Kita a Live!

by KamisetaRX

Cosmic Energy, the energy of the universe! Reiryoku, a power that fuels beings known as Spirits! These two forces will be combined through the efforts of two. With their comrades, these two young men will go on an incredible journey to save the world! (Updates every two weeks)

3. FG - Close Bonds, Heartfelt Confessions

Preface:

Welcome back to Chapter 3. We'll wrap up this arc in this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy it!

---

Chapter 3: Fourze Genesis - Close Bonds, Heartfelt Confessions

Asher's POV

"...urgh..." My eyes slowly fluttered open, assaulted by the bright lights in front of me. It took some time to adjust to my new surroundings.

I slowly sat up and observed my surroundings. Judging by the objects in the room, this was some sort of hospital room. However, the walls gave the impression that this building was much more futuristic than a regular hospital.

"...You're awake now?" A very sleepy voice suddenly arose from my left.

"Wuh—?!" I quickly swiveled my head to face the voice. A woman in a beige uniform was sitting on a chair right next to my bed. Her breast pocket stashed a familiar teddy bear plush.

"M-Murasame-sensei?! What are you doing here?" I cried out in shock. Why was our classroom's assistant teacher with me?

"...Don't worry. Utahoshi and Shin are ok." Reine wearily disclosed. My eyes widened in relief, but I struggled to figure out who "Shin" referred to. Was it supposed to be Shido?

Hang on, why did she mention Kengo? And how did she know what happened to me and Shido?

"Murasame-sensei? How do you—" I attempted to speak, but she raised her finger to my mouth.

"...Just call me Reine. Your questions will be answered soon. Can you walk?" She asked. I slowly shuffled myself to the edge of the bed before setting my feet on the floor and standing up. My body ached a bit, but I could move and walk without too many difficulties.

"Yeah, I think I can." I nodded at her.

"Then follow me. This way." Reine ordered. With that, she got up from her chair and opened the nearby door.

I followed her through the hallways. It wasn't just the hospital room. The whole place looked like it was pulled from a futuristic sci-fi spaceship show, with the gray hallways and flooring marked with weird design patterns.

We eventually reached a large door, with Reine pressing a nearby button. The door raised itself, revealing a massive room on the other side. I could only describe it as some central command room, with a large monitor at the back and several smaller desks scattered around the sides of the room.

"...He's awake now." Reine announced as I walked into the room. Looking around, I saw Kengo, Shido, and two unfamiliar-looking people.

A young girl with red twin tails wearing black ribbons and a red jacket wrapped around her shoulders sat in a slightly oversized chair. Beside her stood a tall, blonde-haired man with a white and blue uniform.

For some reason, Kengo looked incredibly skeptical while looking dubiously at Shido. Shido, meanwhile, was occupied burying his face in his hands.

However, when they heard Reine's voice, their attention turned to me.

"Asher, you're alright?" Kengo sighed in relief as he approached me, his eyes lighting up a bit.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Anyways, where are we right now?"

"Man, to think I'd have to repeat the same explanation not just once, not just twice, but thrice!" The girl with red twin-tails grumbled out. It didn't take an astrophysicist to figure out she was pissed off.

"Listen up, I've already explained everything in great detail to your friend here." The girl took the lollipop out of her mouth and pointed it toward Kengo. "If you want the finer details, talk to him, but to give you a brief explanation…" The young girl stood up and extended her arm out flamboyantly.

"Welcome aboard Fraxinus, Ratatoskr's command center. I am its commander, Kotori Itsuka." The girl confidently introduced herself. Hmm? Commander? Itsuka?

Then everything clicked.

"You're the—?! You're related to—?!" I yelled out. There was no way she was Shido's older sister, but if Shido was around my age, how would someone her age be commander?!

"And? What's so wrong with me being the commander? And yes, this idiot here is my older adopted brother." Kotori nudged towards Shido, who no longer had his face holed up in his hands but still looked flushed in embarrassment.

"Try not to interrupt from now on. I have a lot of points to touch upon, and I'm not in the mood to spend even more time repeating things." Kotori sternly demanded. The heavy pressure from her made it hard for me to voice any disagreements.

"Listen carefully. Ratatoskr is a secret organization dedicated to protecting beings known as Spirits." The giant monitor then began to play recorded footage to better illustrate her point.

"Spirits are extraordinary beings with immense power. Usually, they don't exist here, but they get pulled into our world for some reason. When they do, they create a Spacequake in the area they appear in." Footage of a Spacequake occurring, followed by shots of the purple girl in armor, played on the monitor.

"The Anti-Spirit Team, AST for short, is from Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. Their job is to try and kill the Spirit whenever they get pulled into this world." The footage switched to showcase the AST fighting against the purple spirit. Included in the footage were shots of Origami fighting the Spirit. So she's part of the AST…, which explains why I saw her earlier.

"However, we at Ratatoskr have developed an alternate solution to deal with Spirits." Kotori proudly proclaimed. For some reason, Shido buried his face in his hand once again as Kotori began to grin slightly.

"Shido here will take these Spirits out on dates and make them fall in love with him. By doing that, they'll fall in love with the world and no longer have the desire to destroy it!" Kotori excitedly announced. Shido meanwhile groaned as he buried his face deeper into his hands.

The room went silent for a couple of seconds, everything Kotori said settling down in my mind…

…

…

"A DATE?! WHAT?!" I screamed out. Kotori just looked amused by the commotion I made.

"Wow. Five seconds. It took your friend here only one second to respond." Kotori flatly stated.

"Is this real?!"

"As real as it'll get!"

"And you're saying this is the only other solution that will work?"

"Uh-huh!"

"...you've got to be kidding me." I nervously said as I facepalmed. I looked towards Shido, whose face was now thoroughly buried in his hands. Even though I couldn't see his face, I could only imagine his expression of absolute shame. The poor dude, his dignity must be non-existent right now.

Meanwhile, Kengo looked like he was trying to tune out the explanation entirely, as if not desiring to listen to such a ludicrous plan for a second time.

"And with that wrapped up any questions?" Kotori finished.

"Well, uhh… not really?"

"Wow. Impressive, someone should take notes when it comes to understanding everything." Kotori pointed her gaze at Shido.

"It's not that. I've experienced enough insanity for a lifetime over the past week and a half. I don't have the willpower to question things like this anymore. Though, I suppose I do have one question. Why are you telling me this?"

"What do you mean?" Kotori narrowed her eyes.

"You said it yourself. You're a secret organization. I assume not many know about the existence of Spirits or the AST since I certainly didn't. If that's the case, why are you telling us this information? Are you trying to recruit us to join your cause?"

"So you managed to deduce that much. Shido, why can't you be as astute as him?" Kotori got up and bonked his head, causing him to rub his head while looking a bit annoyed at Kotori.

"You're close, but not exactly. Your friend already debriefed me on the situation you guys are dealing with. Something about beings known about Zodiarts that use the power of Cosmic Energy to wreak havoc, and you use Fourze to transform into some superhero to defeat them, right?" Kotori continued.

"Kengo, you told them that information?" I asked Kengo. He shrugged a bit before sighing.

"They had information we lacked and vice versa. If anything, it was a fair trade of information and secrets." Kengo replied.

"Hang on, when did you even wake up? Shouldn't you still be sleeping?" I worriedly asked, knowing how badly exhausted he had been earlier.

"Don't worry about me, I got enough sleep." Kengo answered.

"Anyways, Ratatoskr is an organization meant to save Spirits through means other than violence. Unfortunately, we do not have the manpower or resources to extend our reach and deal with the Zodiarts." Kotori spoke up, taking back the reins of the conversation.

"However, we can offer you our help. In turn, you will offer us your assistance should we request it. I think you'll find this agreement beneficial for both of us. After all, you had trouble fighting the Zodiarts earlier, and not just once, from what I've heard." Kotori stated.

"Wait, do you know something about what happened with the Zodiarts?"

"Reine, pull up the footage," Kotori instructed. Reine pulled up some footage of Orion's fight with the Spirit and Origami in Raizen. A purple aura surrounded both the Spirit and Orion.

"...we detected negative Reiha waves emitting from the Zodiarts body, which enhanced the Zodiarts physical strength. After further analysis, we've discovered that the negative Reiha waves match perfectly with the Reiha waves emitted from the Spirit, Princess, at the time." Reine concluded. Despite her explanation, other than the fact these waves made Orion stronger, I was completely dumbfounded about what this meant.

"So, in other words?" I asked, though Kengo began speaking before Reine could answer my question.

"Zodiarts are powered by the negative emotions of its host. When a Spirit becomes emotionally unstable, its body begins to release a wave of negative Reiryoku energy, or a negative Reiha wave in other terms. The stronger the negative emotions, the stronger this wave becomes. Zodiarts can absorb this wave of energy and become stronger." Kengo explained.

"So, if I got this right, the Zodiarts is like a sponge that can suck up the negative emotions of the Spirit? That makes it stronger?"

"Essentially." Kengo replied.

"Spirits and Zodiarts, two completely separate enigmas, yet still linked to one another." Kotori mused. "Now then, what are your decisions? Will you agree to collaborate with us or not?"

Kengo and I looked at each other. I nodded and gave him a small thumbs-up, affirming my consent. With that, Kengo looked back at Kotori.

"We have no reason to refuse your proposal, so we accept." Kengo declared. Kotori's face lit up with a big smile.

"Well then, we at Ratatoskr are pleased to continue working with you going forward." Kotori extended her hand out for a handshake.

"Likewise." Kengo shook Kotori's hand. While the two leaders of our groups confirmed their alliance, I walked over to Shido, who was still a bit flustered.

"Sigh… you get to transform into a cool superhero while I go out on dates… why's my life like this…?" Shido quietly complained. I smirked and patted his back, trying to cheer him up.

"Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think." I reassured Shido. I was going to ask if this was why he confessed to Tamae and Origami, but if I did that, I'm pretty sure Shido would drop dead on the spot out of sheer embarrassment.

"Thanks for your pity, Seung…" Shido got out defeatedly.

"No worries. By the way, you can refer to me as Asher. I don't mind," I told Shido.

"Alright then. Asher." Shido responded.

"Unfortunately, Fraxinus doesn't have much room to spare, so you'll have to find some other place as your base of operations." Kotori jokingly remarked.

"Don't worry, we already have that covered." Kengo replied.

"Ehh, is that so? Well, no matter. Although, I doubt it could even hold a candle to Fraxinus." Kotori spoke, pride unashamedly in her voice.

"That's true. This place looks a lot more impressive than ours. I wouldn't mind seeing more of this underground base if we're allowed." I admitted. Kotori suddenly paused.

"...did you just say 'underground'?" Kotori questioned.

"Uhh… yes? Is that wrong?" I gulped, unsure of where Kotori was going with this. Kotori looked at me and smirked before playfully shaking her head.

"Oh, you don't know the truth of it. Reine, turn off the filter." Kotori instructed. Without warning, the floor started vanishing beneath me. Looking down, I saw the open sky, and far below was Tenguu City.

"WE'RE IN THE SKY?!" I screeched out as I immediately grabbed onto the closest thing for safety, which happened to be Shido's body.

"Umm, Asher… you don't have to hold onto me." Shido pointed out.

"Ahh… sorry about that…" I shakily got out as I let go of him. It took a while for me to calm my nerves. The sight of the floor disappearing underneath me wasn't exactly the best for my heart.

"So, what do you think of Fraxinus? Isn't she the best?" Kotori smugly asked as the filter returned to showing the ship's interior.

"Commander Itsuka, I must concede that Fraxinus is a fine base. However, don't be so quick to dismiss our own base of operations. After all, we have a trump card." Kengo spoke seriously, though a sense of pride underlined his words. Kengo was getting oddly fired up about this talk about bases.

Of all the things to have a dick-measuring contest over, "how cool my secret base is" isn't exactly one of the things I'd expect.

"Oh really? What trump card could that be?" Kotori prodded.

"The nature of our base." Kengo calmly stated.

"And? Do you think it can match the beauty of this wonderful airship?" Kotori light-heartedly argued.

"Of course. After all, who needs an airship when you've got the moon?" Kengo revealed. And there it is.

The room went dead silent. Around 10 seconds later…

"HUUH?!" A unanimous cry of shock filled the command room. The only one who didn't scream was Reine, but her eyes were a bit wider compared to before.

"What do you mean the moon?"

"How do you get there?"

"Are there aliens up there?" A flood of questions started pouring in from the members of Ratatoskr in the command room.

"Be quiet!" Kotori loudly demanded, and just like obedient dogs, the entire crew stopped talking.

"You must be joking." Kotori spoke incredulously.

"He's not. The base is on the moon." I spoke up before Kengo could respond, trying to back up his credibility.

"Also, Kengo, did you really have to tell them that?" I turned to question Kengo.

"We're going to be working together from now on, and they had the courtesy of bringing us to their base. It's only fair." Kengo explained.

"Besides, I take great pride in Rabbit Hutch." He concluded.

"That's great and all Kengo, but uh…" I looked at the crew, their eyes glimmering with curiosity and excitement. "I think everyone wants to make a visit now." I nervously told Kengo.

"Well, it's no problem with me. However, we should first check if the coast is clear. Could you show me the area near Raizen's Spacequake bunker entrance?" Kengo asked. Reine quickly inputted the commands, bringing up live footage of the area.

Everything was still. I expected the Relief Corps to be swarming the area already, but given how late it was, maybe they only show up in the day?

"Good, the area's empty. Well then, for those interested, we can make our way." Kengo announced.

With that, everyone in the room stood up and left. Some of the crew's eyes filled with childlike wonder, others with doubt.

"Hey… where are we going?" I asked Shido, who was the closest person next to me.

"You'll see, Asher. Just try not to be too shocked. You were unconscious when we used it on you the first time." Shido explained, but this wasn't the most comforting thing to hear.

"Huh?" I asked, though Shido had already left with the group. With no other options, I followed the group down the hallways. Eventually, we reached another room with a giant circle in the center. As everyone stepped onto it, I hesitantly joined them.

The moment I did so, a strange light surrounded the circle before I felt my body become very light. Suddenly, the light encompassed my entire vision, and everything went white.

---

When I opened my eyes, I suddenly saw that we were back on solid ground. Not only that, we were right in front of Raizen High School.

"What was that? Was that a—" I panicked, though Kotori responded.

"Yes, yes. A teleporter." I was left flabbergasted. How high-tech was this organization?

Kengo took the lead and ushered the entire group down to the bunker and through the familiar unused hallways. I could see everyone's faces start to sweat with suspicion and doubt.

We reached the old storage room. Kengo unlocked and opened the door. Everyone went inside, but it felt very cramped, given that 11 people were inside one tiny room.

"Everyone, you better prepare your eyes." Kengo said. Before the Fraxinus crew could determine why He Had warned them, he opened the locker door. Everyone, except the two of us, covered their eyes briefly before opening them once again.

"This is…"

"What?!"

"This can't be real…" I heard murmurs of shock and disbelief from various members of the group as a shower of light filled the entire room.

With that, Kengo and I entered the hallway of light, with the others hesitantly following behind us. We all reached the door to Rabbit Hutch, but I decided to give some words of advice before we entered.

"You guys should be careful with your steps. After all, we're on the moon. You know, lower gravity and all." I nervously warned as Kengo opened the door to Rabbit Hutch. We walked inside, and despite my best attempts at warning them, pretty much everyone was caught off guard by the change in gravity.

To be fair, it's not like anyone can prepare for a low-gravity situation even if they know it's coming.

The sounds of panic and amazement filled Rabbit Hutch while the crew floated in the air. Kengo went over to the gravity control switch and flipped it. With that, the people floating fell to the ground, though most already had their feet planted on the floor.

"Owww~!" Someone cried out with pleasure as some people landed. I wasn't sure who exactly yelled that out, but given the slight looks of exasperation on most of the Fraxinus crew, it seemed they all knew who that voice belonged to.

"...Anyways, I welcome you to our moonbase, Rabbit Hutch." Kengo announced as everyone got to their feet. Looking at the group, I could see Shido standing and staring at something. I followed his gaze and found him staring at the view of the Earth from the large window.

"Kotori, come look at this…" Shido stated, completely starstruck.

"What is it— Oh, wow. We really are on the moon." Kotori spoke softly. Soon, she and the rest of the Fraxinus crew were staring at the view of the Earth in complete wonder.

As they all stared in silence, I went over to Kengo. He was just observing the entire group with a smug smile.

"Wow… is it too late to switch organizations?" The man with blonde hair questioned.

"Like hell it is!" Kotori angrily snapped and kicked him hard in the stomach.

"Ahhh~ Thank you so much~!" The blonde-haired man cried out as he flew a little.

"Are you alright?!" I asked the man as I ran over to him.

"To experience the Commander's fierce kick underneath the glow of the Earth… I could die happy…" The man got out in between gasps of air.

Oh, he was one of those people.

"Well, I should help you up, uhh…" I stalled as it just hit me. I didn't know this man's name. Other than Kotori and Reine, I didn't know anyone else from Fraxinus.

"Ah! Where are my manners? My name is Kyouhei Kannazuki, vice commander of Fraxinus. It's a pleasure to meet you, Seung." Kannazuki introduced himself, somehow switching personalities on a dime. Upon hearing his introduction, it seemed to cause the other members of Fraxinus to snap out of their fantasy. They began to walk up to me to introduce themselves individually.

"Greetings. The name is Kyouji Kawagoe." A somewhat fit middle-aged man with black and a strip of white hair firmly spoke.

"Mahal Kita. I am Masaomi Mikimoto." An older middle-aged man with grey hair coolly introduced himself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hinako Shiizaki." A shy woman with long bangs politely introduced herself.

"Hey man, what's up! Name's Munechika Nakatsugawa." A man with glasses and brown hair bombastically announced.

"Hello there. My name is Kozue Minowa." A woman with wavy brown hair calmly introduced herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all! Though I'm not the best with names and faces… My name's Asher. Asher Seung!" I sheepishly replied as I shook everyone's hands.

With the round of introductions done, everything seemed to be wrapping up. Still, if they came out here, might as well go 100% and let them experience the real thing.

"Hey, Kengo? Is it ok if we take them out there? We should have enough suits for it, right?" I asked Kengo.

"We can. Rabbit Hutch has plenty of suits to go around." Kengo answered.

Everyone looked at each other confusedly as we left the room. We entered one of Rabbit Hutch's side rooms and grabbed several astronaut suits.

Upon returning to the main room, with suits in hand, we laid them out on the table. Everyone's eyes widened in realization and anticipation.

"We'll help you guys put these on since it's your first time." I explained to the group. With that, we spent the next few minutes helping everyone into one of the spacesuits before gathering in the airlock.

Kengo opened the airlock doors, revealing the landscape of the moon's surface. Everyone slowly walked out onto the moon's surface; their amazement and wonder increased tenfold. After some time for the others to get used to walking on the moon, we led the group up to the top of a nearby hill. From the hill, everyone could see the pure blue beauty of the Earth in its entirety.

"[Wow, this is really… really… amazing…]" Shido breathlessly spoke over the intercom. "[Do you think it would be a bad idea to bring the Spirits up here?]"

"[It would be too much trouble to bring them up here. Though, I wouldn't object after you've made them fall in love with you.]" Kotori responded, but she was clearly distracted by the sight of the planet in front of her.

After gazing at Earth for a couple of minutes, Kengo and I watched over the Fraxinus crew as they had fun on the moon's surface. Some were roaming around, others were picking up rocks and examining them, and some were just having fun with the lower gravity the moon provided.

"[The moon feels a lot less lonely with everyone around, huh?]" I asked Kengo.

"[It really does.]" Kengo responded. This was one hell of a field trip, but a part of me was glad everyone was enjoying themselves.

I went over to Shido, who was still looking at the Earth, though he was now sitting down. I took a seat right next to him.

"[Hey, Shido… it's okay to call you that, right?]" I asked him. He responded with a nod. "[It really is beautiful huh? You know, when I first saw the Earth, I teared up a little.]" I sheepishly admitted.

"[I wish I could show Tohka this view… she'd understand how great this planet is if she saw it…]" Shido longingly wished. I couldn't help but frown a little at his response. Even at this time, he was still worried about his ordeal in saving the Spirits.

"[Hey Shido…]" He turned to face me. "[You know, I don't know how much I'll be able to help you, but I want to let you know that I'll be here for you. The two of us have it tough after all, huh?]" I tried to cheer Shido up to the best of my abilities. Though it was hard to see through the helmet, I could barely make out a smile beginning to form on his face.

"[Thank you. And same here. I'll be here to help you with anything to the best of my powers.]" Shido responded.

"[Well then…]" I shook my hand out for a handshake. "I'll be looking forward to your help, Shido." Shido smiled at me and shook my hand.

"[Likewise.]" With that, the two of us smiled at each other.

Eventually, after around half an hour, we decided to bring everyone back to Rabbit Hutch. After helping everyone inside and taking off their suits, we said our final goodbyes for the night and went our separate ways.

---

Third Person POV

Ryouko Kusakabe, commander of the AST, sat at her desk back at base. Her mind flashed back to today's mission while filling out some paperwork.

To say it went poorly was an understatement.

Origami was highly reckless, especially after witnessing a civilian standing beside the Spirit codenamed Princess. Insubordination aside, three other oddities lingered in her mind.

The first was the aforementioned civilian. For what reason was there for a civilian to be next to Princess? Did the Spirit take them hostage? Were they being attacked? Or could it have been something else?

The second oddity was the red monster that appeared as they attempted to draw out Princess. Not only was its sudden appearance offputting, but the fact that its power seemed to be on par with a Spirit deeply worried Ryouko.

The only one who engaged with the monster up close was Origami. However, she was currently spending the night at a hospital due to damage she sustained from being so close to the massive explosion that occurred. She'd have to wait until tomorrow before asking Origami for any details.

Ryouko let out a sigh, worried about what this could mean. The team had enough trouble even trying to damage, let alone kill, a Spirit. Now, another monster with a similar power entered the fray? Their resources and budget wouldn't be able to take it if they were also assigned to go after that creature.

Luckily for her, Ryouko sent a letter to her supervisors soon after the mission concluded. The response she got essentially told her not to worry about it. They were the Anti-Sprit Team, focusing primarily on defeating Spirits and nothing else. Their budget would stay safe, for now, anyway.

Still, Ryouko couldn't help but wonder about the last mystery. She spotted a mysterious white armored person combating the red monster. However, given how quickly they wanted to sweep the entire thing under the rug, maybe her supervisors were hiding something.

---

April 21st

Asher's POV

It was Friday, meaning it was a school day. Like a routine, my alarm woke me up at 7:15 AM. I washed up, put on my uniform, ate breakfast, and headed out. Only this time, as I walked towards the school…

"Huh?" The school was still in complete ruins. On the gate to the school, a simple sign was plastered over it.

"Temporary school closure?" I read the sign out loud. I mean, I guess it was obvious in hindsight. The entire school was nearly blown to bits, but a part of me was confused about why the Relief Corps hadn't fixed everything yet.

"Oh, Asher, you're here as well?" I heard a voice call out from my side. I turned around only to see Shido standing close by.

"Hey, Shido. Yeah, I am. I thought the Relief Corps would've cleaned this up by now, but I guess not…" I mumbled.

"Hmm, looks like we're both quite the fools, huh?" Shido joked. I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at that statement.

My phone began buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the screen. Kengo was calling. I pressed the answer button and put the phone to my ear.

"Kengo? Do you need something?" I asked Kengo over the phone.

"Good morning, Asher. I've been meaning to ask you what happened during the battle with Orion yesterday. I'm hoping you have some clues as to who exactly Orion's host could be. If possible, I would also like to ask Fraxinus if we could take a look at the footage they recorded yesterday, though given that school's canceled for the day, I doubt we'd get to talk to Itsuka to send in a request to the Commander."

"I see. Although, you're just in luck. Shido, do you know if you can contact Kotori to let us board Fraxinus?" I turned to ask Shido.

"Wait, you're with Itsuka right now? Where are you?" Kengo hurridly asked me.

"Outside the school gates. Where are you?"I replied.

"In Rabbit Hutch."

"In Rabbit Hutch?!" I cried out in shock. Seriously! School's canceled, yet he's down there for some reason. Does he ever stop working?

"I'll be out shortly. Just wait there with Itsuka." Kengo then hung up on me.

"Asher? What does Utahoshi need?" Shido asked me.

"Ahh, well, he said he wants to look at the footage Fraxinus recorded yesterday. I'm not sure why, but my hunch is that it's related to finding clues about who Orion is." I explained to Shido.

"I see. I'll call Kotori and ask if she's willing to help." Shido replied. With that, he pulled out his phone and began talking to Kotori.

A minute or two later, I saw Kengo running towards us as Shido hung up.

"Good morning, Itsuka." Kengo greeted Shido.

"Good morning, Utahoshi." Shido responded. "I called Kotori to let her know of the situation. She said Fraxinus will pick you two up shortly." As soon as he finished speaking, a familiar white light surrounded the two of us before everything went white.

---

Third Person POV

Shido watched on as Fraxinus teleported Kengo and Asher. With the duo gone, he looked back at the school ruins. Despite the gate blocking his way, he opened it enough to enter the school grounds.

Walking through the rubble, he couldn't help but reminisce about everything that happened yesterday. Shido picked up a piece of chalkboard, which coincidentally had Tohka's name engraved from when she wrote it.

Not only did he properly talk to Tohka yesterday, but he also asked her out on a date. To add to the craziness, he finds out about the monsters known as Zodiarts and how Kengo and Asher deal with them in secret, just like Shido and Fraxinus with the Spirits. Then, he visited the moon and even walked on its surface! He even got to see the Earth from the moon!

"This world… I'll definitely make Tohka fall in love with this world!" Shido thought to himself. He knew how beautiful this world was and wanted to convey it to Tohka, to show her there was more to it than hatred and bloodlust.

And as if God had listened to his requests…

"Shido!" A feminine voice called out to him behind him. He turned around, only to see Tohka standing atop a pile of rubble.

"T-Tohka?! How are you here? Where's the Spacequake?!" Shido questioned. If Tohka was here, then a Spacequake should've appeared, but the alarms hadn't rung at all. Despite his questions, Tohka just had a big smile on her face.

"You finally noticed, you big dummy!" Tohka jumped down and got a bit closer to Shido.

"Now then, it's time." Tohka suddenly demanded.

"Time? Time for what?" Shido nervously got out.

"Don't you remember? You invited me out for something called a 'date?' So come on, Shido! Let's go on this 'date!' 'Date!' 'Date!' Date!'" Tohka excitedly chanted, with Shido feeling the nervousness and embarrassment creeping up.

"Alright, alright! We'll go… on a date…" Shido got out. He couldn't believe it. He was actually about to go out on a date. Sure, he trained for this, but now that it was time to put his skills into practice, he couldn't help but be incredibly embarrassed about the whole prospect.

And so with that, Shido and Tohka walked toward the nearby city block to begin their date.

---

Asher POV

As the blinding white light faded, the walls of Fraxinus's teleporter room greeted my sight.

"Good morning, Asher. Utahoshi." Kannazuki formally greeted us.

"Good morning… Kannazuki." It took me a couple of seconds to remember his name. It didn't help that I also learned a whole bunch of new things yesterday.

"Is Commander Kotori not here?" I asked.

"The Commander is currently out with Murasame. Do you need to ask her something specific?" Kannazuki questioned.

"Not at all," Kengo suddenly said. I was just curious if you could show me all the footage you gathered yesterday. I noticed that Fraxinus deployed multiple cameras to Raizen after the Spacequake. I am interested to see if any of them held possible clues to the Zodiarts' true identity."

"Of course. You are free to go through the footage as you'd like. If you would follow me to the command center." Kannazuki instructed.

We followed Kannazuki to the command room, though Kengo started asking me questions while we walked.

"Asher, during yesterday's encounter, did you discover any possible clues that could lead to uncovering Orion's identity?"

"Hmm, the only thing I can think that could help is what Orion was doing when I spotted it. I found it in one of the male gym locker rooms, trashing the place. Torn jerseys, broken helmets, and ruined shoes were all over the ground. I'm not entirely sure if that's helpful information, but it's the only thing I've got." I explained to Kengo.

"From your description, it seems Orion was focusing its anger on the contents of the American Football's locker room. Perhaps the host holds a grudge against the team if that's the case." Kengo surmised.

We arrived at our destination before we could continue. Kannazuki led us to his personal station and pulled up all the recordings from the previous day.

Kengo began skimming through each one, though judging from how fast he was going through them, he wasn't having much success. Since Shido and Orion were on opposite sides of the school and most of the cameras were near Shido, no footage was captured of the gym or its locker rooms. Orion was only on camera after he barged into the room with Shido, Tohka, and Origami.

"Damn… should've expected this, though." Kengo silently cursed under his breath.

"I apologize for this. Is there any other way that we can assist you two?" Kannazuki asked. Kengo thought to himself for a brief moment before suddenly speaking up.

"Kannazuki, how good is Fraxinus at gathering information?" Kengo questioned.

"Well, it depends on what we need to search for, but our crew is quite competent when it comes to it." Kannazuki answered.

"Could you search for any incidents related to Raizen's American Football team members? If Orion's host does indeed have a grudge against the team, then the team could've been sabotaged in other ways in the past days." Kengo requested. Kannazuki nodded and ordered the remaining Fraxinus members to assist in finding information.

After waiting a few minutes, one of the crew members spoke up.

"I found something! According to social media, multiple members of the American Football team were sent to the hospital over the past week and a half. " Minowa remarked.

"Was there any mention of the cause of their injuries?" Kengo asked.

"Unfortunately, no. Most members have testified that they were suddenly assaulted out of nowhere and knocked out before they could even see the culprit." Minowa clarified.

"Is there any member of the team who hasn't been attacked yet?" Kengo questioned.

"Just one. The captain of the team itself." Nakatsugawa answered as a picture of him appeared on the main monitor.

"Can you tell us where he is currently? He might be in danger if we don't warn him in time." Kengo asked.

"He's currently out jogging around a neighborhood." Shiizaki replied.

"Ok! Can you teleport us near his location?" Kengo continued.

"Of course, follow me!" Kannazuki responded. With that, we followed Kannazuki down to the teleporter room. We stood on the teleporter as Kannazuki imputed some commands. Just like that, the bright light filled our vision once again.

---

Now, on the neighborhood streets, we began to search desperately for the captain. Since we weren't allowed to be directly teleported near his vicinity out of precaution of being spotted mid-teleportation, we had to do the last leg of the trip ourselves.

After several minutes of searching, we finally found the captain, who wore a grey hoodie and sweatpants. Judging from the sweat, he had been jogging for quite a while.

"Captain! Listen to me; you're in danger!" I desperately explained while out of breath.

"I'm sorry. What are you saying?" The Captain incredulously replied, taking out his earbuds.

"You've heard how the rest of the American Football team has been attacked, right? We think the culprit might be after you next." I explained the situation to him, trying not to reveal anything about Orion.

"Ha? What are you talking about? That's impossible." The Captain dismissively brushed off my concerns.

"You could be in danger! We should watch over you for your safety!" I desperately tried to get the message through his skull.

"You don't have to worry about me, buddy. I'm stronger than I look. I'm sure I could take him on." The Captain arrogantly flexed his arm before putting his earbuds in and resuming his jog.

"Hold on! You don't under—" I was cut short by Kengo yelling at me.

"ASHER, LOOK OUT!"

Without warning, an energy blast hit the area where the Captain was standing. The force of the explosion blew me away, and my back hit the pavement hard.

Kengo helped me get up to my feet, though as the smoke cleared, I saw that the Captain was lying on the ground face down. His clothes were burnt, and he had numerous wounds all over his body.

"Captain!" I rushed over and turned him over, but he wasn't responding. Blood was streaming down his forehead, and his breathing was shallow.

"...ahaha… AHAHAHA! It's done. It's done!" A deep, triumphant voice boomed from the distance. I looked up, only to see Orion in the distance, the lights on his body having just dimmed down.

"You…! Kengo, the Fourze Driver!" I angrily demanded, but before Kengo could hand it to me, Orion pulled out a weird-looking switch and pressed it. Suddenly, a black void encompassed his body.

After a few seconds, the darkness faded, leaving behind a man in a Raizen High uniform with short, straight brown hair.

"It doesn't matter anymore. I've completed my revenge." Orion's host madly spoke. "Of all the members of that accursed team, he alone deserves to die."

I began to rush towards the host, but Kengo yelled to stop me.

"Asher! We have to get him to a hospital now!" Kengo sternly told me. Realizing it was either the Captain's life or going after the host, I ran back to the Captain's unconscious body and pulled out my phone to call an ambulance.

"That's right, run away! You never could beat me anyway! Hahahaha!" The host gloated before walking away. I clenched my fist, but a pained groan from the Captain wrangled my attention. Regaining my focus, I dialed for an ambulance as the host vanished into the distance.

After a couple of minutes, an ambulance arrived, and we got in to accompany the unconscious captain.

---

Several hours had passed since we escorted the Captain to the hospital. The extent of his injuries was more severe than I initially imagined. The moment he arrived, the nurses immediately sent him into the emergency room for an operation. The two of us silently waited anxiously outside the room for the news.

"Asher, are you okay?" Kengo worriedly asked me.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm ok." I lied.

"This isn't your fault. You couldn't have seen it coming." Kengo assured me, but that wasn't making me feel any better.

A doctor exited the room. Sweat covered his gown. He approached the two of us and removed his mask.

"He'll be okay now. He's in rough shape, but he'll recover." The doctor explained. I sunk back into my chair, putting my palms against my eyes, nearly about to cry out of relief. The doctor returned to the operating room, leaving us to sit in silence.

"So… do you know who the host was?" I finally managed to speak up. Kengo shook his head, but he showed me his phone. Displayed was a blurry yet recognizable photo of the host's face. Kengo probably snuck a picture while I argued with the host.

"I sent this photo to Itsuka, asking him to forward it to Fraxinus. They're still looking into the person's identity since the image wasn't the best quality, but I'm hoping we'll hear back soon," Kengo explained.

"Although, I did get one thing. Itsuka forwarded the Commander and Fraxinus's numbers to me so he didn't have to continue being a middleman for us." Kengo weakly smirked, desperately trying to lighten the mood.

"That's good, I guess…" I responded, but at this point, my mind was too exhausted to even care.

We once again sat in silence. Several minutes later, Kengo spoke up again.

"Asher… I would like to apologize to you. You got heavily injured in yesterday's battle against Orion." Kengo admitted shakily.

"Kengo, what do you have to apologize for? It's not your fault I lost," I responded.

"But if I were there, you would have suffered fewer injuries or perhaps even won against Orion."

"Kengo, you don't know that. Besides, it's okay. We'll stop him—this time for sure." I tried to assure him, but Kengo just continued with his speech.

"It's not just that battle, either. You lost and got injured in your first battle because I forced the Fourze Driver onto you so suddenly." Kengo confessed.

"What are you saying? That's not true at all!"

"And now, you've been stressing yourself sick over the Captain's wellbeing. It's my fault for dragging you into the situation. This never would've happened to you if I could just transform into Fourze."

"Kengo…"

"You don't need to fight anymore. I'll find a way to transform by myself, no matter how many days it takes."

"You don't mean the reason why you were so tired…"

"You don't have to worry about it anymore, Asher. This was never supposed to be your burden to begin with."

"What do you mean by that, Kengo?" I begged him for answers, but he didn't budge.

"It's ok. Just go back to living your normal high school life. I'll take care of everything somehow." Kengo listlessly answered.

"Stop talking nonsense! Why are you talking about doing this all alone?! Yes, I've suffered, but I knew what I was getting into! Even now, I still want to be Fourze and help you! Don't push me away!"

"I'm pushing you away for your own good! Don't you see how much you've suffered already? Not just physically but mentally too!" Kengo angrily replied.

"Don't make those decisions for me! If you push me away, what about you?! You can't be serious about doing everything on your own!"

"It's been my problem alone since the beginning! This is the just thing to do." Kengo solemnly concluded. I felt my anger slightly boiling at this point.

"Answer me, Kengo! What makes this entire thing something only 'you' have to deal with?!" I shouted at him. With that, he sat in silence before suddenly exhaling deeply.

"The person who created the Fourze Driver and the Astroswitches… was my father, Rokuro Utahoshi." Kengo revealed. I unconsciously gasped at that reveal.

"That message left in Rabbit Hutch contained more info than I told you. It told me the work my father had done… and how people murdered him to abuse his research on Astroswitches to create the Zodiart Switches." Kengo muttered.

"It's my duty to carry out my father's will and stop the Zodiarts. I-I have to be the one to stop them. If I don't, I…" Kengo shakily admitted.

"I never wanted you to become Fourze, but I didn't have a choice." Kengo continued. "My body couldn't take it for some reason, and our lives were in danger. No matter how many nights I spent researching, iterating, and modifying the driver, I could never transform even once." Kengo paused before speaking once again.

"The training I devised was just to gather data to make better modifications to the driver so I could transform. I'm sorry. I deceived you." Kengo confessed.

I sat in silence, digesting everything Kengo had revealed to me.

"I… I don't think what you did was bad, Kengo." I slowly spoke.

"What do you mean?" Kengo questioned.

"I understand where you're coming from. There's nothing wrong with not wanting others to get hurt. There's nothing wrong with wanting to fulfill your father's wishes. But at the same time, I'm worried for you. The pain that comes with being Fourze… I wouldn't want you to have to deal with it."

"It's not your pain to begin with—!" Kengo interjected, but I cut him off.

"It doesn't matter who this pain belongs to. The fact of the matter is that we're both in this situation together. You don't need to burden yourself with all this pain just because you feel it's right." I told Kengo.

"Didn't I say? I wanted to help you, no matter what. You don't need to work yourself to death so you can suffer in silence. I'll be Fourze, and together we'll share this burden."

"Asher…" Kengo looked at me, completely stunned. He wiped his eyes, which had gotten a bit teary.

"You're right. I'm sorry for what I've done. I'll be completely entrusting Fourze in your hands from now on. If you don't mind me being selfish, would you help me achieve my father's will and defeat the Zodiarts?" Kengo asked while handing me the driver. I smiled and grabbed the driver from his hands.

"Of course!" I happily replied. Kengo smiled, looking unburdened by the troubles that had been plaguing him for months.

And if just on cue, Kengo's phone began to ring.

"Hello? Kannazuki?" Kengo answered the phone.

"Utahoshi? What's wrong? Your voice sounds shaky." Kannazuki responded.

"Nothing's wrong. Just… settling some things." Kengo answered.

"Well, in any case, my apologies for taking longer than expected. Most of our crew was sent out to assist Shido in his date. Despite the dip in manpower, we've managed to uncover the identity of the man in your photo. His name is Toshiya Miura. He was a member of the American Football team last year but was dismissed from the team at the start of the school year. We're unable to find the reason for his dismissal, but this provides a solid motivation for his hatred against the American Football team." Kannazuki explained.

"Where is he now?" Kengo asked.

"Near Takadai Park. Would you like Fraxinus to pick you two up?" Kannazuki inquired.

"No. It's ok. We'll get there on our own." Kengo responded.

"I see. In any case, don't hesitate to contact us if you require any more assistance." With that, Kannazuki hung up.

"Kengo? How exactly are we going to get there quickly?"

"Don't worry about it. Come on, let's go outside." I followed Kengo out of the hospital. Once we reached the pavement, Kengo opened the black briefcase and typed away at the display.

A few minutes later, a motorcycle arrived, yet no one was riding it.

"EH? The motorcycle can drive by itself?!" I cried out in shock.

"This Astroswitch Case is quite the tool, isn't it?" Kengo replied.

"You know I wasn't talking about the briefcase, right?" Kengo only chuckled in response. He tossed me a helmet. I put it on while getting behind Kengo on the motorcycle.

"Come on, Asher. We've got a Zodiarts to stop!" Kengo proclaimed before revving up the motorcycle and driving off.

---

The sunset gleamed radiantly. The main park area was empty, with all its visitors leaving for home long ago.

Kengo parked the motorcycle, and we got off to explore the park's outskirts. It didn't take long for us to find a young man in a Raizen High uniform leaning on the nearby railing. His eyes focused on the city below.

We approached him and stopped once we were a distance away. He didn't seem aware of our existence. Either that, or he just didn't care.

"Miura. Hand over the switch." I demanded. Miura just let out a crazed laugh before calming down.

"It's you two, huh? Thought you'd run home, but it looks like I was wrong," Miura callously stated, not even bothering to look in our direction.

"Those bastards. They deserved it. They kicked me off the team. Do you know what their 'reasoning' was? I wasn't pulling my weight. I wasn't pulling my weight? I was benched for every game. They wouldn't even LET me play. I guess from an objective standpoint, I really was useless." Miura began to giggle hysterically again.

"OF COURSE I WAS! It's cause of you guys that I was worthless!" He slammed his fist against the railing before calming down.

"You know, they never liked me from the beginning. I was scrawny, not nearly as athletic as some members, and timid. I was easy pickings for them, especially the Captain. He'd make me run more laps than anyone else, carry the team's equipment everywhere, and clean the locker room top to bottom every evening." Miura's body suddenly relaxed.

"And yet, I persisted for a whole year. And you know why? I loved American Football. As simple as that. I powered through their taunting and bullying, all in the hopes that one day I'd get to play at least one game." His teeth began to grit suddenly.

"They saw I wouldn't quit, so I got a funny little notice from the team before the year started. They kicked me out and banned me from joining the team again for the upcoming year because I 'performed inadequately.'" Miura seethed with anger.

"They got bored. They got bored because they couldn't break me. They tortured me for months on end because they wanted the satisfaction of forcing me to give up my dream. But they couldn't, so they had to do it themselves." Miura started giggling uncontrollably now.

"Now look at them! I hope those freaks have fun achieving their dreams now!"

"Miura… you need to hand over the switch." I repeated as I slowly walked towards the unhinged man, trying not to set him off.

"Why should I?! I've realized something. It's not just them. It's the rest of the school that's like this: pitiful bastards who only care about themselves and their self-satisfaction. This school is the reason why people like them continue to exist. The most successful people are always the most sadistic. The genuinely good gets snuffed out while those sadistic creeps continue to prosper and go on," Miura lashed out.

"Miura. That's enough. That Zodiarts Switch is corrupting you and your mind. You need to stop before you do something you truly regret." Kengo suddenly spoke up.

"This retribution of mine… will continue onwards." Miura suddenly pulled out his Zodiarts Switch, when out of nowhere, it suddenly began to morph.

《LAST ONE 》

The Zodiarts Switch suddenly announced as its shape changed. It now had spikes all over it, and the top of it changed, with red patterns resembling the veins of an eye.

"Miura! Don't!" Kengo yelled out, but it was too late. Miura pressed the switch.

A large black void suddenly consumed his body, and fierce winds swirled around him. I raised my arms to shield myself. After an eternity, the winds finally died down.

The Orion Zodiarts was now standing across from me, but behind him, I could see Miura's body lying on the floor, wrapped in what seemed to be something similar to cobwebs.

"Kengo! What just happened?!" I desperately asked Kengo.

"This isn't good. The Zodiarts Last One'd!"

"What does that mean?!"

"Last One is when the Zodiarts' negative emotion peaks and reaches its strongest form! It sheds off its human body, and the host's consciousness switches to the Zodiarts. If we don't stop him now, Miura will be stuck like this permanently!" Kengo explained. Realizing the direness of the situation, I clutched the Fourze Driver in my hand.

"Miura, I can understand how you feel. No one deserves to be bullied for their dreams. So that's why I'll save you!" I put the Driver on my waist.

"I'll, no… We'll free you from this corruption!" I yelled out before flipping all four switches.

【THREE】【TWO】【ONE】

"Henshin!" I pulled the lever, and the white armor again surrounded my body.

"UCHU KITA!" I screamed out with as much energy as possible and extended my arms out, entirely going along with the flow.

"My strength will bring about a miracle! I'm sure of it!" I yelled out before rushing to fight the newly Last One'd Orion.

---

Third Person POV

Shido felt many emotions running through him right now: exhaustion, excitement, stress, and nervousness. Yet one emotion shined above them all.

Happy.

Despite an awkward initial meeting in front of the ruins of Raizen High, the two of them went on an earnest date. Shido watched Tohka's eyes glitter with each street vendor and meal they passed by. However, Shido had to admit that Tohka ate much more than his wallet could handle. Regardless of the eventual financial troubles, it was worth seeing her smile.

Of course, the entire date went smoothly thanks to some less-than-subtle assistance from Fraxinus. Something new was always around the corner, whether it be food, activities, or games. Tohka eagerly indulged in it all like a curious child, with a voracious appetite to see all this world had to offer.

At some point, Shido forgot that this was technically a mission to defend the world and got swept up in the flow of things. Watching fish swim up the river, entering lotteries, eating delicacies, and going to the arcade. In his eyes, Tohka wasn't a Spirit but an ordinary girl enjoying everyday things.

To end their date, Shido took to Takadai Park to gaze at the city as the glow of the sunset covered it. Shido suspected Kotori had planned this from the beginning. She knew it was one of his favorite spots in the city, and for good reason.

"Wow! Shido, it's so beautiful!" Tohka happily chirped out. "And that giant mecha! Does it transform?" Tohka pointed in the direction of a train that was running in the distance.

"No, that's a train. It doesn't transform. It transports people from one place to another." Shido couldn't help but crack a smile as he turned to explain what a train was to Tohka. Tohka's eyes shined, listening to Shido's words intently.

Her porcelain face gleamed beautifully in the sunset, and a wide, infectious smile grew on it. Shido couldn't deny it. Tohka really deserved the moniker of Princess; she had the beauty of one, after all.

As Shido continued to explain the other things that Tohka marveled at, he couldn't help but blush every time she looked at him with those big, innocent eyes of hers.

"Shido! Was this a good date?" Tohka questioned.

"Of course! It was a- a good date…" Shido couldn't help but stammer. This was his first date after all, and dates are usually romantic.

"How are dates supposed to end? Is there some ritual we must conduct to end it?" Tohka questioned like an innocent child, and Shido immediately felt his cheeks get hot.

"Well, uhh- that's…" Shido began fidgeting and scratching his head. Well, usually, dates do end with a romantic kiss, but he can't just tell Tohka that.

Tohka, utterly unaware of Shido's internal dilemma, just smiled brightly.

"Shido, you're so fidgety!" Tohka giggled a little.

"Never mind." Shido nervously stated but eventually joined Tohka in her laughter. It really was infectious.

After their shared laughter died down, the pair sat silently, enjoying the view.

"So, Tohka. Isn't this place beautiful?" Shido asked.

"It is beautiful, Shido. I never imagined it could be this beautiful. And kind! And fun! And delicious! And…" Tohka happily stated at first, but her eyes soon filled with sadness.

"And… I think those AST people are right to attack me…" Tohka weakly admitted. Shido could only feel his heart constrict tighter at Tohka's words.

"I understand why they hate me. Why they attack me. I wouldn't forgive someone if they destroyed something so beautiful every time they showed up either…" Tohka softly spoke, a small smile filled with self-deprecation appeared on her face.

"B-but it'll be okay now! You appeared in this world without causing a Spacequake today! You can live in this world in peace!" Shido desperately argued, his breath becoming more ragged and shaky.

Tohka only shook her head in response.

"You're right, but what if the next time I appear, I cause a Spacequake? I can't control when I appear and disappear from this world." Tohka admitted.

"Then resist it! Don't go back to the other world!" Shido adamantly told Tohka. Her eyes widened before her gaze shifted away from Shido's eyes.

"That's… impossible…" Tohka weakly admitted.

"How do you know? Have you tried to stay in this world? Even once?!" Shido demanded. Tohka's body began to shake as she clenched her hands tightly.

"But I… Why are you saying this? Why do you want me to stay in this world? I destroy things when I come into this world! I've hurt so many people! I've ruined so many places! The AST hates me! The people would hate me if they knew who I was!" Tears started to well in the corners of Tohka's eyes as she ranted.

"Shido… it's okay… I don't deserve to exist. If my existence leads to people getting hurt, I'm fine with never being accepted." Tohka weakly smiled at Shido, trying to reassure him that she was okay with this decision.

Shido felt his heart pound against his chest. His head was getting fuzzy. His fists clenched in anger. He didn't want Tohka to feel this way. This wasn't right. No one deserves to feel as if they don't have the right to live…

"...don't say that…" Shido breathed under his mouth.

"Shido…?" Tohka questioned.

"Don't say that!" Shido desperately yelled out. "I've seen you Tohka! How happy you were exploring this world! How much fun you had eating new food, meeting new people, and playing games! I'm not accepting you being alone and hated by everyone again! I know you want to stay in this world with everyone!"

"It doesn't matter what I want! I hurt people, Shido! People hate me! It's for the best if I disappear!" Tohka paused for a brief moment.

"But even still… I want to be a little bit selfish. I want to live… is that so wrong?"

"Tohka, you deserve to live in this world as much as anyone else does!"

"Even if I do, no one would accept me anyway."

"Then I'll accept you! If the rest of the world doesn't accept you, I'll accept you so much that it'll overshadow everyone else!"

"It won't matter if you accept me or not. If I still cause Spacequakes, then—" Shido cut Tohka off.

"Then I'll help you. I swear, I'll find a way. I'll make sure you never go back there. Make sure you never cause another Spacequake." Shido resolved. Tohka's eyes widened once again.

"Do you really mean everything you say… that it's ok for me to live? That you'll be with me? That you'll stop me from causing more Spacequakes?" Tohka asked.

"Really." Shido replied.

"Really really?" Tohka started tearing up again.

"Really really." Shido replied with twice the resolve.

"...Shido…!" Tohka broke into tears and buried her face in his uniform. Shido wrapped his arms around her and comforted her.

The two stayed like that for several minutes, Shido comforting the girl as Tohka let out all the emotions that had welled inside her.

Then, a scream broke the silence.

"aaaaaaAAAHHHHHHHGETOUTOFTHEWAY!" A man yelled as he flew through the air. Shido and Tohka looked up and saw a strange white being rapidly approaching their location. Shido quickly grabbed Tohka and dodged out of the way. Not a second later, the person hit the area where Shido and Tohka stood and bounced off the ground several times before rolling to a stop.

"Ow, ow, ow…. what's with this guy's fascination with going for my stomach?" The person strained out as he slowly stood up. Shido's eyes widened as the dust cloud dissipated. It was that strange white armored being he saw at the school the other day.

It was Fourze.

And if Fourze was here then—

"Asher?!" Shido cried out in shock.

"Shido?! What are you doing here?!" Asher replied with a similar level of shock. "You two need to get out of here! It's dangerous!"

"What do you mean? What's—" Shido cried out, but Asher rushed towards the two of them and tackled him and Tohka to the ground. Seconds later, Shido heard something passing overhead before numerous explosions rocked the area behind them.

As the three of them slowly got to their feet, Shido's eyes widened once he saw what danger Asher was referring to. In the distance was the red-hulking monster.

"That's…" Shido trailed off.

"The red giant I fought yesterday?" Tohka finished, her eyes squinted with anger.

"Listen. Shido, you need to get out of here and run with this girl. Orion's gotten stronger, and I don't know if I can protect you if you stay here." Asher admitted.

"Stronger? What do you mean by that?" Shido questioned, but Asher just ran past the two toward Orion.

【ROCKET ON】

An orange rocket materialized around Asher's right arm. Asher then jumped into the air, the rocket boosting him towards Orion before punching him square in the chest with Rocket.

The two continued their fight a distance away, leaving Shido and Tohka in a daze. Seconds later, Tohka began walking towards the two beings.

"T-Tohka!" Shido grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing?!" Tohka looked back at Shido.

"I'm going to fight." Tohka spoke with determination, yet underlining it was an unmistakable fear. Her eyes filled with the same sorrow Shido had seen all those days ago.

"Tohka! You don't need to fight anymore!" Shido pleaded with Tohka.

"Shido, that monster nearly hurt you!"

"Even still, I've seen how sad you are when you fight! I don't want you to go through those emotions again!"

"But—"

"I told you! I was going to help you! So, come on, Tohka, let's fle—" Shido suddenly stopped.

The air pressure felt different. He started to sweat unnaturally. He felt a piercing gaze coming from behind him.

Shido couldn't explain it. Hell, he wasn't even sure what was causing it. All he knew right now was he felt an overwhelming amount of dread.

And the only thing he could think of doing was push Tohka out of the way.

"Ahh!" Tohka cried in shock as she fell to the ground.

"Shido! What was that… for…" Tohka yelled out in annoyance before her gaze slowly focused itself on Shido.

Time seemed to come to a standstill. Droplets of red liquid scattered in the air. The faint smell of gunpowder. The ringing echo of gunfire.

In front of her, Shido had a massive gaping hole where the right side of his abdomen used to be. He slowly moved his bloody, shaking hand towards the wound as if trying to feel the piece of his body that was no longer there. His face twitched in complete shock before he collapsed face-first onto the ground.

"...Shido…?" Tohka nervously whimpered, her mind gone entirely blank.

---

Third Person POV

The rest of the AST were on standby. They had been monitoring Tohka and Shido's conversation since they arrived in the park.

Origami had reported a girl looking eerily identical to the spirit Princess while doing her routine check-ins with Shido in the morning… from a distance… without him noticing her at all. But it was ok since she was his girlfriend, after all.

After numerous comparisons gathered over the day, there was no mistaking it. All signs pointed to that girl being Princess. But if that girl was Princess, why was there no Spacequake detected?

"Permission to shoot, Captain?" Origami stoically asked her supervisor. She was currently in a position with their trusty Anti-Spirit Sniper Rifle, Cry Cry Cry, monitoring the ongoing situation between Shido and Princess.

"Still waiting, Origami. Higher-ups are slower than usual for some reason." Ryouko begrudgingly complained before letting out a sigh.

"Remain on standby, Origami; that is an order," Ryouko demanded. She knew full well that Origami tended to go against orders when a Spirit appeared. She drilled it in her cadet's head that she would not tolerate any more insubordination after the last stunt Origami pulled landed her in the hospital for the night.

"Roger." Origami acknowledged. Her scope was completely steady on Shido and Princess.

It took every fiber of Origami's being not to pull the trigger the moment she watched as Princess ran up to Shido and buried her face into his shirt. Damn Spirit. Only Shido's girlfriend is allowed to sniff his shirt like that.

Then, all of a sudden, a familiar white armored man nearly landed on top of Shido and Princess.

"What?" Origami tilted her head up to see what happened. In the distance, she and the rest of the AST watched as the red-hulking monster approached Shido and Princess, nearly injuring them with a barrage of energy blasts had it not been for the white armored man.

"This is Kusakabe! The two unidentified beings from yesterday have reappeared near Princess. One of them is aggravating Princess. We need orders now!" Kyouko radioed headquarters as Origami returned to focusing her gaze through the sniper rifle's scope. The white armored man had left behind Shido and Princess to fight the red monster, but the situation was getting dire.

If Princess were to go wild over the threat posed by the red monster, then civilians would be in danger. Since no Spacequake alarm was ever broadcasted, people were still outside in the park's vicinity.

Seconds passed like hours. Suddenly, as if the threat of Princess going berserk was the smoking gun for the higher-ups to come to a decision, Ryouko received an answer.

"Everyone, we have orders! Take down Princess before she goes berserk!" Ryouko ordered.

Hearing what she had been waiting for all this time, Origami lined up her sights and steadied her breathing. Princess wasn't in her Astral Dress, and Origami had one of the deadliest weapons in the AST arsenal. Everything was lining up for her to finally have a shot at killing one of these dastardly Spirits.

"Go to hell." Origami muttered to herself before pulling the trigger.

Everything was perfect. The alignment, the direction of the wind, the trajectory. It would be a clean shot through Princess's heart.

And then Shido pushed Princess out of the way.

BANG!

The ringing of the sniper reverberated in Origami's head. Her eyes went wide. Her mouth opened to scream, but nothing came out. Her hands began to shake.

Shido was now bleeding out on the ground, a giant hole in his body.

"I… I did that… I…! Shido…!" Origami went completely into shock, her mind not registering the sounds of Kyouko's desperate orders to her.

It wasn't until a furious Princess appeared right before her that she finally snapped back to reality.

---

Asher's POV

Kengo was right; Last One was no joke. Orion was much more tankier than before. Even my rocket-powered punches barely made the guy flinch. It took all my focus just to bob and weave Orion's punches and throws. I already got punched once, and I really didn't feel like getting punched again.

This was a battle of attrition, and I stood firmly on the losing side.

"AAAGHHHHHHHH!" A blood-curdling scream rang out on the field. My body immediately jumped, and I turned my head to focus on the direction in which it came from.

"『Sandalphon – Halvanhelev』!" The purple-haired girl who was with Shido yelled. However, upon closer look, her uniform was different. No longer was it the Raizen High uniform she had, but rather a sleek purple armor and skirt fitted her body.

I may not have recognized her face, but I could never forget that armor.

A giant metal throne was right next to her. Drawing the hilt embedded on top of it, she pulled out a massive broadsword before slashing the throne to bits. Instead of crumbling and falling to the ground, the bits began swirling around the broadsword before suddenly enlarging the entire thing. It must have been several meters long at this point.

Looking on in shock, I spotted something next to the girl. A blazar lay, no, covered something on the ground. Something was surrounding the blazar. It was hard to discern since it blended in so well with the crimson light of the sunset.

It was a pool of red.

"It… can't be what I think it is… right?" My breathing became shaky. The liquid looked thick and dense. There was only one type of liquid that would run like that.

The purple-armored girl suddenly jumped off the ground with such considerable force that it cracked the earth. Looking around, I suddenly realized that Shido was nowhere to be found.

"That can't be… Shido…?" My heart pounded, my hands shook, and everything was becoming a blur.

And then—

"Where do you think you're looking?!" Orion's voice boomed as he punched me hard in the face.

Flying through the air, I eventually landed, my mind having snapped back to reality.

"Damn it!" I yelled out in annoyance while rubbing my cheek. I stood back up and turned off Rocket.

【LAUNCHER ON】【RADAR ON】

Turning on the two Astroswitches concurrently, I aimed Radar directly at Orion. After several beeps of conformation, I raised my right leg before stomping with as much force as I could muster.

Several missiles blasted out, all hitting Orion, who just stood there.

"Did that get him?" I anxiously thought. The smoke cleared. It revealed that Orion was completely unharmed.

I winced upon seeing this. Options were becoming limited. Everything I dished out barely even managed to hurt the guy.

I again lined up Radar towards Orion, but before Launcher could reload the next round, Orion charged straight toward me.

"I won't let you!" Orion bellowed out before grabbing my neck and lifting me straight off the ground. He gripped my throat tightly as I desperately clawed at his arm to let me go.

It was getting hard to breathe… hard to think… everything was becoming blurry.

My eyes started to wander. In the distance, large streaks of purple energy and wind battled the cliffside. I looked towards the pool of blood.

The blazar was no longer there, and whatever it covered disappeared as well. How…?

Orion's grip tightened suddenly, squeezing the last bits of air out of my lungs.

"Is this… really where it ends…?"

Everything… was turning… black—

BAM

A loud noise suddenly echoed as I fell to the ground. My body instinctively gasped for as much air as possible to fill my lungs. I weakly looked up to see what had saved me.

In front of me was a familiar giant yellow robot.

"Looks like… this is as much as I can exert myself…" Kengo's strained voice announced through Powerdizer.

"Kengo…?" I wheezed out while massaging my neck. I could see that Powerdizer had managed to knock away Orion several meters. He struggled to get up as Kengo exited Powerdizer. He was a bit shaky but still able to rush over to me and help me stand.

"Sorry I wasn't there sooner, Asher." Kengo apologized.

"It's fine. Thank you for saving my life."

"It's what I'm supposed to do. After all, aren't we partners? I can't let you do all the heavy lifting alone." Kengo smirked. Hearing his words made me crack a smile as well.

"Yeah, you're right about that!" I shouted out with pride.

"Now then, any good ideas on how to take him down? He's way too bulky for his own good; I can't even manage to put a dent into this guy." I asked Kengo. Kengo suddenly kneeled on the ground before opening the Astroswitch Case.

"I recorded some footage with Burgermeal while you were fighting. His Zodiarts Switch is located on the left side of his chest. If you focus your attacks on this area, it should weaken the Zodiarts Switch and thus make him easier to take down." Kengo explained.

"So basically, it's his weak spot?" I summarized, Kengo answering with a nod.

"I've got a plan to whittle him down. Use Launcher before rushing in with this to break his guard." Kengo told me. He grabbed an Astroswitch from the case and handed it to me.

It was Astroswitch #8, Chainsaw.

"I'll do my best." I reassured him. I raised my right arm, pointing Radar at Orion before shooting several missiles at him with Launcher.

"Do you think that would work again?" Orion angrily yelled out as he guarded against the barrage of missiles, a large puff of smoke covering the area around him.

【CHAINSAW ON】

Taking advantage of the smokescreen, I immediately turned off Launcher before activating Chainsaw. I then bomb-rushed Orion. Before he could even react, I struck him with a solid slash through the smoke. This put him on the back foot, as he was now off guard and struggling to regain his bearings.

Keeping up the pressure, I continued to deliver as many strikes as possible, focusing on the left side of his chest. To my surprise, my attacks seemed to work as Orion grunted and groaned in pain.

"Do you think that'd work forever?!" Orion screamed as he suddenly grabbed my right leg before Chainsaw could attack him once again. Now, at his mercy, Orion began spinning me around like a top. Unable to counteract, I was utterly helpless until he finally let go and left me at the whim of gravity.

Landing in a completely dizzied state, I resisted the urge to vomit. It took a couple of seconds for my senses to return to normal, but the first thing I could sense was the sound of stampeding footsteps running straight towards me.

"Asher! Switch to Drill! Now!" I could hear Kengo desperately cry out. Not questioning anything, I followed his instruction to the tee, removing Chainsaw and inserting Drill as fast as my fingers let me.

【DRILL ON】

With the Drill on my right foot, I looked up to see Orion only mere yards away, running straight at me. Instinctively, I kicked out my right leg in his direction, which struck Orion in the left side of his chest.

The moment it made contact, the drill began rapidly rotating. After a couple of seconds and a final thrust with my leg, Orion went flying off. Landing on the ground, he began gripping his chest quite heavily. It seemed the attack had severely injured him.

Guess you can use Drill by itself.

"T-This can't be possible! I'm supposed to be stronger than you!" Orion raged as he struggled to get to his feet. "How could this be?!"

"Isn't it obvious? It's thanks to my trusty partner!" I yelled out in response.

Suddenly, a shower of purple particles began raining down upon us in the skies above us. They fell through the air like snow before suddenly stopping in mid-air. They all started moving towards Orion's body, which absorbed all the particles like a vacuum.

"AAHHHHHHHHHH!" Orion began screaming, not out of pain or anger but power. As his body finally absorbed the last of the particles, a deep purple aura-like gas surrounded it. Purple lightning streaked from his body.

He began slowly walking towards me, each step fracturing the very ground he walked on.

"You've… got to be kidding me…" I let out an anguish of despair and fear.

---

Third Person POV

Everything felt dark and cold…

and then it got hot…

…really HOT!

"O-OW! Hothothothot!" Shido panicked as he quickly sat up and patted the source of the flames down.

"Man, that stings… huh?" The cogs in Shido's head were coming to a halt. This couldn't be reality.

He slowly patted the area where the flames stemmed from, his stomach. Instead of the smooth fabric of his blazer, all he felt was bare skin. Looking down, Shido found that his blazer and shirt had a giant hole ripped through them.

"I don't believe this…" Things weren't making sense. One moment, he felt an indescribable pain tearing through his stomach, and the very next, he was feeling completely fine. The injury must've been fatal; there was no way he could've survived.

Unless… it was all a dream?

Shido put his hand on the ground again but reflexively jerked it back when he touched something warm and wet. He looked at his hand.

It was covered in blood.

…It definitely wasn't a dream.

"AAAHHH!" A piercing roar suddenly rang out. Shido turned his head, only to see an unbelievable sight. The nearby mountains and plateaus were on the verge of crumbling, giant cuts having somehow been gouged into them.

And floating in the air lay a dense aura of dark purple light, nearly pitch-black. Sharp arcs of air are being hurled relentlessly in the direction of one of the plateaus.

It only took a second for Shido to realize what was going on.

"Toh-!" Shido cried out, but before he could finish, he suddenly felt his body become weightless.

Seconds later, Shido found himself in Fraxinus's all too familiar teleporter room.

Without even a moment to comprehend, one of the staff grabbed Shido's arm and dragged him to the bridge.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Kotori smiled as she greeted Shido.

"Kotori, don't tell me… you know what's going on?!" Shido questioned. "Tell me what happened! How am I still alive?! What happened to Tohka?!" Kotori held her hand up as if telling Shido to stop talking.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but we don't have time to answer all of them in depth." Kotori directed Shido's attention to the primary monitor, which showed footage of Tohka desperately swinging her massive sword toward a group of AST members.

"In short, Princess lost it after you got killed. One of their members sniped you, and now she's trying to kill them all." Kotori bluntly stated.

"How do we stop her?! They're all going to die at this rate!" Shido cried out. He still didn't like the AST or their ways, but they were also humans with lives. He couldn't just watch people die in front of him.

"Well, don't worry, Shido, you've got this!" Kotori stood up and patted Shido's back rather forcefully.

"What do you mean I've got this? What am I even supposed to do?!"

"Don't you know? It's a tale as old as time itself. The lonely Princess finds herself locked away in a solitary prison, sleeping eternally. When all hope seems lost, the dashing and gallant Prince arrives to save the Princess with a kiss on the lips…" Kotori lavishly explained.

"Oi, Kotori, you're not seriously implying…" Shido nervously asked, but Kotori only responded by taking the lollipop out of her mouth and exaggeratingly smooching the candy with a devilish smug grin.

"You're joking, right?! PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE JOKING!" Shido could only shriek out as his face paled.

Not paying attention to her older brother's freakout, Kotori grabbed Shido by his collar and dragged him out of the bridge and through the halls. They eventually arrived at a room located on the lower deck.

"Princess is currently fighting while high in the air, so you're going to have to make a flashy entrance to attract her attention, Shido." Kotori said while looking at the nearby monitor.

"Hey, what are you doing? Let me go!" Shido nervously pleaded, though Kotori only responded by opening the nearby hatch—a 15-kilometer fall to the grounds below

Before Shido could even scream out, Kotori threw Shido off Fraxinus.

"You know what to do, Prince! Now go save the Princess!" Kotori energetically shouted as Shido screamed for his life as he fell to the ground below.

Third Person POV

They fucked up in their mission badly. Not only did Origami miss her target and hit a civilian, but now Princess was the most furious the AST had ever seen. If looks could kill, the entire AST would've been dead a million times over. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the whole fate of Tenguu City lay on the outcome of this battle.

Kyouko had ordered every AST member to give it their all and attack Princess, but nothing even got close. They were merely specks of dust; all they could do was ride the hurricane.

"Origami! For god's sake, MOVE!" Kyouko desperately cried out, but Origami didn't budge. She had been in a catatonic state ever since she shot the civilian. It took everything she and the other members just to defend Origami from Princess's attacks, but now that most of them had been knocked out of commission, there was nothing left to protect Origami from Princess's fury.

Princess slowly raised her sword high into the air, preparing to deliver divine judgment to the sinner. Origami suddenly snapped back to reality, as if her instincts to live had finally kicked in.

Princess swung her sword. Origami put up her protective Territory barrier, but it shattered like glass.

Origami fell to the ground hard, coughing up blood from her mouth. Her body was riddled with cuts and wounds. Every bone in her body ached. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that one attack broke most of them.

One strike. Even with her Territory employed, all it took was one strike, and Origami was already on death's door.

Her vision was becoming hazy, but she could make out the movement of purple light once again reaching towards the sky. Her instincts to live screamed at her body to dodge or move, but it was useless.

She was going to die.

"I will end your existence." Princess glared directly into Origami's eyes. Origami refused to close her eyes, instead madly glaring toward the purple haze. Even if it was pointless, her body struggled to draw breath and fight.

However, seconds before Princess could deliver the finishing blow, a desperate yell rang out in the air.

"TOOOHHHHKAAAAAAAA!"

---

Third Person POV

Shido felt the air blowing past his body as he fell to the ground. He'd spent the last 30 seconds screaming his lungs out, but after the shock dissipated, the mission that Kotori ordered him to fulfill took the forefront of his thoughts.

Angling his body, he directed himself toward Takadai Park. It wasn't hard to miss, especially given the noticeable destruction to the nearby mountains.

Even with the threat of the ground approaching, Shido searched desperately for Tohka's figure. Thankfully, it didn't take long to find her floating in the air.

Now for the real issue at hand. How was he going to stop?

"TOOOOOOHHHHHKAAAAAAAA!" Shido screamed out, both partly to grab her attention and also out of desperate hope that she'd somehow stop him.

Tohka's head immediately turned to look upwards at Shido.

"S-Shido?!" Tohka cried out, completely bewildered. Tohka quickly flew upwards toward Shido before catching him in mid-air.

"Tohka…!" Shido breathlessly got out, the fear of becoming a human pancake having subsided.

"Shido…" Tohka murmured silently as the two finally slowed to a stop, now floating together in mid-air.

"You're ok…? Shido…?" Tohka trembled as her eyes, which were already moist and red, began welling with tears.

"Yea, at least, I think I am." Shido reassured.

"...Shido! Shido! Shido!" Tohka happily cried out with relief as she hugged Shido tightly, as if never wanting to let go of him again.

"Hey! Tohka, it's ok! Everything's fin—" Shido began to comfort her when a bright flash of dark purple light assaulted his vision.

"Oh no! This isn't good!" Tohka worriedly cried out.

"What's wrong?!"

"My power, 『Halvanhelev』, I can't control it anymore! I have to release this power before it explodes!" Tohka worriedly explained as bolts of lightning now shot out of the giant sword. Tohka began looking around the area, but Shido realized what she was planning.

"No! You can't release it here!" Shido told Tohka.

"What am I supposed to do?! It's already in a critical state!" Tohka fretted.

At this moment, Kotori's words of what Shido needed to do played in his mind. Shido could only groan internally. If this didn't work, he would scream at Kotori from the afterlife.

And if it did work, he would scream at her in this life.

"L-Listen, Tohka, there might be a way to stop this; you have to listen to me…" Shido nervously spoke.

"What?! What do we do?!" Tohka earnestly questioned, which just made Shido feel even more awkward.

"Well, uhh, uhh, we have to uhh…" Shido hesitantly grumbled.

"What?!" Tohka demanded.

"We have to kiss!" Shido cried out.

"Kiss? What's that?!"

"Huh?! Well, uhh. A kiss is when you put your lips together with someone—!" Shido barely finished his explanation when, without warning, Tohka planted her soft lips against his own.

Shido's eyes widened in response; his mind had gone blank. He could no longer think of anything else. Fraxinus? The AST? The impending danger? Thoughts of Tohka and the kiss had replaced all of it.

As they kissed, Tohka's『Halvanhelev』and Astral Dress began to dissolve into particles dyed a light purple. The two of them slowly began to descend back to earth, Tohka's body slowly losing its strength, causing Shido to hold her tighter.

Then, their feet touched the ground gently.

"Pwah…!" Tohka gasped as she pulled away from Shido's lips.

"I'm s-s-sorry Tohka! They told me it was the only thing I could do!" Shido tried to defend himself, but as Shido went to remove himself from their hug, he noticed something.

Tohka was showing… an excessive amount of skin.

In fact, she was completely naked.

"T-T-T-Tohka?!" Shido cried out. As if realizing this, Tohka looked down to find herself completely naked due to her Astral Dress dissolving into purple dust.

"Noooo! Don't look!" Tohka screeched out before head-butting Shido's chin and hugging him tighter to get as much cover as possible.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Shido cried out while looking up into the heavens. He didn't dare look down at Tohka. The two sat in awkward silence as the particles of light continued to shower them like snow.

"...Shido." Tohka asked in a soft voice.

"...yea?"

"Can we… can we go on another date again…?"

"Of course. Whenever you'd like." Shido hugged Tohka tightly, and she hugged him back with all of her life. The particles of purple light continued to shower them as if to celebrate.

And then, all of a sudden, the particles stop falling.

"...what?" Shido quietly questioned. The particles had just stopped dead in the air as if frozen in time. Hearing Shido's worried voice, Tohka looked around only to see the strange sight.

The particles began moving again as the two gazed upon this mysterious phenomenon. Though not towards the ground. Instead, they moved as if a vacuum was sucking them in.

The Orion Zodiarts was absorbing all the remnants particles of Tohka's power.

"AAAHHHHH!" The Zodiarts let out a monstrous scream as his body finished absorbing the final particles. A dark purple smoke surrounded his body, and each step he took created sparks of lightning in the air.

Shido gulped nervously.

"This… this is not good…"

---

Asher POV

I slowly backed away in fear. I could feel the change in pressure every time Orion stepped closer to me. I felt like I'd be blown away by the sheer pressure he exuded if I ever got close to him.

"Kengo! What the hell do we do?!" I cried out of fear for my life. Kengo was kneeling, Burgermeal in one hand, swiping at the Astroswitch Case's monitor.

"This is really bad." Kengo calmly spoke, but I could tell he was freaking out.

"Orion absorbed the remnant power of Princess's Reiryoku energy, but it's way too unstable! Orion's body can't handle that much power! It's collapsing in on itself like a black hole!" Kengo explained.

"Ok?! So?! What do we do?!" I desperately repeated.

"If we defeat Orion here, the resulting explosion will destroy Tenguu City!"

"What?! Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!" I yelled out. Kengo took a deep breath to calm himself as Orion's footsteps approached closer and closer.

Looking back at Orion, his movements looked stiff and unnatural. Kengo's prediction was coming true; Orion was struggling to keep all his newfound power under his control. This should mean I'd have an advantage, but the threat to Tenguu City's safety made me hesitate to go on the offensive.

"We'll have to defeat him in the sky! Asher, you're going to have to listen to my instructions!" Kengo instructed out. I nodded back at him before Kengo imputed some commands into the Astroswitch Case.

Suddenly, Powerdizer and Kengo's motorcycle approached from behind me, though Powerdizer was in its vehicle mode.

"Get on Machine Massigler and set it into Powerdizer." Kengo instructed.

"O-Ok…" I nervously got on the motorcycle and carefully drove it on top of Powerdizer, inserting it into a slit where it seemed to fit. The moment I did so, I felt something clamp onto the motorcycle's wheels.

Kengo inputted some more commands into the case, causing Powerdizer to reveal two missile launchers before firing them at Orion. Orion, still awkwardly moving, couldn't even dodge out of the way as the missiles juggled him higher and higher into the air.

Then, all of a sudden, Powerdizer and the motorcycle started rotating upwards.

【TOWER MODE】

"Hang on, this isn't what I think it is!" I cried out as I held onto the motorcycle, trying to fight against gravity while my body was parallel to the ground.

"Don't forget, Asher! Hit the left side of the chest with a Limit Break!" Kengo instructed before I heard the whirring of machinery intensify.

【READY】

【THREE】

【TWO】

【ONE】

【BLAST OFF】

With that announcement, the motorcycle began soaring straight up into the sky like a rocket.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed my lungs out as I resisted the g-forces. I held onto the handlebars of the motorcycle for dear life.

I looked upwards, only to find Orion still high in the air after the result of Powerdizer's missiles juggling him that high. With this trajectory, Orion would crash right into me. Hang on, if that's the case, then maybe…

I throttled the motorcycle, which made it go faster. Getting closer and closer to Orion, I eventually rammed into him, carrying him with me as we ascended higher and higher into the air.

Before long, we broke through the clouds, the upper atmosphere, and into space.

As the motorcycle came to a stop, Orion began flying deeper into space due to the inertia, his arms flailing wildly about.

"Alright, it's now or never!" I jumped off the motorcycle's seat before flipping two switches on my driver.

【ROCKET ON】【DRILL ON】

"Take this!" I pulled the handle.

【ROCKET DRILL】【LIMIT BREAK】

"Rocket Drill Space Kick!" I yelled as the rocket pushed me towards Orion while the drill spun rapidly. Eventually, my drill made contact with the left side of his chest, my mind forcing the drill to spin faster and faster.

Then, just like that, I pierced straight through Orion's body. Seconds later, a massive explosion engulfed his body.

I looked back, only to see nothing but a large cloud of smoke where Orion used to be. Then, a tiny object flew straight towards me.

"Whoa!" I yelled out as I caught it in my hands. Inspecting it, I realized it was the Zodiarts Switch that had previously mutated in Miura's hands.

"Well… it's finally done, huh?" I mused to myself. It may have taken nearly two weeks, but we finally managed to stop Orion for good this time.

Catching my breath, I felt a small force pulling my body back towards Earth. I tried to fight it, but the sensation grew more and more stronger. Eventually, gravity completely took hold of my body, and I began rapidly falling back to Earth.

"OHH COMEEE ONNNN!" Fire began to surround the suit as I entered the atmosphere.

"Come on, come on! There's gotta be something I can use!" I cried out while racking my brain about how I'd escape this situation. I needed to slow my descent, but how?

Hang on!

I quickly pulled out an Astroswitch I had on me. Astroswitch #7, Parachute.

【PARACHUTE】

Replacing Radar, I placed it into the slot and activated it.

【PARACHUTE ON】

On my left arm, a small container materialized, and three massive parachutes ejected from it. With their help, my descent slowed down considerably. Finally, and hopefully, I could catch my breath without any interruptions.

Descending back to Earth, I took in the view. Tenguu City looked beautiful when covered by the sunset's glow. I looked at the Zodiarts Switch, still clutched tightly in my right hand.

"We're coming to save you, Miura!"

---

As I grew closer to the ground, I could see Kengo running up to greet me when I landed.

My feet touched the ground. I had to quickly shuffle my feet to come to a stop as I turned off Parachute.

"Asher! How'd it go?" Kengo asked with bated breath. I flipped all the switches on the driver up, undoing the transformation.

I then showed the Zodiarts Switch held in my right hand.

"We did it." I replied in an exhausted tone. Kengo's face beamed before he motioned for me to follow him.

The two of us quickly gathered around Miura's unconscious body, still covered in the cobweb-like substance.

"So, how do we save him?" I asked Kengo with anticipation.

"Deactivate the Zodiarts Switch by pressing the button at the top. It'll return his consciousness to his body and free him from the corruption."

Listening to Kengo's instructions, I deactivated the switch. Immediately, a purple-like fog surrounded the Zodiarts Switch before the mist and Zodiarts Switch disappeared into nothingness.

Seconds later, Miura began to groan and stir.

"...where… am I…? What's been going on…?" Miura slurred as he slowly sat up.

"It'll be ok now. You've just had a bad dream, that's all." I simply responded.

After talking with Miura, we found he could vaguely remember what he had been doing since he got the Zodiarts Switch. Everything he had done was a haze in his memories, cloudy and somewhat indecipherable but still recognizably there.

My heart ached for the poor man. Outside forces corrupted his love and passion for American Football. He committed horrible atrocities while under the Zodiarts Switch's influence and wasn't even in control of himself at the time.

"Listen, Miura, if you ever need me, just come talk to me. I'll help you out, ok?" I softly spoke to him.

"Ok…? Why are you telling me this…?" Miura confusedly responded.

"Well, you should have someone you can rely on. If you ever feel lost or down, just come to me, and I'll be there for you." I reasoned.

I didn't know how much of an impact the Zodiarts Switch would have on him. Would he remember the sin of assaulting the other members? The guilt of nearly killing another person? Even if he didn't remember doing the actions, I think the crimes he committed would haunt him.

He shouldn't have to face them alone, not when he wasn't in control of his body and mind.

After the discussion, we slowly helped Miura to his feet. Although he seemed a bit groggy and exhausted, he seemed to be in good health overall, which was surprising given how long he'd been under the influence. We said our goodbyes and Miura quickly ran from the park to return home.

"It's finally over!" I stretched my arms as I gave out an exasperated sigh.

"It is. Asher, you did an excellent job."

"Hey, I can't take all the credit. You did a great job as well, Kengo."

The two of us leaned against the guardrail, taking in the sight of now-oncoming twilight covering the city.

"Asher! Utahoshi!" A voice called out to us. We turned our heads to look. It was Shido, though his shirt was covered in blood and had a massive hole near the stomach area. Despite that, he seemed completely fine.

What was even more off-putting was that a girl with long purple hair was standing next to him. She was completely naked, aside from a bloodied blazer loosely wrapped around her, which also had a massive hole in it.

"Shido! Are you ok?! And why is she, uhh, not wearing any clothes?!" I panicked, trying my best not to look at the woman beside Shido. Kengo was also similarly looking away, though his face remained neutral.

"It's a long story…" Shido blushed. "Regardless, I'm perfectly fine!" A part of me doubted his words, given how bloody his clothes were, but he didn't seem to be in any pain.

"That's good and all, but uh…" I nervously spoke, still dancing around the subject of the naked elephant in the room. She looked like a nervous cat, her eyes constantly switching between us and Shido.

"Shido, here. Use it to cover her up some more… I can't make conversations like this." I took off my blazer and gave it to him. He managed to wrap it around the girl so at least her entire body was covered up. Still wasn't wearing any pants, though.

"In any case, what happened to you?" I asked Shido.

"I should be the one asking that question! I saw you get launched off into space with the Zodiarts! What happened?!" Shido answered back.

"Well, long story short, we defeated the Zodiarts and saved the host."

"Oh! That's good."

"And you?"

"Well, it's a long story, but I managed to save Tohka!" Shido answered positively.

"Tohka…? Oh, you mean the Spirit you mentioned the other day!" I looked at the girl, though she was hiding behind Shido like a scared child.

"It'll be okay, Tohka. They're not going to hurt you." Shido reassured Tohka, which seemed to loosen up the tension. Poor girl. She must've gone through some really tough times.

"Nice to meet you, Tohka." I tried to greet her, though she remained a bit hesitant.

"Hello." Kengo curtly introduced himself, still not even looking in Tohka's direction. Can't tell if he was embarrassed or just done with everything.

"Anyways, does this explain why there's blood all over your clothes?" I asked Shido.

"Y-Yes…" Shido nervously responded.

"...and also why she's naked?" I asked, but Shido didn't even respond. He just blushed and nervously turned his head away.

"Well then, I won't pry into it…" I responded.

"Well, as they say, all's well that ends… well…" Shido spoke but his speech slowly became slurred. All of a sudden, he fell forward. He would've faceplanted the ground if I didn't catch him.

"Shido?!" Tohka worriedly cried out, quickly running to his side and nudging his body. I slowly kneeled as I inspected Shido. He was still breathing normally, but his eyes were closed.

He must've passed out.

"He's fine. He's only asleep." Kengo bluntly stated. This assuaged Tohka's worries, but she still seemed a little rattled. Seeing someone suddenly pass out on her probably freaked her out.

"Well, what should we do? Bring him home? Now that I think of it, I don't even know where…" I slowly rambled off. As I finished my sentence, I felt a familiar weightlessness surrounding my body. I looked at Kengo, who looked a little exasperated about what was to come, while Tohka looked completely confused.

Then, as expected, my vision went completely white.

---

Opening my eyes, I found myself in the familiar teleporter room of Fraxinus. In front of me were Kotori, Reine, and some other Fraxinus staff members.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" Tohka angrily growled at Kotori and the others.

"Calm down; they aren't here to hurt you!" I attempted to calm down Tohka, who was completely on edge.

"Greetings, Princess. Though, I guess it's more apt to call you Tohka." Kotori spoke, though Tohka only assumed a more defensive stance.

"We're here to help. We aren't going to hurt you." Kotori explained before she turned her attention to me.

"Thanks for looking out for my stupid brother. We can handle it from here. We'll patch him up good." Kotori stated as the Fraxinus staff next to her walked up to me. Realizing what they must've wanted, I handed them Shido's unconscious body, and they put him on a nearby stretcher.

"Hey…! Where are you taking Shido?!" Tohka worriedly cried out.

"We're going to take care of him, so don't you worry. We're also going to take care of you, Tohka. Reine? Can you escort Shido and Tohka?" Kotori commanded.

"...Understood." Reine escorted the staff members out of the room with Shido and Tohka. It took a while for Reine to convince Tohka to have her follow her, but Tohka eventually conceded.

I hoped the first thing they'd do was give her a change of clothes.

With everyone gone, it was just us two and Kotori.

"So… is there something you want to talk about?"

"Not too much." Kotori playfully remarked before her expression grew serious.

"I would like to say, on behalf of Ratatoskr, we greatly appreciate your help dealing with the Spirit." Kotori bowed her head.

"Come on, we didn't really do much at all. I mean, all we did was defeat the Zodiarts. We didn't do anything when it came to the Spirit." I remarked, a bit embarrassed by the praise we were getting.

"No, that's where you're wrong. We never predicted that the Zodiarts would've absorbed that power. We were unprepared to deal with the situation. Had it not been for you two, the blast that would've erupted from the Zodiarts would've killed everyone in Tenguu City." Kotori explained.

"Well, I'd say we were just doing what was right, but… thank you for the praise, Commander." I responded seriously. Even if I felt embarrassed by the spotlight, I didn't want to reject her earnest praise.

"And uhh…" Kotori muttered meekly.

"Thank you… for saving my brother's life…" Kotori softly whispered out.

"Hmm? What was that?" I asked inquisitively, Kotori's words being too quiet to parse.

"I-It's nothing!" Kotori quickly stammered before resuming a more serious complexion. "In any case, we would like to thank you for your efforts. I know it isn't much, but would you like our medical staff to check the both of you up, free of charge?" Kotori asked.

"I appreciate the offer, but I politely decline. I'm not the one who needs the check-up, after all." Kengo eyed me as he finished speaking.

"Well then, I will gladly accept your offer." I admitted. To be fair, my body was still filled with adrenaline, so I was feeling fine, but a check-up after an intense fight is probably a smart idea.

"Then, we'll teleport you back down, Utahoshi. Seung, you can follow me." Kotori instructed. "Just remember, we at Fraxinus are here to help you anytime. We don't like having our debts go unpaid after all." Kotori reminded Kengo before teleporting him back down to the surface.

With that, I followed Kotori to one of Fraxinus's patient rooms. She informed me that another Fraxinus staff member would be coming in shortly before exiting the room as she had other things that needed her attention.

The life of a commander isn't an easy one, huh?

With nothing better to do, I decided to lay on the bed provided inside the room. The moment my head hit the pillow, drowsiness took over my body.

Just a little shut-eye… would be good…

---

April 22nd

"So… what exactly are we doing here…?" I asked Kengo. "It's a Saturday. Why'd you ask me to come to Rabbit Hutch?"

"Maintenance." Kengo curtly replied as he analyzed the monitor, which showed readings of the Fourze Driver. "For real this time."

"And… what are you doing here, Shido?" I then turned to Shido, who was also standing nearby. Shido just scratched his chin nervously in response.

Last night, after being awoken by the nurse, she quickly performed a check-up on me when she entered the room. Other than some bruises, I was pretty much okay, so she let me go shortly after.

After being teleported near my apartment, I immediately washed up before crashing into my bed. Never before in my life have I missed my bed so much.

The following day, I woke up to a text from Kengo telling me to come to Rabbit Hutch and to bring the Fourze Driver.

Which leads us here.

"Well, you see…, Kotori wants me to be the liaison between Fraxinus and you two, so she wants me to hang out with you two more, essentially." Shido explained.

"And she ordered you to tell us this information in person on Saturday instead of Monday?" I asked incredulously. Shido could only shrug.

"Kotori's… really strict…" He weakly muttered out. I sighed in defeat. No point in delving deeper into it.

"Well, it's good to have you on board. Can't say it'll be all that interesting." I remarked, though Shido just made a confused expression.

"Usually, Kengo forces me to train or keep a lookout for any Zodiarts every day after school. Though, I guess we won't be doing much Zodiarts searching until a new one appears." I clarified.

"Eh? Every day after school? Like a club?" Shido commented.

"Well…! Yeah, I guess when you put it like that, what we're doing is basically like club activities, huh."

"No, what we're doing is something much more serious than something that can be defined as merely 'club activities'." Kengo interjected, his eyes still laser-focused on the monitor and Fourze Driver.

"Come on, Kengo. What's the harm in loosening up a bit? We're a club that defends the school against the Zodiarts!" I responded light-heartedly.

"Don't be ridiculous, this isn't a joke." Kengo responded seriously, though I ignored him.

"Hmm, if we're a club, we'll need a name. How about the Anti-Zodiarts Club? Nah, it's too on the nose. The Fourze Protection Club? Also a bit tacky…" I spit out ideas, but nothing good came to mind.

"Then… what about the Kamen Rider Club?" Shido suddenly chimed in. I looked at him in confusion.

"Kamen… Rider…? What is that?" I asked.

"Ahh. It was an old hero show that I used to watch while I was a kid. It was about a hero who would protect the city from danger in secret. They would transform and ride on their motorcycle, fighting against evil." Shido explained. "It's kinda embarrassing explaining it though…"

"That… scarily sounds accurate to what I'm doing…" I shuddered at how closely the show's synopsis lined up with what I was doing. I, too, was fighting against the Zodiarts, transformed into a superhero, and rode on a motorcycle… a bit poorly, though.

"Well, I think it's a good fit! The Kamen Rider Club it is!" I announced.

"Do whatever you guys like." Kengo flatly responded, clearly having given up on convincing me otherwise.

"Then, if this is the Kamen Rider Club, then I guess I'm Kamen Rider Fourze!" I remarked gleefully.

"And you, Shido, are also a club member!" I pointed at Shido.

"M-Me?!" He responded in shock.

"Of course! Regardless if you're here on the Commander's orders, you'll still be here daily! That basically makes you a member of this club!"

"I… I don't think I'll be here every day…" Shido weakly argued.

"Well, who cares? You're a member now! And Kengo, you'll be the president of the club!"

"H-Hey?! I reject this! I am not going to be the president of this ludicrous club!" Kengo spat out, which finally snapped him out of his work.

"Oh, come on, who else would fit being the club's leader?" I responded.

"I never agreed to form this club to begin with!" Kengo grumbled.

"Is there something wrong… Mr. President?" I spoke with a teasing tone.

Kengo was about to open his mouth to say something but stopped and put his palm on his face.

"Never mind, just… whatever…" Kengo defeatedly sighed before going back to maintaining the Fourze Driver.

I couldn't help but break out into a boisterous laugh. Shido eventually started chuckling, too, while Kengo continued to ignore us.

It's official! The Kamen Rider Club has now been established!

---

Author's Note:

It's finally… FINALLY done. This was probably way too bloated for its own good. Fun fact: I initially envisioned Chapters 2 and 3 as one chapter but ended up splitting them due to how long Chapter 3 became.

Some fun facts about this arc. Initially, I planned to call this "Tohka Genesis" to keep in line with Date a Live's naming scheme, but I realized it didn't fit since Tohka didn't play a significant role in this arc. Don't worry, though; for those who think I'm skipping over to Yoshino's arc in the next chapter, I'm not. We still have quite a ways before we get there. If you've read some of the extra Encore stories, you might recognize some familiar events during this next arc.

Speaking of what's coming up, you may wonder if the other Kamen Rider Club members from Fourze will appear. Unfortunately, I've only planned for Kengo to show up. Not that I dislike the other members of the KRC, but this is more of a Date a Live fanfiction with Fourze. Not really a true crossover.

Speaking of the Kamen Rider Club, yay! The mantle of Kamen Rider is now officially here; he's no longer just Fourze! We'll be getting more members for the KRC, but I'm sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting them to be more Fourze characters. Now, if you were expecting Date a Live side characters, look forward to that.

Finally, here's the progress report. Arc 2 (Chapters 4 and 5) is basically complete, so Chapter 4 should be ready to go in two weeks. Chapter 6 is about 80% done, so I think I'll be able to keep up with this upload schedule for the foreseeable future.

In any case, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter.