anything good. Kotori sighed, while she understood why Shido would ask that, meeting Hermit first out of all the Spirits wasn't exactly the most accurate way to show how all of them reacted.

"Well aside from what she looks like not mattering to the AST, Hermit's the only Spirit that reacts in such a docile manner. She's not the only Spirit you know? Many others they've attacked have struck back, even if only in self-defense. As long as they're a Spirit, that's all they'll judge her by." Kotori said honestly, Shido looked down to the ground looking almost helpless.

"Now for 3, the reason you've been brought here. There's a way we can deal with the Spirits without relying on the AST, and without having to kill them."

"Huh? Me, but what can I do?" Shido inquired, unaware of something that Kotori quite clearly knew, even if he didn't know it. He immediately got worried and regretted asking when Kotori smirked at him, and with how she was acting right now... Shido could only expect trouble from seeing it.

~Around a week later

Shido walked through town with his umbrella, dark spots under his eyes from a severe lack of sleep. Apparently whatever Shido could do to help the Spirits had a very strange method behind it... dating, so he had to beat an entire dating sim by clearing all its routes, and for some reason Kotori threatened to expose some of his secrets in some unknown manner if he didn't meet certain deadlines. He had to stay up late for most of the week, even pulling an all-nighter to complete the final route on time.

"Man, why does she have to be so mean in her 'Commander mode', at this rate she'll do me before any Spirit would." Shido groaned, clearly exhausted by the lack of sleep. Suddenly the sound of something being knocked over was heard and Shido turned to look, in one of the alley ways, Shido quickly noticed Hermit looking around for something.

"It's you."

The girl turned once she heard the voice and was frightened, quickly starting to run off.

"Wait, hold on a second! Don't run away!" Shido soon noticed her left hand was missing something important. "Hey, where's your friend at?"

The girl stopped running, at first Shido expected her to just continue... but soon she ran at him, grabbing onto his jacket, it didn't take long for Shido to remember what happened with the AST and what likely happened.

"Wait, is that what you're looking for?" Shido asked.

The girl looked at him and nodded, and after struggling for a moment...

"Yes." The girl softly said, trying not to cry.

Shido moved his hand to the headset placed in his right ear, a gift from Kotori in case he needed any help from Fraxinus in either a response to a Spirit or other assistance.

"Hey Kotori, are you seeing this?" Shido asked. Meanwhile on the Fraxinus, Kotori was checking through the recordings alongside the crew.

"Yeah, we're analyzing the video now. You take the lead on the search, it's best we take a back seat on this so her attention's only on you. Remember, the point is to help improve her emotional state towards you. If we find anything I'll tell you." Kotori said, focusing for any clues in the video feed.

Shido nods after hearing that.

"Got it."

Shido soon looks to the girl, and soon realizes there's something he had forgotten to ask her up until now.

"We're gonna help you find your friend, but first I have a question. What's your name? It would help if I knew what to call you." Shido asked gently.

"It's... my name is... Yoshino. The puppet we're looking for is... Yoshinon, my best friend." 'Yoshino' quietly answered, clearly uncomfortable talking on her own due to extreme timidity and possibly the result of constant experiences with the AST.

"Yoshino, that's a nice name." Shido replied. Yoshino prepared to walk off and start searching, but before she could. "Wait, hold on."

Yoshino turned as Shido handed his umbrella to her.

"Take it, you could catch a bad cold in a rainstorm like this."

Yoshino looked at him then at the umbrella handle, then back at him again. The act kinda confused her for a multitude of reasons. Due to her powers creating the rain, and the nature of her astral dress, she wasn't able to get wet and she was completely unfamiliar with the term "sick", something that a Spirit likely couldn't become.

"Don't worry I'll be alright, really. I want you to have it." Shido smiled.

Despite Yoshino honestly not getting it, the fact Shido showed any kind of care for her made her feel a bit happy.

"Thank you, that's... very kind." Yoshino softly said.

The two began searching around the area, Shido honestly not sure how long the two of them had spent searching for Yoshinon's body, though their search came to an interruption when Yoshino's stomach grumbled a bit to her surprise. It seems even Spirits had to eat, they did look human enough after all despite not actually begin Human.

"Are you hungry?" Shido asked out of concern.

Yoshino shook her head, not wanting to admit it... her stomach refused to accept the small fib and growled again much louder. Yoshino's face turned slightly red, and she pulled her hood over her head more out of embarrassment.

"Come on, let's go to my house and eat there." Shido said, causing Yoshino to look at him.

~Itsuka Residence

Shido began cooking some food while Yoshino stared at the TV, even though it wasn't even on. "You sure love Yoshinon, don't you? Most people would give up and find a new puppet. She's that important to you, huh?"

"She is... Yoshinon's my best friend, and... she's my hero." Yoshino softly said, causing Shido to turn to look at her while she turned around to continue answering.

"See... Yoshinon's always been with me, she's the greatest. She's who I want to be, she's... so brave, so strong. She's not pathetic like I am." Shido listened closely, it seemed like Yoshinon really wasn't just a puppet after what he had seen, but this seemed to confirm it.

"If I could be more like her, I'd be so happy... but I'm not, and I'll never be." Yoshino finished sadly.

"Hmm... I don't know how much it means coming from me, but I like you just the way you are." Shido said honestly, Yoshino's cheeks become a bit rosy and she pulls her hood over her head more to his surprise. "Is something wrong?"

"...No one's ever said that before, thank you. It's... nice." Yoshino said shyly, Shido smiled before bringing the finished meal, Oyakodon, to the table. He quickly handed a spoon to eat it with. She took a spoonful and blew on it before taking a bite, and soon Shido noticed her hitting the table making him worry it was too hot, but luckily...

"It's... delicious."

Shido smiled at that.

"I'm happy you like it."

A little while after, Yoshino finished eating her oyakodon and Shido put the bowl in the sink. That's when he took the chance to ask her a few more questions.

"Hey Yoshino, why is it you don't try to fight back when the AST attacks you?" Shido questioned.

"Because... I don't like pain." Yoshino softly spoke with some sadness in her voice.

"I don't like being hurt... or being scared... I can't stand it. I bet everyone hates those things though, how could they not? Any creature that feels has to despise them... don't you think so?"

The more Shido listened, the more he found it hard to believe this little girl wasn't human. It almost seemed like she was human, she just wasn't a normal one, not that different from a comic book superhero.

"Then again... I'm just a big scaredy cat. When I'm scared, I freeze up. I can't think... or move... or speak... I'm so afraid. It's like I can't do anything at all, except stand there hoping for someone to save me." Yoshino continued, all but beginning to cry at this point.

"The truth is I'm nothing like Yoshinon, when I'm in danger... she's right there by my side. She gives me the courage I don't have on my own, that's why she's my hero." Suddenly Yoshino gasped as Shido began to pet her head.

"Why are you petting me?"

"Because I'm here to protect you." Shido said, not even hesitating. Yoshino stares as if she heard the impossible at that moment.

"And I'll make sure we find Yoshinon, but...you won't need to rely on her to protect you anymore. Cause I'm gonna be your hero now."

Yoshino's eyes shine a bit, shocked by what she was haring.

'That's right, it doesn't matter if she's a Human or a Spirit, a girl as kind as she is deserves nothing less.' Shido thought, more determined than ever now to help her.

"Thanks so much for your kindness... oh, I... I don't even know what your name is." Yoshino said softly.

Shido gasped, realizing he hadn't even shared his name with her, heck he hadn't noticed she hadn't referred to him by name until just now.

"Oh, well that's embarrassing. I guess I should fix that right now. My name's Shido Itsuka." Shido answered.

"Shido... Itsuka." Yoshino said, however before anything more happened. The door to the kitchen suddenly opened to Shido's surprise, and Yoshino immediately teleported away to his further shock by instinct, it was clear why when the said person who got in happened to be Origami.

"ORIGAMI! W-what the, how did you get in my house!?" Shido said, he was so panicked he didn't even realize Kotori had screamed the same thing through the headset, even though she wasn't intended to.

"Nothing much, I simply memorized the mechanism behind your lock's shape and used this pin to act like the key and let me inside." Origami said plainly, acting like it was no big deal.

Shido and nearly everyone else in the world would heavily disagree and consider that a stalker act. Heck, if it wasn't for the fact Shido knew Origami, he'd call the cops on her and claim she was committing burglary.

"Shido, about last week. Keep it to yourself. In fact, it's best you forget. Spirits are an enemy I must defeat."

Shido sweated a bit at that, even Origami who treated the Spirits like some kind of plague.

"Why? You really think they're so evil?" Shido asked, though quickly he saw Origami's hand tighten in a fist, and her normally stoic expression was given anger.

"Spirits killed my parents, they burned them." Shido's eyes slightly widened at that, remembering what Kotori had told him before how some did retaliate against the AST... but to actually kill someone? Kotori didn't mention that, did they not know, or was Origami justifying something and using Spirits as her blame.

"They are very evil... and they will pay." Origami's scowl worsened, and she hoped Shido would finally see things her way, except...

"Have you ever even talked to a Spirit before?" Shido asked.

Origami's scowl appeared, suddenly replaced with her stoic expression, but slight confusion and surprise that she was asked that question.

"What are you trying to say?" Origami asked.

"I'm saying I've talked to one, and she wasn't anything like you described them." Shido answered, and that caught Origami by surprise, for more than the fact he was actually trying to defend the Spirits.

"That's too dangerous, you shouldn't do that." Origami said, trying to keep her calm. Had it not been Shido she was talking to, she'd probably have done something serious for being told what she just heard.

"Look, I get it, there's probably at least one bad spirit out there. It could be the one who killed your parents, maybe another one or two possible... but they're not all bad." Shido continued seriously, Origami staring as if to try and notice something to prove to her he was brainwashed or something... but she didn't see a thing.

"I saw it firsthand, the Spirit from that day never tried to hurt you, if anything she only bothered to retaliate because you and those other girls attacked her first."

"So... promise me you'll stop hurting good people! You're a good person, and I bet most of them are no different." Shido finished.

"...I guess that's where our views diverge then, because I will never forgive the Spirits. Even if you're right." Origami stood up and left, and Shido stared as the door closed. He looked down sadly, wondering how likely he and her would be enemies as he tried to save Spirits, but she tried to hunt them down.

"Shido, sorry for interjecting at a time like this, but we found out where Yoshinon is." Kotori said, Shido's eyes widen as her heard it through the headset.

"You did, where is she?" Shido asked.

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Chapter 3: Sunshine of the Heart

Shido looked through the still uncleaned rubble from the other day, trying to hurry and find Yoshinon within the mess.

Once he had learned where Yoshinon had ended up he rushed out of the house fast he nearly dropped his headset in the process, hoping he'd find her before Yoshinon was pulled into trouble again. Shido could still recall what Kotori had said as he focused on his tireless search.

~1 Hour ago

"You did, where is she?" Shido asked, needing to find her now.

"Back when you and Yoshino first met, she had been flying over the arcade area when the AST's fire had knocked Yoshino off her hands, we didn't see any of them go near it and the in that area debris still further on the list to be cleaned up due to its size." Kotori explained, the video feed telling where she fell but not enough to be specific.

"The exact spot we're not sure, but if you wanna find her I'd look there. You should hurry, Yoshino got 'Lost' the moment Origami came in."

"Lost? What does that mean?" Shido asked confused, unsure what that term meant for Spirits.

"It means she went back to wherever the Spirits come from, and I think I don't need to tell you what that means if she comes back." Kotori said, heavily implying the danger.

Shido's eyes widened as he quickly realized another spatial quake could happen at any moment and put Yoshino in danger. With that he rushed outside the house, ignoring the fact he didn't grab his umbrella as he ran through the pouring rain.

~Present Time, near Tenguu City's Arcade

Shido kept digging around, still finding no signs of Yoshinon. Then as if to mock his luck once again...

[WARNING! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THERE HAVE BEEN PRECURSORY SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING SPATIAL QUAKE!]

Shido quickly turned as the area's structure slowly began changing to prepare the shelters and limit danger, Yoshino was about to return to his world and he still hadn't found Yoshinon yet.

"No, not yet! I still need more time!" Shido yelled feeling helpless, luckily however it seems luck hadn't been mocking him as the shifting of the buildings caused part of the rubble to move, revealing something white buried on it. "Huh? Wait, it couldn't be..."

Shido moves it and sees Yoshinon was the white object, a bit dirty and ruffled up, but intact and OK.

"Yes, I found her!" Shido cheered.

"Shido, we're going to beam you onto the Fraxinus! Once the quake goes off we'll get you over to Yoshino's location immediately!" Kotori yelled, her and the entire Fraxinus crew taking action now that Yoshinon was retrieved. Shido didn't even get to ask what they meant by beaming him up until he had already been teleported onto the ship.

It didn't take long for Yoshino's small spatial quake to go off far away from Shido's initial location, and the AST had arrived in mere moments. Without Yoshinon by her side, Yoshino quickly flew away before they had even begun firing at her, completely terrified without her or Shido present. As she flew, an AST member surprised her by flying in front of her path and firing, the surprise suddenly caused Yoshino to crash into the ground.

"Yes, we've got her right where we want her." Ryouko, the AST's captain, said. Origami flew beside her while Yoshino only weakly looked at them petrified. "All troops, focus all your ammo on Hermit while we have the chance!"

Ryouko and the others all began firing at her, their shots flying towards Yoshino. It was shortly after that Shido was beamed into the area and saw this from afar.

"YOSHINO!" Shido screamed loudly.

Yoshino soon raised her hand before throwing it to the ground, and a familiar word rang through the air.

"ZADKIEL!" Yoshino shouted loudly, and soon all the incoming fire was blown away as a small snow cover suddenly went off. Shido stared at it having been pelted to unconsciousness by a blizzard last time she shouted it, but this time it didn't go that far, and the silhouette he once saw revealed itself.

A giant mechanical looking rabbit with two glowing red eyes, Yoshino put her hands into part of its neck, almost like that of a puppeteer controlling a puppet's movements as the unknown creature roared in response.

"Oh no... it's her Angel." Origami muttered under her breath.

The landscape began to freeze over as Zadkiel suddenly began to run through the air and across the buildings, trying to help Yoshino run away. The AST tried to continue their fire, but Zadkiel turned to them and suddenly a beam of ice, the wizards who tried to defend with their territories were soon frozen in ice shaped by their very own magic that quickly fell to the ground.

"Kotori, what... what is this thing?" Shido questioned in horror.

"That's Yoshino's Angel, to make a long story short, it's a Spirit's weapon and ultimate line of defense. Essentially at this very moment you're seeing what she's fully capable of!" Kotori sweated, worrying how Shido would handle this.

Kotori secretly wished Shido had met a Spirit like Princess at this moment whose Angel wasn't any less dangerous, but a lot easier to predict. Yoshino looked, and despite the powerful puppet weapon Yoshino was controlling, she clearly saw she was still afraid.

"She's still terrified... I can't stand to see her make that face, to be alone. She's still not trying to hurt anyone even now!" Shido soon began running to the top of one of the nearby buildings he noticed Yoshino's path was heading towards. After he reached the top and she got close by... "Yoshino!"

He shouted, catching her attention. "It's me, I'm here! And not just me either!" Shido soon takes Yoshino out of where he had been keeping her, making sure she saw her.

Yoshino gasped as she saw them. "Shido... Yoshinon... you came." Yoshino said quietly, Zadkiel halted to a stop as it sensed Yoshino calming down. Unfortunately, before Shido could do anything, Origami fires at Yoshino alongside some others. It was at that moment that Ryouko finally noticed him.

"Hey, what are you doing? It's not safe here!" Ryouko shouted, Shido looked back for a moment, but she was surprised when he turned back and ignored her.

'Why is he even out here, doesn't he see all of this!?' She thought, no less confused than Origami had been earlier. She unfortunately didn't have time to think about it as Zadkiel's eyes glowed again, and it prepared another ice beam towards them, the AST all retreated... but Shido however decided to stay.

"What are you doing Shido!? Get out of there, if that hits you then who knows what could happen!" Kotori screamed, hoping Shido would change his mind hearing her worried voice, but to her dismay it didn't work.

Even Origami and Ryouko stared in worry, but they couldn't act because the beam could fire right as they tried. Shido closed his eyes and soon the beam fired right at him.

"SHIDO!"

Soon after the beam finally dispersed, Shido opened his eyes wondering what had happened, and looking around him a small cover of ice had shielded him from the blast.

"I'm alright, but this ice... Yoshino?" Zadkiel stared before moving away, the AST members chasing after it and Yoshino. Origami stared at the ice cover as it broke, confused, initially, but quickly shrugging it off as she followed.

"What... what just happened?" Kotori wondered, her eyes shaking from what she and the others just saw, Shido was clearly in the line of fire defenseless and yet... he wasn't harmed in the slightest as a cover of ice shielded him. Reine, who was usually stoic in such situations, was the one who turned to answer her.

"I can see two possible outcomes. Considering the nature of her puppet Yoshinon, it could be possible due to holding her that she shielded him from the blast or is immune to it herself. However..." Reine explained, turning back to the screen.

"...what seems more likely is that her Angel purposely missed him because it realized Yoshino didn't want Shin to be hurt. Almost like it responded to her feelings."

"Her... feelings?" Kotori repeated, soon giving a silent gasp as a certain memory entered her hand, wondering if what Reine said was right.

Meanwhile back with Shido, he took a look at the currently inactive and silent Yoshinon in his arms, wondering what had happened.

"Did you protect me, or... no, it's like Yoshino asked that giant puppet not to hurt me." Shido wondered, soon putting Yoshinon back inside his shirt.

As Yoshino and Zadkiel dealt with more incoming fire, and even an energy net binding them, he tried to get closer... but Zadkiel was finally overwhelmed by Yoshino's fear and created a powerful funnel shaped blizzard.

"Dang it, this is bad. It looks like the blizzard's eating the magical power from our Realizers and using it to strengthen its defenses." Ryouko said, gritting her teeth at their inability to act. "Not to mention if we lowered our territory the ice will rip us to shred, and physical attacks won't do a thing."

Soon however Ryouko noticed Origami using her territory to break of part of a building.

"Wait, what is this!? What are you doing?" Ryouko questioned, flabbergasted by Origami's action.

"I'll use sheer force to rip the barrier apart, be ready to attack the moment it falls!" Origami barely got out, struggling to hold the structure and not drop it while she took to the sky.

Once she got in range, she prepared to throw it, only for a sudden wave of flame to fly through and wreck it to everyone's surprise. Origami's eyes widen and she turned to see a spiral of flames in the sky, hiding a being inside it, but Origami recognized it well.

"It's you... EFREET!"

Whatever being was inside the flames said nothing, but smirked before flying off, only the slight glimpse of a Commander outfit seen within.

Origami felt her memories from five years ago rush to the forefront of her mind and she screamed as she flew after her. As Yoshino was still within the barrier and Efreet was in more obvious sight, Ryouko knew only one action made sense at the moment.

"Troops, switch your target to Efreet! We'll deal with Hermit afterwards!" The troops all complied and flew after her.

'Good luck Shido, this is the best I can give you without taking too much.' "Efreet" thought to herself, dodging their attacks as she tried to stay close to the blizzard. Shido meanwhile got close to the blizzard, now unsure what to do.

"Oh man, how do I get in there? I'm not sure if like last time I'll survive it." Shido worried, soon putting his hand to his headset. "Kotori, do you have any suggestions?"

To his surprise, Kotori's voice didn't reply.

"Kotori?" Shido repeated.

"Sorry Shin, seeing you nearly shot made Kotori faint from worry. I'll have to navigate you from here. Unfortunately I don't see a way through that blizzard either, if you were to walk through it, it would be no different than trying to dodge machine gun fire." Reine answered, making Shido sweat at the thought. It was the last thing most would think about.

"Either you'll need to wait for the blizzard to disappear on it's own, which risks Yoshino becoming Lost again, or let us try to find a way. It's the best we can do right now."

Shido grunted, not liking how little he could do, however as Efreet dodged the members of the AST she suddenly formed an axe and briefly turning it into a cannon, she fired a beam of fire at the blizzard, the heat of the shot was so strong it melted a small opening through the blizzard to Shido's surprise.

"Shido, this is your chance. If you don't slow down and run inside now you should be able to make it to her in one piece." Reine quickly replied, hoping she got through.

"Right." Shido nodded as he began sprinting with all the energy and adrenaline he could muster into his leg muscles. 'Don't worry Yoshino, I'm coming!'

Shido passed through the closing opening and some ice began to pelt him. Efreet took final look before sharply turning and making her flames explode, the AST was blinded before she flew off the other way and they followed suit.

Yoshino was seen crying in the center of the blizzard, Zadkiel laying down as a way of trying to comfort her. "Yoshinon... Yoshinon!" Yoshino's tears continued to flood from her eyes as the strong fear from being without her so long began to overwhelm her.

"Have no fear... Yoshinon's here!" Yoshino turned hearing a slightly raspy voice, when she turned to look, she spotted Yoshinon floating through the darkness towards her.

"...Yoshinon?" Yoshino softly said in surprise, after a bit she noticed it wasn't that Yoshinon had been floating towards her, but Shido weakly walking towards her with Yoshinon on his hand. Unfortunately, all the ice that had managed to hit him had finally taken its toll and he collapses right there. "Shido!"

Yoshino got off Zadkiel before it vanished and ran up to Shido, hoping he would be OK. To her surprise moments after she got close, flames burned on his body, but rather than harm him they seemed to heal him and quickly vanished afterwards. Shido soon managed to slightly get back up.

"Hey there Yoshino, it took a while... but I made it." Shido wheezed out, clearly only having been healed physically and still having no stamina left from his sprint through the blizzard's opening. "And Yoshinon took, I told you I'd find her."

Shido held her up for emphasis, and after looking for a bit... Yoshino suddenly began to cry again, making Shido jump up and ignore his fatigue.

"Oh no, what's wrong? Please don't cry, everything's gonna be-"

"Thank you." Shido was surprised by that. "You're just so... nice. Thanks for saving her! She's my best friend, this... this means so much to me."

Shido smiles at that.

"Thanks, but now it's your turn to be saved." Shido said, causing Yoshino to stare at him confused. "Uh... well, I told you myself didn't I? I said I'd be your hero from now on. No matter what comes next, I want you to know I'll be by your side."

Yoshino eyes widen in shock, and soon Shido gained the surprise of his life as Yoshino gave him a kiss... on the lips! He wasn't sure if it was because it was the last thing he'd expect, because she was shy, the fact she seemed about as old or maybe younger than Kotori, or how she was a Spirit and probably wouldn't know what a kiss was... but he had not been prepared for it.

"Thank you... Shido." Yoshino said, and for the first time, Shido saw her smile.

What happened next however surprised both of them, aside from Yoshinon, all of Yoshino's clothes began to glow. Shido saw part of it dissolve and blushing madly, he quickly takes off his jacket and puts it over her before he could see anything.

"Ooh... what's happening?" Yoshino wondered, and soon the two looked up as the sunlight began to shine through, and right above them was the first rainbow Yoshino had ever seen. "Beautiful."

Ryouko's Realizer soon detected Yoshino had become Lost, unaware of what really happened.

"We've lost Hermit, let's catch Efreet before-" Unfortunately Efreet's flames held them in place as they flared out suddenly and blinded the AST. After the flames died, Efreet and her flame shroud vanished entirely. "...Looks like Efreet's become Lost too, guess that's all for today. Everyone back to base."

Everyone flew off, Origami staring angrily where Efreet had been before following.

~On the Fraxinus

Reine was seen waiting for Shido and Yoshino as they were beamed back onto the ship. "Nice job, you did good out there Shin." Reine said, showing one of her rare smiles.

"Uh... thanks, but what exactly happened? Yoshino gave me a kiss and then... well I don't think I need to explain why she has my coat exactly." Shido said with an odd taste in his mouth, this wasn't exactly the type of situation. Before Reine could give her an answer however, Kotori suddenly walked in angrily. "Kotori, are you-"

"You... you idiot!" Kotori screamed before punching him in the gut, surprising Yoshino and catching Reine's attention. Before it could make him fall over, Kotori caught Shido with a hug as she began to cry a bit, her black ribbons slipping off her head at that moment.

"That was crazy what you did by just standing there, what if something had happened!? You're the one who worried because you thought I didn't go to a quake shelter, didn't you worry what I would think big bro?"

Shido looks as he saw his sister's usual self show, almost as if her ribbons were a blockade to her normal self.

"Kotori..." He soon hugs her close, reassuring her things were OK. "I'm sorry I worried you, I'll make sure to never pull a stunt like that again."

Kotori just kept crying rather than answer, Yoshino and Reine watch at the scene between the two siblings play out.

~Next Day, Itsuka Residence

Shido stared in surprise at the new building next to their house, an apartment complex still not fully finished but nearing completely. He had been aware construction was happening there, but thought new neighbors were just building a home.

"Kotori, what is this?" Shido asked.

"It's a special housing unit we've planned for the Spirits, they'll need to be close by in case anything comes up." Kotori explained, sucking on another Chupa Chups lollipop while in Commander Mode again.

"It's not gonna be ready for a while, though there's not much use for it while we've only saved one Spirit. Until then, Yoshino will stay with us."

The two looked at Yoshino, now wearing a cute blue dress and a white hat walked into view. Yoshino herself had even switched into a matching outfit, Shido gave up trying to find an explanation seconds after he saw it.

"From now on, I'll be by your side." Yoshino softly said.

"Right, same with me." Shido smiled, making Yoshino smile happily in return as she holds onto his hand and the three walked into their home.

~Unknown Location

In a crater located in a different part of the world, a girl with purple hair and armor similar in shape to a ballgown was seen standing at its center, purple energy leaking off the newly formed mark in the earth. The mysterious girl turned towards a direction somehow pointing towards Tenguu City, as if sensing a chance.

"...What is this odd feeling?" The mysterious girl wondered before drawing her sword as incoming fire flew towards her.

THE END